Philo

Second Temple Torah Lawrence H. Schiffman, LawrenceSchiffman.com. "Fostering the conception that rationales can be offered for almost all the commandments is a product of Hellenistic Judaism in the Second Temple period."

The Ancient Library of Alexandria J. Harold Ellens, Bible Review. "The scholarly culture of the ancient library became the seedbed of the great philosophies of Judaism and Christianity and thus has continued to influence Western culture for two millennia."

Moses, the Philosopher King Lawrence H. Schiffman, LawrenceSchiffman.com. Through his rationales for the commandments, Josephus bolsters his conception of Moses "as a kind of philosopher king whose legislation was totally wise and just."

Philo's Esoteric Torah Lawrence H. Schiffman, LawrenceSchiffman.com. Influenced by the Hellenistic idea of the separation between body and soul, Philo was the first Jewish thinker to ascribe "outer" and "inner" rationales to the commandments—but by no means the last.

What's Wrong with Cross-Dressing? Michael L. Satlow, Then and Now. Although the Torah prohibits cross-dressing, it never explains why—and there is no consensus on the reason among Jewish sources in antiquity.