From the inception of modern research Jewish Bible exegesis in Alexandria has often been regarded as a marginal phenomenon or a puzzling hybrid. It tended to be studied either from the perspective of biblical interpretation in the Land of Israel or as a forerunner of Christian exegesis. Scholars familiar with the Jewish tradition usually focused on the emergence of rabbinic literature, which subsequently became normative. If Alexandrian exegesis was at all taken into account, it was characteristically either construed as a derivative phenomenon depending on its counterpart in Jerusalem or dismissed as an alien body of literature, which reflects Greek ideas and anticipates Christianity while failing to resonate in traditional Jewish circles. On the other hand, scholars familiar with the Christian tradition tended to approach Jewish Bible exegesis in Alexandria in the context of either the New Testament or patristic literature, giving special emphasis to allegory. In this scenario Philo figured rather prominently, often being praised as the representative of Hellenistic Judaism who prepared the way for Clement, Origen and others.

Luckily, a number of scholars have appreciated Alexandrian Judaism in its own right. During the transition period from the Enlightenment to Wissenschaft it was praised by Isaac Marcus Jost as a strikingly modern form of Judaism. He stressed that it was based on a division of state and church as well as on a cultural synthesis of Jewish and Greek traditions. Alexandrian Judaism emerged as an important paradigm for combining tradition with critical awareness.