ABSTRACT
Philo Judaeus, who often records in his writings ancient Jewish traditions, similarly recognized in the Biblical verse prohibitions against arrogance—which leads to self-deification and against selfishness, which leads man to regard all his endowments, intellectual and physical, as personal possessions, instead of as temporary gifts from God. More than any other Jewish philosopher, Philo voiced the view that creation belongs to the Creator and that whatever dominion man enjoys over creation is limited and dependent upon the will of God. Apparently it was standard practice to console mourners by reminding them that life is merely a divine deposit held by man and that God, the Depositor, can at any time demand the return of His deposit. The Midrash, enunciating the meaningfulness of the ancient sacrifices and tithes, repeats the basic principle in the religious philosophy of Judaism: man must at all times recognize that the things of the world belong to God.
