3:36. You may indeed find individuals Scholars debate whether Ezra here refers to individual Israelites, or individuals from other nations. The context favors non-Israelite individuals, but in what sense could they have \u201ckept [God\u2019s] commandments,\u201d if the Torah was given only to Israel? In the third dialogue, Uriel claims that all people are responsible for keeping \u201cthe law\u201d (7:20\u201324, 72\u201374, 127\u201331), but he never explains how non-Israelites are to know the content of the divine Law. Ezra\u2019s main point here is that only rare individuals have kept the commandments.
\n4:1. Uriel One of the four (or seven, or more) archangels, according to several sources. In the Prayer of Joseph (1st century CE), Uriel is the angel who wrestles with Jacob in Gen 32:25\u201333, because he envies Israel. This is significant because Uriel is an ambivalent figure in the dialogues, at first mocking Ezra (4:2\u201326) and later on expressing indifference toward the great number of sinners who will \u201cperish\u201d in the judgment (7:61, 131).
\n4:2. the way of the Most High Uriel uses this phrase to refer to the entire divine plan, or providence, while Ezra seems to understand it in a more narrow, concrete sense, referring to God\u2019s purpose in allowing particular events to happen (cf. 4:23).
\n4:3. three problems These turn out to be impossible requests (4:5), with the purpose of demonstrating to Ezra his human limitations.
\n4:7. How many dwellings \u2026 the entrances of paradise These questions, based on Job 38:16\u201317, are examples of the type of knowledge human beings can never attain independently. Some apocalypses (e.g., 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, 3 Baruch) contain revelations of this sort of cosmological knowledge.
\n4:9. things that you have experienced Ezra and Uriel agree verbally in restricting the scope of human knowledge to \u201cwhat is on the earth\u201d (4 Ezra 4:21) and to \u201cthings that we daily experience\u201d (4:23), implicitly rejecting the type of cosmological speculation found in some apocalypses. Actually, Uriel soon proceeds to reveal to Ezra information that falls outside the realm of ordinary human experience, about eschatological matters.
\n4:12. to suffer and not understand why Ezra believes human beings need to understand the reasons for their own experiences, but Uriel insists that asking why is attempting to understand \u201cthe way of the Most High.\u201d
\n4:13\u201318. I went into a forest Uriel uses a parable to get Ezra to condemn the attempt to overreach one\u2019s limits. Cf. the technique of Nathan\u2019s parable in 2 Sam. 12:1\u201312. The main symbols in this parable, the forest and the waves, figure in a complex vision of conflict in 2 Bar. 36.
\n4:23. the law of our ancestors has been brought to destruction This verse anticipates the legend developed in the seventh episode, that the Torah (in the sense of all of Scripture) was destroyed along with Jerusalem.
\n4:25. what will he do for his name Ezra wants to know what God will do to restore his reputation, which has been damaged by the disasters that have befallen his chosen people.
\n4:26. the age is hurrying swiftly to its end The tenor of the dialogue shifts at this point from dispute to prediction. Uriel\u2019s answers to Ezra\u2019s complaints all come down to this point: that the problems of the present world, or age, do not matter very much, because this world will soon come to an end. The implication that Ezra may live to see the end-time is at odds with the setting of the book, however, since the author expects the messiah to come in his own time, more than 600 years after the Babylonian Exile. This inconsistency is explained by 4 Ezra 4:52, where Uriel admits that he does not know whether Ezra will be alive when the end comes.
\n4:28\u201332. the harvest of it has not yet come Using an extended agricultural metaphor, Uriel affirms one of the major assumptions of Ezra\u2019s first monologue: that the \u201cevil heart\u201d inherited from Adam is the cause of sin and suffering in the world (cf. 3:20\u201322). Agricultural metaphors occur frequently in apocalyptic literature and in the New Testament, particularly with reference to the final judgment (cf. 8:41; 2 Bar. 32:1; 70:2; Matt. 3:12 || Luke 3:17; Matt. 13; Gal. 6:7\u20139; Rev. 14:15\u201320).
\n4:30. the time of threshing That is, the final judgment. The biblical prophets sometimes use harvesting and threshing as metaphors for divine judgment (cf. Isa. 17:5; Jer. 51:33; Hos. 6:11; Joel 4:13; Mic. 4:12).
\n4:35\u201337. Did not the souls of the righteous in their chambers ask These verses may be borrowed from another source, since nowhere else in 4 Ezra do the \u201csouls of the righteous in their chambers\u201d speak, nor is the \u201carchangel Jeremiel\u201d mentioned again. Moreover, Jeremiel\u2019s answer, that the final judgment will come whenever a predetermined number of righteous souls has been reached, conflicts with Uriel\u2019s next statement (4:40\u201343), which suggests that the final judgment will come at a predetermined time. The term translated \u201cchamber\u201d could be more precisely rendered \u201ctreasury\u201d (the Syriac version has the equivalent of Hebrew otzar), which is the term used in other apocalypses and rabbinic literature for the place of repose of souls after death (cf. 7:32, 95).
\n4:40\u201342. Go and ask a pregnant woman This is the first of several analogies and metaphors involving pregnancy and childbirth. Here the analogy is relatively straightforward: the souls of the dead will emerge from \u201cchambers\u201d under the earth (\u201cin Hades\u201d) when the appointed time for the judgment comes, just as an infant is born when a pregnancy has reached its term. Elsewhere in the book, the earth is compared to a womb (5:48) or a mother (10:9\u201310) for the living, rather than the dead.
\n4:48\u201350. So I stood and looked This is the only explicitly visual revelation in the dialogues, but it functions similarly to a parable (4:47), in that it illustrates a point about the time remaining in the present age.
\n4:52. I do not know Although Uriel sometimes speaks for the Most High (e.g., 6:6), here he acknowledges that he is only a messenger and is not omniscient.
\n5:1. the signs It was a common apocalyptic belief that evil will increase and the natural order will be upset as the end-time approaches. The \u201csigns\u201d of the end are sometimes called the \u201cmessianic woes.\u201d
\nthe way of truth shall be hidden Some versions read \u201cthe lot of truth.\u201d Some Rabbinic discussions of the messianic woes include the prediction that the Torah will be hidden and truth will be removed.
\n5:3. the land that you now see ruling Probably the Roman Empire, which will be destroyed when the messiah comes, according to the Eagle Vision. Alternatively, since these \u201csigns\u201d pertain to the time before the coming of the messiah, this verse may refer to the Roman conquests in 66\u201373 CE of the areas formerly ruled by Babylon (which is the current ruling power from the point of view of the narrative).
\n5:6. one shall reign An unexpectedly wicked ruler is typical of the messianic woes (cf. Dan. 11:21\u201326; 2 Thess. 2:3\u20134; Rev. 13:11\u201318; 2 Bar. 40:1; T. Mos. 7; Mart. Isa. 4:2\u201312); this figure is sometimes called the \u201cantichrist\u201d (or anti-messiah). The reference here is so vague that it is impossible to tell if the author had a particular ruler in mind.
\n5:7. all shall hear his voice The versions of 4 Ezra disagree as to the source of this voice; in the Latin it appears to emanate from the Dead Sea. A voice at night of unknown origin is perhaps just another unnatural occurrence.
\n5:9\u201310. wisdom shall withdraw into its chamber The withdrawal of wisdom is probably equivalent to the hiding of truth mentioned in 4 Ezra 5:1. The language evokes the myth of the withdrawal of wisdom from the world in 1 En. 42:1\u20132.
\n5:12. they shall labor, but their ways shall not prosper Cf. Lev. 26:20; Deut. 28:30\u201333. The series of disasters listed here as \u201csigns\u201d of the approaching end-time bear a general resemblance to the \u201ccurses\u201d associated with failure to keep the covenant in Lev. 26 and Deut. 28.
\n5:14. Then I woke up Although this verse implies that the preceding dialogue with Uriel was a dream, the following verse indicates that the angel was\u2014and still is\u2014actually present. The mention of waking up is probably meant to suggest a transition from an ecstatic or trancelike state, in which Ezra converses with Uriel, to a normal mental state, in which he converses with Phaltiel in the following verses. Ezra\u2019s strong emotional and physical reactions, both here and after his visions in episodes 4\u20136, are typical of apocalypses.
\n5:17\u201319. Israel has been entrusted to you Ezra\u2019s role as leader of his people in exile is revealed here for the first time, but then fades into the background until the end of the fifth episode (12:40\u201350).
\n5:21. the thoughts of my heart were very grievous to me Each of the first four episodes begins with a notice of Ezra\u2019s distressed state of mind (cf. 3:1\u20133, 6:36\u201337, 9:27), which is one reason that some scholars refer to the monologues that open these episodes as \u201claments.\u201d
\n5:23\u201326. from every forest \u2026 one vine \u2026 from all the flocks \u2026 one sheep Ezra\u2019s second monologue begins with a series of metaphors for God\u2019s election of Israel from among the nations of the world. The symbols for Israel are drawn mainly from the biblical prophets and Psalms, but some of the images are also found in the Song of Songs. This passage may possibly be the earliest evidence for an allegorical interpretation of the Song of Songs as poetry about the love between God and Israel, which became the standard reading of that book in the Rabbinic literature.
\n5:23. one vine The vine as a symbol for Israel occurs in Jer. 2:21 and elsewhere; cf. the vineyard in Isa. 5:7.
\n5:24. one region That is, the Land of Israel. The Land and the people of Israel are both described as chosen by God throughout the biblical literature, but God\u2019s choice of the Land of Israel is especially emphasized in Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges.
\none lily For the lily as choice among flowers, cf. Song 2:1\u20132; later Jewish sources often refer to Israel as a lily, based on the allegorical interpretation within these two verses. See also Hos. 14:6.
\n5:25. one river Presumably the Jordan, the most important river in the Land of Israel. See especially Josh. 3\u20134 for its mythic significance.
\nyou have consecrated Zion for yourself In the Bible, God is often said to dwell in Zion, that is, Jerusalem (e.g., Ps. 74:2). The word \u201cconsecrated\u201d points to the presence of the Temple there, and suggests that the whole city was sacred or holy (cf. Isa. 52:1). Elsewhere the author suggests that the primary purpose of building Jerusalem was to offer sacrifices to God (4 Ezra 3:24; 10:45\u201346), and Ezra\u2019s description of \u201cthe sorrow of Jerusalem\u201d in 10:20\u201323 focuses on the end of Temple worship.
\n5:26. one dove Cf. Ps. 74:19; see also Song 2:14; 5:2; 6:9.
\none sheep Cf. Ps. 23. Israel is more often compared to a flock of sheep, with God as their shepherd (cf. Isa. 40:11; Jer. 23:1; Ezek. 34; Ps. 74:1; 78:52; 100:3).
\n5:27. whom you have loved It is God\u2019s love for Israel that is at issue in this dialogue (cf. 4 Ezra 5:33, 40), since Ezra suggests that God now hates Israel (5:30).
\nthe law that is approved by all That is, the Torah, which is here presented as a great gift, demonstrating God\u2019s love for Israel. Ezra implies that all people are aware of the Torah and admire it, an idea that is found in Deut. 4:6.
\n5:28. And now, O LORD, why have you handed the one over to the many With these words, Ezra abruptly shifts to an accusatory tone (cf. the shifts in 3:28 and 6:57), contrasting the pattern of the past with recent events. Behind the abstract language of \u201cthe one\u201d and \u201cthe many\u201d lies a concrete complaint: why do Israel\u2019s current circumstances not reflect their status as God\u2019s chosen people?
\nthe one root This is apparently an allusion to the metaphor of Israel as a vine, or more generally, a plant (cf. Isa. 60:21). Cf. 1 En. 93:8, which refers to the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon: \u201cthe whole race of the chosen root will be dispersed.\u201d
\n5:30. If you really hate your people Ezra dares to question the fundamental Jewish belief in God\u2019s love for Israel, which is the basis of the notion of election. This extreme rhetoric is a measure of his grief (cf. 4 Ezra 5:34), and may be compared to Job 16:9, in which Job calls God his \u201cfoe\u201d (although Job is not explicitly addressing the fate of Israel). It is a common idea that it is preferable to be punished by God rather than by human beings because God is merciful; cf. 2 Sam. 24:14; Sir 2:18. On the other hand, in the Bible, defeat by enemy nations is assumed to be a form of divine punishment (cf. Lev. 26:17; Deut. 28:25; Isa. 10:5).
\n5:32. Listen to me, and I will instruct you Although Uriel presents himself to Ezra as a teacher, Ezra refuses to accept the role of a pupil, but continues to argue with Uriel here and in parts of the next dialogue. When Uriel shifts from correcting Ezra to revealing eschatological secrets, Ezra is more docile.
\n5:33. do you love him more than his Maker does? The main difference between this dispute and the previous one is the additional theme of God\u2019s love (cf. 4 Ezra 5:40), which Uriel brings up in response to Ezra\u2019s suggestion that God now hates his people (5:30).
\n5:34. while I strive to understand the way of the Most High Although Ezra is willing to admit that, in his grief, he may have overstated his case against God, he is not willing to give up his quest to understand \u201cthe way of the Most High\u201d (cf. 4:2\u20133, 11\u201312). The word \u201cjudgment\u201d in this verse may simply be synonymous with \u201cthe way(s) of the Most High\u201d (cf. Jdt. 9:6, 2 Bar. 20:4), or it may refer specifically to the calamities Israel has suffered, understood as the result of divine judgment upon them.
\n5:35. Why then was I born? Wishing that one had never been born is a way of expressing extreme grief; cf. Jer. 20:14\u201318; Job 3:3\u201316.
\n5:36\u201337. Count up for me \u2026 the picture of a voice Although these impossible tasks are parallel to those in 4 Ezra 4:5 in function, their content is more similar to the questions in 4:7, in that they allude to information that some apocalypses claim has been revealed to chosen individuals (see the comments on 4:7 and 4:9). Elsewhere, this type of information is said to be known only to God. For example, according to 2 En. 47:5, only God has counted the drops of rain, but according to 2 Bar. 59:6, God revealed the number of the raindrops (among other \u201cunknowable\u201d things) to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
\nthe winds shut up in them Another possible translation is \u201cthe spirits shut up in them,\u201d which would make this another reference to the \u201cchambers\u201d of the souls mentioned in 4 Ezra 4:35 and 7:95. It is a common idea that the winds are kept in chambers or treasuries, however.
\n5:38. him whose dwelling is not with mortals That is, God. Cf. Dan. 2:11, where the Chaldeans refer to their gods using a similar phrase.
\n5:40. my judgment This is an example of Uriel speaking for God in the first person (see the comment on 4 Ezra 4:52). Here, \u201cjudgment\u201d seems to be synonymous with the \u201cway of the Most High,\u201d as it probably is in 5:34. God\u2019s \u201clove,\u201d like God\u2019s judgment, is incomprehensible, Uriel insists. It has a goal or purpose, however, and the fact that it has been \u201cpromised\u201d to God\u2019s people suggests that this goal will be revealed in the end-time (cf. 4:27).
\n5:41. what will those do who lived before me Ezra mistakenly assumes that only those who are alive in the end-time will be able to discover the goal of God\u2019s love (5:40).
\n5:42. I shall liken my judgment to a circle Uriel\u2019s cryptic reply suggests that God\u2019s judgment does not conform to a linear conception of time. The point of the comparison is apparently that all who ever lived will be judged at one time, since Ezra next inquires why \u201call creatures\u201d could not have been created at one time (5:43, 45).
\n5:46. Ask a woman\u2019s womb Uriel again compares the earth to a woman\u2019s womb (cf. 4:40\u201343), arguing by analogy to human reproduction that the earth could not support all generations of humankind at one time.
\n5:49. For as an infant does not bring forth Uriel extends the analogy by comparing a woman\u2019s limited childbearing years to the limited amount of time that the earth will be able to support life. This extension of the analogy provides an opening for Ezra to inquire about the age of the earth (5:50). Speaking for God, Uriel emphasizes that he is the source of the rules governing both human reproduction and the created order.
\n5:51\u201355. Ask a woman who bears children This further extension of the birth analogy reaches beyond observable facts, in asserting that children born later are smaller than those born in a woman\u2019s youth. According to Stone, the Babylonian Theodicy makes the opposite claim: \u201cThe first-born is physically inferior.\u201d That may have often been the case in the ancient Near East, where women frequently began childbearing before they were fully grown. The contrary claim here apparently stems from the author\u2019s belief that humankind is smaller in stature now than long ago, and that this must be a sign of the earth\u2019s aging. The only biblical basis for this belief is the notion that there were giants in ancient times.
\n5:56\u20136:1. through whom you will visit your creation Ezra\u2019s next question changes the subject to the agent of the eschatological \u201cvisitation,\u201d the decisive divine intervention at the end-time. In the present translation, which here follows the Latin version, the answer to this question comes only in 4 Ezra 6:6. In other ancient versions, however, 6:1 contains an answer, to the effect that \u201cthe beginning [is] by the hand of humankind, but the end by my own hands\u201d (Syriac version). \u201cThe beginning\u201d here refers to the beginning of the \u201cvisitation\u201d (that is, the \u201csigns\u201d of the end mentioned in 5:1\u201313 and 6:21\u201328), and \u201cthe end\u201d refers to its culmination, the final judgment.
\n6:1. portals of the world The specific features of Creation mentioned in this poem reflect apocalyptic traditions, such as the belief that the winds, as well as other meteorological phenomena and the heavenly luminaries, passed through portals or gates between heaven and earth. See the comment on 3:19.
\n6:3. powers of movements Although the Syriac version translates this phrase as \u201cearthquakes,\u201d most interpreters think that it refers to the heavenly \u201cpowers\u201d (i.e., angelic beings) responsible for the movement of the luminaries, since it is parallel to the \u201cinnumerable hosts of angels.\u201d
\n6:4. the footstool of Zion Mount Zion, or the Temple, is sometimes referred to as God\u2019s footstool in the Bible, implying that God\u2019s throne is in heaven (Ps. 99:5; Lam. 2:1; cf. Isa. 66:1). It is possible, however, that \u201cthe footstool of Zion\u201d here refers to the heavenly Zion, which was prepared before the creation of the world, according to 2 Bar. 4. The idea that the earthly Zion has a heavenly counterpart is central to the fourth episode of 4 Ezra (cf. 10:41\u201354).
\n6:6. then I planned these things Uriel, speaking for God, asserts that the same God who created the world will bring about its end.
\n6:7. What will be the dividing of the times? Ezra seems to be asking the same question, about the dividing line or transition between the present age and the age to come, in two different ways. Uriel, in his response, treats these as two different questions.
\n6:8. From Abraham to Isaac The original text probably read \u201cFrom Abraham to Abraham,\u201d based on the variants in several versions. If so, Uriel\u2019s response begins with a paradox, implying that there is no division between the two ages. The paradox is then explained by reference to Abraham\u2019s descendants, Jacob and Esau, whose birth story (Gen. 25:26) represents the age to come following upon the present age without a break. The lack of an interval between the two ages (or worlds) is emphasized in 4 Ezra 6:10.
\n6:9. Esau is the end of this age This verse apparently addresses the second of Ezra\u2019s two questions in 6:7. Many commentators interpret this verse, in line with the later Rabbinic identification of Esau\/Edom with Rome and the biblical identification of Jacob with Israel, to mean that the Messianic Age (the kingdom of Israel) will immediately follow the fall of Rome. Although that interpretation is consistent with the scenario in the Eagle Vision, it is not certain. There is no mention of kingdoms here, and the earliest clear identification of Esau with Rome is by Rabbi Akiva, a generation later. It is possible that Esau and Jacob here symbolize the present and future worlds, rather than specific kingdoms.
\n6:11\u201312. show your servant the last of your signs Ezra requests a fuller disclosure of the \u201csigns\u201d of the end, some of which Uriel revealed to him at the end of the first dialogue (5:1\u201313).
\n6:13. a full, resounding voice The divine voice proclaims the second set of \u201csigns\u201d (see 6:17).
\n6:15\u201316. the foundations of the earth will understand The earth, here standing for the present world, is again personified, although this time not explicitly as a mother. The shaking of the earth is a feature of divine warrior theophanies (appearances of God on earth) in the Bible (cf. Judg. 5:4\u20135; 2 Sam. 22:8 || Ps. 18:8; Isa. 13:13; 24:18\u201319).
\n6:17. like the sound of mighty waters Cf. Ezek. 1:24 and 43:2.
\n6:18. to visit the inhabitants of the earth Here, \u201cvisit\u201d has a negative connotation of punishment, as frequently in older English translations of the Bible. In 4 Ezra 5:56, the negative connotation is not as clear.
\n6:20. When the seal is placed upon the age The metaphor of the seal indicates completion, as in sealing a letter or document. Cf. Dan. 9:24.
\nthe books shall be opened These are the heavenly books containing the names and deeds of human beings, to be used in judgment (cf. Mal. 3:16; Dan. 7:10; 12:1; 2 Bar. 24:1). It is not clear why they will be opened \u201cbefore the face of the firmament.\u201d In context, it probably means that they will appear as an omen in the sky, foreshadowing the final judgment.
\n6:21\u201322. Children a year old shall speak The normal \u201crules\u201d of birth and infancy will be disrupted in the last days (cf. 5:8, 49). Similarly, the normal expectations of agriculture will be overturned. These reversals raise questions about Uriel\u2019s use of analogies to everyday phenomena to explain eschatological matters.
\n6:23. the trumpet shall sound aloud Some commentators have interpreted this verse to refer to the trumpet announcing the end of the world or the final judgment, which is mentioned several times in the New Testament (Matt. 24:31; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16). Since it does not mark any decisive turning point here, however, it is more likely just a portent like the mysterious voice in 4 Ezra 5:7 and the unnatural events in the present list. A trumpet blast can be a call to arms (cf. Judg. 3:27; 2 Sam. 20:1), so it may relate to the next \u201csign,\u201d friends making war on friends (cf. 4 Ezra 5:9).
\n6:24. the springs of the fountains shall stand still Springs of water are a symbol of divine providence (e.g., Ps. 104:10\u201311), so their cessation signifies the temporary withdrawal of God from the world, a fitting climax to the negative \u201csigns\u201d (cf. Pss. Sol. 17:19; T. Mos. 10:6).
\n6:25. whoever remains The survivors of the messianic woes (see the comment on 4 Ezra 5:1) will enjoy a reward in the Messianic Age that precedes the final judgment, according to 7:26\u201328, 9:7\u20138, and 12:34. The phrase \u201cwhoever remains\u201d alludes to the biblical concept of a \u201cremnant\u201d (a righteous few who are spared from destruction), and in fact the term \u201cremnant\u201d is used for the survivors in 12:34.
\n6:26. those who were taken up According to tradition, Enoch (Gen. 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) were taken up to heaven alive, and at the end of the book, Ezra receives the same reward (4 Ezra 14:9, 48). In 7:28, the messiah appears along with \u201cthose who are with him,\u201d which may be another way of referring to \u201cthose who were taken up.\u201d The expectation that Elijah will return to earth at the end of the age is found already in Mal. 3:23\u201324, to which last part of the present verse alludes.
\n6:27\u201328. For evil shall be blotted out \u2026 and the truth \u2026 shall be revealed These poetic verses, describing the Messianic Age, reverse the process of corruption described in the first set of \u201cwoes\u201d (4 Ezra 5:1\u20132, 9\u201311). Similar poetic descriptions of the age to come are found in 7:113\u201314 and 8:52\u201354. The description of the truth as being \u201cso long without fruit\u201d recalls the struggle between the Torah and the \u201cevil heart\u201d (3:20\u201322; cf. 9:31\u201333).
\n6:31\u201332. If therefore you will pray again \u2026 for the Mighty One has seen your uprightness Uriel repeats the instructions he gave at the end of the first dialogue (5:13), but also explains for the first time why he has been sent to reveal these things to Ezra. Uriel reminds Ezra several more times of his exceptional righteousness and worthiness to receive revelation, because Ezra persists throughout the third dialogue in counting himself among the unrighteous (cf. 7:76\u201377, 8:47\u201349). See also the comment on 13:54\u201355.
\n6:34. Do not be quick to think vain thoughts Uriel is probably referring to Ezra\u2019s complaints and questions about what has befallen his people; cf. 4:34.
\n6:35. three weeks This is probably an allusion to Daniel\u2019s three weeks of fasting (Dan. 10:2\u20133). It is also the only indication that Ezra had already been fasting for a week before the first episode.
\n6:38. at the beginning of creation Ezra\u2019s third monologue (or lament) begins with a paraphrase of Gen. 1, with many details omitted but a few elaborated. As such, it belongs to the genre of \u201crewritten Bible\u201d (see introduction), and may be compared to Jub. 2 or Josephus, Ant. 1.1.
\nyour word accomplished the work Ezra emphasizes one of the remarkable features of Gen. 1, that God\u2019s word is the sole instrument of creation (cf. 4 Ezra 6:43).
\n6:40. so that your works could be seen The author supplies a reason for God\u2019s calling forth light before anything else (Gen. 1:3). Note that he does not believe in creation out of nothing, since he speaks of the light as already existing (and similarly the waters in the following verse).
\n6:41. the spirit of the firmament Although it was a common idea that the various features of the cosmos were guided by spirits or angels (see the comment on 4 Ezra 6:3; cf. Jub. 2:2), only the spirit of the firmament (Gen. 1:6\u20137 NJPS: \u201cexpanse\u201d) is given an active role in this account of Creation. Cf., however, the role played by the dust of the earth in 4 Ezra 3:4\u20135 and 7:62\u201363.
\n6:42. a seventh part of the earth There is no known parallel for the idea that the gathered waters (Gen. 1:9\u201310) occupied one-seventh of the earth, but the division of the earth into seven parts is known from Greek geographical sources.
\n6:44. fruit came forth in endless abundance Cf. Gen. 1:11\u201312. This verse sounds like a description of paradise, that is, the Garden of Eden (cf. Gen. 2:9), which was created on the third day, according to Jub. 2:7.
\n6:46. to serve humankind It may be inferred from Gen. 1:14 (\u201cas signs for the set times\u201d) that the luminaries were created to serve humankind, but this verse also anticipates Ezra\u2019s conclusion in 4 Ezra 6:55.
\n6:48. The dumb and lifeless water produced living creatures Cf. Gen. 1:20. The mystery of the origins of life out of lifeless matter may lead people of other nations to acknowledge the Creator by observing his creation (cf. Wis. 13:5).
\n6:49\u201352. two living creatures This passage on Behemoth and Leviathan is connected to the mention of the \u201cgreat sea monsters\u201d in Gen. 1:21. Both monsters, which originated in Canaanite mythology, are mentioned in the Bible: \u201cBehemoth\u201d in Job 40:15\u201324, and \u201cLeviathan\u201d in Job 3:8 (for the latter, see also Isa. 27:1; Ps. 74:14; 104:26; Job 41). Although only Leviathan is a sea monster in the Bible, this passage implies that both were created as sea monsters on the fifth day. Some of the specific details of this passage are found in other apocalyptic texts: the separation of the two monsters and the assignment of one to a wilderness and the other to the sea (1 En. 60:7\u201310), and the preservation of both to be served to the righteous at an eschatological banquet (1 En. 60:24, 2 Bar. 29:4). Similar traditions about these two monsters are found in Rabbinic literature.
\n6:53\u201354. over these you placed Adam Cf. Gen. 1:24\u201328. The significant addition to Genesis here is the final description of Adam as the ancestor of the chosen people. Elsewhere in the book, Adam is portrayed as the ancestor of all humankind, and even here, Ezra acknowledges that the other nations are also descended from Adam (6:56).
\n6:55. it was for us that you created this world It is possible to infer from Gen. 1:26 that the world was created for the sake of humankind, but here, \u201cus\u201d clearly refers to Israel (cf. 4 Ezra 7:11). The notion of creation for the sake of Israel is not found in the Bible, but does occur in T. Mos. 1:12\u201313, which adds that the purpose of creation was hidden from the other nations. The notion is also fairly widespread in Rabbinic literature.
\n6:56. they are like spittle This verse is based on Isaiah 40:15, 17, verses that express the insignificance of the nations compared with God\u2019s power. The phrase \u201clike spittle\u201d is found at the end of Isa. 40:15 LXX (the Masoretic Text has \u201clike fine dust,\u201d which NJPS renders as \u201clike motes\u201d), but it probably reflects an alternate version of the Hebrew text, since the comparison of the nations to spittle is also found in 2 Bar. 82:5 and L.A.B. 7:3, 12:4.
\n6:58. your firstborn, only begotten, zealous for you, and most dear This list of epithets for Israel recalls the threefold designation of Isaac in Gen. 22:2. Israel is called God\u2019s \u201cfirstborn\u201d several places in the Bible (notably Exod. 4:22), and this title is combined with \u201conly begotten son\u201d in Pss. Sol. 18:4. The term translated \u201czealous for you\u201d is textually uncertain, while \u201cmost dear\u201d is a general allusion to God\u2019s great love for Israel, which is sometimes compared to that of a spouse (e.g., Isa. 54:7\u20138) and sometimes to that of a parent (e.g., Hos. 11:1).
\n6:59. as an inheritance Normally, it is the land of Canaan, not the world, that is designated as Israel\u2019s inheritance (see, e.g., Num. 34:2; Josh. 11:23; Ps. 105:11). If the world was created for the sake of Israel (4 Ezra 6:55), however, it makes sense to ask how long it will be until they possess it as an inheritance.
\n7:3\u20139. There is a sea \u2026 but it has an entrance set in a narrow place Uriel uses two parables (see the comment on 4:13\u201318) to address Ezra\u2019s question about Israel\u2019s inheritance. Both concern a narrow or difficult entrance to a desirable place (cf. Matt. 7:13\u201314). The use of two or more similar parables in succession to make related points is found frequently in the midrashim and also in Jesus\u2019s teachings in the New Testament.
\n7:5. to navigate it This translation is based on a textual emendation; all of the versions read \u201cto rule over it.\u201d Removing the idea of \u201cruling over\u201d the sea weakens the parallel between the two parables, and in fact renders the first parable irrelevant to the question about inheritance.
\n7:7. fire on the right hand and deep water on the left The image is probably borrowed from Ps. 66:12, \u201cwe have endured fire and water, \/ and You have brought us through to prosperity.\u201d A similar parable in Avot R. Nat. A.28 substitutes snow for the deep water.
\n7:10. So also is Israel\u2019s portion \u201cPortion\u201d is equivalent to \u201cinheritance\u201d (cf. Num. 18:20; Jer. 10:16 || 51:19). This statement sounds like it is meant to be the key to the parables, but the subsequent explanation raises questions about which feature of the parables, the narrow entrance or the spacious place, is meant to represent \u201cIsrael\u2019s portion.\u201d Many scholars interpret the parables to mean that Israel\u2019s portion is not in this world, but in the world to come (based on 7:13, 16). This interpretation is difficult to reconcile with 7:11, however.
\n7:11. I made the world for their sake Uriel affirms Ezra\u2019s assumption that the present world was created for the sake of Israel (6:55), but immediately undercuts it by identifying this world with the narrow and difficult place of the parables (7:12). The implication is (contrary to Ezra\u2019s assumption in 6:55\u201359) that \u201cIsrael\u2019s portion\u201d involves toil and suffering in this world.
\nwhen Adam transgressed my statutes God\u2019s \u201cstatutes\u201d generally means the commandments of the Torah; this verse is especially surprising since Ezra earlier recalled the biblical tradition that Adam was given only one commandment, which he transgressed (3:7). In this dialogue, however, Uriel claims that all humankind will be held accountable to the divine Law (7:20\u201324, 72\u201373, 127\u201331). This verse provides a mythical basis for that claim, suggesting that the Torah (in some form) was revealed to Adam.
\n7:12. the entrances of this world The word \u201centrances\u201d in this verse and the next should probably be translated \u201cpathways\u201d (in Rabbinic Hebrew the word mavo has both meanings), since what is at issue here is the general character of the two worlds, not specifically their entrances (in contrast to 7:4 and 7:7).
\n7:14. the living The shift in subject from Israel to \u201cthe living\u201d is significant, because at this point Uriel changes the subject from \u201cIsrael\u2019s portion\u201d to the general human condition, which remains the focus of most of the third dialogue (until 8:15\u201316).
\n7:15\u201316. Why have you not considered \u2026 what is to come Uriel attempts in this dialogue to shift Ezra\u2019s attention from the present world to the world to come, with mixed success.
\n7:17\u201318. the ungodly shall perish Ezra\u2019s concern derives from his belief that all people are sinners (cf. 3:35, 7:46).
\n7:20. Let many perish The term \u201cperish\u201d here signifies eternal punishment, not physical death.
\n7:21. what they should do to live Uriel extends to all people the choice that Moses set before the Israelites in Deut. 30:15\u201320. Cf. 4 Ezra 7:127\u201331 and Sir. 15:14\u201317.
\n7:23. they even declared that the Most High does not exist This is probably an allusion to Ps. 14, which begins (in the NRSV), \u201cFools say in their hearts, \u2018There is no God.\u2019 \u201d
\n7:24. denied his covenants The author uses the word \u201ccovenants\u201d as a synonym for \u201ccommandments,\u201d without implying the special relationship between God and Israel that is usually contained in the word \u201ccovenant\u201d (cf. 4 Ezra 3:32; 7:83; 8:27).
\n7:25. empty things are for the empty In proverbial form, Uriel concludes that the situation that Ezra laments in 7:18 is exactly as it should be.
\n7:26. the city that now is not seen shall appear That is, the heavenly Zion will appear on earth as an urban paradise (cf. 8:52; Rev. 21\u201322). The importance of Zion to 4 Ezra\u2019s eschatology becomes clear in the fourth episode (see especially 10:27, 10:50\u201354).
\n7:27. Everyone who has been delivered from the evils See the comment on 6:25. \u201cSee my wonders\u201d means that they will experience the Messianic Age; cf. 13:50.
\n7:28\u201329. my son the messiah The Latin translation has \u201cmy son Jesus,\u201d a Christian interpolation, in 7:28, but elsewhere in the book simply \u201cmy son.\u201d It is uncertain whether the messiah was called God\u2019s son or God\u2019s servant in the original text. These two verses contain the only mention of the messiah in the dialogues, but he is the focus of the fifth and sixth episodes.
\nthose who are with him See the comment on 6:26.
\nfour hundred years The Messianic Age is limited in duration in a number of sources. Its length is debated in B. Sanh. 99a, and in a baraita R. Dosa sets it at 400 years.
\n7:30. primeval silence Cf. 4 Ezra 6:39; 2 Bar. 3:7. This period of seven days marks the definitive end of the present world, but by alluding to Gen. 1:1\u20132:4, also points to the creation of a new world.
\n7:32. The earth shall give up those who are asleep in it This verse describes the resurrection of the dead that will precede the final judgment. The earliest mention of resurrection in the Bible is in Dan. 12:2, but belief in resurrection was an essential doctrine of early Rabbinic Judaism.
\n7:33\u201334. compassion shall pass away In these poetic verses, Uriel emphasizes that the divine qualities of patience and compassion will not be operative in the final judgment.
\n7:35. righteous deeds shall awake, and unrighteous deeds shall not sleep After the deeds of all are revealed in the judgment, all will be punished or rewarded according to their deeds.
\n7:36. the furnace of hell shall be disclosed The word translated \u201chell\u201d is Gehenna, traditionally a fiery place. This verse implies that both Gehenna and paradise already exist, but will be revealed to humankind only at the time of the judgment.
\n7:37. the nations Consistent with 4 Ezra 7:20\u201324, Uriel maintains that all nations will be held accountable for denying God and scorning his commandments.
\n7:39\u201342. no sun or moon \u2026 or brightness or light The judgment will be unlike the present world in every way. The idea that the glory of God will replace the heavenly luminaries (and hence there will be no more day and night) is found in Isa. 60:19\u201320 and Zech. 14:7.
\n7:43. a week of years That is, seven years (cf. Dan. 9:24), parallel to the seven days in 4 Ezra 7:30.
\n7:45\u201347. Who among the living is there that has not sinned Cf. Eccles. 7:20. Ezra rephrases the same objection he raised in 4 Ezra 7:17\u201318, showing that Uriel\u2019s description of the Messianic Age and the judgment has not really addressed his concern.
\n7:48. an evil heart See the comment on 3:20\u201322. The words \u201clife\u201d and \u201cdeath\u201d here refer to eschatological reward and punishment, respectively; cf. Uriel\u2019s use of these terms in 7:20\u201321.
\n7:50. not one world but two Uriel first mentioned the existence of two worlds in 7:10\u201316, but here states it more clearly. \u201cFor this reason\u201d may refer back to the corruption of the present world (7:48; cf. 7:11\u201312), but more likely it points forward to the discussion of the righteous being precious to God because they are rare (7:59\u201361).
\n7:52\u201358. If you have just a few precious stones As in the first two dialogues, Uriel argues with Ezra by means of an analogy drawn from nature, and again he personifies the earth (cf. 6:15\u201316).
\n7:59\u201360. the person who has what is hard to get rejoices more Like someone who has found a rare treasure, God rejoices over the righteous few because their exceptional conduct in this world contributes to God\u2019s glory and honors God\u2019s name.
\n7:61. I will not grieve Cf. 7:131. The idea that the wicked are worthless is often expressed in similar metaphors (cf. Hos. 13:3; Ps. 1:4; 37:2, 20; Wis. 2:4; 5:14).
\n7:62\u201363. O earth, what have you brought forth Now it is Ezra who personifies the earth, imputing to it a more active role in the creation of humankind than he did in 4 Ezra 3:4\u20135. The author apparently considers the mind (probably lev in the original) to be a part of the body (\u201cmade out of the dust\u201d), and thus distinct from the spirit or soul, which is separated from the body at death, according to 7:75, 78, 100.
\n7:64. because we perish and we know it \u201cPerish\u201d here refers to eschatological punishment (cf. 7:20), as becomes clear from 7:66. \u201cThe mind grows with us\u201d implies that people gradually develop an awareness of death and what awaits them after death (or after the final judgment).
\n7:65\u201366. Let the human race lament These verses, which seem to question the ancient assumption of the superiority of human beings to other animals (in contrast to 6:54), should be read as a rhetorical overstatement.
\n7:68. All who have been born That is, all human beings; cf. 3:35, 7:46.
\n7:69. perhaps it would have been better for us Instead of wishing for human life without the mind, which is unimaginable (cf. 7:63), Ezra dares to suggest that humankind would be better off without the judgment.
\n7:70. the things that pertain to the judgment Paradise and Gehenna are among the seven (or six) things that existed before the creation of the world, according to a widely attested Rabbinic tradition (see note 15, to comment on 6:4). Cf. 6:1\u20136.
\n7:72\u201373. though they had understanding, they committed iniquity Uriel presents an alternative view of the mind: not as consciousness (of death or future judgment), but as conscience. He speaks generally of \u201cthose who live on earth\u201d being given \u201cthe commandments\u201d and \u201cthe law,\u201d by which he seems to mean a general sense of right and wrong. Because God has given humankind this moral sense, they will have to answer to him in the judgment. A striking parallel is 2 Bar. 15:5\u20136.
\n7:74. because of the times that he has foreordained The meaning of this verse is unclear, but it seems to say that the span of God\u2019s patience has less to do with his mercy toward humankind than with the foreordained time of the judgment.
\n7:75\u201376. show this also to your servant \u2026 whether we shall be tormented at once Ezra wonders if there is any form of recompense immediately after death, or only at the final judgment. His question introduces a lengthy prediction about what happens to souls after death.
\n7:77. a treasure of works In response to Ezra\u2019s including himself among those who will be \u201ctormented,\u201d Uriel assures Ezra that his righteous deeds are \u201cstored up\u201d in heaven (cf. 4 Ezra 8:33) and they will be revealed in the judgment (cf. 7:35). Elsewhere in the book people are said to have \u201ctreasures of faith\u201d (6:5) or to be saved on account of either works or faith (9:7).
\n7:78. as the spirit leaves the body Elsewhere in 4 Ezra, the \u201csoul\u201d (Latin anima) is the part of the person that survives after death, but here the word \u201cspirit\u201d (Latin inspiratio) was chosen, probably because the verse alludes to Eccles. 12:7, which uses the word ruah (breath or spirit; NJPS here has \u201clifebreath\u201d).
\nfirst of all it adores the glory of the Most High Even the spirit of an unrighteous person, as the next verse makes clear.
\n7:80. habitations The chambers where the souls rest until the final judgment (cf. 4 Ezra 4:35, 4:41; 7:32). See also the comment on 7:121.
\nwander about in torments In contrast to the righteous souls, which \u201chave rest in seven orders\u201d (7:91). Cf. the contrast between the \u201cpit of torment\u201d and the \u201cplace of rest\u201d in the description of the final judgment (7:36). The torments suffered by the unrighteous immediately after death are mainly anticipation of the punishment that awaits them after the judgment and regret that they did not repent while they were alive.
\nin seven ways Described in 7:81\u201387, these \u201cways\u201d consist of the unrighteous souls\u2019 gradual realization of their guilt and its consequences, including their exclusion from the rewards in store for the righteous. They culminate in the overwhelming shame and fear that the unrighteous feel in the presence of the Most High, knowing that they will have to come before him again in the final judgment.
\n7:88. they shall be separated from their mortal body Literally, \u201cfrom their mortal vessel,\u201d implying that the soul is the real person and the body its container. Nevertheless, there is no denigration of the body anywhere in 4 Ezra, and the resurrection of the body will precede the judgment (7:32).
\n7:89. so that they might keep the law of the Lawgiver perfectly It is not clear whether perfect obedience to the Law is a requirement for salvation, or simply the aim of the righteous. In any case, the verse acknowledges the difficulty of keeping \u201cthe ways of the Most High\u201d (7:88).
\n7:91. they shall see with great joy Their joy in the presence of God\u2019s glory is described fully in 7:98.
\nseven orders Some scholars have connected the seven \u201corders\u201d to the notion of an ascent through seven heavens, but there is little indication of an ascent or progression in 7:92\u201398, apart from the seventh order being the greatest.
\n7:92. the evil thought The \u201cevil heart\u201d (see the comment on 3:20\u201322).
\n7:97. like the light of the stars Cf. 7:125. The probable source of this image is Dan. 12:3, but elsewhere it is associated with fellowship with the angels, a form of afterlife not otherwise mentioned in 4 Ezra. Cf. 2 Bar. 51:10; 1 En. 104:1\u20135; 4 Macc. 17:5; 1Q28b iv 21\u201327.
\n7:101. for seven days It appears that Ezra\u2019s question in 7:100 (\u201cWill time therefore be given to the souls?\u201d) is about how long the period between death and being gathered into \u201chabitations\u201d will last. The answer may be related to the ancient custom of shivah (the first seven days of mourning).
\n7:104\u20135 Uriel uses a series of analogies to deny the possibility of intercession (prayer on behalf of others) in the judgment; all will be judged on their individual merits. For the same view, see 2 En. J.53:1; a counterexample is in T. Ab. A.14, where Abraham intercedes for a soul whose good and evil deeds are perfectly balanced, and the soul is saved.
\n7:106\u201310. How then do we find Ezra counters with nine specific biblical examples of successful intercession. His example involving Abraham is drawn from Gen. 18:23\u201333; Moses, from Exod. 32:11\u201314; Joshua, from Josh. 7:6\u20139; Samuel, from 1 Sam. 7:8\u20139; David, from 2 Sam. 24:17\u201325; Solomon, from 1 Kings 8:22\u201353; Elijah, from 1 Kings 17:21\u201323 (\u201cfor the one who was dead\u201d) and 18:36\u201338 (\u201cfor those who received the rain\u201d); and Hezekiah, 2 Kings 19:15\u201319; Isa. 37:16\u201320.
\n7:111. corruption has increased and unrighteousness has multiplied Ezra is referring to the present state of the world (cf. 4 Ezra 7:12), not to the increase in unrighteousness at the end of the age (cf. 5:2). His argument seems to be that if intercession is effective in this corrupt world, how much more so when corruption has been overcome (cf. 6:28).
\n7:112\u201315. This present world is not the end Uriel counters that it is because of the corruption of the present world that \u201cthe strong\u201d (i.e., the righteous) are allowed to pray for \u201cthe weak\u201d (the unrighteous), but in the world to come, nothing corrupt will remain. Therefore it would be pointless to pray for sinners on the day of judgment (cf. 7:33).
\n7:116. if the earth had not produced Adam Ezra recalls his point in 7:62\u201363, personifying the earth more fully by implying that it could have kept Adam from sinning. Although Ezra seems to blame the earth, his underlying complaint is against God, who created Adam out of the dust (3:4\u20135) and did not remove the evil heart from his descendants (3:20).
\n7:118. the fall was not yours alone A better translation would be \u201cthe misfortune was not yours alone,\u201d referring to the consequence of Adam\u2019s sin, death (cf. 3:7). This verse does not provide a Jewish parallel for the Christian doctrine of the Fall, which includes the belief that Adam\u2019s transgression was the cause of human sinfulness.
\n7:119. what good is it to us From this verse through 7:126, Ezra questions the value of Uriel\u2019s promises concerning the rewards of righteousness, showing that he still believes that no one (or almost no one) is righteous (cf. 7:46\u201348, 67\u201368).
\n7:121. safe and healthful habitations The chambers where the righteous souls will await the resurrection; cf. 7:85, 7:95.
\n7:122. the glory of the Most High Cf. the reactions of the unrighteous (7:87) and the righteous (7:98) to seeing the glory of the Most High.
\n7:123. paradise shall be revealed Cf. 7:36 and 8:52.
\n7:125. faces \u2026 shall shine more than the stars See the comment on 7:97.
\n7:126. while we lived and committed iniquity Ezra still counts himself among the unrighteous.
\n7:127\u201328. the contest that all who are born on earth shall wage This is Uriel\u2019s clearest statement that all people will be judged individually on their adherence to the divine Law (cf. 7:20\u201324, 72\u201373). The athletic contest is a common metaphor for moral struggle (cf. Wis. 4:2; 10:12; 4 Macc. 17:11\u201316; 1 Cor. 9:24\u201327; 2 Tim. 4:7\u20138).
\n7:129. Choose life for yourself Cf. Deut. 30:19\u201320.
\n7:130. or even myself who have spoken to them Uriel is speaking for God, probably referring to the tradition that Israel heard God\u2019s own voice speak the Decalogue (Deut. 5:19\u201324).
\n7:132. the Most High is now called merciful This verse begins a midrash on Exod. 34:6\u20137 (\u201cmerciful\u201d = \u201ccompassionate\u201d in Exod. 34:6). These verses are often cited in texts of the Second Temple period. In Rabbinic literature, these verses come to be known as the 13 middot (divine attributes).
\n7:133. gracious toward those who turn in repentance Cf. Deut. 4:30\u201331; 2 Chron. 30:9.
\n7:134. patient That is, \u201cslow to anger\u201d (Exod. 34:6).
\n7:135. bountiful This verse through 7:137 expand upon \u201cabounding in kindness and faithfulness\u201d (Exod. 34:6).
\n7:136. those now living and to those who are gone and to those yet to come By extending God\u2019s compassion to the dead and those not yet born, Ezra implies it should be operative in the final judgment; see the comment on 5:42.
\n7:137. the world \u2026 would not have life For the idea that the world could not survive without God\u2019s attribute of mercy, see Gen. Rab. 12:15.
\n7:138. the giver This apparently corresponds to \u201cextending kindness\u201d (Exod. 34:7).
\nnot one ten-thousandth This may be connected to \u201cto the thousandth generation\u201d (Exod. 34:7).
\n7:139\u201340. if he did not \u2026 blot out the multitude of their sins These verses apparently correspond to \u201cforgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin\u201d (Exod. 34:7), but by connecting these attributes to the epithet \u201cjudge,\u201d Ezra implies that God should also show forgiveness in the final judgment. Ezra conveniently ignores the remainder of Exod. 34:7 (\u201cyet He does not remit all punishment\u201d).
\n8:1. the world to come for the sake of only a few Despite his insistence on human free will (4 Ezra 7:127\u201331), Uriel implies that the salvation of \u201conly a few\u201d (8:3) was part of the divine plan of creation.
\n8:2. when you ask the earth Uriel recalls his analogy in 7:54\u201357.
\n8:4. drink your fill of understanding Ezra briefly addresses his own soul; the speech that begins in this verse makes extensive use of vocabulary and themes from the Wisdom Literature of the Bible; cf. especially Job 10 and 14.
\n8:5. not of your own will Cf. 2 Bar. 48:12, 15; M. Avot 4:22.
\n8:6. a seed for our heart The agricultural imagery recalls 4 Ezra 3:20\u201322 and 4:30\u201332; cf. 9:31.
\nevery mortal who bears the likeness of a human being \u201cA human being\u201d is probably based on a mistranslation of adam, which here should be the proper name Adam.
\n8:7. as you have declared Ezra probably means that Scripture (as the word of God) declares that human beings are \u201ca work of God\u2019s hands\u201d (see, e.g., Gen. 2:7; Isa. 64:7; cf. Ps. 8:6; Job 10:8\u20139).
\n8:8. you give life \u2026 furnish it with members Cf. Ps. 139:13; Job 10:10\u201312.
\nfire and water Two of the four elements out of which the both the human body and the universe were made, according to Philo (Creation 51), who was drawing on Plato\u2019s Timaeus (see especially Tim. 73e).
\n8:9. that which keeps The womb; while \u201cthat which is kept\u201d is the fetus.
\n8:11\u201312. afterward you will still guide it in your mercy After a child is weaned, God continues to nurture him or her through instruction in the Torah. (For a similar comparison of divine instruction to nursing, cf. 1QH 17:29\u201336.)
\n8:13. make it live as your work This verse refers not to resurrection but to God\u2019s power over physical life and death (cf. Deut. 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6).
\n8:14. to what purpose was it made? Cf. Job 10:8\u20139.
\n8:15\u201316. I will speak about your people Although the third dialogue has focused on questions pertaining to \u201call humankind,\u201d Ezra acknowledges that his primary concern is with Israel.
\n8:17. the failings of us who inhabit the earth Nevertheless, he places his prayer for Israel in the context of the universal problem of human sinfulness (cf. 4 Ezra 8:34\u201335).
\n8:19b. The beginning of the words of Ezra\u2019s prayer, before he was taken up Although this heading is presumably secondary, it exists in some form in all of the versions. The Latin version of this penitential prayer (8:20\u201336) found its way into a number of medieval Christian prayer books. Ezra is \u201ctaken up\u201d to heaven at the end of the book (cf. 14:9, 48).
\n8:20. whose eyes are exalted Text uncertain. Some versions have \u201cwhose heavens are exalted.\u201d
\n8:21. before whom the hosts of angels stand trembling The heavenly throne of God is often described as surrounded by angels (cf. 1 Kings 22:19; Isa. 6:1\u20132; Dan. 7:9\u201310; Rev. 7:11).
\n8:22. they are changed to wind and fire This is probably based on Ps. 104:4, \u201cHe makes the winds His messengers, fiery flames His servants,\u201d which is interpreted to refer to angels in Pirke R. El. 4.
\n8:23. whose look dries up the depths and \u2026 makes the mountains melt away The imagery of this verse recalls divine warrior theophanies (see the comment on 4 Ezra 6:15\u201316; cf. also Isa. 51:10; Mic. 1:4). Cf. the effects of the messiah\u2019s appearing in 4 Ezra 13:3\u20134.
\n8:27. kept your covenants amid afflictions Cf. 7:89. Ezra believes that Israel has done so better than other nations; cf. 3:32, 5:29.
\n8:29. those who have the ways of cattle That is, the ignorant; cf. 7:65\u201366 (where Ezra takes a different view of animals\u2019 lack of a mind) and Job 18:3.
\n8:31. ways that bring death \u201cDeath\u201d here means eternal punishment; cf. 4 Ezra 7:48, 7:119.
\nit is because of us sinners that you are called merciful This is the crux of Ezra\u2019s argument, which is spelled out in 8:32\u201336.
\n8:33. many works laid up with you Cf. 8:36, and see the comment on 7:77.
\n8:37\u201340. Some things you have spoken rightly Only in 8:28 does Ezra say anything that could be construed as agreeing with Uriel\u2019s declaration in 8:38\u201339. Uriel ignores the emotional content of Ezra\u2019s appeal, but acknowledges the point that God is the author of human life by using the words \u201cfashioning\u201d (8:38) and \u201ccreation\u201d (8:39); cf. 8:8.
\n8:41. just as the farmer sows many seeds Uriel uses another analogy drawn from nature to justify the loss of many souls in the judgment; cf. 8:1\u20133.
\n8:44. have you also made them like the farmer\u2019s seed? For the first time, Ezra challenges one of Uriel\u2019s analogies. Human beings are not comparable to seeds, he argues, because they are \u201cformed by your hands\u201d (cf. 3:5, 8:7 and Gen. 2:7) and \u201care called your own image\u201d (cf. Gen. 1:26\u201327), and because the rest of creation was made for their sake (cf. 4 Ezra 6:55).
\n8:45. But spare your people and have mercy on your inheritance Ezra is trying to change the subject from all humankind to Israel (as in 8:15\u201316), but without abandoning the argument that God should have mercy on his own creation.
\n8:46. things that are future are for those who will live hereafter Uriel reminds Ezra that the \u201cinheritance\u201d of God\u2019s people (defined as those who keep his commandments) is in the world to come; cf. 7:10\u201316, 88\u201398.
\n8:47\u201348. But you have often compared yourself to the unrighteous \u2026 even in this respect you will be praiseworthy Even as Uriel reproaches Ezra for underestimating God\u2019s love for his people (cf. 5:33, 5:40), he praises him for his humility in identifying with the unrighteous (although Uriel informed him in 7:76\u201377 that he is among the righteous few).
\n8:51. inquire concerning the glory of those who are like yourself \u201cGlory\u201d refers to eschatological rewards; cf. 7:95, 8:49.
\n8:52. it is for you that paradise is opened According to 6:2, the divine plan for the judgment was made \u201cbefore the foundations of paradise were laid;\u201d cf. 7:36, 123. Thus begins a list, in no particular order, of rewards awaiting the righteous.
\nthe tree of life is planted Cf. Gen. 3:22; the tree of life is associated with eschatological reward in many apocalyptic works (see, e.g., 1 En. 25:4\u20136; 2 En. 8:3; T. Levi 18:11 and Rev. 2:7). Mentioned explicitly only here, the tree of life is probably implied by the phrase \u201cfruit of immortality\u201d in 4 Ezra 7:13; cf. 7:123.
\na city is built See the comment on 7:26.
\nwisdom perfected beforehand Wisdom, created before all else according to Prov. 8:22, will be granted to the righteous at the end-time, according to 1 En. 5:8; cf. 1 En. 32:3\u20136.
\n8:53. the root of evil The evil heart; cf. 4 Ezra 3:22; 4:30. This verse and the next describe the reversal of the consequences of Adam\u2019s transgression; cf. 3:7, 7:11\u201312, and 2 Bar. 56:6.
\n8:56. when they had the opportunity to choose While acknowledging the existence of the \u201cevil heart,\u201d Uriel insists throughout that human beings are free to choose the good (see 4 Ezra 7:21\u201324, 72, 127\u201329; 9:10\u201312).
\n8:58. there is no God See the comment on 7:23.
\n8:59\u201360. the Most High did not intend that anyone should be destroyed Although Uriel earlier implied that the destruction of many is part of the divine plan (8:1\u20133), or inevitable (8:41), he now emphasizes that human beings are entirely responsible for their own fate.
\n8:61. Therefore my judgment is now drawing near Uriel speaks for God; the point is not that the judgment is imminent, but that its time is already set. This statement leads Ezra to ask again about when the \u201csigns\u201d of the end will occur (8:63).
\n8:62. only to you and a few like you Later in the book, Ezra is told to share the secrets he has learned only with \u201cthe wise among your people\u201d (12:37\u201338; cf. 14:26, 46).
\n9:1\u20132. when you see that some of the predicted signs have occurred Ignoring Ezra\u2019s question, Uriel reiterates that the time of the divine visitation (cf. 5:56, 6:18) will be evident from the previously mentioned \u201csigns\u201d (5:1\u201312, 6:18\u201328), which he summarizes in 9:3.
\n9:6. the times of the Most High That is, the whole scope of time from Creation to the end of the world.
\nin wonders and mighty works Although in the Bible these words generally refer to God\u2019s historical acts, here they mean the \u201cworks\u201d of creation (cf. Sir. 42:15, 17, 22; 50:22). Just as one can infer from these \u201cworks\u201d that the world was created (see the comment on 4 Ezra 6:48), one can infer its end from the \u201csigns.\u201d
\n9:7. on account of their works, or \u2026 faith The author does not make a sharp distinction between works and faith; see the comment on 7:77.
\n9:8. my salvation in my land The survivors of the \u201csigns\u201d will enjoy the Messianic Age within the Land of Israel; cf. 7:26\u201327, 12:34, 13:48\u201350. For the Land of Israel being \u201csanctified \u2026 from the beginning,\u201d cf. 5:24.
\n9:9. those who have now abused my ways shall be amazed Either by the \u201csigns,\u201d which will destroy them, or by the judgment.
\n9:11. while they still had freedom Cf. 7:81\u201382, and see the comment on 8:56.
\n9:13. do not continue to be curious Cf. 8:55. Uriel is determined to turn Ezra\u2019s attention away from the fate of the unrighteous.
\nfor whose sake the age was made The age (or world) to come; cf. 8:1.
\n9:15\u201316. there are more who perish than those who will be saved Some scholars read these verses as an indication that Ezra has accepted Uriel\u2019s point that only a few can be saved. Others interpret \u201cI said before, and I say now, and will say it again\u201d as a refusal to give up his concern with the unrighteous (cf. 9:13) and an indication that his feelings have not changed since 7:46\u201348.
\n9:17. As is the field, so is the seed A series of proverbs expressing the idea that results depend on materials and effort; cf. 7:25.
\n9:18. no one opposed me then Uriel speaks for God; cf. 6:1\u20136.
\n9:19. those who have been created \u2026 have become corrupt in their ways Still speaking for God, Uriel insists that human beings are entirely responsible for the corruption of the present world.
\n9:21\u201322. I saw and spared some with great difficulty \u2026 with much labor have I perfected them This is the first time Uriel hints that divine initiative plays a role in salvation; previously he had insisted that it all depends on human choice (e.g., 7:127\u201329). The imagery suggests the prophetic theme of God\u2019s sparing a remnant of Israel\u2014cf. Isa. 60:21 (Israel is the shoot that God planted); 65:8 (Israel is a grape cluster);\u2014but here it probably pertains to the survivors of the messianic woes.
\n9:23\u201325. do not fast The change from the complete fasting that preceded each of the three dialogues (cf. 6:35) to a diet of flowers hints that the next episode will have a different character from the previous three.
\n9:27. my heart was troubled again as it was before Cf. 3:1\u20133, 5:21, 6:36\u201337. Like the dialogues, the fourth episode begins with a monologue, but it is not as clearly a lament.
\n9:29. the untrodden and unfruitful wilderness Refers to Sinai. Cf. Jer. 2:6.
\n9:30\u201331. Hear me, O Israel \u2026 For I sow my law in you The content of this false quotation does not have a close parallel in the Bible (though the style is Deuteronomic), but it echoes 3:19\u201320; cf. 8:6. Another example of a false quotation from the Bible is 14:6 (see comment there).
\n9:32. though our ancestors received the law, they did not keep it Cf. 7:72. The language of this verse and the next also recalls 7:20\u201324, reflecting Uriel\u2019s abstract, exalted view of the Torah.
\n9:34\u201337. Now this is the general rule This triple analogy resembles Uriel\u2019s arguments from nature or everyday phenomena, except that the conclusion Ezra draws is the reverse of the \u201cgeneral rule\u201d illustrated by the three examples! The analogy is so obviously flawed that it appears to be a parody of Uriel\u2019s mode of argumentation.
\n36. we who have received the law and sinned will perish\u201cWe\u201d here refers to Israel (9:32; cf. 3:19); Ezra does not accept Uriel\u2019s view that the Torah is \u201cset before\u201d all people (7:20\u201321).
\n37. the law, however, does not perish According to Bar. 4:1, the Torah \u201cendures forever\u201d (cf. Wis. 18:4, 2 Bar. 77:15). Ezra is using \u201cthe law\u201d in a very abstract sense here, since according to 14:21, \u201cyour law has been burned\u201d (cf. 4:23), i.e., the physical texts of the Scriptures have been destroyed.
\n9:38. her clothes were torn, and there were ashes on her head Outward signs of mourning (cf. 2 Sam. 13:19; Esther 4:1; 1 Macc. 4:39).
\n9:39. Then I dismissed the thoughts with which I had been engaged Ezra is willing to move beyond the questions that have been troubling him, but he is not immediately able to do so; cf. 4 Ezra 10:5.
\n9:41. Let me alone Like Ezra, the woman has withdrawn from her community in grief (cf. 5:16\u201319; 10:4, 18).
\n9:43\u201344. Your servant was barren and had no child The details and the style of the woman\u2019s narrative recall 1 Sam. 1.
\n9:47. I came to take a wife for him The woman remains the only active character in the story.
\n10:1. when my son entered his wedding chamber, he fell down and died Cf. Tob. 7:11, but here there is no explanation for the tragic death of her son.
\n10:2. all of us put out our lamps A mourning ritual.
\n10:4. mourn and fast continually until I die The woman\u2019s close relationship with her son is reflected in her death wish.
\n10:5\u20136. answered her in anger Ezra\u2019s anger seems a strange reaction to the mourning woman\u2019s story. It must stem either from \u201cthe reflections with which [he] was still engaged,\u201d or from anger at his own grief, which he sees reflected in the woman.
\n10:7\u20138. Zion, the mother of us all Ironically, Ezra contrasts the woman\u2019s grief with that of Zion, unaware that she is Zion. In a shift, he then makes Zion, \u201cour mother,\u201d the object of mourning by \u201cthe whole world.\u201d Cf. the conflation of Israel and humankind in 4 Ezra 6:54\u201355.
\n10:9. Now ask the earth The phrase \u201cour mother\u201d apparently prompts Ezra to change the subject again, to the mourning of the earth. In 4 Ezra, the earth is often presented as the mother of humankind (e.g., 5:50, 7:116). The phrase \u201cthe mother of all\u201d is used of the earth in Sir. 40:1 (cf. Gen. 3:20, where it refers to Eve).
\n10:10. almost all go to perdition Ezra is still mourning the loss of the majority of humanity in the judgment (cf. 7:48, 9:15\u201316).
\n10:12\u201313. My lamentation is not like the earth\u2019s Ezra anticipates the woman\u2019s objection that the earth is not a real mother, since it does not experience the pain of childbirth (cf. Gen 3:16), and that the passing of the generations of humankind (cf. Eccles. 1:4) is simply \u201cthe way of the earth.\u201d Cf. the expression \u201cgo the way of all the earth,\u201d meaning to die, in Josh. 23:14; 1 Kings 2:2.
\n10:14. the earth also has \u2026 given her fruit \u2026 to him who made her If the earth is the mother of humankind, God is their father. Cf. 4 Ezra 3:4\u20135, and see the comment on 7:116.
\n10:16. you will receive your son back in due time Ezra may mean in the resurrection, but his words may have another meaning, as yet unknown to him. If the woman\u2019s son represents the earthly Jerusalem (see comment on 10:47\u201348), Ezra\u2019s words may refer to the restoration of Jerusalem in the Messianic Age (cf. 7:26). Ezra\u2019s urging the woman to \u201cacknowledge the decree of God to be just\u201d is also ironic, but in a different way, since he has not yet accepted as just either the destruction of Zion or the loss of the majority of humankind in the judgment.
\n10:18. I will not do so Ezra\u2019s words have had no effect; cf. 10:4.
\n10:20. be consoled because of the sorrow of Jerusalem In the ancient world, consolation was an intellectual process of coming to terms with one\u2019s own sorrow by putting it in the perspective of larger problems.
\n10:21\u201323. our sanctuary has been laid waste The destruction of the Temple, which is not otherwise a major theme in 4 Ezra, is the focus of this lament.
\nour harp has been laid low Music was an important part of the Temple service.
\nthe ark of our covenant The box containing the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, which was lost in the destruction of the First Temple.
\nthe seal of Zion Meaning uncertain; probably another way of referring to the Temple, since a seal is an identifying mark.
\n10:24. so that the Mighty One may be merciful to you again Cf. 4 Ezra 9:45. Ezra\u2019s trust in divine mercy is consistent with his arguments in the dialogues.
\n10:25. her face suddenly began to shine exceedingly Before she is transformed into a city, the woman\u2019s shining face reveals that she is a heavenly entity (cf. 7:97, 125; Dan. 10:6; 12:3; Rev. 1:16; 2 En. 1:5; 19:1).
\n10:26. the earth shook Cf. 4 Ezra 3:18 and the comment on 6:15\u201316. The appearance of the heavenly Zion on earth is comparable to a theophany.
\n10:27. a city was being built The city of the Messianic Age will be the heavenly Zion on earth (see 6:4; 7:6, 26; 8:52; 13:36; cf. Rev. 21:2).
\n10:28. Where is the angel Uriel In his fear, Ezra blames Uriel for his \u201coverpowering bewilderment,\u201d even as he calls for the angel\u2019s help (cf. 4 Ezra 10:32).
\n10:30. lying there like a corpse, deprived of my understanding This symbolic death marks the turning point of the gradual transformation that Ezra undergoes in response to the visions (see Guide to Reading).
\n10:32. what I have seen and can still see The city was not a passing vision; Uriel later tells Ezra to enter and explore it (10:55).
\n10:34\u201337. Speak, my lord \u2026 so that I may not die before my time Ezra is afraid he will die unless Uriel explains the vision to him. Cf. 10:30, and see also 4:12, where he claims that nonexistence is preferable to not understanding.
\n10:38\u201339. the Most High has revealed many secrets to you. He has seen your righteous conduct Uriel reassures Ezra by reminding him of his worthiness to receive revelation (cf., e.g., 6:32, 7:76\u201377). For the first time, he commends him for mourning over Zion, which marks a significant shift in Uriel\u2019s attitude toward Ezra. See also the comment on 13:54\u201355.
\n10:41\u201344. The woman who appeared to you a little while ago \u2026 is Zion That is, the heavenly Zion (see the comment on 6:4). The roundabout way in which Uriel identifies the woman introduces the idea that Ezra\u2019s dialogue with her was part of the vision and requires interpretation.
\n10:45. three thousand years \u2026 before any offering was offered in it This verse suggests that the Temple was built 3,000 years after Creation (which is the midpoint between Creation and the end of the world, if a 6000-year age is assumed in 14:11\u201312 and 14:48. See the comment on 14:49\u201350). The explanation of 30 years as 3,000 years is similar to the interpretation of Jeremiah\u2019s 70 years of exile (Jer. 25:11\u201312) to mean \u201cSeventy weeks of years\u201d (i.e., 490 years) in Dan. 9:24\u201327.
\n10:46. Solomon built the city In 3:23\u201324, Ezra says King David built Jerusalem. In the Bible (1 Kings 6\u20138), King Solomon built the Temple, not the city of Jerusalem. In fact, both kings added to an existing city that David had conquered (2 Sam. 5:6\u20139).
\n10:47\u201348. the period of residence in Jerusalem This verse and the next make clear that the woman\u2019s son represents the earthly Jerusalem, not only the Temple.
\n10:49. her likeness The mourning woman was only a \u201clikeness\u201d of Zion.
\n10:50. the brilliance of her glory The actual appearance of the heavenly Zion; cf. Sib. Or. 5:420\u201328. 10:53\u201354. I told you to go \u2026 where there was no foundation of any building, because no work of human construction could endure See the comment on 4 Ezra 10:27.
\n10:55. as far as it is possible for your eyes to see it Although Ezra is permitted to take a closer look at the heavenly city, his human limitations will prevent him from perceiving it fully (cf. 4:21). Similarly, the reader is not told what Ezra saw in the city.
\n10:57. you have been called to be with the Most High Cf. 14:9, 48. Some versions read \u201cyou have been named by the Most High,\u201d meaning that Ezra was chosen by God (cf. 5:26).
\n10:59. in those dream visions The next two episodes, unlike the first four, are designated dreams (see the comment on 5:14).
\n11:1. I had a dream This vision is based on Dan. 7 (the only one of Daniel\u2019s visions that is called a dream), as Uriel\u2019s interpretation in 12:11 confirms.
\nrising from the sea Cf. Dan. 7:3. In the Bible and in Canaanite mythology, the sea often represents chaos or opposition to God (see, e.g., Isa. 17:12\u201313; Ps. 74:13; Job 7:12). It is not clear that the author was aware of this symbolic meaning, however; cf. 4 Ezra 13:2\u20133, 51\u201352.
\nan eagle that had twelve feathered wings and three heads The eagle was a symbol of Roman military power, appearing on their battle standards. This eagle is monstrous, like the four beasts in Dan. 7.
\n11:2. I saw it spread its wings over the whole earth Roman rule extended all over the world known to the author (cf. 4 Ezra 11:5\u20136).
\nthe winds of heaven Cf. Dan. 7:2.
\n11:3\u20134. out of its wings there grew opposing wings \u2026 its heads were at rest The wings, opposing wings, and heads of the eagle represent individual Roman rulers.
\n11:7\u20139. it uttered a cry to its wings, saying The eagle\u2019s address to its wings provides a transition from a static description of the eagle (4 Ezra 11:1\u20136) to a dynamic narrative symbolizing historical events.
\n11:9. but let the heads be reserved for the last The lion that represents the messiah (11:37) arrives to judge the eagle during the reign of the last head.
\n11:10. the voice did not come from its heads The speaker is the Roman Empire, not any particular emperor.
\n11:11. I counted its rival wings The \u201copposing wings\u201d of 11:3. Some scholars identify this verse, which seems out of place, as part of a later reworking of the vision.
\n11:12\u201335. As I watched, one wing \u2026 rose up, and it reigned over all the earth In these verses, the narrative relates symbolically the succession of Roman emperors, from Julius Caesar (whom the author considered an emperor) to Domitian. There are more wings, little wings, and heads than there were emperors during that period, making exact identifications difficult in most cases.
\n11:17. After you no one shall rule as long as you have ruled The identification of the first wing as Caesar is based on this information about the second wing, which must represent Augustus (ruled 27 BCE\u201314 CE).
\n11:19. And so it went with all the wings This verse seems to conclude the description of the succession of the major wings. Some scholars think the 12 major wings should be counted in pairs, representing the six Julio-Claudians: Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Others believe the six rulers and usurpers of the period 68\u201369 CE (see the comment on 11:25\u201328) should be identified with the other 6 wings.
\n11:20\u201321. the wings that followed Some versions read \u201cthe little wings.\u201d If that is the original reading, these verses anticipate the narrative of the actions of the \u201clittle wings\u201d in 11:24\u201328. The \u201clittle wings\u201d are equivalent to the \u201copposing\u201d (11:3) or \u201crival\u201d (11:11) wings.
\n11:22. the twelve wings and the two little wings had disappeared The reference to \u201cthe two little wings\u201d seems out of place, since the first time two little wings are mentioned is 11:24.
\n11:24. I saw that two little wings separated from the six These are the two little wings that will rise up after the disappearance of the third head (see the comment on 12:2).
\n11:25\u201328. these little wings planned to set themselves up and hold the rule These verses possibly describe the turbulent period from 68 to 69 CE, during which there were three unsuccessful usurpers (Vindex, Nymphidius, and Piso) and three short-lived emperors (Galba, Otho, and Vitellius). The present form of these verses refers to two emperors and two usurpers; this may be due to the author\u2019s imperfect historical knowledge or to subsequent modifications of the vision. Alternatively, the little wings may represent lesser authorities, not emperors (see the comment on 11:19).
\n11:29\u201332. one of the heads \u2026 suddenly awoke The three heads almost certainly represent the Flavian dynasty: Vespasian (reigned 69\u201379 CE), and his sons Titus (79\u201381) and Domitian (81\u201396). The head in the middle, Vespasian, is described as the most powerful and oppressive emperor because he was primarily responsible for suppressing the Judean revolt of 66\u201370 CE. He left Titus in charge of the siege of Jerusalem when he was made emperor by the Senate.
\n11:31. devoured the two little wings that were planning to reign This does not correspond to any known event, but the author may have believed that Vespasian played a role in the violence of 68\u201369 CE (cf. Suetonius, Vesp. 5.1).
\n11:35. I saw the head on the right side devour the one on the left Domitian was rumored to have plotted his brother Titus\u2019s death (Suetonius, Dom. 2.3).
\n11:37. I saw what seemed to be a lion The lion with a human voice symbolizes the messiah (4 Ezra 12:31\u201334); the symbol was probably chosen to indicate his Judahite descent (cf. Gen. 49:9\u201310).
\n11:39. the four beasts that I made to reign Cf. Dan. 7:3\u20137. That God appoints human rulers was a common belief in ancient times (cf. Isa. 45:1; Dan. 2:37\u201338; Wis. 6:1\u20133).
\n11:40. You, the fourth that has come In Dan. 7, the fourth beast is the Hellenistic Empire, but here it is identified as the Roman Empire.
\n11:41\u201342. You have judged the earth, but not with truth Rampant deceit and violence against the innocent are signs of the approaching end-time, which the lion announces in 11:44 (cf. 5:1\u20132, 9\u201310; 6:28).
\n11:46. may hope for the judgment and mercy of him who made it Judgment on the oppressors and mercy toward the \u201csurvivors.\u201d See the comments on 12:33 and 12:34.
\n12:2. the remaining head had disappeared Since the lion appears during the reign of the third head, it seems likely that the author of the vision expected the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Messianic Age to come during the reign of Domitian (see the comment on 11:29\u201332, and cf. 12:23\u201325). After Domitian died (96 CE) and was succeeded by Nerva and, two years later, by Trajan, the author (or a later editor) may have added the verses about the two little wings that reigned after the heads (11:24; 12:2\u20133, 29\u201330). If so, the vision must have been revised early in Trajan\u2019s long reign (98\u2013117), in the expectation that he would be a short-lived emperor like his predecessor.
\n12:3a. the earth was exceedingly terrified This may refer literally to the earth, since in 6:15\u201316, the personified earth is aware of the significance of the \u201csigns\u201d of the end. Alternatively, it may mean that all people will be terrified by the destruction of the Roman Empire.
\n12:4. You have brought this upon me Instead of blaming Uriel for his perplexity (cf. 10:28), Ezra now blames his own determination to \u201csearch out the ways of the Most High\u201d (cf. 5:34).
\n12:7\u20139. if I have been accounted righteous before you beyond many others Ezra finally concedes that he may be exceptionally righteous, and therefore worthy to receive revelation (see the comment on 10:38\u201339; also the comment on 13:54\u201355).
\n12:11\u201312. the fourth kingdom that appeared in a vision to your brother Daniel In the fictional context, \u201cbrother\u201d means a fellow Israelite living in the Babylonian exile. These verses show that the author of 4 Ezra recognizes an affinity between his work and the book of Daniel.
\n12:14. twelve kings shall reign in it Although 12 is the number of wings (not including the little wings or heads) in 4 Ezra 12:16, it is worth noting that there were actually 12 rulers from Caesar to Domitian.
\n12:18. great struggles shall arise This seems to be a reference to the period of 68\u201369 CE, which is associated with the \u201clittle wings\u201d (see the comment on 11:25\u201328).
\n12:21. two of them shall perish when the middle of its time draws near This apparently refers to the two \u201clittle wings\u201d mentioned in 11:22, but there is a discrepancy between the interpretation and the vision regarding the times when the little wings arose. In 11:24\u201328, the narrative about four of the little wings follows immediately after the notice that the first two had disappeared (11:22).
\n12:24\u201325. the heads of the eagle \u2026 who shall sum up his wickedness The word play that ties these verses together has been lost in the English translation: \u201cheads\u201d is capita in Latin, and \u201cshall sum up\u201d is recapitulabunt. In the original Hebrew, the pun was probably based on rashim (heads) and reshit (beginning, as in \u201cthey were the beginning of his wickedness\u201d), or possibly rashim and resha (wickedness).
\nperform his last actions Another indication that in the original form of the vision, the destruction of the eagle came during the reign of the third head (see the comment on 12:2).
\n12:26. one of the kings shall die in his bed, but in agonies Vespasian did in fact die of natural causes\u2014in agonies caused by diarrhea, according to Suetonius (Vesp. 24).
\n12:28. but he also shall fall by the sword Domitian did not in fact have Titus killed, as was rumored, but he himself was assassinated in a palace conspiracy (Suetonius, Dom. 14\u201317).
\n12:29\u201330. As for \u2026 two little wings \u2026 It is these whom the Most High has kept for the eagle\u2019s end Cf. 4 Ezra 11:24; 12:21; see the comment on 12:2.
\n12:32. this is the messiah The title \u201cmessiah\u201d is used only here and in 7:28\u201329, and his Davidic lineage is mentioned explicitly only here. In the author\u2019s mind, being from the line of David is not incompatible with being preexistent (\u201cwhom the Most High has kept until the end of days\u201d) and superhuman, as he appears in the vision of the Man (cf. the Davidic but superhuman king in Isaiah 11:1\u20135).
\n12:33. he will bring them alive before his judgment seat In both this episode and the next, the messiah\u2019s function is primarily judicial (cf. 13:37\u201338). The antecedent of \u201cthem\u201d is not specified here, but presumably it is all of the Roman oppressors (in contrast to 2 Bar. 40:1\u20132, where only the emperor is judged).
\n12:34. the remnant of my people The survivors of the messianic woes (see the comment on 6:25).
\nhe will make them joyful until the end comes Cf. 7:28; 13:50. Nowhere in the book is the messiah said to reign.
\n12:37\u201338. write all these things that you have seen in a book The secret nature of the revelations to Ezra has already been mentioned (8:62; 10:38), but this is the first time Ezra is told to write down these revelations and to share them with \u201cthe wise\u201d (cf. 14:13, 26, 46).
\n12:40. the seven days were past and I had not returned to the city The last time Ezra had contact with his community in exile, he asked Phaltiel to leave him alone for 7 days (5:19), but the people wait considerably longer before coming to him. With the exception of Phaltiel\u2019s visit, Ezra has been isolated for 30 days at this point, the last 9 outside the city, in the field called Ardat (9:26).
\n12:41. you have forsaken us Cf. 5:18.
\n12:42. of all the prophets you alone are left to us Only here is Ezra identified as a prophet, but in the final episode he is implicitly compared to Moses. The three similes express different ideas: that he is the sole remnant of the prophets (cf. 9:21\u201322), that he is their spiritual leader (cf. 2 Bar. 77:13\u201317), and that he will rescue them from their distress.
\n12:44\u201345.\u2026 For we are no better than those who died there That is, no better off. The people\u2019s despair in these verses is comparable to that of Ezra in the dialogues (cf. 4 Ezra 4:12; 5:35) or that of the mourning woman (cf. 10:4, 18).
\n12:47. Take courage, O Israel Perhaps in response to being called a prophet, Ezra slips into stylized \u201cprophetic\u201d speech (cf. Isa. 41:8\u201310; Jer. 30:10; Bar. 4:21\u201322).
\n12:48. I have come to this place to pray In keeping with the instruction to keep the revelations he has received secret (4 Ezra 12:36\u201338), Ezra does not reveal the real reason he came to the field.
\n12:51. my food was of plants during those days Ezra maintains the diet that has sustained him since coming to the field, even though he was not commanded to do so.
\n13:1. I dreamed a dream in the night Like the previous vision, this one is related to Dan. 7, although it draws on other sources as well, such as Isaiah 11; Psalm 2, and probably 17.
\n13:2. a wind arose from the sea Cf. Dan. 7:2. See also the comment on 4 Ezra 11:1, rising from the sea.
\n13:3. something like the figure of a man This verse alludes to the figure called \u201cOne like a human being\u201d (literally, \u201cone like a son of man\u201d) in Dan. 7:13, who came \u201cwith the clouds of heaven.\u201d The description of the \u201cman,\u201d as he is called in the remainder of this vision, contains some elements of a divine warrior theophany (see the comment on 4 Ezra 6:15\u201316), such as everything trembling under his gaze (cf. Ps. 104:32; Hab. 3:6).
\n13:4. all who heard his voice melted The man\u2019s voice (symbolized by fire in 4 Ezra 13:10\u201311; cf. 13:37\u201338) is the only weapon he uses (see comment on 13:9\u201311).
\n13:5. an innumerable multitude \u2026 were gathered \u2026 to make war against the man The theme of a great attack on Jerusalem by enemy nations just before the redemption of Israel is widespread.
\nthe four winds of heaven The four directions of the compass.
\n13:6. he carved out for himself a great mountain Cf. Dan. 2:34\u201335.
\n13:8. all who had gathered \u2026 were filled with fear, and yet they dared to fight This verse attempts to harmonize 4 Ezra 13:4 with 13:5.
\n13:9\u201311. he neither lifted his hand nor held \u2026 any weapon of war These verses draw upon the mythology of the divine warrior, who fights not with ordinary weapons but with forces of nature or with his word (see 8:22). These powers are sometimes extended to God\u2019s anointed king (Isa. 11:4), or messiah (e.g., Pss. Sol. 17:24, 35\u201336).
\n13:12\u201313a. another multitude that was peaceable This part of the vision relates to the tradition of the ingathering of the dispersed Jews to Jerusalem, sometimes with the assistance of converted Gentiles.
\n13:14\u201315. From the beginning you have shown your servant these wonders \u2026 now show me \u2026 this dream also Beginning in the first dialogue, Uriel has shown Ezra the \u201cwonders\u201d that will be revealed to those who survive the messianic woes (cf. 4 Ezra 7:27; 13:50). Ezra seems more confident of his worthiness to receive these revelations than he did in the previous episode (cf. 12:7\u20138).
\n13:16. alas for those who will be left in those days By expressing pity for the survivors of the messianic woes, Ezra shows that he has understood the general meaning of the vision. In 13:19, he explains this exclamation: even the survivors have to live through the \u201cdangers\u201d and \u201cdistress\u201d that will precede the Messianic Age (cf. 5:1\u201313, 6:18\u201324).
\nthose who are not left Refers to those who will be alive in the last days, but will perish in the messianic woes.
\n13:17\u201318. those who are not left will be sad Ezra assumes that the rewards of the survivors will be apparent to all who are alive in the last days, just as the unrighteous will become aware of the rewards they have forfeited, both when they die (7:83) and at the final judgment (7:37\u201338).
\n13:20. Yet it is better to come into these things Now Ezra is pitying those who will not live to see the last days (cf. 5:41), because they will die in ignorance of the Messianic Age, even though he knows they will receive recompense at the time of the judgment.
\n13:21\u201324. I will also explain to you the things that you have mentioned Uriel addresses Ezra\u2019s concern first, reassuring him that the righteous will be protected during the messianic woes. This reassurance may be intended for the original audience of 4 Ezra, who the author believes are living in the last days.
\n13:26. he whom the Most High has been keeping for many ages The messiah; cf. 12:32. As an agent of the Most High, he will \u201cdeliver\u201d creation by destroying evildoers; cf. 13:27\u201329. He will \u201cdirect\u201d rather than \u201crule\u201d the survivors; see the comment on 12:34, he will make them joyful until the end comes.
\n13:27\u201328. as for your seeing wind and fire and a storm These verses recapitulate first 13:10\u201311, which are interpreted only later (13:37\u201338), and then 13:9, which is never interpreted.
\n13:29\u201332. the Most High will deliver those who are on the earth These verses attempt to harmonize the vision with the eschatology laid out in the dialogues: it is the Most High who will \u201cvisit [his] creation\u201d (cf. 5:56, 6:6) with the messianic woes, after which the messiah will be revealed (cf. 7:26\u201328). On \u201cmy Son,\u201d see the comment on 7:28\u201329.
\n13:33\u201334. when all the nations hear his voice Cf. 13:4. These verses associate the warfare among the nations that is part of the messianic woes (6:24; 9:3) with the united attack on the messiah in the vision (13:8\u201311).
\n13:35. he shall stand on the top of Mount Zion The mountain in 13:6 is identified as Zion.
\n13:36. carved out without hands This phrase (taken from Dan. 2:34, 45) is interpreted to mean that the eschatological Zion will not be built by human hands (cf. 4 Ezra 10:54), but will appear on earth, along with the messiah (cf. 7:26\u201328). See the comment on 10:27.
\n13:37\u201338. Then he \u2026 will reprove the assembled nations The destruction of the multitude in 13:10\u201311 is interpreted to include a judgment, in keeping with the judicial role of the messiah in the previous vision (cf. 12:32\u201333).
\n13:39. another multitude that was peaceable Apart from the general idea of a peaceable multitude (13:12), the legend in 13:40\u201348 is not connected to the vision.
\n13:40. the nine tribes Some versions read \u201cten tribes,\u201d others \u201cnine and a half.\u201d The reading \u201cnine and a half\u201d is most likely to be original, because it not only corresponds to a tradition in 2 Baruch (see 77:17, 19; 78:1), but also explains the textual variants. In biblical tradition, ten of the twelve tribes of Israel were \u201clost\u201d (i.e., assimilated) when the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians (see 1 Kings 11:31, 35; 2 Kings 18:9\u201312). Since part of the tribe of Levi (the Levites) survived in Judah, it could be said that only nine and a half tribes were lost.
\n13:41\u201342. they would leave the multitude of the nations \u2026 so that \u2026 they might keep their statutes This legend denies that the Northern tribes were assimilated, while explaining their disappearance.
\n13:43\u201344. at that time the Most High \u2026 stopped the channels of the river The travels of the Northern tribes conform to the pattern of the Exodus (13:43\u201344), wilderness journey (13:45), and entry into the Promised Land (13:46\u201347), with the Euphrates standing in for both the Sea of Reeds and the Jordan River.
\n13:45. that country is called Arzareth The name is perhaps a corruption of Hebrew eretz aheret, \u201canother land.\u201d
\n13:46. and now, when they are about to come again The author is speaking of his own time (\u201cthe last times\u201d), not the time in which the book is set. However, the idea that the Northern tribes will return to the Promised Land along with the exiles of Judah (restoring the ideal 12 tribes) goes back to the prophets of the Babylonian era (cf. Jer. 23:7\u20138; 30\u201331; Ezek. 37:15\u201328; 47:13\u201348:35).
\n13:48. those who are left \u2026 within my holy borders Uriel clarifies that the returning descendants of the Northern tribes are not the only ones the messiah will \u201cgather to himself\u201d (4 Ezra 13:39). They will join the \u201csurvivors\u201d of the messianic woes who are already within the borders of the holy land (cf. 9:8, 12:34).
\n13:49\u201350. he will defend the people who remain \u2026 will show them very many wonders Cf. 7:27. These verses do not explain anything in the vision, but rather provide it with a conclusion, which it lacks.
\n13:51\u201352. Why did I see the man coming up from the heart of the sea? Ezra is asking about the symbolic meaning of the sea; Uriel responds that it means the messiah will remain hidden until he comes. For the unknown depths of the sea, cf. 4:7.
\nthose who are with him Cf. 7:28, and see the comment on 6:26.
\n13:54\u201355. you have forsaken your own ways and have applied yourself to mine These verses are the culmination of the theme of Ezra\u2019s worthiness to receive revelation (cf. 6:31\u201332; 7:76\u201377; 8:47\u201349; 10:38\u201339; 12:7\u20138; 13:14). For the parallel between law (Torah) and wisdom and understanding, cf. 7:72; 8:11\u201312.
\n13:56. there is a reward laid up with the Most High Cf. 7:77; 8:33.
\n13:57\u201358. giving great glory and praise to the Most High The transformation of Ezra\u2019s attitude toward God is evident here.
\nthe wonders that he does from time to time Probably refers to both past and future divine acts; cf. 9:6.
\n14:1. On the third day Ezra has been alone and fasting or eating only plants for a total of 40 days now (see the comment on 12:40), and he fasts for an additional 40 days during this episode. The time frame contributes to the characterization of Ezra as a second Moses in this episode.
\na voice came out of a bush Cf. Exod. 3:2\u20134.
\n14:2. I answered, \u201cHere I am, LORD\u201d Cf. Exod. 3:4. Ezra speaks directly with God in this episode; Uriel is notably absent.
\n14:5. I told him many wondrous things This author is not alone in claiming that Moses received other revelations in addition to the Torah while on Mt. Sinai. Jubilees and the Apocalypse of Moses (= Greek Life of Adam and Eve) claim to be records of such revelations. Elsewhere God is said to have revealed the end-time or the whole plan of history (\u201cthe secrets of the times\u201d) to Moses. Cf. 4 Ezra 3:14.
\n14:6. These words you shall publish openly, and these you shall keep secret The former words are the Torah, and the latter, the \u201csecrets of the times\u201d (14:5). This verse is not an actual quotation from the Torah, but an invented precedent for the instructions to Ezra in 14:26, 45\u201346.
\n14:9. you shall be taken up from among humankind See the comment on 6:26. Ezra is more blessed than the survivors of the messianic woes (cf. 13:20, 24), because he knows what will happen in the last days without having to live through them.
\n14:11\u201312. the age is divided into twelve parts These verses are missing from many versions, and one version (Ethiopic) has \u201cten parts,\u201d so the translation is uncertain. The belief that history is divided into parts or \u201cperiods\u201d is found in a number of apocalyptic texts.
\n14:13. reprove your people; comfort the lowly among them, and instruct those that are wise This command is related to the distinction between public and secret revelation (14:6, 26, 45\u201346). Ezra reproves and comforts the people in his speech in 14:28\u201336 without revealing to them any of the \u201csecrets\u201d he has learned (cf. the comment on 12:48), and by restoring the Scriptures (cf. 14:22). The instruction for the wise is found in the 70 secret books (14:46\u201347).
\n14:14\u201315. put away from you mortal thoughts The remainder of God\u2019s instructions to Ezra prepare him to be taken up to heaven.
\n14:16\u201318. the weaker the world \u2026 the more shall evils be increased \u2026 the eagle \u2026 is already hurrying to come These verses relate to the messianic woes (see the comment on 5:1) that will come during the time of the Eagle (the Roman Empire). The author recognizes that the Babylonian exile is not actually close in time to the Roman Empire (cf. 14:11\u201312). God is comforting Ezra for his departure from this world by reminding him of the evils he will be spared.
\n14:20. but who will warn those who will be born hereafter Despite God\u2019s instructions (14:14\u201315), Ezra has not ceased to be concerned about the fate of humankind.
\n14:21\u201322. For your law has been burned Cf. 4:23. Here, \u201cyour law\u201d refers to all of Scripture, since the number of \u201cpublic\u201d books is 24 (14:45), the traditional number of biblical books, according to Rabbinic sources. The notion that the Scriptures were completely lost in the first destruction of Jerusalem is unparalleled in Jewish tradition, but is attested in some early Christian sources. Even though Ezra is using \u201claw\u201d in a different sense from Uriel\u2019s use of this term in the dialogues, his faith that restoring Scripture will enable people \u201cto live in the last days\u201d represents a remarkable shift from his own position in the dialogues.
\n14:23. forty days See the comment on 14:1, On the third day. This period is mentioned five times in this episode, to underscore the parallel with Moses.
\n14:24\u201325. prepare for yourself many writing tablets Although the idea of restoring Scripture comes from Ezra, God provides the plan for accomplishing it, as well as the inspiration (\u201cI will light in your heart the lamp of understanding\u201d) that makes it possible. Ezra\u2019s five scribal assistants (who do the actual writing) have biblical names, mostly found in post-exilic books.
\n14:26. some you shall deliver in secret to the wise This is the first hint that God\u2019s plan involves more than just the restoration of Scripture.
\n14:28. Hear these words, O Israel A variation on the introductory formula \u201cHear, O Israel\u201d that occurs five times in Moses\u2019s speeches in Deuteronomy, most notably at the beginning of the Shema (Deut. 6:4). Cf. 4 Ezra 9:30.
\n14:30. the law of life, which they did not keep The phrase \u201cthe law of life\u201d is found in Sir. 17:11 and 45:5 (cf. Bar. 3:9; 2 Bar. 38:2). Here it clearly means \u201cthe law that leads to eternal life,\u201d cf. 4 Ezra 7:127\u201329; 14:22. The generalization \u201cwhich they did not keep\u201d recalls Uriel\u2019s statements in 7:24, 72, 130; and Ezra\u2019s own words in 9:32.
\n14:31. the land of Zion The expression is unique, but it is consistent with the centrality of Zion in the book; cf. 3:31, 10:7.
\n14:32. he is a righteous judge Ezra\u2019s changed attitude is especially noticeable on this point, God\u2019s justice in revoking the gift of the \u201cland of Zion\u201d (contrast 3:27\u201336).
\n14:33. you are here, and your people are farther in the interior Ezra reminds his companions in exile that some of their fellow Israelites (the nine and a half tribes discussed in 13:40\u201347) are even farther from the Promised Land, because both groups failed to keep God\u2019s commandments.
\n14:34. If you, then, will rule over your minds and discipline your hearts Ezra is talking about overcoming the \u201cevil heart\u201d through Torah obedience, which he now believes is possible (contrast 3:22, 7:48).
\nand after death you shall obtain mercy On the other hand, Ezra has not given up his belief in God\u2019s mercy in judgment, which he maintained so tenaciously in the third dialogue (cf. 7:132\u201340; 8:4\u201336, 45).
\n14:35. the judgment will come, when we shall live again This should not be considered an eschatological \u201csecret,\u201d since belief in the resurrection and judgment was common in the period when 4 Ezra was written (see the comment on 7:32). Ezra seems to know exactly what Uriel means by \u201cthe time of the threshing\u201d (4:30, 39) before Uriel has revealed any \u201csecrets\u201d to him.
\n14:37. we proceeded to the field, and remained there Cf. 14:25. Ezra had returned to the city to address the people and to gather his five assistants, but the scribal activity takes place in the field where Ezra has been since the beginning of the fourth episode.
\n14:38\u201339. drink what I give you to drink Cf. Ezek. 2:8\u20133:3. Like Ezekiel\u2019s consumption of a scroll, Ezra\u2019s drinking the cup of fiery liquid is presented as a real event, although it is clearly symbolic of the onset of divine inspiration (cf. 4 Ezra 8:4; 14:22).
\n14:40\u201341. when I had drunk it, my heart poured forth understanding Ezra\u2019s experience of inspiration is described in detail, in order to explain how it was possible for him to dictate the 94 books. Note the similar terminology in 14:47.
\n14:42. using characters that they did not know This detail may be intended to emphasize that the five scribes were themselves inspired, although to a lesser extent than Ezra, since they wrote by turns and ate (and presumably slept) at night. It may also reflect the tradition that Ezra introduced the Hebrew square script. Historically speaking, the square script (which was derived from Aramaic) began to replace the old Hebrew script somewhat earlier than the time of Ezra.
\n14:43. I spoke in the daytime and was not silent at night In the context of the previous verse, this verse may be taken to imply that Ezra did not eat anything after drinking from the cup, but spoke continuously. It is not clear why he spoke at night, if the scribes wrote only during the day.
\n14:45. Make public the twenty-four books that you wrote first See the comment on 14:21\u201322. \u201cThe worthy\u201d are the wise (cf. 12:36\u201338; 14:26) and \u201cthe unworthy\u201d are \u201cthe lowly\u201d (14:13). The Jewish canon of Scripture was not completely settled at this time, but the author was apparently of the opinion that there were 24 books that all Jews should read.
\n14:46. the seventy that were written last Most scholars believe that the 70 books are apocalyptic works, including 4 Ezra itself, based on the parallel between 12:37\u201338 and these instructions. The author probably doesn\u2019t have 70 particular books in mind (in contrast to the 24 public books). The idea conveyed by the 70 books is that there is a large body of revealed knowledge outside of Scripture, which is available only to \u201cthe wise.\u201d
\n14:47. the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the river of knowledge The association of wisdom with flowing water can be found in Prov. 18:4. Cf. Ben Sira\u2019s comparison of the Torah to six rivers, overflowing with wisdom (Sir. 24:25\u201327), and the use of the phrase \u201cthe fountain of wisdom\u201d to refer to the Torah in Bar. 3:12. The implication is that wisdom is to be found in the 70 books at least as much as in the Torah.
\n14:48. And I did so. 4 Ezra ends with these words in the Latin version, which continues with the Christian apocalypse 6 Ezra.
\n14:49\u201350. In the seventh year \u2026 Most High forever and ever The translation of these verses (which are found only in a textual note in the NRSV) follows the Syriac version, but the other versions (except the Latin) have similar endings, having to do with the date of Ezra\u2019s being taken up to heaven (cf. 4 Ezra 14:9). There are two systems of dating here, the first by \u201cweeks\u201d of years (i.e., periods; see the comment on 14:11\u201312) and the second by years since Creation. It is possible that the author believed the world would last for six millennia; if so, Ezra\u2019s ascent to heaven is dated approximately a millennium before the end of the world.<\/p>\n
Testaments<\/p>\n
Testaments form a special subcategory of writings attributed to biblical figures. As the name suggests, these are deathbed speeches\u2014living wills put in the mouths of various patriarchs, who thus predict the future lives and characters of their descendants. Like other attributed writings, the Testaments may become a vehicle for connecting instructions for living through the tribulations of the writer\u2019s present with the authority of the patriarchal past.<\/p>\n
Testament of Abraham<\/p>\n
Annette Yoshiko Reed<\/p>\n
The Testament of Abraham is an expansive account of the events leading up to Abraham\u2019s death. The title identifies it as a \u201ctestament,\u201d a genre featuring deathbed speeches. Yet the text plays with the conventions of the genre. It also draws from other genres, including the Jewish Apocalypse and the Greco-Roman novel. By means of an engaging narrative, it offers a thoughtful reflection on mortality.
\nThe story begins when God sends the archangel Michael to tell Abraham of his impending death. After experiencing the patriarch\u2019s legendary hospitality, Michael finds himself unable to carry out the task. God thus sends a dream to Isaac, so that Abraham has time to settle his affairs. Abraham, however, forestalls dying. He asks to see all of God\u2019s creation. After this vision, he promises he will die willingly. Michael takes him on a tour of otherworldly realms, and Abraham learns all about afterlife judgment. When he returns to earth, God sends Death to him. Abraham distracts Death by asking to see all of his faces. According to one version of the Testament, Abraham resists God\u2019s decree until the very end, and Death must use trickery to take his soul.
\nThe Testament concludes with Abraham\u2019s soul being sent to paradise. Unlike the heroes of most testaments, however, he does not pass on his wisdom in a farewell address. He is so busy avoiding death that he never takes the time to distribute his property or bless his children. According to the Testament, Abraham is preeminently righteous, and he dies having already learned about afterlife judgment. He knows that his soul will dwell in paradise. Yet he fears dying and does everything in his power to escape it.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
Most scholars hold that the Testament of Abraham was written in the 1st or 2nd century CE, likely in Egypt. Some have speculated about a Hebrew original, but most have held that it was composed in Greek. More than thirty Greek manuscripts survive. It was also translated into Coptic, Arabic, Ethiopic, Slavonic, and Romanian. Most of the translations were the work of Christian scribes. The Falasha version of the Ethiopic translation, however, suggests Jewish interest in the text as well.
\nThe Testament is not the creation of a single author but the product of a long process of formation. Early on in this process, two different versions emerged: a longer version (A) and a shorter version (B). The two tell the same basic story, with somewhat different scope, order, and emphasis. The relationship between them remains in debate. Most scholars believe that B is an abridgement of some form of A. After the split in the tradition, both versions underwent further changes. Thus, while A is generally closest to the original text, B preserves some early elements. Here, a translation of A is provided, with important differences in B noted in the commentary.
\nLike most non-biblical texts from the Second Temple period, the Testament owes its preservation almost wholly to Christian scholars. There is no direct evidence for any pre-Christian Jewish version. All known forms of the text bear the marks of Christian editorial activity. Its style and vocabulary also find their closest counterparts in Christian literature. Parallels with the New Testament and late antique Christian literature are copious.
\nOvertly Christian material, however, is minor in scope and incidental to the plot and main themes of the Testament. Some details in the text contradict common Christian beliefs, and references to Christ are absent in places where one might expect to find them. The account of afterlife judgment, for instance, involves only Adam, Abel, the twelve tribes of Israel, and God. For these reasons, it is common in scholarship to suggest that the original \u201ccore\u201d of the Testament was Jewish.
\nEven in its present form, the Testament\u2019s continuities with Judaism remain significant. Its worldview and theology are close to those of Hellenistic Jewish literature. Its descriptions of Abraham echo portraits of the patriarch in the Book of Jubilees, the Genesis Apocryphon, and the writings of Philo and Josephus, while its image of heaven recalls apocalypses like 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, and 4 Ezra. Perhaps most striking are the resonances with Rabbinic Judaism. The plot of the Testament is similar to traditions about the death of Moses found in works like Sifre Deuteronomy and Devarim Rabbah. The text\u2019s treatment of Abraham, God, divine justice, and death also resonate with classical Rabbinic traditions. Like Rabbinic midrash, the Testament often uses humor to express profound truths.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
The Testament of Abraham provides important evidence for post-biblical beliefs about death and the afterlife. Gen. 25:7\u20139 reports that Abraham \u201cbreathed his last\u201d at the age of 175. He \u201cdied in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his ancestors,\u201d after which he was buried by Isaac and Ishmael in the cave of Machpelah. This description is typical of the attitude toward death in the Torah\u2014namely, that a good death is a well-deserved rest after a long life.
\nIn contrast to the Torah, the literature of Second Temple Judaism brims with detailed dreams and visions related to the afterlife. Some ask when the end of the world will come; others describe where the dead will be punished and rewarded. The Testament extends this trajectory. It is unusual, however, in focusing on how souls are judged. Version A places this judgment in heaven, whereas version B locates it at the edge of the earth. In both versions, Adam sits enthroned at the crossroads between the narrow path of the righteous and the wide path of the wicked. In between the paths, Abel oversees angels who weigh and test the souls of the dead. In version B, he is joined by Enoch, who records their deeds. Abraham is told that this elaborate process is only the first of three judgments. Everyone will also be judged at the end of time by the twelve tribes of Israel and, finally, by God.
\nPerhaps the most distinctive element of the Testament is its portrait of Abraham. Although the Torah allows for the fallibility of its heroes, later exegetes tended to treat biblical patriarchs and prophets as ethical exemplars. Abraham and Moses, in particular, were elevated and idealized. The biblical references to their flaws were often explained away. Along these same lines, the Testament lauds Abraham as righteous, hospitable, and pious. Yet it emphasizes the patriarch\u2019s humanity. He is depicted as an old man who fears death. This comes through most clearly in version A, where Abraham audaciously resists the divine decree of death. He prolongs his life through the ruse of asking to see all of creation, and he reneges on the deal to die willingly thereafter. When faced with his own mortality, he exploits the special treatment afforded to him. Even the angels seem surprised by Abraham\u2019s departure from his characteristic obedience.
\nThis characterization of the aged Abraham stands in contrast to the idealized patriarch of post-biblical tradition. The closest parallel is found in Rabbinic traditions about the death of Moses. The Testament\u2019s depiction of Abraham may have been influenced by early forms of these traditions. Alternately, tales about the deaths of Abraham and Moses may have developed in tandem.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
Modern readers rarely expect to find humor in ancient religious texts. Likewise, some may be surprised at the Testament\u2019s irreverent portrait of Abraham. These elements are downplayed in version B, but they are central to understanding version A, which is likely closer to the original. Version A almost seems to satirize post-biblical approaches to Abraham that elevate the patriarch at the expense of his humanity. In the process, it recovers the poignantly flawed patriarch of Gen. 12\u201336, painting a vivid portrait of a great man at the end of his life.
\nSome readers may also be surprised at the Testament\u2019s boldness in departing from Genesis. For the most part, it \u201cfills gaps\u201d left by the Torah. Even where it departs from it, however, it assumes that its readers are intimately familiar with biblical traditions. In a manner reminiscent of Rabbinic midrash, it interprets and supplements the Torah, so as to draw out a broader message.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Allison, Dale C., Jr. Testament of Abraham (Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature). Walter de Gruyter, 2003.
\nSanders, E. P. \u201cTestament of Abraham.\u201d In OTP 1:871\u2013902.
\nReed, Annette Y. \u201cThe Construction and Subversion of Patriarchal Perfection: Abraham and Exemplarity in Philo, Josephus, and the Testament of Abraham.\u201d Journal for the Study of Judaism 40.2 (2009) 185\u2013212.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
Chapters 1\u20139: Michael\u2019s visit to Abraham. The plot of the Testament unfolds in three acts. The first act recounts Michael\u2019s visit to Abraham to announce his death, drawing heavily on the account of the visit of three angels to Abraham in Gen. 18:1\u201315. The scene is set for Abraham to be informed of his death and to pass on his wisdom to his children. Michael, however, hesitates to carry out his task. Suspense is generated by Abraham\u2019s seeming ignorance of the angel\u2019s identity, even in the face of mounting evidence. When Michael\u2019s identity is finally revealed, a new problem is introduced: Abraham announces his refusal to die.
\n1:1. 995 years According to Gen. 25:7, Abraham dies at the age of 175, but the Testament asserts here that Abraham outlived even Methuselah. Version B (2:1) omits Abraham\u2019s age and notes only that he was \u201cexceeding old in appearance.\u201d
\nquietness Philo also associates Abraham with quietness (Abraham 201, 210).
\nrighteousness Righteousness (Heb. tzedakah) is associated with Abraham in Gen. 15:6 and 18:19 and becomes the hallmark virtue of this patriarch in ancient Judaism. See 1 Macc. 2:51\u201352; Ant. 1.158.
\nexceedingly hospitable The Testament repeatedly stresses Abraham\u2019s hospitality. In ancient Jewish exegesis, this theme is typically connected to the visit of the three angels in Gen. 18:1\u201315. Examples can be found in Hellenistic Jewish literature (e.g., Philo, QG 4.10; Abraham 107\u2013114, 167; Josephus, Ant. 1.200) and Rabbinic literature (e.g., Avot R. Nat. A 7; Gen. Rab. 48.8\u20139).
\n1:2. oak of Mamre That is, in Hebron. According to Gen. 13:18, Mamre is the first place in the Promised Land where Abraham settles and builds an altar to God. It is also the place where the three angels appeared in Gen. 18:1.
\nkings and rulers Cf. Gen. 14.
\n1:4. Master Gk. despot\u0113s, also used of God in Gen. 15:2, 8 LXX.
\ncommander-in-chief: Gk. archistrategos, reflecting the widespread application of military terms to angels. Cf. Josh. 5:14 LXX.
\nset his affairs in order Abraham must die like everyone else, but God grants him the favor of advance warning. In the Torah, a similar announcement of impending death occurs only for Moses (Num. 27:12; Deut. 31:14, 16; 32:49\u201350).
\n1:5. as the stars of heaven and as the sand by the sea shore Cf. Gen. 22:17.
\nexceedingly rich On Abraham\u2019s wealth, see Gen. 12:16; 13:2, 6; 1QAp 21:3; 22:29\u201332; Josephus, Ant. 1.165.
\n1:6. my beloved friend Cf. Isa. 41:8; 2 Chron. 20:7. In Second Temple Jewish descriptions of Abraham, the title \u201cfriend of God\u201d becomes standard.
\n2:1. sons of Masek This statement shows dependence on Genesis LXX. Gen. 15:2b MT reads \u201cand the ben-mesek of my house is Damascus Eliezer.\u201d The meaning of the Hebrew ben-mesek is uncertain. The Greek translators made sense of the verse by treating \u201cMesek\u201d as a proper name.
\n2:4. more beautiful than all the sons of men As in Gen. 18, the reader knows the identity of the angelic visitor before the humans in the story.
\n2:5. Tell me whence In version B (2:7\u201310), by contrast, Michael asks Abraham his identity, and Abraham responds with a brief retelling of Gen. 12\u201318.
\n2:10. I abstain from ever sitting upon any four-footed beast This seems to be an ironic remark highlighting the fact that Abraham does not yet understand his interlocutor is an angel. Perhaps, just as angels cannot eat (Judg. 13:16; Tob. 12:9; Sir. 16:27), they are incapable of riding horses. In version B (2:13), the angel declines out of politeness.
\n3:2. cyprus tree In version B (3:2), the tree is likened to a tamarisk (cf. Gen. 21:33).
\n3:3. tree cried out with a human voice In the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Jewish literature, talking trees tend to be metaphorical (cf. Judg. 9:8\u201315; 2 Kings 14:9; Gen. Ap. col. 19:14\u201319). Here, the tree literally speaks. In version B (3:3), \u201ca voice came from the branches.\u201d
\nHoly, holy, holy Isa. 6:5. In version B (3:3), the voice praises Michael.
\n3:5. Isaac \u2026 said to Sarah his mother In Genesis, Sarah dies before Abraham (23:1). After burying her (23:2\u201319), he takes another wife, Keturah, who bears him more children (25:1\u20134). The Testament, however, imagines Abraham as spending his last days with Sarah and Isaac.
\n3:6. bowed down to him Gk. prosekun\u0113sen. Cf. Gen. 18:2 LXX.
\npromise The promise of land and descendants in Gen. 12:1\u20137; 22:17.
\nvow Gk. euch\u0113. Abraham prays for his descendants in Jub. 22:6\u20139.
\n3:7. wash the feet Abraham makes a similar offer to the three angels in Gen. 18:3. In version B (3:5), Abraham also asks his servants to slaughter cattle for a feast (cf. Gen. 18:7).
\n3:9. heart was moved Later, in 6:6, Abraham will tell Sarah that he realized the true identity of the visitor while washing his feet.
\n3:11. he hid the mystery This is the second mystery that Abraham sees and hides (see 3:4).
\n4:1. my beloved son An echo of Gen. 22:2 in the Septuagint version, where, in place of the MT yehidekha, \u201cyour only [son],\u201d the underlying Hebrew text apparently had yedidekha, \u201cyour beloved [son].\u201d
\ninto the inner chamber of the house That is, the living-room (triklinos, so called because it was often set with three couches; cf. M. Heb. traklin).
\n4:2. abundance of every good thing Cf. Gen. 24:1.
\n4:5. as if by constraint Michael pretends that he needs to urinate, so that he has an excuse to leave the room for long enough to travel to heaven. The image is no doubt meant to amuse. This detail is missing from version B.
\n4:6. I cannot remind him of his death Cf. Deut. Rab. 11:10 on Moses.
\nand whatever he eats, also eat with him See note on 2:10 for angels not eating. Apparently God is instructing Michael to pretend to eat (see 4:10). According to a number of Jewish exegetes, the angels who visited Abraham in Gen. 18 pretended to eat.
\n4:8. my holy spirit That is, the spirit of prophesy.
\nin a dream Narratives featuring dreams and their interpretation are common in Genesis (20:3, 6\u20137; 31:10\u201316; 37:5\u201311) as well as in apocalyptic literature (e.g., Dan. 2; 4; 7). On God\u2019s use of dreams to communicate with humankind, see Num. 12:6 and Job 33:15\u201316, as well as Philo, Migration 190 and B. Ber. 55a\u201357b.
\nyou shall interpret it God changes Michael\u2019s task from announcing Abraham\u2019s death to interpreting Isaac\u2019s dream. From this point onward, Michael takes on the role of an interpreting angel, explaining dreams and visions. The interpreting angel is a common feature of apocalyptic literature (e.g., Gabriel in Daniel; Uriel in 1 Enoch and 4 Ezra; Ramael in 2 Baruch).
\n4:9. neither eat nor drink See above on 4:6.
\n4:11. so that Abraham may know the sickle of death Cf. Isa. 63:2\u20136; Joel 3:13.
\nthe sand of the sea and as the stars of heaven Gen. 22:17; see above on 1:5.
\n5:2. after his custom The requirement to say grace after meals is presumed in M. Ber. 7:1. Indeed, saying grace appears in Jub. 22:6\u20139, cf. 2:21. A text from Qumran (4Q434a) has been identified as a \u201cgrace after meals for mourners,\u201d and the saying of grace is mentioned by Josephus in his description of the Essenes (J.W. 2:131).
\n5:13. Lot Sarah\u2019s guess recalls the messenger who came with news of Lot being taken captive in Gen. 14:14 as well as the connection between the angelic visit in Genesis 18 and the destruction of Sodom in Gen. 19. Version B (6:13) makes explicit reference to Sodom, identifying Michael with the angel who saved Lot in Gen. 19:21 (cf. Gen. Rab. 50:2; B. BM 86b).
\n6:4. three men from heaven The three angels of Gen. 18. So far, the Testament has made many allusions to Gen. 18. Now, Sarah explains the connection: the visits are similar because the visitor is the same.
\n6:5. the kid rose again Gen. 18:7 describes the killing of a calf to feed the three angelic visitors. Since, however, angels cannot eat (above notes on 2:10, 4:6), many ancient commentators suggested that they merely pretended. The Testament adds, however, that after the meat had been eaten, the slaughtered kid got up again and suckled at its mother. A parallel explanation is found in the medieval Historical Palea: \u201cThe slaughtered calf thereupon got up from the table and followed after its mother.\u201d
\nthis is one Michael is also identified as one of the three angelic visitors in Gen. 18 in Rabbinic tradition.
\n6:6. I washed then Gen. 18:4 describes Abraham as ordering his servants to bring the three men water to wash their own feet. The Testament magnifies his hospitality. Here, he washes their feet with his own hands.
\n6:8. revelation of some thing Not only does Sarah immediately recognize Michael, but she realizes the parallel with his earlier visit. Since the purpose of that visit was the announcement of Isaac\u2019s birth (Gen. 18:9\u201315), she infers that Michael now brings another message.
\n7:2. the sun and the moon Symbols of Abraham and Sarah. Sun and moon also symbolize father and mother in Joseph\u2019s dream in Gen. 37:9\u201310.
\n7:3. shining more than seven suns Cf. Isa. 30:26.
\n7:4. man like the sun Isaac\u2019s dream accurately predicts the appearance of Death when he first comes to Abraham (16:6).
\nand took away the sun from my head Abraham is compared to the sun in Midr. Ps., Ps. 1.
\n7:6. Have mercy upon me and hear me Ps. 26:7 LXX.
\n7:7. rays Michael\u2019s interpretation does not explain this detail. The image of the rays that remain even in the absence of the sun and moon, however, is a touching expression of the connections between child and parents that death cannot sever.
\n7:12. sent to take my soul Despite Michael\u2019s statements to the contrary, Abraham assumes that the archangel has come to take his soul. Perhaps he equates the sun-like appearance of Michael (2:4) with the sun-like appearance of the figure in Isaac\u2019s dream.
\nI will not go with you Abraham answers the angel with bold resistance rather than humble obedience (so too 15:10; 16:6; 19:4). The bluntness of his words contrasts with his reputation for quietude (1:1) and is probably meant to be surprising to the reader. Abraham did not hesitate to leave his homeland at God\u2019s command (Gen. 12), and he was prepared to take the life of his beloved son (Gen. 22), but now he rebels! The closest parallel to Abraham here is found in Rabbinic traditions about Moses resisting death. The trope of Abraham\u2019s resistance is omitted by version B, resulting in gaps in the plot.
\nI am the LORD your God This declaration is patterned on biblical statements such as Exod. 20:2; Lev. 19:36; Deut. 5:9. There God proclaims himself and what he has done for his people. This is typically followed by commandments. In this case, God outlines his deeds for Abraham to express his incredulity at the rebelliousness of his faithful servant. This scene does not occur in version B.
\n8:3. everlasting kingdom Cf. Ps. 145:13; Dan. 3:33; 7:27.
\n8:5. Promised Land Cf. Gen. 12:1\u201310.
\nthe sand of the sea Gen. 22:17.
\n8:6. opened the womb Cf. Gen. 18:11\u201314.
\n8:7. blessing I will bless, and multiplying I will multiply your seed Gen. 22:17 LXX.
\nI am the LORD your God Exod. 20:2; Deut. 5:6, 9.
\nand besides me there is no other. Cf. Deut. 4:35; Exod. 8:6; Isa. 45:5\u20136, 18, 21\u201322; Joel 2:27.
\n8:9. Do you not know that all who have come from Adam and Eve have died The idea that mortality was a punishment for Adam and Eve\u2019s sin is not found in the Hebrew Bible but was a popular post-biblical theme.
\n8:9. none of the prophets has escaped death The deaths of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and other ancient Israelite prophets are vividly narrated in The Lives of the Prophets. Similar statements about universal mortality occur in midrashim about Moses\u2019s death (e.g., Sifre Deut. 339; Deut. Rab. 11:8). However, the Testament\u2019s statement runs counter to the widespread tradition that both Enoch and Elijah were immortal. Version B, by contrast, features Enoch and mentions his escape from death (11:5).
\n8:9. sickle of death See above on 4:9.
\nHades Term for the underworld in Greek mythology; often used in the LXX to translate Sheol.
\n8:11. set your house in order God acts on the assumption\u2014shared by the reader familiar with the genre of the \u201ctestament\u201d\u2014that Abraham will respond to the news by wishing to pass his wisdom, blessings, and belongings on to his children.
\n9:1. like one dead Abraham \u201cfalls on his face\u201d before God in Gen. 17:3. The phrase \u201clike one dead\u201d is also used of humans encountering angels in 4 Ezra 10:30.
\n9:3. a sinner Such confessions are common as preface to petitions. But see below on 10:13\u201314, where God calls Abraham sinless.
\n9:5. one request In version B (7:19), Abraham does not resist Michael, but he does ask to be taken bodily into heaven so he can see \u201call the creation that the LORD created in heaven and on earth\u201d before dying.
\n9:6. to see all the inhabited earth and all the creations Abraham is only one of a number of biblical figures who, according to later tradition, visited heaven while still alive. Others include Enoch, Levi, Moses, Baruch, Zephaniah, and Ezra. Usually, the tradition of Abraham\u2019s heavenly ascent is associated with the covenant ceremony in Gen. 15 (Apoc. Ab. 9; Gen. Rab. 44:12) or the binding of Isaac in Gen. 22 (L.A.B. 18:5). Later exegetes also speculated about Moses requesting to see the future or the whole world before agreeing to die (L.A.B. 19:10\u201312; Sifre Deut. 357).
\n9:8. cloud of light Precedents for this image include Ezek 1:4; 2 Sam 22:1\/Ps 18:11, and Ps 104:3. Clouds are used to travel between heaven and earth in many apocalypses. A cloud takes Moses to heaven in B. Yoma 4a.
\n9:8. a chariot of the cherubim Like Elijah in 2 Kings 2:11\u201312, Abraham is taken up to heaven on a chariot (Gk. harma for Heb. merkabah). The image of a \u201cchariot of the cherubim\u201d draws on traditions about God\u2019s merkabah in Ezekiel (esp. 1; 10).
\nether of heaven In Hellenistic cosmology, ether (Gk. aith\u00ear) is the upper air. It is above the earth\u2019s atmosphere and often associated with the abode of the gods.
\nChapters 10\u201314: Abraham\u2019s Otherworldly Journeys. The second act is introduced by a compromise brokered by Michael. Abraham agrees to die after he sees all creation. Chapters 10\u201314 recount his otherworldly journeys. The descriptions of heavenly ascent and afterlife judgment are largely patterned on earlier Jewish apocalypses. The concern for justice and mercy, however, resonates with Abraham\u2019s intercession for Sodom in Gen. 18:23\u201333. The plot follows Abraham\u2019s movement from judgment to mercy. When he first looks down from heaven, he recoils at the sight of sinners and calls punishments upon them. Michael then teaches Abraham about God\u2019s judgment, and Abraham repents of his earlier zeal. With newfound mercy, he intercedes for others.
\n10:2. the world as it was Abraham is granted a bird\u2019s-eye view of the earth. To summarize all of its activity, the Testament refers to farming and shepherding, music and dancing, athletic contests and legal disputes, and the life-cycle events of marriage and death.
\n10:2. arguing at law Gk. dikazomenous. This reference to the earthly seat of judgment foreshadows Abraham\u2019s visions of heavenly judgment in chapters 11\u201314.
\n10:6. wild beasts Cf. Elisha\u2019s curse on those who mocked him in 2 Kings 2:23\u201325.
\n10:9. the earth may open and swallow them Cf. the earth opening up to swallow Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, at Moses\u2019s behest, in Num. 16.
\n10:10. people digging into a house and stealing other people\u2019s possession Cf. Exod. 22:1 \u201cHe who enters [a house] by tunneling\u201d and M. Sanh. 8:6; Matt. 6:19; 24:43.
\n10:11. fire may come down from heaven Cf. 2 Kings 1:9\u201312.
\n10:12. voice from heaven A voice also speaks to Abraham from heaven in Gen. 21:17; 22:11, 15. Cf. also the bat kol in Rabbinic tradition. In B. Shab. 33b, for instance, the bat kol rebukes R. Simeon b. Yohai and his son for self-righteous severity toward the wicked.
\n10:13. Abraham has not sinned Abraham is said to be \u201cperfect\u201d or \u201cblameless\u201d in Jub. 23:10 and Wis. 10:5 (cf. Gen. 17:1).
\nno pity In Gen. 18:23\u201333, Abraham is the one who calls for mercy when God wishes to destroy the Sodomites. By contrast, the Testament shows Abraham as zealous to punish sin, while God is merciful.
\n10:14. I have made the world Cf. Gen. Rab. 39:6.
\n10:15. so that he may see there the judgments In positing Abraham\u2019s vision of the places of afterlife judgment, the Testament may draw from Gen. 18:17\u201318, where God decides not to hide from Abraham his actions with respect to the judgment upon Sodom. It may also draw from ancient Jewish traditions about Gen. 15, which extend his dream-visions about the fate of his descendants to include afterlife judgment in Gehenna or at the end of time.
\nso that he may repent Abraham is shown the places of afterlife judgment in order to teach him a lesson about mercy. In version B, his vision of the places of judgment occurs before the events in this chapter; there, God answers Abraham\u2019s zeal by instructing Michael to return him to his home on earth.
\n11:1. to the East In version B, the places of judgment are located at the ends of the earth, beyond the ocean that encircles the known world.
\nto the first gate of heaven In ancient Israel, judges sat at city gates (Deut. 21:19; Isa. 29:21; Amos 5:15). Likewise, the gate of heaven is here a place of judgment (cf. 2 Enoch 42:4 J). The concept of a gate of heaven appears already in Gen. 28:17. Multiple gates are imagined in 1 En. 34\u201336 and 4 Ezra 3:19.
\n11:2. two ways The theme of a choice between two ways appears already in Deut. 30:15\u201318, in which Moses speaks of a stark choice between \u201clife and death, a blessing and a curse\u201d (cf. Deut. 11:26, 30; Jer. 21:8). These opposite paths are evoked in numerous Jewish works as well as Matt. 7.
\n11:4. man sitting on a gilded throne As Michael later explains (11:9), this is Adam. On Adam enthroned, see L.A.B. 47:3. The golden throne also evokes images of Osiris, who judges the dead in Egyptian mythology.
\nthat man\u2019s appearance \u2026 like the Master\u2019s Adam\u2019s appearance is compared to God\u2019s, in keeping with Gen. 1:26 and 5:3 where humankind (Heb. adam) is made in God\u2019s image and likeness.
\n11:6. weeping and lamenting Adam laments the damnation of his progeny. We find no hint, however, of any concept of \u201coriginal sin\u201d that holds him culpable for human wickedness.
\n11:9. Adam who is in such glory Traditions about Adam\u2019s glory are widespread in Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism.
\n11:10. narrow gate Version B (9:1\u20134) adds an uncharacteristically humorous detail, perhaps original: Abraham fears that he will not be able to enter the narrow gate to salvation because he is \u201ca man of broad girth\u201d (9:2), but Michael assures him that entry will be easy for all who are holy (9:4).
\nparadise The Testament gives a detailed account of the places and methods of afterlife judgment. In contrast to early apocalypses, however, it does not give much information about what happens to the souls after judgment.
\n11:12. scarcely found one soul saved The stress on the few righteous and many wicked is common in Christian tradition and reflects the influence of Matt. 7:13\u201314. A similar concern is found in Jewish apocalypses such as 4 Ezra 7:47\u201351; 8:1\u20133, 55; 9:20\u201322 and 2 Bar. 44:15; 48:43; Rabbinic parallels include B. Sanh. 97b and B. Men. 29b. Version B (8:16) is more optimistic, counting one saved for every seven damned.
\n12:1. to me Note the shift into first person discourse.
\n12:5. a wondrous man \u2026 like to a son of God That is, Abel, as Abraham will learn in 13:3. Second Temple writings frequently describe Abel as \u201crighteous,\u201d though the Hebrew Bible says nothing of the kind. The use of the title \u201cson of God\u201d to refer to someone other than Jesus has been cited as evidence against a Christian origin of the Testament, together with the absence of Christ from this description of judgment.
\n12:6. table like crystal This is the only feature of the judgment scene with no Jewish precedent. The closest parallel is found in Egyptian depictions of Osiris as judging the dead enthroned in front of a table.
\n12:7. book A \u201cbook of life\u201d is mentioned already in Exod. 32:33, and the recording of human deeds in books occurs in Ps. 56:9 and 139:16. Such books become a common feature in Jewish apocalypses. Similar traditions also occur in Rabbinic literature (e.g., B. RH 16b).
\n12:9. balance Cf. 1 En. 14:1\u20132 and B. RH 17a. This detail is missing from version B.
\n12:10. trumpet There are many precedents and parallels for testing by fire. Unique to the Testament, however, is this image of testing by means of a trumpet that blows fire. This detail is missing from version B.
\n12:12. two angels on the right and on the left The two angels may correspond to the kat\u0113goros (public prosecutor) and sun\u0113goros (public or private defense attorney); both Greek terms entered M. Heb. In version B (11:3\u20139), there is one man rather than two angels, who records righteousness and sin, and he is identified as Enoch. This version describes Enoch as \u201cscribe of righteousness,\u201d using a title from 1 En. 12:4; 15:2.
\n12:18. equally balanced The fate of those who fall between righteousness and wickedness is also a special concern in T. Sanh. 13:3; Y. Sanh. 10:1; Pesik. Rab. Kah. 25:2.
\n13:2. Abel All are accountable to Abel, the first victim of sin (Gen. 4:8).
\n13:4. until His great and glorious Arrival The Greek term parousia (\u201carrival, coming\u201d) is used in Christian literature as referring to Christ\u2019s return at the end of this age in order to judge all of humankind (e.g., Matt. 24:3; 1 Cor. 15:23). This verse, along with 13:6, has sometimes therefore been understood as referring to this Christian sense of parousia. In the rest of 13:6, however, it is the twelve tribes of Israel who will judge the world.
\n13:7. Yet a third time they shall be judged The Testament is unique in positing a three-fold judgment. Abel judges souls immediately after death, then the twelve tribes judge souls at the end of time, leading to the final judgment by God. The Testament\u2019s three stages of judgment may seem redundant, especially as souls are already sorted, catalogued, weighed, and tested by fire when Abel makes his judgment (12:12\u201318). The message, however, is clear. Divine judgment could not be more just (cf. Gen. 18:25); many may be damned, but it is not for lack of chances to prove themselves righteous.
\n13:8. by three witnesses shall everything be established Based on Deut. 17:6; 19:15, which, however, permit either two or three witnesses.
\n13:10. Dokiel The origin and meaning of this name are obscure. Scholarly suggestions include derivations from the Hebrew roots d-q-q (\u201cto be fine, to crush\u201d) and d-w-q (\u201cto examine carefully\u201d) and connections with Isa. 40:15 and 40:22.
\n13:11. Puruel \u201cFire of God,\u201d apparently a hybrid combination of Gk. pur (\u201cfire\u201d) and Heb. \u2018el (\u201cGod\u201d), the latter being a standard suffix in the names of angels.
\n14:1. the soul The soul in 12:18. Version B (10:1\u201316) also discusses an individual case, albeit a wicked soul.
\n14:2. until the Judge of all shall come Souls that are neither wicked nor righteous must wait until the very end of time to be judged. Just as the Testament refrains from describing the places of postmortem punishment and reward for the wicked and righteous, so it does not explain where the souls in the middle are kept.
\n14:5. \u201clet us make prayer\u201d Abraham\u2019s concern for the soul recalls his concern for the Sodomites in Gen. 18:23\u201332. Here, however, Abraham\u2019s mercy is due to a change of heart. Having seen how souls are judged after death, he realizes the error of his earlier zeal to punish sinful thoughts and deeds with instant destruction. The practice of praying for the dead is attested in 2 Macc. 12:44\u201345 and Bar. 3:4.
\n14:7. saved by your righteous prayer Compare Abraham\u2019s intercession for Sodom in Gen. 18:23\u201332 and his prayer for Abimelech in Gen. 20:17. The notion of Abraham as intercessor is developed in Jewish tradition, such as Genesis Apocryphon; Gen. Rab. 35:2; 39:11; 48:8; B. Er. 19a.
\n14:11. entreat His mercy for the souls of the sinners Note the progression here from Abraham\u2019s eagerness to punish sinners (10:4\u201311), to compassion for a soul whose deeds are balanced (14:1\u20139) and, finally, to compassion for sinners.
\n14:12. Now I know that I have sinned In 10:3, God stated that Abraham lacked compassion because of his lack of sin; here, Abraham admits his own sinfulness, concurrent with expressing compassion toward others.
\n14:14. \u201cAbraham, Abraham\u201d Cf. Gen. 22:11.
\n14:15. requited them in judgment It is only now that we learn, with Abraham, that the sinners that he saw from the sky in 10:4\u201311 were not actually killed. God took this opportunity to punish them himself, during their lifetimes, to spare them condemnation after death.
\nThose whom I destroy while they are living 2 Macc. 6:12\u201316 preserves a similar view, namely, that God is merciful in bringing suffering to Israel rather than waiting until punishments pile up. 1 En. 22:11\u201313 and Bar. 78:6 also speak to suffering in this world, as well as the death of the sinner, as freeing the individual from punishment in the World to Come.
\n15\u201320 In these chapters the final act recounts Abraham\u2019s death. Much of the action parallels the first act, with Death in the place of Michael. Abraham resists Death, and he seeks to distract Death by prodding him with requests. In the process, Abraham weakens, such that Death is able to trick him into letting go of his soul. It is in these chapters that the parallels with Rabbinic traditions surrounding the death of Moses are most striking. Nowhere in ancient Jewish literature, however, do we find such an extensive and detailed depiction of personified Death.
\n15:1. Behold his end has drawn near, and the measure of his life is fulfilled. Cf. Ps. 39:5.
\n15:4. Sarah his wife In version B (12:14\u201316), Abraham returns to discover that Sarah has died during his absence; as in Gen. 23:1\u201319, Abraham there outlives Sarah and buries her.
\ntaken up from us Just as Abraham had initially assumed that Michael was sent to take his soul, so his family interpreted Abraham\u2019s disappearance with Michael as his death. Whereas Abraham sees his homecoming as signaling his departure to death, his family is joyful at his return.
\n15:7. Make disposition The Testament now returns to the concerns of chapters 1\u20139, namely, the need for Abraham to prepare for his death. As in 7:8\u20139, Michael stresses that Abraham should put his affairs in order. The scene is thus set for a farewell address, as Sarah, Isaac, and all of their servants gather around Abraham. It is customary in Second Temple literature and especially in texts of the genre \u201ctestament\u201d (e.g., Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs) for the dying man to deliver a farewell address in which he seeks to pass on to his descendants the lessons he learned in life. The Testament sets up the same expectation only to depart from the pattern.
\n15:8. Or do you say this yourself? Despite all that Abraham learned in chapters 10\u201314, he still resists accepting death. Perhaps because he knows that death is near, Abraham now becomes even more cantankerous. He even goes so far as to accuse Michael of acting apart from God\u2019s will!
\n15:10. I will not go with you Abraham repeats his assertion of 7:12. Contrary to his reputation for righteousness, he reneges on his deal to die after seeing all creation (9:6).
\n15:11. immediately went forth Just as Abraham repeats his words, so Michael repeats his response, zooming right up to heaven to report to God, as in 8:1.
\n15:15. There is no one like him on earth, not even Job In Job 1:8, God says about Job that \u201cthere is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil.\u201d The Testament paraphrases this verse, placing it in the mouth of Michael and applying it to Abraham. At first sight, the statement seems to assert Abraham\u2019s superiority to Job (cf. B. BB 15b). The literary context also supports another level of meaning. Michael\u2019s comment highlights the similarities between Abraham and Job. Both are righteous men who rebel. Yet Abraham is unlike Job in one important way: when Job realizes the greatness of the Creator\u2019s power, he is moved to obedience (Job 38\u201342). Even after seeing all of God\u2019s creation, however, Abraham continues to resist him.
\n16:1. Death God had initially refrained from sending personified Death to Abraham (8:10\u201312), in order to spare him an encounter with one whose fearsome manner and repugnant features\u2014\u201cthe shameless countenance and the pitiless look\u201d\u2014are so unpleasant.
\n16:3. Death shivered and trembled The image of Death terrified is no doubt meant to be amusing. As elsewhere in the Testament, humor conveys a message. People may fear death, but Death trembles before God.
\n16:4. Hide your fierceness Still concerned to minimize the pain of this confrontation, God orders Death to \u201cput on\u201d beauty.
\n16:5. I tell you not to terrify him Like Michael, Death will fail to carry out his appointed task. He will terrify Abraham at Abraham\u2019s request in chapter 17.
\n16:6. appearance like the sun Isaac\u2019s dream foretold that a \u201cman like the sun\u201d (7:4) would take Abraham; although Abraham expected this to be Michael, we here learn that it is Death in the guise of an angel.
\narchangel Later Jewish tradition features an Angel of Death. Here, Death is clearly a servant of God, but apparently not an angel. He can, however, put on the appearance of an angel.
\n16:8. thinking that he was the commander-in-chief Yet another example of misrecognition.
\n16:11. I am the bitter cup of death In contrast to Michael, Death immediately proclaims his identity and purpose.
\n16:12. No Abraham tries to deny the truth, as he did when Michael visited.
\n16:13. the truth Abraham is startled by Death\u2019s appearance. In light of his beautiful appearance, Death could have claimed to be \u201cevery good thing\u201d to try to get Abraham to follow him; indeed, God instructed Death to \u201cbring him with fair speech\u201d (16:5). Death, however, is brutally honest with Abraham. He admits that the end of life is bitter, however it happens.
\n16:16. I will not go with you Abraham repeats his words to Michael in 7:12 and 15:10. Compare Moses\u2019 hostility toward the Angel of Death in Sifre Deut. 304.
\nDeath was silent Death is no match for the willful Abraham, who frustrated even the archangel Michael (15:7\u201315). Moreover, he does not appear accustomed to using persuasion to take souls. The patriarch easily reduces him to perplexed silence.
\n17:2. Depart from me Unable to use force to take Abraham and apparently not sure what else to do, Death simply follows Abraham around. The image is comic, as is Abraham\u2019s attempt to send Death away so he can nap.
\n17:3. I will not depart God\u2019s instructions render Death impotent, but he remains stubborn in his goal.
\n17:4. tell me the truth Death has already told him the truth (16:11). Abraham uses the contrast between Death\u2019s appearance and identity as an opportunity to stall him with questions. Rabbinic tradition preserves similar traditions about people stalling the Angel of Death. In B. Shab. 30a\u2013b, David tries to trick the Angel of Death: he foreknows that he shall die on the Sabbath, so he studies the Torah every Sabbath, knowing also that the Angel of Death would not dare interrupt Torah study. This only puts off the inevitable, as eventually the Angel of Death distracts him for just long enough to snatch his soul. Various Rabbis are also said to have stalled the Angel of Death (B. Mo\u2019ed Kat. 28a; B. Ket. 77b).
\n17:7. In beauty While discussing the death of Moses, Sifre Deut. 357 similarly notes the differences between the deaths of the righteous and the deaths of the wicked. See also Midr. Teh. 11:6.
\n17:9. show me Ironically, Abraham wishes to see the very fierceness that God instructed Death to hide from him (16:4).
\n17:10. You cannot behold my fierceness Death seems to be doing his best to follow God\u2019s instructions in 16:4\u20135, but Abraham makes it difficult.
\n17:11. Name of the living God In general, the divine name (or even one letter of the Tetragrammaton) was deemed in Second Temple and Rabbinic literature to have special powers capable of warding off evil. This notion also plays a role in Rabbinic traditions about the death of Moses, such as Deut. Rab. 11:10.
\n17:13. unclean Consistent with the ritual impurities conveyed by contact with corpses (e.g. Num. 19:11\u201316), Death himself is described as unclean.
\n17:14. seven fiery heads of dragons The symbolic significance is explained in 19:7. These heads seem to be separate from the fourteen faces. In the LXX, the Greek term drak\u00f4n is used to translate \u201cLeviathan\u201d (Job 40:20 LXX; Ps. 73:13) as well as terms for various snakes (e.g. Amos 9:3 LXX; Job 20:16). 3 Bar. 4:3\u20136 features a dragon that eats the bodies of the wicked dead.
\nfourteen faces Cf. 19:8\u201316. The list includes imagery of natural phenomenon and locations associated with accidental deaths (darkness, fire, precipice, lightning, thunder, stormy sea, river), animals that kill people, including a lion as well as five different kinds of snakes (i.e., viper, asp, cerastes [horned viper], basilisk, and three-headed serpent), and means by which people murder each another (scimitar, sword, poison). Some of these animals are mentioned in Ps. 90 [91]:13 LXX. The serpent is associated with death in Gen. 2\u20133, whereas the basilisk is associated with death in Greek tradition. Cf. also the depiction of Melchire\u0161a in 4QAmram.
\n17:18. seven thousand Abraham knew that he would be protected by the divine Name, but he did not anticipate that the sight of Death would cause others to die. The inflated number recalls Abraham\u2019s exaggerated age in 1:1. In version B (14:5), only seven servants die.
\n17:19. into the faintness of death The meaning of the Greek phrase (eis olig\u00f4rian thanatou) is uncertain. It may refer to a state of weakness characteristic of the moments before dying, as sometimes experienced after visions (see e.g. Dan. 10:17; 4 Ezra 6:37). Version B (14:6\u20137) ends here: Abraham turns away, and Death snatches his soul.
\n18:1. hide your fierceness Abraham beseeches Death to put on his angel-like form, using the same language as God in 16:4. Death obeys immediately.
\n18:3. Why have you done this \u2026? Even after seeing Death\u2019s terrible appearance, Abraham does not refrain from chastising him. Death displayed his appearance only because Abraham prodded him to do so (17:9). Nevertheless, Abraham blames him for the demise of his servants.
\n18:7. right hand of God The phrase is common in the Psalms. Although typically used in descriptions of God as warrior, it also describes God\u2019s acts of protection and salvation.
\n18:9. let us pray Just as Abraham prays with Michael in ch. 14, so he here prays with Death. The image of Death praying to bring souls back to life is comic, as is Abraham\u2019s audacity in asking him. Yet the image also makes an important point: Death can take life, but only God can give it back.
\nbefore their time The servants would not have died if Abraham had just accepted his fate. He learns, in other words, that his attempts to stall Death have consequences for others. As in 14:11, Abraham prays in order to reverse deaths that he himself caused. Nevertheless, it is poignant that he prays to bring others back to life when he himself stands on the brink of death.
\n18:11. spirit of life God responds to the prayer by resurrecting the servants. The process of resurrection parallels the process of creation. In Gen. 2:7, God breathes a \u201cbreath of life\u201d (Heb. ruah hayyim; Gk. pno\u00ean z\u00f4\u00eas) into clay to animate Adam. Similarly, he here sends a \u201cspirit of life\u201d (Gk. pneuma z\u00f4\u00eas) upon the dead.
\nThen the righteous Abraham gave glory to God. That is, offered thanks and praise for his help.
\n19:3. I will not depart This conversation in 19:2\u20133 echoes 17:2\u20133. Here, too, Death\u2019s stubbornness matches that of Abraham\u2019s.
\n19:4. Who has ordered you to say this? The question recalls Abraham\u2019s accusations toward Michael in 15:8. Even after all that has happened, the patriarch has difficulty accepting that God has commanded his death.
\nI shall go with him Abraham claims now that he will only go with Michael. Cf. Deut. Rab. 11:10, where Moses refuses to go with the Angel of Death, only permitting his soul to be taken by God himself.
\n19:5. explain to me Although at the brink of death, Abraham thinks of another way to stall, this time by asking Death to explain the faces and heads described in 17:14\u201316. Abraham\u2019s list is incomplete.
\n19:7. Listen, righteous Abraham Death here takes over Michael\u2019s role as interpreting angel.
\nseven ages For the seven ages of the world, see L.A.B. 28:8, 2 En. 33:1\u20132.
\nlead all down to Hades In 8:9, God stressed that all die; here, the same sentiment is put in the mouth of Death himself.
\nKings and rulers, rich and poor, slaves and free These pairs recall the list in 1:2 of all those whom Abraham welcomes with hospitality.
\n19:8. face of fire The faces that Death explains in 19:8\u201316 do not exactly correspond to the faces that Abraham saw in 17:14\u201316. The lack of correspondence probably reflects textual corruption in the course of the Testament\u2019s transmission.
\n20:1. unexpected Gk. paralogos (lit. \u201cunlooked for\u201d). By this, Abraham seems to mean a death that, in contrast to the deaths just outlined in ch. 19, comes gently without terror, sickness, or pain. In the end, this is precisely what he himself gets.
\n20:2. seventy-two deaths The number seventy-two is elsewhere associated with the number of nations in the world (Gen. 10 LXX; 3 En. 17:8; 18:2\u20133; 30:2) and the number of letters in the divine Name (Gen. Rab. 44:19; Lev. Rab. 23:2) as well as the number of Greek translators of the Torah (Let. Aris. 46\u201350; B. Meg. 9a). It is an apt choice for a number to express totality.
\n20:8. may cheerfulness and life and strength come to you This is the first time that Death twists the truth: his statement sounds like a claim that he will heal Abraham, but it refers to postmortem reward. In the end, Death succeeds in following God\u2019s command to bring Abraham \u201cwith fair speech\u201d (16:5).
\n20:9. for Death deceived Abraham According to some Rabbinic traditions, Abraham is among those over whom the Angel of Death has no dominion (B. Shab. 17a). Here, death can only take him through trickery. On the Angel of Death\u2019s trickery, see B. Shab. 30b; B. Mo\u2019ed Kat. 28a; B. Ket. 77.
\nsoul adhered Here, it is the touch of Death, rather than the sight of him, that causes a soul to leave the body. Whereas God\u2019s right hand protected Abraham in 18:7, Death\u2019s right hand here kills him.
\n20:10. Michael Michael now returns, this time with a host of angels to escort Abraham\u2019s soul to heaven.
\ndivinely woven linen cloth A linen cloth is also mentioned in the context of Moses\u2019 ascension in Deut. Rab. 11:10. In version B (14:6), angels take the soul in a chariot (cf. T. Job 52:5\u20136).
\n20:11. the body of the just Abraham Angels also prepare the body for burial.
\nuntil the third day after his death T. Job similarly has Job buried after a three day wait (5\u20137).
\nburied him in the Land of Promise, the oak of Mamre In Gen. 25:9, Abraham is buried in the cave of Machpelah, where Sarah\u2019s body already lies (Gen. 23:1), and hence east of Mamre (e.g. Gen. 23:17; 49:30; 50:13). In Genesis, Isaac and Ishmael bury their father together. Ishmael is not mentioned in either version of the Testament.
\n20:12. hymn of \u201cthrice holy\u201d \u201cHoly, holy, holy is the LORD\u201d as in Isa. 6 and the Kedushah. Cf. 3:3.
\nlife unending God\u2019s statement serves as an apt conclusion to the story. The end of the long version, 20:15, is an obvious Christianizing addition: \u201cAnd let us, too, my beloved brethren, imitate the hospitality of the patriarch Abraham and attain to his virtuous way of life, that we may be thought worthy of the life eternal, glorifying the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, to whom be glory and power forever. Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs<\/p>\n
James L. Kugel<\/p>\n
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is a collection of last wills and testaments allegedly written by Jacob\u2019s twelve sons. These are not property wills, in which a person before his death allots his material possessions to relatives and friends, but \u201cethical wills,\u201d whereby the dying person seeks to pass on to his descendants some of the wisdom he has amassed in his lifetime.
\nSuch wills were a popular form of writing in Second Temple times. Anonymous authors created the testaments of numerous biblical figures: Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Job, Moses, Solomon, and others. This form of writing was popular for various reasons. First, it allowed the anonymous authors to attribute their own ideas and opinions to authoritative figures from the Bible, thus giving them a cachet they would otherwise lack. (We know that at least some of these testaments were believed to be authentic during much of the Second Temple period and afterward.) Moreover, it was an accepted belief during this period that a person on his or her deathbed was privileged with a prophetic view of the future, and this allowed the anonymous author to have his biblical figure \u201cpredict\u201d things that had already happened\u2014adding to the apparent authenticity of his words as well as affording an opportunity to comment on Israel\u2019s recent history. At the same time, the pseudonymous biblical figure could speak of things that really were still in the future\u2014assuring readers that salvation was just around the corner and that Israel would soon return to its former glory, or warning them of policies or ideas that would lead to ruin. Finally, such testaments gave their writers an opportunity to preach: Do this and don\u2019t do that! Go with this group, avoid that group, and so forth.
\nAll these features are present in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. Each of Jacob\u2019s sons discourses in turn on the lessons he has learned in life. The speakers hold forth on such matters as the proper path to be followed, sins to be avoided, and the fate that awaits their descendants in times to come. Each testament has a different focus, but a number of themes recur: nearly all predict that their offspring will ultimately go astray and suffer punishment\u2014exile and subjection\u2014as a result. Many, however, also hold out the hope for the reuniting of all of Israel\u2019s tribes and a return to the nation\u2019s former glory.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
The Testaments have a complicated, and much disputed, history of composition. That history probably begins in the Hasmonean period, sometime in the last half of the 2nd century BCE. The Hasmoneans had just taken over the management of the Jerusalem Temple\u2014and for all practical purposes, all political power in Judea as well\u2014following their successful campaign against Syria in the Maccabean revolt: Jonathan the Hasmonean was proclaimed high priest in 152 BCE, ousting the former priestly establishment. Not long afterward, a Hasmonean scribe compiled the Aramaic Levi Document (ALD), in which Jacob\u2019s son Levi, speaking in the first person, recounts how he was given a divine revelation conferring the priesthood on him and his descendants, and with it, temporal power as well: from his descendants would come \u201cpriests and judges \u2026 and kings\u201d (ALD 13:16). The purpose of this text was patently to legitimate the Hasmoneans\u2019 right to hold the high priesthood and temporal power as well, indeed, even to claim the title of \u201cking.\u201d (The first Hasmonean ruler to assume the title of \u201cking\u201d was apparently Aristobulus I, who ruled from 104\u2013103 BCE, but the de facto claim to temporal rule no doubt went back much earlier, starting in the time of Jonathan himself.)
\nSometime later\u2014at the end of the second or the start of the 1st century BCE\u2014came a writer with a rather different agenda, the author of what seems to have been the original, Hebrew version of the Testaments. He essentially wished to write a series of moral exhortations, in which each of Jacob\u2019s twelve sons, feeling the time of his death to be closing in, would exhort his children to follow the lessons he himself had learned in life. The result would be a series of twelve \u201cspiritual testaments\u201d that treated different aspects of the moral life. There were two problems with this plan, however. First, some of Jacob\u2019s sons had hardly been models of proper behavior: Reuben had slept with his father\u2019s concubine, Simeon and Levi had massacred all the inhabitants of Shechem in revenge for their sister\u2019s rape, and Judah had married a Canaanite woman and then slept with his own daughter-in-law. How could such people hold forth on morality?
\nTo this problem the author of the Testaments had a simple solution: the patriarchs would not all be paragons of virtue! On the contrary, Reuben, Simeon, Judah, and others would take the occasion of their deathbed address to their children in order to confess their wrongdoings: \u201cDon\u2019t make the same mistakes I did,\u201d they would say. This tactic does not characterize all the testaments, but it is present in quite a few, even some (Dan, Gad) whose Scriptural portraits scarcely suggested any sinfulness. In each such instance, the patriarch includes in his charge to his children his own heartfelt admonitions not to do as he himself did in his youth. The patriarchs also often report on their having been punished for their misdeeds and\/or on their sincere repentance after sinning. The twin principles of divine reward-and-punishment and the expiatory value of repentance were clearly central elements in the author\u2019s understanding of God\u2019s ways with humankind.
\nThe second problem faced by the Testaments\u2019 author was that the Bible actually said very little about Jacob\u2019s sons and their character\u2014with the exceptions already mentioned of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, who all were involved in little episodes that revealed at least something of their natures. (A further exception\u2014perhaps the most important\u2014was Joseph, the altogether laudable central figure of a lengthy story that ran from Gen. 37 to 45.) But what of the other seven sons? The Bible said almost nothing about what sort of people they were, save for the little that could be gleaned from their involvement in the Joseph story and, a bit more substantially, from the words that Jacob addressed to each of them when he blessed his sons in Gen. 49. Rather than seeing this as a defect, however, the author of the Testaments saw it as an exegetical challenge: his mission was to pick up on the tiniest hints in Genesis\u2014principally in Jacob\u2019s blessings\u2014in order to invent a whole life-history or character portrait for such biblical non-entities as Issachar, Zebulon, Gad, Dan, and so forth.
\nIn this great undertaking, the author had a ready-made starting point. The ALD did, after all, present Levi as speaking in the first person, apparently in some sort of \u201cspiritual testament.\u201d All the Testaments\u2019 author had to do was translate parts of it into Hebrew and adapt it here and there to fit his purpose; then he would have a complete \u201cTestament of Levi,\u201d to which he could add eleven more testaments to complete the job. It was not laziness that caused him to start off by adopting large chunks of an existing text for part of his new book. Rather, it was because the ALD seemed to offer his book the possibility of a kind of outside legitimization. If\u2014as the Hasmoneans no doubt had claimed from the first\u2014the ALD was an ancient document written by the biblical Levi himself, then by inserting large chunks of it in Hebrew into his new composition, the author of the Testaments would seem to be proving that the other testaments in his book were the equally authentic work of Levi\u2019s brothers.
\nWhat might be thought of as the earliest version of the Testaments did not consist merely of moral exhortation, however. As mentioned, an ancient convention held that, just before death, a person is afforded a glimpse of things to come; so it is that nearly all the patriarchs report such visions, wherein they foresee that their descendants will sin and be exiled from their land. (The author of the Testaments of course knew that the various tribes would be exiled\u2014the so-called Ten Lost Tribes after the Assyrian conquest of the northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, and those of the Kingdom of Judah after the Babylonian conquest of 587\u201386 BCE.) These \u201cpredictions\u201d provided the author of the Testaments another opportunity to preach to his readership and, in particular, to urge them to be \u201cobedient to Levi\u201d and warn of the grave consequences that a failure to do so would bring down upon them.
\nThese passages are of great interest from the standpoint of the dating of the work; for, when in the history of the period would an author have considered obedience to Levi to be an important matter? The answer is hardly unequivocal, but such a call would certainly seem unlikely after the Roman conquest of Judah by Pompey (63 BCE). It was only before that time that obedience to \u201cLevi\u201d (= the Jerusalem priesthood) could have been any kind of political issue\u2014indeed, the call to obey Levi under any circumstances sounds as if it might belong to the time when the Hasmoneans were seeking to solidify their hold on political power, perhaps not long after the time of Aristobulus\u2019s self-proclamation as king. The fact that this call appears elsewhere in the Testaments as a call to obey Levi and Judah\u2014especially in T. Reub. 6:7\u20138, where the name of Judah seems clearly to have been added as an afterthought\u2014is likewise highly significant. It suggests that the earliest, \u201cpro-Hasmonean\u201d phase of the text was later modified to reflect a growing dissatisfaction with the political status quo (well known to have existed at various points among certain identifiable groups: the Pharisees, the Essenes, perhaps also the descendants of the old, priestly establishment that the Hasmoneans had ousted).
\nThe editor who apparently changed most of the \u201cobey Levi\u201d passages to \u201cobey Levi and Judah\u201d was probably also responsible for other changes as well, in particular the dire pre dictions of a corrupt priesthood (see T. Levi 14:5\u201318:1). It is hard to be more precise, but this writer probably wrote sometime in the first half of the 1st century BCE. He apparently held that concentrating all power in the priesthood was not only a mistake but also ran counter to the increasingly popular hope that someday the Davidic monarchy\u2014symbolized by Judah, David\u2019s tribe\u2014would return to the throne and the promise of eternal kingship that God had granted Judah (Gen. 49:10) would be realized.
\nThe insertion of this material supporting Judah and denouncing corruption in the priesthood\u2014as well as perhaps other material unrelated to contemporary politics\u2014seems to constitute a second stage in the Testaments\u2019 composition. But this is hardly the end of the story. In particular, it is necessary to deal with the thorny issue of how, and with what changes of substance, an originally Hebrew compilation of twelve testaments turned into the Greek composition that was to form the basis of the book we actually possess, the Greek Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.<\/p>\n
Language of Composition<\/p>\n
That the Greek Testaments include much material originally written in Hebrew and\/or Aramaic material is hardly open to question. In particular, the close relationship of the ALD and our current Testament of Levi\u2014often a matter of word-by-word correspondence\u2014provides one concrete example of how an indisputably Semitic original stands behind our current Greek book. Still more significant, the discovery of a fragment of a Testament of Naphtali among the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q215) offers strong support for the idea that a complete book of the twelve testaments of Jacob\u2019s sons once existed in Hebrew. As noted, the \u201ctestament\u201d genre was a popular one in Second Temple times. Still, the discovery among the Dead Sea Scrolls of a fragment from a testament belonging to such a minor figure as Naphtali suggests that it probably was composed as part of a larger work, a collection of testaments of all of Jacob\u2019s twelve sons\u2014in other words, some version of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. At the same time, this brief Qumran fragment is rather puzzling. It does share some elements with our existing Testament of Naphtali in the Greek Testaments, but it is also clearly different from the Greek in substance. If it was the base-text used by a Greek translator, then that translator was certainly an imaginative fellow, adding and changing things at will. And if he did that with the Testament of Naphtali, would he not have been just as free with the other testaments? To what extent, then, can the Greek Testaments be considered a translation, and to what extent a free reworking, of earlier material in Hebrew?
\nNo unequivocal answer to this question can be given. At times, our current Greek text clearly reveals itself to be translated from a Semitic original\u2014the evidence includes some mistakes whose existence can only be explained as translation errors. What is more, the Greek often demonstrates stylistic characteristics that bespeak a Semitic original\u2014turns of phrase or bits of syntax that seem strikingly un-Greek. At the same time, however, the Greek text as a whole features a great many Greek words or expressions that have no ready Hebrew or Aramaic equivalent. A number of different scenarios have been proposed to account for this somewhat contradictory evidence. One is that of a very free translation: instead of the normal process of fairly literal, phrase-by-phrase translating, one would have to imagine the translator reading a sentence (or a whole paragraph) in the Semitic original, then closing his or her eyes, and rethinking the whole sentence in idiomatic Greek. A second possibility is that of a two-stage translation. At first, rather literal translation was made, but then a later editor, disturbed at the foreign-sounding language, deliberately set out to re-phrase things in a more natural-sounding Greek; however, this was done somewhat inconsistently, with many of the old Hebraisms left in alongside the editor\u2019s sometimes striking departures from the original translator\u2019s text. Such an editor also threw in a few sentences and even paragraphs of his or her own\u2014Greek-sounding reflections that never were part of the original work. Yet a third possibility is that of a Greek-writing author who actually composed our Testaments: this person may indeed have had Hebrew or Aramaic source material close at hand (such as the ALD and the Hebrew Testament of Naphtali), and may even have quoted it or translated it literally at times; but most of his or her composition was, however much inspired by earlier material, composed de novo in Greek. The difference between these three scenarios is a matter of nuance, and it will probably never be possible to decide definitively on one or the other. Readers will find some of the evidence adduced in the commentary below.<\/p>\n
The Influence of Hellenism<\/p>\n
The whole history of the Testaments is wrapped up with that of Hellenization, the spread of Greek culture across the lands conquered by Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BCE\u2014including, of course, Judea. There was scarcely a Jew anywhere who was not influenced in some way by Hellenization during the closing centuries BCE and the early centuries of the Common Era (even after the Greeks had been supplanted in the Near East by their Roman successors). Such influence may be discerned even in the putative earliest, Hebrew stage of the Testaments. Its concern with the individual\u2019s moral perfection and the rooting out of such bad traits of character as anger and hatred, drunkenness and licentiousness certainly had its precedents in the biblical book of Proverbs and the Wisdom of Ben Sira; but it would be equally appropriate to see here the traces of Greek philosophy, and in particular the influence of the then-popular school of Stoicism. Anyone familiar with the extant writings of the later Stoics cannot help but think of, for example, Seneca\u2019s essays \u201cOn Anger,\u201d \u201cOn Mercy,\u201d and the like when these same traits are the center of discussion in the Testaments; the Stoic doctrine of simplicity and living in accordance with nature finds an eloquent equivalent in T. Iss. and its unceasing praise of the simple life.
\nWhen the Hebrew text of the Testaments was translated into Greek, those parts most resonant with Hellenistic thought may well have moved the Greek translator to embellish upon them. As already noted, there are many individual verses and even short passages that cannot easily be retroverted into Hebrew. The simplest explanation for these is that they were entirely reformulated from the Hebrew into the idiom of Greek philosophical discourse\u2014if not altogether invented, created out of whole cloth\u2014by the Greek translator. Of course, one should not carry this line of argument too far. When all is said and done, the Testaments are not a philosophical treatise but an exercise in imaginative biblical interpretation turned to the purpose of ethical preaching. Nevertheless, in their language, in their focus on moral perfection, and in some of their specific themes, the influence of Hellenism on the Greek Testaments is altogether apparent.<\/p>\n
A Christian Document<\/p>\n
In its present form, the Testaments make reference here and there to various Christian themes, and the significance of this fact has likewise been a matter of discussion among scholars. From an early date, some scholars of the Testaments concluded that these Christian elements were later interpolations into what had originally been a Jewish text; however, others have maintained the opposite position, that the Testaments is an essentially Christian work, created by a Christian author who, however much he may have availed himself of some oral and\/or written Jewish material, composed the Testaments from the beginning as a book of Christian piety. Although this hypothesis has not lacked supporters, the matter of Christian authorship does not seem to me quite as open to debate as the extent to which one should consider the Greek Testaments a translation or a free reworking of the Hebrew original.
\nWe have already glimpsed the existence of various exhortations to obey Levi, exhortations that would scarcely make any sense in a Christian document. (Indeed it is revealing that the Christian interpolator\u2014no doubt troubled by the implications of such passages but apparently unable to eliminate them from the well-established text\u2014tried to convert a few of them into predictions of the coming of the Christian messiah, whose genealogy for this purpose was connected with the tribes of Levi and Judah together.) Added to this is the text\u2019s abiding concern with altogether Jewish themes, such as 1) the eventual ingathering of the exiles, 2) the avoidance of marriage with Gentiles, 3) the centrality of obedience to, and study of, the Torah\u2019s commandments, 4) the burial of all the patriarchs in the Land of Israel, 5) the strict observance of dietary laws, 6) and the religious duty of supporting the temple priesthood. And on top of all this is the abundance of little bits of biblical interpretation that make sense only in Hebrew.
\nFinally\u2014and perhaps most significantly\u2014is all that the Testaments do not contain. How likely is it that a Christian writer would go to the trouble of writing ab initio the spiritual testaments of Jacob\u2019s twelve sons and then have them say so very little about the events of the Gospels or the message and mission of early Christianity? On balance, the Christian material in the Testaments is a small fraction of the whole, and even those ethical teachings that have (to my mind wrongly) been attributed to such a Christian writer include no attempt to connect those teachings to Jesus or his followers. What seems far more likely is that the sections in each testament that \u201cpredict\u201d the future (i.e., the disappearance of the Northern Kingdom, the fall of Jerusalem and Babylonian exile, the rise of a corrupt priesthood) attracted the attention of an early Christian, who saw in them the perfect opportunity to insert his own \u201cpredictions.\u201d This is how all the Christian interpolations entered the Testaments, and why they are a relatively small part of the whole.
\nSome of these points can be (and have been) argued against by supporters of the Christian-composition theory, but their arguments are, in my opinion, weak and overwhelmed by the evidence on the other side. In the last analysis (and after more than three centuries of scholarly debate), the most reasonable conclusion appears to be that the Testaments: 1) started off as a Jewish text in Hasmonean times; a text that 2) was later slightly revised while still in Hebrew, with specific insertions critical of the priesthood (as well as perhaps other material); 3) was still later freely translated into Greek with a number of a new passages added; and then finally 4) was supplemented by a relatively small and easily identifiable set of Christian interpolations.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
The Testaments are one of the most significant pieces of writing to have survived from the Second Temple period. Particularly interesting is what they can teach us about ancient biblical interpretation, since each testament refers\u2014directly or indirectly\u2014to passages from the book of Genesis as well as other parts of what would become the Hebrew Bible. Some of the interpretive motifs found in the Testaments may have originated with the book\u2019s own author[s]; others appear to have been borrowed from earlier works, in particular, from Jubilees. It is striking that a number of the interpretive motifs found in the Testaments reappear in much the same form in later writings, particularly in the midrash of Rabbinic Judaism. Considered as a whole, the various bits of biblical interpretation in the Testaments provide a valuable set of clues, helping us to trace the development of biblical interpretation in a period that was crucial for the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism.
\nBut the Testaments also shine a light on, as it were, the soul of Judaism in this crucial period. The author sought to explore some of the most basic of ethical concerns: What makes people sin? What is it that prevents us, despite our best intentions, from doing the right thing all the time? Most important: what do we need to do to avoid the usual pitfalls and strive for moral perfection? On these fundamental issues the Testaments do not speak with one voice. As will be seen, some parts of the book seem to attribute human evil to outside sources, Spirits (with a capital S, angel-like emissaries sent from the wicked angel Beliar), who can enter people\u2019s minds and cause them to go astray. Other parts seem to treat human evil as a mainly internal affair: an urge (Gk.: diaboulion) inside us spurs us to do what we know to be wrong. (Sometimes, this evil urge is depicted as being at war with an opposite, good urge, much as in later Rabbinic Judaism.) Whatever the origins of such evil, the Testaments are full of advice as to how it is to be defeated, and this too makes of the book a unique contribution to our understanding of the emergence of Jewish (and Christian) ethics in this formative period.<\/p>\n
About This Translation and Commentary<\/p>\n
The Testaments have survived in more than a dozen medieval Greek manuscripts, as well as in a number of medieval Armenian and Slavonic translations. Scholars have studied the interrelationship of these various manuscripts, in an attempt both to reconstruct the earliest recoverable version of the Greek text as well as to use the manuscript evidence to discern different stages in the text\u2019s evolution. (For a time it was held, for example, that the relative paucity of Christian references in some of the Armenian manuscripts bore witness to the gradual growth of the Christian interpolations.) Neither of these efforts can be said to have fully succeeded. While the Greek manuscripts have been sorted into two basic families of texts that were further studied for their relationship to each other (along with their connection to the various medieval translations into other languages), none of this has allowed scholars to peer beyond a relatively late date\u2014the 9th century CE, by some estimations\u2014in the Testaments\u2019 history. This would still leave us many, many centuries\u2014and many acts of copying and recopying\u2014from the putative first edition of the Greek text. What is more, there is no single \u201cbest\u201d manuscript among the surviving ones that can be used as the basis for a translation into English; while textual criticism has allowed us to understand how some errors, omissions, and additions have crept into the manuscript tradition, translating the Testaments is still very much a matter of comparing and weighing variant readings\u2014verse by verse, indeed, word by word. For the same reason, scholars generally agree that textual criticism itself will not allow us to reconstruct the compositional history of the Testaments\u2014the manuscript evidence is simply inadequate to the task.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
In preparing the current translation and commentary, I have relied principally on the scholarly edition of the Greek Testaments prepared by M. de Jonge (see below). Throughout, however, I have been guided by my own understanding of the text\u2019s early history (outlined above), which is rather different from de Jonge\u2019s, and this is one factor that has caused me to part ways here and there with his preferred readings. In particular\u2014save in those passages that clearly bear the stamp of having been composed originally in Greek\u2014I have often tried to \u201crethink\u201d the sentence in Hebrew to see if that can shed light on the putative original form. Since the actual words of the received Greek text often fall short of what I understand to have been the original meaning, I have sometimes inserted into my translation an explanatory word or two when literal rendering would leave the sense unclear. These explanatory words always appear in square brackets to distinguish them from what the Greek actually says. Sometimes, the Greek text appears to have acquired an extra word or an otherwise problematic phrasing; in these cases I have translated the Greek text as is but surrounded the word or words with angled brackets and explained the reason in the notes. On a few occasions, I have actually dared to try to restore the original version of the text when none of the extant versions is comprehensible; in those cases I have made specific mention of my restoration in the notes.
\nAs mentioned, my aim in both the translation and commentary has been to make sense of the text in the light of the Testaments\u2019 complicated evolution. Since the present volume is a collection of putatively Jewish writings (although some, like the Testaments, have clearly been supplemented by Christian additions and interpolations), I have removed the obviously Christian material from the body of the text and printed it in footnotes. (This is the same procedure as that followed by Charles in his 1908 translation, although I differ from Charles somewhat in my understanding of where specific Christian interpolations begin and end.) More than anything else, however, I have tried to focus my commentary on the bits of biblical interpretation that abound in the Testaments. This is an aspect of the Testaments that has sometimes been neglected in previous commentaries, but one that appears to have played a central role in the Testaments\u2019 composition.
\nAs with other compositions that retell biblical narratives, it is important to read the Testaments with a copy of the Bible at hand, since so much of it is concerned with biblical interpretation. Apart from actual narratives, such as the lengthy story of Joseph and his brothers (Gen. 37; 39\u201345), the Testaments depend to a large extent on the cryptic blessings that Jacob allotted to his twelve sons in Gen. 49.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Charles, R. H. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1908.
\nGreenfield, J., et al. The ALD: Edition, Translation, Commentary. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
\nHollander, H. W., and M. de Jonge. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: A Commentary. Leiden: Brill, 1986.
\nKugel, J. The Ladder of Jacob: Ancient Interpretations of the Biblical Story of Jacob and His Children. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006.
\nKugler, R. A. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001.
\nSlingerland, D. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: A Critical History of Research. Missoula MT: Scholar\u2019s Press, 1977.
\nStone, M. Selected Studies in Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha, with Special Reference to the Armenian Tradition. Leiden: Brill, 1991.<\/p>\n
COMMENTARY<\/p>\n
The Testament of Reuben<\/p>\n
Title It is likely that, in keeping with the common practice in antiquity, the individual testaments did not begin with an actual title, since the first sentence regularly served to introduce a text and so fulfilled the role of a title. Most of the extant Greek manuscripts\u2014in keeping with later practice\u2014do give a title to each testament, but they vary widely among different manuscripts, thus: \u201cThe Testament of Reuben Concerning Thoughts\u201d; \u201cThe Testament of Reuben, the Firstborn Son of Jacob and Leah.\u201d \u201cFrom a Copy of the Testament of the Patriarch Reuben, Son of Jacob,\u201d \u201cThe Testament of Reuben Concerning Chastity and the Love of Money,\u201d and so forth. Because of the clearly secondary character of these titles, I have omitted them from the present translation.
\n1:1. testament \u2026 that he commanded In Gk., the terms for \u201ccommand\u201d and \u201ctestament\u201d are different, but in Heb., a last will and testament (tzeva\u2019ah) was something that a person commanded (tzivvah) before dying.
\n1:2. to look after him The Gk. uses a verb (episkepsasthai) which means both \u201cvisit\u201d and \u201clook after\u201d and may reflect the use of bikker in Heb., which came to be used in both these senses, the latter well known through the Rabbinic concept of bikkur holim, \u201ccaring for the sick.\u201d
\n1:5\u20136. Listen, my brothers, and my children Here begins the story of Reuben\u2019s great sin with Bilhah, his father\u2019s concubine (Gen. 35:22), the subject of much of his testament.
\nI call the God of heaven to witness against you Deut. 4:26.
\nthat you not walk in the \u2026 licentiousness into which I was poured out when I defiled the bed of my father Jacob Reuben says here that he was \u201cpoured out\u201d into licentiousness because of the odd phrasing of Jacob\u2019s words to Reuben in Gen. 49:4, \u201c[You were as] wanton as water (pahaz ka-mayim); you shall be preeminent no more.\u201d The comparison puzzled interpreters: in what sense can water be wanton? Some saw here a reference to Reuben\u2019s uncontrolled urges: he was poured out into wantonness, like rushing water bursting its banks. Thus Jerome\u2019s Latin translation of the Bible (the Vulgate) rendered Gen. 35:22 as \u201cyou have been poured out like water\u201d (effusus es sicut aqua). This same understanding apparently underlies T. Reub.\u2019s \u201cin which I was poured out.\u201d Note that \u201clicentiousness\u201d\u2014a word used frequently in the Testaments\u2014translates Gk. porneia, which in turn is a translation of the Heb. zenut. Both words suggest a variety of sexual offenses. They both are sometimes rendered into English by \u201cfornication,\u201d but I have preferred to use \u201clicentiousness\u201d throughout this translation, since for the author of the Testaments, zenut includes not only adultery and other forbidden unions, but social promiscuity of any kind and sometimes even, metaphorically, any form of moral impurity.
\n1:7. He afflicted me \u2026 in my loins This is altogether in keeping with the great principle of \u201cmeasure for measure,\u201d according to which God punishes the guilty in keeping with the specific nature of their transgression\u2014and sometimes in that part of the body which committed the offense. Thus the Bible\u2019s suspected adulteress risks being stricken \u201cin the belly and the thigh\u201d (Num. 5:21), and Absalom, who took overweening pride in the length of his hair, was punished by having his hair caught up in a low-lying branch of a tree as he galloped by. On these and other instances, see M. Sot. 1:7\u20139. The principle of \u201cmeasure for measure\u201d is stated outright in T. Gad 5:10 and, in a positive sense, T. Zeb. 8:3.
\nmy father Jacob prayed to the LORD on my behalf No such prayer is recorded in Scripture, but the author may be thinking of Deut. 33:6, \u201cMay Reuben live and not die.\u201d At the time these words were uttered, Reuben was long dead! Some interpreters therefore concluded that the text was quoting a prayer that had originally been uttered during Reuben\u2019s lifetime. Philo of Alexandria thus attributed these words to Jacob (Names 210), and some Rabbinic sources likewise saw this verse as a prayer uttered while Reuben was still alive: see B. Sanh. 92a; also Tg. Ps.-J. and frag. Tg. Deut. 33:6. Note also that Reuben\u2019s sentence here is incomplete; this may be the result of an error in transmission, but it is equally likely that Reuben did not wish to bring the evil eye upon himself by uttering the words \u201cI would have died.\u201d
\n1:9. And in the set purpose of my soul, for seven years I repented Repentence, a central Rabbinic virtue, plays a prominent role in the Testaments as well. See T. Sim. 2:13, T. Jud. 19:2, T. Gad 5:6\u20139.
\n1:10. nor did I taste any appetizing bread This phrase (and indeed, the sentiment of the whole verse) is paralleled in Dan. 10:3; \u201cbread\u201d here really means \u201cfood.\u201d See below on T. Sim. 2:9.
\nmourning over my sin\u2014for it was indeed great The Greek translator apparently missed this allusion to Ps. 25:11, since he used megal\u0113 for \u201cgreat\u201d instead of poll\u0113 in the Greek Bible.
\nAnd it shall not happen thus in Israel But it already did happen! This, however, seems to be the author\u2019s restatement of Gen. 34:7, which reads \u201cand let it not be done thus,\u201d that is, \u201csuch things ought never to happen!\u201d (See the similar wording of. 2 Sam. 13:12; Jdt. 9:2, Jub. 30:5, all in connection with licentiousness.) The translator did not duplicate the wording of any these verses; apparently, he did not recognize the allusion or understand the hortative sense of the verb in Hebrew.
\n2:1. the seven Spirits [that is, angelic emissaries] of deceit Satan\u2014often called Beliar herein\u2014is frequently referred to in the Testaments as \u201cthe Angel of deceit\u201d (see below on T. Sim. 2:7). The Greek term plan\u0113 has a wide range of meanings, including \u201cerror,\u201d \u201cdelusion,\u201d or \u201cdeception\u201d; the underlying Hebrew term may have been mirmah (falsehood) or possibly avel (\u201cunrighteousness, wrong\u201d\u2014but the \u201cspirit of avel\u201d is the opposite of the \u201cspirit of truth\u201d in one of the Dead Sea Scrolls; see below on T. Ash. 1:3). He was so called because his main task in life was to lead human beings astray into unrighteous acts\u2014indeed, the most accurate, though awkward, rendering of Beliar\u2019s title would be \u201cthe Angel of Leading-People-Astray,\u201d or perhaps, \u201cthe Deceiving Angel.\u201d Beliar did not\u2014could not\u2014undertake such a huge task alone; as the Testaments make clear, he is in charge of a whole crew of wicked angels, called the \u201cSpirits [Heb. ruhot, Gk. pneumata] of deceit,\u201d i.e., \u201cdeceiving Spirits.\u201d Spirit is a somewhat ambiguous term in Hebrew. It can mean something internal or abstract, like \u201cspirit\u201d in English, but in Second Temple times it could also refer to an actual angel in the service of God or Beliar, an agent in charge of various earthly functions (see Jub. 2:2) or an emissary sent to carry out the plans of God or Beliar. To make this distinction clear, therefore, I have capitalized the word Spirit when it seems to refer, as here, to these lower heavenly functionaries or emissaries. This same distinction holds true throughout this translation and commentary: Spirit means an angelic emissary (usually a bad one), while spirit means something closer to the word in its usual English sense\u2014an inner trait or capability, something that characterizes a person\u2019s mind or soul. Cf. below on T. Ash. 1:3.
\n2:2. the beginning of the deeds of youth This makes little sense unless one understands \u201cdeeds of youth\u201d here as Heb. ma\u2019asei na\u2019arut (or the synonyms yaldut, baharut, and shaharut), that is, \u201cdeeds of foolishness\u201d (see Eccles. 11:9\u201310; note also Gen. Rab. 84:7 and 1 Cor. 13:11, \u201cWhen I became a man, I put aside childish things\u201d). Note also Reuben\u2019s mention of \u201cyouthful ignorance\u201d in 1:6. Thus, the seven angels of deception are the \u201chead\u201d [Gk. kefal\u0113, Heb. rosh], the origin, of all the foolish acts into which humans can be enticed.
\n2:3. And seven other spirits were given to him As others have observed, this sentence apparently begins a long insertion (from 2:3 through 3:2) inspired by the \u201cseven spirits\u201d mentioned in the previous sentence. To someone (probably the Greek translator), the mention of Beliar\u2019s seven Spirits (Gk. pneumata, Heb. ruhot) brought to mind the eight spirits (pneumata) recognized by Stoic philosophers. But these two sets of spirits are of two completely different orders. Beliar\u2019s \u201cSpirits\u201d are little wicked angels that can lodge in a human being\u2019s soul and take it over. (See above on 2:1 and below on T. Ash. 1:3) In this interpolated section (T. Reub. 2:3\u20133:2), however, \u201cspirit\u201d refers to some inborn feature of the human being\u2014four of the five senses, plus the spirits of life, speech, and procreation. (The sense of touch has apparently been dropped in order to reduce the eight Stoic pneumata down to seven.)
\nThese spirits were given to man at [his] creation It is not clear if the author means at each human\u2019s creation, or at the creation of the first human beings on the sixth day of the Creation.
\n2:4. The first is the spirit of life Perhaps this Stoic concept is being identified here with the \u201cspirit of life\u201d (ruah hayyim) that God breathed into the first human in Gen.
\nThe second is the spirit of sight, through which comes desire The eyes are the seat of desire in biblical and Rabbinic thought.
\n2:5. the spirit of smell, through which are given the tastes to draw in air and breath The word \u201ctastes\u201d is odd here, since it does not indicate the sense of taste, which appears in 2:7. Perhaps it reflects Aram. te\u2019em (or its Heb. cognate), which means both \u201ctaste\u201d and \u201ccommand, order\u201d (Dan. 3:10, 12, etc.); if taken in the latter sense, it is through the \u201cspirit of smell\u201d that the body commands the nose to inhale and exhale. Underlying all this is the idea that the seats of the senses are actually apertures (see Abraham, 72) through which our \u201cinside\u201d self actively captures that which is \u201coutside\u201d: thus, objects of desire are captured through the eyes, instruction (good or bad) through the ears, and \u201cair and breath\u201d through the nose, prompted, apparently, by some inner appetite to breathe.
\n2:9. That is why [although] it is the last in the [order of] creation The author means that it is listed last because the desire for procreation is the last of these \u201cspirits\u201d to develop in a human being; nevertheless, it becomes the first in importance for \u201cyouth, since it is filled with ignorance\u201d\u2014people, especially young people, do not realize what it really is. (Reuben here is surely thinking of his own sin with Bilhah.)
\n3:1. In addition to all these is an eighth spirit It seems unlikely (though not impossible) that this verse was written by the author of the foregoing interpolation (2:3\u20139), since he had specifically said that there were seven spirits; perhaps a still later hand added this verse in order to match the eight spirits of the Stoics (above on 2:3).
\nsleep, through which is created the trance-like state[that occurs in] nature This is the author\u2019s attempt to define what sleep is, \u201cas well as a likeness of death,\u201d sleep\u2019s other aspect.
\n3:2. Infused in all these spirits is the Spirit of deceit here the author of this insertion seeks to reconcile his list of spirits with the general statement in 2:2.
\n3:3. The first, [the Spirit] of licentiousness One of the great villains of the Testaments.
\nlodges That is, takes up residence.
\nin nature and in the senses Here begins the original continuation of 2:2. Most of the Spirits in this list are not connected with any particular part of the body\u2014presumably, they are sent by Beliar to penetrate a person\u2019s mind. But the second and third are indeed associated with the stomach and liver respectively, while the first Spirit, licentiousness, is said more generally to occupy a person\u2019s \u201cnature and the senses.\u201d The former term, phusis, is an utterly Greek concept with no ready Hebrew equivalent; it can mean a person\u2019s natural character or disposition, or a product of nature and hence, an individual creature. The \u201cSpirit of insatiability\u201d is located in the stomach, where it prevents a person from ever feeling he or she has had enough (food or anything else).
\n3:4. The third, the Spirit of contentiousness, is in the liver and bile See below on T. Sim. 2:4, 2:7.
\nthe Spirit of flattery and hypocrisy, so that, by [a person\u2019s] exerting himself Afflicted by this Spirit, the person asks hypocritical or flattering questions, which are not truly intended to find out anything, but merely to make an impression. For example, Esau asked, \u201cHow does one set aside the priestly gifts on salt? How \u2026 on straw?\u201d (Gen. Rab. 63:9).
\n3:5. the Spirit of lying out of depravity and envy Lit., \u201cin depravity\u201d seems a bit odd; Charles suggested a scribal error had mistaken the original word, \u201chatred.\u201d
\n3:6. The seventh is the Spirit of injustice This may refer to injustice in court (Lev. 19:15); it takes hold of someone and makes him try to bribe the judge in his favor.
\nfor injustice cooperates with the other Spirits in the taking of bribes Lit., \u201cthe taking of gifts,\u201d but \u201cgift\u201d is sometimes a synonym of bribe (Prov. 15:27; Eccles. 7:7). The \u201cother Spirits\u201d here are the ones occupying the minds of the bribe-takers, presumably, the Spirits of insatiability and falsehood.
\n3:7. In addition to all these is the Spirit of sleep The same hand that inserted 3:1 apparently inserted this verse, and apparently for the same reason: to make a list of seven items into a list of eight; it is difficult to understand how sleep can be \u201cjoined to deceit and imagination,\u201d unless the author has in mind all dreams that can lead a person astray.
\n3:8. And thus every youth is destroyed This verse continues with the overall theme announced in v. 2:2, how the seven Spirits of Beliar make youthful foolishness their easy victim.
\n3:10. and do not be together with another man\u2019s woman (Lit.: \u201cpaired with another man\u2019s woman\u201d); that is, do not end up alone with her, since this can lead to (and is sometimes used as a euphemism for) adultery.
\n3:11. For if I had not seen Bilhah bathing The motif of Bilhah bathing originated as a separate elaboration of the phrase pahaz kamayyim (see above on 1:6) in Gen. 49:4, understood here as pahaz ba-mayim, suggesting that Reuben had been \u201cwanton in [or \u201cby means of, through\u201d] water\u201d and that this is what led him to his sin with Bilhah. But how could someone be wanton in or by means of water? Interpreters understood this phrase as elliptical, that is, Reuben had acted wantonly by watching Bilhah bathe in water. (This interpretation first appears in Jub. 33:2 the reading \u201cin water\u201d is also preserved in Gen. Rab. 98:4, \u201cOur Rabbis said: You [Reuben] sinned in water\u201d).
\nin a hidden place Probably Heb. bimkom seter, that is, a sheltered or covered place (cf. Jub. 33:2). The point of this assertion is to exonerate Bilhah\u2014she was not bathing in plain sight, as Bathsheba was (2 Sam. 11:2).
\n3:13. Jacob our father had gone off to [visit] his father Isaac This is apparently the trip referred to in Gen. 35:27, cf. Jub. 33:1; even though this trip is mentioned after the incident in question, interpreters reasoned it must have taken place at the same time, since Jacob later says that Reuben \u201cwent to your father\u2019s bed\u201d (Gen. 49:4)\u2014something he could not have done if his father was already in it!
\nwhen we were in Eder, near to Ephrat in Bethlehem cf. Gen. 35:19; some mss. read \u201cnear to Ephratah, the house in Bethlehem,\u201d and this is a significant reading, since it takes us back to the stage of the Greek translation from Hebrew. The Bible nowhere mentions any \u201chouse\u201d in Bethlehem; apparently, the Greek translator copied the word Ephratah and then, mistaking the first syllable of Bethlehem for the word for \u201chouse\u201d (Heb. bayit), wrote house in Gk. (oikos). Realizing his error, he added the words \u201cin Bethelehem,\u201d but failed to erase \u201chouse.\u201d
\n3:14. And I entered and I saw her nakedness The author surely means to evoke the biblical phrase \u201cuncover [or \u201csee\u201d] his\/her nakedness\u201d gillah [or ra\u2019ah] ervatah (Lev. 18:7; 20:11, 17; Deut. 23:1), usually a euphemism for actually conducting forbidden sexual relations, but here, apparently, taken literally as an act of seeing, since the text goes on to say \u201cand I did that impiety\u201d; Bilhah was already in bed, drunk and impervious, since Gen. 49:4 says \u201cyou went to your father\u2019s bed\u201d\u2014not you and Bilhah, but you alone (Heb. alita).
\n3:15. an angel of God revealed to my father Jacob concerning my impiety Jacob had to find out about the incident somehow\u2014he mentions it specifically in Gen. 49:4; but since Bilhah slept through the whole thing and Reuben himself was unlikely to volunteer the information to his father, the author enlists the services of an angel to reveal the crime.
\nand he touched her no more This assertion is based on the seemingly unrelated passage that follows this incident, a list of Jacob\u2019s twelve sons (Gen. 35:22\u201326). If they are listed there, according to this interpretation, it is because Jacob had only twelve sons. Even though Bilhah was still in the years of fertility, Jacob, disgusted by what the angel told him, had no further relations with her or Zilpah. (Some have suggested that Jacob was, according to an old halakhah, forbidden to have relations with Bilhah ever afterward; see Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Deut. 22:26, B. Ket. 51b. However, our text mentions nothing of Jacob divorcing Bilhah and providing her with a get, as these other texts require, nor would such a halakhah prevent Jacob from having further children with Zilpah.)
\n4:1. instead, proceed in simplicity of heart Simplicity alone or in various combinations, such as \u201csimplicity of heart\u201d (Heb. tom lev), is a crucial concept in the Testaments; it implies living a simple, straightforward existence, being satisfied with little and seeking only God\u2019s favor; see further on T. Iss. 3:1, 4:1\u20135:3.
\nexerting yourselves in good deeds and in Scripture This seems to parallel the Rabbinic commonplace \u201cto busy oneself (la\u2019asok\/lehit\u2019assek) in Torah and good deeds.\u201d
\nuntil the LORD give you a spouse with whom He is pleased In Rabbinic tradition, it is God who personally arranges every marriage.
\n4:2. to look Jacob in the eye Lit. \u201cin the face.\u201d
\n4:4. he prayed to the LORD concerning me See above on 1:7: \u201cas [indeed] the LORD showed me\u201d by not killing me, although this is the punishment I deserved; for an explanation as to why Reuben was not killed, see Jub. 33:15\u201316.
\nfrom that time until now Some texts have \u201cfrom that time I have been repenting,\u201d but that seems unlikely, since Reuben has already said that the period of his repentance was seven years (1:9).
\n4:6. licentiousness is a trap for the soul Some texts: \u201ca destruction for the soul\u201d but \u201ctrap\u201d (Gk. bothros,\u201cpit\u201d) seems more likely; note that Heb. shahat means both \u201cpit\u201d and \u201cdestruction,\u201d frequently in reference to She\u2019ol, the realm of the dead, which might also explain the observation that licentiousness \u201cleads youths down to the underworld\u201d at the end of this sentence.
\nseparating [it] from God and bringing [it] close to idols something of a pun, since to \u201cbring close\u201d (Heb. hikrib) also means to offer a sacrifice to a deity. Forbidden sexual unions and idolatry, along with murder, were the three sins that a Jew cannot perform even to save his own life, \u201clet him be killed and not transgress\u201d (B. Pes. 25b and freq. elsewhere). Indeed, the two are often juxtaposed: \u201cTwo evil impulses did the LORD create, the impulse to idolatry and the impulse to licentiousness\u201d (Shir Rab. ad 7:8).
\n4:7. old or of noble birth In either case people would be reluctant to criticize\u2014but not in the case of licentiousness.
\nA stumbling block of Beliar That is, Beliar uses it to cause a person to fall.
\n4:8\u20139. the Egyptian woman did many things to Joseph A brief preview of the things the author will narrate in T. Jos.
\nyet the disposition of his soul did not accept any evil desire The Gk. word diaboulion in the Testaments is a translation of Heb. yetzer and is a crucial term throughout the book. The Hebrew text seems to have used yetzer in two somewhat different ways. It speaks in general of person\u2019s soul or heart having a yetzer, and this usage, corresponding to yetzer in biblical Hebrew is best translated as the disposition of a person\u2019s inner self, that is, the general make-up of a person\u2019s character, his inner nature as a whole. This is how the word is used in T. Reub. 4:9 and elsewhere. The other usage of yetzer is identical to the use of yetzer in Mishnaic Hebrew, which is best translated as \u201cimpulse\u201d or \u201curge.\u201d Used alone, this word designates a person\u2019s evil impulse, the force within a person that pushes him or her to sin. But sometimes\u2014in Rabbinic texts as well as in the Testaments\u2014a person is also said to have a good yetzer, pulling in the opposite direction from that of the bad yetzer. Thus, commenting on the commandment to love God \u201cwith your whole heart,\u201d R. Meir explained: \u201cwith your two impulses, [both] the evil impulse and the impulse to good\u201d (T. Ber. 7:7, cf. M. Ber. 9:5, Sifre Deut. 32, etc.). This sense of yetzer as \u201cimpulse,\u201d either good or bad, appears in T. Jud. 11:1, 13:2 and elsewhere. See further the discussion in T. Ash. 1.
\n4:10. from any visible or hidden death some mss: \u201cfrom every evil, [from] hidden death,\u201d but this makes less sense (unless the original text had said \u201ceven from hidden death,\u201d that is, even from dangers of which Joseph himself was unaware, such as poisoning). For a similar expression, see 6:12.
\n5:1. For women are evil The author\u2019s misogyny is certainly shocking to modern readers, but it should be remembered that in ancient times and through the Middle Ages and beyond, such rants were altogether acceptable, indeed, they had biblical roots (Eccles. 7:26\u201328, but cf. 9:9).
\n5:2. they overcome by craft or \u201ctrickiness,\u201d \u201cguile.\u201d The author probably has in mind actual witchcraft\u2014spells and potions and the like\u2014which were deemed to be the recourse of women; cf. M. Avot 2:7, \u201cHe who has many wives has much witchcraft\u201d; also M. Sanh. 6:4, which reports on Simeon b. Shetah\u2019s execution of eighty women, presumably for witchcraft; referring to Exod. 22:17, B. Sanh. 67a concludes that \u201cmost women are involved with witchcraft.\u201d
\n5:6. For it was thus that they [the women] bewitched the Watchers before the flood A reference to Gen. 6:2, where the \u201csons of God\u201d\u2014referred to in Second Temple times as the \u201cWatchers\u201d (see below on T. Naph. 3:5)\u2014\u201csaw how beautiful the daughters of men were, and took wives from among those that pleased them.\u201d In this verse there is no implication that the women were at fault, but T. Reub. assumes that the women bewitched these divine creatures and thus seduced them. He then explains:
\nas these [the Watchers] kept seeing them continuously A clever interpretation of Gen. 6:2, which says literally that the \u201csons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful,\u201d an apparently over-complicated formulation; if the point was that the daughters of men were beautiful, why not simply say that? To the author of T. Reub., the verse stresses the Watchers\u2019 seeing the women because these females were not altogether innocent: they must have adorned themselves to attract the Watchers\u2019 attention, so that their eyes were constantly brought back to them and they thus \u201ckept seeing them continuously.\u201d For further reflections of this motif: Tg. Ps-Jon. ad Gen. 6:2; Pirke R. El. 22. However, according to T. Reub., the Watchers did not actually have sexual relations with the women; rather, \u201ctransforming themselves into the shape of men,\u201d they waited until the women were having relations with their husbands and then suddenly appeared before them.
\n5:7. desiring them in the[ir] mind The women, seeing these apparitions and desiring them, then gave birth to offspring who resembled them as a result. (For a similar maneuver, see Gen. 30:38\u201341.)
\nthe Watchers had appeared to them as reaching up to heaven Their gigantic appearance explains why their offspring, the Nephilim, were actually born as giants. (That the Nephilim were giants was derived from Num. 13:32\u201333; the Septuagint [LXX] rendered Gen. 6:4 \u201cThe giants were on the earth.\u201d)
\n6:2. not to go as a pair with men Apparently, before marriage; being alone with another man can only lead to trouble (above on 3:10).
\n6:3. becomes for them [the women] an incurable disease That is, they can\u2019t stop indulging in such meetings.
\nand for us [men] a trap of Beliar\u2019s Gk. \u201cdestruction of Beliar\u2019s,\u201d but this is probably again Heb. sha-hat (above on 4:6).
\n6:4. licentiousness holds in itself neither understanding nor piety an odd assertion\u2014who would ever think that it did? Various emendations have been proposed, but it seems most likely that what the author means is \u201csuch licentiousness,\u201d that is, the form of licentiousness he has just been discussing, \u201cgoing as a pair\u201d with the opposite sex, \u201cmeeting one another continuously.\u201d Such meetings\u2014particularly, private meetings between a man and a woman alone (Heb. yihud)\u2014yield \u201cneither understanding nor piety,\u201d that is, neither a better understanding of a potential mate nor any pious deed (such as their future marriage). On the contrary, \u201call of envy resides in the lust for it.\u201d
\n6:5. Therefore This phrase seems designed to cover over the nonsequitur of what follows: what does this next section, one of the many \u201cobey Levi\u201d passages in the Testaments (see \u201cIntroduction\u201d), have to do with what precedes it? But \u201ctherefore\u201d (Gk. dia touto) here probably translates Heb. al-ken, which sometimes has the specific nuance of \u201cthat is why.\u201d The connecting element between this verse and the previous one is thus the word envy: In a more modern idiom, Reuben might say: \u201cSpeaking of envy, you will be envious of the sons of Levi.\u201d
\nyou will seek to be exalted over them Since you are descendants of Reuben, Jacob\u2019s firstborn, you may naturally conclude that you ought to be the dominant tribe.
\nbut you will not be able to Heb. lo tukhelu can also mean \u201cyou will not overcome [them].\u201d
\n6:7. God granted leadership to Levi, and to Judah as well It looks as if Judah may have been added in as an afterthought (see \u201cIntroduction\u201d), since only Levi was mentioned in 6:5 and in 6:8 it is again Levi alone.
\nand with them to me [Reuben] also, and to Dan and Joseph This clause is utterly baffling, since the Torah itself (Gen. 49:3\u20134; cf. 1 Chron. 5:1) as well as Second Temple and Rabbinic interpretations of these verses, unequivocally say that Reuben lost his leadership role forever. Moreover, there is no such role associated with the tribe of Dan, although Dan himself is given a prominent role in the war against the Canaanite kings (T. Jud. 7:6); as for Joseph, he received a double portion of the inheritance (Gen. 48:5\u20136), but no leadership position.
\n6:8. he will know the Torah of God and will give rulings for judgment and sacrifices This seems to be an interpretation Deut. 33:10: that the Levites will know \u201cthe Torah of God\u201d reflects that verse\u2019s mention of the Levites\u2019 teaching \u201cYour Torah to Israel\u201d; their giving \u201crulings for judgment\u201d is a reference to the verse\u2019s first words, \u201cLet them teach Your judgments to Israel,\u201d connected in midrash with Deut. 21:5 \u201cEvery lawsuit and case of assault is subject to their [i.e., the Levitical priests\u2019] ruling\u201d (see Sifre Deut. 35); \u201cand sacrifices\u201d refers to the end of Deut. 33:10, \u201cThey shall offer You incense to savor and whole offerings on Your altars.\u201d
\n6:9. I cause you to swear by the God of heaven The most solemn oath possible.
\nthat each of you will act faithfully toward his fellow and lovingly toward his brother The distinction is important: \u201cact faithfully\u201d (lit. \u201cDo truth\u201d) is awkward in Gk. but represents the Heb. idiom asah emet (Ezek. 18:9; Neh. 9:33, etc.; see also below on T. Benj. 10:3) meaning to act faithfully or honestly\u2014this is the minimum due to one\u2019s fellow; to act \u201clovingly toward his brother\u201d is a higher standard, cf. Lev. 19:17 and perhaps 19:18.
\n6:10. so that you may receive a blessing from his mouth The priestly blessing (Num. 6:22\u201327).
\n6:11. the LORD has chosen him to be king over all peoples Apparently referring to the tribe of Judah, about whom it was said, \u201cthe obedience of peoples will be his\u201d (Gen. 49:10). This verse was apparently a later, pro-Judah insertion; it is not clear whether the next verse was also inserted or originally applied to Levi.
\n7:1. having commanded his sons That is, having issued this spiritual last will and testament; see above on 1:1.
\n7:2. in the cave where his father was some mss: \u201cin the double cave [i.e., Machpelah] where his fathers were.\u201d The latter might seem a preferable reference, since not only Jacob, but Abraham and Isaac and their wives, along with, according to midrashic tradition, other figures going back to Adam were buried there. But perhaps Jacob alone is mentioned here since, while Jacob and his sons all died in Egypt, Jacob\u2019s remains were transferred immediately for burial in Hebron, while his sons had to wait. See below on T. Sim. 8:1\u20134.<\/p>\n
The Testament of Simeon<\/p>\n
1:1. in the [same] year that Joseph died Simeon was thus, according to the Testaments\u2019 chronology, ten years older than Joseph. Cf. Jub. 28:13 and 24. The Testament of Levi<\/p>\n 1:1. that he commanded see comment on T. Reub. 1:1. 3:36. You may indeed find individuals Scholars debate whether Ezra here refers to individual Israelites, or individuals from other nations. The context favors non-Israelite individuals, but in what sense could they have \u201ckept [God\u2019s] commandments,\u201d if the Torah was given only to Israel? In the third dialogue, Uriel claims that all people are responsible for … <\/p>\n
\n1:2. went to care for him See above on T. Reub. 1:2. Simeon \u201csummoned his strength and sat up,\u201d just as Jacob had in Gen. 48:2.
\n2:1\u20132. listen \u2026 to the things \u2026 because the LORD had heard her prayer Gen. 29:33.
\n2:4. my heart \u2026 my liver \u2026 my innards In many biblical texts, the internal organs were all held to be the seat of human thought and emotions, without any apparent differentiation of function: they were all the great inside of human beings. (Under Hellenistic influence, however, different organs came to acquire particular associations. See below, also T. Reub. 3:4, T. Gad 5:9\u201311.) Here, Simeon does not appear to be boasting: to be \u201chard-hearted\u201d in Hebrew means to be undiscerning, and to lack compassion was certainly a negative trait. It seems possible that \u201cliver\u201d (Heb. kabed) is a mistake by the Greek translator and that the Hebrew original read: \u201cFor my heart was hard (kasheh) and heavy (kabed),\u201d two words that are often used synonymously: thus God makes Pharaoh\u2019s heart \u201chard\u201d (Exod. 7:3) and \u201cheavy\u201d (Exod. 10:1 etc.) so that he would not understand.
\n2:5. For courage [better: strength] is given to men from the Most High As a continuation of the previous thought, this sentence seems to make little sense. Apparently, the Greek translator rendered Heb. gevurah as andreia, \u201ccourage\u201d\u2014which gevurah sometimes can mean. But here, the correct translation is \u201cstrength.\u201d Simeon means that while he grew up to be physically strong, the \u201cstrength\u201d that developed in his mind made him \u201chard-hearted.\u201d Note that the Hebrew root g-b-r is synonymous with another root h-z-k, which is used in precisely this sense, e.g., hizzek et libbo, \u201cHe made him [Pharaoh] hard-hearted\u201d (Exod. 9:12; 14:8).
\n2:6. And at that time some mss: \u201cIn the time of my youth.\u201d
\nbecause our father loved him Gen. 37:3.
\n2:7. I set my liver against him Since in Greek science, the liver was held to be the seat of aggression; see T. Reub. 3:4, T. Gad 5:9\u201311.
\nBecause the Angel of deceit This deceiving angel also appears in T. Jud. 19:4 and cf. T. Ash. 6:2; the name is apparently used synonymously for Beliar or Satan. Gk. arch\u014dn corresponds here to Heb. sar, a term for a superior angel.
\nsent the Spirit of envy \u201cSpirit\u201d (Heb. ruah) was itself used to designate a lower class of angel; see above on T. Reub. 2:1 and cf. Num. 5:14 (lit. \u201cSpirit of envy\u201d). Such \u201cSpirits\u201d could enter the human mind and lead people astray (cf. Jub. 12:20), which is why this one is said to have \u201cblinded my mind\u201d (cf. T. Reub. 3:8) \u201cso that I did not regard him as a brother,\u201d although Lev. 19:17 specifically forbids hating one\u2019s brother in one\u2019s heart.
\n2:8. But his [Joseph\u2019s] God and the God of his fathers sent His angel This reflects the common Second Temple period belief that God principally uses angels to act on His behalf on earth.
\nand saved him from my hands This is a deliberate rewording of Gen. 37:21, where it is Reuben who saves Joseph; here it is God\u2019s angel.
\n2:9. I went to Shechem to bring ointment for the flocks It is not clear what sort of ointment or oil is meant here. Whatever the original text said, Simeon\u2019s absence had to be accounted for, since (he implies) if he had been present when Judah proposed to sell Joseph as a slave, he would have objected and demanded that Joseph be killed.
\nReuben [went] to Dothan, where the things we needed and all our supplies were [kept] This element is added to explain where Reuben was when Joseph was being sold as a slave, since Gen. 37:29 makes it clear Reuben was not present. Rabbinic interpreters explained that Reuben had left because he was fasting in penitence over his sin (Gen. Rab. 84:19; Tg. Ps.-J. Gen. 37:29). See on T. Reub. 1:10.
\n2:10. When Reuben came [back], he mourned Some manuscripts have \u201cWhen Reuben came [back] and heard these things, he mourned.\u201d
\n2:11. But I was angry \u2026 and I remained angry for five months Unlike Reuben, who was grieved at Joseph\u2019s fate, Simeon was actually angry that Joseph had not been killed. No wonder that Jacob cursed Simeon\u2019s \u201canger\u201d in Gen. 49:7.
\n2:12. the action of my hands, for my right hand became half-withered This stress on \u201chands\u201d derives from Gen. 37:21\u201322 (lit., \u201csave him from their hand\u201d); Simeon\u2019s withered hand was a just punishment for his desire to kill Joseph. See above on T. Reub. 1:7.
\n2:13. and [i.e., so] I repented and wept, and I prayed to the LORD Even Simeon\u2019s deep-seated anger and viciousness did not prevent him from realizing the error of his ways.
\nrefrain from all defilement and jealousy \u201cDefilement\u201d here, as in Jubilees and elsewhere, means moral defilement, of which jealousy is one example.
\n3:1. beware of the Spirits of deceit and jealousy The Spirit of deceit (plan\u0113; above on T. Reub. 2:1), dispatched by the \u201cAngel of deceit\u201d (i.e., Beliar, Satan) to deceive people, is accompanied by the Spirit of jealousy, another favorite envoy of Beliar (above on 2:7, where, however, it is called the \u201cSpirit of envy [z\u0113los],\u201d an alternate translation of Heb. kin\u2019ah). Simeon says to beware of the Spirit of jealousy no less than the other Spirit, since \u201cjealousy takes over a person\u2019s whole mind\u201d and becomes an obsession. Simeon\u2019s besetting sin is called in Heb. kin\u2019ah\u2014a word that includes jealousy, zeal, and (over) zealousness, flying off the handle. This word has no exact equivalent in Greek; it is rendered variously in the Greek text of T. Sim. by both phthonos (which can mean \u201cjealousy\u201d or \u201cenvy,\u201d but also \u201cill-will\u201d) and z\u0113los (\u201cjealousy,\u201d \u201crivalry,\u201d as well as \u201czeal\u201d and \u201coverzealousness.\u201d). Simeon thus confesses to having acted jealously toward Joseph and to having been carried away by his feelings of anger and envy. One might think that a prime example of being carried away by anger would have been the act of revenge against the Shechemites that Simeon and Levi initiated after the rape of their sister Dinah. Remarkably, however, that incident is never alluded to in this testament. Apparently the author of the Testaments held that the Shechemites were altogether worthy of death (see below, T. Levi 6:8\u20137:1) and Levi is thus praised for his role in the revenge. Since, in the view of the Testaments, Simeon is far less worthy than Levi, his role in the incident is passed over in silence.
\n3:2. eat or drink or do anything good Doing good deeds hardly fits with eating and drinking; probably the original text meant to enjoy anything pleasurable (Heb. ra\u2019ah tov).
\n3:4\u20135. For two years\u2019 time Lit. \u201ctwo years of days,\u201d a clear Hebraism, shenatayim yamim, as is \u201cI afflicted my soul\u201d (Lev. 16:29; Ps. 35:15), a technical term for fasting.
\nif a man flees to the LORD, the evil Spirit In this case, the Spirit of jealousy that Beliar has dispatched against him.
\nwill depart from him, and his mind will be relieved Lit. \u201cmade lighter.\u201d
\n3:6. feel some sympathy for the person of whom he was jealous and not be prejudiced against those who love him Makes little sense; other manuscripts have \u201cforgive those who love him,\u201d but that is hardly better. Most likely there was confusion between Heb. ohavayv and oyyevayv (a difference of one letter in Heb.) The person would thus \u201cfeel some sympathy for the person of whom he was jealous and forgive his enemies and so cease being jealous.\u201d
\n4:1\u20132. stricken in my liver The appropriate organ of Simeon\u2019s to be stricken, since it is the seat of anger: see T. Gad 5:9\u201311.
\nI was [so] guilty for the selling of Joseph Truly, Simeon would have preferred that Joseph be killed (see above), but here he implies that he was the ringleader in the initial decision to seize Joseph, hence responsible for all that ensued (T. Sim. says this apparently in order to explain why Simeon was singled out for imprisonment in Gen. 42:24; see next verse.)
\n4:3. I knew that I was suffering justly Which, T. Sim. implies, is why Simeon does not utter a word of protest in the biblical account.
\n4:4. Spirit of God in him This verse evokes various biblical commonplaces. Thus, Joseph had \u201cthe spirit of God in him\u201d (as even Pharaoh recognized in Gen. 41:38); this meant that he was \u201cmerciful and compassionate\u201d (spoken of God in Exod. 34:6) in keeping with the Rabbinic interpretation of Lev. 19:1 as imitatio Dei, \u201cJust as I am set apart, so shall you be set apart; just as I am holy, so shall you be holy\u201d (Lev. Rab. 24:4).
\ndid not bear a grudge (\u201cYou shall not seek revenge or bear a grudge,\u201d Lev. 19:18).
\nbut even loved me (\u201cYou shall not hate your brother in your heart \u2026 You shall love your fellow like yourself,\u201d Lev. 19:17\u201318.)
\n4:5. beware \u2026 of \u2026 all envy and jealousy Gk. z\u0113los and phthonos; see above on 3:1.
\nwalk about in simplicity of soul Heb. tom nefesh. See above on T. Reub. 4:1.
\nand with a good heart See M. Avot 2:9.
\nkeeping in mind your father\u2019s brother Joseph, the very model of virtue.
\nand a blessing upon your heads Quite literally, since the one who blesses places his hand on the head of the one being blessed.
\n4:6. All his days a Hebraism meaning \u201cthroughout his life.\u201d
\nloved us as his own soul that is, as his very life.
\nand honored us beyond his own sons He glorified (Heb. kibbed, here in the sense of \u201cgave us material support,\u201d \u201coffered us gifts\u201d) beyond what a father normally gives his sons, that is, \u201che granted us riches and cattle and fruits\u201d; see Gen. 47:11\u201312.
\n4:7\u20139. keep the Spirit of jealousy away from you See above on 3:1.
\nas some wicked, poisonous Spirit the person is assailed to such an extent that he himself appears to other people like a wicked angel armed with poison.
\n5:1. That is why Joseph was good-looking and handsome in appearance The emphatic mention of Joseph\u2019s physical beauty in Gen. 39:6 was clearly meant to explain the overtures of Potiphar\u2019s wife that follow. But interpreters of Genesis were puzzled by this sudden assertion; one tradition held that Joseph, having risen to the top of Potiphar\u2019s household staff, now purposely sought to make himself attractive, so that what ensued was a punishment for his vanity (see Gen. Rab. 87:1). For the Testaments, the same verse suggested on the contrary that Joseph\u2019s physical beauty was a reflection of his inner virtue, an altogether Greek notion.
\n5:3. licentiousness See above on T. Reub. 1:6; it is perhaps in the broad sense of moral impurity that Simeon calls it the mother of all evils.
\n5:4. the writings of Enoch From an early period, Enoch was held to have ascended to heaven (on the basis of Gen. 5:24), where he \u201cwalked with God\u201d and communed with the angels. He thus came to know the secrets of heaven and became a \u201csign of knowledge\u201d (Heb. Sir. 44:16), deemed to be the author of various writings now included in, among other books, the constituent texts of 1 and 2 Enoch. In the Testaments, the \u201cwriting of Enoch\u201d does not apparently refer to any specific, known text attributed to Enoch, but seems simply to be an all-purpose store of divinely imparted knowledge, including, as here, a knowledge of future events (rather similar in this respect to the Heavenly Tablets in T. Ash. 2:10).
\n5:4\u20136. your sons after you \u2026 will [seek to] harm Levi by the sword This is Testament of Simon\u2019s interpretation of Gen. 49:5\u20137, Jacob\u2019s words to Simeon and Levi in his final blessings. In the biblical narrative, Jacob apparently condemns Simeon and Levi for their violence and sentences them to lose their tribal territories and be dispersed among the other tribes. But T. Sim. here suggests that by \u201cSimeon and Levi are brothers\u201d Jacob really meant \u201cAlthough Simeon and Levi are brothers, their swords will be tools of violence against each other.\u201d Thus was created an entirely non-biblical war between the descendants of Simeon and Levi. Naturally, in this confrontation, the fiercely pro-Levitical author of the Testaments\u2019 earliest layer (see \u201cIntroduction\u201d) held that Levi was altogether good and that his descendants would triumph over the Simeonites.
\nthey will become few in number and will be divided in Levi and Judah The two \u201cgood\u201d tribes: a reflection of Gen. 49:7, \u201cI will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel\u201d (which, however, in the Bible refers to the tribes of both Simeon and Levi being divided and scattered).
\nthere will be no one from you That is, among your descendants.
\nfor sovereignty Although Simeon was Jacob\u2019s second son, none of the privileges he might have inherited will be given to his descendants: the priesthood would be given to Levi and kingship to Judah.
\njust as my father foretold as well in his blessings In Gen. 49:5\u20137.
\n6:1\u20132. I have told you everything in advance so that I will not be [held to be] guilty That is, I will have discharged my fatherly duties by warning you of these things; now it is up to you to warn your descendants.
\nany ill-will and stiff-neckedness Israel is frequently described in the Bible as \u201cstiff-necked\u201d; the phrase denotes disobedience, like that of an ox refusing to take the yoke on his neck. But some mss. have \u201chard-heartedness,\u201d here, on which see above, 2:4.
\nwill blossom as a rose in Israel This and the following metaphors are a development of Hosea 14:6\u20138 (perhaps borrowed from what was once an independent homily on this passage). However, the phrase \u201cmy bones will blossom\u201d seems doubly strange: bones don\u2019t blossom, and in any case the rest of the passage seems to be talking about Simeon\u2019s descendants, not his last remains (or their putative resurrection). How Heb. yonekot (\u201cbranches\u201d in Hosea 14:7) ended up as \u201cbones\u201d in our current text\u2014if that is what happened\u2014remains a mystery. Perhaps the phrase \u201c[my] branches will spread far and wide\u201d (from Hosea 14:7) was mistakenly moved from here to the end of this verse: if so, the original might have been, \u201cIf you put aside from yourselves any ill-will and stiff-neckedness, then my branches will spread far and wide and will blossom like a rose in Israel,\u201d followed by \u201cand
\nholy ones will grow from me like the cedars A further echo of Hosea 14:6\u20137, \u201che will strike root as [the cedars of] Lebanon.\u201d
\n6:3\u20135. Then the seed of Canaan will be destroyed All of Israel\u2019s traditional enemies will perish, including \u201cAmalek\u201d; see Exod. 17:8\u201316; Deut. 25:17\u201319. Also included in this list\u2014rather oddly\u2014are \u201call the Cappadocians \u2026 and all the Hittites.\u201d But what did the Cappadocians (citizens of a city in Asia Minor) ever do to Israel, and why mention the Hittites, whose empire collapsed in the second millennium BCE? \u201cCappadocians\u201d may be used here because its sound is similar to \u201cCaphtorim,\u201d the name in biblical Heb. for the Aegean inhabitants of Crete or Cyprus. The word was translated as \u201cCappadocians\u201d in Deut. 2:23 LXX; since that verse suggests that the Caphtorim\/Cappadocians are identical to the Philistines, they may have been mentioned here as being, like Canaan and Amalek, among Israel\u2019s traditional enemies. As for the Hittites, they inhabited Asia Minor (today\u2019s Turkey), and the Gk. Chettaioi could indeed refer to them. More likely, however, Chettaioi refers to the Kittim, an Aegean people who came to be identified with the Roman empire in various texts from the Second Temple period.
\nthe land of Ham will be forsaken Refers to Egypt. Thus freed from these old trouble-makers, \u201cthe whole land will have rest from trouble.\u201d \u201cThen Shem,\u201d Israel\u2019s ancestor, \u201cwill be glorified\u201d by Israel\u2019s ascendancy. The name \u201cShem\u201d here is somewhat unexpected, and other mss. have Gk. semeion, which (R. H. Charles suggested) may represent Heb. tziyyun, a misunderstanding of Tziyyon, \u201cZion.\u201d The original Hebrew thus may have read, \u201cThen Zion will be glorified, for the LORD God [etc.].\u201d Alternately, \u201cShem\u201d may simply have been the common noun for \u201cname\u201d: in that case, perhaps the original was: \u201cThen will be glorified the name of the LORD God, the mighty one of Israel.\u201d (The end of this verse is an obvious Christian interpolation).
\n6:6. the Spirits of deceit will be given over to being trampled This seems a somewhat odd idea: can Spirits (or angels) be trampled? Perhaps this was a deliberate play on words, with those who had practiced falsehood (Heb. mirmah) being punished by trampling (Heb. mirmas, \u201ctrampling\u201d).
\nand people will rule over the wicked Spirits The continuation of this verse, along with 6:7, are a further Christian interpolation.
\n7:1. Now, my children, listen to Levi, and through Judah you will be redeemed This is a good example of the complexity of our text, since here the original \u201cLevi\u201d layer (see Introduction) was apparently supplemented here by the second-stage \u201cLevi and Judah\u201d edition, which must have said something like \u201cListen to Levi and Judah and do not rise up against those two tribes\u201d (this version is indeed attested in one of the Greek mss.); this text was then subsequently revised by the Christian editor to suggest that \u201credemption\u201d would come (apparently exclusively) through a descendant of Judah and yet that (somewhat paradoxically) \u201cfrom them [i.e., both Levi and Judah] will God\u2019s salvation arise for you.\u201d
\n7:2. For the LORD will raise up from Levi Similarly here: the original \u201cLevi\u201d level presumably asserted that God would raise up a high priest and a king from Levi, i.e., both offices would be combined in a single man; this was changed in the \u201cLevi and Judah\u201d edition, which insisted on a division of powers; and the Christian editor then added the rest of the verse.
\n7:3. for their generations Heb. ledorotam, forever.
\n8:1. finished commanding Finished this spiritual testament (called in Heb. a \u201ccommand\u201d or \u201ccharge\u201d); see on T. Reub. 1:1.
\n8:2. that would not waste away Missing in some mss.
\n8:3. in the palace treasure-house Certainly not impossible, but an unlikely spot for a putrefying body. Perhaps at some point there was some confusion between Gk. taphos, \u201cgrave,\u201d and tamieion, \u201ctreasure-house.\u201d (Some mss. do indeed have \u201cin the tombs of the kings.\u201d) Cf. Mek. Besh. 1, \u201cin [the necropolis of] Thebes.\u201d
\n8:4. For the wizards had told them Ancient interpreters saw an exegetical problem in Joseph\u2019s request of his brothers that they carry his remains to Canaan \u201cwhen the LORD shall take account of you\u201d (Gen. 50:25). Why did he not request to be buried in Canaan right away, as his father Jacob had (Gen. 49:29\u201330)? Various answers were proposed; here, T. Sim. reports that Pharaoh\u2019s wizards had foreseen that \u201con the departure of Joseph\u2019s bones\u201d from Egypt \u201cthere would be darkness and gloom in the whole land of Egypt\u201d (cf. Exod. 10:21\u201323). To forestall such a misfortune, the Egyptians were keeping Joseph\u2019s bones in some inaccessible location. Thus Joseph, foreseeing that this would be the case, had not made his brothers swear that they would remove his remains for burial right away; instead, he requested that they be taken at the time of the Exodus, as indeed they were (Exod. 13:19). An alternate solution to this exegetical problem is found in the book of Jubilees, which held that there was a war between Egypt and Canaan at the time of Joseph\u2019s death, as a result of which the border between the two countries was sealed (Jub. 46:6\u20137); Joseph knew his bones could not be carried out during the war, so he had his brothers swear that they would be removed later, at the time of the exodus. But if that was so, how could Simeon, who died the very same year as Joseph (T. Sim. 1:1), have had his bones transferred to Canaan immediately? The answer of T. Sim., apparently well aware of this motif in Jubilees, sought to reconcile it by saying that Simeon\u2019s brothers \u201cbrought\u201d his remains to Hebron \u201csecretly during the war of the Egyptians\u201d (8:2). Presumably, his remains could be removed\u2014despite the war and the border being closed\u2014while Joseph\u2019s could not because Simeon was far less prominent than Joseph; his death would have hardly been noticed by the Egyptians.
\n9:1. by the hand of Moses A Hebraism meaning \u201cas accomplished by Moses.\u201d<\/my><\/p>\n
\neverything that they would do and everything that would happen to them This is the only opening of a testament that explicitly defines itself as a prediction of future events (cf. Gen. 49:1), although all the Testaments do contain predictions of future disobedience and its dire consequences. Because of the close dependence of this testament on the ALD (see \u201cIntroduction\u201d), it may well be that this opening sentence derives from the now-lost beginning of that text. If so, it is significant that the other Testaments do not begin in the same way; apparently, the author saw his main subject to be ethical preaching, with the foretelling of future disobedience as a secondary concern.
\n2:1. I, Levi, was born in Haran Levi was born when Jacob was staying with his uncle Laban. Laban is identified as an \u201cAramean\u201d (Gen. 25:20; 31:20, 24). But where was Aram, and what were its borders? Once a powerful kingdom centered in Damascus, Aram had ceased to exist as such in pre-exilic times; during the Second Temple period, it was apparently associated with the lands to Judea\u2019s north and east (cf. Gen. 29:1) and, in keeping with T. Levi here, sometimes was thought to extend to Haran. Note that Gen. 24:10 reports that Abraham\u2019s servant went to \u201cAram Naharaim,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"