PHIL. IUD. DE ABRAHAMO. §. 10. 11.

...God of Isaac, and God of Jacob," Exod. 3:15 instead of saying that it is entirely relative. Philo argues that God, being transcendent, does not have a "name" in the human sense; by attaching His name to the patriarchs, He provides a reference point for human prayer. And perhaps this is reasonable. God does not need a name. Yet, though He does not need one, He bestowed upon the race of men a familiar designation, so that having a refuge for supplications and prayers, they might not be devoid of good hope.

§. 11. These things, then, appear to have been said about holy men; but they are messages of a nature that is more obscure and far better than that which is perceived by the senses. For the sacred word seems to investigate the types of the soul, all of them noble: one Abraham desiring the good through instruction, another Isaac through nature, and the third Jacob through practice. For the first, called Abraham, is a symbol of instructional virtue; the middle one, Isaac, of natural virtue; and the third, Jacob, of the virtue of practice. But one must not be ignorant that each of the three partook of all the powers, but was named from the one that predominated. For it is impossible for instruction to be perfected without nature or practice; nor is nature capable of reaching the end without learning and practice; nor is practice possible if it is not grounded in nature and instruction. With good reason, therefore, nature has joined the kinship of the three—in word, men; in deed, as I have said, virtues—instruction, nature, and practice. These, people call by another name, the Graces original: "Χάριτας" (Charites), which are equal in number, either because God has favored our race with these three powers for the perfection of life, or because they have given themselves to the rational soul as a most beautiful gift. This is so that the eternal name revealed in the oracles might be spoken not so much of three men as of the aforementioned powers. For the nature of men is perishable, while that of the virtues is imperishable; and it is more reasonable...