Aristobulus the Jewish Philosopher A Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who probably wrote in the second century bc. His writing is often grouped with the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, since it is nonbiblical Jewish writing from the same period.

Aristobulus’ work was addressed to a king Ptolemy whom he says is descended from [Ptolemy II] Philadelphus. Eusebius of Caesarea and Clement of Alexandria indicate that the king in question is Ptolemy VI Philometor (186–145 bc), and this is probably correct. Eusebius also identifies the philosopher Aristobulus with the Aristobulus mentioned in 2 Maccabees 1:10, but this is impossible to confirm (Eusebius, Praep. ev. 8.9.38).

Five quotations from Aristobulus’ work are preserved in Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History 7.32.16–18; Preparation for the Gospel 8.10; 13.12; 7.14.1). Some of the same passages are also quoted by Clement of Alexandria.

Aristobulus’ work deals with the relationship between Jewish thought and Greek philosophy and culture. He argues that the date of Passover and the holiness of the seventh day are in accordance with principles of cosmic order known to the Greeks (Fragments 1 and 5) and that Greek poets and philosophers were familiar with the Torah in a pre-Septuagint Greek translation and derived some of their ideas from it (Fragments 3 and 4). He also defends the use of anthropomorphic language to describe God, arguing that it is metaphorical (Fragments 2 and 4).

In the course of his argument, Aristobulus cites Greek authors who he claims borrowed from Moses or were otherwise in accord with the Torah. Some of these quotations are known from the works of the authors he cites, while others are probably Jewish inventions falsely attributed to these authors. One of these texts, which he quotes at length, is known as the Orphica. Some of the quotations Aristobulus attributes to Greek authors are also quoted in early Christian sources and seem to be drawn from a separate Jewish list of such quotes.