There are two ways in which Philo of Alexandria interprets the revelation at Mount Sinai, especially the darkness into which Moses entered. According to Philo’s understanding of the Exodus account, the eyes of Moses’ soul observed the intelligible patterns of existing things at Mount Sinai. Not even Moses, however, was able to see God Himself. Therefore, Moses also receives knowledge of God’s unknowability thanks to the theophany at Mount Sinai.
In a similar way, Gregory of Nyssa (whose interpretation of the theophany was with all probability inspired by Philo) interprets the revelation at Mount Sinai either as extraordinary knowledge accessible only to certain elected people or as the knowledge that God Himself remains unknowable not only for all human beings, but also for every intelligent creature.
The question raised in the paper is whether the two thoughts mentioned above are only two ways of interpreting the same biblical passage or whether there is any closer connection between them. Do Philo or Gregory think that knowledge of the intelligible reality is a way of understanding the unknowability of God? Or could it be that the extraordinary knowledge revealed at Mount Sinai has a new meaning when compared with the greatness of God?
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