The Jewish philosophy of A., which was not confined to A., but spread through the whole ot the Greek-speaking Diaspora, exercised a certain influence upon the Greeks, who were drawn towards Judaism by its accent of certainty abont God, which was always wanting even in the loftic-l theology of their own philosophers. Its main influence, however, lay in its Hellenizin" of tln' Jews, who were enabled to appropriate Hellenu views of life without conscious apostasy from Judaism. The extent of the influence of Jewish Alexandrian philosophy on the writers of the NT has been variously estimated. There are strikini; similarities between the terminology and some- times between the thoughts of St. Paul and of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews and those of Philo. But the similarities are probably due to their common knowledge of the current teachin- of the Greek-speaking synagogue. On the otlur hand, the direct practical spirit of the NT writer> offers a strong contrast to the dreamy Intel lectualism of Philo's allegories.
The name of the city of Alexandria does not occur in the NT. Mention is made of a synagogue of the Alexandrians in Jerusalem (Ac 6"). Apollo^ is described as an 'Alexandrian by race' (Ac 18^). St. Paul sailed on two occasions in Alexandrian ships, which probably belonged to the com trade (Ac 27» 28").
It is remarkable that neither St. Paul nor his companions visited A., in some respects the most promising missionary field in the world. As regards St. Paul, to hazard a conjecture, he may liave been deterred by what occurred in Corinth (1 Co 1"), where Apollos followed him, and by his preach- ing produced an unhappy division without intend- ing it. St. Paul may have felt that his simple pre- sentation of Christ crucified would be unwelcomi'
ALGUM TREES
ALL
u3
among hearers accustomed to the word of wisdom in trope and allc^'ory. If we were to accept the yiew of those critics who hold that ApoUos wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews to the Jewish Chris- tians of A., it would be easy to explain St. Paul's conduct, as it would have been contrary to his custom to visit a Church which a fellow-labourer had already made his own (2 Co 10'').
According to Eusebius (II. E. ii. 16), St. Mark was the first who was sent to E^-pt, where he preached the gospel which he had written, and established churches in A. 'The multitude of believers,' he adds, 'both men and women, lived lives of the most extreme and philosophical asceticism.' The statement of Eusebius about St. Mark, which he introduces with the formula 'they say,' and con- nects with fanciful legends, has clearly no authority. His description, however, of the char- acter of the early Alexandrian Church is probably correct. During the second and third centuries of our era Alexandria was the intellectual capital of Christendom. In the Alexandrian heretics Hasi- lides and Valentinus, and in the Church Fathers Clement and Origen, we observe how the spirit of Jewish Alexandrian i)hilosophy passed into Chris- tianity. See I'liii.nsopiiv, Rklicion'.
LiTKRATURB. — Stnibo, Geof). xvii. : Bu8emu§, Prcepar, Evang. 13 ; l*atr. Gr. xxi. ; Or. Sj/O. Hi. ; Dahnt*. Ge^. DarsUU. d. Jud.- AUx. Rei.-I'hittm. \ Pauly-Wissuwa, liJi ; DTXimniond^ Philo- Judceru ; Uauarath, litms of Apostles.
J. GiBB.
ALGDM TREES, ALMUQ TREES (dij'j^n -alfjum- mim, 2 Ch 2» 9'"- "; D-3-''x almiif/r/im, 1 K 111"- ", LXX. {I'Aa TTfi/KiKa ; Vulg. liffnn thr/ina, lignn pinen). — Celsius (Hierobnt. i. l1'.^) states that some doubted the identity of the alguni and the aliuug. This doubt, however, is not ju»tilie<l by the trans- position of the letters in the two names. Such transposition is extremely common in Heb. proper names (e.g. lichvm, ciri, Neh 12^ is called m v.'" of the same chapter Ilarim, cin). We are told that algum trees were brought from Opiiir (2 Ch 9'"). Almug trees were also brought from Oi)hir (I K 10"). These passages are perfectly parallel, and plainly refer to the same tree.
But, in 2 Ch 2', Solomon instniets Hiram to send ' cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees (AVm almvrjrjim) out of Lebanon.' IMii the term algum in Lebanon signify one tree and in Ufjhir another? This is po.ssible. Cedar, in Eng., is ajiplied to various species of Cujiressu-t, A/jie.i, Juni/ierus, and Larix, a,s well as to Cediii.i Libnni. Vn, in Eng., is applied to several species of Abies, and the Scotch fir is I'inu.i xylvcstrUi, L. Spruce is used in Europe for Abies excelsa, L., and in the United States for three species of Abies: A. Cnna- detuns, Mich., A. atba, Mich., and A. niijrn, Poir. Instances of this might easily he multiiilied. If we accept this sui>[iosition, the pa.ssage is amply explained. Hut it all'ords no clue to the name of the tree growing in Lebanon. H, on the other hand, the tree which Solomon reciucsted Hiram to send was tlie same as that brought from Ophir, was Lebanon a station for it ? This is also possible. We do not know where Ophir was, nor what the tree was. It would he quite ra-sh to say that it could not grow in both localities. The ccd/ir, mentioned in the same clause, grows in Lebanon, Amanus, Taurus, the Ilimnlayas, and the Atlas. It is al.so uncertain what Jir is allmied to in the pa.ssage. There are tirs in Lebanon, and also in some, at least, of the localities proposed for Ophir. It is possible that the unknown tree had a range which included Lebanon and Ophir.