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"There are distinguished and innumerable works
by this man: On the five books of Moses,
one book Concerning the confusion of
tongues, one book On nature and
invention, one book On the
things which our senses desire and we detest,
one book On learning, one book
On the heir of divine things, one book
On the division of equals and contraries,
one book On the three virtues,
one book On why in Scripture the names
of many persons are changed, two books
On covenants, one book On the
life of a wise man, one book
Concerning giants, five books
That dreams are sent by God, five
books of Questions and answers on Exodus,
four books On the tabernacle and the
Decalogue, as well as books On
victims and promises or curses,
On Providence, On the Jews,
On the manner of one’s life, On
Alexander, and That dumb beasts
have right reason, and That
every fool should be a slave, and
On the lives of the Christians,
[Jerome misidentified Essenes as
Christians] of which we spoke above,
that is, lives of apostolic men, which also he
entitled, On those who practice the
divine life, because in truth they
contemplate divine things and ever pray to
God, also under other categories, two On
agriculture, two On drunkenness.
There are other monuments of his genius which
have not come to our hands. Concerning him
there is a proverb among the Greeks “Either
Plato philonized, or Philo platonized,” that
is, either Plato followed Philo, or Philo,
Plato, so great is the similarity of ideas and
language." (Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men,
11.)
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