The Apocryphal Old Testament

1. The Apocryphal Old Testament

The Apocryphal Old Testament

Hedley Sparks

This book was produced in EPUB format by the Internet Archive.

The book pages were scanned and converted to EPUB format automatically. This process relies on optical character recognition, and is somewhat susceptible to errors. The book may not offer the correct reading sequence, and there may be weird characters, non-words, and incorrect guesses at structure. Some page numbers and headers or footers may remain from the scanned page. The process which identifies images might have found stray marks on the page which are not actually images from the book. The hidden page numbering which may be available to your ereader corresponds to the numbered pages in the print edition, but is not an exact match; page numbers will increment at the same rate as the corresponding print edition, but we may have started numbering before the print book's visible page numbers. The Internet Archive is working to improve the scanning process and resulting books, but in the meantime, we hope that this book will be useful to you.

The Internet Archive was founded in 1996 to build an Internet library and to promote universal access to all knowledge. The Archive's purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format. The Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages, and provides specialized services for information access for the blind and other persons with disabilities.

Created with abbyy2epub (v.1.6.5)

THE APOCRYPHALOLD TESTAMENT

THE APOCRYPHALOLD TESTAMENT

F.ihted by

H. F. I). SPARKS

CLARENDON PRESS • OXFORD

OXFORD

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Great Clarendon Street. Oxford oxa 6dpOxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.

It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,and education by publishing worldwide inOxford New York

Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Cape TownChennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul KarachiKotkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai NairobiParis Slo Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsawwith associated companies in Berlin IbadanOxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Pressin the UK and in certain other countries

Published in the United Statesby Oxford University Press Inc.. New York

Translations © Oxford University Press 1981Editorial Matter © H. F. D. Sparks 1984

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,or as expressly permitted by law. or under terms agreed with the appropriatereprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproductionoutside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department.Oxford University Press, at the address aboveYou must not circulate this book in any other binding or coverand you must impose this same condition on any acquirerBritish Library Cataloguing in Publication DataData available

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataThe Apocryphal Old TestamentIncludes bibliographies and index,l. Apocryphal books (Old Testament)—

Criticism, interpretation, etc. L Sparks.

H. F. D. (Hedley Frederick Davis)

BS1692 1984 229.91052 82-22569ISBN 0-19-826177-29 10 8

Printed in Great Britainon add-free paper byJ. W. Arrowsmith LtdBristol

toe

CONTKNTS

Preface ix

Abbreviations and Symbols xix

JUBI Lb MS 1

The translation of R. H. Chari.KS revised by C. Rabin

the lift: of adam and eve hi

The translation of L S. A. WIXI.S rev ised hvM. Whittaker

1 ENOCH I <S9

Translated by M. A. K.NIBB

2 ENOCH 321

Translated by A. Pennington

THE APOCALYPSE OF ABRAHAM 363

Translated by A. PENNINGTON

THE TESTAMENT OF ABRAHAM m

Translated by N Turner

THE TESTAMENT OF ISAAC 123

Translated by K. H. Kuhn

THE TESTAMENT OF JACOB 441

Translated by K. H. Kuhn

T HE EADDFR OF JACOB 433

Translated by A. Penning eon

JOSEPH AND ASENETH 463

Translated by D. Cook

THE TESTAMENTS OF THETWELVE PA I R] ARC I ISTranslated by M. DEjONGE

303

THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES SOI

The translation of R. H. CHARLES revised byJ. P. M. Sweet

THE TESTAMENT OF JOB 617

Translated by R. Thornhill

THE PSALMS OF SOLOMON 6+9

Translated byS. P. Brock

THE ODES OF SOLOMON 68.1

Translated by J. A. EmkRTON

THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 7.53

Translated by M. WHITTAKER

THE APOCALYPSE OF ELIJAH 753

Translated by K. H. Kuhn

THE ASCENSION OF ISAIAH 775

The translation ofR. !L CH ARLES revised byJ. M. T. Barton

THE PARALEIPOMENA OF JEREMIAH 813

Translated by K. THORNHILL

THE SYRIAC APOC ALYPSE OF BARUCH 835

The translation of R. IE CharlE:s revised byL. H. Brockincton

THE GREEK APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH 897

The translation of H. M. Hughes revised byA. W. ARGYLL

THE APOCALYPSE OF ZKPHANIAH ANDAN ANONYMOUS APOCALYPSE 915

Translated by K. H. KuHN

THE APOCALYPSE OF ESDRASTranslated by R. J. H. SHUTT

927

Contents

vii

THE VISION OF ESDRAS 943

Translated by R. J. H. SHU I T

THK APOCALYPSE OF SEDRACH 953

Translated by R. J. H. Shutt

Index of Scriptural References 967

Index of Ancient Authors and Works 973

Index of Modern Authors 975

I ndcx of Subjects 981

PREPACK

The Apocryphal Old Testament was originally planned as a companionvolume lo M. R. James’s The Apocryphal Sew Testament, first pub-lished as long ago as 19*24.

When, in the mid-1900s. the stocks of R. H. Charles's well-known two-volume work. The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha oj the OldTestament (1913), were running low there was discussion at thePress about what should be done. Would a simple reprint besufficient? Ought a revised “second edition' to be undertaken? Orought a completely new work to be commissioned to replace it?

There were a number of conflicting factors. After the lapse ofnearly half a century there was an obvious need to up-date some ofthe information: many of the critical opinions expressed seemedless certain than once they did; and questions, tot), might be askedabout the items selected for inclusion in the second volume - whythis, and if this, why not that? On the other hand. Charles’s twovolumes were one of the outstanding achievements of Britishbiblical scholarship in the early years of the twentieth century:they had been widely used, and continued to be widely used; butthey were both bulky and expensive. Further, it was clear thatthere was a much greater popular demand for the second (Pseudepi-grapha) volume than for the first (Apocrypha), presumablybecause the books in the Apocrypha volume were readily availablein several standard translations, whereas those in the Pseudcpi-grapha volume were not. The upshot was that the Press decided toreprint both volumes, as and when circumstances required, and atthe same time to commission a much smaller, handier, and lessexpensive volume, designed on much the same lines as James’s.

The idea was to ignore the books in Charles’s first volume (theApocrypha proper) and concentrate on those in the second. But itwas agreed that some latitude in selection must be allowed - someof the books included by Charles might be omitted, while others,omitted by Charles, might be included. A volume of translations

x Preface

was the primary end in view: each translation was to be precededby an introduction and a Bibliography; and such footnotes asthere were, were to be limited to points of text and translation.Since the Press were the publishers of Charles and were also topublish the new volume, there would be no difficulty in taking overa number of Charles's translations with only, perhaps, minorrevision; though, of course, for the books not in Charles, which itwas hoped to include, fresh translations would have to be obtained.So a team of translators and revisers was got together. I wasappointed Kditor. and, in addition to general editorial duties. Iassumed personal responsibility for writing the Introductions andcompiling the Bibliographies, in order to secure as much con-sistency as possible.

As with so many undertakings of this kind, the completion of thevolume has been delayed beyond expectation. Some of the trans-lators and revisers sent me their contributions within two or threeyears: others took longer; and a few of them very much longer. Butthis was not the major problem. A great deal of work had beendone in the field since Charles’s day, and it continued to be done;and this inevitably had an unfortunate effect on our rate of pro-gress. At first glance it might seem that to revise one of thetranslations already in Charles was not a very time-consumingtask. It might be assumed (especially in the light of the undisputedwealth of scholarship which lay behind Charles’s two volumes)that no more than a cursory check-over was required. Yet when anew edition of the text in question had appeared in the interval(based, perhaps, on freshly discovered manuscripts, or on a dif-ferent recension), or there had been more than one new edition,‘rev ision’ began to take on a new meaning. And the same con-siderations applied sometimes to those contributors from whomfresh translations had been commissioned. In several instances acontribution was well under way, or even complete and sent to me,when new textual evidence was brought to light, or a new editionappeared, which, although it might not necessarily have to bemade the base of the translation, nevertheless had to be taken fullaccount of.

A further problem that became increasingly pressing as thework proceeded was that of translation-style. The style of the

Preface xi

translations in Charles is what used to he called ‘biblical' - i.e. astyle which imitated the Authorized Version of Kill and theRevised Version 0I I88I—1894 (and the same is also true of James’sThe Apocryphal Sew Testament, though less obviously so). Inasmuchas part of our original plan was to reprint as many as possible of thetranslations in Charles with only minor revision, it followed thatwc also were committed to 'biblical style’. In the 1950s thereseemed no serious objection to this, and all contributors wereinstructed accordingly. But as time went on it became clear thatour decision was questionable. The 1960s and 1970s witnessed theappearance, not only of’I’he New Knglish Bible and The JerusalemBible, but also of several other versions of the Bible (or parts of it)in modern idiorn, which found a ready welcome from the Bible-reading public. Hence by the mid-1970s 'biblical style' did notmean what it had meant fifteen or twenty years earlier; and any-thing deliberately written in old-fashioned ‘biblical style' wasbound to seem tiresomely dated and artificial.

The issue came to a head over 1 Knoch. A revision of Charles'stranslation of 1 Knoch was ready when it was learned that Dr. M.A. Knibb was engaged on a new edition of the Kthiopic text, whichwas to be accompanied by a fresh translation, together with a fullIntroduction and (mainly textual) Commentary . The Press was topublish it;1 and Dr. Knibb most generously agreed that we shouldbe allowed to use his translation instead of the revision (if Charles’stranslation we had ready. But Dr. Knibb’s translation was inmodern idiom. Very naturally he was unwilling to archaize, inorder to make his contribution conform in style with the others.The only alternative was to modernize the others. And I undertookto do this as part of my overall responsibility as Kditor: I can onlyhope that the result will not be judged too aggressively modern.Throughout, the convention that God is addressed directly in thesecond person singular has been retained (as in the first edition ofThe New Knglish Bible). Also retained from time to time, thoughnot necessarily universally, arc certain well-known ‘biblical’expressions such as ‘And it came to pass . . the purpose inretaining them is to indicate that the text translated is itself not

It appeared, in two volumes, in 1?J78.

\ii Preface

without an antique flavour; lor there is much to lx* said lor transla-tions in a volume such as ours preserving something of the stvlcof the originals instead of all being reduced to a dead level ofuniformity.

Any reader of any translation is apt to assume that there is noneed for him to bother about the original behind the translationunless there is some special reason for his doing so. This may notmatter so long as no serious questions can be raised about thereliability of the text of the original. But when, as is the ease withsome of the documents we are concerned with, there are a numberof manuscripts available which regularly differ from one another,there are. perhaps, three or four versions in as many difleremlanguages, and also, maybe, several distinct recensions,2 theidentification of an ‘original’ text is no easy matter. Experts arcoften deeply divided. In these circumstances it is essential that theuser of a translation should be plainly informed about what thetranslator has translated. We have always tried to do this. In eachIntroduction will be found a precise explanatory statement(usually at the end, or towards the end); and this statement, whenread in conjunction with the details given elsewhere in the Intro-duction about the authorities available for the text, should providethe necessary information.

More particularized information about any significant textualvariants, as well as about possible translational alternatives, willbe found in the notes underneath the translations. These notes, asalready indicated, have been limited to points of text and transla-tion, and make no attempt to discuss any of the often highlycontroversial literary-critical, historical, or theological issuesinvolved.

The Bibliographies are constructed in three sections. First ineach comes a list of editions of the text - in chronological order:then a list of the existing translations in English, French, and

: Sincr it is ;i relatively short work. 1 lie I-addcr ol Jacob has hern chosen toillustrate in its simplest form the situation when there is more than one recension ofthe text of the same document extant. On pp. 455-463 (below) will be foundtranslations of hot h extant recensions ofThc I-addcr, printed one after the other, sothat whoever is so minded can nimpare the two and form some estimate ol’thc kindof problems that arise.

Preface

xiii

German - also in chronological order; and last of all. a sectionheaded 'General', whose function is to draw attention to some olthe scholarly treatments that have been offered of the work con-cerned (not necessarily by the must modern authors), which in oneway or another assist in its understanding and appreciation. Theitems in this last section are arranged, not chronologically, butalphabetically. No attempt has l>een made to be all-inclusive.

Few of our readers, who have been brought up on Charles, willfail to notice, not only a dillerence in the contents, but also afundamental difference in general approach. These are not un-connected.

When deciding on the contents of his second volume. Charlesseems to have been guided by no exactly definable principle ofselection, except in so far as he regarded all the items he includedas Jewish in origin, written in the so-called 'imertesiamentalperiod', and therefore of the greatest value, first to students of theJudaism of this period, and secondly to students of early Christi-anity, since they illustrated the Jewish background both of theprimitive Church and also of many ol the New Testament books.

In his general Preface Charles wrote:

For students both of the Old and New Testament* the value of thenon-Canonica! Jewish literature front 200 IK: to ,\l) 100 is practicallyrecognized on every side alike by Jewish and Christian scholars. Huthitherto no attempt has been made to issue an edition of this literature as awhole in English.1 * *

and elsewhere:

This literature was written probably for the most part in Galilee, the homeof the religious seer and mystic. Not only was the development of areligious but also of an ethical character. In both these respects the waywas prepared by this literature for the advent ol'Christianity. while a studyof the New Testament makes it clear that its writers had been brought upin the atmosphere created by these books and were themselves directlyacquainted with many of them.4

1 APOT'u p. iii and ii. p. iii.

4 Religious Development between the Old and the Xew Testaments { Die Hume l Diver-

sity Library of Modem Know ledge: London. p.

XIV

Preface

To-day an approach along these lines is barely possible. DespiteCharles's aseripliou ol''all the items in his second volume to thecenturies between 2(10 IK . and Al) 1(H). and his conviction that all ofthem were Jewish in origin, the fact remains that the- textualtradition in nearly every case is Christian.5 Here lies the majordifficulty.

About the Jewish origin of many of them there can be no doubt:and some of these would seem to have come down to us in verymuch the same form as their authors wrote them —J u hi lees is a casein point. Most of the others, however, have been transmitted to usas what would appear to be an amalgam of Jewish and Christianelements, which to the unpractised eye are not very easily separ-able. But Charles, committed as he was to the view that all wereJewish originally, had no scruples iti explaining the Christianelements as either later additions to. or interpolations into, whatwere once purely Jewish texts. And in his translations he repeatedlyenclosed several words, or a verse, or verses, or a whole chapter, ormore, within square brackets, and added in his notes such acomment as, ‘The words in brackets are a Christian interpolation,as is evident from . .

For Charles’s successors much of this has seemed nothing like soevident. In many instances of alleged Christian addition or inter-polation Charles may well have been quite right. We know thatChristians did take over Jewish writings, and there is even reasonfor supposing that from time to lime they added to them andinterpolated into them bits and pieces here and there, in order tomake them more acceptable for Christian use. But there is alsoevidence to suggest that they sometimes recast a Jewish textaltogether, so that lor us to think purely in terms of‘additions’ and‘interpolations' is irrelevant - such a work will have been aChristian work, though based on a Jewish Ibundaiion. W e havealso to allow Ibr the likelihood that Christians also wrote workswith a traditionally Jewish background: they may have beeninfluenced by Jewish legends they had come across, either written

5 The exceptions are ii| The Zadokite Krai’mrnis, liil The Story of Ahikar. and(iii) Pirkc Aix>th. But Charles made it c lear that he did not number these worksa mom; 'the [>sc,ii<lt,|)if;ra|)h.i' as hr imdcTstcxxl the- term: see his remarks to thiseffect in his Preface \AP()T\. p. iv. and ii, p. i\ |.

Preface xv

or oral, or the influence may have been no more than what theyhad read for themselves in the Old Testament, expanded by aliberal use of their own imagination (in much the same way assome ol the already existing Jewish works had come into being);but again these will have been Christian works from the beginning,and the appearance in them of Christian theological expressions,or what may look like quotations from the New Testament, shouldoccasion no surprise.

In other words, the problem has proved to be much morecomplicated than Charles imagined, and his approach in con-sequence was much too narrow. We have, therefore, when con-sidering which items to include in our own volume, thought it bestto abandon the concept of‘background literature' entirely. Oursingle criterion lor inclusion has been whether or not any par-ticular item is attributed to (or is primarily concerned with thehistory or activities of) an Old Testament character (or characters).And we have tried to include all the more important and interest-ing items that satisfy this criterion, irrespec tive of date, andirrespective, too. of whether or not a convincing claim can be putforward on behalf of any one of them for a respectable Jewishpedigree.

To have included everything which satisfies this criterion wouldhave been impossible. In making our choices wc have been guidedprincipally by a desire to produce a collection as representative aspossible of the various types of literature within the field - i.e.History (and Legend), Testament, Apocalypse. Psalms, etc. Anumber of items, such as 1 Knoch, selected themselves. Withothers a decision sometimes was more difficult. The extant frag-ments of the apocryphal Ezekiel, for example, were thought too in-substantial to merit inclusion; and some readers might maintain,not unreasonably, that the same argument should have beenapplied to the fragmentary Apocalypse of Zephaniah, which hasbeen included (see below, pp. 919-20). And so one might goon.

In practice the differences in content between our volume andCharles’s second volume arc nothing like so great as the aboveremarks might suggest. We have naturally dropped The Fragmentsof a Zadokite Work, The Story of Ahikar, The Sibylline Oracles,and The Letter of Aristeas, as failing to satisfy our criterion; 4 Ezra

xvi Preface

belongs. strictly speaking, to the Apocrypha (= 2 Ksdras), and ithas therefore also been dropped: 4 Maccabees is a doubtful case,and we have decided against it. On the other hand, we have addeda number of other items - The Apocalypse of Abraham, TheTestament of Abraham. The Testament of Isaac. The Testamentof Jacob. The Ladder of Jacob. Joseph and Asencth, The Testa-ment of Job. The Odes of Solomon, The 'Testament of Solomon,The Apocalypse of Elijah, 'The Paraleipomcna of Jeremiah. TheApocalypse of Zephaniah, The “Anonymous' Apocalypse, TheApocalypse of Esdras. The Vision of‘Ksdras, and The Apocalypseof Sedrach. Even so. there is an essential core common to bothvolumes.

The difference in general approach, which has been alluded to.can most satisfactorily be illustrated by comparing the two treat-ments of the text ofThc Ascension of Isaiah. Charles explained theexisting text as a 2nd cent. AD putting together of three previouslyindependent constituents, one of which was Jewish and the othertwo Christian: the first (Jewish) constituent he identified as thefragmentary .Martyrdom of Isaiah' (i. l-2a, 66- 13a, ii. 1-8, 10-iii. 12. v. 16-14), the second as the “ Testament of Hczekiah* (iii.136-iv. 18). and the third as the “Vision of Isaiah (vi. 1-xi. 40) -the remaining verses were ‘editorial additions' (i. 26-6a, 136, ii. 9,iii. I3«, iv. 19-v. 1<7, 15—16, xi. 41-43), inserted to give cohesion tothe whole. Charles, accordingly, in his second volume printed thetext of “ The Martyrdom of Isaiah' only, and he described it assuch. In our Introduction to the work wc have, of course, discussedthe various literary-critical hypotheses that have been putforward; but wc have preferred to give a translation of the textentire (and we have described it as a translation of‘The Ascensionof Isaiah') on the ground that this is the form in which the workwas popularly known, and the title by which it was popularlyknown, in the Church.

Occasionally this difference in approach may have a more obvi-ously practical consequence. For example, in Charles's view TheTestaments of the Twelve Patriarchs were a Jewish work whichhad suffered heavily from Christian interpolation. Before Charlesmost scholars had thought of it as Christian in origin, though nodoubt modelled on earlier Jewish ‘Testaments’; and some still do.

Preface xvii

In three separate passages in the Testaments as we have receivedthem the two commandments, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God’and ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, are associatedtogether. Charles's comment here was that the Testaments werethe ‘earliest literary authority for conjoining love to God and loveto one’s neighbour’.6 If Charles was right and the Testaments areJewish (c. 100 BC), then Our Lord's so-called ‘Summary of theLaw’ (Matt. xxii. 37-40; Markxii. 29-31) was anticipated; but ifCharles was wrong and the Testaments are Christian, then thepassages in question are likely to be no more than the reflection ofthe teaching in the Gospels (and the same would also be true, ofcourse, if the passages were three additional Christian interpola-tions into his originally Jewish Testaments, which had escapedCharles’s caglc-eyc!).

And finally, the term ‘Pseudepigrapha’ has been avoidedaltogether. Pseudepigrapha is, in any case, an ugly word. Andwhen used in association with ‘Apocrypha’, as it so frequently is. itcan be very misleading. Strictly it is ‘a collective term for books orwritings bearing a false title, or ascribed to another than the trueauthor'.7 Many of the books commonly grouped together andalluded to as ‘the Pseudepigrapha' are indeed pscudcpigraphical -no doubt a majority. But there is nothing distinctive about this:there are pseudepigraphical books in the Apocrypha (c.g. TheWisdom of Solomon), and there arc pseudepigraphical books inthe Old Testament itself (e.g. Daniel). To refer to 'the Pscudcpi-grapha', without further definition or qualification, creates theimpression in the popular mind that alongside the ‘canonical’ OldTestament and the ‘deutero-canonicaf Apocrypha there is a third,universally recognized, ‘trito-canonical’ collection of books - whenthere is not. Any collection of books of this kind, however chosen, isbound to mirror the predilections and the prejudices of its editor(s);and it is well that this should be realized. The term therefore,though ancient, is best avoided.

It only remains for me to record my personal thanks: first, to myteam of translators and revisers, and to express the hope that

6 APOTu, p. 334.

’ OED viii, p. 1542.

xviii Preface

win*lher dead or still living they will not think too unkindly of theliberties I have taken with what they submitted to me: next tocertain of my friends — notably to Dr. S. P. Brock, who has assistedme ungrudgingly in various ways over the years in hunting outobscure details, and also to Mr. J. S. Ci. Simmons, who undertookthe final oversight of all the Slavonie entries in the bibliographiesin order to ensure a reasonable uniformity in transliterations andother matters: and. last of all. to the authorities and stall'at thePress, especially to Mr. Peter Spicer, who originally floated theidea of a volume like this, and to Mr. J. k. (lords, who has watchedover its genesis with a patience tor which I am profoundly grateful.

Feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury H. I'. 1). SPARKS

29 December mi.

ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

AjSaB2

AL

ALOhJA PATA POT

CJi(i

ChOlDR

CSCO

CSEL

DBSup

EA TAPEL'X

1\ RlKSSLKR, Altjiidisches Schrifttum ausserhalb derBibel. 2. Auilage (Heidelberg. I9(>6).

C!. C. TORRKY. The Apocryphal literature: .-1 BriefIntroduction (New Haven. 1945: reprinted Hamden,Conn.. 19<>3).

Arbeiten zur Lileratur und Ceschichte des hellenistischenJudenlums (Leiden. I96B— ).

K. K.U T/.SCH (ed.), Die Apokryphen und Pseudepi-graphen des Allen Testaments. ‘2 vols. (Tubingen. i900).R. H. CHARI.KS (ed.). The Apocrypha and Pseudepi-grapha of the Old Testament in English, with Introductionsand Critical and Explanatory Xotes to the several Books,edited in conjunction with many scholars. 2 vols.(Oxford, 1915).

Catholic Biblical Quarterly.

Chteniya r Imperatorskorn Obshchestve istorii i drernosle’wssiiskikh pri Moskovskom unirersitele.

Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium.

Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum.

L. Pi ROT et at. (eds.). Dictionnaire de la Bible: Supple-ments (Paris. 192H- ).

L. ROST, Einleitung in die a/tlestamenihchenApokryphen und Pseudepigraphen (Heidelberg, 1971).H. Wkinki., ‘Dicspatere ehristliche Apokalyptik’in H. SCHMIDT (ed.), Ebgapurrqpcov'. Studien zurReligion und Lileratur des Alten und Seuen TestamentsHermann Cunkel. . . dargebracht, ii (= Forschungen zurReligion und Lileratur des Alien und Neuen Testaments,NT., xix. 2; Gottingen, 1923).

XX

Abbreviations and Symbols

acs

Griechischen christ lichen Schrijtsteller der ersten dreiJahrhunderte.

Cjl'Zja'm

E. SchC'RKR, Geschichte des jiidischen Volkes imZeitalter Jesu Christi. 4. Auflagc. 4. Band (Leipzig,190S)).

HJPTJVU.

iii E. SCHERER. -1 History of the Jewish People in theTime oj Jesus Christ (Pt. II, vol. iii. Translated bySophia Taylor and Peter Christie;Edinburgh, 1886).

HS.\1

Harvard Semitic Monographs.

urn

Harvard Theological Review.

U( TA

Hebrew L 'nion College Annual.

IPG AT

A.-.M. Denis, Introduction aux pseudepigraphes grecsd'Anvien Testament (= Studia in I'eteris TestamentiPseudepigrapha. i; Leiden, 1970).

/AOS

Journal oj the American Oriental Society.

.//)/.

Journal oj Biblical Literature.

Ji-:

Jewish Encyclopedia.

J.IS

Journal of Jewish Studies.

JQ.K

Jewish Quarterly Review.

JSh-tZ

\Y. G. K. I'M MEL (ed.), Jiidische Schrijten aushellenistisch-romischer Zed (Giitcrsloh, 1973- ),

JTS

Journal of Theological Studies.

LAOT

M. R. JAMES, The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testa-ment: Their Titles and Fragments (= S.P.C.K., Trans-lations oj Early Documents:; London, 1920).

XT A

R. Me L. WILSON (cd.). New Testament Apocrypha.2 vols. (London, 1963 and 1965).

STS

Sew Testament Studies.

Abbreviations and Symbols

xxi

OTI O. I JSSFKI.I) I . The Old Testament: An Introduction.

including the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. and also theworks oj similar type from Qiimran (Ira ns la led byPETER R. AckroVI); Oxford, 19(i<>).

The Old Testament in Syriac according to the PeshittaVersion (Leiden, 1972- ).

J. P. MltiNK (cd.). Patrologia Graeco.

J. P. MlCN'K (ed.l, Patrologia Latina.

Patrologia O rien talis.

Pseudepig rapha I e ter is Testamenti Graece (Leiden.191)4- ).

R Ben

Revue Benedictine.

RBihl

Revue Bibtique.

SBL

Soc iety of Biblic al Literature.

SCS

Septuagint and Cognate Studies.

SORYaS

Sbornik Otdeleniya russkogo yayka i slovesnostiImperalorskoi Akademii nauk.

S/‘B

Studia Post Biblica.

SVTP

Sludia in leferis Testamenti Pseudepigrapha (Leiden.1970- ).

TS

Texts and Studies.

TV

Texte und I'ntersuchungen.

TZ

Theologische Zeitung.

uwor-

J. ISSAYERDKNS, The Cncanonical Writings of theOld Testament found in the Armenian MSS of the Libraryof St. Lazarus, translated into English. 2nd edition(Venice, 1934).

VT

Vetus Testament urn.

Peshitla

PO

PL

PO

PVTG

ZAW

Zeitschriftfur die altestamentliche Wissenschqft.

xxii

ZD MGZ.WY

i i

( >

thick type

italics

Abbreviations and Symbols

Zeitschrif l der deutschen morgenlandischen (lesellschajt.Zeitschriftjiir die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft.

indicates that the word or words so enclosed arecorrupt.

indicates that the word or words so enclosed,though part of the text being translated, are in allprobability an intrusion into the original,indicates that the word or words so enclosed are arestoration into the text of what is conjectured tohave fallen out of the original,indicates that the word or words so printed are aconjectural emendation.

indicate that the word or words so printed are notactually found in the text being translated, butthey have been added to improve the sense.

JUBILEES

INTRODUCTION

Jubilees describes itself in the Prologue as ‘the account of thedivision of the days of the law and of the testimony, of the events ofthe years, according to their rear-weeks and their jubilees, throughall the years of the world, as the Lord gave it it) Moses on mountSinai, when he went up to receive the stone tablets of the law andof the commandment, in accordance with Cod's command, as hesaid to him, Co up to the top of the mount'.

The scene is accordingly set in the biblical context of Kxod. xxiv.12- 18. During the forty days and loriy nights that Moses is on themount ‘the angel of the presence” recounts to him all the significantevents from the Creation to the Kxodus (including the circumstancesof his own birth and early history, the passage of the Red Sea, andthe celebration of the first Passover) and also initiates him into themysteries of the secret traditions which had already been communi-cated to certain of the patriarchs. These traditions had beenhanded down from father to son, in some instances in writing;1 andMoses is now instructed to write what is revealed to him ‘in abook'2 - an instruction obviously inspired by the statement atKxod. xxiv. 4 ('Moses wrote down all the words of the Kord') andthe definite instruction at Kxod. xxxiv. 27 (‘Write these wordsdown*). But the ‘book’ referred to in Jubilees is not ‘the book of thecovenant’, from which Moses reads at Kxod. xxiv. 7. Nor is it one ofthe books of the Pentateuch, traditionally ascribed to Moses. It isthe Book of Jubilees itself. Whereas the Pentateuch, ‘the first law’,1had been published by Moses openly. Jubilees is represented as akind of “second law' (although the actual phrase does not occur),which Moses is commissioned to write and preserve for the genera-tions in the last limes (’. . . till I descend and dwell with themthrough all eternity’4).

Jubilees is thus in content for the most part a parallel version ofGen. i. 1 — Kxod. xv. 22; and it stands in much the same sort of

' e.g. vii. 38. xxxix. 6,xjv. Hi. J i. 5: cp. ii. I.

■’ vi. 22. 4 i. 26.

relationship to its primary biblical sources as do the Books ofChronicles to the Books of Samuel and Kings. Just as the Chroniclerhas rewritten Samuel and Kings, concentrating on the religiousaspects of Israel’s history, especially on the Temple and its wor-ship, and on the part that David played in the preparations for itsbuilding, so the author of Jubilees has rewritten the material inGen. i. 1 - Exod. xv. 22, partly in order to bring it up to date fromthe point of view of the beliefs and practices of his own day, butmore particularly in order to bring it into line with his own specialtheological outlook and interests.

Many of his additions to the Genesis—Exodus narrative wouldseem to have been derived from traditional Jewish folklore, sinceparallels are found elsewhere. His account of how Abraham pro-tested to his father Terah about his worship of idols, how one nightAbraham set fire to ‘the idols’ house’, and how his brother Nahorperished in trying to save the idols,* has parallels not only in TheApocalypse of Abraham,6 but also in Rabbinic sources;’ and,similarly, ‘Tharmuth’, the name given to Pharaoh’s daughter, whorescued Moses from the bullrushcs,8 is paralleled by the‘Thermuthis’ of Josephus.9 No doubt, too, many of the names ofthe patriarchal wives10 were also derived from tradition. But in anycase, whether such details were traditional in origin, or whetherthe author himself invented them, there is abundant evidence ofhis concern throughout to trace all the social and religious institu-tions of which he most approved back to the earliest times, touphold and assert the eternal validity of the Law, and to presentthe patriarchs as the exemplary saints of Israel’s past, who had infact observed the Law in all its particulars before it was formallypromulgated.

The wearing of clothes, for example, is said to have originated ina specific obligation laid by God on Adam when he left the Gardenof Eden, in accordance with the prescription ‘on the heavenlytablets that all those familiar with the provisions of the law shouldcover their shame and not uncover themselves as the Gentiles

3 xii. 1—14. * Apoc. Abrah. i—viii (see below pp. 369—75).

1 e.g. Midrash Btreshilh Rabbah, xxxviii. 13, xxxix. 1, 8; T.B. Erubin, 53a.

* xlvii. 5. * Anl. II. ix. 5 (§224).

10 e.g. hr. 9-33, xxxiv. 20-21.

Jubilees

3

uncover themselves.'11 Again, the annual celebration of the Feastof Weeks was ‘ordained and written on the heavenly tablets’:Weeks had been celebrated in heaven from the Creation: Noah hadobserved it: so had Abraham. Isaac. Jacob, and Jacob's c hildren;and it was the feast celebrated by Moses and the elders on MountSinai at the time of the giving of the Law.1* And. so that no onemight think that anything any of the patriarchs did was discredit-able, the deceptions practised by Abraham and Isaac on Pharaohand Abimelerh. described at length in Genesis,1 * are in jubileespassed over in silence;14 and the motivation of Abraham’s attemp-ted sacrifice of Isaac is ascribed, neither to God nor to Abrahamhimself, but to the evil prince Mastema. who prompts God to testAbraham (much as in the Bible Satan prompts God to test Job)and in the event is put to shame by Abraham's faithfulness inobeying the Divine command.15

By far the most notable feature about the book, however, is theauthor’s very evident interest in chronology and calendars. Acalendar of some kind was, of course, an essential requisite for thecorrect regulation of the various feasts; and the calendar followedin Jubilees seems to presuppose a year divided into 12 months of 30days each, with an extra day added at the end of every third month(or, more accurately, at the beginning of every fourth - or first).Such an arrangement results in a year of 4 quarters, each of91 days(or exactly 13 weeks), making f)2 weeks and 364 days in all.10 Thiscalendar was not the only calendar in use in the author's day, as hehimself clearly recognized;17 but it had the advantage of simplicity,in that the days of the week and of the month were the same in eachsuccessive year, and that the feasts always fell regularly on the firstday of the week in which they occurred.

Fundamental to any calendar must be the week of seven daysordained by God at the Creation. In Lev. xxv the idea of theseven-day week had already been extended to cover not only anadditional time-period of seven years (i.e. a week of years), but alsoa further one of‘seven times seven' (i.e. forty-nine) years, with a

11 iii. 30-31.

13 Gen. xii. 10—20, xx. I—18, xxvi. 1—17

14 At xiii. 11, xvi. 10, xxiv. 8- 17.

,6 Sec especially vi. 23— 35.

xvii. 15 - xviii. 11.vi. 36— 38.

4 jubilees

fiftieth ‘year of jubilee’1* at the end. It was this extension thatcaught our author's fancy (or. perhaps, the fancy of some othermember of the religious community to which he belonged) andprompted him to extend it even further and adapt it to provide thebasis for a complete chronological scheme. In the proc ess the word'jubilee' changed its meaning. No longer was it just a descriptiveepithet applied to every fiftieth year, as it was in Leviticus. Now itwas used as a standard technical term to mean the whole of aforty-nine-year period: and so it became the most significant of allthe units for the measurement of time-presumably because it wasthe longest. Consequently, the entire course of history could bedivided into jubilees and events dated by reference to a particularjubilee and its appropriate sub-divisions (i.e. weeks of years, years,months, weeks, and days).

Thus, the very first week of the first jubilee of all was occupiedwith creation and the giving of the ‘great sign' - the sabbath. ” Thefirst five days of the second week were taken up with Adam’sreview of the animals and his naming of them;20 and Kve wascreated during the night between the fifth day and the sixth.21 Thetemptation by the serpent is assigned to the seventeenth day of thesecond month alter the conclusion of the first seven-vear period (inmodern terms ‘ 17.2,8')22 and the expulsion from Eden to the first ofthe fourth month of the same year (i.e. ‘1.4.8’).23 Cain was born inthe third seven-year period (or ‘week’ according to the author'sterminology) of the second jubilee (i.e. between 64 and 70), Abel inthe fourth (between 71 and 77);24 and Cain murdered Abel in thefirst ‘week’of the third jubilee (between 99 and 105).25 The birth ofAbraham is dated in the seventh year of the second ‘week’ of thethirty-ninth jubilee (i.e. 1876),2<> the death of Isaac in the sixth yearof the first ‘week’ of the forty-fifth jubilee (i.e. 2162),27 and thedescent of Jacob and his sons into Egypt ten years later - ‘on thenew moon of the fourth month, in the second year of the third weekof the forty-fifth jubilee’ (i.e. ‘1.4.2172’).28 Finally, the Exodus, the

'* Lit. ‘year of the ram’s horn (or cornet)’ - i.e. the year whose beginning wasannounced by a ceremonial blast on the ram's horn (Lev. xxv. !>— 10).

'* ii. 1-17. 20 lit. 1-3. iii. 4-6. 21 iii. 17.

23 iii. 32. 24 iv. 1. 2* iv. 2. 28 xi. 14-15.

27 xxxvi. 1 — IK. 24 xlv. I.

passage of the Red Sea. and the revelation on Sinai, are dated tothe year 2410 (and the completion of the forty-ninth jubilee nineyears previously is remarked on in passing): there are yet lortyyears to run before Israel enters Canaan (on the c ompletion of thefiftieth jubilee, i.e. in 2450); after which ‘the jubilees shall pass bytill Israel is c leansed from all guilt . . . and the land shall be cleanfrom that day forward for evermore.*2V

There can be no doubt in the light of all this that the author wasa Jew, who lived in one of the later centuries BC; and scholarlyopinion has varied between the fifth century and the first, mostpreferring a date about 1(X) BC. The earliest evidence for theexistence of Jubilees is to be found in the so-rallcd ‘ZadokiteFragments' or ‘Damascus Document', associated with the sect atQumran. There are several apparent allusions to Jubilees in thecourse of this work, and in one passage it is referred to explicitly-' And the exact statement of the epochs of Israel's blindness to allthese (i.e. the ordinances of the Law], behold it can be learned inthe Book of the Divisions of Times into their Jubilees and theirWeeks.'10 Some would argue that both Jubilees and the DamascusDocument were products of the Qumran sect. But whether this beso or licit, we are no better informed about the date of theDamascus Document than we are about the date of Jubilees, andso the reference to Jubilees in the Doc ument docs no more thanestablish the priority ofjubilees. In the Rabbinic literature there isno certain reference to it anywhere.

Among Christians the book seems to have been known compara-tively early. So far as our evidence goes, the first Christian to referto it by name was the blind Alexandrian scholar Didymus (4thcent.); and he rails it ‘ The Little Genesis'.31 This was the mostpopular name for it in the Church, being used, for example, byJerome (+420).12 The name ‘Jubilees’ is first found in Kpiphanius(+403), who gives ‘Jubilees' and ‘The Little Genesis’ as alter-natives.11 Another alternative, according to the Gelasian Decree,

1.4-5.

*° Damascus Document, xvi. 2—4.

“ Didymus. Enarr. in / Ioann, iii. 12. 11 Jerome, Ep. Ixxviii. 20.

*' Kpiph. Hati. XXXIX. vi. I.

was ‘Tin* Book about the Daughters of Adam*.’4 Vet another appearsto have been ‘The Apocalypse of Moses/’5 and another, perhaps,•The Life of Adam’-'6 — though this last work may have been nomore than an abstract, consisting only of parts of the openingchapters.

Since the lxx>k first became known in modern times it has beenargued on purely internal and circumstantial grounds that it wasoriginally written in Hebrew, though some (notably C. C. Torres-)have suggested Aramaic. The arguments in favour of Hebrew haverecently been considerably strengthened, not merely by the evidenceof the Damascus Document, but also by the fact that a number offragments of Jubilees, from some ten different manuscripts, havebeen found in four of the Qumran caves, and all of them are inHebrew. A further fragment, also in Hebrew, has been found atMasada.

At a date unknown a Greek version was made, of which onlyextracts now survive, mainly in Kpiphanius and the Byzantinechroniclers Syncellus and Cedrenus. Later on. the Greek versionw as translated into both Latin and Kthiopic. Of the Latin there arcsubstantial surviving fragments, preserved in the same 6th cent.MS that contains also The Assumption of Moses: these fragmentswere edited by Ceriani in 1861, and cover more than a quarter ofthe complete text; and according to Ronsch (their next editor), thedate of the Latin version itself was about a hundred years earlierthan the MS - i.e. mid-oth cent. It is probable that there was also aSyriac version; and if the results of Tisscrant's study of w hat areapparently extensive extracts preserved in an anonymous late 12thcent, chronicle are accepted, then the Syriac version was madedirect from the Hebrew, without reference to the Greek, and aboutthe same time as the Pcshilta.

The Kthiopic version alone has preserved the complete text ofthe book. Dillmann, the first editor of it, worked from two MSSonly, one in Tubingen (19th cent.) and one in Paris (17th cent.).Charles, for his edition of 1895. added two more of the 16th and

Deer. Gel. v. 4: ’Liber dc filiabus Adac. |hoc rsij [.rpiogencseos. apocryphus’.

's Syncellus, Chronographia (— Corpus Saipiomm ffistonae By^anlinar. cd.W. Dindorf, Bonn. 1829). i. p. 5.

-w Ibid., p. 7.

15th cents, (in London and Paris). Since Charles's day at least halla dozen other MSS have come to light, of which two are probablyof the 14th cent. — the oldest yet discovered.

The translation which follows is a thoroughgoing revision ofCharles’s translation of his own Kthiopic text. Any conflict of anyimportance between this text and the text of the Latin fragments(where they are extant) has attention drawn to it in the notes; andit will be found that overall, in these instances, we have preferredthe Latin rather more frequently than did Charles. Unfortunately,none of the Hebrew fragments so far available is sufficiently sub-stantial to enable us to establish anything like a continuous text inany part of the book. What does emerge, however, from a detailedstudy of these fragments is the impression that the Kthiopic v er-sion, despite the fact that it is a secondary version, is neverthelessto be accepted as a generally trustworthy and reliable guide to theHebrew original.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

KDITIONS

Ethiopic

C. F. A. Dl 1.1.MANN. Mashafa kufalesire LiberJuhilaeomm.qui idem aGraecis H Aisuf} Tiveoig inscribitur . . . aethwpice ad duorum librorummanuscriptorumJidem primum edidit (Kiel and London, 1859).

R. H. CHARLES, The Ethiopic Version ojthe Hebrew Book of Jubilees,otherwise known among the Greeks as lH Aerrctf rtveaic, edited from Jourmanuscripts, and critically revised through a continuous comparison of theMas sore tic and Samaritan Texts, and the Greek, Syriac, Vulgate andEthiopic Versions of the Pentateuch, and further emended and restored inaccordance with the Hebrew, Syriac, Greek and Latin fragments of thisBook, which are here published in full (= Anecdola Oxoniensia, SemiticSeries viii; Oxford. 1895).

Hebrew

D. BARTHfcLEMY and J. T. MlLIK, Discoveries in the JudaeanDesert, I; Qumran Cave I (Oxford, 1955), pp. 82-84.

M. BaIU.KT. J. T. Mil.IK and R. I)K Y.U'X. Discoveries in fileJudaean Desert. Ill: Les ’Pelites G rottes'de Qitmran (Oxford, 1962),pp. 77-7!).

Greek

R. H. CHARI.KS. TheEthiopic lemon . . . [as above).

A.-M. I)KXIS. Fragment a Pseudepigraphornm i/uae supersunt Graeca(= PVTG iii (Leiden. 15)70). pp. 70-1112).

Latin

A. M. CKRIA.ni. Monument a sacra et profana, I. i (Milan. 18(H).pp. J)—34. 64-64.

H. Rovscil. Das Bitch der Jubifaen oder Die kleine Genesis, unterBeijugung des reridirten Textes der in der Ambrosiana aujgefundenenlateinischen Fragmente. so wie einer von Dr. August Dilhnann aus zuridthiopischen Handschriften gefertiglen lateinischen l bertragungerlaiitert. untersucht und herausgegeben (Leipzig. 1874: reprintedAmsterdam. 1970).

R. H. CHARI.KS. The Ethiopic Version . . . [as above).

Syriac

K. TlSSKRANT, ‘Fragments syriatjues du Livre des Jubilcs* inRev. Bibl. xxx (1921). pp. 5.3-86, 200-242 (reprinted in RecueilCardinal Eugene Tisserant ‘Ab Oriente et Occidente'. i (Louvain.1933), pp. 2:')-87).

also

A. M. CKRIAM, Monument a sacra et profana. II. i (Milan. 1804),pp. ix-x.

R. H. CHARUIS, The Ethiopic 1 ersion ... [as above), p. 184.

TRANSLATIONS

English

G. H. SCHODDK, ‘The Book of Jubilees translated from theFthiopic’ in Bibliotheca Sacra (Obcrlin, Ohio), xlii (1883). pp.629—645; xliii (1886), pp. 36-72. 456-471. 455-486; xliv(1887), pp. 426-459,602-611. 727-745.

Jubilees 9

R. H. CHARI.US, The Book oj Jubilees or the Little Genesis, translatedfrom the Editor's Ethiopic Text. and edited with Introduction, Xotes, andIndices {I .ondon, 1902).

, .J/WTii. pp. 1-82.

, The Book of Jubilees or the Little Genesis {= S.P.C.K. Translations

of Early Documents', London, 1917).

German

C. F. A. DILI.MANN. ‘Das Buch der Jubilacn oiler die kleineGenesis, aus dem Aelhiopisehen iibcrsctzt' in Jahrhucher derbiblischen Wissenschqfl. ii (1850). pp. 230-250 and iii (1851).pp. 1-96.

E. LlTTMANNin K. K.\l TZSCH. .4/,.17'ii, pp. 31-1 19.

P. RlKSSLKR, AjSaB2. pp. 539-666.

K. BERGER inJSh-rZ II. 3 (1982). pp. 275-575.

GENERAL

G. H. Box, in R. H. CHARLES, The Book of Jubilees or the LittleGenesis (London, 1917), pp vii-xxxiii.

G. L. Davenport, The Eschatology ojthe Book of Jubilees (= SPBxx; Leiden, 1971).

AM. Denis, IPG AT, PP. 150-162.

O. ElSSFKLDT, OTL pp. 606-608.

L. FlNKELSTEIN, ‘The Book of Jubilees and ihe RabbinicHalaka' in HTR xvi (1923), pp. 39-61.

, ‘The Date of the Book of Jubilees’ in HTR xxxvi (1943),

pp. 19-24.

J. -B. FREY, an. ‘Apocryphes de l’Ancien Testament’ in DB Sup i,cols. 371-380.

K. KOHLER, ‘Jubilees, Book of* in JE vii (New York, 1904),pp. 301-304.'

J. MORCENSTERN, ‘The Calendar of the Book of Jubilees: ItsOrigin and its Character' in FTv (1955), pp. 34-76.

P. RlESSLER, AjSaB2, pp. 1304-1311.

H. R6.NSCH, Das Buch der Jubilden ... (as abovej.

L. Rost, eatap, pp. 98-101.

10

book of jubilees

Jubilees

H. H. RoWLKY. ‘Criteria lor the Dating of jubilees’ in JQR VS.xxxvi {1945—6), pp. 183-187.

K. SCHi'RKR. HJPTJC II. iii. pp. 134-141.

. Ojl'ZJC4 iii, pp. 371-384.

M. 1’KSTl*/., Les /dees rehgieuses du Line des Jubiles (Geneva andParis. I960).

C. C. ToRRKY, AL, pp. 126-129.

J. C. V.YXDKRKAM. Textual and Historical Studies in the Book ofJubilees (= HSM 14; Missoula, 1977).

1C. WIKSKN lil-.Rt;. ‘The Jubilee of J ubilces* in Revue de Qtimran, III.

1 (1961-1962). pp. 3-40.

S. ZlCITLIN. ‘The Book of jubilees: Its Character and its Signi-ficance" inJQR N.s. xxx (1939-40), pp. 1-31.

. ‘Criteria for the Dating of Jubilees' in JQR N.S. xxxvi (1945-

(>), pp. 187-189.

PROLOGLK

This is the account of the division of the days of the law and of thetestimony, of the events of the years, according to their ywr-wccksand their jubilees, through all the years of the world, as the Lordgave it to Moses on mount Sinai, when he went up to receive thestone tablets of the law and of the commandment, in accordancewith Clod’s command, as he said to him, Go up to the top of themount.

1. And it came to pass in the first year of the exodus of the Israelitesfrom Egypt, in the third month, on the sixteenth day of the month,that God spoke to Moses, saying. Come up to me on the mount,and I will give you the two stone tablets of the law and of thecommandment, which I have written so that you may teach them.And Moses went up into the mount of God, and the glory of theLord rested on mount Sinai and a cloud overshadowed it for sixdays. And on the seventh day he called to Moses in' the cloud; andthe glory of the Lord looked like a flaming fire on the mountain-

1 Lit. “in the middle of’: Charles would emend to ‘om of to accord with Exod.xxiv. 16.

Jubilees 11

4 top. And Moses was on the mount forty days and forty nights; andGod taught him the first things and the last things, and the divisionof all the days of the law and of the testimony.

5 And he said. Listen carefully to everything that I tell you on thismountain, and write it in a hook so that the generations to come maysee how I have not forsaken them on account of all the evil theyhave done in transgressing the covenant that I am establishingbetween me and you on mount Sinai today for all their generations.

6 And so, when all these things have happened to them, they willrecognize that 1 am more righteous than they are in all they thinkand do,2 and they will recognize that I have kept faith with them.

7 Write down everything, then, that 1 tell you today; for I knowhow defiant and stubborn they arc, even before I lead them into theland about which I swore an oath to their fathers. Abraham, Isaac,and Jacob, saying, To your descendants will 1 give a land flowing

8 with milk and honey. And they will cat and be satisfied, and theywill turn to foreign gods that are powerless to rescue them in theirdistress; and then this evidence will serve as evidence against them.

9 For they will forget all my commandments that I give them andcopy the Gentiles, their unclcanness and their shame, and worshiptheir gods; and these will prove a stumbling-block to them, a source

10 oj distress and misery , and a snare. And many will perish; andothers will be taken captive and fall into the enemy’s hands, becausethey have forsaken my law and commandment, and the festivals ofmy covenant and my sabbaths, and my holy offerings which I havehallowed for myself in their midst, and my tabernacle, and mysanctuary which I have hallowed for myself in the midst of the land

11 to make it the dwelling-place for my name.' And they will makehill-shrines and sacred poles and carved images, and each one willworship his own carved image and go astray; and they will sacrificetheir children to demons and to all the idols they have made in'* the

12 error of their hearts. And I will send witnesses to them to witnessagainst them; but they will not listen, and they will kill the witnessesand persecute those who seek the law, and they will abrogate and

13 change everything and do what is evil in my sight. And I will hide

1 Lit. ‘in all their judgements and in all their actions’.

* Lit. ‘that I should set my name upon it and that it should dwell there'.

* Lit. ‘and to all the works of.

12 Jubilees

my face from them and hand them over to the Gentiles to be takencaptive and to be preyed upon and to be devoured;3 and 1 will drivel-t them out of the land and scatter them among the Gentiles. Andthey will forget all my law and all my commandments and all myprecepts and go astray as regards new moons and sabbaths and15 festivals and jubilees and the other ordinances.6 And after this theywill turn to me from among the Gentiles with all their heart andwith all their soul and with all their strength; and I will gatherthem from among all the Gentiles, and they will seek me, and I willlfi let them find me.7 And when they seek me with all their heart andwith all their soul, 1 will grant them an age of peace and righteous-ness* and set them apart as an upright plant,9 with all my heart andwith all my soul; and they shall be a blessing and not a curse, the17 head and not the tail. And I will build my sanctuary in their midst,and I will dwell with them and be their God, and they shall be my1H people in truth and righteousness. And I will not forsake them norfail them; for I am the Lord their God.ill And Moses prostrated himself and prayed and said, O Lord myGod, do not forsake thy people and thine own possession, and letthem not wander in the error of their hearts: deliver them not intothe hands of their enemies, the Gentiles, and let them not rule over

20 them and make them sin against thee. Let thy mercy, O Lord,watch over10 thy people, and create in them an upright spirit; andlet not the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before theeand ensnare them from all the paths of righteousness, so that they

21 perish from thy sight. For they are thy people and thine ownpossession, whom thou hast delivered with thy great power fromthe hands of the Egyptians. Create in them a pure heart and a holyspirit, and let them not be ensnared in their sins now or ever.

22 And the Lord said to Moses, I know their contrariness, theirthoughts, and their stubbornness, and they will not be obedient till

25 they ackowledge their own sin and the sin of their fathers. And

5 Text ‘for captivity and for injustice and for devouring'.

6 Lit. 'new moon . . . ordinance’ (i.e. singulars not plurals).

7 Lit. ‘so that 1 shall be found by them’.

" Lit. ‘1 will reveal to them abounding peace of righteousness’.

9 Or ‘and set apart Tor them an upright plant’ (i.e. the latter-day community ofsaints).

10 Lit. ‘be lifted up upon’.

13

Jubilees

after this they will turn to me in all uprightness and with all theirheart and soul; and I will circumcise the foreskin of their heart andthe foreskin of the heart of their sons," and I will create in them aholy spirit, and I will cleanse them so that they shall not turn away21 from me again, from that day till eternity. And they will hold fast tome and to all my commandments, and fulfil my commandments;i?j and I will he their father, and they shall be my children. And theyall shall he called children of the living God; and every angel andspirit shall know (they shall know indeed) that these are mychildren, and that I am truly and genuinely their father.1* and thatI love them.

2i» And do you write down” everything I toll you on this mountain,the first things and the last things that shall come to pass in all thedivisions of the days, in the law and in the testimony, and in theweeks of the jubilees till eternity, till I descend and dwell with themthrough all eternity.

27 And he said to the angel of the presence. Write for Moses theaccount from the beginning of creation14 till the time when my211 sanctuary shall he built among them for all eternity, and the Lordappear in the sight of all, and all know that l am the God of Israeland the father of all the sons of Jacob and king on mount /ion for2!) all eternity, and /.ion and Jerusalem shall be established.'5 Andthe angel of the presence, who used to go before the camp of Israel,took the tablets of the divisions of the years, from the time of thecreation of the law and of the testimony16 - the tablets, that is, of theweeks of the jubilees according to their years, according to all thenumber of the jubilees according to their years,17 from the day of thecreation until the day when the heavens and the earth are renewedand with them all created things both in heaven and on earth,18 until

" I,it. 'seed'. 11 [.it. ‘1 am tlicir father in uprightness and righteousness'.

I * Following two MSS which read *I)o you write down for yourself: the othersread 'l will writedown for you’.

14 Lit. 'from the first creation'. l* Alternative reading ‘holy’.

16 l‘hc reference here is to the idea that the I .aw was created bclore the world.

II One MS omits the second 'according to their years' and Charles bracketed it asan interpolation. This is probably not the only dittograph in the verse; and inseveral places both text and translation are highly uncertain.

I.it. 'and all their creation according to the powers of heaven and aeeording toall the creation of the earth'.

14

Jubilees

the day when the sanctuary of the Lord is created in Jerusalem onmount Zion and all the luminaries are renewed as instruments ofhealing and of peace and of blessing for all tin* elect of Israel, andthat so it may be from that day on as long as the earth lasts.

II. And the angel of the presence spoke to Moses in accordancewith the Lord's command, saying. Write the complete history ofthe creation, how the Lord God finished all his works and all thathe created on the sixth day. and kept sabbath on the seventh day,and hallowed it for all ages and appointed it as a sign for all his2 works. For on the first day he created the heavens w hich are above,and the earth, and the waters, and every spirit that senes beforehim — the angels of the presence, and the angels of holiness, and theangels of the spirit of fire,1 and the angels of the spirit of the winds,and the angels of the spirit of the clouds and of darkness and ofsnow and of hail and of hoar-frost, and the angels of the depths andof thunders and lightnings, and the angels of the cold winds andthe hot winds and of winter and spring and autumn and summer,and the spirits of his creatures in the heavens and on the earth andin all the abysses, and the deep darkness and the light and thedawn and the morning and the evening, which he had alreadyprepared and planned.2 And then we saw his works, and weblessed him and sang praises before him because of all his works;4 for on the first day he created seven great works. And on the nextday he created the vault between3 the waters, and the waters weredivided on that day - half of them went up above and half of themwent down below the vault that was between3 them over the earth;fi and this was the only work he did on the second day. And on thethird day he commanded the waters to be gathered together fromthe surface of the earth into one place, and the dry land to appear.f> And the waters did so. just as he commanded them; and theyreceded from the surface of the earth into one place outside the7 vault, and the dry land appeared. And on that day he created allthe seas in their separate gathering-places, and all the rivers, and

1 One MS omits ‘and ihe angels uflhr spirit of fire*.

J Lit. 'which hr had prepared in the knowledge of his heart’.

’ Lit. ‘in the middle of’.

Jubilees 15

the gatherings of the waters in the mountains and all over theearth, and ail the lakes, and all the dew of the earth, and the seedthat is sown, and all plants that grow, and the trees that hear fruit,and the trees of the wood, and the garden of Eden in Eden;4 and all

8 these four great works God created on the third day. And on thefourth day he created the sun and moon and stars, and he set themin the vault of heaven to give light on earth, to have charge over day

!! and night, and to separate light from darkness. And God appointedthe sun as a great sign on earth to mark the days and weeks5 andmonths6 and festivals and years and weeks5 of years and jubilees

10 and all the seasons of the years; and it separates light from dark-ness, and is the source of health, so that everything may be healthythat sprouts and grows on earth. These three kinds of lights1 he

11 made on the fourth day. And on the fifth day he created greatsea-monsters in the depths of the waters (these were the first livingcreatures" that were created by his hands), and all the fish that

12 swim in the waters, and all kinds of birds that tty. And the sun roseover them all to give them health, over everything that was on theearth - all plants and trees and living creatures. These three kinds

13 of living creatures he created on the fifth day. And on the sixth day hec reated all the wild animals of the earth, and all the cattle, and

14 everything that moves on the earth. And after all this he createdman: a man and a woman he created; and he made him masterover everything that is on the earth and in the seas, and overeverything that flies, and over the wild animals and the cattle, andover everything that moves on the earth, and over the whole earth:

15 over all this he made him master. And these four kinds of creatureshe created on the sixth day. And there were altogether twenty-twokinds.

1G And he finished all his work on the sixth day - all that is in theheavens and on the earth, and in the seas and the abysses, and in

17 the light and the darkness, and in everything. And he gave us a

4 All MSS add “for delight’-doubtless a translational variant of'in Men', whichitself may well be a dictograph oltlic preceding '(garden) of Eden*.

5 Or ‘sabbaths’. * Or ‘iirw-tncwn days'.

7 i.c. sun, moon, and stars. * Lit. ’things ol flesh".

1b Jubilee \

grout sign, the sabbath day.” that wo should work ihr six days, “’hut]H koop sabbath from all work on the* sovonth day. And all the angelsol the presence and all the angels of holiness, these two greatclasses - he has commanded us to keep the sabbath with him in1l* heaven and on earth. And he said to us. Behold. 1 will set apart Ibrmyself a people out of all the peoples, and they shall keep thesabbath day; and I will hallow them as my own people, and I willbless them: as I have hallowed the sabbath day and do hallow it asmine," even so will ! bless them, and they shall he my people and Iin will be their God. And 1 have chosen Jacob's descendants out of allthe peoples12 {for I have seen him, and I have marked him down asmy eldest son and hallowed him as mine11 lor evermore); and I willteach them the law of the sabbath day, that they may keep sabbath‘21 on it from all work. And so he created in it a sign that they should helike him, and that they should keep sabbath with us on the seventhday. and eat and drink and bless him who created all things, as heblessed and hallowed as his own” a special people out of all22 peoples, and that they should keep sabbath together with us, andthe doing of his commands should ascend before him for ever like a2:t pleasant soothing odour.14 There were twenty-two patriarchs fromAdam to Jacob, and twenty-two kinds of created things15 weremade before the seventh day: this day is blessed and holy; andJacob"* also is blessed and holy: and so the two together arc21 hallowed and blessed.17 And to Jacob and his descendantsIH it wasgranted that they should always he the blessed and holy ones of thefirst covenant and law, even as he had hallowed and blessed the

* I.it. ’dir day of thesabbaths'.

lu()r * keep on working on the sixth day'. M this is the meaning, it may Ik- apolemic against ihr Rabbinic custom ol lx-ginning till* sabbath an hour beforesunset on Friday.

" Lit. ‘to myself. Text . . descendants in everything’.

1 ’ Til ’in himself*.

Several references to this passage in Christian writers (confirmed by Jewishtradition) suggest that there is a lacuna in the text here and that the original ran. 'Asthere were twenty-two letters, and twenty-two sacred books, and twenty-twopatriarchs from Adam to Jacob, so . .

,s Tit. ’kinds of work’. 16 Tit. 'that' li.r. 'the former').

Tit. 'this one serv es with that one Ibr hallowing and blessing'.

111 Tit. ’And to this’.

17

jubilees

2'> sabbath on the seventh day."* In six days he treated heaven andearth and everything that he created, and the seventh day Godmade holy for all his works: that is why he gave the command thatwhoever does any work on it shall die. and that whoever defiles it2<> shall most surely die. And so you must command the sons of Israelto observe this day to keep it holy and not do any work on it and not27 defile it, for it is holier than all other days. And whoever profanes itshall most surely die, and whoever does any work on it shall mostsurely die eternally, so that Israel's sons may observe this day inevery generation and not be uprooted from the land; lor it is a holy2H day and a blessed day. And every man who observes it and keepssabbath on it from all his work, will hr holy and blessed for all time,2!i like us. Proclaim the law of this day to the sons of Israel and tellthem to keep sabbath on it. and not to make the mistake of thinkingthey can ignore it,20 and that it is not lawful to do any work that isunseemly or do business21 on it. or draw water, or carry any heavyload through their gates on it, either in or out, and that they shouldnot prepare on it anything to eat or drink that they have notprepared for themselves already in their homes on the sixth day.22:fn And they shall not bring in or take out anything from one house toanother on that day. for that day is more holy and blessed than anyjubilee day:2' that is why we kept sabbath in the heavens before itwas made known to any mortal24 to keep sabbath on it on earth.

31 And the creator of all things blessed it. but he did not hallow allpeoples and nations to keep sabbath on it. but Israel only: themalone on earth did he allow to eat and drink and keep sabbath on it.

32 And the creator of all things blessed this day, which he had createdS3 for blessing and holiness and glory above all days. This law and

statute was given to Israel’s sons as a law for ever, for all theirgenerations.

III. And on the six days of the second week, in accordance w ithGod's command, we brought to Adam all the wild animals, and all

10 Some MSS read "even as it had Iktcii hallowed and blessed on the seventh day'.

10 Lit. ‘not forsake it in the error of their hearts'.

21 [.it. 'do their own pleasure'. Cp. Isa. Iviii. 13.

12 In the latter part of this verse Charles's suggested re-arrangement of theclauses has been followed.

IJ Text adds 'of the jubilees'.

[.it. ’flesh'.

1 tt Jubilees

the cattle, and all the birds, and everything that moves on theearth, and everything that swims in the water, according to theirkinds, and according to their species — the wild animals on the firstday. the cattle of the second day, the birds on the third day,everything that moves on the earth on the fourth day, and what2 swims ill the water on the fifth day. And Adam gave them all theiri names; and what he called them, those were their names. And onthese five days Adam saw all ol them, male and female, accordingto every kind that was on the earth; but he was alone and had' nopartner like himself.

•} And the Lord said to us. it is not good tor the man to be alone: letj us make a partner for him like himself. And the Lord our Godmade him fall into a deep sleep, and he slept; and lie took one of hisbones to make a woman2 (and so the origin of woman was this ribtaken from Adam's* bones), and he built the flesh up again in its(j place and built the woman. And he woke Adam up from his sleep;and he awoke and got up on the sixth day. And he brought her tohim;4 and he recognized* her and said to her.

This is bone from my bones,

And flesh from my flesh:

She shall be called my wile.

Because she was taken from her husband.

7 That is why man and wife arc one; and that is why a man leaves hisfather and his mother and is united to his wife, and they become aH single body.6 In the first week Adam was created, and the rib —hiswife:7 in the second week he showed her to him; and that is why thecommandment was given for women to keep in their unclcanncss -!t seven days for a male and fourteen days for a female. And afterAdam had been in the land where he had been created for fortydays, we brought him into the garden of Eden to till it and guard it;but his wife they brought in on the eightieth day (only then8 did she

1 Lit. ’found’.

1 Lit. 'and he took ( for) the woman one bone from among his bones'.

•' Lit. 'his'.

4 An alternative reading is ’And he came to her’: but both Gen. ii. 22 and thestatement ‘he shewed her to him' in verse 8 below support the reading preferred

5 Lit. ‘knew*. 6 Lit. 'one flesh'.

1 Or 'the woman'. * Lit. ‘and after this'.

10

Jubilees

10 enter the garden of I,den). And that is why the commandment iswritten on the heavenly tablets about a woman that gives birth - IIshe bears a male, she shall wait in her undcannrss seven days (thatis a week to begin with'1), and then another thirty-three days shall shewait for her blood to be purified,10 and she shall touch nothing thatis holy, nor enter the sanctuary, until she completes these days that

11 are appointed in the case of a male child. But in the case of a femalechild she shall wait in her unclcanncss fourteen days (that is afortnight to begin with11), and then another sixty-six days for her

12 blood to be purified.10 eighty days in all. And when she hadcompleted these eighty days, wc brought her into the garden ofEden; for it is holier than any oilier place on earth,12 and every tree

13 that is planted in it is holy. That is why the rule was laid downabout a woman that bears a child, whether male or female, that sheshould touch nothing that is holy, nor enter the sanctuary, untilthese days that are appointed for the male or female child are com-

14 pleted. This is the law and the statute which was written down forIsrael, that they should observe it always.

15 And in the first week of the first jubilee Adam and his wife werein the garden of Eden for seven years tilling it and guarding it; andwc gave him work to do and taught him all the details of the

16 gardener’s craft. And he tilled the garden, and he was naked and didnot realize it and was not ashamed. And he protected the gardenfrom the birds and wild animals and cattle; and he gathered itsfruit, and ate, and put aside what was left over for himself and hiswife.13

17 And when he had completed seven years there, seven yearsexactly, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month,the serpent came and approached the woman; and the serpent said

18 to the woman, Has God commanded you, saying, You are not toeat the fruit of every tree of the garden? And she said to it, Of all thefruit of the trees in the garden God said to us. Eat; but of the fruit ofthe tree in the middle of the garden God said to us, You shall not

° Lit. ‘according to the first week of days'.

10 Lit. ‘in the blood ofher purifying*.

11 Lit. ‘according to the first two weeks’.

12 Lit. “than all the earth besides'.

13 The text adds (through dittography) ‘and put aside what was being kept’.

20 Jubilees

l!i cat of it. nor shall you touch it: if you do, y ou w ill die. And theserpent said to the woman. Of course you will not die: God knowsthat on the day you do eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you

■2d will be like gods and know good and evil. And the woman looked atthe tree and saw that it w'as agreeable and pleasant to the eye and

21 that its fruit was good to eat, and she took some of it and ate. Andwhen she had covered her shame with fig-leaves14 she gave some toAdam and he ate; and his eyes were opened, and he saw that he

22 was naked. And he took fig-leaves and sewed them together, and

2:5 made a loin-doth lor himself, and covered his shame. And God

21 cursed the serpent and was angry with it for ever.15 .And he was

angry with the woman because she had listened to the serpent andeaten; and he said to her,

I will increase your labour and your pains:

In sorrow you shall bear children.

On your husband you shall rely.16

And he shall be your master.

25 And to Adam he said,

Because you have listened to your wife,

And have eaten from the tree, from which I commandedyou not to eat.

Accursed shall be the ground on your account:

Thorns and thistles it shall produce for you,

And you shall eat your bread by the sweat of your brow.

Till you return to the earth from which you were taken;

For earth you are, and to earth you shall return.

26 And he made them coats of skin and clothed them, and sent themout of the garden of Eden.

27 And on the day that Adam went out of the garden he ofiferedfrankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices, as a food-offering

14 More exactly 'with the leaves of the aforementioned fig’. According to Jewishtradition the tree of know ledge was a fig-tree.

15 Charles was of the opinion that there is a lacuna here and that the textoriginally described the punishment of the serpent by the cutting off of his four lectby the ministering angels.

16 Lit. ‘And vour return shall be to vour husband'.

Jubilees 21

of soothing odour; and so he did every day in ihe morning, at sunrise,i?K from till* day hi* covered his shame. And on that day the mouths ofall the wild animals and the eattle and the birds, and of everythingthat walks or moves, were shut, so that they could no longer speak(for up till then they had all spoken with one another in a common2!) tongue17). And he sent out of the garden of Eden all creatures thatwere in it: and they were scattered to the places naturally suited to:tt) them,11* according to their kinds and species. And Adam alone, asdistinct from all the wild animals and the cattle, did he cause to:il cover his shame. That is why it is prescribed on the heavenlytablets that all those familiar with the provisions10 of the law shouldcover their shame and not uncover themselves as the Gentilesuncover themselves.

And Adam and his wife went out of the garden ofEden on the dayof'the new moon of the fourth month; and they settled in the land ofKlda (in the land of their creation). And Adam called his wife Eve.:il And they had no son till the first jubilee; and after this he had:tf> intercourse with her. And he tilled the land, as he had been taughtin the garden of’Kden.

IV. And in the third week of the second jubilee she gave birth toCain, and in the fourth she gave birth to Abel, and in the fifth she2 gave birth to her daughter A wan. And in the first week of the thirdjubilee Gain killed Abe! because God1 bad accepted Abel’s sacrifice,:i but bad not accepted bis.2 And he killed him out in the open; and hisblood cried from the ground to heaven, accusing him of murder.-'I And the Lord reproved Gain for Abel’s murder and made him afugitive4 on the earth because of his brother’s blood: and be cursed

i him on the earth. And that is why it is written on the heavenlytablets. Cursed is the man who strikes another man in secret,5 andlet all who have seen and heard it say. Amen; and the man who has

,T Lit. 'with one lip and one longue’. Lit. ‘flesh’.

I‘* Or ’the places that had been created for them'. 2f> Lit. ‘judgement'.

' Text ‘he’ (or. alternatively, ‘we’).

1 Lit. ‘but as for (lain, he had not accepted his offering'.

’ Lit. “cumplaining because hr had killed him'.

4 The text reads ‘he made him for length’.

* Or ‘wickedly’ nr ‘treacherously*.

22 jubilees

ti seen it and not disc losed it. lei him hr as accursed as the other. Andthis is why. when we come before the Lord our God. we report allthe sin that is committed in heaven and on earth, and in light anddarkness, everywhere.

7 And Adam and his wife mourned for Abel four weeks of years.And in the fourth year of the fifth week their zest for life returned;and Adam had intercourse with his wife once more, and she borehim a son, and he called him Seth - for he said. God has given usanother son* on earth instead of Abel, because Gain killed him.

8.9 And in the sixth week he begot his daughter A/.ura. And Cain tookhis sister Await as his wife, and she bore him Knoeh1 at the close ofthe fourth jubilee. And in the first year of the first week of the fifthjubilee houses were built on earth; and Gain built a city and named

10 it after his son Knoeh. And Adam had intercourse with his wifeLvc. and she bore him nine more children.

11 And in the fifth week of the fifth jubilee Seth took his sister Azuraas his wife, and in the fourth year of the sixth week she boro him Knos.

2,13 He was the first on earth to invoke the Lord by name. And in theseventh jubilee, in the third week. Knos took his sister Noam as biswife, and she bore him a son in the third year of the fifth week, and

14 he called him Kenan. And at the close of the eighth jubilee Kenantook his sister Nlualeleth as his wife, and she bore him a son in theninth jubilee (in the first week, in the third year of that week), and

13 he called him Mahalalel. And in the second week of the tenthjubilee Mahalalel took as his wife Dinah, the daughter of Barakicl.his father’s brother's" daughter, and she bore him a son in the thirdweek, in the sixth year, and he called him Jared; and in his days theangels of the Lord (those who were called Watchers) came down toearth to teach men to do9 what is just and right on earth.

Ui And in the eleventh jubilee Jared took a wife, in the fourth weekof this jubilee, and her name was Berakhah. the daughter ofRasuel, a daughter of his father’s brother,10 and she bore him a sonin the fifth week, in the fourth year of the jubilee, and he called him

17 Knoeh.11 And he was the first among men born on earth to learn to

* Lit. ‘raised up another seed to us‘. 7 Spelled Henoh.

* The MSS read 'sister's*. * Text ’and to do'.

10 The MSS read ‘sister’. 11 Spelled Henuk.

Jubilees 23

write and to acquire knowledge and wisdom; and he wrote down in abook details about the signs of heaven according to the order of theirmonths, so that men might know the seasons of the years according!H to the order of their several months. And he was the first to write atestimony; and he warned the sons of men about what wouldhappen in future generations on the earth.1* and recounted theweeks of the jubilees, and made known the days of the years, andset in order the months, and recounted the sabbaths of the years,just as we made them known to him. And what was and what will behe saw in a vision in his sleep, just as it will happen to the sons ofmen in every generation till the day of judgement: he saw and knewall of it; and he wrote his testimony and left it1' as a testimony on■20 earth lor14 all the sons of men for every generation. And in thetwelfth jubilee, in the seventh week of it. he took a wife, and hername was Kdui. the daughter of Danrl, his father's brother s15daughter; and in the sixth year in that week she ho re him a son. and

21 he called him Methuselah. And he was with the angels of Godthese six jubilees of years, and they showed him everything onearth and in the heavens, and the power of the sun;16 and he wrote

22 down everything. And he bore witness to17 the Watchers, who hadsinned with the daughters of men - for these had begun to formunions with the daughters of men1" and so defile themselves; and

2.1 Enoch bore witness against them all. And he was taken away fromthe sons of men, and we conducted him into the garden of Eden in19majesty and honour; and there he records the condemnation andthe judgement or the world, and all the wickedness of the sons of24 men. And because of him the water of the Hood did not reach theland of Eden;20 for he was established there as a sign to bearwitness against all the sons of men and keep a record of all the deeds

i: Lit. ‘and hr testified to the sons of men concerning the generations oft he earth’.

'* Lit. 'and placed it*.

11 Lit. ‘upon’. Or, perhaps, we should translate ‘and left it as a witness on earthagainst’. IS The MSS. read ‘sister's'.

16 Or ‘and they showed him all the power of the sun on the earth and in theheavens'. ” Or ‘against’.

'* Alternative reading‘daughters of the earth' (or 'of the land').

19 Alternative reading ‘to'.

J0 That is. Enoch was spared in the flood. The text reads ‘And because of him (or‘it’) he (i.e. God) brought the water of the flood upon all the land of Eden*.

‘24 jubilees

l'.'i of every generation till the day of judgement. And he burned theincense of the sanctuary, which is acceptable belbre the Lord, on the_'(> mount.21 For the Lord has four holy places ou earth - the garden ofKden, the mount of the east, this mountain on which you are to-day(mount Sinai), and mount /ion. which in the new creation will beset apart22 for the hallowing of the earth: through it the earth willbe purified22 f rom all its guilt and its uncleanness in each successivegeneration.

J7 And in the fourteenth jubilee Methuselah took a wife. Kdnah,the daughter of A/ariel. his father's brother's15 daughter, in thethird week, in the first year of this week, and he begot a son, andealled him Lantech. And in the fifteenth jubilee, in the third week,Lantech took a wife, and her name was Hetcnos, the daughter ofRarachcl. his father’s brother's15 daughter; and in this week shebore him a son. and he called him Noah, saying. The one who willcomlbri me for my trouble and all my work, and for the groundwhich the Lord has cursed.

l>'i And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week, inthe sixth year of it. Adam died; and all his children buried him inthe land of his creation (and he was the first on earth to be buried),to And he was seventy years short of a thousand; for in the testimonyof the heavens a thousand years are as one day. and this explainswhy it was written about the tree of knowledge. On the day thatyou eat from it. you will die. So he did not complete the years of this:tl day. but died during it. After him. at the close of this jubilee, Cainwas killed, in the same year: his house fell on him. and he diedinside it and was killed by the stones ol it; lor with a stone he hadkilled Abel, and by a just retribution he was killed by a stonehimself. There is a rule about this on the heavenly tablets. With theinstrument with which one man kills another man, with the sameinstrument shall he be killed: if he has done a particular injury toanother man. the same injury shall be done to him.

And in the twenty-fifth jubilee Noah took a wife, and her namewas Kmzara, the daughter of Rakeel, his father’s brother’s15daughter, in the first year, in the fifth week: and in the third year ofit she bore him Shem, in the fifth year of it she bore him Ham, andin the first year in the sixth week she Iwre him Japheth.

21 Most MSS add 'ofthr midday' (or 'of the south'). " I.il 'will l>c hallowed'.

Jubilees

23

V. And it fame to pass when tlu* sc ins of men began to increase onthe earth, and daughters were born to them, that in the first year ofthis jubilee the angels of God looked on them and saw that theywere beautiful: and they took wives from as many of them as they'1 chose. And they bore them sons; and they were giants. And lawless-ness increased on the earth, and the way of life of every creature1 * *became corrupted - men. cattle, wild animals, and birds alike,everything that lives* on earth: corrupt were the ways ofall of themand of the whole natural order;' and they began to devour oneanother. And lawlessness increased on tin* earth, and men’sthoughts and inciinantions were never anything hut evil. And Godlooked on the earth and behold, it was corrupt: the whole naturalorder was corrupt;4 and all creatures on earth had done every kind ofI evil before his eyes. And he said he would destroy5 man and allf> creatures6 * on the earth, which he had created.1 Noah alone foundfl favour with the Lord. And against the angels he had sent on earthhis anger was so great that he uprtxrtcd them from the place q/ theirdominion and commanded us to imprison them in the depths of theearth; and behold, they are in prison there and kept in a separateplace.

7 And against their sons a commandment went forth from him8that they should die by the sword and be removed from under

8 heaven. And he said. My spirit shall not remain in men lor ever; forthey are mortal6 too, and their life-span6 shall be a hundred andtwenty years. And he sent his sword10 among them, so that theyshould kill each other; and they began to kill each other, till all ofthem had lullcn by the sword and were destroyed from the earth.

10 And their fathers were witnesses oj their destruction; and after thisthey were imprisoned in the depths of the earth for ever - till thegreat judgement-day. when sentence will be passed on all whose

1 l.il. ’ofall flesh' • Lit. walks'

1 Lit. ‘all of them corrupted their way and their order'.

4 Lit. 'and all flesh had corrupted its order’.

* Alternative reading ‘1 will destroy'. * Lit. 'flesh'.

’ Alternative reading ‘which lias been created'.

* Lit. ‘a voice went from his face’.

* Lit. ‘their days’.

Alternative reading 'the sword'.

‘2l> Jubilees

11 way oj life and behaviour11 have been corrupt before the Lord. Andhe will destroy12 all of them from their places, and not one shall be

12 left12 that he will not judge12 as their wickedness deserves. And hewill create12 a new and righteous nature for all his creatures,13 sothat in their nature they will never sin again, but all be righteous,

13 each in his kind, always. And the judgement of every one isordained and written on the heavenly tablets, and there is noinjustice in it: all who stray from the path marked out for them tofollow, and do not follow it —judgement is written down for them, for

l-l every creature and for every kind of creature. And there is nothing inheaven or earth, or in light or darkness, or in Shcol or in the depth,or in the place of darkness, which will not be judged; and all their

]"* judgements are ordained and written and engraved.14 From everyangle he will judge them, the great man as a great man. the small

Its man as a small man, and each according to his way oj life. And he isnot one to respect persons, nor is he one who will accept bribes,when he says he will pass sentence on everyone: if one were to giveAim everything on earth, he would not take notice of the bribes or ofthe person of anyone, nor would he accept anything at his hands; for

17 he is a righteous judge. And about the sons of Israel it has beenwritten and ordained. If they repent in righteousness, he will

18 forgive all their transgressions and pardon all their sins. It iswritten and ordained that he will show mercy to all who repent ofall their sins they have committed inadvertently, once every year.

19 And as for all those whose way of life and thoughts had becomecorrupt before the flood, no man had mercy shown him but Noahonly: he had mercy shown him,15 together with his sons,16 whomGod saved from the waters of the flood because of him; for his heartwas righteous in all his ways and his life in accord with what he hadbeen commanded, and he had not strayed in any way from the

20 path marked out for him.17 And the Lord said he would destroy

11 Alternative reading ‘thoughts’ (as in verse 19).

11 All these verbs are perfects in the Ethiopic, in all probability through failure onthe part of the translator of the Greek version (from which the Ethiopic was made)to appreciate the sequence of tenses in the Hebrew original.

13 Lit. ‘works’. 14 Or ‘decided’.

13 The phrase translated ‘show mercy to’ in this verse (lit. ‘lift the face of) is thesame as that translated ‘respect the person of in verse 16 above.

'* Lit. ‘concerning his sons’. 11 Lit. ‘from anything ordained for him’.

Jubilees 27

everything on the dry land, men and cattle, wild animals and

21 birds, and everything that moves on earth. And he commandedXoah to make an ark, to save himself18 from the waters of the flood.

22 And Xoah made the ark in all respects as he commanded him, inthe twenty-seventh19 jubilee of years, in the fifth week in the fifth

23 year. And he went in in the sixth year of it, in the second month,from the new moon of the second month till the sixteenth day. Andhe and all that wc brought him went into the ark; and the Lordclosed it from the outside on the seventeenth evening.

24 And the Lord opened seven flood-gates of heaven, and themouths of the springs of the great abyss (seven mouths in number).

25 And the flood-gates began to pour down water from heaven fortydays and forty nights, and the springs of the abyss also sent up

26 waters, till the whole world was full of water. And the watersincreased over the earth: fifteen cubits higher than the highestmountains did the waters rise;20 and the ark was lifted up above the

27 earth, and it floated21 on the surface of the waters. And the waterremained on the surface of the earth five months - for a hundred

28 and fifty days. And the ark ran aground22 on the topofLubar, one of

29 the mountains of Ararat. And in the fourth month the springs ofthe great abyss were exhausted and the flood-gates of heaven wererestrained; and on the new moon of the seventh month all themouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the water

30 began to descend into the depths below.21 And on the new moon ofthe tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen; and on the

3t new moon of the first month the earth became visible. And thewaters dried up from the surface oP4 the earth in the fifth week, inthe seventh year of it; and on the seventeenth day in the second

32 month the earth was dry. And on the twenty-seventh of it heopened the ark and let out the wild animals and cattle21 and birdsand every living creature.26

" Alternative reading ‘that he might save him’.

'* So Charles, in accord with the Samaritan Chronicle and with the support of thedates at the end of chap. iv. All MSS read ‘twenty-second’.

10 Lit. ‘fifteen cubits did the waters rise above ever)- mountain’.

11 Lit. ‘moved*. ” Lit. 'went and rested1.

“ Lit. ‘into the uttermost (or ‘western’) deep*.

14 Or ‘the higher parts of (lit. ’above*).

M Most MSS om. ‘and cattle’. w Lit. 'every moving thing’.

28

Jubilees

VI. And on the new moon1 olthe third month he went out oft he ark

2 and built an altar on that mountain.* And he made atonement forthe earth, and took a kid and made atonement by its blood lor allthe guilt of the earth; for everything on it had been destroyed, apartfrom what was in the ark with Noah. And he put its fat on the altar;and he took an ox, and a he-goat, and a sheep, and kids, and salt,and a turtle-dove, and young pigeons, and oflered them as a whole-ofVering on the altar, and poured an offering mixed with oil on it,and sprinkled wine and scattered frankincense over everything,

\ and made a soothing odour, acceptable before the Lord. And theLord smelt the soothing odour; and he made a covenant with hintthat there should never again be a flood to destroy the earth, thatwhile the earth lasts seed-time and harvest should never cease, andthat cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night, should

3 not change their order or ever cease. And he said to Noah, Be fruitfuland multiply on the earth, increase in number on it, and be ablessing in it. I will inspire the fear and dread of you in everything

<i on earth and in the sea. And behold, I give you for food all the wildanimals and birds,3 and everything (hat moves on earth, and thefish in the waters4 - that is, all things: as once I gave you (he green

7 plants, so now I give you all things local. But you must not eat fleshwith its life still in it - that is, its blood5 (for the life of everycreature6 is in its blood), lest your own blood’ be required. Fromevery man, from every animal.8 will I require the blood of man.

H Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for inthe image of God he made man. And do you be fruitful and

10 multiply on the earth. And Noah and his sons swore they wouldnot eat any blood in any flesh; and in this month he made acovenant before the Lord God for ever, for every generation of theearth.

11 It was for this reason that in this month he told you too to make acovenant with the sons of Israel on the mountain, with an oath,

1 Alternative reading 'on the tenth day'.

•’ Alternative reading ‘in that land'.

} Lit. 'all winged things'. J Some MSS add 'and cattle'.

5 Lit. ‘flesh with its life, with the blood'.

6 Lit. 'the life of all flesh'. 7 Lit. 'your blood in your lives'.

* So Charles on the basis of Gen. ix. 5. The MSS read ‘everyone’.

29

Jubilees

and to sprinkle blood on them to ratify the terms of the covenant,''l-J which the Lord made10 with them for ever. And this provision iswritten there for you to observe continually, namely, that you shouldnever eat any blood of wild animals or birds or cattle as long as theearth lasts;11 and anyone who does eat the blood of wild animals orcattle or birds at any time." he and his offspring" shall he up-lit rooted from the land. Command the sons of Israel never to eat anyblood at all. so that their names and their descendants12 may be-lt before the Lord our God continually. And for this law there is notime-limit; it is Ibr ever. They shall observe it in every generation,so that regularly every day they may make atonement on their15behalf with blood before the altar; in tin- morning and in theevening they shall seek forgiveness on their14 behalf perpetuallybefore the Lord, that they may keep it and not Ik* rooted up.l'» And he gave Noah and his sons a sign that there should neverhi again be a Hood on the earth. He set his bow in the cloud as a sign ofthe eternal covenant that there should never again be a Hood on the17 earth to destroy it. That is why it is ordained and written on theheavenly tablets that they should celebrate the feast of weeks inthis month once a year - so as to renew the covenant each year,la And this whole festival was always celebrated in heaven from theday of creation till Noah’s days (Ibr twenty-six jubilees and fiveweeks of years); and Noah and his sons observed it for sevenjubilees and u week of years, till the day of Noah’s death, but afterNoah’s death his sons became corrupt and ate blood, till the days

19 of Abraham. Vet Abraham observed it. and Isaac and Jacob andhis children observed it. (ill your days; but in your days the sons of

20 Israel forgot it, till I restored it to them'* at this mountain. Com-mand the sons of Israel, then, to observe this festival in everygeneration as a commandment binding on them; on one day16 in the

9 Lit. \ . . on them because of all the words of the covenant’.

IU Alternative reading ‘I will make'.

11 Lit. ‘during all the days of the earth'.

w Lit. 'seed'. 11 Alternative reading'your'.

'* Alternative readings ‘your’ anti 'its'.

15 Alternative reading “till yon restored it'.

16 So the text, literally translated. The meaning, however, is probably 'on the firstday (of the week), in this month, every year’ - i.c. always on a Sunday (as we wouldsay in English).

30 Jubilees

21 year, in this month, shall they celebrate the festival. It is the feast ofweeks and the feast of first-fruits, a twofold and double festival:

22 celebrate it, then, as you have been instructed.17 For I have writtenin the book of the first law, which 1 have w ritten for you, that youshould celebrate it at its proper time, on one day16 in the year, and Ihave explained to you the details of its sacrifices, so that the sons ofIsrael may remember //and celebrate it in every generation, in thismonth, on one day'6 in every year.

23 And on the new moon of the first month, and on the new moon ofthe fourth month, and on the new moon of the seventh month, andon the new moon of the tenth month are the days of remembrance,festive days also, marking1** the four divisions of the year: these are

24 written and ordained as a testimony for ever. And Noah observedthem himself and ordained them as feasts for future generations,19

25 so that they have become a memorial to him. On the new moon ofthe first month he was told to make himself an ark, and on that dayloo the earth was dry and he opened the window of the ark and saw the

26 earth: on the new* moon of the fourth month the mouths of thedepths of the abyss below were closed: on the new moon of theseventh month the mouth of the depths of the earth was opened,

27 and the waters began to descend into it; and on the new moon ofthe tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and N'oah

28 rejoiced. So it was that he observed them and ordained them asfeasts20 as a memorial for ever; and so they are ordained.

29 And they arc on record21 on the heavenly tablets: there is aninterval of thirteen weeks between each feast and the next,22 fromthe first to the second, from the second to the third, and from the

30 third to the fourth. This makes in all fifty-two weeks,23 andtogether they make up a complete year: thus is it engraved and

31 ordained on the heavenly tablets. And no year ever exceeds it.

32 Command, then, the sons of Israel to observe the years accordingto this reckoning - three hundred and sixty-four days; and these

11 Lit. ‘according to what is written and engraved concerning it’.

18 Lit. ‘in’.

19 Lit. ‘And N'oah ordained them for himselfas feasts for thegenerations forever’.

50 Lit. ‘he ordained them for himselfas feasts'.

11 Lit. ‘And they placed them*.

” Lit. ‘each has thirteen weeks, from one to another is their memorial'.

2i Lit. ‘And all the days of the commandment are fifty-two weeks of days’.

Jubilees 31

shall make up a complete year. And they shall not change the timesof its days or its feasts (for everything must follow in its appointedplace); and they shall not leave out any day or pass over any feast.

33 But if they neglect the proper order and fail to observe them as hecommanded them, then all their seasons will get out of order and

34 the sequence of the year will be disturbed.2-1 Vet all the sons ofIsrael will forget and be ignorant of the progression of the years:25they will forget new moon and festival and sabbath, and so go

35 wrong about the order of the years. For I know, and I tell you now,and it is not something 1 have imagined; for the book lies writtenbefore me, and on the heavenly tablets the division of the days isordained, so that they should not forget the feasts of the covenantand keep26 the feasts of the Gentiles, and show themselves equally

36 misguided and ignorant. There will be those who make carefulobservations of the moon (despite (he fact (hat it upsets the seasons

37 and comes in from year to year ten days too soon). Thus the yearswill come to them all wrong: they will make the day of testimony aday of no consequence27 and an ordinary2* day a feast day; and theywill mix up all the days, the holy with the ordinary,28 and theordinary28 with the holy, and go wrong about the months and

38 sabbaths and feasts and jubilees. This is why I am giving you thiscommand and solemn warning, so that you may pass it on to them;for after your death your sons will upset everything through notmaking the length of the year three hundred and sixty-four daysonly, and so they will go wrong about the new moons and seasonsand sabbaths and festivals; and they will eat all kinds of flesh withthe blood still in it.29

21 The above is a tree (perhaps over-tree) rendering ol a very dilficult passage,made even more difficult by the inclusion ol an obvious dittograph. Charles'soriginal for verses 32b and 33 ran, ‘And they will not disturb its time from its daysand from its feasts; for everything wilt tall out in them according to their testimony,and they will not leave out any day nor disturb any feasts. But if they do neglect anddo not observe them according to his commandment, then they will disturb all theirseasons, and the years will be dislodged from this order, (and they will disturb theseasons and the years will lie dislodged] and they will neglect their ordinances'.

25 Lit. ‘and will not find the path of the years'.

26 Lit. ‘walk according to'.

27 Lit. ‘a day despised'. 2* I.it. “imrlran’

20 Lit. ‘all kinds of blood with all kinds of flesh'.

jubilee*

:vi

VII. And in ihc seventh week of this jubilee, in the first year of it.Noah planted a vine1 on the mountain called Lubar, on which theark had run aground (one of the Ararat mountains): and it producedfruit in the fourth year, and he looked after its fruit and gathered it

l* in this year, in the seventh month. And he made wine from it andput it in a vessel and kept it till the fifth year, till the first clay of the

3 new moon of the first month. And he celebrated this feast-day withrejoicing; and he offered a whole-offering to the Lord — one youngox, one ram, seven sheep (each a year old), and a he-goai. to make

4 atonement with it for himself and for his sons. And he prepared thekid first and put some of its blood on the flesh that was on the altarhe had made, and all the fat he laid on the altar where he otteredthe whole-offering; and so be did also with the ox and the ram and the

f> sheep, and he laid all their flesh on the altar. And he put all theofferings.2 mixed with oil. on it. And afterwards he sprinkled wineon the fire he had previously made on the altar, and put incense onthe altar,5 and made a soothing cxlour acceptable before the Lord

t> his God. And he rejoiced and drank of this wine, he and hischildren with joy.

7 And it was evening, and he went into his tent and lay down in adrunken stupor and went to sleep; and he lay in his tent naked, as

8 he slept. And Ham saw his father Noah naked, and went outsideand told his two brothers. And Shrm took his cloak and got up. heand Japheth, and they put the cloak on their shoulders and went

10 backwards and4 covered their father's shame. And Noah woke upfrom his sleep and learnt what his younger son had done to him;and he cursed his son and said.

Cursed be Canaan:

A servant enslaved to his brothers shall he he.

11 And he blessed Shem and said.

Blessed be the Lord Gcxl ofShetn,

1 Or. possibly, ’thrvine’ (which .Adam had brought with him from Paradise: cp.Midrash Bereshuh Rabbah. xxxvi. it). ; I.it. ‘their otlerings*.

‘ Alternative reading'. .. on the fire he made on the aliar. and he had previouslyput incense on the altar*.

4 Text 'and with their laces turned backwards they'.

Jubilees 33

And Canaan shall be his servant:

12 God shall enlarge5 Japheth;

And God shall dwell in the dwelling ol'Shem,

And Canaan shall be hisft servant.

i:t And I Jam learnt that his father had cursed his younger son, andhe was displeased lxvau.se he had cursed his son; and he partedfrom his father, he and his sons with him — Cush and Mizraim and14 Put7 and Canaan. And he built himself a city and called it after hisl'i wife. Xeelatamauk. And Japheth saw it, and envied his brother,and he loo built himself a city and called it alter his wife, Adata-lii neses. And Slietn lived with his father Noah; and he built a cityunder his father’s authority by the mountain, and he too called itIT after his wife, Sedetjatelebab. And behold, these three cities arenear mount Luhar. Sedeqatelebab facing the mountain on its east,Naeltaniauk on the south, and Adataneses towards the west.

18 And these are the sons of Shem - Plain and Asshur and Arpach-

|‘i shad (bom two years after the Hood) and Aram and laid: the sonsof Japheth - Corner and Magog and Madai and Javan,* rubai9and Meshech and liras. These are the sons of Noah.

20 And in the twenty-eight jubilee Noah began to instruct hisgrandsons in the precepts and commandments, and in all thestatutes that he knew; and he exhorted his sons to do what is right,to cover the shame of their Hesh. to bless their creator, to honourfather anti mother, to love each his neighbour, and to keep them-

21 selves from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity. For it wasbecause of these three things, Xoah told them, that the flood came onthe earth — because of the fornication of the Watchers, who,contrary to the law of their nature, lusted after the daughters ofmen and took for themselves such wives as they chose: that was10

22 the beginning of uncleanness. And they begot sons, the Naphidim,and they were all unalike one another." and they devoured one

* Alternative reading ‘God shall enlarge the land tor".

6 Alternative reading 'their*. 1 Eth. 'Mcstrcm and Pud*.

* Eth. ’Iyuaya’ nr (alternatively)'Jyniya’. * Eth. 'Tobel'.

10 Lit. 'and they made'.

11 Or. by a slight emendation, ‘they all quarrelled with one another'. However,the text is probably right and refers to the three different kinds of giants mentionedin the latter part of the verse, and even more explicitly in Synccllus's Gk. version oflEnoch vii. 1—2.

34 Jubilees

another: the giant killed the Naphil, the Naphil killed the Eljo,12

23 and the Eljo12 human kind, and one man another man. Andeveryone sold himself to do what is wrong and to shed much blood;

24 and the earth was filled with iniquity. And after this they sinnedagainst the wild animals and birds and everything that moves andwalks on the earth; and much blood was shed on the earth, and allmen’s inclinations and desires were towards what is worthless and

25 evil continually. And the Lord destroyed everything from theearth, because of the wickedness of their deeds; and because of the

26 blood they had shed in the earth he destroyed everything. And wewere left, I and you, my sons, and everything that went in with usinto the ark.

And behold, I can see what you are doing before my eyes,13 thatyou are not following the way of righteousness, for you have begunto tread the path to destruction: you are separating from oneanother and are envious of one another, and so it comes about, my

27 sons, that you are not in harmony, each of you with his brother. Ican see the demons have begun their seductions against you andagainst your children; and I am afraid for you, that after my deathyou will shed men’s blood on the earth, and that you too will be

28 destroyed from the earth. For whoever sheds man’s blood, andwhoever eats the blood of any living creature,14 shall be destroyed

29 altogether from the earth. And no man that eats blood shall be lefton the earth, or that sheds the blood ofman,13 nor shall there be leftto him any offspring or descendants16 under heaven; for to Sheolshall they go, and into the place of punishment shall they go down,and to the darkness of the deep shall they all be removed by a

30 violent death. There shall be no blood seen on you of any of theblood shed when you kill any animals or cattle or birds on theearth; and do then what is right17 and cover what has been shed on

31 the earth. And you shall not be like the man that eats meat with theblood still in it, and take care that no one eats blood in your

Alternative reading ‘Iliyo'. In Syncellus ‘Elioud’.

13 Lit 'your works before me': alternative reading ‘the beginning of your works’.

'* Lit. ‘any flesh'.

13 Alternative reading ‘the blood of any man’.

16 Lit. ‘any seed or descendants': alternative reading ‘any seed of his descend-ants.’

17 Lit. ‘and do a good work to your souls’.

Jubilees 3')

company: cover the blood, lor so 1 have been commanded to

32 instruct you and your children and all mankind.18 Never allow thelife1’ to be eaten with the flesh, so that your blood (which is yourlife19) may not be asked for from any creature'8 that sheds it on the

33 earth. For the earth will not be clean from the blood that has beenshed on it: only through the blood of him that shed it will the earthbe purified through all its generations.

34 And now, my children, listen: act justly20 and do what is right, sothat you may be planted in righteousness over the whole earth andyour glory exalted before my God. who sav ed me21 from the watersof the flood. And behold, you will go and build yourselves cities,and you will plant in them all the plants that there arc upon the

36 earth, and also all trees that bear fruit. For three years the fruit ofeverything that can be eaten must not be gathered: and in thefourth year its fruit shall be reckoned holy.22 and they shall oiler thefirst-fruits, acceptable before the Most High God. who createdheaven and earth and all things.23 Let them offer it sprinkled withthe first of the wine and the oil as first-fruits on the altar of the Lord,who receives it; and what is left let the servants of the Lord's house

37 eat before the altar which receives it. And in the fifth year24 let theland lie fallow, so that you let it lie fallow in righteousness andhonestly; and you will be righteous, and aH your orchards will be

38 ritually pure. For so your great-great-grandfather,25 F.noch, com-manded his son Methuselah, and Methuselah his son Lantech,and Lamech commanded me to observe everything his fathers had

39 commanded him. And 1 also give von commandment, my sons, asEnoch commanded his son in the first jubilees: while still living,the seventh in his generation, he commanded and instructed hisson and his grandsons till the day of his death.

Vffl. In the twenty-ninth jubilee, in the first week, in the beginningof it, Arpachshad took a wife, and her name was Rasuejah, the

" Lie ‘Mesh-. Lit. ‘soul’.

20 Alternative reading ‘honestly*. 11 Alternative reading 'us'.

22 Alternative reading ‘its fruit may be gathered’.

23 Some MSS om. ‘and all things'.

Charles supposed that there was a lacuna here, since what follows would seemto be appropriate to the seventh year.

13 Lit. ‘the father of your father’.

Mi Jubilees

daughter of Susan, Klam’s daughter; and she bore him a son in the

I third year in this week, and he tailed him Kainam. And the Ixngrew up, and his father taught him writing;1 and he went to look lor

3 a place where he could found a city. And he tame upon a writingwhich some men of old time had carved on a rock, and he readwhat was on it and transcribed it;2 * andhe sinned because of it, for itcontained the teaching of the Watchers, in accordance with whichthey used to observe the omens of* the sun and moon anti stars in

4 all the signs of heaven. And he w rote it down and said nothingabout it; for he was afraid to tell Noah about it in case he might beangry with him because of it.

f> And in the thirtieth jubilee, in the second week, in the first yearof it, he look a wife, and her name was Melka, the daughter ofMadai,4 Japhcth’s son; and in the fourth year she bore him a son,

6 and he called him Shclah, for he said. Truly I have been sent. AndShclah grew up and took a wife, and her name was Muak, thedaughter of Kescd, his father’s brother: this was in the thirty-first

7 jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year of it. And she bore him ason in the fifth year of it, and he called him Kber; and he took a wife,and her name was Azurad, the daughter of Nimrod5 - in thethirty-second jubilee, in the seventh week, in the third year of it.

8 And in the sixth year of it, she bore him a son. and he called himPel eg,6 for in the days when he was born Noah’s sons began todivide the earth among themselves (that is why he called him

9 Pelcg). And they divided it secretly7 among themselves, and theytold Noah.

10 And it was at the beginning of the thirty-third jubilee that theydivided the earth into three parts, one part for Shem and one for Hamand one for Japheth, a share for each,1* in the first year, in the firstweek, while one of us, who had been sent to them, was with them.

II And he called his sons and they came to him, they and their

1 Or '(the) book(s)'.

1 Or 'translated it’: or, by a slight emendation, ‘it led him astray' (soCharles).

} Alternative readings ‘the chariot of* or ‘the wheel or (with reference to the

Zodiac?).

* So Syr. and a Gk. scholion: Eth. ‘Abadai*. Cp. vii. 19. ix. 9. x. 35— 36.

s Eth. ‘Nebrod'- 4 Eth. ‘Falek*.

’ Or 'in wickedness’. * Lit. ‘according to the inheritance of each’.

Jubilees 'M

children; and hcg divided the earth by drawing lots to decide whateach of his three sons should have, and they stretched out theirhands and took their lot10 out of their father Noah's lap.

11* And Shem drew as his lot" the middle of the earth, to take it as

his patrimony and his sons' patrimony for ever - from the middle ofthe mountain range of Rala, from the mouth of the river Tina;’2and his share goes westwards through the middle of this river andextends as lar as the water of the abysses, out of which this riverrises and pours its waters into the sea of\liot,1' and this river flowsinto the great sea (and all that is on the north is japheth's and alll:i that is on thf south belongs to Shem). And it extends as far asII Karaso14 - this is in the heart15 of the tongue that faces south. Andhis share extends along the great sea in a straight line till it reachesthe west of the tongue that laces south; for this sea is called thet:> tongue of the Kgyptian sea. And it turns from here southwards,towards the mouth of the great sea, on the shores ofits waters; andit extends to the west to1* Afra” as far as the waters of the riverGihon, and to the south of the waters ofGihon. to the banks of thisHi river. And it extends eastwards as far as the garden of Eden, to thesouth of it, [to the south] and from the east of the whole land ofEden and of the whole east, and it turns to the east and goes on tillit reaches the east of the mountain called Rafa. and it goes down to17 the bank of the mouth of the river Tina."* This share fell by lot toShem and to his sons as an eternal possession lor his descendantsfor ever.

n And Noah rejoiced that this share had fallen to Shem and to hissons, and he remembered everything he had uttered with hismouth in his prophecy; for he had said.

u Alternative reading ’they'. ,0 I.it. ‘took the writing'.

11 Lit. And there came out on the writing as Shorn's lot'.

1 ■’ Lit. ‘from the mouth of the water from the river Tina*.

° Alternative reading ‘Meat’. 14 Alternative reading ‘Karan’.

15 Lit. ’bosom'. 16 Alternative reading ‘of.

’’ Alternative readings ‘Alara’, ’Arala', 1 VVafara'

'* There is obviously some geographical confusion in this verse. Charles pro-posed to read ’north’ for ‘south’ (and also ’west’ for ‘east' in the clause ‘and it turnstt> the east’), (u later Ethiopic tradition, and in some of the following chapters ofJubilees, the words for ‘north’ and ‘south' were often given contrary meanings.

38 Jubilees

Blessed be the Lord God of Shem.

And may the Lord dwell in the dwelling of Shorn.

19 And he knew that the garden of Eden is the holy of holies and theLord’s dwelling place, and mount Sinai the centre of the desert,and mount Zion the centre of the navel of the earth: these three

2i> were created as holy places facing one another. And he blessed theGod of gods, who had put the Lord’s word into his mouth, even the

21 Lord for evermore. And he knew that Shem and his sons wereblessed” for ever - the whole land of Eden, and the whole land ofthe Red Sea, and the whole land of the east, and India, andBairctra20 and its mountains, and all the land of Basham21 and allthe land of Lebanon and the islands of Caphtor, and all themountains of Senir and Amana, and the mountains of Asshur inthe north, and all the land of Elam, Asshur, and Babel, and Susa,and Media, and all the mountains of Ararat, and all the regionbeyond the sea. which is beyond the mountains of Asshur north-wards, a blessed and spacious land, and all that is in it is very good.

22 And Ham drew the second share - what lies beyond the Gihonsouthwards, to the right of the garden; and it extends southwardsas far as all the fiery mountains; and it extends westwards to the seaof Atcl, and further still22 till it reaches the sea of Mauk (that is the

23 sea into which everything that does not23 perish descends). And itgoes northwards to the boundaries ofGadir and out to the coast ofthe waters of the sea, to the waters of the great sea, till it reaches theriver Gihon, and the river Gihon goes along till it reaches the right

21 of the garden of Eden. And this is the land that fell to Ham in thediv ision, which he was to occupy lor ever, he and his sons, genera-tion after generation lor ever.

2f> And Japheth drew the third share - what lies beyond the riverTina, to the north of its waters’ outflow; and it extends on thenorth-east to the whole region of Gog and to all the country east of

10 Lit. ‘that a share ol blessing and a blessed one had come to Shem and to hissons’.

20 Perhaps (through the Gk. 'EgvOgti) a mistranslation of Edom.

Jl Kill. 'Basa': alternative readings ‘Bala’ and ‘Basor’.

Lit. ‘and it extends westwards'.

2’ One MS omits ‘not*. According to Charles the sense required is ‘if anythingdescends into it. it perishes’ - this sea being Occanus in the extreme west.

jubilees 39

26 it. And it extends northwards as tar as the mountains of Qelt24 andto the sea of Mauk; and it goes to the east of Gadir as tar as the

27 region of the waters of the sea. And it goes on until it reaches thewest of Fara2s and returns towards Afcrag;26 and it extends east-

28 wards to the waters of the sea of Meat. And in a north-easterlydirection it extends to the region of the river Tina till it reaches theboundary of its waters towards the mountain Rafa; and then it turns

29 round towards the north. This is the land that fell to Japhcth andhis sons as the share for them to hold as their patrimony, genera-tion after generation for ever-five large islands, and a large trad of

30 land in the north. But it is cold. Ham's land is hot. And Shern’s isneither hot nor cold, but a blend of cold and heat.

IX. And Ham divided his land among his sons; and the first sharefell to Cush - that is the eastern part, and to the west of him wasMizraim, and to the west of him Put, and to the west of himCanaan, and to the west of him the sea.1

2 And Shem also divided his land among his sons; and the firstshare fell to Elam and his sons - what lies east of the river Tigris tillit reaches the east, the whole land ol India, and the Red Sea coast2 *,and the waters of Dcdan. and all the mountains of Mebri and Ela\and all the land of Susa, and all that is on the side of Pharnak4 to

3 the Red Sea and the river Tina. And the second share fell to Asshur- all the land of Asshur and Nineveh and Shinar as far as the

4 border oflndia, and it goes up to the river VVadafa. And the thirdshare fell to Arpachshad — all the land of the region of the Chaldeesto the east of the Euphrates, that borders on the Red Sea, and all

24 Text ‘And it extends northwards to the north, and it extends to the mountainsof Qelt towards the north'.

25 Alternative readings ‘Fera* and ‘Fcreg’.

26 Alternative reading ‘Afreg’.

1 The translation of this verse is uncertain. Charles rendered . . Put, and to thewest of him (and to the west thereof] on the sea for Canaan', and understood thesense to be that Canaan's allotted share extended from Libya (= Pul) to theAtlantic (cp. x. 28 IT.).

2 Lit. ‘and on the Red Sea on its coast’.

* Alternative reading ‘Ma/.bara and Elam*.

4 Alternative readings ‘Phemak’ and 'PhcrcmakV

the waters of the desert close to the tongue of the sea that lookstowards bgypt. all the land of Lebanon and Senir and Amana to."> the border of the Luphrates. And the fourth share fell to Aram-allthe land of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Luphrates tothe north of the Chaldees, to where it reaches the mountains of<» Asshur and the land of Ararat. And the fifth share fell to laid - themountains of Asshur and all that belongs to them (ill it reaches thegreat sea. and till it reaches the east of Asshur his brother.

7 And Japheth also divided the land of his patrimony among hisH sons. And the first share fell to Corner - what lies to the east, fromthe north side to the river Tina. And in the north there fell toMagog all the inner parts of the north, till it reaches the sea of<» Meat. And to Madai fell as his share to occupy what lies west5 of hisin two brothers to the islands and the coasts of the islands. And thefourth share fell to Javan - all the islands6 towards the border ofI! Lud. And the fifth share fell toTuba!-tcA<7ffi'«in the middle of thetongue that runs towards the border of bud's share, as far as thesecond tongue, as far as the region beyond the second tongue, as far12 as the third tongue. And the sixth share fell to Meshcch - all the1.1 region beyond the third tongue till it reaches the cast ofGadir. Andthe seventh share fell to Liras - four great islands in the middle ofthe sea, which stretch as far as Ham's share. (And the islands ofKamatliri fell by lot to the sons of Arpachshad as part of hispatrimony’.)

I t And so Noah's sons divided their lands among their sons in thepresence of their lather Noah; and he bound them all by an oath,putting a curse on anyone that tried to seize what* had not fallen tor> him by lot. And they all said. So be it. So be it, for themselves andtheir sons for ever, in every generation till the day of judgement,when the Lord God will judge them with sword and fire for all theiruncleanness and the wickedness of their misdeeds,9 with whichthey have filled the earth - with transgression and uncleanness andfornication and sin.

* I,it. 'from the west*. * Lit. ‘every island and the islands'.

: Charles square-bracketed this sentence as an interpolation, on the grounds thatthe text is here dealing with the sons of Japhcth. whereas Arpachshad was a son ofShem and has already been mentioned in verse I above.

* [.it. ‘the share which*. * [.it. ‘for all the unclean wickedness of their errors*.

41

X. And in tht* third work of this jubilee the urn-lean demons beganto lead the children of Noah's sons astray and to mislead them and

2 destroy them. And Noah's sons ramp to their lather Noah and toldhim about the demons that were misleading and blinding and

U killing his grandsons. And he prayed before the Lord his God, andsaid.

God of the spirits of all mankind, who hast shownmercy to me.

And hast saved me and my sons f rom the w aters of theflood.

And didst not leave me to perish1 as thou didst thosedoomed to perdition;*

For thy grace has been great towards me.

And great has been thy mercy to my soul.

Let thv grace be exalted upon my sons.

And let not wicked spirits rule over them

And destroy them from the earth.

4 But do thou bless me and my sons, that we may be fruitful and

5 increase and fill the earth. And thou knowest what thy Watchers,the fathers of these spirits, did in my day; and as for these spiritswhich are now alive, imprison them and hold them securely in theplace of punishment, and let them not bring destruction on thyservant's sons, my God. for these are malevolent and created in

(i order to destroy. And let them have no dominion over the spirits ofthe living, for thou alone knowest how to deal with them;3 and letthem have no power over the sons of the righteous, either now orever.

,8 And the Lord our God ordered us to bind them all. And Mastcma,the chief of the spirits, came and said. O Lord, creator, let some ofthem remain before me, and let them listen to what I say and doeverything I tell them; for if some arc not left me, I shall not be ableto exercise over men the authority I want; for these are destined forcorruption and to be led astray4 before my judgement, for great is

1 Alternative reading ‘And hast not forgotten me so that 1 perished".

* Lit. ‘thesonsofperdition*. * Lit. ‘theirjudgement (nature)'.

* Lit. ‘and leading astray".

42 Jubilees

9 the wic kedness5 of men. And he said. let a tenth of them remainbefore him. and let nine tenths go down into the place of punish-

10 ment. And he commanded one of us to teach Noah all the remediesagainst them (for he knew they would not live upright lives, nor

11 even try to do what is right). And we did as he told us: all themalevolent and evil ones we imprisoned in the place of punishment,and a tenth we left as agents of punishment under Satan6 on the

12 earth. And we explained to Noah all the remedies against theirdiseases, together with their seductions,7 and how to heal them with

1H herbs." And Noah wrote down everything in a book, as we instructedhim about every kind of remedy: thus were the evil spirits kept

14 from doing harm to Noah’s sons. And he gave everything he hadwritten to Shem. his eldest son: for he loved him most of all hissons.

I *> And Noah slept with his fathers and was buried on mount Lubar

Ih in the land of Ararat. He completed nine hundred and fifty years in

17 all - nineteen jubilees, two weeks, and fisc years. And in his life onearth he surpassd all mortal men in achieving perfect righteous-ness, except Enoch; for Enoch had a special function to be awitness to the world’s generations and report all the deeds of eachgeneration till the day ofjudgcment.

18 And in the thirty-third jubilee, in the first year, in the secondweek, Peleg took a wife, whose name was Lomna, the daughter ofShinar;* and she bore him a son in the fourth year of this week, andhe called him Reu,10 for he said, Behold the sons of men havebecome evil through their wicked purpose of building a city and a

19 tower in the land of Shinar. (For they had left the land of Araratand moved eastwards to Shinar; and in his days they built the city

■20 and the tower, saying, Come, let us go up into heaven by it.) Andthev began to build; and in the fourth week they baked bricks in thefire, and the bricks served them for stone; and the clay they bondedthem with was asphalt, which comes out of the sea and out of the

21 fountains of water in the land of Shinar. And they were forty-three

5 Alternative reading ‘judgement’.

6 Lit. ‘that they might punish before Satan'.

7 Alternative reading ‘evil effects’.

* Lit. ‘the trees of the earth'. * Eth. ‘Sinaar*.

,0 Eth. *Ragau\ The name in the original was, of course, a pun on the Hebrew for’evil'.

Jubilees 4S

years building it: they built it entirely of bric ks (eac h brick wastthirteen cubitst wide, and the height of each a third of its width):its height altogether amounted to five thousand, lour hundred, andthirty-three cubits, and two palms, and the extent of one wall was

22 thirteen stades, and of the other thirty stades.'1 And the Lord our Godsaid to us. Behold, they are one people: they have begun to do this,and now they will not stop. Come, let us go down and confoundtheir tongues, so that they cannot understand one another, and bedispersed into cities and nations, and thus have no common

23 purpose12 till the day of judgement. And the Lord went down, andwe went down with him. to inspect the city and the tower that the

24 sons of men had built. And he conldunded all their longue’s.1'andin consequence they no longer understood one another’s speech

2!i and left oil’ building the city and the tower. This is why the wholeland of Shinar is called Babel, because the Lord confounded thereall men’s tongues; and from there they were dispersed to their

2b various cities, each according to his language and his nation. Andthe Lord sent a violent wind against the tower and levelled it withthe ground (its site is between Asshur and Babylon in the land of

27 Shinar). and they called it. Collapse. It was in the fourth week of thefirst year, at the beginning of it. in the thirty-fourth jubilee, thatthey were dispersed from the land of Shinar.

28 And Ham and his sons went into the land set aside for him,which he had been allotted as his share in the land of the south.14

29 And Canaan saw the land of Lebanon as far as the river of Egypt,that it was very good, and did not go to the land that had fallen tohim in the west by the sea, but settled in the land of Lebanon

30 between the Jordan region and the* sea.15 And his father Ham, andCush and Mizraim, his brothers, said to him, You have settled in aland that is not yours and that did not fall to us by lot. Do not do it.

'1 The details of the text of this passage arc very problematical: and in thetranslation die final clause (about the walls) has been filled out from the descriptionin Nicephorus’s Catena (i. 175), which seems to be directly dependent on Jubilees.Several Christian writers give similar, though not identical, particulars about theconstruction and size of the building.

11 Lit. *and thus one purpose will no longer remain with them’.

” Lit. ‘all speech of their tongues’. 14 Or 'north': see note on viii. lb.

15 Charles rendered ‘. . . Lebanon, eastward and westward from the border ofJordan and from the border of the sea’.

44 Jubilees

If you do. you and your sons will be reduced to ruin in the land andbring a curse upon yourselves Ijecausc of voter rebellious act; for as arebel you have settled, and by rebellion will your children beH1 reduced to ruin and you will be rooted up for ever. l)o not enc roachon Sheni’s patrimony,16 lor to Shem and his sons it fell by lot.i'2 Cursed you are, and cursed you will be more than all the sons ofNoah, as a result of the curse by which we bound ourselves with anoath in the presence of the holy prince and in the presence of our:w father Noah. But he took no notice of them and settled in the landofLebanon, from Hamath to the entrance of Kgypt, he and his sonsM till this day. And this is why that land is c alled Canaan.

:$'> And japheth and his sons went towards the sea and settled in theland allotted to them;17 and Madai looked at the land of the sea andwas not pleased with it, and he begged a share from Elam andAsshur and Arpachshad, his wife’s brother, and settled in the landlit* of Media, near his wife’s brother, till this day. And they t ailed theplace where he and his sons settled. Media, after the name of theirfather Madai.

XI. And in the thirty-filth jubilee, in the third week, in the firstyear of it, Reu took a wife, and her name was Ora. the daughter ofUr, the son of Ghesed; and she bore him a son, and he called him.Scrug, in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee.

2 And Noah's sons began to make war on eac h other, to take oneanother captive, and to kill each other, and to shed men’s blood onthe earth, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities and walls andtowers; and certain individuals began to exalt themselves above therest,1 and to set themselves up as kings,2 and to go to war - peopleagainst people, and nation against nation, and city against city.And all of them began to do evil, to get arms, and to teach their sonsto fight; and they began to capture cities, and to sell men andi women as slaves. And Ur, the son ofChcsed, built the city of Era3

16 Lit. 'Dwell not in the dwelling ol’Shrm'.

” Lit. 'the land of their share”.

1 Lit.'the people”. J Lit. *io found the beginnings of kingship”.

’ Alternative reading ”Ara”: possibly we should read Era ha' (taking the final -ha

as part of the name and not as an accusative ending). The more normal form “L’r”occurs in verses 7 and Band subsequently.

45

Jubilees

of the Chaldees, and called it after his own name and his father’sl name. And men made for themselves images of cast metal, andeach man worshipped his own image that he had cast lor himself;4and they began to make carved images too, and unclean figures.And malevolent spirits egged them on and seduced them, so thatf> they indulged in every kind of sin and uncleanness. And tin* princeMastema exerted himself to do all this, and he sent out as agentsthe spirits that were under his control to do all kinds of wrong andsin, and all kinds of transgression, to corrupt and to destroy, and toti shed blood on the earth. And so they called Scrug's name Seruk,5for everyone turned aside after all kinds of sin and transgression.

7 And he grew up and lived in Ur of the Chaldees, near his wife’smother’s father, and he worshipped idols; and he took a wife in thethirty-sixth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year of it, and hername was Milcah, the daughter of Hebcr, his father’s brother’sH daughter. And she bore him Nahor. in the first year of this week;and he grew up and lived in Ur of the Chaldees, and his fatherinstructed him in the learning of the Chaldees, how to divine andforetell the future from the signs of heaven.

‘i And in the thirty-seventh jubilee, in the sixth week, in the firstyear of it, he look a wife, atid her name was lscah, the daughter of

10 Nestag of the Chaldees. And she bore him Tcrah in the seventh

11 year of this week. And the prince Mastema sent ravens and otherbirds to eat up the seed that had been sown in the land, in order todestroy the land and rob men of the fruit ojjheir labours: before theycould plough the seed in, the ravens peeked it from the surface of

12 the ground. And that is why he called him Terah, because theravens and other birds had reduced them to destitution and had

IS eaten up their seed.6 And the years became sterile, owing to thebirds, and they ale up all the fruit on the trees: it was only withgreat effort that they could save any at all of the earth's fruits inthose7 days.

I t And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second week, in the first

* Lit. ‘arid they worshipped each the idol he had made for himself as an image ofeast metal’.

5 From the Heb. root s-r-k, 'twist, turn’ (rp.Jrr. ii. 23).

6 No satisfactory explanation of this reason tor the name has so far been given.

T Lit. ‘their’.

year. Tcrah took a wife, the daughter of Abram, his father’s sister’s

la daughter. And in the seventh year of this week she bore him a son.and he railed him Abram, after his mother's father (for he had died

Iti before his daughter had conceived a son). And the child began tounderstand the errors of the earth, how all went astray alter carved

17 images and uncleanness; and his father taught him writing. Andwhen he was two weeks of years old. he separated himself from hisfather, so that he might not worship idols with him; and he beganto pray to the creator of all things, that he might save him from theerrors of mankind, and that it should not he his lot to go astray afterthe unclean and the degrading.

18 And the seed time came fur sowing on the land, and they all wentout together to protect their seed from the ravens; and Abram went

l‘.> out with them" (and he was a lad of fourteen). And a cloud ofravens came to eat up the seed; and Abram ran to meet them beforethey settled tin the ground, and he shouted to them before theysettled on the ground to cat up the seed and said. Keep off:9 go back

Uti to where you came from. And they turned and went away. And hedid this to the cloud of ravens seventy times that day: and not a

Jl single raven settled on any of the fields where Abram was. And allwho were with him in the fields saw him shout out and all theravens turn back; and his fame spread through all the land of the

22 Chaldees. And all those that wished to sow that year came to him,and he went with them until the time for sowing was over; and theysowed their land, and that year they brought home grain inplenty,10 and they ate their fill.

23 And in the first year of the fifth week Abram gave instructions tothe carpenters who made the agricultural implements, and theymade a container above ground-level, facing the frame of theplough, to pul the seed in. and the seed fell down from it onto theplougshare and was hidden in the earth; and so they were no longer

24 frightened of the ravens. And they made containers like this aboveground-level on all the frames of the ploughs; and they sowed allthe land and tilled it. exactly as Abram told them, and they were nolonger frightened of the birds.

* Lit. ‘those that went'.

9 Lit. ‘Do not conic down'.

Lit. ‘sufficient grain’.

47

XII. And it came to pass in the sixth week, in the seventh year of it,

2 that Abram spoke to Torah his father, saying. Father! And he said.Behold, here I am, my son. And he said. What profit or advantagedo we gain from those idols that you worship and prostrate yourself

3 in front of? For there is no spirit in' them: dumb things they are

•I that only lead us into error;1 2 * so do not worship them. Worship the

God of heaven, who makes the rain and the dew come down on theearth, and does everything on the earth, and has created all things

j by his word, and all life is from him.’ Why do you worship thingsthat have no spirit in' them, for they are the work of‘men's hands?You carry them on your shoulders, and you get no help from them.Rather do they bring no small shame on those who make them, andmislead the minds of those who worship them. So do not worship

(j them. And his lather said to him. 1 know it too, my son; but what

7 shall I do about the people that I serve?4 If I tell them the truth,they will kill me; for they cling to them to worship them and honour

8 them. Keep quiet, my son. in ease they kill you. And he said thesame to his two brothers, and they were angry with him. so he saidno more.

!) And in the fortieth jubilee, in the second week, in the seventhyear of it, Abram took a wife, and her name was Sarai,5 his father’s

10 daughter; and she became his wife. And Haran, his brother, took awife in the third year of the third week; and she bore him a son in

11 the seventh year of this week, and he called him Lot. And his otherbrother, Nahor, also took a wife.

12 And in the sixtieth6 year of Abram’s life, that is, in the fourthweek, in the fourth year of it. Abram got up at night and set fire to

1 Lit. ‘upon’.

1 Lit. ‘lor they arc dumbness and a misleading of the heart’.

’ Lit. 'from before his face’.

* (Iharlrs rendered ‘but what shall I do with a people who have made me to servebefore them?’, which implies that Terahwas not just a private craftsman, but eithera municipal employee or under some other external compulsion to make his idols;and this last interpretation is reinforced by the alternative reading *. . . who havecommanded me to serve . . The translation oflered is sullicicntiy imprecise as toleave all possibilities open.

s Eth. ‘Sora’ {as in the Eth. Old Testament).

6 Alternative readings ‘second’ and ‘thirtieth’.

18 Jubilees

(In* idols' house and burnt everything that was in the house: and no

I t one knew about it. And they got up in the night and tried to save

II their gods from the fire. And Ha ran rushed in to save diem, but theflames overcame him. and he was burnt in the fire and died in L’rofthe Chaldees before the eyes of his father Terah; and they buried

r> him in L’rof the Chaldees. And Terah left It of the Chaldees, heand his sons, and set out for the laud ol Lebanon and the land olCanaan, and he settled in the land of Haran: and Abram lived inHaran with Terah. his father, two weeks of years.

In And in the sixth week, in the fifth year of it. Abrani sat up allthrough the night of the new moon of the seventh month to observethe stars from evening till morning, in order to discover how therains would fall that year: and he was alone as he sat and observed.

17 And a thought struck him. and he said. All the signs of tlu* starsand the signs of the moon and sun are in the hand ofthe Lord.

la Why, then, should 1 enquire into them? If he so wills, he makes itrain evening and morning, and if he so wills, lie withholds the rain:

l‘» and all things are in his hand. And he prayed that night and said.My God. God Most High, thou alone lor me art God: thou hastcreated all things, and all things that are are the work of thy hands;

20 and thee and thy dominion have I chosen. Deliver me from the evilspirits who have dominion over the thoughts and minds of men,and let them not lead me astray from thee, my God; and establishme and my descendants for ever, that wc go not astray either now

21 or ever. And l ask thee, should I return to IT of the Chaldees, tothose who beg me7 to return to them? Or should I rather remainhere in this place? Help thy servant to choose8 w hatever is the rightpath before thee, and let me not w alk iri the error ol my heart. () myGod.

22 And he finished speaking and praying, and behold, the word ofthe Lord was sent to him through me, saying. Leave your countryand your kinsmen and your father's house, and go to a land that 1will show you; and 1 will make you a great and numerous nation.

2:i And I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall beblessed in the earth, and in you shall ail fathers* ofthe earth beblessed; and I will bless those that bless you and curse those that

7 I.ii. 'who seek my faee". H Lit.'do'.

w Alternative read ini' 'nations' (as in the Kth. Old Testament 1.

49

jubilees

i?4 curst* you. And I will he a God to you. and to your son. and to yourgrandson, and to all your descendants: do not be afraid: from now.and for all time. I am your (jod.

2.i And the Lord God said to me. Open his mouth and his ears, sothat he may hear and may speak with his mouth the languagewhich shall be revealed (for it had never been spoken by men since2t» the day of the collapse ojthe lower of Babel). And I opened his mouthand his ears and his lips, and 1 began to speak to him in Hebrew -27 the original language.And he took his fathers' books, which werewritten in Hebrew, and transcribed them and began from then onto study them, and I explained to him everything he could notunderstand; and he" studied them during the six rainy months.

2H And it came to pass in the seventh year of the sixth week that hespoke to his lather and told him that he wanted to leave Haran and29 go into the land of(*anaan to inspect it and come back to him. AndTerah his father said to him. Go in peace: may the eternal Godmake your path straight, and the Lord be with you and protect youfrom all evil, and grant you grace, mercy, and favour, with thosewho see you, and may no man have power over you to harm you: goJO in peace. And if it seems to you a pleasant land, and suitable tosettle in, then come back and letch me: take Lot with you now. yourbrother Haran's son. and treat him as if he were your own; and theJl Lord be with you. And leave your other brother Nahor here with me.till you come back in peace, and then we can all go with youtogether.

XIII. And Abram journeyed from Haran and took Sarai, his wife,and Lot. his brother Haran's son. to the land of Canaan; and hecame to Asshur,1 and wandered about till he came to Shechem,

2 and settled there near a lofty oak.2 And he looked, and behold, theland was very pleasant from the entrance of Hamath to the lofty

3 oak.2 And the Lord said to him. To you and your descendants will 1

4 give this land. And he built an altar there and offered on it awhole-offering to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

()r ‘the natural language'. Alternative readings ‘the language that was naturalto him’ or ‘the language of his latnih ’.

11 Alternative reading ‘we*.

1 Alternative reading ‘Sur’ {= lyre?).

* Asin ihel.XXattJcn. xii.h.

And hi* moved on from there to the hill-country { east of Bethel),with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he pitched his<i tent. And he looked, and behold, the land was spacious and verygood, and everything grew there — vines and figs and pomegran-ates, oaks and ilexes, and terebinths and olive trees, and cedarsand cypresses and frankincense trees,* and all the trees of the7 countryside; and there was water in the hill-country. And heblessed the Lord, who had led him out of l*r of the Chaldees andH brought him to this land.4 And it came to pass in the first year, inthe seventh week, on the new moon of the first month, that he builtan altar on the hill there5 and invoked the Lord. Thou art my God,y the eternal God. And he offered a whole-offering to the Lord on thealtar, so that he might be with him and not forsake him all the daysof his life.

10 And he moved on from there and went southwards and came toHebron (Hebron was built at that time): and he stayed there twoyears. And he went on from there into the land of the south, toBcaloth.

11 And there was a famine in the land; and Abram went into Egyptin the third year of the week and lived in Egypt five years before his

12 wife was torn away from him. (Tanais in Egypt was built at that

13 time - seven years after Hebron.) And it came to pass, whenPharaoh seized Sarai, Abram’s wife, the Lord struck Pharaoh andhis entire household with severe diseases because of Sarai, Abram’s

11 wife. And Abram was held in high esteem on account of hispossessions in sheep, and cattle, and asses, and horses, and camels,and male and female slaves, and abundance of silver and gold; and1 j Lot, his brother’s son, was also wealthy. And Pharaoh gave backSarai, Abram’s wife, and sent him out of the land of Egypt; and hemade his way to the place where he had pitched his tent in thebeginning, to the place of the altar, with Ai on the cast and Bethelon the west. And he blessed the Lord his God, who had broughthim back in peace.

lt> And it eamc to pass in the forty-first jubilee, in the third year ofthe first week, that he returned to this place and offered there a

' Or, by a slight emendation, ‘date-palms’.

* Alternative reading ‘hill’ or 'mountain'.

5 l.it. 'on this hill (mountain}'.

whole-offering, and he invoked the Lord by name and said. Thou

17 art the Most High God. my God lor ever and ever. And in thefourth year of this week Lot parted from him: and Lot settled in

18 Sodom (and the men of Sodom were great sinners). And it grievedhim that his brother's son had parted from him: for he had no

|<> children. In that year, when Lot was taken captive, the Lord spoketo Abram (after Lot had parted from him) in the fourth year of thisweek, and said to him. Look up from the place you are living in,

20 northwards and southwards, and westwards and eastwards. Forall the land you can see 1 will give to you and your descendants forever, and I will make your descendants as the sand of the sea:6 eventhough a man might count the dust of the earth,7 your descendants

21 will not be able to be* counted. Rise up. walk through the length andbreadth of Mr land. and look at all of it; for to your descendants willI give it. And Abram went to Hebron and settled there.

22 And in this year came Chedorlaomer, king of Flam, and Arnraphol,king of Shinar. and Arioch. king of Sellasur. and Tergal, king ofnations, and killed the king of Gomorrah: and the king of Sodomfled, and many fell wounded in the valley of Siddim. by the Salt Sea.9

23 And they captured Sodom and Adam and Zcboim; and they tookLot captive also. Abram’s brother’s son, and all his possessions.

24 and they10 went as far as Dan. And a fugitive came and told Abram

25 that his brother’s son had been taken captive. And he armed hishousehold servants . . . for Abram,11 and for his descendants, thefirst tenth to the Lord; and the Lord ordained it as a rule for all timethat they should give it to the priests who serve belbre him. that it

26 should be theirs for ever. And to this law there is no time-limit; forHe has ordained that in every generation they should give to the

* Alternative reading *ofthe earth'. ’ Alternative Trading 'of the sea’.

* Alternative reading ‘will be -i.r. without the negative (in which ease the wholescience should be translated ‘if a man could count the dust of the earth, then yourdescendants could Ik- counted’).

* Most MSS 'in the salt (or'desert') country' lu The MSS read‘he’.

11 The existing text, transmitted by nearly all MSS makrs no sense at all. ( Diariessupposed that although there is no direct evidence for it in the MSS, there is in fact alacuna here and that the original text described Abram's pursuit of the four kings,his attack on them, his recovery of the spoil, and his meeting with Mrlrhizcdck-asin Gen. xiv. 14—20. The scribe of one MS. however, by a slight change in the wordtranslated ‘armed’, managed to achieve at least some sense with ‘And his householdservants made atonement for Abram'.

.Vi Jubilees

Lord the tenth of everything.12 of seed and wine and oil and cattle

27 and sheep. And he has given it to his priests to eat and drink with

28 joy before him. And the king of Sodom came and prostrated him-self before him and said. Our lord Abram, grant us the people you

20 have rescued, but let the spoil be yours. And Abram said to him, Ilift up my hands to the Most High God on oath, that I will takenothing that is yours, so that you cannot say. 1 have made Abramrich: I will take only what the young men have eaten, and the shareof the men who went with me-Atman. Ksehol. and Mature. Theseshall have their share.

XIV. And after these things, in the (burth year of this week, on thenew moon of the third month, the word of the Lord came to Abramin a dream, saying. Do not be afraid, Abram: 1 am your defender,2 and your reward will indeed be great. And he said. Lord. Lord,w'hat will you give me, for I have no children, and the son ofMaseq, my slave-girl’s son. Lliezcr of Damascus, will he my heir::i to me you have given no children. And he said to him. T his man4 shall not be your heir, but your own son1 shall he your heir. And helook him outside and said to him. Look up to heaven and count the') stars of heaven, if you can count them. And he looked up to heavenand surveyed the stars; and he said to him. So shall your descen-ts dants be. And he believed in the Lord; and it was counted to him asrighteousness.

7 And he said to him, l atn the Lord that brought you out of Ur ofthe Chaldees, to give you the land of the Canaanites2 * as a posses-sion for ever, and to be’ your God and your descendants’ Cod after

8 you. And he said. Lord. Lord, how shall 1 know that I shall inherit!J it? And he said to him. Bring me4 a heifer three years old, and a

goat three years old, and a sheep three years old, and a turtle-dove,

10 and a pigeon. And he took all these in the middle of the month,

11 while he was living by the oak of Mam re, near Hebron. And hebuilt an altar there and sacrificed all of them; and he poured their

Some MSS uni. 'ofeverything’.

1 Lit. ‘one that shall come out of your own bowels*.

J Alternative reading ‘land of (tanaan'.

’ Alternative reading ‘and ( will be’.

Alternative reading ‘Take’.

Jubilees 53

blood on the altar and rut each o/thcm in two. and laid the pieces5

12 out opposite each other; but the birds he did not cut in two. Andbirds of prey came down on the pieces;6 and Abram drove themaway, and would not allow the birds to touch them.

13 And it came to pass, as the sun went down, a trance came overAbram; and lo. a horror of the darkness came upon him, and a voicesaid7 to Abram. Know lor certain that your descendants will bealiens in a foreign land, and they will be reduced to slavery there

11 and oppressed for four hundred years. But I will punish” the nationthat enslaves them, and afterwards they will come out with great15 possessions. You shall go to your fathers in peace and be buried inHi a good old age. And in the fourth generation they shall return here;

for the Amorites will not be ripe for punishment till then.

17 And he woke up from his sleep and got up: the sun had set; andthere was a flame, and behold, a smoking brazier, and a flame ofIK fire passed between the pieces. And on that day the Lord made acovenant with Abram, saying. To your descendants will 1 give thisland, from the river of Egypt, to the great river, the river Euphrates -the Kenilcs, the Keni/.zites, the Kadmonites, the Peri/./.ites, andthe Rephaim, the Phakorites,9 and the Hivitcs. and the Amorites,19 and the Canaanites, and the Girgashitcs. and the Jcbusitcs. Andthat day passed,10 and Abram offered the pieces and the birds andtheir cereal-offerings and their drink-offerings, and the fire con-2(1 sinned them. And on that day we made a covenant with Abram,just as we had covenanted with Noah in this month; and Abramrenewed the festival and rule for himself for ever.

21 And Abram rejoiced and told his wife Sarai every thing; and hebelieved lie was to be u father," although as yet she had borne him

* Lit. 'laid them’.

b The Eth. here, and in verses 17 and 19, literally means ‘the things spread nut'.Charles roiijeclnred corrupt ion in the underlying Ck. and suggested two pos-sibilities. either ‘pieces' (as in the translation above) or 'carcases*. In this connec-tion it is worth noting that the Hcb. text ol'Gcncsis has ‘carcases’ at xv. 11. (parallelto our verse 12) and 'cut pieces' at xv. 17 (parallel to our verse 17): to our verse 19 ithas no parallel.

7 Lit.'and it was said’. * I.it.‘judge-.

6 Alternative readings 'Phakeritcs’ and 'PhekaritesV They replace here theHittites, included at Gen. xv. 20.

10 Most MSS 'And he passed'.

11 Lit. 'that he would have seed’.

f) 4 Jubilees

22 no children. And Sarai counselled her husband Abram and said tohim. Take Hagar. my Egyptian maid: perhaps I can found a family2:t for you through her. And Abram listened to what Sarai his wifetold him, and he said. Do asyou think best; and Sarai took Hagar, herEgyptian maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.21 And he lay with her, and she conceived and bore a son; and hecalled him Ishmacl. in the filth year of this week. And Abram wasin his eighty-sixth year at the time.

XV. And in the fifth year of the tfourth+‘ week of this jubilee, inthe third month, in the middle of the month, Abram celebrated the2 feast of the first-fruits of the grain2 harvest. And he offered to theLord on the altar new olferings. the first-fruits of the produce - aheifer and a he-goat and a sheep as a whole-offering to the Lord onthe altar: their cereal-offerings and their drink-offerings he also:i offered on the altar with frankincense. And the Lord appeared toAbram and said to him, I am God Almighty: prove yourself beforel me and be perfect. And I will make my covenant between myself.» and you, and I will multiply you greatly. And Abram fell on his<i face; and God talked with him and said, Behold, I have decreed a7 future for you,3 and you shall be4 the father of many nations. Yourname therefore shall not be Abram, but from now on, till eternity,your name shall be Abraham; for the father of many nations have IH appointed you. And I will make you very great, and I will make9 nations of you, and kings shall spring from you. And 1 will establishmy covenant between myself and you, and your descendants afteryou, generation after generation, an eternal covenant, that I maybe a God to you, and to your descendants after you, generationID after generation. ( And I will give you and your descendants afteryou)5 the land where you have been an alien, the land of Canaan,as a possession for ever; and I will be their God.

11 And the Lord said to Abraham, You for your part must keep mycovenant, you and your descendants after you: circumcise every

1 So most MSS: onr has ‘seventh*. Probably ‘third* should be read both here and

at xvi. 15.

1 Or Vlirat’. 1 Lit. ‘Behold mv decree is with you'.

4 Alternative reading ‘and I will make you'.

5 Restored by Charles on the basis of Gen. xvii. 8.

Jubilees ")">

male among you, and circumcise your foreskins; and it shall be a

I 2 sign of my eternal covenant between myselfand you. And you shallcircumcise even male child on the eighth day. generation aftergeneration, whether born in your house, or bought with money froma foreigner — one you have conic by. who is not of your own stock.*

13 Every male born in your house shall be circumcised, and those youhave bought with money shall be circumcised; and the sign of my

14 covenant shall be in your flesh as a rule7 for all time. And even,uncircumcised male, who is not circumcised in the flesh of hisforeskin on the eighth day. shall be cut of 1 from his father's kin; forhe has broken my covenant.

15 And God said to Abraham. As for your wife Sarai. she shall no

111 more be called Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless

her and give you a son by her; and I will bless him. and he shall

17 become a nation, and kings of nations spring from him. AndAbraham threw himself down on his face and rejoiced and said tohimself, Shall a son indeed be born to a man a hundred years old,

18 and shall Sarah, who is ninety, bear a child? And Abraham said to

19 God, If only Ishmael might live under thy special care!" And Godsaid. He shall;9 and Sarah also shall hear you a son. and you shallcall him Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him as an

20 everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And asfor Ishmael, I have heard your prayer; and behold. I will bless himand make him great and multiply him greatly, and he shall he

21 father ol twelve princes, and I will make him a mighty nation. Butmy covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will hear you

22 at this time next year. And he left off talking with him; and Godwent up from Abraham.

23 And Abraham did as God had told him, and he ux>k his sonIshmael, and all those l>orn in his house, and those he had boughtwith money, every male in his house, and circumcised the flesh of

24 their foreskins. And on the very same day Abraham himself wascircumcised; and all the men of his house, and all those he hadbought with money from foreigners, were circumcised with him.

25 This law is for all generations for ever; and there can be noreduction in the number of the days, nor omission of even a single

6 Lit.‘seed*. ’ Alternative reading 'shoal' or ‘germ’.

" Lit.‘before thee’. ” Lit.’Yes’.

*>b Jubilees

day out of the eight.'0 Ibr it is a rule for all time, ordained andi»(i written on the heavenly tablets. And every one that is born, theflesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised on" the eighth day, duesnot belong among the sons of the covenant which the Lord madewith Abraham, but is marked out for destruction:12 there is no signon him that he is the Lord’s; and his destiny is to be destroyed and toperish and to be upnxned from the earth, because he has broken27 the covenant of the Lord our God. For all the angels of the presenceand all the angels of holiness have been created as they are13 fromthe day of their creation; and. just as the Lord Cod hallowed the angelsof the presence and the angels of holiness, so he has hallowedJH Israel, that they should be with him and with his holy angels. Andyou. Ibr your part, command the sons of Israel to observe the signof this covenant in every generation as a rule for all time, so that2*» they arc not uprooted from the land. The command is binding onall the sons of Israel: it is part of the covenant they must observ e.:«■ For the Lord did not admit into his presence cither IshmacI and hissons and brothers, or F^sau, and he did not choose them, althoughthey were children of Abraham, because he knew them; but he:tl chose Israel as his people. And he hallowed it and gathered it fromall mankind; for there are many nations and many peoples, and allare his, and he has set spirits in authority over all oj them to lead:I2 them astray from him. But over Israel he appointed no angel orspirit, for he alone is their ruler; and he will preserve them and holdhis angels and spirits and all his powers14 answerable for them, sothat he may preserve them and hless them, and that they may behis and he theirs, now and for ever.

But I warn you that the sons of Israel will not keep this rule,neither will they circumcise their sons in accordance with this law;for. though circumcised themselves,'* they will neglect thecircumcision of their sons, and the miscreants,16 all of them, willM leave their sons uncircumcised, just as they were born. And great

10 Lit. 'and there is no circumcision (alternative reading ‘closure’) of the days,and no omission of"one day out of the eight days'.

" All Kth. MSS. supported hy Lat., read 'till'.

11 Lit. "for he is of the sons of destruction'.

11 Lit.'have been so created". '* Text'commands'.

'* Lit.'lor in the flesh of their circumcision'. “ Lit.‘sons of Bcliar’.

Jubilees 37

will In* [lie Lord’s wrath against the sons of Israel, because theyhave forsaken his covenant and turned aside from his word, andprovoked him and shown their contempt for him by not observingthe rule as regards this law; for they have treated their memberslike the Gentiles and will be removed and uprooted from the land.And although there is forgiveness and pardon lor all sins, they willnever be pardoned or forgiven lor this transgression, not even ineternity.17

XVI. And on the new moon of the fourth month we appeared toAbraham at the oak of Mature; and we talked with him and toldJ him that a son would he given him hy his wile Sarah. And Sarahlaughed, for she heard that we had said this to Abraham; and werebuked her. and she was frightened, and denied she had laughed:i at what we said. And we told her her son's name. Isaac - just as his4 name is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets. And we toldher that when we returned to her at the time appointed, she wouldhav e conceived a son.1

*i And in this month the Lord executed his judgements on: Sodomand Gomorrah and Zehoim and all the Jordan region; and heburned them with lire and brimstone and destroyed them till thisday (1 have told you already everything they did, how they werevery wicked and great sinners, and how they defiled themselvesand committed fornication in their flesh and abandoned them-ti selves to every kind of vice' there is on earth. And God will execute alike judgement on places where men imitate the v ices3 of the7 Sodomites, just as he judged Sodom. But Lot vve saved; for Godremembered Abraham, and he rescued him from the disaster.k Nevertheless, he and his daughters committed sin on the earth,such as there had not been on the earth from the days of Adam till9 his time - that a man should lie with his daughter.4 And behold, itwas commanded and engraved on the heavenly tablets about allhis descendants, that they should be removed and uprooted, and

” Kill, obscure. The translation represents the most probable sense.

1 Or ‘And when we returned . . . she had

* Lit. ‘the judgements of. ' Lit. 'uncleaniiess(es)'.

4 Alternative Klh. reading 'daughters', and also Lat.

that judgement should be executed on them exactly as it was onSodom, and that he should be left no descendants on earth on thefinal judgement-day.

10 And in this month Abraham moved from Hebron and went and

11 settled between Kadesh and Shur in the mountains5 ofGerar. Andin the middle of the fifth month he moved from there and settled atthe Well of the Oath.

12 And in the middle of the sixth month the Lord showed Sarahfavour and made good his promise to her. and she conceived and

l:t bore a son in the third month. And in the middle of the month, atthe time the Lord had promised Abraham, on the festival of the

11 first-fruitsof the harvest, Isaac was born. And Abraham circumcisedhis son on the eighth day: he was the first to be circumcised inaccordance with the rule of the covenant, which is ordained for ever.

l.*> And in the sixth year of the fourth6 week we went to meetAbraham at the Well of the Oath, and we appeared to him [as wehad told Sarah that we would return to her, and she would have

Hi conceived a son. And we returned in the seventh month and foundSarah with child before our eyes], and wc blessed him7 and toldhim7 everything that had been decreed concerning him - that heshould not die till he w-as the father of six sons more and that heshould sec them before he died, but that it was through Isaac that his

17 true descent would be traced." And ice told him that all thedescendants of his other sons would be Gentiles, and be reckonedwith the Gentiles, although one of Isaac’s sons would become a

18 holy seed, and not be reckoned with the Gentiles: he would becomethe Most High’s portion, and all his descendants settled in thatland which belongs to God, so as to be the Lord’s special possession,9chosen out of all nations, and to be a kingdom of priests10 and a holy

19 nation. .And we went our way and repeated to Sarah all wc had toldhim; and they were both overjoyed.

5 So Eth: I,at. ixumdarirs*.

6 Probably “third’ should be read. Cp. xv. 1. 7 So Lai.: Eth. ‘her’.

* Lit. “in Isaac should name and seed be called for him'.

* Eth. lit. ‘to be to the Ia>rd a people of glory* (the word translated ‘glory’ couldalso mean “adoption’): Lat. lit. ‘to be to the Lord a hallowed people’. The emenda-tion assumes that an allusion in the original to Exod. xix. 5, Deut. vii. 6, etc., hasbeen either misunderstood or mistranslated in both Eth. and Lai. Cp. xix. 18.

Ifl So Lat.: Eth. ‘a kingdom and priests’. Cp. Exod. xix. 6.

59

jubilees

in And he built an altar there to the Lord who had delivered himand was the cause of his joy in the land where he was an alien; andhe celebrated a festival of joy in this month, lasting seven days,

21 near the altar he had built at the Well of the Oath. And he builtbooths for himself and lc>r his servants at this festival and he was

22 the first man on earth to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. Andduring these seven days he brought to the altar each day a wholc-olTcring to the Lord, two oxen, two rams, seven sheep, and onehe-goat for a sin-offering (to make atonement by it for himself and

23 his descendants). And as a thank-offering he brought seven rams,seven kids, seven sheep, and seven he-goats. and their fruit-olferings and their drink-offerings; and burnt all their fat on the

21 altar - a choice offering to the Lord as a soothing odour. And everymorning and evening he burnt fragrant substances-frankincense,and galbanum. and stacte, and nard, and myrrh, and spice, andcostum; all these seven he olfered. crushed, in exactly equal parts,

•25 mixed, and pure. And he celebrated this feast lor seven days,rejoicing with all his heart and soul, he and all his household; and

20 there was no alien with him. nor anyone uncircumcised. And heblessed his creator who had created him in his generation (for hehad created him in accordance with his purpose)." since heperceived and understood that from him would sprout the plant ofrighteousness for the generations to eternity, and that front himwould come a holy seed to be like him who created all things.

27 And he blessed the Lord and rejoiced; and he called this festival

28 the Lord’s festival,12 a joy13 acceptable to the Most High God. Andwe blessed him for ever, and all his descendants after him14 for allthe generations of the earth, because he celebrated this festival atits appointed time, according to what is prescribed on the heavenly

2!) tablets. This is why it is prescribed on the heavenly tablets con-cerning Israel, that they shall celebrate the feast ofTabcrnacles forseven days with joy, in the seventh month, which is acceptablebefore the Lord - a precept for ever, for every generation, every

30 year. And to this there is no time-limit; for it is ordained for everconcerning Israel, that they should celebrate it and live in booths,

11 Lit. ‘according to his good pleasure’.

12 So Elh.: Lai. ‘the festive day’ or (as in laicr Hebrew) simply ‘the festival’.

So Eih.: Lat. *a day ofjov’. 14 So Lth.: Lat. ‘with him'.

60 Jubilees

and put wreaths on their heads, and take leafy boughs, and willows31 from the brook. And Abraham took palm-branches and fruit fromthe choicest trees, and he went round the altar every day with thebranches, seven times a day15 in the morning, and he praised andgave thanks to his God with all joy.

XVII. And in the first year of the fifth1 week in this jubilee Isaacwas weaned; and Abraham gave a great feast in the third month,

2 on the day his son Isaac was weaned. And Ishmacl. the son ofHagar, the Kgyptian. was present in his place opposite3 his fatherAbraham; and Abraham rejoiced and blessed God because he had

3 seen his sons and had not died childless. And he remembered thewords he had spoken to him on the day Lot parted from him; andhe rejoiced because the Lord had given him offspring on the earthto possess it, and he blessed and praised5 the creator of all things.

4 And Sarah saw Ishmacl playing and dancing,4 and Abrahamrejoicing with great joy; and a fit of jealousy came over her. and shesaid to Abraham, Drive out this slave-girl and her son, for this

:> slave-girl’s son shall not Ik- heir with my son Isaac. And Abrahamwas distressed by her demand that he should drive them out, bothb on his slave-girl’s account and on his son’s. And God said toAbraham, Do not distress yourself, either on the child’s account,oron the slave-girl’s: do everything Sarah has told you to do; for7 through Isaac shall your true descent be traced.5 As for thisslave-girl’s son. I will make «/"him a great nation, because he is achild ofyour’s.

H And Abraham got up early in the morning and look bread and abottle of water, and he put them and tin- child on Hagar’s9 shoulders, and lie sent her away. And she went and wandered inthe wilderness of Beershcba; and the water in the bottle was

15 So most Kill. MSS and Lit.: one Kth. MS has on the seventh day'.

1 Probably ‘fourth’ should lx* read. C-j>. xvi. 1 r».

2 Lit. ’before the face of.

* Kth. ‘blessed with all his heart': Lit. 'blessed with all his mouth'.

4 So Kth.: I>at. 'playing with I suae' (i.e. playfully leasing him? - as in theMidrash).

5 Lit. ‘shall your name anti seed lx* called'.

61

jubilees

finished, and the ehild was thirsty and not able to go on, and he fellHi to the ground. And his mother carried him and went and laid himunder an olive tree; and she herself went and sat down some wayoff, about a bowshot's distance away, for she said. How can I watch

11 my ehild die?6 And she sat and wept. And an angel of God (one ofthe holy ones) said to her. Why are you weeping, Hagar? (Jet up,take the ehild. and hold him in your arms; for God has heard your

12 cry and has seen the child. And she opened her eyes and saw a wellof water, and she went and filled her bottle with water and gave herchild a drink; and she rose and went in the direction of the

lit wilderness of Paran. And the child grew up and became an archer,and God was with him; and his mother found him a wife from14 among the women of Egypt. And she bore him a son, and he calledhim Ncbaioth, for she said. The Lord was near me when I invokedhim.

I:» And it came to pass in the seventh week, in the first year of it, inthe first month in this jubilee, on the twelfth of this month, it wassaid7 in heaven about Abraham, that he had been faithful in doingeverything the Lord* had told him to do, and that he loved the Lord,Mi and that in every affliction he had been faithful. And the princeMas tenia came and said in God’s presence. Behold, Abrahamloves his son Isaac dearly and dotes on him more than on anythingelse: tell him to offer him as a whole-offering on the altar, and sec ifhe will carry out this order; and then you will know if he is really17 faithful in every test you subject him to. But the Lord knew thatAbraham was faithful in all his afflictions; for he had tested himthrough the command to leave his country and with famine, and hehad tested him with the wealth of kings, and he had tested himagain through his wife (when she was torn away from him) and withcircumcision, and he had tested him through Ishmael and Hagar,IH his slave-girl (when he sent them away). And in every test to whichthe Lord subjected him, he had been found faithful, and he was notimpatient, nor was he slow to act; for he was faithful and loved theLord.

* Lit. ‘Let me not see the death of my child’.

1 Lit.‘there were voices’. * Text‘he’.

62

Jubilees

XVIII. And God said to him, Abraham, Abraham;’ and lie said.

2 Behold, here I am. And he said. Take Isaac your beloved son,whom you love, and go into the highlands, and ofl'er him on one of

3 the hills I will show you there. And he got up in the morning atdawn, and he saddled his ass, and took two of his young men withhim, and his son Isaac, and he split the wood lor the whole-offering; and he came near the place on the third day and saw it in

1 the distance.1 And he came to a well of water and said to his youngmen, Stay here with the ass. and the child and I will go further, and

’> when wc have worshipped we will come back to you. And he tookthe wood for the whole-offering and put it on his son Isaac’sshoulders, and he carried the fire and the knife himself; and both of

6 them went on together to the place appointed.' And Isaac said tohis father, Father. And he said. Here I am my son. And he said tohim. Behold, here are the fire and the knife and the wood; but where

7 is the sheep for the whole-offering, father? And he said, God willprovide a sheep for a whole-offering himself, my son. And he

B approached the place of the mount of God. And he built an altarand placed the wood on the altar, and he bound his son Isaae andplaced him on top of the wood on the altar, and he stretched out forthe knife to kill his son Isaac. And I was standing in the Lord’spresence (and the prince Mastema was there also),4 and the Lordsaid, Fell him not to lay his hand5 on the child, nor to do anything

10 to him, for now I know that he is a man who fears the Ixird. And Icalled to him from heaven and said to him. Abraham, Abraham;

11 and he was terrified and said, Behold, here I am. And I said to him,Lay no hand on the child, and do nothing to him; for now I know6that you are a man who fears the Lord and have not withheld fromme your son, your first-born son. And the prince Mastema was put

12 to shame. And Abraham looked up, and behold, a7 ram caught in a

‘ Alternative reading ‘said to Abraham. Abraham’.

i Lit. ‘And he went to the place on the third day, and he saw the place afar ofT.

1 Lit. ’to that place’.

* Lit. ‘And l stood before him and before the prince Mastema’.

5 Alternative reading ‘Tell him not to hurry, and not to raise the knife, and not tolay his hand'.

* So Eth.: Lai. ‘I have clearly shown’ (The Lat. is not extant in verse 9: cp. also

verse 16). ’ Lit. ‘one’.

Jubilees 63

thicket8 by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and

IH offered it as a whole-offering instead of his son And Abrahamcalled that place. The Lord has seen (hence the saying. On themount the Lord has seen’) - that is mount Sion.

14 And the Lord called Abraham by name from heaven a second

15 time, and he told us10 to speak to him in the Lord's name. And hesaid. By myself I swear, says the Lord, Because you have carriedout this command and have not withheld from me your son, yourown dear son." I will bless you abundantly, and I will greatlymultiply your descendants, and 1 will make them as numerous as thestars of heaven and as the.gr/zmi o/sand on the seashore; and your

16 descendants shall take possession of their enemies’ cities. And inyour descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; andthis because you have obeyed me. and I have made known1* to allyour faithfulness in doing everything I told you. Go in peace.

17 And Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up andwent together to Beersheba; and Abraham stayed there, by the Well

18 of the Oath. And he celebrated this festival with joy, every year forseven days; and he called it the Lord’s (estival of1' the seven days,

19 during which he went and returned in peace. And that is why itwas ordained and written on the heavenly tablets about Israel andhis descendants, that they should observe this festival for sevendays with festal joy.

XIX. And in the first year of the first week in the lorty-secondjubilee Abraham returned and lived two weeks of years opposite

2 Hebron (that is Kirjath -Arba). And in the first year of the third1week of this jubilee the time came for Sarah to die; and she died in

3 Hebron. And Abraham went to mourn over her and bury her; andwe tested him to see if he was patient in demeanour and free from

11 Emended on the basis of the Hcb. of Gen. xxii. 13. AH Eth. MSS read ‘and hecame’: Lat. has no equivalent.

9 Eth. simply 'The Ixird has seen' (omitting ‘On the mount'): Eat. 'On themount the Lord has been seen'.

10 Lit. 'as he caused us to appear-.

11 Alternative reading ‘your son. your first-born son. whom you love’: Lat. ‘yourson, your only son, whom you love'.

,5 So Eth.: Lat.‘dearly shown'. 11 Lit.'according to*.

1 Probably ‘second* should l>e read.

b 1 Jubilees

rancour in what he said, and he was found patient too in this andt undisturbed. For with consistent patience lie conducted thenegotiations with the sons ol'Heih and asked them to give him a.‘i place where he could bury his dead. And the Lord made all whosaw him well-disposed towards him; and lie pleaded gently withthe sons ofHeth. and they gave him the plot fl/land of the doublecave opposite Mature (that is Hebron) for four hundred2 pieces of(> silver. And they begged him. saying. We will give it you fornothing. But he would not take it from them for nothing: he paidthe price of the place in full, in ready money, and bowed beforethem twice; and after this he buried his dead in the double cave.7 And Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years old - that is. twojubilees, four weeks, and a year: so long had Sarah's life lasted.» This is the tenth test by which Abraham was tested; and he wasu Ibtind faithful and consistently patient. And he said not a singleword about the rumour iti the land, ’ how that God had said that hewould give it to him and to his descendants after him. but begged aplace in it to bury his dead; for he was found faithful and wasrecorded on the heavenly tablets as the friend of God.

H) And in the fourth year of it he took a wife for his son Isaac; andher name was Rebecca, [the daughter of Bethucl. the son of.Nahor,Abraham's brother.] the sister of Laban and daughter of Bethucl(and Bethucl was the son of Mileah, Abraham’s brother Nahor’s

11 wife).4 And Abraham took a third wife, whose name was Keturah,from among his household servants (for Hagar had died before

12 Sarah). And she bore him six sons, Zimram, and Jokshan, andMedan, and Midian. and Ishbak, and Shuah, in two weeks of

it years. And in the sixth5 week, in the second year of it, Rebecca boreIsaac two sons, Jacob and Ksau; and Jacob was a mild6 andupright man, while Esau was ruthless, a man of the field, andI t hairy; and Jacob stayed by the tents. And the boys grew up, andJacob learned to write,7 but Esau did not learn to write, for he was a

: So Lai.: Kih. ‘forty*. ' Or ’the promise concerning the land’.

4 Then* is doubtless some dittography here. The translation follows the Lat..which gives a clearer overall sense than the Kih.

5 Probably 'fifth’ should lx- read.

* Or ‘smooth': so Iait. (Unis - rp. Gen. xxvii. II). Of the various Klh. readings'perfect* goes back to the Hcb. and ‘misshapen’ to the LAX at Gen. xxv. 27, while'happy’ is an easily intelligible scribal emendation. ’ I.it. ‘books’.

Jubilees 65

man of the lidd and a hunter: he learned to fight.* and all his deeds13 were ruthless. And Abraham loved Jacob, but Isaac loved Esau.

Iti And Abraham saw what Esau did and he realized that it wasthrough Jacob that his promised heirs would come;9 and he calledRebecca and gave her instructions about Jacob, for he saw that she17 too loved Jacob much more than Esau. And he said to her. Mydaughter, watch over my son Jacob; for he shall take my place onearth, and be a blessing among the sons of men, and the glory of theIB whole line ofShcm. For I know that the Lord will choose him to behis special possession10 from all the peoples on the earth. Andbehold, my son Isaac loves Esau more than Jacob, but 1 can sec2d there is no doubt that you love Jacob. Increase yet more yourconcern for him, and may your eyes watch over him in love, lor heshall he a blessing to us on the earth from now on and for evermore.

21 May your hands be strong and your heart rejoice in your sonJacob, for I love him far more than any of my sons: he shall be

22 blessed lor ever, and his descendants shall fill the earth. If anyoneis ever able to count the gmins of sand on the earth, then his

2:t descendants shall be counted too. And all the blessings that theLord has promised me and my descendants shall be Jacob’s and24 his descendants* always. And by his descendants shall my name beblessed, and the name of my fathers, Shem, and Noah, and Enoch.

23 and Mahalalel. and Enosh. and Seth, and Adam. And these shallserve to lay the foundations of heaven, and to strengthen the earth,and to renew all the luminaries that are upon the vault of heaven."

2t> And he summoned Jacob in the presence of his mother Rebecca27 and kissed him, and he blessed him and said. Jacob, my belovedson. whom my soul loves, may (iod bless you from above the vaultof heaven. and may he give you all the blessings he showered onAdam and Enoch and Noah and Shorn; and may he bestow on12you, and on your descendants for ever, all the things about which

“ Lit, ’war'.

w I.it. 'that in Jacob would his name and seed be called’.

10 There is much variation Itctwecn the Kth. MSS, though no one of them gives atolerable sense. Lit. has 'to lie a holy people to himself. However, the verse is veryevidently an adaptation of Dcut. vii. ti - hence the emendation. Cp. xvi. 18.

11 So Kth.: I ait. ’so that all the luminaries of the vault of heaven may berecognized’.

11 I.it. 'cause to cling to’.

he told me and all the things he promised to give me, unfailing as13

28 the days of heaven above the earth. And the spirits of Masternashall not have power over you or over your descendants to turn you

29 from the Lord, who is your God from now on, and for ever. Andmay the Lord God be a father to you, and may you be the first-born

:w son and a people always. Go in peace my son. And they both left

31 Abraham together.14 And Rebecca loved Jacob with all her heartand soul, very much more than Esau; but Isaac loved Esau muchmore than Jacob.

XX. And in the forty-second jubilee, in the first year of theseventh1 week, Abraham called Ishmael and his twelve sons, andIsaac and his two sons, and the six sons of Keturah and theirsons.

2 And he commanded them to observe the way of the Lord, to actrighteously and love each his neighbour, and to behave like this toall men,2 and to live in relation to them so that each acted justly and

:i righteously on earth. And he commanded them to circumcise their sonsin accordance with the covenant which the Lord3 had made withthem, and not deviate cither to the right or to the left from any ofthe paths which the Lord had commanded us; and that we shouldkeep ourselves from all fornication and unclcanness. and let them

4 have no place among us.4 And if any woman or girl among youcommits fornication, he said, burn her with fire; sec that no womancommits fornication with her eyes or her heart; and see that noman takes a wife3 from the women of Canaan - for the stock ofCanaan will be uprooted from the land.

3 And he told them about the judgement of the giants and thejudgement of the Sodomites, how they had been judged because oftheir wickedness, and had died because of their fornication and

6 uncleanness and mutual corruption through fornication. And do

u Lit. "according to’.

So most MSS (lit. "And they both went out together from Abraham'): alterna-tive reading ‘And they both went out together with him'.

1 Probably ‘sixth’ should be read.

2 Text‘in every war’. * Lit.‘he’.

* Lit. ‘and renounce from among us all fornication and unclcanness'.

* Lit. *. . . with fire, and let them (Jem.) not commit fornication with their eyes andtheir heart; and let them {mast.) not take wives’.

Jubilees

()7

you keep yourselves, he said, from all fornication and undeatmrss,and from all pollution of sin, lest you make our name a curse andyour whole life a terror.6 and cause all your sons to be destroyed bythe sword, and you yourselves become accursed like Sodom and all

7 your remnant as the sons of Gomorrah. I implore you.7 my sons,love the God of heaven, and hold fast to all his commandments;

H and do not go after their idols and after their uncleannesses. Anddo not make gods for yourselves, either cast in metal or carved, forthey arc empty things, and there is no spirit in them whatever: theyare the work of men's hands, and all who trust in them, trust in

') nothing at all. Do not serve them or worship them, but serve theMost High God and worship him continually; and hope for hisfavour* always, and do what is upright9 and righteous in his sight,that he may have pleasure in you10 and grant you his mercy, andsend rain upon you morning and evening, and bless all your workswhich you have done upon the earth, and bless your bread andyour water, and bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your

10 land, and your herds of cattle and your flocks of sheep. And youwill be a blessing on the earth, and all the nations of the earth willhave pleasure in you" and will bless your sons in my name, thatthey may be blessed even as I am.

11 And he gave gifts to Ishmael and his sons and to the sons ofKeturah, and he sent them away from his son Isaac; and he gave

12 his son Isaac everything. And Ishmael and his sons, and the sons ofKeturah and their sons, went together and settled between Pa ranand the borders of Babylon,12 in all the land that is to the east,

13 facing the desert. And these mingled with each other, and theywere called Arabs and Ishmaelites.,J

XXI. And in the sixth year of the seventh1 week of this jubileeAbraham called his son Isaac and instructed him. saying, I am old

* So Eth.: I.at. “hissing*. ’ I.ii. 'I bear witness before you'.

* Lit. ‘countenance’. * So Ktli.: Lai. *iruc\

10 So Elh.: Lat.'that he may guide you". " So Eth.: Lat. 'desire you’.

12 Lit. 'from Karamun to the entering in ol Babylon’.

,J So Eth: Lat. . . each other, and their name sluck to the Arabs, and theIshmaelites survive till to-day'.

Probably ‘sixth' should be read.

f>8 Jubilees

> and lull ol years, and I do not know when 1 shall die. Behold, 1 am ahundred and seventy-live years old, and throughout mv life I haveremembered the I^ord and set my heart on the doing of his will andwalking straight in all his paths. My soul has hated idols, and Ihave despised those that serve them; and I have devoted my heartf and spirit2 to observe and do the will of him who created me. For heis the living God, and holy and faithful and righteous above all: hedoes not respeet persons and he cannot be bribed; for he is arighteous God and executes judgement on all who transgress hiscommandments and despise his covenant.

And as for you. my son, observe his commandments and hisprecepts and his judgements, and do not go astray after idols3 andt» after images, whether carved or cast in metal. And do not eat theblood of any of the wild animals or cattle, nor of any bird that flies7 in heaven. And if you kill a victim as a peace-offering that is to beacceptable to Cod, kill it and pour out its blood on the altar, and allthe fat offer on the altar as an offering with fine Hour, and themeat-oflering,4 mixed with oil, with its drink-offering - oiler themall together on the altar as a whole-offering:3 it is a soothing odourK before the Lord. And you shall put the fat of the sacrifice ofthank-offerings on the fire which is on the altar - the fat that is onthe belly, and all the fat that is on the entrails and the two kidneys,and all the fat that is on them and that is on the loins; and the liver

9 you shall remove together with the kidneys.6 And offer all these as asoothing odour, acceptable before the Lord, with its meat-offeringand with its drink-offering, as a soothing odour, as food offered to

10 the Lord. And eat the meat of it on that day and on the second day,and do not let sunset on the second day find any of it still uneaten.Let none of it be left over till the third day; for it is not by thenacceptable, nor is it desirable. Let none of it, therefore, he eatenthen; and all who do eat of it then will bring sin upon themselves -for so I have found it written in the books of my forefathers (in thewords of Enoch and in the words of Noah).

! Kill. am. 'and I have drspised . . spirit".

* So I>ai. (lit. 'abominations'): Klh. "those who are undcau’.

4 Lat. om. ‘and the meal-ottering’. 5 So Etli.: Lat. "on the altar of fruits".

* St> I.al.: Kill... oil the loins and envelops the liver and the kidnevs". tip. Lev.

iii.9-10.

Jubilees bf)

11 And on all your offerings you shall sprinkle salt, and do not letthe salt of the covenant7 he lacking on any of your offerings before theLord.

12 And as regards the wood of the sacrifices, on no account use anyother kinds of wood apart from these - cypress, hay. almond, lir,

M pine, cedar, savin, fig. olive, myrrh, laurel, aspalathus.1* And ofthese kinds of wood place under the sacrifice on the altar only suchpieces as have been inspected firstand do not use10 any wood thatis split or spotted, but only what is hard and clean, without any spots,and of recent growth — no old wood, lor old wood has lost itsI t fragrance, and there is no fragrance in it as there once was. Besidesthese there are no other kinds ofwood you should put on the altar, fortheir .smell" is not pleasant (and their smell" ascends to heaven).l.r) Observe this commandment and carry it out. my son. that youmay be upright in everything you do.

Hi And at all times keep your btxly clean: wash yourself with waterbefore you approach the altar to make an offering on it, anti washyour hands and your feet before you come near it;12 and when you17 have done sacrificing, wash your hands and your feet again. Andsee there is no blood, either on you or on your clothes: be carefulabout blood, my son. be very careful indeed: cover it with dust.IH And do not eat any blood, for it is the soul: do not cal any blood at]*> all. And accept no bribe for the blood of man, lest it be shed to noprofit and unjustly; for it is the blood that is shed that makes theearth to sin, and the earth1' cannot be cleansed from the blood of20 man except by the blood of the man that shed it. Accept no bribe orgift for the blood of man: blood for blood is what is required14 beforethe Lord, the .Most High God; and hold fast to what is good,15 sothat you may be present'd from all evil and he may keep you safefrom every kind of death.

7 All MSS read ‘the covenant of salt'. Cp. Lev. ii. lit.

* Several renderings in this list are uncertain.

* Lit. ‘such as have been tested as to their appearance'. lo Lit.’place'.

11 Lit. ’fragrance . . . anti the smell of their fragrance'. In the last clause Charles,following Littmann, inserted a negative (‘and their smell d<*cs not ascend . . .').

l* I.it.'the altar'.

" The MSS read 'its blood’. For the emendation cp. vii. 33.

14 Lit. ’is acceptable'. 'ITierr is some variation Itetween the MSS here.

15 Lit. ’and let there be keeping of the good'.

70

Jubilees

21 I see. my son. that all the works of the sons of men are sin andwickedness, and all their deeds are uncleanness and an abomina-tion and a pollution, and there is no righteousness with them.

22 Beware, lest you walk in their way and tread in their footsteps; andcommit no deadly sin before the Most High God, or he will hide hisface from you. and give you back into the hands of your transgres-sion, and uproot you from the laud, and your descendants alsofrom under heaven, and your name and your posterity shall perish

2:1 from the whole earth. Turn away from all their deeds and all theirunclean ness, and keep the commandment16 of the Most High God,

21 and do his will, and be upright in all things. And he will bless youin all you do, and he will raise up from you a plant of righteousnessthrough all the earth, in every generation of the earth, and myname and your name will never at any lime be forgotten17 under

>.') heaven, (it), my son, in peace: may the Most High God, my Godand your God, strengthen you to do what he wills, and may hebless all your descendants and your posterity, in even, generationfor ever, with every righteous blessing, that you may he a blessingin all the earth.

2»> And he went out from him rejoicing.

XXII. And it came to pass in the first week in the forty-fourthjubilee, in the second year,1 that is the year in which Abrahamdied, that Isaac and Ishmael came from the Well of the Oath tocelebrate the feast of weeks (that is, the feast of the first-fruits of theharvest) to Abraham, their father; and Abraham rejoiced because

2 his two sons had come. For Isaac had many possessions inBeersheba, and Isaac’s habit was to go and look to his possessions

3 and then return to his father. And in those days Ishmael came to sechis father, and they both2 came together; and Isaac sacrificed awhole-offering and offered it on his father’s altar that he had made

4 in Hebron. And he offered a thank-offering and prepared a joyfulfeast in his brother Ishmacl’s presence; and Rebecca made a newcake from the new grain, and she gave it to her son Jacob to take to

16 Lit.’keep the keeping’. ” Lit.’be silenced*.

1 Probably \ . . sixth . .. lortv-srcnnd .. . seventh .. .* should be read.

1 So Lai. ’

his father Abraham, from the first fruits of the land, so that he

5 might eat it and bless the creator of all things before he died. AndIsaac, too, sent Abraham a thank-offering by Jacob's hand, that he

t» might cat and drink. And he ate and drank, and he blessed theMost High God, who created heaven and earth, who made all thegood things on the earth, and gave them to the sons of men so thatthey might cat and drink and bless their creator.

7 And now, he said. I give thee thanks, my God, because thou hastlet me see this day: behold, I am a hundred and seventy-five yearsold, an old man with a long life-span, and I have prospered all my

8 days.1 The enemy’s sword has never at any lime prevailed against

9 me, nor against my children. My God. may tin mercy and thypeace be upon thy servant, and upon his descendants.4 that theymay be to thee a chosen nation and a possession out of all thenations of the earth, now and in every generation on the earth forevermore.

0 And he called Jacob and said, Jacob, my son. may the God of allbless you and strengthen you to do rightousness, and lo do his willbefore him; and may he choose you and your seed to be always apeople for his own possession according to his will. And mow, Jacobmy son, come near and kiss me.

1 And he came near and kissed him; and he said. May God MostHigh bless you, Jacob my son, and all your sons for ever: may Godgive you righteous olFspring, and through your sons may he behallowed in all the earth:5 may nations serve you. and may all

12 nations bow down before your sons.6 Be strong in the presence ofmen, and have authority among all the sons6 of Seth: then yourways and your sons’ ways will be justified, so that they may

3 become a holy nation. May the Most High God give you all theblessings with which he has blessed me, and with which he blessedNoah and Adam: may they rest on the hallowed heads of your

A descendants in every generation for ever. And may he cleanse youfrom all unrighteousness7 and impurity, so that you may be forgivenall your transgressions and your errors committed in ignorance;

* Lit. ‘and all my days have been peace to me'.

■* So I .at.: Eth. ‘his sons'descendants’.

* Text ‘and from your sons may he hallow in the midst of the whole earth'.

* Lit.‘seed’. 7 So Lat.: Eth. ‘defilement’.

Jubilees

and may he strengthen you and bless you. and may you possess the

l.i whole earth. And may he renew his covenant with you, that youmay be to him a nation for his own possession always, and that hemay lie to you and your descendants a God in truth and righteous-ness as long as the earth shall last.

hi And do you. Jacob my son. remember my words, and observethe commands of your father Abraham. Keep yourself separatefrom the nations, and do not eat with them; and do not imitatetheir rites,* nor associate yourself with them; for their rites1' areunclean and all their practices'" polluted, an abomination and

17 unclean. They ofler their sacrifices to the dead and worship demons,and they eat among the graves; yet all their rites" are worthless and

Itt to no purpose. They have no mind" to understand, and their evesdo not sec what it is they really do.1? and how great is their errorwhen they say to a piece of wood. You are my god, and to a stone.You are my lord, and. You are my deliverer. They have no mind"to understand.

lii And as for you. Jacob my sou, may the Most High God help youand the God of heaven bless you and keep you from their undcan-

20 ness and all their error. On no account, Jacob my son, take as awife a woman descended from Canaan; for all his descendants are

21 to be uprooted from the earth. For through Ham’s transgressionCanaan also went astray, and all his descendants will be destroyedfrom the earth: there will be no survivors;13 and none of them will

22 be saved on the day of judgement. And as for all those who makeidols their gods, and the profane,14 there shall be no hope for themin the land of the living; for they shall descend into Shcol, and intothe place of punishment shall they go. and there shall be no memoryof them on the earth. As the sons of Sodom were taken away fromthe earth, so will all those l>c taken away who make idols their gods.

23 Have no fear, Jacob my son, and do not be dismayed, you son ofAbraham: may the Most High God keep you from destruction, and

21 may he preserve you from all erroneous paths. I his house have Ibuilt for myself that I might put my name on it on the earth: it is

M Lit. “and dn not according to their works*.

“ Lit. “works*. 10 I.it. “ways*. 11 Lit. 'heart'.

'*’ Lit. “what their works are*. 13 Lit. “and all the residue of them*.

14 I’he MSS vary here between “the hated ones* and “the perverse*.

73

Jubilees

given io you and your descendants for ever; and it shall be calledthe house of Abraham. It is given to you and your descendants lorever; for you shall build my house and establish my name beforeGod for ever. Your descendants and your name shall endurethrough all the generations of the earth.i.2ii And he finished his charge and his blessing of him. And the twowere lying together on one bed. and Jacob was asleep in hisgrandfather Abraham's lap; and he kissed him seven times, and his27 heart and soul15 rejoiced over him. And he blessed him with all hisheart and said. The Most High Gcxl, the God of all and creator ofall. who brought me out ofl’r of the Chaldees, that he might giveme this land as a possession lor ever, and that 1 might establish aholy rate.6 so that the Most High may be blessed for ever, and soUK that Jacob may bless him ...16 My son, over whom I rejoice with allmy heart and soul. . . may thy grace and thy mercy be on hitn and2!> on his descendants always. And do not forsake him or abandonhim from now until eternity; and may thine eyes be on him and onhis descendants, that thou mayest preserve him, and bless him.:«i atid hallow him as a nation lor thine own possession. And bless himwith all thy blessings from now until eternity; and renew thycovenant and thy grace with him and with his descendants inaccordance with thy chosen purpose in every generation on theearth.

XX1IJ. And he placed two of Jacob's fingers on his eyes, and heblessed the God of gods, and he covered his face and stretched outhis feet, and he slept the eternal sleep and was gathered to his

2 fathers. And despite all this Jacob was lying asleep in his lap and

3 was not aware that his grandfather Abraham was dead. And Jacob

15 Lit. 'his affection and his heart' - and similarly in verse 28.

So. following the majority of MSS, and with a slight emendation. In any case,something has gone radically wrong in this passage, and the probability is thatsome words have fallen out of the text, not only here, hut also later on in the middleof verse 28. Charles, well aware that as things stand there is no main verb, solved theditiieuity here by offering an admittedly inexact translation (' . . . and that I mightestablish a holy seed - blessed Ik* the Most High for ever.** And he blessed Jacoband said, My son . . .’) and suggesting that verse 27 is an interpolation: he made nocomment, however, on the seemingly very abrupt change of address in the middle ofverse 28.

74 Jubilees

woke up from his sleep, and behold Abraham was as cold as ice;and he said. Father, father. But he did not speak; and he realized1 that he was dead. And he got up from where he was1 and ran andtold his mother Rebecca, and Rebecca went to Isaac in the nightand told him; and they went together, and Jacob with them, with alamp in his hand, and they went in and found Abraham lying dead.->.ii And Isaac bent over his father.2 and wept and kissed him. And theirvoices were heard in Abraham's house, and his son Ishmacl got upand went to his lather Abraham, and wept over his father Abraham,he and all Abraham’s household; and they wept with a great7 weeping. And his sons Isaac and Ishmacl buried him in the doublecave, near his wife Sarah; and they wept for him forty days, all themen of his household, and Isaac and Ishmacl, and all their sons,and all Returah’ssons in their place. And the weeping1 for Abrahamcame to an end.

U And he lived three jubilees and four w eeks of years - that is. a‘i hundred and seventy-five years, and ho died at a good old age.4 Forthe length of the lives of the ancients was nineteen jubilees; butafter the flood it began to be less than nineteen jubilees, and mengrew old more quickly, and the length of their lives decreased as aresult of their manifold tribulations and the wickedness of theirId ways, except Abraham only.5 For Abraham was perfect in all hisdealings with the Lord and gained favour by his righteousness6throughout his life, yet even he did not complete four jubilees in hislife, but grew old as a result of the wickedness of others and died.7

11 And all the generations from this time till the day ofjudgementwill grow old quickly, before they complete two jubilees, and old

12 age will impair their powers of mind.3 And in those days, if a manlive a jubilee and a half of years, it will be said about him, He haslived a long time; and the greater part of his days have been pain

13 and sorrow and tribulation, and he has had no peace. For calamityfollows on calamity, and wound on wound, and tribulation on

1 Lit. 'his lap’. •' Lit. Tell on his father's face'.

5 Ollier readings 'the wailing and weeping’, ‘the wailing of the weeping'.

4 Lit. 'and he completed the days of his file, being old and full of days'.

5 In this verse Eth. and Lai. differ not a little in detail, although the general senseis plain enough. The translation offered inclines to Lat.

Lit. ‘being well-pleasing in righteousness'.

1 Lit. and was full of his days’.

Jubilees 75

tribulation, and bad news on bad news, and illness on illness, andall such painful punishments as these, one after another - illness,and disaster, and snow, and frost, and ice, and fever, and chills,and torpor, and famine, and death, and sword, and captivity, and

It all kinds of calamities and pains. And all these will come on an evilgeneration that transgresses on the earth* and practices unclean-

la ness* and fornication and pollution and abominations. Then it willbe said. The lives of the ancients were long - even up to a thousandyears, and they were pleasant years: but behold, the length of ourlives is seventy years at the most. and. if a man's strength holds.perhaps eighty, but there is no pleasure in them and no peace at allin the days of this evil generation.

l<j And in that generation the sons will convict their fathers andtheir elders of sin and unrighteousness, and because of the wordsthat they utter and the great evils that they perpetrate, and be-cause they forsake the covenant which the Lord made betweenthem and him, that they should keep and observe all his command-ments and his rules and all his laws, without going astray either to

17 the right hand or the left. For all have done evil, and every mouthutters iniquity, and everything they do is unclean and an abomina-tion, and all their ways are pollution, uncleanness, and corruption.

18 Behold, the earth will perish Ixxause of all they do. and there willbe no seed of the vine, and no oil; for the works of all of them arefaithless, and they will all perish together-wild animals and cattleand birds, and all the fish in the sea. because of the sons of men.

19 And they will quarrel with one another, the young with the old,and the old with the young, the poor with the rich, the lowly withthe great, and the beggar with the prim e. Ix’cauM- of the law andthe covenant; for they will forget9 commandment, and covenant,and feasts, and new moons, and sabbaths, and jubilees, and all the

20 customary observances.10 And some among them will11 take theirstand with bows and swords and other weapons of war to restore theirkinsmen" to the accustomed path; but they will not return until much

21 blood has been shed on the earth on either side. And those whohave escaped will not return from their wickedness to the path ofrighteousness; but they will all attempt to enrich themselves bv

* So [.at. * Lit. ’ihrv have forgotten'.

10 Lit.'all the judgements'. " Lit. 'And they will... restore then)'.

7(i

Jubilees

dishonest means and filch all they can from their neighbours.12 andthey will call themselves by the great name,” but not in truth andnot in righteousness.14 and they will defile the holy of holies withtheir uncleanncss and the corruption of their pollution.

22 And the deeds of that generation will bring on them a mightyretribution from the I^ord; and he will abandon them to the swordand to judgement and to captivity, and to be plundered and25 devoured. And he will stir up against them the sinners of theGentiles.15 who have neither mercy nor compassion and w ill showfavour to no one. neither to old nor young, nor to anyone, lor theyare more w icked and intent on evil than any of the sons of men.And they will use violence against Israel and treachery1* againstJacob; and much blood will be shed upon the earth, and there will21 be no one to gather them up and no one to bury them. In those daysthey will cry aloud, and call and pray that they may be saved from25 the sinful Gentiles; but none will be saved. And the heads of thechildren will be white with grey hair, and a child three weeks oldwill look like a man who is a hundred, and their growth will bestunted by their miser) and distress.

2f» But17 in those days the children will begin to study the laws, andto seek the commandments, and return to the path of righteous-27 ness. And then men’s lives will begin to get longer and the number oftheir years increase, generation by generation and day by day, tillthey approach a thousand, and the number of their years becomes2K greater than once was the number of their days. And there will be noold man, nor any who is burdened by his years,18 for all will be like2!) infants and young children. And they will live out all their days inpeace and joy. and there will be no Satan1'* nor any evil agent tocorrupt them;20 ior all their days will be days of blessing and ofhealing.

12 Lit. ‘but they will all exalt themselves to deceit and riches, so that they mayeach lake all that is his neighbour's*.

'* So Klh.: l.at. ‘name the great name*.

14 i.e. they will not in reality l>c worshippers of the God whose name they take invain.

l* Or 'the most sinful among the nations'.

'* Lit. 'transgression'. '' Lit. 'And'.

'* Lit.‘nor one who is sated with his days'. Or'adversary*.

20 Lit. ‘nor any evil corrupter'.

Jubilees 77

Mi And at that time tin* Lord will lu*al his servants, and they shallhe exalted and prosper greatly;21 ami they shall drive out theiradversaries. And the righteous shall see it and be thankful, andrejoice with joy for ever and ever; and they shall see all thepunishments and curses that had been their lot lulling on their:tl enemies.22 And their hones shall rest in the earth, and their spiritsshall have much joy; and they shall know that the Lord is one whoexecutes judgement, and shows mercy to hundreds, and to tens ofthousands, and to all that love him.

:V2 And do you, Moses, write down these words; lor so are theywritten and recorded on the heavenly tablets as a testimony foreach generation for ever.

XXIV. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham that theLord blessed his son Isaac; and he left Hebron and went and dweltat the Well of the Vision, in the first year of the third week of thisjubilee, seven years.

2 And in the first year of the fourth week a famine began in theland (distinct from the first famine there had been in Abraham'stime). And Jacob made a lentil stew; and Lsau came in hungryfrom the country. And he said to his brother Jacob, Give me some ofthis red1 stew. And Jacob said to him, Give me your birthright inexchange (that is your right as first-born).2 and I will give you•4 bread and also some of this lentil stew. And Esau thought tohimself,3 I am at death's door: of what use is this birthright to me?:> And he said to Jacob, I give it you. And Jacob said. Give me yourt> oath to-day; and he gave him his oath. And Jacob gave his brotherEsau the bread and the stew, and he ate till he was satisfied — solittle did Esau value his birthright; and Esau was called Edombecause of the red1 stew that Jacob gave him in exchange for his

21 Lit.‘seegreat peace*.

12 Lit. . . all their judgements and all their curses on their enemies’.

1 Text "wheat cm'. The emendation follows the Hrb- of (Jen. xxv. M) and presup-poses either a misreading of the Ok. ,Tvppot> as jrvpoO by the Kihiopic translator, oran earlier corruption in the Ok. text from which he worked.

; Charles supposed that wr have two alternative renderings of raeipwrordtod oovhere.

* Lit. ‘said in his heart*.

78 Jubilees

7 birthright. And thus Jacob became the cider. and Esau wasdemoted.

H And the famine spread through ail the land, and Isaac started(jut for Egypt in the second year of this week and came to

9 Abimelrch, king of Lhe Philistines, to Gerar. And the Lord ap-peared to him and said to him. Do not go down into Egypt: dwell inthe land that ! shall tell you of. and stay in this land /tozcas an alien,m and 1 will lx* with you and bless you. For to you and your des-cendants will I give all this land, and I will fulfil my oath, which Iswore to Abraham your father, and I will make your descendantsas numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will give them all this

11 land. And in your descendants shall all the nations of the earth beblessed, lxvau.se your father obeyed me and kept my charge andmy commandments and my laws and my rules and my covenant;

12 and now. do you obey me and dwell in this land. And lie dwelt in

13 Gerar three weeks of years. And Abimoloch issued a warning abouthim, and about his property, that no one should molest either himor his property on pain of death.

I t And Isaac prospered among the Philistines and acquired greatpossessions - oxen and sheep and camels and asses and a large15 retinue of servants.4 And he sowed seed'm the land of the Philistinesand gathered in a hundred-fold. And Isaac: prospered more andHi more, and the Philistines envied him. Now all the wells, whichAbraham's servants had dug during Abraham's lifetime, thePhilistines had stopped up after his death and filled them with17 earth. And Abimelcch said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you arcmuch stronger than we are; so Isaac left them in the first year of theIB seventh week and settled in the valleys of Gerar. And they dugagain5 the wells which his father Abraham’s servants had dug, andwhich the Philistines had filled in after Abraham's death, and hecalled them by the same names as his father Abraham had called19 them. And Isaac's servants dug a well in a valley and foundrunning water, and the shepherds of Gerar started a dispute withIsaac’s shepherds, saying, This water is ours; and Isaac called thewell Perversity, Because, he said, they have been perverse with us.

4 So Lat. (ministfhum magnum), as in the Hcb. of Gen. xxvi. 14: Eth. 'a greatpossession'.

* Lit. ‘And as they went round about they dug’.

jubilees

79

20 And they dug a second well, and they disputed about that too; andhe called it Lnmity.6 And he moved on from there and they duganother well, and about that there was no dispute; and he called itPlenty of Room.7 and Isaac said. Now has the Lord made room forus, and we are increased in numbers in the land.

21 And he went up from there to the Well of the Oath, in the first

22 year of the first week in the forty-fourth jubilee. And the Lordappeared to him that night, on the new moon of the first month,and said to him, I am the God of Abraham your father: do not beafraid, Ibr I am with you. and I will bless you and make yourdescendants as many in number as the sand on the sea-shore,8 for

2:1 Abraham my servant's sake. And he built an altar there, where hisfather Abraham had built one before;* and he invoked the Lord by

21 name and offered sacrifice to his father Abraham's God. And

25 they10 dug a well and found running water. And Isaac's servantsdug another well and Ibund no water, and they went and told Isaacthat they had found no water; and Isaac said. I have sworn an oathto the Philistines to-day, and this is what11 has happened to us.

26 And he called that place the Well of the Oath, for there he hadsworn an oath to Abimelech, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol

27 the commander of his army.17 And Isaac realized that day (hat hehad done wrong in swearing to them to make peace with them.

28 And Isaac cursed the Philistines that day and said. Accursed bethe Philistines, more than all the nations, till the day of wrath andindignation; may God make them a laughing-stock and curse, andan objert of wrath and indignation, in the hands of the sinful

23 Gentiles and in the hands of the Kittim. And whoever of themescapes the sword of the enemy and of the Kittim. may the righteousnation root him up in judgement from under heaven; for they shallbe my children’s enemies and foes in every generation on the earth.

30 And no remnant shall be left them, nor shall there be one that shall besaved on the day of the wrath of judgement: lor destruction and

6 So Lat.: Eth. ‘narrow’. 7 So Lai. {capantas): Eth. ‘spacious’.

* Lit. ’sand of the earth’.

’ Lit. ‘which his father Abraham had first built’.

,0 One Eth. MS reads ’hr' against all the other Eth. MSS and Lat. If' this is theoriginal reading, it is possible that the reference is to Abraham, who according toGen. xxi. 25 and 30 had dug a well at Beers heba (and hence the name) •

11 Lit. ’this thing’ or ‘this word'. |: So I,at.: Eth. ‘Phicol his commander’.

BO

Jubilees

rooting op and expulsion from the earth is the whole brood* ’ ol'thePhilistines resened: and there shall not he left for any of those fromSI Oaphtor14 either name or posterity on earth. l*‘or though he asc endto heaven, from there shall he be brought down; and though hemake himself strong on earth, from there shall he be pulled out;and though he hide himself among the nations, even from thereshall he he rooted up; and though he desc end into Sheol, there alsoshall relentless judgement he his lot, and there also he shall have no:}2 peace at all. And if he go into captivity, by the hands of those thatseek his life he shall be struck down while on the way. and neithername nor posterity shall be left him in all the" earth: for into eternal:l:$ malediction he shall depart. And so it is written and engravedconc erning him on the heavenly tablets, that this should be his lateon the day of judgement, so that he may be uprooted from theearth.

XXV. And in the second year of this week in this jubilee Rebeccasummoned her son Jacob and admonished him. saying. My son,do not marry a Canaanite woman, like Ksau your brother, who hasmarried two Canaanite women, and they have* been a constantsource of distress to me* with all their wanton ways; lor they areutterly debauched and dissolute, and there is no righteousness in2 them whatever - everything they do is evil. But I am devoted to you.

my son, and I bless you with all my heart and soul2 every hour of:i the day and through the watches ol'the night. And now. my son.listen to what I say. and do what your mother wants; do not marrya woman from here, but choose someone from my father’s houseand of my father’s kin. If you do marry someone from my father'shouse, then’ the Most High God will bless you and your childrenwill be a righteous generation and a holy stoc k.44 And Jacob answered his mother Rebecca and said to her. Behold,mother, I am nine weeks of years old, and I have neither known nortouched any woman, nor have I pledged myself in marriage to

M Lit. 'seed'. 14 Lie. 'forall iheCaphteirim*.

1 Lit. 'they have embittered my soul'.

2 1 .it. 'and my lie-art and my a (lea ion bless you".

* Lit.‘You shall marry .... and* * Lit.'seed'.

81

jubilees

anyone, nor have* 1 even thought of marrying a Canaan ite woman,j For 1 remember, mother, what our father Abraham said, how hecommanded me not to marry a Canaanitc woman, but to choose a(> wife from my father's clan5 and from my own kith and kin. I heardlong ago that your brother I .a ban had some daughters, and I have7 set my heart on them, to find a wife among them. And that is why Ihave kept myself from sinning or being corrupted in any way at anytime in my life: lor my father Abraham gave me many warnings toK beware of lust and fornication. And in spite of all his warnings tome. lor twenty-two years my brother has argued with me and saidto me time and time again. My brother, take a sister of one of myu two wives as a wife: but I refuse to do as he did. I swear before you.mother, that never while I live will I marry a woman ofCanaanite

10 ancestry, and I will not do what is wrong as my brother did. Do notbe afraid mother: he assured I will do what you want and live ablameless life and keep myself always from wicked ways.

11 And at this she looked up to heaven and spread out the fingers ofher hands, and opened her mouth, and blessed the Most High Godwho created heaven and earth, and gave him thanks and praise.

\2 And she said. Blessed be the Ford God. and may his holy name beblessed for ever and ever, he who has given me Jacob as a pure sonand a holy offspring: for he is thine, and thine shall his oilspring be

I t continually and in every generation for evermore. Bless him. O

Ford, and pul in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that Imay bless him.

II And at that very moment, when the spirit of righteousness6 camedown upon her mouth, she placed both her hands on Jacob's head

I j and said. Blessed art thou. Ford ol righteousness and God nl theages: and as for you .Jacob, may he bless you more than at) thegenerations of men: may he set you, my son, on the path ofhi righteousness, and reveal righteousness to your descendants. Andmay he multiply your sons while you are still alive, and may theyequal in number the months of the year: and may their sonsmultiply and surpass in number the stars of heaven, and their17 numbers be more than the sand of the sea. And may he give themthis goodly land (as he said he would give it for all time to Abraham5 Lit. 'from the seed of my father's house’.

* One MS reads 'the holy spirit'.

H2

Jubilees

and his descendants after him), and may they hold it as a posses-IH sion lor ever. And while 1 am still alive, my son. may I see blessedchildren born to you; and a blessed and holy race may all yourIH descendants be. And as you have refreshed your mother's spiritwhile she was still alive, the womb of her that bore you blesses youtints: my bosom7 and my breasts bless you. and my mouth and my2() tongue extol you. May you increase and spread over the earth, andmay your descendants be tyrled in the joy of heaven and earth forever; and may those who spring from you rejoice, and on the day of

21 great peace may they have peace. May your name and your lineendure through every age. and may the Most High God be theirGod: and may the God of righteousness dwell with them, and bythem may his sanctuary be built and stand for ever. Blessed be the

22 man that blessses you, and any man that curses you without duecause, may he be cursed.

2 $ And she kissed him and said to him. May the Lord of the worldlove you as much as your mother’s heart and her affection for yourejoice in you and bless you. And she brought her blessing to anend.

XXVI. And in the seventh year of this week Isaac called Ksau. hiselder son. and said to him, I am old. my son. and behold my eyes2 have failed, and 1 do not know when 1 shall die. And now. takeyour hunting gear, your quiver and your bow. and go out into thecountry, and go hunting and get some venison for me, my son, andmake me a dish’ of the kind I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that Ii may give you my blessing before 1 die. But Rebecca beard Isaac■I talking to Ksau. And Ksau went out early into the country to gohunting and get the venison and bring it home to his father.

'» And Rebecca called her son Jacob and said to him. Behold, Iheard your father Isaac talking to your brother Ksau, saying. Goout hunting lor me, and make me a dish1 of the kind 1 like, and6 bring it to me, so that I may give you my blessing before I die. And

1 Or *my natural allrctions'. The word in the Hcb. original was probablyTaft0mini, usually explained as an intensiv e plural of the word previously translated'womb* Uetfem).

1 Lit. ‘make me food'.

83

Jubilees

now. my son. listen to me and do what I tell you: go to your Hockand fetch me two choice kids from the goats, and 1 will make theminto a dish2 * for your father of the kind he likes, and you shall take itto your lather, so that he may cat it and bless you in the laird's

7 presence belbre he dies, and you may he blessed instead of Esau. AndJacob said to his mother Rebecca. Mother. I am not being niggardlyabout providing what my father likes to eat and what would pleasehim: 1 am only afraid, mother, that he will recognise my voice and

8 want to touch me. And you know that I am smooth, but my brotherEsau is hairy, and he will think I am a blackguard and doingsomething he has not told me to do; and he will be angry with me,

9 and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing. And hismother Rebecca said to him. Let your curse fall on ntc. my son:only do what I say.

10 And Jacob did as his mother Rrliecca told him, and he went andfetched two choice fat kids from the goats and brought them to hismother, and his mother made them into a dish’ of the kind that

11 Isaac liked. And Rebecca took her elder son Esau’s best clothes thatwere with her in the house, and clothed her younger son Jacob inthem, and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and the

12 exposed parts of his neck. And she gave her son Jacob the dish she

13 had cooked and the bread she had baked.4 And Jacob went in to hisfather and said, 1 am your son: I have done as you told me: comeand sit and eat what I have got for you, father, so that you may give

I t me your blessing. And Isaac said to his son. How have you Idund it

13 so quickly, my son? And Jacob said. Because the Lord your God5 *

16 helped me to find it* And Isaac said to him. Come close to me, sothat I can feel you, my son, to make sure whether you are my son

17 Esau or not. Anri Jacob came close to his father Isaac; and he felthim and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are Esau’s

18 hands. And he did not recognize him. for it was a dispensationfrom heaven to remove bis powers of perception;7 and Isaac did notrecognize him because his hands were hairy like Esau’s, and so he

2 Lit.‘make them into loud'. ' I.if.'made ihrm into food'.

4 Lit.‘prepared’. * So Lai.: Kih. 'Because your

" ()ther Eth. readings ‘caused me to find il' and 'showed il to me': [.at. 'directed it

before me'.

7 Lit.'his spirit'.

81

Jubilees

1!) blessed him. And he said. Are you my son Ksau? And he sakl. I amyour son. And he said. Bring me thevenison that you have tbund, my

2(1 son, so that I may eat some of it and give you my blessing. And hebrought it to him. and lie ate it: and he brought him wine and he

21 drank. And his father Isaae said to him, (Ionic close and kiss me,my son. And he came close and kissed him.

22 And he smelled the smell of his clothes, and he blessed him andsaid.

Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field1* whichthe Lord has blessed.

23 And may the Lord give you in abundance of the dew of

heaven

And of the dew of the earth.

And corn and oil in plenty:

May nations serve you

And the people bow down to you.

21 Be lord over ymu brothers.

And may your mothers sons how down to yon;

And may all the blessings which the Lord has bestowed onme and on my father Abraham,

Be bestowed on you and on your descendants forever.

Accursed be the man that curses you.

And blessed be the man that blesses you.

2'> And it came to pass alter Isaac had flushed blessing his sonJacob, and after Jacob had left his lather Isaac, [he hid himself;

2<> and]4 his brother Ksau came in from his hunting. And he also madea dish10 and brought it to his father; and he said to his father.Come, father, and eat of my venison, so that you may give me your

27 blessing. And his father Isaac said to him. Who are you? And hesaid to him, I am your elder son Ksau: 1 have done as you told me.

28 And Isaac was greatly astonished and said. Who is it then that hasgone out hunting and got venison and brought it to me? I ate all of itbefore you came in, and I have blessed him, and so be will indeed beblessed, he and all his descendants for ever.

* So Kilt.: Lai. 'a full lirld'.

“ A later addition according to Charles.

'* Lit. 'made* lixxi'.

25) And il came to pass, when Esau heard what his father Isaac said,he gave* a loud and bitter cry, and said to his father. Bless me also.

30 father. And he said to him. Your brother lias treacherously comeand taken away your blessing. And he said. Now 1 realize why he iscalled Jacob: behold, he has tricked me twice: he took away my

31 birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. And he said.Have you no blessing left over for me. father? And Isaac answeredand said to Ksau, Behold, I have made him lord over you. and allhis brothers have I given him as servants, and with plenty of cornand wine and oil have I enriched him; and now what can I do for

$2 you, my son? And Ksau said to his father Isaac. Have you only oneblessing," father? Bless me also, father. And Ksau t ried aloud and

33 wept. And Isaac answered and said to him.

Behold, of the dew of the earth shall your dwelling lie.

And of the dew of heaven from alwtve.

34 And by your sword you shall live.

And you shall serve your brother.

And it shall come to pass, when you have the power,'2And shake his yoke from your neck.

It will be counted against you as a deadly sin.1 *

And your offspring will be uprooted from under heaven.

:$'> And Ksau kept threatening Jacob because of the blessing his fatherhad given him; and he said to himself, I wish the time of mourningfor my father would come, so that I can kill my brother Jacob.

XXVII. And what Ksau, her elder son. was saying was told

2 Rebecca in a dream. And Rebecca scut fur Jacob, her younger son.and said to him, Behold, your brother Esau is planning to get his

3 own back on you and kill you. So now, my son, do what I tell you,and make your escape and go to Laban, my brother in Haran, andstay with him awhile, till your brother’s anger cools, and he thinksno more about it,1 and forgets all you have done to him: then I will

4 send and fetch you back. And Jacob said, I am not afraid of him: if

11 I.it. 'Is your blessing only otic?’

12 Lit.‘become great'. ’* Lit.'You will sin a complete sin unto death'.

1 Lit. ‘and hr removes his anger from you’.

86

.-] hr wants to kill me, I will kill him. Hut she said to him. Do not beti the cause of my losing both my sons the same day. And Jacob saidto his mother Rebecca, Behold, you know how old my father is, andhe cannot see because his eyes have failed: if l leave him, he willthink it wrong of me to leave him and go away from you. and myfather will be angry and curse me. I will not go: only if he sends me7 will I go. And Rebecca said to Jacob, I will go in and talk to him,and he will send you away.

H And Rebecca went in and said to Isaac. I am sick to death of2 thetwo Hittitc women that Lsau has married; and if Jacob marries alocal girl like them. I shall find life unendurable.’ for Canaanitrwomen are insullcrable.4

M And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and admonished himand said to him. Do not choose a wife from among the Canaanites.in Go now to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bcthuel. your mother’sfather, and find a wife there, one of Laban your mother's brother’s

11 daughters. And God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful,and multiply you, so that you may become a host of nations; andmay he bestow on you the blessings of my father Abraham, and onyour descendants after you, so that you may take possession of theland you live in now. even all the land that God gave to Abraham.

12 (Jo, my son, in peace. And Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went toMesopotamia, to Laban, the son of Bcthucl the Syrian, the brotherof Rebecca, Jacob’s mother.

13 And it came to pass after Jacob had gone away to Mesopotamia,I t Rebecca fretted after her son and wept. And Isaac said to Rebecca,

My sister do riot weep on my son Jacob’s account; for he has gone13 in peace, and he will return in peace. The Most High God will keephim from all evil and be with him and never fail him at any time.It> For I know that his paths will be prospered5 in every way, wherever17 he goes, till he returns to us in peace. Have no fear on his account,my sister, for he is upright in all his dealings, and a man of integrityIK and faithful,6 and he will come to no harm at all. Do not weep. AndIsaac comforted Rebecca on account of her son Jacob; and heblessed him.

1 Lit. ‘I loathe my life because of’.

} Lit.'to what purpose shall I live further’. * Lit.‘evil’.

1 So Lat.: Kth. ‘that he will prosper’. 6 Or'truthful’.

87

15) And Jacob loft the Well of the Oath for Haran in the first year ofthe second week in the forty-fourth jubilee, and he came to Luzamong the mountains (that is Bethel) on the new moon of the firstmonth of this week; and he came to the place in the evening, andturned aside off the road, towards the west, for the night, and he lay

20 down to sleep there7 - for the sun had set. And he took one of thestones of that place and laid it at his head.'4 under the tree;* and hewas journeying on his own, and went to sleep.

21 And that night he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set upon the ground, and the top of it reached to heaven, and the angelsof the Lord were going up and down on it; and behold the Lord was

22 standing on it. And he spoke to Jacob and said, I am the Lord, theGod of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac: the land onwhich you arc sleeping will I give to you and your descendants

23 after you. And your descendants shall be as numerous as the specks ojdust on the ground, and you shall spread west and east, and northand south, and in you and your descendants shall all the tribes of

24 the earth10 be blessed. And behold. I will he with you, and I willprotect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this landin peace; for I will never leave you until I have done everything Ipromised you.

25 And Jacob woke up from his sleep1' and said. Truly this place isthe house of the Lord, and I did not know it. And he was afraid andsaid, How awesome is this place, which is no other than the house of

26 the Lord, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob got up in themorning early, and he took the stone he had put under his headand set it up as a pillar for a sign, and he poured oil on the top of it;and he named that place Bethel (but the country’s name before

27 was Luz). And Jacob made a vow12 to the Lord saying, If the Lordwill be with me and protect me on my journey, and give me breadto eat and clothes to wear, and I come back to my father’s house inpeace, then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone I have set upas a pillar for a sign in this place shall be the Lord’s house; and ofall that thou givest me, I will give a tenth to thee, my God.

7 Lit. ‘he slept there’. * So l,at.: Pah. om. ‘at his head'.

* Presumably ihc'ashtrah bi the‘place’ (= 'sanctuary').

10 So Lat.: Eth. ‘countries of the nations'.

" Text‘slept a sleep’. Or‘prayer’.

XXVILI. And he resumed his journey and came io the land of theEast, to Laban, Rebecca’s brother; and he stayed with him and- became his servant for his daughter Rachel, one week. And in thefirst year of the third week fie said to him, Give me my wife, forwhom I have served you seven years; and Laban said to Jacob, I\ w’ill give you your wife. And Laban prepared a feast, and he tookLeah, his elder daughter, and gave her to Jacob as his wife (and hegave her Zilpah his own slave-girl as her slave-girl); and Jacob did1 not realize it, but thought she was Rachel. And he slept with her,and when morning came. behold, she was Leah; and Jacob was angrywith Laban and said to him. Why have you done this to me? Did Inot agree to serve you for Rachel and not for Leah? Whs have youdone me this wrong? 'Lake your daughter, and l will go: you havetricked me.1 (For Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, for Leah’seyes had no sparkle, despite her shapely figure, whereas Rachelhad attractive eyes as well as an attractive and very shapelyfigure.)

t» And Laban said to Jacob, In our country it is not the custom togive the younger sister in marriage before the elder. (And indeed, it isnot right to do this; Torso it is ordained and written on the heavenlytablets, that no one should give his younger daughter in marriagebefore the elder, but the elder should be given first; and the manwho does so has it entered to his discredit in heaven, and no one isrighteous that does it, for to do such a thing is abhorrent to the7 Lord. And give the sons of Israel orders that they should not do it:sec that they neither take nor give the younger in marriage withoutH having given the elder first, for to do so is very wicked.) And Labansaid to Jacob, Let the seven days of Leah's least2 run their course,and then I will give you Rachel on the understanding that you serve meanother seven years and pasture my sheep as you did in the•> previous week. And on one of the days, when the seven days ofLeah’s feast were over, Laban gave Rachel to Jacob, that he mightserve him another seven years (and he gave Rachel as her slave-girlIt) Bilhah, Zilpah’s sister). And he served seven years more forRachel, for Leah had been given him to no purpose.

II And the Lord made Leah fruitful, and she conceived and bore1 Lit. “you have done evil to me'.

1 Lit. ‘of the feast of this one'.

Jubilees B9

Jac ob a soil, anil ht* called him Reuben. on the fourteenth day ofl'-’ the ninth month, in the first year of the third week. But Rachel hadno children, for the Lord saw that Leah was neglected* and Rachel1:5 loved. And Jacob slept with Leah again, and she conceived andbore Jacob a second son. and he called him Simeon, on the twenly-I I first of the tenth month, and in the third year of this week. Andagain Jacob slept with Leah, and she conceived and bore him athird son. and he called him Levi, on the new moon of the firstIT> month in the sixth year of this week. And again Jacob slept withher. and she conceived and lx»rc him a fourth son, and he calledhim Judah, on the fifteenth of the third month, in the tfirstt year ofthe tlburiht week.

In And because of all this Rachel was jealous of Leah (for sheherself had no children), and she said to Jacob, (live me children;17 and Jacob said. Have I denied you children? Have I deserted you?And when Rachel saw that Leah had borne Jacob four sons.Reuben and Simeon and Levi and Judah, she said to him. Sleepwith my slave-girl Bilhah. and she will conceive anil hear me a son.IK And she gave him her slave-girl Bilhah as a wife: and lie slept withher. and she conceived and bore him a son, and he called him Dan.on the ninth of the sixth month, in the ’•’sixth* year of the ‘third*l*> week. And Jacob slept with Bilhah again, a second time, and sheconceived and bore Jacob another son. and Rachel called himXaphtali, on the fifth of the seventh mouth, in the second year ofthe fourth week.

2() And when Leah saw that she had no more children, she becamejealous of Rachel; and she also gave her slave-girl, Xilpah. to Jacobas a wife, and she conceived and lx»re a son. anti Leah called himGad. on the twelfth of the eighth month, in the third year of the

21 fourth week. And he slept with her again, and she conceived andbore him a second son, and Leah called him Asher, on the second

22 of the eleventh month, in the +fifth+ year of the fourth week. AndJaeob slept with Leah, and she conceived arid bore a son and shecalled him Issachar, on the fourth of the fifth month, in the

2:1 tfourtht year of the fourth week; and she gave him to a nurse. AndJaeob slept with her again, and she conceived and bore twins, a son

' [.it.'haird'.

90 Jubilees

and a daughter, and she called the son Zahulon and the daughterDinah, on the seventh of the seventh month, in the sixth year of the21 fourtli week. And the Lord showed Rachel favour and made herfruitful, and she conceived and bore a soil, and she called himJoseph, on the new moon of the fourth month, in the +sixiht year inthis fourth week.

2.‘> And at the time Joseph was born. Jacob said to Laban. Give memy wives and sons, and let me go to my father Isaac and let me setup my household there;4 lor I have completed my years of service to2(> you for your two daughters, and I will go to my father's house. AndLahan said to Jacob, Tell me what wages you want from me,5 and27 pasture my flock for me again, and 1 will pay your wages.® Andthey agreed with one another that he should give him as his wagesthe lambs and the kids that were born either grey or spotted or2H speckled: these were to be his wages. And all the sheep producedlambs that were either spotted or speckled or grey, and they againproduced lambs like themselves; and all that were spotted were2!) Jacob’s and those that were not were Laban’s.7 And Jacob’spossessions increased more and more - oxen and sheep and asses:«) and camels, and male slaves and female slaves. And Laban and hissons were jealous of Jacob; and Laban withdrew his sheep fromhim. and eyed him with evil intent.

XXIX. And it came to pass, after Rachel had given birth lojoseph,Laban went to shear his sheep (a three day's journey each way).

2 And Jacob saw that Laban was going to shear his sheep; and Jacob

J I.it. 'lei me make a house’.

5 Km ended in the light of Gen. xxx. 2it. Kih. has 'Wait with me lor your wages'and bat.'Exptcla me in mercede', neither of which Charles considered satisfactory.

* So I,at.: Kth. ’and take your wages'.

’ Both the text and the precise meaning of some of the Kth. words used to indicatedifferences of colour in this passage arc uncertain. However, the general sense, thatthings turned out very much to Jacob's advantage, is plain. Gen. xxx. 32—42describes in detail how Jacob arranged this himself: and part of the obscurity of theJubilees version is due to the fact that the author, by abbreviating so drastically theGenesis account, has confused the details in Genesis that apply to the sheep withothers that apply to the goats - unless, perhaps, several lines have at some stage intiie copying fallen out of the original text.

Jubilees !)1

called Leah and Rachel and persuaded them to go1 with him to the

3 land of Canaan. He told them how he had seen everything in adream, and how the Lord had given him instructions to return to hisfather’s house; and they said, Wherever you go. we will go with

•t you. And Jacob blessed the God of his father Isaac, and the God ofhis grandfather Abraham, and he made Ins preparations, andmounted his wives and his children, and took all his possessions,and crossed the river, and came to the land of Gilead; and Jacobkept his plan secret from Laban and did not tell him.

.j And it was in the seventh year of the fourth week that Jacobstarted out for Gilead, in the lirst month, on the twenty-first day ofthe month. And Laban went after him and overtook Jacob in thehighlands of Gilead, in the third month, on the thirteenth day ul'the

ti month. And the Lord did not allow him to injure Jacob (lor heappeared to him in a dream by night); and Laban talked withJacob.

7 And on the fifteenth day of the monthJ Jacob prepared a least forLaban and all those who had come with him; and Jacob and Labanmade an agreement that day under oath that neither would cross

8 the highlands of Gilead with hostile intent against the other. Andhe erected a cairn there to stand as a witness: that is why that place is

9 called The Cairn of Witness - after the cairn. (At one time' theyused to call the land of Gilead the land of the Rcphaim; for it wasthe land of the Rephaim. and the Rephaim originated there4 -giants, whose height was ten. nine, eight down to seven, cubits.

10 And their settlements extended from the land of the Ammonites toMount Hcrmon; and the seats of their kingdom were Karnaim and

11 Ashtaroth and Edrei and Misur and Bcon. And the Lord destroyedthem because of the wickedness of their doings, for they were verywicked; and the Amoritcs replaced them, so wicked ami sinful werethey — there is no people in existence to-day that can compete withthem in sin,5 and that is why they perished.6)

12 And Jacob sent Laban away, and he went back to Mesopotamia,

13 the land of the East; and Jacob returned to the land of Gilead. And

1 Lit. 'and spoke kindly to them that they should go'.

1 Lit.‘of those days'. * Or 'previously*.

4 Lit. ‘were born there . * Lit. 'that has filled up all their sins’.

* Lit. 'and they had (have) no longer length of life on earth'.

92 Jubilees

he crossed thejabbok in the ninth month, on the eleventh day of themonth. And on that day his brother Esau came to him, and wasreconciled,7 and left him for the land ofScir; and Jacob was livingin tents.

M And in the first year of the fifth week in this jubilee he crossed theJordan, and settled beyond the Jordan, and pastured his sheep

r> from. .. * And he sent to his father Isaac from his household goods,clothing and (bod and meat and drink and milk and butter and

l<; cheese and some dates of the valley (and to his mother Rebeccaalso), four times a year - between the times of the months,between ploughing and reaping, between autumn and winter,q

17 and between winter and spring,10 to the tower of Abraham. (ForIsaac had left the Well of the Oath and moved to the tower of hisfather Ahraham and was living there, separately from his son

18 Esau. For after Jacob had gone to Mesopotamia, Esau hadmarried another wife, Mahalath, Ishmacl’s daughter, and hadtaken all his father’s flocks, and his wives, and had gone and settledin the hill-country ofScir and left his father Isaac at the Well of the

19 Oath alone. And Isaac had moved from the Weil of the Oath andwas living in the tower of his father Abraham on the highlands by

20 Hebron.) And there Jacob sent everything he sent from time totime to his father and his mother, all they needed; and they blessedJacob heart and soul.

XXX. And in the first year of the sixth week he went up to Salem,

2 to the cast ofShechem, in peace, in the fourth month. And therethey carried offDinah, Jacob’s daughter, to the house ofShechem,the son of Hamor, the Hivitc, the prince of the land; and he lay withher and defiled her (and she was a little girl, a child, only twelve

3 years old). And he asked his father and her brothers that she might

7 So Lai.: Elh. 'they were reconciled with one another*.

* Eth. 'from the sea of the raim to Bethshan and to Dothan and to (one MS adds‘the forest of) Akrabbinf: I.at. 'a mate salso usque (Brthasan el usque Dolkairn et usque)agruum Aeratin'. The area described would appear to lie west of the Jordan and theDead Sea, and to extend from Brlhshan amt Dothan in (he north to ‘the ascent ofAkrabbim' (ep. Num. xxxiv. 4: Josh. xv. 3), bordering on Edomite territory, in thesouth. * Lit. ‘therain’.

10 Jacob, that is, sent his gifts on the first day of the first, fourth, seventh, andtenth months (cp. vi. 23 above).

he given him as his wife. And Jacob and his sons were furious with(he Shcchemites because they had defiled their sister Dinah, andthey determined on revenge, hut they kept their counsel anddissimulated.1

I And Simeon and Levi came to Shechem without warning.2 andexecuted judgement on all the Shcchemites, and killed every manthey found (here, and left not a single survivor: they killed them allwithout mercy.-1 because they had dishonoured their sister Dinah.

'» And let no Israelite girl ever be defiled in this way again; forjudgement was ordained in heaven against them - that all theSheche.initrs should perish by the sword, because they had rom-

i> milted an outrage in Israel. And the Lord delivered them into thehands of Jacob’s sons, so that they might exterminate them withthe sword and execute judgement on them, and so that it might nothappen again in Israel that an Israelite virgin should be thusdefiled.

7 And if there is ever a man in Israel who is desirous of giving hisdaughter or his sister in marriage to a man who is a Gentile, he shallhe stoned to death, for he has committed an outrage in Israel, andthe woman shall he burned alive, because she has defiled the name

8 of her father’s house, and she shall be rooted out of Israel. And letno harlot nor any tineleanness be found in Israel at any time;4 forIsrael is holy to the Lord, and every man who causes defilement

9 shall he stoned to death. For so it has been decreed and written onthe heavenly tablets about the stock of Israel in perpetuity5-a man

10 who causes defilement shall be stoned to death. And to this lawthere is no time limit, neither can there be any relaxation of it norsubstitu U,ft/or it; but the man who has defiled his daughter shall lx-rooted out before the whole people of Israel,7 because he has givenof his offspring to Moloch, and acted profanely and so defiled it.

II And do you, Moses, command the sons of Israel and exhort

1 Lit. *. . . Dinah, and they spoke lo them with evil inlrnl. and dealt deceitfullywith them and beguiled them'.

: So Elh.: Lat. ‘determined to exterminate them’.

’ So Elh. (lit. ‘in torment’): I.ai. ‘injudgement’.

4 Lit. ‘throughout all the days of the generations of the earth’.

5 Lit. ‘alxmt all the seed of Israel’.

* Lit. “atonement" (Lat.pmpiliatio).

7 Lit. ‘in the midst of all Israel’.

<)4

Jubilees

them not to give their daughters in marriage to the Gentiles, and notto take for their sons* wires of the Gentiles' daughters, for this is12 abominable to the Lord. For this reason I have written for you inthe words of the law all the details of what the Shcchcmitcs did toDinah, and how Jacob's sons spoke up and said. We will not giveour daughter to a man who is uncircuinciscd, for that would be aI t disgrace for us. And it is a disgrace for an Israelite9 to give hisdaughter to the Gentiles in marriage and to take the Gentiles' daughtersas wives Jot his sons - (or this is unclean and abominable in Israel.

I t And Israel will not be free from this uncleanness if anyone has awife of the Gentiles' daughters, or has given any ol'his own daugh-IT) ters to a man who is a Gentile. For there will follow plague onplague and eurse on etir.se, and every judgement and plague andcurse will fall on Israel10 if they" do this thing or hide their" eyesfrom those responsible for the urn-leanness.12 or who defile theLord’s sanctuary or profane his holy name: thus the whole nationwill be judged together for all this unclean ness and profanation.1'It» And there will be no respect of persons and no consideration ofpersons, and no receiving at anyone’s hands of fruits and offeringsand whole-offerings and fat, nor will the sweet smell of his sooth-ing sacrifices be accepted; and so will every man or woman in17 Israel fare who defiles the sanctuary. For this reason I have com-manded you. saying, Give Israel this solemn warning: see how theShcchcmitcs fared and their sons: see how they were delivered intothe hands of two ofjacob's sons, and how they killed them withoutmercy,14 and it was reckoned to them as righteousness andaccounted to their credit.

IB And the descendants of Levi were chosen for the priesthood, and

to be Lcvites, that they might minister before the Lord (as wcl3rfo)continually; and Levi and his sons are blessed for ever, for heshowed zeal to execute righteousness and judgement and ven-19 geancc on all those who rose up against Israel. And so blessing and

* So Lai.: one Eth. MS reads ‘for themselves', the rest om. altogether.

9 Lit. ‘lor Israel'.

10 Supplied on the basis of the Latin ‘on him'.

” Lit. *it (he) ... its (his)'.

" Lit. ‘those who commit unc lean ness'.

13 So Eth.: Lai. ‘for all the abominations and contaminations of this man’.

14 Sec verse 4 above. 15 i.c. the angels.

9')

Jubilees

righteousness are inscribed on the heavenly tablets as a testimony

•20 in his favour before the God of all. And we remember the righteousacts16 which the man did in his lifetime, at every period of the year:for a thousand generations they16 will be recorded, and the bles-sings resulting from them17 will come upon him and upon hisdescendants after him; and he has been described in the record on

21 the heavenly tablets as a friend and a righteous man. All thisaccount I have written for you. and I have commanded you to tellthe sons of Israel not to commit sin nor transgress the command-ments nor break the covenant that has been ordained for them, but

22 to keep it and be themselves descrilx-d as friends. Hut if they trans-gress and engage in unclean practices of any kind.1" they will hedescribed as adversaries and their names1''erased from the book oflife, and they will be recorded in the lx>ok of those who are to be

23 destroyed and uprooted from the earth. And on the day whenJacob's sons killed Shechem it was recorded in their favour inheaven that they had executed righteousness and justice and ven-geance on the sinners; and it was written as a blessing.

24 And they brought their sister Dinah out of Shechcm’s house,and they laid their hands on everything there was in Shechem,their sheep and their oxen and their asses, and all their Hocks andall their wealth, and they brought them all to their father Jacob.

25 And he reproached them20 for putting the city to the sword,because he was afraid of the Canaanites and the Perizzitcs who

26 were living in the land. And the dread of the Lord was on all thecities in the neighbourhood of Shechem; and they made no attemptto pursue21 Jacob’s sons, for terror had fallen on them.

XXXI. And on the new moon of the month Jacob spoke to all themembers of his household, saying, Purify yourselves and changeyour clothes, and let us get up and go to Bethel, where I vowed avow to the Lord1 on the day I fled from my brother Esau, because

,6 Lit. ‘righteousness.. . it’. 17 Lit. ‘and it'.

'* Lit. 'act in any of the ways of uncleanness'.

” Lit.‘and they will be*. 20 Lit. 'spoke to them’.

21 So Lat.: Eth. ‘expel'.

Lit. ‘to him’.

<Ki

he has been with me and brought me into this land in peace; and do2 you rid yourselves of the foreign gods that are among you. Andthey gave up- the foreign gods, and the ornaments that were in theirears and on their necks; and Rachel gave to Jacob all the idols thatshe had stolen from her father I.ahan. And he burnt them and brokethem in pieces and destroyed' them, and he hid them under an oaknear4 Shechem.

?. And he went up on the new moon of the seventh month toBethel. And he built an altar at the place where he had slept, andhe set tip a pillar there; and he sent word to his father Isaac to come\ to him to his sacrifice, and to his mother Rebecca. And Isaac said.

Let my son Jacob come to me. and let me see him here before I die.r> And Jacob went to his father Isaac and to his mother Rebecca, tothe house of his father Abraham; and he look two of his sons withhim, Levi and Judah, and came to his father Isaac and his motherRebecca.

(i And Rebecca came out from the tower, to the gate of the tower,to kiss Jacob and embrace him (for fter spirit revived when sheheard the words. Behold, Jacob your son has come), and she kissed7 him. And she saw his two sons, and she recognized them and saidto him. Are these your sons, my son? And she embraced themand kissed them and blessed them, saying. Through you shallAbraham's line become famous, and you shall be a blessing on theearth.

« And Jacob went in to his lather Isaac, into the room where hewas lying, and his two sons were with him; and he took his father'shand, and stooping down he kissed him; and Isaac clung to his son9 Jacob's neck, and wept upon his neck. And the darkness leftIsaac's eyes, and he saw Jacob's two sons, Levi and Judah, and heft) said, Are these your sons, my son, for they are like you? And he toldhim that they were indeed his sons (You have rightly seen, he said,

11 that they are indeed my sons). And they came near him, and he

12 turned and kissed them and embraced them both together. Andthe spirit of prophecy came down upon his mouth, and he tookLevi by his right hand and Judah by his left.

1 So Charles, by a slight change in the Kth. (’they melted dow n'). The I*u. is tunextant at this point.

* Lit. ‘defaced*.

Lit. ‘itt the land of*.

97

i:J And hr turned to Levi first, and began to bless him first, and saidto him. May the God of all, the very Lord of all the ages, bless youl l and your children through all the ages. And may the Lord give youand your descendants greatness and great glory,5 and set you andyour descendants apart from all mankind to minister to him and toserve'’ him in his sanctuary like the angels of the presence and theholy ones: like them your sons' descendants shall be accountedglorious, and great, and holy: and may he make them great lorl,*> ever. And they shall be judges and princes and chiefs of all thedescendants of Jacob's sons. They shall speak the Lord’s word inrighteousness, and dispense all his judgements in righteousness;and they shall declare my ways to Jacob and my paths to Israel: theblessing of the Lord shall be given by their mouths, to bless all theh> descendants of the beloved one. Your mother has named you Levi,and rightly she has named you: you shall be joined to the Lord, andbe the companion of all the sons of Jacob. May his table be yours,and you and your sons eat of it; and may your table be lull in everyI" generation, and your food never fail to eternity. And may all whohale you fall down before you, and may all your adversaries beuprooted and perish; and blessed shall the man be that blesses you,and accursed every nation that curses you.

Ill And to Judah he said. May the Lord give you strength andpower to tread down all that hate you: a prince shall you be (youand one of your sons) over the sons of Jacob: may your name andyour sons’ name go out and spread through every land and region.Then shall the Gentiles fear you. and all nations quake, and alllit peoples stand in awe ojyou.1 In you shall be Jacob’s help, and inUN you shall be found Israel’s salvation. And when you sit on thethrone of honour, your righteousness will bring8 great peace for allthe offspring of the sons of the beloved one. Blessed shall the manbe that blesses you; and all that hate you and afflict you and curse

' So one Kth. MS: the others differ among themselves and from the Latin (magnomltttfgert giorutm tius).

* Lit. 'and cause you and vour seed from among alt flesh to approach him to

T Lit. ‘quake’, as in the preceding clause. Charles bracketed this clause as adittograph.

" Lit. ‘will be'. Another reading is ‘And when you sit on the throne of the honourof your righteousness there shall lx*...’.

98 Jubilees

you shall be uprooted and destroyed from the earth and heaccursed.

21 And he turned and kissed him again and embraced him, andrejoiced greatly (for he had seen his son Jacob’s sous in very

22 truth9). And he disengaged himself10 and fell down and bowedhimself bclbrc him. And he blessed them. And he stayed there with

23 his father Isaac that night; and they ate and drank with joy. And hemade Jacob’s two sons sleep, one on his right hand and the other

24 on his left, and it was counted to him as righteousness. And duringthe night Jacob told his father everything, how the Lord had shownhim great mercy, and how he had prospered him in every way and

25 protected him from all evil. And Isaac blessed the God ol his fatherAbraham, who had not withdrawn his mercy and his righteous-ness from his servant Isaac’s sons.

2<> And in the morning Jacob told his father Isaac about the vow hehad vowed to the Lord and the vision he had seen, and that he hadbuilt an altar, and that everything was ready for the sacrifice to bemade before the Lord as he had vowed, and that he had come to set

27 him on an ass and take him with him. And Isaac said to his son Jacob,I cannot go with you, for I am too old and unable to stand thejourney: go. my son, in peace, for 1 am a hundred and sixty-fiveyears old today. My travelling days are done: set your mother on the

28 ass and let her go with you. And I know, my son, that you havecome because of me; and blessed be this day on which you have

29 seen me still alive, and I also have seen you. my son. May youprosper and fulfil the vow that you have vowed; and do not put it"off. for you will be called to account in respect of it,12 so make hasteand fulfil it now, and may the maker of all things, to whom youhave vowed the vow, be pleased.

30 And he said to Rebecca, Go with your son Jacob. And Rebeccawent with her son Jacob, and Deborah with her, and they came to

3! Bethel. And Jacob remembered the prayer with which his fatherhad blessed him and his two sons, Levi and Judah; and he rejoiced

32 and blessed the God of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And he

* Or ’in righteousness'.

[.it. *he went forth from between his feel'.

11 Lit. ‘your vow*.

11 Lit.‘the vow’.

Jubilees 99

said, Now I know lhai I have an eternal hope, and my sons also,before the God of all.

And so it was decreed concerning the two; and how Isaacblessed them is recorded on the heavenly tablets as an eternaltestimony.

XXXII. And he spent1 that night at Bethel. And Levi dreamed thatthey had ordained him and made him the priest of the Most HighGod. him and his sons lor ever; and he woke up from his sleep and

2 blessed the Lord. And Jacob got up early in the morning, on thefourteenth of this month, and gave a tithe of everything that hadcome with him. of men and cattle, of gold, and of even' vessel and

3 garment: he gave tithes of all. And in these days Rachel waspregnant with her son Benjamin. And Jacob counted his sons fromhim upwards, and so it was that Levi was chosen to minister to theLord;2 * and his father clothed him in the garments of the priesthoodand installed him.*

4 And oil the fifteenth of this month he brought to the altarfourteen oxen from the cattle, and twenty-eight rams, and forty-nine sheep, and seven4 lambs, and twenty-one4 kids from the goats,as a whole-offering on the altar, a sacrifice acceptable as a soothing

5 odour before God. This was his offering in fulfilment of the vow hehad vowed that he would give a tenth, with their fruit-offerings and

t> their drink-offerings. And when the fire had consumed it he burntincense on the fire over it. and for a thank-offering he offered twooxen, and four rams, and lour sheep, four he-goais. and two sheepof a year old, and two kids f rom the goats; and so he did daily lor

7 seven days. And he and all his sous and his men ate there with joyfor seven days, and he blessed and thanked the Lord who haddelivered him from all his distress and granted him his prayer.5

8 And he tithed all the clean animals and made a whole-offering, but

1 So Eth.: Lat. ‘they slept'.

1 Lit. ‘and Levi fell to the portion (or'lot'lot the Lord’. The idea seems to In- thatas Levi was the third of Jarnh's.sons (snxxviii. 14 above) he would hr the tenth if thecount were started from the bottom with Benjamin.

•' Or ‘consecrated hint' (lit. ‘filled his hands’).

* So I-at.: Eth. . . sixty . . . twenty-nine’.

* Lit. ‘vow’.

100

Jubilee v

the u ml can animals he gave to his son Levi.6 and he gave him alson all the souls of men. And Levi discharged the priestly office atBethel before his father Jacob in preference to his ten brothers, andhe was a priest there. And Jacob fulfilled his vow ; in this way hetithed again the tithe to the Lord and hallowed it. and it becameholy to hint.

lo And for this reason it is decreed on the heavenly tablets as a lawfor the tithing again the tithe to eat before the Lord from year toyear in the place chosen as a dwelling for his name; and to this lawIt there is no time limit whatever. This decree is written that it maybe fulfilled from year to year, and that the second tithe may beeaten before the Lord in the place chosen, and nothing of it shall beli* left over from one year to the next. Korin its own year shall the seedbe eaten till the time when the seed of that year is harvested, andthe wine be drunk till the time when the grapes are gathered in,7 andl.i the oil similarly.* And whatever of it is left over and becomes stale-I I let it be treated as polluted: let it be burnt, for it is unclean. And solet all of them rat it together in the sanctuary and not allow it to13 become stale. And all the tithes of the oxen and sheep shall he holyto the Lord, and shall belong to his priests: they shall eat thembefore him from year to year; for it is so decreed and engravedabout the lithe on the heavenly tablets.

Iti And on the following night, on the twenty-second of this month,Jacob decided to start building at that place, and to surround thecourt with a wall, and to hallow it and make it holy for ever, for17 himself and his children after him. And the Lord appeared to himby night and blessed him and said to him. Your name shall noIH longer be Jacob, but Israel shall he your name. And he said to himagain, 1 am the Lord who created heaven and earth, and 1 willincrease you and multiply you greatly, and kings shall spring fromyou, and they shall sit in judgement in every land wherever men15) have set their feet. And I will give to your descendants all the earththat is*1 under heaven, and they shall judge all the nations inaccordance with their desires, and after that they shall gain posses-sion of the entire earth and inherit it for ever.

6 Charles supplied a negative in this clause f . . he gave not to his son Levi').

’ Lit.'till the days of the wine'. * Lit. 'till the days of its season’.

" So Kth.: Lai. *ail the blessings that are".

Jubilees

And he finished speaking with him and went lip from him; and

21 Jacob looked after him till he had gone up into heaven. And thatnight he saw a vision, and behold, an angel came down fromheaven with seven tablets in his hands, and he gave them to Jacob;and he read them and understood10 everything that was written on

22 them — what would befall him and his sons in every age. And heshowed him everything that was written on the tablets, and said tohim. Do not start building at this plac e and do not make it either aneternal sanctuary or a permanent abode; for this is not the chosenplace. Go to your father Abraham's house and live there with your

2:i father Isaac till the day of your father's death. You will die in peacein Kgypt, hut you will be buried in this land with honour in your21 fathers' grave, with Abraham and Isaac. Do not be afraid, for asyou have seen and read it. so shall it all be; and write down25 everything, just as you have seen it and read it. And Jacob said,Lord, how can I remember all that 1 have' read and seen? And hesaid to him. I will see that you remember everything; and he went2t> up from him. And he woke up from his sleep and rememberedeverything he had read and seen, and he wrote down every word.1127 And he celebrated an extra day there, and he offered sacrificeson it, just as he had on the previous days; and he called itAddition1* (because it was an additional day”), and the previous2H days he called The Feast. And it was made plain that it should bevo, and it is written on the heavenly tablets; and that is why it wasrevealed to him that he should celebrate it and add14 it to the seven2!> days of the feast. And it was called Addition because it wasrecorded among the feast days according to the number of the daysof the year.15

to And on the twenty-third of this month, in the night, Deborah,

10 So Lat. ('got to know'): Kth. ‘Trail'.

1' Lit. 'hr wrote’ down all the words that lie had read and seen’.

,J So Kth.: I.at. ‘Keeping bark' Irelenlatio). The allusion is to the ‘closingceremony’ (Hcb. ‘affreth) of the feast ofTabernacIrs (rp. la-v. xxiii. 3ti, Num. xxix.35. anti Nell. viii. IB).

'’ Lit. 'because this day was added (Lai. 'kepi back' - rtlfnlus «/)’•

14 So both Kth. and Lai. {adutre).

” The Kth. and I .at. arc in rsscntial agreement on the text of this verse. Charlesconjectured an original ‘And ii was called 'A\ert(h when it was recorded among thefeast days in the numlter of the days of the year.'

nr>

Jubilees

Rebecca’s nurse, died, and they buried her below the city, underthe oak by the river; and lie16 called the place, Deborah’s River,:si and the oak. The oak of mourning lor Deborah. And Rebeccareturned home to his lather Isaac; and Jacob sent with her ramsand sheep and he-goats. so that she could prepare food for hisfather of the kind he liked. And he went after his mother till hecame to the land of Kabratan. and lie settled there.

:l;l And Rachel gave birth to a son in the night, and she called himSon of my sorrow (for her birth-pangs were severe), but his fathercalled him Benjamin — on the eleventh of the eighth month in theM first year of the sixth week of this jubilee. And Rachel died thereand was buried in the land of Kphratha (that is Bethlehem); andJacob set up a pillar over Rachel's grave, by the road above hergrave.

XXXIII. And Jacob moved and settled to the south of Nligdal-Lder-Lphrata. And he went to visit his father Isaac, he and his wife2 Leah, on the new moon of the tenth month. And Reuben sawBilhah, Rachel's maid, his father's concubine, bathing in water in:i a secluded place, and he became enamoured of her. And he hidhimself and went into Bilhah’s house at night and found her asleepI alone on her bed in her house; and he lay with her. And she wokeup and looked round, and behold Reuben was lying with heron thebed; and she lifted the edge of her coverlet and took hold of him,5 and when she realized it was Reuben she cried out aloud. And shewas ashamed because of him,1 and she let go of him, and he fled.t> And she was much upset by what had happened and said nothing7 to any one about it. And when Jacob returned and asked for2 her,she said to him, I am not clean for you, for I have been defiled:'Reuben defiled me and lay with me in the night, when I was asleep,

16 So Kth.: I.at. 'they'.

1 So Klh.: Lai. ‘hr was ashamed IxTausc of her'. As the lexis of this passage nowstand, this is the only dear case of confusion about who was doing what. It isprobable, however, that at earlier stages in the tradition there w ere more; and in theoriginal it may well have been Reuben who lifted the edge of the eovcrlct and tookhold of Bilhah, and then, when she cried out. let go of her, rather than vice versa.

2 Lit.‘sought’. * Lit.'defiled as regards you'.

Jubilees 103

and I did not realize who it was until lie had uncovered my shame4

it and had intercourse with me. And Jacob was very angry withReuben because he had lain with Bilhah - because lie had un-covered his father’s shame. And Jacob did not approach her againbecause Reuben had defiled her.

9 And any man who uncovers his father's shame - what he does iswicked beyond measure, lor he is abominable in the Lord’s sight.

10 That is why it is written and decreed on the heavenly tablets that aman should not lie with his father's wife and should not uncover hisfather’s shame, for to do this is unclean: they shall he put to deathtogether, the man who lies with his father’s wife and the woman

11 also, for they arc guilty of unclean ness on the earth. And there shallbe nothing unclean before our God in the nation that he has chosen

12 for himself as a possession. And again, it is written a second time.Cursed be the man who lies with his father's wife, for he hasuncovered his father's shame; and all the Lord’s holy ones said.Amen, Amen.

13 And do you, Moses, command the sons of Israel to observe thisinjunction,5 for transgression of it entails the punishment of death,and it concerns what is unclean; and there is no atonement that canever atone for the man who has committed this sin. but he must bekilled and put to death by stoning and uprooted from among the

14 people of our God. For no man who docs this in Israel should beallowed to remain alive a single day on the earth, for he is abomin-

15 able and unclean. And let no one say, Reuben was granted life andforgiveness after he had lain with his father's concubine, and soalso was Bilhah,6 although she had a husband, and her husband

lb Jacob (Reuben's7 father) was still alive. For at that time theordinance and the decree and the law in its completeness, to coverevery case,8 had not been revealed; but in your days it has beenrevealed as a law for all times and seasons, and as an everlasting law

17 for all generations for ever. And for this law there is no time limit,neither can there be atonement for transgression of it, but both the

* Lit. ‘skirl’ and so also in verses 8,9. 10 and 12.

* Lit. ‘this word’.

Lit. To Reuben was granted ... and to her also".

7 Lit. ’his'.

" Lit.'far ail*.

104

Jubilees

man and lhe woman must bo uprooted from the* nation: on the dav onwhich they committed the sin" they shall he put to death.

IH And do you. Moses, write it down lor Israel, that they mayobserve it. and not do such a thing, and not commit a mortal sin:for the Lord our God is a judge who neither respects persons norIU accepts bribes. And tell them these words of the covenant, thatthey may hear them, and observe them, and be on their guard inrelation to them, and lake care not to be destroyed and uprootedfrom the land: for all on the earth who commit this sin10 are anuncleanness and an abomination and a contamination and a pollu--'() tion before our God. And there is no sin on earth they can commitgreater than fornication, for Israel is a holy nation to the Lord itsGod, and a special nation of his own, and a priestly and royalnation lor his possession; and no such unclean ness should be seenin a holy nation.

21 And in the third year of this sixth week Jacob and all his sonswent and lived in Abraham's house near his lather Isaac and his

22 mother Rebecca. And these were the names of Jacob’s sons:Reuben (theeldest), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar. Zebulun-allsons of Leah; and the sons of Rachel - Joseph and Benjamin; andthe sons of Bilhah - Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Xilpah -Gad and Asher; and Dinah, the daughter of Leah (.Jacob’s only

2:1 daughter). And they came and bowed themselves before Isaac andRebecca; and when they saw them they blessed Jacob and all hissons. And Isaac rejoiced greatly when he saw his younger sonJacob’s sons; and he blessed them.

XXXIV. And in the sixth year of this week of this fourtv-fourthjubilee Jacob sent his sons to pasture their sheep in the pastures of2 Shechem. and his serv ants with them. And the seven kings of theAmorites banded together against them and t<x>k up their posi-tions in a wood,1 with the intention of killing them and taking their:i cattle as spoil. And Jacob and Levi and Judah and Joseph were athome with their father Isaac (for he was in a sorry state and they

* bit. 'committed it’.

10 Lit. 'commit it'.

1 So I.at.: Kill, 'hiding themselves under the trees’.

jubilees

11)5

could not leave him); and Benjamin was the youngest, and lor thisi reason remained with his lather. And the king of Tappuah came,and the king of Aresa. and the king ol Seragan. and the king ofSelo,and the kingof'Gaash. and the king of Beth-horon. and the king ofMa anisakir, and all who live in these mountains and in the woods"> in the land ofCanaan. And Jacob was told. Behold, the kings of theAmorites have surrounded your sons and plundered their herds.t» And he left his house, he and his three sons and all his lather'sservants and his own servants, and he went against them with six7 thousand men armed with swords. And he cut them down in thepastures ofShechem. and he pursued the fugitives and put them tothe sword; and he killed the kings of Aresa and Tappuah andSaregan and Selo and Amanisakir and Gaasli and recovered hisH herds. And he gained the mastery over them and imposed tributeon them, and he made them pay him as tribute live fruit products«» of their land; and he built1 2 * Robel and Timnath-heres. And hereturned in peace; and he made peaee with them, and they becamehis servants till the day that he and his sons went down to Kgs pi.

H) And in the seventh year of this week he sent Joseph from home tothe land ofShechem to see how his brothers were faring; and heII found them in the land of Dothan. And they conspired againsthim' and hatched a plot to kill him. hut they changed their mindsand sold him It) Ishmaelite merchants; and they took him down toEgypt and sold him to Potiphar. a eunuch of Pharaoh's and his chiefl;! cook, priest of the city of Klew.4 And Jacob’s sons slaughtered a kidand dipped Joseph’s coat in the blood and sent it to their fa literl:l Jacob on the tenth of the seventh month. And he mourned all thatnight (for they had brought it to him in the evening), and he wasbeside himself with grief* and said. An evil beast has devouredJoseph; and all his household mourned with him that day, andI t they mourned and lamented with him the whole day. And his sonsand his daughter tried to comfort him, but he refused to be com-forted lor his son.

If) And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph was dead, and she

1 Or‘restored’.

* I .it. ‘behaved treacherously towards him*.

* i.e. Heliopolis.

5 Lit. ‘he became feverish with mourning for his death

1 (Mi Jubilees

died while mourning for him, and she was living in Qafratef; andDinah, Jacob’s* daughter, also died when she heard that Joseph was

ii> dead. And so Israel suffered three losses1 in a single month. Andthey buried Bilhah opposite Rachel’s tomb; and they buried

17 Jacob's* daughter Dinah there too. And Jacob8 mourned forJoseph for a whole year and would not desist, for he said, Let me go

18 down to the grave mourning for my son. This is why it is decreedthat the sons of Israel should mortify themselves on the tenth of theseventh month (on the day that the news which made him weep forJoseph came to his father Jacob), and that on it they should makeexpiation for themselves with a young goat - on the tenth of theseventh month, once a year, lor their sin (for they had resented

l‘> their father’s alfection for his son Joseph9). And this day has beenset apart so that on it they should grieve for their sins and for alltheir transgressions and for all their misdeeds, and so cleansethemselves, once a year, on that day.

20 And after Joseph was taken away, Jacob’s sons married wives.The name of Reuben's wife was Ada; and the name of Simeon’swile Adibaa, a Canaanite; and the name of Levi’s wife Mclka, anAramaean,10 a descendant of the sons of Tcrah; and the name ofJudah's wife Betasuel, a Canaanite; and the name of Issachar’swife Hezaqa; and the name of Zebulon’s wife Niiman; and thename of Dan's wife Egla; and the name ofNaphtali’s wife Rasuu,from Mesopotamia; and the name of Gad’s wife Maka; and thename of Asher's wife Ijona; and the name ofjoseph’s wife Asenath,

•Jl the Egyptian; and the name of Benjamin’s wife Ijasaka. AndSimeon repented and took a second wife from Mesopotamia, likehis brothers.

XXXV. And in the first year of the first week of the forty-fourthjubilee Rebecca summoned her son Jacob and gave him instruc-tions to honour his father and his brother all the days of his life.

2 And Jacob said, I will do everything you tell me; for to honour

* Lit. ‘his*.

1 Lit. 'And there came these three mournings on Israel'.

" Lit. he'.

* Lit. ‘Ibr they had grieved the affection of their father regarding his sonjoseph".

10 Lit. 'of the daughters of Aram".

Jubilees

107

them will bring me honour, and greatness, and credit with1 the:i Lord. And you know, mother, all my deeds and thoughts from theday of my birth till now: and you know that I am always well-

4 disposed towards everyone.2 How. then, should I not do what you

5 tell me, and honour my father and my brother? Point out to me.mother, anything' you have observed in me that is evil, and I will

t> set my face against it, and ask for mercy. And she said to him. Ihave never at any time, my son. seen you do anything that is evilbut only what is good.4 And I will tell you the truth, my son: thisyear I shall die. and 1 shall not survive this present year: lor I haveseen the day of my death in a dream, and / know that I shall not livemore than a hundred and fifty-live years: I have now all hut com-7 pletcd the span of life allotted to me.* And Jacob laughed at hismother's words, because his mother told him that site was about todie, when she was sitting opposite him in full possession of all herfaculties and was not in any way infirm: for she went in and out. hersight was good, her teeth were strong, and she had never had anK illness in her life. And Jacob said to her. 1 should indeed be blessed,mother, if the span of my life were to be anywhere near what yoursis, and 1 were to retain my faculties as you have: you are not dying:it is only an idle dream you are telling me about your death.

9 And she went in to Isaac and said to him. One thing I would askyou: make Ksau swear that he will not injure Jacob or maintain afeud with him; for you know Esau's disposition, how savage he hasbeen from bis youth up, and there is nothing good about him, and

10 he is only waiting for your death to kill Jacob.0 And you knoweverything he has done from the day his brother Jacob went toHaran until to-day. how he deliberately left usT and has done usevil: he has appropriated your flocks and stripped you of all your

11 possessions. And when we implored and besought him for what

12 was our own he assumed the role of someone taking pity on us. Andhe is embittered against you because you blessed Jacob, your

1 Lit. ‘and righteousness before*.

: Kth. that I always think good ronreming all": I.at. 'that 1 always (have theintention) to do good to all*.

* Lit. 'what*. 4 Lit. ‘upright*.

* Lit. ‘all the days of ni> life which I am to live*.

® Lit. *fbr he desires after your death to kill him*.

1 Lit. 'how he forsook us with all his heart*.

I OH

Jubilees

perfect and upright son; {or in Jacob* there is nothing evil, but onlywhat is good, and since he came hack, from Haran until to-day hehas not let us lack for anything, but brings us everything in itsseason always, and rejoices with all his heart when wc take it at hishands, and blesses us and has not left us since he came back fromHaran until to-day. and he remains with us continually at homeand honours us.

1:1 And Isaac said to her. 1 too know and see what Jacob docs, howhe stays by us,9 and how he honours us with all his heart: at onetime I loved Ksau more than Jacob, because he was the firstborn;but now I love Jacob more than Ksau, for Esau10 has done all kindsof evil, and there is no righteousness in him at all — every thing hedoes is vicious11 and violent, and there is no righteousness about1» him whatsoever. But now I am troubled in mind because of whathe docs: neither he nor his descendants will be saved, for they aredestined to perish from the earth and be uprooted from underheaven; for he has forsaken the God of Abraham and followed hiswives and their unclcanncss and their misdeeds, he and hisI ') children. And now you ask me to make him swear that he will notkill his brother Jacob: even if he does swear, he will not abide by hisIt) oath; and he will do no good, but evil only. But if he docs want tokill his brother Jacob, he will be given into Jacob’s hands and will17 not escape his hands (, lor he will fall into his hands). Have no fearon Jacob’s account; lor Jacob’s guardian is great and powerful andhonourable, and much more glorious than Esau’s guardian.

IH .And Rebecca sent and summoned Esau; and he came to her, andshe said to him, I have something to ask you, my son: promise me111 you w ill do it, my son. And he said, 1 will do everything you tell me2(1 and not refuse you what you ask. And she said to him, I ask thatwhen I die, you will take me and bury me near Sarah, your father'smother. And / ask loo that you and Jacob will love one another, andthat neither will harbour evil desires against the other, but mutuallove only, and jo you will prosper, my sons, and be honoured in theland, and no enemy will rejoice over you. and you will be a blessing21 and a mercy in the eyes of all that love you. And he said, I will doeverything you have told me, and on the day you die I will bury you* Lit.'in him’. ” Lit. ‘who is with us’.

10 Lit.‘hi*’. 11 Lit.‘unrighteous'.

Jubilees

109

m*;ir Sarah, my father's mother, since you want her hones to he22 near your Ixnirs. And I will. t<xi. love my hrotlier Jacob more thanany other living creature:12 for 1 have no other brother anywhere inthe world, but him only. It is no great virtue in me if I love him. lorhe is my brother: we were sown together in your womb, and wecame Ibrth together front your womb,1' and if I do not love mybrother, whom shall I love? And I. for my part, would ask you toappeal to Jacob on niv behalf and on my sons' behalf, for 1 knowthat he must rule over me anti over my sons; Ibron the day my father2\ blessed him he made him the senior and me the junior. And I swearto you that I will love him and not harbour any evil desires againsthim, but good only, all my life. And he swore an oath to her in theseterms.

25 And she summoned Jacob in Ksau's presence and gave him thesame instructions she had given Ksau. And he said. I will do as youwould have me do:14 believe me. no evil shall conic to Ksau eitherfrom me or from my sons, and I will lie the first in nothing, but in21 love only. And they ate and drank, she and her sons that night.And that night she died, three jubilees and one week and one yearold: and her two sons. Ksau and Jacob, buried her in the doublecave near Sarah, their lather's mother.

XXXVI. And in the sixth year of this week Isaac summoned histwo sons, Ksau and Jacob; and they came to him, and he said tothem. My sons, 1 am going the way of my fathers, to the eternal

2 house where my fathers are. Bury me near my father Abraham, inthe double cave in the field of Kphron the Hittitc. which Abraham

bought as a burial place: bury me there, in the grave that I dug formyself. And this command 1 lay upon you, my sons, that you arejust and upright in your dealings on the earth, so that the Lord maybring upon you all that the Lord said he would do to Abraham and

4 his descendants. And love one another, my sons, as a man loves hisown soul, and let each see what he can to do to help his brother andact together with him on the earth; and let each love the other as hisown soul.

5 And as for idols, I command you and 1 warn you to keep them

l,J Lit. ‘above all flesh’. 11 Lit. ‘navel'.

14 Lit. ‘1 will do your pleasure'.

Juki Ires

1 id

from vou and hale them, and love them not; for they are a delusionand a snare1 to those who worship them and bow down to them.

ij Remember the Lord, my sons, the God of Abraham your father,and how I too made him my God and served him in righteousnessand joy, that he might multiply you and increase the number ofyour descendants till they were like the stars of heaven, and that hemight establish you on the earth as the plant of righteousnesswhich will not be uprooted for all generations lor ever.

7 And now 1 will make you swear a great oath (for there is no oathgreater) by the Name, glorious and honoured and great andsplendid and wonderful, the Xame of him who created the heavensand the earth and all things together- that you will fear him and

a worship him; and that eac h of you will love his brother in affec tionand righteousness, and that neither of you will harbour any evildesires against his brother either now or at any future time, so thatyou may prosper in everything you do and may not be destroyed.

0 And if either of you plans any evil against his brother, know nowthat whoever does plan evil against his brother will fall into hishand and be uprooted from the land of the living, and his progeny

10 will perish from the earth.2 * But on the day of turmoil and execra-tion and indignation and anger, just as the Lord’ burned Sodomwith flaming and devouring fire, so will he burn that man's4 landand his city and all that is his. and he will be blotted out of the bookof the discipline of mortal men, and not be recorded in the book oflife, but rather in that which is5 appointed for destruction; and hewill depart into eternal execration - so that their condemnationmay be always renewed in hate and execration and wrath and

11 torment and indignation, and in plagues and disease for ever. I tellyou this and testify to you. my sons, that judgement will come6upon the man who lays plans to injure his brother.

12 And on that day he divided all his possessions between the two ofthem; and he gave the larger part to the elder - the tow er and all thatwas round about it, and everything that had belonged to Abraham

13 at the Well of the Oath. And he said, I will give the elder this larger

1 Lit. 'they arc full ol deception'.

; I.it. ‘from under heaven*.

’ Lit.‘he*. 4 Lit.‘his*. 4 Or‘that of those'.

* I.it. ‘according to the judgement (fiat will come*.

Jubilees

14 portion. And Esau said. I sold Jacob my portion as elder brotherand have given it to him: let it therefore be given him: 1 have no

15 claim on it,7 lor it is his. And Isaac, said. May a blessing rest uponyou. my sons, and upon your descendants this day: lor you have setmy mind at rest, and I have no anxiety about the elder's portion.

It! that you will come to blows about it. May the Most High God blessthe man that docs what is right, may he bless him and bis

17 descendants lor ever. And he finished instructing them and bless-ing them; and they ate and drank together in his presence, and herejoiced at the harmony between them. And they went out from

ltt him and rested that day and slept. And Isaac slept on his bed thatday rejoicing; and he slept the eternal sleep and died, a hundredand eighty years old. He thus completed twenty-five weeks and fiveyears; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

15) And Ksau went to the land of Edom, to the mountains of'Seir,

'in and lived there. And Jacob lived in the mountains of Hebron, inthe tower in the country where his father Abraham had lived: andhe worshipped the Lord with all his heart and in accordance withthe commandments that had been revealed at the time of his

21 birth.h And his wife Leah died in the fourth year of the second weekof the forty-fifth jubilee; and he buried her in the double cave nearRebecca his mother, on the left of the grave of Sarah his father’s

22 mother. And all her sons and his sons came to mourn over his wifeLeah with him, and to comfort him on her account, because he was

23 making lamentation lor her. For after her sister Rachel died heloved her all the more,9 for she was perfect and upright in all herways and honoured10 Jacob: and all the time she lived with him henever heard a harsh word from her mouth, for she was gentle and

24 peaceable and upright and honourable. And he rememberedeverything she had done during her lifetime; and he made a greatlamentation for her, for he loved her heart and soul.

XXXVD. And on the day that Jacob and Esau’s father Isaac died,Esau’s sons heard that Isaac had given the elder’s portion to Jacob

7 Lit. ‘I have not a single word to say regarding it'.

* Both the text and the meaning arc uncertain here: the Kth. MSS difler amongthemselves as well as from the Lai.

* Lit. 'he loved her exceedingly’.

One Kth. MS reads 'loved'.

112 jubilees

2 his younger son; and they were very angry. And they started adispute with their father, saying, why has your father given Jacobthe elder’s portion and passed you over, although you are the elder> and Jacob the younger? And he said to them. Because I sold mybirthright to Jacob lor a modest ientil stew; and on the day myfather sent me out hunting to bring him back something, so that hecould eat of il and bless me. Jacob1 treacherously came andbrought my father food and drink, and my father blessed him and■\ made me his subordinate.2 And now our father has made us swear,both of us. that we will plan no evil against each other, either ofusagainst his brother, and that we will persevere in love and peace,j each with his brother, and not be led astray.1 And they said to him,we will not listen to you and make peace with him. for our strengthis greater than his strength, and we arc more powerful than he is:we will attack him and kill him, and we will destroy his sons;4 and if(. you will not go with us, wc will do you some damage too. Listennow to us: let us send to Aram and Philistia and Moab and Ammonand choose for ourselves picked men, ardent for battle, and let usattack him and do battle with him and exterminate him from theearth before he takes root and grows strong.

7 And their father said to them, Do not go and make war with himk in case you fall before him. And they said to him, This is exactlyhow you always have behaved from your youth till now: yousubmit your neck to his yoke; but we will not listen to such talk,u And they sent to Aram, and to Aduram, their father’s friend, andthey hired along with them a thousand fighting men, picked war-ill riors nil of them. And there came to them from Moab and from theAmmonites a thousand picked mercenaries, and from Philistia athousand picked warriors, and from Kdom and the Horitcs athousand picked fighting men, and from the Kittim mighty war-11 riors. And they said to their father. Take the field with them andU* lead them, or we will kill you. And he was furious and indignantwhen he saw his sons were Ibrcing him to take command of themKi and lead them against his brother Jacob. But afterwards he rccol-

1 Lit. 'hr'. J Lit. ‘put me under his hand*.

’ Lit. ‘and not make our ways corrupt'.

* So the majority of Kih. MSS: I^at. and |it would seem) otic Kth. MS read ‘himand his sons'.

1\A

Jubilees

lected all the evil thoughts about his brother Jacob that lay hidden inhis heart; and he forgot the oath he had sworn to his father and hismother that he would never plan evil against his brother Jacob atany time.

14 And in spite olall this Jacob was unaware that they were coiningagainst him to battle (for he was mourning for Ins wife Leah) untilthey came very near to the tower with four thousand warriors andl.'i picked lighting men. And the men of Hebron sent to him. saying.Behold your brother has come against you to fight you. with lourthousand men armed with swords and with shields and otherweapons. ( They told him because they much preferred Jacob toKsau. for Jacob was a much kinder and more generous man thanhi Ksau.) But Jacob would not believe it until they came very near the17 tower. And he shut the gates of the tower and stood on thebattlements and addressed his brother Ksau and said. This is finecomfort you come with to comfort me for my wile's death. Is thisthe oath that you swore to your father and again to your motherbefore they died? You have broken the oath; and at the verymoment you swore to your father you were condemned.

IK And Ksau answered immediately and said to him. Neither mannor beast knows of any oath that is inviolable, which when oncesworn, is valid lor ever;5 but they plan evil against each other everyin day, how they can kill their rivals and their enemies. You hate meand my children always; and there is no possibility of 'observing the20 tie of brotherhood with you. Listen now to this.6 7

I f the boar can change his skin and make his bristles as soft aswool.

()r if he can make horns to sprout out of his head like thehorns of a stag or a sheep.

Then will I observe the tic of brotherhood with you.1

5 Lit. ‘Neither the sons of men nor the lx-asts of* the earth have any oath ofrighteousness, which in swearing they have sworn lor ever'.

* Lit. ‘Hear these wonts which 1 declare to yon*.

7 All the Kill. MSS add an extra line at this point, which does not fit well into thecontext. Charles rendered it ‘And if the breasts separated themselves from theirmother, lor you have not been a brother to me’ and supposed it to be a wanderingfragment from verse 19, After transposing the two distinct clauses in the line, andsome further emendation, he suggested as the original for verse 19. ‘You hate me

114

Jubilees

And if the wolves ran make peace with the lambs so as not todevour them or do them violence.

And it their hearts are inclined towards them for good.

Then shall there he peace in my heart towards you.

And if the lion becomes the friend of the ox and makes peacewith him."

And if he is joined under one yoke with him and ploughs withhim.

Then will I make peace with you.

And when the raven becomes white like the raza.4Then know that I am well disposed towards you,

And that I will make peace with you.

But nmc you shall he r<x>ted up. and your sons shall be rooted

up.

And you shall have no peace.

And when Jacob saw that he was so evilly disposed towards himand was determined at all costs to kill him. and that he had comecharging at him like a wild lx>ar that hurls itself without flinchingagainst the spear that pierces and kills it, he gave the order to hishousehold and his servants to attack him and all his assoc iates.

XXXVlli. And Judah spoke up at once and said to his father Jacob,

Bend your bow, father, and let fly your arrows.

And bring low the adversary and slaughter the enemy;

And may you have the power.

For we will not kill your brother because he is your brother,

And we owe him as much honour as we owe to you.

Then Jacob bent his bow and let fly an arrow and shot his brotherEsau in the right breast, and killed him. And he let fly another

and im children always; for you have- never lieen a brother in me since the twinswere separated from their mother, and there is no possibility of observing the tie ofbrolherli<xxl with you'.

" In some MSS ’and makes peace with him’ is placed alter ‘and ploughs withhim': in others it is omitted.

4 According to Charles this was the local name lor a large w hite bird'.

arrow and shot Adoran the Aramaean in the left breast, andknocked him oiThis feet and killed him.

4 And thenjacob’s sons went out with their servants, divided into

5 companies on the four sides of the tower. And Judah went out infront, and Naphtali and Gad with him and fifty servants, on thesouth side of the tower; and they killed everyone they (bund before

6 them, and not a single one escaped. And Levi and Dan and Asherwent out on the cast side of the tower, and fifty men with them; and

7 they killed the fighting men of Moab and Ammon. And Reubenand Issachar and Zcbulon went out on the north side of the tower,and fifty men with them; and they killed the fighting men of the

8 Philistines. And Simeon and Benjamin and Knoch, Reuben’s son.went out on the west side of the tower, and fifty men with them; andthey killed four hundred men of Edom and the Horites (stoutwarriors all of them), and six hundred fled; and four of Esau's sonsfled with them and left their father lying dead, just as he had fallen

9 on the hill in Aduram. And Jacob's sons pursued them to themountains of Seir. And Jacob buried his brother on the hill inAduram and returned home.

10 And Jacob’s sons pressed hard on1 * * Esau's sons in the mountainsin Scir and subdued them,* so that they became their servants.’

11 And they sent to their lather asking whether they should make

12 peace with them or kill them. And Jacob sent word to his sons thatthey should make peace; and they made peace with them and laidon them the yoke of serv itude, so that they paid tribute to Jacob

13 and his sons in perpetuity. And they continued to pay tribute to

14 Jacob till the day he went down into Egypt. And the Edomites havenot got quit of the yoke of servitude that Jacob’s twelve sonsimposed on them to this day.

15 And these are the kings that reigned in Edom before there

16 reigned any king over Israel — to this day in the land of Edom.4 AndBalak, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom, and the name of his city

17 was Dinhaba. And Balak died, and was succeeded by Jobab, the

1 So Eth.: Lat. ‘surrounded’.

J Lit. ‘made them bow their necks'.

y Lit. ‘became servants ofjacob’s sons’.

4 Charles bracketed ‘to this day' as an insertion. Perhaps both phrases aredittographs.

1 16

k son of Zerah of Bosra. And Jobab died, and was succeeded by*i Husham from Tenian. And Hiisbam died, and was succeeded byAdath, the son ol Barad. who defeated Midian in Moabite terri-u tory, and the name of bis city was Avith. And Adath died, and

1 was succeeded by Salman from Amaseqa. And Salman died,

2 and was succeeded by Saul of Rehnboth by (he river. And Saul;1 died, and was succeeded by Baal-Hanan. the sou ol'Achbor. And

Baal-Hanan. the son of Achbor, died, and was succeeded byAdath; and the name of bis wife was Maitabith. the daughter of

1 Matarat, the daughter of Mctabedzaab. These are the kings thatreigned in the land of Kdom.

XXXJX. And Jacob lived in the country1 where his father had

2 settled, in the land of Canaan. This is the story of his family.2 *

Joseph was seventeen years old when they took him down to theland of Kgypt. and Poliphar, one of Pharaoh's eunuchs and his* chief cook, bought him. And he put Joseph in charge of his house-hold; and the Lord blessed the Kgyptian’s household because ofJoseph, and the Lord made him successful in everything he did.

} And the Kgyptian left everything in Joseph’s hands.' for he saw thatthe Lord was with him and made him successful in everything hedid.

.*» And Joseph was handsome and very good-looking, and hismaster's wife eyed him and took notice of him; and she fell in lovet> with him and begged him to lie with her. But he would notsurrender himself, for he remembered the Lord and what4 hisfather Jacob used to read from the commandments5 of Abraham,that no man should commit fornication with a woman that has ahusband, that for the man who docs6 the punishment of death hasbeen ordained in the heavens before the Most High God. and thathis sin will be recorded against him in the eternal books before the7 Lord for ever. And Joseph remembered this and refused to lie with

1 Or‘land*.

: Lit. ‘These arc the generations ol Jacob*.

1 All Klh. MSS 'in Joseph's presence': the emendation is based on the Lat. of

verse 12 and the Heb. of (Jen. xxxix. li.

■* Lit.‘the words which*. 5 Lit.'the words'.

* Lit.’lor him*.

Jubilees 117

» her. And slu* pleaded with him lor a whole year, and then for anotheryear; hut he refused to listen.

!> At last.7 when they were indoors, she caught hold of him andclung to him. to try and force him to lie with her. and she locked thedoors ol lhc house and clung tightly to him; but he fled, leaving hisHi cloak in her hands, and broke open the doors and escaped. And thewoman saw that he would not lie with her.K and she told his masterlies about him. saying. Your Hebrew servant that you are so fond oftried to force me and lie with me; and when 1 screamed out he fledand left his cloak I had taken hold of in my hands and broke openII the door. And the Egyptian saw Joseph's cloak and the brokendoor and believed what his wife had told him:” and he put Josephin prison, in the place where the king's prisoners were kept.

I'J And he was there in the prison. And the Lord made the governorof the prison well-disposed towards Joseph and treat him kindly(for he saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord madehim successful in everything he did); and he left everything in hisKi hands.,H And the governor of the prison knew of nothing that washappening in the prison.11 for Joseph did everything; and the Lordmade it all sue reed. And he remained there two years.

I f And in those days Pharaoh, king of Egypt. was angry with two ofhis eunuchs, the chief butler and the chief baker, and he put themin custody in the chief cook's house, in the prison where Joseph was15 kept. And the governor of the prison appointed Joseph to attend toM> them; and he waited on them. And they both dreamed a dream,12the chief butler and the chief baker, and they told it12 to Joseph.

17 And as he interpreted it to them, so it happened to them: the chiefbutler Pharaoh restored to his oflice, and the chief baker he

18 hanged” - just as Joseph had interpreted to them. But the chiefbutler forgot Joseph in the prison, although he had told him whatwould happen to him; and he did not remember to tell Pharaohhow Joseph had told him.14 but forgot.

’ Lit.‘Hut’. ' So Kill.: l.at 'that he despised her’.

* Lit. 'heard the words of his wife’. 10 So Lat.: Kth. 'in his present e'.

" So Lai.: Kill, ‘nothing that was with him'.

'* So Kth.: I.at. 'dreamed dreams . . . them’.

'* So I.at.: Klh. ‘the baker he killed'.

14 So Kth.: I.at. ‘and did not remrmhrr to ask that Pharaoh the king mightintervene and release Joseph’.

118 Jubilees

XL. And in those days Pharaoh had two dreams in one night,about a famine there was to be in all the land; and he woke up fromhis sleep and called all the interpreters of dreams there were inEgypt, and the magicians, and he told them his two dreams, and1 they were not able to interpret them. Then the chief butlerremembered Joseph and spoke to the king about him; and he hadhim fetched from the prison and repeated his two dreams to him.:J And he told Pharaoh that his two dreams were one; and he said tohim. There will be seven years of plenty throughout the land ofEgypt, and after that seven years of famine, such as there havel never been before in all the land. Pharaoh should now appointcontrollers' in all the land of Egypt, who can store up food in everycity during the seven years1 2 * of plenty, so that there will be food forthe seven years of famine, and the land will not perish through thefamine, for it will be very severe.

') And the Lord made Pharaoh look favourably on what Josephsaid,’ and Pharaoh said to his servants, we shall not find anywheresuch a wise and knowledgeable man as this man; for the spirit of(j the Lord is with him. And he appointed him viceroy4 in all hiskingdom, and gave him authority over the whole of Egypt, and

7 mounted him in Pharaoh’s viceroy’s chariot. And he dressed himin fine linen and put a gold chain on his neck, and he was acclaimedEl El wa Abircr.5 6 And Pharaoh® put a ring on his finger7 and placedhis household in his charge; and he made a great man of him andsaid to him, Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.

8 And Joseph ruled over all the land of Egypt; and all Pharaoh’sprinces and all his servants and all who did the king’s businessloved him, for he was straight in his dealings, without pride orarrogance, and he showed favour to no one and accepted no bribes,but decided every case that was brought before him with strict

9 impartiality.8 And the land of Egypt lived at peace under Pharaoh

1 The Kell. MSS differ among themselves: Lai. 'speculatores'.

2 So I.at.: Kth. ‘throughout the days of the years'.

' Lit. ‘And the Lord gave Joseph grace and mercy in the eyes of Pharaoh’.

4 Lit. ‘the second’.

5 So Kth. (Cod. God, the Mighty One of Cod’): Lat. 'Elelet HabireV.

6 Lit. ’he’. 7 Lit. 'hand'.

* Lit. ’but judged in uprightness all the peoples of the land’.

Jubilees 119

because of Joseph, for the Lord was with him and made all thosethat knew* him and had heard about him look, with favour on himand on his family: and Pharaoh’s kingdom was well ordered, and

10 there was no adversary’ nor any evil person in it. And the kingnamed Joseph Zaphnath-paancah; and he gave Joseph as a wifethe daughter of Potiphar (the daughter, that is. of the priest ofHeliopolis, the chief cook).

11 And Joseph was thirty years old the day that he enteredPharaoh’s service;10 and it uas in that same year in which Isaac died.

12 And it came to pass as Joseph had foretold in the interpretation ofPharaoh’s11 two dreams, just as he had foretold it, there were sevenyears of plenty throughout the land of Kgypt. and the land of Kgyptproduced abundantly, one measure producing eighteen hundred

13 measures. And Joseph gathered food in every city until each onewas stacked so full of corn that it was no longer possible to keep arecord of how much there was.

XLI. And in the fourty-filth jubilee, in the second week, in thesecond year, Judah found a wife for his eldest son Kr. a woman of

2 Aram named Tamar. But he took a dislike to her and would not liewith her, because his mother was a woman of Canaan and hewanted a wife from his mother's kinsfolk, but his father, Judah,

3 would not allow it. And this Kr. Judah's eldest son. was wicked,

4 and the Lord took his life. And Judah said to Onan, his brother.Take your brother’s wife and do your duty as her brother-in-law

3 and raise offspring for your brother. And Onan knew that theoffspring would not be his. but his brother's only, and he went intohis sister-in-law's house and spilled his seed on the ground; and he

G too was wicked in the Lord’s sight, and he took his life as well. AndJudah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar. Remain in your father'shouse as a widow till my son Shelah grows up. and I will give you to

7 him as his wife. And he grew up; but Bath-Shua, Judah's wife,would not allow her son Shelah to marry her. And Bath-Shua.Judah’s wife, died in the fifth year of this week.

B And in the sixth year Judah set off for Timnathah to shear his

9 Or'Satan'.

10 All MSS arid ‘when hr entered Pharaoh's service’ - clearly a ditiograph.

11 Lit. "his’.

1120

Jubilees

sheep. And they said to Tamar, Behold your lather-in-law is goingfi lip to 1 ininathah to shear his sheep. And she set aside her widow’sweecis. and put on a veil, and adorned herself , and sat in the gate byin the Timnathah road. And as Judah was on his way he rame uponher and thought she was a harlot and said to her. Let me come in to

11 vmi; and she said to him. Come in; and he went in. And she said tohim. (»ive me my lee; and he said to her, I have nothing with me1but the ring on my linger, my bracelet, and the stall'in my hand.

12 And she said to him, (five me them till you send me my lee; and hesaid to her. I will send you a kid; and he gave them to her and went

It in to her.* and she conceived by him. And Judah went to his sheep,and she went to her father’s house.

11 And Judah sent his shepherd, an Adullamite. with the kid. but

he could not find her; and he asked the people of the place, saying,

I) Where is the harlot here?' And they said to him. We have no harlothere. And he returned and told Judah4 that he could not find herand said to him. I asked the people of the place, and they said tome. There is no harlot here. And he said. Let her keep them,5 or wcshall become a laughing-stock.

iti And when she had completed three months it became obviousthat she was with child; and they told Judah, saying. Behold,17 Tamar, your daughter-in-law. is with child by harlotry. AndJudah went to her father’s house and said to her father and herbrothers. Bring her out and let her be burnt, for she has committedIK an outrage* in Israel. And it came to pass when they brought herout to burn her. she sent her father-in-law the ring and the braceletand the stall, saying. Do you recognize whose these are? By him Ilit am with child. And Judah realized that they were his and said, Tamar2ti is more in the right than 1 am, so let her not be burnt. And for thatreason she was not given to Shelah;7 and he did not approach her

* Lit.'in mv hand*.

; So l.ai.: Kill. nm. 'and went in to hrr\

' Kill, 'who is here': l.at. 'who was here'.

4 So I ail.: Klh. 'him'. * So Lit.: Kill. 'You keep it'.

* Lie 'wrought utnloaniiess'.

Thissrnteru r tils in very oddly hrrr. In Ceil. xxxviii. 2(i Judah gives no explicit< nunttT-instructions that Tamar should not be burnt, and die statement aboul hernot being given to Shelah is part nljudah’s declaration, explaining why he thoughtshe was more in the right than he was. The prolxibilily is that Judah's counter-

121

jubilees

'21 again. And alter that she lx>re two sous, Perez and Zerah. in the22 seventh year of this second week. ( And it was then that the sevenyears of plenty came to an end. about which Joseph had spoken toPharaoh.)

And Judah realized that what he had done was wrong (for hehad had intercourse with his daughter-in-law), and he despisedhimself because ofitBand realized he had transgressed and donesomething shameful (lor he had dishonoured his son's bed), and hebegan to lament and make supplication before the I.ord because of21 his transgression. And we told him in a dream that it would heforgiven him because his supplication and his lamentation were2‘i sincere, and provided he did not transgress again. And he receivedforgiveness because he repented of his sin and because he had doneit without knowing what it was he did (although his transgressionwas very great before our God. and everyone that behaves like this,and everyone that has intercourse with his mother-in-law. must beburnt with fire and destroyed,9 for they are unclean and polluted:Jti let them be burnt with lire. And do you give instructions to the sonsof Israel that there be no tmeleanness among them, for everyonethat has intercourse with his daughter-in-law or his mother-in-lawbrings on himself10 uncleanness: let them be burnt with fire, boththe man who has had intercourse with her and the woman also;and the I.ord" will turn bark his wrath and avert the punishment27 from Israel.) And we assured Judah that inasmuch as his two sonshad not had intercourse with Tamar.12 his own offspring by herwere established as a second family and would not be rooted up.2H For he had honestly sought her punishment, and. in accordancewith Abraham’s ruling that lie had given m his sons, Judah hadtried to have her burnt with fire.

instruction (whether added by the author ot Jubilees himself or l>y a later sourer)had been aeeidenlally inserted in the wrong place in the text, and that we shouldreverse the clauses in verses 1H-2U and read 'And Judah realized that they were hisand said. "Tamar is more in the right than I am. In-cause she was run given toShel.th: so let her not lx- burnt". And he did not approach her again*.

’ l.it. 'and he esteemed it hateful in his eyes*.

** Lit. 'burnt with lire that he may burn in it'.

"* [.it.‘has wrought'.

11 Lit. hr'.

Lit, ‘her*.

122 Jubilees

XLI1. And in the first year of the third week of the forty-fifth jubileethe famine struck the land; and the rain failed.1 for none whatever2 fell. And the whole earth was parched; but in the land of Egypt therewas food, lor Joseph had gathered the produce of the land in the.1 seven years of plenty and had preserved it. And the Egpytianscame to Joseph to provide them with food; and he opened thegranaries where the first year's grain was stored, and he sold it to thepeople of the land for gold.

I Now in the land of Canaan the famine was very severe indeed;2and Jacob heard there was food in Egypt, and he sent ten of hissons to buy food for him in Egypt (Benjamin he did not send), andthey arrived' together with others that had come to buy com there.j And Joseph recognized them, but they did not recognize him; andhe spoke harshly to them’ and said to them, You are spies and have(> come to spy on our defences.5 And he put them in prison. Andafterwards he set them free, but kept Simeon behind and sent off7 his nine brothers. And he filled their sacks with corn; and he putK their money in their sacks as well, and they did not know it. And heordered them to bring him their younger brother - for they had toldhim their father was still living and about their younger brother.

And they went up from the land of Egypt and came to the land ofCanaan; and they told their father all that had happened to them,and how the lord of the country had spoken harshly to them andId had kept Simeon behind till they should bring him Benjamin. AndJacob said. You have robbed me of my children! Joseph is no more,and Simeon too is no more, and now you would take Benjamin11 away: on me has your wickedness fallen.*’ And he said. My sonshall not go dow n with you: he might fall ill;7 for his** mother gavebirth to two sons, and one is dead, and now you would take this onef rom me: if he w-as taken ill on the way, you would bring down my\2 grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. (For he saw’ that their money

1 Lit. 'refused lo In’ giv en to the land'.

1 'Now ... indeed' is read by the I .at. only.

1 So Kill.: Lat. 'and tlir ten sons of Jamb arrived in Egypt’.

4 So I,ai.: Eth. ‘spoke to them and questioned them'.

* Ktli 'to spy out the approaches of the land’: Lat. ‘to spy out the land*.

° So Kth.: [.at. differs substantially.

7 I .at. adds 'on the way*. ' Lit.‘their’.

a So Kth.: Lat. ‘Ibr they had told him'.

123

Jubilees

had been returned to each of them in their sacks, and it was for thisreason that he was afraid to send him.)

t:t And the famine became even more severe in the land of Canaan,and in all other lands, though not in the land of Egypt, for many ofthe Egyptians had of their own accord been storing their produce forfood ever since they saw Joseph gathering it and putting it in

M granaries to preserve it for the years of famine. And the people of

15 Egypt fed themselves on it in the first year of their famine. Andwhen Israel saw that the famine was so severe in the land and thatthere was no relief, he said to his sons, Go again and buy food for us

K> to keep ourselves alive. And they said, We will not go: unless our

17 youngest brother goes with us, we will not go. And Israel saw that

18 if he did not send him with them they would all starve.10 AndReuben said. Entrust him to me. and if I do not bring him back toyou, you can kill both my sons in exchange for him.11 And he said

19 to him. He shall not go with you. And Judah came forward andsaid, Send him with me. and if I do not bring him back to you, you

20 can hold me guilty all my life. And he sent him with them in thesecond year of this week, on the first day of the month, and theycame to the land of Egypt with all the others who had come to buy:and they took presents with them, stacte and almonds and terebinthnuts and pure honey.

21 And they came and stood belorejoseph. And he saw his brotherBenjamin and recognized him; and he said to them, Is this youryoungest brother? And they said to him, It is. And he said. May theLord be gracious to you, my son! And he sent him into his house.

22 And he brought Simeon out to them, and he made a feast for them;

23 and they gave him the present they had brought with them. Andthey ate in his presence; and he gave them each a portion, but

24 Benjamin’s portion was seven times larger than any of theirs. And

25 they ate and drank and returned to12 their asses. And Josephdevised a plan to test them out,13 and he said to the steward whowas in charge of his household, Fill all their sacks with food, and

10 I.it. ‘perish through famine'.

" Lit.‘instead of his soul'.

Lit. ‘remained with'.

,3 Lit. *a plan by which he might learn their thoughts as to whether thoughts ofpeace prevailed among them’.

1*24

jubilees

put their money hark in their sacks,14 and put my cup (the silvercup I drink out of) in the youngest's sack, and send them away.

XL1II. And he did as Joseph had told him, and he filled all theirsacks lor them with food and put their money in their sacks, and heput tlie cup in Benjamin’s sack; and early in the morning they2 departed. And it came to pass, after they had started, Joseph saidto the steward of his household, Hurry alter them1 and accusethem, saying. You have repaid me evil for good: you have stolenfrom me the silver cup my lord drinks out of. And bring me backtheir youngest brother - and fetch him quickly before I go out to:t court. And he ran after them and said what he had been told tot them. And they said to him, God forbid that your servants shoulddo such a thing as to steal anything2 from your lord’s house. Eventhe money we found in our sacks the first time, your servantsbrought back from the land of Canaan: how then could we steal*> anything? Behold, here are we and our sacks: search us, and inwhoever’s sack among us you find the cup, let him be put to death,and we and our asses will become your lord’s slaves. And he said to<> them. No! I will take as a slave only the man in whose possession 17 find if. and the rest of you shall go home in peace. And he searched intheir sacks,' starting with the eldest and finishing with the« youngest; and it was found in Benjamin's sack. And they rent theirclothes and loaded their asses and returned to the city and came toJoseph's house; and they all prostrated themselves before him withtheir faces to the ground.

And Joseph said to them, You have done a wicked thing. Andthey said, \Vhat shall we say and how shall we defend ourselves?Our lord has discovered his servants’ sin: behold, we are our lord’sin slaves and our asses also. And Joseph said to them, No!4 You shallgo home, and your brother shall be my slave (for you have done awicked thing). Did it not occur to you that a man could be as fond11 of his cup as I am of this cup?5 - and yet you stole it from me. And

14 Lit. ’vessels’.

1 I.it.’Pursue them and run'. } lit.’any vessel’.

1 I.it.‘vessels'. 4 Lit.’No. I am afraid*.

* Lit, ‘Do vou lint know that a man delights in his t up as I with this cup'.

Jubilees 12’)

Judah said. Let the blame hr on me: and let your servant explain toyour lordship.6 Your servant's mother horc to our lather twobrothers: one went away and was lost, and has not been found, andthis one7 is his mother's only remaining child, anti your servant our12 father loves him. and his life is bound up with this lad's life. And ifwe go back to your servant our lather, and the lad is not with us.then he will die. and we shall bring down our father with sorrow toi:t the grave. Let me. your servant, remain instead of the boy as mylord's slave, and let the lad go with his brothers; tor I went suretyfor him with your servant our father, and if 1 do not take him backour lather will hold your servant guilty lor ever.

I t And Joseph saw there was a common bond of good-will andunity between them, and he could not control himself; and he toldlj them lie was Joseph. And he talked with them in Hebrew andembraced them and wept. But they did not recognize him; andMi they began to weep. And he said to them. Do not w eep over me. buthurry back and bring my father to me. so that I can see him belore17 we die and my brother Benjamin can see him l(X).K 1'or behold, thisis but the second year of the famine, and there w ill be another liveIH years without harvest or fruit on the trees or ploughing. Comedown quirkly, you and your households, so that you do not perishin the famine; and do not be worried about leaving your possessions,for the Lord sent me ahead of you to arrange things so that many15) lives may be saved. And tell my father that I am still alive, as youcan see for yourselves, and that the Lord has made me like a fatherto Pharaoh, and ruler over his household and over all the land of2() Egypt. And tell my father of all my glory and all the riches and‘21 glory that the Lord has given me. And on Pharaoh's instructions9he gave them wagons and provisions for the journey; and he gave22 them all c lothes of many colours and silver. And to their father hesent clothes and silver and ten asses laden with corn; and he sentthem away.

n l.ii. ‘and let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ear’.

7 bit. ‘he*.

* bit. ‘and while the eyes of my brother Benjamin see’. Charles proposed aradical emendation of the whole passage, based on Gen. xlv. 12 — '.. . father to nic;and yon see that it is my mouth that speaks, and the eyes of my brother Benjaminsee’. * bit. ‘And by the command of the mouth of Pharaoh’.

jubilees

l-2(.

_M And they went up and told their lather that Joseph was alive andmeasuring out corn to all the nations of the earth, and that he was1 1 ruler over all the land of Egypt. And their father did not believe it,lor he was stunned; but when he saw the wagons that Joseph hadsent, his spirit10 revived, and he said. It is enough lor me if Joseph isstill alive: I will go down and see him before I die.

XLIV. And Israel set out front his house in Hebron1 on the newmoon of the third month; and he went by way of the Well of theOath and offered a sacrifice to the God of his father Isaac on the2 seventh of this month. And Jacob remembered the dream he had{ had at Bethel, and he was afraid to go down to Egypt. And hethought of sending word to Joseph to come to him. saying that hewould not go down; and he stayed there seven days in the hope thathe m ight see a vision telling him either to stay where he was or go down4 to Egypt. And he kept the harvest festival of the first-fruits with oldgrain, for in all the land of Canaan, there was not even a handful ofseed in the land, for the famine had affected all the wild animalsand cattle and birds as well as men.f> And on the sixteenth the Lord appeared to him and said to him,Jacob. Jacob. And he said. Here I am. And he said to him. I am theGod of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac: do not beafraid logo down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.<> I will go down with you, and 1 will bring you up again, and in thisland you shall be buried, and Joseph shall close your eyes.2 Do not7 be afraid: go down to Egypt. And he got up, and his sons and hisgrandsons, and they put their father and their possessions on theK wagons. And Israel left the Wall of the Oath on the sixteenth of thisthird month and set out for the land of Egypt.

!> And Israel sent Judah bclore him to his son Joseph to inspect theland of Goshen, for Joseph had told his brothers to come and settlein there so that they could be near him. And this was the finest regionin the land of Egypt, and near to him - the best for all of them and alsofor their cattle.

10 Lit. ‘the life of his spirit'.

1 Text ‘Haran*.

1 I.it. ‘put his hand upon your eyes*.

] 1 And these are the names of Jamb's sons who entered Egypt with

12 their lather Jacob. Reuben. Israel's eldest; and these are thenames of his sons - Knoch and Pallu and Hezron and C-armi (five

13 altogether). Simeon and his sons; and these are the names olhis sons-Jemucl andjamin and Ohad and Jachiu and Zohar and Saul, the

14 son of a Phoenician3 woman (seven altogether). Levi and his sons;and these are the names of his sons — Gershon and Kohath and

15 Me rari (four altogether). Judah and his sons; and these are thenames of his sons — Shelah and Perez and Zerali (four altogether).

16 Issachar and his sons; and these are the names of his sons — I ola

17 and Phuaandjasuband Shimron (livealtogether). Xcbulon and hissons; and these arc the names of his sons - Saar and Lion and

18 JahlecI (four altogether). And these are Jacob's sons (and theirsons), whom Leah bore to Jacob in Mesopotamia -six sons, andtheir only sister Dinah; and Leah's sons, and their sons, whoentered Egypt with their father Jacob, were twenty-nine in all. and

19 including their father Jacob there were thirty of them. And the sonsof Zilpah. Leah's slave-girl. Jacob’s wife, that she bore to Jacob,

20 were Gad and Asher. And these are the names of their sons whoentered Egypt with him: the sons of Gad - Ziphion and Haggi andShutii and Ezbon < and Lri) and Areli and Arodi (eight altogether);

21 and the sons of Asher- Imnahand Ishvah (and Ishvi) and Bcriah

22 and Serah, their only sister (six altogether). Zilpah thus had four-teen descendants; and so Leah’s total was forty-four.4

23 And the sons ofjacob's wife Rachel uere Joseph and Benjamin.

24 And there were born to Joseph in Egypt, before his father cameinto Egypt, the two sons that5 Ascnath the daughter of Potiphar,priest of Heliopolis, bore to him - Manasseh and Ephraim (three

25 altogether). And the sons of Benjamin - Bela and Bechcr and Ashbeland Guad and Naaman and Abdcyo and Rosh and Senanim and

26 Huppim and Gaam (eleven altogether). Rachel thus had fourteen

27 descendants.6 And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s slave-girl, Jacob’s

} So the majority of MSS (' h'enesawit'). (iharlcs. following Ronsch. preferred thereading of a single MS ('Sifnauat'), which, in the light of the mention of Zcphath atJudges i. 17, he rendered ‘Zephathitc’.

* Lit. ‘All the souls were fourteen; and all those of I.eah were forty-tour'.

* [.it.‘those whom’.

6 Lit. 'And all the souls of Rachel were fourteen'.

128 jubilees

2a wiii*, that she bore tojacob. were Dan and .Naphtali. And these arethe names of their sons who entered Egypt with them. The sons ofDan were Hushim and Samon and Asudi and Ijaka and Salomon2!) (six altogether). And the last four of them7 died in the year theyill) entered Egypt, and Dan had Hushim only left. And these are thenames of the sons of Naphtali — Jahziel and Guni and Jtruer andill Shallum and Iv. And Iv. who was born after the year of famine.S2 died in Egypt. Thus Rachel’s total altogether was twenty-six.8It So Jacob’s household, when it entered Egypt, numbered seventy

— that is his children and his grandchildren numbered seventy inall; but five died in Egypt before Joseph.g and they had no children.M And two of Judah's sons, Er and Onan. had died already in the landof Canaan, and they had no children. And Israel’s sons buriedthose who had died, and they were reckoned among the seventyGentile nations.

XLV. And Israel came into Egypt, into the land of Goshen, on thenew moon of the fourth month, in the second year of the third week2 of the forty-fifth jubilee. And Joseph went to the land of Goshen tomeet his father Jacob; and he threw his arms round his father’sneck and wept. And Israel said lojoscph. Now I can die in peace, for1 have seen you again alive; and now may the I.ord God of Israel beblessed, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, who has not\ held back his mercy and his grace from his servant Jacob. It isenough for me that I have seen your face while I am’ still alive.True indeed is the vision that I saw at Bethel. Blessed be the Lordj my God for ever and ever, and blessed be his name. And Josephand his brothers ate in their lather’s presence and drank wine; andJacob w as overjoyed to see Joseph eating with his brothers anddrinking in his presence, and he blessed the Creator of all things,who had preserved him and had preserved his twelve sons,fi And Joseph had given his father and brothers the right to settlein the land of Goshen, and in Ramcscs1 2 and the surrounding region

7 Lit. 'And they'.

" I.it. 'And all the souls of Rachel were twenty-six*.

9 Alternative reading ’liel'ore they married*.

1 Charles would emend *1 am* to ‘you are* lo accord with Gen. xlvi. *20.

2 Kth. 'Ramesina*.

Jubilees

129

which he ruled as Pharaoh’s viceroy.' And Israel and his sonssettled in the land of Goshen, the best pari of the land of Egypt; andIsrael was a hundred and thirty years old when he entered Egypt.

7 And Joseph supported his father and his brothers, and also theirpossessions, with as much as they needed during the seven years of

K the famine. And the land of Egypt suffered because of the famine.And Joseph acquired all the land for Pharaoh in return for food,and he gained possession of the people and their cattle, and heacquired everything for Pharaoh.

h And the years of famine came to an end, and in the eighth yearJoseph gave the }>eople in the land seed-corn4 to sow the land.' for

in the river had overflowed all the land of Egypt (in the seven years ofthe famine it had not*’ overflowed and had irrigated only a fewplaces on the banks of the riv er, but now it overflowed once more)',and the Egyptians sowed the land, and it produced much corn that

11 year. And this was the first year of the fourth week of the forty-fifth

12 jubilee. And Joseph took a fifth part of all the harvest1 for the kingand left four parts for them as seed and food; andjoseph establishedit as a law for the land of Egypt - a law that has survived till to-day.

i;j And Israel lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; and helived altogether for three jubilees, that is for a hundred and tonyseven years, and he died in the fourth year of the fifth week of the

H forty-fifth jubilee. And Israel blessed his sons before he died andtold them everything that would happen to them in the land ofEgypt, and made known to them what would come upon them inthe last days; and be blessed them and gave Joseph two portions in

13 the land. And he slept with his fathers and was buried in the doublecave in the land of Canaan, near Abraham his father, in the gravewhich he dug lor himself in the double cave in the neighbourhood"

Hi of Hebron. And he gave all his books and his fathers’ books to hisson I.evi, to preserve them and keep them in repair” lor his childrentill to-day.

' bit. ‘bclbre Pharaoh'. * bit. 'seed and tixxi'.

’ So l.at.: Kth. «m. ‘the land'. * So bat.: Kill. uin. 'not'.

: So bat.: Kth. “of the corn of the harvest’.

* bit. ‘land’.

9 Or ‘have fresh copies made of them’: lit. 'renew them’.

1511 Jubilees

XL VI. And it came to pass alter Jacob died the number of Israel-ites in the land of Egypt increased, and they became a great nation;and they were united in heart and mind, so that each one loved hisbrother and helped his brother. And their numbers increased moreand more and multiplied greatly, ten weeks of years, all the timeJ that Joseph was alive. And there was no adversary1 nor any evil toafflict them all the time that Joseph lived after his father Jacob'sdeath, for while Joseph lived all the Egyptians held the Israelites inhigh esteem.

:t And Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten: for seventeen

years he lived in the land of Canaan, for ten years he was a servant,for three years he was in prison, and for eighty years he was viceroyt and ruled the whole of the land of Egypt. And he died, and so did all') his brothers and all that generation. And belorc he died he gaveinstructions to the Israelites to take his bones with them when theyi) went out of the land of Egypt. And he put them on oath regardinghis bones, for he knew that the Egyptians would not take him andbury him in the land of Canaan (lor Makaniaron,2 king of Canaan,while living in the land of Assyria, fought in the valley with the kingof Egypt and killed him there, and pursued the Egyptians to the7 gates of Krmon.* But he was not able to get inside, because anotherking, a new one, had become king of Egypt, arid he was strongerthan he was, and so he returned to the land ofCanaan; and the gateof Egypt was shut, and no one went out of Egypt and no one wentH in). And Joseph died in the forty-sixth jubilee, in the sixth week, inthe second year; and they buried him in the land of Egypt. And allhis brothers died after him.

‘I And the king of Egypt went out to war with the king ofCanaan in

the forty-seventh jubilee, in the second week in the second year;and the Israelites brought out all the bones of Jacob’s childrenexcept Joseph’s, and they buried them in the country, in the double

10 cave in the mountain. And most of them returned to Egy pt, but afew of them remained in the mountains of Hebron; and your father

11 Amram remained among them. And the king of Canaan wasvictorious over the king of Egypt; and he shut the gate of Egypt.

1 Or ‘Satan’. : Alternative reading 'Mainkeron'.

•* According to Charles this is Heroonpolis. near the desert, on the canal ofRamses.

131

12 And he devised an infamous plan 10 afflict the Israelites: and he1H said to the Egyptians, Behold the Israelite people have increased innumber and multiplied more than we have. Come then, let us takesteps to curb them4 before they become too many, and let us wearthem down with heavy labour.5 in case war conies on us and theyjoin our enemies6 and fight against us too and leave our landaltogether (lor their hearts and faces are always turned towards theIt land of Canaan). And he set over them taskmasters7 to wear themdown with heavy labour. And they built strong c ities for Pharaoh,Pi thorn and Raamscs; and they built all the walls and all the15 fortifications which had fallen in the cities'* of Egypt. And theyforced them into slavery; but the more harshly they treated them.Iti the more their numbers increased and multiplied. And the Egyptiansdespised6 the Israelites.

XLVII. And in the seventh week, itt the seventh year, in the Ibrty-seventh jubilee, your father left the land of Canaan, and you wereborn in the fourth week, in its sixth year, in the forty-eighth jubilee:2 this was a time of great distress for the Israelites. And Pharaoh,king of Egypt, issued an order that they should throw all male:t children born to them into the river. And for seven months theythrew them in; and your mother hid you lor three months, but4 information was laid against her.1 So she made a basket lor you.and covered it with tar and pitch, and put it among the reeds by theriver’s bank, and put you in it; and you were there for seven days, andyour mother came by night and suckled you, and by day your sisterMiriam kept you from the birds.

;> And in those days Tharmuth, Pharaoh’s daughter, came tobathe in the river, and she heard your voice crying; and she told her(> maids2 to fetch you out, and they brought you to her. And she lifted

4 Kell, 'let us act cleverly against ihcin’: Lae. 'let us alllicl them'.

5 Kth. ‘let us allliet them with slavers': Lat. 'let us humble them hy (in > their

works' - and similarly in verse 14. 41 So I.at.: Kill, ‘the enemy'.

’ Kth. lit. 'elders of'workmen': l.at. 'executors of works'

■ So Lat.: Kth. 'city*. * Lit. 'regarded as an abomination'.

1 Lit. ‘and they told concerning her'.

2 Lit. 'maid': Kth. 'Hebrew women* (by a misreading ofa presumed (»k. originaldfigaig as T^aiag)

IA'2

7 you out of the basket and t<xik pity on yon. And vmir sister said toher. Shall I go anti call you one ol the Hebrew women to nurse thisH babe and suckle him lor you? And she said to her. Please do. ' Andshe went and called your mother Jochebed; and site paid her lor') nursing you. And afterwards, when you were old enough,4 theybrought you to Pharaoh's daughter5 and you became her son, andyour father Amram taught you to write; and three weeks after thatthey took you to the royal court.

10 And you were three weeks of years at court, until one day youwent out from the royal court and saw an Egyptian belabouringone of your fellow- Israelites, and you killed him and hid him in the

11 sand. And on the next day you found two Israelites fighting, andIJ you asked the culprit,6 why are you hitting your brother? And he

was angry and indignant and said. Who made you a chief andjudge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptianyesterday? And you were frightened by what he said and fled.

XL VIII. And in the sixth year of the third week of the forty-ninthjubilee you went and lived in the land ofMidian;1 and you stayed therefor five weeks and a year. And you returned to Egypt in the second> week, in the second year, in thr fiftieth jubilee. And you yourselfknow what the Lord said to you on Mount Sinai, and what theprince Mastema tried to do with you when you were returning toi Egypt, on the way when you met him at the lodging-place.* Did henot try his very best to kill you and deliver the Egyptians from you.when he saw that you were sent to execute judgement and ven-t gcance on the Egyptians? And I delivered you from him; and youperformed the signs and portents which you were sent to performin Egypt against Pharaoh, and against his whole household, andagainst his servants, and against his people.

* Lit. *(;«» .

4 Lil. 'when you were grown'.

' Bo ill Kth. and Lat. Pharaoh's house*.

“ So Kth. (lit. "said to him who was doing the wrong ): l.ut. ‘said to him who washitting his iieighlx>ur'.

1 Kth. oin. 'in the bud ol Midian'.

5 So Ijit.: Kill, corrupt (though it might mean ‘on the way. at Kiatli. in thrlodging- place').

Jubilees

m

') And the Lord look a fearful vengeance on than for Israel’s sake.And he plagued them’ with blood and frogs, lice and dog-flics, andwith festering boils: their cattle died: he destroyed with hail-stoneseverything they had that grew, and locusts ate what the hail hadleft: he plagued them with darkness and (the death)4 of their first-born, of men and of animals: and on all their gods5 the Lord<1 took vengeance and burned them with fire. And everything wasarranged through you,6 that you should declare7 these things beforethev were done; and vou spoke with the king of Kgypt in the7 presence of all his servants and in the presence of his people. Andeverything happened just as you had said: ten great and terriblejudgements came on the land of Kgypt to execute vengeance on itH for Israel. And the Lord did everything tor Israel’s sake, and inaccordance with his covenant that he had made with Abraham,that he would lake vengeance on them because they had enslavedthem.

‘i And the prince Mastema set himself against you and tried to getyou into Pharaoh’s clutches; and he helped the Kgyptian sorcerers,and they set themselves up against you and did the best theyin could.H (For, although we let them do the evils, we did not allow11 them to effect their cure.) And the Lord struck them w ith the boils,and they were not able to stand against you (for we destroyed themso that they could not perform a single sign).

\'£ Vet in spite ofall these signs and marvels the prince Mastema was

not put to shame because9 he encouraged the Kgyptians10 to pursueyou with all the might of Kgypt, with their chariots and with theiri:$ horses and with all the forces of the people of Kgypt. And I stoodbetween the Kgyptians and Israel; and we delivered Israel fromhim and from his people, and the Lord brought them through theH middle of the sea, as if it were dry land. And all the people he hadbrought in pursuit of Israel, the Lord our God threw them into thesea - into the depths of the abyss beneath the Israelites, just as the

* Lit. ‘he struck them': Kth. adds ‘and killed them'.

4 Omitted by both Kth. and Lat.

* So Kth.: I .at. 'all (he gods of the Kgyptians'.

6 Lit. 'was sent through your hand'. ’ Text ‘do’.

* I,it.‘and wrought before you'. ” Text‘until’.

10 Lit. ‘hr took rourage and cried to the Kgyptians'.

people of Egypt had thrown their children into the river. He tookvengeance on a million of them; and a thousand strong and activemen were destroyed for each babe in arms from among your peoplei:> that they had thrown into the river. (On the fourteenth day, and onthe fifteenth, and on the sixteenth, and on the seventeenth, and onthe eighteenth, the prince Masteina had been kept bound and inchains" behind the Israelites, so that he could not harass1’ them.lt> And on the nineteenth wc let them" loose so that they could help17 the Egyptians and encourage them lo pursue the Israelites. And hemade them obstinate and stubborn — the plan was devised by theLord our God so that he could strike the Egyptians down andIH throw them into the sea. And we bound him on the fourteenth day'*so that he could not harass12 the Israelites on the day they askedthe Egyptians for ornaments'* and clothing - ornaments15 of silverand gold and bronze, in order to despoil the Egyptians in return forl*i the slavery they had forced upon them. And so we did not bring theIsraelites out of Egypt empty-handed.)

XLIX. Remember the commandment which the Lord gave youconcerning the Passover, that you should celebrate it in its seasonon the fourteenth of the first month, that you should slaughter thelamb1 before the evening, and that it should be eaten at night on2 the evening of the fifteenth after sunset. For on this night (thebeginning of the festival and the beginning of the rejoicing) youwere eating the Passover in Egypt, when all the powers ofMaslcma had been let loose to kill all the first-born in the land ofEgypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh to the first-born of thecaptive maid-servant at the mill and to the cattle.

And this is the sign that the Lord gave them - they should notenter any house with intent to kill, on the door-posts of which theysaw the blood of a yearling lamb, but should pass it by, so that allthose in the house might be preserved because the sign of the blood

11 Lit. ‘locked up'. 11 Or‘accuse'

*' i.c. Masteina and his minions.

14 The MSS vary between 'fourteenth', 'fifteenth', and 'seventeenth'.

'* Or 'articles’, ‘objects'.

Jubilees 133

r was on its door-posts. And the powers of the Lord did everythingjust as the Lord commanded them, and they passed over all theIsraelites, and the plague did not touch them and destroyed not so

5 much as a single man or beast or dog among them. But among theEgyptians2 3 the plague struck savagely, and there was not a house

(> in Egypt without its dead and weeping and lamentation. Andmeanwhile all Israel was eating the flesh of the paschal lamb, anddrinking the wine, and singing praises, and blessing and givingthanks to the Lord God of their fathers, all ready to escape from theyoke of Egypt and the shackles of their slavery.-'

7 And remember this day all the days of your life and observe itregularly, once a year, on its appointed day. in accordance with allits regulations;4 and do not change its date, either from one day to

8 another, or from one month to another. For it is a rule tor all time,and it is written on the heavenly tablets concerning all Israelites,that they should observe it every year on its appointed day, once ayear, in every generation; and there is no time limit, for it is decreed

9 for ever. And whoever is not unclean and fails to come and observeit on its proper day, and to bring an acceptable ofl'ering in theLord’s presence, and to cat and drink in the Lord’s presence, onthe day it is celebrated, that man. if he is clean and near at hand,shall be rooted up: inasmuch as he has not offered the Lord’sofl'ering at the proper time, he must accept responsibility for hissin.5

0 Let the Israelites come and celebrate the Passover6 at the timeappointed, on the fourteenth day of the first month at dusk,7 fromthe third part of the day to the third part of the night (for two partsof the day are given to the light and a third part to the evening).

1 This is what the Lord commanded you - that you should celebrate

2 it8 at dusk.7 And the lamb1 should not be slaughtered at any timeduring the daylight, but only towards the evening; and it should beeaten between the time when evening comes and the third part of

1 l.it. 'in Kgypt’.

' Lit.‘theevil bondage'. * Lit.‘law’.

3 Lit. 'that man will bear his sin*.

• Or ‘ofl'er the paschal lamb*: lit. ‘do the Passover’.

1 Eth. lit. 'between the evenings" (as in the Hcb. at Exod. xii. 6): [.at. lit. 'at

eventide’ (asin theGk.at Exod. xii.6). 1 Lit.‘doit’.

I ‘Mi Jubilees

the night, and if after wards'* any of its flesh is left over, it must beburnt in the fire.

1 :i And it shall not be boiled in water, nor shall it he eaten raw, hut

roast on the fire: it must he eaten10 with care:11 its head with itsentrails and its feel shall be roasted on the fire; and no Ixme of itI \ shall he broken (for of Israelites no Ixme shall be crushed12). Thatis why the Lord commanded Israelites to celebrate the Passover* atthe time appointed, and not to break any of the lamb's bones;" forit is a festal day, and a day he has commanded, and there can beno changing it from day to day, and from month to month, but only\r> on its proper day14 must it be celebrated.'5 And command the]Israelites to celebrate the Passover6 generation after generation,every year, once a year at the time appointed: and it will serve as areminder, acceptable to the Lord, and no plague shall come uponthem to harm them or destroy them in any year in which theycelebrate the Passover6 at the proper time and in every way inaccordance with what he has commanded.h> And the lamb1 shall not be eaten outride the Lord's sanctuary,but w ithin its precincts;16 and the whole community of Israel shall17 offer it17 at the time appointed. And every one who comes thenshall eat it,K in the sanctuary of your19 God in the Lord's presence,from twenty years old and upw ards; for so it is written and decreedthat they should eat it in the Ix>rd’s sanctuary.

IK And when the Israelites come into the land they arc to occupy,the land ol'C'anaan, and set up the Lord’s tabernacle in one of their

* Lit. ‘from the third part of the night'.

Kill, obscure: I .at. ‘you shall rat it’.

11 So both Klh. and fail. here, understanding the (»k. jiCTd tmovdffe at Kxod. xii.

II in this sense. At verse 23 below, however. Klh. (Lat. is not extant) takes the sense‘in haste', w hich is clearly preferable in Ixith places in the light of the underlyingHrb. b'ftippa^on (ep. also Drill, xvi. 3).

So Kill.: Lat. 'and there shall be no tribulation among Israelites in that day’.

lat. ‘break any Ixme of it’.

14 Klh. ‘on the day of its festival': I.at. ‘at its own time'.

,s Or‘offered*.

16 Kth. ‘within view of the lord's sanctuary': 1-iit. ‘alongside the Lord’stabernacle'. 11 Or 'celebrate the Passover': lit. ‘do it*.

'* Kth. 'And every man who has come on its day shall eat it’: Lat. is difficult andpresumably corrupt (Vf omnis homo quicumqur fnatlermiseni in ruitatione manduearetilutf). w So Kth.: Lat. 'our*.

Jubilees

1

tribes, till the Lord's sanc tuary is built in the land, they shall comeand celebrate the Passover* in the Lord's tabernacle and slaughterI!) tin* lamb1 in the Lord's presence from year to year. And when thehouse is built in the Lord's name in the land of their heritage, theyshall go there and slaughter the paschal lamb in tin* evening, at

20 sunset, at the third part of the day. And they shall oiler its blood atthe base of the altar, and they shall place its fat on the lire that is onthe altar, and they shall eat its llesh roast on the fire in the court of

21 the house which has been hallowed in the Lord's name. And theymay not celebrate the Passover* in their c ities, nor in any otherplace, but only within the precincts of the Lord's tabernacle, orw ithin the precincts of his house w here his name dwells: and theyshall not go astray from the Lord.

22 And as for you. Moses, command the Israelites to keep the rulesof the Passover, as you yourself have received them: draw theirattention to them*’"every year on the day appointed and during theFeast of unleavened bread;*1 and command them to cal unleavenedbread for seven days, and to keep the feast and make an olleringevery day during those seven days of joy in the Lord's presence on

2:1 the altar of your (»od. For you celebrated this feast in haste whenyou set out from Kgypt. till you entered the wilderness of.Shur. anilit was only on the sea-shore that you completed it.

L. And alter this law I made known to you the laics of 'the sablmth2 days in the desert ofSiuai. which is between Klim and Sinai. And 1told you about the sabbaths of the land on mount Sinai, and I toldyou about the jubilee years in the sabbaths of years; but its yearhave we not told you till you enter the land you are to occupy. Andthe land also shall keep its sabbaths while the sons of Israel1 arel living in it; and then shall they know the jubilee year. And so I haveset in order for you the year-weeks, and the years, and the jubilees:there are forty-nine jubilees, one week, and two years, from theda vs of Adam until to-day; and there are Ibrty years yet to come,’

20 Sonne Kth. MS and Lat.: the other Hth. MSS diller hut give the general sense'you shall perform it‘.

*' This seems the sense required. though neither Kill, imr I.at, are eompletehintelligible by themselves.

1 Lit. “they’.

■ Lit. 'distant'.

1 Mi

jubilees

in which to learn the commandments ni the Lord, before they passover into the land of Canaan and cross thejordan to the west. Andthe jubilees shall pass hy till Israel is cleansed from all guilt offornication, and uncleanness, and ]x>llution. and sin. and error,and dwells in safety in all the land; and there shall no longer he anadversary' or any evil power4 to afflict them. and the land shall beclean from that day forward forevermore.

And behold, the commandment about the sabbaths, and all therules and regulations.5 I have written down for you. Six days youshall work, but on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord yourGod: on it you shall do no work, neither you. nor your sons, noryour slaves, nor your slave-girls, nor any of your cattle, nor thealien who is among you. And the man that does any work on it shalldie: whoever desecrates that day. whoever lies with a woman, orwhoever talks on it alxmt anything he intends to do (what. Jotexample, he will buy or sell next day), and whoever draws water onit because he did not remember to draw it on the sixth day.* orwhoever lifts any load to carry it out of his tent or out of his house,shall die. You shall do no work whatever on the sabbath day: onlywhat you have prepared lor yourselves on the sixth day shall you eatand drink. so that you may eat and drink and rest and keep sabbathfrom all work on that day, and bless the Lord your God who hasgiven you a festal day and a holy day; and this day shall be a day ofthe holy kingdom for all Israel among their days lor ever. For greatis the honour which the Lord has given Israel, to eat and drinktheir fill on this festal day, and to rest on it from all the work menhave to do. except to burn frankincense and present offerings andsacrifices in the Lord’s presence even, day and every sabbath.7

I bis work alone shall be done on the sabbath days in the sanctuaryof the Lord your God, that atonement may be made for Israel withofferings continually, day by day, as a reminder, aceptable to theLord, and that he may receive them always, day by day. just as youhave been commanded. And any man who does any work on thesabbath days," or goes on a journey or tills a field (whether at home

* Or'a Satan'. * Lit. 'any evil one".

5 Lit. ’and all the judgements of its laws'.

* Lit. 'which he has not prepared tor himself on the sixth day'.

7 Lit. *fbr days and for sabbaths'. * Lit.‘on them’.

139

Jubilees

or elsewhere), and whoever lights a tire or loads any beast ortravels by ship on the sea, and whoever shoots or kills anything orslaughters a beast or bird or takes9 an animal or a bird or a fish, or13 whoever fasts or makes war on the sabbath-the man who does anyof these things on the sabbath shall die, so that the sons of Israelmay observe the sabbaths in accordance with the commandmentsconcerning the sabbaths of the land, as it is written on the tabletswhich he gave into my hands to write out for you the laws of theseasons, and the seasons according to the division of their days.

And with this the account of the division of the days is complete.

Or ‘catches'.

THE LIFE OF ADAM AND EVE

INTRODUCTION

The Lite- of Adam and Eve here translated is the Latin version ofthe story of Adam and Eve from the time of their expulsion fromParadise until their deaths.

Jewish legends eonnected with Adam and Eve and their childrenabound. So much is elcar from the Rabbinic literature. Vet there isno direct evidence for the existence of any pre-Christian writtencollection of these legends in either Hebrew or Aramaic. TheChurch, however, seems to have known a number of apparentlydifferent Adam books from a comparatively early date: Kpiphanius,for example, says that ‘many' Onostic hooks were attributed toSeth and 'revelations' to Adam,1 the Apostolic Constitutionsmentions Adam along with Moses and Enoch as one of the ‘ancients'who wrote apocryphal books.2 3 and the Gelasian Decree includes inits list of apocrypha ‘the hook that is called I'he Penitence of

Ada mV

The Adam books whic h have survived have various titles: theyhave been preserved in a variety of forms and recensions, and in avariety of languages. Some arc distinct: others are interrelated,some obviously so, others less obviously. Thus, the Coptic'Apocalypse of Adam', discovered near Nag Hammadi in 1945,has no points of contact at all with the Syriac ‘Testament of Adam’(apart from its form), nor with the Ethiopic ‘Conflict of Adam andEve with Satan': cm the other hand, our Latin ‘Life of Adam andEve’ has a number of points of contact with the Ethiopic ‘Conflict’,but nothing like as many as it has with the Armenian ‘Book ofAdam’. No attempt will be made, therefore, cither to summarizethe contents of these books individually, or to disentangle the verycomplicated interrelationships where they exist. Fundamental tothe group most closely related to our ‘Life’ would appear to be the

1 Kpiph. Han. XXVI. viii. I.

2 Const. Apost. VI. xvi. 3.

3 Deer. Gelas. v. 6.

Greek work edited by Tischcndorf in 1866 (under the title ‘TheApocalypse of Moses'4) and again by Geriani two years later.5

Despite the very considerable dillerences in detail, Tischcndorf sApocalypse* covers in all essentials the same ground as our 'Life’.On the debit side il lacks the account of the penitence of Adam andKvc contained in Life i—xxi. as well as the vision of Adam in Lifexxv-xxix: on the credit side, it puts into the mouth of Eve a muchmore elaborate account of the Fall, a translation of which, becauseof its inherent interest, is printed in full as an appendix at the end ofour translation of the Life.6

So far as the origin of the Apocalypse is concerned, there isnothing in it that is necessarily Christian; and for this reason manyregard it as a purely Jewish work, some even going as far as toclaim that it is a translation from a Semitic original. But for thislast view there is no sound evidence. Against it is the presence ofcertain Greek terms and expressions, which are unlikely to befound in a translation, and the fact that references and allusions tothe Old Testament betray dependence on the Septuagint. All thatcan safely be said about it is that the author, whether Jew orChristian, constructed his narrative making use of such Jewishtraditions or written sources as were known to him: that he almostcertainly wrote in Greek; and that in all probability he is to bedated within the first three Christian centuries. Wells, for instance,saw the author as a Jew of the Dispersion, w ho wrote perhaps atAlexandria, ‘between AD 60 and 3(H), and probably in the earliestyears of this period’. Wells reckoned, however, with the possibilitythat the extant Greek text may be ‘a slightly revised version’.7

The Latin text of the Life, with which wc are more immediatelyconcerned, was first published by Meyer in 1878 from twelve MSS,all (with one exception) at Munich and dating from the 9th to loth

* This title was Tischendorfs own. His tour MSS all gave as title (with minorvariations) ‘The Story and Life of Adam and Eve, revealed by God to Nloscs hisservant, when he received the tables of the Law of the Covenant from the Lord’shand, being taught by the archangel Michael'.

* Ceriani primed only the text of Cod. Ambrosianus C. 237 Inf. (llth cent.;— Tischcndorf's ‘D’), which unfortunately has a lacuna of eighteen chapters in themiddle. To-day more than twenty MSS are known.

* See below, pp. 161 — 67.

7 L.S.A. Wells in R. H. Charles. APOTii. pp. 129 and 130.

The Life of Adam and Eve

143

cents. In 1929J. H. Mozlcy primed a text based on twelve 13th-15th cent. English MSS. This text docs not differ markedly fromMeyer’s in content: it only makes even more clear what is alreadyevident from Meyer, namely that the mediaeval copyists of the Lifehad no scruples about altering and expanding the phraseology oftheir original whenever they felt so inclined, or about incorporat-ing odd scraps of additional material (hat came their way whereverit seemed appropriate.

As already indicated, it is the presence of not a little of suchadditional material in the Latin Life which particularly differ-entiates it from the Greek ‘Apocalypse’. Some of this additionalmaterial is undoubtcdlyjewish-as, for example, the legend whichappears in Life 1-li, that, in accordance with Eve's final instruc-tions before her death, Seth wrote down the story of Adam and Eveand ‘all that he had heard and seen from them' both on ‘tablets ofstone’ and on ‘tablets of clay', so that whatever form the threatenedjudgement took, whether fire or flood, the record on one or othermight survive.8 Some of the additional material, however, is un-doubtedly Christian - as, for example, the speech of Michael inxli.2—xlii.5 prophesying the coming upon earth of ‘the mostbeloved King. Christ, the son of God’, which is almost verballyidentical with Michael’s speech as given in the ‘Latin A' recensionof the Acts of Pilate (Gospel of Xicodcmus) chap. xix. The Life isthus a typical compound of Jewish and Christian elements, butwith the Jewish predominating. It has come down to us in Latin,yet the occurrence from time to time of transliterated Greek words(e.g. cinnamomum et calammlhen el nardum at xliii.3) makes it asreasonably certain as anything can he that it is basically a transla-tion of a Greek original. It is best explained as the translationeither of a later recension of the ‘Apocalypse’, or, possibly but lessprobably, of one of the sources behind the ‘Apocalypse1.

The English translation which follows is based on the Latin asprinted by Meyer.

* Gp. Josephus, Ant. I. ii. H (70-71).

141

The Life oj Adam and Eve

BIBLIOGRAPHY

F.IMTIONS

Latin

\\. MlA'KR, Tita Adae et Evae (— Ahhand/ungen der phtlosopisch-phihlogischen ('.time der koniglich Bare rise hen Akademie der MY.«en-schqflen. \iv. 3 (Munich. 1878). pp. 185—230).

J. H. MoZI.KV. ‘The “\’ita Adae" ' in JTS xxx (1029), pp.121-149.

also:

Creek

(L TlscHKNDORF. Apocalypses apoenphae (Leipzig, 1866), pp.

I-25.

A. Nt. GF.RI.WI, Monument a sacra et prof ana. V. i (Milan. 1868), pp.

19-24.

and:

M. R. J A NIKS, ‘A Fragment of the Apocalypse of Adam in Greek’in Apocrypha Anecdota: A Collection of Thirteen Apocryphal Books andFragments (— TS ii. 3: Cambridge. 1893). pp. 138-145.

Syriac

M. KnIOSKO. Teslamentum pains nostri Adam (— Patrologia Syriac a.1. ii (Paris, 1907), pp. 1306-1360). [Together with a Latintranslation.]

K. RKNAN. ‘Fragments du livre gnostique inutile. Apocalypsed’Adam. on Penitance d’Adam. ou Testament d’Adam, publicsd’apres deux versions syriaques’ in Journal nsiatique. v. 2 (Paris,1853). pp. 427-471. [Together with a French translation.]

also:

CL BKZOI.D. Die Schatzhohle, syrisch und deutsch herausgegehen, II.Texte (Leipzig, 1888).

Armenian

S. HoYSF.PHK.WTZ. A Treasury of Old and Sew Primitive Writers.Vol. I [Vncanonicul Rooks of the Old Testament^ Y'enice, 1896), pp.1-26 and 307-332.

Coptic

A. BOH Lie; and P. LABIB. Koptisch-gnostische Apokalypsen ausCodex V vonNagHammadi(Halle-Wittenberg. 1963). pp. 86-117.

Eth topic

E. TRl'MPP, Der Kampf Adams: Aethiopischer Text, verglichen mil demarabischen Original text (= Abhandlungen der ph ilosoph isch-philo-logischen Classe der koniglich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften,xv. 3 (Munich. 1881). pp. 1-172.)

Georgian

Cl. K.VRGIKTDZEin P'ilologiuri dziebani. i (Tiflis. 1964). pp.97-186.

Slavonic

V. j ACJlC:. Slavische Beilrdge ~w den btblischen Apocryphen. I. Die alt-kirchen-slavischen Texte des Adambuches (= Denkschriften derkaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philos.-hist. Classe. xlii(Vienna, 1893), pp. 1-104.)

I. IVANOV. Bogomilski knigi i legendi (Sofia, 1925). pp. 207-227.

TRANSLATIONS

English

L. S. A. WKl.l.sin R. H. Charles, APOTii. pp. 123-154. [Ofthe Latin.]

A. WALK HR. Apocryphal Gospels. Acts, and Revelations (= Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. xvi; Edinburgh. 1870). pp. 454-467.[Of the Greek Aporalypsc of Moses.]

E. A. WALLIS Budge. The Book of the Cave of Treasures . . .Translated from the Syriac text of (he British Museum MS. Add. 25875(London. 1927). pp. 51-74.

F. C. CONYBEARF., ‘On the Apocalypse of Moses’ in JQR vii(London, 1895), pp. 216-235. [Of the Armenian.]

J. ISSAVF.RDENS. UWOT2 pp. 31-78. [Ofthe Armenian.]

S. C. MALAN. The Book of Adam and Ere, also called The Conflict ofAdam and Eve with Satan (London. 1882). [Of the Ethiopie.j

French

E. RENAN, ‘Fragments du livre gnostique . . .’. [as above: of theSyriac.]

146 The Life oj Adam and Eve

J.-P. M.\HK in Studies in Gnosticism and Hellenistic Religions fed.R. VAN I)EN BROEKand M. ]. VERMASERHN; Leiden, 1981),pp. 227—260. [Oft he Georgian.]

German

C, Fl'CHS in E. KaI'TZSCH. APATW. pp. 506—528.

P. RlKSSLF.R, AjSaB.2 pp. 668-681 [of the Latin]; pp. 138-155[of the Greek Apocalypse of Moses]; pp. 1084—1090 [of theSyriac Testament of Adam]; pp. 944-951 [of the Syriac Gave ofTreasures].

G. BEZOl.D, Die Schatzhdh/e. svrisch und deulsch herausgegeben. I.i’bersetzung (Leipzig. 1883).

E. PREl SCHEN. ‘Dieapokryphen gnostischen Adamschriften ausdem armenischen iibersetzt und untcrsuchf in Festgruss JurBernhard Slade (Giessen. 1900). pp. 163-252.

G. F. A. DILI.MANN. Das christliche Adambuch des Morgenlandes ausdem Athiopischen mil Bernerkungen iibersetzt (Gottingen. 1853).

(JEN KRAI.

A.-.M. Denis. IPG AT. pp. 3-14.

O. ElSSFELDT. 077, pp. 636-637.

L. ClNZBKRG, art. ‘Adam, Book of in JE\ (New York. I901),pp.179-180.

. The legends of the Jews. i (Philadelphia. 1909). pp. 86-102 and

v (Philadelphia, 1925), pp. 114—131.

F. J. A. H()RT, art. ‘Adam. Books of in \V. SMITH andH. \\ ACE, .4 Dictionary of Christian Biography, i (London. 1877),pp.34-39

M. R. James.LAOT pp. 1-8.

P. RiKSSI.ER, AjSaBj pp. 1273-1274, 1311-1312. 1325-1326,1332.

L. Rost, EATAP. pp. 114-116.

E. SCHC'RER, HfPTJC II. iii. pp. 147-148.

, GjVZJC* iii. pp. 396-399.

J. L. SHARPE. ‘The Second Adam in the Apocalypse of Moses’ inCBQxxxv (1973). pp. 35-46.

C. C. Torrey, AL, pp. 131-133.

life of adam and eve

The Life of Adam and Eve 147

£. TURD KAN L\ Wpocryphes bogomiles et apocryphcs pscudo-bogomilcs’ in Revue de Thistoire des religions, cxxxviii (19.r)0), pp.187-194.

I. When they were driven out of Paradise they made a booth forthemselves and spent seven days mourning and lamenting in greatgrief.

II. But after seven days they began to be hungry and started to2 look for food to eat, and they did not find it. Then five said to

Adam, My lord, I am hungry. Go and look for something for us to eat.Perhaps the Lord God will relent and pity us and recall us to theplace where we were before.

III. And Adam got up and roamed for seven days through all that

2 land and found no food of the kind they had had in Paradise. AndEve said to Adam, Would you kill me and have me dead? Then,perhaps, the Lord God will take you back into Paradise, for it was

3 because of me that you were driven out of it. Adam answered. Donot say such things, Eve, lest the Lord God bring on us some othercurse. How could 1 stretch out my hand against my own flesh?Rather let us bestir ourselves and look for something to keepourselves alive on.

IV. And they wandered about and searched for nine days; and theyfound nothing of the kind they had had in Paradise, but found only

2 animals' food. And Adam said to Eve, Phis kind of food the Lord hasprovided for the animals and beasts to cat, but wc had angels’ food.

3 Yet it is right and proper for us to lament in the sight of God whomade us. Let us be truly penitent.1 Perhaps the Lord God will begracious to us and pity us and give us something to live on.

V. And Eve said to Adam, What is penitence?1 'Fell me, my lord,2 what sort of penitence1 should I do? Let us not impose on ourselves

1 Lit. “Let us repent with a great repentance’.

1 Or‘penance’.

148

The Life of Adam and Ere

too great a strain so that vve cannot l>ear it. with the result that theLord will not listen to our prayers, and turn his lace away from usi because we have not done what we promised. My lord, how muchpenitence1 have you in mind? I have indeed brought trouble andtribulation on you.

VI. And Adam said to Eve, You cannot do as much as 1 can, so doonly as much as you have strength for. I will spend forty daysfasting. As for you. get up and go to the River Tigris and take astone and stand on it in the water up to your neck in the deep part ofthe river. And let no words pass your lips,' since we arc unworthyto ezurcat the Lord, for our lips are unclean because of the unlawful

1 and forbidden tree. And stand in the water of the river lor thirty-seven days. I will spend my forty days in the water of Jordan.Perhaps the Lord Chid will take pity on us.

VII. And Eve made her way to the River Tigris and did as Adam

2 had told her. So, too, Adam made his way to the River Jordan andstood on a stone up to his neck in water.

VIII. And Adam said. I bid you, water of Jordan, share my grief;and assemble for me all those creatures in you that swim, and letthem surround me and mourn together with me. Let them lament,not for themselves, but for me; for it is not they that have sinned,but I. Immediately all living things came and surrounded him.And from that moment1 the water of Jordan stood still and stoppedits flow.

IX. And eighteen days passed by. Then Sataii in anger trans-formed himself into the brightness of the angels, and went off to the

2 River Tigris, to Eve, and found her weeping. And the devil pre-tended to share her grief himself; and he began to weep and said toher, Come out of the river and lament no more. Cease now fromyour sorrow and jour groans. Why are you anxious, you and youri husband Adam? The Lord God has heard your groans and accepted

1 Or 'pvnancf'.

1 I.it. ‘And speech shall not go out of your mouth.'

1 Lit. ‘hour’.

1 IH

The Life of Adam and Eve

your penitence:1 and all we angels have entreated him on your4 behalf and made supplication to the Lord, and he has sent me tofetch you out of the water and give you the food2 you had in3 Paradise, the loss oj which has caused your present wails. So come outof the water now, and I will take you to the place where your foodhas been made ready.

X. Eve heard this and believed it. and she got out of the water of2 the river; and her lx>dy was blue with cold from the water.1 And

when she had got out she collapsed. And the devil helped her to herfeet and led her to Adam. But when Adam saw her. and the devilwith her, he wept and cried aloud and said. () Eve, Eve, where ist the fruit2 of your penitence?’ How is it that you have been againensnared by our adversary? It was through him we were driven outof our dwelling-place in Paradise as aliens and deprived of allspiritual joy.

XI. When she heard this. Eve realized it was the devil who hadpersuaded her to get out of the river; and she fell on her face on theearth, and her sorrow and groaning and wailing wore redoubled.

2 And she cried out and said Woe to you. devil. Why do you attack usfor no reason? Why do you interfere with us?' What have we done:t to you that you pursue us with suck craft?2 Or why is your malicedirected against us?' Have we taken away your glory and causedyou to be dishonoured? Why, enemy, do you persecute us to thedeath with such malice and such spite?

XII. And with a heavy sigh the devil said. () Adam! all invhostility, envy, and sorrow is in consequence of you, lor it is

1 Or ‘penance’. 2 I.it. ‘nourishment’.

1 ()r 'she was quivering all over with cold from the water’. The fora* ol the similein the text as it stands (lit. ‘her flesh was like grass from the cold of the water’) isobscure.

1 I.it.'work'. ’ Or'penance'.

1 I.it. ‘What have you to do with us?'

' Reading with the text dolose: some emend todolore (‘with such pain').

■' Lit. 'Or what has your malice to do with us?'

150

The Life of Adorn and Eve

because of you that I was driven from my glory, which I had inheaven among the angels, and because of you I was thrown out2 onto the earth. Adam answered. What have I done to you, or whatcan you blame me for? We have done you no harm or injury. Why,then, do you pursue us?

XIU. The devil replied, Adam, what arc you saying to me? It was2 on account of you that I was thrown out of heaven.1 When you

were formed I was expelled from the presence of God and banishedfrom the company of the angels. When God breathed into you thebreath of life, and your face and likeness was made in the image ofGod. Michael brought you and made us worship you in the sight ofGod; and the Lord Got! said, Here is Adam. I have made him2 inour image and likeness.

XIV. And Michael went out and called all the angels, saying,2 Worship the image of God as the Lord God has commanded. And

Michael himself worshipped first. And then he called me and said,Worship the image of God. And I answered, I have no duty toworship Adam. And since Michael kept urging me to worship, Isaid to him. Why do you urge me? I will not worship an inferiorand a y ounger being than I am. I am his senior in creation: before hewas made I was already made: he ought to worship me.

XV. When the rest of the angels, who were under me, heard this,

2 they loo refused to worship him. And Michael said, Worship theimage of God; and, if you will not worship him, you will make the

S Lord God very angry. And I said. If he is angry with me, I will setmy seal above the stars of heaven and I will be like the Most High.

XVI. And the Lord God was angry with me and banished me andmy angels from our glory; and on your account were we drivenfrom our dwelling-places into this world and thrown out onto the

*2 earth. At this we were overcome with grief, since wc had been

3 deprived of so great glory'. And we were pained to sec you in such

4 joy and luxury. So I beguiled your wife and caused you to be driven

1 Lit. ’thciifp*. 2 The MSS read ‘you’.

The Life of Adam and Eve 151

from your joy and luxury through her. just as 1 was driven from myglory.

XVII. When Adam heard the devil say this, he fried out and wept;and he said, O Lord my God. my life is in your hands. Put far fromme this adversary, who seeks to destroy my soul, and give me his

1 glory which he himself has lost. And immediately the devil vanished3 from him. But Adam persevered lor forty days, standing in peni-tence* in the water of Jordan.

XVIII. And Eve said to Adam. Live out your life. my lord. You aregranted life, since you are guilty of neither the first nor the seconderror. But I have erred and been led astray, for 1 have not keptGod's commandment. Gut me olf now from the light of your life.

2 and I will go westwards’ and remain* there till I die. And shebegan to make her way towards the regions of the west and to

3 mourn and weep bitterly and groan aloud. And she made there abooth, having been pregnant for about three months.

XIX. And when the time came for the child to be born she wasseized with pains; and she cried aloud to the Lord and said. Have

2 mercy on me. Lord, and help me. But she was not heard and God's

3 mercy was denied her.1 And she said to herself. Who will tell mylord Adam? 1 implore you, luminaries of heaven, on your way backto the east, bear a message to my lord Adam.

XX. At that very moment* Adam said, A cry of woe from Eve2 has2 reached me: perhaps the serpent has attacked her once again. And

he went and found her in great distress. And Eve said. As stx>n as Isaw you, my lord, my grief-stricken soul was refreshed. And nowentreat the Lord God for me. that he may listen to you, and look on

1 Or‘penance’.

1 Lit.‘to the sunset'. 1 Lit.‘be’.

1 Lit. ‘was not around her’.

1 Lit.‘hour’. * Or‘Eve's cry of woe’.

1 f)2 The Life of Adam and Ere

:t me and fret* me from my awful pains. And Adam entreated theLord lor F.ve.

XXI. And behold, twelve angels came and two powers, and theystood on Eve's right and on her left. And Michael was standing on

J the right. And he stroked her on the face as lar down as her breast;and he said to Eve, You are blessed. Eve. for Adam's sake. Inanswer to his fervent prayers and intercessions1 I have been sent toyou to give vou our help. Get up now and prepare to give birth.H And she bore a son; and he was beautiful.2 And at once the babegot up and ran and brought a blade of grass in his hands and gave itto his mother. And his name was called Gain.3

XXII. And Adam took Eve and the boy and led them towards the> east. And the Lord God sent Michael the archangel with dillerent

kinds of seeds and gave them to Adam and showed him how to workand till the ground so that they might have fruit on which they and:l all their descendants could live. After this Eve conceived and boreanother son, whose name was Abel. And Cain and Abel lived\ together. And Eve said to Adam, My lord, while I was asleep Isaw a vision. The blood of our son Abel was in Cain’s hand, and he:> was gulping it down with his mouth. I am worried by it. And Adamsaid, Cain surely could not murder Abel!1 Yet let us separate themfrom one another and give each of them a separate place to live in.

XXIII. And they made Cain a fanner and Abel they made ai shepherd, so that they were separate from one another. And afterthis Cain murdered Abel (Adam was then a hundred and thirtyyears old, and Abel, when he was murdered, was twenty-two1).

1 Lit. ‘Since his prayers and intercessions are great'.

•’ Or 'shining' {lucidus).

' a blade of grass . . (lain: a Hebrew word-play would seem to be involved here{qaneh . . . Qayyin). parallel to. but different from, that at Gen. iv. 1.

1 Lit. Alas, if Gain should kill Abel'.

1 The text reads *a hundred and twenty-two'. The emendation depends partly oncommon sense and partly on the information in Synccllus (Chron. - cd. Dindorf, i,p. 14) that Abel was twenty-two when he offered his sacrifice.

:i And alter this Adam had intercourse with his wife; and he becamethe father of another son and called his name Seth.

XXIV. And Adam said to Eve. Behold. I have lathered a son in2 place of Abel, whom Cain murdered. And alter Adam had lathered

Seth he lived eight hundred years and fathered thirty sons more andthirty daughters - in all. sixty-three children. And they increasedin numbers and spread everywhere in the earth and becamenations.1

XXV. And Adam said to Seth. Listen. Seth my son. and I will tellyou what I heard and saw after your mother and I had been driven

2 out of Paradise. When we were at prayer. Michael the archangel, aS messenger of God, came to me. And I saw a chariot like the wind,and its wheels were fiery; and I was caught up into the Paradise ofrighteousness. And l saw the Lord silting: and his face was aflaming lire that no man could endure. And many thousands ofangels were on the right and on the left of that chariot.

XXVI. When 1 saw this 1 was thrown into confusion; terror seizedme; and I prostrated myself before God with my face to the ground.

2 And God said to me. Behold, you shall die, because you havetransgressed the commandment of God; for you chose to listen toyour wife, over whom I gave you authority, in order that you mightcontrol her. and you have listened to her and have ignored what 1said.

XXVII. And when I heard these words of God I fell prone on theground and worshipped the Lord and said. My Lord, all-powerfuland merciful God, Holy and Righteous One, let not the name thatis mindful of thy majesty be blotted out; but renew my life,' for 1am at the point of death and my breath is about to leave my mouth.

2 Do not drive me from thy presence, even me, whom thou didst formfrom the clay of the earth. Do not banish from thy favour him

3 whom thou didst rear. And lo, a word concerning you came to me,

* I.ii. ‘And they were multiplied over the earth in their nations".

Lit ‘convert my soul’.

1 >1 The Life of Adam and Eve

and the Lord said lo me. Since your days were fashioned2 you havebeen created with a love of knowledge: your descendants, there-fore. shall never lose the right to serve me.

XXVIII. And when I heard these words I threw myself to theground and adored the Lord God and said. Thou art the eternaland supreme God. and all creatures give thee honour and praise.2 Thou art the True Light, which shines above every light, theLiving Life, the Infinite Mighty Power. To thee the spiritualpowers give honour and praise. Thou workest on the race of menthe miracles of thy mercy.

XXIX. After I had worshipped the Lord. Michael. God's arch-angel. took hold of my hand immediately and led me out1 of the2 Paradise of God's Reckoning.2 And Michael had a rod in his handand touched the waters that surrounded Paradise, and they froze:t hard. And I went across. And Michael the archangel went acrosswith me and led me hack to the place from which he had caught meI up. Listen, Seth my son, to the rest of the secrets also, and themysteries that are to he. which were revealed to me when l hadeaten from the tree of knowledge and learned and understood whatf> is to come to pass in this age. and what God intends to do to theti human race he has created. The Lord will appear in a flame of fire,and from the mouth of his majesty will issue commandments andprecepts: from his mouth also will proceed a two-edged sword; and

7 men will hallow him in the house where his majesty dwells. And hewill show them the marvellous place of his majesty. And then willthey build a house to the Lord their God in the land he will preparefur them; and there will they disobey his precepts. And theirsanctuary will be burnt up, their land deserted, and they them-

8 selves dispersed, because they have aroused the wrath ofGod. Andonce more he will bring them back from their dispersion; and again

9 they will build God’s house. And in the last time God’s house will

1 So Meyer (= figurantur): all MSS are corrupt.

1 Lit.‘threw me out*.

1 Both text and interpretation are highly uncertain: the MSS vary betweennsilationis, vuionis, visilationis el tisionis, and ustlaitoms el iussionis.

The Life of Adorn and Eve 155

be exalted even higher than before. And once more iniquity willexceed righteousness. And after that God will dwell with men onthe earth in visible form: and then will righteousness begin toshine. And God’s house will be honoured for ever.’ And theadversary will be able no more to harm men who believe in God.And God will raise up for himself a faithful people that he will keepsafe for evermore. And the impious will be punished by God their

10 King — that is those who have refused to love his law. Heaven andearth, nights and days, and all creatures will obey him and neithertransgress his commandment nor change their ways.4 But men will

11 be changed and forsake the law of the Lord. Therefore the Lordwill drive away the wicked from him. but the righteous will shine

12 like the sun before him.5 And at that time men will be purified bywater from their sins; but those who will not be purified will becondemned. And happy shall that man be who has reformed hislife6 when the judgement comes, and God's mighty power is seenamong men, and their deeds are inquired into by God the righteousjudge.

XXX. When Adam was nine hundred and thirty years old andknew that his end was near, he said. Let all my sons come together

2 to me, so that I can bless them before I die and talk with them. Andthey came together into his presence in three groups, in the house

3 of prayer where they used to worship the Lord God. And theyasked him, saying, Why is it, father, you have called us together?

4 And why are you lying on your bed? Then Adam answered andsaid. My sons. I am ill and in pain. And all his sons said to him.What do illness and pain mean, father?

XXXI. Then his son Seth said. You have been pining, perhaps, forthe fruit of Paradise, which you used to eat once, and that is why youare lying in such a sorry state. Only tell me, and I will go to thenearest of the gates of Paradise and put dust on my head andprostrate myself on the ground before the gates of Paradise andlament and entreat the Lord with a loud and bitter lament: perhaps

1 Or 'in that age. * Lit.‘works’.

5 Lil.’in the sight of God’.

* Or ‘learned discipline’: lit. 'corrected his soul'.

he will listen to me and send his-angel to fetch me the fruit you have2 been pining for. Adam answered and said. No. my son. I have notbeen piningfor that fruity but 1 feel weak and am in great pain in mybody. Seth answered. What is pain, my lord father? I do notunderstand. But explain it to us and1 tell us about it.

XXXII. And Adam answered and said. Listen to me my sons.When God made us, me and your mother, and placed us inParadise, and gave us every tree that bears fruit to eat. he laid aprohibition on us concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and- evil that is in the middle of Paradise, saying. Do not eat of it. AndGod gave a part of Paradise to me and a part to your mother: thetrees of the eastern part and the north he gave to me. and he gavethe south and the western part to your mother.

1,2 XXXIII. Also, the Lord God gave us two angels to guard us. Thetime came when the angels had gone up to worship in God’spresence; and at once the adversary, the devil, took the oppor-tunity, while the angels were away, and led your mother astray andpersuaded her to cat of the unlawful and forbidden tree. And she ateof it herself and gave some to me.

XXXIV. And immediately the Lord God was angry with us. Andthe Lord said to me, Because you have forsaken my commandmentand have not kept my word, which I made binding on you, beholdI will afflict your body with seventy ills.1 With all kinds of differentpains will you be tormented in every limb, from your head and eyes2 and cars right down to your toe-nails. These ills he appointed for usas a punishment.2 All of them has the Lord laid on me and all ourrace.

1 I.it. *Bul do not hide it from us. but*.

' Some MSS read ‘the authority over'.

1 Lit. ‘1 will bring upon your body seventy blows {or ‘strokes’ -ofthe rod)'.

1 All MSS have an additional phrase here. They differ widely from one another,but not one makes even tolerable sense.

157

XXXV. So did Adam speak to his sons. And he was seized withviolent pains and cried out loudly, What shall I do? I am exhausted,2 so cruel are the pains that grip me. And when Eve saw himweeping, she also began to weep herself and said. O Lord, my God,transfer to me his pain, for it was 1 who sinned. And Eve said toAdam. My lord, let me share your pains.1 for it is my fault theyhave come on you.

XXXVI. And Adam said to Kve, Gel up and go with my son Seth tothe neighbourhood of Paradise, and put dust on your heads andprostrate yourselves on the ground and lament in the sight of God.2 Perhaps he will pity you and send his angel across to the tree ofmercy, from which flows the oil of life; and perhaps he will give you adrop of it to anoint me with, so that I can get some respite fromthese pains by which I am consumed.

XXXVII. Then Seth and his mother went off towards the gates ofParadise. And while they were going, suddenly a beast appeared, a2 serpent, and it attacked and bit Seth. And as soon as F.vesaw it, shewept and said, Alas, wretched woman that 1 am. I am accursed.5 because I have not kept God’s commandment. And Kve shouted atthe serpent. Accursed beast! How is it you are not afraid to letyourself loose against the image of God but dare to fight it?

XXXVIH. The beast answered in human speech, Is it not againstyou. Eve. that our malice is directed? Are not you the objects of our2 spite? Fell me, Kve, how came it that your mouth was open to catthe fruit? Yet now, if I should even begin to reproach you, you couldnot endure it.

XXXIX. Then Seth said to the beast, The Lord God rebuke you!Be silent, be dumb, shut your mouth, accursed enemy of truth,conloundcr and destroyer! Keep your distance from the image ofGod till the day when the Lord God orders you to be brought to the2 final trial. And the beast said to Seth, See I leave the presence of

Lit. ‘give me a part of your pains'.

God's image as you have told me to. At this, he left Seth with themarks of his teeth upon him.1

XL. But Seth and his mother continued their journey to theregions of Paradise, looking for the oil of mercy to anoint the ailingAdam; and they arrived at the gates of Paradise. They took dustfrom the ground and put it on their heads and they prostrated

2 themselves and began to lament with loud moans, supplicating theLord God to pity Adam in his pains and to send his angel to givehim the oil from the tree of his mercy.

XL1. And when they had been praying and making supplicationfor many hours, behold, the angel Michael appeared to them and

2 said, I have been sent to you by the Lord. I am appointed by God

3 to look after men’s bodies; and I am to tell you, Seth, since you are aman of God, not to weep or pray or make supplication for the oil ofthe tree of mercy, so as to anoint your father Adam and ease thepains in his body.

XLII. For, I tell you, you can never have it, except in the last days.

2 When five thousand five hundred years have been completed, thenwill come upon earth the most beloved King, Christ, the Son ofGod. to revive the body of Adam, and to revive the bodies of the

3 dead with him. He himself, the Son of God, will be baptized at hiscoming in the River Jordan; and when he comes out of the water ofJordan, then will he anoint with the oil of mercy all that believe in

■f him. And the oil of mercy will be given generation after generationto those who arc ready to be born again to life eternal by water and

5 the Holy Spirit. Then, when the most beloved Son of God, Christ,descends to earth, he will take your father Adam into Paradise andlead him to the tree of mercy.1

1 Lit. ‘wounded by his teeth'.

1 Michael’s speech up to here (i.e. xli.2—xlit.5) is almost verbally identical withhis speech as given in the Latin ‘A’ recension of the Acts of Pilate (Gospel ofNicodcmus) xix, where, at Adam’s request, Seth recounts the incident to his 'sonsthe patriarchs and prophets’ in Hell. The Greek and the Latin ‘B’ recensions of theActs also include the speech, but in slightly different forms. Neither the Greek noreither of the Latin recensions, however, has the concluding verse in the Life (i.e.xliii. 1). See M. R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford, 1924), pp. 126-8.

159

XLM. But as lor you. Seth, go to your father Adam, for his life-span is complete. Six days from now his soul will leave his body;and, when it goes out. you will sec great marvels in the heaven and

2 on the earth and in the luminaries of heaven. And with these words

3 Michael left Seth immediately. And Kve and Seth returned, carry-ing with them sweet-smelling herbs - nard. and crocus, andcalamus, and cinnamon.

XLIV. And when Seth and his mother reached Adam, they told

2 him how the serpent-beast had bitten Seth. And Adam said to Kve,What is it that you did? A great plague have you brought on us -

3 transgression and sin for all our generations. After my death tellyour children what you did;’ for our descendants2 will toil and not

4 make a living, they will be in want and curse us and say. Our first

5 parents brought all these evils on us. And when Kve heard what hesaid, she began to weep and moan.

XLV. And after six days came Adam's death, just as the archangel

2 Michael had foretold. When Adam realized that the hour of hisdeath was near he said to all his sons. Behold. 1 am nine hundredand thirty years old; and after I am dead bury me towards the

3 sunrising + in the field that belongs to the house over therct. And itcame to pass, when he had finished speaking, he breathed his last.Then was the sun darkened, and the moon and the stars also, forseven days.

XLVI. And Seth bent over his father’s body, mourning, andembraced it;1 and Kve stared at the ground with hands folded over

1 The Apocalypse of Moses puts this charge of Adam to Kve iit the form of acommand to summon their children and grandchildren immediately and. whenassembled in a group round Adam's deathbed, to ‘tell them the manner of ourtransgression'. The Apocalypse then continues with Kve’s account of the fall(chaps, xv—xxx), which thus precedei Adam's death. It consequently lacks Eve'sspeech in Life xlix. 1-1.2, which accords with Adam’s instructions here to Kve to tellher story after his death. The account of the Fall in the Apocalypse will lx- foundprinted in full as an Appendix (pp. 161 - 67. below).

2 Lit. ‘those who arise from us‘.

1 Lit. ‘And Seth in his mourning embraced from above his father's body'.

1 (»() The Life of Adam and Eve

2 her head, and all her children wept most bitterly. And behold,Michael the angel appeared and stood at Adam's head and said to:t Seth, Gel up and leave your father’s body, and come to me and seewhat the Lord God has in store for him. His creature he is, and hehas had pity on him.

XLVII. And all the angels blew their trumpets and cried. Blessedart thou, O Lord, for thou hast had pity on thy creature.

XLVIII. Then Seth saw God’s hand stretched out and holding2 Adam; and he delivered him over to Michael, saying. Let him be inyour charge till the day of judgement in punishment, till the last:? years when I will turn his sorrow into joy. Then shall he sit on the

1 throne of his supplanter.1 And the Lord said again to the angelsMichael and Uriel, Bring me three linen sheets and spread themout over Adam, and spread other sheets over his son Abel, and bury

■> Adam and his son. And all the angelic powers marched in proces-sion in front of Adam; and the sleep of the dead was consecrated.<i And the angels Michael and Uriel buried Adam and Abel in theregions of Paradise, before the eyes of Seth and his mother and no7 one else. And Michael and Uriel said. Just as you have seen usdoing, so do you also bury your dead.

XLIX. Six days after Adam died. Eve, realizing that her own deathwas near, called all her sons and daughers together - that is, Seth

2 with his thirty brothers and thirty sisters. And Lve said to all ofthem, Listen to me, my children, and I will tell you what thearchangel Michael said to us when your father and I transgressed

:t the command of God. Because of your transgression, he said, ourLord will bring on your race the anger of his judgement, first bywater, the second time by fire: by these two things will the Lordjudge the whole human race.

L. But listen to me, my children. Make two kinds of tablets, some ofstone and others of clay, and record on them everything that hashappened in my life and your father’s, what you have heard from

1 Or. according to some MSS, ‘oi'his seducer'.

161

The Life of Adam and Eve

2 us and what you have seen yourselves. If the Lord judges our race bywater, the clay tablets will become mud,1 but the stone ones will bepreserved; but if he judges our race by fire, then the stone tablets:i will be shattered.' but the clay ones baked hard. When Eve had saidthis to her children, she spread out her hands to heaven in prayer,and bent her knees to the earth; and while she was worshipping theLord and giving him thanks she breathed her last. And afterwardsall her children buried her with loud lamentation.

LI. When they had been mourning four days the archangel‘2 Michael appeared and said to Seth, Man of God, never mourn foryour dead more than six days, because on the seventh day is thesign of the resurrection and the rest of the age to come, for on theA seventh day the Lord rested from all his works. Then Seth madethe tablets.1

APPENDIX

EYE’S ACCOUNT OF THE FALL FROM THEAPOCALYPSE OF MOSES XV-XXX

(As noted above(p. 142, n. 6) this account corresponds to the short speechof Es c to all her sons and daughters' in Life xlix. 1-1.2, though it differs inthat (l) it is placed in the Apocalypse before and not after the death ofAdam, and (2) it is very much more elaborate. In fact, it incorporates theonly considerable body of matter contained in the Apocalypse that is notalso contained in some form in the Life. It is printed partly for this reason,and partly on account of its intrinsic interest.)

' Lit.‘will be dissolved'.

1 Some MSS add an account of how these tablets survived the Flood, but no onecould rrad them: Solomon, however, had the secret of the script revealed to hint bythe same angel who had 'held the hand’ of Seth when he wrote them. The accountconcludes by stating that ‘on these stones was found what Enoch, the seventh fromAdam, had prophesied before the Flood about the advent of Christ’; and thenfollows the well-known passage from 1 Enoch i. 9, quoted at Jude 14 and 15. Stillother MSS have further additions, including information about the materials out ofwhich Adam's body was made and the statement that he was fashioned ‘in thatplace in whichjesus was born, that is to say in Bethlehem, which is in the middle ofthe world’.

UY2

XIV. 3 . . . And he said to her. Call all our children and ourchildren’s children, and tell them how it was that we transgressed.

XV. Then Eve said to them, Listen, my children and children’schildren, all of you, and I will tell you how the enemy deceived us.

2 11 happened when we were guarding Paradise, each of us the partallotted to us by God. 1 was on guard in my lot, the south and the

j west. But the devil went to Adam’s lot. where the male creatureswere (for God had divided the creatures: all the males he had givento your father, and all the females he had given to me; and we eachlooked after our own).

XVI. And the devil spoke to the serpent, saying, Get up and comehere to me, and I will tell you something that could be to your

2 advantage. And he got up and came to him. And the devil said tohim, I hear you are the wisest of all the animals, and I have come to

3 talk to you. Why do you eat Adam’s tares and not the fruits ofParadise? Come, and let us see to it that he is thrown out of

4 Paradise, just as we were thrown out because of him. The serpent

5 said to him, I am afraid the Lord will be angry with me. The devilsaid to him, Do not be afraid, only be my tool, and 1 will put intoyour mouth such words as will deceive him.

xvn. And he went immediately and hung from the wall of Paradise.And when the angels went up to worship God, then Satan appeared

2 in the form of an angel and sang hymns like the angels. And I bentover the wail and saw him looking just like an angel. And he said to

3 me. Are you Eve? And I said to him, I am. And he said to me, Whatdo you do in Paradise?1 And I said to him, God set us to guard it

4 and to eat from it. The devil answered through the serpent’s

5 mouth. You do well; yet you do not eat from every plant. And Isaid, Yes, we do eat from every plant, except only one—the one thatis in the middle of Paradise, about which God commanded us notto eat from it. For on the day you do eat from it, he said to us, youwill certainly die.

1 Or ‘what are you doing in Paradise?’

11)3

XVDL Then the serpent said to me. As God lives, I am grievedabout you, because you arc like the animals: and I would not haveyou remain in ignorance. Come, listen to me and eat. and learn the

2 value of that tree. But 1 said to him. 1 am afraid that God will be

3 angry with me. as he told us he would. And he said to me, Do not beafraid, for as soon as you eat from it, you too will he like God,1

4 knowing good and evil. God realized this, that you would be like

5 him, so he envied you and said. You must not eat from it. But go and

ti look at the plant and you will see how splendid it is.2 Yet I was

afraid to take any of the fruit. And he said to me. Come, anti I willgive it you: follow me.

XJX. And I opened the gate for him. and he t ame inside, intoParadise, and went on in front of me. And when he had gone a littleway he turned and said to me. I have changed my mind: 1 will notgive you any of the fruit to eat till you swear to me that you will give

2 some also to your husband. I said to him, I do not know what sort ofoath 1 should swear to you by; yet. so far as my knowledge goes, Ipromise you. By the Throne of Majesty, and by the Cherubim, andby the Tree of Life, I will give some of thefruit also to my husband to

3 cat. And as soon as he had the oath from me, he went and put onthe fruit the poison of his wickedness - that is to say, lust, the rootand origin of even- sin. And he bent the branch down to the ground;and 1 took some of the fruit and ate it.

XX. And at that very moment my eyes were opened; and 1 knewimmediately that I had been stripped1 of the righteousness 1 had

2 been clothed with. And I wept and said to him. Why have you done

3 this to me and deprived me of my glory? And 1 wi pi also because ofthe oath I had sworn. But he got down from the tree and vanished.

4 And in my nakedness I began to look in my part of Paradise forleaves to hide my shame, but I could not find any; for, as soon as Ihad eaten, the leaves dropped off all the trees in my part of Paradise,

1 Or ‘like gods'.

1 Lit 'the great glory conrcruing it’.

1 IJt. ‘was naked".

1 (> I The Life of Adam and Eve

except the fig-tree. So I took some leaves from it and made myself aj girdle. And it was from that very same tree that 1 had eaten.

XXI. And I cried out loud, saying, Adam, Adam, where are you?2 Gel up and come to me, and I will show you a great secret. But

when your father came I spoke wicked words to him — words that.i brought us down from our pinnacle of glory. For, when he came, Iopened my mouth and began to exhort him and said (it was thedevil speaking). Gome here, my lord Adam: listen to me. and eatsome of the fruit of the tree God told us not to eat of. and you will be•l like God.1 And your father answered and said. I am afraid thatGod will he angry with me. And I said to him. Do not be afraid, forj as soon as you have eaten you will know good and evil. And Iquickly persuaded him; and he ate. And his eyes were openedf) immediately, and he too became aware of his nakedness. And hesaid to me. You wicked woman! What have I done to you that youhave deprived me of the glory of Cod?

XXII. And at that very moment we heard the archangel Michaelblowing with his trumpet and calling to the angels and saying,

2 Thus says the Lord. Gome with me to Paradise and hear thejudgement with which I ani about to judge Adam. And when weheard the archangel trumpeting, we said. Behold, God is corning:t into Paradise to judge us. And we were afraid and hid. And whenGod appeared in Paradise, mounted on the chariot of the cherubim,with the angels going before him and singing hymns of praise, allthe plants of Paradise, both of your father's lot and mine, burst into4 flower. And God's throne was set up where the Tree of Life was.

XXIII. And God called Adam, saying, Adam where are you? Can

2 the house be hidden from its builder? Then your father answered,We have not hidden. Lord, because we think thou eanst not findus; but I was afraid, because I am naked, and overawed, Lord, by

3 thy might. God said to him. Who showed you that you are naked?Have you forsaken my commandment which 1 told you to observe?

4 Then Adam remembered my promise to him, 1 will protect you if

1 Or'like a god'.

The Life of Adam and Ere I (if)

God is angry:1 and lie turned to me and said. Why have you donethis? And I said. The serpent deceived me.

XXIV. God said to Adam. Because you have disregarded mycommandment and have listened to your wife, cursed shall the

' ground be by your labours. You will work it and it will not yield itswealth: thorns and thistles will it grow for you; and bv the sweat ofyour brow you shall cat your bread. Manifold will be your toils:you will be crushed by bitterness; and of sweetness you will have no! taste. Weary you will be and yet find no rest, by heat exhaustedand by cold distraught. You will labour incessantly, but not be\ rich; and you will grow fat. yet come to no goad end.1 liven thebeasts, over whom you were given the dominion, will rise up inrebellion against you. Ixvause you have not kept my commandment.

XXV. And the lx>rd turned to me and said. Because you listened tothe serpent and turned a deaf ear to my commandment, you shall

1 sutler the pangs of child birth' and agonizing pains. You shall bearc hildren in muc h trembling.2 and within a single hour you shall come tothe point of birth and lose your life, so intense will be your anguish and:* your pangs. Then will you make conlession and say, Ix>rd. Ix>rd. save1 me, and 1 will turn no more to carnal sin. And so. by your own wordswill I judge you. because of the enmity which the enemy has plantedin you.

XXVI. And lu* turned to the serpent in great wrath and said. Becauseyou have dune this and become a graceless creature* and havedeceived the innocent in heart, accursed shall you lx1 more than allbeasts. You shall be deprived of the Itxxl you used to eat and shall feedon dust all the days of your life. On your breast and your belly shall

1 Lit. ‘1 will make you safe before (loci'.

1 The MSS vary in this catalogue Ixith in the ordering, and in the inclusion oromission, ol'somcof (hr details.

1 l est ‘you shall lx* in vain things'.

J = tq6/jou;. Text ‘in many ways (= rgOnoig)'.

1 Lit. ‘vessel, thing'.

IGG

The Life of Adam and Eve

you crawl and lose your hands and feet. There shall be left to yotneither ear nor wing nor any limb that in your malice you ensnarecthem with and caused them to be thrown out of Paradise. And I wilput enmity between you and human kind:2 they shall watch out foiyour head and you shall watch out for their heel till the day o:judgement.

XXVII. So he spoke and gave orders to his angels that we should be2 thrown out of Paradise. And as we were being driven out. with loudlamentations, your father Adam pleaded with the angels, saying.Spare me a moment, so that I may entreat the I/>rd to have compas-sion on me and pity me, for only I have sinned. And they left off:f driving him. And Adam cried out with tears and said, Forgive me,} Lord, for what I did. Then the Ixtrd said to the angels, Why have youstopped driving Adam out of Paradise? Is it 1 who have done wrong?5 Or is my judgement faulty? Then the angels fell to the ground andworshipped the Lord, saying, Thou art righteous, Lord, and thoujudgest rightly.

XXVID. And the Lord turned to Adam and said. I will allow you to2 remain in Paradise no longer. And Adam answered and said. GrantS me, Lord, to eat from the Tree of Life before I am thrown out. Thenthe Lord spoke to Adam, saying. You shall not have any of it now, forbecause of you 1 have commanded the Cherubim to guard it with theflaming sword that turns every way. so that you should not taste it andthereby gain immortality for ever: you must endure instead the■1 conflict that the enemy has brought upon you. Yet after you have goneout of Paradise, if you can keep yourself from all evil (as one about todie), at the resurrection1 I will raise you up, and then shall you begiven to eat from the Tree of Life, you shall be immortal for evermore.

XXDC So the Lord spoke and ordered us to be thrown out of2 Paradise. But your father Adam wept in the angels’ presence in1

1 Lit. 'and liis seed'.

1 Lit. 'when llie resurrection has again come into being’.

1 Lit. ‘opposite, over against'.

The Life of Adam and Eve I (i7

Paradise; and the angels said to him, What would you have us do foryou, Adam? And your lather said to them. Behold, you are driving meout: I beg you, let me take away some sweet-smelling herbs fromParadise so that I can make an offering to God alter 1 have gone out ofParadise, and God may listen to me. And the angels approached Gtxland said, Jael, eternal king, give orders that Adam lx- given sweet-smelling incense from Paradise. And God ordered Adam to go andtake sweet-smelling spices from Paradise and also some seeds for his fixxl.And the angels let him go; and he gathered both kinds - crocus andnard and calamus and cinnamon, and other seeds for his fixxl. And,taking them with him, he went out of Paradise. And we found ourselveson earth.

XXX. So now, my children, I have shown you how it was we weredeceived. And as for you. see to it that you do not abandon what isgood.

XXXI. And when Eve had said this, surrounded by her sons, andAdam was lying ill and about to die the following day . ..

1 ENOCH

INTROIH CTION

The patriarch Knoch was well known in pre-Christian Judaismand in the primitive (Ihurch, not merelv as a paragon of righteous-ness. but also as an author whose writings had a wide circulationand in some quarters were accepted as 'scripture'. The Book otJubilees represents him as the inventor of writing, and it refers tohis having written several apparently quite unrelated works deal-ing with ‘the signs of heaven', his own vision of 'what will happento the sons of men in every generation", and certain angelic revela-tions concerning 'everything on earth and in the heavens':1 lateron. his ‘special function' is described as ‘to be a witness to theworld’s generations and report all the deeds ol each generation tillthe day of judgement’;2 and, later still, the dying Abraham isreported as telling Isaac that he had found certain regulationsabout sacrifice ‘written ... in the words .of Knoch".' In the NewTestament, the Kpistlc of Jude explicitly quotes Knoch and intro-duces the quotation with the formula ‘Knoch, the seventh fromAdam, prophesied, saving . . .’4 Thereafter quotations and refer-ences are frequent. Thus, the Kpistlc of Barnabas quotes him (*. ..concerning which it is written, as Knoch says. . and the

Testaments of the "Twelve Patriarchs have no less than nine refer-ences to material contained in the ‘words’, or ‘writing’, or ‘book’,or 'books’, ‘of Knoch'.*

Among the Fathers. Tcrtulliun. although he himself acceptedKnoch. knew of some who did not.7 Origen quoted and referred toKnoch, but he had reservations;* and he was at pains to point out toCelsus that ‘the books entitled “Knoch” are not generally held to

1 Jub. iv. 17-21. *'Jub. x. 17.

' Jub. xxi. in. 4 Jude 14- 1.1.

' F.p. Barv. iv. (die quotation at xvi. 3 is attributed to 'Scripture'. and that atxvi. h is introduced by 'it is written': in neither ease is Knoch mentioned by name).

A It should he noted, however, that there is textual uncertainly in live of theseinstances.

’ Tert. cult-Jem. 1. iii. 1.

* Orig. In Ioann. VI. xlii (21): in Xum. horn, xxviii. 2.

170

/ Enoch

hr divine by die ehurelies'.9 10 For Jerome Fnoch was certainlyapocryphal.11* .And so too lor Augustine: Augustine admitted thatEnoch had written ‘not a little' by divine inspiration, but liehimself found the writings then circulating under Enoch's name sofull of incredible fables and other undesirable matter that theycould not possibly be genuine: they were quite rightly rejected byboth Jews and Christians."

'Enoch' is listed among the works outside the Canon in theStichometrv of Nieephorus. in the List of Sixty Books, and in thepseudo-Alhanasian Synopsis; but it is not mentioned in the Gela-sian Decree. This presumably means that writings attributed toEnoch passed out of circulation in the West rather earlier than theydid in the East. The last Eastern writer to show personal acquaint-ance with the writings of Enoch is Georgius Syncellus (r.800). Inhis Chronograph? Syncellus gives (in Greek) four extracts ‘from thefirst book of Enoch', and later on he refers to certain astronomicalinformation which the archangel Uriel had given Enoch ‘as Enochrecords in his book'.12

After the lapse of more than a thousand years the Enoch litera-ture was re-introduced to the West at the end of the eighteenthcentury by James Bruce as a result of his travels in Abyssinia.Among the Elhiopic manuscripts that Brut e brought back werethree containing what is now known as I Enoch or EthiopianEnoch'. One of these manuscripts (now in the Bodleian Library atOxford) contained 1 Enoch only: the second (also in the Bodleian)contained 1 Enoch, followed by Job. Isaiah, the Twelve. Proverbs,Wisdom. Ecclesiastes, Canticles and Daniel: the third (now in theBibliotheque Nalionalc in Paris) is a transcript of the second. In allthree the work was entitled ‘the Book of Enoch the Prophet’.Richard Laurence, Regius Prolessor of Hebrew at Oxford andsubsequently Archbishop of Cashel, issued a translation of the textof the first of the Bodleian manuscripts in 1821 and followed this in1838 by printing the text itself. Meanwhile, more manuscripts

9 Orig. c. ('*t. v. 54.

10 Hicron. w. ini. 4; (.omm. in Til. i. 12: cp. Tract. Jt Ps. rxxxii. 3.

" Aug. Civ. Dei. xv. 23, xviii. 38.

|J .Syncellus, Chronograpfna (ed. Dindorf — Corp. Scr. Hist. Bye... vul i (Bonn. 1829),pp. 20-23, 42-47. till}.

/ Enoch

171

were being brought back by other travellers, and three of these,along with the two in the Bodleian, were used by Dillmann for thefirst critical edition of the Ethiopic text, published in 1851.

In 18Hh—7 workers attached to the French ArchaeologicalMuseum at Cairo discovered in a monk’s tomb at Akhinirn twoextensive parchment fragments of Enoch in Greek, bound uptogether with fragments of the Gospel and the Revelation of Peter(also in Greek). The larger of the two Enoch fragments was foundto correspond to I Enoch i. 1-xxxii. 6 in the Ethiopic, and thesmaller to xix. 8-xxi. 9. They are to be assigned to cither the fifthor the sixth centuries. They were published by U. Bouriant andA. Lods in 1892-8 and were consequently not available to R. H.Charles for use in the first edition of his The Book of Enoch {Englishtranslation, with Introduction and Commentary), which appearedin 1898. However, when Charles produced his full critical editionof the Ethiopic text in 1906 (based on twenty-three MSS), heprinted opposite the Ethiopic text at the appropriate points, notonly the complete Greek text of the Akhmim fragments, but alsothe Greek extracts from Syncellus, a Greek fragment correspond-ing to Ixxxix. 42-49 from Vat. Cod. Gr. 1809 (which had beenpublished by A. Mai in 1844 in the second volume of his Pat rumMora Bibliotheca), and a Latin fragment corresponding to cvi. 1-18discovered in the British Museum by M. R. James in 1898 andpublished in the Cambridge Texts and Studies in the same year. Allthis additional material was assimilated in the wholly recast,enlarged, and re-written' second edition of Charles’s The Book ofEnoch in 1912.

Since Charles's day there have been two major discoveries.

First, in 1980 the University of Michigan acquired six leaves of apapyrus codex, written in Greek and dating from the fourth orearly fifth century. Shortly afterwards it appeared that eight moreleaves and three fragments, all belonging to the same codex as theMichigan leaves, were included in the very valuable collection ofpapyri acquired by A. Chester Beatty about the same time. Whenreconstructed, this codex was lound to contain a complete Greek

13 Among minor discoveries should he men tinned the t>th—7th cent, fragment,which appears to contain a text of I Enoch xciii. II—H in Coptic, and which wasdiscovered during the excavations at Antinoc in 1937 and published in I‘Hit).

172

/ Enoch

text (apart from ilu* inevitable minor deficiencies) of I Enoch xcvii.b—civ. 13 and cvi. 1— evii. 3. followed by the Greek text of theotherwise lost Homily on the Passion of Melito of Sardis. It was dearat once that the text of Enoch offered by the codex differed from theKthiopic in lacking both chap, cv and the final chap, cviii (chaps,civ and evi are continuous, and after evii. II is written the colophon‘Epistle of Enoch’, with Melito's Homily following immediately).What was not dear was how much had been Inst before xcvii. (>.Campbell Bonner, who was entrusted with the task of editing bothtexts, was of the opinion, for technical reasons, that it was mostunlikely that the codex had ever contained the whole of 1 Enoch: inhis view it included only chaps, xci-cvii (minus cv). and thesechapters were preceded by another short work of which the threefragments were the sole extant remains. These fragments he as-signed to an apocryphal Ezekiel'.

The second major discovery since Charles's day is that of theAramaic fragments found in Clave IV at Qumran. The first ofthesewas identified as belonging to 1 Enoch by J. T. Milik at thebeginning of September 1952: the identification of others soonfollowed; and Milik published a sumptuous edition of all of them,with extended commentary, explanatory essays, and plates, in197b. Altogether there arc some hundreds of fragments, whichMilik interpreted as the remains of eleven different manuscripts,the oldest of which he assigned to the first half of the secondcentury BC; and they cover all parts of the book as we know it withthe exception of chaps, xxxvii-lxxi. This is dear proof that thegreater part of what is now 1 Enoch, if not all of it, was known andwas popular at Qumran in pre-Christian times. On the otherhand, since all the fragments are so small (many of them minute),the amount of continuous Aramaic text preserved is effectivelyverv little: this means that the value of the Aramaic evidence fortext-critical purposes is far less than might be expected.

In 1978, two years after Milik. came M. A. Knibb’s The KthiopicBook of Enoch: A new Edition in the Light of the Aramaic Dead SeaFragments. In Volume 1 (Text and Apparatus) Knibb printed ashis base text photographs of Rylands Kthiopic MS 23 and assemb-led in his apparatus the variants of twenty-five other Kthiopic MSStogether with the variants of the Greek witnesses: Volume 2 con-

173

rained the Introduction. Translation, and Commentary. As explainedin the Introduction, the Translation was intended as a translationof the Ethiopic version and not of an Ethiopic version corrected orrevised in the light of the Creek or Aramaic, where they exist.Furthermore, the translation follows the base text (Ryl. Eth. MS23) very closely and only diverges from it where, for example, itseems to make no sense. Thus. Knihh made no attempt to recon-struct a supposed ‘original' text of the Ethiopic. nor of an ‘original'Enoch, either in its Aramaic or its Creek forms. ’Those who wish totry their hands at this must resort first to the Apparatus in volume1 and then to the Commentary in volume 2. which is throughouttextual and not exegetical.

W hen, towards the middle of the nineteenth century. 1 Enochbecame known generally, most of the scholars who studied it verynaturally treated it as a unity - as “the Rook of Enoch the Prophet'as the manuscripts described it. But it was soon realized that it wascomposite: and to-day it is commonly agreed that it is in fact acollection of several previously independent writings, or ‘hooks',that have been put together and edited. These, we may suppose,already circulated under Enoch's name before they were put to-gether, though there is reason to think that some hits and pieceshave been incorporated to which the name of Noah was previouslyattached (e.g. chaps, evi-evii). and perhaps some others as well.But leas ing aside the details, I Enoch, in its present form, is plainlydivisible into five subsidiary ‘books':—

Book I. chaps, i-xxxvi;

Book II. chaps, xxxvii—lxxi;

Book III, chaps, lxxii-lxxxii;

Book IV'. chaps, lxxxiii-.xe; and

Book V, chaps, xci-cviii.

A parallel has frequently been noted between this five-fold divisionand the five hooks ascribed to Moses and the five books of thePsalter. If such an arrangement was intentional, then 1 Enoch isnot just a collection of writings ascribed to Enoch: it is an EnochiePentateuch.

It will be convenient to make a few comments on each ‘book*separately.

Hook I is commonly known as *Thc Book of Watchers*, becausethree out of’SyncclIus's four extracts were certainly taken from it,and he savs they were ‘from the first book of Enoch, concerning theWatchers’. This book is undoubtedly ancient, probably the mostancient of the five. It was well known to the Fathers: it was quotedas scripture by the author of the Epistle of Jude:14 the Akhmimfragments, together with Syncellus's extracts, arc evidence for theexistence of a complete Greek version of it: and there were no lessthan five copies of it in Aramaic at Qumran. The oldest of thesecopies is assigned by Nlilik to the first half of the 2nd cent. BC,which takes back the date of the book itself to the 3rd cent., if notearlier.

Book II (The Book of Parables - cp. xxxviii. 1. xlv. I, etc.)provides a complete contrast. No Aramaic fragments of it werefound at Qumran: no traces of any version of it (apart from theEthiopic) have survived; and there arc no quotations from it in theFathers. Indeed, there is no convincing proof that it ever existedbefore the loth cent. AD, when it was copied as a constituent part of1 Enoch in the earliest of the Ethiopic NISS. No one, however, hasproposed a date for the Parables anything like as late as this.Representative dates proposed are the first half of the last centuryBC (Charles), the end of the first century AD (Knibb). and the endof the 3rd cent. AD (Nlilik).

Such wide variations in the dating of the Parables pose anawkward problem lor the New Testament scholar, inasmuch asthe Parables arc notcablc, not only for the number of verbalparallels with the New Testament that arc to be found in them(cp.. c.g., 1 Enoch Ixix. 27 with Matt. xxv. 31 and John v. 22, 27),but also for their use of several ol the well-known New TestamentChristological titles, particularly ‘the Son of Man'. It has beencustomary to explain this (on the assumption that Charles’s datingwas correct) by supposing that Our Lord and his earliest followerswere very much influenced by the Parables, and that the Parablesare therefore of primary importance lor the study of Christianorigins. Charles himself wrote:

14 1 Enoch i. 9 is quoted at Jude 14—13.

/ Enoch

‘This definite title [i.r. Son of Man] is found in ! Knot'll tor thr first time inJewish literature, and is. historically. the source of the New 1 rstamentdesignation, and eomrihutes m it some of its most characteristiccontents’.15

But if Charles's dating is wrong and the Parables are to be dated inthe Christian era, then the parallels and the common use of theChristologicul titles will have to be explained in some other way- itmay be. for example, that it was the New Testament that influencedthe Parables, and not rice versa. In any case, it looks as if much thathas been written during the twentieth century about these matterswill have to be re-written.

Book III (The Astronomical Book). Fragments of lour MSS ofthis book were found at Qumran. but they attest a much fuller textthan the eleven chapters now preserved in the Kthiopic version.Jubilees records that Knoch ‘wrote down in a hook details about thesigns of heaven according to the order oftheir months’;1* and sincethe author of Jubilees places this first among the works of Knochknown to him. it is probable that he regarded it as the mostsignificant part of the Knoch corpus, and in consequence he maywell have known it in its longer form. At any rate, the length of thebook, as read at Qumran. was such as to require a complete roll ofparchment for each copy.

The oldest of the Qumran copies is dated by Milik to the end ofthe 3rd or the beginning of the 2nd cent, BC, which takes back thedate of the book itself to sometime in the 3rd cent, at the latest - asis the case with the Book of Watchers. For the existence of a Greekversion there is no incontrovertible evidence. But several consid-erations converge to make it likely that there was a Greek version:(1) the Kthiopic version was presumably made from one; (2)Origcn’s remarks in his Homilies on Numbers seem to refer to the finalchapter of the Astronomical Book,17 while Synccllus’s reference tothe astronomical information that the archangel Uriel had givenEnoch is in effect a brief-summary of the entire book,18 and bothOrigcn and Syncellus are likely to have known a text in Greekrather than any other language; and (3) Milik claimed to have

15 Charles. APOTn. p. IH.i. ,B Jub. iv. 17.

17 See above p 169. '* See above p. 17(1.

identified two scraps of a Greek text oflxxvii. 7-lxxviii. 1 and ofIxxviii. 8 on an Oxyrhynehus fragment published in 1927.

Kven so. the absence of any representative sections of continuousGreek text is a serious handicap in trying to decide whether theabridgement preserved in the Kthiopic was made when the Aramaicwas translated into Greek, or. alternatively, when the Greek wastranslated into Kthiopic. or at some other stage in the transmis-sion. Vet are we certainly dealing with an abridgement? Charlesheld that the Astronomical Book was originally w ritten in Hebrew.If so. then it is possible to argue that the Hebrew had the shortertext and that the Aramaic represents an expansion when theHebrew was translated into Aramaic, but that the Creek versionwas made from the Hebrew - in which case the Kthiopic will ingeneral be a more faithful witness to the text of the lxx>k as theauthor wrote it than the Aramaic from Qumran!

Book IV (The Book of Dreams) is represented by fragmentsfrom four of the Qumran MSS. the oldest of which is to be dated tothe third quarter of the 2nd cent. The book was known to theauthor of jubilees;1'' and its origin is securely anchored within thelast years of the Marrabaeati revolt by the details in xc. 6-19.Since Judas (the ram with the ‘big horn') is apparently still active,this section must have been written before his death in 161 BC -more exactly (according to Milik) in the few weeks that followedthe battle of Bethsur in 164. The existence of a Greek version ismade virtually certain, not only by the existence of the Kthiopicversion, but also by the fragment containing Ixxxix. 42-49, dis-covered and published by Mai, and by the quotation in Ep. Bam.xvi. f). It should be noted, however, that the Mai 'fragment' is not afragment in the technical sense (like the Qumran fragments), butrather an 'extract', comparable with the extracts preserved bySy ocellus. Furthermore, despite the author's use of the quotation-formula ‘the scripture says', Barnabas is so inexact as to raisedoubts whether the reference is to Ixxxix. 66-67, or to xc. 26-28, oris merely general: it is, it seems, an ‘allusion' and not a truequotation.20

Jiih. iv. 19.

J0 I’nless, of'course, the author was quoting from a Greek text dilfcretit from I heone that underlies the Kthiopic.

/ Enoch

177

Book V ( Ihc Epistle of Enoch). The title derives from thecolophon at the end of the Chester Beatty-Michigan papyrus; andit is supported by the Greek text o lie red at c. b (\ .. these words ofthis epistle*) as against the Ethiopic (\ .. the words of this book').As previously mentioned, Campbell Bonner, who edited thepapyrus, thought that Book Y was the only part of 1 Enoch that itcontained. Fragments in Aramaic from two MSS are availablefrom Qumram: the fragments from one of these MSS (to be datedr.50 BC) correspond to parts of chaps, xci-xciv and those from theother (to be dated c. IOC) BC) to parts of chaps, civ-cvii. From theAramaic evidence two points stand out: (l) As with the AstronomicalBook, the text of the earlier part of the Epistle as read at Qumranwas much fuller than that preserved in the Ethiopic; and (2)Although chaps, evi-evii were undoubtedly included in the secondof the Qumran MSS, they were separated from the preceding textby a gap of a line and a half. All in all, it looks very much as if thetext of Book V had suffered more than ordinarily at the hands of itseditors, particularly through their additions and re-ordering of thematerial in the last few chapters. And in this connection it isinteresting to observe that several of the suggestions made by theearlier source-critics, such as Charles, purely on the basis of inter-nal evidence, have been confirmed by the more recent manuscriptdiscoveries.

When the fiv e separate Books were put together we do not know.Nor do we know the dates of the Greek or the Ethiopic translations.Nor, again, do we know whether there were translations initially ofthe separate Books made independently, or of the five books to-gether, or of earlier collections containing two, three, or four of theBooks.

According to Milik, the idea of an Enochic Pentateuch can betraced back at least as far as Qumran. At Qumran the worksattributed to Enoch were copied in two volumes: the first volumecontained the (much fuller) text of the Astronomical Book; and thesecond the texts of the Book of Watchers, the Book of Giants (awork that told the story- of the Watchers in some detail and foretoldtheir future destruction by the waters of the Flood and by eternalfire), the Book of Dreams, and the Epistle of Enoch. When, some-

178

/ Enoch

time in the later third or fourth century AI). the Book ofGiants fellinto disfavour in the Church, perhaps because of its popularitywith the Manichecs, it was replaced by the Book of Parables; andthus I Enoch took its present shape. So Milik. But obviously thealmost complete lack of evidence docs not enable us either to proveor to disprove such a detailed reconstruction.

As we have seen, quotations in Greek begin to appear fromabout AD 100onwards. The difficulty here is that since nearly all ofthem arc quotations of isolated passages, they give no help indeciding whether they were taken from a text containing only oneor more of the Books. Nevertheless, there arc sonic pointers. Ep.Barn. xvi. G, for example, which offers a combined quotation of 1Enoch xri. 13 and xciii. 7, follows immediately on the 'allusion* to 1Enoch Ixxxix and xc, to which attention was drawn in our discus-sion of Book IV: from this it may be inferred that the author read 1Enoch Ix.xxix-xc and xci-xciii continuously - i.e. that in the texthe was familiar with Books IV and V stood side by side. Similarly,Tcrtullian {idol. iv. 2-3) connects an apparent allusion to 1 Enochxix. 1 and an explicit quotation of xeix. G-7: from this again itmight be inferred, though perhaps with less justification, that forTcrtullian Books I and V belonged together. In other words,although without a doubt separate copies were made of individualBooks, and continued to be made for some time, there is goodreason to suspect that from early times a Greek Enoch corpus alsocirculated in the Church, which, apart from the fact that it lackedBook II. otherwise closely resembled the l Enoch we know to-day.21

For the Ethiopic translation various dates have been suggested:Burkitt suggested the fourth century AD, Milik thought ‘hardlyearlier than the sixth century*, Knibb ‘before the end of the sixthcentury’, and Charles suggested either the sixth or the seventhcentury. If there is anything in UlIendorfFs suggestion that theEthiopic translators had access to an Aramaic text as well as aGreek one, then we must be prepared to treat their version with

21 Whether or not this corpus was a Pentateuch and included the Book of'Giantsas Book II it is impossible to say. since we have no detailed knowledge of the text ofGiants. If it was. it may be that some of the patristic quotations, which areattributed to h'noch and difficult to place, are actually quotations from it.

/ Enoch

179

greater respect than perhaps we otherwise would and occasionallyprefer its readings when these differ from the Greek.

Our English translation is, with only very slight alterations, areprint of the translation in Knibb's The Ethiopic Hook of Enoch. It isimportant, therefore, to repeat that what the reader is offered is astraight translation of the Kthiopic text as found in Ryl. Kth. MS23, the only exceptions being in passages where this particular MSseems to make no sense. The reader is not offered either a transla-tion of an ‘original' Kthiopic text or of an 'original' Knoch. Themore important variants of the other Kthiopic MSS arc mentionedfrom time to time in the notes, and all readings in the extant (ireekevidence which differ from the Kthiopic are recorded there: but itmust not be thought that any of such information implies a valuejudgement unless explicitly stated - c.g. 'adds’ or 'omits' indicatesnothing more than ‘has' or 'does not have’. Since the Aramaicevidence is for the most part so fragmentary it has only beenreferred to in those places where it seems to cast a clear light on theGreek and Ethiopie.

The two main families of the Kthiopic MSS are designated Kth. Iand Kth. II respectively. I’he capitals used lor the MSS are thesame as the letters used by Dillmann. Charles, and Flemming,though two more MSS have been added, viz:-

D' = Lake Tana MS 9 (15th cent.).

C' = an early 18th cent. MS in the possession of KdwarriUllendorff.

(D' belongs to Eth. I and C' to Kth. II).

The Greek authorities are differentiated as fotlows:-

Gk/ = the Akhmim fragments.

Gk.m = the Chester Beatty-Michigan fragments.

Gk.’ = the extracts in Synccllus.

Gk/ = the Vatican fragment.

(Gk/1 and Gk/2, Gk/1 and Gk.’2, indicate variations in text whereeither Gka or Gk/ offer the same passage more than once in slightlydifferent forms).

180

/ Enoch

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

Ethiopic

R. LAURENCE, Libri Enochi Prophetce Versio Aelhiopica (Oxford,1838).

G. F. A. DlLLMANN, Liber Henoch aethiopice, adquinque codicumJidemeditus cum variis lectionibus (Leipzig, 1851).

J. FLEMMING, Das Buch Henoch: Athiopischer Text mil Einleilung undCommentary TU N.F. vii. 1; Leipzig, 1902).

R. H. CHARLES, The Ethiopic Version ofthe Book ofEnoch editedfromtwenty-three MSS, together with the fragmentary Greek and LatinVersions (Oxford, 1906).

M. A. K.NIBB, The Ethiopic Book of Enoch: A New Edition in the Lightof the Aramaic Dead Sea Fragments. I. Text and Apparatus(Oxford, 1978).

Greek

(i) The Akhmim fragments

U. BOURIANT, Fragments du texle grec du livre d’Enoch el de quelquesecrits altribues a Saint Pierre (= Memoires publics par les membres de laMission archeologique franqaise au Caire, ix. 1 (Paris, 1892), pp.91-147).

A. LODS, Le Livre d’Henoch: Fragments grecs decouverts a Akhmim(Haute-Egypte), publics avec les variantes du lexte ethiopien, traduils etannotes (Paris, 1892).

, Reproduction en heliogravure du manuscrit d'Enoch et des ecrits

altribues a Saint Pierre (= Memoires publics par les membres de laMission archeologiquefranqaise au Caire, ix. 3; Paris, 1893).

(ii) The Vatican fragment

A. Mai, Palrum Nova Bibliotheca, tom. ii (Rome, 1844), p. iv.

J. GlLDEMKlSTER, ‘Ein Fragment des Griechischen Henoch’ inZDMG ix (1855), pp. 621-624.

/ Enoch

181

(iii) The Chester Beatty-Michigan fragments

CAMPELL BoNNKR. with the collaboration of HKRBKRT C.YoL’TIE. The Last Chapters of Enoch in Creek {= Studies and Docu-ments, viii; London, 1937-reprinted Darmstadt 1968).

F. G. Kenyon, The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, fast’, viii(London, 1941). |A brief Prelace and plates.]

(iv) The Synccllus fragments

\V. Dl.NDORK, Georgius Syncellus el Nicephorus (= Corpus SeriptorumHistoriae Byzantinae. i (Bonn, 1829. pp. 20-23. 42-46, 46-47,47).

(v) a

H. B. SWETE, The Old Testament in Greek * iii (Cambridge, 1912),pp. 789-809.

, The Psalms of Solomon with the Greek fragments of the Book of Enoch

(Cambridge, 1899), pp. 25-45. (Reprinted from the above.]

(v) *

M. Black, Apocalypsis Henochi Graece (= PITG iii (Leiden, 1970),pp. 1-44).

Latin

M. R. JAMES, ‘A Fragment of the Book of Enoch in Latin’ inApocrypha Anecdota ( = TS ii. 3; Cambridge, 1893), pp. 146-150.

Aramaic

J. T. \11 LI K, The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran, Cave4 (Oxford, 1976).

Syriac

S. P. Brock, ‘A Fragment of Enoch in Syriac' in JTS vs. xix

(1968), pp. 626-631.

182

1 Enoch

TRANSLATIONS

English

R. Laurence, The Book of Enoch the Prophet: An apocryphal production. . . now first translated from an Ethiopic MS in the Bodleian Library(Oxford, 1821; reprinted with an Introduction of 45 pages by theAuthor of‘The Evolution of Christianity’, London, 1883).

R. H. CHARLES, The Book of Enoch translated from ProfessorDtllrnann’s Ethiopic Text emended and revised . . edited withIntroduction, Notes, Appendices, and Indices (Oxford, 1893).

, The Book of Enoch, or I Enoch, translatedfrom the Editor's Ethiopic

Text, and edited with the Introduction, Notes, and Indexes of the FirstEdition wholly recast, enlarged, and rewritten (Oxford, 1912).

, in APOTxi, pp. 163-281.

, The Book of Enoch (= S.P.C.K.. Translations of Early Documents;

London, 1917 - with an Introduction by VV. O. E.OKSTKRLEY).

M. A. K.N IBB, The Ethiopic Book of Enoch: A New Edition in the Lightof the Aramaic Dead Sea Fragmento. II. Introduction, Translation,and Commentary (Oxford, 1978).

French

F. MARTIN, Le Litre d'Henoch traduit sur le texte ethiopien (= Docu-ments pour Delude de la Bible: Les apocryphes de VAncien Testament;Paris, 1906).

German

C. F. A. D] LLMANN, Das Buch Henoch ubersetzl underkldrt (Leipzig,

1853).

G. Beer in E. KAUT7.SCH>4JM7'ii, pp. 217-310.

J. FLEMMING and L. RaderMACHER, Das Buch Henoch {- GCSv; Leipzig, 1901).

P. RiesSI.ER, AjSaB,2 pp. 355-451.

F. C. Bl'RKlTT, ‘On the Greek Text of Enoch' (= Appendix I inJewish and Christian Apocalypses (London. 1914). pp. 53—71).

A.-M. Denis, IPGAT pp.”15—30.

0. Eissfkldt, 077, pp. 617-622.

1. -B. FREY. art. ‘Apocrvphes de I'Ancien Testament’ in 1)1$ Sup \,cols. 357-371.

L. GlN/BKRO, The Legends of the Jews, i (Philadelphia, 1909). pp.130-137 and v (Philadelphia, 1925). pp. 158—162.

J. G. GREENFIELD and M. K. STONE, ’The Enot'hie Pentateuchand the Date of the Similitudes' in HTR lxx (1977), pp. 51-65.

P. GREI.OT. ‘La Legends d’Henoeh dans les Apocrvphes et dansla Bible: Origin et signification’ in Recherches de science religieuse,xlvi (1958), pp. 5-26 and 181-210.

J. C. H1NDLEY, ‘Towards a Date for the Similitudes of Enoch: AnHistorical Approach’ in STS xiv (1967-8), pp. 551-565.

H. J. LAW LOR, 'Early Citations from the Book of Enoch' in TheJournal of Philology, xxv (1897), pp. 164-225.

E. LITTMANN, art. ‘Enoch, Books of: I Ethiopic Enoch' in )E\(1903), pp. 179-181.

J. T. MlLIK, 'Problemes de la Litteralure Henochique a laLumicrc des Fragments aramccns de Qumran* in HTR Ixiv(1971), pp. 333-378.

P. RlESSLER, AjSab,2 pp. 1291-1297.

L. Rose, EATAP, pp. 101-106.

N. SCHMIDT, ‘The Original Language of the Parables of Enoch'in Old Testament and Semitic Studies in memory oj William RaineyHarper, ii (ed. R. F. HARPER, F. Brown, and G. F. MuORK;Chicago, 1908), pp. 327-349.

E. SCHURER, HJPTJC II. iii. pp. 54-73.

, GjVZJC* iii, pp. 268-290.

C. CL Torrey, AL, pp. 110-114.

E. U LLENDORFF, 'An Aramaic “Vorlage" of the Ethiopic Text ofEnoch?’ (= Alti del Concegno Internationale diSludi Etiopici (Rome,I960), pp. 259-267).

184 / Enoch

G. Zl NTZ, ‘Notes on the Greek Enoch* in JBL lxi (1942), pp.193-204.

, ‘Enoch on the Last Judgement (eh. cii. 1-3)’ in /IS xlv

(1944). pp. 161-170.

I. The words of the blessing of Enoch according to which heblessed the chosen and righteous who must be1 present on the dayof distress which is appointed for the removal of all the wicked and2 impious.2 And Enoch answered1 and said, There was a righteousmail whose eyes were opened by the Lord,4 and he saw a holyvision in the heavens5 which the angels showed to me. And I heardeverything from them, and 1 understood what I saw,6 but not forthis generation,’ but lor a distant generation which will come.8:1 Concerning the chosen I spoke, and I uttered a parable9 concern-ing them. The Holy and Great One10 will come out from his» dwelling, and the Eternal God will tread from there11 upon mountSinai, and he will appear with his host,12 and will appear in the.» strength ofhis power from heaven.13 And all will be afraid, and theWatchers will shake,14 and fear and great trembling will seize themi> unto the ends of the earth. And the high mountains will be shaken.15and the high hills will he made low,16 and will melt like wax before

1 Gk.J‘will be’.

2 the wicked and impious: L’D* ‘the impious'; Gk.* ‘the enemies, and therighteous will Ik- saved'.

I Gk.-‘ ‘took up his parable*, and so probably Aram.

* whose eyes . . the laird: Gk.*1 ‘to whom a vision from God was disclosed'.

’ GMIVBY a vision of the Holy One in the heavens'; Gk.* *a vision of the HolyOne and of heaven'.

6 which the angels . . . what I saw: Gk.* ‘He showed it to me, and the holy onesspeaking holy things 1 heard; and when I heard everything from them, I understoodas I looked’.

’ Gk.-' adds ‘did I take thought'.

* Gk.'4 'but to a distant one I will speak', and so probably Aram.

" Gk.* ‘and I took up my parable'. 10 Gk.-4 'My Holy Great < )ne‘.

" from there: Ok."1 ‘upon earth'. ,J with his host: Gk.’ ‘from his camp’.

II Gk.4 ‘from the heaven of heavens’.

14 will shake: Gk.* ‘will believe, and they will sing hidden things in all the ends ofthe (earth), and all the ends of the earth will shake'.

,s I)' ‘will fall and be shaken’; Gk.4 ‘will be shaken and fall and be broken up’.

16 Gk.* adds ‘so that the mountains will waste away’.

185

7 the flame. And the earth will sink'7 and everything that is on theearth will be destroyed, and there will be judgement upon all, andH upon all the righteous.18 But for the righteous he will make peace,and he will keep safe the chosen,19 and mercy will be upon them.They will all belong to God, and will prosper and be blessed,20 and9 the light of God21 will shine upon them.22 And behold!23 He24comes with ten thousand holy ones25 to execute judgement uponthem,2* and to destroy the impious, and to contend with27 all flesh2*concerning everything which the sinners and the impious havedone and wrought against him.29

II. (Contemplate1 all the events in heaven, how the lights in heavendo not change their courses, how2 each rises and sets in order, each2 at its proper time,3 and they do not transgress their law. Consider

'2 (JQT1!)' Gk.4 will !*• split open’.

'* and upon all the righteous: Gk.4 om.

'* and he will keep safe the c hosen: Gk.J ’and upon ihe chosen will be protectionand peace*.

20 and will prosper and be blessed: Gk.J ’and he will’show (lit. ‘give’) favour to(hem and will bless them all, and he will help them all and will help us’.

21 ofGod: Gk.4om.

52 Gk.4 adds ‘and he will make peace with them'.

22 And behold: Gk.4 ’For*. This verse is cited in Jude 14f.

24 Jude ‘The laird*.

28 Cik.4 ‘with his ten thousands and his holy ones’; Jude ‘with his holy tenthousands*.

2* 1)' Gk.4 Jude ’upon all*.

**’ contend with: Kth I (cp. Gk.4Judc) ‘reprove'.

2* and to destroy ... all flesh; C»k.4 'and he will destroy all the impious and willreprove all flesh';Judc ‘and to reprove all (lie impious’. Some Fah. MSS fallowGk 4in having a future construction.

2a concerning . . . him: Gk.4 ’concerning all the deeds of their impiety which theyhave impiously committed, and the hard words which (hey have spoken, andconcerning all the things which the impious sinners have spoken against him'; Jude'concerning all the deeds of their impiciy which they have impiously committed,and concerning all the hard things which the impious sinners have spoken againsthim'. Aram., like Gk.4 and Jude, probably also had a clause referring to the ‘hardwords’ spoken by the impious.

1 bo D‘ Gk.4: all other Eth. MSS ’I contemplated'; Aram. Consider’.

2 Cik.4 ‘how they do not change their courses, and the lights in heaven, how’.

1 Cik.4 adds ‘and they appear at their feasts'.

IHI>

the earth. and understand4 from the work which is done upon it,from the beginning to the end,5 that no work of God changes asit becomes manifest.6 Consider7 the summer and the winter, howthe whole earth is full of water, and clouds and dew and rain restupon it."

III. Contemplate and see1 how all the trees2 appear withered, andhow all their leaves arc stripped, with the exception of fourteentrees which are not stripped, which remain with the old foliage untilthe new comes after two or three years.

IV. And again, contemplate' the days of summer, how at itsbeginning2 the sun is above it.5 You seek shelter and shade becauseof the heat of the sun, and the earth burns with a scorching heat,and you cannot tread upon the earth, or upon a rock, because of itsheat.

V. Contemplate' how the trees are covered with green leaves,2and bear fruit.3 And understand in respect of everything andperceive4 how he who lives for ever made all these things for you;5

J Q 'I considered the earth and understood'.

* Gk.-1 adds ‘they are corrupt'.

* Gk/ ‘that nothing upon earth changes, but all the works of God becomemanifest to yon'

’ QD* *1 considered'. * how . . . upon it: Gk/ om.

1 So I'D* Gk.-*: all other Kth. MSS ‘I contemplated and saw’: Arant. ‘Consider*.

2 Gk/ om. iiih-v.la by homoiotelcuton and reads only ‘Contemplate and see allthe trees . how the green leaves etc.'.

1 So L": all other Kth. MSS ‘I contemplated*; Aram, ‘consider’.

* at its beginning: soGQl’;D' corrupt; all other Kth. MSS ‘opposite it", viz. ‘howthe sun is atx>vc it, opposite it'.

’ above it: i.e. the earth.

1 So CJL’r Q ‘1 contemplated and saw*; all other Kth. MSS ‘I contemplated'.

2 Gk.'* ’how the green leaves on them cover the trees'.

’ Gk/ ’and all their fruit is for honour and glory’, and so probably Aram.

* Gk.'1’Understand and know in respect of all his works and perceive’.

s GMQ’PU ‘how you made all these things who live for ever'; D' corrupt; Gk/‘how the living God made these things so, and he lives for all eternity’.

/ Enoch

187

2 and how his works are before him in each succeeding year,6 and allhis works serve him and do not change,7 but as God has decreed,8;} so everything is done. And consider how the seas and rivers\ together9 complete10 their tasks." Rut you have not persevered,nor observed the law of the Lord.12 But you have transgressed, andhave spoken proud and hard words with your unclean mouthagainst his majesty.13 You hard of heart! You will not have peace!

5 And because of this you will curse your days, and the years of yourlife you will destroy.14 And the eternal curse will increase,1* and

6 you will not receive mercy.16 In those days you will transform yourname11 into an eternal curse18 to all the righteous, and they will

7 curse you sinners for ever” - you together with the sinners.20 Forthe chosen there will be light and joy21 and peace, and they willinherit the earth. But for you, the impious, there will be a curse.

8 When22 wisdom is given to the chosen,23 they will all live, and will

* Gk.a ‘and how his works, all the things which he has made for ever, all arc thusbrought into being from year to year'.

7 and all . . . change: Gk.J ‘and all the tasks which they complete lor him, andtheir tasks do not change'.

B Gk.a ‘but in accordance with the decree'.

v Gk.a‘likewise’. ,0 Gk.J adds ‘and do not change-.

11 Gk.a adds ‘from his words'. 15 Gk.* 'his commandments'.

0 Gk.a adds 'because you have spoken with your lies'.

'* (*'Gk.a 'will be destroyed'.

13 G I L D' ‘And it will increase in an eternal curse'; M ‘in an eternal curse'; Gk/‘and the years of your destruction will increase in an eternal curse’, and so probablyAram.

16 Gk.a adds ‘or peace*.

17 So GQT'L'D*: M is corrupt; T! Eth. II ‘peace’.

" I n those days ... curse: Gk." 'Then your names will become an eternal curse’.

'* The Ethiopic could also be translated ‘and the sinners will curse you forever';Gk.a and all those who curse will curse by you’.

10 you ... the sinners: Gk.a ‘and all the sinners and impious will swear by you.And all the sinless (?) will rejoice, and there will be for them forgiveness of sins andall mercy and peace and graciousness, there will be for them salvation, a good light,and they will inherit the earth. And for all you sinners there will be no salvation, butupon you all will rest a curse’.

71 Gk.a‘grace’. i: Some Eth. MSS ‘IF; D’ Gk.a ‘Then’.

a £)* -Then there will be given to the chosen wisdom, and’; Gk.J repeals somematerial from verse 7 by homoioteleuton, viz. ’Then there will be given to thechosen light and grace, and they will inherit the earth. Then there will be given to allthe chosen wisdom, and’.

laa

I Enoch

not again do wrong, either through forget fulness, or through pride.!> But those who possess wisdom will be humble.24 They will notagain do wrong, and they will not he judged25ali the days of theirlife, and they will not die of the divine wrath or anger. But they willcomplete the number of the days of their life, and their life willgrow in peace, and the years of their joy will increase in gladnessand in eternal peace all the days of their life.

VI. And it came to pass, when the sons of men had increased, thatin those days' there were born to them1 2 fair and beautiful32 daughters. And the angels, the sons of heaven, saw them anddesired them.4 And they said to one another. Come,5 let us choosefor ourselves wives from the children of men,6 and let us beget for'.l ourselves children.7 * 9 And Scmyaza, who was their leader, said tothem, I fear that you may not wish this deed to be done," and that l» alone will pay lor this great sin.** And they all answered him andsaid,10 II Let us all swear an oath, and bind" one another with curses5 not to alter this plan, hut to carry out this plan effectively.12 Thenthey all swore together and all'3 bound one another with curses to0 it.14 And they were in all two hundred, and they came down on

2* Gk.-' ‘But there* will be to the enlightened man light, and to the wise man

perception*.

25 Gk.4 ‘and they will not sin’

1 in those days: Gk.'om.

2 to them: Gk.4 om.

I and beautiful: Gk.'om.

* And the angels . . . desired them: Gk.' 'And the Watchers desired them andwent astray after them".

5 Gome: Gk.'om.

6 Gk.“ ‘from men*, i.e. ’from among mankind'; Gk.' from the daughters of themen of the earth1.

7 and let us beget. .. children: Gk.'om.

* Gk.**‘to do this deed’.

9 GMT'(?)L* Gk.4 s 'a great sin'; I)’ corrupt.

10 and said: GMD'Gk/om.

II GMTIV Gk.a ‘and all bind'; Q is defective.

12 but . . . effectively: CIV ‘but to do this deed’; l' is defective; Gk.a ‘until wchave accomplished it and have done this deed'; Gk.' ‘until we have accomplishedit’.

13 all: Elh.I AD Gk.4*om. 14 to it: Gk.'om.

1 Enoch

189

Ardis which is the summit of Mount Hermon.15 And they calledthe mountain Hermon, because on it they swore and bound oneanother with curses. And these art the names of their leaders:IASemyaza,17 who was their leader, Urakiba, Ramiel,18 Kokabiel,”Tamicl,20 Ramiel, Daniel,21 Ezeqiel,22 Baraqicl," Asacl,24Armaros,25 Batricl,26 Ananel, Zaqicl,27 Samsiel, Sartael,28 . . .,29Turiel, Yomiel, Arazicl.30 I'hesc are the leaders of the two hundredangels, and of all the others with them.31

VII. And they took wives for themselves, and everyone chose lorhimself one each.1 * And they began to go in to them and were

15 Gk.' ‘And they were two hundred who came down in the days of Jared on thesummit of Mount Hermon', and so probably Aram.; Gk.J omits the entire verse byhnu.

** The following list of names was copied out in the wrong order in Ok.4 throughail easily recognisable mistake, but the evidence oi’Gk.3 is given in the correct orderin the notes. The list also occurs, with some variations, in lxix.2 and is partiallyreproduced in viii.3. Many of the names suffered corruption during the course oftheir transmission, and the versions now offer a large number of variants, not all ofwhich are recorded below. ,T Aram. ‘Shcmihazah’.

l" Urakiba (or 'Arakiba'l. Ramiel: most Kih. MSS in vi. 7 write these two namesas one word; the division into two Ibllows IT, and external evidence confirms that itsdivision is correct. Gk.5 ‘Atarqouph, Araqicl'; Gk.4 ‘Araihak, Kimbra, Sammanc'.For the second name in the list Aram, apparently read ‘Arataqqiph' or ‘Arataqoph’.

19 Elh.IJ'Akibcel'. 20 Gk.5 ‘Horammamc'; Aram, defective.

21 Gk.' ‘Sampsich’. 22 Gk.' ‘Zaqicl’; Aram. ‘Ziqicl’.

23 Klh. 11 'Saraqic!'; Gk.' ‘Balqief. 24 Gk.' ‘Azalzcf; Gk.4 ‘Ascal’.

23 Gk.*‘Phamiaros’; Gk.a ‘Arearos’; Aram. 'Hcrmoni'.

26 Gk.s‘Amariel'; Aram. 'Maiarrl'.

22 So D’N: other Eth. readings in vi. 7 appear to be corruptions of Zaqiel. Gk.5‘ThuusiuT; (;k.J ‘RaqkT; Aram. ‘Sathcrcl’ or ‘Saihawel’.

2* So most Eth. MSS: GM ‘Saiarcl’; other Eth. readings are corruptions ofSartaelorSatarel; Gk.' ‘Sarinas'; Gk.a ‘Sathicl’; Aram. 'Sahricl'.

29 The seventeenth name has dropped out of the list in Eth, Gk.5 ‘Eumicl*; Gk.4ThonieP; Aram, defective.

*° Gk.5 ‘Saricl’; Gk.a ‘Atricl*; Aram, uncertain.

31 SoT* Eth. 11: G ‘These are their leaders of tens, and of all the others with them’,and this is probably what is intended by the other Eth.I V1SS; Gk.a ‘These are theirleaders (over) tens’; Gk.5 ‘These and all the others (vii.i. in the ...)’.

1 Gk.a ‘And they took wives for themselves; each of them chose for himself a wife’;

Gk.s ‘(vi. 8... the others) in the one thousand, one hundred and seventieth year of the

world took wives for themselves’.

promiscuous with them.* And they taught them charms and spells,•> and showed to them the cutting of roots and trees.’ And theybecame pregnant4 and bore large giants, and their height teat threeA thousand cubits.5 These6 devoured all the toil of men.7 until" menl were unable to sustain them. And the giants turned against themr> in order to devour men.4 And they began to sin against birds, andagainst animals, and against reptiles and against fish, and theyf> devoured10one another's flesh and drank the bltxxi from it." Thenthe earth complained about the lawless ones.

VIII. And A/azel taught men to make swords.1 and daggers, andshields and breastplates.2 * 4 And he showed them the things afterthese, and the art of making them: bracelets.’ and ornaments.4 and

*’ (Ik.4 ‘And they began to go in to (hem and to defile themselves with lhem’; (Ik.''And they l»egan to defile themselves with them until the flood’.

I (1QT’(?1NY (Ik.1* ‘And they taught them charms and spells and the cutting ofroots, and showed to them trees (tlk.-1 'plants')'; (Ik.'om. (but Aram, supports Kth.

Ok.4).

4 And they became pregnant; so Kth. Ok.4 Aram.; (ik.'om,. and then instead ofverse 2 contimies 'And they lxire to them three kinds: first large giants, and the giantsbegat the Xaphilim, and to the Xaphilim were born the Klioud. And they grewaccording to their greatness, and thr\ taught themselves and their wives charms andspells’.

* and their . .. cubits: (Ik.J ‘three thousand dibits in height'.

* MFC Ok. ■“who';Gk.'otn. vii. ;M>.

’ all the toil of men: Ok.'1 om. ‘all’; C* Aram, 'the toil of all men’.

" Gk.“ 'And when".

* And the giants . . . men: Ok.4 'the giants acted with effrontery against them anddevoured men’; Aram., wliose text is incomplete and in part uncertain, used the verb‘to kill’, not ‘to devour’.

In ABCIX Ok.4 ‘and to devour'.

II from it: D* Gk.4om.

1 Gk.4 ‘Aziiel taught men to make swords’; Ok.' ‘First Azacl, (he tenth of theleaders, taught the making of swords'.

1 (Ik.4 'and arms, and shields and breastplates, teachings of angels'; Ok.5 ‘andbreastplates and all military equipment’.

•* Kth.I (cp. Ok.4) ‘and bracelets’.

4 Gk.J ‘And he showed them metals, and the art of working them, and bracelets,and ornaments’; Ok.' ‘and the metals of the earth and gold, how they work them aridmake them into ornaments for women, and silver. And he showed to them’, In Elh.‘the things after these' possibly derives from a corrupt translation of the word for'metals’.

1 Enoch

191

the art of making up the eyes and of beautifying the eyelids.5 andthe most precious and choice stones, and all kinds of coloured dyes.

2 And the world was changed.6 And there was great impiety andmuch fornication,1 and they went astray.8 and all their ways

3 became corrupt.6 Amczarak10 taught all" those who cast spellsand cut roots.12 Armaros the release of spells,13 and Baraqielastrologers,14 and Kokabel portents,15 and Tamiel taught

4 astrology,16 and Asradel17 taught the path of the moon.18 And at

3 So Eth,, lit. ‘and how to make up the eyes with antimony and how to beautify the.eyelids’: Gk.4 ‘and antimony and cyrpaint' (ep. Aram, ‘concerning antimony andconcerning cyc-painf); Gk.' is in part corrupt, but should probably lx- read 'both hotcto make up the eyes with antimony and how to l>cauiify the lace'.

* And the world was changed: so G; Q is corrupt; O’ ‘and the changing of theworld’; all other Eth. MSS ‘and eternal change. But Gk.4Som., and Eth. is probably asecond rendering (more precisely, a eornipt transliteration) of‘the metals (of theearth)'. Gk.' adds ‘And the sons of men made these things for themselves and theirwives, and they transgressed and led astray the holy ones'.

7 MT'l’ ‘And there was great and widespread (lit. 'much') impiety, and theycommitted fornication' (CD’ are similar); Gk.4 ‘And there was much impiety, andthey committed fornication'; Gk.' ‘And there was much impiety on the earth'.

* and they went astray: Q Gk.s om.

9 Gk.a ‘and became corrupt in all their ways’; Ck.' ‘and they made all their wayscorrupt'.

10 So Eth. II; Eth. I ‘Amizaras’ or similar. Both forms arc corrupt tor ‘Scmvaza’.

11 G.MQTTD'om.

12 Gk.a ‘Scmvaza taught spells and the cutting of roots'; Gk.' ‘And furthermoretheir leader, Semyaza. taught spells (so I correct Git.’) against the mind, and the rootsof the plants of the earth’.

12 Gk.s 'the eleventh, Pharmaros. taught charms, spells, magical skills and therelease of spells’. Aram, is incomplete, but appears to have had a long text comparableto that of Gk.'.

14 Gk.-’ ‘[Bajraqicl astrology '; Gk.' 'the ninth taught astrology’.

15 Gk.’ ‘the fourth taught astrology '.

Gk.1' 'Sathicl astrology': Gk.’ ‘the eighth taught acroscopy’. Eth. ‘Tamiel’ andGk.a ‘Sathicl’ are corrupt for ‘Ziqiel’ which is attested by Aram, here and is the eighthname in vi. 7. — Gk.’adds ‘the third taught the portents of the earth; the seventh taughtthe portents of the sun’; correspondingly Aram, adds ‘Arataqqiph (or ‘Arataqoph')taught the portents of the earth; Shamshiel taught the portents of the sun'. Arataqqiphand Shamshiel are second and fifteenth in vi. 7, not third and seventh, but inGk.'invi.7 the third name (‘Araqicl’) appears to be an alternative form of the second, and theseventh (‘Sampsich’) of the fifteenth.

17 Corrupt; the name originally was ‘Sahriel’ (‘Moon ofGod’).

" Gk.a ‘Seriel the course of the moon’; Gk.s ‘the twentieth taught the portents of themoon’. Sahriel is sixteenth in vi. 7, not twentieth, but Gk.* appears to presuppose this

m

1 Enoch

thr destruction of men19 they cried out.20 and their voices reachedheaven.21

IX. And then Michael, Gabriel, Suriel and Uriel1 looked downfrom heaven and saw2 the mass of blood that was being shed on the2 earth and all the iniquity that was being done on the earth.3 Andthey said4 to one another. Let the devastated earth cry out with the:l sound of their cries unto the gate of heaven.5 And now, to you Oholy ones of heaven,6 the souls of men complain, saying,7 Bring our•1 suit" before the Most High.9 And they said to their Lord, the

name for the twentieth angel, as well as lor the sixteenth. Gk.’ further adds ‘All thesebegun to reveal mysteries to their wives and their children. Alter this the giants beganto devour the flesh of men’: Aramaic evidence has survived corresponding to the firstof these sentences, but not to the second.

And at.. . men: Gk.' 'And men began to decrease on the earth’.

:o they cried out: (»k.a * om.

*’’ and their ... heaven: <ik.J *a cry went up to heaven'; Ok.'1 'and the rest cried outto heaven concerning their mistreatment, saying that the remembrance of themshould be brought before the laird’; Ok.'2 ‘Then men cried out to heaven, saying.Bring our suit before the Most High, and our destruction before the Great Glory,beibre the Lord of all the lords in majesty■*.

1 So Kth.II. but B,NX add 'Raphael' after ‘Gabriel’: M ‘Michael. Raphael,Suriel and Gabriel’; other Eth.l MSS abbreviate the list.

1 Ok.* ' Then looking down, Michael, Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel saw fromheaven'; Gk.*1 '} 'And hearing thu, the four great archangels, Michael, Uriel,Raphael and Gabriel, looked down on the earth from the sanctuary of heaven; andseeing'. In Aram, the list of names was probably ‘Michael. Sariel. Raphael andGabriel'.

J and all the iniquity . . . the earth: Gk.-* om. (hmt.l; Gk.'1'1 'and all the impietyand iniquity that was being done on it'.

* And they said: Gk.*’*2 ‘entering, they said'

’ Let . . . heaven: Gk.J ‘The sound of those who cry out oil the earth reaches untothe gates of heaven’; Gk.*'om.; Aram is incomplete, but appears to support Eth.Gk>.

* And now ... of heaven: Gk.**'S1 om. jhmt. ?).

’ Gk.s,SJ ‘The spirits and souls of men groan, complaining and saying'.

* Gk.** ‘petition’.

4 Gk.*1 adds ‘and our destruction before the Great Glory, before the Lord of all

the Lords in majesty’.

I Enoch

193

King,10 Lord of Lords, God of Gods, King of Kings!" Your*2glorious throne endures for all the generations of the world, and yourname is holy1' and praised for all the generations of the world14 and5 blessed and praised!'5 You have made everything, and power overeverything is yours. And everything is uncovered and open beforeyou, and you see everything, and there is nothing which can be(> hidden from you. Sec then16 what Azazel17 has done,1" how he19 hastaught all iniquity on the earth20 and revealed the eternal secrets

7 which were made in heaven. And Scrnyaza has made known spells,he to whom21 you gave authority to rule over those who arc with

8 him. And they went in to the daughters of men together,22 and laywith those women,23 and became unclean.24 and revealed to them

9 these25 sins.26 And the women27 bore giants,2* and thereby29 the

10 Eth.I ‘And they said in the laird til'the Kings'; Gk/ And they said to theLord'; Gk/' 'And they said to the l«nrd of the ages'; Gk.'2 'And entering, the lourarchangels said to the laird'.

" Gk/ ‘You are laird of lairds. God of Gods. King til'the ages'; (ik.'1 'You areGod of gods. Lord oflairds. King of Kings. God of the ages'.

12 So ABX Gk/'1 '* Aram.; other Kill. MSS ‘His’.

I)' adds 'and blessed'; (ik.** adds ‘and great'.

14 Kth.I Gk.*"*1” 'for all eternity'.

,s and blessed anti praised: l)'(!’ <*k.' <>m.; BX ‘and you are blessed andpraised'.

'* and there is nothing... See then: Gk/orn. (hmt.).GMQTD'NGk/ read 'Yousec' for ‘See then'. 11 Gk/ * ‘A/atT,

Gk.' adds ‘and what he has introduced'. 14 how he: N.V Gk/ 'who'.

20 how lie . . . the earth: Gk.' 'and what he has taught, wickedness and sin on theearth and all craftiness on the dry ground'.

21 and revealed . . to whom: so Kth.I I, GMT't* 'and they hate revealed theeternal secrets which wrre made in heaven. dm/Semyaza has brought knowledge tomen, he to whom*: QD’ are untranslatablr. hut in part agree with Gk/; Gk/ ‘andhas revealed the eternal secrets, the things in heaven which men practice {and)know. And what Semyaza has done, to whom’; Gk.' ‘Kor hr has taught the secrets andrevealed to the world the things in heaven. And the sons of men practise hispractices in order to know the secrets. lo Semyaza'. No version inspires completeconfidence.

22 of men together: L’EXC om. 'together'; GMT corrupt; QD’ ‘of men on the

earth'; Gk.'1 "of the men of the earth'. iy Gk/’‘with them*.

24 Gk/ adds 'with the women'. 55 GMQTD’ Gk/* 'all'; l' om.

2® Gk/ adds 'and taught them to make charms for producing hatred'.

27 Gk/'And now behold the daughters of men’.

2* Gk/ ‘titans’; Gk/ ‘by them giant soils’.

24 and thereby: GD' CJk/ ‘through whom’.

194

1 Enoch

10 whole earth has been filled with blood and iniquity.10 And nowbehold the souls which have died cry out31 and complain unto thegate of heaven, and their32 lament has ascended, and they13 cannotgo out in the face of the iniquity which is being committed on the

11 earth. And you know everything before it happens, and you knowthis14 and what concerns each of them.11 But you say nothing to us.What ought we to do with them about this?16

X. And then the Most High, the Great and Holy One. spoke1 and

2 sent Arsyalalyur2 to the son of Lantech, and said to him,3 Say4 tohim in my name. Hide yourself, and reveal to him the end which iscoming, for the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge5 isabout to come on all the earth, and what is in it will be destroyed.6

3 And now7 teach him that he may escape, and that his offspring may

4 survive for the whole earth.8 And further the Lord said9 to Raphael,

,0 and thereby . . . iniquity: Gk/ ‘Dccciilulncss lias been poured out on the menof the earth, and the whole earth has been filled with iniquity ’.

11 GMQT’T BOXB'C Gk/ “the souls of those who have died cry out’; D'corrupt; Gk/ ‘the spirits of the souls of the men who have died complain'.

*2 and complain . . . and their: Gk/ ‘and unto the gates of heaven their'.

11 GQT‘(?)L’ Gk/“it\

,4 and you know this: Gk.* ‘and you see these things’; Gk/ ‘and you see them’.

,5 and what concerns each of them: Gk/ * ‘but you leave them alone’.

J<> Gk/ ‘And you do not tell us what tee ought to do with them about these things’;Gk/ ‘And you say nothing. What ought ue to do with them about this?’

1 Gk/ ‘ I hcn the Most High talked about these things, the Great Holy One, andhe spoke and talked’; Gk/ ‘Then the Most High talked, and the Great Holy Onespoke’.

2 So Eth.I I: D' ‘Asuryal’; G ‘Asaryalvor’ and other Eth.I MSS similarly; Gk/‘Istrael’; Gk/ ‘Uriel’. All Eth. readings probably corruptions of‘I strael’.

1 and said to him: Eth.I Gk/ om.; Gk/ ‘saying’.

* Eth.I prefixes ‘And’; Gk/ prefixes ‘Go to Noah and'.

* and a deluge: Gk/ ‘And say to him that a deluge'.

" D' ‘and everything that is in it will be destroyed’; Gk/ ‘and it will destroyeverything that is on it’; Gk/ ‘to destroy everything from the face of the earth’.

7 And now: Gk/ ‘And’; Gk/om. and reads for this verse ‘Teach the righteousone, the son of Lantech, what he should do, and he w ill preserv e his soul alive andwill escape through the world, and from him a plant will be planted and will beestablished for all the generations of the world’.

* for the whole earth: so Eth.II. but N adds‘for ever’; Pah.I ‘for all generations’;

Gk/s‘for all the generations of the world'. * Gk/’‘And he said'.

1 Enoch

19:>

Bind10 Azazel11 by his hands and his feet.12 and throw him into thedarkness. And split open the desert which is in Dudacl,13 and

3 throw him there.14 And throw on him15 jagged and sharp stones,and cover him with darkness; and let him stay there lor ever, and

6 cover his face, that he may not sec light,16 and that on the great day

7 of judgement he may be hurled'7 into the fire. And restore theearth18 which the angels” have ruined, and announce the restora-tion of the earth,20 for I shall restore the earth.21 so that riot all thesons of men shall be destroyed through the mystery of everything22

8 which the Watchers made known22 and taught to their sons. Andthe whole earth has been ruined24 by the teaching of the works of

9 Azazel,25 and against him26 write down all sin. And the Lord said27to Gabriel, Proceed28 against the bastards29 and the reprobatesand against the sons of the fornicators,30 and destroy the sons of thefornicators and31 the sons of the Watchers from amongst men.32And send them out, and send them against one another, and let

10 Gk.' prefixes ’(Jo, Raphael, and’.

" Gk.a' \-\zacl\

12 by his hands and his feet: Gk.' ‘tie him hand and foot*.

13 Gk.4 ‘in OadoucP; Gk.4 ‘in the desert IXiudaeP.

,'1 Gk.' ‘and having gone there, throw him in.

15 Gk.‘l' ‘And place under him'.

16 Gk.“* ‘and let him not see light*.

” Gk.* s ‘And on the day of the great (Gk.' om. ‘great") judgement he will behurled*.

’* Gk.a ‘And the earth will be restored*.

■9 Gk.' ‘the Watchers’.

30 the restoration of the earth: Gk.' ‘the healing of the plague*.

21 for I shall restore the earth: GML’D' ‘that the earth may he restored* (lit. ‘thatone may restore the earth*); Gk.-1' ‘that they may heal the plague*.

22 D' Gk.a ‘through the entire mystery*; Gk.' ‘through the mystery’.

H Eth. ‘killed’; Gk.a ‘struck’; Gk.4 ‘spoke’. All three are impossible, hut Eth. andGk.'1 probably derive from a confusion of the Aramaic verbs *to strike* and ‘to show,make known’; hence the above translation. Gk.4‘spoke’ is an ad hoc correction of analready corrupt text.

24 Gk.J adds ‘having been corrupted*.

25 Gk.a 4 ‘by the works taught by AzaeP. 28 Gk.' ‘against it*.

21 Gk.4‘and he said’. 24 Gk.' adds ‘Gabriel’.

29 Gk.4‘the giants'. 40 Gk.a5‘of fornication’.

11 the sons of the fornicators and: Gk.a s om.; GAK om. by hmt. ‘and destroy thesons of the fornicators’.

32 Gk.s ‘the sons of men’.

196

/ Enoch

them destroy themselves in battle,3* for they will not have length c

10 days. And they will all petition you, but their fathers will gai:nothing in respect of them,34 for they hope for eternal life,35 an<

11 that each of them will live life for five hundred years. And the Lorsaid36 to Michael, Go,37 inform38 Semyaza and the others with hirwho have associated with the women39 to corrupt themselves wit

12 them in all40 their uncleanness. When41 all42 their sons kill eacother, and when43 they see the destruction of their beloved one.1bind them for seventy generations under the hills44 of the eartuntil the day of their judgement and of their consummation, unt

13 the judgement which is for all eternity is accomplished. And ithose days45 they will lead them to the abyss of fire; in torment an>

14 in prison they will be shut up for all eternity.46 And then he47 will bburnt and from then on destroyed with them; together they will b

15 bound until the end of all generations.49 And destroy all the souls clust49 and the sons of the Watchers, for they have wronged mcr

l(i Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth, and every evil worwill cease.50 And let the plant of righteousness and truth appeal

” And send them out ... in battle: Gk.a “Send them in a battle (^'destructionGk.' 'Send them against one another, some of them against the rest o/them, in battland in destruction.'

14 And they ... of them: Gk.'* corrupt, but probably ‘And (no) petition will bgranted to their fathers even iti respect of them’; Gk.' ‘And no petition will be (lit. ‘is'granted to their fathers’.

35 for eternal life: GMTUD* Gk.14 ‘to live an eternal life'.

36 Gk.a "And he said’. 57 Go: some Eth. MSS om.; Gk.5 adds ‘Michael

*M Gk.s‘bind’. w Gk.4‘the daughters of men'.

40 QGk.a,om. 41 Eth.I Gk.41 ‘And when’.

41 Gk.a 4 om.. and so apparently Aram.

4' U Gk.J 5 om., and so apparently Aram.

44 under the hills: Gk.a * ‘in the valleys’. 45 And in those days: Gk.a * ‘Then

46 in torment ... all eternity: Gk.a 4 ‘and to torment and to the prison of ctem;confinement’.

47 i.e. Semyaza, but sec below.

48 GMQT'L'D’ Gk.a ‘And when anyone is burnt and destroyed from now on, hwill be bound together with them until the end of all generations (Gk.a *thgeneration’)’; Gk.J ‘And whoever is condemned and destroyed from now on will tbound with them until the end of their generation’. Aram. 'And whoever ...’ agre<with Gk.5.

49 Gk.a ‘the spirits oRhc reprobate*.

so So GMQD* and some Eth.I I MSS: Gk.a and other Eth. MSS ‘and let everevil work cease’.

I Enoch

197

and the deed will become a blessing: righteousness and truth51 will17 they plant52 in joy for ever. And now all the righteous will behumble,5’ and will live until they beget thousands; and all the days1H of their youth and their sabbaths5'1 they will fulfil in peace. And inthose days55 the whole earth will be tilled in righteousness, and allof it will be planted with trees,56 and it will be filled with blessing,lit And all pleasant trees they will plant on it.57 and they will plant onit58 vines, and the vine which is planted5* on it will produce fruit60in abundance;61 and every seed which is sown on it. each measurewill produce a thousand, and each measure of olives will produce

20 ten baths of oil.62 And you. cleanse the earth from all wrong,6* andfrom all iniquity, and from all sin. and from all6* impiety, and fromall the unclcanncss which is brought about on the earth; remove

21 them from the earth.65 And all the sons of men shall l>e righteous,66and all the nations shall serve and bless me. and all shall worship

22 me. And the earth67 will be cleansed from all corruption, and from

*' and dir deed . . . and truth: GTL' 'and it will liecornr a blessing; drrtls ofrighteousness and (ruth'; Q corrupt; 1)‘ Gk/om. (hint.).

i} Some Kth. MSS 'will lx- planted'; IV 'will he plant*; M corrupt; Gk/ ‘will heplant fiir himself, hut most correct to ‘will be planted*.

** So Kth.11: Kth.I Gk.J Aram, 'will escape'.

** and (heir sabbaths: so Kth. Gk.‘\ hot long recognised to In- a mistranslation ofan Aramaic 'and their old age’: Aram, now confirms this.

” And in those days: (ik.1’ ‘Then’.

and all . . . with trees: so Kth. ami apparently Aram.: Gk.4 ‘and a tree will beplanted in it'.

*’ And all . . . on it: Gk.4 'And all ihr trees of the earth will rejoice; they will lx*planted'.

** on it: < Jk.** nin.

5I> Some Kth. MSS ‘which a man plants'.

60 GMQTIV ‘wine'; V corrupt

61 and the vine ... in abundance: Gk.4 'and the vine which they plant, they willproduce thousands of jars of wine'.

and every seed . . . of oil: Gk.4 defective.

*' Gk.a 'unclranness'; 1)' adds ‘and from all uncleanness'.

M from all: Gk.Aom.

65 and from all the unclcanncss . . . from the earth: Ok/ ‘and wipe away all theuncleanness which is brought about on the earth*.

M And all . . . lie righteous: Gk.4 om. In the remainder of the verse Gk.4 has astrange word order and differs slightly from Kth.

1,1 Gk.4 'And the whole earth".

198

/ Enoch

all sin, and from all wrath, and from all torment;*’" and I will noiagain scnrl a flood6" upon it70 lor all generations for ever.

XI. And in those days1 1 will open the storehouses of blessingwhich are in heaven that 1 may send them down upon the earth/

2 upon the work and upon the toil of the sons of men. Peace andtruth’ will be united for all the days of eternity and lor all thegenerations of eternity.4

XII. And before everything' Knoch had been hidden.* and none olthe sons of men’ knew where he was hidden,4 or where he was. or

2 what had happened.5 And all6 his7 doings acre with the Holy Onesand with the Watchers" in his days." And I F.noeh was blessing10the Great Lord" and the King of Kternity. and hehold theWatchers'2 called to me, Knoch the scribe, and said to me,I Knoch,” scribe of righteousness, go. inform14 the Watchers olheaven who have left the high heaven and the holy eternal place,15and have corrupted16 themselves with the women, and have doneas the sons of men17 do, and have taken wives for themselves, and’> have become completely corrupt on the earth.1" They'9 will have

®H and Iron) all sin ... all torment: (ik.*1 ‘and from all imcleanness and wrath andtorment'.

09 a flood: (IMQT'l’I)' Gk.4 otn.

79 Gk.4 'upon them’.

1 Gk.4 ‘And then’.

: upon the earth: Gk 4 oni

* Ok.4 ’And then truth and peace’.

* Gk.4 ‘ofmen’.

’ I)' (rk.4 ‘Before these things’.

* Gk.4 ‘taken’.

* Gk.4 ‘and none of mankind’.

* Gk.4 ‘taken’.

* Gk.4 adds ‘to him’.

* Gk.4 om

7 Gk.4 ‘their’, but corrupt lor ‘his’.

" Holy Ones Watchers: Kth.I Gk.

4 transpose.

9 in his days: Gk.4 'were lus days’.

10 Gk.4‘standing blessing’.

'' 1)’ Gk.4 ‘tin* Ia>rd of majesty’; GMT'L’ corrupt.

11 Gk.4 adds ‘ol the Holy Great One'.

1' the scribe . . . Knoch: Gk.a orn. (hmi.), I)’ omits the scribe*.

14 Gk.4 'and say to’.

'* and the holy eternal place: Gk.4‘the sanctuary of the eternal place’.

'• Gk.4 ‘defiled’. 17 Gk.4 'of the earth’.

l* and have become completely ... earth: Gk.4 ‘You have completely ruined theearth!’ 19 Gk.a‘You'.

/ Enoch

MW

on earth’0 neither peace nor forgiveness of sin.21 lor they will not» rejoice in their sons. I'he slaughter22 of their beloved ones they willsec, and over the destruction of their sons they will lament andpetition for ever. But they will have neither mercy nor peace.

XIII. And Enoch went and said to Azazcl,’ You will not havepeace. A severe sentence has come out against you that you shouldl be bound. And you will have neither rest.2 nor mercy,1 nor thegranting of any petition, because of the wrong which you havetaught, and because of all the works of blasphemy4 and wrong and5 sin which you have shown to the sous of men.5 Then I went andspoke to them all together.6 and they were all afraid; fear andt trembling seized them. And they asked me to write out for them therecord of a petition that they might receive forgiveness, and to takei the record of their petition up7 to" the Lord in heaven.” For theythemselves were not able from then on to speak, and they did notraise10 their eyes to heaven out of shame for the sins for which theyli had been condemned. And then I wrote out the record of theirpetition and their11 supplication in regard to their spirits12 and thedeeds of each one of them,11 and in regard to what they asked,7 namely that they should obtain absolution and forbearance. And Iwent and sat down by the waters of Dan in Dan14 which is south-west of Hermon; and I read out the record of their petition until IH fell asleep. And behold a dream15 came to me, and visions fell upon

20 on earth: GMTL'H'N Gk.J om. 21 of sin: Gk.Jom.

22 for they will . . . slaughter: so T Kth.II; GMQl’D’ corrupt; Ok/ “Anticoncerning their sons in whom they rejoice, the slaughter

1 Gk.“ (corrupt) ‘And Enoch said to Azacl. Go'.

2 Ok.* “clemency'; G.MQD' corrupt.

•* nor mercy: Eth.I Gk.aom. 4 Gk.4 “impiety'.

5 GMQT1 L’D'P* Ck.a ‘to men’. 6 together: Gk.4 om.

7 Gk.a ‘and to read the record of the petition out’.

" Eth.I AKP1 Gk.a“before'.

* GMTL’D' Gk.a “ofheaven'. 10 Gk.a “or to raise'.

11 GMT'L'D’ Gk.a ‘the’, but Aram, apparently read ‘their'.

12 in regard to their spirits: so Eth. Gk.*, but possibly a mistranslation of‘inregard to themselves'.

•' and the deeds of each one of them: Gk.aom., but Aram, supports Eth.

14 in Dan: Gk.a‘in the land of Dan’. IS Gk.* ‘dreams'.

200

/ Enoch

me, and I saw a vision16 of wrath, namely that I should speak to th

9 sons of heaven and reprove them.17 And 1 woke up and went tthem, and they were all sitting gathered together as they mourneiin L'bdscyacl,1* which is between Lebanon and Scnir. with thei

10 faces covered. And I spoke before them19 all the visions whichhad seen in my20 sleep, and I began to speak these21 words crighteousness and to reprove22 the Watchers of heaven.

XIV. This book is the word1 of righteousness and of reproof for thWatchers who are from eternity, as the Holy and2 Great On2 commanded in that vision. I saw in my sleep what I will now tcwith the tongue of flesh and with my breath which the Great Onhas given to men in the mouth,3 that they might speak with it anunderstand with the heart.4 5 As he has created and appointed meto understand the word of knowledge, so he created and appointet me3 to reprove the Watchers, the sons of heaven. And I wrote olyour petition,6 but in my vision thus it appeared, that your petitiowill not be granted to you7 8 for all the days of eternity; and completjudgement has been decreed against you,4 and you will not hav

'* 1‘ Gk.4 Aram, ‘visions'.

1' namth that I . . . reprove them: Gk.J ‘and a voice came, saying. Speak to thsons ofhravcn to reprove them'.

Gk.J 'Kbclsata'. The forms in Kth. and Gk.4 are possibly corruptions <‘Abilene*.

"* And I spoke before them: so Kth. Aram.; Gk.a (corrupt) ‘Before them andreported to them'.

20 GMT't'D'KP'Gk.'om.

21 Gk.a ‘the*.

2* and to reprove: Gk.J ‘reproving*.

1 QD* 'This is the Ixxik of the words'; Gk.4 Aram. ‘The lx>ok of the words’.

2 Gk.Jom.

* and with my breath ... in the mouth: so Kth. 11; GMQTL* corrupt; D' Gk‘with (IV ‘and with*) the breath of my (D' ‘the’) mouth which the Great One Ikgiven to men’.

* Gk.a ’with them and with understanding ofheart*.

5 men to understand . . . appointed me: Gk.4 am. (hint.).

R Gk.4 ‘the petition of you angels’.

1 Gk.a ‘but in my vision thisappeared; and your petition has not been accepted’.

8 for all the days... against you: Gk.aom., but Aram, supports Kth.

201

5 peace.** And from now on you will not ascendlu into heaven for alleternity, and it has been decreed that you are to be bound in the

6 earth" for all the days12 of eternity. And belbre this you will haveseen13 the destruction of your beloved sons, and you will not be

7 able to enjoy them,14 but they will fall before you by the sword. Andyour petition will not be granted in respect of them, nor in respect ofyourselves. And while you weep and supplicate, you do not speak a

8 single word from the writing which I have written. And the visionappeared to me as follows:15 Behold clouds called me"1 in thevision, and mist called me, and the path of the stars and flashes oflightning hastened me and drove me,17 and in the"1 vision windscaused me to fly and hastened me and lifted me up) into heaven.1*

9 And 1 proceeded until I came near to a wall which was built of hailstones, and a tongue of fire surrounded it. and it began to make me

10 afraid.20 And 1 went into the tongue21 of fire and came near to alarge house which was built of hail stones, and the wall of thathouse was like a mosaic made of hail stones.22 and its floor was

11 snow.22 Its roof wo.?24 like the path of the stars and flashes oflightning, and among them were fiery Cherubim, and their heaven

12 was like water. And Ihere ivas a fire burning around its wall.2* and its

13 door was ablaze25 with fire. And I went into that house, and it was

0 and yen will not have’ peace: so NT*’; all other F.th. MSS 'and yon will havenothing': (Jk.** urn., and so probably Aram.

Ok.'1 ‘that you should no longer ascend'.

11 Gk.a ‘in the bonds ofthe earth’.

12 days: so Ktli. Aram.; Gk.a 'generations’.

Gk.-1 ‘and that before these things you should see'.

14 and you . . . etijov them: Gk.'1 ‘and that you will have no enjoyment in them'.

'* Gk.'1 'And in the vision thus it appeared to me'.

16 mr:Gk.aom.

12 Gk.'1 'and confused me’. Gk.'"my\

19 and hastened me ... into heaven: Gk.-1 'and lifted me up and brought me intoheaven’.

10 which was built ... me afraid: so Eth., but l)’ reads ‘tongues' instead of‘atongue’; Gk.a 'of a building built of hail stones and tongues of lire around them, andthey began to make me afraid1. 11 I)’ Gk.a 'tongues’.

22 and the wall... ofhail stones: Ok.*1 'and the walls ofthe house uere like slabs ofstone, and all the slabs were ufsnow'.

21 Ok.'1 ‘and the foundations u eteoi'snow'. J* Gk.J ‘And the roofs were'.

25 Eth.I N ‘around the wall': Gk.a ‘around the walls’.

26 Gk.'1 'and the doors were ablaze’.

20*2

hoi as fire and cold as snow, and there was neither pleasure nor

14 life27 in it. Fear covered me and trembling took hold of me. And as Iwas shaking and trembling. I fell on my face.28 And I saw in the"1

tr> vision, and behold, another house, which was larger than theformer, and all its doors were open before me. and it was built29 of a

It* longue10 of fire. And in everything it so excelled11 in glory andsplendour and size that I am unable to describe to you its glory and

17 its size. And its floor was fire, and above were lightning12 and the

18 path of the stars, and its roofalso was a burning fire. And 1 lookedand I saw in it11 a high throne, and its appearance was like ice andits surrounds like the shining sun1-1 and the sound of Cherubim.15

It) And from underneath the high1'’ throne there flowed out rivers of

20 burning fire17 so that it was impossible to look1* at it.19 And He whois great in glory40 sat on it, and his raiment was brighter than the

21 sun, and whiter than any snow.4' And no angel could enter.42 andat the appearance of the face of him who is honoured and praised

22 no creature of'flesh could look.41 A sea of fire44 burnt around him.and a great fire stood before him. and none of those around himcame near to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before

•” GMQl' ‘no pleasureoflife’: l)’ ‘nothing; Gk/ ’no food of life*.

** on my taco: <»k.** inn.

29 another house . .. and it was built: IV *a door before me. (and) another house,which was larger than the former, and all of it uas built*; Gk/ 'another door openbefore me, and a house larger than the former, and all of it teat built’. Aramprobably had the same order as IV Ok.-*.

w GM L’D'Gk/*<>f tongues' *' Gk/ 'and all of it so excelling'.

M GM ITIV (ik -‘Hashes ol lightning' " in it. Gk.J tun.

14 and its surrounds ... sun: Gk/ ‘and a wheel as of the shining sun'.

” and tile sound of Cherubim: so Eth. The text docs not inspire confidence, butGk/ is corrupt.

high: Kth.I (Jk.aom. ” Gk/ ‘burning rivers of fire’.

,l‘ T* Gk/ ‘so that 1 could not look*. "* atiuGMTLWKP'C'Gk/om.

40 GMQT'L'IVY Gk/ ‘And the Great Glory’.

41 and his raiment. . snow: Gk/ ‘his raiment was like the appearance nl the sun,brighter and whiter than any snow’.

4i Gk/ adds ‘into this house’.

4' and at the appearance . . . look: G I L D' ‘and look at the face of him who ishonoured and praised, and no creature ojflesh could look at him*; Gk/ ‘and look athis face because of the magnificence and glory, and no creature of flesh could look athim'.

44 Kth. I some Eth. II MSS Gk/ A firc‘.

/ Enoch

203

:i him,45 blit he needed no holy counsel. And the Holy Ones4* whowere near to him did not leave by niglu or day,41 and did not depart■t from him. And until then 1 had a covering on my face,48 as Itrembled. And the I.ord called me with his own mouth and said tome. Come hither. Enoch. to my holy word. And he lifted me up4*and brought me near to the door. And 1 looked.50 with my facedown.

XV. And he answered me and said to me with his voice. Hear!1 Donot be afraid. Enoch, you righteous man and scribe of righteous-ly ness.2 * * * * 7 Come hither and hear my voice. And go, say to the Watchersof heaven who sent you * to petition on their behalf.4 You ought to

3 petition on behalfof men, not men on behalfof you. Why have youleft the high, holy and eternal heaven, and lain with the womenand become unclean with the daughters of men. and taken wivesfor yourselves, and done as the sons of the earth and begotten*

4 giant sons? And you were spiritual, holy, living an eternal life, butyou became unclean upon the women,* and begat children throughthe blood of flesh, and lusted alter the blood of men, and produced

j flesh and blood as they do1 who die and are destroyed. And for this

4’ and none . . . before him: Gk / 'and no one t ame near to him. In a circle tenthousand limes ten thousand stood lx-fore him'.

46 but he needed . . . Hol> Ones: so I' Kth.II; I)‘ but he needed no counsel. Andthe holiness of the Holy Ones (i.e. ‘And the most Holy Ones')’; GMQL’ corrupt;Gk/ ‘and his every word was deed. And the most holy angels'. No version inspirescomplete confide nee.

4’ or day: GMQT't’D ’ Gk.* uni.

4‘ Gk * ‘1 had been prostrate on niv fat e'.

4" to my holy word. And lie lilted me up: Gk. * 'and hear my word. And unr of theHoly Ones came to me. and raised me. and stood me up’

50 Gk.* ‘And 1 bowed’.

1 and said . . . Hear: GMQD' ‘and said to me, (and ) his voice I heard'; L'

defective: Gk/ ‘and said tome. O upright man! Man ofuprightness! Scribe! And hisvoice I heard’.

■ righteous . . . righteousness: Gk.J ‘upright.. . uprightness'.

’ Gk/ 'to those who sen! you’. 4 to petition on their behalf: Gk.* om.

* Gk/ add ‘children for yourselves’.

* upon the women: so F.th., hut corrupt Ibr Gk/ 'through the blood of thewomen’.

7 and produced ... as they do: D' Gk/ ‘as they produce tlcsh and blood’.

204

/ Enoch

reason I gave them wives, namely that they might sow seed in themand that children might be born by them." that thus deeds might be(> done on the earth.9 But you formerly10 were spiritual, living an7 eternal, immortal life for all the generations of the world. For thisreason I did not arrange wives for you because11 the dwelling of theH spiritual ones12 is in heaven. And now the giants who were bornfrom body and flesh13 will be called evil spirits14 upon the earth,and on the earth will be their dwelling. And evil spirits came out15from their flesh16 because from above” they were created; from theholy Watchers was their origin and first foundation.11* Evil spiritsthey will be on the earth, and spirits of the evil ones19 they will be

10 called.20 And the dwelling of the spirits of heaven is in heaven, butthe dwelling of the spirits of earth,21 who were born on the earth, is

11 on earth. And the spirits of the giants t the clouds t which dowrong22 and are corrupt.23 and attack and fight and break24 on theearth,25 and cause sorrow;26 and they eat no food27 and do not

" Gk.4 ‘and thus beget children by them'.

* that thus . .. on the earth: so Klh.II; Kth.I defective and corrupt, but GTL'D'arc similar toGk/ 'that nothing might be lacking to them on the earth’.

10 formerly: Gk/om. 11 because: Gk/om.

12 Kth.I Gk/ add 'of heaven’.

" G ‘from souls and flesh'; Q ‘from the spirits of flesh': I)' Gk/' ‘from the spiritsand flesh*.

11 will be called evil spirits: Gk/ defective and reads ‘strong' lor ‘evil’.

15 Gk.' ‘And evil spirits they will be. the spirits which have come out'.

'* Gk.-* ‘from their bodies' (and so Kth. could also be translated): Gk.' ‘from thebodies of their flesh’.

17 Gk.*'from men’.

'* was their . . . Inundation: Gk/ * 'uas the beginning of their creation and thebeginning ofthrir foundation’.

14 they will be . .. the evil ones: Q Gk/om. (hnu.): some Kth. MSS read 'and evilspirits’ for ‘and spirits of the evil ones'.

20 and spirits .. . will be called: Gk.'om. together with verse 10.

11 of earth: Gk."* om.

22 So Kth.: D' Gk/ ‘And the spirits of the giants wrong the clouds'; Gk.* ‘Thespirits of the giants lay waste, do wrong'. No version is satisfactory. but it is possiblethat ‘clouds’ in Kth. Gk.1* (‘lay waste’ in Gk.4) is a corruption of‘the Ncphilim’, viz.‘The spirits of the giants, the Ncphilim, do wrong’.

24 GQ Gk.14 ‘and cause corruption' or ‘and cause destruction’.

21 Gk.'*4‘and throw’(?). 24 Gk.1 adds‘harsh spirits of giant.s’.

24 Gk/4 ‘and cause running'!?).

s’ Gk/4 ‘and they do not cal, but fast"; Gk.'adds ‘and cause apparitions'.

I Enoch

205

12 thirst,28 and art* not observed.29 And these spirits will rise30 againstthe sons of men and against the51 women because they came outfrom them.32 In the days33 of slaughter and destruction

XVI. and the death of the giants, wherever the spirits have goneout from their bodies,1 their flesh shall be destroyed before thejudgement;2 thus they will be destroyed3 until the day of the greatconsummation is accomplished upon the great age,4 upon the

2 Watchers and the impious ones.5 And now to the Watchers whosent you to petition on their behalf, who were formerly6 in heaven-:t and now7 say, You were in heaven, but its secrets had not yet beenrevealed to you and a worthless mystery you knew.8 This you madeknown to the women in the hardness of your hearts, and throughthis mystery the women and the men cause evil to increase on thel earth, bay to them therefore, You will not have peace.

XVII. And they took' me to a place where they2 were like burningfire, and, when they wished, they made themselves look like men.

*" NlXYGk.4* 'and thirst'.

D' 'and do not cause oflrncr’; Gk.4* 'and cause o Hence’.

M So MT'l.'I" Gk.4s: all other Kth. MSS ‘will not rise'.

" against the: (Ik.4 "of.

from them: snGk.4*; Kth. om. ” <^1)' 'From (hrdays'.

1 KNY ’from their souls'; MQTl'lV corrupt or defective.

1 In the days . . . the judgement: (Ik.'1 corrupt, but perhaps translate ‘From theday of the slaughter and destruction and death (of the giants) the spirits, havinggone out from the souls of their flesh, will destroy without judgement’; Gk.* ‘Andfrom the day of the time of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giant.Nephilim. the mighty ones of the earth, the great famous ones, the spirits that havegone out from their souls as from the flesh, will destroy without judgement'.

* Gk.4!* ‘they will destroy’.

4 Gk.4 * ’until the day of the consummation. (Gk.* adds ‘until’) the great judge-ment in which the great age will be brought to an end'.

* ujron the Watchers and the impious ones: Gk.45 om., but Gk.' adds 'once for allat the same time it will be brought to an end*; GQTL’D' add ‘all will beaccomplished’, and GQT make further additions.

* Gk.aom. T and now: Gk.4 om.

H Gk.a (corrupt) ‘but every mystery which had not been revealed to you and amystery which was from God you knew*.

1 Gk.4 adds ‘and brought’. 2 GMQ Gk.4 ‘those who were there’.

/ Knock

20(i

2 And they' led me to a place of storm.4 and to a mountain the tipof5:t whose summit reached to heaven. And I saw lighted places6 and

thunder7 in the outermost ends, in its depths,8 a how oi fire andarrows and their quivers, and a sword of fire.1' and all the flashes of

4 lightning. And they took me to the water of life.10 as it is called.11and to the fire of the west which receives12 every setting of the sun.

j And I *•' came to a river of fire whose fire flows like water and poursi> out into the great sea which is towards the west.14 And I saw all15the great rivers, and 1 reached the great16 darkness and went where7 all17 flesh walks. And I saw the mountains1* of the darkness ofwinter and the place where the water of all the deep pours out.19H And 1 saw the mouths of all the rivers of the earth and the mouth ofthe deep.

XVIII. And 1 saw the storehouses of all the winds, and 1 saw howwith them he has adorned all creation, and I saw the foundations ofX the earth. And I saw the cornerstone of the earth, and 1 saw thefour winds which support the earth and the firmament of heaven.

3 And 1 saw how the winds stretch out the height of heaven1 and howthey position themselves between heaven and earth;2 they are the

» pillars of heaven.3 And 1 saw the winds which turn heaven and

5 cause the disk of the sun and all the stars to set. And I saw thewinds on the earth which support the clouds, and I saw the paths of

* So (» Gk/: all other Kth. MSS *hc\

* (Ik.*1 ‘to adark place'. 5 the tip ol': (Ik/um.

* Mqi)' ‘the placesoflight’; (I corrupt;Gk/ ‘the placeof the lights'.

7 and thunder: (Ik/ ‘and the storehouses of the stars and of thr thunder*.

" in the outermost . . . depths: (Ik/ 'and in the depths of air'; (SMQT'L’IVAK(Ik/ add ‘where urre.

* and a sword of fire: (Ik/ nm.

10 GQTLIV ‘the waters of life'; M corrupt; (Ik/ ‘the living waters'.

11 as it is called: (Ik/ oin.

u Gk/ (corrupt) ‘produces’. 17 (Ik/‘wc\

14 which is towards the west: Gk* ‘of the west'.

15 MQUGk/om. 16 Gk/ adds ‘rivrr and the great'.

17 Gk/‘no’. " (Ik/‘the winds'.

Gk/ ‘all the waters of the deep pour out’.

1 And I saw how . .. heaven: (Ik/om. (hmt.).

1 Gk/ ‘between earth and heaven'. 5 they are... heaven: (Ik/ om. (hmt.).

207

the angels. I saw4 at the end5 of the earth the firmament of heaven

fi above. And I went towards tin* south - and it was burning day andnight6 - where there were seven mountains of precious stones, three

7 towards the cast and three towards the south. And those towardsthe east were of coloured stone, and one was of pearl and one of

a healing stone;7 * * and those towards the south were of red stone. Andthe middle one reached to heaven, like the throne of the Lord,* ofstibium, and the top of the throne was of sapphire. And [ saw a

10 burning fire and what was in all the6 mountains. And I saw there aplace beyond the great earth;10 there the waters were gathered

11 together.11 And I saw a deep chasm of the earth12 with pillars ofheavenly fire, and I saw among them fiery pillars of heaven,13which were falling,14 and as regards both height and depth they

12 were immeasurable. And beyond this chasm I saw a place and ithad neither the firmament of heaven above it, nor the foundation ofearth below it; there was no water on it,15 and no birds, but it was a

13 desert place. And a terrible thing 1 saw there16 - seven stars likegreat burning mountains. And like a spirit questioning me17 the

14 angel said, This is the place of the end of heaven and earth; this is

15 the prison for the stars of heaven1* and the host of heaven. And thestars which roll over19 the fire, these arc the ones which trans-gressed the command of the Lord from19 the beginning of their

U> rising20 because they did not come out at their proper times. And

4 ihc paths ... 1 saw: Gk/'om. (hmt.). * Gk.J ’(at) the ends'.

* Gk.a ’And I proceeded and saw a place which was burning night and day'.

7 healing stone: so Klh.. but the text is very doubtful: Gk.J corrupt.

" Gk.‘* ’ofClod*. * all the: I)' ’these’.

10 and what was .. . the great rarth: Gk.J ‘And beyond these mountains there is a

place which is the end of the great earth’.

" GMQT'U'D' ‘the heavens were gathered together’; (Ik.4 ‘the heavens were

finished’.

1} of the earth: GMQT'L’D'Gk.aom. of heaven: GT*D'om.

14 with pillars . . . falling: Gk.a ‘with pillars of fire which were railing'.

15 Gk.a ‘under it’.

16 QD' ‘but it was a desert place, and terrible. I saw there': Gk.a 'but the place

was desolate and terrible. There I saw'.

” And like... me: Gk.3 ‘concerning which to me. when I inquired’.

" of heaven: GMTUD' Gk.a om. 14 Gk.*‘in\

20 Gk.a adds ‘because the place outside heaven is empty’.

he was angry with them and bound them until the time of theconsummation of their sin in the year of mystery.21

XIX. And Uriel said to me. The spirits of the angels who werepromiscuous with the women will stand here; and they, assumingmany forms, made men unclean' and will lead men1 2 astray so thatthey sacrifice to demons as gods3 -that is. until the great judgementday on4 which they will be judged so that an end will be made of

2 them. And their wives, having led astray the angels of heaven,5 willbecome peaceful.6 And 1, Enoch, alone saw the sight, the ends ofeverything; and no man has seen7 what 1 have seen.

XX. And these are the names of the holy angels who keep wateh.'2 Uriel, one of the holy angels, namely the angel of thunder and of:t tremors.2 Raphael, one of the holy angels, the angel of1 the spirits of$ men. Ragucl. one of the holy angels, who takes v engeance on the:> world and on the lights.4 Michael, one of the holy angels, namely

the one put in charge of the best part of mankind,5 in charge of theti nation.6 Saraqael,7 one of the holy angels, w ho is in charge of the7 spirits of men who cause the spirits to sin." Gabriel, one of the holy

21 in the year of mystery: Gk.a Tor ten thousand years'.

1 made men unclean: Ok.-1 'harm men*.

J OMTUD’ Gk.B 'them’. ' as gods: Gk.J om.

* So M I D* and some Kth.II MSS: other Kih. MSS corrupt; Gk.a 'until the greatjudgement in’.

5 So Kill., but Ci.MQT‘L’1)' om. "of heaven': Gk/ ’And the wives of the angelswho went astray'.

6 So Elh., but a mistake: (Ik.* ‘sirens'.

7 GMQUD*‘will see*.

1 And these... keep watch: Gk/1 "Angels of the powers'; Ok.a,om. together with

‘Uriel* in verse 2.

7 (>Q[)’ 'namely the eternal one and the angel of tremors'; Gk/' ** ‘the one incharge of the world and of Tartarus’.

* of: Gk/1 al ‘in charge of*. * Gk.‘u aJ ‘the world of the lights'.

* Gk/1 aJ ‘or the nation’.

6 D' ‘and in charge of the nations'; Gk.al ‘and in charge of chaos*.

7 Gk.ai as ‘Sariel*.

* who is in charge . .. sin: Gk/1 ai ‘throne in charge of the spirits who sin againstthe spirit*.

/ Enoch

•>09

angels, who is in charge of the serpents and the Garden* and theCherubim.10

XXI. And I went round to a place1 where there was nothing■2 made.2 And I saw there a terrible thing3 - neither the high heaven,4nor the firmly founded earth,5 but a desert place, prepared andterrible.6 And there I saw seven stars of heaven bound on itt together.7 like great mountains, and burning likeK fire. Then 1 said.

For what sin have they been bound, and why* have they been*> thrown here? And10 Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with meand led me," spoke to me and said,12 Enoch, about whom do youi) ask? About whom do you inquire and ask13 and care?14 These aresome of the stars15 which transgressed the command of the LordMost High,16 and they have been bound here until ten thousand7 ages'7 are completed, the number of the days of their sin.18 Andfrom there I went to another place, more terrible than this, and Isaw a terrible thing: there was a great fire there'* which burnt andblazed, and the place20 had a cleft reaching to the abyss, full ofgreat pillars of lire21 which were made to fall; neither its extent nor

9 Kill.I (Ik.JI 42 ‘the Garden and the serpents'.

10 Ok.4' adds ‘Seven names of archangels'; Gk.42 adds ‘Rcmid. one oi the holyangels, whom God pill in charge of those who rise. Seven names of archangels'.

1 a place: GMQT'l'D' Gk.4' 42 om. 2 i.e. a place of chaos.

' GTGk.*' 42 add 'I saw': Q adds And I saw'.

4 GMQL'D* (Ik.41 42 'neither heaven above*. 5 Gk.4' acids 'did l see’.

6 GMQT'L* ‘but a prepared and terrible place'; D’ Gk.4' 42 'but a chaotic andterrible place”.

’ Gk4'42 ‘txniiid and thrown down «m it*. * GMQt'IVGk 41 42'with'.

9 Gk.41 ‘For what reason . . . and why*; Gk.42 'For what reason . . . and for whatreason*. 10 Gk.41 ‘ Then’.

" and led me: so Elh.. but all MSS except G om. and'; Gk.4' 42 'and was theleader of them'.

12 1)'Gk.41 j: add'to me'. 15 and ask; GMQI)' om.

14 do you inquire . . . and care: Gk.4141 ‘are you eager lor the truth'.

,s D' Gk.41 42 add ‘ofhcavrn*.

18 Most High: Fth.l Gk.41 42 om. ” D' Gk.41 42 ‘years’.

18 D' ‘the number of their sins’; Gk.4142‘the time of their sins'.

19 there: D' and some Kth.II .MSS om.

20 SoGMQTTD* Gk.41 42: T2 Eth.II ‘the boundary'.

21 Gk.dl 42 ‘of pillars of a great lire’.

210

I Enoch

!i its size could I see, nor could I see its source.’2 Then I said. Howterrible this place ii. and how painful2* to look at! Then Uriel,24 oneof the holy angels who was with me, answered me. He answeredme23 and said tome. Enoch, why do you have such fear and terror26lu because ol this terrible place, and before this pain?27 And lie said tome,28 This place is the prison ol the angels, and there2" they will beheld for ever.

XXII. And from there I went to another place, and he showed mein the west a large and high mountain, and a hard rock and four1 beautiful1 places, and inside it was deep and wide and verysmooth.2 How smooth is that which rolls.' and deep and dark to:t look at! Then Raphael, one of the holy angels who was with me,answered me4 and said to me. These beautiful5 places are intendedJor this, that the spirits, the souls6 of the dead, might lie gatheredinto them; for them7 they were created," that here they might gatherl all the souls of the sons of men." And these places they made wherethey will keep them10 until the day of their judgement and until

22 nor could I see its scourer: so T1 Kill.II; GQ corrupt; 1)' Gk.4' 42 ’nor could l(Ok.41 42 om. ’could I’) guess them, and this text is supported 1>> the otherwiseimpossible M’PL*.

27 G ‘horrible”; Gk.41 42 ‘fearful*. 24 Uriel: Gk.41 42otn.

2’ He answered me: QAKX Gk.4 om.

26 Gk.4 adds ‘And < I) answered'.

27 and before this pain: Gk.* ‘and because of the (earful spectacle*.

'** to me: Gk.4 om. 2,1 and there: IT Gk.4 ’here*.

' beautiful: so Kth., but a misreading of the Greek word tor ’hollow*.

2 a large . . . very smooth: Gk.4 ’another large and high mountain, ol hard rock.And there were four hollow places in it, deep and very smooth: three of them weredark, and one bright, and there uas a spring ofwater in the middle ol it. And I said*.

’ is that which rolls: so Eth., but a mistranslation of the Greek; Gk 4 'are thesehollow places'.

4 me: GMQ'T'U Gk.4 om.

5 beautiful: so Eth., but a misreading; Gk.4 ‘hollow*.

b GT'D'H Gk.J ’the spirits of the souls'; Q corrupt; OB' om. ’the souls’.

7 GQUD' Gk.4 ‘for this’; MTcorrupt. " (jk.4 (corrupt) ‘judged*.

9 Gk.* ’all the souls of men*; Aram, ‘(the souljs of all the sons of men*.

10 where they will keep them: Gk.4 ’(or their reception*; Aram, uncertain, butprobably ’And behold, these arc the pits lor their prison house (which] they havethus made*.

/ Enoch

211

their appointed time-and that appointed time will be long"-until

3 the great judgement comes upon them.12 And I saw the spirits of thesons of men who were dead,1' and their voice reached heaven and

6 complained.14 Then15 I asked Raphael, the angel16 who was withme, and said to him. Whose is this spirit whose voice thus reaches

7 heaven17 and complains?18 And he answered me and said to me,10saying, This spirit is the one which came out of Abel whom Cain,his brother, killed. And he’" will complain about him until his21offspring is destroyed from the face of the earth, and from amongst

8 the offspring of men his offspring perishes. Then 1 asked about himand22 about the judgement on all23 and I said.24 Why is one

9 separated from another? And he answered me and said to me,25These three26 places were made in order that they might separatethe spirits of the dead. And thus the souls21 of the righteous havebeen separated;28 this is the spring of water and on it is the light.26

'1 and that appointed time u-ilt be long: so Kth., but probably an attempt in dealwith an impossible text; Cik.J has a dittograph of the previous phrase.

12 and until their appointed time . . . upon them; so Eth.. but QD* haveabbreviated texts; Gk.* ‘and until the appointed time and the lime appointed atwhich the great judgement will be executed upon them': Aram, and until theappointed time of the day of the end of the great judgement which will be executedupon them'.

" And I saw . . . were dead: so Kth.. but fairly clearly only one spirit wasmentioned originally (cp. verses tiff.); Gk.J corrupt, but perhaps read '! saw (thespirit) of a dead man complaining'; Aram. ‘There 1 saw the spirit of a dead mancomplaining*.

14 and their voice . . . complained: so Eth. (»k.J. but Gk.4 reads ‘his’ liir ‘their’;Aram, ‘and his lamentation going up to heaven and crying out and complaining’.

15 Gk.a 'And'. Aram.‘the Watcher and holy one'.

17 heaven: sot’’; all other Eth. MSSom.

111 Gk.a ‘Whose is this spirit which is complaining? Therefore his voice thusreaches and complains to heaven’.

19 and said to me: QD' AD Gk.a om.; C oni. ‘saying’. 20 Gk.* ‘Abel’.

21 Eth. 1 ‘all his'. 22 about him and; Gk.4 om.

21 about the judgement on all: so Eth.; Gk.4 ’about all the circular places'; bothare perhaps corrupt for ‘about all the hollow places'.

24 and I said: GMQT'UD' Gk.*om. 2S and said to me: Gk.*‘saying’.

2ft three: so Eth. Gk.*. but we expect ’four’ because four places are mentioned inverse 1 and four seem to be described in verses 9b- 13. 27 N ‘the spirits’.

2* C' Gk.a ‘And thus a place has been separated for the souls (Gk.a ‘the spirits’) ofthe righteous’.

29 this is . . . the light: Gk.a ‘in which there is the bright spring of water’.

212

/ Enoch

In Like wist*10 a place has been created tor sinners*1 when they die andare buried in the earth and judgement has not come upon them

11 during their life. And here their souls'1 will he separated for thisgreat torment, until the great day of judgement and punishmentand torment lor those who curse lor ever, and of vengeance on theirsouls,13 and there he will bind them lor ever. Verily he is from the

12 beginning of the world.14 And thus a place has been separated lorthe souls12 of those w ho complain and give information about their

13 destruction, when they were killed in the days of the sinners. Thusa place has been created for the* souls12 of men who are not right-eous,35 but sinners, accomplished in wrongdoing,’6 and with thewrongdoers will be their lot.17 But their souls will not be killed on

14 the day of judgement.18 nor will they rise from here. Then I blessedthe Lord of Glory and said. Blessed be my Lord, the Lord of Gloryand Righteousness.10 who rules everything lor ever.40

XXIII. And from there I went to another place towards the west, to

2 the ends1 of the earth. And I saw a fire which burnt and2 * ranwithout resting or ceasing from running1 by day or night, butcontinued in exactly the same way.4 And I asked saying, What is this

4 which has no rest? Then Ragucl, one of the holy angels who was

10 D’(2k.4‘And thus*.

41 D* ‘And thus the sinners have been separated*.

41 (2k/ ‘spirits’.

u for those . . . their souls: Gk/ in part corrupt, but perhaps read ‘for those whoare cursed for ever, that there may be vengeance on their spirits’.

44 Verily ... the world: an Kth. gloss; (2k/ cwn.

44 (2k.d ‘will not be holy’.

46 accomplished in wrongdoing: (2k.4 'w \u> mil be impious'.

47 Lit. ‘and with the wrongdoers they will lx* like them'; (»k.“ 'and of the lawlessthey will be companions'.

4* Gk/ ‘But their spirits, because those' who are afflicted here are punished lessthan them, will not be punished on the day of judgement’.

4® (2 MIX'D' ‘Blessed by my land, the land of Righteousness"; (2k/ ‘Blessed areyou. land of Righteousness'; Aram. ‘Blessed be the Judge of Righteousness’.

40 Eth.I and some Eth.II MSS ‘who rules for ever'; Gk.J ‘who rules the world’.

1 Gk/ 'of the ends’.

1 burnt and: Gk/om.

4 Lit. ‘from its running’ or ‘from its course*; (2k/ urn. ‘its’.

* Gk/ uncertain, but perhaps emend to read ‘but remained constant’.

/ Enoch

213

with me. answered me and said to me.5 This burning fire whosecourse you saw, towards the west, is the fire of all the lights ofheaven.h

XXIV. And from there 1 went to another place of the earth,1 and hr2 showed me a mountain2 of fire which blazed day and night.3 And Iwent towards it4 and saw seven magnificent mountains, and allwere different from one another, and precious and beautiful stones,and all were precious and their appearance glorious arid their formbeautiful;5 three of the mountains towards6 the east, one fixed firmlyon another, and three towards the south, one on another, and deepH and rugged valleys, no one of which was near another. And there wasa seventh mountain in the middle of these, and in their height theywere all like the seat of a throne.7 and fragrant* trees surrounded it.•I And there was among them a tree such as I have never smelt, andnone of them nor any others were like n:'* it smells more fragrantthan any fragrance, and its leaves and its flowers and its woodnever wither; its fruit10 is good, and its fruit" is like the bunches ofj dates on a palm. And then I said. Behold.'2 this beautiful tree!

Beautiful to look at and pleasant are its leaves, and its fruit very13i> delightful in appearance.14 And then Michael, one of the holy and

* and .said to mr: Gk.4 om.

6 Gk.4 'This course office is the lire towards the west which |>crsccuics all thelights of heaven'. Neither version inspires complete confidence, hut Gk.*‘persecutes' may bo corrupt for 'takes vengeance’, cp. xx. 4.

' And from . . . earth: Gk.4 om.

: Gk.4 ‘mountains'.

‘ day and night: HKOB' ‘by day’;Gk.4'by night*.

4 Gk.4 ‘beyond them*.

5 seven magnificent . . . form beautiful: Gk.4 'seven mountains, all magnificent,each differing from the other, whosr stones were precious in their beauty, and all wereprecious and glorious and beautiful'.

* three . . . towards: Gk.4 om.

7 Gk.4 ‘and it was superior in height, like the seat ol'a throne'.

* Gk.4 (corrupt) ‘beautiful*.

9 Gk.4 ’and no one else had enjoyed it. and no other one was like it'.

10 its fruit: Gk.4 corrupt. 11 is good, and its fruit: Gk.4 om.

11 Behold: Kth.l om. '* and its fruit very: I)' 'and its flowers’.

14 Behold ... in appearance: Gk.4 ‘How Ix-autiful this tree is. and fragrant, and

the leaves pleasant, and its flowers pleasant in appearance'.

214

I Enoch

honoured15 angels who was with me and was in c harge of them,16answered me

XXV. and said to me. Enoch, why do you ask me1 about the'1 fragrance of this tree, and why do you inquire to learn?1 Then I,Enoch,' answered him, saying.4 I wish to learn about everything,but especially about this tree. And he answered me,5 saying. Thishigh mountain which you saw,6 whose summit is like the throne ofthe Lord,7 is the throne where the Holy and Great One, the Lord ofGlory, the Eternal King," will sit when he comes down to visit the•1 earth for good. And this beautiful9 fragrant tree - and no creature offlesh has authority to touch it until the great judgement when hewill take vengeance on all and will bring everything to a consumma-tion10 forever" - this11 will be given to the righteous and humble.13;> From its fruit life will be given to the chosen; towards the north'4 itwill be planted, in'* a holy place, by the house of the Lord, theb Eternal King.16 Then they will rejoice with joy and be glad in17 theholy place\ they1" will each19 draw the fragrance of it into their

15 and honoured: Gk.4om.

'* Gk.4 ‘and was the leader of them’.

I me: D'AOXH' Gk/om.; Gk.4adds ’and why did you wonder’.

; Gk.J ’and why do you wish to learn the truth?’

3 Hooch: QD' Gk.*»m.

4 saying: Gk.4 om. * me: GIV Gk.“om.

6 which you saw: Gk.4 om. ’ Gk.*‘ofGod’.

* the Holy . . . King: Gk.J ‘the Great Lord, the Holy One of Glory, the King of

Eternity’.

9 beautiful: GMQT’l’D* Gk.' (below) om.

IU So GTD': other Eth. MSS ’and everything is brought to a consummation’.

II Gk.* ‘And as for this fragrant tree, no creature ojflesh has authority to touch ituntil the great judgement when there will be vengeance on all and a consummationlor ever*.

IJ this; so Eth.I (literally ‘this therefore’); Kth.II ‘that’.

15 Gk.* ‘Then it will be given to the righteous and holy’.

14 From its fruit ... towards the north: Gk.4 ‘Its fruit will be to the chosen as foodfor life’; D' is corrupt, but in part supports Gk.*. The dillercnce in Greek between’towards the north" (all Eth. MSS} and ’as food* (Gk.*) is only one letter.

15 Gk.* ‘and it will be transplanted to'.

16 Gk.4 'of God. the King of Eternity’. " D' ‘and in’.

*■ GQOB'G' and they’. ’* each: GMQT’L’D'K'N’om.

I Enoch

21 j

bones,20 and they will live a long life on earth, a.s your fathers lived,and in their days sorrow and pain and toil2' and punishment22 will

7 not touch them. Then I blessed the Lord2' of Glory, the InternalKing,24 because he25 has prepared such things for righteous men.and has created such things26 and said that they are to be given tothem.

XXVI. And from there l went to the middle of the earth and saw ablessed, ttW/-watercd,' place1 2 * which had branches which remained

2 alive and sprouted from a tree which had been cut down. And thereI saw a holy mountain, and under the mountain, to the cast of it,

3 ihere was water and it flowed towards the south. And I saw towardsthe cast another mountain which was of the same height,’ andbetween them (here was a deep and narrow valley; and in it a stream

4 ran by4 the mountain. And to the west of this one was anothermountain which was lower than it, and not high; and under it (herewas a valley between them, and there were other deep and dry

3 valleys5 at the end of the three mountains.6 And all the valleys weredeep and narrow,7 * 9 of hard rock, and trees were* planted on them.

<> And I was amazed at the rock and 1 was amazed0 at the valley: Iwas very much amazed.

:o and be glad . . . ihoir bones: Gk.* ‘and Ik- glad and ituo die holy place ihry willenter; the fragrance of it wilt be in their bones'.

!l Eth. I ‘and torment’.

M sorrow . . . punishment: Gk.‘' ‘torment and plague and punishment'.

,y MTL’IV Gk.* 'the God'; C cun. ‘ofglory'.

Gk.J 'the King of Eternity’.

IS because lie: Gk.'* ‘who’.

■'* such things: Gk.* ‘dicin’.

1 well-watered: Gk.J om.; Q om. *a blessed. «W/-watered. place*.

* CJk.* adds ‘where there were trees’.

5 Q Gk.“ 'which was higher than this’; I)' is corrupt, but supports Q Gk.*.

* Gk.* 'under'.

5 and under . . . dry valleys: Gk.* ‘and there was a deep and dry valley betweenthem, and another deep and dry valley'; G.MQL’D’ partially support the reading'and another derp and dry valley’.

6 mountains: so Gk.*; Eth. om.

7 and narrow: Gk.*om.

* Gk.* ‘were not’.

9 at the rock and I was amazed: Gk.* om.

XXVII. Then1 I said. What is the purpose of this blessed landwhich is completely full of trees and of this accursed valley2 in thei! middle of them? Then Raphael,' one of (he holy angels who waswith me, answered me and said to me, 1'his4 accursed valley5 is forthose who are cursed for ever; here will be gathered together all6who speak with their mouths against the Lord words that are notfitting and say hard things about his glory. Here they will gather:i them together, and here will be their place of judgement.7 And inthe last days there will be the spectacle of the righteous judgementupon them before the righteous for ever, lor evermore; here thet merciful'1 will bless the Lord of Glory, the Eternal King.9 And inthe days of the judgement on them they will bless him10 on accountof Am merry, according as he has assigned to them their lot. Then I•> myself11 blessed the Lord of Glory and I addressed him,12 and Iremembered his majesty, as was fitting.1'

XXVIII. And from there 1 went towards the east1 to the middle ofl the mountain2 of the wilderness, and I saw only desert. But it wasfull of trees' from this seed, and4 water gushed out over it5 from

I Gk/*And\

and of this accursed valley: Gk/ ‘and u-hy is this \ alley accursed?'

' Raphael: so C)P2B’; all other Kth. MSS T?riel\

4 in the middle ... to me. This: Gk/ om.

* valley: Gk/ ‘land’, but Gk.‘‘ has probably transliterated the original Semiticword instead of translating it.

ft IV Gk/ add ‘the accursed'. 7 Gk.4 ‘will lie their dwelling'.

" Gk.’1 ‘In the last ages, in the days of the true judgement licforc the righteous lorever, here the impious'.

9 Gk/ ‘the King of Eternity’. 10 him: Gk/om.

II myself: GMQT'UD* file.'' om.

IJ and I addressed him: Gk/ ‘and 1 proclaimed his glory'.

and I remembered . . . fitting: so Kth., hut probably corrupt; Gk.‘l 'and I sanghis praises iti a way befitting his majesty’.

' towards (heeast: Gk/om. 1 of the mountain: Gk/om.

’ and I saw . . . full of trees: so Cth.il, although the text is awkward (lit. ‘and Isaw it only desert etc.’); GMQT’U Gk/ ‘and I saw it desert, and it was isolated, fullof trees’; D’ ‘and I saw a desert, and it was isolated, full of trees’.

4 D’ ‘and from this seed*; Gk/ "and from the seeds'. But the text appears to becorrupt. * over it: Q om.

/ Enoch

217

:i above. The torrent, which flowed towards the north-west, seemedcopious, and from all sides there went up6 . . . water and dew.7

XXIX. And I went1 to another place nxvny from2 the wilderness; 132 came near to the cast of this mountain. And there4 I saw trees of

judgement.5 especially vessels of the fragrance of incense andmyrrh,* and the7 trees were not alike."

XXX. And above it, above these, above the mountains of the east,and not far away,1 1 saw another2 place, valleys of water3 like that

2 which does not fail.4 And I saw a beautiful tree and its fragrancewas like that of the mastic.5 And by the banks of these valleys I sawfragrant cinnamon. And beyond those6 valleys I came near towardsthe east.

* All Kth. MSS add ‘and from there’, but the words may haw Iwn misplacedfrom the beginning of xxix. 1.

’ water gushed . . . and dew: Gk.J 'water gushed out from above; flowing like acopious watercourse towards the north-west from all sides it sent up water antidew’.

1 Gk.'1 'From there I went vet’.

2 tutor front: Gk.J ‘in*.

1 IV Gk.-* and F.

* there: Q Ok.- om.

* trees of judgement: so Kth. Gk.J. but perhaps a corruption in the originalAramaic of‘fragrant trees’.

* especially ... myrrh: so Kth.. but the text is corrupt; Gk.4 ’which smelt of thefragrance ol incense and nnrrh*.

’ IV Gk/ 'their*.

* CJMQTTIV ‘were alike’; Gk.'1 'uw like the almond tree*.

1 And above it. . . not far away: so Eth. but corrupt: Gk/ 'And beyond these Iwent towards the cast, lar away, and’; Aram, (so far as it exists) supports Gk/.Kth. I and some Kth.II MSS read ‘and’ before 'l saw’.

2 Gk/ adds ‘large*.

' GMQT'IV Gk/ 'a valley of water’; U defective.

* like that... not fail: Gk/ om.

i So Eth. 11: QT "And I saw a beautiful tree which was like a fragrant tree like themastic’; other Eth.I MSS corrupt or defective; Gk.-* (?) ‘where also their was a tree,the colour of fragrant plants like the mastic’. Underlying Eth. 'beautiful tree',‘fragrant tree’ is the O.T. ‘sweet cane’ or 'aromatic cane’ as the fragmentary Aram,makes dear.

Gk/ ‘these’.

2IH

I Enoch

XXXI. And I saw another mountain1 on which there were trees,2 *and there flowed out water, and there flowed out' from it4 as itwere5 6 a nectar whose name is styrax and galbanum. And beyondthis mountain* I saw another mountain, and on it there were aloetrees,7 and those trees were full offlfruit which is like an almond andis hard.8 And when they take’ this fruit, it is better than anyfragrance.10

XXXII. And after these fragrances, to the north,1 as I looked overthe mountains,2 I saw seven mountains' full of fine hard andfragrant trees4 and cinnamon5 and pepper. And from there I wentover the summits of those mountains,* far away to the east,1 and I

1 Kill.) KKNP1 Gk.‘* Aram.‘other mountains'.

*' f ik.'and on them there were groves of trees'; Aram, 'and also on them I sawtrees'.

' water, and there flowed out; G'FL'IV Gk.J om.; AC om. ‘and there flowedout'; NIQ defective.

* from it (the mountain?): so Kth., but might perhaps also be translated ‘fromthem’: Gk.J ‘from them'.

* as it were: Gk/om. * IV Gk.1* Aram.'these mountains’.

7 and on it... aloe trees: Gk.’1 om.. but has instead ‘to the cast of the ends of theearth'.

" and those trees . . . hard: Gk.'' ‘and all the trees were full immediately (?) in thelikeness of almonds'. Only the latter part of Aram, can be clearly read,'... and it islike the husks of (or 'the bark of") . . in the Aramaic original underlying Gk.J theword for "fruit* may have been confused with the word for 'thereupon,immediately’.

* .So Kth.. but corrupt for ‘crush’ (Gk.J Aram.).

10 Gk.a is partially corrupt, 'When they crush if, therefore it is more fragrant thanany fragrance'.

1 And alter . . . the north: Gk.a 'To the north-cast'; Aram. ‘And beyond these|. . .], to the north-east of them’.

2 as I looked . . . mountains: Gk.a Aram. om.

' Aram. ‘I was shown other mountains’.

* fragrant trees: so Eth. (representing here the O.T. ‘aromatic cane’?); Gk.a‘mastic’; Aram.(?) ‘pepperwort’.

5 Aram, ‘cardamon’.

6 Gk.a ‘over the beginnings of all these mountains’; Aram, ‘to the east of all thesemountains'.

7 D' Gk.a ‘far away to the east of the earth’; Aram, ‘far from them to the east of

the earth'.

I Enoch

219

went over the Red Sea and I was far from it.8 and I went over the

1 angel Zoticl.9 And I t ame to the Garden of Righteousness, and Isaw beyond those trees many large trees10 growing11 there, sweet-smelling, large, very beautiful and glorious,'2 and the tree of

t wisdomn from which they14 eat and know great wisdom.,J And it islike the c a rob-tree.1* and its fruit is like the bunches of grapes on avine, very beautiful, and the smell of this tree spreads and penc-

5 trates afar.'6 And1’ I said, This tree is beautiful! How beautiful18

(> and pleasing is its appearance!19 And17 the holy angel Raphael,who was with me, answered me and said to me.20 This is the tree ofwisdom from which your old father and your aged mother, whowere before you, ate21 and learnt wisdom; and their eyes wereopened, and they knew that they were naked, and they were drivenfrom the garden.

XXXIU. And from there I went to the ends of the earth and 1 saw'there large animals, each different from the other, and also birdswhich differed in form, beauty and call - each different from the

2 other. And to the cast of these animals I saw the ends of the earth

3 on which heaven rests, and the open gates of heaven. And I saw

* and 1 was far from it: Gk.4 (?) 'and I went to the outermost ends', but probablycorrupt for ‘and I went far away': Aram, ‘and I went far from it'.

* Gk.J ‘and from this 1 went over Zotiel'; Aram 'and I went over the darkness,far from if.

10 beyond those trees . . . trees: Gk.J 'from far away more trees than these trees,and large'.

11 growing: Gk.4 (corrupt) ‘two’.

12 sweet-smelling . . . glorious: Gk/ ‘vers large, Ix-autilii], and glorious, andmagnificent'.

'* Gk.4‘knowledge’.

14 from which they: Gk.-' ‘whose fruit the holy ones'.

'* Gk.* ' That tree is like the hr in height, but its leaves are like those of thecarob-tree’.

16 Q ‘and the smell of this tree spreads very far’; Gk.a ‘and its smell spreads farfrom the tree’.

17 Gk.*‘Then’. l* How beautiful: Qom.

19 This tree ... its appearance: Gk.* ‘How beautiful the trre is, and how pleasingin appearance!’

20 me and said to me: Gk.a om.

51 Gk.a ‘This is the tree of knowledge from which your father ale’ (Gk.a endshere).

220

/ Enoch

how the stars of heaven come out. and counted the gates out ofwhich they come, and wrote down all their outlets, for each oneindividually according to their number and their names, accordingto their constellations, their positions, their times and their

•1 months, as the angel Uriel, who was with me.1 showed me. And heshowed me everything and wrote it down, and also their names hewrote down for me. and their laws and their functions.2

XXXIV. And from there I went towards the north to the ends of theearth, and there I saw a great and glorious wonder' at the ends of

2 the whole earth. And there I saw three gates of heaven open inheaven; through each of them north winds go out; when they blow,there is cold, hail, hoar-frost, snow, dew and rain. And from one

3 gate it blows for good; but when they blow through the other twogates, it is with force and it brings torment over the earth, and theyblow with force.

XXXV. And from there I went towards the west to the ends of theearth, and I saw there, as I saw in the cast, three open gates - asmany gates and as many outlets.

XXXVI. And from there I went towards the south to the ends of theearth, and there 1 saw three gates of heaven open; and the south

2 wind and dew and rain and wind come out from there. And fromthere I went towards the cast of the ends of heaven, and there I sawthe three eastern gates of heaven open, and above them there were

3 smaller gates. Through each of those smaller gates the stars ofheaven pass and go towards the west on the path which has been

4 shown to them. And when I saw. I blessed, and I will always bless1the Lord of Glory who has made great and glorious wonders thathe might show the greatness of his work to his angels and to the

1 the angel. . . with me: Kth.I 'Uriel, the angel who was w ith me, the holy one'.

1 Kth.I 'groups*.

1 (iQT'L* 'a great and glorious plan"; IV ‘the throne of the Great and GloriousOne*.

GMQT'L'D'K ‘And whenever I saw, I always blessed, and 1 will bless'.

221

souls of men,2 thal they might praise his work, and that all hiscreatures might see* the work of his power and praise the greatwork of his hands and bless him for ever.

XXXVII. The second vision which he saw, the vision of wisdomwhich Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Malalel, the son ofCainan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, saw.

2 And this is the beginning of the words of wisdom which I raised myvoice to speak and say to those who dwell on the dry ground. Hear,you men of old. and see. you who come after, the words of the HolyOne1 which I will speak before the I/ord of Spirits. It would havebeen better to have said these things before, hut from those who

•I come after we will not withhold the beginning of wisdom. Untilnow there has not been given by the Lord of Spirits such wisdom asI have received in accordance with my insight, in accordance withthe wish of the Lord of Spirits by whom the lot of eternal life has

5 been given to me. And three parables were imparted to me, and Iraised my voice and said to those who dwell on the dry ground.

XXXVIII. The first parable. When the community of the righteousappears, and the sinners are judged for their sins and arc driven

2 from the face of the dry ground, and when the Righteous One'appears before the chosen righteous whose works arc weighed bythe Lord of Spirits, and when light appears to the righteous andchosen who dwell on the dry ground, where will be the dwelling ofthe sinners, and where the resting-place of those who have denied2the Lord of Spirits? It would have been better for them if they had

3 not been born. And when the secrets of the righteous arc revealed,the sinners will be judged and the impious driven from the pre-

4 sencc of the righteous and the chosen. And from then on those whopossess the earth will not be mighty and exalted, nor will they be

1 l.’1 'and to souls and t<» men’; (JMQI)’ corrupt.

’ and that all . . . see: (»M ‘and all his creation, that they might see’; QT’LIVcorrupt.

1 the words of the Holy One: so GMTDTPB’; other MSS ‘the holy words’.

1 the Righteous One: GQTl’D'A 'righteousness'.

1 D’ adds ‘the name of.

222

able to look at the face of the holy ones for the light of the Lord ofSpirits will have appeared on the face of the holy, the righteous and

1 the chosen. And the mighty kings will at that time be destroyed<i and given into the hand of the righteous and the holy. And from

then on no one will he able to seek mercy from the Lord of Spirits, fortheir life will be at an end.

XXXIX. And it will come to pass in these1 days that the chosen andholy children2 * will come down from the high heavens, and their

2 offspring will become one with the sons of men. In those daysEnoch received books of indignation and anger, and books oftumult and confusion. And there will be no mercy for them, says

:$ the Lord of Spirits. And at that time clouds and' a storm-windcarried me off from the face of the earth, and set me down at the end} of heaven. And there 1 saw another vision, the dwelling of the

3 righteous and the resting-places of the holy.4 * There my eyes sawtheir dwelling with the angels* and their resting-places with theholy ones, and they were petitioning and supplicating and prayingon behalf of the sons of men; and righteousness like water flowedbefore them and mercy like dew upon the ground. Thus it is among

(j them for ever and ever. And in those days my eyes saw the place ofthe chosen ones6 * * * of righteousness and faith; and there will berighteousness in their days,2 and the righteous and chosen will be7 without number before him for ever and ever. And I saw theirdwelling" under the wings of the Lord of Spirits, and all therighteous and chosen shone’ before him like the light of fire; andtheir mouth was full of blessing, and their lips praised the name ofthe Lord of Spirits. And righteousness will not fail before him, andH truth will not fail before him.10 There I wished to dwell, and my

1 GQTL'D' ‘those’. 2 GQT*l’ ’the children of the chosen and holy’.

’ clouds and: GMQT'L’D' om.

* righteous . . . holy: Eth.l 'holy.. . righteous*.

5 G MQTL* ‘the angels of his righteousness'; D' ‘the holy angels’.

* GQT’U ‘And in that place mv eyes saw the chosen one (Q ‘chosen ones’)*;

MI)' ‘And in those days my eves saw the chosen one’; Tz ‘And in those days my eyes

saw the place of the chosen one’.

’ GMQ'PUD' *hisdays’. * GM‘hisdwelling’; D'‘the dwelling’.

" GQT'L’D' ‘were strong’.

and truth . . . before him: sonic Eth.l I MSS om.

/ Enoch

m

soul11 longed for that dwelling; there had my lot been assignedbefore, for thus it was decided about me before the Lord of Spirits.

9 And in those days I praised and exalted the name of the laird of’Spirits with blessing and praise, for be has destined me lor blessing

10 and praise, in accordance with the wish of the Lord of Spirits. Andfor a long time my eyes looked at that place, and I blessed him andpraised him. saying. Blessed is he, and may he be blessed from the

11 beginning and for ever! And in his presence there is no end. Heknew before the world was created what the world would lx*.12 even

12 for all the generations which are to come. Those who do not sleepbless you, and they stand before your glory and bless and praiseand exalt, saying. Holy, holy. holy. Lord of.Spirits; he fills the earth

13 with spirits. And there my eyes saw all those who do not sleepstanding before him and blessing and saying. Blessed are you. and

14 blessed is the name of the Lord for ever and ever! And my face wastransformed until13 l was unable to see.

XL. And after this 1 saw a thousand thousands and ten thousandtimes ten thousand, a multitude beyond number or reckoning, who

2 stood before the glory of the Lord of Spirits. 1 looked, and on thefour sides of the Lord of Spirits 1 saw four figures1 2 different fromthose who were standing;3 and I learnt their names, because theangel who went with me made known to me their names, and

3 showed me all the secret things. And I hoard the voices of those

I four figures as they sang praises before the Lord of Glory.4 The first

5 voice blesses5 the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever. And the secondvoice I heard blessing the Chosen One and the chosen who depend

6 on the Lord of Spirits. And the third voice I heard as theypetitioned and prayed4 on behalf of those who dwell on the dry

7 ground and supplicate in the name of the Lord of Spirits. And the

" GMTL* *mv spirit*.

12 what the world would lx* (lit. 'is'); GMyT'L’D' ‘what is tor ever’.

11 GMQT'UD' 'for'.

1 the glory of: some MSS om.

1 figures: lit. ‘lares’ (and so in vrrses 3, 8; Ixiv. 1).

1 M ‘who sleep'; GQTVJt’D’ ‘whodo not sleep'.

* DYB* *of Spirits'. * I)' adds ‘the name of.

4 as they . . . prayed: so Eth., but perhaps emend to ‘petitioning and praying'.

221

/ Enoch

fourth voire I heard driving away the sutans. and not allowingthem to eoine Ijclbrc the Lord of Spirits to accuse those who dwellK on the dry ground. And alter this 1 asked the angel of peace wh<;went with me and showed me everything which is secret,7 Who arcthese four figures whom I have seen and whose words I have heard<) and written down? And he said to me. This first one is the holy*Michael, the merciful and long-suHcring; and the second, who is incharge ofall the diseases and in charge of all the wounds of the sonsof men, is Raphael; and the third, who is in charge ofall the powers,is the holy8 Gabriel; and the fourth, who is in charge of therepentance leading to hope9 of those who will inherit eternal life, is1110 Phanuel. And these are the four angels of the Lord Most High;"and the four voices I heard in those days.

XLI. And after this I saw all the secrets of heaven, and how thekingdom is divided, and how the deeds of men are weighed in the•l balance. There I saw the dwelling of the chosen and the resting-places' of the holy; and my eyes saw there all the sinners who denythe name of2 the Lord of Spirits being driven f rom there, and theydragged them off,3 and they were not able to remain because of the:t punishment which went out from the Lord *»f Spirits. And there myeyes saw the secrets of the flashes of lightning and of the thunder,and the secrets of the winds, how they are distributed in order toblow over the earth, and the secrets of the clouds and of the dew;and there I saw whence they go out in that place, and how fromi there the dust of the earth is saturated. And there 1 saw closedstorehouses from which the winds are distributed, and thestorehouse of the hail/ and the storehouse of the mist, and the

’ Somr Klh.il MSS add ‘and I said to him .

* the holy: Eih.I out.

u the repentance hading to hope: somr Kth.II MSS 'the repentance and hope*;Q corrupt.

10 GMQT'L’I)' ‘is named’. ” Eth. I 'the l«urd of Spirits’.

' of the chosen and the resting-places: some Eth: MSS *of the chosen and thedwclling(s)*; L'N 'of the chosen ami’; QO' otn.; I)‘ ‘of the sinners and thecommunities*.

1 the name of: AI)XY om.

■* Eth. I HOB' add 'and of the winds’.

1 GQD* ‘and being dragged off*.

225

storehouse of the clouds;9 and its cloud remained over the earth3 from the beginning of the world. And I saw the c hambers6 of thesun and the moon, whence they go out and whither they return,and their glorious return, and how one is more honoured than theother, and their magnificent course, and hou- they do not leave* thecourse, neither adding anything to, nor omitting anything from theircourse, and how they keep faith with one another, observing their<i oath. And the sun goes out first and completes its journey at thecommand of the Lord of Spirits - and his name endures for ever7 and ever. And after this begins the hidden7 and visible journey of themoon, and it travels the course of its journey in that place by dayand by night. One stands opposite the other before" the Lord ofSpirits, and they give thanks, and sing praises, and do not rest,H because their thanksgiving is rest for them. For the shining** sunmakes many revolutions, ibr a blessing and for a curse, and thepath of the journey of the moon is for the righteous light, but Ibr thesinners darkness, in the name of the- Lord1" who has created adivision between light and darkness, and has divided the spirits ofmen, and has established the spirits of the righteous in the name of»> his righteousness. For no angel hinders," and no power12 is able tohinder, because the Judge secs them all and judges them all beforehimself.

XLII. Wisdom found no place where she could dwell, and heri dwelling was in heaven. Wisdom went out in order to dwell amongthe sons of men, but did not find a dwelling; wisdom returned to:t her place and took her scat in the midst of the angels. And iniquitycattle out from her chambers; those whom she did not seek shefound, and dwelt among them, like rain in the desert, and like dewon parched ground.

* and the storehouse of the clouds: so AFX; om.; many MSS 'and of the

clouds'.

* Lit. ’storehouses'. 1 l' 'And after this I saw the hidden'.

* Ml'ID' add‘the glory of. * CJQT'l’D' om.

10 D'adds‘ofSpirits’. " (iT'D'V ’is able'.

12 D' ‘and nusatau'.

2’2(>

XL1II. And again I saw Hashes of lightning and the stars of'heaven,and I saw how he called them all1 by their names, and they obeyed

2 him. And I saw the balance of righteousness, how they are weighedaccording to their light, according to the width of their areas andthe day of their appearing, and how their revolutions producelightning;2 and I saw their revolutions according to the number ofthe angels, and how they keep faith with one another. And I askedthe angel who went with me and showed me what was secret. What

1 are these? And he said to me. Their likeness lias the Lord of Spiritsshown to you; these are the names of the righteous1 w ho dwell onthe dry ground and believe in the name of* the Lord of Spirits forever and ever.

XLIV. And other things I saw in regard to lightning, how some ofthe stars rise and become lightning, but cannot loose their form.1

XLV. And this is the second parable about those who deny thename of the dwelling of the holy ones and of the Lord of Spirits.'

2 They will not ascend into heaven, nor will they come upon earth:such will be the lot of the sinners who deny2 the name of the Lord ofSpirits, who will thus be kept for the day of affliction and distress.On that day the3 Chosen One will sit on the throne of glory, andwill choose4 their works, and their resting-places will be without

1 GMQD'om.

1 and hou . . . lightning: so Kth.l; T1 Kth.l l ‘and their revolution, and hou:lightning produces lightning*.

' Kth.l ‘the holy*.

* and believe in the name of: D' 'and do not believe in'.

1 loose their Ibrrn: D’ 'stay with them’.

' the name . . . Spirits: so TJ Kth.l I, but TJB' read ■community' for 'dwelling*;GMQT'L’ 'the name of the dwelling of the holy ones and the Lord of Spirits' (Mom. 'the name of*); D’N ‘the name of the Lord ofSpirits and of the community (N‘and the dwelling*) of the holy ones’.

1 GQTL*‘havedenied*. * GQT’L’D' ‘my*.

4 So all Eth. MSS {perhaps a mistranslation of an Aramaic word which can meanboth ‘to choose’ and ‘to test*).

227

number; and their spirits5 within them will grow strong when theysee my Chosen One6 and those who appeal to my1 2 * holy and8

4 glorious name. And on that day I will cause my Chosen One todwell among them,9 and I will transform heaven and make it an

5 eternal blessing and light. And I will transform the dry ground andmake it a blessing, and I will cause my chosen ones to dwell upon

6 it; but those who commit sin and evil will not tread upon it. For 1have seen, and have satisfied with peace, my righteous ones, andhave placed them before me; but for the sinners my judgement10draws near before me,11 that I may destroy them from the face ofthe earth.

XL VI. And there I saw one who had a head of days, and his headwas while like wool; and with him there was another, whose face hadthe appearance of a man, and his face was full of grace, like one of

2 the holy angels. And I asked one of the holy angels* who went withme, and showed me all the secrets, about that Son of Man.*’ who hewas, and whence he was, and why he went with the Head ’ of Days.

3 And he answered me and said to me. This is the Son of Man whohas righteousness, and with whom righteousness dwells; he willreveal all the treasures of that which is secret, for the Lord ofSpiritshas chosen him, and through uprightness his lot has surpassed all4

4 before the Lord ofSpirits for ever. And this Son of Man whom youhave seen will rouse the kings and the powerful from their resting-places, and the strong from their thrones, and will loose the reins of

5 the strong, and will break the teeth of the sinners. And he will castdown the kings from their thrones and from their kingdoms, for

5 Eth. I‘souls'. * Some Klh. MSS 'my (liusni ours’; D' airrupi.

7 C‘ ‘his’. ■ holy and: GMQT’L D' otn.

* C ‘I will rausc him to dwell among my chosen ones’, and so in dietl (I:QUD'V’ read ‘my chosen ones’, but in other respects are corrupt or defective.

10 T* and some Eth.I! MSS “but for the sinners judgement’: CJMljT'l- ‘hut thejudgement of the sinners'.

" D'(?) ‘but the sinners draw near before me in judgement'.

1 Eth.I and BCDP1 ‘one of the angels’; ‘the angel of peace'.

2 D' ‘about the one who was born from men*.

J P1 ‘the Ancient’.

4 Lit. ‘his lot has conquered all’: GMT'UD'EFH’K ‘his lot has bern victorious’:CDY ‘he has surpassed all’; Q defective.

228

they do not exalt him. and do not praise him. and do not humblyacknowledge whence their kingdom was given to them. And he willeast down the laces of the strong, and shame will fill them, anddarkness will he their dwelling, and worms will be their resting-place; attd they will have no hope of rising from their resting-places, for they do not exalt the name of the Lord of Spirits. Andthese are they who judge the stars of heaven, and raise their handsagainst the Most High, and trample upon the dry ground, anddwell upon it; and all their deeds show iniquity.5 and their powerrests on their riches, and their faith is in the gods which they havemade with their hands, and they deny the name of the Lord ofSpirits.6 And they will lx* driven from the houses of his con-gregation.7 and of the faithful who depend on the namcol* the Lordol Spirits.

XL VIJ. And in those days the prayer of the righteous and the bloodof the righteous1 * * will haw ascended from the earth before the Lordof Spirits. In these days the holy ones who dwell in the heavensabove will unite with one voice, and supplicate, and pray, andpraise, and give thanks, and bless in the name of* the Lord ofSpirits, because of the blood of the righteous which has beenpoured out. and because of the prayer of the righteous, that it maynot cease’ before the Lord of Spirits, that justice may be done tothem, and that their patience may not have to last lor ever. And inthose days I saw the Head4 of Days sit dow n on the throne of his

* So I'lvX" QB’ 'and all their deals air inii|uiiy'; all other MSS. although

dilVering in detail, have a double reading, e.g. and all their deeds show

iniquity, and all their deeds air iniquity'.

* and they deny . . Spirits: ()* om.;(#om. 'the name of.

’ (i'P ‘And they persecute the houses of his congregation'; Ml' have an ini|x>ssi-ble combination uflx>th readings; I)' 'And they will desire the congregation of hishouses'. " the name of : IV orn.

1 and the bhxxf of the rightmus: here all MSS except MQ have 'the righteous' in

the singular, hut the form is to lx- underst<x>d as a collective <rp. verse 4); M docshave 'the righteous' in the plural; Q nm. 'the hlotxl’ and reads and ol righteous-ness'. The preceding and following occurrences oft he righteous' inverses If. are allin (he plural.

•' in the name of: l' om.; (tMQIV ABCK ‘the name of'.

' Or 'that it may not be in vain'.

* Cl* 'the Ancient'.

229

glory, and the books of the living were opened before him, and allhis host, which dicells in the heavens above, and his council were

1 standing before him. And the hearts of the holy ones were full of joythat the number of righteousness5 had been reached,6 and theprayer of the righteous’ bad been heard, and the blood of therighteous* had been required before the Lord of Spirits.

XLVIII. And in that place I saw an inexhaustible spring of right-eousness. and many springs of wisdom surrounded it, and all thethirsty drank from them and were filled with wisdom, and their

2 dwelling was with the righteous and the holy and the chosen. Andat that hour that Son of Man was named in the presence of theLord of Spirits, and his name was named before the Head of Days.

3 Even before the sun and the constellations were t reated, before thestars of heaven were made, his name was named before the Lord of

t Spirits. He will be a staff to the righteous and the holy.' that theymay lean on him and not fall, and he will be the light of the nations,!> and he will be the hope of those who grieve in their hearts. All thosewho dwell upon the dry ground w ill fall down and worship beforehim. and they will bless, and praise, and celebrate with psalms the<> name oP the Lord ofSpirits. And because of this he was chosen and7 hidden before him before the world was created, and forever. Butthe wisdom of the Lord of Spirits has revealed him to the holy andthe righteous, for he has kept safe the lot of the righteous, for theyhave haled and rejected this world of iniquity, and all its works andits ways they have hated in the name of the Lord of Spirits; for inhis name they arc saved, and he is the one who will require theirH lives.' And in those days the kings of the earth and the strong whopossess the dry ground will have downcast faces because of the

5 Ml)’ 'of the righteous' - the form is in iho singular, hut is to be understood as acollective (cp. Mow and verse l).

B Kill.I 'had drawn near'.

’ of the righteous: QC’ ‘of the holy' - in both cases the forms are plural.

" of the righteous: the form is singular, but is to be understood as a collective (rp.above and verse I).

1 and the holy: GMQT'l'I)* orn. 1 the name of: (ITU om.

* and he . . . their lives: (>{?) 'and according to his wish has it been in regard totheir lives’; Q corrupt; D’OYB* ‘and his wish has been for their lives'.

I Enoch

m

works of iheir hands, for on the day of their distress and troublethey will not save themselves. And I will give them into the handsof my chosen ones; like straw in the fire, and like lead in water, sothey will burn before the righteous,4 and sink before the holy,3 and10 no trace will be found of them. And on the day of their trouble therewill be rest6 on the earth, and they will fall down before him7 andwill not rise; and there will be no one who will take them with hishands and raise them, for they denied the L.ord of Spirits and hisMessiah. May the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed!

XLIX. For wisdom’ has been poured out like water, and glory will‘2 not fail1 2 before him for ever and ever. For he is powerful in all thesecrets of righteousness, and iniquity will pass away like a shadow,and will have no existence;3 for the Chosen One stands before theLord of Spirits, and his glory is for ever and ever, and his power for:< all generations. And in him dwells the spirit of wisdom, and thespirit which gives understanding,4 and the spirit of knowledge andI of power, and the spirit of those who sleep in righteousness. And hewill judge the things that are secret, and no one will be able to sayan idle word before him, for he has been chosen* before the Lord ofSpirits, in accordance with his wish.

L. And in those days a change will occur for the holy and thechosen; the light1 of days will rest upon them, and glory and'2 honour will return to the holy. And on the day of trouble calamitywill be heaped up2 over the sinners, but the righteous will conquer

4 GQTl'D'‘the holy*. * GMQTL''the righteous*.

6 IV‘a stumbling hlork’. T Eth.l C' 'before them’.

1 HCX ‘the spirit of wisdom’.

’ I)' 'will be inexhaustible’ (lit. ‘will be uueountable’or 'will be immeasurable').

* Lit. 'no place to stand*.

4 So GQl’BPXC: other MSS ‘and the spirit of the one who givesunderstanding'.

5 (J 'dedicated’ or ‘devoted*.

1 T‘the Ancient*.

2 calamity will be heaped up: G ‘on which calamity will have been heaped up’;MT'l’ corrupt; Q ‘calamity will have been heaped up'; D' ‘he will have heaped upcalamity".

in the name of the Lord of Spirits; and he will show this to othersthat they may repent and abandon the works of their hands. Andthey will have no' honour before4 the Lord of Spirits, but in hisname they will be saved; and the Lord of Spirits will have mercy onthem, for his mercy is great. And he is righteous in his judgement,and before his glory iniquity will not be able to stand at his judge-i ment: he who does not repent before him will be destroyed. Andfrom then on I will not have mercy on them, says the Lord ofSpirits.

LI. And in those days the earth will return that which has beenentrusted to it, and Shcol will return that which has been entrustedto it, that which it has received.' and destruction will return what it! owes. And he will choose the righteous and holy from among them,

1 for the day has come near that they must be saved. And in thosedays the Chosen One2 will sit on his3 throne, and all the secrets ofwisdom will How out from the counsel of his mouth, lor the Lord of

t Spirits has appointed him and glorified him. And in those days themountains will leap like rams, and the hills will skip like lambs> satisfied with milk, and all will become angels in heaven. Theirfaces will shine with joy, for in those days the Chosen One will haverisen; and the earth will rejoice, and the righteous will dwell uponit, and the chosen will go and walk upon it.

LII. And after those days, in that place where I had seen all thevisions of that which is secret - for I had been carried off by a

2 whirlwind, and they had brought me to the west - there my eyessaw the secrets of heaven, everything that will occur on earth;1 a

’ ho; L’ and some Kth.II MSS om. 4 GMQT't'D' in the name of.

1 the earth . .. has received: so Kth.II, and Q is all but identical; G *thcearth wiltreturn those who are stored up in it, and Sheol will return that which it hasreceived'; M 'the earth and Sheol will return that which has been entrusted to it,that which it has received'; TL'D' ‘Sheol will return that which has been entrustedto it, (T2 adds ‘and the earth') that which it has received'.

2 QT1 ‘And in those days my Chosen One’; D‘ ‘and chosen. In those davs he'.

2 GMQT'l'D’ ‘my\

1 GMQTU ‘all the secret things of heaven that will occur (QT1 add ‘on earth')';D’ ‘all the secrets of heaven and what will occur’.

ZY1

mountain of iron, and a mountain of topper, and a mountain ofsilver, and a mountain of gold, and a mountain of soil metal, and ai mountain oflead. And I asked the angel who went with me, saving,

I What are these things which I have seen in secret? And lie said tome. All these things which you have seen serve the authority of his> Messiah, that he may he strong and powerful on the earth, Andtiial angel ofpeace answered me. saying. Wait a little, and you willsee,2 * and everything which is secret, which the Lord of Spirits hasn established.■* will Ik* revealed to you. And these mountains whichyou have seen.4 the mountain ol iron, and the mountain of copper,and the mountain of silver, and the mountain of gold, and themountain of soft metal, and the mountain oflead-all these beforethe Chosen One will he like wax held re fire, and like the waterwhich comes down from above on5 these mountains, and they will7 become weak under6 bis feet. And it will come to pass in those daysthat neither by gold, nor by silver, will men save themselves; theya will be unable to save themselves or7 to flee. And there will beneither iron for war. nor material* for a breast-plate;9 bronze willbe of no use. and tin will be of no use and will count lor nothing,!) and lead will not be wanted. All these will be wiped out anddestroyed from the face of the earth, when the Chosen One appearsbefore the Lord of Spirits.

LII1. And there my eyes saw a deep valley, and its mouth wasopen;1 and all those who dwell upon the dry ground and the seaand the islands will bring gifts and presents and offerings to him,

' ami you will sit: Kill. ( <nn.

' ffQT'fDV) ‘which surrounds the Ix»rd of Spirits*.

11 (i MQTl ‘your eyes have sern*; 1)' 'you have seen with your eyes’.

’ on: 1)' mil. * Many MSS ‘before’.

’ to save themselves or: Ci.MQI)’ om.

* material: lit. 'clothing. covering'; for the noun ‘material* QD\ although cor-rupt. have verbal forms which may point to an original text ‘nor will men put on abreast-plate’. After ‘material* (or its equivalent) (>MQT add by ditiography ‘lorwar. nor material'.

4 nor material lor a. breast-plate: L‘ ‘nor a coat of mail for the breast'.

1 So Kill. 11: I)’ is partially corrupt, but reads ‘deep valleys, and their mouth(s)

were open*; GMQTL’ also read ‘their mouths’ (QT ‘their mouth’), but otherwise

have an awkward or corrupt text.

I Enoch

m

l but that deep valley will not become full. And their hands commitevil, and everything at which the righteous toil, the sinners evillydevour;2 and so the sinners will be destroyed from before the Lordof Spirits, and will he banished from the face of his earth, un-i crasingly,* for ever and ever. For I saw4 the angels of punishment

1 going5 and preparing all the instruments of Satan. And 1 asked theangel of peace who went with me, and I said to him,* Theseinstruments — for whom are they preparing them? And he said to

) me,7 They are preparing these* for the kings and the powerful of> this earth, that by means of them they may be destroyed. And afterthis the Righteous and Chosen One will cause the house of hiscongregation to appear; from then on, in the name of the Lord of7 Spirits, they will not be hindered. And before hiniQ these moun-tains will not10 be firm like the earth, and the hills will be like aspring of water; and the righteous will have rest from the ill-treatment of the sinners.

LIV. And I looked and turned to another part of the earth, and 1

2 saw there a deep valley with burning fire. And they brought thekings and the powerful and threw them into that' valley. And theremy eyes saw how they made instruments for them - iron chains of

I immeasurable weight. And I asked the angel of peace w ho wentwith me, saying, These chain-instruments - lor whom are they5 being prepared? And he said to me, These arc being prepared forthe hosts of Aza/.cl. that they may take them and throw them into

1 and everything . . . devour: so Kilt.11, hut the text is difficult and possiblycorrupt; the Kth.l MSS do not provide a better text.

* Lit. 'and they will not erase': I 'D' ‘and they will erase’ (i.<-. ‘and they willperish’).

4 Kth.l N add ‘all’.

* Kth.l and some Kth.l 1 MSS 'remaining'.

® and 1 said to him: so NP’; all other MSSom.

’ D' And he answered me’; GMTD’ add 'saying'.

14 They arc preparing these: QL’ om.; CM Torn. 'They are preparing’, but read‘these’ in the accusative.

9 before him (lit. 'before his lace’): GT1 L IT 'before his righteousness'; M.corrupt.

10 D'BCXC* om.

1 Q and some Kth.l I MSS ‘the’: many MSS add 'deep*.

l>:u

/ Enoch

the* lowest part of Hell; and they will rover their jaws with rough(» stones, as the Lord of' Spirits eommanded. And Michael andGabriel. Raphael2 and Phanuel - these will take hold of them onthat great day, and throw them' on that day into the furnace ofburning lire.4 that the Lord of Spirits may5 take vengeance onthem6 for their iniquity, in that they became servants of Satan and7 led astray those who dwell upon the dry ground. Atid in those daysthe punishment of the Lord of Spirits will go out. and all thestorehouses of the waters which are above the heavens7 . . . andt< under the earth" will be opened.* and all the waters will be joinedwith the waters10 which are alx>ve the heavens.11 The water12 whichis above heaven is male, and the water1 * which is under the earth is<> female. And all those who dwell upon the dry ground and thoseKi who dwell under the ends of heaven will be wiped out. And becauseof this14 they will acknowledge15 their iniquity which they havecommitted on the earth, and through this16 they will be destroyed.

LV. And after this the Head of Days repented and said, 1 havedestroyed to no purpose all those who dwell upon the dry ground.

> And he swore by his great Name,From now on 1 will not act likethis1 towards all those who dwell upon the dry ground; and 1 will

- Gabriel, Raphae l: MH I)' Raphael. Gabriel1.

* and throw them: QD’ oni.; GM om. ’throw them’.

4 GM'Pl’IV ‘into the burning furnace’: QY ’into the burning fire--.

' 1)' ’tor the Lord of Spirits will’. * on them: Gum.

7 All MSS except B' add and in addition to the springs which arc under theheavens’ or similar.

* and under the earth: Ql’ ’and the springs which are under the earth-; GMcorrupt: D' om.

* and all the storehouses . . . will Ik opened: G'Pl’ ‘and will open all thestorehouses . . M ‘and all the storehouses ... will have been opened'; I)' ‘and hewill open all the storehouses . . .’.

,n with the waters: T1L"N om.; Q corrupt.

‘1 which are above the heavens: Eth.l N om.

12 The water: GMT’L’N ’That’. " and the water: D' ‘and that’.

14 Q ‘Because of this’; TL’F. ‘And because’; D' ‘because’.

11 D’ ’they have not acknowledged’.

16 and through this: so MT’l.’; Q Eth.l I ’and because of this"; P ‘and because ofthis through this1; G ‘and this’; I)’ ‘and through it’; C om.

like this: GMT’L'D'X om.

23')

put a sign in heaven, and it will be a pledge of faith between me and

3 them for ever, so long as heaven is above the earth. And this will bein accordance with my command;2 when I want to take hold ofthem by the hand of the angels on the day ofdistrcss and pain in theface of this my anger and my wrath,3 my wrath and my anger will

4 remain upon them,'1 says the Lord.5 the Lord of Spirits. Youpowerful kings, who dwell upon the dry ground, will be obliged towatch my Chosen One® sit down on the throne of my glory,7 andjudge, in the name of the Lord of Spirits, A/a/el and all hisassociates and all his hosts.

LVI. And I saw there the hosts of the angels of punishment as they

2 went, and they were holding' chains of iron and bronze. And Iasked the angel of peace who went with me, saying, To whom are

3 those who are holding the chains going? And he said to me, Each tohis own chosen ones and to his own beloved ones.2 that they may he

4 thrown into the chasm in the depths of the valley. And then thatvalley will be filled with their chosen and beloved ones, and thedays of their life will be at an end, and the days of their leading

3 astray will no longer be counted. And in those days the angels willgather together,3 and will throw themselves towards the cast uponthe Parthians and Modes; they will stir up the kings, so that adisturbing spirit will come upon them, and they4 will drive themfrom their thrones; and they will come out like lions from their

6 lairs, and like hungry wolves in the middle of their flocks. And they

2 So GT‘: M ‘And this is mv command'; Q corrupt; I)' ‘And it will be inaccordance with my command'; ’PL' Eth.I I 'And after this it will be in accordancewith my command'.

3 Eth.I ‘my wrath and my anger’.

4 my wrath . . . upon them: some Eth.I I MSS 'my anger and my wrath w illremain upon them’; L’D om. (hmt.);Q 'will remain upon them'; CIMT'D’ 'I willcause mv wrath and my anger to remain upon them’.

5 the Lord: GMD'BCXB* om.

6 D’‘my chosen ones’.

J GMT'L’D' ‘on the throne of glory’; CH ‘OB' ‘at the right hand of the throne ofmy glory’.

1 and they were holding: T‘ om.; Q om. ‘and’; ML’I)' om. ‘they were holding’.

1 GMQT'UD' ‘To their chosen and their beloved ones’.

3 GQ ‘will return’. 4 DY ‘it’.

I Enoch

2M>

will go up and trample upon* the land of myfc chosen ones, and theland of my7 chosen ones will become before them a tramping*7 ground and a beaten track. But the city of my righteous ones will bea hindrance to their horses, and they will stir up slaughter amongstthemselves, and their own right hand will be strong against them;and a man will not admit to knowing his neighbour or* his brother,nor a son his father or9 his mother, until through their death10 thereare corpses enough, and their punishment — it will not be in vain.11H And in those days Sheol will open its mouth, and they will sink intoit; and their destruction12 - Sheol will swallow up the sinnersbefore the face of the chosen.

LVII. And it came to pass after this that 1 saw another host ofchariots, with men riding on them, and they came upon the wind11 from the east and from the west to the south. And the sound of thenoise of their chariots was heard,2 and when this commotionoccurred, the holy ones observed it from heaven, and the pillars ofthe earth were shaken from their foundations, and the sound washeard from the ends of earth to the ends of heaven’ throughout one:J day.4 And all will fall down and worship the Lord of Spirits. Andthis is the end of the second parable.

LVIII. And I began to speak the third' parable about the righteousand about the chosen. Blessed are you, the righteous and chosen.

* T’f and cover*. * my: so IV; GQT' ‘bis’: M'PL* Kth.II ‘their.

’ my: so IV; G.MQT’l* and most Kth.II MSS *his'; PCX 'their*.

* his neighbour or: (JMQT'l'D' om.

* his father or: M’PCIVom.

10 through their death: G om.; M corrupt; 1V(?) ‘among them'; Q corrupt inentire passage ‘until... in vain*.

11 GMl.’lV ‘and their punishment shall not Ik- in vain’ (D* om. ‘and*).

G adds ‘will cease*, and MQ’PL7 make similar additions. But in no case do theadditions prov ide an entirely satisfactory text.

1 MQTl’IV ‘winds’; G corrupt.

■' BCX om. "the sound of; MT'l.’IV om. ‘was heard*.

’ IV from the ends of heaven to the ends of earth'; (>MTl* 'from end to end ofheaven’; Q ‘from the ends of heaven'. 4 D' ‘hour*.

1 the third: [)' 'another* or‘the second*.

:l for your lot will be glorious! And the righteous will be in the light ofthe sun. and the chosen in the light of eternal life; and there will beno end to the days of their life, and the days of the holy will be

4 without number. And they will seek the light, and will find righteous-ness with the Lord of Spirits. Peace be to the righteous with1 2 the

.*> Lord of the world!3 And after this it will be said to the holy that theyshould seek in heaven4 the secrets of righteousness, the lot of faith;for it has become bright as the sun5 upon the dry ground, andti darkness has passed away. And there will be ceaseless light, and toa limit of days they will not come, for darkness will have beendestroyed previously; and the light will endure before the Lord ofSpirits, and the light of uprightness w ill endure before the Lord ofSpirits for ever.

L1X. And in those days my eyes saw the secrets of the flashes oflightning, and the lights,' and the regulations governing them;2and they flash for a blessing or for a c urse, as the Lord of Spirits2 wishes. And there I saw the secrets of the thunder, and how when itcrashes in heaven above, the sound of it is heard; and they3 showedme the dwellings of the dry ground,4 and the sound of the thunderlor peace and lor blessing, or for a curse, according to the word oP

5 the Lord of Spirits. And after this all the secrets of the lights and ofthe flashes of lightning were shown to me; they flash to bringblessing and satisfaction.

LX. In the five hundredth year, in the seventh month, on theiourteenth day of the month in the life of Knoch. In that parable l

2 CrQT'L’ ‘in the name of*: D' ‘in the peace of.

' B ‘the Lord of Spirits': D’ ‘the I«ord for ever’.

4 G M I L IV ‘to the holy in heaven chat they should seek'.

* MD’B Tor the sun lias become bright*.

1 (IMTL’E ‘and of the lights'; Q ’of the lights'.

J Lit. ‘and their regulation*, but could also be translated ’and their judgement’.

* So some Kth.II MSS: L" corrupt; all other MSS ‘he’.

4 and they . . . ground: the text makes no sense and is probably an interpolation(although it is just possible that an original Aramaic ‘and they showed me thedwellings of the lightning' was misread by the translator).

* according to the word of: G ‘before*.

saw how the heaven of heavens was shaken violently, and the hostof the Most High and the angels, a thousand thousands and ten2 thousand limes ten thousand, were extremely disturbed. And thenI saw the Head of Days sitting1 on the throne of his glory, and the.t angels and the righteous were standing around him. And a greattrembling seized me, and fear took hold of me,2 and my loinscollapsed and gave way, and my whole being3 melted.4 and I fell! upon my lace. And the holy Michael sent another holy angel, oneof the holy angels,5 and he raised me; and when he raised me,6 myspirit7 returned, for I had been unable to endure the sight of that'* host, and the disturbance, and the shaking of heaven. And theholy* Michael said to me. What sight has disturbed you like this?I ntil today has the Hay of his mercy lasted, and he has beenmerciful and long suffering towards those who dwell upon the dry<i ground. And when the day. and the power, and the punishmentand the judgement come, which the Lord of Spirits has preparedfor those who worship9 the righteous judgement,10 and for thosewho deny the righteous judgement,11 and for those who take hisname in vain - and that day has been prepared, for the chosen a7 covenant, but for the sinners a visitation. And on that day twomonsters'2 will be separated13 from one another; a female monster,

' GMT'IIV "And the Head of Days was silting' (M oni. "And'); Q "Then I sawthe Head of Days sit'.

1 MT'UIV out. 'took hold of me'; Q "And trembling seized me, and great fearseized me and took hold of me’.

I and my whole tieing: DY um. "and'; FAX ‘and my mind'.

4 and my loins ... melted: (> 'and my loins gave way. and my whole being fell’;MQI)' 'and my loins gave way, and my (M am. "mv*) mind'; T "and my loinscollapsed and gave wav. and my whole being’; l ‘and my loins collapsed, and mywhole being gave way".

5 GM I L’IV ‘And Michael sent another angel from among the holy ones'; Q‘And the holy angel Michael, one of the holy ones, was sent’. Some Kth.11 MSS read‘one of the holy ones' for ‘one of the holy angels’.

* and when he raised mr: (iNlQT'l' om. (hmt.).

’ Q ‘stni 1*. * the holy: Kth.I om.

9 L’ 'who do not worship’.

10 judgement: so all Kth. MSS, but possibly a mistranslation of an original

'j“>V

II and for those . . .judgement: L’DE om. (hmt.); Q ‘and for those who deny it

(? ‘him')’. 12 l)OY ‘two lions'; D' ‘two tigers’; G ‘two large monsters’.

11 M ‘were separated".

/ Enoch

'm

whose name is Leviathan, to dwell in the depths of the sea above

8 the springs of the waters; and the name of the male is Behemoth,who occupies with his breast an immense desert14 named Dendayn.'5on the east of the garden where the chosen and righteous dwell,1**where my great-grandfather17 was received.18 who was'** theseventh from Adam, the first man whom the Lord of Spirits made.

y And I asked that20 other angel to show me the power of thosemonsters, how they were separated on one21 day and thrown, oneinto the depths of the sea, and the oilier onto the dry ground of the

10 desert. And he said to me. Son of Man, you here wish to know what

11 is secret. And the other angel spoke to me.22 the one who went withme and showed me what is secret, what is first and last in heaven, inthe heights, and under23 the dry ground, in the depths, and at theends of heaven, and at the foundations of heaven, and in24 the

12 storehouses of the winds;25 and how the spirits26 arc distributed,and how they are weighed, and how the springs and the winds27 arecounted according to the power ol' their spirit;28 and the power ofthe light oft hr moon26... and the divisions of the stars according to

13 their names, and how all the divisions are made; and the thunder30according to the places where it falls; and all the divisions that aremade in lightning that it may flash, and its hosts, how they quickly

14 obey; for the thunder has fixed intervals which have been given to

14 an immense desert: lit. 'adesert lhat cannot Ik-seen' In (lie light of the 1.XX ofGen. i.2 perhaps to be translated ‘a waste desert*.

15 GTl*I)' ‘Dundayn* or similar: ‘Yrndayn*.

19 MT'l’D’ ‘where the chosen and righteous art

17 B 'your great-grandfather*; C' ‘my great-grandfather Knodi'.

*" where my . . . received: D' 'where the man was transformed*.

'■ who was: GMT'l'IV om. **° GMTTD’N ‘the*; DHOB* ‘this’.

21 D*‘that*. In me: l)*om.; GQT'l ’‘to him*.

22 So GMD': all other MSS‘on'. J4 in: (I am.

2$ GQT ‘of the spirits' (but here and in the next verse it is possible that thecommon word ‘spirit' has the meaning 'wind'); D' ‘ofthe laird ofSpirits*.

29 Or ‘the winds'; l.‘ om.

27 the springs and the winds: so Kth.II: Kth.l (l* corruptly) 'the springs of thespirits (or ‘winds*)’, but possibly a mistake for ‘the gates of the winds’.

29 Or ‘according to the power of the wind*.

29 All MSS add ‘and how there is a power of righteousness' (or and according tothe power of righteousness'). 1 hr words are unintelligible, but are possibly a glosson ‘according to the power of their spirit’.

30 D' ‘and how all the divisions are made in the thunder’.

240

/ Enoch

its sound lor waiting; and the thunder and the lightning arc notseparate, and although not one, through a spirit the two of themlj move inseparably; for when the lightning Hashes, the thunderutters its voice, and the spirit at the proper time” causes it to rest,and divides equally between them; for the storehouse of the timesfor their occurrence is like that of the sand, and each of them at theproper time32 is held by a rein, and turned back by the power of thespirit, and likewise driven forward, according to the number of theHi regions of the earth. And the spirit of the sea is male and strong,and according to the power of its strength the spirit turns it backwith a rein, and likewise it is driven forward and scattered amongst17 all the mountains of the earth. And the spirit of the hoar-frost is itsIK own angel; and the spirit of the hail is a good angel. And the spirit ofthe snow has withdrawn because of its power, and it has a specialspirit; and that which rises from it is like smoke, and its name isMi frost. And the spirit of the mist is not associated with them33 intheir storehouses, but has a special storehouse; lor its course isglorious34 both in light and in darkness, and in winter and in2u summer, and in its storehouse is an angel.35 The spirit of the dewhas its dwelling at the ends of heaven, and it is connected with thestorehouses of the rain; and its course is in winter and in summer,and its clouds and the clouds of the mist arc associated, and one

21 gives to the other. And when the spirit of the rain moves from itsstorehouse, the angels conic and open the storehouse, and bring itout; and when it is scattered overall the dry ground, it joins with allthe water that is on the dry ground; and whenever it joins with the

22 water that is on the dry ground,36 . . . for the waters arc lor thosewho dwell upon the dry ground, lor they are nourishment for the dry'ground Irani the Most High who is in37 heaven; therefore there is a

" .u die proper lime: or 'immediately*,at the proper time: (JMTl’I)' inn.

is mil . . . them: Q ‘joins with it"; D” ‘does not dwell with them'.

'* hit. ‘in glory* or ‘possesses glory*, but the meaning is obscure.

•** and in its storehouse . . . angel: so T*l’; T2 and in its storehouse is light’;(IMQIV 'and its storehouse is an angel*: Kill. II and its storehouse blight, and it isits angel'.

,h and whenever . .. dry ground: QADOYB'C' om. (probably a di digraph). Ifnot, the a|M»dosis ol lhc sentence has Ihtii lost.

” Some Kth. MSS ‘from'.

241

23 fixed measure lor the rain, and the angels comprehend it. All these21 things I saw towards the Garden of Righteousness. And the angelof peace who was with me said to me, These two monsters, pre-pared in accordance with the greatness of the Lord,38 will be led39that the punishment of the Lord4" ... in vain. And children will lie2 j killed41 with their mothers, and sons42 with their fathers. When thepunishment of the Lord of Spirits rests upon them, it will remainresting that the punishment of the Lord of Spirits may not come invain43 upon these. Afterwards the judgement will he according tohis mercy and his patience.

LX3. And in those days I saw long cords given to those1 angels,and they acquired wings for themselves, and flew, and went to-

2 wards the north. And I asked the angel, saying2 Why did these takethe long’ cords and go? And he said to me. They went that they

3 may measure.4 And the angel who went w ith me said to me. Thesewill bring the measurements of the righteous and the ropes of therighteous to the righteous,5 that they may rely on the name of the

l Lord of Spirits for ever and ever. The chosen will begin to dwell

*" I)' 'prepared lor the great day of the Ix>rd*.

w (r(^)I)' 'will provide t«x>d' {but could be impersonal with a passive sense 'willbe fed*): Q corrupt, but perhaps 'will feed them'.

40 Kill.I *thr Lord of Spirits'. BCXG' add ’may not In-'; K adds ‘may not come'.I)' (probably correctly) continues for the remainder of the chapter, ‘may rest uponthem that the punishment of the Lord of.Spirits may not come in vain. And it willkill children with their mothers and children with their lathers, when the punish-ment of the I.ord of Spirits rests upon all. Afterwards the judgement etc.’ In theother MSS the words 'may rest upon them that the punishment of the l,ortl ofSpirits may not come* seem to have been omitted by mistake. The correction of themistake led to the text printed above, but the overfull text ofGMQ (ep. note 43)supports I)'.

41 GQTL* ‘And it will kill children'. *! CtMTU'children'.

41 As part of their correction GMQ repeat here ‘And it will kill children withtheir mothers and children with their fathers when the punishment of the Ia>rd ofSpirits resis’ (ep. I)'. note 40).

1 those: Q ‘the two’.

2 GTL’D’ ‘saving to him'; M ‘who was with me’.

> GMQTT'IV om.

4 And he said . . . may measure: QKH om.; MUD om. ‘they went'.

* to the righteous: M Kih.ll (except N) otn.

/ Enoch

2 VI

with the chosen, and these measurements will ho given to faith,'t and will strengthen righteousness.6 And these measurements willreveal all the secrets of the depths of the earth, and those who weredestroyed by the desert, and those who were devoured by the fish ofthe sea and by animals.7 that they may- return and rely on the dayof the9 Chosen One; for no one will be destroyed before the Lord of(> Spirits, and no one can be destroyed. And all those in the heavensabove received a command, and power10 and one voice and one7 light like fire were given to them.11 And him. before everything,1*they blessed and exulted and praised in wisdom; and they showedfl themselves wise in speech and in the spirit of life. And the Lord ofSpirits set the Chosen One on the throne of his” glory, and he willjudge all the works of the holy ones14 in heaven above, and in thebalance he will weigh their deeds.15 And when he lifts his face tojudge their secret ways according to the word of the name of theLord of Spirits, and their path according to the way of the righteousjudgement of the Lord Most High,'6 they will all speak with onevoice, and bless, and praise, and exalt and glorify17 the name of the

10 Lord of Spirits. And he"* will call all the host of the heavens, and allthe holy ones above, and the host of the Lord, the Cherubim, andthe Seraphim and the Ophannim. and all the angels of power, andall the angels of the princ ipalities, and the Chosen One, and theother host which is upon the dry ground and"* over the water, on

11 that day. and they will raise one voice, and will bless, and praise.

So Klh. I: Kth.lJ (by a mistake) 'the word of righteousness'.

7 by tile fish ... by animals: I I' 'by animals and chose who w ere do oured by thefish of the sea-; GMIV "by storehouses and those who were devoured by the fish ofthe sea'; Q ‘by the fish of the sea'.

" IV adds 'all'. * T'my'.

10 BCX 'and one power'; () inn. ’arid one voice'.

11 vverc given to them: so Bt'XC: all other MSS om. For the whole verse f 1)'have 'And those in the heavens above (IV add. 'and all the hosts') received acommand and one voice and one light like fire'.

Lit. 'before a word' (i.e. before uttering any other word).

" Klh.lom. M Q‘the righteous*.

(I 'they will weigh their deeds'; MQl'IVB' ‘will their deeds be weighed'.

Kth.l 'of the laird ofSpirits’ (but L‘ om. by hnu. 'and their path .. .judgementof the Lord ofSpirits’}.

17 Kth.l X hallow’. " Ml)' they'.

•* So some F.th.II MSS: all oihrr MSSom.

and glorify20 and exalt21 him. in the spirit ol faith. and in the spirit ofwisdom and of patience.22 and in the spirit of mercy, and in thespirit of justice and of peace, and in the spirit of goodness; and theywill all say with one voice. Blessed is he, and blessed be2' the name

12 of the Lord of Spirits lor ever and ever. All those who do not sleep inheaven above will bless him; all his24 holy ones who are in heavenwill bless him, and all the chosen ones who dwell in the Garden ofLife, and every spirit of light which is able to bless, and praise, andexalt and hallow your holy25 name, and all flesh which beyond its

13 power will praise and bless your name lor ever and ever. For greatis the mercy of the Lord of Spirits, and he is long-suffering: and ailhis works and all bis forces, as many as lie lias made.1 2* he hasrevealed to the righteous and the chosen in the name of the Lord ofSpirits.

LX1I. And thus* the Lord commanded the kings and the mightyand the exalted, and those who dwell upon the earth.2 4 and said.Open your eyes, and raise your horns.' if you are able to aeknow-

2 ledge the Chosen One. And the Lord of Spirits sat4 on the throne ofhis glory, and the spirit of righteousness was poured out on him,and the word of his mouth kills all the sinners and all the lawless,

3 and they are destroyed5 before him. And on that day all the kingsand the mighty and the exalted, and those who possess the earth,6will stand up; and they will see and recognise how he sits on the

30 and glorify: Kth.I om. 31 and exalt: Ci om.

and of patience: so some Kth. 11 MSS;JLV 'and in the spirited patience"; otherMSS 'and in patience".

and Messed !*•: D'P1 and they will Mess'.

34 Kth.I BXYC* ‘the*. **5 Kth. 1'Messed'.

36 and all his forces ... made: so Kth. 11; M ‘and the whole extent of his works': Tl‘and everything that lie has made'; T* 'and all his forces and everything that he liasmade': OQD* corrupt; L’ defective.

1 1)' ‘And after this'.

• Q ‘who dwell upon the dry ground’; D* 'who possess the earth'.

3 and raise vour horns: l’ om.; I)‘ ‘and raise your eyelids'.

4 So all MSS. but often emended to 'set him'.

5 GQTl’ ‘and all the lawless are destroyed' (1‘ om. 'all'): MDY 'and all thelawless; they are destroyed'.

* Some Kth.II MSS ‘dry- ground".

thrum* of his glory, and the righteous are judged in righteousness7\ before him, and no idle word is spoken before him. And pain willcome upon them as upon a woman in labour for whom giving birthis difficult, when her child enters the mouth of the womb, and she•> has difficulty in giving birth. And one half of them will look at theother, and they will be terrified, and will cast down their fat es, andpain will take hold of them, when they sec that Son of a Woman®i) sitting on the throne of his glory. And the mighty kings,9 and allthose who possess the earth, will praise and bless and exalt him7 w'ho rules everything which is hidden.10 For from the beginning theSon of Man was hidden, and the Most High kept him in theH presence of his power, and revealed him only to the chosen; and thecommunity of the holy and the chosen will be sown, and all the■I chosen will stand before him on that day. And all the mightykings,1* and the exalted, and those who rule the dry ground, willfall down before him on their faces and worship; and they will settheir hope upon that Son of Man, and will entreat him, and willin petition for mercy from him. But that Lord of Spirits will then12 sopress them that they will hasten to go out from before him, andtheir faces will be filled with shame, and the darkness will growII deeper on their faces. And the angels of punishment will takethem,13 that they may repay them for the wrong which they did toVI his children14 and to his chosen ones.14 And they16 will become aspectacle to the righteous17 and to his18 chosen ones; they will

7 and the righteous . . . righteousness: NOB' om. ‘in righteousness*; GMQD''and righteousness is judged'; T 'and righteousness docs not fail’; L' defective.

8 GQTl'lV ‘Son of Man'.

9 GMQL’ ‘And the kings and the mighty'.

10 Or (less plausibly) 'who rules everything, who was hidden'.

11 CiMQTD'K.N ‘And all (he kings and the mighty’; KH 'And all the mighty’;BX ‘And ail the kings'.

11 GMTLD'om.

11 \I ‘And the angels will take them for punishment’ (and so probably intendedby TJ); T1 ‘And they will hand them over to the angels for punishment'; GQD'make no sense; U defective throughout verses 1 If.

14 to his children: QOB' om.

'* and to his chosen ones: OB' om.; Q ‘to his Chosen One*.

16 QD’OB' *it\

11 and to his chosen ones .to the righteous: some Eth.li MSS om.

’* D‘ *my\

24')

rejoice over them, lor the anger of the Lord of Spirits will rest uponthem, and the sword of the Lord of Spirits will he drunk with them.

13 And the righteous and the chosen will be saved on that day, andthey will never see the face of the sinners and the lawless from then

14 on. And the Lord of Spirits will remain over them, and with thatSon of Man they will dwell, and1* eat. and lie down, and rise up for

15 ever and ever. And the righteous and chosen will have risen fromthe earth, and will have ceased to cast down their faces, and will

l<> have put on the garment of life.20 And this will he a garment of life21front the Lord of Spirits; and your garments will not wear out, andyour glory will not fail before the Lord of Spirits.

LXIII. In those days the mighty kings1 who possess the dryground2 * will entreat the angels of his punishment ' to whom theyhave been handed over that they4 might give them a little respite,and5 that they might fall down and worship before the Lord of

2 Spirits, and confess their sin before him. And they will bless andpraise the Lord of Spirits, and say, Blessed be the Lord of Spiritsand the Lord of kings, the Lord of the mighty and the Lord of the

3 rich,6 and the Lord of glory and the Lord of wisdom! And every-thing secret is clear before you,7 and your power is for allgenerations,8 * and your glory for ever and ever; deep, and withoutnumber, are all your secrets, and your righteousness is beyond

4 reckoning.’ Now we realise that we ought to praise and bless the

5 Lord of kings and the one who is king over all kings. And they willsay. Would that we might be given a respite, that we might praiseand thank and bless him.10 and make our confession before his1'

dwell and: GMQTl’N' am.; IV \ Son of Man. and they will eat’.

20 Kill. I and JXP'(?)CI' 'glory*.

21 GMTL’D* ‘And this shall be your garment, the garment of life".

1 Klh.l ‘the kings and the mighty’; AEHKNC' ‘the kings'.

2 QDY ‘the earth’. 1 QT ‘of punishment’; U ‘of his anger'.

* So H2C’: all other MSS ‘he’. 5 Eth.I om.

6 L' ‘exalted’. 1 before you: so C'; all other MSS om.

* GQTIV ’And in everything secret your power shines for all generations’;

M corrupt; U defective.

* C' ’deep arc all your secrets, and your righteousness is beyond measure’.

10 praise . . . him: GMTUIV ‘sing praises and give thanks'; Q ‘praise and thank

him’. " GQTL'LV ‘your’.

2 Hi

t> glory. And now we long for a link* respite, but do not find it: we arcdriven off, and do not obtain it; and the light lias passed away from7 before us. and darkness will be our dwelling for ever and ever. Forwe have not made our confession before him. and wc have notpraised the name of the Lord of kings,1* and we have not praisedthe Lord15 for all his works,14 but our hope has been on the sceptreit of15 our kingdom and of our glory.16 And on the day of our afflictionand distress he does not save us, and we find no respite to make ourconfession that our Lord is faithful in all his doings, and in all17 hisjudgements and his justice, and that his judgements show noft respect for persons. And we pass away from before him because of

10 our works, and all our sins have been counted exactly. Then theywill say to them. Our souls arc sated with possessions gainedthrough uii(|uity. but they do not prevent our going down into the

11 flames'* of the torment ofSheol. And after this their faces will befilled with darkness and shame l>elbrc that Son of Man. and theywill be driven from before him. and the sword will dwell” among

rj them before him. And thus says the Lord of Spirits, This is the lawand the judgement for the mighty and the kings and the exalted,and for those who possess the dry ground, before the Lord ofSpirits.

1.2 LXJV. And I saw other figures hidden in that place. I heard thevoice of the angel saying. These are the angels who came downfrom heaven1 onto the earth, and revealed what is secret to the sonsof men, and led astray the sons of men so that they committed sin.

IJ liD'KFC* 'the name of the laird of Spirits (1)' adds ‘and nf’kings’)': Q 'thelaird of spirits and his name'; M 'the name of the laird of lords'.

" tiMQTD' ‘our laird'; 1‘defective.

14 for all his works; (»MQT‘l'I)‘ uni.

,IV the sceptre of: so some MSS; other MSS 'the throne of, or 'the sceptre of thethrone of*, or 'the throne of the sceptre of; BCX om.

,h and of our glory: I’D' otn.; (»M ‘and on our glop.'; Q 'and of our giory and ofotir riches’.

,T in all: tlMTl’D' om.; Q corrupt.

'* the flames: I)' om.; (IQl’ ‘the heart'.

D* may the sword dwell'.

from heaven: GMQl’D’ om.

1247

LXV. And in those days Noah1 saw that the earth had tilted, and2 that its destruction was near. And he2 set off from there, and wentto the ends of the earth, and cried out to his’ great-grand fatherEnoch; and Noah said4 three times in a bitter voice. Hear me, hearIt me. hear me! And he5 said to him. 'fell me what it is that is beingdone on the earth that the earth is so afTlicted and shaken, lest I be4 destroyed with it. And immediately there was a great disturbanceon the earth, and a voice was heard from heaven, and I fell uponf> my lace. And my great-grandfather Enoch came and stood by me.

and said to me, Why did you cry out to me with such hitler crying(> and w'eeping? And a command has gone out from before the Lordagainst those who dwell upon the dry ground that this must betheir end, for they have learnt all the secrets of the angels, and allthe wrongdoing of the satans, and all their secret power, and allthe power6 of those who practise magic arts, and the power ofenchantments, and the power7 of those who cast molten images for

7 all the earth; and further” how silver is produced from the dust of

8 the earth, and how soft metal occurs on the earth; for lead and tinare not9 produced from the earth like the former; there is a springwhich produces them, and an angel who stands in it, and that

9 angel distributes them. And alter this my great-grandfather Enochtook hold of me with his hand,10 and raised me, and said to me, Go,for I have asked the Lord of Spirits about this disturbance on the

10 earth. And he said to me. Because of their iniquity their judgementhas been completed, and they" will no longer be counted before

’ T I Noah*. 1 TT. • T*my\

4 T ‘and I said'; Q1V ’and Noah said to him'.

5 GMQT’LD’ T.

6 and all ihcir secret power, and all the power: GTD' ‘and all their power, themost secret secrets, and all the power'; M(?) ‘and all the power of the most secretsecrets, and all the power’; QUAEHN1 ’and all the secret power’ (QAV am.‘secret’).

7 ol enchantments and the power: BX om.; Q ‘of those who practise enchain-ments and the power'.

* GTUD'om. 9 IV om.

10 GQD'‘by my hand’.

11 So M: all other MSS have verb in singular. But the text appears to be corruptand may represent a mistranslation of an original Aramaic 'their judgement hasbeen completed and will not be withheld before me'.

218

mi*: because of tile sorceries1’ which they have searched out andlearnt, the earth1' and those who dwell upon it will be destroyed.I! And lor these there will be no place of refuge for ever, lor theyshowed to them what is secret, and they have been condemned;14but not so for you.15 my son; the Lord of.Spirits knows that you are12 pure and innocent of this reproach concerning the secrets. And hehas established your name among the holy, and will keep you fromamongst those who dwell upon the dry ground; and he has des-tined your offspring in righteousness1'’ to be kings'7 and for greathonours, and from your offspring will flow out a spring of therighteous and holy without number for ever.

LXV1. And after this he showed me the angels of punishment whowere ready to come and release all the forces of the water which isunder the earth in order to bring judgement and destruction on all1 those who reside and dwell1 upon the dry ground. And the Lord ofSpirits commanded the angels who were then coming out not toraise their hands, but to keep watch; lor those angels were in chargeof the forces of the waters. And I came out from before Lnoch.

LXVJI. And in those days the word of the Lord came to me, and hesaid to me. Noah, behold1 your lot lias come up before me, a lot•> without reproach, a lot of love and of uprightness. And now theangels are making2 a wooden structure. and when the angels comeout' for that task, 1 will pul my hand on it. and keep it safe, andfrom it will come the seed of life, and a change shall take place that

11 sorceries: .ill MSS 'mouths'. But the text makes link* sense, anil 'months' hascommonly been taken as a mistranslation of the Hebrew and Animate word Ibr'sorceries*.

11 and learnt, the earth: so (i l l ': MQ Kth.II they have learnt that the earth'; I)’corrupt.

14 1)’ ‘Ibr they showed what is secret to those who have been condemned'

15 (JQTl'IV 'hut as for you’. Kth.I 'your righteous oltspriuif.

1 ’ Q (and so probably Tj 'both for kingship'; (iMl'IV eorrupt.

1 who reside and dwell: Q 'who dwell'; I’BX ‘who reside'.

1 (JMQT'l'IVom J Kth I X ‘have made'.

* come out; soT Klh.il; (JMQt'D’ have a different verb (in various forms), buttheir text docs not make sense.

249

;i the drv ground may not remain empty.4 And 1 will establish youroil'spring before me for ever and ever, and I will scatter those whodwell with you over the lace of the dry ground;51 will not again putthem to the test on the face of the earth.6 but they will be blessed and\ will increase on the dry ground in the name of the Lord. And they1will shut up those angels who showed iniquity in that burningvalley which my great-grandfather Knoch had shown to me previ-ously. in the west, near the mountains of gold and silver and ironj and soft-metal and tin. And I saw that valley in which there was a<i great disturbance, and a heaving of the waters. And when all thishappened, from that fiery molten metal and the disturbance whichdisturbed the waters in that place a smell of sulphur was produced,and it was associated with those waters. And that valley of the7 angels who led men astray burns under the ground; and through thevalleys of that same area flow out rivers of fire where those angelswill be punished who led astray those who dwell upon the dryH ground. And in those days those waters will serve the kings and themighty and the exalted, and those who dwell upon the dry ground,for the healing of soul and body,* hut also lor the punishment of thespirit. And their spirits'* are so full of lust10 that they will bepunished in their bodies, for they denied the Lord of Spirits. Andthey sec their punishment every day, yet they do not believe in his*> name. And the more their bodies are burnt, the more a change willcome over their spirits for ever and ever; for no one can speak an

10 idle word before the Lord ofSpirits. Forjudgement will come uponthem, for they believe in the lust" of their bodies, but deny the

11 spirit of the Lord. And those same waters will undergo a change inthose days; lor when those angels are punished in those days,12 thetemperature ol those springs of water will change, and when theangels come up from the water, that water of the springs will change

]•_> and will become cold. And 1 heard the holy13 Michael answering4 and a change . . . empty: so QEC\ other MSS probably to lx- translated ‘andthe dry ground shall undergo a change that it may not remain empty'.

* over the lace of the dry ground: so OFP^BDOXYB'; other MSS nm.

6 So EFHP*’: other MSS ‘dry ground’. BDOXYB’ om. by hint. ‘1 will not again. . . fact* of the earth (dry ground)’. 7 Kth.I F ‘he’.

" of soul and body: GQUD’ ‘of the body’. 9 D'‘souls’.

10 GQU ’desire’. 11 GQUD'‘desire’.

,J F.lh.l ’waters’. IJ the holy: Kth.I om.

/ Enoch

lT)(i

anti saying. This judgement with which the angels are judged is atestimony lor the kings and the mighty who possess the dry11 ground. For these waters of judgement serve for the healing of thebodies ol the kings,14 and for the lust15 of their bodies; but they donot see and do not believe that these waters will ehange. and willbecome a lire which burns forever.

LXVIII. And after this my great-grandfather Knot h gave me theexplanation1 of all the secrets in a book and the parables which hadbeen given to him; and he put them together for me in the words of2 the Book2 of the Parables. And on that day the holy' Michaelanswered Raphael, saying.4 The power of the spirit seizes me andmakes me tremble5 because of* the harshness of the judgement of thesecrets, the judgement of the angels.7 Who can endure the harsh-ness of the judgement which has been executed.1* and before which:j they melt with fear? And the holy' Michael answered Raphaelagain, and said to him,* Who would not soften his heart10 over it.and whose mind would not be disturbed by this word’'Judgementhas gone out11 against them, upon11 those whom they have led outi like this. But it came to pass, when he1' stood before the Lord ofSpirits, that the holy' Michael spoke as follows to Raphael. I willnot take their part under the eye of the Lord, for the Ford of Spirits■* is angry with them, lor they act as if they were the Lord. Because of

14 lor the healing . . . of the kings: so all MSS except BC'XY, although the MSShave ‘angels’ instead of‘kings'. But it seems likely that ‘angels' is a mistranslation.HX ‘for their healing': C ‘lor the healing of the angels'; Y defective.

M So M: (;QTl lV ‘desire’; Ktli.ll ‘death’.

‘ l)‘ ‘teaching’.

* (i‘in the Ixxik of the words'. * the holy: Ktli.l om.

4 GQl'D* ‘answered me. saving to Raphael'.

* and makes me tremble: all MSS (except I)’) ‘and makes me angry', but it seemslikely that the wrong meaning of the underlying Aramaic word was followed. I)'‘and makes me go up".

* Q Kill.II (except Y) ‘and Ix-causcol".

of the angels: GMTUVom * Ktli.ll adds ‘and remains'.

w (iQl ‘answered me again, and said to Raphael'.

iu ■[■.’ - Whose heart would not lx‘ softened’: GMQT'L' ‘Whose heart would notfeel convicted'; I)’ ‘Whose heart has not lelt convicted'.

11 (jyi)' ‘by this word adjudgement which has gone out* (t*Q om. ‘which’).

Or‘from’, or‘because of’. ’ ’ I)'‘they-.

this the hidden judgement1J will come upon them lor ever and ever;for neither any other angel, nor any man, will receive their lot, hutthey alone have received their judgement for ever and ever.

LXIX. And after this judgement they will terrify them and makethem tremble, for they have shown this1 to those who dwell upon

2 the dry ground. And behold2 the names of those angels. And theseare their names: the first of them is Semyaza. and the secondArtaqila. and the third Armen, and the fourth Kokabiel, and thefifth Turiel. and the sixth Ramiel. and the seventh Daniel, and theeighth Xuqacl. and the ninth Baraqicl, and the tenth Azazel. theeleventh Armaros. the twelfth Batricl. the thirteenth Basasael, thefourteenth Anand, the fifteenth Turiel, the sixteenth Samsiel, theseventeenth Vctarcl, the eighteenth Tumid, the nineteenth Turiel,

A the twentieth Rumiel, the twenty-first Azazel. And these are thechiefs of their angels, and the names of their’ leaders of hundreds.

4 and their leaders of fifties and their leaders of tens. The name of thefirst is Yequn, and this is the one who led astray all the children ofthe holy4 angels; and he brought them down onto the dry ground,

5 and led them astray through the daughters of men. And the nameof the second is Asbeel: this one suggested* an evil plan to thechildren of the holy angels,6 and led them astray, so that they

6 corrupted their bodies with the daughters of men. And the name ofthe third is Gadrcel: this is the one who showed all the deadly blowsto the sons of men; and he led astray Eve, and he showed theweapons of death to the children of men, the shield and thebreastplate and the sword for slaughter, and all the weapons of

7 death to the sons of men. And from his7 hand they have gone out

14 the hidden judgement: Kth.l 'everything which is hidden'.

1 Tom.; Q“thisjudgement’.

1 behold: D’ adds "I will name’; GM apparently add corruptions of‘I will name'.

* and the names of tlieir: Kth.l KH ‘and their names, and their’.

4 holy: GMQL'I)’ and some Kth.l 1 MSS om.: it is possible that the text derivesfrom a false translation of'ali the (holy) children ofGod' (i.c. ‘all the (holy) angels).N ‘all the children of the angels of the Lord’.

5 QD' ‘recommended’.

® Possibly a false translation of'lo the holy children ol Cod' (ep. note 4).

7 QD' ’their’.

252

/ Enoch

against those who dwell ujxm the dry ground, from that time* ** andB for ever and ever. And the name of the fourth is Penemue: this oneshowed the sons of men the bitter and the sweet, and showed them

9 all the scercts of their wisdom. He taught men the art of writingwith ink and paper, and through this many have gone astray from

10 eternity to eternity, and to this day. For men were not created forthis, that they should confirm their faith like this with pen and ink.

11 For men were created no differently from the angels, that theymight remain righteous and pure.9 and death, which destroyseverything, would not have touched them: but through thisknowledge of theirs they are being destroyed, and through this

12 power it10 is consuming me." And the name of the fifth isKasdeyae: this one showed the sons of men all the evil blows of thespirits and of the demons, and the blows which attack the embryo inthe womb so that it miscarries, and the blows which attack the soul,the bite of the serpent and the blows w hich occur at midday, the

13 son of the serpent who is . . . strong.12 And this is the task1' ofKesbeel, the chief of the oath, who showed the oath to the holy ones

14 when he dwelt on high in glory, and its14 name is Bcqa. And thisone told the holy15 Michael that he should show him16 the17 secretname, that they might mention it in the oath,1" so that those whoshowed the sons of men every thing which is secret trembled before

15 that name and oath. And this is the power of this oath, for it is

• CJMTI'IV ‘day'.

9 (iMTt’IV ’purr and righteous’; Q 'purr and holy'.

10 i.e. death.

" IVus’.

12 The text is awkward; in full ii roads ‘whose name is Tabari'. 1 have omitted‘name’ (whic h could easily have euine in by mistake-) and take ' Tabari' as ihr wordmeaning ‘male’ or ‘.strong'. But the passage remains obscure.

'■* Elh. ‘number’, but Charles’s suggestion that the translation is based on amisreading of an original ‘task’ is very plausible.

14 Or’his’.

15 the holy: Kth. I om.

IS So (JMTUIV: Q om.; Kth. 11 ‘them’.

17 MTD’KNC* ‘his’.

** that they . . . the oath: so(»Q: T 'that they might mention that sec ret name';MI D' ‘that they might mention that (M ‘evil and’) secret name, that they mightmention it in the oath’; Eth. 11 ‘that they might see that sec ret name, that they mightmention it in the oath’.

253

powerful and strong; and he placed this oath Akae1* in the charge

Hi of the holy15 Michael. And these are the secrets of this oath ... andthey are strong20 through his oath, and heaven was suspended21

17 before the world was created and for ever. And through it theearth22 was founded upon the water, and from the hidden recesses ofthe mountains23 come beautiful waters24 from the creation of the

18 world and lor ever. And through that oath the sea was created, andas its foundation, for the time of anger, he placed for it the sand,and it does not go beyond it from the creation of the world and for

l<> ever. And through that oath the deeps were made firm, and theystand and do not move from their place from the creation o/ the world

2(1 and for ever. And through that oath the sun and the moon completetheir course and do not transgress their command from the creation

21 of the world and lor ever.25 And through that oath the starscomplete their course, and he calls their names.26 and they answer

22 him2’ from the creation oj the world and for ever; and likewise thespirits of the water, of the winds, and of all the breezes, and their

2S paths, according to all the groups of the spirits. And there are keptthe storehouses of the sound of the thunder and of the light of thelightning;2* and there are kept the storehouses of the hail and thehoar-frost,2* and the storehouses of the mist, and the storehouses of

Ia Since verses I HI', and verses I *>-2*>appear to deal with two different oaths, it ispossible that the obscure name Wkae' (so all MSS except QI)') is a corruption ofthe word ‘other*, viz. ‘and hr placed this other oath .. .* Q(?) 'this engraved oath’;D' 'this evil oat'll'.

20 and they are strong (or ‘and they were made firm’): so MT Kth.II; but the textis not entirely intelligible as it stands and it is possible that something like ‘Allthings were created’ has dropped out from before‘and they arc strong’ (but see note21). (»Ql‘ ‘and il is strong’; D’ ‘and its strength’.

21 QH ‘And these are the secrets of this oath, and they are (Q ‘it is') strong:through his oath heaven was suspended', and other MSS perhaps to be translatedsimilarly.

22 G.M I r ‘through it, and the earth'.

*■' Some Kill. MSS'the hidden mountains’.

21 beautiful waters: l.'IA'A’ ‘waters for the living’; BCX ‘beautiful waters for theliving’.

li from the creation . . . lor ever: M om.; (i'l l" ran. ‘and for ever'.

26 IV 'and they call their names’; Q ‘they are called'. 21 I)'‘them'.

28 the storehouses . . lightning: Kth.I ‘the sound of the thunder and the light ofthe lightning’.

29 Kth.I 'and the storehouses of the hoar-frost’.

I Enoch

2:y\

tlu* rain and dew. And all these make their confession and givethanks before the Lord of Spirits and sing praises with all theirpower; and their food consists of all their thanksgiving, and theygive thanks and praise and exalt in the name of10 the Lord ofSpirits_' j for ever and ever. And this oath is strong over them, and through itthey are kept safe, and their paths are kept safe, and their coursesi*i» are not disturbed. And they had great joy, and they blessed andpraised atid exalted because the name of that Son of” Man had•J7 been revealed to them. And he sat on the throne of his glory, andthe whole judgement32 was given to the Son of Man,” and he willcause the sinners to pass away and be destroyed from the face of the■_’}{ earth.34 And those who led astray the world will be bound inchains, and will be shut up in the assembly-place of their destruc-tion, and all their works will pass away from the face of the earth.2!» And from then on there will be nothing corruptible,15 for that Sonof Man has appeared and has sat on the throne of his glory, andeverything evil will pass away and go from before him; and theword of that Son of6 Man37 will be strong3" before the Lord ofSpirits. This is the third3* parable of Enoch.

LXX. And it came to pass after this that, while he was living, hisname w as lifted from those who dwell upon the dry ground to thepresence of that Son of Man and' to the presence of the Lord of> Spirits. And he2 was lifted on the chariots of the spirit, and his3

in tin* name of: IV om.; QN out. ’in’.

" Son of: M ir IV om.

” hit. 'and the sum of the judgement’.

11 And he sat... Son of Man: D' om.

14 and he will cause.. . the earth: IV ‘and he will not pass away nor lx: destroyedfrom the fare of the earth’: GMTl’ ‘and he (? ’it") will pass away and be destroyedfrom the face of the earth’: Q ’and the sinners of the earth have passed away frombefore his fare’.

** IV ‘there will not lx* this corruption’.

Son of: Bom. ” Man: GN ‘a woman’.

*" and the word ... be strong: so T and some Kth. 11 MSS; other MSS ‘and they(Al)* ‘lie’) will speak to lhat Son of Man, and he will lx- strong’.

M KFHNP-’om.

’ So G(^ I D : other MSS om. J T ‘his name’.

* So MQD'YC:': other MSS the’.

3 name vanished among them. And from that day I was not counted4among them, and he placed me lx* tween two winds.5 between thenorth and the west, where the angels took the cords to measure for

4 me the plaee lor the chosen and the righteous. And there I saw thefirst fathers and the righteous who from the beginning of the worlddwelt in that plaee.

LXXI. And it came to pass after this that my spirit was carriedoff, and it went up into the heavens. I saw the sons of the holyangels1 treading upon flames of lire, and their garments were white.

2 and their clothing, and the light of their face was like snow. And Isaw two rivers of fire, and the light ol that fire shone like hyacinth,

3 and I fell upon my face before the Lord of Spirits. And the angelMichael, one of the archangels, took hold of me by my right hand,and raised me, and led me out to all the secrets of mercy and the

4 secrets of righteousness.2 And he showed me all the secrets of theends of heaven and all the storehouses ol'all the stars and the lights,

5 from where they come out before the holy ones. And the spiritcarried Enoch olF to the highest heaven,5 and 1 saw there in themiddle of that light something built of crystal stones, and iti the

6 middle of those stones tongues of living fire. And my spirit saw acircle of fire which surrounded that house; from its four sides came

7 rivers full of living fire, and they surrounded that house. Andround about were the Seraphim, and the Cherubim and theOphantiim; these are they who do not sleep, but keep watch over

8 the throne of his glory. And I saw angels who could not be counted,a thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, sur-

9 rounding that house; and Michael and Raphael4 and Gabriel and

4 So G QTIVJ'; M Kth.II ‘included*: L ‘praised*.

* Or ‘quarters’, ‘regions’.

1 Possibly a false translation of'thr holy sons of Cod' (ep. chap. Ixix, 11. I). Some

Eth.II MSS oni. ’holy’.

1 to all... righteousness: D’ ‘to all the secrets of mercy, and he shower! me all thesecrets of righteousness'; GMQTL" ‘to all the secrets, and he showed me all thesecrets of mercy, and he showed me all the secrets of righteousness*.

■’ GQL.' ‘And he carried off my spirit, and Enoch was in the highest heaven’; 11)‘’And he carried off my spirit, and 1. Enoch, u-as in the highest heaven': M 'And hecarried olTmy spirit, says Enoch, in heaven was I*. In all Eth.I mss. ‘he carried olfmy spirit* is grammatically anomalous. 4 and Raphael: yL' om.

/ Enoch

2f)b

Phanucl. and the holy angels who are in the heavens above, went inand out of that house. And Michael and Raphael and Gabriel5 andPhanuel,6 and many holy angels without number, came out fromU» that house; and with them the Head of Days.1 his head white and

11 pure like wool, and his garments indescribable. And I fell upon myface, and my whole body melted, and my spirit was transformed;and I cried out in a loud voice in the spirit of power, and 1 blessed*

12 and praised9 and exalted. And these10 blessings which came out"

13 from my mouth were pleasing before that Head of Days. And thatHead of Days came with Michael and Gabriel, Raphael12 andPhanucl.” and thousands and tens of thousands of angels without

U number. And that angel14 came to me. and greeted me with hisvoice, and said to me. You arc the Son of Man who was born to15righteousness, and righteousness remains over you, and the right-lj eousness of the Head of Days will not leave you. And he said tome, He proclaims peace to you in the name of the world which is tocome, for from there peace has come out from the creation of thePi world; and so you will have it for ever and for ever and ever. Andall10 will walk” according to your way, inasmuch as righteousnesswill never leave you; with you will be their dwelling, and with youtheir lot, and they will not be separated from you. forever and ever17 and ever. And so there will lx* length of days with that Son of Man,and the righteous will have peace, and the righteous will have anupright way1* in the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.

* MQL’KHN ‘and Gabriel and Raphael’; BGOX.V and Gabriel. Raphael'.

s and Phanucl: GMQTl'A uni.

7 KHP1 'of the oath'. * Q adds‘him'.

* QFP*add 'him*. 10 Kth.I'those'.

'1 came out: D' jumps from this word to Ixxviu.Bh, but begins again w ith lxxii.1alter reaching lx.xxii.2t).

11 yi'L'X ‘and Ciabriel and Raphael'; GM "and Raphael and Gabriel'.

n Alter 'Phanuel' (iMQT go hack by mistake to 'Phanuel' in verse Band repeatall (so G) or parls of the interv ening text.

'* that angel: l' om.; GMT‘that one* or'he'.

” Some MSS‘in'.

16 Kth.I I adds ‘will be and' (ALB’ ‘who will be and).

11 Q ‘dwell'.

'* and the righteous will have an upright way: so C'; QC om. (hmt ); all otherMSS om. 'will have'. Kth.II (exeept C) ‘his upright wav' instead of'an uprightway'.

LXXII. 1 hr book ofthe revolutions of the lights ol*heaven, eaeh asit is. according to their classes, according to their period of rule andtheir times, according to their names and their places of origin, andaccording to their months, which Uriel, the holy angel who waswith me and is their leader, showed to me: and he showed me alltheir regulations exactly as they are. for eaeh year of the world andfor ever, until the new creation shall be made which will last for

I ever. And this is the first law of the lights. The light the sun. itsrising is in the gates of heaven which are towards the cast, and its

3 setting is in the western gates of heaven. And I saw six gates fromwhich the sun rises, and six gates in which the sun sets, and themoon also rises and sets in those gates, and the leaders of the starstogether with those whom they lead; there are six in the east and sixin the west, all exactly in place, one next to the other; and there are\ many windows to the south and north1 of those gates. And firstthere rises the greater light, named the sun. and its disk is like thedisk of heaven, and the whole of it is full of a fire which gives lightr> and warmth. The wind blows the chariots on which it ascends, andthe sun goes down from heaven and returns through the north inorder to reach the east and is led so that it comes to the appropriateii gate, and shines again in heaven. In this way it rises in the firstmonth in the large gate, namely it rises through the fourth of those7 six gales which are towards the east. And in that fourth gate, fromwhich the sun rises in the first month, there are twelve window-openings2 from which, whenever they are opened, flames comeH out. W hen the sun rises in heaven, it goes out through that fourthgate lor thirty days, and exactly in the fourth gate in the west of<i heaven it goes down. And in those days the day grows daily longer,and the night grows nightly shorter, until the thirtieth morning,hi And on that day the day becomes longer than the night by a doublepart,* and the day amounts to exactly ten parts, and the night

II amounts to eight parts. And the sun rises from that fourth gate,and sets in the fourth gate, and returns to the fifth gate in the eastfor thirty mornings; and it rises from it, and sets in the fifth gate.

1 Lit. 'to the right and left'. * I .it. 'open windows'.

* by a double part: j.e. by two parts. (JQIT)' add ‘by nine parts’ (QL'D* possibly‘by a ninth part').

12 And then the day becomes longer by two parts. and the dayamounts to eleven parts, and the night becomes shorter andl:{ amounts to seven parts. And the sun returns to the east, and comesto the sixth gate, and rises and sets in the sixth gate tor thirty oneI t mornings4 because of its sign. And on that day the day becomeslonger than the night, and the day Ixxomes double the night; andthe day amounts to twelve parts, and the night becomes shorterI.'i and amounts to six parts. And the sun rises up that the day maygrow shorter, and the night longer; and the sun returns to the east,and comes to the sixth gate, and rises from it and sets for thirtyli> mornings. And when thirty mornings have been completed, theday becomes shorter by exactly one part; and the day amounts to17 eleven parts, and the night to seven parts. And the sun goes outfrom the west through that sixth gate, and goes to the east, andrises in the filth gate for thirty mornings; and it sets in the westIH again, in the fifth gale in the west. On that day the day becomesshorter by two parts, and the day amounts to ten parts, and the19 night to eight parts. And the sun rises from that fifth gate, and setsin the fifth gate in the west, and rises in the fourth gate lor thirty2(i one mornings because of its sign/ and sets in the west. On that daythe day becomes equal with the night, and is oj equal length', and the

21 night amounts to nine parts, and the day to nine parts. And the sunrises from that gate, and sets in the west, and returns to the east,and rises in the third gate for thirty mornings, and sets in the west

22 in the third gate. And on that day the night becomes longer thanthe day, and the night grows nightly longer/ and the day growsdaily shorter until the thirtieth morning;7 and the night amounts to

2:i exactly ten parts, and the day to eight parts. And the sun rises fromthat third gate, and sets in the third gate in the west, and returns tothe cast; and the sun rises in the second gate in the east for thirtymornings, and likewise it sets in the second gate in the west of24 heaven. And on that day the night amounts to eleven parts, and the

* GTL'D' 'thirty itiuriiiugs'; Q corrupt; M defective.

5 G MQT add in the fourth gate in the east'; l" adds ‘in the east'; I)‘ adds ‘in thefourth gate'.

6 and the night grows nightly longer: so GQTl’lV; M ‘and on that day (benightgrows longer'; Kth.II ‘until the thirtieth morning'.

7 morning: Qom.; Kth.II (except EFLN) ‘day’.

259

>■) day to seven parts. And the sun rises on that day from that secondgate, and sets in the west in the second gate, and returns to the east,to the first gate." lor thirty one mornings.9 and sets in the west in

2(i the first gate.10 And on that day the night becomes longer, andbecomes double the day; and the night amounts to exactly twelve

27 parts, and the day to six parts. And with (his the sun has completedthe divisions of its journey." and it turns back again along these12divisions ol its journey;1' and it comes through that first gate14 lor

28 thirty mornings, and sets in the west opposite it. And on that day15the night becomes shorter in length by one part16.... and amounts

29 to eleven parts, and the day to seven parts. And the sun returns,and comes to the sccotid gate in the east, and it returns along thosedivisions of its journey17 for thirty mornings, rising and setting.

30 And on that day the night becomes shorter in length, and the night

31 amounts to ten parts, and the day to eight parts. And on that daythe sun rises from that second1H gate, and sets in the west, andreturns to the east, and rises in the third gate for thirty one

32 mornings, and sets in the west of heaven. And on that day the nightbecomes shorter, and amounts to nine parts, and the day amountsto nine parts, and the night becomes equal with the day. And the

33 year amounts to exactly three hundred and sixty lour days. Andthe length of the day and the night, and the shortness of the dayand the night - they are different because of the journey of that sun.

34 Because of it.19 its journey becomes daily longer, and nightly

* to the lirst gate: D’ ‘and rises in the first gate'.

* BA add ‘liecause of its sign'.

10 in the west in the first gate: M ‘in the west in the sixth gate'; CiQ ‘in it on thefirst day in the west of heaven’; TL’D* ‘on that day in the west of heaven'.

11 the divisions of its journey: IV(?) ‘its appearances'.

11 Ktli.IJ1M ‘those’.

,J divisions of its journey: D'(?) ‘appearances'.

14 M ‘those gates'; QTL’D’ ‘all the gates’; G‘all its gates'.

15 day: V tint.; GQIVF 'night'.

19 by one part: M otn.; GQII)’ ‘hy nine parts’ (L'l)' |x>ssihly ‘hv a ninth pan' I.All MSS add ‘that is one part', a gloss apparently intended to explain that the word>d, used here with the meaning 'part', is the equivalent of the word kjfjl.

17 divisions of its journey: D'(?) ‘appearances'.

'* GMQl'I)'1 om.

14 i.e. to this end. to bring about the difference in die length of day and night.

2r>o

Mt shorter. And this is the law and the journey of the sun, and itsreturn, as often as it returns; sixty times it returns and rises, that isthe great eternal light20 which lor ever and ever is named the sun.:i(. And this which rises is the great light, which is so named after its:i7 appearance.21 as the Lord commanded. And thus it rises andsets;22 it neither decreases, nor rests, hut runs day and night in itschariot.1 2-' And its light is seven times brighter than that of themoon, but in size the two arc equal.

LXX1II. And after this law I saw another law, lor the smaller light2 named the moon. And its disk is like the disk of the sun,1 and thewind blows its chariot on which it rides, and in fixed measure light:t is given to it. And every month its rising and its setting change, andits days tire as the clays of the sun. and w hen its light is uniformlyI full, it is a seventh part of the light of the sun. And thus it rises, andits first phase2 is towards the east; it rises on the thirtieth morning,and on that day it appears and becomes for you the first phase2 ofthe moon, on the thirtieth morning,' together with the sun in the"> gate through which the sun rises. And a half4 5 . . . with a seventhpart, and its entire disk is empty, without light, except lor a seventhi> part, a fourteenth part3 of its total light. And on the day it receives aseventh part and a half6 of its light, its light amounts to a sevenlh-

■" as often as . . . eternal light: GQTl’lV 'as often as - sixty times - that greatlight returns and rises’ (QTL’D' om. ‘sixty times’): M ‘as often as it returns; itreturns and rises, that is the great light'.

Jl D ‘And this is the one which rises according to its appearaner’.

11 G1V ‘As it rises, so it sets'; M 'Thus it rises and sets'; QT ' Thus it rises andthus it sets'; t’ 'And thus it sets'; ANX ‘And thus it sets and rises'

** in its chariot: GMQTTT)' om.

1 So M and some F.ch.II MSS: other MSS 'heaven'.

: first phase: lie. ’beginning'.

* Klh.I ‘day’.

4 AH MSS except D'C'F add ‘is distant’, hut this makes no sense. We exj>eet averb meaning ‘to rise’, ‘to appear'.

5 a fourteenth part: so QL’D'. but D' adds 'ofits light, a seventh part'; G corrupt;MT Fall.11 ‘from the fourteen parts'.

6 GQD'OA’B' (with several ungrammatical variations) ‘a seventh part of ahalf.

2()l

• and-scventh part and a half.7 It sets with the sun,*1 and when thesun rises, the moon* rises with it. and receives a halfof one part oflight; and on that night at the beginning of its morning, at thebeginning of the moon's day, the moon sets with the sun, and is} dark on that night in six and seven10 parts and a half. And it riseson that day with exac tly a seventh part, and goes out, and recedesfrom the rising of the sun, and becomes bright on the remainder ofits days in the other six and .seven" parts.

LXXIV. And another journey and another law I saw for it. in that> according to this law it makes its monthly journey. And Uriel, theholy angel who is the leader of them all, showed me everything.1and I wrote down their positions as he showed them to me; and Iwrote down their months, as they are. and the appearance of theiri light until fifteen days have been completed. In seventh parts itmakes ail its darkness full.2 and in seventh parts it makes all itsl light full, in the east and in the west.3 And in certain months itchanges its setting, and in certain months it follows its own indi-;> vidual course. In two months it sets with the sun in those two gatest> which are in the middle, in the third and in the fourth gate. It goesout for seven days, and turns back, and returns again to the gatefrom which the sun rises; and in that gate* it makes all its light full,

7 GMQl’D'D ';»seventh pan and a hall' (hm QIV om. ’and'); T(?) ‘a seven-and-sixih pari and a half*. The numbers arc hard to interpret and no MS provides atext that makes much sense. In the Aramaic fragments a much fuller table of ihephases of the moon has survived, anil the Ktliiopic appears to lx- a rather garbledsummary of this.

* CiMQl.'IV ‘And the sun sets'.

* the moon: (JQl'IV *it\

10 six and seven: so MQTD’Jl.B’C; other MSS ‘seven and seven’.

" six and seven: so Kth.l NC; other MSS ‘seven and seven'.

' Kth.l ‘And all this Uriel, the holy angel who is the leader of them all, showedme’; (i.MQD* add ‘and their positions'.

2 I)’ ‘makes its darkness lull to the fifteenth day’.

’ it makes all its darkness full. . . west: so some Kth.l I MSS and (basically) D’;GMQT‘UA *it makes all its light full, in the east and in the west"; T* and otherKth.l I MSS ‘it makes all its light full in the east, and in seventh parts it makes all itsdarkness full in the west'.

4 in that gate: GMQT'UD' om.

2fi2

and it recedes from the sun, and comes in eight days to the sixth7 gate from which the sun rises. And when the sun rises from thefourth gate, the moon goes out for seven days until it rises from thefifth gate; and again it returns in seven days to the fourth gate, andmakes all its light full, and recedes, and comes to the first gate inR eight days. And again it returns in seven days to the fourth gate‘i from which the sun rises. Thus I saw their positions, how thein moons rose and the sun set in those days. And if5 five years areadded together, the sun has an excess of thirty days; hut all thedays which accrue to it for one year of those five years, when they

11 are complete, amount to three hundred and sixty lour days. Andthe excess of the sun and the stars comes to six days; in five years,six days each they have an excess of thirty days, and the moor

12 falls behind6 the sun and the stars by thirty days.7 And the moonconducts" the years exactly, all of them according to their eternalpositions; they are neither early nor late even by one day, buichange the year9... in exactly three hundred and sixty four days.

i:t In three years there are one thousand and ninety two days, and infive years one thousand eight hundred and twenty days, so that ineight years there arc two thousand nine hundred and twelve days.

14 For the moon alone the days in three years come to one thousandand sixty two days,10 and in five years it is fifty days behind" . . .

15 And there are one thousand seven hundred and seventy days in

' how the moons .. And if: so (i.MT'lV; U defective; yT* ‘according to the lawof their months the sun rising and setting in those days. And if; Kth. 11 ‘according tcthe law of their months the sun rising and setting. And in those days if.

* CJMQT'L- 'and they fall behind’; D' ‘and it falls behind',by thirty days: Ql' om.; GM add ‘behind the sun and Ix'hind the stars’; I"1 add:‘behind the sun and the stars'; I)’ adds ‘behind the sun and the moon and the stars'.

H IV ‘And they conduct’.

v All Kth. MSS add ‘precisely’ which looks like an alternative rendering o:’exactly'.

10 GQL'IV (by mistake) ‘one thousand and thirty days'; IV adds ‘and in thre<years it is sixty two (a mistake for ‘thirty’) days behind’. D' continues ‘In five yeanthere are one thousand seven hundred and seventy days, and in five years it is lift)days behind, so that for the moon .. .’.

11 All MSS except D’ add here ‘for to its sum is to be added sixty two days (Cmargin ‘one thousand and sixty two days’)’. This appears to be a corrupt glosiwhose insertion has seriously disrupted the text; D’ (see note 10) seems to preserv«the text in a better state.

I Enoch

•Jtr>3

five years, so that for tin* moon tin* days in eight years amount toti two thousand eight hundred and thirty two days. For the diller-ence in eight years is eighty days, and all the days which the moon is7 behind in eight years are eighty days. And the year is completedexactly in accordance with their positions11 and the positions of thesun. in that sun and moon rise from the gates from which the sun risesand sets for thirty days.

LXXV. And the leaders of the heads of thousands who/w in chargeof the whole creation and in charge of all the stars have to do alsowith the lour days which are added, and are not separated fromtheir position.1 according to the whole2 reckoning of the year. Andthese serve on the four days which are not counted in the reckoning'> of the year. And because of them men go wrong in them, for theselights really serve in the stations of the world, one in the first gate,and one in the third gate.'and one in the fourth gale, and one in thesixth gate; and the exact harmony of the course of the world iscompleted4 in the separate three hundred and sixty lour.stations ofthe world. For the signs and the times and the years and the daysthe angel Uriel showed to me. whom the Lord of eternal glory hasplaced5 in charge of all the lights of heaven, in heaven and in theworld, that they might rule on the face of heaven, and appear overthe earth, and be the leaders of day and night, namely the sun. andthe moon, and the stars, and all the serv ing creatures who revolve4 in all the c hariots of heaven.6 Likewise Uriel showed to me twelvegate-openings7 in the disk of the chariot of the sun in heaven fromwhich the rays of the sun come out; and from them heal8 comes outover tlu* earth, when they are opened at the times which are

'■ GQTl’IV ‘their world-jxwit ions’.

' (JMT'U ‘from theiroffice’.

2 Kth.lom. ’ Kth.l adds ‘of heaven'.

4 G ‘and with exactness the course of the world is completed'; IV ‘the year iscompleted exactly'; Q 'and the exactness of the year he completes' <11 also havethe active ‘he completes*).

5 GMTL'L ‘whom the I.ord ofGlory has for ever placed'; Q ‘whom the l.ord ofSpirits has lor ev er placed’; IV defective.

* in . .. heaven: Q ‘with all the armies of heaven’.

T Fit.‘open gates*. * MQB* ‘death’.

appointed for them. .And there are such for the winds and lor thespirit of the dew, when they are opened1' at the appointed times,10i> open in heaven at the ends.11 I saw twelve gates in heaven,12 at theends of the earth, from which the sun. and the moon, and the stars7 and all the works of heaven go out in the east and in the west. Andthere are many window-openings1-* to the north and to the southl-and each window at its appointed time sends out heat15 - corres-ponding to those gates from which the stars go out in accordancewith his command to them, and in which they set according to» their number. And 1 saw chariots in heaven, running through theworld above and below16 those gates, in which the stars which** never set rotate. And one is bigger than all the others. and it goesround through the whole world.

LXXVt. And at the ends of the earth ! saw twelve gates open to allthe winds,1 from which the winds come out and blow over theJ earth. Three of them are open in the front of heaven, and three inthe west, and three on the right of heaven, and three on the left.And the three first are those which are towards the east, and threeare towards the north, and the three after these2 on the left arel towards the south, and three are in the west. Through lour of themcome winds of blessing and peace, and from those eight comewinds of punishment; when they are sent, they bring devastation tothe whole earth, and to the water which is on it, and to all those

* And there are such . . . opened: translation and meaning uncertain.

1U at the appointed times: GMQ'PL'D' om.

11 open in heaven at the ends: D' om. and probably copied by mistake from verse() < lor ‘open’ cp. I)' in note 12).

I saw twelve gates in heaven: GMQT'U ‘When they are opened, there aretwelve gates in heaven' {'When they are opened' repeated by mistake from verse 5);I)’ ungrammatical, but prolrably 'There are twelve gates open in heaven'.

11 Lit.‘open windows’.

14 Lit. 'u» the left and to the right'.

” Q.V 'death*.

16 and below: Eth.l and some Kth.ll MSS om.

1 Or ‘to all directions' {in both Kthiopic and Aramaic the word for ‘wind’ ranalso have the meaning ’quarter, direction').

5 after these: soGM;T Eih.il 'opposite (lit. 'at the back of*) those'; QUIV differslightly.

265

who dwell upon it. and to everything which is in1 the water and onthe dry ground. And the first wind from those gates, called the eastwind, comes out through the first gate which is towards the east, theone which inclines to the south: from it comes devastation, drought,ii and heat,4 and destruction.5 And through the second gate in themiddle comes what is right, and from it come rain.6 and fruitful-ness. and prosperity and dew; and through the third gate, which is7 towards the north, come cold and drought. And alter these thewinds towards the south come out through three gates. First.7through the first of the gates, the one which inclines towards theIt east, comes a hot wind.8 And through the middle gate, which isnext to it. come pleasant fragrances, and dew. and rain, and<i prosperity and life. And through the third gate, which is towards

10 the west, come dew. and rain, and locusts and devastation. Andafter these the winds towards the north4 . . . From the seventhgate,10 which is towards the east." . . come dew and rain, locusts

11 and devastation. And through the middle gale exactly come rain,and dew, and life12 and prosperity.13 And through the third gate,which is towards the west,14 . . . come mist, and hoar-frost, and

12 snow, and rain, and dew and locusts. And after these15 . . . the

* KFHIw'on\ 4 QFJ.W 'death'; IV ‘punishment’.

* l'‘force*.

6 And through . . . rain: so all MSS (with minor variations) except (Jl'l)'J: GJ■ And through the second gate in the middle, Irom it conic rain* (omission by hmi.);l)' ‘And through the second gate exactly in the middle, from it come rain*; t’corrupt. ‘What is right* is awkward, and 1)’. although itself possibly defective, givesbetter sense.

7 So GMT Kth.11 and Aram.: Ql*l)' om.

" MIT* ‘hot winds’; A’B' ‘a wind of death*; l«LV corrupt.

” All Kth. MSS add a gloss ‘named the sea' (lor a Palestinian the sea is the west,not the north).

10 From the seventh gatr: so I correct Kth. which in all Us various lonns appearscorrupt. GQTUD’ ‘and which came out (D' ‘come out") from the seventh gate’; M‘and which came out from the great seventh gate'; Kth. II ‘From three, the seventhgate' or ‘From, thirdly, the seventh gate’.

“ All Kth. MSS add here a gloss-thus Qadds‘the south’, GTK'D' add ‘towardsthe south'. M Kill. 11 add "which inclines towards the south*.

,J rain ... life; Kth.I ‘life, and rain, and dew'.

'* and prosperity: GD* om.

14 All Kth. MSS add here by mistake ‘which inclines towards the north*.

|S All Kth. MSS add here a gloss ‘fourthly*.

2(ili

winds towards the west. Through the first gate, which inclinestowards the north, come dew. and rain,16 and hoar-frost, and cold,l;i and snow and frost. And from the middle gate come dew and rain,prosperity and blessing. And through the last gate, which is to-wards the south, come drought and devastation, burning and

1 I destruction. And thus the twelve gates of the four quarters17 of

heaven are complete. And all their laws, and all18 their punish-ments and all their benefits19 I have shown to you, my sonMethuselah.

LXXV1I. They call the first quarter eastern, because it is the first;and they call the second the south, because there the Most Highdescends,1 and there especially2 * the one who is blessed for ever

2 descends. And the western quarter is called waning, because there:i all the lights of heaven wane and go down. And the fourth quarter,

named the north, is divided into three parts.' And the first of themis the dwelling-place for men; and the second contains seas of water,and the deeps, and forests, and rivers, and darkness and mist; andI the third4 part contains the Garden of Righteousness. 1 saw sevenhigh mountains which were higher than all the mountains whichare on the earth, and from them snow comes. And days and times:> and years pass away and go by.51 saw seven6 rivers on the earthlarger than all the other rivers; one of them comes from the cast andii pours out its water into the Great Sea. And two of them come fromthe north to the sea and pour out their water into the Erythraean7 sea in the cast. And the remaining four flow out on the side of thenorth to their sea. (two to)7 the Erythraean sea, and two into the'* and rain: Kth. I om.

'' So Aram.: Kth. by mistake rejx-ats ‘gates'. QL’ »m.

,g and all (heir benefits: Q and many Kih.ll MSSom. ail’; D' ‘and their benefits

atid everything’.

1 So Kih.. but often thought to be corrupt for ‘dwell’ which Aram, now attests.

; I)' ‘and especially because there’.

‘ Aram, has a much fuller text than Kth. in verses 2-3a. Apart from otherdilVerences Aram, explains the name of the northern quarter and provides a second

explanation of the name of the eastern quarter.

* GQTUD' ‘second’.

* and go by: GMTl'D'oin. • Kih.Iom.

7 two to: required for the sense, although omitted by all MSS (D' alone has ‘to’).

/ Enoch

2<i7

Great Sea, and" they discharge themselves there, but some say:

8 into the wilderness. And 1 saw seven large islands in the sea and onthe land: two on the land, and five in the Great Sea.1'

LXXVHI. The names of the sun are as follows: the first (Jrvares. and

2 the second Tomases. The moon has four names: the first name isAsonya, and the second Ebla. and the third Banase. and the fourth

3 Era’c. These are the two great lights; their disk is like the disk of

4 heaven, and in size the two are equal.1 In the disk of the sun areseven parts of light which are added to it more than to the moon,and in fixed measure light is transferred to the moon until a seventh

.i part of the sun is exhausted. And they set, and go into the gates ofthe west, and go round through the north, and rise through the

<) gates of the cast on the face of heaven. And when the moon rises, itappears in heaven and has a half of a seventh part of light; and on

7 the fourteenth day it makes all its light full.2 And fifteen parts oflight are transferred to it, until on the fifteenth day its light is full,according to the sign of the year, and amounts to fifteen parts. And

8 the moon comes into being by halves of a seventh part. And in itswaning on the first day it decreases to fourteen parts of its light, andon the second to thirteen parts, and on the third to twelve parts,and on the fourth to eleven parts, and on the fifth to ten parts, andon the sixth to nine parts, and on the seventh to eight parts, and onthe eighth to seven parts, and on the ninth to six parts, and on thetenth to five parts, and on the eleventh to four parts, and on thetwelfth to three, and on the thirteenth to two,1 and on thefourteenth to half of a seventh part, and all the light that remains

" Klh.IIom.

* two . . . Sea: some Kth.JI MSS 'two and five in the Great Sea’; M 'two on theland and five in the Erythraean sea'; GQTL’D' ’seven and two in the Erythraeansea’.

1 L’ ‘and the size of the disk of both is equal': GMQTD' ‘and the size oft hr disk ofboth - like the disk of heaven - is equal'.

2 G MQTD' text uncertain, perhaps 'it appears in heaven with a hall ola seventhpart; the light becomes whole in it; on the fourteenth day it makes its light lull'; Ucorrupt.

* CMQUD’DVtoahair.

!) from the total disappears on the fifteenth day.4 And in certainmonths the moon has twenty nine days in each month, and once

10 twenty eight. And Uriel showed me another law, namely when lightis transferred to the moon, and on which side it is transferred from

11 the sun. All the time that the moon is increasing in its light, ittransfers light to itself opposite the sun until, in fourteen days, itslight is full in heaven;5 and when it is all ablaze, its light is full in

12 heaven. And on the first day it is called the new moon, for on that

1 :i day light rises on it. And its light becomes full exactly on the day the

sun goes down into the west, and it rises from the cast at night. Andthe moon shines through the whole night until the sun rises oppo-

14 site it, and the moon is seen6 opposite the sun. And on the side onwhich the light of the moon appears, there again it wanes until allits light disappears, and the days of the moon come to an end, and

15 its disk remains empty, without light. And for three months, at itsproper time, it achieves thirty days, and for three months7 itachieves in each month twenty nine days, during which it completesits waning, in the first period of time and in the first gate, in one

lt> hundred and seventy seven days. And in the time of its rising forthree months it appears in each month for thirty days, and for threemonths it appears in each month for twenty nine days. By night, fortwenty days each time,8 it looks like a man, and by day like heaven,for there is nothing else in it except its light.

LXXIX. And now, my son Methuselah,' I have shown you every-

2 thing, and the whole law of2 the stars of heaven is complete. And he

4 GMl’D’a (with some corruptions and variations) ‘and on the fourteenth to ahalf and a seventh part of all its light, and on the fifteenth day what remains I'rom thetotal disappears’: QD' ‘and on the fourteenth to a half, and with a seventh part allits light decreases, and on the fifteenth day what remains from the total disappears’;T partially corresponds to Elh.II and partially loGML’D'a.

* in heaven: Eth.I om. 4 GQUD'aA ’is equal’.

7 And for three months . . . three months: (IMTD'D'a (with some corruptionsand variations) “And for three months it achieves ... days (numeral is missing, andtext corrupt; only T1 has ‘thirty’), and at its proper time, when it completes itswaning, for three months’; Ql.’ unintelligible, but similar to G.\l etc.

* for twenty days each time: D' om.

1 GMQL'D'D'a om.

1 U ‘all the laws of; GMQTD'a “the law of all’; D' ‘the law and all’.

/ Enoch

269

showed me the whole law lor these, for every day, and for everytime, and for every period of rule,3 and for every year, and for theend thereof, according to its command for every month and every

3 week; and the waning of the moon which occurs in the sixth gate,for in that sixth gale its light becomes full, and after that it is the

4 beginning of the month; and4 the waning which occurs in the firstgate, at its proper time, until one hundred and seventy seven daysare complete {reckoned according to weeks: twenty five weeks and

:') two days); and how5 it lulls behind the sun, according to the law ofthe stars, by exactly five days in one period of time, and when this

t» place which you see has been traversed. Such is the appearanceand the likeness of6 every light which Uriel, the great angel who istheir leader, showed to me.

LXXX. And in those days Uriel' answered me and said to me.Behold I have shown you2 everything, C) Enoch, and have revealedeverything to you, that you may see this sun, and this moon, andthose w ho lead the stars of heaven, and all those who turn them,

2 their tasks, and their times’ and their rising. But in the days of thesinners the years will become shorter, and their seed will be late ontheir land and on their fields, and all things on the earth willchange, and will not appear at their proper time. And the rain will

3 be withheld, and heaven will retain it * And in those times the fruitsof the earth will be late and w ill not grow at their proper time, and

4 the fruits of the trees will be withheld at their proper time. And themoon will change its customary' practice, and will not appear at its

5 proper time. But in those days it will appear in heaven,5 and come. . .6 on top7 of a large chariot in the west, and shine with more than

’ and for every ptriod of rule: I)' om.;GMQT(l’)I)'a ‘which is for ruling'.

4 the month; awl: so Klh.11, but possibly corrupt for'the waning; and'; hlh.l om.

s and how: (i.MQL'D’D’a »m; (•' om. ‘how'. * hit. ‘from*.

1 Uriel: y om.; C1MTD' ‘the angel Uriel'; I)‘a defective.

2 CiTUlV 'I will show you'. 1 GMTD'D’a add ‘and they turn them'.

4 GQTTIVD'a ‘will stand still'.

5 it will appear in heaven: so GTUD’D'a; all other MSS ‘heaven will appear (or

‘will be seen')’.

6 Text unintelligible; 1 have omitted the word ‘drought' which all MSS read here

(‘and drought will come’). 7 on top: possible meaning but text obscure.

1>7()

1 Enoch

i> normal brightness. And many heads of the stars in command willgo astray,H and these will change their courses and their activities,and will not appear at the times which have been prescribed for7 them. And the entire law of the stars will be closed to the sinners,and the thoughts of those who dwell upon the earth9 will go astrayover them, and they will turn from all their ways, and will goH astray, and will think them gods. And many evils will overtakethem,10 and punishment will rome upon them to destroy them all.

LXXXI. And he said to me, () Enoch, look at the book of the'tablets of heaven, and read what is written upon them, and note> every individual fact. And I looked at everything inI 2 the tablets ofheaven, and I read everything which was written, and I notedeverything. And ! read the book and everything which was writtenin it, all the deeds of men. and all3 who will be born of flesh on the5 earth4 for the generations of eternity. And then5 * I immediatelyblessed the Lord,* the eternal king of glory,7 in that he has made allthe works of the world, and I praised the Lord because of his\ patience, and I blessed him on account of8 9 10 II the sons of Adam.9 Andat that time10 I said, Blessed is the man who dies righteousand good, concerning whom no book of iniquity has been written,;> and against whom no guilt has been found." And these three12

* in command (lit. 'of command") will go astray: ‘will go astray in regard to

the command'; GQ'IVOB’ corrupt. 9 OMQT'L'D'D'a ‘of those on the earth’.

Lit. 'And evil will increase over them'.

I () Hunch . . the book of the: Eth.I *I.ook, () Enoch, at these (D* 'the’)’.

! everything in: MQTL’D'D’a om.

* (Il)'a 'the book, all the deeds of men, and all’; MT ‘the book of all the deeds ofmen, anti of all’; D' ‘that book, and all the deeds of men. and all’; U defective.

4 who will.. . earth: lit. ‘the children of flesh who will be on the earth’.

* GMTl’IVlVa om. * Eth.I'the great Lord’.

7 BCX ‘the king of glory'; GMTUD'D’a 'the king of glory for ever’; Q ‘the king,

the Lord ofglory For ever*.

* blessed him on account of; D' ‘wept on earth because of.

9 Some Eth.I I MSS ‘the children of the world’.

10 GMQT'UD'a ’And after this’; L)’ 'After this'.

II Q 'and against whom no guilt will be found’; GT'UD'a ‘nor will be found on

the day of judgement’; M ‘nor lias been found on the day of judgement’: TJ ‘andagainst whom no guilt has been found on the day of judgement’; D' (?) ‘and againstwhom judgement has not been found on that day’. 12 Eth.I ‘seven’.

271

holy ones brought me and set me on the earth before the door of myhouse, and said to me. Tell everything to your son Methuselah,and show all your children that no flesh is righteous before thet> Lord, lor he created them. For one year we will leave you with yourchildren,1 J until you have regained your strength.14 that you mayteach your children, and write these things down lor them, andtestify to all your children. And in the second year they will take7 you from among them. Let your heart be strong, for the good willproclaim righteousness to the good, the righteous will rejoice withH the righteous, and they will wish each other well. But the sinnerwill die with the sinner, and the apostate will sink with the

9 apostate. And those who practise righteousness will die15 becauseof the deeds of men, and will be gathered in16 because of the deeds

10 of the impious. And in those days they finished speaking to me, andI went to my family, as I blessed the Lord of the ages.17

LXXX1I. And now, my son Methuselah, all these things I recountto you and write down for you;’ 1 have revealed everything to you1 2 *and have given you books about all these things. Keep, my sonMethuselah,-' the books from the hand ofvour father, that you may‘2 pass them on to the generations4 of eternity. 1 have given wisdom toyou and to your children,5 and to those who will be your children,that they may give it to their children for all the generations for3 ever6 - this wisdom which is beyond their thoughts.7 And those who

•» UMQTl'I)' ’son*.

14 until . . . strength: so MT Kill. IJ (possibly lo hr translated ‘until you havegiven your last commands again’, but in this ease 'again' is a little strange); l' oni.:UD'D’it corrupt; Q 'until you have again comforted him’.

15 D’D’a’ ‘will not dir'.

16 and . . . in: D’ ‘thev will be gathered in': [)’a( ?l ‘but thrv will be hidden'

17 (iMTl'D'D’a Of the world’.

1 for you: GM I’D’a om.

J I have ... to you: some Kth.II MSS om.: D‘ om. ‘everything’; l' om.

’everything to you’; IVa ‘I will reveal everything to you'.

* GMQD’lj’a om. 4 G children'.

5 T ‘and to vour son'; G corrupt; N1 adds a second ‘and to your children'.

6 C’ Tor eternal generations’; Q and some Kth.II MSS 'for the generations forever’; GMTUD’a ‘for generations’; D’ ‘and for generations'.

1 that they may give . . . their thoughts; D'D’a (with some corruptions and

272

understand it will not sleep, luit will inc line their ears that theymay learn this wisdom, and it will he better lor those who eat from itl than good ftxxi. Blessed are all the righteous, blessed are all those*who walk in the way of righteousness, and do not sin like thesinners in the numbering of all their days in which the sun journeysin heaven, coming in and out through the gates lor thirty days withthe heads over thousands ol this** order of stars, and with the fourwhich are added and divide"* between the lour parts of the year,;> which lead them and appear with them on four days. Because ofthem men go wrong, and they do not11 reckon them in the reckon-ing of the whole course of the world:12 lor men go wrong in respect of<i them, and do not know them exactly. For they belong in thereckoning of the year.1' and arc truly recorded therein for ever, onein the first gate, and one in the third, and one in the fourth and onein the sixth. And the year is completed in three hundred and sixty7 lour days.14 And the account of it is true, and the recorded reckon-ing of it is exact, for the lights, and the months, and the feasts, andthe years, and the days Uriel showed me, and he inspired me - heto whom the I.ord of the whole created world gave commandsH about the host of heaven for me. And he has power in heaven overnight and day to cause light to shine on men: the sun. and themoon, and the stars, and all the powers ol heaven which rotate in51 their orbits. And this is the law of the stars which set in their places.

10 at their times, and at their leasts, and in their months. And thoseare the names of those who lead them, who keep watch that theyappear15 at their times,’6 and in their orders, and at their proper

v ariations) ‘that they may give this wisdom in their c hildren tor generations, and allthe wise will sing praises, and wisdom will lie upon your thoughts'.

" blessed are all those: GY orn.: M 'blessed are all the righteous': Q ‘hlesMxi thenare all those': D’D'a 'blessed are those'; l' defective.

* GTD’D'a the'; Mtjl’ corrupt.

10 GMl IVaNOB' are divided'.

" do not : D’B tmt.

11 the whole course of the world: l" ‘thr course of the world'; I)' ‘the year'; B "all men'.

'' 1,; ‘the world'; L ‘the world and the year'.

14 Kth.I 'And the year ol three hundred and sixty four days is completed'.

15 Lit. 'who keep watch and they appear'; l' ‘who appear’; 1)‘ ‘who appear andthey set'.

16 GMQTD'D'a add ‘who lead them in their places'; f adds ‘who lead them'.

/ Enoch

27:5

times, and in their months, and in their periods of rule, and in their

11 positions. Their lour leaders who divide the four parts of the yearappear first; and after them the twelve leaders of the orders whodivide the months and the years into three hundred and sixty fourdays, with the heads'7 over thousands who separate the days; andfor the four days which are added to them there are the leaders who

12 separate the four parts of the year. And as for these heads overthousands, one is added between the leader and the led18 behind a

i:i position, but their leaders make the separation. And these are thenames of the leaders who separate the four appointed parts of theI I year; Melkiel. Helemmelek, Melcyal and Narcl. And the names ofthose whom they lead are Adnarel. lyasusael and lylumiel; thesethree follow behind the leaders of the orders, and each one follow sbehind the three leaders of the orders who follow behind thoseleaders of positions who separate the lour parts of the year. In theIf) beginning of the year1’ Melkiel rises first and rules, the one who iscalled the southern sun;20 and all the days of his period of rule duringKJ which he rules are ninety one. And these are the signs of the dayswhich arc to be seen on earth in the days ofhis period of rule: sweat,and heal,21 and calm:22 and all the trees bear fruit, and leavesappear on all the trees, and the wheat harvest, and rose flowers,and all the flowers bloom2-’ in the field, but the trees of winter24 are17 withered. And these are the names of the leaders who are underthem;23 Berkccl, Zclcbsael, and another one who is added, a headover a thousand named Heloyaseph. And the days of the period of

’’ and the years . . . with the heads: (JMQl'D'D'a (with some corruptions andvariations) 'and for the three hundred and sixt\ days there are the heads'; T ‘and thethree hundred and sixty lour days, with the heads'.

'* between . . . the led: GMl'D'D'a ‘between leader and leader'; QT‘I) detec-tive. The meaning of this verse is rather obscure.

|U of the year; (iQTt'D'I)'a om.

10 Kth. has ‘Tama’ayni and sun’ (the word for 'southern' was transliterated, nottranslated, and 'and' was introduced by mistake).

21 B’ ‘death’.

!i and calm; so L\ but with a small correction: all other MSS 'and sorrow'.

2> and all . . . bloom: GQI D’D’a ‘and all the flowers which come out': Ml'defective.

24 D'a ‘of the field'

2* So all MSS except U {but wc cxpect'him’): L’ om. ‘who are under them'.

271

I Enoch

IH rule of this one are complete. The second leader after him26 isHelernmelek whom they call the shining sun; and all the days ofl!) his light are ninety one. And these are the signs of the days27 onearth: heat, and drought; and the trees bring their fruit to ripenessand maturity, and make their fruit dry;28 and the sheep mate, andbecome pregnant; and men gather all the fruits of the earth, andeverything which is in the fields, and the vats of wine. And thesejo things occur in the days of his period of rule. And these are thenames and the orders and the leaders29 ... of these heads overthousands: Gcdaeyal, Keel and Heel;'0 and the name of the headover a thousand who is added to them is Aslael. And the days of hisperiod of rule are complete.

LXXXIH. And now, my son Methuselah, I will show you all the1J visions which I saw. recounting them belbrc you. Two visions I sawbefore 1 took a wife, and neither one was like the other. For the firsttime when I learnt the art of writing, and lor the second time beforeI took your mother, I saw a terrible vision; and concerning them Imade supplication to the Lord. I had lain down in the house of mygrandfather Malalel, when I saw in a vision how heaven was thrownt down and removed, and it fell upon the earth. And when it fellupon the earth, I saw how the earth was swallowed up in a greatabyss, and mountains were suspended on mountains, and hillssank down upon hills, and tall trees were torn up by their roots,2.> and were thrown down, and sank into the abyss. And then speech

So GTL’D'D'a: other MSS 'them'.

21 the signs of the days: MT ‘the days of his sign'; GQl’D'D'a corrupt ordefective.

J“ ami maturity . . . dry : G.MQTD'D'a (with some corruptions and omissions)and produce all their fruit ripe and mature"; L’ defective.

AH MSS except GQL’D'a add ‘who are under them’, but the text is awkward,and l omit with GQ. ‘Who are under him' would be easier, but the text is stillconfusing. Da ‘and the leaders of those who are under these heads’; U defective.

*° Ked and Heel: G.MQL’D'a om. ‘and Heel’; D' ‘Hclyacl and Kief.

1 (JMQ ‘tny’. From the lieginning of chapter lxxxiii onwards there arc so manyomissions and corruptions in L‘ that it has not been thought worth recording themexcept in a few special cases.

2 Lit. ‘from their roots’ or ‘from their trunks’.

/ Enoch

fell into my mouth, and I raised my voice3 lo try out and said, 1'he

6 earth is destroyed! And my grandfather Malalel roused me. while Ilay near him, and said to me. Why do you cry out so. my son. and

7 why do you moan so? And I recounted to him the whole visionwhich I had seen, and he said to me. A terrible thing you have seen,my son! Your dream-vision concerns'* the secrets of all the sin of theearth;5 it is about to sink into the abyss, and be utterly destroyed.

B And now. my son, rise, and make supplication to the Lord ofGlory- for you arc faithful - that a remnant may be left on the earth, and

ft that he may not wipe out the whole earth.* My son. from heaven allthis will come upon the earth, and upon the earth there will be

10 great destruction. And then 1 rose, and prayed, and made suppli-cation,7 and wrote my prayer down for the generations of eternity,

11 and I will show everything to you. my son Methuselah. And whenI went out below, and saw heaven, and the sun rising in the east.8and the moon setting in the west, and some stars, and the wholeearth.9 and everything as he knew it at the beginning, then iblessed the Lord ofjudgcmcnt, and ascribed majesty to him. for hemakes the sun come out from the windows of the east so that itascends and rises10 on the face of heaven, and sets out and goes inthe path which has been shown to it.

LXXX1V. And 1 raised my hands in righteousness, and I blessedthe Holy and Great One. and I spoke with the breath of my mouth,and with the tongue of flesh which God has made for men born offlesh.1 that they might speak with it: and he has given them breath.

•* (I 'ami 1 rosr’;TX 'and I Ircgan*.

J Yuur dream*vision concerns (lit. 'is heavy with'): I)' W hard vision you havedreamed with regard to*; («MQT unintelligible.

5 the secrets . . earth: (” ‘the secrets of all the sin: the earth’; (• ‘the sin of all thesin; the earth*; M (corrupt?) ‘the sin of all the sin of the earth'; QD' ‘the sin ofall theearth*.

b and that . . . earth: (>MQum.

7 GMTD' add 'and petitioned*.

* GMQ add 'and the sun*.

* and the whole earth: T and some Kth.i l MSS om.

10 Lit. ‘and it ascends and risrs*.

Lit. 'for the children of the flesh of men’; some Kth.II MSS "for the children ofi': Q *ibr the children of men of flesh*.

276

and a longue and a mouth, that they might speak with them.

2 Blessed are you, O I^ord King, and great and powerful in yourmajesty. Lord of the whole creation of heaven. King of Kings, andGod of the whole world! And your kingly authority, and yoursovereignly and your majesty will last for ever, and for ever andever, and your power lor all generations. And all the heavens areyour throne for ever, and the whole earth your footstool for ever,

:i and for ever and ever. For you made, and you rule2 everything, andnothing is too hard for you, and no wisdom escapes you; it does notturn away from your throne,3 nor from your presence. And youknow and see and hear everything, and nothing is hidden from

4 you. for you see everything. And now the angels of your heaven aredoing wrong, and your anger rests upon the flesh of men until the

5 day of the great judgement. And now . O God and Lord and GreatKing, I entreat and ask that you will fulfil my prayer to leave me aposterity on earth, and not to wipe out all the flesh of men and

ti make the earth empty, so that there is destruction for ever. Andnow, my Lord, wipe out from the earth the flesh which has pro-voked you to anger, but the flesh of righteousness and uprightnessestablish as a seed-bearing plant for ever. And do not hide yourface from the prayer of your servant, O Lord.

LXXXV. And after this I saw another dream, and I will show it all1

2 to you, my son. And Enoch raised his voice1 and said to his sonMethuselah, To you 1 speak, my son. Hear my words, and incline

3 your ear to the dream-vision of your father. Before I look yourmother Edna, I saw in a vision on3 my bed, and behold a bull cameout of the earth, and that bull was white; and after it a heifer cameout, and with the heifer4 came two bullocks,5 and one of them was

2 Some Eth.II MSS‘fill'.

’ So Q: all other MSS except L' have a corrupt dittograph ‘from her life, yourthrone’; L’ defective.

‘ it all: G ‘the whole dream’.

1 Q “rose*; TD'XC’ ‘answered’. ’ GMTIV ‘of.

* Lit. ’and with it (fern.)’; MTP'EFHP1 ‘and with it (ma.se.)'; Q ‘with it(masc.)'.

* two bullocks: so GNC'; other MSS have an ambiguous phrase perhaps to betranslated ‘other bullocks'.

/ Enoch

'111

\ blac k, and the other red. And that black bullock struck the red one,and pursued it over the earth, and f rom then on 1 could not see thatj red bullock. But that black bullock grew, and a heifer went with it;

and I saw that many bulls came out from it which were like it and(> followed behind it.* And that cow, that first one. came from thepresence of that first bull, seeking that red bullock, but did not find7 it; and thereupon it moaned bitterlyand continued to seek it. AndI looked until that first bull came to it and calmed it. and from that» time it did not cry out. And after this she bore another white bull,8>! and after it she bore many black bulls and cows. And I saw in mysleep that while hull, how it likewise grew and became a largewhite bull, and from it came many white bulls, and they were likein it. And they began to beget many white hulls which were like them,one loliowing another.*

LXXXVL And again 1 looked with my eyes as I was sleeping, and Isaw heaven above, and behold a star fell from heaven, and it arose■J and ate and pastured amongst those bulls. And after this I saw thelarge and the black bulls, and behold all of them changed theirpens and their pastures and their heilers, and they began to moan,*:i one after another.1 2 3 And again I saw in the vision and looked atheaven, and behold I saw many stars, how they came down andwere thrown down' from heaven to that first star, and amongstthose heifers and bulls; they were with them, pasturing4 amongst

4 them. And I looked at them and saw, and behold all of them let outtheir private parts like horses and began to mount the cows of thebulls, and they all became pregnant and bore elephants and

5 camels and asses. And ail the hulls were afraid of them and wereterrified before them, and they began to bite with their teeth, and

6 CMTIV'thciii’.

' ‘and it moaned bitterly over it <(» "in rrsprel of it')'.

H GQD’ two white bulls'.

* GMQTIV 'many following, our alter another'.

1 Cl *tci live’.

2 Kth.II 'one with another’.

3 Or ‘and threw themselves down'.

* and amongst . . . pasturing: (>MQD’ 'and amongst those heifers they becamebulls, and with them they pastured": T unintelligible.

27H

/ Enoch

*> to clrvour. and lo gore with their horns. And so they began todevour those bulls, and behold all the children of the earth beganto tremble and shake before them, and to flee.5

LXXXV1I. And again I saw them, how they began to gore oneanother and to devour one another, and the earth began to cry out.

2 And 1 raised my eyes again to heaven anti saw in the vision, andbehold there came from heaven beings who were like white men;

1 and four1 came from that place, and three others with them.2 * Andthose three who came out last took hold of me by my hand, andraised me from the generations of the earth, and lifted me onto ahigh place, and showed me a tower high above the earth, and all

} the hills were lower. ' And one4 said to me. Remain here until youhave seen everything which is coining upon these5 elephants andcamels and asses, and upon the stars, and upon all the bulls.6

LXXXVHI. And 1 saw one of those tour who had come out first, howhe took hold of that first star which had fallen from heaven, andbound it by its hands and its feet, and threw it into an abyss; and

2 that abyss was narrow, and deep, arid horrible1 and dark. And oneof them drew his2 sword and gave it lo those elephants and camels5and asses, and they began to strike one another, and the whole

:} earth shook because of them. And as l looked in the vision, beholdone of those four w ho had come out cast from heaven and gatheredand took4 all the large stars whose private parts were like the privateparts of horses, and bound them all by their hands and their feet,and threw them into a chasm of the earth.

■ CMI) add ‘from them'.

1 So Kth.I: Etli.ll ‘one*. •’ So M: other MSS ‘him’.

* SoT Kill.II: (JMQ'built’t?); IV firmly fixed't?).

4 Qawl many Kth.I I MSS‘they'.

5 Kth.I ‘those’.

* (JMQT1)’ ‘and upon the hulls and all ol them'.

1 IV 'and enclosed”; (»MT(?) ‘and desolate'; Q(?) and worm-infested'.

’ Kth.I‘a”. ' and camels: (IMQD* uni.

4 cast . . . and look: so T Kth. 11. but N reads ‘cast a sword from heaven’ etc., andT reads ‘and he cast from heaven' etc. The text is awkward, hut the Kth.I variants

(some or all - so D' - of the verbs in the plural) do not give belter sense.

/ Enoch

279

LXXX1X. And oin* of'those lour went to a white bull1 and taughthim2 3 a mystery, trembling as he was.' He was born a bull, butbecame a man. and built for himself a large vessel and dwelt on it.and three bulls dwelt with him in that vessel, and they were2 cov ered over.4 And 1 again raised my eyes to heaven and saw ahigh roof, with seven water-channels on it. and those channels.1 discharged much water into an enclosure. And 1 looked again, andbehold springs5 opened on the floor of that large enclosure, andwater began to bubble up and to rise above the floor; and I looked4 at that enclosure until6 its whole floor was covered by water. Andwater and darkness and mist increased on it; and 1 looked at theheight of that water, and that water had risen above that enclosureand was pouring out over the enclosure, and it remained on the:j earth. And all the bulls of that enclosure were gathered togetheruntil I saw how they sank and were swallowed up and destroyed in

6 that water. And that vessel floated on the water, hut all the bullsand elephants and camels and asses sank to the bottom, togetherwith all the animals, so that 1 could not sec them. And they wereunable to get out. but were destroyed and sank into the depths.

7 And again I looked in the vision until those water-channels wereremoved from that high roof, and the chasms of the earth were

8 made level,7 and other abysses were opened. And the water beganto run down into them until the earth became visible, and thatvessel settled on the earth; and the darkness departed, and light

9 appeared. And that white bull who l>ecanic a man went out fromthat vessel, and the three bulls with him. And one of the three bullswas while, like that bull, and one of them was red ;is blood, and one

1 a white bull (or 'that while bull'): so M; Aram, ‘one of the bulls'; other Kth.MSS ‘those white bulls’.

*’ B-’NXC ‘them’.

* B*NX ‘trembling as they were’; GQ ‘without him trembling'.

4 and they were covered over: GMQ om. 'and'; D' (but with a minor mistake)‘and this vessel was closed over them’; Aram, ‘and the vessel was closed and covered{over them]'.

3 Aram, ‘chambers’; D' 'chasms’ (cp. verse 7).

6 and 1 looked . . . until: so GT(L’); Lth.ll 'and made that enclosure invisible

until’; MQD* corrupt; Aram, ‘[and] 1 looked until’.

’ and the chasms . . . level: Aram. ‘| the chambers were stopped’.

280

I Enoch

10 was black;* and that white bull passed away from them. And theybegan to beget wild-animals and birds, so that there arose fromthem every kind of spcrics: lions, tigers, wolves, dogs, hyenas,wild-boars, foxes, badgers, pigs, falcons, vultures, kites, eagles and

11 ravens. But amongst them was born a white bull. And they beganto bite one another; but that white bull which was born amongstthem begat a wild ass and a white bull with it, and the wild asses"

12 increased. But that bull which was born from it begat a blackwild-boar and a white sheep; and that wild-boar10 begat many

l:t boars, and that sheep begat twelve sheep. And when those twelvesheep had grown, they handed one of their number over to theasses, and those asses in turn handed that sheep ox er to the wolves;

U and that sheep grew up amongst the wolves. And the Lord broughtthe eleven sheep to dwell with it and to pasture with it amongst the

I'» wolves, and they increased and became many flocks of sheep. Andthe wolves began to make them afraid,11 and they oppressed themuntil they made away with their young, and they threw their younginto a river with much water; but those sheep began to cry out

Hi because of their young, and to complain to their Lord. But a sheepwhich had been saved from the wolves fled and escaped to the wildasses. And I saw the sheep moaning and crying out, and petition-ing their Lord with all their power, until that Lord of the sheepcame down at the call of the sheep from a high room,12 and came to

17 them, and looked at them.13 And he called that sheep which hadfled from the wolves, and spoke to it about the wolves that it should

18 warn them that they should not touch the sheep. And the sheepwent to the wolves in accordance with the word of the Lord, andanother sheep met that sheep'4 and went with it; and the two ofthem together15 entered the assembly of those wolves, and spoke tothem, and warned them that from then on they should not touch

lfl the sheep. And after this I saw the wolves, how they acted evenmore harshly towards the sheep with all their power, and the sheep

* and one nm black: Kth.I om. * Some Klh.II MSS ‘and the wild ass'.

,0 and that wild-boar: MQ'J'D’ ‘and the former' (lit. ‘and that one'); G defective.

11 Some Kth. MSS 'to fear them’.

'* TD'B ‘from the room of the Most High".

“ Or‘and pastured them’. 14 GMQD' ‘met if.

15 GMQD* add ‘went and’.

/ Enoch

■JHI

2n cried out. And their Lord came to the sheep, and began16 to beatthose wolves; and the wolves began to moan, but the sheep became

21 silent, and from then on they did not cry out. And I looked at thesheep until they escaped from the wolves; but the eyes oft he wolveswere blinded, and those wolves went out in pursuit of the sheep

22 with all their forces. And the Lord of the sheep went with them ashe led them, and all his sheep followed him; and his face was

2!5 glorious, and his appearance terrible and magnificent.17 Hut thewolves began to pursue those sheep until they met them by a21 stretch of water. And that stretch of water was divided, and thewater stood on one side and on the other before them; and their2j Lord, as lie led them, stood between them and the wolves. Andwhile those wolves had not yet seen the sheep, they went18 into themiddle of that stretch of water; but the wolves pursued the sheep,2(i and those wolves ran after them into that stretch of water. Butwhen they saw the Lord of the sheep, they turned to flee beforehim; but that stretch of water flowed together again and suddenlyresumed its natural form, and the water swelled up and rose until it27 covered those wolves. And 1 looked until all the wolves which had2tt pursued those sheep were destroyed and drowned. But the sheepescaped from that water and went to a desert where there wasneither water nor grass; and they began to open their eyes and tosee; and I saw the Lord of the sheep pasturing them and giving

29 them water and grass, and that sheep going and leading them. Andthat sheep went up to the summit of a high rock, and the Lord of

30 the sheep sent it to them. And after this I saw the Lord of the sheepstanding before them, and his appearance was terrible and ma-in jestic,lv and all those sheep saw him and were afraid of him. And all

of them were afraid and trembled before him; and they cried outaf ter that sheep with them20 which was in their midst.21 We cannot

'ft (JQTI)* 'and they began'; M corrupt.

1: and bis appearance... magnificent: OMTIV and magnificent and terrible tosee'; Q 'and terrible to see'.

111 D' (in part corruptly) ‘had not vet seen him. the sheep went".

'** terrible and majestic: so tth.l I; Kth.l ‘great and terrible and majestic'; Aram,‘strong and great and[\

:o with them: so (»; MQ ‘with them to the other sheep'; IV ‘which led them andthe other sheep'; T Klh.tl 'which was with him to the other sheep'.

21 LV adds 'and said’.

282

/ Enoch

:I2 stand before our Lord, nor look at him. And that sheep which ledthem again went up to the summit of that rock; and the sheepbegan to be blinded and to go astray from the path which it had;?;} shown to them, but that sheep did not know. And the Lord of thesheep was extremely angry with them, and that sheep knew, andwent down from the summit of the rock, and came to the sheep,and found the majority of them with their eyes blinded and goingill astray from his path.22 And when they saw it. they were afraid andtrembled before it, and wished that they could return to their;$') enclosure. And that sheep took some other sheep with it, and wentto those sheep which had gone astray, and then began to killthem;2* and the sheep were afraid of it. And that sheep broughtback those sheep which had gone astray, and they returned to their:ft> enclosures. And I looked there at the vision24 until that sheepbec ame a man, and built a house for the Lord of the sheep, andM made all the sheep stand in that house. And I looked until thatsheep which had met that sheep which led the sheep25 fell asleep;and I looked until all the large sheep were destroyed and smallones rose up in their place, and they came to a pasture, and drew:\x near to a river of water. And that sheep which led them, which hadbecome a man, separated from them and fell asleep; and all theM sheep sought it and cried out very bitterly over it. And I lookeduntil they left off crying for that sheep and crossed that river ofwater; and there arose all the sheep which led them in place of

40 those which had fallen asleep, and they led them. And I lookeduntil the sheep came to a good place and a pleasant and gloriousland, and I looked until those sheep were satisfied; and that house

41 was in the middle of them in the pleasant land. And sometimestheir eyes were opened, and sometimes blinded, until anothersheep rose up and led them, and brought them all back,26 and their

4*2 eves were opened. And the dogs and the foxes and the wild-boarsbegan to devour those sheep27 until the Lord of the sheep raised up

12 from his path: GMQTD' om.

and then . . . kill them: GMQD’ 'killing them’.

14 there at the vision: GMTD' ’in this vision"; Q ‘in that vision*.

25 GMQD' "which led them".

•6 IV "and they all cainr hack*.

21 Gk.' ‘And the dogs began to devour the sheep, and the wild-boars and theibxcs devoured them".

283

t:i a ram28 from among them29 which led them. And that ram began tobutt those dogs and foxes and wild-boars, on one side and on the

44 other, until it had destroyed them all.30 And the eyes of that sheepwere opened, and it saw that ram31 in the middle of the sheep, howit renounced its glory32 and began to butt those sheep, and how it

4j trampled on them and behaved unbecomingly.33 And the Lord ofthe sheep sent the sheep to another sheep34 and raised it up to be aram, and to lead the sheep35 in place of that sheep36 which had

46 renounced its glory.3’ And it went to it, and spoke with itJB alone,and raised up that ram. and made it the prince and leader of the

47 sheep;39 and during all this those40 dogs oppressed the sheep. Andthe first ram pursued that4' second ram. and that second ram roseand fled42 before it. And I looked until those dogs made the first

48 ram fall.43 And that second ram rose up and led the small44 sheep,and that ram begat many sheep and fell asleep; and a small sheepbecame ram in place of it, and became the prince and leader of

49 those sheep.45 And those41 sheep grew and increased; but all the46

2* until (lu* lam! ... a rani: so C Gk.' and similarly N; all other Kth. MSScorrupt.

*® Gk.' 'from the sheep* and om. ‘which led them*.

,0 CJk.' ‘to him and to pursue with its horns, and ui hurl itself against the foxes,and after them against the wild-boars; and it destroyed many wild-boars, and afterthem [it injure)d the dogs'.

,l Ok.' 'And the sheep (plur.) whose eyes were opened looked at the rani’.

J’ how ... its glory: Gk.' ‘until it left its way*.

34 and began . . . unbecomingly: Gk.' 'and began to walk oil*the wav’.

34 the sheep to another sheep: Gk.' 'this lamb to another lamb-.

14 and raised . . . the sheep: Gk.' 'to appoint it as the ram in command of thesheep’.

** 1) 'that ram’ (lit. 'that male sheep').

37 Gk.' 'in place of the ram which had left its wav*. In notes ’.12.33, and 37 a smallfragment of Aram, appears to support the originality of CJk.' 'wav'.

36 Gk.' adds ’secretly’.

and raised up... the sheep: Gk.' 'and raised it up to lie the ram and leader andprince of the sheep’; GMQD' corrupt.

40 GMQTD* Gk.v 'ihc.

41 Gk.''the'.

41 and that second .. . fled: Gk.' ‘and it fled*.

44 Gk.' 'Then 1 looked at the first ram until it loll before the dogs’.

44 small: Gk.'om.

44 and that ram . . . those sheep: Gk.v om.

46 So some Eth.l! MSS Gk.': other Eth. MSS 'those’.

284

dogs and foxes and wild-lx>ars47 were afraid and (led from it,4** andthat ram hutted and killed ail the animals, and those animals didnot again prevail amongst the sheep and did not seize anything

'ill further from them. And that house l>ccame large and broad, andfor those sheep a high tower was built on that house49 for the Lordof the sheep; and that house was low. but the tower was raised tipand high; and the Lord of the sheep .stood on that tower, and they

f»l spread a full table before him. And I saw those sheep again, how*0they went astray, and walked in many ways, and left that house oftheirs; and the Lord of the sheep called some of the sheep and sent

52 them to the sheep, but the sheep began to kill them. But one ofthem was saved and was not killed, and it sprang away and t riedout against the sheep, and they wished to kill it; hut the Lord of thesheep saved it from the hands of51 the sheep, and brought it up to

53 me, and made it remain there. And he sent many other sheep to

51 those sheep to testify to them and to lament over them. And after this

1 saw how when they left the house of the Lord of the sheep52 andhis lower, they went astray in everything, and their eyes wereblinded; and I saw bow the Lord of the sheep wrought muchslaughter among them in their pastures until those sheep themselves

55 invited that slaughter and betrayed his place. And he gave theminto the hands of the lions and the tigers and the wolves and thehyenas, and into the hands of the foxes, and to all the animals; and

56 those wild animals began to tear those sheep in pieces. And I sawhow he left that house of theirs and their tower and gave them allinto the hands of the lions, that they might tear them in pieces and

57 devour them, into the hands of all the animals. And I began to cryout with all my power, and to call the Lord of the sheep,5 * and torepresent to him with regard to the sheep that they were being

58 devoured by all the wild animals. But he remained still, althoughhe saw it, and rejoiced that they were devoured and swallowed up

47 and Wild-hoars: (>k.‘ om.

4* were afraid ... from it: C»k.' ‘fled from it and feared it' (Gk.‘ ends here).

*9 and lor... house: so many Kth.II MSS; all other MSS (except have two

versions of this. latter this double reading was shortened, in Kth.II probablydeliberately, in (iQl probably by accident.

50 GMT most Kth.II MSS add ‘again*

51 the hands of: GMI)' om.

51 of the sheep: GMQTD'otn.

5‘ GMQIV ’of the lions'.

285

and carried off. and he gave them into the hands of all the animals

59 for food. And he called seventy54 shepherds and rast off thosesheep55 that they might pasture them; and he said to the shepherdsand to their companions. Each one of you from now on is to pasture

60 the sheep, and do whatever 1 command you. And I will hand themover to you duly numbered and will tell you which of them are to bedestroyed, and destroy them. And he handed those sheep over to

til them. And he called another and said to him. Observe and seeeverything that the shepherds do against these sheep, for they willdestroy from among them more than 1 have commanded them,(ii And write down all the excess and destruction which is w rought bythe shepherds, how many they destroy at my command, and howmany they destroy of their own volition; write dow n against each(>3 shepherd individually all that he destroys. And read out before meexactly how many they destroy of their own volition.56 and howmany are handed over to them for destruction,57 that this may be atestimony for me against them, that I may know all the deeds of theshepherds, in order to hand them over for destruction. and may seewhat they do, whether they abide bv58 my command which I havetit commanded them, or not. But they must not know this, and youmust not show this to them, nor reprove them, but only write downagainst each individual in his time all that the shepherds destroyt>5 and bring it all up to me. And I looked until those shepherdspastured at their time, and they began to kill and to destroy morethan they were commanded, and they gave those sheep into the

66 hands of the lions. And the lions and the tigers devoured andswallowed up the majority of those sheep, and the wild-boarsdevoured with them; and they burnt down that tower and dc-

67 molished that house. And I was extremely sad about the tower,because that house of the sheep had been demolished; and afterthat I was unable to see whether those sheep went into that house.

M And the shepherds and their companions handed those sheep overto all the animals that they might devour them; each one of them athis time received an exact number, and of each one of them after

54 GMQ ‘seven*. 11 GQD'add‘to them’.

56 of their own volition: G.MQTD’ and many Eth. 11 MSS om.

57 Or ‘and how many they hand over for destruction*.

s* D' 'act according to'.

28li

the other there was written in a book how many of them hei><) destroyed59 . . . And each one killed and destroyed more than wasprescribed, and f began to weep and to moan very much60 because7(i of those sheep. And likewise in the61 vision I saw that one whowrote, how every day he wrote down each one which was destroyedby those shepherds, and how he brought up and presented andshowed the whole book to the Lord of the sheep, everything thatthey had done, and all that each one of them had made away with,

71 and all that they had handed over to destruction. And the book wasread out belbre the Lord of the sheep, and he took the book in62 his

72 hand, and read it. and sealed it, and put it down. And after this 1saw how the shepherds pastured for twelve hours, and behold,three of those sheep returned and arrived and came and began tobuild up all that had fallen down from that house; but the wild-

7\ boars hindered them so that they could not. And they began againto build, as before, and they raised up that tower, and it was calledthe high tower; and they began again to place a table before the71 tower, but all the bread on it was unclean and was not pure. Andbesides all this the eyes of these sheep were blinded so that theycould not see, and their shepherds likewise; and they handed yetmore of them over to their shepherds for destruction, and they7:» trampled upon the sheep with their feet and devoured them. Butthe Lord of the sheep remained still until all the sheep werescattered abroad and had mixed with them,63 and they did not save7ii them from the hand of the animals. And that one64 who wrote thebook brought it up, and showed it, and read ftout in the dwelling ofthe Lord65 of the sheep; and he entreated him on behalf of them,and petitioned him as he showed him all the deeds of their66

w and 0/ each . . . Iu*destroyed: so Kth.II. although the text is a little awkwardand perhaps should hr emended to read ‘and of each one of (hem the other (cp. verse(il) wrote in a book .. .‘;Kth.l MSS offer litle sense. All MSS (except U) rcpcaisomewords at the end of the verse by mistake.

*° very much: G.MQTD' otn. 91 D' ‘my*.

6: GMTD' ‘from'; Q corrupt. i.e., apparently, with the animals.

M GMQT 'this one'; I)' ‘the one'.

"* and read ... the Lord: so MQT*(?) Eth.II; G ‘and read it nut before the Ia>rd’;T1 ‘and read out the great things to the Lord'; D’ ‘and readout the great things ofthe Lord'.

64 GMQ1V 'the'.

287

77 shepherds, and testified before him against all the shepherds. Andhe took the book, and pul it down by him.*’ and went out.

XC. And I looked until the time that thirty-seven1 shepherds hadpastured the sheep in the same way. and. each individually, they allcompleted their time like the first ones; and others received theminto their hands to pasture them at their time, each shepherd at his> own time. And after this 1 saw in the vision2 all the birds of heavencoming: the eagles, and the vultures, and the kites, and the ravens;but the eagles led all the birds; and they began to devour those:i sheep, and to peck out their eyes, and to devour their flesh. And thesheep cried out because their flesh was devoured by the birds, andI cried out3 and lamented in my sleep on account of that shepherd4 who pastured the sheep. And I looked until those sheep weredevoured by the dogs and by the eagles and by the kites, and theyleft on them neither flesh nor skin nor sinew until only their honesremained; and their bones fell upon the ground, and the sheep3 became few. And 1 looked until the time that twenty threeshepherds4 had pastured the sheep: and they completed, each in his<i time, fifty eight times. And small lambs* were born from thosewhite sheep, and they began to open their eyes, and to see, and to

7 cry to the sheep. But the sheep did not cry to them and6 did notlisten to what they said to them,7 but were extremely deaf, and

8 their eyes were extremely and excessively blinded." And I saw inthe vision how the ravens flew upon those lambs, and took one ofthose lambs, and dashed the sheep in pieces and devoured them.

9 And I looked until horns came up on those lambs, but the ravens

1)' adds *in ihc same wav'

1 So all MSS except M (QI)' corruptly), but a mistake lor ‘thirty-fix r‘: M mn.

* GQT 'in my vision‘;D' 'with my eyes'.

‘ GQ ‘and I looked'; M ‘and I saw'.

* GMQD’om.

5 GMQTD' ‘ And behold, lambs'.

* D'L*N ‘And the sheep cried to them, but they’; GOB' ‘But they did not cry tothem and'; ,M 'But they oppressed them and'; Q ’And they cried to them, but they’;T ‘But they did not hear them and’.

7 what they said to them: G.MQTD'N ‘their words'.

* and excessively blinded; so T Eth.II;GMQ ‘blinded and heavy'f?). but the textis of uncertain meaning; D' corrupt.

288

cast their horns down;’ and l looked until a big horn grew on'" onein of those sheep, and their eyes were opened.'1 And it lcxiked at them.

and their eyes were opened, and it'2 cried to the sheep, and the11 rams saw it, and they all ran to it. And besides all this those eaglesand vultures and ravens and kites were still continually tearing thesheep in pieces and Hying upon them and devouring them; and\ > the sheep were silent, but the rams lamented and cried out. Andthose ravens battled and fought with it, and wished to make* awayl:t with its horn, but they did not prev ail against it. And I l<x>ked atthem until the shepherds and the eagles and those vultures andkites came and cried to the ravens that they should dash the horn ofthat ram in pieces; and they (ought and battled with it, and itM fought with them and cried out that its help might come to it.1’AndI looked until that man who wrote down the names of theshepherds and brought them up before the Lord of the sheep came,and he helped that ram and showed it everything, namely that itsl*i help was coming down.4 * * * * * * * * * 14 And 1 looked until that18 Lord of thesheep came to them in anger, and all those who saw him fled, andKi they all fell into the16 shadow before him. All the eagles andvultures and ravens and kites gathered together and brought withthem ail the wild sheep,17 and they all came together and helped17 one another in order to dash that horn of the ram in pieces. And 1looked at that man who wrote the book at the command of the Lorduntil he opened that book of the destruction which those twelve lastshepherds had wrought, and he showed before the Lord of thesheep that they had destroyed even more than those before them.IK And I looked until the Lord of the sheep came to them and took inhis hand the staff of his anger and struck the earth; and the earth

4 D’ ‘broke their horns'.

10 So (»(■’: all other MSSom (‘one of those sheep' will then l>e in apposition to ‘a

big horn’).

" GMT add ‘and their eves saw'.

u CQT they’. 11 to it: GMQ ITT om.

14 G ‘and he helped it, and saved it, and showed it every thing; he had comedown

for the help of that ram'.

15 GTD* ’the’; M corrupt.

16 So GMD*: other MSS‘his’.

17 Some Kth.I I MSS ‘and brought with them all the wild asses'; GQD' (QD' in

part corruptly) ‘and all the wild sheep came with them'.

/ Enoch

289

was split, and all iht* animals and18 the birds of heaven fell fromI!) those sheep and sank in the earth, and it closed oxer them. And 1looked until a big sword was given to the sheep, and the sheep wentout againsi all the19 wild animals to kill them, and all the animals2d and the birds of heaven (led before them. And I looked until athrone was set up in the pleasant land, and the Lord of the sheepsat on it; and they took all the sealed books and opened20 those

21 books before the Lord of the sheep. And the Lord called thosemen,2* the seven first white ones, and commanded them to bringbefore hint the first star22 which went before those stars whoseprivate parts were like the private parts of horses21 . . . and they

22 brought them all before hint.24 And he said to that man who wrotebefore him. who was one of the seven white ones2* - he said tohim,26 Lake those seventy shepherds to whom 1 handed over thesheep, and who. on their own authority, took and killed more than

2:* I commanded them. And behold 1 saw them all bound, and they21 all stood before him. And the judgement was held first on the stars,and they were judged and found guilty; and they went to the placeof damnation, and were thrown into a deep place, full of fire,25 burning and full of pillars of fire. And those seventy shepherdswere judged and found guilty, and they also were thrown into that2f> abyss of fire. And I saw at that time how a similar abyss wasopened in the middle of the earth which was full of fire, and theybrought those blind sheep, and they were all judged and foundguilty and thrown into that27 abyss of fire, and they burned; and27 that28 abyss was on the south29 of that house. And 1 saw those

"• (iMQTI)addair.

|g all (he: TX ‘the’; some Kth.I I MSS •these'.

2U look ... opened: the verbs an- in the singular ( I'D’ have the second one in theplural), hut I take them to lx- used impersonally.

21 Kth.I I um.

22 the lirsi star: so (71.: all other MSS'beginning with the first star’ (lit. 'from thefirst star’), and the text has commonly Ijecn emended to read ‘beginning with thefirst star which led the way. all the stars whose ..

2-’ All MSS add a dittograph 'and the first star which fell ((»'went out*) first’.

!* and they brought . . . Iiefore him: (!' ’they brought it before him".

2* MQTD' ‘one of those seven white ones'; (7'from those white ones'.

GQIVHOXB' 'to them’. 2’ (7'this

2* Some Fill. MSS 'this*; M corrupt. *9 Lit. ‘right’.

290 / Enoch

28 sheep burning, and their hones were burning. And I stood up tolook until he folded up40 that old house, and they removed ail thepillars, and all the beams and ornaments of that house were foldedup with it; and they removed it and put it in a place in the south*11 of

29 the land. And 1 looked until the Lord of the sheep brought a newhouse, larger and higher than that*1 first one. and he set it upon thesite of the first one which had been folded up; and all its pillars werenew,” and its ornaments were new and larger than those of the firstone, the old one which he had removed. And the Lord of the sheep

30 was in the middle of it.” And I saw all the sheep which were left,and all the animals on the earth and all the birds of heaven fallingdown and worshipping those sheep, and entreating them and

31 obeying them-*4 in every command. And after this those three whowere dressed in white and had taken hold of mo by my hand, theones who had brought me up at first - they, with the hand of thatram also holding me. took me up and put me down in the middle of

32 those sheep before the judgement was held. And those sheep were

33 all white, and their wool thick and pure. And all those which hadbeen destroyed and scattered and all the wild animals and all thebirds of heaven gathered together in that house, and the Lord ofthe sheep rejoiced very much because they were all good and had

34 returned to his house. And I looked until they had laid down thatsword which had been given to the sheep, and they brought it backinto his15 house, and it was scaled before the Lord; and all the

3.5 sheep were enclosed in*6 that house, but it did not hold them. Andthe eyes of all of them were opened, and they saw well, and there

3<> was not one among them that did not sec. And I saw that that

37 house was large and broad and exceptionally lull. And I saw how awhite bull was born, and its horns were big. and all the wild animalsand all the birds of heaven were afraid of it and entreated it

38 continually. And I looked until all their species were transformed,and they all became white bulls; and the first one among them

’a folded up: so NP(Y); I)' 'changed'; M corrupt;other MSS 'submerged'.

" MQTD* the*.

TD'B-’NX add *and its beams iff re new’.

** So M and some Eth.II MSS (M om. 'And'): all other MSS ‘And all the sheepwere within it’ (Gum. 'And’).

u and obeying them; GQ om.

15 G ‘the’. ’* G ‘invited into’.

/ Enoch

m

was37 a wild-ox,M and that wild-ox was” a large animal and had bigblack horns on its head. And the Lord of the sheep rejoic ed overW them and over all the bulls. And I was asleep in the middle of them;tn and l woke up and saw everything. And this is the vision which 1saw while I was asleep, .and I woke up and blessed the Lord ol

41 righteousness and ascribed glory to him. But after this I weptbitterly, and my tears did not stop until I could not endure it: whenI looked, they ran down1 * 3’ on account of that which l saw. Ihreverything will come to pass and be fulfilled; and all the deeds of

42 men in their order were shown to me. That night 1 rememberedmy40 first dream, and because of it I wept and was disturbed,because I had seen that vision.

XCI. And now. my son Methuselah, call to me all your brothersand gather to me all the children of your mother.1 for a voice railsme, and a spirit has been poured out over me. that I may show to2 you everything that will come upon you for ever. And after thisMethuselah went and called all his brothers2 to him and gathered:i his relations. And he spoke about righteousness to all his sons' andsaid. Hear, my children, all4 the words of your father and listenproperly to the voice of5 my mouth, for 1 will testify to you and4 speak to you, my beloved.6 Love uprightness and walk in it. And donot draw near to uprightness with a double heart. and do notassociate with those of a double heart,1 but walk in righteousness,my children.** and it will lead you in good paths, and righteousness

*’ Or ‘became*.

All Kill. MSS have ‘word' {nagar): in all probability this derives ultimatelyfrom a transliteration of the Aramair word for ‘wild-ox’.

w when I . . . rati down: G 'when I looked, lor these ran down'; M rorrupi:Q I'D'‘but ihey ran down’ 40 GMQTD' ‘die’.

1 (»‘call to me all the children ol vour mother and gather to me all your brothers'.

: GMTD' add and railed’.

* about righteousness... his sons: GQLVYB' 'to all the sons of righteousness-: Mcorrupt: T 'about his righteousness to all his sons'.

* GQT' ‘vou children of Enoch, all*; MD‘ ‘all vou children of Enoch*.

5 the voice of: MQ'I'D’ om. 6 GMQTD' O In-loved*.

7 and do not associate . . . double heart: GL" om.; D' ‘and do not associate withthose who walk with a double heart*.

* in . . . children: G 'in uprightness and in righteousness*.

292

/ Enoch

'> will hr your companion. For 1 know that the state of wrongdoingwill continue on the earth, and a great punishment will he carriedout on the earth, and an end will hr made of all iniquity, and it will«> he cut oil at its roots, and its whole edifice will pass awav. Andiniquity will again he complete on the earth, and all the deeds ofiniquity and the deeds'* of wrong and of wickedness will prevail107 for a second time.11 And when iniquity and sin12 and blasphemyand wrong and all kinds of evil deeds'•’ increase, and when apostasyand wickedness and uncleanness increase, a great punishment14will come from heaven upon all these, and the holy Lord willH come'5 in anger and in wrath to execute judgement on the earth. Inthose days wrong-doing will he cut oll'at its roots, and the roots ol1*iniquity together with deceit will be destroyed'7 from under«.» heaven. And all the idols of the nations will he given up; their towerswill he burnt in fire, and they will remove them from the wholeearth; and they will be thrown down into the judgement of fire andwill be destroyed in anger and in the severe judgement which is lor11) ever. And the righteous will rise from"* sleep, and wisdom will rise] l and will be given to them. And alter this the roots of iniquity will becut oil, and the sinners will be destroyed by the sword; from theblasphemers they will be cut off in every place, and those who planwrongdoing and those who commit blasphemy will be destroyed12 by the sword.'9 And after this there will be another week, theeighth, that of righteousness, and a sword will be given to it that

9 the deeds: M om.

and all the deeds . . . will prevail: QT 'and it will contain all the deeds ofiniquity and of wrong and of wickedness’, and similarly I)’; (« corrupt.

" Or'to a double extent’.

13 GMQTD* ’sin and iniquity'.

1' (iMT ‘in all kinds of deeds’; IV corrupt.

14 And when . . . increase, and uhm apostasy . . . increase, a .great punishment:M l ’And after this . . . will increase, and apostasy . . . will increase, and a greatpunishment'.

” (» adds 'upon earth’.

16 the roots ol: (iQom. (k) alsoom. ’and').

” will Ik- destroyed: so some Eth.ll MSS; t»Qom.; other MSS and they will Ik*destroyed*.

1H GMQIVX add ’their'.

l'* For verse 11 Aram, has ‘And they will uproot the foundations ol wrongdoingand the works of deceit in it in order to carry out [the judgement!'.

I Enoch

293

the righteous judgement may be executed20 on those who dow rong, and the sinners will be handed over into the hands of the3 righteous.21 And at its end they will acquire houses because ol theirrighteousness.22 and a house will be built for the great king in glory1 for ever. And alter this in the ninth week the righteous judgementwill be revealed to the whole world.2' and all the deeds of theimpious will vanish from the whole earth; and the world will bewritten down for destruction.24 and all men will look to the path offj uprightness.25 And after this in the tenth week, in the seventh part,there will be the eternal judgement which will he executed on theWatchers, and the great eternal heaven which will spring from the

Hi midst of the angels.26 And the first heaven will vanish and passaway, and a new heaven will appear, and all the powers of heaven

17 will shine forever27 with sevenfold light. And after this there will bemany weeks without number lor ever2* in g<x>dnes.s and in right-

18 cousness, and from then on sin will never again he mentioned. Andnow I tell you. my children, and show you the paths of righteous-ness and the paths of wrongdoing; and I will show you29 again that

10 to it . . . be exrruied: so(U); IV 'to it that the judgement may be executed inrighteousness'; all other Kth. MSS ‘to it that judgement and righteousness may lx*practised'; Aram, ‘to all the righteous to execute a righteous judgement'.

21 on those . . . the righteous; Aram, ‘on all the sinners, and they will lx* given intotheir hands'.

11 houses . . . righteousness: Aram, ‘riches in righteousness'.

*' Aram, ‘to all the children of the whole earth’.

and the world . . . for destruction: so M Kth.11; GQ corrupt; TIV ‘and he willwrite them down lor destruction lor ever" {or perhaps 'he w ill write the world downfor destruction'); Aram, ‘and they will cast into the pitj'.

Aram, ‘the path of eternal righteousness'.

'•*' there will lx-... the angels: so most Kth.II MSS; TI)'J ‘there will lx* thr eternaljudgement which will lx* executed on the Watchers of the eternal heaven, the greatjudgement which will spring front all (J ‘the midst of) the angels’; <» ‘there will lx* thegreat eternal judgement which will spring from the midst of the angels'; M ‘therewill be the great eternal judgement in which he will take vengeance among theangels’, and similarly the corrupt Q. ‘Spring* is a simple corruption of ‘takevengeance'; TI)* Kth. 11 appear to derive from a combination ofalteruative versionsof the text represented by M.

for ever: GAH K. tun., but something equivalent is present in Aram.

M Gl)’ ‘And after this there will be mam weeks without number forever, and theywill all be (D' ‘and it will be’)'.

59 GQTD' 'and I have shown you’.

294

/ Enoch

in you may know whai is to come. And now listen,’0 my children,and” walk in the paths of righteousness, and do not walk in thepaths of wrongdoing; for all those who walk in the path of iniquitywill be destroyed for ever.

XCII. Written by Enoch the scribe - this complete wisdomteaching.1 praised by all men and a judge of the whole earth - forall my sons who dwell upon the earth and lor the last generations•j who will practise uprightness and peace. Let not your spirit besaddened because of the times, for the Holy2 Great One has:l appointed days for all things. And the righteous man3 will rise fromsleep,4 will rise and will walk in the path of righteousness, and allhis paths and his journeys will be in eternal goodness and mercy,l He will show mercy to the righteous man5 and to him give eternaluprightness and to him give power; and he will live6 in goodness andin righteousness and will walk7 in eternal light. And sin will bedestroyed in darkness8 for ever and from that day will never againbe seen.

1.2 XC1I1. And after this Enoch began to speak' from the books. AndEnoch said, Concerning the sons of righteousness and concerningthe chosen of the world2 and concerning the plant of righteousnessand uprightness3 I will speak these things to you and make themknow'll4 to you, my children, I Enoch, according to that which

10 (1 om.; M corrupt; QTD' “listen to tnr-. •“ Cl um.

1 Written ... wisdom teaching: so Kih.ll; G “The book written by Enoch. Enochindeed wrote this complete wisdom explanation and teaching’; MQTD' un-intelligible.

2 Some Eth. MSS add ‘and’.

’ the righteous man; G ’wisdom'; M “righteousness".

* Ml)’ ‘from his sleep'; Ci defective. " GQ “to righteousness'.

6 Lit. ‘be*;'I'D* ‘judge*. ’ GQ(D') “and they will walk’.

* 1) ‘And sin and darkness will l>c destroyed".

1 Enoch began to speak: so Eih.II: MTD' ‘Enoch was speaking’; G “Enoch gaveand Enoch began to speak*; Q unintelligible; L' ‘Enoch gave’.

2 of the world: C ‘for ever*.

* righteousness and uprightness: GMTD' “uprightness’; Q “righteousness’.

4 MTD’ “and have made them known’.

29 j

appeared to me in the heavenly vision, and which 1 know from thewords of the holy angels and understand from the tablets ofheaven. And Enoch5 then6 began to speak from the books and said,I was lx>rn the seventh in the first week, while justice and rightenus-

4 ness still lasted.7 And after me in the second week great wickednesswill arise, and deceit will have sprung tip; and in it there will be thefirst end, and in it a man will be saved. And after it has ended,

5 iniquity will grow, and he will make a law" for the sinners. Andafter this in the third week, at its end, a man will be chosen as theplant of righteous judgement; and after him will come the plant of

<> righteousness'* for ever. And after this in the fourth week, at its end.visions of the holy and righteous10 will be seen, and a law" for all

7 generations and an enclosure will lx* made lor them. And after thisin the fifth week, at its end. a house of glory and of sovereignty will

8 be built for ever. And after this in the sixth week all those who livein it will be blinded, and the hearts ol all, lacking wisdom, will sinkinto impiety. And in it a man will ascend; and at its end the houseof sovereignty12 will be burnt with fire, and in it the whole race of

9 the chosen root” will be scattered. And after this in the seventhweek an apostate14 generation will arise, and many will be its deeds,

10 but all its deeds will be apostasy. And at its end the chosen righteousfrom the eternal plant of righteousness will be chosen,15 to w homwill be given sevenfold teaching concerning his whole creation.16

11 For is there any man who can hear the voice of the Holy One, andnot be disturbed? And who is there who can think his thoughts?

12 And who is there who can look at all the works of heaven?17 Andhow should there be anyone who could1" understand the works of

* .MQTI)'*he. * t:' cm.

7 Or ‘while judgement and righteousness held hack’.

* < )r ’covenant'; QNG’ ‘and a law will be made'; GM corrupt.

* and alter him . . . righteousness: so Kth. II; (I imi. (hint.); MQTl)' of uncertainmeaning.

10 G ’a vision of the holy and righteousness’; TC’ ‘holy and righteous visions'.

" Or'covenant'. ’* E “the house of the sanetuary’.

chosen root; M(Q)T ‘root of power'. 14 GM om.

15 Some Kth. II MSS 'rewarded'; Aram, adds ‘to be witnesses of righteousness'.

16 GQD' ‘property’. 11 MD'DFI” ‘of good ness".

'* G adds 'look at heaven, and who is there who can’; MT add 'look at (T‘understand’) heaven, and how should there lx- anyone who could’; Q defective, hutbased on a similar text.

2M

hraven and sec a soul|g or a spirit*0 and could tell about it.il orascend and see all their ends and comprehend them or makel:i anything like them? And is there’2 any man who could know what isthe breadth and the length of the earth? And to whom have all its11 measurements2'* been shown? ()r is there any man who could knowthe length ofheaven, and what is its height, and on what it is fixed,and how large is the number of the stars, and where all the lightsrest?

XCIV. And now 1 say to you. my children, love righteousness andwalk in it; for the paths of'righteousness are worthy of acceptance,'l but the paths of iniquity will quickly he destroyed and vanish. Andto certain men from a future generation the paths of wrongdoingand of death will be revealed, and they will keep away from them:* and will not follow them. And now I say to you. the righteous: donot walk in the wicked path, nor in wrongdoing.1 nor in the paths ol\ death, and do not draw near to them, lest you be destroyed. Butseek2 and choose for yourselves righteousness and a life that ispleasing, and walk in the paths of peace, that you may live and') prosper. And hold my words firmly in the thoughts of your heart,and let them not be erased from your heart, for I know that sinnerswill tempt men to debase wisdom,•* and no place will be found forii it. and temptation will in no way decrease. Woe to those who buildiniquity and wrongdoing and found deceit, for they will quickly be7 thrown down and will not have peace. Woe to those who buildtheir houses with sin, for from their whole foundation they will bethrown down, and by the sword they will fall; arid those whoacquire gold and silver will quickly be destroyed in the judgement.H Woe to you, you rich, for you have trusted in your riches, hut fromyour riches you will depart, for you did not remember the Most

** SoCiMQIVXY: other MSS ‘his sou)'.

20 So MTIVXY: GQ corrupt; other MSS ‘or his spirit*.

21 (i.Wy 'and could make them'; I)’ ‘and could remain*.

:2 MQTD' ‘And how should there lx-'.

all its measurements: so T: other MSS “the measurements of all of them'.

1 nor in wrongdoing: (JMQTI)' om.

1 But seek: G ‘like those who seek wickedness’.

' Lit. ‘to make wisdom bad'.

2<)7

High in the days of your riches. You have committed blasphemyand iniquity and are ready for the day of the outpouring of bloodand lor the day of darkness and lor the day of the great judgement..() Thus I say and make known to you that He who created you willthrow you down, and over your fall there will be no merry, but;1 your creator will rejoice at your destruction. And your4 righteousin those days will be a reproach to the sinners and to the impious.

XCV. Would that my eyes were a cloud of water that I might weepover you and pour out my tears like a cloud of water, so that I2 might have rest from the sorrow of my heart! Who permitted you topractise hatred and wickedness? May judgement come1 upon you,the sinners! Do not be afraid of the sinners, you righteous, for theLord will again deliver them into your hands that you may execute

4 judgement upon them as you desire. Woe to you who pronounceanathemas that you cannot loose;2 healing will be far from you

5 because of your sin. Woe to you who repay your neighbours witht» evil, for you will be repaid according to your deeds. Woe to you,

lying witnesses, and to those who weigh out iniquity, lor you will7 quickly be destroyed. Woe to you, you sinners, because you perse-cute the righteous, for you yourselves will be handed over andperseeuted. you men of iniquity,' and their yoke4 will be heavyupon you.

XCV1. Be hopeful,1 you righteous, for the sinners will quickly bedestroyed before you, and you will have power over them as you"2 desire. And in the day of the distress of the sinners your young willmount up and rise2 like eagles, and your nest will be higher thanthat of vultures; and you will go up and like badgers enter thecrevices of the earth and the clefts of the rock for ever before the

4 your: Kth.M has plural. GMQTD' singular.

1 <;.\tQT{D*)C:' ’Judgement will come.

2 M2 'that cannot Ik* loosed’; GM'QD' ’that can lx- loosed’.

’ GM(Q)I)' ‘because of iniquity’; P corrupt.

4 GMQD* “its yoke'.

’ Tl’ 'Rejoice*.

2 D' ’and be revealed’; GTL’ ’and lx* thrown down’.

2! Hi

lawless, but they will groan and weep because of you, like satyrs;{ And do not be afraid, you who have sufl'ered, for you will receivehealing, and a bright light will shine upon you. and the voice of rest\ you will hear from heaven. Woe to you. you sinners, for your richesmake you appear righteous, but your hearts prove to you that youare sinners; and this word will he a testimony against you as a*» reminder o i'rour evil deeds. Woe to you who devour the finest of thewheat and drink the best of the water and trample upon thei> humble through your power. Woe to you who drink water all thetime, for you will quickly be repaid and' will become exhausted7 and dry.1 * * 4 for you have left the spring of life. Woe to you whocommit iniquity and deceit and blasphemy; it will be a reminderH against you for evil. Woe to you. you powerful, who through poweroppress the righteous, for the day of your destruction will come; inthose days many good days will come for the righteous - in the dayof vour judgement.

XCV1I. Believe, you righteous, that the sinners will become an2 object of shame and will be destroyed on the day of iniquity. Be itknown to you sinners that the Most High remembers your destruc-.t tion, and that the angels1 rejoice over your destruction. What willyou do. you sinners, and where will you flee on that day oljudge-t incut, when you hear the sound of the prayer of the righteous? Butyou will not beJ like them.you against whom* this word will be a*> testimony, You have been associated with the sinners. And inthose days the prayer of the holy4 will come before the Lord, andi> for you will come the days of your judgement. And all the words ofyour iniquity will be read out before the Great and5 Holy One, andyour faces will blush with shame,* and even- deed which is founded

' will quickly be repaid ami: MQTI)' oin. 'will hr repaid and'.

4 and dry: BCX ’and you do wrong*.

1 GMQTD'N add 'of heaven*.

* GQD' “will be*.

* GD' 'like those against whoni*;T ‘like them, for against you': C' ‘like them, butagainst you'.

4 SoG and some Lth.II MSS: other MSS ’righteous'.

5 GGa.MQN Gk.,nom.

* and your faces . . . shame: Gk.,n ’before your laces'.

I Enoch

299

7 upon iniquity will be rejected.7 Woe to you, you sinners, who are inthe middle of the sea and on the dry ground; their memory will be

8 harmful to you.8 Woe to you who acquire silver and gold,9 but notin righteousness, and say. We have become very rich and have

9 possessions and have acquired everything that we desired.10 Andnow let us do what we planned." for we have gathered silver andfilled our storehouses, and os many as water are the husbandmen of

10 our houses. And like water your lie will flow away,1’ for your13riches will not stay with you,14 but will quickly go up from you; foryou acquired everything in iniquity, and you will be given over to agreat curse.

XCV1II. And now I swear to you, the wise and the foolish,1 that you

2 will see many things2 on the earth. For you men will put onyourselves more adornments than a woman and more colouredgarments than a girl3 in sovereignty and in majesty and in power;and silver4 and gold and purple and honour and food will be

3 poured out like water. Because of this they will have neitherknowledge nor wisdom,5 and through this they will be destroyed

’ GQTD' ‘and he will reject even deed which is (bunded upon iniquity'; Gacorrupt: Gk.,M ‘Then he will remove ail the works which have shared in iniquity'.

" their memory . . harmful to you (lit. ‘evil against you'): Gk."' ‘there is an evil

record against you’.

* GaH Gk."’ ‘gold and silver'.

10 and have possessions . . . desired: Gk.‘" 'anti have got and have acquiredpossessions'.

" And now . . . planned: GM corrupt; Ga ‘And now let us do all that wcplanned’; Q 'And now let us do what wc desired’; Gk."’ 'And let us do all that wedesire’.

" for wc have gathered ... flow away: so Eth., but text appears corrupt in severalrespects; Gk.1" ‘lor wc have stored up silver in our storehouses and many goods inour houses, and like water they have been poured out (probable reading; textcorrupt). You have been deceived’.

" So (L')D' Gk.m: other Elh. MSS om. 14 with you: Gk.'" oin.

1 GGaQT Gk.m ‘and not to the foolish'. 1 Gk."’ ‘iniquities'.

1 Gk."1 ‘ For men will put on beauty like women, and lair colour more than girls’.

4 and silver: so GaMQTD'; other Eth. MSS ‘and in silver’.

5 and silver ... nor wisdom; Gk.m ‘They will have silver and gold for food, and in

their houses they will be poured out like water [because] they (have) neitherknowledge, nor insight'.

301)

/ Enoch

together with iheir possessions and with all their glory and theirhonour;* and in shame and in slaughter and in great destitution1 their spirits will be thrown into the fiery furnace.7 1 swear to you.you sinners, that as a mountain has not. and will not, become aslave, nor a hill a woman’s maid, so sin was not sent on the earth,but man of himself created it, and those who commit it will he*i subject to a great curse. And barreness" has not been given to awoman.1* but because ol the deeds of her hands10 she dies withoutft children. I swear to you, you sinners, by the Holy and11 Great One,that all12 your evil deeds are13 revealed in heaven, and that your7 wrongdoing is not covered or hidden.14 And do not think in yourspirit,*5 nor say16 in your heart that you do not know and do not secthat every sin17 is written down1" every day in heaven10 belbrr theH Most High. From now on you know20 that all your wrongdoingwhich you do2* will be written down every day until the day of22!) your judgement. Woe to you, you Ibols, for you w ill l>e destroyedthrough your folly; and you do not listen to23 the wise, and good

* and through this . . . honour: Gk.m 'so you will lx- destroyed together with allyour possessions and all your glory and ytmr honour' {remainder at verse amiverse 4 severely damaged).

1 into the fiery furnace: MQTIV om.

" (i((ia)MQNl ‘an excuse'; 1)' corrupt; (rk.,nom. I hut 'childlessness' possibly luhe supplied).

* Gk.m ‘to a barren woman*.

1U Gk."1 adds what appears to be an alternative version of verses 41.. ‘For it wasnot determined that a slave should be a slave; from above it was not given, hot itcame about through oppression. Likewise iniquity was not given from alx»ve, but itcamr about from transgression. Likewise a woman was not created barren, butbecause of her own misdeeds she was reproached with childlessness'.

" GQTD’Gkrom. 12 FlGk.,"om.

" Gk.m “will be*.

14 and that your . . . hidden: Gk.ni ‘No unrighteous deed of yours will lx- hidden’.

'* Gk."’‘soul*. 14 Gk.'" ‘think'.

1 ’ I)’‘all our sin’.

'* that you do not. .. down: C' ‘They do not know and do not see all our sin. for itis written down’; Gk.'" ‘that they do not know and do not see, and that yourmisdeeds are not observed, nor written down'.

19 every day in heaven: Gk.m om. 10 you know; Gk."'imperative.

21 which you do: GaN Gk mom. 22 the day of: Gk.m om.

25 GGa ‘and you act impiously against'; I)’ ‘and you do not act impiouslyagainst’; M ‘and you do not know"; Q ‘and you do not see'.

301

hi will not come upon you.24 And now know that you are ready for theday of destruction. Ahd do not hope that you will live,25 yousinners; rather you will go and die. for you know no ransom, for26you are ready for the day of the great judgement and for the day of

11 distress and great shame for your spirits. Woe to you, you stubbornof heart who do evil and eat blood. Whence do you have goodthings to eat and to drink and to be satisfied? From all the goodthings which our Lord, the Most High,27 has placed in abundance

12 on the earth: therefore you will not have peace. Woe to you who lovedeeds of iniquity. Why do you hope for good for yourselves?Know2* that you will be given into the hand of the righteous, andthey will cut your throats and2* kill you and will not hav e mercy on

1:1 you. '0 Woe to you who rejoice in the distress of the righteous, for

14 graves will not be dug for you.'1 Woe to you who declare the words

13 of the righteous empty.*2 for you will have no hope of life.23 Woe toyou who write lying words and the words of the impious.34 for theywrite their lies that men may hear and not forget their folly;34 andthey will not have peace, but will die a sudden death.'6

Gk.m adds ’bul rvil (will befall) you*.

25 that you will live: tik.1" 'to lx- saved’.

for you know no ransom, for: soda Klh.II; G ‘for you know a ransom, and’; M'lor you know no ransom’; T obscure; t^D’ ‘for you know that’; (ik.m ‘knowing[that]’(remainder of verse HI. verse 11. and the beginning of verse 12, severelydamaged).

17 our Lord, the Most High; GGaMQTIV ‘the Lord Most High-.

(ik."‘ ‘Now (>eit known to you’.

cut your throats (lit. ‘necks') and: tik."’ um.

10 Gk.,n ’not spare you’.

•'* G( ialV ‘for no grave of yours will besccn';Gk."' ‘no grave will lx* dug for you’.

JJ Gk.m uncertain, possibly 'Woe to you who wish to make of no effect the wordsof the righteous’.

>J Gk.m ‘ofsalvation’.

•'* and the words . . . impious: Gk.,n ‘and words of error’.

'* for they write... folly: so Eth.II;GMQT‘for they write their lies (Mom. ‘theirlies') that men may hear them and act impiously against their neighbour'; Gal)'corrupt; Gk.m ‘they write them and will lead many astray through their lies. Youyourselves have gone astray’.

'* and they . . . sudden death: Gk.m ‘and you have no joy, but will quirkly bedestroyed’.

XCIX. Woe to you who do impious deeds and praise and honourlying words;1 you will be destroyed and will not have a good life.2U Woe to you who3 alter the words of truth, and they distort theeternal law4 and count themselves5 as being without sin; they6 will.i be trampled under foot on the ground.71 n those days" make ready,you righteous, to raise’ your prayers as a reminder, and lay them10as a testimony before the angels that they may lay" the sin of the1 sinners before the Most High12 as a reminder. In those days thenations will be thrown into confusion, and the races of the nationsj will rise1' on the day of destruction.14 And in those days those whoare in need will go out and seize their children and cast out theirchildren;15 and their offspring will slip from them,16 and they willcast out their children while they are sucklings17 and will notreturn to them"* and will not have mercy on1’ their beloved ones.(5 And again I swear to you. the sinners, that sin is ready for the day

' (ik."’ ‘Woe to you who cause rrrors and by ytiur false (feeds gain honour andglory'; the fill. MSS confuse second and third person forms in this verse and onlyTconsistently lias the second person.

2 Cr ‘you will Ik* destroyed and will have no hope of life’; Gk.m ‘you aredestroyed, you have no salvation lor good’.

* GGu.M ‘Woe to those who’. 4 Or ‘covenant’.

* C’ (ik.'" ‘Woe to you who alter the words of truth, and distort the eternal law((ik."' pervert the eternal covenant’), and count yourselves'.

6 ‘you’.

7 Gk.,n ‘they will Ik- swallowed up in the earth’.

* In those days: Gk.m ‘Then’. * to raise: Gk.'"‘and olTcr’.

10 and lay them: soGT; other Eth. MSS corrupt; (ik."' ‘give them'.

11 T{I)')Gk.m ‘bring’. 12 Gk.m adds‘Cod’.

" (ik."' ‘And then they will be thrown into confusion, and they will rise’.

14 QD ‘of the destruction of the sinners’; Ml ‘ofthc destruction of sin’; Gk.m ‘ofthe destruction of wrongdoing’.

15 And in . . . their children: so Eth., but GGaMQTD' ‘and cast them out’ for‘and cast out their children'; Gk."' 'At that very time those who give birth will castout and remove and abandon their infants'.

IB and their offspring will slip from them: i.e. in premature birth; Gk."1 ‘and thosewho are with child will [..

17 Eth. 11 ‘and while they are sucklings they will cast them out’; Gk.m ‘and thosewho suckle will cast out their children'.

’* to them: Gk.m *to their infants, nor to their sucklings’.

19 have mercy on: Gk.m ‘spare’ (the remainder of verse 5, verse 6. and beginningof verse 7. has not survived).

/ Enoch

7 of uincasing bloodshed. And they worship stone, and some carveimages of gold and of silver and of wood and of'clay.2" and some,with no knowledge.21 worship unclean22 spirits and demons andK every kind of error,23 but no help will be obtained from them. Andthey will sink into impiety24 because of the folly of their hearts,and their eyes will be blinded through the fear of their hearts and

9 through the vision of their dreams.2S Through these they willbecome impious and fearful, for they do all their deeds with liesand worship stones, and they will be destroyed at the same

10 moment.2* And in those days blessed are all those who accept thewords of wisdom and understand them.27 and loi low the paths214 ofthe Most High, and walk in the path of righteousness,29 and do not

1! act impiously with the impious, for they will be saved. '0 Woe to youwho extend evil to your neighbours. Tor you will be killed in Sheol.

12 Woe to you who lay foundations ol sin and deceit. '1 and to those whocause bitterness'2 on the earth, for because of this an end will be

13 made of them. ’2 Woe to you who build your houses with the toil ofothers. '4 and all their building materials are the bricks and stones of

2U and some earve ... day: Gk.m‘[. J and those who carve images of silver and ofgold, of wood | . .|and of day*.

21 with no knowledge: so (iyTl)’;(»a corrupt; M ‘but not in ihr temples'; Kth.II*in the temples'.

22 (XiaMQTir 'evil'.

2* and some, with . . . emir: Gk."1 'and worship phantoms and demons [. . .] andevil spirits [arid] all errors, with no knowledge'.

24 Gk.m 'And they will go astray*.

25 and their eyes . .. dreams: (»k.m ‘and the visions of/Am dreams will lead youastray'.

Through these . . . same moment: Gk.m ohseure. ‘you and your lying worksthat you have made and wrought of stone, and together you will perish'.

27 Gk.m ‘And then blessed art all those w ho hear the w ords of the wise and willlearn them’.

2" and follow the paths: Gk.m 'in order to fulfil the commands'.

19 GGaMQD' 'in the path of his righteousness’; T Gk."1 in the paths of hisrighteousness'.

,0 and w alk ... saved: Gk."1 'and they will walk in the paths of his righteousness,and will not go astray with those who go astray, and w ill be saved'.

11 GQD'J1 ‘who make false and deceitful measures’; Ga\l corrupt.

•w cause bitterness: GQD' ‘know’; Ga advise'.

” Gk.mom. verses Ilf.

14 Gk.1” ‘Woe to those who build their houses not { by) their own toil’.

:m

l Enoch

11 sin;35 I say to you. You will not have peace.'6 Woe to those whoreject the measure37 and the eternal inheritanc e of their lathers38and cause their souls to follow after error. '9 (or they will not havei;> rest.40 Woe to those41 who commit iniquity and help wrong and killIti their neighbours until the day of the great judgement, for42 he willthrow down43 your glory and put evil into your hearts44 and rousethe spirit of his anger that he may destroy45 you all with the sword;and all the righteous and holy46 will remember your sin.

C. And in those days' in one plac e fathers and sons will strike oneanother, and brothers will together fall in death until there flows ofJ their blood as it were a stream. For a man will not in mercy1 2withhold his hand from his sons, nor from his sons’ sons,3 in orderto kill them, and the sinner will not withhold his hand from hishonoured brother;4 from dawn until the sun sets they will kill one:i another.5 And the horse will walk up to its chest in the blood ofI sinners, and the chariot will sink up to its height.6 And in those

” Gk."' ‘and from stones and from bricks you make every building'.

,6 1 say . . . peace: Gk.'" uncertain, but different from Kth.

w Q ‘the leaders'; D’ “the foundation*.

'* Cik.‘Woe to those who despise the Inundation and the inheritance or theirlathers which is from eternity'.

14 Cia(Mj “and whose souls follow’ after error'; GQT(D') ‘and Ibllow after thesoul of error’; C»k.m ‘for the spirit ol'errur will pursur you’. (Kth. ‘soul’ might also betranslated ‘spirit'.)

40 GMQTD' ‘for you will not have rest'; Gk."' ‘There is iio rest lor von'.

41 GMQTD' Gk.m ‘you’. 42 Gk.m adds ‘then’.

41 throw down: Gk.m uncertain, possibly “destroy’.

44 and put . . . hearts: Gk.inom.

4’ G.M ‘and rouse his anger and his spirit; he will dcstruy’; QT ‘and rouse hisanger, anti his spirit will destroy'; D1 ‘and rouse the anger of his spirit, and willdestroy-; Gk.m ‘and rouse |his] anger [against j you; he will destroy".

46 GGaMQD' ‘holy and righteous'; Gk.m probably only 'righteous'.

1 Gk.m 'And then' (remainder of verse severely damaged).

' in mercy: GGaMQD*Gk.mom.

' GMT ‘sons, tu>r from his son's son'; GaQ corrupt; Gk."1 ‘son, nor from hisbeloved’.

4 and the sinner . . . brother: (ik.'" 'and the sinner from (he honoured man, norfrom his brother’.

s Gk.ra ‘they will be killed together'.

* Gk.m ’sink down to its axles'; GGaQTD* corrupt.

30j

days7 the angels will come down" into the hidden places and gathertogether in one place all those who have helped9 sin,10 and theMost High will rise on that day11 to execute the great judgement ona all the sinners.12 And he will set guards from the holy angels overall the righteous and holy, and they will guard them13 like the appleof an eye until an end is made of14 all evil and all sin;15 and even ifi> the righteous sleep a long sleep, they have nothing to fear.16 Andthe wise men will see the truth.17 and the sons of the earth willunderstand all the words of this book,1** and they will know thattheir riches will not be able to save them in the overthrow of their7 sin.19 Woe to you, you sinners, when you afflict the righteous on theday of severe trouble and burn20 them with fire;21 you will he repaidK according to your deeds. Woe to you. you perverse of heart,22 whowatch to devise evil; fear will come upon you, and there is no one9 who will help you. Woe to you. you sinners,23 for24 on account ofthe words of your mouth, and on account of the deeds of yourhands which you have impiously done,25 you w ill burn in blazing10 flames of fire. And now know that the angels will inquire inheaven25’ into your deeds from27 the sun and the moon and the

Gk."' ‘And on that day'. * Gk.‘" adds ’descending'.

* (>(ia.MQ ’who brought down’.

,0 and gather . . . sin: Gk.w uncertain, but apparently '(and) those who havehelped unrighteousness will Ik gathered together into one place'.

11 (G)Ga( M)Q(IV) ‘on that day ^judgement’; Gk.1" ‘onlhedav of judgement'.

11 (rbaMQ 'amongst the sinners'; Gk."' ‘on all'.

11 Gk.m 'will be guarded*. M GGaMQ* 'be makes an end of.

15 Gk.m ‘until evils and sin come to an end*.

Gk."‘ ‘and from (bat lime the pious will sleep a sweet sleep, and there will nolonger be anyone to make them afraid'.

17 the truth: so (Q)T Eth.II; GGaMD' unintelligible.

'* Gk.m ‘Then the wise among men will see. and the sons of the earth will payattention to these words of this epistle*. Gk.m ‘of unrighteousness'.

10 Q ‘save*; Ok.'" 'keep', but probably corrupt for’burn'.

11 Gk.'" adds ‘for'. “ GGaMQTD' Gk.m ‘you stubborn ofheart*.

Gk.,H‘all you sinners*. ** GMQTD' Gk.mom.

25 which you . . . done: GM ‘which your impiety has wrought'; GaQ ‘which arrthe works of your impiety*; 'I'D' ‘because of the works of your impiety'; Gk."' 'foryou [have) gone astray (from) holy deeds’ (remainder of verse 9, verse l(J. andmajority of verse 11, severely damaged).

GGaMQTD' ‘that from the angels he will inquire in heaven (G ‘fromheaven’)’. *’7 GGaMQ TD' ‘and I'ronT.

306

stars, that is into your sins, tor on earth you execute judgement on11 the righteous. And all the clouds and mist and dew and rain willtestify against you,28 for they will all be withheld from you so that\2 they do not fall on you. and they will think29 about your sins. Andnow’0 give gifts to the rain that it may not be withheld from fallingon you. and that the dew. if it has accepted gold and silver froml:l you, may fall.31 When32 hoar-frost and snow with their cold and allthe snow-winds with all their torments fall on you, in those days33you will not be able to stand before them.34

CL Contemplate heaven, all' you sons of heaven, and all theworks of the Most High.1 2 * and fear him and do not do evil before•J him.’ If he doses the windows of heaven, and withholds the rainand the dew so that it does not fall on the earth4 because of you,t what will you do? And if he sends his anger upon you and upon allyour deeds.5 will you not entreat him?6 For you speak7 proud andhard words against his righteousness.8 and you will not have peace.94 And do you not see the kings10 of the ships, how their ships are

!K And all. . . against you: so G(Ga)QD‘PJ; other Eth. MSS ‘And he will call totestify against you all the clouds and mist and dew and rain'.

J* and they will think: so CIQY: Ga defective; TB 'and they will not be’; otherEth. MSS 'and they will not think'.

*° Gk.m’Therefore'.

*' and that . . . may fall: so Eth. (MQ 'may not fall';some Eth.II MSSom. ‘that’and ‘may lull*): Gk.m uncertain, apparently 'and to the dew and [clouds] and mist;pay gold that they may fall’.

’• Gk.m ‘For if. s* in those days: Gk.mom.

M Gk.,n ’before cold and their torments'.

1 (iGaMQT'l)' tmi.

■’ Gk.1" 'Consider therefore, you sons of men. the works of the Most High’.

1 (ik."' ’and fear to do evil before him’. * on the earth: Gk.m om.

' I Gk.”1 ‘and upon your deeds'; GaM 'because of (Ga adds ‘all’) your deeds';GQD* defective.

will you not entreat him?: so EHLG'Gk."*; other Eth. MSS ’you will not be able

to entreat him’.

7 Gk.m ‘Why do you speak with your mouth?’

* Gk.m ‘majesty'. * and you . .. peace: Gk.m om.

10 So all Eth. MSS. but a mistake, deriving from a misreading of the Aramaic for

‘sailors’.

307

tossed by the waves and rocked by the winds, and are in distress?11') And because of this they arc afraid,12 for all their good possessionsgo out on the sea with them,” and they think nothing good in theirhearts, namely that14 the sea will swallow them up. and that they willfi be destroyed in it. Is not all the sea and all its waters anti all itsmovement15 the work ofthc Most High, and did he not seal all its7 doings16 and bind it all with sand?17 And at his rebuke it dries upand becomes afraid,"4 and all its fish1*' die and everything that is inB it; but you sinners who are on earth do not fear him. Did he notmake heaven and earth and everything that is in them? And whogave knowledge and wisdom20 to all the things that move on the0 ground and21 in the sea? Do not those kings22 of the ships fear thesea?21 Vet sinners do not fear the Most High.24

CII. And in those days if he brings a fierce fire upon you.1 whitherwill you flee, and where will you2 be safe? And when he utters his2 voice against you, will you not be terrified and afraid?1 And all thelights will shake with great lear, and the whole earth will beterrified and will tremble and quail. And all the angels will carryout their commands and will seek to hide before the one who is

11 Gk.,n 'You | sec | the sailors who sail the sea. their ships tossed by the waves andstorm'.

12 Gk.‘" 'And beaten by the storm they are all afraid’.

15 Gk.m ‘and east out into the sea [all] their [poods) and possessions’.

14 and they think .. . that: soKth.IEGGaMQTIY unintelligible; Gk."' 'and theysuspect in their hearts that'. '* and all its movement: Gk."1 om.

■* and did ... its doings: so Klh.II. except K; K 'and did he not establish {orperhaps 'prescribe') all its doings’; GGa.MQTD' unintelligible; Gk.‘" ’and did henot establish their [limits)'. 17 Gk."' ‘and bind it. and feme it with sand?’

dries up . . . becomes alraid: GMQTD'X Gk.m transpose; Ga tun. andheroines afraid’.

19 Gk.n* ‘and the fish’ (the remainder of verse 7 and beginning of verse H has notsurvived).

20 and wisdom: Gk.m om. 21 on the ground and; C»k.'"om.

22 So all Elh. MSS, hut corrupt for ‘sailors* (cp. note 10).

2J Gk."’ ‘The sailors fear the sea’.

24 Yet... Most High: Gk.17' om. by hmt.

1 Gk."1 'And when he throws out against you the waves til the fire of yourburning'.

2 where will you: Gk.m om.

Gk.ni adds 'at the great sound*.

great in glory,4 and the children of the earth will tremble andshake;5 and you sinners will be cursed for ever and will not havel peace.6 Do not be afraid, you souls of the righteous, and he hopeful,.i you who have died7 in righteousness.8 And do not be sad that yoursouls have gone down6 into Shcol in sadness, and that your bodies10did not obtain during your life a reward in accordance with yourgoodness,11 but on the day on which you became as sinners and onii the day of cursing and punishment . . ,u Hut when you die, thesinners say about you.11 As we die. the righteous have died,14 and7 of what use to them were their deeds? Behold, like us they havedied in sadness and in darkness,15 and what advantage do theyH have over us?*6 From now on we are equal, and what will theyreceive,17 and what will they see for ever? For. behold, they too•» have died, and from now on they will never again see light.18 I sayto you, you sinners. You are content to eat and drink, and stripmen naked and steal and sin."' and acquire possessions and sec

4 GGaMQT(D') 'belhre the great glory".

* And all the lights . . . will tremble and shake: <ik.1" in part corrupt andapparently out of order, ‘And the whole earth will be shaken and trembling andthrown into confusion and the angels uiH bt carrying out that which has In-encommanded them, and heaven and the lights will be shaken, and all the children ofthe earth will he trembling'.

6 Gk.m "and you. you sinners accursed for ever, there is no joy lor you*.

7 you who have died: some Kth.M MSS "on the day you die’.GQT 'they who havedied*; Gal)' ‘the souls of those who have diet!’.

* (ik.m 'Be courageous, )*™ souls of the righteous dead, of the righteous and thepious*.

* TKth.Il add ‘into great distress and crying and groaning and".

lo Cik."1 "and that the txxiv of your llrsh".

" Gk.1,1'holiness*.

IJ blit on . . . punishment . . .: so Kth., but corrupt; Gk. 'tor the days which youlived were days of sinners and accursed men on the earth*.

Cik."' ‘When you die. then the sinners will say".

14 Gk.m ‘The pious have died according to their late".

15 Gk.m ‘And they like us have died. See then how they die in grief and darkness",over us: QTD' Ok.™ om.

17 GGaQD' "From nowon we are equal, and how will they rise’; Gk.m 'From now-on let them rise and be saved*.

'* and what will they see... light: Gk.1" ‘and they will for ever see us (Gk.1" ‘you’)eating and drinking well*.

GMQTD* ‘and steal and sin and strip men naked*.

309

10 good days.20 But you saw21 the righteous, how their end waspeace,22 for no wrong was found in them until the day of their

11 death.23 But they were destroyed24 and became as though they hadnot been, and their souls25 went down into Sheol in distress.

CIII. And now I swear to you, the righteous, by his great glory andhis honour, and by his magnificent sovereignty1 and by his majesty2 I swear to you that I understand this2 mystery. And3 I have readthe tablets of heaven and seen the writing of the holy ones.4 and 1'.l found written and engraved in it5 concerning them6 that all good7and joy and honour have been made ready and written down forthe spirits of those who8 have died in righteousness, and that muchgood will be given to you in recompense for your toil, and that yourI lot will be more excellent than the lot of the living. And the spirits ofyou9 who have died in righteousness will live,10 and their spiritswill rejoice and be glad,11 and the memory of them will remain'2

20 1 say . . . Rood clays: Gk.m 'Then (you do well to eat and drink and) steal andsin and steal clothes and acquire possessions and sec {food days'.

11 But you saw: so 1VP2; MT1 and some Kth.II MSS ‘You saw'; T* and someKth.ll MSS ‘Have you seen*; other Kth. MSS *1 saw'.

22 peace: GGaMQTD' iwn. 2> GTI)’ ‘until they died’; M(J corrupt.

34 But you saw . . . destroyed: Gk."’ ‘See therefore, they who justify themselves,how their end was, for no righteousness was found in them until they died and weredest roved'.

** C.MQTIV‘spirits.

1 by his great . . . sovereignty: so Kth.II; G ‘by the glory ol the One who is greatand honoured and mighty in sovereignty’; QTD' ‘by the glory uflhe Great One andby his magnificent .sovereignty’; other Eth. I MSS differ slightly. Most of verse 1 hasnot survived in Gk.m.

2 this: GGa.MQ om. ’ Gk.m 'lor'.

* (G)Q(T) ‘the holv writing'; D’ corrupt; Gk.m ‘the writing of auihoritv’.

5 GMQTD'-them'.

6 and I found . .. them: Gk.m ‘I learned what was written and engraved on them(concerning] you’; I)' also has ‘concerning you’.

7 all good: Gk.m ‘good things’.

* GQD* ‘lor your spirits which’; Ga corrupt; Gk.m ‘for the s|ouls] of those who’.

4 MT’D' ‘of those'.

10 and that much good ... will live: Gk.m om. by hmt.

11 and bcglad:G(Ga) ‘and be glad and will not be destroyed’; M corrupt; QTD'Gk.m ’and will not be destroyed’.

12 GMQ’PD’ Gk.m ‘nor will the memory of them be destroyed'.

310

before the Great One lor all the generations of eternity. Thereforej do not fear their abuse. Woe to you. you sinners,13 when you diein14 your sin. and those who are like you say about you. Blessedi» were the sinners; they saw all their days.13 And now they have diedin prosperity and wealth; distress and slaughter they did not see16during their life, but they died in glory, and judgement was not7 executed on them during their life. Know17 that their souls"* will bemade to go down into Sheol, and they will he wretched, and19 theirK distress will he great;20 and in darkness and in chains and inburning flames your spirits21 will come to the great judgement, andthe great judgement will last22 lor all generations for ever.23 Woe to9 you, for you will not have peace.24 Do not say to the righteous andgood who were alive,25 In the days of our26 afflic tion we toiledlaboriously and saw every affliction and met many evils;27 we wereId spent and became few, and our spirit small. We were destroyed,2**and there was no one who helped us with words or deeds; we wereII powerless and found nothing.29 We were tortured and destroyed,and did not expect to see life from one day to the next.30 We hoped

" GGaMQTD' *\V<h‘ x* you, you sinners who are dead’; Gk.1” ‘And you. youwho art* dead of the sinners'.

14 GGaMTD’ add 'the wealth of.

'* Gk.,n 'when you die they will say about you. Blessed litre the sinners all thedays that they saw'.

16 And now . . . not see: Gk."’otn. by linit.

11 BCXC 'Do you know'; Gk.m‘You yourselves know'.

"* T 'their spirits'; GQD' ‘your spirits'; Gk.m ‘your souls'.

"* So D'CX:*: other Kth. MSS urn.

20 and they . . . great: Gk.m 'and there they will be in great distress'.

21 your spirits: Gk.'n ‘and your souls'.

22 and the great... last: Gk.m om.

3 * GGa(M)QTD' ‘for all (Ga(M) inn. ‘all’) the generations ofciernity';Gk.m ‘inall the generations of eternity'.

24 Gk.,n *\Voe to you. there is no joy for you’.

25 Gk.'" ‘For do not say. you who were righteous (and) holy in your life'.

211 M Gk.'" om.; GGaQT'D' ‘their’; Ga continues with the third person through-out verses 9—13 and in part in verses I4f.

27 and saw . . . many evils: Gk.mom.

2* and our spirit... destroyed: Gk.m om.

20 and there was no one . . . found nothing: G(Ga)MQiy "and did not findanyone to help us even with a word’; Gk.m ‘and we did not find a helper’.

50 Gk."1 ‘and gave up hope of knowing safety again day by day'.

31!

to become the head, but became the tail. We toiled and laboured,but were not masters of the fruits of our toil; '1 we became food forthe sinners, and the lawless made32 their yoke heavy upon us.

12 Those who hated us and those who goaded us" were masters ofus,'J and to those who hated us we bowed our necks, but they did

13 not have mercy on us.3S We sought to escape from them that wemight flee and be at rest,36 but we found no place where we might

14 flee and be safe from them. We complained about them to therulers in our distress and cried out against those who devouredus,31 but they took no notice of our cry" and did not wish to listen

ir> to our voice. And they helped those who plundered us and de-voured us and those who made us few,'9 and they concealed theirwrongdoing and did not remove from us the yoke of those who40devoured us and scattered us and killed us;41 and they concealedour slaughter and did not remember that they had raised theirhands against us.42

CIV. I swear to you, you righteous,' that in heaven the angelsremember you for good before the glory of the Great One. and that<»k.mcorrupt, apparently ’dour wages'.

JJ CiGaMQTD' ‘ti»r the sinners and the lawless, and (GaMQTI)' om. 'and')they made'.

** and those who goaded us: Q ‘and those who hated us and goaded us'; I)' ’antithose who goaded us and surrounded us'.

'4 Those who . . . masters of us: Ok m ’Those who rule tu, our enemies, goad usand surround us'.

M and to those . . , mercy on us: Ok.*' om.

*® that we might . , . rest: Gk.'" ‘that we might be refreshed' (the remainder ofverse 13 and beginning of verse 14 has not survived).

” (ik.m ‘against those who struck us down anti inflicted violence on us'.

'* Ok.”1 'and they did not receive our petitions'.

w Gk.m ‘And they did not help us, not finding anything against those who inflictedviolence on us and devoured us, but they harden against us them (who) killed usand made us lew’.

40 the yoke of those who: so GGaMFOB'G’; other Eth. MSS ‘tlu-ir yoke, butthey'.

41 and they concealed their... killed us: Gk.mom.

4i and they concealed our . . . against us: Gk.m ‘and they bring no chargeconcerning those of us who have been murdered, and concerning (the) sinnersthey do not remember their sins'.

1 you righteous: GGaMQT'D' Gk.m om.

:il2

your names are written down before the glory of the Great One.22 Be hopeful! For you were formerly put to shame through1 evilsand afflictions, but now4 you will shine like the lights of heaven5:i and will be seen, and the gate6 of heaven will lie opened to you. Andpersevere in your cry for judgement, and it will appear to you, forjustice will be exacted from the rulers for all your distress,1 and froml all those who helped those who plundered you." Be hopeful, and donot abandon your hope, for you will have great joy like the angels of.I heaven.9 What will you have to do?10 You will not have to hide onthe day of the great judgement, nor will you be found to besinners.11 The eternal judgement will lx* upon you for all thei; generations of eternity.12 And now” do not be afraid, you righteous,when you see the sinners growing strong and prospering in theirdesires,14 and do not be associated with them, but keep lar awayfrom their wrongdoing.15 for you shall be assoc iates of the host16 of7 heaven.17 For you sinners say. None of our sins will be inquiredinto1* and written down! - but they will write down all your sinsU every day.19 And now I show to you that light and darkness, day!) and night, see all your sins. Do not be impious20 in your hearts, and

1 and that your. . . Great One: AHKV Gk."1 om.

1 (Jk."’ 'Be courageous, for you have grown old in'.

4 but now: Gk.m om. 5 t»Ga.M(Q)T add 'you will shinr’.

® (!X1 'and the gates'; Gk.m 'the windows'.

7 (Jk.111 ‘And your cry will be heard, and vnur judgement for which you cry willappear against everything which will help (against) you in respect of youraffliction'.

* and from . . . plundered you: Gk.m ‘and it wilt be rxecuted on all who took partwith those who inflicted violence on mi and devoured you'.

v Gk.'" om. verse 4.

10 So GGaMQK: other Kth. MSS ‘As lor what you w ill have to do'.

" U’hat .. . be sinners: Gk.m defective and reconstruct ion uncertain, but the textclearly differed from Kth - at least in the first part. After ‘sinners’ Gk.'" adds ‘youwill be troubled and' (It is likely that something like ‘But as tor you sinners' hasdropped out of the text before this: cp. note 12).

IJ The eternal... eternity: this only makes sense as an address to the sinners, andperhaps it was so originally.

'■* And now: Gk.‘"om. 14 GGaMQTD' (ik."1 ‘ways'.

15 Gk.”1‘all their misdeeds'. 16 GMQT(D') ‘the good ones'.

|T for you shall . . . heaven: Gk.ni om.

will lx* inquired into: so NC'; othrr Kth. MSS corrupt.

(Jk."' in verse 7 obscure and incomplete, hut apparently similar to Kth.

70 Gk.m ‘Do not go astray’.

313

do not lie. and do not alter the words of truth, nor say that thewords of the Holy and21 Great One are lies, and do not praise youridols, for all your lies and all your impiety lead not to right-

10 ecus ness,22 but to great sin. And now 1 know this mystery, thatmany sinners will alter and distort the words of truth,23 and speakevil words.24 and lie, and concoct great fabrications, and write

11 books in their own words.25 But when they write out all my26 wordsexactly in their languages, and do not alter or omit anything frommy words, but write out everything exactly, everything27 which I

12 testified about them before — then I know2" another mystery, thatbooks29 will be given to the righteous’0 and wise which will be the

13 source ojjoy and truth and much wisdom.'1 And books will be givento them.’2 and they will believe in them and rejoice over them; andall the righteous who have learnt from them all the ways of truthwill be glad."

CV. And in those days, says the Lord, they shall call and testify tothe sons of the earth atx>ul the wisdom in them.1 Show it to them,for you are their leaders, and the rewards which are to come over all2 the earth. For I and my son will join ourselves with them for ever in

21 GQT oin.; Gk.m ran. 'and Great'.

M Remainder of verse !l and Ix'giniiing of verse 10 lost in Gk.m.

*■* many . . . truth: G(GaM}Tl” "the sinners will alter and distort the words oftruth in many ways' (or perhaps 'the sinners will alter the words of truth andpervert many'); Gk.m ‘the sinners alter atul write against [the words) of truth andlead astray (lit. 'change') the many'.

*4 and speak evil words: Gk.mom.

25 and write books in their own words (or 'concerning their words'); GGaMQD''and write out my books in their turn words'; Gk.m "and write out the scriptures intheir own names'.

:i> GCiaMQD' ‘the*. :’ Qom.

2K But when . . . know: Gk.m ‘And would that they would write out all my worthexactly in their names, and not omit or change anything in these words, but write outexactly all the things which 1 testify to them. And again 1 know’.

iv Gk.n> ‘my books’. 10 Gk.m adds 'and holy’.

Jl which . . . wisdom: Gk.m ‘lor joy of truth'.

Anti lxx>ks ... them: Gk.lnom.

” Gk.m 'and all the righteous will be glad to leant from them all the ways oftruth’; in Eth. for ‘be glad’ many MSS have ‘lx- rewarded'.

1 the wisdom in them: i.c. in the brinks (lit. ‘their wisdom ).

tin* paths of uprightness during their lives, and you will havepeace. Rejoice, you sons of uprightness! Amen.1 2

CVI. And after some days my son Methuselah took lor his sonLantech a wife.1 and she became pregnant by him and2 bore3 a son.2 And his body was white like snow and red like the flower of a rose,and the hair of his head was white like wool4. . . and his eyes werebeautiful;5 and when he opened his eyes, he made the whole housebright like the sun so that the whole house was exceptionally:i bright.6 Atid when he was taken1 * * from the hand of the midwife,* he» opened his mouth and spoke to the Lord of Righteousness.** Andhis father10 * Lantech was afraid of him and fled and went to hisf) father Methuselah. And he said to him. I have begotten a strangeson; he is not like a man, but is like the children of the angels ofheaven, of a different type, and not like us. And his eyes are like thefi rays of the sun, and his lace glorious. And it seems to me that he isnot sprung from me, but from the angels," and 1 am afraid lestsomething extraordinary should be done12 on the earth in his days.7 And now ,1' my lather. 1 am entreating you and petitioning you togo'4 to our father Knoch. and15 learn from him the truth, for his

** t;k."' mn. chap. o . but from the fragments that have survived it is clear thatAram, had material corresponding at least to verse I and perhaps to the end of verse

1 Gk.,n ‘And after some time I took a wife for my son Methuselah, and she Ixtrc ason and called his name I-ameeh; righteousness was brought low until that day.And when he came of age. he look a wife for himself.

} became pregnant by him and: Gk.,n inn.

' Gk.,n adds 'to him’.

4 All Kth. MSS add what seems to be a gloss, 'and his hair’: Gk."' ‘And when thechild was born, hit Ixxly was whiter than snow and redder than the rose, his hair allwhite, and like white wool, and curly and glorious’.

* and his eyes ... beautiful: Gk.M>om.

* hr made . . . exceptionally bright: Gk.ni ‘the house shone like the sun’.

Ga ‘And thereupon he rose’; Gk.m ‘And he rose'.

* Ga Gk.ni add ‘and*.

’ and spoke . . . Righteousness: Gk.ni ‘and blessed the Ixird’.

10 his father: Gk.1,1 om. " Gk.m ‘an angel’.

IJ Gk.m ‘and I fear him lest something should occur’,

now: Gk.mom. 14 to go: Gk.m ‘Go‘.

** Remainder of verse 7 and beginning of verse 8 has not survived in Gk.™.

sir*

8 dwelling is with the angels. And when Methuselah heard thewords of his son, he came to me at the ends of the earth, for he hadheard that I was there.16 And he cried out,'7 and I heard his voiceand went to him. And I said to him,'8 Behold. I am here, my son, for

8 you have'* come to me.20 And he answered me2' and said. Becauseof a great matter22 have 1 come to you.2’ and because of a disturb-

10 ing vision have I come near.24 And now hear me. my lather, for25 achild has hern born to my son Lantech whose form and type arc notlike the type of a man; his colour is whiter than snow and redderthan the flower of26 a rose, and the hair of his head is whiter thanwhite wool, and his eyes are like the rays of the sun; and he opened

11 his eyes and made the whole house bright.27 And he was takenfrom2* the hand of the midwife and opened his mouth and blessed

12 the Lord of Heaven.29 And his father Lantech20 was afraid and fledto me. And he docs not believe that he is sprung from him, but thinkshim to he*1 from the angels'2 of heaven. And behold I have come to

13 you that you may make known to me the truth. And I, Knoch,answered and said to him." The Lord will do new things on theearth, and this I have already seen in a vision and made known toyou,34 for'5 in the generation of my lather Jared some from the

16 lor. . . there: Gk.m "where he [saw] that I was then’.

17 And he cried out: (Ik.,n ‘And he s.iid to me, (M\ | father, hear niv voice andcome |to) me*.

'* to him: Gk.mom. " Gk.""Why have you’.

20 Gk.madds *mvson". 71 me:Gk.n,om.

” GGaMTIV Gk.m ’need'. " to you: Gk.,n "here, lather

and because ... near: Gk.'” uni. hear me . . for: Gk.m »ni.

the flower of: C;k.n,om.

27 and he opened . . . bright: Gk.m om.

29 Anti he was taken from (or perhaps "rose from’): so GBCK!.:C'; other Kth.MSS ‘And he rose in’;Gk.,n “And he rose from’.

29 Gk.m‘of Eternity’. w Gk.m "And my son I<amcch*.

11 but thinks him to be. GGa.MM “but that his form is*.

,J Gk.m ‘And he does not believe that he is his son, but that he is from the angels’(after this one line of text seems to have dropped out and what remains of the verse iscorrupt).

” Gk.m “Then I answered, saying’.

M Gk.m in part obsrurc. “The Lord will make a new command on the earth, andin the same way (?), my son, I have seen and made it known to you'.

■’* for: in Eth. could also be translated ‘that’.

31«

14 height of heaven transgressed the word of the3** Lord.31 And be-hold, they commit sin and transgress the law,3* and have beenpromiscuous with women and commit sin with them, and haveI j married some of them, and have begotten children by them.39 Andthere will he great destruction over the whole41* earth,41 and therewill be42 a deluge, and there will be great destruction lor one year.Hi But this child who has been born to you43 will be left on the earth,44and his three sons will be saved with him;43 when all the men46 who17 are on the earth die. he and his sons will he saved.47 They will begeton the earth giants, not of spirit, but of flesh, and there will be greatwrath on the earth.48 and the earth will be cleansed from allIK corruption.49 And now make known to your son Lantech30 that theone who has been born is truly his son.31 And call his name Noah,for he will be a remnant for you,52 and he and his sons will be savedfrom the destruction which is coming on the earth because of all thesin and all the iniquity which will be committed on the earth in hisl‘> days. But after this there will lx- yet greater iniquity than thatwhich was committed on the earth Indore. For I know the

GGaQIVT2 and sonic Kill. 11 MSS *my'.

11 .sonic . . . Lord: N ‘the angels of heaven transgressed die word of my Lord'; I)'Gk."’ ’they transgressed dir word of die (I)' ’my’) Lord, dtpathtijf from the covenantof heaven’.

M (Ik.1,1 ’custom’.

39 by them: GaQANom. 4,1 GaKHKNC om.

41 and have licgottcn .. . earth: t Ik.m ’and they hear childrrn not like spirits, but offlrsh. And there will be great wrath on the earth’ (ep. verse 171.

4J there will be: Gk.1,1 om.

*’ to you Gk.1" nm. “ on the earth: Gk.1,1 om.

41 with him: Gk.m om. ** all the men: Gk.m ’tliosr’.

41 he arid his sons will lx* saved: GGaQD’ Gk.1" om. (probably repeated bymistake). GGa also om.. bill by hnu.. ‘They will beget on the earth'. For Gk.'” ep.also note 48.

43 They will beget . . . wrath oil the earth: Gk.m om.. but has a very similarpassage at the end of verse 14 and the beginning of verse I f> {ep. note 41). Verse 17ain Kth. is probably an alternative version of the end of verse 14 and the beginning ofverse 15 whirh has been introduced into the text in the wrong place.

44 Gk.,n ‘and he will calm the earth from the corruption that is on it'.

50 Gk."' ‘And now tell Lamech'.

51 that . . . his son: Gk."' ’Hr is your son in truth and holiness’.

Sl Gk.m adds ‘whereby you will have rest' (after this there appears to be a lacuna,and the text of the remainder of the verse is obscure).

/ Enoch

317

mysteries of the holy ones, for that Lord53 showed them to me andmade them known to me, and I read them in the tablets of heaven.

CVII. And I saw written on them1 that generation upon generationwill do wrong2 until a generation of righteousness shall arise, andwrongdoing shall be destroyed, and sin5 shall depart from the

2 earth, and everything good shall come upon it.4 And now, my son,go,5 make known to your son Lantech that this child who has been

3 born is truly his son, and this is no lie. And when Methuselah hadheard the words of his father Enoch — lor lie showed everything6 tohim which is secret’-he returned, having seen him.8 and called thename of that, child Noah; for he will comfort the earth after all thedestruction.w

CVI1I. Another book which Enoch wrote for his son Methuselahand for those who should come after him and keep the law in the2 lust days. You who have observed it1 and are waiting2 in thesedaysuntil an end shall be made of those who do evil, and an end shall be;t made of the power of the wrongdoers, do3 indeed wait until sin

53 Verse down as liir as i.ord‘ lias not survived in Gk.m.

' And I saw . . . (hem: so Kth. Aram.; Gk."‘ ‘Thru I saw what was written onthem*.

* that . . . wrong: Gk.m ‘that one generation (will hr] wor(se) than another’;Aram, ‘that (generation) upon generation will do wrong in [. . .| and wtour will lx*(’: Gk.'" adds ‘and then I saw' (perhaps a duplicate version of the beginning of the

’ Aram, ‘v iolence’.

4 and everything . . . ujx>» it (Ga ‘upon the earth’): (ik."1 ‘and gtxxl things willcome to them upon the earth*; Aram, damaged, but did apparently have ‘to them*.

* Gk.m*run*.

6 Gk.m om.

7 which is secret: GGaMQTIV Gk.m ‘in secret".

* he returned, having seen him: GaQ Gk.m om.; I)1 om. ‘having seen him'; M ‘hereturned and showed them to him', and similarly (5 (which is defective).

" Gk.m ‘And his name was railed Noah, comforting the earth after thedestruction*.

1 GGa ‘You who have done good'.

1 and arc waiting: GGaMQD* ‘will wait'.

3 GGaMQTD' ‘And do*.

318

/ Enoch

shall pass away; for iheir names will be erased from4 the books ofthe holy ones,5 and their offspring will be destroyed lor ever, andtheir spirits will be killed, and they will cry out and moan in achaotic6 desert place, and will burn7 in fire, for there is no earth4 there. And there I saw something like a cloud which could not bediscerned, for because of its depth I was not able to look up at it;and the flames of a fire I saw burning brightly, and things like brightf) mountains revolved and shook from side to side. And I asked one ofthe holy angels who were with me and said to him, What is thisbright place? For there is no heaven, but only the flames of aburning fire and the sound of crying and weeping and moaningb and severe pain. And he said tome. This place which you see-herewill be thrown8 the spirits of the sinners and of the blasphemers,and of those who do evil, and of those who alter everything whichthe Lord has spoken9 by the mouth of the prophets about the things

7 which shall be done. For there are books and records about them inheaven above, that the angels may read them and know what is tocome upon the sinners, and upon the spirits of the humble.10 and ofthose who afflicted their bodies and were recompensed by God,

8 and of those who were abused by evil men; who loved" God, anddid not love gold, or silver, or any worldly good, but gave up their

9 bodies to torment; who, from the moment they existed, did notdesire earthly food, but counted themselves as a breath whichpasses away, and kept to this; and the Lord tested them much, and

10 their spirits were found pure that they might bless his name. Andall their blessings I have recounted in the books; and he hasassigned them their reward, for they were found to be such as loved

* GGa add 'the book of life and from'; Q adds 'from the books of the living andfrom’; MTD’ add ‘the book and from'.

* the books of the holy ones: MQTD’EB'C' ‘the holy books'; (I ‘the book of iheHoly One (or 'holy ones’)’.

6 rhaotic: lit. ‘that cannot be seen*, but in the light of the LXX of Gen. i. 2probably to be translated 'chaotic'.

T will burn: so D'ABGXC'; other MSS ‘have burnt’.

* GQD’ ‘led’.

* GGaQD' ‘done’.

10 Many Eth.ll MSS ‘the humble spirits’; D’ ‘the spirits of those who have goneastray’.

,l So ABDKX: other MSS ‘love*.

1 Enoch

3\9

heaven more than their life in the world,12 and even though theywere trampled under loot by evil men, and had to listen to revilingand reproach from them and were abused, yet they blessed me.

11 And now I will call the spirits of the good who are of the generationof light, and I will transform those who were born in darkness, whoin the flesh were not recompensed with honour, as was fitting to

12 their faith. And I will bring out into shining light those who love1'my holy name, and I will set each one on the throne of his honour.

13 And they will shine for times without number, for righteousness isthe judgement of God. lor with the faithful he will keep faith in the

II dwelling of upright paths. And they will see those who were born in

15 darkness thrown14 into darkness, while the righteous shine. Andthe sinners will cry out as they see them shining, hut theythemselves will go where days and times have been written downfor them.

11 in the world: so t ia; all othei MSS ‘which is lor ever*.'•* G.WQTD' •loved*.

14 G.MQD' led*.

2 ENOCH

I XTRODl'CTION

2 Enoch, or ‘Slavonic Enoch' (so-called lo distinguish it from‘Ethiopian Enoch*), or “The Book of the Secrets of Enoch1 (a titlebased on the titles in some ol the manuscripts), lias been preservedonly in Slavonic in two distinct recensions, each attested by morethan one family of manuscripts.

Attention was first drawn to it in modern times by an extractcontained in two MSS in the Synodal Library in Moscow printedby A. V. Gorsky and K. I. Nevostrucv in their catalogue oi MSS inthat library, published in 18:>9.‘ The first edition of the work as awhole was that of A. N. Popov, who in 1880 printed the text fromthe Poltava MS (our P). written in Ib79. In 1884 S. Novakovicprinted a much shorter text, with a numl>cr of obvious lacunae,from a lbth-17th cent. MS in the National Library in Belgrade(our N): this text is a Serbian redaction, but there are several clearindications that it was derived from a Russian original. Two yearslater M. I. Sokolov discovered another MS containing the work,also in Belgrade, and of the Kith cent., but in middle-Bulgarian(our R): the contents tallied much more closely with Popov'sPoltava text than with that in the other Belgrade MS, and Sokolovconcluded that this longer version represented the original andthat the shorter text was an abbreviation of it.

The next few years witnessed fresh discoveries, both of MSS(including the earliest of all, dial in the Uvarov collection, of the15th cent. - our U) and of a number of fragments in the form ofextracts and quotations preserved in other works. Despite the factthat the new evidence showed that the shorter version was knownbefore the longer, and also that all the fragments were taken fromit, Sokolov still maintained his opinion that the longer version wasto be preferred, and accordingly chose as the basis for his edition of1899 the Belgrade MS R, though his posthumous papers, edited

1 See A. V. Gorsky and K. I. Xrvustruev. Opuamr slaryamkikh rukoptsti Moskoiskoisiitodai.'noi (palnanhtt) bibhottki. II. ii (Moscow. 1859). pp. 626-7. The MSS are nowin the Library of the State Historical Museum in Moscow.

m

by M. N. Spcransky in 1910. show that he eventually relented tothe extent of recognizing U as a witness to the existence of an‘intermediate version' from which the shorter version was derived.

The German scholar Bonwetsch, in Introduction to histranslation of 1922, denied the existence of this 'intermediateversion* and argued that L* is much better explained as a primarywitness to the text of the shorter version; but he still followedSokolov in maintaining the priority of the longer version. How-ever, he made the point that the shorter version cannot reasonablyhe regarded as the abbreviation of the contents of any one of theexisting 'longer' MSS. Nevertheless, all the MSS, wide as thedivergences are, were (according to Bonwetsch) derived ulti-mately from the same original Slavonic translation.

Meanwhile, N. Schmidt had in 1921 argued cogently, in a briefarticle of only six pages, for the priority of the shorter version; andin this view he was supported by A. Vaillant in his full criticaledition of 1952. But whereas Schmidt thought that the two Sla-vonic versions were traceable to two previously existing recensionsin Greek, Vaillant, like Bonwetsch, preferred to think -' them asSlavonic recensions and to trace them back to a single Slavonictranslation, made probably in Macedonia in the 10th or I 1thcenturies. This translation, Vaillant thought, survives in all essen-tials in the short recension’, attested by five MSS dating from the15th to the 18th centuries (L’BNVBa ), and by the fragments Mpr.Chr. Rum. and Tr. The ‘long recension’ in its pristine form (foundonly in the Belgrade MS R) Vaillant attributed to a reviser, whoworked between the second half of the 13th cent, and the early partof the 16th-most probably towards the end of the loth: this reviserwas responsible for very many relatively minor corrections andalterations, and also for a number of substantial additions of newmaterial. Finally, a second reviser, fairly soon afterwards, workedover his predecessor’s text, paraphrased it sometimes rather freely,transposed an item here and there, and made a few more additions:this second reviser’s activity is attested by the MSS J and P, both ofwhich are unfortunately incomplete (as are also the MSS NVBa. ofthe ‘short recension’).

Variant’s edition is therefore an edition of the 'short recension’,his text being based on the oldest MS LT. The variants of all the

323

MSS and the fragments arc, however, riled in his apparatus withthe exception of the putative additions of new material made by thefirst reviser: these are collected together in an appendix at the end(the text here being that of R. printed over an apparatus showingthe variants in J and P).

Our translation is a translation of the text of the “short recension'as given in Vaillant’s edition. In the footnotes will be tbund aselection of the more important of the minor variations; but onlyoccasionally, for obvious reasons, arc the major variants of the‘long recension’ either given in full, or, indeed, mentioned. WhenR appears in the footnotes, it is to be understood that it is sup-ported by both J and P where extant, unless it is stated otherwise.

About the date, authorship, and original language of the workopinions have differed widely. At one extreme R. H. Charlesconcluded that it was written about the beginning of the Christianera, by an Alexandrian Jew, and in Greek (though certain parts ofit ‘were founded on Hebrew originals’). At the other extreme MrsA. S. D. Maunder argued that it is a Bogomil work, writtenoriginally in Bulgarian, between the 12th and the 15th centuries.As a third, intermediate, view may be instanced that of Vaillant,who could refer to it as “Christian Enoch’ in contrast with “JewishEnoch’ (i.e. 1 Enoch), though hr was in no doubt that the authorwas a Jewish Christian, who was concerned to produce a Christiancounterpart to the well-known Jewish Enoch, and wrote in Greek,probably in the second or early third century ,\n.

There is no certain indication, however, that 2 Enoch, even inthe short rcrension, was known to any of the Greek or LatinFathers. For example, it is customary to explain “I saw allmaterial things', quoted and attributed to Enoch both by Clementof Alexandria2 and by Origen3 in the light of several passages in 2Enoch xiii.4 But there are two difficulties here. In the first place,both in Clement and in Origen the words appear as an exactquotation (“when Enoch said. I saw . . whereas not one of thesuggested passages from 2 Enoch xiii is verbally identical; andsecondly, Origen not only ascribes the quotation to Enoch, but1 Clem-Alex. Ed. propk. ii. 1. ’ Orig. Print. IV. iv. 8.

4 xiii. 5-8, 14-15, 20-22,23-26,27.

also says that it was 'written in the same book’ as another ofEnoch's sayings he has just quoted, and which appears to be takenfrom I Enoch xxi. 1. What the answer is we do not know. It may bethat the words "I saw all material things’ did in fact stand in theGreek copy of 2 Enoch xiii used by Clement and Origen, and theSlavonic translator either omitted them or paraphrased them — inwhich case Origen will have been guilty of a lapse of memory insaying that they occured in the same book as I Enoch xxi. 1.Alternatively it may be that Origen was correct and that they didonce stand in some texts of 1 Enoch, though they are not foundtoday in any known text of that work. Or it may be that the wordswere not intended originally as an exact quotation at all, butmerely as a loose reference (to 1 Enoch xix. 3. for instance), andOrigen may have remembered them from his reading of Clement,or both may have been familiar with them independently fromsome collection of Enoch's sayings circulating in Alexandria orfrom contemporary oral traditions about Enoch. And there are anumber of other possibilities. What wc cannot have is certainty.And there is a similar uncertainty about all the other suggestedpatristic quotations.

But quite apart from the question whether or not 2 Enoch wasknown to the Fathers, it is highly probable, if we are to argue fromanalogy, that there was at one time a Greek text, of which theearliest Slavonic text was a translation. It is also highly probablethat this Greek text was the original: there are a number oflinguistic pointers in this direction; and the Scptuagint, ratherthan the Hebrew, seems to have been the author’s Bible. However,this by itself tells us very little about him. Some of the names, foundonly in 2 Enoch, such as Adoil5 and Sofbnima.6 suggest at the very'least a Jewish background. The author, then, may well have been aJew of Alexandria (as Charles maintained) or of some other city ofthe Dispersion, who spoke and wrote in Greek, and who quitenaturally regarded the Septuagint as his Bible. And yet there areno specifically Jewish features anywhere: Enoch’s admonitionsabout gifts and oficrings,7 for instance, and the descriptions of the

5 xi. 7. 6 xxiii. 1.2, vie.

1 ii. 2- 4; xiii. -Hi—47; xv. (i- 7. 17—20; xvii. 7.

m

priestly functions and activities of Methuselah" and Nir,’ are allvery general, and they exhibit no points of contact in detail eitherwith the sacrificial requirements of the Pentateuch or with anyknown Temple practices.

The case lor a Christian origin depends partly on general con-siderations, partly on the lack of specifically Jew ish features justmentioned, partly on alleged influence from the books of the NewTestament (Charles’s list of parallels can just as easily beexplained as echoes of the New Testament in 2 Enoch as they canas echoes of2 Enoch in the New Testament), but more particularlyon how we understand the Mclchizcdck story in chap, xxiii at thevery end.

According to this story Mclchizcdck is born, without the agencyof a human father, from the body ofSofonima after her death: hehas on his breast ‘the seal of the priesthood’,10 and Nir is told thathe will be ‘a priest of priests for ever’;" after the Flood the Lord willraise up another generation and Melchizedek will be ‘chief priest’in that generation:12 until then he is to be kept safe in the Garden ofEden. It is tempting to read this story as a development of what issaid about Mclchizcdck in the Epistle to the Hebrews. In HebrewsMelchizedek appears ‘without father, without mother, withoutgenealogy’,13 and his priesthood is the type of the priesthood ofChrist, who is described more than once both as ‘a priest for ever’14and as ‘the mediator’ of a ‘new (or ‘better’) covenant’.'5 If we readthe story in 2 Enoch so, then 2 Enoch cannot be much earlier thanthe end of the first century A.D. and its origin must be Christian. Onthe other hand, the details in Hebrews and 2 Enoch that arealleged to correspond are not sufficiently close to establish any-thing like a water-tight case for dependence: we know from theevidence of Qumran that Jews, no less than Christians, wereinterested in Melchizedek; and there is, therefore, no reason tosuppose that both a Jewish author and a Christian author couldnot have developed this interest independently, one in 2 Enoch andthe other in Hebrews.

" xx. 1-2; xxi. 7-15. 9 xxii. 15,22-24.

10 xxiii. IH. 11 xxiii. 29. lJ xxiii. 34.

13 Hob. vii. 3. 14 Hcb. v. f>; vii. 21: cp. vii. 3.

'* Hrb. viii. 6; ix. 15; xii. 24: cp. vii. 22.

And there is the further difficulty that we eannot be sure that thtMelehizedek story is an integral part of the original 2 EnochChapters xxi—xxiii are missing altogether in Morfill's and Forbes'stranslations; and Bonwetsch relegated all three chapters to anappendix — the reason being that they are not included in the MSSN and Ba. of the short recension (both of which end with chap,xviii). while of the MSS of the long recension P ends with chap, xxand J at xxiii. 2. Yaillant. however, printed all of them as part ofhistext, following L’B and two of the fragments (short recension)together with R (long recension); and as explained above, wc, inour translation, have followed Yaillant.

Finally, a point of some interest in this connection has beenmade by A. Rubinstein. Enoch, in his admonitions about sacrificeat xv. 8-9 lays it down. ‘And all you have for food, bind it by thefour legs . . . The man who kills any beast without binding it - it isan evil custom’. For this binding of a victim before slaughter thereis neither Biblical nor Rabbinic parallel. Yet later in 2 Enoch bothMethuselah (at xxi. 9) and Nir (at xxii. 28) observe the provision.Chaps, xxi and xxii, therefore, even if not xxiii. have a very definitelink with what goes before, although thev are lacking in three of theMSS.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

A. N. POPOV, Bibhograjicheskie material)' (ii-viii) (= ChOIDR;

Moscow, 1880, III. ix), pp. 89—139. [ The text ol P]

S. XOVAKOVIO, ‘Apokrifo Enohu’ in Starine, xvi (Zagreb, 1884),pp. 67-81. [The text of NJ

M. I. SOKOLOV, Material) i zametki po starinnoi slaiyanskoi literature,

III. vii: Slavyanskaya kniga Enokha (~ ChOIDR; Moscow, 1899,

IV. ii). [An edition of the text of R of the long recension, togetherwith an apparatus recording the variants of U and P and also aLatin translation, followed by an edition of B of the short recen-sion with an apparatus recording the variants of N and V.]

, Material)' i zametki po starinnoi slaiyanskoi literature. III. vii;

Slavyanskaya kniga Enokhapravednogo (— ChOIDR; Moscow, 1910,

327

I\r. ii. 1). [All edition of tlu* texts of 1’ and Ha of the shortrecension, together with a number of fragments. |

V. VaIIXANT. Le Litre des secrets d'Henoch (= Textes publics parI'lnstitut deludes slaves, IY; Paris. 1952 - reprinted 1976). [Anedition of the short recension, with a full apparatus and a Frenchtranslation — the major additions of the long recension areprinted in an appendix, together with French translation.]

TRANSLATIONS

English

R. H. CHARLES and \V. R. MoRl'll.L, The Hook of the Secrets ofEnoch: Translated from the Slavonic by \\. R. MoRl'll.L. and edited,with Introduction, Soles, and Indices, by R. H. CHARLES (Oxford.1896). [A translation of a text based on Popov's edition of P.though using also Novakovic’s edition of N and some readingssupplied by Sokolov before publication.)

N. FORBES in R. H. CHARLES. APOTii, pp. 425-469. [ The longand the short recensions in parallel columns.]

French

A. Y AI LEANT. Le Lit re des secretv d'Henoch ... [as above].

German

G. N. BoNWETSCH. Das slavische Henochbuch (= Abhandlungen derkomglichen Gesellschafl der Wissenschajten Gottingen, Philologisch-

historische K/asse, N.F. i. 3; Berlin, 18%). [Both recensions, the

longer above the shorter, with an Introduction ]

, Die Bucher der Geheimnisse Henochs: Das sogennante slavische

Henochbuch (= 77/xliv. 2; Leipzig. 1922). [A translation, first ofthe long recension, and then of the short, with a full apparatus ineach case, and an Introduction.]

P. REISSI.hr, AjSaB2, pp. 452-473. (Of the short recension.)

GENERAL

F. C. BURKITT. Jewish and Christian Apocalypses (London, 1914),

pp. 75-76.

R. H. CHARLES. * The Date and Place of Writing of the SlavonicKnoch* in J7?>xx\\ (1921). pp. 1 (>i — 163.

A.-M. Denis, IPG AT. pp 28-29.

(). KlssEELDT, OT/. pp. 622-623.

J. K. FOTHERINCHAM. “ The Date and Place of Writing of'theSlavonic Knoch’m JTSxx (1919). p. 252.

, ‘The Faster Calendar and the Slavonic Knoch' in JTS xxiii

(1922). pp. 49-51).

J. -B. Frey. art. 'Apocryphes de I'Ancien Testament* in DBSup i,cols. 448—If)3.

L. GlNZBERC. The Legends oj the lews, i (Philadelphia. 1909), pp.

180- 137 and v (Philadelphia, 1925). pp. 158-102.

K. . LAKE, ‘The Date of the Slavonic Knoch' in HTR xvi (1923). pp.397-398.

K. Litt.MANN, art. ‘Knoch. Books of: II Slavonic Knoch* in }E\(New York. 1903). pp. 181-182.

A. S. D. MaLNOER, ‘The Date and Place of Writing of theSlavonic Knoch* in The Observatory, xli (1918), pp. 309-31 (>.

J. T. Mil.IK, The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4(Oxford. 1976), pp. 107-116.

P. RieSSLKR, AjSaB\ pp. 1297-1298.

L. Rost, EATAP, pp. 82-84.

A. Rl’BINSTEIN, Observations Oil the Slavonic Book of Knoch' inJJS xiii (1962), pp. 1-21.

N. SCHMIDT, ‘The Two Recensions of Slavonic Knoch' i nJAOSxli (1921), pp. 307-312.

K. ScHLRER, GjVZJC* iii, pp. 290-294.

K. TlRDEANU, ‘Apocryphes bogomiles et apocryphes pseudo-bogomiles* in Revue de Thistoire des religions, cxxxviii (1950), pp.

181- 187.

From the secret books of the taking up of Knoch the Just (in theLord, O master, give a blessing), a wise man, a great man of letters,whom the Lord received that he might be an eyewitness of1 the lifeabove and of the most wise and great and unchangeable majesty ofAlmighty God, of the most great, many-eyed, and immoveable1 Emended on the basis of RJ (“that he might see’).

2 Enoch 329

throne of the Lord, of the most bright station of the servants of theLord, and of the mighty, fire-horn, ranks of the heavenly hosts, andof the ineffable harmony of a great multitude of elements, and ofthe varied aspect and inexpressible singing of the hosts of thecherubim, and to be the witness of immeasurable light.2

I. And at that time, said Lnoeh. when 1 had completed three2 hundred and sixty-five years.1 in the first month, on a certain day2

of the first month, ( was in my house alone, weeping and sorrowingA with my eyes. While I was resting on my bed. sleeping.’ thereappeared to me two men. very great, surh as I had never seen on4 earth. Their faces were like the shining sun. their eyes burned like:> candles, out of their mouths came what looked like fire, and theirclothing was a diffusion of foam, and their arms like golden wingsli at the head of my bed; and they called me by my name. I awoke7 from my sleep, and the two men were really standing by me.4 And Imade haste and got up and bowed down to them; and my face wasH covered with frost from fright. And the men said to me. fakecourage, Enoch, do not be afraid; the eternal Lord has sent us to«) you; and behold, you shall go up with us today to heaven. And tellyour sons5 all they must do on earth, and in your house; and let no,o one look for you until the Lord returns you to them. And 1 obeyedthem and went out. I called my sons Methusalom and Rigim6 and1 told them everything the men had said to me.

II. And / said to them, Behold, my children. I do not know where I2 am going or what will become of me. And now, my children, do not

turn away from God. but live your lives in the Lord’s presence, and

2 Full title in I R|P only.

1 R has ‘when my one hundred and sixty-fifth year was accomplished, I begot myson Mcthusalam. And after that I lived two hundred years: I completed all theyears of my life, three hundred and sixty-five'.

• R adds ‘the first day', which Vaiflani explains as the first or seventh day of

Faster (the 15th or 22nd of the month Nisau). a festal day which Fnoeh spends inretreat. 3 l'‘I slept".

4 R ‘and I saw clearly the two men standing before me'.

s So L’: BN etc. add 'and (R + 'all') your household".

* R adds ‘and Gaidad".

330

keep his judgements; and do not refuse* the sacrifice of yoursalvation. and the Lord will not refuse' the labour of your hands.Do not deny the Lord his gifts, and the Lord will not deny vou his

1 possessions in your storehouses. Bless the Lord with the firstbornof your flocks and herds, and you will be the blessed of the Lord lor

j ever. Do not turn aside from the Lord, nor worship idols, who havemade neither heaven nor earth: may the Lord confirm your hearts

ti in the fear of him. And now. my children. let no one look for meuntil the Lord returns me to you.

III. And it came to pass, when I had spoken to my sons, the twomen called me and took me upon their wings; and they carried me

2 up into the first heaven and set me down there. And they broughtbefore me the elders, the masters of the ranks of the stars, and theyshowed me their movement.* and their displacements from year toyear. And they showed me two hundred1 angels, who rule the stars

t and the constellations2 in heaven. And they showed me there a sea,very great, much greater than the earthly sea: and angels wereHying with their wings. And they showed me the treasuries of thesnow and ire.' and terrifying angels guarding the treasuries. Andthey showed me there the storehouses4 of the clouds, from which

7 they rise5 and go out. And they showed me the treasuries of thedew, like the balm of olive trees, and the angels guarding theirtreasuries; and their appearance6 was like all the flowers of theearth.

IV. And those two men took me up into the second heaven and set

2 me down in the second heaven. And they showed me the prisoners,under guard, of the immeasurable judgement;2 and there I saw

3 angels that had been condemned, weeping. And 1 said to the menwho were with me. Why arc these in torment? The men answered

1 B 'lessen’; R 'make odious'. * BR Yut short'.

1 two hundred = BNBaR: l’ 'in the light*.

! Lit. ‘combinations'. * So BNR: l.’Ba ’cold’.

4 l" ’the treasuries, and they showed me the storehouses’.

’ l* ‘go in’. * NBa 'clothing'.

R ‘awaiting’.

1 So BBa, supported by NR: L' is corrupt.

me. These arc apostates from the I-ord. who were not obedient to

4 the Lord's commands.'' but took counsel with their own will.4 AndI was very sorry for them. And the angels bowed low to me and said.

5 Man of God, we ask you that you would pray to the Lord for us. AndI answered them and said. Who am I. a mortal man. that I shouldpray for angels: for who knows where I am going, or what willbecome of me, or who will pray for me?

V. And the men uxjk me from there and led me up to the third

2 heaven, and set me in the midst of Paradise. And that place is morebeautiful than anything there is to see - all trees in full bloom, allfruit ripe, every kind oj food always in abundance, every breeze

3 fragrant. And there are four rivers Mowing by in silent course: the

4 whole garden is good, produc ing what is good to cat.1 And2 the treeof life is in that place, where the Lord rests, when he' goes intoParadise; and that tree is indescribable for the quality of its

5 fragrance. And there is another tree nearby, an olive, which flows

<) ceaselessly with oil. And every tree is laden with good fruit: there is

7 no tree there without fruit: and the whole place is blessed.4 And the

angels who guard Paradise are most glorious, and they serve God

H continually5 with unceasing voice and sweet singing. And I said.

9 How very blessed is this place. The men answered me, This place.Enoch, is prepared for the righteous, who will endure hardships inthis life, and mortify themselves, and turn their eyes away fromunrighteousness, and execute true justice, to give bread to thehungry, and to cover the naked with a garment, and to lift upanyone who has fallen, and to help those who have been wronged,

in who live their lives in the Lord's presence and serve him alone. Forthem is this place6 prepared as their eternal inheritance.

11 And those men took me from there and carried me up to thenorth of the heaven and showed me there a very terrible place.

5 Lit. ‘voice'.

4 R adds 'they deserted with their prince and those who are made fast in the fifthheaven’.

1 B ‘producing every kind that is good to eat'.

5 R adds ‘in the midst’. ' U “the l-ord\

4 So BNBa: L’ 'sweet smelling’.

s Lit.'throughout all days'. 6 t om.

XVI

12 Every kind of torment and torture is in that place. and darknessand mist; and there is no light there, but a dark fire flaming upeternally in that plat e, and a river of fire rising up against all thatl;t plat e. And (here are cold and ice and prisons in (hat place, and fierceand cruel angels who carry weapons and inflict torments7 without14,1') mercy. And I said. How very terrible is this place. And the menanswered me. This place. Enoch, is prepared for the impious, whodo godless deeds on earth, who deal in spells and incantations" andboast of what they do. who steal the souls of men" secretly, whoHi loose the yoke that binds them, who grow rich from others' posses-sions through injustice, and have left the man who is hungry to die ofstarvation when they could have satisfied him. and have stripped17 the naked when they could have clothed (hem. who did notacknowledge their creator, but worshipped idols and madeIB images, and bowed down to the work of 'their own hands. And for allthese is this place prepared as their eternal inheritance.

VI. And the men led me up from there and carried me up1 * * to the2 fourth heaven. And behold, they showed me there all the:i movements* and all the rays of the sun and moon. And I measuredtheir movement and compared their light; and 1 saw that the sunhas a light seven times greater than the moon.5 Their4 path and thechariot on which each of them travels is like the wind in motion;and there is no rest for them as they go and return by day and

4 night. And I saw four great stars hanging on the right of the sun's

5 chariot and four on the left, which go with the sun eternally. And /saw angels going before the sun's chariot, flying spirits; twelvewings has each angel that draws the sun's chariot, earning thedew and the heat, when the Lord commands them to go down toearth with the sun's rays.

<i,7 And the men took me to the east of the heaven. And they showedme the doors through which the sun goes out according to the timesappointed, and according to the circuits of the moon5 of the wholeand inflict torments = Betc.: I’ is c orrupt.

" So NBaK: l’ ‘calumnies’. * L’om.‘of men".

1 from there ... up = BNBa: l’ om.

‘ BR add ’and displacements'.

1 L' ‘sun*. 4 l'‘its’. 5 B 'months'.

333

year, and according lo the shortening and lengthening6 of the day*B and of the nighti.7 And they showed me six doors, one open, at adistance of thirty stades; and I tried to measure their size, hut I9 eould not.8 Through them the sun enters9 and goes to the west.

10 Through the first door he goes out forty-two days, through thesecond thirty-five days, through the third thirty-five days, throughthe fourth thirty-five days, through the fifth thirty-five days,

11 through the sixth forty-two days. And again, returning through thesixth door according to the circuit of the seasons, he goes inthrough the fifth door thirty-live days, through the fourth doorthirty-five days, through the third door thirty-five days, through

12 (he second thirty-five days. And the days of the year are endedaccording to the cycle of the seasons.10 *

13 And the men led me up to the west of the heaven and showed methere the six great doors, open according to the circuit of theheavenly eastern doors opposite, through which the sun sets accord-ing to his entering'' through the eastern doors and according to the

14 number of the days.12 * Thus he sets through the western doors; andwhen he comes out from the western doors four angels take his

13 crown and carry it up to the Lord. But the sun turns his chariot and

Iti goes without light; and there” they put the c rown on him. Theyshowed me this numbering14 of the sun and oj the doors throughwhich he goes in and out; for these doors the Lord made, and heappoints the sun to be the hour-keeper of the year.

17 And of the moon they showed me another numbering: theyshowed me all her movements and all her circuits and her15 doors.

1H They showed me twelve doors to the east: they showed me the doorsof the crown, "> through whic h the moon goes in and out according

6 So Ba: l is corrupt. ' and of the night* — Belt.: tom.

* Lit. 'and I measured their size and I could not comprehend their size’.

9 N‘rises’. 10 R *tho four seasons'.

" BN Ba‘rising’.

12 R adds 'three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter'.

NBa add ‘at the eastern doors'.

14 SoR: L reads ’waxing’, which is in all probability a corruption or'numbering'.

15 and her = BN: L' om.

16 circuits .. . crown. The passage is corrupt. On the basis of the variants Yaillantemends ‘circuits, and they showed me her doors. They showed me twelve doors like

a crown to the east, and twelve such doors like a crown to the west’.

:«4

M) In the accustomed times. Through the first door to the cast thirty-one17 days certainly, and through the second thirty-five dayscertainly, and through the third thirty-one18 days exceptionally, andthrough the fourth thirty days certainly, and through the fifththirty-one17 days extraordinarily, and through the sixth thirty-onedays certainly, through the seventh thirty days certainly, throughthe eighth thirty-one days extraordinarily, and through the ninththirty-one days precisely, and through the tenth thirty dayscertainly, through the eleventh thirty-one days exceptionally,through the twelfth door she enters twenty-two days1" certainly.

l*o And so also through the western doors, according to the cycle andnumber of the eastern doors: thus she goes in also through thewestern doors; and she completes the year with three hundred and

21 sixty-four20 days. She goes into the year with lour exceptionalquarter days: for this reason they are excepted and set apart from theheaven and the year and are not counted in (he number of the days;for they change21 the seasons of the year, two new m<x>ns when sheis waxing and a second two new moons when she is waning.22

22 When she finishes at the western doors, she returns and goes to the

23 eastern with her light: thus she goes day and night in a circle. Herorbit is like the sky; and the chariot on which she goes up is a windin motion, and drawing her chariot are her flying spirits, each

21 angel having six wings. This is the numbering of the moon.

2:> In the midst of the heaven 1 saw an armed host serving theLord2 'on cymbals and organs am/with a ceaseless voice; and I wasenchanted as I listened to them.24

VII. And the men took me from there and carried me up to the

2 fifth heaven. And I saw there an immense host1 - the Watchers.2Their appearance1 was like men’s appearance: in size they were

'' B 'thirty'. BR‘thirty’.

14 So R: L’ is corrupt.

,0 So BNBa: UR ‘three hundred and sixty-five'.

11 SoBNBaR: L* ‘exceed*.

and a second . . . waning — B: U" om. The passage is obscure.

” SoBNBaR. r*God\

:t and I was ... to them = BNBaR: l' cun.

1 So B etc.: L’ corrupt.

1 Sec i Enoch i.5, etc.

2 Enoch

m

bigger than great giants, and their faces were sad and their mouths

:i silent;3 and there was no service in the fifth heaven.4 And I said tothe men who were with me, Why are they so very sad, and theirfaces downcast, and their mouths silent, and why is there no service

4 in this heaven? And the men answered me. These are theWatchers, who did not join their brothers.5 two* princes and thetwo hundred others who followed after them7 and went down toearth and broke their vow on the shoulder of mount Hcrmon todefile themselves with human women; and because they defiled

3 themselves the Lord condemned them. And these are bewailingtheir brothers and the punishment which was laid upon them.8

6 And I said to the Watchers. I have seen your brothers, and I haveheard what they did; and I know* their prayers, and I have prayed

7 for them. And behold, the Lord has condemned them below theearth10 until the heavens and the earth pass away: why then arcyou waiting for your brothers, and why arc you not serving in the

8 Lord’s presence? Resume your previous services: olFcryour servicein the Lord’s name," in case you anger the Lord your God, and he

9 throws you down from this place. They listened to what I said and

10 were persuaded; and they stood in four ranks in the heaven, Andbehold,12 as I stood there, they began to blow together on fourtrumpets, and the Watchers began to serve, as if with a singlevoice, and their voice went up into the Lord’s presence.

VIII. And the men led me up from there and carried me up to thesixth heaven. And I saw there seven angels in a group, bright and

} Lit. 'and the silenceof their mouths (R adds 'perpetual')'.

4 in the fifth heaven = BR: U om.

5 Lit. ‘who separated from themselves’ (B 'who drove themselves out’).

So B: L‘ ’two hundred'. T after them = B: L’ om.

* punishment . . . upon them = B: U corrupt.

9 So B: U corrupt.

10 There is some confusion here. That the condemned angels were imprisoned

‘below the earth' would seem to be pan of a generally accepted tradition (e.g. Jub.v. 6, 10; 1 Enoch Ixxxviii. 3; 2 Pet. ii. 4). yet the angels Enoch is referring to wouldseem to be those hr has already met and talked with in the second heaven (secchap, iv above). " BR ‘in the Lord’s presence'.

12 They listened ... in the heaven. And behold = BR; l' om.

■> very glorious; and their laces1 shone like a ray of sunlight. There is:i no dirt’erencc between them in face or size or style of clothing.2 Thesearrange and teach the right ordering of the world, the movement3 ofthe stars, of the sun and of the moon, and of the angels, theirguides, and of the heavenly voices;4 and they bring harmony to allI the life of heaven. And they arrange also the regulation and orderand execution5 of the singing and the offering of all the praise andglory, and the angels6 who are over the seasons and the years, andthe angels who are over the rivers and over the seas .and the angelswho are over the fruits and grass and all that grows, and the angels.') of all the peoples. And these bear rule and record the deeds of allti living things in the presence of the Lord.7 And among them areseven phoenixes and seven cherubim and seven six-wingedangels,8 speaking together and singing together in unison; and it is7 impossible to describe their songs. And the Lord rejoices in hisfoots tool.

IX. And the men raised me up from there and carried me up to theJ seventh heaven. And I saw there a greal light, and all the fiery hostsof the incorporeal ones, the archangels, the angels, and thebrightness1 of the ophannim;2 and 1 was afraid and trembled. Andthe men took me into their midst, and they said to me, Take\ courage, Enoch, do not be afraid. They showed me from afar theLord sitting on his throne; and all the heavenly armies, groupedaccording to their rank, came forward and worshipped the Lord,and then they returned again and went to their places in joy andj gladness and in measureless light. And there were the glorious ones,who serve him by night and do not depart by day,3 standing in theti Lord's presence and doing his will. And all the hosts of the

1 So B etc.: L‘ corrupt.

1 So BNR (lit. 'or in the* modification of their clothing’): l' corrupt.

' So NBaR: l." 'birth'.

* BNBa‘angels'. s Lit. ‘sweet voices'.

Or ‘. . . praise and glory; and these are the angels . .

7 Lit.‘And these rule and write all life Ixrfore the face of the Lord'.

* So BNBaR: L‘ ‘and seven cherubim, six-winged creatures’.

’ Lit. ‘the bright station'. 1 B 'seraphim'.

’ So BNBaR: U ‘to-day’.

Xtf

chcrubum4 * were around his throne, and did not depart from //. andthe six-winged angels who rover his throne, singing in the Lord’s

7 presence. And when I had seen all this, the two men departed from

H me, and I saw them no more. They left me alone at the end of theheaven; and .1 was afraid and fell on my lace.

‘t And the Lord sent to me one of his glorious ones. Gabriel; and hesaid to me, l ake courage. Knoch. do not be afraid. Gel up, and

10 come with me, and stand in the presence of the Lord for ever. And 1answered him and said, Alas, my lord. 1 am parali/ed by fear: callto me the men who brought me to this place; for 1 have confidence*

11 in them, and with them 1 will enter the Lord's presence. AndGabriel caught me up, just as a leaf is caught up6 * * by the wind and

l‘2 he swept me along and set me down in the Lord's presence. And Isaw1 the Lord - his face mighty and most glorious and terrible.

13 Who am 1 to describe* the proportions of his being.9 and the Lord'sface, mighty and most terrible, and his many-eyed and many-voiced choir,10 and the Lord’s immense throne, made withouthands, or the company11 assembled round it (the hosts of thecherubim and seraphim}, or the unchanging and ineffable, never-

U silent and glorious service that is offered to Ami? And l loll down onmy face and worshipped the Lord.

15 And with his own mouth the Lord called me. Lake courage,Lnoch. do not be afraid: get up and stand in my presence forever.And Michael, the Lord's great archangel,12 raised me up and led

Hi me into the Lord’s presence. And the Lord made trial of hisservants and said to them. Let Lnoch come up to stand in mypresence for ever. And the Lord’s” glorious ones bowed down and

17 said, Let him come up. And the Lord said to Michael, l ake Lnochand take olf his earthly garments, and anoint him w ith good oil, andclothe him in glorious garments. And Michael took off from me my

18 garments and anointed me with good oil. And the appearance of

4 BNBa add ‘and the seraphim'. * So B etc.: V corrupt.

* caught up = X .supported by R: I'BBa corrupt.

7 So BR: U corrupt. * 1‘ ‘Who is to confess .. .’

* A probable translation. I'hc MSS are corrupt. R has 'the incomprehensible

being of the Lord*. 10 So R.

11 BR add *of the choir'. So l’: BN BaR ‘archistrategc*.

” Lord’s — BNBa: L" om.

m

the oil was more resplendent than a great light, and its richness likesweet clew, and its fragrance like myrrrh, shining like a ray of thein sun.14 And I looked at myself and I was like one of the gloriousones, and there was no apparent difference.

X. And the Lord called Vreveil,1 one of his archangels, who waswise and wrote down everything that the Lord did. And the Lord•_> said to Vreveil, Take the books from their storcplace, and give:5 Lnoch a pen and dictate the books to him. And Vreveil made hasteand brought me the books, bright2 * with smymium,' and gave me a4 pen from his own hand. And he told me all that happens in heaven4and on the earth and in the sea. and the movements and courses5 ofall the elements, and the changes of the years, and the movementsand mutations of the days, and the regulation and order andexecution6 of the singing, and the going in of the* clouds and thegoing out of the winds, and all the words7 * of the songs" of the armed-) host.’’ And all that it was proper that 1 should learn Vreveilexplained to me in thirty days and thirty nights: his lips were neversilent, us he went on speaking; and I, for my part, had no rest fort> thirty days and thirty nights, as I made my notes.10 And when Ihad finished, Vreveil said to me. Sit down: write out everything Ihave explained to you. And I sat down a second time for thirty days7 and thirty nights; and I wrote out everything exactly. And I wrotethree hundred and sixty11 books.

14 Kim-ndcd on the basis of l' (‘its ray. as u were, of the sun-) and B (‘like ashining ray of the sun').

1 Not only do the MSS vary considerably from one another in the spelling of thisname in each of the five instances in which it occurs in this chapter, but they alsodificr individually from instance to instance. Thus, in the first instance BBa read‘Yretcil'. X ‘Vrctil’, and P 'Pravuil'; and B reads ‘Yreteil' in the first instance, but'Vreveil' in the others.

•' So Ba: R ‘dreorated’; UBN arc corrupt.

* So Vaillam, supposing a Cik. original ohvqvIov rather than opi'eva (‘myrrh’).

4 So BBa (lit. ‘all the works of heaven'): L’ 'all the works of the Lord'.

* Lit. ‘lives'. 6 Lit. ‘the sweet voice’.

7 Lit. 'language'. * So B: U ‘of the new song’.

" Cp. vi. 25 above. 10 Lit. 'writing all the signs’.

11 RP 'three hundred and sixty-six’.

339

XI. And the Lord called me, and lie set me on his left hand, nearer

2 than Gabriel; and I worshipped the Lord. And the Lord said to me.All that you have seen. Knock all (Hat is1 and all that moves, andall that has been created by me. I wilt reveal it to you, tbefore allcame to be from the first,'f2 all that I have created and brought fromnon-existence into being, and from what is invisible into what is

3 seen. Not even to my angels have I revealed my secret, nor have Itold them how they themselves were formed, nor do they know howmy infinite and incomprehensible creation was accomplished: yet

t I am revealing it to you to-day. For before what is visible wasbrought into being, light appeared:' but L although surrounded bylight, was like one of the invisible ones, and I journeyed4 as the sun

f> journeys from cast to west and from west to east. The sun will find5

t» rest; but I found no rest, for 1 was creating everything. Since I hadpurposed to establish a loundation to form a visible creation. Igave command to the depths that one of the invisible things should

7 rise up and become visible. And Adoil came out, immense in size; and1 looked at him, and behold, he had the great age6 in his belly, antil said to him, Open yourself, Adoil, and let w hat is visible be born

8 from you. And he opened himself, and the great age6 came out ofhim; and thus was bom the light from him who hears the whole

9 creation which I purposed to create. And I saw that it was good;and I set a throne for myself and sat upon it; but to the light 1 said.Go up higher, and establish yourself, and be the foundation of the

10 things above. And above the light there is nothing else.

11 And I got up from my throne, and I looked7 and called a secondtime to the depths, and I said," Let what is hard and visible come

12 out from the invisible. And Amelia/, came out, hard, heavy, and

13 very black.’ And I saw that it was right;10 and I said to him, Godown below and establish yourself, and be the foundation of the

1 Lil. 'stands'.

1 I will. . . (hr first: corrupt. Vaillant translates 'moi jc te rrxpliqncrai d'avantqu’il no soil apparu au debut'. ’ Lit. 'opened itself.

4 ‘ita.i like .. . journeyed — NBa: l', supported by K. 'alonejourneyed among theinvisible (hint's'. ’ H 'The sun found'; R 'The sun has'.

6 So L’H: NBa 'a very great stone'; R ‘a great light'.

’ So B: NBa ‘I saw'; L’ '1 said'.

" So B etc.: L’ corrupt.

lo Or ‘that he was suitable'.

R ‘red-

:ho

things below. And he went down and established himself', and was11 the foundation of the lower things. And beneath the darkness thereis nothing else.

1:> I encircled the ether with light, and I thickened it and stretched itout over the darkness, and from the waters I built up great stones;and I commanded the mists" of the abyss to become dry. and 1Hi called12 what fell back1' the abyss. W hen 1 had gathered the seatogether into one place. I bound it with a yoke, and I set an eternalboundary between the earth and14 the sea. .to that it should not beburst by the waters: I lixed the vault of heaven and founded it17 above the waters. And lor all the heavenly host I formed the sunfrom the great light, and I set it in the heaven that it might shine1H over the earth. From the stones I struck a great fire: and from thefire I created all the incorporeal host, and all the starry host, andthe cherubim, and the seraphim, and the ophannim (and all this 119 struck Ironi the fire). And 1 commanded the earth to make all kindsof trees to grow, and all mountains.19 and all life-giving plants, andevery kind of seed that is sown:1* before 1 created living souls, 12t) prepared food for them. And I commanded the sea to produce itsfish, and all the reptiles that creep17 over the earth, and ail the birds

21 that fly. And when I had finished everything. 1 commanded mywisdom to create man.19

22 And now, Enoch,19 all I have told you, and all you have seen inthe heavens, and all you have seen on earth, and all you havewritten in the books, it u as by my wisdom that I planned to create it

2'3 all.20 I created it from the lowest foundation to the highest and to21 the farthest ends oj both: I had neither counsellor nor helper. I aloneam eternal, not made by hands: my unchanging purpose is my

" BBa ‘waves'. *•’ So HaK: V corrupt.

■ ' what fell hack = XBaR: l" corrupt.

14 between . . . and — BXBa: t‘ tint.

’* Vaillant suggests ‘all fruit*, on the basisol (Jen. i. I 1.

l<* So BXBa: l 'all live seed which sows seed*.

17 So BXR: l corrupt.

R has a \rr\ much more extended account of the creation in this paragraph,attributing (iod's separate works to separate days (as in (Jen. i; and ending not onlywith a reference to the blessing of the seventh day. but also to the appointment of the‘the eighth day' as ‘the first'. '* So BNBuKiL out.

20 to create it all = BXR: L' ’it'.

341

counsellor, and my word is my deed, and my eyes watch over allthings: if I turn away my face, all things perish: but ifl look at all25 things, they remain in being. Consider, Enoch, and realize who it isthat is speaking to you; and take the books which you have written(and 1 give you Semeil and Rasuil,21 who brought you up to tne),and go down to earth, and tell your sons all I have said to you, and2(> allyow have seen from the lowest heaven right up to my throne. (Allthe hosts have I created: there is not one among them who is opposedto me and is not subject to me: all arc subject to my authority and27 serve my might alone.) And give them the books which your handhas written,22 and they will read them and recognize the creator.2'and they will also understand that there is no other creator hut me;and they will pass on the btxiks your hand has written to theirchildren, and their children to their children, and next-of-kin to2» next-of-kin.17 from one generation to another.24 For I give you,2!) Enoch, as an intercessor,25 Michael, Prince of my hosts. For whatyou have written, and what your fathers Adam and Seth26 havewritten, will not be destroyed to the end of time; lor I havecommanded my angels Arioch27 and Marioch,2" whom I have seton the earth to guard it and to order temporal tilings, to preserveyour lathers' writing, so that it is not destroyed in the flood which isto come, and which I shall bring upon the earth in yourgeneration.29

30 I know the wickedness of man, that they will not bear the yokethat 1 have laid upon them,’0 nor do they sow the seed that I have

31 given them. But they have cast off my yoke, and they will takeanother yoke and will sow worthless seed, and they will worshipidols and reject my authority, and the whole earth will sin'1 with

32 injustice and transgressions and adulteries and idolatries. Thenwill I bring a flood upon the earth; and the earth itself will perish in

33 a mighty swamp. And I will leave one righteous man of your stock

21 R ‘Raguil'. 22 So BNBaR: L' 'created’.

25 L’ ‘their creator’ - i.r. the creator ol the liuoks.

24 Lit. ’and generation to generation’ (or "and nation to nation’).

25 R ‘curator'.

26 So Bcu\: L' ‘Joseph*. 21 So UBBa: N Orioch.; RJ 'Ariuch'.

28 So I’BNBa: RJ ‘Pariuch’.

19 Or ‘upon vour nation'.

11 So L B: BaNR ‘will he laden’.

Lit. ‘raised up for them’.

with all his household, who will carry out3’ my wishes; and fromtheir children will arise another” generation,34 the last,15 many in:l t number, and with great ambitions, '* Then, in the course37 of thatgeneration,34 the books you and your lathers have written will berevealed; for the guardians of the earth will show them to men offaith, and they will be explained to that generation34 and roinc tohe more highly thought of afterwards than they were before.r> But now. Enoch, I am giving you a respite38 of thirty days, sothat you can spend it in your house and tell your sons every tlnngyouhave heard from me. and your household, and everyone who keepswy commands with all his heart (lei them read and understand thatM there is none but me). And after thirty days 1 will send the angelsfor you, and they will take you3*1 from the earth and from your:17 sons40 to me. 41 For a place is prepared for you, and you shall live inmy presence for ever and see my secrets; and you shall be myservants' scribe, for you shall write down everything that happenson earth and everything that is done by those who are on earth andin the heavens, and you shall act for me as a witness in the:tt! judgement of the great age. All this the Lord said to me just as if hewere a man speaking to his trusted friend.

XII. 1

XIII. And now. my children, listen to what your father says and toall the commands I give you to-day: live your lives as in the Lord’spresence,’ and see that whatever you have to do1 is in accordance

l* ‘whodid'.

M Or ‘nation’.

36 Lit. ‘and very insatiable’.

■** .So BN'BaR: L’ corrupt.

40 l ’ adds 'they will take you'.

" V um

” the last = I’BR: NBa ‘afterwards’.*7 R ‘at the end’w l* adds *to me’.

11 See note 1 to chap, xiii Mow.

1 This chapter (found only in R) dcscriltcs how Knoch is restored to earth, howhe found Mcthusalam awaiting him. how he instructed him to assemble hishousehold, and how, when they were assembled, he Ix-gan the farewell addresswhich follows in chap. xiii.

1 fhe passage ‘For a place {xi. 37)... the [/ird’s presence’ and the phrase ‘youhave to do' are found in LI only, and Vaillant regards them both as interpolations.

3-W

2 with the Lord’s will.1 For 1 am sent to you by the Lord's command2to tell you everything that is and everything that will hi* to the day:l of judgement. And now, my children, it is not from my own mouththat I am speaking to you to-day. but from the Lord’s mouth, who•l has sent me to you. For you hear my words from my mouth.from themouth oja man fashioned just like you; but I have heard the lord'swords from the Lord's fiery mouth (tor the Lord's mouth is a fieryj furnace and his words a fiery flame that issues forth). You. mychildren, see my face, the face of a man fashioned just like you; but 1have seen the Lord's face, like a piece of iron heated in the fire thatti scatters sparks. For you sec a man's eyes, the eyes of a man fashionedjust like you; but I have seen ' the Lord’s eyes, like the rays of the

7 shining sun that dazzles human eyes. You. my children, see myright hand motioning to you,4 the hand of a man made just like you;but I have seen the Lord’s right hand motioning to me5 and filling

8 the heaven. You can see how large my body is, that it is just likeyours; but I have seen how great the Lord is, that he is immeasur-

8 able, incomparable, and has no end. For you hear the words of mymouth; but I have heard the Lord's words, like6 great thunder with

10 unceasing tumult of the clouds. And now, my children, listen tosomeone talking about an earthly king and saying. It is terrifyingand perilous to stand before an earthly king, frightening and very

11 perilous,7 for the king’s will is death and the king's will is life. But tostand before the King of kings®- who can endure the infinite fear or

12 the great heat? But the Lord called one of his angels in charge ofTartarus9 and set him by me; and the appearance of that angel waslike snow, and his hands were icc, and he cooled my face (for I

13 could not endure the terror of the fiery heat). And so the Lordspoke all his words to me.

He supposes (hat the original passed without a break from the words of the Lord tothose of Knorh. and that the additions. Ixiih in L’ and in R (i.c. chap, xii) areindependent attempts to effect a smooth transition. He further explains ’whatever isin accordance with the Lord's will’ as a chapter-heading incorporated into the text.

1 Lit. ‘from the mouth of the Lord’.

3 U * spoken'. * Or. as BR. ’helping you’.

5 Or, as BR,‘helping me'. * L’‘asof\

’ U om. ’and very perilous*. * of kings - B: U om.

* one of his angels in charge of Tartarus (or ‘the horror’) = BNBa: l‘R ‘one of histerrible elder angels’.

2 Enoch

li So now. my children. I know all things, some from the mouth ofthe Lord, some my eyes have seen, from the beginning to the end1 j and from the end to the renewal. I know everything, and I havewritten down in the books the extent of the heavens and all that isin them: [ have measured their movements and l know their hosts:

I have completed fhe count ol10 the stars, a great multitude withoutIfi number. What man can understand their resolutions11 or theirmovements or their rcturnings, or those that lead them or thosethat are led? Not even the angels know their number; but I have17 written down their names. And I have measured the circle of thesun, and I have numbered its rays12 and its goings in and its goingsIK out and all its movements: I have written down their names. And Ihave measured the circle of the moon, and its movements everyday, the waning” of its light ever) day and hour; and I haveI !• written out its names in the books.14 The dwellings of the cloudsand their mouths and their wings and their rains and their dropshave I explored; and I have written of the rumbling of the thunder2d and the wonder of the lightning. And they showed me their custo-dians and the passages measured out for them to go up and down15(they go up bound and descend bound, lest with rude violence they

21 tear down the clouds and destroy everything that is on the earth). Ihave written down the treasuries of the snow and the storehouses ofthe ice and the cold airs:'* I have observed how from time to time17their custodians fill the clouds, yet the treasuries are not

22 exhausted. I have written down the resting-places of the winds: Ihave looked and seen how their custodians bring their balancesand measures: first they put them on the balance,1" and then in themeasure; and they let them out by measure over the whole earth,lest with a rude breath they shake the earth.

2:5 From there I was taken down and came to the place of judge-ment; and I saw hell open, and I saw there a piece of level ground19BR 'I have written down’.

" Lit. ‘tin* circuits of their changes'. 1 ’ So BR: L ‘their faces'.

" the waning = BR: l' corrupt. '* Cp. I Knoch Ixxviii. 2.

,s Lit. ’their passages where they go up by measure'.

16 the cold airs: Ba 'cold air: BN ‘the air and cold’.

17 Lit. ‘how at times’.

and measures ... on the balance “ BXBaR: L‘ um.

,g So B (lit. ’a certain plain'): l’ corrupt.

i t like a prison, ajudgemem-p/orr without measure. And I descendedand wrote down all the judgements of whose who were judged, andI saw20 all their questionings; and I sighed and wept for theperdition of the impious, and 1 said to myself. Happy the man w howas never born, or who after birth lived without sin in the Lord'seyes, so as not to come to this place or hear the yoke of this place.2:> And I saw the keepers of the keys of hell standing by the massivegates: their laces21 were like the faces of great asps, their eyes likecandles that had gone out. and their teeth were bared and reached2ii down to their chests. And I said to them openly. Would that22 I hadnot seen you nor caught sight22 of what you do: may none of mykinsmen ever come to you.

■11 And from there I went up into the Paradise of the righteous; andI saw there a blessed place, and every creature is blessed, and alllive in joy and gladness, and in measureless light, and in eternalHi life. Then I said, my children (and now2' I say it again to you),Happy the man who fears the name of the Lord, who will serve him asthough in his presence always,24 and make gifts, offerings of life,252‘) and who will live his life and die. Happy the man who w ill do what isjust and right,26 and clothe the naked with a garment and give

30 bread to the hungry. Happy the man who will champion26 theorphan and widow, and who w ill help all who have been w ronged.

31 Happy the man who will refuse27 the unstable way, and who walksM in the paths of righteousness. Happy, too. (he man who sows righte-

33 ous seed, for he shall reap it sevenfold. Happy the man in whom is

34 trutli and who speaks the truth to his neighbour. Happy the man on3r> whose lips is true pity and gentleness. Happy the man who shall

understand the works ol the Lord and glorify him, and2" throughhis works come to know him who made them.

3t> And behold, my children, after I had examined the things that

2U Vail hint emends'I understood'.

21 So BNBaR: V corrupt.

21 So \ aillanl The MSS differ and are clearly all corrupt,and now = N Ba; 1‘ orn.

24 Lit. 'who will serve l)eforc his litre lor ever'.

•’* Or ’will make gilts by offerings oflif’c'.

24> Lit. ‘who will make a righteous judgement (to)’.

27 BNBaR’turn back from’.

2* and glorify him, and: so the fragment Mpr: l' om.

:Hti

:17 have been ordained2* on earth. I wrote them down. I compared allthe years, and ofthc year I measured the months, and of the month:»t I counted the days, and of the day I counted the hours. I measuredthe hours and wrote them out: f distinguished between the differentkinds of men™ on earth; and 1 measured and proved every measureand every honest balance, as '‘the Lord commanded me. And Ifound a difference in these things: one year is more notable thananother year, one day than another day, one hour than anotherto hour.” So also one man is more notable than another man, onebecause of his great possessions, another because of his wisdom,another because of his intelligence, his skill, and his ability to keep41 quiet.*2 But there is none greater than the man who lears the Lord;

Ibr those who fear the Lord will be honoured " for ever.

Y2 The Lord created man with his own hands, and in the likeness ofI t his own face: small and great the Lord made them. He who revilesthe face of man. reviles the face ofthc Lord: he who detests the faceof man. detests the face of the Lord: he who despises the face of mandespises the face of the Lord: wrath and great judgement are41 appointedfor those who spit in the face of man. But happy the man whoturns his heart34 towards every man. to help the man on trial,35 toraise up the fallen,36 and to give to the needy; for in the day of37 thegreat judgement all men's deeds will be recalled by the record.3"•If> Happy the man whose measure is honest and his weight honest andhis balance honest; for in the day of the great judgement even1measure and every weight and every balance will be on show, as ifin the market, and each man will know the truth about his measure4ti and receive his reward accordingly. The man who makes'* anoffering before the Lord, the Lord will make his affairs to prosper:40

So Yaillant: L' ‘leaving the countries (or ‘limits’)’.

,0 Lit. ‘I distinguished even, seed on earth’ The sequel in verses 4(1 and 41below, as Yaillant points out, makes it dear that ‘seed’ is a metaphor as inKcclus. x. 19.

” the Lord . .. another hour = Mpr. supported h\ some MSS: L" corrupt.

w Lit. ‘and the silence of his mouth’.

” Or'glorious'. ,4 his heart = Mpr etc.: 1.' ora.

JS Lit.‘him who is judged'. '* Or'the bruised'.

" in the day of = Mpr etc.: I’om. “ Lit.‘the writing’.

M B 'He who hastens'; R ‘He who hastens and makes’.

40 Lit. ‘will direct (R, supported by B, ‘hasten") his acquisitions'

347

the man who fills the lamp before the Lord with oil. the Lord will

47 fill his barns with wheat.41 Does the Lord need bread or candles orsheep or cattle? Not at all; but in this way the Lord tests the heart of

4« man. For then the Lord will send his great light, and in that*2 willthejudgement be; and who. if there, can be hidden?

49 Now, my children, bear all this in mind, and pay attention towhat your father is saying - to everything I am telling you as the

50 Lord instructed me.4’ Take these books, the books written by yourfather's hand, and read them, and learn from them the Lord’s

51 works, that there is none but the Lord alone, who has set thefoundations on the unknown, stretched out the heavens above theinvisible, set the earth on the waters and founded it on the unstable,who alone made the countless things in his creation [for who hascounted the dust of the earth or the sand of the sea, or the drops of

52 the clouds?), who has bound together the earth and the sea withindissoluble bonds, who has struck out from the fire the incom-prehensible beauty of the stars** and has adorned the heaven, whohas created all things so that what was invisible became visible,*3

53 being himself invisible. And pass these books on to your children,and see thatyour children pass them on to their children, and /oall yourkin and all your generations,46 to47 those who have wisdom andfear the Lord; and47 they will receive them and take more delight inthem than in any choice food, and they will read them and hold

54 fast48 to them. But the foolish and those who do not know the Lordwill not receive them, but will repudiate them; for their yoke will

55 weigh them down. Happy the man who will bear their yoke and holdfast to it, for he will find his recompense4I> in the day of the greatjudgement.

56 For 1 swear to you, my children, that before man existed, a placeof judgement was prepared for him; and a measure and a weight,

41 Lit. ‘the man who increases the lamp before the laird, the I-ord will increasehis barns'. 41 So BR Nlpr: L‘ 'in the darkness'.

41 Lit. ‘I am telling you from the Lord’s mouth'.

44 of the stars = B, supported by R: U om.

4* Lit. *.. . all things from the invisible into the visible {so B; R ‘into appearanec';U corrupt}. 44 Or‘nations'.

47 So Vaillant. L' reads *. . generations: those who have wisdom . . . 1-ord willreceive . . .’ 44 hold fast = BR: L' corrupt.

4* The probable sense: L‘ reads 'he will find it*.

2 Enoch

:«8

by which man will be tested, has been prepared there beforehand.57 And I shall set down every man's deeds in writing, and no one will'»}{ be able to escape. So then, my children, live out your span of life inpatience and gentleness, so that you may inherit the eternal age55* that is to come. And every blow and every wound and scorching heatand every evil word, if it comes upon you*" for the Lord's sake,endure it; and though you may lx* able to retaliate, do not retaliateupon your neighbour, for retaliation is the Lord’s, and he will beMi your avenger in the day of the great judgement. Suffer the loss ofyour gold and silver for your brother’s sake, so that you mayi)l receive heavenly*1 treasure in the day of judgement. And stretchout your hands to the orphan and the widow, and help the poor tothe utmost of your power; and they will be a protection52 in the time62 of trial. Every hard and heavy yoke.55 if it comes upon you for theLord's sake, endure it.54 and thus you will find your reward in the61 day ofjudgcment. In the morning and at noon and in the eveningof the day55 it is good to go into the house of the Lord to glorify thecreator of all things.

tit Happy the man who opens his heart to praises, and who praisesthe Lord: a curse upon him u;ho opens his heart to reviling and toslandering his neighbour.

65 Happy the man who opens his mouth to bless and glorify theLord: a curse on him who opens his mouth to curse and blasphemein the Lord’s presence.

66 Happy the man who honours all the Lord's works: a curse uponhim who reviles the Lord’s creation.

67 Happy the man who regards56 the labours of his own hands toestablish them:57 a curse upon him who looks for an occasion todestroy the labours of others.

6H Happy the man who maintains the foundations of the fathers of

50 upon you = BXBa: t’ mu.

51 heavenly: corrupt in all MSS: l’ "whic h is of the- flesh’; R which is full'; NBaMpr ‘not sc anty'.

B ‘and \ou will find protection'.

** So BR Mpr: l* corrupt.

S4 So B: L ‘loosen it'; R ‘endure all and loosen them’.

15 of the dav = BNBaR: l_’ ‘and to-dav*.

»• So BNBaR: l' 'compares'.

17 Lit. ‘to raise them up'.

2 Enoch 349

old:58 a curse upon him who destroys his lathers’ laws andboundaries.

(i‘* Happy the man who sows peace: a curse upon him who destroysthose who are at peace.

70 Happy the man who speaks peace. ”and peace is with him: acurse upon him who does not speak peace” and there is no peace inhis heart.

71 All this will be revealed in the measure and in the books in theday of the great judgement.60

T1 So, my children, keep your hearts from all wickedness: f accord-

73 ing to the balance of light, be heirs*61 lor ever. You must not say,my children, our father is with the Lord and in answer to his

74 prayers we shall be forgiven our sin.62 You sec that I record all thedeeds of every man; and no one can destroy what my hand has

7.i written, for the Lord sees everything. So now. my children, listen toall your father's words, all that I am saying to you, so that they may

?i) be an inheritance of peace for you. And the books that I have givenyou, do not hide them:6' explain them to all who desire to look into

77 them, for they64 may, perhaps, recognize the works of the Lord. Forbehold, my children, the day of the time appointed is drawingnear, and the time appointed leaves me no choice: the angels whoare to go with me are standing before me; and tomorrow I shall go

78 up to the highest heaven, to my eternal inheritance. This is why Icommand you, my children, to do the Lord’s will in all things.

XIV. Mathusalom answered his father Enoch, What kind of food,father, would you like us to get ready for you, so that you can blessour dwellings, and your sons, and all your household, and glorify

** of old = BR Mpr: L’ corrupt.

and peace . . . not speak peace = B. supported by NBaR: f run.

*° So B etc.: I* 'the judgement of the proud one'.

Sl The MSS are in confusion here. Vail lain translates ‘in the balance inherit thelight'. The idea seems to lie that after Enoch's sons (or their hearts) had beenweighed in the balance and approved they should inherit eternal light {cp. theillustrations in the Egyptian Papyrus of Ani of the weighing of Ani’s heart in abalance and his subsequent introduction into the presence of Osiris).

0J Lit. 'and he will pray us out of our sin".

•' So NBaR: U 'do not cast them aside".

64 SoNBa:L'you'.

2 Knock

•> your people, l>clorr you go away? And Enoch answered his son andsaid. Listen, my child: from the day when die Lord anointed mewith the oil of his glory. 1 have had no food at all:1 food is of no:5 consequence2 * to me; and 1 have no desire for any earthly food. Butcall your brothers and all our' household and the elders of the•t people, that 1 may speak to them and then depart. AndMethusalom made haste and called his brothers Rcgim and Ariimand Achazuchan and Charimion4 and all t lie elders of the people;and he brought them to his father Enoch, and they bowed down to5 him.5 And Enoch received them and blessed them; and he answeredthem and said.

XV. Listen.my children. In the days of your1 father Adam, theLord came down to earth to visit it and all his creatures2 that he■> himself had made. And the Lord summoned all the cattle on theearth and all the reptiles on the earth and all the birds with wings,and he brought them to your' lather Adam, so that he might givel names to everything on earth. And the Lord left them with him;4and he subjected everything to him as his inferior, and moreover5made it dumb;* that it should be submissive1 and obedient to■\ man. For the Lord created man and set him over" all his posses-sions: there will therefore be no judgement for all living souls, but5 for man only. There is one place in the great age for all the souls ofthe cattle, and one fold and one pasture; for the soul of an animalwhich the Lord has made will not perish* until the judgement, but

1 anointed me . . at ail — BNBaR: t ‘anointed niv head with oil, and I was

afraid*. * Lit. 'is not sweet*.

' So L’N: BBaR ‘your’. 4 R adds 'and Gaidari*.

* L’ *to Enoch*: R 'tjclore his face*.

1 So I'BaR: BN Mpr ‘our*.

J I.it. ‘his creation*. * BNBaR Mpr‘our*.

4 R 'And the Lord set him as king over all things'.

5 Lit.‘secondly*. 6 U ‘deal": R 'dumb and deaf*.

7 that it should be submissive = B etc.: L* corrupt.

* Mpr ‘For he created man lord over..

4 Lit. ‘will not be shut olF in the sense of‘abandoned to death* (for the metaphor

sec Ps. Ixxviii. 50 in the LXX-ical x(i>ccf)vi)atii&velsdavarovawttcA^iocv).

2 Enoch

351

(> all souls will accuse man.10 The man who feeds the soul of a beast11badly, transgresses against his own soul; but the man who offers asacrifice of an animal without blemish - it is healing (he heals his

7 own soul). ,2And the man who offers a sacrifice of birds without

H blemish — it is healing (he heals his own soul). And all you have forfood, bind it by the four legs-it is healing (he heals his own soul).12

9 I'he man who kills any beast without binding it - it is an evil

to custom1 y (he transgresses against his own soul). The man whodoes injury to a beast secretly - it is an evil custom1 ■* (he transgres-

1! ses against his own soul). The man who does injury to anotherman's soul injures his own soul; and there is no healing tor him for

12 ever. ‘"’The man who commits murder kills his own soul; and there

13 is no healing for him for ever.14 The man who pushes another maninto a trap will be caught in it himself, and there is no healing forhim forever; and the man who drags another man into court.15 hisown judgement will not cease forever.

14 Now, therefore, my children, keep your hearts from allunrighteousness which the Lord hates, and above all from every

15 living soul which the Lord made. Just as a man asks lor his ownsoul from the Lord, so shall he do to every living soul; for in thegreat age there arc many dwelling-places16 prepared lor man, some

Ui very good houses, and others. evil houses without number. Happythe man who goes into the blessed houses, for in the evil ones there is

17 no possibility of conversion.17 And if a man resolves in his heart tooffer a gift to the Lord, and his hands do not do it. then the Lordwill bring the labour of his hands to nothing, so that there is no

18 profit from it. If his hands do it, and his heart dissents,18 even

10 man = Mpr Mr.: I’ corrupt.

11 the soul of a beast = BNBa: U ‘his own’.

** And the man wIkj offers . . . his own soul = B supported by R: l" 0111.

11 Lit. ‘law’.

l* The man who commits . .. for ever — B Mpr: L‘ om.

14 Lit. 'pushes another man into judgement'.

“* The normal word for 'barn' or ‘refuge*. Vaillam translates ‘rctraites’ andMorfill 'mansions’ (though this is not the word used in the Slavonic at John xiv, 2).

17 Or 'getting out of them*. The primary meaning of the word is 'asylum', but thesecondary meaning ‘conversion’ is supported by BBaR ‘return’, ‘turning hack’.

’* Lit. ‘murmurs*.

though the doubt ill his heart persists.10 it will do him no harm.20

I‘i Happy the man who in his patience oilers a gift to the Lord, for he

L’o will find his recompense. And when a man promises that at a settime he will oiler a gift to the Lord, and does it. then he will find hisrecompense; but if the time he has set goes by.yet he fulfils hispromise afterwards, it is indeed repentance, though he will not he

21 blessed,21 for every delay is a cause ofollence. And if a man clothesthe naked and gives bread to the hungry, he will find his recom-pense; but if his heart dissents.,K he will be a loser and gain

22 nothing. And when the poor man is satisfied, if his22 heart isarrogant,1 2’' then he will lose all his well-doing and get no gain; forthe Lord detests an arrogant man.

XVI. And it came to pass, when Lnoch had spoken to his sons andto the princes of the people, all his people and all his neighboursheard the Lord calling Enoch. And they agreed together, saying.

2 Let us go and greet Enoch. And about two thousand1 men assem-bled, and they came to the place Azuchan, where Enoch was andhis sons and the elders of the people. And they greeted Enoch,saying. You, whom the Lord, the eternal king, has blessed, blessnow your people, and glorify us in the Lord’s eyes, for the Lord haschosen you 2and appointed you to take away2 our sins.

XVII. Enoch answered his people, saying. Listen, my children.Before all things were, before all creation came into being, the Lordappointed the age of creation: after that he created all his creation,both what is visible and what is invisible; and after all that he mademan in his own image, and he set in him eyes to see and ears to hear

” Lit. ’and the pain ol hi.s heart docs not erase'.

20 Reading with B (‘the murmuring profits nothing’): the other MSS diverge.

21 So L': the other MSS differ. Vail hint proposes . . his promise, his repentancewill not be acceptable".

22 i.c. the heart of the giver.

So Yaillanl. I", supported by NBaR, reads ‘And the p<«>r man. when his heartis satisfied, and he (i.c. the poor man) is arrogant'.

1 So UR: BXBa 'four thousand'.

2 and appointed . . . away (lit. ‘to set you up as him who takes away ) — B:U corrupt.

2 and a heart to think and a mind to consider. 'Mien the Lordarranged1 the age lor man’s benefit, and he divided it into seasons2 *and into hours, that man might consider the changes' and ends ofthe seasons, the beginnings of the years and the ends of the monthsand the days and the hours, and that lie might reckon the length ofhis own life.4 When the whole creation which the Lord has madecomes to an end. and every man goes to the Lord’s great judge-ment. then the seasons will perish, and there will be no years anymore, nor will the months nor the days and hours be reckoned anyI more, but there will be a single age. And all the righteous whoescape the Lord’s great judgement will be united with the greatage, and the age5 will he united with the righteous, and they shalllive eternally.6 And they shall have no more labour nor sufferingnor sorrow nor fear of persecution.7 * * nor labour nor night nordarkness;" but they shall have about them a great light for ever andan indestructible wall, and in the great Paradise shall they have the<> shelter of an eternal dwelling-place. Happy the righteous whoescape the Lord's great judgement, for their faces will shine asbrightly as the sun.

7 So now, my children, keep your souls from all unrighteousness;from all that the Lord hales. Live your lives as in the Lord'spresence, and serve him alone, and bring him every offering he hasH ordained. If you look up to hcaven.g the Lord is there, for the Lordcreated the heavens:10 II if you look at the earth and the sea, and youconsider10 the things under the earth, the Lord is there also, for the<* Lord created all things. Nothing you do can be hidden from the10 Lord's eyes. Let it be in patience, in gentleness, and in the afflictionof1 your sorrows, that you leave this world of suflering.

1 I .it. 'delivered'.

: into seasons = l : BNBa 'into years and into months’.

I S<i NR: l 'seasons'.

4 l.’ ‘that he might give his life and death’.

5 L‘om.‘and the age’.

6 I.it. ‘and they shall lie eternally' (or 'and they shall be Ix-longing to the age ).

7 Lit. ‘nor expectation of violence'.

" nor labour .. . darkness: U ‘and no labour neither of night nor of darkness’.

w So BR: L ‘If fie looks upward*.

10 So BR: U ‘if he Irxjks . . . and he considers'.

II of: l' 'and in’ (but the ease endings show that this is corrupt).

XVIII. While Knoeh was speaking u» his people.' the Lord sent ablackness on the earth, and it was dark, and the darkness covered2 the men who were standing with Enoch. And the angels madehaste, and the angels took up Enoch and led him up to the highestheaven; and the Lord received him, and he set him before him for:i ever. And the darkness departed from the earth and it was light,and the people saw and understood2 how Enoch had been taken;and they glorified God and went to their own homes.'

XIX. 1

XX. And Methusalom made haste.1 and his brothers. Enoch’ssons, and they built an altar at the place A/.uchan2 where Enoc hhad been taken, and they took sheep and cattle and sacrificed

2 before the Lord. And they called together all the people' who hadcome with them to the feast; and the people brought gifts toEnoch's sons, and they made merry and rejoiced for three days.-*

XXI. And on the third day. at sunset, the elders of the peoplespoke to Methusalom, saying. Go and stand before the Lord andbefore your people, ’and before the altar of the Lord, and you

2 will be glorified by2 your people. And Methusalom answered hispeople,1 The Lord, the God of my3 father Enoch, he himself willraise up a priest over his people. And the people wailed there thewhole ol that night in the place Azuchan;4 and Methusalom stayed

1 At this point l.‘ inserts a title, ‘Of the taking up of Enoch'.

2 So L : B etc. 'did not understand'.

* NBa end with this chapter.

1 Chapter xix, which gives a summary of Enoch’s activities, is found onlyin K and P.

1 So BR: L' corrupt.

2 So L’: BR Wchuzan’.

’ called . . . people = BR: l’ corrupt.

4 Here, with a brief concluding formula. P ends.

1 1 and . . . people — BR: V orn. (and in consequence. Methusalom's statement,

which follows, is attributed to the elders).

1 Lit.‘in*. J So BR: L* ‘your’.

* So L'B: R Achuzan*.

by the altar and prayed to the Lord and said, Eternal Lord, theonly God,5 who hast chosen our* father Enoch, do thou, Lord,appoint7 a priest (or thy people, and give their hearts understandingt to fear thy glory and to do all things according to thy will. AndMethusalom fell asleep, and the Lord appeared to him in a visionby night and said to him. Listen, Methusalom. I am the Lord, theGod of your father Enoch: pay attention to what your people aresaying, and stand before them and before my altar, and 1 willT> glorify you before these my people all the days of your life. AndMethusalom rose up from his sleep and blessed him" who hadti appeared to him. And the elders of the people came to Methusalomin the morning; and the Lord God turned Methusulom's heart sothat he listened to what the people said, and lie said to them. TheLord our* God. let him do what he pleases to these his people.

7 And Sarsan and Gharmis and Zazas10 and the elders of thepeople made haste and arrayed Methusalom in a gorgeous robeand put a splendid crown on his head; and the people made hasteand brought sheep and cattle and the kinds of birds that wereappointed, so that Methusalom could sacrifice before11 the Lord

8 and before" the people. And Methusalom went up to the altar ofthe Lord, like the morning-star when it rises, and all the people

<j followed after him. And Methusalom stood at the altar, and all thepeople were round about the altar. And the ciders of the people tookthe sheep and the cattle and bound them by the four feet, and theylaid them at the head of the altar; and the people said toMethusalom, Take your knife and slaughter these appointed

10 victims before the Lord. And Methusalom stretched out his handsto heaven and invoked the Lord, saying. Ah me. Lord! Who am I tostand at the head of thine altar and at the head of all thy people?

11 "And now, Lord, Lord, look upon thy servant, and on the head ofall thy people,12 and on all these who have been chosen, and givegrace to thy sen ant before these people, that they may understand

* Lit. ‘Lord of all the age. who art alone’.

6 BR ‘my’. ’ So L' (lit. ‘show forth’): BR ‘raise up‘.

8 So U: BR ‘the Lord’. ’ B ’your’.

10 So UR: B And Sarsai and Charlis’ (otn. Zazas).

11 R *in the name «r.

IJ-‘2 And now . . . people = B. supported by R: U ran.

12 that thou hast ordained1-' a priest for thy people. And it earner topass, while Methusalom was praying, the altar trembled, and theknife rose up from the altar, and the knife leapt into Methusalum's

l:i hands before all the people. And all the people trembled andglorified the I*ord; and Methusalom was honoured before the Lord

11 and before all the people from that day onwards. And Methusalom

13 took'4 and slaughtered all that had come from the people.15 Andthe people rejoiced and made merry before the Lord and beforeMethusalom on that day: and after that they went to their ownhomes.

XXII. But Methusalom stood at the head of the altar and at the

2 head of all the people from that day. In theyear 1480 he explored'the whole earth and sought out all those who had believed in theLord, and those who had lallcn away:2 he corrected and convertedthem; and no man was found, who had fallen away2 from the

:t Lord's ways,' all the days that Methusalom lived. And the Lordblessed Methusalom in his sacrifices and his offerings and in all hisministry before the Lord.

I And when Mcthusalom's days were near their end,4 the Lordappeared to him in a vision by night and said to him. Listen,Methusalom, 1 am5 the God of your father Knoch. 1 would haveyou know that the days of your life are at an end and the day of your

3 rest is approaching. Gall Xir, your son Lantech's second son, andarray him in your own holy robes and set him at my altar, and tell

ti him everything that will happen in his days. For the time is comingfor the destruction of the whole earth and of every man and of

7 everything that moves on the earth. For in his days there will begreat disorder on the earth, for man has become envious of man;and people will oppress6 people, and nation will make war upon

” So BR: l lh.u thou art: ordain’. “ R adds‘the knifr’.

15 BR 'all that had Ihtii brought by thr fieoplr'.

1 B 'III 182 be explored’: l.' ‘In 492 he inherited'; R masts the passage, ‘Fromthat tlay tor ten years, hoping lor the eternal inheritance, he sought out . .Variant's emendation is based on the number of years Irom the Creation accordingto the figures in the Septuaginl. 5 Lit. 'changed'.

’ Lit.‘Face’. * Lit. ‘And after the ending of’the days of Methusalom'.

' BR add‘the Lord'.

6 B 'threaten'; R 'behave themselves proudly against’.

357

nation: the whole earth will he filled with blood and with evilh disorder. Moreover, they will fall away from their Creator andworship what is fixed in heaven and what moves on earth7 and thewaves of the sea; and the adversary will magnify himself and') rejoice in what they do to my sorrow. 1'hc whole earth will changeits order, and all the fruits and all the grass will* change theirseasons,9 for they will be waiting lor the time of destruction: and allin nations on the earth will fall away.10 and all I have desired.“ Andthen will I command the abyss and it will pour itself out on theearth, and the treasuries of the waters of heaven will pourthemselves out on the earth, and all will be without form as it wasin the beginning:12 and the whole structure of the earth will perish,and the whole earth will tremble and lose its stability" from that

11 day onward. Then will I preserve Noe, your son Lantech's eldestson: and I will raise up from his descendants another world, andhis descendants shall endure for ever.

12 And when he got up from his sleep, Methusalom was muchn distressed about the dream. He called all the elders of the people,

and he told them everything the Lord had said to him and theI I vision the Lord had revealed to him. And the people loo weredistressed about his vision, and they answered him. The Lord haspower to do what he wills; so you must now do everything the Lordl '> has told you. Methusalom called Xir, Lantech's second son, andarrayed him in the priestly robes before all the people, and he sethim at the head of the altar and taught him all that he had to do"!f> among the people. And Methusalom said to the people, BeholdNir! Behold, he shall be your leader15 from today and the guide of

17 the princes. And the people answered Methusalom, May the word

18 of the Lord be fulfilled on us as he promised you.16 And whileMethusalom was speaking to the people, his spirit was troubled,

7 All MSS corrupt. l.‘ ‘the movement over the earth': BR ‘the fixing in the heavenand tlu* movement of the earth'.

" will: l' om. " R 'seeds'.

Lit. ‘will change'. " B ‘to my sorrow’.

12 I.it. *.. . on the earth, in matter as great as primitive matter'. The referenrr is tothe primaeval ‘matter’ out of which the world was made.

11 So R: BL' ‘its strong one’.

” Lit. ‘he shall be before you’.

So L‘: B and R have slightly longer variants.

14 L'‘all that he did’.

and he* fell on his knees and stretched out his hands to heaven andprayed to the Lord; and as he prayed, his spirit left him.

1*1 And Nir made haste, and all the people, and built a tomb forMcthusalom; and they put there incense and sweet-cane and many

21) things to consecrate it.17 And Nir and the people went, and theytook up Methusalom's body and laid it in the tomb that they had

21 built for him and covered it.1* And the people said, Blessed was

22 Mcthusalom before the Lord and before all the people. And after-wardsthey assembled together, and Nir said to the people, Makehaste today, and bring the sheep and the bullock and the turtle-dove and the pigeon, so that we may sacrifice before the Lord, and

2:1 he shall rejoice today;20 and then go to your own homes. And thepeople listened to Nir the priest: they made haste and brought thevictims and bound them at the head of the altar; and Nir took the

24 sacrificial knife and sacrificed before the Lord. And the peoplemade haste and did what they had been told, and they made merrybefore the Lord the whole day: they glorified the Lord God, the

2*i saviour21 of Nir, before the people. From that day there was peaceand order throughout the whole earth in Nir’s days, for twohundred and two years.22

2*> And after that the people fell away2’ from the Lord and began tobe envious of one another; and people stood up against people andnation rose up against nation in strife, and there was great tumult.

27 And Nir the priest heard about it, and he was much distressed andsaid to himself. The time has come and the words are fulfilled thatthe Lord spoke to my grandfather Methusalom.

XX1IL And behold,1 Sofonima, Nir’s wife, was barren and had2 borne Nir no child. And Sofonima was well on in years and verynear her death; and she conceived, although Nir the priest had not

11 So l.': B 'many lights'; R has a longer conflate reading.

** So BR; L* ‘and set it down’.

I” Lit. 'And from there’. 10 B 'and rejoice today'.

the saviour — L’: B ‘of heaven and'; R ‘of heaven and earth and’.

22 Vaillant suggests emending 202 to 2200 (afi' to/to'), which would be the dateof the generation preceding the flood.

Lit.‘the people changed'.

1 So BR Rum.: L’ om.

2 Enoch

359

had intercourse with her since the day the Lord set him before the:i people.2 Sofonima' was ashamed and hid herself’day alter day. andno one of the people knew; and the day came when she should give4 birth. And Xir remembered his wife and called her to him in hishouse to talk to her; and Sofonima went to her husband, and*> behold, she was about to give birth.4 And when Xir saw her he wasvery ashamed because of her. and he said to her. Why have youdone this, wife, and brought shame upon me before all the people?i> And now, away front me: go where you have so shamefully con-ceived,5 in case I sully my hands on you and sin bclbrc the Lord.

7 And Sofonima answered her husband, saying. Behold, my lord, Iam well on in years6 and no youthful desires are left in me: I do not

8 know how in my innocence I have conceived. .Xir did not believeher, and he said to her a second time. Away from me. in ease I

9 strike you and sin before the Lord. And it came to pass, while Xirwas speaking to his wife, that Sofonima fell down at Nir's Icet anddied.

10 And -Xir was greatly distressed and said to himself. Is it becauseof what I said7 that this has happened to her? But now the eternal

11 Lord is merciful, for 1 lifted no hand against her." And Xir madehaste and shut9 the doors of his house and went to his brother Noe

li and told him everything that had happened to his wife. And Noemade haste and went to his brother's house; and his brother’s wife13 was clearly dead, and she was about to give birth.10 And Noe saidto Nir, Do not be distressed, Nir. my brother, for the Lord hasconcealed our shame today, since no one of the people knows aboutthis; and now make haste,11 let us bury her. and the Lord will

; Hcrc.J ends.

1 R 'When Sofonima rralizrd that she had conceived, she'.

4 Lit. ‘she had in her wombat the time of birth’.

s Lit. ’you have con reived the shame of your womb’.

6 BR Rum. add ‘and the day of my death (+ has come R)\

7 Lit. ‘Is it from my word (— B Rum.: R ‘voice’; U ‘Lord’).’

* U adds here ‘And the archangel Gabriel appeared to Nir and said to him. Donot think your wife Sofonima died as a result of sin. This child that is born of her isrighteous fruit; and 1 will take him up to Paradise, so that you be not a father to a giltof God’. * So BR Rum.: L’‘opened’.

10 Lit. ‘and the aspect of his brother’s wifr was in death, and her wombat die timeofbirth’. " BR Rum.‘lot us make haste’.

11 conceal our disgrace.12 And they laid Sol'onima on a bed, andclothed her in black garments, and shut the door, and went andhollowed out tombs1'secretly.

I j And when they had gone out to her tomb,14 the child came out ofHi the corpse ofSolonima and sat on the bed. And Noe and Nir came

in to bury Solbnima. and they saw the child sitting by the corpse,17 and he had a garment on him,15 And Noe and Nir were veryfrightened, lor the child's body was perfect: he spoke with hismouth and blessed the Lord. Noe and Nir stared at him, saying,IN This is the Lord’s doing, my brother. And behold, the seal of the10 priesthood was on his breast, and he was a joy to look at. AndNoe said to Nir, Brother, behold, the Lord will restore the holy■->ii tabernacle after us. And Nir and Noe made haste and washed thechild and arrayed him in the priestly garments, and they gave himbread that had been blessed and he ate it; and they called him•Jl Melchisedek. And Noe and Nir took Sofonima’s body and took theblack garments ofTher; and they washed her body and clothed herin splendid and exquisite garments. And they built her a tomb;16and Noe went, and Nir and Melchisedek, and they buried her with

II honour openly. And Noe said to his brother, Keep the childsecretly until the time appointed, for the people's wickedness hasincreased everywhere on earth, and if they see him, they will findsome way of killing him. And Noe returned home.

LM And behold, all kinds ©/iniquities increased greatly17 everywhereon earth in Nir’s days; and Nir was greatly distressed, the more so'2'i for the child, saying, What can I do for him? Nir stretched out hishands towards heaven and invoked the Lord, saying, Alas, eternalLord, all kinds of iniquities have increased greatly on earth in my■Jt) days, and I sense that our end is near. And now, Lord, what is thefuture of this child, and what his fate? What can I do for him, so’ll that he is not involved with us in this destruction? The Lord heardNir and appeared to him in a vision at night and said to him,

11 R 'the disgrace of our shame'.

*’ Sol - m> doubt assuming a separate tomb lor the child: BR Rum. ‘tomb’.

14 bo Vaillant: L' 'to her brd'; B Rum. ‘to Nir’s house': R orn.

,s So l' Tr.: R Rum., supported by B. ‘and wiping his garments'.

16 B Rum., suported by R. ‘another house*.

17 increased greatly = B Rum., supported by R: L' om.

:Mi

Behold. Nir, the corruption on tlic earth is universal:"* no longer

?B will I tolerate it or endure //. Behold, I intend very soon to bring agreat destruction on the earth; but have no worries about the child.Nir. lor alter a little while 1 will send my archangel Gabriel,iy andhe will take the child and put him in the Paradise of'Kdcn. He willnot perish with those who arc about to perish, lor I have sent him asa sign;20 for he shall be to me a priest of priests lor ever -Melehisedek. and I will set him apart.21 and 1 will make of him22 agreat people who will honour me.

30 And Nir got up from his sleep and blessed the Lord who hadappeared to him, saying. Blessed art thou. Lord Gtxf of our2-'fathers, who hast not let reproach fall on my priesthood or24 thepriesthood of my fathers, for thy word has created a high priest in

31 the womb of my wile Sofonima. For 1 had no children, and thischild shall be25 in place of my own children and become26 my son;and thou shall count him with thy servants27 2*with Soldi andOnoch and Rusi and Milam and Seruch and Arusan, Nail andEnoch and Mcthusalom and thy servant Nir;28 and Melchisedech

32 shall be chief priest in another generation. For I know29 that thisgeneration will end in turmoil and all will perish, and Noe mybrother will be preserved to another generation'0 to be its father;'1and from his family will spring a numerous people, andMelehisedek will be chief priest among a people that is subject tothee, O Lord, and serveth thee.

33 And it came to pass, when the child had been in Nir's house forforty days, the Lord said to the archangel Gabriel,'2 (Jo down toearth, to Nir the priest, and take the child Melehisedek that is with

l.ii. 'a great iniquity has already been on the earth'.

Tr.R ‘my archistratcgc Michael'.

10 Lit. 'and I have shown him forth’.

*' Lit. ‘and I will sanctity him'.

22 So l' (lit. ‘and I will change him into'): BRTr. Rum. 'and I will set him up as'.

2* So L‘: BR Rum. “mv'. 24 Lit. ‘in'.

25 So B Rum.: I’R 'and may this child be". 26 BR add "as it were'.

27 BR Rum. add 'and with thy priests'.

2H~2* So L': BR Rum. differ not a little. 2<> So BR: l' corrupt.

w So L R: B Rum. "in that day': R continues ‘and the procreation will lx: from histribe, and there will lx* another people, and there will be another Melehisedek. chiefof the priests . . 51 Lit. “for the procreation’.

■*2 So L’: BR Rum. ‘to Miehael*.

2 Enoch

MV

:u him" and put him in tin* garden of Kden to keep him safe. For thetime is now very near when I shall let loose all the waters ov er theearth, and all that is on the earth shall perish; and 1 will give him aplace of honour in another generation, and Mclehisedek shall be;<■) chief priest in that generation. And Gabriel'4 made haste and flewdown by night; and that night Nir was asleep on his bed andGabriel *4 appeared to him anti said to him. Thus says the Lord to:fti Nir. Let the child I entrusted to you come to me. And Nir did notrecognize who it was that was speaking to him. and lie was muchtroubled and said to himself. Can it be that the people know aboutthe child, and want to take him away and kill him? (For thepeople's thoughts and inclinations were evil in the Lord's sight.):17 And he answered Gabriel14 and said. I have no child, neither do 1tit know who it is that is speaking to me. And Gabriel ’5 answered him.Have no fear. Nir. I am the archangel Gabriel:-*6 The Lord has sentme; and behold. 1 will take your child today and 1 will go with himM and put him in the Paradise of Kden. And Nir remembered his firstdream, and he believed and answered Gabriel.*4 Blessed be thelaird who has sent you to me today; and now bless your servantNir. and take the child and do with him everything you have beento told to do. And Gabriel-’4 took the child Mclehisedek on his wingsII that night and put him in the Paradise of Kden. And when Nir gotup in the morning and went into the house, he did not find thechild; and this was lor Nir a cause both of great joy and of sorrow,*7for he had come to look upon the child as a son.18

*' with him = BR Ruin.: I’ <>m. u So l': BR Rum. ’Michael’.

” So l': B Rum. 'Michael'; R ‘hr that sjx»kc to me’.

M So l’: BR Rum. ‘I am ihcarclustrategrofthc Lord'.

” So 1‘: BR Rum. ‘And Nir had great sorrow in place of joy*.

'* L adds a doxology, ’Glory lx- lo our God always, now and for ever, and to theages of agrs. Amen’.

In B our apocryphon forms part of a scries of Biblical stories and is followedimmediately by an account of thr Flood.

R ends '. . . in place of joy. for he had no other son but him. So Nir died; andafterwards there was no priest among the people. And from that lime arose muchtumult on the earth’. Then follows a very much condensed account of the Flood andNoah’s subsequent history .

Rum. ends with the opening sentence of a Flood account.'. . . in place of joy. for hrhad come lo look upon the child as a son. But in that time all great tumult arose onthe earth. The Lord called Noe to the mountain Asir and told him to make an arkspeedily'.

THE APOCALYPSE OF ABRAHAM

Both the pseudo-At ha nasian Synopsis and the Stiehomeiry ofNieephorus include "Abraham' in their lists of apocryphal l>ooks:but whether they are referring to our Apocalypse, or to outTestament, or to some other work bearing Abraham's name, it isimpossible to say. Priscillian is similarly vague when lie askswhether anyone has ever “read a book of Abraham among theprophets of the established canon*.1 Keen more uncertain is theidentity of the book (or books) ‘oft lie Three Patriarchs' mentionedat the very end of the apocryphal list in the well known passage inThe Apostolic Constitutions (VI. xvi. .1) - is one book being referred tohere or are three? Are the "three patriarchs' referred to Abraham.Isaac, and Jacob (as we should naturally expect)? Or is the taelthat they occur at the very end of the list (after "I-aiah* and ‘David'and ‘Elijah’} significant, and are three later worthies therefore inmind?

Epiphanius, at first sight, is more definite. He records thatamong the apocryphal books used by the Scthians was one passingunder the name of Abraham ‘which also they assert to be arevelation'.2 The obvious interpretation of this statement is that itis a referenectoourApoealyp.se. On the other hand, the Testamentcontains not a little apocalyptic material: and this is recognised, lorexample, in the title of the Testament in the Rumanian version(‘The Life and Death of our Father Abraham, the Righteous,written according to the Ajx>ealypse . . .'}. So there could clearly beconfusion between Apocalypse and Testament. The Scthians.about whom Epiphanius is writing, may have used either theApocalypse or the Testament, or. perhaps, another work incor-porating material in one. or the other, or both, or neither.

Even greater uncertainty surrounds the interpretation of apassage in the Prologue to Palladius's Liustac History. In the tradi-tional text of this passage Palladius refers to ‘those who havewritten the lives of the Fathers. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and

1 Prise. Tract, iii.

•’ Kpiph. Haer. XXXIX. v. I

Moses also and Elijah, and those who came after them'.' But thestandard modern text reads ‘those who have written die lives of theFathers, Abraham and those who came alter him. Moses andElijah and John’.4 Whether or not Palladius knew three Lives’ ofall three patriarchs, or only a single ‘tale’ of Abraham, is lor ourpresent purposes immaterial. What is important to note is that thedescription ‘Life’ fits the Testament of Abraham just as well as itdoes the Apocalypse. Though it may well be that Palladius wasreferring to neither, but to a dilVercnt work altogether, now nolonger extant.

In modern times the Apocalypse has been preserved only inSlavonic. Two editions of the Slavonic text were published in-dependently by N. S. Tikhonravov and I. I. Srrzncvsky in 1863from the 14th cent. Codex Sylvester (in which the Apocalypseappears as one item in a collection of lives of saints); and these tw'oeditions of the text were followed by the publication of a facsimileedition of the MS itself in 1891. The Apocalypse is also found insome of the MSS of the Palaea interpretata.5 and the texts of several ofthese MSS have been edited.

Our translation is based on the Sylvester text (- S). This text,however, is in many places manifestly corrupt and not infrequentlyinferior to one or the other of the Palaea texts: in such cases thePalaea texts have been preferred. Three Palaea texts have beenused: ) = the 15th cent. MS of the Palaea in the Joseph Monasteryat Volokolamsk (now in Moscow), edited by N. S. Tikhonravov;K = the 17th cent. MS originally in Solovetsk, transferred toKazan, and edited by I. Ya. Porfir'ev; and R = the MS dated AD

* (Uj. P(• xxxiv. 11KJH—4 (reprinted from Ducaeus).

4 Culhberl Butler, The Lausiac History oj Palladna. II ( = 75’VI. ii; Cambridge,

1904). p. II.

* The Palaea is a compendium of miscellaneous items collected togetherprimarily to show how the Old Testament was fulfilled in the New. Individual itemsvary nut a little from MS to MS. The basic collection is thought to have been madein Greek in the 8th or 9th cents, and to have been translated into Slavonic in theI (Itli cent.: over the years it was much enlarged and expanded. Besides TheApocalypse of Abraham the Palaea has preserved, among other things, The Ladderof Jacob, a number of sagas about Cain, Abel, [.amech, and other Old Testamentworthies, and, most important of all, the Slavonic version of The Testaments of theTwelve Patriarchs.

The Apocalypse 0/ Abraham

365

149-1 in llic Rumyantsev Museum (now the Lenin Library) inMoscow, edited by A. N. Pypin.

Most of the Palaea texts begin with a prologue not ibunci in S: wehave printed this prologue in lull from R and K in the apparatus onp. 369. Some Palaea texts (and among them R and K.) eoutinueimmediately with the* opening words of ehup. i. although thismakes a very awkward eonneetioii: but others omit chaps, i-vialtogether and follow the prologue with the beginning of chap, vii(’And Abraham, having reasoned thus, came to his father, saying.Father Iliara. fire is more honourable than images . . R slopsshort at the end of chap, viii - i.c. it contains only the legendary'part of the Apocalypse and not the more specifically 'apocalyptic*.J and K agree in olfering a more satisfactory conclusion, which islacking in S: but. even here. J seems to be defective at the very end.And throughout there are many variants, omissions, additions,and displacements, by no means all of w hich are recorded in ourapparatus. Also noteworthy is the vacillation between the use ofthe first and third persons in the narrative - the result of uncer-tainty in the tradition about whether Abraham Inmsclf is tellingthe story or someone else is telling ii about him. Moreover, tin*work known as 'The Tale of the Just Man Abraham*.* although itcannot he described as an 'abridgement* of the A|x>calypsc. never-theless shows clear traces of dependence on the same tradition, andby its very existence provides an interesting illustration of how thattradition, in the Slavonic world at least, was being continuallyadapted and re-shaped.

Despite the w ide variations in the extant Slavonic texts of theApocalypse, and the consequent difficulty in tracing any part of itw ith any degree of certainly to a Greek or Semitic original, therecan he no doubt at all that a very great deal of the materialcontained in it is ultimately Jewish. Thus, the tradition thatIsrael’s ancestors in Mesopotamia ‘even Terah, the lather ofAbraham, and the father of Nahor ... served other gods* is attestedas early as Josh. xxiv. '2. I'lic Book of Jubilees relates how .Abrahamdisputed with Terah alxiul the folly of idol-worship and how he ‘setfire to the idols' house* in Ur of the Chaldees, and then how later in

* Published most reecntly by P. A. Lavrov in SURYaS Ixvii. H (Si. Petersburg,1899). pp. 70-81.

;Jt>< > The Apocalypse of Abraham

Haran. while observing 'the signs of the stars', lie perceived at lastthe truth about the Creator, was thus led to forsake all kinds of falseworship, and set out at the Divine command on his journey toCanaan7. And this account in Jubilees is repeated and developedin a variety of ways in later Jewish writings.

Yet this does not in itself prove that the author of the Apocalypsewas a Jew. Christians read, not only their Bibles, but also Jubileesand other Jewish literature. They were also in touch in certainareas and at certain times with not a little Jewish oral tradition.There is clear evidence, from sources quite unconnected with theApocalypse, that in this instance they knew some, at least, of theextra-Biblical Jewish traditions about Abraham.8 And there are inthe* Apocalypse several passages which show signs of Christianinfluence, particularly towards the end (and pre-eminently chap.\xix). These passages may. of course, be Christian interpolationsinto an originally purely Jewish work. But not necessarily so.

A possible indication of date is the description of the burningand pillaging of the Temple by the heathen in chap, xxvii. This hasbeen held to point to a date alter ad 70. But chap, xxvii is in thesecond, ‘apocalyptic*, part of the book (ix-xxxi); so that for thosewho. like Cin/bcrg. think that the ‘apocalyptic* part was originallyindependent of the ’legendary’ (i-viii), chap, xxvii is only evidencefor the date of the apocalyptic* part.

However, as the btxik stands, there are certainly connectionsbetween the two parts (chaps, xxv and xxvi make unambiguousreferences to the contents of i-viii). Consequently, even if the twoparts were originally independent, they have not simply beenjoined together, but a definite attempt has been made to fuse them.And the fusion (if such it was) would seem to have been made bythe middle of the 4th cent, at the latest, since the ClementineRecognitions refer to Abraham,

'who. since he was an astrologer, was able to recognise the Creator from thedisposition and order of the stars, and understood that all things arc

7 J ub. xii. 1-8. 12, Hi-28.

* See especially L. Gitizbcrg, 'Die Haggada bci dm Kirchriivaicrn und in derapokryphiselicn Littcratur’ in Monatuckrift fur Geschichte und Wissmschaft desJudenthunn, xliii (18*19). pp. 486—190.

regulated In His providence. U Iii-ikt also an angrl standing In him in avision, instructed him mmc lully about those things which he was hegiu-iiint' to perceive. But he shewed him also whal was destined |i>r his rareand posterity, and promised that these places should not so much hr givento them as restored'.v

Nothing is said in the Recognitions about the source of the writer'sinformation about Abraham at this point, furthermore, the‘legendary* interest of the passage is concentrated on Abraham'spractice ofastrnlngv. rather than on his attack on idolatry, which isthe main theme of the first part of the Ajxwalypse. Kven so. what issignificant is that in the Recognitions the ‘legendary' and the‘apocalyptic* elements in the Abraham tradition are closely associ-ated, and that the latter part of the passage quoted ‘forms (as Boxputs it) a go<xl description of the second or apocak piic part of ourBook*.10 In other words. Recognitions, i. 3*2. would seem to hrevidence that the Ajjocalypse existed, at any rate in embryo, asearly as c. 350. however much it may subsequently have beenre-modelled, re-written, expanded, or interpolated, even perhapsas late as the 16th or 17th rents, (the date ol our latest SlavonicMSS).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

KI)1 TIOXS

N . S. TikHOXRAYOY. Pamyatniki otrechennoi ntsskoi hteratury, i (St.

Petersburg, 1063), pp. 32-53 (= Sj. pp. 54-77 [- J|.

I. I. SRKZXKVSKY, Drernie pamyatniki russkogo pis'mn i va^vka:obshchee povremennoe obogrenie (= Izvestiya Imperatorskoi akademiinauk po otdeleniyu russkogoyazyka i s/oresnosti, x (St. Petersburg.1861-63), cols. 648-665) [= S].

, Drernie..., i (Thcaljove reissued in lxx>k form: St. Petersburg.

1866). pp. 247^256-1 = Sj.

* Clem. Rerogn. i. 4J I Ruiinus's translation of the Recognitions is to be dairrl c. \l>4<J(J). 10 (». H. Box. The Apocalypse of Abraham, p. .wit.

368 The Apocalypse of Ahraham

I. Va. PoRFIR K\. Apokrificheskie skazaniya <> velkhozavetnykh lifsakh isobytivakhpo rukopisyam Solovetskoi biblioteki ( = SORJVi.y xvii. i (St.Petersburg. 1877). pp. 111-130) [= K).

A, \. PVl’IN. Lozhnye i otrechennye knigi russkoi stariny (= id. (J. A.KI SHKI.KV-Bk/.BORODKO, Pamyatniki starinnoi russkoi litera-lury. iii (St. Petersburg. 1862). pp. 21—26) [= Rj.

(For tht* facsimile edition of S see Otkroveme Avraama = Obshchestvo(yubitelei drenieipis mennosli. No. 00 (St. Petersburg. 1801).]

TRANSLATIONS

English

(J. H. B()\ (with the assistance ofJ. I. Landsman), The Apoca-lypse of Abraham: Edited, with a Translation from the Slavonic Text andAotes (= S.P.C.K., Translations of Early Documents', London,1018).

German

(L V Bo.WVKTSCH. Di* Apokalypse Abrahams (= Studien zurGeschicte der TheologieandKirche, Bd. i. Heft l (Leipzig, 1807), pp.1-70).

P. R l KSSI.KR, AjSaB', pp.. 13-30.

B. PHII.ONKNKO-SaVAR and \L PmLONKNKO in JSh-rZ V.5(1082). pp. 415- 460.

C, IN KRAI.

A.-M. Dknis, IPG A T, pp. 37-38.

L. OlN/.HKKG, art. ‘Abraham. Apocalypse of in JE i (New York,1001). pp. 01-92.

. The legends oj the Jews, i (Philadelphia. 1900), pp. 200-213

and v (Philadelphia. 1925), pp. 217-218, 220—230.

P. RI KSSI.KR, AjSaBy pp. 1267-1269.

A. Rl'BINSTKIN. ‘Hebraisms in tin* Slavonic Apocalypse ofAbraham' in JJS iv (1953), pp. 108—115 and v (1954), pp.132-135.

K. ScHiRKR, Gjl’ZJC* iii, pp. 336-338.

K. TlRDKANT, 'l.'Apocalypse d'Abraham cn slave' in The Journal forthe Study oj Judaism, iii (1972), pp. 153-180.

H. \Vki\kl in Ei’A\ pp. 167—170.

apocalypse of abraham

The Apocalypse of Abraham 3b9

The Book of the Revelation oi'Abraham, the son ofTherin. the sontif Xachor. ihe son ofScruch. tin* son ol Roeli. the son of Arpliaxad,the son ol Sim. the son of Noe. the son of Lameeh. the son ofMetlmsalam. the son ofKnnch. the son ol’Ared.1

I. One day. when I was planing the gods of my father Theran1 andthe gods of my brother Naoeh.* when I was encj airing who in truththe Mighty God is. I. Abraham was doing m\ duty and devotingmyself to the services an//sacrifices of my father Thara to his gods ofwood, stone, gold, silver, brass, and iron. And I went into theirtemple lor the service: and I found the god Marumath by name.who u as carved from stone, fallen down at the feel of the godNachor.-'a'/fOHWofiron. And when I saw it. 1 was distressed. 1 wassure that I. Abraham, could not put him back in his place bymyself, for he was a massive lump of stone and heavy. So I went andtold my father; and he came in to help me.4 And while we werelifting him to put him back in his place, his head tell oil hint: and Iwas still holding him by the head. And when my father saw thatMar uniat It’s head had fallen off, he said to me. Abraham. And Isaid. Here am I. And he said to me. Bring me the axes and pincers'from the house. And 1 brought them to him from the house. And hecarved a second Marumath from a second stone without a head,

1 R has the title ’The B*x>k ulmut Abraham, lurelather and patriarch'. RK begin'Thara was Abraham's lather, and Thara begun to do what he saw done at hislather Nahor's: and he worshipjx-d idols and burned sacrifices before them. Ixitliealves and heifers, and did all that is pleasing to the devil. When Abraham saw this,lie was very perturbed; and lie said to liimscll". Behold, im liilhei Thara is deceivedbv these gixls of wood, lor they have no souls (R uni.) in them: they have eyes butthey do not see. they have ears but they do not hear, they have hands but they do notfeel, they have feet but they do not walk (R omits this elatise). they have noses butthey du not smell, and there is no voice in their mouths. So I think in very truth mylather Thara is deceived. And Abraham, having reasoned thus" . . . {see above p.

3t»5).

' RJK ‘Thara’.

* my brother Naoeh: RK Nahor’.

1 Su J:RK 'Naehin'; S "Xaritseu*.

* fit ‘came in with me*.

* K uni. 'and pincers'.

J7( i The Apocalypse of Abraham

and he put an it the head that had fallen olf Maruniaih; hut the restoiMaruinalii he destroyed.*1

II. And he made live other gods, and he gave them to me and toldme to sell them outside in the eity street. And I saddled my father'sass and put them on it and went out onto the highway to sell them.And behold, merchants from hand ana in Syria came with camels.

i on their way into Kgypi to trade. And I fell into conversation with:> them.1 ()ne of their camels snorted, and the ass took fright, and ranaway and upset the gods: and three of them were broken, and onlyt> two remained whole. And when the Syrians saw 1 had gods, theysaid to me. Why did you not tell us you had gods? We would havebought them2 belbre the ass heard the camel’s snort,J and you7 would not have had this loss. But give us the remaining gods, andwe will pay you the proper price for the broken gods as well as forK the gods that remain whole.* (For I was worried how I should make*i account* to my father.) And the three broken ones I threw into thewater of the river (»ur.6 which was in that place; and they sank tothe bottom and were seen no more.

III. And us 1 went on my way a number of questions arose in myJ.j mind which disturbed me.1 And I thought.’ Behold. Marumath

K Anti Ik* cut the head Ifuni a second stone god and fastened it to the godMaruinath. who had lallrn down; and (lie he.ul which had fallen oil him. and therest of the second god. he destroyed'.

1 RJK \ . . on their way into Kgypi to boy there scarlet dye from the Nile. And Iasked them, and they told me not (K um.). and I talked with them’. The wordkukumlu here translated 'scarlet dye' is obscure. Landsman translates’papy rus'. Itseems more likely to be a corruption «»l (Jk. KOnavog ('scarlet colour’) and to meansome kind of scarlet dye. possibly cochineal.

1 you had . . . hought them — RJK.: S um.

' Lit. 'voice'.

J J 'Bin give us the remaining gods, and we will pay you a proper price. And Ithought about it; and they paid the priced the broken gods as wtll as that lor theremaining gods*. * Lit. 'how I should bring the merchandise’.

* RTur'.

’ Lit. ’. . . way. my heart was troubled and my thought strayed within me’.

■’ RJK add verses 3 and 4. ‘What is this evil that my lather is doing? Is he nothimself' rather the god of his gods, since they owe their existence to his caning and

371

The Apocahp.seof Abraham

fell down and could not get up in his oun temple, nor could I lifthim up on my own. until my father came, and we both lifted him;t» and while we were unable to do this, his head fell oil him. and myfather’ pm it on another stone of a second god. which he had made7 without a head. And the other live gods, which were smashed whenthey Jell ofl'lhe ass. were not able either to save themselves, or to doharm to the ass because it had destroyed them: nor did theirH fragments come up out of the river. And I thought. If this be so.how then shall Marumath. my lather's god. with a head made fromone stone and a laxly made from another stone.4 be able to save aman. or hear a man's prayer, and reward him ’

IV. And as 1 pondered thus. I came to my lather's house: and Iwatered the ass and pul out hay for it. I look out the money and'1 gave it into my father Thara's hands. When he saw it. lie was gladand said. Blessed are you. Abraham, of my gods, lor you havebrought the price of the gods, so that tm labour might not be invain. And I answered and said to him. Listen, father Tcra:1 blessedare the gods of you. lor you are their god. inasmuch as you havecreated them;2 for their blessing is destruction and their might1 isvain: and since they did not help themselves, how will they helpt you, or bless me? It is I who have done you service in this transac-tion. Ibr by my astuteness I have secured you the money lor thej broken gods4 as a ell as for the others. And when lie heard what I said,he was furiously angry with me. because I had spoken disparaginglyabout his gods.

planing and skill:* Would it not Ik- rather belterlor diem to worship im lather sineethey owe their existenee to his work.'* What is this delusion of my lather in hisworks?'

' Lit. *he\

* Lit. 'having the head of a seeond stone, and made from a seeond stone'. Thetranslation attempts to give a sense that is in accordance with what we are told at

U'2.

1 RJK here and subsequently read ‘Thara*.

* blessed are the i*<h1s . . . created them = RJ K: S is here corrupt.' J ‘help’. 4 Lit.'broken ones'.

1.2 V. Bill I look note ol my father's fury and went out.1 Hr calk'd me.i saying. Abraham: and I said. Herr am I. And hr said.2 * 4 Collect theshavings of the wood, from which I was making gods of pine-wood

1 before y<iu eanu*. and take them and make me food lor dinner. Andwhile I was picking up die wood shavings l found among them alittle god. lying in the shelter on my left; and on his forehead was

.*> written. God Barisat. And I did not tell my taihrr I had found thei> wooden god Barisat among the shavings. And when I put theshavings on the fire to make fixxl for my father, before I went awuv7 to ask about the I<kkI. I stood Barisat by the fire / had made. And 1gave him instructions and said. Barisat. look after the fire until Ieome baek. so that it does not go out: if it is going out. blow on it. so».‘i that it burns up. I went away and did what I had intended. When Icame back. 1 ibund Barisat lying prostrate, his feel well into1 the*It) fire, and terribly burnt. And 1 burst into laughter and said to] l myself , Barisat. you can indeed make a fire and cook loud! And as Iwas saying this in my mockery/ he was gradual!) burnt up by the12 fire and reduced to ashes. And I took the food to my lather, and hei:t ate it. And l gave him wine and milk, ami he drank it and was11 satisfied; and he blessed his god Marumath. And I said to him.Father Tcra. do not bless your god Marumath. do not praise him:praise rather your god Barisat, for he. out of love for you. threwr> himself into the fire to cook your ftxxi. And he said to me. Where isIt) he now? And I said. He has been reduced to ashes by the fury of the17 fire and is become dust. And he said. Great is the might of Barisat:I will make another today; and tomorrow he shall make my loud.

VI. But when I, Abraham, heard words like this from my lather, Ilaughed in my mind, yet groaned in the grief and anger of my soul.

2 And 1 said. How can my father be served by what has been madeby hi m - by idols made with his own hands? Will fie subject his body to

1 R ‘Bill t. berause of my father's lurt. went mu'. RJK add 'And alter I hail gom*Out’.

’ And he said = RJK: Sum.

' hit.'surrounded by',

4 RJK. 'in my mind': K adds 'and latched'.

his soul, and thru the soul of the spiritual spirit to folly andt ignorance?1 And I said. It is only right to suffer evil onir: I will setmy mind on what is pure, and I will toll him plainly what 1 think.!S And2 I answered and said. Father Tera. whichever of these godsf> you praise, you are deluded in your mind. See. the gods of yourbrother Nachor,3 which stand in the holy temple, are more honnur-7 able than yours. See too. Zuch, your brother Aron's god. is morehonourable than Marumath your god. for he is made of gold, whichI! is highly prized by men. And if he ages with the years. In* can heremade: but Marumath. if he is smashed4 or broken, cannot beft restored, because he is of stone. And it is the same with the godin Avon who stands alongside Zuch. Barisat himsdl is burnt up in du-ll fire.5 and is reduced to ashes, and is no more. And yet you say.Today 1 will make another, and tomorrow he shall make my food.12 He has perished utterly.6

VII. Fire. I say.1 is more honourable than images: for even thingsthat are otherwise unsubdued arc subdued by it. and it mocks what

1 The obscurity here is probably due to dislocation in the texi.JK read ’Will hehave subjected hi* laxly to his soul, and the soul to the spirit, and the spirit to lolly

and ignorance?'

•' S uni.

' RK *i«y brother Nachor'tJ ‘your lather Nachor'.

* bit. ‘changed'.

* And it is the same . . . fire: RJK. ‘As for the god Joauv (R *Jav'). who standsalongside Zuch alxtve the other gixls - he is more worshipful than your god Barisat.who is made of wood, lor /re is forged of silver: as there is adaptation lor him also(?),he is highly prized by men because of the brilliance (lit. ‘show') of his appearance.Bui Barisat. vottr god. when he was still not made, was rooted in the earth, greatand wonderful, w ith branches and blossoms and praises; and then you rut him withan axe, and he was made into a god by your skill. And l>chold, now he is withered,and his richness has perished (for this clause R reads ‘and here is the stump'), andfrom the height he is fallen to the ground, and from greatness has he come tolittleness, and his outward form has disappeared, and he is burnt up in the fire'.

* Lit.‘to destruction*.

1 He has perished ... I say: JK ‘He has no might left, having perished utterly.

And Abraham, having reasoned thus, came to his lather, saying. Father Thara, fire

. (see above p.tt;-.).

The Apocalypse of Abraham

374

2 perishes so easily in its flames.2 Hut more honourable still are the:i waters, for they overcome fire and satisfy the earth. But neitherwould I call them god. for they arc subdued, and are inferior to3 the

I earth. But 1 t all the earth more honourable still, since it overcomesj the substance and abundanec of the waters.4 But I would not call it

god, since it is dried up by the sun. and it is made for the use ofii man. I would call the sun more worthy of worship than the earth,57 for with its rays it illumines the universe and the several airs. But Iwould not account it god, lor by night a cloud obscures its course.6ii Nor, again, would I call the moon and stars god. for they too intheir season are darkened in their light at night. Listen, Lera, myfather. I will examine with you the question who is the God7 wholo created all these gods lor whom we care. For who is he. or what ishe. who has made the heavens purple, who made the sun gold, and

II who set light in the m<x>n, and the stars with her? Who is he who hasmade the dry land in between the many waters, and has given you

12 the power of speech?" Let G<xl himselfappcar to us.v

■' images; lor... Haines: R J K "your gods of gold, silver, sumc, and wood, torlhejireburns your gods, and the gods it burns are subject to the lire, and the fire mocksthem; and it has devoured your gods. But neither would 1 call it god, lor it is subjectto the waters'. ’ l.it, 'they are subdued, turning under'.

J SR "the substance and abundance of the earth": J K "the substance of water".

* I would ... earth = RJK: S out.

6 li>r . . . course: RJK ‘lor when the night conics it is overcast with darkness'.

So S: RJ K. "I will tell you about the God'.

" Lit. 'and set you yourself in words’: R JK add ‘and has sought me out in theconfusion of my thoughts'.

" RJK add a Christian gloss and then continue 'When his father Thara heardt Iris, lie looked at Abraham with bitter eyes, tor what Abraham had said displeasedhim, because he loved the deceit handed down by his father Xachor. Abraham said tohimself, 1 will test my lather's gods and see whether they are able to help themselves.And Abraham took lire, and he set light to the temple where his father's gods were.When Aron (K "Aran'). Abraham's brother, saw this (since he was devoted to theidols) he tried tc» save the idols front the lire: and so lie himself was burned with hisfather's gods, and died before his lather — for before this no son had died before hislather, but the father had always died before the son; hut after this men Itegan to diebefore their fathers. And God loved Abraham, and God said to Abraham,Abraham. Abraham! You have sought the God of gods: leave now your father’shouse, and go into the land I will direct you to. and I will make you into a greatnation, and all the generations of the earth shall be blessed from you! AnotherChristian gloss follows, and then the text continues with the beginning of chap, viii("While I was talking . . .).

The .1 pocahpse of .1 braham 373

VIII. And while I was miking1 in this way to my father Tcra in the2 courtvard of'mv house, the voiee of tlie Mighty One tell fromheaven in a deluge of lire, saying and calling out, Abraham..4 Abraham! And I said. Here am 1. And the voice said. You areseeking God.* the Creator, by the understanding of your mind: I5 am he. Leave your lather. Trra. and leave his house, so that you do<> not perish also in the sins ol your lather's house. And I went out.7 And when I had gone mu. before i eould reach the outer door oit heeourt. a thunderbolt dropped from the sky.* and it burned him andhis house and all that was in his house to the ground, all forty cubitsof'if*

Then came a voice saying to me twice. Abraham. Abraham!.4 And I said. Here am I. And the voice said. Behold, it is I: do not be*afraid; tor I am the mighty God. who was before the world.1 * who in4 the beginning' created the light of the world.1 And I am yourj shield, and I am your helper. Go r/nr/get me a call’of'three years old.

and a she-goat of three years old. and a ram of three years old. and<i a turtle-dove, and a pigeon, and set out a pure sacrilice tor me. Andin that sacrifice 1 will set outJor you the secrets of the ages, and tell youhidden things; and you shall see great things, which you have notseen: for you have loved me to seek me out. and I have called you

7 my friend.-’ But abstain from all cooked food.4 and from drinking

8 wine, and from anointing yourself with oil lor forty days. And thenset out the sacrifice for me. which I have commanded you. in the

9 place I will show you - on a high mountain. And there will 1 showyou the ages, whic h have been created and established, made andrenewed, by my word; and I will tell you the tilings that will cometo pass in them, on those who have done evil and those who have donerighteousness in the human rac e.

' Lit.'reflecting'. : RJK 'the- C«cxl of gods'.

* Lit. ‘a voice of thunder came': K adds 'and lire fell from heaven*.

4 Here R ends.

1 Lit. "age* or 'aeon'.

‘ Lit. 'formerly'. K reads the clause 'who fiwncrly created heaven and earth andthen the lirsi light of die world and the age'.

’ Lit. 'lover': cp. 2Chron. xx. 7; Isa. xli. 8: Janies ii. 24.

* Lit. 'food which comes from fire’.

Mh

X. And when I heard the voire speaking words like (his to me. Ilooked litis way and that: and behold, there was no sign ol anyone.1And I was terrified: my senses left me: and I beeame like a stone5 and lell down upon the ground.i And while I was still on my fare onI the ground. 1 heard the voire saying, (in, Naoil. ’ and by virtue ofmy inellable name sanctify that man to me. and strengthen him in-> his terror. And the angel that he sent to me cattle, and he was inappearance like a man: and lie took me by the right hand and setb me on my feet. And lie said to me. Stand up. friend of Cud. who7 loves you: and let no human terror hold you in its grip. For behold.

1 am sent to \ou to strengthen you, and to bless you in the name ofK (hid. llu* creator of heaven and earth, who loves you. lake courage.!> and come with me to meet him with all speed.4 I am lloil.* sonamed by him w ho shakes what is with me on the seventh expanseabove tile vault of heaven, a jjower by virtueol the inellable namein that dwells in me. ( am lx* who is appointed by his command toappease the strile the cherubic creatures have with one another,anil to teach those who bear him the song6 decreed for the seventh

11 hour of the human night. I am he who is ordained in restrain

12 Leviathan; for the attack and threat of every reptile are subdued byl:i me.7 I am he who was commanded to set lire to your father's house,

I t and to destroy him with it." tor he gave honour to dead things. And

I am sent to you now to bless you and to bless the land which theLtcrnal One. whom you have invoked, has made ready lor you;la and it is lor your sake that 1 have made the journey to earth. Standup Abraham: take courage and come: rejoice and be glad at heart:and I will rejoice with you; for eternal honour has been prepared forli> you by the Klernal One. Come, carry through the sacrifice as youhave been commanded: for behold. I am appointed to be with you

1 Lit. "no breath of man'.

: ) K add ‘for there was no si rein'll) in me in stand upon the ground'.

' JK ’Alie/.*.

J Lit. * l ake c ourage and hasten to him'.

* J W.il*; k Jaol*.

* those . . . song = JK: S is corrupt.

’ JK add 'I am he who has been commanded lo loosen lid! and lo destroy thosewho wonder (J 'him who wonders') at dead things'. Landsman translates . .destroy him whostarethat (or 'terrified)*) the dead*.

* Lit. 'to your father’s house with hint*.

17 mill with the people who air to spring from sou.'' And with me

18 Mii-had gives vou his blessing to eternity, l ake courage: come.

XI. And I got up and looked at him who had taken my right hand2 and set me on tny leet. Aik! liis body was* like sapphire, and his

fair like chrysolite, and the hair of his head like snow; and there wasa linen hand about his head, and it was like a rainbow, and therobes be was wearing were purple, and he had a golden stafl’in hisi right band. And he said to me. Abraham: and I said. Behold, yourt servant. And he said. Do not let what I look like or what 1 say.) li ighteir you: do not be upset; but come with me. And I wilt gowith you: you will be able to see me until the sacrifice, but alter the<> sacrifice you will see me no more.-* Take courage: come.

XII. And we went both together, forty days and nights; and I ateno bread, nor did I drink water, for to look upon the angel who w aswith me was food to me.1 * * and his conversation with me was my

2. 5 drink. And I*’ came to the glorious mountain of (»<kI. to Horeb. AndI said to the angel. Singer of the Fact ual One. behold. I have nosacrifice with me. nor do I know ofany altar on the mountain: andI..') how shall 1 make a sacrificed And he said. Look behind you. And Ilooked behind me: and behold, follow ing us were all the prescribedvictims for the sacrifice - a calf, a shc-goai. and a ram. and a(> turtle-dove, and a pigeon. And the angel said to me. Abraham; and

7 I said. Here am I. Anil he said to me. Slaughter all these, anddivide the animals into halves, and place each piece opposite its

8 corresponding piece.’ but do not divide the birds. And give them tothe men. w hom I will show you. who witf he standing by you; forthey are the altar on the mountain, on which you must offer4 the

4 I.it. *tlu* people prepared from you'. Cp. xsii. 7.

1 J K And the feet of his txxly were'.

: Sn JK. S is corrupt.

* you will he able ... no more: lit. ‘visible until the sacrifice. but after the sacrificeinvisible for ever'.

1 So JK: S adds ’and drink*. * J ’we*; K 'they'.

' anil place . . . corresponding pine: lit. ‘one ai>ainst another'.

4 Lit.. mountain to oiler for 'bring'

The Apocalypse of Abraham

sacrifice to tin* Eternal ()nt*. But the turtle-dove and the pigeon youmust give to me: and I will go up on the wings of the birds to showyou what is in heaven and on earth, and in the sea and the abysses,and in the lowest parts, and in the garden ofEden. and in its rivers,and in the lul ness of ilu* universe and its eirele: you shall see it all.*

XIII. And 1 did everything the angel had commanded me. And Igave lh<* divided animals to the angels who had come to us; but the‘2A angel1 took the birds. And I waited tor the eveningoffering. And anunclean bird Hew down upon the carcasses: and 1 drove it away.

I And the unclean bird spoke to me and said. What are you doing,Abraham, on the sacred heights, where men neither cat nor drink,nor is there human food here: all these things will be consumed'» with fire, and you will be burnt up as well. Leave the man who isw ith you and make your escape; lor if you persist,2 you will bet) destroyed. And when I saw the bird speaking. 1 said to the angel,7 What is this, my lord? And he said. This is Wickedness, Azazil; for» Abraham's lot is in tlu* heavens, but yours on earth. He said tohim. Shame upon you, Zazal;3 for you have chosen and have loved‘i to live in your uneleanness'1 here. That is win the Kternal Ruler,lit the Mighty One. has appointed you to be a dweller upon earth. Andthrough you the evil and deceitful spirit works among men. andthrough you retribution5 and misfortunes fall on the generations of11 the unrighteous. Vet the Eternal Mighty God has not decreed thatthe bodies of the righteous should be in your hands: for them a['2 righteous life is assured, and perdition for wickedness. Listen,13 fellow. In* ashamed of yourself and go. For you were not appointedU to tempt all the righteous. Leave this man alone: you cannotbeguile him for he is your enemy, and the enemy of those who followIyou and dote on what you want. The garment that of old was setapart in the heavens lor you. is now set apart for him; and thecorruption that was his has been transferred to you.

* Lit. ‘set- in all".

1 K adds *|aoil". ■ Lit. 'tor if vein go up into the height".

' K. ‘AzaziP: J uni. ‘He said .. . Zazal". and K places it before 'lor Abraham’s loi. . 4 Lit. ‘and have loved the dwelling-place of your uncleanness’.

The .1 pocal ypse oj 1 b raham 379

5 XIV. The ant'd said u> Abraham.1 Say to him. May you be aburning coal of the earthly furnaee. A/a/il went into the iuaeees-10 sibli* parts of the earth.2 And the angel said to me. Do not answerhim, for God has given him power' ov er those who answer him.41:5 And however much he lx*gged me to go down with him.* I did notanswer him.

XV. And as the sun was setting . behold, smoke as from a furnace.2 And the angels who had the divided victims rose up from the lopol:5 the smoking furnaee. And the angel took me by the right hand, andhe set me on the right wing of the pigeon, and he himself sar on theleft wing of the turtle-dove- neither of which had been slaughteredl..r> or divided. And he took me up to the edge of a fiery flame. And wewent up. as if borne aloft by many winds, to the heaven established«> on the expanses. And I saw in the air. on the height to which we7 went up.1 a great light, which is indescribable. And behold, by thatlight / saw a burning fire of people - many people, males all ofthem, changing their appearance and theirform.2 running hither anti

1 J K ''The angel said to me. Abraham: and I said. Here am I. sour servant. *‘.\ndhe said. By this will you know that (hr Ktrmal One. whom you have loved, haschosen you. ’ fake courage, and do with vigour what I tell you against him whomaligns the truth. '‘Shall I not lx- able to reprove him who has betray ed the heavenlysecrets and taken counsel against the Mighty One.-*’

2 A/a/il . . . earth: JK 'Go. Azazil. into the inacressihle parts of the earth. “Foryour dominion is over those who are with you. with the stars and the clouds. whogive birth (K who are Ixirn'l with the men whose lot is to judge you by your being(K 'whose lot you are. and who exist to \mi by your being'): and righteousness isyour enemy (lit. 'enmity’). For this reason, because your doom is sealed (lit. 'byyour perdition'), get out ol'tm sight! "Atul I spoke the words that tie had taught me."And he said. Abraham: and I said. Behold, your servant'.

•* Lit. 'will'.

* JK add ’And he spoke to me a second time: and the angel said. Whatever hesays to you. do not answer, so that his power (lit. will') may not prevail over you."For the Mighty One. In-tore the ages, gave him authority and fxnver (hi. Weightand will*). I did what the angel commanded me".

* Lit. 'And however much he said to me that I should go down'. Landsmantranslates simply 'And however mueh lie spake to me’, following Sre/tievsky'sinterpretation.

1 And we went up . . . we went tip = JK: S ‘Ami we went up on the height*.

* changing .. lorm — Sinod. '21 I: S is corrupt.

thither as they changed their form, and worshipping and crying outin a language’ 1 did not know.

XVI. And 1 said to the angel. Why1 * * have you brought me now tothis place; for I cannot now see, niy strength is gone, and I am at

2 the point ol'death.1 And he said to me. Stay by me, and do not beafraid: he whom you will see coming straight towards us with agreat and holy voice.' he is the Eternal ()ne. who has set his love on3.4 you. (Bill you will not actually see him4). Do not let your spiritfail.5 for I am with you to strengthen you.

XVII. And while he was speaking, behold a fire round about, auditwas coming towards us; and there was a voice in tin- lire- like the

2 sound of rushing waters, like the roaring of the sea. And the angel

3 with me bowed his head and worshipped.1 And 1 would have fallenprostrate on the ground; but the place on the height, where wewere standing, at one moment lifted itself up’ and at the next sank

4 back again. And he said. Only worship, Abraham, and sing the;> song I have taught you (for there was no ground to fall on). And I<i worshipped only, and I sang the song he had taught me. And he

said. Sing without stopping; and I sang, and he himself also sangthe song,'

7 Eternal One, Mighty One, Holy One, El. God, Monarch,

8 Self-begotten, incorruptible, unsullied, unborn, immaculate,immortal, sell- perfect, self-illumined,

‘i Without mother, without father, without birth, the High One,the Fiery One.4’ I.it. 'with a voireut words’.

1 SoJK: S ‘whilher*.

1 Lit. "I am already weakened, and my spirit is departing from me’.

' So J (‘a great voire of holiness ): S is corrupt; K reads “with a great voice,saying. Holy. holy, holy is the Lord'.

4 Lit. “But himself you will not sec'.

* JK add “for the shouting' (i.e. because of the paean of praise).

1 So JK: S 'And the angel, bowing more, worshipped*.

: at one ... up: S out.

1 K adds 'the first song of Abraham, which die holy angel Jaoil taught him, going

with him through the air’. 4 JK add “the Righteous One'.

!() Lover of man.5 generous, bountiful, my defender, longsulfcring,most merciful,

11 Eli (that is my God), eternal, mighty, holy, Sabaoth. mostglorious. LI. LI. El. El.Jaoil.

12 Thou art he whom my soul hath loved, preserver. Eternal One,fire. Shining One. whose voice is like thunder,whose aspect is likelightning, manv-eyed, who receives! the prayers oj those whohonour thee.7

14 Thou. the Light, shinest before the light of morning on thycreation: and1* in the heavenly dwelling places sullieient is the otherlight from the inexpressible dawn of the lights of thy face.

Ki Receive my prayer.** and also the sacrifice which thou hast made

17 for thyself through me who sought thee. Receive me favourably,and show me. and teach me, and tell thy servant what thou hastpromised me.

XVIII. And while I was still singing my song, the tongues' of fire on2 the expanse rose up higher. And I heard a voice, like the roaring of:J the sea; and it was not affected by the strength of the fire.2 And asthe lire rose up, soaring into the height, I saw beneath the fire athrone of fire, and, round about it, a throng oj many-eyed onessinging the song, and, beneath the throne, lour living creatures of4 fire singing.1 And they all looked the same: each one had four faces.’> One face was like a lion's, another like a man’s, another like an(> ox's, and another like an eagle's - each one had four heads.4 And eachone had three pairs of wings,5 one pair at their shoulders, and another

* JK add ‘loving*.

* So JK: S 'ivhosr voier u not like thunder'.

’ J K add ‘and turning thyself from the prayers of those who importune thee withtheir importunities by their provocations. ’’Resolver of the confusions of theuniverse in the corruptible age, which arc among the unclean and the unrighteous(K ‘righteous’), renewing the age of the righteous".

* JK ‘and front thy face it is day on earth. ’’And'

* JK add ‘and have pleasure in it’.

' Lit. ‘lips’.

} Lit. "and it did not erase because of the strength (JK ‘great abundance’) of thelire'. ' K adds 'beautifully and loudly'.

4 JK add 'on their Itodirs. so that there were sixteen (J ‘thirteen) laces to the fourliving creatures’. * J K ‘had six wings’.

7 at their sides.6 and another at their loins. And with the wings at theirshoulders they covered their faces, and with the wings at their loinsthey covered their feet, and the middle wings they stretched out;i and Hew forward with them. And when they had finished singing,thev looker! at one another in a threatening manner.7 And whenthe angel who was with me saw them threatening one another, heleft me. and hurried towards them, and turned each* face of eachliving creature from the face opposite it. so that they could not seein each other's threatening faces. And he taught them the song ofll peace which has its origin in the Ktcrnal One. And while I wasstanding alone and looking. I saw behind the living creatures al> chariot with wheels of fire, each wheel full of eyes all round. Andover the wheels was the throne that I saw; and it was covered withfire, and fire encircled it all round; and an ineffable light of a fieryl:i host surrounded it. And 1 heard their holy v oices'* like the voice ofone man.

XIX. And the voice from the fire1 tame to me saying, Abraham,Abraham! And I said. Here am I. And it said. Look now at theexpanses which God set in order2 underneath the firmament onwhich you are now standing; and see how on no expanse is thereanyone else but him whom you have sought or has set his love on» you. And while he was still speaking, behold, the expanses parted,j and beneath me lay the heavens. And I saw on the seventhfirmament, on which I was standing, a spreading fire, and light,and dew, and a multitude of angels, and a power of invisible gloryfrom above; and I saw the living creatures, but I saw no one else(j there. And I looked from the height where 1 stood to the sixthexpanse; and there 1 saw a multitude of spiritual angels, withoutbodies — those, that is, who do the bidding of the fiery angels on the7 seventh* firmament, on the heights of which I stood. And behold,

* and another at their sides: S om.

7 So JK (Lit. \ . . another, and threatened one another'): S'... another, anddeceived om* another'. * Lit.‘the’.

° Lit. 'lilt* voire of their holiness’.

1 JK ‘And a voice from the midst of the fire'.

: Lit.‘which are to God’. * The MSS read ‘eighth’.

m

there was no power on that expanse either, in any other form, hutB only that of the spiritual angels. And the power which I saw on tlu*seventh firmament ordered the sixth4 expanse to remove itself,b And 1 saw there, on the fifth expanse, the starry powers, and thecommands thev are hidden to fulfil, and the elements of earthwhich obey them.

2 XX. And the Klernal Might) One said to me, Abraham. And I

3 said. Here am I. And he said.1 Look down at those stars that are

•t below you: count them, and tell me how many there are. And Ir> said. How’ can I. for 1 am but a And he said to me. As the

number of the stars and their might, so will 1 appoint [lor] yourdescendants a race of people - a people set apart lor me in myti heritage with A/a/ail. And I said. Kternal One. Mighty One. letthy servant speak in thy presence, and may thy fury not be pro-7 voked against thy chosen one. Behold, before thou didst raise meup here. A/axail reviled me: so how now. when he is not belt ire thee,hast thou joined4 thyself with him.5

XXI. And he said to me. Look now beneath your leet at theexpanse: and consider now the creation foreshadowed of old. thecreation on this expanse, and the things that are in it. and the age■2 prepared after it. And l looked at the expanseat my leet: and 1 sawbeneath what is on the third heaven and what is in it. and the earthand its fruits.1 and the things on it that move, and the things on itthat have breath, and the might of its men. and its spiritual3 unclcanness. and its righteousness; and / saw its lowest parts andI tile destruction that is in them, and tlu- abyss and its torments.2 I

4 So JK: S‘third*.

1 And tit-said = JK: S inn.; K adds ‘tome*.

2 Lit. ‘when*.

* J 'for I am but dust anil ashes'; K ‘tor f am a man. An/dust and ashes*.

1 Lit.‘established'. 5 So JK: S‘them*.

'JK ’and I saw beneath the likeness ol a heaven (or ‘under the seventh heaven")which w as with it. and the earth there and its fruit*.

2 JK ‘and their righteousness, and the beginning of their works: ‘and / .wmi- tin-abyss and its torments, and the lowest parts and the destruction which is in them*.

saw thm* the sea and its islands, and its cattle and its fish, andLeviathan and his realm, and his bed and his eaves, and the worldwhich lies above him. and his rollings and the destructions in the') world which he causes. I saw there the rivers and their risings and6 their courses. And I saw there the garden ol'Kden. and its Iruit, thespring and the river that issues from it, and its groves and their.8 flowers, and those who do what is right. And I saw in it their foodand their peace. And I saw there a throng of people, men, women,and children, and half of them were on the right side of the picture,and half of them' on the left side of the picture.

XXII. And I said. Internal One.' Mighty One, what is this picture2 of creation? And he said to me. 'Phis is my will with regard to what isin the world, and 1 was pleased with it: and afterwards I gavecommand to them by my word.* And everything I had planned tolie came into being: it was already pre-figured in this, for all thethings and all the people you have seen stood bclore me before they4 were created. And I said. Mighty and Eternal Ruler, who then arej the people1 in this picture on this side and on that? And he said tome. Those on the left side are the many peoples which have existedin the past, and after you arc appointed,4 some for judgement andrestoration, some for vengeance and perdition, until the end of the

6 age. And those on the right side of the picture, they arc the people

7 set apart for me from the people with Aza/.il. These arc the peoplewho are going to spring from you* and w ill be called my people.

XXlil. Look further into the picture and see who it was thatbeguiled Eve and what the fruit of the tree was, and you will learnwhat will be and what will happen to your name among the people2 as this age runs its course. Or, if you cannot understand it, I will

1 on the right. . . halfof them: Sum.

’ JK * Pre-existent One*.

z Landsman translates ‘This is my will with regard to those who exist in the(divine) world-counsel, and it seemed well-pleasing before my sight, and thenafterwards 1 gave commandment to them through my Word'. Si ft may mean either’light’ or ‘world*:SOvetor j'Vr/is the normal word for ’counsel*.

■’ Lit. ‘who is this people’. * Lit. 'prepared'.

* Lit. ‘These are they whom 1 prepared to be born from you’. Cp. x. 16.

explain it to you (lor I was pleased with ii>;1 * * and 1 will tell you wh;uis determined.* And I looked into the picture, and tin eyes ran to■l the side ol the garden of Eden. And I saw there a matt, immenselytall, alarmingly solid, suc h as I had never seen belore.' who wasembracing a woman that was the man's equal both in her appear-*> atiee and her size. And they were standing under one uf the trees inKden; and the fruit on that tree looked like a hunch of dates. Andbehind the tree there stood what looked like a snake, with handsand feet like a man's, and wings on its shoulders, three on its rightt> and three on its left.4 And they held in their hands a bunch from the

7 tree; and they were earing5 - the two I had seen embracing. And Isaid. Who are these who are embracing each other? Who is it whois between them? And what is the fruit they are eating. Mighty

8 Kternal One? And he said. This is the human world:6 this isi» Adam, and this is their desire upon earth: this is Eve. And what is

between them is the wicked path they started on towards perdi-

10 tion. namely Azazil. And l said. Eternal Mighty One. why hastthou granted anyone like him the power to destroy in this way the

11 race of men through what the\ do on earth? And he said to me,Listen. Abraham, I hate those who desire evil, because of whatthey do; and I have granted him authority over them to rule and to be

\2 loved by them. And I answered and said. Eternal Mighty One.why hast thou willed that men should desire evil in their hearts?

l;l For thou art angry with what thou hast willed thyself when a mangoes after the things that are of no substance in thy world.

XXJV. And he said to me. It has been arranged like this as a wound tothe nations' lor your.sake, and lor the sake of the people of your race

1 what will happen . . . with it: JK 'what will happen to \mir descendant.1! in thecourse of the years. *.\nd whai you cannot understand. I will tell you because I havebeen pleased with you".

2 bit. "and I will tell you the illicit's laid up in my heart*.

' Lit. "incomparable in aspect'

4 JK "six Willi's on its right and six on its left".

* Or "having intercourse*. All MSS are corrupt.

0 K "the human counsel".

1 [.it. "near to the nations'. The rmcndaiinn is obtained by reading bl>-na rodom

instead of Wig natodom. bandsman and Bomvetsrh render Being angered at the

nations*.

386 The Apocalypse of Abraham

who art* st*i apart alter you, and whose afflictions you will sec in the

2 picture.1 2 And I will tell you what will befall you. and what will3,4 happen in the last days. Now look at the picture yourself. And Ilooked, and I saw there the things in creation that were before me.

,i I saw what looked like Adam, and Eve with him. and with them thewily adversary, and Cain who transgressed through the adversary.

ti And / saw the murdered Abel and the violence the transgressor

7 displayed against him.-' I saw there fornication and those who lustafter it. and how abominable it is, and how devoted lo it they arcwho practice it\ and I saw too the fire of their corruption in the lowest

8 parts of the earth. I saw there theft and those who are concerned in

9 it, and how they go to work.4 I saw there naked men. with theirforeheads against each other, and their shame, and their passion

10 for one another; and /saw their retribution. I saw there Desire, andin her hands the fount of every kind of lawlessness.5

XXV. 1 saw there what looked like the idol of Jealousy,6 like one of

2 the carved wooden images my father made. Its lx>dy was ol glitter-ing brass; and before it stood a man worshipping it, and there was analtar in front of it, with young men slaughtered on it before the idol.

3 And I said to him. What is this idol4 What is this altar? Who arc

4 the victims? Who is it that is sacrificing? And what is the temple,which I sec, so beautifully constructed? Its beauty is like thy2glory,

3 which is beneath the throne. And he said, Listen, Abraham: thistemple and the altar you hav e seen, and the fine craftsmanship, arcmy idea of the sacrcdness of my glorious name, in which everyprayer of men rejoices, and so loo the kings and prophets who willarise, and whatever sacrifice I command them lo make to me

G among my people who will come from your race. But the idol youhave seen is my anger, with which my people, who will come from

7 you, will anger me. And the man you have seen sacrificing, he it is

J Lit. 'as you will see the allliclions on them in the picture'.

1 Lit. 'and the destruction brought upon him and given through the trans-gressor'.

4 J K add 'and l saw their retribution and the judgement of the great judgement’.

5 JK add ‘and her silence (or 'scorn') and her waste, given over to destruction’.

1 Cp. Ezck. viii. 30‘.

1 SoJK:S‘my'.

387

The Apocalypse of Abraham

who angers me with murderous sacrifices, which are a witness to meof the judgement of the end, even at the beginning of creation.

XXVI. And 1 said. Eternal Mighty One. why hast thou ordained‘2 that it should be like this? Canst thou not change thy mind?1 And hesaid to me. Listen Abraham: take in what I am telling you; and give

3 me an answer to what I am about to ask you. Your father Tera -why did he not pay any attention to what you said and give up his

4 devilish idolatry until his whole house perished with him? And Isaid. Most Eternal, for no other reason than because lie would not

5 listen to me; but I did not do as he did. And he said. Listen.Abraham. As was your lather's light2 in him. and as is your light2in you, so is the light2 of my will in me: it is ready beforehand for thedays that are to come. You will not know them, nor will you seewith your own eyes what will happen in them: they are for your

6 descendants. Look in the picture.

XXVJ1. And I looked and I saw; and behold, the picture started tomove. And a heathen people ran from the lef t side of it. and they

2 pillaged those on the right side, men, women, and children. And

3 some they killed,1 and some they retained as slaves. I saw themrunning towards them lor four generations;2 and they burned thetemple with lire, and they plundered the holy things that were in it.

4 And I said. Eternal One. behold, the hordes of the heathen arepillaging the people thou hast appointed to be born from me; andsome oj (hem they arc killing, and some they are keeping to lake into

5 exile; and they have burned down the temple with fire, and they<> are stealing the works of art in it. Eternal Mighty One, if this he so,

whv hast thou saddened1 my heart, and why must this be so? Andhe said, Listen Abraham. Everything you have seen must be

1 Lit. 'turn back this revelation', landsman translates 'Wherefore hast thouestablished that it should be so. and then proclaim the knowledge thereof?’

2 Or‘counsel* (so K).

1 And some they killed: S om.

2 Skhod (lit. 'descent', ‘issue’; hence ‘generation’). Jk read Mod (‘entrance’).

Landsman translates 'I saw them run towards them through four entrances'. In anycase it is probable that the reference is to the lour world empires - Babylon. Media,Greece, and Rome. ‘ K ‘provoked’.

388 The Apocatypse oj Ahraham

because your descendants will provoke my anger with ihe idol andthe murder you have seen in the picture - the idol of Jealousy in thetemple: everything you have seen must be. And I said. KternalMighty One. let the evil done in ungodliness pass hv. and ordainpunishments lor them, hut show me rather the righteous deeds of this7 one;4 lor this thou eanst do. And he said to me. The righteousperiod will come first, through the holiness of their kings; and I willjudge truly those whom at the first I chose* to rule among them.H From them shall men come forth to care for them, as I have toldyou and you have seen.

XXVIII. And 1 answered and said. Mighty One. hallowed by thy2 strength, be gracious to my request. And so tell me. thy beloved.

M what I ask. Will what I have seen lx* upon them for long.'* And heshowed me a large group of his people and said to me. For fourgenerations.1 as you have seen, they will provoke me: and duringthose generations I will bring retribution upon them for what theya do. But in the fourth generation2 of a hundred years, even' onehour of the age (that is a hundred years), they will be held inoppression among the heathen.4

XXIX. And 1 said. Kternal One. and how long is an hour of the- age? And he said. For twelve years of this impious age have Idetermined to keep them among the heathen, and all you have seenshall come upon your descendants right up to the cud of that time.1

* This sememe is manifestly corrupt in S. JK read 'let tin- evil honour and thedeeds of those who have fulfilled the ordinances pass by rather than his righteousdeeds.' Landsman translates ‘May the works of evil (wrought) in ungodliness nowpass by. but (show me) rather those who fulfilled the commandments, even theworks <>l his (.J) righteousness'.

* Lit, 'created*. JK read ’by the holiness ol kings, to those who judge truly (K 'tothose who are in truth ), whom I created from them at the first to rule among them*.

1 Skhod (see above, chap, xxvii. n. 2).

* So S, reading skhod: JK read Mod ('entrance').(Ip. (Jen. xv. lb.

1 Lit. ’and'.

* JK add ’but the hour is for their grace, even with reproaches among theheathen'.

1 to keep . . . time: lamdsman translates 'to rule among the heathen and in thy

seed; and until the end of the times it shall lx* as thou sawesf.

3 Now make your calculations and your measurements, and look

4 into the picture. And I saw a man coming out from the left - fromthe heathen side; and a great crowd of people, men. women, andchildren, came out from the heathen side also, and they worshipped

*> him. And while 1 was still looking, others came out from the rightside; and some of them mocked that man. and some assaulted him.

8 hut some of them worshipped him. 1 saw them worshipping him;and A/.a/.il ran up and worshipped, and. after kissing his face.

7 turned and stood behind him. And 1 said. Kternal Mighty One.who is the man who has been mocked and assaulted, but yet is

8 worshipped by the heathen and* Azaz.il? And he answered andsaid. Listen Abraham: the man you have seen mocked andassaulted, and yet worshipped, he is the respite granted by theheathen to the people who will come front you in the last days, inthis twelfth year of the ungixily age. But in the twelfth year of myage of the end 1 will raise up this man you have seen from among

10 your descendants - from my own people. And they will all imitatehim. and will realize he has been called by me and change their

11 minds. ' And those you have seen coming from the left side of thepicture and worshipping him - that is. many of the heathen will

12 trust in him. As you have seen some of your descendants on the rightside mocking and assaulting him. and yet some worshipping him -

13 many of them will find him a stumbling-block.4 But those of yourdescendants who worship him he will put to the test in the twelfth

I t hour at the end. so as to shorten the ungodly ago. Bolbre the newgrowth of the righteous age begins to show, my judgement will beaccomplished on the lawless heathen through your descendants -

1 j the people set apart lor me. In those days 1 will bring ten plaguesupon all creatures on the earth; and they will be afflicted by mis-

18 fortunes and diseases, and groan in bitterness of soul. 1 will bringall this on the generations of men who are upon it. because of the

17 corrupt practices by which they provoke my anger. And then will beleft the righteous from among your descendants, whose numbers are

* Lit. ‘with*.

1 The passage isobseure. The emendation is obtained by reading pnriti lorpntuci(K prilri. J pricti). Bonwelseh and Landsman translate and sueli as are railed by me(will) join, (even) those who change in their counsels'.

* ()r ‘will he led astrav bv him'.

salt' in my keeping, who press onward in tin' glory of my name to theplace prepared lor them beforehand, which you have seen laid wasteIK in the picture. And they will live by the established sacrifices andolferings ol righteousness and truth in the righteous age, and they1!> will rejoice in me for ever. And they shall destroy those whodestroyed them, and insult those who insulted them with the words of:2t) their oun blasphemies. They shall spit in the face oj those who arereproved by me: and they shall ga/.e upon me, rejoicing with my

21 people as they rejoice, and welcoming those who turn to me.5 Youhave seen. Abraham, what you have seen; and ponder1’ what you

22 have heard. Go to the place allotted you;7 and behold. I am with youfor ever.

1.2 XXX. And while he was still speaking, I found myself on earth. Andt I said. Internal One! I am not now in the glory 1 was in above, andwhat my soul desired to understand with my heart I do not under-t stand. And he said to me. I will tell you what your heart desired: youdesired to see the ten plagues I have prepared against the heathen,the plagues I have prepared after the passing of the twelfth hour on') earth. Listen to what I will reveal to you. The first plague will be greatdistress through want: the second, the burning of cities by fire: thethird, destruction of cattle by pestilence: the fourth, universalstarvation:1 the fifth, destruction among rulers by the ravages of7 earthquake and sword: the sixth, deluges of hail and snow: theseventh, lethal attacks by wild animals:* the eighth (to vary themode of destruction), famine and pestilence: the ninth, retributionby the sword and Right in terror: the tenth, crashing thunder anddestructive earthquakes. '

XXXI. Then will I sound the trumpet from the air. and I will send

s Lit. ‘and receiving those who turn to me'. J K ‘and receiving and turning to mein repentance'. * Lit. ‘know’.

7 Lit. ‘Co to your lot . JK read verses 21 and 22 ‘See. Abraham, w hat you haveseen: hear w hat you have heard and what you have known. Co to my lot'. K. thenadds a brief summary of what has gone before.

1 Lit. 'starvation of the world and their generation'.

1 Lit. ‘wild animals will lie their grave".

■' Lit. ‘the tenth, thunder and voices and earthquakes lor destruction'.

The Apocalypse of Abraham 391

2 my Elm One, with a full measure1 2 of all my’ power. And he shallsummon my people who are despised among the heathen; and thosewho have reviled them and have had dominion over them in the

3 present age will I burn with (ire. And 1 will give those who have

4 poured scorn on me to the scorn of the age to come, f or 1 haveappointed them as food for the fire of hell and to fly through the airunceasingly in the depths beneath the earth. ’

1 I.it. ‘having in him an equal measure'.

*’ J ‘his'.

' Here S ends. J continues ‘the worms* full womb. *And those who have doneright, who have chosen to do my will, who have openly kept my commandments,shall see them there*, and K 'the wombs filled with the worms fruit. *And those whohave openly kept my commandments shall see in them those who have done right,who have chosen to do my will’. Both J and K continue further ‘“And they shallrejoice with joy at the destruction of the remainder (lit. 'the men who remain’), whopursued idols and murder. ’For they shall rot in the worn!) of the cunning wormAzazil. and they shall burn in the fire of Azazil's tongue. "For I hoped they mightcome to me. but they would not: and they gave their praises to a foreigner and joinedthemselves to him, for whom they were not intended, and forsook the mighty Lord(lit. ‘ruler*). XXXI1. 'Andso. Abraham, listen and understand (tit. ‘hear and see*).

2Behold, your seventh generation will go out with you into a foreign land, and aforeign people will enslave and afflict them, for one hour of the ungodly age. ’But thepeople they will be subject to will I judge'. K then adds "'And the Lord said thisalso. Listen, Abraham, to what I have told you about what will happen to your racein the last days. *And Abraham heard what God had said and pondered it'.

THE TESTAMENT OEABRAHAM

INTRODUCTION

The Testament is known from more than thirty Greek MSS. whichcontain a variety of legends, lives of saints, and other hagingraphi-cal material, and date from the 13th to the I 7th cents, h is knownalso from several versions — Coptic (Bohairic). Arabic. Ethiopic.Slavonic, and Rumanian.

The Greek MSS are clearly divisible into two distinct recensions- the longer (= A) and the shorter {= B); and these recensions aredistinct in the sense that they represent dilferent arrangements ofwhat is frequently different material, and there are no reasons lorthinking either that B is an abridgement of A or that A is anexpansion of B. The question to what extent the v ersions supportone or other of these recensions admits of no easy answer. Thus,the Coptic follows neither exactly: it is on the whole much closerto B. but some details in it. which are absent from B, showresemblances to material contained in A. The Rumanian inclinestowards A, although it is by no means identical with it. TheSlavonic, on the other hand, inclines vcr\ definitely towards B.though the situation here is complicated by the fact that, as so oftenwith Slavonic texts, a number of different 'inncr-Slavonic* recen-sions have to be reckoned with. Of the Arabic and Ethiopic (whichappears to have been made from the Arabic) there are no printededitions; but from what is known of the Arabic it would seem thatit, like the Slavonic, also inclines towards B. though again withconsiderable variations. So also the Ethiopic.

James in his edition printed the Greek text of both recensionsone after the other, using six MSS for A and three for B. Vassilievprinted only the text of the A recension, relying on a single MS(Cod. Vind. thcol. 237 = James's E). The Greek text printedopposite Stone's English translation is a photographic reproduc-tion ofjamcs's text of both recensions. Our own translation followsthe A recension, except that four passages which are of more than

ordinary interest and which arc lacking in A. have been addedfrom H. These passages will be found in chaps, vii. xi. xii. and xiii;and they are distinguished by a heavy vertical line in the left-handmargin.

About the date and place of origin of the Testament opinionshave varied. Janies styled it ‘another fragment of early popularChristian literature’ and suggested that it was written as early asthe second century (probably in Egypt). that it embodied evenearlier legends, and that it received its present form perhaps in theninth or tenth cent.' On the other hand. Kohler. Ginzberg, andBox, all stressed the essentially Jewish character of the work, andargued in one way or another for a Semitic original, though Boxnoted that our present Greek text does not road like a translation:‘1'he story in its original (Hebrew) form’, he wrote, ‘probably grewup in the first half of the first century All . . . 1'his probably formedthe basis of a free Greek version, which was embellished with somespecial features (r.g. in the description of the Angel of Death)which owed their origin to Egypt'.2 Against this. Schurer saw noreason for thinking that the story was of Jewish origin, on theground that many such legends were invented by Christians.Bousset-Grcssmann were prepared to compromise and regardedthe Testament as an example of Christian adaptation of pre-existing Jewish legend.1 More recently, N. Turner has maintainedthat James over-emphasized the Christian elements. For Turnerthe Testament is Jewish in origin, but written in Greek - in allprobability in Egypt, though rather earlier than James suggested:it subsequently passed into Christian hands and became verypopular in the Church from the fifth century onwards: Recension Bmay reasonably be dated to the third century, while Recension A,as it stands, cannot be earlier than the fifth or sixth century, and itmay well be very much later. Even more recently, M. Delcor hasargued along much the same lines: the traces of Christianinfluence are much fewer and less definite than James and hisfollowers thought: the original Testament, which lies behind both

1 James. j>. 2ft.

: Box. pp. xxviii-xxix.

' W, Bousset - H. Gressinann, Die Religion des Judentums tm spatheltentsliseken

Zeilatter' (Tubingen. 1‘12(»). p. t ».

recensions, was a Jewish work incorporating a variety of tradi-tions. some traceable to the Septuagint. some paralleled in thePalestinian Targum; and it was written in Kgypt. perhaps by amember of the sect of the Theraprutac. about the beginning ol theChristian era.

As was pointed out in the Introduction to the Apocalypse,4 boththe pscudo-Alhanasian Synopsis and the Stiehometry ofNicephorus mention ‘Abraham* in their lists ol apocryphal t>ooks;but whether they are referring to the Apocalypse, or to theTestament, or to some other work hearing Abraham's name andnow lost, it is impossible to say. What patristic evidence there is isequally ambiguous. Of the nine MSS used by James, four definitelygive 'The Testament of Abraham* as the title, and in three of theothers the word ‘ Testament' occurs at some point in more elabo-rate titles; but of the remaining two MSS. one entitles the work‘The Narrative {Atf/yrjai^) concerning the Life and Death of therighteous Abraham’, and the other entitles it The Account{A6yoq) concerning the Death of Abraham*. Among the versions,the Slavonic calls it simply, ‘The Death of Abraham*, the Ruma-nian ‘'The Life and Death of our father Abraham*, while theCoptic-Arabic-Kthiopic tradition (in which the Testaments ofAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, figure as a trilogy) introducesAbraham with a short preface explaining that what follows is anaccount of’the going forth from the body of our holy fathers, thethree patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob*, and goes on todescribe it as a “homily’ or ‘discourse* of Athanasius, adding thatAthanasius had discovered the substance of it in ancient apostolicwritings.

In the light of these facts we cannot assume either that‘Testament’ was the work’s original title, or that it was widelyknown as a ‘Testament’ in the early Church. In any event, littleattempt seems to have been made to make it look like one. Thenormal ‘Testament’ professes to be a record of its hero’s last wordsof instruction and command, delivered in the first person to hisfamily circle gathered round him. But the Testament of Abrahammakes no such profession. Instead it provides a plain, factual.

* See above p. Mi'S.

account of the events which led up to Abraham's death, written inthe third person. In the circumstances, some such title as ‘TheNarrative of the Death of Abraham' would seem very much moresuitable.

But whatever may have been the original title of the Testa men tand by whatever titles it may have been know n subsequently, theexistence of the versions is clear proof of its popularity in certainareas in the Church front the beginning of the mid-patristic periodonwards. What is perhaps remarkable is that there is no cleartestimony to its existence previously. The absence of a Latinversion presumably indicates that it was not as popular in the Westas it was elsewhere.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

KDITIONS

Greek

M. R. JAM MS, The Testament ojAbraham: The Greek Text now firstedited with an Introduction and Xotes { — TSII. ii (Cambridge, 1892),pp. 1-130).

A. YassII.IKV, Anecdota Graeco-By cantina, i (Moscow. 1893),pp. 292-308.

Coptic

I. Gl IDI. II testo coplo del Testamenlo di Abramo (= Rendiconti dellaReale Accademia dei Lincei: Classe di science morali, storiche efilologiche. Ser. V, ix (Rome, 19(H)), pp. 157-180).

Slavonic

N. 8. TlK.HONR.WOY, Pamyatniki olrechennoi russkoi literature, i (St.Petersburg, 1863), pp. 79-90.

G. PoLIVKA, ‘Die apokryphischc Krzahlung vom lodeAbrahams’ in Archil Jut slavische Philologie, xviii (1896), pp. 112—125.

397

Rumanian

M. G ASTER. The Apocalypse of Abraham: Trom the Roumanian 7ext.Discovered and Translated ( - Transactions of the Society of BiblicalArchaeology. i\ (London. 1893). pp. 195-226).

TRANSLATIONS

English

W. A. CKAICIE. The Testament of Abraham (= Ante-SiceneChristian Library, Additional Volume (Edinburgh. 1897). pp. 183-201) - a translation of both Greek recensions arranged in paral-lel columns.

G . H. Box. The Teshnent of Abraham: Translated from the Creek Textwith Introduction andSotes (= S.P.O.K... Translations of Early Docu-ment.s\ London. 1927) - a translation of'lxnh Greek recensions.

M. E. STONK. The Testament of Abraham: The Creek Recensions trans-lated (= SBL Texts and Translations. 2: Fseudepigrapha Series. 2;Missoula. 1972).

C. M ACR.\E. *TIh* Coptic Testament of'Abraham* in Studies on theTestament of Abraham (cd. G. \V. L. N ICKI.KSIU RO, Jr - asbelow), pp. 327-340.

\V. K. Bakm.s, ‘Extracts from (he Testament of Abraham* in M.R. JAMES, The Testament ofAbraham ... (= 77VII. ii (Cambridge,1892). pp. 135— 139) - from the Arabic.

\V. LESI.AL', ‘The Testament of Abraham' in Falasha Anthology:Translated from Ethiopic Sources with an Introduction ( = Vale JudaicaSeries s vol. vi (New Haven, 1951). pp. 92-102 and 178—180).

1). S. Cooper and H. B. WEBER, ‘The Church Slavonic Testa-ment of Abraham' in Studies on the Testament oj Abraham (cd. G.\Y. L. N ICKLE-SBI RG, Jr.-as below), pp. 301-326.

\1. G ASTER, as above - from the Rumanian.

French

M. DEI.COR, Ije Testament d’Abraham: Introduction, traduction du texlegrec et commenlaire de la recension grecque longue, suivi de la traduction desTestaments d'Abraham, d'Isaac et de Jacob d’apres les versions orientates(= SVTP 2; Leiden; 1973) - the translations of the two Greek

398 The Testament of Abraham

recensions are by Dclcor himself, the translation of the Coptic isby M. Chaine. that of the Arabic by M. Chain? and I\ Manuals,and that of the Kthiopic by M. Chaine and A. Caquot.

German

I*. RkIssI.KR. AjSaB2. pp. 1091-1103-a translation of the shorterGreek recension.

K. JANNSKN \i\JSh-rZ II 1.2 (1975), pp. 193-256-a translation ofboth (ireck recensions in parallel columns.

K. ANDERSSON. Sphinx, vi (Uppsala. 1903). pp. 220-231)- fromthe C Coptic.

CiENKRAl.

M. Dl'.I.COR, as above.

A.-.M. DENIS, I PGA T. pp. 31-37.

C. \V. 1‘lSHBCRNK. *1 Corinthians iii. 10- I5and the Testament ofAbraham* in XTS xvii (October 1970), pp. 109- 115.

L. Gl.NZBERU, art ‘Abraham. Testament of in JE i (New York,1901 ),pp. 93-90.

, The legends oj the Jens, i (Philadelphia, 1909). pp. 299-30(3

and v (Philadelphia, 1925), pp. 2(3(3-2(37.

K. K.OHLER, ‘The Pre-Talmudie Haggada. 11. The Apocalypse ofAbraham and its Kindred* \n JQ_R vii (1895). pp. 581 -(30(3.

(3. \V. K. X ICKKLSBl'RG, Jr. (ed.) Studies on the Testament ofAbraham (= SHI. Septuagint and Cognate Studies. (3; Missoula,1976).

P. RiKSSl.KR, AjSaB2. pp. 1332-1333.

K. SCHORER. GjVZJC* iii, pp. 338-339.

E. TURDKANU, ‘Notes stir la tradition litterairc du Testamentd’Abraham' in Silloge bizantina in onore di Silvio Giuseppe Mercati ( =Studi Bizantini e Xeoel/enia. ix; Rome, 1957), pp. 405-410.

N. TURNER, ‘The “Testament of Abraham": Problems in BiblicalGreek’ in NTS i (1955), pp. 219-223.

H. \V KIN EL in EUX. pp. 170-172.

testament of abraham

The Testament oj Abraham 399

I. Now Abraham had lived out his life's span of nine hundred and

2 ninety-five years. All the years of his life he had lived in peace.

:J gentleness, and righteousness. He was. moreover, very hos-pitable:1 for he pitched his tent at the crossroads bv the oak ofM amre and welcomed everyone, rich and poor, kings and rulers,the maimed and the weak, friends and strangers, neighbours and

t travellers. And the pious, all-holy, righteous, and hospitable Ab-

3 raham made them all welcome without distinction. Hut the hittercup ofdeath, which is universal and inevitable, and life’s uncertain

(> end. overtook even him. So it came about that the ford Godsummoned his archangel Michael and said to him. Prince

7 Michael! Go down to Abraham and tell him about his death, so

8 that he can set his affairs in order, for I have blessed him as tin-stars of heaven and as the sand of the sea shore: throughout his lifeand in his many business concerns he has prospered exceedingly;

9 and he is very rich indeed. He has been righteous beyond all men in

10 every good deed, hospitable and loving to the end of his clays. Go,archangel Michael, to Abraham, my well-loved friend, and inform

11 him about his death. Give him this assurance. You are going nowto leave this vain world: you are going to lorsakejw/r body, andamid blessings3 come to your Lord.

II. The Prince left God's presence and went down to Abraham at

2 the oak of Mature. And he found the righteous Abraham in thefield nearby, assisting with the yokes of oxen that did the plough-ing, together with the sons of Masek, and with others of his

3 servants, twelve in number.1 The Prince Michael was approach-ing. when lo, Abraham saw him in the distance looking like a most

4 handsome soldier. So Abraham got up and went to meet him, as it

5 was his custom to go out and welcome every stranger. But thePrince welcomed him first and said. Greetings, most honourablefather, God's righteous chosen one,2 the Heavenly One's true

6 friend! Abraham said to the Prince, Greetings, most honourable

1 Lit. ’The righteous one was very hospitable'

1 Or “among the company of the I'ttod'. I.il. in good things or ‘in gt*xi wira'.

1 Recension B adds ‘Abraham looked very old. and he was holding bis son in bis

arms’. ; Lit. ‘soul’.

soldier, whose face shines like the sun and whose form is morhandsome than any of the sons of men: you are welcome indeed7 But 1 must ask your Presence, what is the secret of your youthllB bloom? Tell me. I beg you.' where do you come from, what army ayou belong to. and what is the purpose of your Grace's journey tha(t you have come here?4 And the Prince replied, l come, rightcou

10 Abraham, from a5 great city. I have been sent by the great king cthat city to arrange for the departure* of a true friend of his; for th

11 king is calling for him. And Abraham said. Conic sir! Come wit12.13 me to my field. The Prince replied. 1 will come. They went to th

I t field where the ploughing was going on and sat down to talk. AirAbraham said to his servants, the sons of Masrk, Go to the stableIf* And fetch two good-natured and gentle horses, that have beelit broken in. for me and this our guest to ride on. But the Prince saicNo. my lord Abraham: let them not fetch horses, for I never ride o17 a four-looted beast.K My king is indeed rich, with great commerckinterests; and. he has every kitid of man and animal at his eon-1H.19 maud. But I myself never ride on a four-footed beast." So, righuous one.2 let us make our way to your house, without fuss, on fooJo And Abraham said. Very well: so let it be!

III. And as they were going from the field towards his house,cypress tree1 by the roadside cried out with a human voice at God'bidding and said. Holy, Holy. Holy, is the Lord God who calls t2 himself those who love him. Abraham said nothing,2 supposing th5 Prince had not heard the tree’s voice. And when they came to thj house they sat down in the court. And Isaac saw the angel's fatand said to Sarah his mother. My lady mother, the man sittinwith my father Abraham is no member of the race that dwells o

’ Lit. ‘Tell me. your suppliant’.

4 Lit. ‘and from what road has your lx-auty arrived’.

* Lit. ‘the’.

'’Or 'to take the place’. Lit. ‘to procure the succession'.

1 Lit. ’the herd of horses’.

* Lit. ‘because I refrain from this - namely, from ever sitting utt a tour-tbotcbeast'.

1 In Recension B the tree is ‘like a tamarisk'.

3 Lit. 'Abraham hid the mystery’.

5 earth. And Isaac ran out and welcomed him respectfully, falling at

t> the spirit"1** led. The spirit' blessed him and said. The Lord Godwill graciously grant you his promise which he made to your fatherAbraham and his descendants, and he will also graciously grant

7 you your father’s and mother's dear prayer. And Abraham said tohis son Isaac, Isaac, my child, draw some water from the well andbring it to me in a basin, so that we can wash our guest's feet: for lu*

8 has come to us after a long journey and is tired. So Isaac ran to the

9 well, drew water in the basin, and brought it to them. Abraham gotup and washed the Prince Michael's feet; and he4 was much moved

K) and wept over the stranger. Isaac saw his lather weeping, and he

11 wept too. And the Prince saw them weeping, and he also wept with

12 them. And the Prince's tears fell onto the basin, into the water of

l:i the howl, and became precious stones. When Abraham saw the

wonder he was astonished, and he took the stones surreptitiouslyand said nothing5 and kept the matter to himself.

IV. Then Abraham said to his son Isaac. Go. my beloved sun. to

2 the dining-room and make it festive. Make up two couches for usthere, one lor me and one for this man. who is our guest to-day; andsee that there is there a seat lor two, a lamp-stand, and a table full

3 of good things. Make the room festive, my sou: lay out the napkins

4 and the purple cloths and the silk. Burn every kind of costly andprecious incense; and bring in sweet-smelling plants from the

5 garden and fill our house with them. Light seven oil lamps, so thatwe may make merry, because this guest of ours to-day deservesmore honour than kings and governors: his very appearance is

l» superior to that ofall other men. So Isaac set everything in excel*

7 lent order. And Abraham took the Prince Michael and went up to

8 the dining-room. Both of them took their seats on the couches, andIsaac1 brought forward the table full of good things and put it

9 between them. Then the Prince got up and went outside, as ifwanting to relieve himself; and he went up to heaven in tin*

10 twinkling of an eye. He stood before God and said to him.

•’ Lit. ’the incorporeal one-'.

4 Lit. "Abraham’. * Lit. ‘ami hid the mystery’.

Lit. ’he’.

Sovereign Lord, thy Majesty must know that I eanuot make

11 mention o\his death to that righteous man. For I have never seenupon earth a man like him —merciful. hospitable, righteous, trusty.

12 religious, aw/incapable of doing anything that is evil.2 So now thou

13 knowest. Lord, that I cannot make mention of his death. But theLord replied. (»n down. Prime Michael, to my friend Abraham;

14 and whatever he tells you. do it. Whatever In* eats, eat il also with

1 j him. I will send forth my Holy Spirit upon his son Isaac, and I will

pul into Isaac's mind the thought'' ofhis death, so (hat he sees hisHi father's death in a dream. Isaac will recount what he has seen and17 you shall interpret it. And then Abraham himself will recognize thatIII his end is near. The Prince said. Lord, all heavenly spirits arcwithout bodies and neither eat nor drink, hut this man lias laid atable for me with an abundance of every kind of earthly and19 perishable dainty. What now. Lord, am I to do? How am I to see he2() does not notice when I am sitting at the same table with him? The

21 Lord said, (to down to him. and have no anxiety on this score. Forwhile you are sitting with him I will send upon you an all-devouring spirit. and it will consume from your hands and throughyour mouth everything that is on the table; and make merry with

22 him in every way. Only you must interpret properl) the meaning ofthe vision, so that Abraham can recognize Death's reaping-hookand life's uncertain end, and so make a settlement of all his goods.

23 For I have blessed him above the sand of the sea and as the stars ofheaven.

V. The Prince then went down to Abraham's house and took his

2 scat with him at the table; and Isaac waited on them. When themeal was over Abraham said his customary prayer, and the

3 archangel prayed with him. Lach was resting upon his couch, andIsaac said to his father. Father. I would like to stay1 with you in thisroom, to listen to your talk; lor I think I should gain much profit

4 from what this excellent man has to say.’ But Abraham said. No,

1 Lit. 'abstaining from every evil deed'.

' Lit. 'mention' (Ip. v. t»: \ii. 22.

1 Lit. ‘rest*.

• Lit. ‘lor I love to hear the excellence ol the conversation of this all-virtuousman'.

403

niv son: go to vour on n room and rest on your own bed: we do not3 want to lit* a burden to this man. Then Isaac, alter being blessed bythem and having blessed them, went nlVio his own room and layti down upon his bed. And (#t»d put the thought' ol death into Isaac'smind by means of dreams: and about the third hour of the night

7 Isaac woke up. He got up from his bed and went in great haste to

8 the room where his lather and the archangel were sleeping. Whenhe got to the door he t ried out. saying. Father Ahraham, get up antiopen the door tor me quickly, so that 1 can come in and pul my arms

9 round you and kiss you before they take you away from me. So

10 Ahraham got up and opened the dam ibr him. Isaac went in and put

11 his arms round him and begun to weep loudly. Abraham was inconsequence much moved and wept loudly himself in .sympathy.

2.t:t When the Prince saw them weeping, he wept also. Now Sarah wasin her tent, and when she heard them weeping, she came runningI t to them and found them weeping in one another's arms. And Sarahsaid with tears. My lord Ahraham, what does this weeping mean?Tell me. my lord: this brother, who is our guest to-day. has liebrought you news about your nephew Lot. that he is dead, and is13 that why you are making this lamentation? The Prim e replied andsaid to her. No. sister Sarah, it is not as you say. Your son Isaac. 1think, had a dream, and lie t ame to us weeping: and when we sawhim. we were much moved, and we wept loo.

VI. And Sarah recognized something in the way the Prince spoke1and realized immediately that the speaker was an angel of the2 Lord. So Sarah made signs to Ahraham to go outside the door;1and she said to him. My lord Abraham, do you know who this3,4 man is? Abraham said. I do not. And Sarah said. My lord, youremember the three heavenly beings who were our guests in ourtent by the oak ofMamre. when you killed the calfwithout blemish5 and prepared a meal for them? When the meat had been eaten, thecalf rose up again and joyfully sucked from its mother. Youremember, my lord Abraham, do you not, that they gave us the

* Lit. 'mention'. Cp. iv. 13: vii. 22.

1 Lit. 'And Sarah heard the distinction of the Prime's ron\ers.ui<m\

: Lit, 'to go to the door outside".

t> promise of a child. Isaac? This is one of those three holy men. AndAbraham said. What you say. Sarah, is true. Praise and glory be to7 Ciod the Father. ' Indeed, when I was washing his led in the bowlof the washing-basin late this evening. I said to myself. These areK the feet ofone of'the three men that I washed then. And later on his!i tears fell into the basin and turned into precious stones. AndAbraham took the stones4 from the fold of his cloak and gave them1» to Sarah saving. If you do not believe me. now look at these. AndSarah took them and kissed then A and fondled them,9 saying. Glory11 be to Ciod who shows his wonders to us. You may be certain, mylord Abraham, that we are to receive a revelation about something,whether for evil or for good.

VII. And Abraham left Sarah and went back inside the room, andJ he said to Isaac, Come, dear son: tell me the truth. What was it thatyou saw. and what happened to you that you came to us in such ahurry? And Isaac made answer and began. In my sleep to-night, my4 lord, I saw the sun and moon over my head. The sun encircled me"» with its rays and gave me light.' And while I was looking on at thisand rejoicing at it. 1 saw heaven wide open; and I saw a brilliant2man coming down out of heaven, who shone more brightly thanl) seven suns. And that man. who was like the sun, came and took thesun away from my head, and he went hack into the heavens, wherehe had come from; and I was very upset, because lie had taken the7 sun from me. And after a little, while I was still upset and ill at ease.I saw that man leave heaven a second lime; and he took away the8.51 moon from my head as well. And I wept bitterly. And I imploredthat brilliant man and said. No, my lord, please do not take myglory from me: have pity on me and hear me! Kven if you must takeIt) the sun from me. at least leave me the moon. And he said. Youmust let them lie taken up to the King above, for he wills to have11 them there. And he took them from me; hut the rays he left uponme.

’ Lit. ‘Glory and praise from God and Father*.

* l.it. ‘And he took them*. * Or 'him'.

1 Lit.'... the sun and the moon over my head, and encircling me with its rays andgiving me light*. * Lit. ‘light-bearing*. Cp. xii. 7; xiv. 10; xvi. ib.

12 The sun and the moon and the stars mourned, saying. Do not

13 take away our glorious might. And that radiant man answered andsaid to me. Do not weep because I have taken tlte light of yourhouse; for he has been removed from toils to rest, and from a

14 humble state to an exalted one. He is being lifted' from adversity

15 into prosperity: he is being lifted3 from darkness into light. And I

16 said to him. I beg you sir. take the rays with him as well. And hesaid to me. There* are twelve hours in the day, and then will I take

17 all the rays. And while the radiant man was speaking I saw the sunof my house going up into heaven; but 1 saw that crown no more.And that sun was like you, lather.

18 And the Prince said. Listen, rightous Abraham. The sun yourboy has seen is you, his father; and the nuxm. similarly, is hismother Sarah. The brilliant man. who came down out of heaven,he is a man sent from God, and he is about to take your righteous

19 soul away from you. For you must realize, most honouredAbraham, that you are now about to leave your earthly life behind

20 you and depart to God. Then said Abraham to the Prince. This isthe most astonishing thing I have ever heard!4 So it is you. is it, who

21 arc to take my soul away from me? The Prince said to him, I am

22 Michael, the Prince, who stands in the presence of God, I havebeen sent to you in order to put inti) your mind the thought* of

23 death. After that I shall go back to him, as we were commanded.

24 And Abraham said, Now I know that you are an angel of the Lordand you have been sent to take away my soul: yet I will not follow

25 you. But do whatever he commands.

VIII. And when he heard what Abraham said, the Prince at once

2 disappeared. And he went up to heaven and stood before God andgave an account of everything he had seen in Abraham's house.

3 Furthermore, the Prince also told his Lord, Thy friend Abrahamalso says this, I will not follow you; but do whatever he commands.

4 Is there then anything. Almighty Lord, that thy Glory and immortal

5 Majesty now commands? And God said to the Prince Michael. Go

fi down to my friend Abraham once again and tell him. Thus says the

' Lit. 'They arc lifting him'.

* [.it. *0, latest wonder ol‘wonders'.

* Lit. 'mention'. Gp. iv. I5;v. li.

-KM)

Lord vour (Jod. who has brought you into the land of promise, whohas blessed you abov e the sand of the sea and abov e the stars ofheaven, and who granted you the ehikl Isaac. born of die barren

7 Sarah, in your old age: I promise you I will bless you in ev ery way

8 and make your descendants too many to be Counted. I will give youeverything you can ask of me; lor I am the Lord your God and there

U is none oilier but me. But why are you resisting me. and why areHi von distressed? Tell me. And whv are you resisting my archangel

11 Michael? Do you not know that all men who are descended from Adam

12 anti Lve have died? Not one of the prophets has escaped death: noruler has ever been immortal: none of your ancestors has escaped

l:t death's mystery. All have died: all have been received in Hades: allM have been gathered by the reaping-hook of I )eath. But to void I did!’> not send Death. I did not allow any deadly disease to come nearyou: I did not agree that Death’s reaping-hook should visit you:Hi nor did I permit the nets of Hades to etilbld you. I willed that no

17 evil should belall you at any time. Instead. I have sent you myPrince Michael for your good eomlori. to inform you of yourdeparture from the world, so that you can make arrangementsabout your house and all your goods, and so that you can pro-

18 nounce a blessing over your dear son Isaac. And you must knowl*> that 1 have done this out of no desire to cause you pain. Why. then.

20 did you say to my Prince. 1 will not Ibllow you? Why did you say

21 this? Are you not aware that if 1 were to allow Death to come toyou, then I could indeed see whether you would come or not?

IX. After receiving the Lord's instructions the Prince went down2 to Abraham. And when the righteous man saw him, he fell on hisface to the ground as if he were dead; and the Prince told himA everything he had heard from the Most High. Then the pious andrighteous Abraham got up and threw himself at the spirit rs feetl and with many tears made supplication to him, sav ing, I imploreyou, Prince of the powers on high, since you yourself have deignedto come to me, your sinful and unworthy servant. I beg you now to5 take a message for me yet once more to the Most High. Tell him,

1 Lit. 'u|xm you*.

1 Lit. 'the incorporeal «mr\

407

Abraham thy slave has this to say. Lord. Lord, in every deed andword when i besought thee, thou hast heard me and hast brought<> to completion everything I planned. And now. C) Lord. 1 wouldnot resist thy might, for I know indeed that I am not immortal but7 must die. And so. just as all things yield to thine ordinance, andshudder and tremble in the presence of thy power. I also am full ofH fear. Yet one request I would make of thee: and now, () Sovereign*1 Lord, listen to my prayer. I would, while yet in this body, see thewhole earth and all created things, which thou didst establish by ahi single word. When 1 have seen these, then will I depart from lilt*without regret.

1U So the Prince went away again and stood bclbrc (»od. And hetold him ev erything, saying. I'liy friend Abraham has this to say. Iis would behold the whole earth in my life here before I die. And whenthe Most High heard this he gave instructions to the Prince

14 Michael once again. And he said to him. Take a cloud of light and

15 the angels who are in command of the chariots. Then go down andtake the righteous Abraham and set him on the cherubim-chariotand lift him up to the heights2 of heaven, so that he may see thewhole earth.

X. And the archangel Michael went down and took Abraham andset him on the cherubim-chariot and lif ted him tip to the heights' ofheaven and acted as his guide on the cloud together with sixty

2 angels. And Abraham went up on the chariot over the entire earth;

3 and Abraham looked out on the world just as it was that day. Hesaw some men ploughing, others driving wagons: in one place theywere looking after their sheep, elsewhere they were out in the fields,dancing and making merry and playing the kithara: here they werein conflict2 and going to law with one another, there they were

4 weeping and then burying their dead. He saw too the ncwly-

5 married being escorted home. In a word, he saw everything that

6 was happening in the world, both good and evil. So. as Abrahamjourneyed, he saw a group oj swordsmen brandishing their

7 sharpened swords in their hands. And Abraham asked the Prince,

' Lit.'upper air'.

1 Lit.'upper air'. * Lit. "they were wrestling'.

-H)8 The Testament of Abraham

h Who a it these’:* And the PriiitT said. These arc thieves, whoseintention it is to commit murder and steal and kill and destroy.<) And Abraham said. Sir. could you not bid1 wild beasts come out of

10 the wood and eat them up.J And immediately, as he spoke, wild

11 beasts came out of the wood and ate them up. And in another placehe saw a man and a woman in fornication together: and he said.

L> Sir, bid the earth open and swallow them. And the earth was spliti:t in two at once and swallowed them. In another place he saw menbreaking into a house and carrying oil* another man's property;and he said. Sir. bid lire descend from heaven and consume them.It And immediately, as he spoke, fire descended from heaven and1 j consumed them. And there came at once a voice from heaven to thePrim e, saying. Prince Michael, bid the chariot stand still and stopHi Abraham from seeing the whole of the earth. For if he sees all those17 w ho are engaged in sin. he w ill destroy even liv ing thing. For lo,Hi Ahraham has not sinned, and he has no pity lor sinners. But 1 havemade the world, and I have no w ish to destroy any of the men Ihave created;4 but I put oil the sinner’s death until he turns againHi and lives. Take Abraham up to the first gate of heaven, so that hemay view the judgements and the retributions there, and repent forthe sinners' souls he has destroyed.

XI. Michael turned the chariot and brought Abraham eastwards> to the first gate of heaven. And Abraham saw two ways: the firstway w as narrow and restricted and the second broad and spacious.(And he saw there two gates: one broad gale) across the broad» way, and one narrow gate across the narrow way. And outside thej t wo gates there, they saw a man seated on a golden throne. And theman's appearance was terrifying. like that of the Sovereign Lord<; himself.' And they saw many souls being driven along by angelsand herded through the broad gate; and they saw a few other souls7 being taken by angels through the narrow gate. And whenever thewondrous being who was seated on the golden throne saw a fewgoing in through the narrow gale and many through the broad one,

* l.it. 'Sir. sir. hoar my voice and bid-.

4 i.il. 'lo destroy no our of dicin'.

' So A: 1) ’tlir Sovereign Messiah' ;ni ’Christ'K CK our Lord Jesus Christ’.

409

The Testament oJ Abraham

lu*’ at once tore the hair of his head and his beard, and hurledh himself from his throne to the ground, weeping and wailing. Butwhenever he saw many souls going in through the narrow gate,then he got up from the ground and he took his seat on his throne9 rejoicing and exulting with great gladness. And Abraham askedthe Prince. My lord Prime, who is this most wondrous man. who isdecked out with so great a glorv. and who at one moment weepsin and wails, and at the next rejoices and exults? The spirit* madeanswer. Phis is Adam, the first man to be made.4 who is in so great

11 a glorv. He surveys the world, inasmuc h as all men owe their origin

12 to him. Whenever he sees mam souls going in through the- narrowgate, then he gets up and sits on his throne, rejoicing and exulting

l:t with gladness. For this narrow gate is the gate of the righteous.14 whic h leads to life, and those who go in by it go to Paradise. That iswhy the lirsl man4 Adam rejoices, because he sees souls beingl:> saved. And when lu* sees many souls going in through the broadgate, then he plucks at the hair of his head and hurls himself to thel(> ground, weeping and wailing bitterly. It is because the broad gateis the gate of sinners, and it leads to destruction and eternal1“ punishment. That is why tlu* first man4 Adam throws himself*from his throne and weeps and wails at the sinners’ destruction,bec ause those who are perishing are many, whereas those who areIH being saved are few. For in seven thousand there is scarcely to befound a single soul who is being saved, who is righteous andundeftled.

19 And Abraham said. He that cannot enter through the narrow

20 gate, c an he not enter into life? Then Abraham wept and said. Ahme! What shall I do? I am a Big man,* and bow can I enter throughthe narrow gate, when a youth of fifteen could not get through it?

21 And Mic hael answered and said to Abraham. Do not be afraid,father, and do not worry; lor you will go through it withouthindrance, and so will all who are like you.

' Lit. ‘that wondrous man'.

* Lit. 'The incorporeal one*.

4 Li I. * t hr f irst-lormeri'.

’ Lit. Adam falls'.

* Lit. *a man broad in body'.

XII. While he was still speaking.1 lo. two angels came, fiery inappearance, merciless in purpose, and relentless in expression,and they were driving ten thousand souls along, beating themniereilcsslv with fiery thongs; tand one soul the angel scizedt.2 *2 And they directed all the souls through the broad gate for dcstruc-:l lion. So we also followed the angels and came inside that broad4 gate. Now between the two gates stood a fearsome throne.’ flashingf> like lire. On it sat a wondrous man. bright as the sun, like a son of(iod; and before him sl(X)d a table, all of gold and covered with the«i finest linen, which shone like crystal. On the table lay a book, sixcubits thick and ten cubits broad, and on its right and on its left7 w ere standing two angels holding paper and pen and ink. In fromof the table sat a brilliant4 angel holding in his hand a pair of scales.J! ()» his left sat a liery angel, entirely without merry and relentless,and in his hand he held a trumpet that contained all-devouring fire?i inside it. as a means of testing sinners. And w hile the wondrousman who sat on the throne was giving his judgements and sentenc-ing the souls, the two angels on his right and on his left werein recording. The angel on the right recorded the good deeds, the one

11 on the left the sins. And the angel in front of the table, who held thepair of scales, w eighed the souls, and the fiery angel, w-ho held the

12 fire, put the souls to the test. And Abraham asked the PrinceU Michael. What is it we are looking at? And the Prince replied,

What you are seeing, holy Abraham, is the judgement and rctribu-

14 tion. And lo, the angel who held the soul in his hand appeared, and

15 he brought it before the judge. And the judge said to one of the

1 So 1). Jamr&'x text (‘While lit- was yet speaking these things to tne‘) is areconstruction based on the untranslatable C. A lias ‘While lie was yet speakingthese things to us (cp. verse .1). and the Rumanian version 'And while they werespeaking'.

•’ St) A. The other MSS vary considerably throughout the verse, though thegeneral sense is clear, apart from the details ol this final clause. However, there canbe no doubt that something very like this must have stood, in the original textbecause of the references back, both in verse 14 below and at xiv. 1. Furthermore, inthe parallel passage in the B recension only one angel figures as the driver instead oftwo: he is driving sixty thousand souls (not ten thousand); and the soul he is holdingin his hand, whose good deeds and evil deeds arc of equal weight, is that ofa woman.

’ So CDF: AB add ‘that lrx>kcd like fearsome crystal*.

* Lit. 'light-bearing'. Cp. vii. 5; xiv. 10; xvi. 16.

411

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

2:i

24

-.26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

angels that were waiting on him. Open this book for me and findme the sins of this soul. And when he had opened the hook he foundthat its sins and its good deeds balanced evenly. So he neither gaveit over to the torturers, nor did he assign it a place among those whowere being saved, but set it in the middle.

And Abraham said to Michael. Sir. is this the angel that takessouls out of their bodies, or is it not? Michael answered and said.This is Death; and he takes them away to the judgement-place forthe judge to pass judgement on them. And Abraham said. MyLord. I beg you to take me up to the judgement-place, so that l cansee for myself how they are judged. Then Michael i<x>k Abrahamon a cloud and brought him to Paradise. And as he came near theplace where the judge was. the angel appeared and presented asoul* to the judge: and the soul was saying. Have mercy on me.lord. And the judge said. Why should 1 have mercy on you. whenyou yourself had no mercy on your daughter that you had, yourown child?6 Why did you murder her? And the soul made answer.No lord! I am no murderer: my daughter has told lies about me.The judge then ordered the writer of the records to come. And lo.cherubim came, carrying two txtoks, and with them was a man ofimmense size. And he had on his head three crowns: one crown washigher than the other two; and they were called Crowns of Witness.In his hand the man had a pen of gold; and the judge said to him.Let us have the details of the sin7 of this soul. And (he man openedone of the books belonging to the cherubim, and he searched for thesin of the woman's soul and found it. And the judge said. Wretchedsoul! How can you say that you have done no murder? Did you notalter your husband's death, go and commit adultery with yourdaughter's husband and kill your daughter?'1 And he convicted herof other sins as well, all that she had committed since she was achild. When the woman heard this she cried out. saying, Alas!While l was in the world I forgot all the sins that I committed, buthere they are not forgotten. Then they took her and handed herover to the torturers.

’ Lit.‘that soul'.

* Lit. ‘the fruit of your womb'.’ I.it. 'Substantiate the sins'.

" Lit. ‘and kill tier’.

XIII. And Abraham said. My lord Prim e, who is this wondrous

2 judge, and who are these recording angels? And who is the angellike the sun. who holds the scales, and who is the fiery angel who

:i holds the fire? And the Prince said. Most holy Abraham, do you sec

4 the terrifying man who is sitting on the throne? He is the son of thefirst man' Adam, and is called Abel, and he was killed by the

5 wicked Cain. He sits here to judge every creature.2 examining bothrighteous and sinners, because God has said. It is not I who judge

6 you, but by man shall every man bejudged. For this reason he hascommittedjudgement to him. to judge the world until his own great

7 and glorious Coming. And then, righteous Abraham, will followthe final judgement and retribution, eternal and unchangeable,

K which no one will be able to dispute. For all men have their origin

9 from the first man;1 and so by his son they arc first judged here. Atthe second coming they and every spirit and every creature2 will be

Id judged by the twelve tribes of Israel.3 At the third stage they will hejudged by the Sovereign God of all; and then at last will the whole

11 process reach its end.4 The sentences will strike terror; and there

12 will be no one to rescind them. And so through three tribunals thejudgement of the world will be accomplished and its retribution.

13 (And that is why a matter cannot finally be settled on the evidenceof one or two witnesses but ‘on the evidence of three witnesses

14 every fact5 must be established’.) The two angels, one on the right

15 and one on the left, these record the sins and the good deeds. Theone on the right records the good deeds, the one on the left the sins.

Hi The angel who is like the sun, who holds the scales in his hand, he isthe archangel Dokicl: he preserves an honest balance6 and weighs

17 the good deeds and the sins with the justice of God. The fiery andmerciless angel, who holds the fire in his hand, he is the archangel

18 Pyrucl, who has power over fire, and he tests men's deeds by fire. Ifthe fire burns up a man’s deed, the angel ofjudgement takes him at

‘ Lit. ‘the first-formed'. s Or ’all creation'.

' So A: with variation in detail. CDK and the Rumanian read ‘At the secondcoming they and . . . will be judged by the twelve apostles': B combines bothreadings (’At the second coining the twelve tribes of Israel and .. . will bejudged bythe apostles’).

* Lit. ’and thru already the end of that judgement is near’.

5 Lit.‘word* or‘thing’. 6 Lit. ’(Dukiel). the just weigher’.

The Testament of Abraham

413

20

21

23

24

25

26

3

4

6

8

once and carries him oil'to the sinners' plac e - a most disagreeableplace (if'punishment. If the fire tests a man's deed and does nottouch it. he is accounted righteous and the angel of righteousnesstakes him and carries him up to he saved among the number of therighteous. And so. most righteous Abraham, all things in all men7are tested by fire and scales.

This one. who presents the souls is the teacher of heaven andearth, the scribe of righteousness. Knot'll. For the I.ord sent themhere that the sins and the g< x kI deeds of each might be recorded.And Abraham said. But how can Knoch take responsibility for* thesouls, since he has not himself experienced* death? How can hepronounce sentence on all the souls? And Michael said, If he wereto pronounce sentence on them, his sentence would not stand. It isnot Enoch's function to sentence: it is the Lord who sentences; andEnoch's only function is to write. For Enoch prayed to the Lord,saying. Lord. I have no wish to sentence souls; in case 1 might beharsh to any of them. Then said the Lord to Enoch, I shall bid youwrite the sins of the soul that makes atonement, and it shall enterinto life. But il a soul makes no atonement and does not repent, youwill find its sins in writing, and that soul will be sent off topunishment.

XIV. And Abraham said to the Prince, My lord Prince, the soulthat the angel was holding in his hand, how is it that it wascondemned to be set in the middle? And the Prince said, Listen,righteous Abraham: it was because the judge found its sins and itsgood deeds equal. So he consigned it neither to judgement nor tosalvation, until the Judge of all shall come. Abraham said to thePrince. What more docs the soul require to be saved? The Princeanswered. If it can come by one good deed more than its sins, itattains salvation. And Abraham said to the Prince, Come, PrinceMichael and let us make intercession on this soul’s behalf, and letus see whether God will hear us. And the Prince said, Amen: so letit be! And they made supplication and intercession on the soul’sbehalf, and God heard them; and when they got up from their

1 Or ‘in every particular'.

* I.it. ‘bear the burden of.

* Lit. 'seen*.

414

The Testament of Abraham

‘i prayer, they did not see the soul standing there. And Abraham saidlo the angel. Where is the soul you were keeping in the middle?I() And the angel said. It has been saved by your righteous interces-sion; and lo. the brilliant1 angel has taken it and carried it up into

11 Paradise. And Abraham said. I will glorify the name of God Most

12 High and his mercy that is without measure. And Abraham said tothe Prince. I beg you. archangel, gram me my request, and lei usbeseech the Lord once more and throw ourselves on his compas-

13 sion. And let us entreat his mercy for the souls of the sinners I oncecursed in malice and sent to their destruction - those that the earthswallowed up, and the wild beasts tore to pieces, and the fire

I t consumed, because of what I said. Now I realize that I sinnedl.i before the Lord our (iod. (lomc. Miehael. Prince of the [lowers cmhigh: come, let us with tears beseec h God to Ibrgive me my sin andMi grant them to me. And the Prince listened to him, and they made17 supplication before God. When the\ had been praying for a longtime, there came a voice from heaven, saying. Abraham.Abraham. I have heard your voice and your supplication; and I1H forgive you jour sin. And those, whom you imagine I destroyed. 1have recalled and in my mercy* brought them back to life; because1!) for a time I have requited them in ' judgement. But those whom Idestroy while they are alive* on earth. I will not requite in death.4

XV. The voice of the Lord said also to the Prince, Michael.

2 Michael, my minister, return Abraham to his house. For lo. his end

3 is near and the span of his life complete. He will thus be able to seteverything in order; and after that, take him and bring him up to

4 me. And the Prince turned the chariot and the cloud and brought

5 Abraham to his house. And Abraham went into his dining-room

(i and sat upon his couch. And Sarah his wile came and flung her

arms round the spirit's feet.1 as if she were a suppliant, and said, I

1 Lit. ‘light-bearing'. Cp. vii.xii. 7; xvi. Hi.

1 Lit. ‘through my extreme goodness*.

’ Lit. ‘into'.

4 The text is very uncertain at this point. A omits the last clause in verse 1Haltogether and also has variants in verse Ml; B reads almost completely differentlythroughout.

’ Lit. ‘the feet of the incorporeal one'.

thank you, sir, lor bringing back my lord Abraham; lor lo, wc

7 thought he had been taken up from us. And his son Isaac also came

B and put his arms round his neck. And so loo ail his male and femaleslaves assembled about Abraham and embraced him. praising

‘i God. And the spirit2 said to him. Listen, righteous Abraham,behold, your wile Sarah; and behold, your beloved son Isaac; and

10 behold, your men-servants and maid-servants all around you. Seteverything you have in order, because the day is at hand when you

11 are to leav vyour body and go once again to the Lord. And Abraham

12 said. Has the Lord said this, or arc you saying it yourself? And thePrince said. Listen, righteous Abraham: the Sovereign Lord has

13 commanded it. and I am telling you so. And Abraham said. I will

14 not follow you. And when the Prince heard that answer he leftAbraham immediately and went up into the heavens and stood

15 before God Most High. And he said. Lord Almighty, behold, 1have listened lo everything thy friend Abraham has said to thee,

16 and I have granted his request. I have shown him the extent of thy

17 dominion, and all the land and sea that is under heaven. Judge-ment and retribution have I shown him by means of cloud and

19 chariot. And yet again he says, I will not follow you. And the MostHigh said to the angel. Does my friend Abraham really say again, I

20 will not follow you? And the archangel said. Lord Almighty, this is

21 what he says. And I would not touch him because lie has been thyfriend from the beginning and lias done everything that is pleasingin thy sight, and there is no man like him on earth, not even Job,

22 that wondrous man;3 and that is why I would not touch him. Somay 1 have instructions. Immortal King, about what should nowbe done?

XVI. Then the Most High said. Call Death here to me-Meow who

2 is called The Shameless Face and the Pitiless Look. And Michaelthe spirit1 went away and said to Death, Come: the Sovereign of

3 creation, the Immortal King is calling for you. When Death heard

' I.il. ‘the incorporeal our'.

* So D (and- h would seem, the original text). A reads ‘Jacob* lor Job": B omitsthe negative: CEoin. the entire clause.

[.it. ‘the incorporeal one*.

416

this lie* was much alarmed and shivered and shook; and he camewith great trepidation and stood before the invisible Father,shivering, groaning, and trembling, as he awaited his Sovereign’s

4 bidding. And the invisible God said to Death, Come, you most

5 bitter and savage name in all the world ! Hide your ferocity,cover up your corruption, put off your asperity2 from you. and puton your beauty and all your glory, and go down to my friend

(i, 7 Abraham. Take him and bring him to me. Yet I tell you now not tofrighten him. but win him with gentle guile, for lie is my own true

H friend. Death listened and went out from the presence of the MostHigh; and he put on a most brilliant robe and made his face shinelike the sun. He appeared' more handsome and beautiful than anyhuman, having assumed an archangel's form, and his checksin, 11 flashed with fire. And so he went ofF to Abraham. Now the righte-ous Abraham had left his room and was sitting under the trees ofMamre, his chin on his hand, waiting for the archangel Michael tocome back, when lo, there came in his direction a pleasant smell

12 and a flashing light. And Abraham turned round and saw Death

13 coming towards him in great glory and beauty. And Abraham got

14 up to meet him, lor he thought he was God’s Prince. And whenDeath saw him, he bowed lo hint and said. Greetings, honouredAbraham, righteous soul, true friend of God Most High, and

15 companion of the holy angels. And Abraham said to Death, Greet-

Ifi ings to you. You are like the sun, and you shine as docs the sun:

17 most glorious helper, brilliant,4 wondrous man! Whence comes

1H your Splendour to us? Who are you? And whence come you? Death

said. Most righteous Abraham, lo, 1 tell you the truth: I am the

19 bitter cup of death. Abraham said to him. No: you are the world’sparagon of loveliness: you arc the glory and the beauty of angelsand of men: you are more nobly formed than any form there is; and

20 yet you say you arc the bitter cup of death. Should you not rather

21 say, I am more nobly formed than nobility itself?5 And Death said,No: 1 am telling you the truth: it is that very name which God has

22 given me that I am telling you. And Abraham said, Why have you23,24 come here? And Death said, I have come for your holy soul. So

1 Lit. ‘bitterness’. * Lit. ‘He became'.

* Lit. 'light-bearing’. Cp. vii. 5; xii. 7; xiv. 10.

* Lit. ‘than every good thing'.

417

Abraham said. I understand what you arc saying; hut I will not1:i follow you. And Death was silent and answered him not a word.

.2 XVII. Then Abraham got up and went into his house. Hut Death4 followed him all the way. And Abraham went up to his room; but4 Death also went up with him. And Abraham lay down on hisr> couch; and Death came and sat at his feet. And Abraham said. Got. away, go away from me; lor I want to rest on my couch. Death said.7 [ will not go away until I take your spirit from you. Abraham said

to him. By God. who is immortal. I bid you tell me the truth: area you Death? Death said to him. I am Death; 1 am the one whodestroys the world. And Abraham said. Since you are Death. Ipray you. tell me whether you come to all men in this way, in linein form and glory and beauty like this? And Death said. No. my lordAbraham: your righteous deeds and the boundless ocean of yourhospitality and the immensity of your love of God have become a

11 crown upon my head. 1 approach the righteous in beauty, and veryquietly. and with gentle guile; but sinners 1 approach, stinking ofcorruption, with the greatest possible ferocity and asperity,1

12 and an expression that is lx>th savage and without mercy. AndAbraham said. I pray you. listen to me. and show me your ferocity,

14 and all your corruption and asperity.1 And Death said. You couldI I not sec my ferocity, most righteous Abraham. And Abraham said.

Yes: 1 could see all your ferocity, because of the name of the livingIf) God; Ibr the power of my God who is in heaven is with me. ThenDeath stripped himself of all his radiance and beauty, and all theglory and sun-like appearance he had assumed, and he put on aIt) tyrant 's robe. And he gave himsclfa threatening look, more savagethan any kind of wild Ixast and lb uler than any foul thing known to

17 man.2 He displayed to Abraham seven fiery dragons' heads and

18 fourteen faces of blazing fire and great ferocity - one dark-lookingface, one viper-like of the blackest kind, one a most horrible dill,one fiercer than an asp. one of a fearsome lion, and one of a horned

151 viper and a basilisk. And he displayed also the face of a fiery sword,a face bearing a sword, a face of dreadful Hashing lightning, and a20 sound ofTearful thunder. Moreover, he displayed another face of a

1 I .it. ‘bitterness’.

: I.it. ‘fouler than all Ibulness’.

ferocious raging sea. and a fiercely boiling river, and a terrifying

21 three-headed dragon, and a cup of poisons mixed together. Inshort, he displayed to him ferocity in plenty, asperity1 * * beyondendurance, and every kind of deadly disease — the smell of death

22 hung about it all.* And so great was the asperity1 and ferocitydisplayed that the men-servants and maid-servants died, in

2:} number about seven thousand. And even the righteous Abrahamhirnsejcame to the brink of death.4 and his spirit failed him.5

XVIII. And when the all-holy Abraham had seen all this in thisway, he said to Death. I beg you. all-destructive Death, hide yourferocity, and put on the beauty and the Ibrm you had before.

2 Thereupon Death hid his ferocity and put on his beauty he had had

s before. And Abraham said to Death. Why have you done this? Youhave killed all my men-servants and maid-servants: did God send4 you here to-day lor this? And Death said. No, my lord Abraham, itj is not as you suggest:1 it was because of you 1 was sent here. AndAbraham said to Death, And how then was it that these servants(> died, if the laird had not given word? And Deatli said. Believe me,most righteous Abraham, the marvel is that you too were not taken7 olf along with them. I am only telling you the truth when I say thatif the right hand of God had not been with you in that hour, you tooh would have had to depart this life. And righteous Abraham said, 1realize now that I have come to the brink of death, *a»d my spirit*y fails me. Nevertheless, I beg you. all-destructive Death, since myservants have died before their time. come, lei us beseech the Lordour God to hear us and raise up those who perished before their10. 11 lime through your ferocity. And Death said, Amen: so let it be! SoAbraham got up and fell upon his face on the earth in prayer, andDeath with him; and God sent the spirit of life upon those who had

’ Lit. . . dealh-lx'arint’ disease, as of the smell uf death’.

4 Or 'Anti righteous Abraham entered the (aim of death’. Lit. \ . . tame e\en tothe negleet of death’. (-’]). xviii. 8; xx. 12.

5 Or ‘and his breathing began to tail’. Cp. xviii. 8.

1 Lit. *sa\\

•’ Or ‘that I have entered the taint of death’. Lit. . . the nei'leet ui death’, lip.

xvii. 2:1; xx. 12.

•* Or “breath'. Op. xvii. 23.

12 died, and they were restored to life. So then the righteous Abrahamascribed glory to God.

XIX. And Abraham went up to his room and lay down to rest: but

2 Death came and stood before him. And Abraham said to him. Go

3 away from me: I want to rest; for I am exhausted.1 And Death said,

4 I will not leave you until I take your soul. And Abraham, with asullen face and angry look, said to Death. Who has ordered you to

5 sav this? You are bluffing and saying this on your own; and I willnot follow you until the Prince Michael comes to me. and then 1 will

t> go with him. And further.2 if you want me to follow you. explain to

7 nic all your changes of appearance - the seven fiery dragons'heads, and what the face of the cliff means, and the ruthless sword,and the great boiling river, and the turbid sea raging furiously.

8 fix plain to me also the insufferable thunder and the terrifyinglightning, and what the stinking cup of poisons mixed together

9 means: explain them all to me. And Death said. Listen righteousAbraham, for seven ages I create havoc in the world and bring allmen down to Hades: kings and rulers, rich and poor, slaves and freemen, I escort to the depths of Hades; and that is why I showed you

10 the seven dragons' heads. The face of fire I showed you becausemany are burned to death by fire, and jo it is through the

11 face of fire that they see death. The face of (he cliff I showed youbecause many men fall from the top of trees or fearful cliffs anddisappear and perish; and so it is in the Ibrm of a fearful cliff that

12 they sec death. The face of the sword I showed you because manyare killed by the sword in wars; and they see death in the form oj a

13 sword. The face of the great baling river I showed you becausemany arc carried off by inundations3 and swept away by mightyrivers and die by drowning; and they see death before their time.

14 The face of the ferocious raging sea I showed you because manyencounter violent storms at sea, arc shipwrecked, and sink beneath

15 the waves; and they see death as the sea. The insufferable thunderand the fearful lightning I showed you because many men come to

' Lit. *mv spirit is invested with neglect-.

1 Lit. ‘But this also I say to you’

■’ Lit. ‘by the inrush of many waters'.

a time of wrath,4 with insufferable thunder and fearful lightning,Hi and perish suddenly;5 and that is the way they see death. I showedyou also poisonous creatures,® asps and basilisks, and leopards,and lions, and cubs, and bears, and vipers, and. in short, the face ofevery beast did 1 show you, most righteous one. because many menare killed by beasts, and others die alter being bitten7 by poisonous17 snakes, (dragons, asps, horned vipers, basilisks),H and the viper. Ishowed you also deadly cups of poisons mixed together, becausemany men are given poisons to drink hv other men and withoutapparent cause are carried off at once.

XX. And Abraham said. Tell me, I pray you, is the kind of death'2 that conies to a man incalculable? Death said. I tell you truly, by:i God's truth, there are seventy-two deaths. One of these is therighteous death which has its appointed hour;1 and many men4 arrive at death and burial within a single hour. Lo. 1 have told you,r> everything you asked. Now I tell you, most righteous Abraham,have done with all this discussing, and once and (or all stop(j questioning me. Gome, follow me, even as God, the Judge ofall has

7 directed me. But Abraham said to Death, Leave me yet a little

8 longer to rest on my couch, lor I am very feeble.2 From the momentI set eyes upon you my strength failed: all my limbs seem like

‘i lumps of lead; and I am very short of breath.3 Go away for a littleIt) while, for 1 must confess4 1 cannot bear the sight of you. And hisII son Isaac came and fell upon his breast, weeping. And his wifeSarah came too, and she flung her arms round his feet, wailing

* i.c. the Divine wrath. Some emend to 'the time- of death'.

5 Lit. ‘and heroine in the taking away of men’.

6 Lit. ‘beasts’.

7 Lit. 'having been made to swell'.

* These words were inserted by James. They are Inund complete only in MSA,where they follow immediately after ‘wrath’ in verse 15 and must be read there asgenitives depending on 'wrath’. A relic of the reading survives in B at the same pointin a jumble that makes no sense. Several other details in verses 15 and Hi. both oftext and interpretation, arc also far from certain.

1 Lit.‘its limit'.

1 Lit. ‘for want ofheart is great upon me’.

* Or ‘and my spirit is much distressed".

* Lit. 'for { have said’.

The Testament oj Abraham 421

12 bitterly. And all his male and female slaves c ame as well, and theygathered round his vouch: and Abraham came to the brink oft:i death.5 And Death said to Abraham. Come, kiss my right hand;

and may jov and life and power come to von (lor Death wasIt deceiving Abraham). And Abraham kissed his hand, andIf) immediately his soul stuck hist to Death's hand. And at otiee thearchangel Michael was at his side, with a host of angels. and theytook his precious soul in their hands, in a sheet divinely woven.Iti And with divinely-scented myrrh and spices they tended righteousAbraham’s Ixxly until the third day after his death: and they17 buried him in the land of promise, at the oak of Mature. And theangels escorted his precious soul and went up into heaven, chant-ing the Trisagion hymn to Cod. the Sovereign of all; and theyih placed it where it could worship Cod the Father. And when thegreat hymn of praise and doxoiogy to the Lord was ended, andwhen Abraham had worshipped, there came the clear voice of Codthe Father, saying. Fake my friend Abraham to Paradise, whereare the tents of my righteous ones and the resting-places of myin saints|. Isaac and Jacob in his l>osom). There is no toil there, nogrief, no sighing, but peace and rejoicing and endless lile.6

* Or 'amt Abraham entered the taint of death'. Lit. \ . . ranir to tin* neglect ofdeath'. Cp. xvii. 2l>: xviii. H.

" The following addition is lound in all tlu* MSS:

‘Let us also, my Ix’loved brethren. imitate the patriarch Abraham's hospitality,and let us attain to his virtuous way of life: so that wr may lx- worthy of'life eternal,giving glory to the Father, amt to the Sot), atui to the Holy Ghost. To him gloryand power fur ever and ever. Atnen'.

testament of isaac

THE TESTAMENT OF ISAAC

IXTROfHC TION

The Testament of Isaac has survived in Coptic. Arabic, andKthiopic. Of the Coptic there arc two versions, one in Sahicfic andone in Bohairic. each extant in only a single MS. The Sahidicversion is found as the second of lour items in a MS in the PierpontMorgan collection in New York (M ">77. dated .\l)894/.r>). and theBohairic in Clod. Mat. Copt. til (dated \l> ‘Mi 1/2) where it isgrouped together with the Testaments of Abraham and Jacob asthe fifth item in a series of ten. Both the Arabic and Kthiopicversions agree with the Bohairic in offering texts of all threeTestaments and also in grouping them together.

Guidi, in the Introduction to his edition of the Bohairic text ofthe Testaments of Isaac and Jacob.* argued that both are imita-tions of the Testament of Abraham and that both were composedin Coptic. In this case the Arabic and Kthiopic versions will havebeen derived from the Coptic. And this hypothesis may be sup-ported by the observation that the later versions follow theBohairic. not only in grouping the Testaments of Abraham. Isaac,and Jacob, together as a unit, but also in attributing them in theirpresent form to St. Athanasius.2

On the other hand, even if it be conceded that the two laterTestaments are imitative, that is no reason why they should nothave been composed in Greek, although the Greek originals havenot as vet come to light. If the reference to the book, or books, ‘ofthe three Patriarchs' in The Apostolic Constitutions (YI.xvi.3) is toour Testaments of Abraham. Isaac, and Jacob, then there musthave been a Greek Isaae and a Greek Jacob as well as a GreekAbraham. Similarly, it might be argued that the enigmatic passagein Priscillian (tract, iii) shows that Priscillian knew a Latin v ersionof all three Testaments,-1 and that this is further evidence in favour

’ Guidi. p. 223. 5 See above p. 395.

1 What Priscillian says (commenting on an Old-Latin rendering olTobit iv. 12)is: ‘A’oi fiti pTophflanim sumus: AW pro/eta Juit et Abraham el hoc ft lacoh el omnes patresnostri qui ab initio saeculiprojetavemnl. Quando in canonc profciac Noe liber lectus cst?

nt a Greek Isaac and a Greek Jacob. If there was, then variousschemes of version descent are possible. But it would he idle tospeculate on these possibilities when there arc no Greek texts ofeither Isaac or Jacob actually available.

It would seem therefore, that, so far as date and place of originarc concerned, wc can affirm even less about the Testaments ofIsaac and Jacob than we can about the Testament of Abraham,rile attribution ofall three to St. Athanasius in the Coptic-Arabic-Ethiopic tradition must inevitably be suspect; and even if it werenot, the further statement in the preface to the Testament ofAbraham in the Bohairic that Athanasius ’found’ them 'in ancienthooks of our holy fathers the apostles’4 would he too vague to lie ofany real use (it looks far too much like a pious conjecture on thepart of some editor or scribe). Even so, such evidence as there ispoints to Egypt as the place of origin - the name Athanasius, thegeographical distribution of the extant texts, and the similarity ofthe Testaments of Isaac and Jacob to the Testament of Abraham,which in all probability was itself written in Egypt. This last pointis of some importance. If the authors of the Testaments of Isaacand Jacob w ere not the same as the author or compilers of theTestament of Abraham, they must not only hav e known Abraham,hut also have thought it worth while composing very passableimitations of it. However, it should be noted that although thepattern of the Testament of Isaac follows the pattern of Abrahamclosely, there is a new element introduced, viz. the moral andreligious teaching attributed to Isaac; and it might well be arguedthat this new element is due to a Coptic author or redactor, since astrong practical and pastoral interest is one of the recurringfeatures in all Coptic literature. The Testament ofjacob is muchmore imitative than is the Testament of Isaac, hut it seems toimitate the Testament of Isaac rather than the Testament ofAbraham directly. The outstanding characteristic of this ’Testa-ment is its dependence throughout on the book of Genesis.

quis inter prolrtas dispositi canonis Ahrahae librurn legit? quis quod aliquandoIsac profetasset edocuit? quis profetiam lacob quod in canone poneretur audivit?’4 Cp. also Test. Jacob xi. 2 and xiii. 11.

425

In their present Ibrm the Testaments of Isaac and Jacob are,'ertainly Christian. Yet it may fie maintained, as it has been'iiaintained in the ease ot the Testament of Abraham, that theyamtain Jewish legendary material, even it they were not them->elves the work of Jewish authors. In the Testament of Isaac t he.wplicitly Christian elements may have been superimposed, lorthey appear to be easily detachable. In the Testament of Jacob, onthe other hand, they Ibrm a more integral part of the whole, lintwhatever be the truth here, there are signs that our existing textshave a long history behind them, although ‘the violent treatmentto which the Testaments (more especially the Testament of Jacob] havebeen subjected, lies a long way behind their present Coptic lorm.**

'The Sahidic text in the Pierpont Morgan MS has been chosen asthe basis for the translation of the Testament of Isaac that follows,as being the most ancient text extant. The Bohairic was almostcertainly made from the Sahidic. although as it has come down tous it does not always follow it exactly: it may. therefore, onoccasion have preserved some features otherwise lost. In ton-sequence. major divergences between Sahidic and Bohairic. whichaffect the subject-matter, have attention drawn to them in thenotes.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

hi)I HONS

Coptic {Sahidic)

K. H. Kl'HN. ‘The Sahidic version of the Testament of Isaac* inJTS N s. viii (1957). pp. 225-239.

Coptic (Bohairic)

1. GriDl, II Testamento di Isacco e il Testamenlo di Ciacohbe(= Rendiconti della Realt Accademia dei Lined: C/asse di scienzemoral i,storicheejilologiche, Ser. V. ix (Rome. 1900), pp. 224—244).

5 So (iascler in (». H. Box. Tht Testament oj Abraham, p. Vi.

The Testament of Isaac

426

TRANSLATIONS

English

K. H. Kl'HN. An English Translation of the Sahidic Version ofthe Testament of Isaac' in JTSs.S. xviii (1967), pp. 323—336.

S. GasKLKK, ‘The Testament of Isaac’ in G. H. Box, TheTestament of Abraham . . . with an Appendix containing a Translationfrom the Coptic Version oj the Testaments of Isaac and Jacob{ — S.P.C.K., Translations of Early Documents-^ London, 1927), pp.37—73 - from the Bohairic.

\V. E. BarNKS, ‘Extracts from the Testament of Isaac’ in M. R.J A NIKS. The Testament of Abraham . . . (= TS Il.ii (Cambridge.1892), pp. 140-131) - from the Arabic.

Trench

M. CHAlNK in M. DkLOOR, Le Testament d'Abraham . . . (Leiden,1973) - from the Bohairic (pp. 196-205). Arabic (pp. 232-261),and Kthiopic (pp. 224-233). The translations of the Arabic andEthiopic, left only in draft by Chaine. were revised and preparedfor publication by P. M.\R(,:.\IS and A. CaqI’OT respectively.

Herman

E. ANI>KRSS0N, Sphinx, vii (Uppsala, 1903), pp. 77-94-from theBohairic.

P. RI KSSI.KR, AjSaB2' pp. 1133-1148 - from the Arabic(?J.

GKNKRAI.

M. DkLCOR, Le Testament d'Abraham . . . {Leiden, 1973), pp.78-83.

S. G asKI.KK [as above], pp. 55—56.

I. Gl IDI [as above], p. 223.

M. R. Ja.MKS. The Testament oj Abraham . . . [as above], pp.

133-161.

427

The Testament oj Isaac

P. X.AtiKL. ‘Zur sahidischen Wrsion des Testa men les Isaaks' inlYisstnschaJtliche Zeilschrifl der Martin-Luther-1 nnersitdt Halle-lYittenberg, xii. .4/4 (I%4). pp. 2n9-2l>4.

P. RI KSSI.KR, AjSaB2. pp. i 444-144:’).

H. W’KINKL in EVX. p. 172.

This is the going forth from thr body of Isaac the patriarch: he diedon the twcnty-lburth of Mcsorc.1 in the peace of God. Amen.

I. Now Isaac the patriarch writes his testament and addresses hiswords of instruction to his son Jacob and to all those gathered

2 round him. The blessings of the patriarch will be on those whocome after us. ev en those who listen to these words, to these wordsof instruction and these medicines of life, so that the grace of God:i may be with all those who believe. This is the end of obedience, asit is written. You have heard a word, let it abide with you1 - which4 means that a man should strive patiently with what he hears.* Godgives grace to those who believe: he who believes the words of Godf> and of his saints will be an inheritor of the Kingdom of God. Godhas been with the generations gone by. which have passed away,(j because of their innocence and their faith towards God. He will bewith the generations to come also.

II. Now it came to pass, when the time had come for the patriarchIsaac to go forth from the Ixxiy. God sent to him the angel1 of his

2 father Abraham at dawn on the twenty-second of Mesore. He said:t to him. Hail, son of promise! (Now it was the daily custom of the4 righteous old man Isaac to converse with the angels.) He lifted his

1 i.r. 17 August. Boh. gives 21 August, which is confirmed as the com-memoration da v of all three patriarehs. Abraham. Isaac, and Jacob, at Test. Jamb

xiii. II.

1 Probably an adaptation, or variant reading. ol Kerins. xix. 10.

1 from here to thr end of the chapter Boh. elaborates without adding anythingessentially new.

Boh. ‘archangel Michael'.

428 The Testament o f Isaac

faco up to the fare of the angel: he saw him assuming the likeness ofhis lather Abraham; and he opened his mouth and raised his voiceand cried out in great joy, I have seen your lace like someone who

5 has seen the face of God. I he angel said to him. Listen, mv belovedIsaac: 1 have been sent for you by God to take you to the heavensand set you beside your father Abraham, so that you can see all thesaints; for your lather is expecting you and is coming for you

b himself. Behold, a throne has been set up for you close to yourfather Abraham, and your lot and your beloved son Jacob's lot willsurpass that of all others in the whole of God's creation:’ that iswhy you have been given for evermore the name of Patriarch and

7 Father of the World. But the God-loving old man Isaac said to the

8 angel, 1 am astonished hy you. for you are my father. "Hie angelanswered. My beloved Isaac. I am the angel that ministers to your

b father Abraham. But rejoice now, for 1 am to take you out of sorrow

10 into gladness, out of sulfering to rest for ever. I am to transport youfrom prison to a place where you can range at will - to a place of joyand gladness: I am to take you to where there is light and merriment

11 and rejoicing and abundance that never fails. So then, draw upyour testament and a statement for your household.’ lor I am to

12 translate you to rest lor all eternity. Blessed is your father whobegot you: blessed are you also: blessed is your son Jacob; andblessed are your descendants that will come alter you.

J Bull, adds the Trinitarian formula ‘in the glory of (he Father and the Son andthe Holy Spirit'.

Since the word rendered 'testament' here can also mean ’will', the wholesentence ran quite properly be understood to mean ‘make your will and set yourdomestic affairs in order"; and this understanding of it is strengthened by theobservation that passages in the Testament of Abraham, where Michael is biddento instruct Abraham (and docs instruct him) alxuit what he is to do in preparationfor his death, must refer to the disposition of his worldly g<x>ds (T. Abr. i.7. viii. 17.xv. ‘j. 10). On the other hand. T. Isaac x. 8.15,20seem most naturally to refer to thewritten ‘Testament’ of Isaac (cp. alsoi. 1) rather than to Isaac's ‘will', just asT. Jacob i. 2 seems to be an even clearer reference to the written ‘Testament’ ofJacob (in a context and in language very similar to the context and the language ofour present passage}. I f. then, we are to believe, as many do, that T. Abr. served as amodel for the authors of the later Testaments, we have to assume also a shill inunderstanding somewhere along the line: there can be little doubt about themeaning of T. Jacob i. 2; but the meaning ofT. Isaac ii. I l is nothing like so certain.

429

The Testament oj Isaac

III. Now Jacob heard them talking together, hut lie said nothing.2 Our father Isaac said to the angel with a heavy heart. What shall I

do about the light of my eyes, my beloved son Jacob? For 1 amafraid of what Esau might do to him - you know the situation.1 Theangel said to him. My beloved Isaac, if all the nations on earthwere gathered together, they would not be able to bring these•t blessings pronounced over Jacob to nothing. When you blessed him.the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit’ blessed him; andMichael and Gabriel* and all the angels and all the heavenly onesand the spirits of all the righteous and your father Abraham alt5 answered. Amen. The sword.4 therefore, shall not touch his Ixxly:but he shall he held in high honour and grow great and spread far<> and wide, and twelve thrones shall spring from him. Our fatherIsaac said to the angel. You have given me much com tort, but do

7 not let Jacob know in case he is distressed. The angel said to him.My beloved Isaac, blessed is every righteous man who goes forth

8 from the body: blessed are they when they meet with God. Woe,woe. woe. three times woe. to the sinner, because he has been borninto this world: great sufferings will come to him. Isaac, beloved of

>i God. Give these instructions, therefore, to your sons, and the

10 instructions vour father has given you. Hide nothing from Jacob,so that he can write them as instructions for the generations thatwill come after you. and those who love God may live their lives in

11 accordance with them.5 And lake care that 1 am able to fetch you

12 with joy. without delay. ’Flic peace of my Ford that he has givenme, 1 give to you, as I go to him who sent me.

IV. And when the angel had said this, be rose from the' bed on

2 which Isaac was sleeping. He went back to the worlds on highwhile our father Isaac watched him go, astonished at the vision he

3 had seen. And he said. I shall not see daylight before I am sent for.\ And while he w as thinking this, behold, Jacob got up and came to

1 Lit. ‘you know the end of everything'.

: Boh. omits the reference to the Son and the Holy Spirit.

' Boh. omits the reference ivGabriel.

4 Or‘Chains'. 5 Lit.'may work by them".

Lit. ‘his- (i.e. Isaac's hod).

.') the door of the room. The angel had east a sleep over him so that heshould not hear them; and he got up and ran to where his fatherslept and said to hint. My father, whom have you been talking to?i) Our father Isaae said to him, You have heard, my son: your aged7 father has been sent for to be taken from you. And Jacob put hisarms round his father's neck and wept, saying. Ah me! My strength» has left me: to-day you have made me an orphan, my father. Ourlather Isaac embraced his son Jacob and wept; and both weptIt together until they could weep no more.2 * And Jacob said. Take mein with you. father Isaac. But Isaac replied. I would not have it so, my

11 son:' wait until you are sent for. my loved one. I remember4 on theday when the whole earth was shaken from end to end5 talking tomy lord and father Abraham, and I had no strength to do anything.

12 What god has ordained, he has ordained (or each one by surel:t authority: his ordinances are immutable. But I know, and I am

glad that I am to go to God. and I am strengthened by a guiding6 * * *I t spirit;’ for this is a way that no one can escape. Listen, my son,Where is the first creation of the hands of God - our father Adam

13 and our mother Eve? Where is Abel," and after him Mahalalel, andJared, and our father Enoch, and Methuselah,” and our father

10 Noah, and his sons Shcm, Ham. and Japhcth? After theseArpachshad. and Cainan, and Shelah, and Ebcr, and Reu, andSerug, and Nahor, and Terah, and my blessed father Abraham,17 and Lot his brother? All these experienced death except the perfectIH one, our father Enoch.10 After these, forty-two generations more"

2 I.ii. *uillil they ceased'.

* Boh. adds ’but thanks Ik- to God that you too arc a lather, my loved one'.

Lit. "1 know myself'.

s Lit. ‘when the extremity and the edge of the world was moved’: alternatively’when the capital and the pillar of the world was moved". In Boh. the whole sentenceruns * I also remember a day when the high and flourishing cypress was moved. ..’(cp. T. Abr. iii. 1-2). In cither version the argument seems to be that thoughcreation and created matter may be shaken, yet God's ordinances arc unshakcablc.

6 Or‘princely’.

’ and I am strengthened . . . spirit: in Boh. Jacob is exhorted to be strong and tostop weeping.

* Boh. adds a reference to Seth and Enosh.

* Boh. adds a reference to Lantech.

10 Boh. adds an explicit reference to Enoch's translation.

" Cp. Matt. i. 17. According to Boh., twelve generations.

shall pass until Christ comes, horn of a pure virgin called Mary.12

20 He will spend thirty years preac hing in the world. At the end of allthis, he will choose twelve men and reveal to them his mysteriesand leach them about the archetype of his body and his true bloodby means of bread and wine: and the bread will heroine the body ol

21 God and the wine will become the blood of God. And then he willascend the tree of the cross and die (or the whole creation, and rise onthe” third day and despoil hell, and deliver all mankind from the

22 enemy. The generations to conic* will he saved by his body and by

23 his blood until the end of time. The sacrifices ofGhristians will notcease until the end ol time, whether offered secretly or openly: andthe Antichrist will not appear so long as they olfcr up their saerilice.

24 Blessed is every man who performs that service and believes in it.because the archetypal service14 is in the heavens; and they shallcelebrate with the Son of God in his kingdom.

V. While the God-loving old man. our father Isaac, was saying

2 this, all his household gathered round him and wept. His son told

3 all his relations, and they came to him in tears. Now our fatherIsaac had made for himself a bedroom in his house; and when hissight began to fail he withdrew into it and remained there for ahundred years, fasting daily’ until evening, and offering for himself

4 and his household a young animal for their soul. And he spent half

5 the night in prayer and praise to God. Titus he lived an ascetic life

6 for a hundred years. And he kept three periods of forty days as lastseach year, neither drinking wine nor eating fruit nor sleeping on his

7 bed. And he prayed and gave thanks to God continually.

VI. Now when it became generally known that the man of God

The rest of this chapter (on Christ's work and the Eucharist), together with v.I -3a, is lacking in Boh.

" Lit. *his\

H Lit. 'the archetype*, which is done'.

1 Lit. '. . . in his house: when the light of his eyes was dim, ho withdrew into ituntil the end of a hundred years, fasting daily'. It is here that Boh. rejoins our text,beginning 'And God was with him until lie had completed a hundred years, and hefasted daily'.

Y.Y1

had regained his sight.' people gathered to him from everywhere,listening to his words" of life; lor they realized that a holy spirit of2 God was speaking in him. The great ones who c ame said to him,You ran note see clearly enough: how comes it that after your sighthad failed vou have now regained it? The God-loving old mansmiled and said to them. My sons and brothers, the God of myfather Abraham has brought this about to comfort me in my old■i age. But the priest of God said to him. Fell me what I ought to do,':» my father Isaac. Our father Isaac said to him. Keep your bodyti holy, for the temple of God is set in it.4 Do not engage in eontro-7 versv with other men in ease an angry word escapes your mouth. Beon your guard against evil-speaking, against vainglory.5 andagainst uttering any thoughtless word;6 and see that your hands doH not reach out after what is not yours. Do not oiler a sacrifice with ablemish in it;7 and wash yourself with water when you approach the‘i altar. Do not mix the thoughts of the world with the thoughts ofin God when you stand belbrc him. Do your utmost to be at peaceII with everyone. When you stand before God" and offer yoursacrifice.1* when you come to oll'cr it on the altar, you should reciteprivately10 a hundred prayers to God and make this confession toGod saying.

1*2 O God. the incomprehensible, the unfathomable, the unattain-able, the pure treasure, purify me in love; lor I am flesh and blood.J;i anti I run defiled to thee, that thou mayest purify me. I comeburdened, and I ask that thou mayest lighten my burden; a fire willI t burn wood.11 and thy mercy will take away mine iniquities. Forgiveme, mt“ that am a sinner: I forgive12 the whole creation that thou

' I.it. *tlu* man ufGod saw dearly’.

•' Lit.'teachings'. * Lit. 'Tell me a word’.

4 In Boh. the allusion to 1 Cor. iii. Hi is clearer and an exhortation to keep theflesh pure and holy is added.

s Boh. adds the warning not to speak alone with a woman.

* Boll, 'idle word*.

7 Boh. "when there is a blemish in you’. " Lit.‘him*.

" Boh. takes the equivalent of this clause with the preceding verse, which seemspreferable. 10 Lit.‘bv yourself.

“ Or ‘matter’. In Boh., which elaborates this passage, the reference is un-questionably m created matter.

12 Boh. ‘do thou forgive’ (imperative).

The Testament of Isaac 433

15 hast made. I have no complaint against anyone: I am at peace u ithall that is made in thine image: I am unmoved by all the evill«j reasonings that have been brought belbre me. I am thy servant andthe son of thy maidservant: I am the one wlui sins, thou art the onewho forgives: forgive me and enable me to stand in thy holy place.17 Let my sacrifice he acceptable before thee: do not reject mebecause of my sins; but receive me unto thee, in spite of ’ my manyIK sins, like a sheep that has gone astray. () (iod, who hast been withour father Adam, and Abel, and Noah, and our father Abraham,and his son Isaae. who hast been with Jacob, be thou with me also,and receive my sacrifice from my hand,lit As you recite all this, take your sacrifice and offer it; and striveheavenwards because of the sacrifice of (iod. so that you do not•ill displease him. For the work of the priest is no small thing.

VII. Kvery priest to-day (and till the end of time) must betemperate as regards his food and drink and sleep:1 neither shouldhe talk about events connected with this world, nor listen toj anyone who is talking about them. Rather should he spend his wholelife occupied with prayer and vigils and recitation until our God:i sends for him in peace. Kvery man on earth, be he priest or monk(for after a long time the> will love the life of holy retreat), mustrenounce the world and all its evil cares and join in the holy service

4 the angels render in purity to God.2 And they will he honouredbefore God and bis angels because of their holy sacrifices and theirangelic service, which is like the archetype that is rendered in the

5 heavens. And the angels will be their friends, because of theirperfect faith and their purity; and great is their honour before (iod.

.7 In a word, whether great or small, sinlessness is required of us. Thechief sins worthy of repentance are these: You shall not kill with the8 sword: You shall not kill with the tongue either: You shall notcommit fornication with your body; You shall not commit fornica-tion with your thoughts; You shall not go in to the young to defile

,'1 Lit. 'because of.

1 In Boll, ihr list of prohibitions starts with winr and the refemuT to sleep isomitted.

* Lit. 'and be in the holy service of the angels of the pure l»od\

434

The Testament of Isaac

9 them: You shall noi he envious; You shall not be angry until thesun has set; You shall not be proud in dispositon; You shall notId rcjoiee over your neighbour's fall: You shall not slander; You shallnot look at a woman with a lustful eye; and. Do not readily listen toII slander.-' We need to beware of these things, and of others likethem, till each one of us is secure from the wrath that shall berevealed from heaven.

VIII. Now when the people gathered about him heard him, they2 eried out aloud saying, This is meet and right: Amen. But theGod-loving old man was silent: he drew up his blanket: he coveredhis lat e. And the people and the priest were silent, so that he could4 rest himself a little. But the angel of his father Abraham came to:» him and took him up into the heavens. He saw terrors and tumultsspread abroad on this side and on that; and it was a terror and ai> tumult fearful to behold. Some had the face of a camel, others hadthe fact* of a lion: some had the face of a dog. others had but one eye7 and had tongs in their hands, three ells long, all of iron.1 * * I looked,and behold, a man was brought, and those who brought him wentK with him. ’ When they reached the beasts, those who went with himwithdrew to one side: the lion advanced towards him, tore himapart into little pieces, and swallowed him: it then vomited him up,and he became like himself again; and the next beast treated him in!l just the same way. In short, they passed him on from one to theother: * each one would tear him into pieces, swallow' him, and thenId vomit him up; and he would become like himself again. I said tothe angel. What sin has this man committed, my lord, that all this

11 is done to him? The angel said to me. This man you are looking atnow had a quarrel with his neighbour.4 and he died without their

12 being reconciled. See, he has been handed over to five chief5

■* In this catalogue Boh. adds a reference to blasphemy and omits the Iasi clause:there are also other minor differences.

1 lu the list ofanimais Boh. adds hyenas and leopards and omits the reference totongs.

-’ Lit. 'and behold, one they brought him, they going with him'.

•* Lit. 'they gave him into one another’s hand’.

* According to Boh. the quarrel had lasted for five hours.

s Boh. has no equivalent for this word.

43f>

tormentors: they spend a year tormenting him lor every hour4 hel:i spent quarreling with his neighlnjur. I'he angel also said to me. Mybeloved Isaac, do you think these arc the only ones? Believe me.Isaac, beloved of God. there are six hundred thousand* tormentors.H They spend a year tormenting a man for ev ery hour that he spendssinning - if lie did not repent, that is. belbre he went Ibrth from thebody.

IX. He led me on and brought me to a lierv river, the wav es ofwhich were an ell' high, and its noise like tin- noise of heaven's2 thunder. And I saw a host of souls submerged in it;: and ibo.se whowere in that river cried out and wept aloud, and there was a great:t commotion and much groaning. But it is a discerning lire that doesnot touch the righteous, yet burns up sinners and boils them in the4 steneh that surrounds them. 1 saw also tlu* pit of the abyss, thesmoke of which went up in clouds:-* 1 saw men sunk in it grindingtheir teeth, crying out and wailing, and each one was groaning.

5. G The angel said to me. Look and see these others too. And when Ihad looked at them, the angel said to me.4 These5 are those whohave committed the sin of Sodom: these are indeed in great distress.7 I saw also pits full of worms that do not sleep: I saw Abdrmer-ouchos,6 who is in charge of the punishments, made all of fire,threatening the tormentors in hell and saying. Beat them until theyH know that. God is. 1 saw a house built of fiery stone.’ and there werey grown men underneath it. crying out and wailing. The angel said10 to me. Look with your eyes and contemplate the punishments. 1said to the angel. My eyes could not endure it:" lor how long must

6 Boh. 'seventy thousand'.

1 Boh.'thirty ells'. : Boh. adds 'nine ells deep.

1 Lit. 'the smoke of w hich was very high'.

1 So Boh.: Sah.‘him'.

5 According to Boh. they were submerged in the cold.

6 Boh. ‘Ahteltnolouchos'. Probably a corruption of the adjective rtyucAoCfto*;('care-taking'), applied to a 'tutelary' or 'guardian' angel, and then taken as anindividual angel’s name. See M. R. James. The Apocnpkal A’«r Testament (Oxford.1924). p. 507.

7 Boh. ‘I saw another abyss that was all fire".

* Lit. 'behold them*.

11 these punishments go on? He said to me. Until the merciful God haspity.

X. After this the angel took me up into the heavens: I saw my

2 father Abraham and I made obeisance to him. He saluted me, withall the saints, and the saints honoured me because of my father:

3 they walked with me and took me to my Father. 1 worshipped him

4 with all the saints. Songs of praise rang out, Thou art holy, thou artholy, thou art holy. King, Lord Sabaoth: the heavens and the earth

5 are full of thy holy glory. The Lord said to my father from the holyplace.1 It is good that you have come. Abraham, you righteous rootand faithful saint: it is good that you have come to our city.

ti Whatever you may want to ask now, make your requests in thename of your beloved son Isaac, and they shall be yours indeed.2

7 My father Abraham said. Thine is the power, O Lord Almighty.

H The Lord said to Abraham, As for all those who arc given the nameof my beloved Isaac, let each one ofthem copy out his testament5 andhonour it. and feed a poor man with bread in the name of mybeloved Isaac on the day of his holy commemoration: to you will I

}> grant them as sons in my kingdom. Abraham said. My LordAlmighty, if a man cannot copy out his testament,3 can'st thou notin thy mercy accept him, for thou art merc iful and compassionate?

It) 'The Lord said to Abraham, Let him feed a poor man with bread,anil I will give him to you as a gift and as a son in my kingdom, andhe shall come with you to the first hour of the thousand years.

11 Abraham said, Suppose he is poor and has no means of getting4

12 bread? The Lord said, Let him spend the night of my belovedIsaac’* commemoration without sleep, and I will give him to you as a

13 gift and an inheritor in my kingdom. My father Abraham said,Suppose he is weak and has no strength, can’st thou not in thy

14 mercy accept him in love. The Lord said to him, Let him olfer up alittle incense in the name of your beloved son Isaac, and I will give

15 him to you as a son in my kingdom. If he has no means of getting4incense, let him seek out a copy oj his testament and read it on my

1 Boh. adds ‘Every man who shall give the name of my beloved Isaac to his son,my blessing shall be on his house for ever*.

’ Lit. ’yours for a covenant*, tip. xii. II).

2 Lit.‘write his testament*. 4 Lit.‘has not found*.

lt> beloved Isaac's day. If he cannot read it. let him go and listen to

17 others who can. If he is unable to do any of'these things, let him gointo his house and say a hundred prayers, and 1 will give him to

la you as a son in my kingdom. But the most essential thing of all isthat he should offer a sacrifice in my beloved Isaac's name, lor his

19 body was offered as a sacrifice.5 Vet not only will I give youeveryone called by my beloved Isaac's name as a son in mykingdom: / will give you also everyone who does one ol the things I

till have mentioned. And I will give you everyone who concerns himselfabout Isaac's" life and his testament, or does any compassionateact. such as giving someone a cup of water to drink, or who copiesout his testament7 with his own hand, ami those who read it with all

21 their heart in faith, believing everything that 1 have said. Mypower and the power of my beloved Son and" the Holy Spirit shallbe with them, and I will give them to you as sons in my kingdom.

22 Peace to all of you. all my saints.

XI. Now when he had said this, songs of praise rang out. Thou artholy, thou art holy, thou art holy. King. Lord Sabaoth: the heavens

2 and the earth are full of thy holy glory. The Father said to Michaelfrom the holy place. Michael, my steward, go quic kly and gathertogether the angels and all the saints, so that they may come and

3 meet my beloved Isaac. And Michael sounded the trumpet at

4 once. All the saints gathered with the angels and came to the couchof our father Isaac:1 the Lord mounted his chariot,2 and the

5 seraphim went in front of him with the angels.' And when theycame to our father Isaac's couch, our father Isaac beheld our

<> Lord's face immediately, turned towards him full of joy. Hr criedout. it is good that thou hast come, my Lord, and thy greatarchangel Michael: it is good that you have come, my fatherAbraham. and all the saints.

* Hoh. omits the reference io the sacrifice of Isaac.

6 Lit.‘his'. T Lit.‘writes his testament'.

" Boh. omits “my beloved Son and'.

1 Boh. omits the references to Miehael sounding the trumpet and in theassembling of the saints and angels.

' Boh. ‘theehariot of the cherubim' (cp. Kcclus. xlix. 8—also T. Abr. ix. l.i andx. i). 1 Boh. omits from here to the end of the chapter.

438 The Testament of Isaac

XII. Now when he had said ihis, Jacob embraced his lather: he

2 kissed his mouth and wept. Our father Isaac fixed his eyes on him1

3 and motioned to him to be silent.2 * Our father Isaac said to thet Lord. Remember my beloved Jacob. The Lord said to him. My

power shall be with him; and when the time comes and I becomeman and die and rise from the dead on the third day, I will put yourname in everyone's mind, and they will invoke you as their father.'5 Isaac said tojaeob. My beloved son. this is the last commandmentt> I give you to-day: keep a sharp eye on yourself. Do not dishonour4the image of God; for what you do to the image of man, you do tothe image of God, and God will do it to you too in the place where7,8 you will meet him. This is the beginning and the end. Now when hehad said this, our Lord brought his soul out of his body, and it was

9 white as snow. He greeted it: he set it on the chariot with him: hetook it up into the heavens, with the seraphim making music before

10 him, and all the angels and the saints. He freely granted him thegood things of his kingdom for ever, and all the requests our fatherAbraham had asked of the Lord he freely granted him as acovenant for ever.

XIII. 1 his is the going forth from the body of our father Isaac, the

2 patriarch, on the twenty-fourth of the month Mcsorc.1 And the dayon which his father Abraham offered him as a sacrifice is the

3 eighteenth of Mechir.2 The heavens and the earth were full of thesoothing odour of our father Isaac, like choice silver: this is the

4 sacrifice of our father Isaac the patriarch. When Abraham offeredhim as a sacrifice to God, the soothing odour of Isaac's sacrifice

5 went up into the heavens. Blessed is every man who performs anact of mercy in the name of these patriarchs, for they will be their

f> sons in the kingdom of the heavens. For our Lord has made with

1 Lit. ‘gave him a sign by winking with his eyes’.

■ Boh. adds a request from Abraham asking the l.ord to remember his son.

’ Boh. omits the Christologieal reference and has a more detailed promise forJacob only. 4 Lit.‘afflict’.

1 Seep. 427, n. I. Boh. adds a reference to Abraham's death on the same day and

gives Isaac's age as a hundred and eighty years.

1 i.c. 12 February.

439

The Testament of Isaac

them a covenant for ever, that everyone who performs an act ofmercy on the day of their commemoration shall he given to them asa son in the kingdom of the heavens forever. And they shall cometo the first hour of the thousand years, in accordance with thepromise of our Lord, even our God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,through whom every glory is due to him and his good Father andthe Holy Spirit, the giver of life to all creation and one in being withthe Father and the Son, now and always, lor ever and ever. ’ Amen.4

■’ Boh. has a less elaborate form ofrinxology with no reference to the Holy Spirit.4 In Boh. there follows a colophon asking prayer for the scribe, Macarius.

THE TESTAMENT OEJACOB

IM ROIR CTION

The text of the Testament ofjaeob here translated is the Coptic(Bohairie) text contained in Cod. Vat. Copt. hi. There are alsoversions extant in Arabic and Kthiopir. Kor particulars about these,versions, their interrelationship, and lor some views on therelationship of the Testament of Jacob to the Testaments ofAbraham and Isaac, reference should lie made to the prefatoryremarks on the Testament oi Isaac (alxive. pp. 42:1-42')).

To what is said there only one further observation need beadded. The distinguishing marks of the Testament ofjaeob. i.e. itsessentially derivative character (especially its dependence on thebook of Genesis) and the impression that the Christian elements init are less easily detachable than in the Testament of Isaac,coupled with the lad that no Sahidic text of it has been preserved(as is the case with the Testament of Isaac), might suggest anorigin independent of Ixjlli the Testaments of Abraham and ofIsaac. It might he argued, tor example, that the Testament ofAbraham was written first, in Greek: that the Testament of Isaaccame later as an independent work (though whether written inGreek, or Sahidic. or anything else, it is impossible to say): andthat later still the Bohairie translator of these two Testaments putthem together and himself composed (in Bohairie) a Testament ofJacob to make a trilogy.

At the other extreme, though perhaps with less cogency, it mightbe argued that the three Testaments were designed as a trilogyfrom the start, and that all three, therefore, were originally writtenin Greek. In this ease, it will be pure accident that only theTestament of Abraham has survived in Greek, that there are nosurviving Sahidic texts of either it or the Testament ot Jacob, andthat the Bohairie is the first extant text to group all three together.

442

The Testament of Jacob

Anti there are. of course. several intermediate possibilities, suchas the view of(iuidi already referred to.'

BIBLIOGRAPHY

kditions

Coptic [linhairic)

1. (i l'11)1. // Testamento di Isacco e if Testamento di Giacobbe (= Rendi-conti della Rente Accademia dei Lincei: Classe di science morali. storiche efilo/ogiche. Srr. V. i.\ (Rome. 1900). pp. 245-201).

TRANSLATIONS

English

•S. (»ASKl.KK. ‘ The Testament ol Jacob* in (». H. Box. TheTestament of Abraham . . . uith an Appendix containing a Translationf rom the Coptic Version of the Testaments of Isaac and Jacob ( =S.P.C.K.. Translations of Early Documents: London. 1927).pp. 7b-89.

W. K. RaRNI.S. ’Testament ol'Jacob (Abstract)* in M. R.Ja.MKS,The Testament of Abraham . . . (- IS II. ii (Cambridge, 1(102). pp.152-154) - from the Arabic.

French

M. (4 HA INK in M. Dki.COR. Le Testament d'Abraham . . . (Leiden.1075) - front the Bohairic (pp. 205-215). Arabic (pp. 2bl-267),and Klhiopic (pp. 255-241). The translations of the Arabic andKlhiopic, left only in draft by Chalne. were revised and preparedIbr publication by P. M AR(,:.\lsand A. C.\ytOTrespectively.

German

K. ANDKRSSON, Sphinx, vii (Uppsala. 1005), pp. 129-142-fromthe Coptic.

1 See at)ove p. 125.

443

testament of jacob

The Testament of Jacob

(iKNKRAl.

S. GASKI.KK [as above]. pp. oj-.iCkI G l' 11)I [as above], p. 223.

M. R. JAMES. The Testament of Abraham ... [as above),pp. 1 'jo— 1 b 1.

l’his again is the going ibrih from the body of our father Jacob thepatriarch, who is called Israel, on the iwcntv-cigluh of the monthM esore.1 in the peace of God. Amen.

1. Now it came to pass when the time had come for our belovedfather Jacob the patriarch, the son oflsaac. the son of Abraham, togo forth from the body (and the God-loving Jacob was well on in

2 years), the Lord sent Michael the archangel to him. And he said tohim, Israel, my beloved, you righteous root, write your words ofinstruction for your sons, and draw up your testament for them.1and concern yourself about those of your household, for the timehas come for you to go to your fathers and rejoic e with them for ever.

3 And when the God-loving Jacob heard this from the angel, heanswered and said to him. My lord - lor it was his daily custom to

4 talk to angels. He said to him. May the will of the Lord he done.

1.2 II. And God blessed our father Jacob. He made lor himself a placeapart, to w hich he withdrew and offered his prayers to God dayand night, while the angels visited him and guarded him and kept

3 him safe and gave him strength in everything. God blessed him;and his people increased greatly in numbers in the land of Egypt.

4 For at the time he went down to Egy pt to his son Joseph, his sightw as failing as a result of continual w eeping and w orrying over hisson Joseph; but after he arrived in Egypt and had seen his son

5 Joseph’s face, he saw everything clearly again. And Jacob Israel Hung

1 i.r. 21 August.

1 See note on T. Isaac ii. 11 (p. 428 above).

444 The Testament of Jacob

himself on1 his son Joseph’s neck: he greeted him with tears andsaid, Now let me die, for I have seen your face once more while you

6 are still alive, my beloved. And Joseph ruled over the whole of

7,8 Egypt. Jacob lived in the land of Gashcn for seventeen years. Hebecame very old and attained a great age: he kept all thecommandments and lived always in the fear of the Lord; and hissight failed so that he could sec no one because of extreme old age.

III. He lifted his eyes towards the radiance of the angel who wasspeaking to him. who was in appearance and in lace like his father

2 I saac: he was afraid and troubled. The angel said to him. Do not beafraid, Jacob: I am the angel who has been' with you from your

1 youth. I chose you to receive your father Isaac’s blessing, and your

4 mother Rebecca’s. I am with you, Israel, in everything you do and

5 everything you have seen. It was I who delivered you from Labanwhen he pursued you: I blessed you. and all your wives, and your

6.7 sons, and all your cattle. It was I too who rescued you from Esau. Itwas I too who brought you down into the land of Egypt, Israel; and

H 1 have spread you out far and wide. Blessed is your fatherAbraham, for he became a friend of the Most High God because of

9 his hospitality. Blessed is your father Isaac who gave you life, for

10 his sacrifice w as perfect and pleasing to God. Blessed are you too,Jacob, for you saw God face to face and beheld the host of the

11 angels of the Most High God. You saw the ladder set up on the

12 earth with its top reaching to heaven. You also saw the Lord set on

13 the top of it in power too great for words. You cried out saying,

14 'Phis is the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Blessed areyou, for you have found strength in God and are strong among men.

15,16 Now, therefore, do not be troubled, beloved of God. Blessed areyou, Israel, and blessed are all your descendants, for you shall becalled patriarchs until the end of this age; for you are my people,

17 and you are the root ol the servants ofGod. Blessed is every nationwhich emulates your purity, and your virtues, and your righteous-

18 ness, and your good works. Blessed is the man who commemorates

19 you on your honoured (estival. Blessed is he who does a charitable

1 Lit. ‘east himself upon his face on'.

1 Lit. ‘walked’.

445

The Testament of Jacob

deed in your name, or gives a man a cup of cold water, or brings aperfect offering to your place.2 or to any place, in your name, orreceives a stranger, or visits the sick, or comforts an orphan, or

20 clothes someone who is naked, in your name. He shall lack nogtxxlthing in this world; and in the world to come {he shall have)'

21 eternal life. And further, whoever writes an account of your lifewith its4 labours, or whoever makes a copy of it5 with his hands, orwhoever reads it attentively, and whoever listens to it with faithand a resolute heart, and whoever emulates your manner of life —they shall be forgiven all their sins, and they shall be freely granted

22 you in the kingdom of the heavens. So get up now . for you are toexchange trouble and sorrow for eternal rest, and you arc to beborne away to a repose that never ceases, to a rest that never ends,and to a light that never sets, and to pleasure and gladness and

23 spiritual joy. So now. give your commands to your sons, and peacebe with you; for I am about to go to him who sent me.

IV. And w hen he had said this to him. the angel left him in peace

2 and returned to the heavens, while Jacob1 gazed alter him. Andthose who were in the house heard him giving thanks to the Lord

3 and glorifying him with praises. And all his sons gathered roundhim, from the youngest to the eldest of them, all in tears and in

\ great distress, saying. He is about to go away and leave us. Andthey said to him. What shall we do, beloved father, for we are aliens

5 in a foreign land? And Jacob said to them. Do not be afraid, forGod appeared to me in Mesopotamia saying. 1 am the God of yourfathers: do not be afraid: I am with you for ever, and with yourdescendants that shall conic alter you for ever: the laud on whichyou arc standing I will give to you and your descendants lor ever.

6 And again he said to me, Do not he afraid to go down into Egypt: Iw ill go with you down to Egypt; and I w ill increase your numbers,and your descendants shall flourish for ever, and Joseph shall lay

3 Hither Jacob's burial plate, or (more probably) a shrine dedicated to him.

* These words were [H’rhaps omitted under the influence of Mark x. 30 |) Lukexviii. 30. 4 Or‘his’.

J Lit. ‘whoever writes it’.

Lit. ’he'.

446 The Testament ojJacob

7 his hands upon your eyes. And your people shall increase greatly inEgypt; and then they shall return to me here, and 1 will do themgood because of you. But turn you must leave this place.

V. And after this the time drew near for Jacob Israel to go forth

2 from the body. He called Joseph and spoke to him as follows, If'I

have found favour with you, then put your blessed hand upon mythigh and swear to me on oath before the Lord to lav my body inmy fathers’ grave. And Joseph said to him. I will do as you ask. my

4 God-loving father. His father said to him. I would have you swear;and Joseph swore the oath to Jacob his father that he would take1

5 his body to his fathers’ grave. And Jacob bowed himself upon hisson’s nerk.

VI. Now after this it was reported tojoseph. Behold, your lather is

2 in a sorry state. He took his two sons. Ephraim and Manasseh. and

3 came to his lather Israel. When Israel saw them, he said tojoseph,

4 Who are these.1 my son? Joseph said to his father Jacob Israel,These are my sons that God has given me in tin' land of my

.*>,<) humiliation. Israel said. Bring them near to me. Now Israel’s sight

7 had failed because of his great age. and he could hardly see. And

8 Joseph2 brought them close to him; and he kissed them. WhenIsrael had embraced them, he said. God will add to your desernd-

9 ants. -' And Joseph made his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, doobeisance to him on the ground: Joseph put Manasseh under his

10 right hand and Ephraim under his left hand. But Israel changedhis hands: he laid his right hand on Ephraim's head and his left

1 Lit. ‘And Joseph swore to Jacob his father according to these words to take’.

1 I.it. ‘these of yours*.

•’ Lit. ‘he*.

* A rather abrupt and truncated echo of Jacob’s words at Gen. xlviii. II in theSeptuagint ('Behold, was I not Jor a time deprived of your person? And behold, nowGod has let me see your children too' — lit. "God has shown me your seed also’). It istempting to suppose there has been at some stage in the tradition some textualcorruption, either through omission or misunderstanding — perhaps both. If we areto think in terms of misunderstanding, it may be that Sahidic louo (‘show’) has beenconfused with Bobairic louho (‘add’}, and that the sense originally intended was thesame as that of the final clause in the Scptuagint (i.e. 'God has let me see yourchildren’).

447

The Testament o f Jacob

11 hand cm Manassch's head. And hr blessed them: he gave diemtheir patrimony, saying.

12 The God who approved my lathers Abraham and I saac.

The God who has looked alter me from tm childhood till

to-day.

The angel who rescues me from all my tribulations.

Bless these lads who are my sons.

With whom is left my name.

And the name of my holy fathers Abraham and Isaac.

They shall multiply: they shall increase:

They shall become a great people on the earth.

1H Afterwards Israel said to Joseph. I am dying: but you4 will return14 to the land of your4 fathers, and God will be with you.4 Behold, youhave been more favoured than your brothers. Ibr I have taken theAmorites with my bow and my sword.

VII. Jacob called all his sons and said to them. Come to me. all ofyou. so that I can tell you what will happen to you. and also what

2 will happen to each one of you at the end of time. All Israel’s sons

3 gathered round him. from the youngest to the eldest of them. JacobIsrael answered and said to his sons. Listen, sons ol Jacob, listen to

4 Israel your father, from Reuben my first-born unto Benjamin. Hetold his sons what would happen to all twelve of them, name by

5 name and tribe by tribe, with heaven’s blessing. Then all' keptsilence so that he might rest a little.

VIII. He was taken up into the heavens to visit the resting-places.2.3 And behold, a host of tormentors came out. The appearance of

each one was Hilferent; and they were ready to torment the sinners- that is the fornicators, and the harlots, anti the catamites, and thesodomites, and the adulterers, and those who have corruptedGod’s creation, and the magicians, and the sorcerers, and theunrighteous, and the idol-worshippers, and the astrologers, and4 the slanderers and the double-tongued. In short, many arc the* Lit. ‘you ... your. .. you’ (plural).

1 Lit. ‘the multitude of'men'.

448 The Testament of Jacob

punishments for all (he sins we have mentioned: the unquenchablefire, the outer darkness, the place where there shall be weeping and■> grinding of teeth, and the worm that does not sleep. And it is aterrible tiling lor you to be brought before the judge, and it is a<i terrible thing to come into the hands ol the living God. Woe to allsinful men lor whom these tortures and these tormentors are7 prepared. And again afterwards he took me and showed me theplace where my fathers Abraham and Isaac were.1 a place that wasall light; and they were glad and rejoiced in the kingdom of theIt heavens, in the city of the beloved. And he showed me all theresting-places and all the good things prepared lor the righteous,and the things that eye has not seen nor ear heard, and have notcome into the heart of men, that God has prepared for those wholove him and do his will on earth (for. if tliev end well, lliev do hiswill).

IX. After this. Jacob said to his sons. Behold I am about to betaken away and laid to rest with my people: lay my body with mypeople in the double grave in the field of Ephron the Hitiite, whereAbraham and his wife Sarah were buried, where Isaac was buried,in the path of the field and the grave that is in it, which was bought

2 from the sons of Heth. And when Jacob had finished saying this, hedrew his feet up on to his bed: he went forth from the Ixxly like

3 every man. And the Lord came from heaven with Michael andGabriel accompanying him, and many legions of angels singing

I before him. They took the soul of Jacob Israel to abodes of lightr> with his holy fathers Abraham and Isaac. Such was1 the lilt* ofti Jacob Israel the patriarch. Joseph presented him to Pharaoh whenhe was a hundred and thirty years old, and he spent anotherseventeen years in Egypt: together this makes a hundred and7 forty-seven years. He went to his rest in a ripe old age, perfect inevery virtue and spiritual grace; and he glorified God in all hisways, in the peace of God. Amen.

Lit. ‘the place where my lathers were. Abraham and my lather Isaac'.Lit. 'Now these are the years of.

449

The Testament of Jacob

X. Joseph threw himself upon his tat her. kissing him and weeping•J tor him. And Joseph instructed his servants, the embalmers, say-ing. Km balm my lather in accordance with the best Egyptian:i practice. They spent Ibrty days embalming Israel; and when theforty days of Israel's embalming were over, they spent another\ eighty days mourning lor him. And when the days of Pharaoh'smourning were over < lor lie had been weeping ibrjaeob because ofhis love Ibr Joseph). Joseph spoke with Pharaoh's great ones and.*) said to them. If I may elaim this favour from you. speak on mybehalf to Pharaoh the king saying. My lather made me take an oathwhen he was about to go forth from the body, saying. Bury my

6 body in my fathers' grave in the land ofGanaan. So now I ask to beallowed to go and1 bury my father there and come back again.

7 Pharaoh the king said to Joseph the wise. Go in peace and buryyour father as he made you swear to do: take with you chariots andwagons, and all the great ones of my kingdom, and as many ofm\

B servants as you need. Joseph worshipped God in Pharaoh's

9 presence and went out from him. Atuf Joseph set out to bury bis

10 father. Many of* Pharaoh's servants went with him. and the eldersof Egypt. as well as all Joseph's household, and his brothers, and

11 the whole of Israel's household. And there went up with him

12 chariots and horsemen: they were a very great company. And theystopped at the threshing floor of Gadad. which is on the bank on

13 the other side ofjordan. They mourned lor him there with a greatand bitter mourning; and they mourned for him for seven days.

I t Those in the lowland heard the mourning at the threshing-llixir ofGadad, and they said. This great mourning is a mourning of theEgyptians, so that that place is called ‘The Mourning of Kgypt’ to

15 this day. They look Israel and buried him in the land ofCanaati inthe double grave that Abraham had bought as a burial-place' lor

16 silver from Kphron the Hittitc. opposite Mam re. And Josephreturned to Egypt together with his brothers and the party from

17 Pharaoh's household. After his father's death Joseph lived for

18 many more years and was king over Egypt. But Jacob Israel diedand was laid with his people.

1 Lie 'Now. therefore. let him hid mr that I'.

: Lit. '.Air. ’ Lit. ‘property, possession'.

XI. Behold now, ve have lold you these things as best we could' inorder to instruct you about the going ten th from the body of our

2 lather the patriarch Jacob Israel. *It is written in the divinelyinspired scriptures and the ancient books of our fathers the apostles,

3 even I. Athanasius your lather. If you want continuation of thistestament of the patriarch Jacob, take the book Genesis of theprophet Moses, the lawgiver, and read what is in it: your mind will

4 be enlightened: you will find this, and more, written about it. Andagain, you will find mention of God and his angels, lor God1 2 3 was afriend to the patriarchs* while they were yet in the body and spoke

5 with them many times in many passages of scripture. And you willfind that he spoke too in many passages in scripture with thepatriarch Jacob, saying. I will bless your descendants and make them

6 as many as the stars ofheaven. And again. Jacob spoke with his sonJoseph saying. My God appeared to me in the land of Canaan atI.uz: lie blessed me saying. I will bless you and make you too manyto be counted, and peoples and nations shall spring from you: I willgive this land to your descendants after you as a possession lor alltime.

XII. See, then, my beloved, we have heard these things about our

2 lathers the patriarchs. Let us therefore emulate their deeds andtheir virtues, and their love of God and their love of men, and theirhospitality, that wc may be worthy to become their sons in thekingdom of the heavens, and that they may pray for us to God thathe may save us from punishments in hell which the holy patriarchJacob spoke about in his words full of all sweetness, when he taughthis sons about the punishments and called them the sword of the

3 Lord God. These are the river of lire that is prepared, and whichengulfs sinners in its waves and those that have defiled themselves.

4 These are the things the patriarch Jacob revealed when he taughtthe rest of his sons, that those that love instruction should listen tohim and do what is good at all times, and love one another, and

1 Lit. ‘according to the measure to which wc have attained* (or ‘we couldattain').

2 The sequence would be clearer if. with Anders son (it. 32), we were to supply

some such verb as '1 have found’ and continue ‘it written . . even 1, Athanasiusyour father*. * Lit.‘he ... them'.

5 strive alter love and pity. For pity triumphs uvor judgement andlove covers a multitude of sins;1 and again. He who has pity on apoor man lends on usury to God.2 *

XIII. So now. my sons, let neither prayer nor lasting { he lacking).and persist in them continually; for they drive away the demons.

2 My sons, keep yourselves from fornication, and anger, andadultery, and every evil thing, and especially from violence, and

3 blasphcmv, and theft. For no man of violence will inherit thekingdom of the heavens, neither will any fornicator, nor catamite,nor sodomite, nor blasphemer, nor covetous man, nor curser. nor

•t anyone who is defiled. In short, these and the others we have

5 mentioned will not inherit the kingdom of (rod. My sons, honourthe saints, for it is they who pray lor you, that your descendantsmay prosper* and that the land may be yours as an inheritance for

(> ever. My sons, be hospitable, that you may share the lot of our

7 father Abraham, the great patriarch. My sons, love the poor. that,as you do to the poor man here, so God may give you the bread of

8 eternal life in the heavens unto the end. He who feeds a poor man

9 with bread here, God will feed him from the tree of life. Clothe thepoor man who is naked here on earth, that God2 may put on you arobe of glory in the heavens, and so you may become a true son ofour holy fathers the patriarchs. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in

10 the heavens for ever. Call to mind the word of God here andremember the saints, and take care that copies oj their memoirs andtheir hymns are made1 for the encouragement of those who hearthem, st) that your name also may he written in the book of life inthe heavens, and you too may be numbered with the number olGod’s4 saints who have pleased him in their generation, and lake

11 part in the chorus with the angels in the land of the living. Wecommemorate the saints, our fathers the patriarchs, at this very

' Lit. 'covers their many sins'. (Ip. Prov. x. 12.James v. 20; 1 Pel. iv. 8.

J Prow xix. 17.

1 I.it. 'may increase in numbers'.

1 Lit. ‘he',

} Lit.'. . . saints, that they may write their memoirs and their hymns'.

4 Lit. ‘his’.

452 The Testament of Jacob

time every year: our father Ahraham the patriarch on the twenty-eighth ofMesore, also our father Isaac the patriarch on the twenty-eighth of Mesore, and again our father Jacob on the twenty-eighthof this same month Mesorc. as we have (bund it written in theancient hooks of our holy fathers who were pleasing unto God.

12 Through their supplication and their prayers may all of us togetherhe granted to share their lot in the kingdom of our Lord and ourGod and our Saviour Jesus Christ, through whom is the glory ofthe Father with him and the Hol\ lilc-givingSpirit now and alwaysand forever. Amen.

Rememlx-r me, that God may lorgive me all my sins and give meunderstanding and give me stability without sin. Amen.5

5 This last sentence is the scribe’s colophon.

THE LADDER OE JACOB

The Ladder of Jacob is extant only in Slavonic, in two distinctrecensions, preserved in several MSS of the Palaea interpretata.'

About its origin nothing whatever is known. According toEpiphanius2 the Kbionites possessed an apocryphal work calledAva(ia6fio\ 'laKibfiov (Jacob's/ James's Steps'); but the contentsof the work as described by Epiphanius in no way correspond withthe contents of the Ladder. Moreover. l>oth the literary context inwhich Epiphanius places it ('. . . other Acts of apostles'), and thefact that he uses the declinable Ibrm of the proper name (' / dtKtofiog)strongly suggest that it was a New Testament apocrvphon towhic h he was referring and that it was concerned with James, theLord’s brother.'

The central feature of the Ladder is Jacob’s dream at Bethel. Itbegins as an amplification ofGen. xxviii. 10-12 after the manner ofJewish haggada. Then an angel appears, in typical apocalypticstyle, to interpret Jacob's dream and goes on to prophesy hisdescendants' future suffering and their ultimate vindication.

That a Greek text lies behind the Slavonic is not only probable initself, but it is also rendered more probable by certain points ofc ontact between chap, vii in the longer' recension and one of thesources of the Sanative concerning things done in Persia, a 5th (?) cent.Greek work, first published in full in a critical edition by Bratkc in1899. If there was a Greek text of the Ladder, it will doubtless haveformed part of the Greek Palaea\ and since the Greek Palaea isusually dated in the* 8th or 9th cents., a Greek Ladder must hopushed back into the 7th or 8th cents, at the latest, and it may wellbe very much earlier. There are no sound arguments for suggestinga Semitic original, though obviously such a possibility cannot bealtogether excluded.

Since the Ladder is relatively brief it has been thought worth-while to print translations of both the available Slavonic rccen-

1 On the Palaea see above, p. H(i4, n.

1 Epiph. Haer. XXX. xvi. 7.

' The normal Christian Greek lor the patriarch Jacob is the indeclinable form,laKwfl, following the Srpliagint (c.g. John iv. 5; Ep. Bam. vita. 4).

454 The iMdder of Jacob

sions one after the other. First is primed the ’shorter’ recensionfrom the Palaea in the Rumyantsev collection (= Rum. 453: AD1494). published by A. N. Pypin in 1862, and designated by thesymbol ‘R’. Then follows a translation of the ‘longer' recensionfrom the Palaea of the Solovetski Library (= Sol. 431) published by1. Ya. Porfir'ev in 1877: this last MS is designated by the symbol‘S’; and in the apparatus are added certain readings from thePalaea of the Troitse-Scrgicva monastery (no. 38), written inKolomna in AD 1406. published by N. S. Tikhonravov in 1863,and designated ‘K‘. The chapter and verse numerations arc so faras possible the same in both recensions.

The reader can thus study the differences between the recen-sions lor himself and appreciate the problems that their existenceraises. The ‘longer’ recension not only offers a more satisfactoryopening, but also in chaps, v-vii goes into far greater detail aboutIsrael’s vindication (in particular there is a full description of theaccompaniments of the coming of the ‘man from the Most High’,much of it, if not all, manifestly Christian). On the other hand, the‘shorter’ recension offers in chap, ii a longer version of Jacob’sprayer. And both recensions have suffered from having interpreta-tions of the Palaea incorporated into the text (see especially theaddition in chap. i). In these circumstances it would be hazardousto affirm simply that one recension is to be preferred and that theother is either an ‘expansion’ or an ‘abbreviation’. And it would beequally hazardous to pick out passages here and there andstigmatize them as ‘later additions’ or ‘interpolations’ — unless, of’course, they are very evidently pieces of Palaea interpretation. In asituation like this such terms as ‘original’ and ‘interpolation’ tendto lose their meaning. In both recensions, it seems, we are dealingwith a document in an almost permanent state of literary flux.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

A. X. Pypin, Lozhnye i otrechennye knigi russkoi slariny (= ed. G. A.K L’SMELKV-B KZBORODKO, Pamyatniki stannnoi russkoi

literatury, iii (St. Petersburg, 1862), pp. 27-32). [= Rj

453

The ladder of JacobN. S. Tl KHONRAVOV. Pamyatnikiotrechennoirusskoi literaturw i (St.

Petersburg. 1863). pp. 91-95. [= K)

I. Ya. PORKI REV. Apokrif/cheskieskaganiya o vetkhozavetnykh litsakh isobytiyakhpo rukopisyam Solovetskoi hihhoteki (= SORYnS xvii. I (St.Petersburg. 1877)! pp. 138-149). [= S]

TRANSLATIONS

English

M. R. Ja.MKS. LA O T, pp. 96-103. (A conflation of the two recen-sions based on Bonwetsch's German rendering.]

German

G. .V BonuKTSCH. Die apokryphe "Leitei Jakobs" (= Sachrichtenvon der Konigl. Gesellschaft der Uissenschaften gu Gottingen. Phi/olog.-hist. Kl.. 1900: Heft i; Gottingen, 1900. pp. 76-87.). [A transla-tion of both recensions with a brief Introduction.]

GENERAL

A. VassILIEW Anecdote/ Graeco-By^antma, i (Moscow, 1893).pp. xxx-xxxii.

F. B R ATKE, Das sogenannte Re/igionsgesprdch am Hof der Sasaniden (=TV N.F. iv. 3; Leipzig. 1899), pp. 101-6.

H. \V KIN EL in EL '.X, pp. 172-3.

I. And behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, whose topreached to heaven; and the lop of the ladder was in lorm like a man.

2 hewn out of fire. 11 had twelve steps to the top of the ladder, and oneach step, up to the top, were two human forms, one on the right andone on the left: there were rwenty-four1 forms on the ladder, visible as

3 far as their breasts. But the central form, which I saw, was of fire asfar as the shoulders and arms and much more terrifying than those

4 twenty-four forms. And while I was looking, behold, the angels of

1 Emended in the light i it verse 3 below: the MS reads ‘four. Cp. also the readingof K at i. 2 in the ‘long recension' (p. H>0 below).

ladder of jacob

4">fi The ladder of Jacob

God were ascending and descending on it; and the Lord iiad takerhis stand upon it.

"> ’For so it is to he understood, as when a man leans on his stall'. Oi

ti the angels vve understand; those who were ascending are a figure olthis - when the tree of the (toss was fixed in the earth at the Lord'?passion, as the ladder was fixed in Jacob's sight, anil the Lorereceived the heathen who were baptized, and they ascended imeheaven; but those who were descending - they are the disobedient

7 perv erse ones. For Moses prefigured this, and said to them. Deceit-ful and perverse generation! Is this your thanksgiving to the Lord;

H In this, then, we see the heathen ascending, but the Jews descend-ing . .

. . .' on the highest form. And from there he called to me, savinglo.l I Jacob, Jacob. And I said. Here am I, Lord! And he said to me,'Fluland on which you are sleeping, to you will I give it, and to youidescendants after you; and I will multiply your race as the stars o

12 heaven and as the sand of the sea. Through your descendants wilthe whole land be blessed, and those who live in it. until the las'times, even the years of the end: my blessing, with which I have

13 blessed you. shall go lorth from you to the last generation. And thtFast and West shall all be fillet! with your race.

II. And as I heard his voice from the height, fear and trembling fel

2 on me. And 1 got up from my sleep; and while the voire was stilspeaking, and the word of God was in my ears. 1 said. Howawcsomtis this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is th<

3 gate of heaven. .And the stone, which had been my pillow. I set uf<wa pillar, and I poured oil1 2 on the top of it; and 1 called the name o

4 that place the house of God ...H) Lord God of Adam, thy .. antLord God of Abraham and Isaac my fathers, who were righteous it

5 all their ways before thee, who sittest in might upon the cherubirr

Obviously an interpretative Christian gloss.

’ Lacuna in the MS.

1 Oil from trees (not animal oil).

2 Lacuna in the MS. We must supply at least 'And I prayed to Cod and spoke afollows' (or something similar) as in SK; cp p. -M>0 below.

* Lacuna in the MS; Pypin suggests 'creature'.

The Ladder of Jacob 43 7

and on the firry throne of glory and the many-eyed ones {as 1 sawfi in my dream), thou who sustainest the tbur-faeed cherubim,who bearest also the many-eyed seraphim, who bearcst the age of7 all beneath thine arm and art supported by nothing; thou hastestablished the heavens to the glory of thy name and stretched outH on the clouds of heaven the shining heaven beneath thee, that thoumightest move the sun below it. and hide it in the night, that ity should not be taken for God. Thou hast set on them a course lor themoon and the stars: the former thou makest to wane and to wax:and the stars thou commandcst to pass by. that they too should notin be taken for gods. Of the face of thy glory the six-winged seraphimarc afraid; and they hide their feet and their laces with their wings.U And, as they fly with the others, they sing . . 4 High One. withtwelve faces, many-named. Fiery One, in form like lightening.Holy One, holy, holy. holy. Jao.Jaova, Jaoil, Sabakdos. Chabod.

12 Sabaolh. Omldoch. Ilabir, sAmis'ini. Barech.5 Kternal King.Strong One, Mighty One. Most Great, Iongsufleriug. blessed, whofillest the heavens and the earth and the sea and the abyss and all

13 the ages with thy glory. Hear my song which 1 have sung to thee,and grant me my request which I shall ask of thee; and tell me theinterpretation of my dream, as thou art God. mighty, powerful,and glorious, holy God, Lord of my lathers and my God.

111. And while I was still making my prayer, a voice spoke1 beforemy face, saying. Sarckl, elder of the joyful ones, you who arc overdreams, go and explain to Jacob the dream that he has seen, andtell him everything that he has seen; but first give him a blessing.■> And the archangel Sarckl came to me. and I looked upon him: there

3 was a face. . . .2 But I was not afraid of his glance, for the face I hadseen in my dream-' was more terrifying than this; and 1 was not

4 afraid of the angel's face. And the angel said to me. What is your»,6 name? And 1 said, Jacob. And he said, Your name shall be called

' Lacuna in the MS.

5-5 Bornvrtsch ‘Amc (?). S'me Barech’.

1 Lit. 'saw'; Bomveisch translates’appeared'.

* Lacuna in the MS.

' ’Hie MS addspritvanie which appears to be both superfluous and corrupt.

458 The ladder ofJacob

7 Jamb no longer, but your name shall be like my name— Israel. Andwhen I was coming from Kandana1 * * 4 in Syria to meet Bsau mybrother, he5 * came to me and blessed me and called my name Israel.» And he did not tell me his name until I adjured him; and then hetold me. As you have prevailed.*

IV. Then he said to me. The ladder which you have seen, havingtwelve steps, and each step having two human forms on it, changing

2 their shape - the ladder is this age. and the twelve steps are the

3 times of this age; but the twenty-four forms are the kings of thel heathen tribes of this age. Under those kings ...‘ of your sons. They

will rise against the heathenness of your children's children; and hewill lay waste this place through four generations2 of the sins of.) your children's children. And from the wealth oi' their forefatherswill be built a sacristy in the temple to the name of your God and theGod of your fathers. And because of the provocation of yourchildren it will lie waste until the fourth generation’ of this age, lor7 you have seen four forms. The first - him whom you saw stumblingupon the step (the angels ascending and descending, and the formsH in the midst of the steps) - that is, the Most High will raise up a kingfrom the descendants4 of your brother Ksau, and they will receiveall the rulers of the races of the earth, who hav e done evil to your9 descendants5. And they will be given into his hand; and they willID suffer him unwillingly. He will hold them by force and rule them;

and they will not be able to resist him until the day he decides* that11 ‘they should serve idols . . ,7 and sacrifice to dead things. And he will commandVI that all the people in his kingdom beforced to do this. And of those who will

4 i.<*. I’addan-aram ((ten. xxxv. 9).

1 i.e. the angel.

® The MS reads kop-zul, which is unclear: the translation ’prevailed' is derivedfrom Gen. xxxii. 28. The remainder of the sentence has presumably been lost.

1 Lacuna in the MS: i p. the text of K in the ‘long recension' at iv. 3.

■’ Lit. ‘ends’, 'descents'.

’ Lie. ’end’, ‘descent'.

4 Lit.’children’s children'. * Lit.’seed’.

* Lit. ’until the day when his intention goes out over them'.

7 Lacuna in the MS. The words in italics arc taken from the Palaea interpreta-

tion. where they are quoted as coming from the text.

459

The iMdder ofJacob

be guilty of.such an offence, some u-ill serve the greatest’* ofyour race,and some FalkonagargailA

V. And your descendants, Jacob, will be like strangers in a foreignland; and they will be ill-treated, and made slaves of. and flogged

2 daily. But the heathen, to whom they will be subject, God willjudge. When a king shall rise up and execute judgement, then willthere be a place lor him: then will your descendants. Israel, bedelivered from the oppression of the heathen, who have held themby Ibrce. and they will be free from every reproach ol their* enemies;for the king will be the source* of all vengeance* and retribution uponthose who have afflicted you. () Israel. And at tin- end of the age.those who have suffered bitterly4 will rise up and cry out. and theLord will hear them, and be moved.5 and the Mighty One will feel

3 compassion for tfteir suffering. For the angels and archangels pour■i out their prayers'* before himyiu the sparing ’’oj'youi tribe.' Then will

their women be fruitful; and then will the Lord protect your race."

JACOB S VISION OF A l.ADDF.R

I. Now Jacob was going to Laban his uncle; and lie found a placeand fell asleep there, having laid his head on a stone. Now the sunhad gone down, and he saw there a dream; and behold, a ladderwas fixed on the earth, and it readied to the heavens. And at its top2 there was a form. like a man, hewn out of lire. Now it had twelvesteps; and on every step there were two human forms, one on the" K is hero corrupt: (ho restoration is from S and K.

B Porlirev suggests this is a corruption of Greek /aitrdj (a bronze statue) andHebrew Sergat (I he Mesopotamian idol mentioned at 2 Kings xvii. M)).

' So S and K in vi. I of the ‘long recension" (below), where much of the materialin this chapter is found in a different order: R roads ‘your*.

! Lit. 'head'.

Reading m'ilenie for the kreslemr {'baptism') of the text as in S and K.

* Lit.. . the age. the bitter ones'.

* Lit. ‘be entreated’.

* So S and K: R 'lightnings'.

7-7 Lacuna in the MS: the words in italics are from the Pataea interpretation.

* Here follows the Pataea interpretation.

The iMdder o f Jacob

4tt)

right and one on the loll: (here were twenty-four1 Ibrms on the ladder.:i And the central form, which I saw, was of fire as liuas the shouldersand the arms, and much taller than ail (he others, he was veryterrifying, much more terrifying than the other iwcuty-luur forms.•1-7 And while I was looking, behold, the angels ol God were ascendingand descending on it; and the Lord had taken Ins stand upon it.*8.9 God stood, as it were, above the highest form. And from there helo.ll called it) me. saying. Jacob, Jacob. And 1 said. Here am 1. And hesaid to me. The land on which you are sleeping, to you will I give it.1l> that it may be filled with your descendants. My blessing, withwhich I have blessed you. shall go from you to the last generation.i:t And the Last and the West shall all be filled with your race.

II. Ami as I heard his mice from the height, trembling and terror2 fell on me. 'Alter getting up. /. Jacob, from my sleep. / said (the

voice was still in my ears) - after getting up. / said, to my feet, Iprayed to God1 and spoke thus. Lord, the Creator. land of all

1 Creation. And again I said. God of Abraham and of Isaac myfather, and God of all w ho have walked before thee in righteous-ness: behold. I saw a terrifying vision, and trembling fell on me.

f) But remember. O Lord, Abraham my forefather, how he walkedbefore thee in innocence and was perfect in all the ways of thyft commandments. So also my lather, thy servant Isaac, did not7 disobey thy commandments. Therefore. O Lord, look mercifullyupon me also, on thy servant, and tell me what is the interpretation ofthis terrifying vision I have seen.

III. And while the voice and prayer were still on Jacob's lips,behold, an angel of God stood before him, saying. Jacob, I am sent

2 by the Creator of all to you to explain your dream to you. So payattention to the explanation of your dream.

1 So K: S 'two and lour".

■’ Here follows an interpretative gloss similar to that in R: see above I p. 45t>).

1-1 There is obviously some contusion here about whether the narrative shouldbe in the first person or the third, and presumably also some dittngraphy ordislocation of the text.

The /.adder of Jacob Hi)

IV. The ladder which you have seen. having twelve steps, and2 oat h step having two human lorms on it. changing their shape-the

ladder is this age. and the twelve steps are the times of this age. andthe twenty-four1 forms are the rulers of the tribes of the heathen.M age. By those tribes will your children's children2 be tried. Andthey will rise against the heathenness of your children's children,and they will make this place desolate ior lour generations' of vour*> children's children. And in the name o\ their forefathers a temple<> will be built in vour name and that of your fathers. And theprovocation of your children will cause it to lie waste for lour7 generations4 of this age. tor you have seen four forms. The first.« who stumbled on the step - that is. there will he a ruler from your<» kin. and he will do evil to your descendants: and he will he sufferedin unwillingly by them. And he will hold them by force to rule them;and they will not he able to resist5 him: and he will decide* that

11 they should serve idols and sacrifice to dead things. And he willcommand that all the people in his kingdom be forced to do this.

12 And oft hose who will be guilty of such an offence, some will serve thegreatest of your race, and some Falkonugargail.7

V. Know. Jacob, that your descendants will be strangers in aforeign land; and they will he ill-treated, and made slaves of. and

2 Hogged daily. But that people, whose slaves they are, the Lord willjudge: for the Mighty One will feel compassion lor their suffering.H For the angels and archangels pour out their prayers before him forthe deliverance of your race, and that the Most High should have•l mercy. Then will their women he fruitful; and after that the Lordwill defend your race with terrifying and mighty signs againsta those who enslaved them. Their storehouses, which were lull, willhe found empty of wine and of every kind of corn: their land willseethe with reptiles and all kinds of deadly things; and there will hemany earthquakes and catastrophes.

1 Sn K: S 'two and four*.

1 K adds 'and the family of vour sons’.

■' [.it. Vnds’, ‘drsmits’.

4 Fit. 'ends’, 'descents'. Kotmetsch translates the whole phrase 'at the fourth endof this age’. 5 So K: S is corrupt.

* Lit. 'and his intention will go out upon them'.r K 'Kalkonagargaif. See note!) to chap, iv on p. 43(1 (above).

4<i2 The Ladder ajJacob

VI. Thru will the Most High execute judgement on that place anddeliver your descendants from their servitude to those peoples whorule over them by force; and they will be saved from the reproach of

2 their enemies. For the king will be the source of vengeance, and will

3 rise up in bitterness against them. And they will cry out. and theLord will hear them; and he will pour out his anger on Leviathanthe sea-monster and kill the heathen Falkon1 with the sword, for

•I against the God of gods he will exalt his pride. Then, Jacob, willcome your vindication,2 * and that of your forefathers; and others,

5 too, will come after you and share also in your prosperity/' Andthen will your descendants blow the trumpet, and the wholekingdom of Edom will perish together with all the rulers and thetribes of the Moabites.

VII. And as you saw angels' ascending on the ladder- that is in thelast years there shall be a man from the Most High, and he will join

2 the higher things with the lower. Of him before2 his coming shall:i your sons and daughters prophesy and' see visions about him. Andthere shall be these signs at the time of his coming - a tree felledwith the axe will drip blood: three-month old babies4 will speakrationally: a child in his mother's womb will proclaim his way; and

4 a young man will be like an old man. And then will come theo Awaited One, whose path will be found by none.5 Then will the

earth rejoice, having received the glory of heaven; and what was

6 above will be below also. And from your descendants will sprout akingly shoot;* and hr will rise up and overthrow the power of evil.

7 He will be the saviour of all lands, peace to those who labour, and a

8 cloud protecting the whole world from the heat. Otherwise whatwas in disorder could not be put into order,7 if he did not come:

1 Or 'idol*. See iv. 12 and the note in the 'short recension' (p. 459 above).

: Lit. 'Then, Jacob, will your righteousness appear'.

•’ Lit. 'and after you therr will be those who will go out in your righteousness*.

1 K. adds ‘descending and’. *SoK:Som.

’ K adds ‘your young men'.

4 So S: K. *a three-month old baby'.

1 So S: K ‘whose precursor you arc'. 6 Lit. 'root'.

7 So S: K ‘Otherwise the ordered will not be put in order'. Gp. the Palaea

interpretation in R (“otherwise what was spoken would not be fulfilled’).

463

The Ladder of Jacob

9 otherwise the lower things could not be joined to the higher. Whenhe conies the hulls of brass and stone and all the carved images willgive tongue for three days and they will tell the news to certain wisemen. that they may know what is to be on earth, and they will findtheir wav to him by a star. On earth will they see him whom the

10 angels do not see. Then will the Almighty be Ibund with a body onearth, and be embraced by mortal arms; and he will renewhumankind and give life to Adam and Eve—dead through the fruit

11 ol the tree. Then will the deceit of the impious be uncovered, andall idols will fall down and be put to shainc belbre his fact*, clothed,as he will be. in splendour; for they thought only how they mightdeceive.1* but they will lx* able to rule no longer, nor uill they be able

12 to give prophecies. Their splendour will be taken from them, andthey will be left without their glory; for he who is to come will taketheir power and their might from them, and he will give the truth to

J3 Abraham, which he promised to him before. Then will he make allsharp things blunt and the rough smooth, and he will east allunrighteousness into the depths of the sea and perform miracles in

14 heaven and on earth. And he will be wounded inside the house ofthe Beloved;9 and when he is wounded, then comes salvation and

15 the end of all corruption. And those who have wounded him willreceive a wound themselves, from which they will never be healed.

16 And all creation will bow down to the Wounded One, and manywill put their trust in him; and everywhere, and in all lands, he will

17 be known. Those who have known his name will not be ashamed;and his power and years will never fail.

■ Lit. is ‘lor they imagined in deceit': K ‘tor they are lying of imaginations'.9 Cp. Zcch. xiii. 6.

JOSEPH AND ASENETH

INTROIH'CTION

On two occasions Origen quotes from a work entitled ‘The Prayerofjoseph'.1 * * * On the former occasion he describes it as ‘one of theapocrypha current among the Hebrews'; and this would seem toidentify it with ‘The Prayer of Joseph' mentioned in the lists ofapocryphal lxx>ks.* Vet this work can hardly be identical with ourJoseph and Aseneth inasmuch as: (1) neither of Origen's quota-tions (and the first is of some length) occur in any known recensionofjoseph and Aseneth. and (2) the long prayer in the middle ofJoseph and Aseneth (chaps, xii-xiii) is a prayer of Aseneth and notofjoseph.

The first certain notice of joseph and Aseneth in the West is tobe found in the Speculum of Vincent of Beauvais (r. 1250). At (In-appropriate point in his narrative in the Speculum Historiaie•"Vincent gives a Latin version of the story, introducing it with thewords ‘Kx historia Assenech'. I'his Latin version was reprinted byFabricius in the first volume of his Codex Pseudepigraphus CeterisTeslamenti* and in his second volume5 be added a fragmentaryGreek text (corresponding to something like the first third ofVincent's Latin version), which had been copied for him by J.-C.WolflTrom the mutilated Bodleian Cod. Gr. Barocc. 14H.

To-day some twenty or more MSS containing the Greek text areknown; they date from the 10th to the 19th cents: and in all of themJoseph and Aseneth appears as one of a number of miscellaneousitems - mostly lives of saints and passions. Two quite distinctLatin versions have come to light, and it seems that Vincent'sextract represents an abridgement of one of them. A Syriac version

1 Orig. Comm, in Ioann, ii. 31 (on John i. <*); Philoe. xxiii. If) (from the lostcommentary on Genesis, quoted in Eus. Praep. Ei-ang. VI. xi. 64).

: Kor a full discussion see Jonathan Z. Smith. ‘The Prayer ofjoseph' in Religionsin Antiquity: Essays in Memory ojErwin Ramsdell (ioodtnough (= Studies in the History of

Religions: Supplements to Numen. xiv; Leiden. 1968). pp. 251-294.

■’ ii(I18-124). * i. pp. 774-784.

* ii. pp. 85-102,

■Hit) Joseph and Aseneth

is preserved as the sixth chapter of the first book of the anonymousEcclesiastical History attributed to Zacharias Scholasticus: there areArmenian. Slavonic, and Rumanian versions; and there was prob-ably also at one time a version in Ethiopic. and perhaps versions inCoptic and Arabic as well, although these are no longer extant.

The titles given to the work in the different authorities vary agood deal. Thus, one Greek MS gives ‘The Confession and Prayerof Aseneth. the daughter of Pemephrcs, the priest*, another “ Thewholesome Narrative concerning the corn-giving of Joseph, theall-fair, and concerning Aseneth. and how God united them*, whilethe Syriac has more simply ‘The History of Joseph the just andAseneth his wile*. The popular modern title, 'Joseph and Aseneth1,is found in none of the authorities.

Similarly, there is considerable variation between the authori-ties in text. Throughout the work the Greek MSS ditl'er widely intheir wording (as in the choice of synonyms, or whether an idea isexpressed by a participle or by a main verb with 'and'): phrases,and sometimes whole clauses, appear in difierent places; and thereare continual minor additions, or omissions, which sometimesaffect the sense, but more often do not. In some cases these dif-ferences are confined to the Greek, in other cases they arc reflectedin one or other of the versions, or in one or more MSS of a version.From time to time the differences are more substantial: in chap,xix, lor example, the dialogue between Joseph and Aseneth ismuch longer in some authorities than in others: between chaps, xxiand xxii some authorities have an additional prayer of Aseneth;and there are several different endings to the book, one of whichgives a brief summary of the subsequent history of Joseph andAseneth, and records their deaths, mainly in the form of an extractfrom Gen. I. 22-26. From all this it is clear that the text was treatedwith the greatest freedom, and it seems to have been so treatedfrom the very beginning.

The first critical edition was Batiflol's, published in 1889-90.Batiffol used four Greek MSS - Vat. Or. 803 (11th-12th cent: A),Vat. Palat. Gr. 17 (11th—12th cent.: B), Bodl. Gr. Barocc. 148(15th cent.: C - the fragment published already by Fabricius), andBodl. Gr. Barocc. 147 (15th cent.: D). BatiffoPs text is based on A(with which C generally agrees where it is available) rather than

Joseph and Aseneth Hi/

tin B (with which I)generally agrees). A full conspectus oi variantsis given in the apparatus, together with the evidence ol the Syriac(quoted from Oppenheim's Latin rendering). There is a 37-pageIntroduction. And at the end is printed, as an appendix, the text ofone of the Latin versions from two Cambridge MSS which hadbeen collated for Batillbl by M. R. James.

Philonenko's edition of 1‘MiH contains not onl\ a text withapparatus, but also a French translation, notes, and a very lullIntroduction. When one compares his edition with Baiiflbl's. onebecomes aware how much of the material now available for thereconstruction of the text has only become available since Baiiflbl'sday. But, in ordering and controlling it. Philonenko had tin-advantage ofbeing able to prolit from several critical studies whichhad appeared in the interval - notably Burchard's masterlyL'ntersuchungen zu Joseph und Aseneth. published in I()l> >.

Following Burchard, Philonenko divided the Greek MSS intofour groups (designated a h c d). But whereas Burchard had main-tained that the most reliable text w as to be (bund in the w itnesses tob, and had held that d was an abbreviated text, a and < being intheir different ways ‘improved* texts. Philonenko preferred d ('theshort recension') and explained b c and a as expansions of it (‘tin-first long recension*, ’the second long recension*, and ‘the thirdlong recension*, respective!) ). Batillbl's MSS A and C belong tothe a group, his B and I) to the (/ group. And among the versions,the Slavonic is allied with the d group and all the rest with the hgroup.

Accordingly, in contrast with Batillbl. whose edition was (inPhilonenko's terms) an edition of ‘the third long recension" («).Philonenko himself set out to produce an edition of ‘the shortrecension* (</). His primary authorities were the MSS B and Dandthe Slavonic version; and all the variants of B and I) are recordedin his apparatus. In addition to these two MSS he used also fiveother MSS - A (Baiiflbl’s primary authority), representing «; L(Alhos Yatopcdi 600: 15thcent.) F (Bucharest Gr. %<>: 17th cent.)and G (Chillicothc, Ohio: 16th cent.), representing b: and H(Jerusalem, St. Sepulchre 73: 17th cent.), representing c. How-ever, readings from AKFGH are only cited in the apparatusspasmodically. The result is that, while the reader is left in no

408 Joseph and A sene!h

doubt about Philonenko’s virus about what the true text of theshort recension is, and the evidence on which those views arebased, he gains little or no idea of the text of any of the three longrecensions. For the text ol the a recension he must still go toBatiHol: for the text of A he must rely on the versions (other than theSlavonic);4 while so far as the text of c is concerned, he is left almostcompletely in the dark.

In spite of its limitations, however, it has been thought best totake Philonenko’s text as the basis of the translation which follows.E. W. Brooks’s translation, published in HUB was, of course, basedon Batillol's text. Consequently, anyone who is so minded can. bythe simple expedient of comparing the two translations, at leastintroduce himself in a rudimentary way. in Knglish. to some ol’thetextual complexities with which the work abounds.

As regards the origin of Joseph and Aseneth. the earliest lixedpoint is provided by the Syriac version. The Syriac, as alreadymentioned, is preserved in Pscudo-Zacharias’s EcclesiasticalHistory, where we are told, not only that it was made from theGreek, but also that the Greek text used by the translator wasfound in ‘a very ancient manuscript’. The Ecclesiastical Historyitself, on internal evidence, cannot have been put together laterthan \1) 570. This would seem to carry bac k the- dale of the 'veryancient' Greek text to the mid-fifth century at the latest. And ifPhilonenko is right in thinking that the b recension (to whic h theSyriac belongs) is secondary, then the d recension, of which it is anexpansion, must be still earlier.

But further back than this it is impossible to go with any degreeof certainty. The work is patently a romance based on the threepassing references to Aseneth at Gen. xli. 45, 50-52, and xlvi. 20.The Rabbinical literature shows that there were legends aboutAseneth circulating in Jewish circles in the first centuries ol'theChristian era - in particular, a legend that she was only thefoster-child of Potipherah, being in fact the daughter of Dinah,born after the rape by Shechem and spirited away to Egypt by anangel, and therefore not an Egyptian at all. But these legends have

6 This is particularly unfortunate inasmuch as Burchartl was of the opinion thatA offered the best text of all.

Joseph and Asenelh 469

no direct contact with Joseph and Asenelh in the form in which weknow it.

Yet traces of Jewish influence and Jewish interests are clearenough - lor example, the statement in chap, i that Asenelh ‘wasquite unlike the daughters of the Egyptians, hut in every respectlike the daughters of the Hebrews', and that her charms weresimilar to those of Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel.7 or, again. Joseph'sexpostulation in chap, viii, when Aseneth advanced to kiss him,that ‘it is not right fora man who worships God ... to kiss a strangewoman.... So loo it is not right for a woman who worships God tokiss a strange man. because this is an abomination in God's eyes’.BOn the other hand, the description of‘the man who worships God'in the passage in chap, viii just quoted as one who ‘eats the blessedbread of life and drinks the blessed cup of immortality and isanointed with the blessed unction of incorrupt ion"* seems just asclearly to betray Christian interest and influence, and the samemay be said alx>ut the incident of the angel and the honeycomb inchap. xvi.

According to Baliflbl the work originated in Asia Minor in the4th or f)th cent. AD, and the author was a Christian, though he wasdependent for much of his subject-matter on Jewish traditions andlegends. Burchard, representing a contrary point of view, was ofthe opinion that Batiffol and those who followed him had notmerely over-emphasized the importance of the so-called ‘Christianelements’ in the work, but had also radically misunderstood them.For Burchard there is nothing in it, anywhere, that cannot quitesatisfactorily be explained as Jewish; and Burchard took the viewthat the author was a Jew of the Dispersion, who wrote in Egypt,either in the last century Bt; or the first century AD. Other viewshave been that the author was a nationalist and orthodox Jew ofPalestine (Aptowitzcr), or that he was an Esscnc (Ricsslcr), or thathe belonged to the Thcrapcutae (K. G. Kuhn).

Philoncnko, in the Introduction to his edition, attacked theproblem in the light of his analysis of the textual evidence. Theprimary d recension, he argued, is unquestionably Jewish: it was

7 i. 7-8.

■ viii. 5-7.

* viii. 5; cp. xv. 4.

470 Joseph and Aseneth

designed partly as a missionary tract, aimed at potential (jentileconverts, and partly as a defence of mixed marriages between Jewsand Gentiles. aimed at those Jews who were unable to see theobvious proselytizing possibilities in such marriages: and it is aproduct of the Dispersion in Egypt, written probably about AD100—J10. About the origin, date, and purpose, of the h recensionPhilonenko was more doubtful: it may have been made by a Jewmuch given to mystic speculation, or by a Gnostic Christian. Butabout the ( and a recensions being due to Christians Philonenkohad no doubts at all.

Whatever may be thought alxmt the details of this exposition{and it would be a mistake to press the details), the great merit of itis that it takes into account, and considers together, all the separateissues involved - historical, theological, literary, and textual. If agenerally agreed solution of the problem is ever arrived at, it islikely to l)e along the lines that Philonenko has laid down.

But one thing is certain: Joseph and Aseneth was written inGreek. The text of the Old Testament presupposed is that of theScptuagitil, and the language and style are Scptuagintal through-out. There are no grounds at all for regarding the Greek as atranslation of either a Hebrew or an Aramaic original.

As previously indicated, the Greek text here translated isPhilonenko's. The symbols lor the MSS are his; and the majority ofthe variants recorded in his apparatus, which are capable of beingdilferentiated in translation, have been noted.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

Greek

P. BaTIFFOL. Le Lit re de la Pri'ere d'Aseneth (= Studio Patristica, i—ii;Paris, 1889-90).

471

Joseph and Aseneth

M. PhILONKNKO, Joseph rt Aseneth: Introduction. Texte critique*Traduction, el Soles (= SPB xiii; Leiden. 1988).

Latin

P. B.VI'I H OI.. Le Lit re . . . [as above), pp. 89-113.

Syriac

K. \V. BROOKS. Historia Fcclesiastica Zachariae Rhetori vulgo adscripta(= CSCO, Scriptores Svri. 111. v. Tex tics, Paris. 1919), pp.21 -55.

Latin translations of the Striae in:

(i. Ol'PKNHKIM. Fabula Josephi et A.sene time apocrypha e lihrasyriaco la tine versa (Berlin. 1 888).

K. \V. BROOKS, HistoriaEccfesiastica. . . [as above) {= (.'SCO.Scriptores Syri* IN. v. Version Louvain. 1924), pp. 15-89.

Armenian

A. C.ARRIKRK, ‘L’ne version annenieune tie l'Histoire d'Asseneth’in Souveaux Melanges Orientaux (= Publications del'Kcole des LanguesOrientates Vivantes, ITSerie. vol. xix; Paris. I888), pp. 471-312.[The text of chaps, xxii-xxix only, followed by a Frenchtranslation.)

S. HoVSKPHKAXTZ. A Treasury oj Old and Sew Primitive Writers.Vol. I (L'ncanonical Books oj the Old Testament: Venice, 189b).pp. 152-198.

F.nglish translation of the Armenian in:

). 1SSAVKRDKNS. CiU)T\ 79-128.

Slavonic

S. NOVAKOVIC:, ‘Srpsko-slovenski zbornik iz vremena despotaStefana Lazarcvica: 10. Zitic Asenelhi’ in Starine, ix (Zagreb.1877), pp. 27—42.

V. M. I S I RIN, ‘Apokrif ob Iosife i Asenefc’ in Dm nosti: trudySlavyanskoy komissii Imperatorskogo Aloskovskogo arkheologicheskogoobshchestva, iii (Moscow, 1898), pp. 148-199.

472

Joseph and Aseneth

TRANSLATIONS

English

M. BroDRK K (Prepared by. from Notes supplied by the late SIRPKTKR Le Pace RkNOI'F), The Life and Confession of Asenath theDaughter of Pentephres of Heliopolis. narrating how the all-beautifulJoseph took her to Wife (London, 19(K)).

K. \V. Brooks. Joseph and Asenath: The Confession and Prayer ofAsenath. Daughter of Pentephres the Priest (= S.P.C.K., Translationsof Early Documents'. London, 1918).

French

M. PHJLONENKO, Joseph et Aseneth ... [as above].

German

P. RIKSSI.ER, AjSaB2, pp. 497-338.

GENERAL

V. APTOWITZER, ‘Asenath, the Wife of Joseph: A HaggadicLiterary-Historical Study’ in HUCA i (1924), pp. 239-306.

t'.. Bl'RCHARD, Untersuchungen gu Joseph und Aseneth: Liber lieferung-Orlsbestimmung (= Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum NeuenTestament, 8; Tubingen, 1963).

. Der dreizehnte Zeuge: Tradilions-und kompositionsgeschichtliche

Untersuchungen zu Lukas' Darstellung der Friihzeit des Paulus ( =Forschungen zur Religion und Lileratur des Alien und Neuen Testaments,103; Gottingen, 1970), pp. 39-86.

. ‘Zum Icxt von Joseph und Aseneth’ in Journalfor the Study of

Judaism, i (1970}, pp. 3-34.

, Joseph et Aseneth: Questions aetuelles’ in La litterature juive

entre Tenach et Afischna: Quelques problemes (ed. W. G. VANU NX IK; Reck. Bib. 9; Leiden, 1974), pp. 77-100.

A. - M. D KNIS, IPG A T, pp. 40-48.

L. Gi.N/.BERO, The Legends of the Jews, ii (Philadelphia, 1910), pp.

170-1 78 and v (Philadelphia, 1925), pp. 374—375.

joseph et aseneth

_ Joseph and .-1 seneth 4 7 3

K. K.OHI.FR. art. "Asrnath. [aft- and (.Umlcssion or Pi aver of‘ infTii (New York. ] 110*2). pp. 172-l/ti.

K. (J. Kl HN. ‘The Lord s Supper and the Communal Meal atQumran’ in The Scrolls and l he Xeic Testament (ed. K. StkND.UII.:New York. I‘>">7). pp. 74—77.

M. Pmi.oNKNKO. ‘Joseph et Aseneth: Questions actuelles’ in Lalitteralure juive entre Tenach et Misehna: Quelt/ue problems* (ed.\V. C‘. VAN I'NMK: Rech. Bib. !>; Leiden. 1*174). pp. 73-71*.

P. RlF.ssi.KR. ‘Joseph und Asenath: Line altjiidisehe Krziihhmg’ inTheoiogische Quarlalschrift. eiii (1*122). pp. 1 — 13.

. AfSAB\ p. 1303-1304.

K. SCHCRKR. (ij\ ZJ(? iii. pj). 3*)*)-402.

I. It came to pass in tin* first year of the seven years of plenty, inthe second month, (hat Pharaoh sent out Joseph to go round the2 whole land of Kgypt. And Joseph came.1 in the fourth month of thefirst year, on the eighteenth day of the month.2 into the district of4 Heliopolis. And he was collecting all the corn of that land, as the4 sand of the sea. Now there was in that city a man. a satrap ofPharaoh; and this man was the chief of all Pharaoh's satraps and:*> lords.' And he4 was very rich, and wise, and generous, and he wasPharaoh’s counsellor, and his name was Pentephres; and he was<i the priest of Heliopolis.5 And Pentephres had a virgin daughter ofabout eighteen years of age. tall and beautiful and graceful, more

7 beautiful than any other virgin in the land.6 And she was quiteunlike the daughters of the7 Kgyplians. but in every respect like tin-

8 daughters* of the Hebrews. And she was as tall as Sarah, and asbeautiful as Rebecca, and as fair as Rachel: and this virgin's name

9 was Aseneth. And the fame of her beauty spread through all that

1 to go round ... came: B om.

* in the fourth . . . month: Slav. om.

’ and this man ... lords: B on*.

4 Lit. 'this man'.

5 B ‘and Pentephres ivas the first man of Heliopolis*; I) om.

* Or‘upon the earth*.

' d. of the: Dorn.

* but.. . daughters = HA: BI) Slav. ‘and*.

•174 Joseph and Asenelh

land, oven lo its remotest corners:'* and all the sons of the lords andof the satraps and of the kings sought her hand in marriage, youngin men all of them. And there was great rivalry between them becauseof her. and they began to fight among themselves10 because of

11 Asenelh. And Pharaoh's eldest son heard about her. and he begged

12 his lather to give her to him as his wife. And he said to him. Give meAseneth the daughter of Pentepbres the priest11 of Heliopolis as /nrwife. And his lather Pharaoh said to him. Why should you want a

14 wife of lower station than yourself? Are you not king'1 2 * of all the14 earth1' ? No! See now.14 the daughter of King Joakim1* is betrothedlo you. and she is a queen and very beautiful indeed: take her asyour wife.

II. Now Aseneth despised all men and regarded them with con-tempt: yet no man had ever seen her, for Pcntcphrcs had a tower in2 his house, and it was large and very high. And the top storey had:i ten rooms in it. The first room was large and pleasant; and it waspaved with purple stones, and its walls were faced with precious4 stones of dilferem kinds. And the ceiling of that room was of gold;

and within it1 were ranged the innumerable gods of the Egyptians,r> in gold and silver. And Aseneth worshipped all these; and she♦i feared them and offered sacrifices to them.’ The second roomcontained all the Jinery jot Aseneth's adornment and her treasure-7 chests.' And there was much gold in it. and silver, and garmentswoven with gold, and precious stones of great price, and fineK.‘> linens. And all her girlish ornaments were there.4 The third roomcontained all the good things of the earth;5 and it was Aseneth’s

* even to ... comers: Slav. om.among themselves: B om.

" B'the first man'.

So I): BE 'king as vtw are'; (> ‘Kor vou arc king'.

" Or land'.

,4 See now: I) om.

15 So Bl) Slav.: EH of the king of Moab’; A 'of'king Joachim of Moab'.

1 Lit.‘that room'. •’ FH add 'daily'.

1 In this verse the authorities differ not a little among themselves over the details,

though without any change in the general sense.

4 Lit. ’And there was all the adornment of her virginity'.

' Or land’.

475

Joseph and Aseneth

10 store-house. And seven virgins had the remaining seven rooms,

11 one eaeh. And they used to wait on Aseneth, and were of the sameage as she was. for they were all born on the same night as Aseneth;and they were very beautiful, like the stars of heaven, and no man

12 or boy had ever had anything to do with them. And Aseneth’s large

13 room, where she spent her time,'' had three windows. One window-looked out over the courtyard to the cast: the second looked to the

14 north, onto the street; and the third to the south. And a golden bed

15 stood in the room, facing the east. And the bed had a coverlet of

16 purple woven with gold, embroidered with blue, and line linen. Inthis bed Aseneth used to sleep alone, and no man or woman ever7

17 sat upon it, except Aseneth only. And there was a great court allround the house, and a wall round the court, very high rz/tt/built of

18 great rectangular stones. And there were four gates to the court,overlaid with iron; and eighteen strong young men-at-arms used to

19 guard each of them. And along the wall inside the court every kindof beautiful tree that produces fruit had been planted; and the fruit

20 on every one of them was ripe, for it was harvest time. And on theright of the court there was an ever-bubbling8 spring of water, andbeneath the spring a great cistern9 that received the water from thespring and out of which a river flowed through the middle of thecourt and watered all the trees in it.

HI. And it caine to pass' in the fourth month, on the eighteenth2day of the month, that Joseph came into the district of Heliopolis.3

2 And as he approached the city, Joseph sent twelve men in front ofhim to Pcntcphres, the priest of Heliopolis, saying. May 1 be yourguest to-dav,4 for it is near noon and time for the mid-day meal?

3 The sun’s heal is ov erpowering, and 1 would enjoy some refresh-

4 ment under your roof. When Pcntcphres heard this, he was over-

6 Lit. ‘where her virginity was nurtured'.

So BH Slav.: I)om,

* Lit.'rich': D om.

11 Slav, adds ‘of marble’.

' BH Slav, add ‘in the first year of the seven \ears of plenty’.

1 So H Slav. Syr. Arm. Lat.: BDFA ‘twenty eighth’.

1 B Slav, add 'and he was gathering the corn of that land' (Slav. + ‘as the sand ofthe sea'). 4 Lit. I will stay with you to-day’.

476

Joseph and A seneth

3 joyed and said. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Joseph. And

6 Pentephres called his steward5 and said to him. Make haste andget my house into order, and prepare a great least, because Joseph,

7 the mighty man of God, is coming to us to-day. And Asencth heardthat her father and mother had come back from their family estate

a in the country.6 And she rejoiced and said. 1 will go and sec myfather and my mother7 lor they have come back from our estate in

9 the country. And Asencth hurried8 and put on a fine linen robe ofblue woven with gold and a golden girdle round her waist, and sheputfl bracelets round her hands and feet, and she put on golden

10 trousers and a necklace round her neck. And there were preciousstones all about her, with the names of the Egyptian gods inscribedon them everywhere, on the bracelets and on the stones; and the

11 names of the idols were stamped on the stones. And she pul a tiaraon her head and bound a diadem round her temples and coveredher head with a veil.

IV. And she hurried and came down by the staircase from herstorey at the top; and she came to her father and mother and

2 greeted them. And it gave Pentephres and his wife great joy to see

3 their daughter Asencth adorned as the bride of God. And they tookout all the good things they had brought from their estate in the

4 country, and they gave them to their daughter.1 And Asencthrejoiced at the good things, and at the fruit, the grapes and thedates, and at the doves and at the pomegranates and the figs, for

5 they were all delightful. And Pentephres said to his daughterAsencth, My child: she said, Lo, here I am, my lord.And he said to

6 her, Sit down, please,2 between us: 1 want to talk to you.J And

7 Asencth sat down between her father and her mother. And her

* Lit. 'him who was over his house’.

® Lit. ‘the field of their inheritance'. And so similarly at iii 8, iv. 3, xvi. 2, xx. 3.xxiv. 14. and xxvi. 1.

’ and my mother: BF om.

* B adds "into the room where her robes lay'.

" she put = Slav.: BDom.

1 and they gave .. . daughter: B om.

1 So BH; Dom.

* Lit. ‘and I will speak my words to you'.

477

Joseph and A senelh

father Pentcphrcs4 took her rii^ht hand in his right hand5 and saidH to her. My child: and Aseneth said. What is it, lather?6 AndPetilephres said to her. See. Joseph, the mighty man of God, iscoming It) us to-day, and he is ruler of all the land of Lgypt, forPharaoh has appointed him ruler of all our laud;7 and he is thedistributor of corn throughout the country and is to save it from thefamine that is to come upon it. And Joseph is a man that worshipsGod: he is discriminating, and a virgin {as you are to-day), and aman of great wisdom and knowledge, and the spirit of God is8 uponII) him, and the grace of the Lord is9 with him. So come, my child, andI will give you to him as his wife: you shall he his bride, and he shallll be your bridegroom for ever. And when Aseneth heard what herfather said, a great red sweat came over her. and she was furious101 '2 and looked sideways at her lather.11 And she said. Why should mylord and my lather speak like this and talk as if he would hand meover like a prisoner to a man of another race, a man who was aIS fugitive and was sold as a slave? Is not this the shepherd's son from14 the land of Canaan, and he was abandoned by him? Is not this theman who had intercourse with his mistress,12 * and his master threwhim into prison where he lay in darkness,12 and Pharaoh brought13 him out of prison, because he interpreted his dream? No! I will1<» marry the eldest son of the king, for he is king of all the earth.14 Onhearing this. Pentephres thought it wiser to say no more to hisdaughter about Joseph, lor she had answered him arrogantly andin anger.

V. And behold, one of the young men from Pentephres’s retinue2 burst in and said, Lo, Joseph is at the gates of our court. And

4 So 1)-. B om.

* in his right hand = BSlav.: Dom.

* I.it. ‘Let my lord and (Bom. ‘my lord and) my lather speak’.

I of all our land: DF om.

" So FA: BD ‘was’; F;H om.

g BD ‘was'.

10 Lit. ‘she was angry with a great wrath'.

II at her father: B om.

Is not... mistress = 1) Slav,: B om.

1 Lit. ‘into the prison of darkness'.

14 Or ‘land': D adds ‘of Egypt’.

478

Joseph and Aseneth

Aseneth quickly left her father and her mother and ran upstairsand went into her room and stood at the big window that lookedtowards the east, so as to see Joseph as he came into her father’shouse. And Pentephres and his wife and all his relations went out

t to meet Joseph. And the gates of the court that looked cast wereopened, and Joseph came in, sitting in Pharaoh's viceroy’s chariot.

'» And there were four horses yoked together, white as snow, with

t) golden reins; and the chariot was covered over1 with gold. AndJoseph was wearing a marvellous white tunic, and the robewrapped round him was purple, made of linen woven with gold:there was a golden crown on his head, and all round the crown were2 *twelve precious stones, and above the stones twelve golden rays;

7 and a royal sceptre teas in his right hand. And he held an olive

8 branch stretched out, and there was much fruit on it. And Josephcame into the court, and the gates were shut. And strangers,whether men or women, remained outside, because the gate-

10 keepers had shut the doors.* And Pentcphrcs came, and his wife,and all his relatives, except their daughter Aseneth; and they made

11 obeisance to Joseph with their faces to the ground. And Joseph gotdown from his chariot and extended his right hand to them.

VI. And Aseneth saw Joseph and she was cut to the quick, herstomach turned over.1 her knees became limp, and her whole body

2 trembled. And she was much afraid and cried out and said, Whereshall I go, and where can I hide myself from him? And how willJoseph, the son of God, regard me, for I have spoken evil2 of him?

:i Where can 1 flee and hide myself, for he secs everything, and nosecret is safe from him, because of the great light that is in him?

4 And now may Joseph’s God be propitious to me1 because I spoke

3 evil in ignorance. What can I hope for,4 wretch that I am? Have I

' Lit. ‘shaded over'. Is the reference to a golden awning over the chariot, or wasthe chariot itself overlaid with gold?

* the crown were: B om.

* D adds ‘and all strangers were shutout'.

1 Lit. ‘and she was strongly pricked iti the soul, and her inwards were broken’.

*’ ID om. * D ‘have mercy on me’.

* Lit. ‘What then shall I sec ( — DF: BA ‘follow’)'.

479

Joseph and Asenelh

not spoken, saying, Joseph is coming, the shepherd's son from theland of Canaan? And now, behold, the sun is come5 to us from

6 heaven in his chariot and has come into our house to-day. But 1was foolish and reekless to despise him. and I spoke evil of him and

7 did not know that Joseph is the son of God. For who among menwill ever father such beauty, and what mother6 will ever bear such alight? Wretch that I am and foolish, for I spoke evil of him to my

8 father. Now let my father give me to Joseph’ as a maidservant anda slave, and I will serve him for ever.

VII. And Joseph came into Pentephres’s house and sat down on aseat; and he washed his feet, and he placed1 a table in front of himseparately, because he would not eat with the Egyptians. for this

2 was an abomination to him. And Joseph spoke to Pentephres andall his relations, saying. Who is that woman standing in the solar2 *

3 by the window? 'Fell her to go away.-1 (This was because Joseph wasafraid she too might solicit him;4 5 for all the wives and daughters ofthe lords and satraps of all the land of5 Egypt used to solicit him to

t lie with him.6 And many of the wives and daughters7 of theEgyptians suffered much, after seeing Joseph, because lie was sohandsome; and they would send emissaries to him with gold and

3 silver and valuable gifts." And Joseph would reject them out of

6 hand,9 saying, I will not sin before the God of Israel. And Josephkept his father Jacob's face before his eyes continually,10 and heremembered his father’s commandments; for Jacob used to say toJoseph and his brothers, Be on your guard, my children, againstthe strange woman, and have nothing to do with her. for she is ruin

’ B ‘like ihc sun is he come'.

* Lit. ‘what kind or womb',to Joseph: Bom.

1 So BEA: D ‘they placed'.

•’ So BD: EFH.A ‘top storey'.

* Lit. 'Let her leave this house'.

4 she ... him: Dom.

5 the land of: BF om. DE ‘them'.

1 I) adds ‘of the potentates’.

H gold . . . gifts: B ‘many gifts'.

a Lit. ‘would send them back with threats and insults'.

10 DH Slav. om.

480

Joseph and Aseneth

1 and destruction. That is why Joseph said, Fell that woman to go

8 away.") And Pentephres said to him. Sly lord, the woman youhave seen in the storey at the top is no stranger: she is our daughter,a virgin, who detests men; and no other12 man has ever seen her,

9 apart from you to-day. And if you wish it. she shall come and speak

10 with you; for our daughter is your sister. And Joseph was overjoyed

It because Pentephres said. She is a virgin who detests men. And

Joseph answered Pentephres and his wife and said. If she is yourdaughter, then let her come, for she is my sister, and [ will regard13her as my sister from to-day.

VIIL And Ascncth’s mother went up to the top storey and broughtAseneth down to Joseph; and Pentephres said to his daughterAseneth, Greet your brother, for he too is a virgin as you areto-day, and he detests all strange women just as you detest all

2 strange men. And Aseneth said to Joseph, May you have joy, mylord, blessed as you are of God Most High; and Joseph said to her,

3 May God, who has given all things life, bless you. And Pentephres

4 said to Aseneth, Come near and kiss your brother. And when shecame near to kiss Joseph, Joseph stretched his right hand out, and

5 laid it against her breast, and said, It is not right for a man whoworships God, who with his mouth blesses the living God, and eatsthe blessed bread of life, and drinks the blessed cup of immortality,and is anointed with the blessed unction1 of incorruption, to kiss astrange woman, who with her mouth blesses dead and dumb idols,and cats of their table the bread of anguish,2 * and drinks of theirlibations the cup of treachery,’ and is anointed with the unction of

6 destruction. A man who worships God will kiss his mother and hissister that is of his own tribe and kin,4 and the wife that shares his

7 couch, who with their mouths bless the living God. So too it is notright for a woman who worships God to kiss a strange man,

8 because this is an abomination in God’s eyes. And when Aseneth

11 Lit. 'Lei that (DFH ‘the’) woman leave this house'.

12 B 'strange'. M Lit. 'love'.

1 of life . . . unction = HA: BD Slav, om.; cp. xv. 4.

1 Lit. 'strangling': D'shame'.

1 Lit.‘ambush’. 4 and kin: BE om.

481

Joseph and Aseneth

heard what Joseph said, she was most distressed and cried outaloud; and she fixed her gaze on Joseph, and her eyes were filled') with tears. And Joseph saw her and his heart went out to her - forJoseph was tender-hearted and compassionate and leared the

10 Lord.5 Anti he lifted up his right hand above her head and said.

() Lord, the (Jod of my lather Israel, the Most High, theMighty One.

Who didst quicken all things, and didst call them fromdarkness into light.

And from error into truth.'* and from death into life;

Do thou. () Lord, thyself quicken and bless this virgin.

11 And renew her by thy spirit.’ and remould her by thy secret

hand.

And quicken her with thy life.

And may she cat the bread of thy life.8And may she drink the cup of thy blessing.

She whom thou didst chouse belbrc she was begotten.”

And may she enter into thy rest, which thou hast preparedfor thine elect.

IX. And Aseneth was filled with joy at Joseph's blessing, and shewent up1 in haste to her storey at the top and fell on her couchexhausted. Ix-cause she lelt not only happy, but also disturbed andvery frightened;2 and she had lx*cn bathed in perspiration from themoment she heard Joseph speaking* to her in the name of God

2 Most High. And she wept bitterly, and she repented of her gods she

3 used to worship: and she waited for evening to come. And Josephate and drank; and he said to his servants. Yoke the horses to the

5 for Joseph . . . laird: Dom.

* And from . . . truth = HA: BI)Sla\. mu.

I)A'holy spirit*.

" and remould . . . lh\ lite — F [.at.: BI) Slav. uni. (A om. ‘and remouldhand*).

* Slie , . . begotten — lit) Slav.: FA 'And number her with thy people which thoudidst choose be I ore all things came into being'.

1 So BKA Slav.: I)FH ’away’.

1~ * bit. ‘and a continual (I) om.) sweat was poured about her (- !): BFA om.‘was poured about her) when she heard these words from Joseph who had spoken’.

482 Joseph and Aseneth

chariot (lor lie said. I must depart and go round the whole city and

4 the district4). And Pentephres said to Joseph. Stay the night here.

5 my lord, and to-morrow go your way. And Joseph said. No! 1 mustbe going now, lor this is the day when God began his works: in eightdays time 1 will come back again5 and slay the night here withyou.

X. Then Pentephres and his relations went away to their estate.

"2 And Aseneth was left alone with the1 virgins, and she was listlessand wept until sunset: she ale no bread and drank no water; and

:5 while all slept she alone was awake. And she opened (he door andwent down to the1 gate; and she found the portress asleep with her

I children. And Aseneth quickly took down the leather curtain Iromthe door, and she filled it with ashes and carried it up to the top

5 storey and laid it on the Hour. And she secured the door andfastened it with the iron bar from the side; and she groaned aloud

ti and wept. And the virgin that Aseneth loved most of all thevirgins2 heard her mistress groaning, and she roused the other

7 virgins’ and came4 and found the door shut. And she listened toAseneth groaning and weeping and said. Why are you so

H sorrowful, my lady? What is it that is troubling you? Open (he doorfor us. so that we ean see you. And Aseneth said to them frominside (shut in as she was). J have a violent headache and am restingon my bed: and 1 have no strength left to open to you now,3 for I am

9 utterly exhausted;6 but go each of you to her room. And Asenethgot up and opened her door quietly, and went into her secondroom, where her /rnuure-chests and thefinery for her adornment were,and she opened her wardrobe and took out a black and sombre

10 tunic. (And this was her mourning tunic, which she had worn for

II mourning when her eldest7 brother died). And Aseneth took oifherroyal robe and put on the black one, and she untied her golden

4 Lit. 'land'.

* So I)Slav.: BF.KAom.

1 D “her". ; most of... virgins: Dom.

1 and . .. virgins = EFA: BDGI1 Slav. om.

4 B ‘made haste". * BF' om.

* Lit. 'for 1 am grown weak in all my limbs'.

' So BOA Slav.: EFG ‘younger-.

483

Joseph and A sene/h

girdle and lied a rope round her waist instead, and she took her tiaraoff her head and the diadem, and the bracelets from her hands.

12 And she took her best robe, just as it was." and threw it out of the

13 window, for the poor. And she took all her innumerable gold andsilver gods and broke them up into little pieces, and threw9 them

14 out of the window for the poor and needy.10 And Ascneth took herroyal dinner, even the fatted beasts and the fish and the meat, andall the sacrifices for her gods, and the wine-vessels tor theirlibations; and she threw them all out of the window as food for the

15 dogs. And after this she took the ashes and poured them out on theU> floor. And she took sackcloth and wrapped it round her waist, and

she removed the fillet from her hair and sprinkled herself with

17 ashes; and she fell down upon the ashes. And she beat her breastrepeatedly with her two" hands and wept bitterly and groaned all

18 night until the morning. And in the morning Ascneth got up andlooked, and lo, the ashes underneath her were like mud because of

19 her tears. And again Ascneth fell down on her lace upon the ashes

20 until sunset. And so Ascneth did for seven days; and she tastedneither food nor drink.12

XI. And it came to pass on the eighth day that Ascneth1 looked upfrom the floor where she was lying (for she was losing the use of herlimbs as a result of her great affliction).

XII. And she' stretched her hands out towards the east, and hereyes looked up to heaven,2 and she said.

* Lit. ’all her chosen roljr'. Is l lie reference Jo the 'royal rolje' of verse 11 - as wehave assumed? Or ought we to take aioki} Croix’) here in the more general sense of'equipment' and translate ‘all her choice apparel'.’ II so. the girdle, the tiara, thediadem, and the bracelets, which Ascneth had just taken oil. will also be included(as the editors of the a recension distinctly state), and perhaps ,ome other items aswell - though xiv. 15 and xviii. i make it clear that Aseneth did nut empty herwardrobe completely! u I) ’gave'.

10 and needy: Dom. 11 Bom.

,J Lit. ‘and she tasted nothing at all'.

1 So D: B Slav, ‘she’.

1 D 'Ascneth’. B prefixes to this chapter the title ’Prayer and Confession ofAscneth’, which is found also in A between verses 1 and 2.

* looked up to heaven: BD Slav. om.

484 Joseph and A senelh

•j () Lord, God of the ages, that didst give to all the breath oflife.

That didst bring into the light the things unseen.

That hast made all things and made visible what wasinvisible.

t That hast raised up the heaven and founded the earth uponthe waters.

That hast fixed the great stones upon the abyss of water.Which shall not be submerged.

But to the end they do thy will.'

} () Lord, my God, to thee will I cry: hear my supplication;1 * * 4

And5 * unto thee will 1 make confession of my sins.

And unto thee will 1 reveal my transgressions of thy law.

’> I have sinned. O Lord. I have sinned:

I have transgressed thy law and acted impiously.

And I have spoken things evil before thee.

My mouth. O Lord, has beecn defiled by things offered toidols.

And by the table of the gods* of the Egyptians.t> I have sinned, O Lord, bclore thee; l have sinned and actedimpiously.

Worshipping idols, dead and dumb.

And I am not worthy to open my mouth unto thee, wretchthat I am.

7 I have sinned. C) Lord, bclore thee.

I, the daughter of Pcnlcphres the priest,

/. the haughty and arrogant Asenelh.

To thee, O Lord.7 I present my supplication, and unto theewill I cry:

Deliver me from my persecutors, for unto thee* have I fled.Like a child to his father and his mother.

H And do thou, ()v Lord, stretch forth thy hands over me,

1 I) ’ordinance'.

* hear tny supplication: B uni.

5 L) cun

* to idols ... the g<xfs: D ‘to the idols'.

’ C) Lord = D Slav.: B also'.

" will I cry . . . unto thee = BSIav.: D om.

g B my'.

Joseph and .4 seneth 485

As a lather that loves his children10 and is tenderlya flee l ion ate,11

And .snatch me from the hand of the enemy.

<> For In, the wild primaeval Iaon pursues1* me:

And his children are the gods of the Kgyptians thatI have abandoned and destroyed;

And their lather the Devil is trying to devour me.

In But do thou. () Lord, deliver me from his hands.

And reseue me from his mouth.

Lest he snatch me like a wolf and tear me.

And cast me into the abyss of fire, and into the tempest of thesea;

And let not the great Sea-monster swallow me.

11 Sax e me. C) Lord, deserted as I am,

For my father and mother denied me.

Because I destroyed and shattered their gods;

And now I am an orphan and deserted,

And I have no other hope save in thee. () Lord;

For thou art the father of the orphans, and the champion ofthe persecuted.

And the help of them that arc oppressed.

12 For5 lo. all the gods1' of my father Pcntcphres are but for a seasonand uncertain; but the habitations of thine inheritance, C) Lord,are incorruptible and eternal.

XIII. Look upon my orphanhood. O Lord, for unto thee did I flee,2 O Lord.1 Lo, I took off my royal robe interwoven with gold and putt on a black tunic instead. Lo, I loosed my golden girdle and girtt myself with a rope and sackcloth. Ixr, I threw off my diadem fromi my head and sprinkled myself with ashes. Lo, the floor of my roomonce scattered with stones of different colours and of purple, and

10 ovrr . . . children = B Slav.: Dorn.

11 and is... affectionate — B: D Slav. otn.

the wild .. . pursues = B: D ‘as a lion hr pursues’.

" So B Slav.: DFH ‘habitations’.

‘ O Ixrrd ... O Lord = D: B'() Lord'; Slav. om. altogether.

■HWi Joseph and Aseneth

besprinkled with myrrh,1 2 is now sprinkled with my tears* and4i) scattered with ashes.5 l.o. Lord. from the ashes and from my tearsthere is as much mud inside my room as there is on a public6‘ highway. Lo, Lord,7 my royal dinner and my fatted beasts have Ift given lo the dogs." And lo. for seven days and seven nights’* I haveneither eaten bread nor drunk water; and iny mouth is dry like adrum, and my tongue like horn, and my tips like a potsherd, andmy face is shrunken, and my eyes are failing as a result of my<t incessant tears.10 But do thou. () Lord, pardon me, for in ignorancedid I sin against thee and uttered calumnies against my lordlo Joseph. And I did not know, wretch that 1 am, that he is thy son, OLord: for they told me that Joseph was a shepherd's son from theland of Canaan, and I believed them; hut I was wrong, and Idespised Joseph, thine elect one, and I spoke evil of him. not] l knowing that he is thy son. For what man ever was so handsome,and who else is as wise and strong as Joseph? But to thee, my Lord,12 do I entrust him; for I love him more than mine own soul. Preservehim in the wisdom of thy grace, and give me to him as a servant, sothat I may wash his feel and serve him and be his slave for all11 theseasons of my life.

XIV. And as Aseneth finished her confession to the Lord, lo, the

2 morning star rose in the eastern sky. And Aseneth saw it andrejoiced and said. The Lord God has indeed heard me, for this star

3 is a messenger and herald of the light of the great day. And lo, theheaven was lorn open near the morning star and an indescribable

4 light appeared, And Aseneth fell on her face upon the ashes; andthere came to her a man from heaven* and stood at her head;2 and

’ anti bespr. with m.: Bom. * with my tears: Dom.

■* BD om.: Slav, adds ‘to-day*.

* scattered with ashes: Dorn.

* Lit. "broad*. 7 B "my Lord*.

* So BA: DKH Slav, ‘the strange dot's*.

" and seven nights: Slav. om.

10 Lit. "as a result of the inflammation of my tears*.

" Bom.

1 So F(»: B ‘a man oflight from heaven*; I) 'the man of God*.

! Lit. ‘over her head*.

487

Joseph and A senelh

:> hr railed to her. Aseneth.' And she said. Who railed mr.J l or thedoorol my room is shut and the tower is high: how then did auyunr

li gel intoI * * 4 in)- room? And the man5 * railed her a second lime and said.Asrnrth. Asrnrth; and she said. Herr am I. my lord, tell me who

7 you arc. And the man said. I am the commander* of the Lord’shouse7 * * and chief captain" of all the host of the Most High:0 stand

H up.10 * and 1 will speak to you. And she looked up and saw a man likeJoseph in every respect, with a robe and a crown and a royal staff.

9 But his face was like lightning, and his eyes were like the light of thesun," and the hairs of his head like flames12 of fire, and his hands

10 and his feet like iron from the fire. And Asrnrth looked at him, and

11 she fell on her fare at his feet in great fear and trembling. And theman said to her. l ake heart. Asrnrth. and do not be afraid; but

12 stand up.13 and 1 will speak to you. And Asrnrth got up. and theman said to her. l ake off the black tunic you are wearing and thesackcloth round your waist,14 and shake the ashes off your head.

13 and wash your litre with water. And put on a new robe that youhave never worn before.15 and tic your bright girdle round your

14 waist - the double girdle of your virginity. And then come back to

15 me, and I will tell you what I have l>een sent to you to say. AndAsenclh went into the room where her treasure-cbvsts and the finery forher adornment were;16 and she opened her wardrobe and look out anew, fine, robe, and she took off her black robe and put on the new

16 and brilliant one. And she untied the rope and the sackcloth roundher waist;17 and she pul on the brilliant double girdle of her

I So B: D Slav. om.

4 Lit. 'and how did hr enmr into* (= H Slav.: 1) and how did yon conic here

into*). ’ B‘And he’.

6 So BD: A ‘chief captain’; KFG ‘ruler’.

7 So BKF Slav.: G 'ofthe I«ord‘: l)’of glory of the Lord’; A ‘oft hr Lord God’.

* So 17: EFCA “and commander*.

* So GA Slav.: 17 ‘of all thr host of the laird Most High’; F ‘of all the heavenly

host’; B om. ‘and chief.. . High* altogether.

10 Lit. ‘stand upon your feet’ (D ‘stand up from the floor’).

II B‘his eyes like the sun’. 12 Lit.‘aflame’.

1' Lit. stand upon your feet' (D om. ‘upon your feet’).

14 round your waist (lit. ‘from your loins') = KG.V B from you'; D Slav. om.

15 Lit. ‘a new robe, undelilcd’.

16 where . . . were: B om.

11 And . . . waist: Dom.

488

Joseph and Aseneth

virginity - one girdle round her waist and die other round her17 breast. And she shook the ashes off her head, and washed her facewith pure water, and covered her head with a line and lovely veil.

XV. And she came back to the man; and when the man saw her hesaid to her, l ake now the veil off vour head, for to-day you are a

2 pure virgin and vour head is like a young man's. So she took it offher head; and the man said to her. Take heart, Aseneth.1 lor lo, the

3 Lord has heard the words of your confession. 'lake heart. Aseneth:2 *your name is written in the book of lile. and it will never he blotted

4 out. I-'rom to-day you will be made new. and refashioned, andgiven new life; and you shall cat the bread of lile and drink the cupof immortality, and be anointed with the unction of incorrupiion/

.=• 'lake heart, Aseneth:4 lo. the 1 .ord has given you to Joseph to be hisb bride, arid he shall he your bridegroom. And you shall no more becalled Aseneth, but ‘City of Refuge' shall be your name; for manynations shall take refuge in you, and under your wings shall5 manypeoples6 find shelter,7 and within your walls those who give theiri allegiance to God in penitence will hurl security. For Penitence isthe Most High’s daughter and she entreats the Most High on yourbehalf every hour.8 and on behalf of all who repent;9 for he is thefather of Penitence10 11 and she the mother of virgins, and every hourshe petitions him lor those who repent; (<>r; 1 she has prepared aheavenly bridal chamber lor those who love her,12 and she will look8 after them for ever. And Penitence is herself a virgin, very beautiful

1 BFHA Slav, add ‘you pure virgin*.

2 Take heart Aseneth: Dom.; BA add you (A + ‘pure") virgin'.

■' The authorities differ not a little in detail herr. All, however, t rier to Asencth'seating of the bread and all except F lo her drinking of the cup. Her anointing withthe unction appears in HGA Arm., but not in BDEF Slav.Cp. viii. ■>.

4 BA add'you (A 4 ’pure') \irgin’.

s under . . . shall: D oni.

* B 'nations': O om.

7 find shelter (lit.‘shelter themselves') _ KGH: B ‘lodgeand sh. th.’: Dom.

" On your b. every hour: B om.

9 and (B om.) on b. of all (BG urn.) who r.: D om.

10 for . . . Penitence: D om.

11 she the mother. . . Ibr: B om.

11 B ‘him’.

489

Joseph and A seneih

and purr and chaste and gentle; and God Most High loves her, and(J all his angels do her reverence. And lo, 1 am on my way to Joseph,and I will talk to him about you, and he will come to you to-dayand see you and rejoice over you; arid lie shall be your bridegroom.

10 So listen to me. Aseneth, and put on your wedding robe, theancient13 robe.14 the first1 s that was stored away in your room, anddeck yourself in all your finest jewcllry. and adorn yourself as a

11 bride, and he ready to meet him. For lo. he is coming to you to-day;

12 and he will see you and rejoice. And when the man had finishedis speaking Aseneth was overjoyed. And she fell at his feet and said to

him, Blessed be the Lord God1* that sent you out to deliver mefrom darkness and bring me into light: and blessed be his name for11 ever. Let me .speak now, my lord, if I have lound favour with you: sitdown a little on the bed. and I will get a table read) arid (bod foryou to eat;17 and 1 will bring you good wine, of the finest flavour. Ibryou to drink;"* and then you shall go your way.

XVI. And the mart said to her, Bring me, please, a honeycomb too.2 And Aseneth said. Let me send someone, my lord,1 to my familyestate in the country, and 1 will gel you a honeycomb. Aiid the mansaid to her. Go into your inner room and you w ill find a honeycomb4 there. And Aseneth went into her inner room and found a honey-comb lying on the table; and the comb was as white as snow andi full of honey, and its smell was like the breath2 of'lifc. And Asenethtook the comb and brought it to him; and the man said to her, Whydid you say. There is no honeycomb in my house? And lo, you have

6 brought me this. And Aseneth said. My lord. I had no honeycombin my house, but it happened just as you said: did it perchance

7 come out of your mouth, for it smells like myrrh?3 And the man

15 .So BEFHA: Dorn.

14 So BFA: DEH om.

I!k So BD: HA ‘even the first'; EF om.

1,1 Bom.

|T Lit.'. . . and bread, and cat’ (imperative).

’* Lit. 'wine, whose savour reaches to the heavens, and drink' (imperative).

1 So D: B Slav. om.

1 Lit.‘smell’.

J D adds‘from your moulir.

190 Joseph and Aseneth

stretched his hand out and placed it on her head and said. You areblessed. Aseneth, for the indescribable things4 of God5 have beenrevealed to you; and blessed too arc those who give their allegianceK to the Lord* God in penitence, for they shall eat of this comb. Thebees of the Paradise of Delight7 have made this honey, and the‘I angels of God eat ofit, and no one who eats of it shall ever die. Andthe man stretched his right hand out and broke off a piece of thein comb and ate it; and he put a piece of it8 into Aseneth's mouth. Andthe man stretched his hand out and put his finger9 on the edge ofthe comb that laced eastwards; and the path’0 of his finger became11 like blood. And he stretched his hand out a second time and put hisfinger on the edge of the comb that faced northwards; and the)'l path10 of his finger became like blood. And Aseneth was standing

13 on the left and watching everything the man was doing. And beescame up from the cells of the comb, and they were as white as snow,and their wings were irridescent - purple and blue and gold;11 andthey had golden diadems on their heads and sharp-pointed stings.

14 And all the bees flew in circles round Aseneth. from her feet rightup to her head; and yet more bees,12 as big as queens, settled on

15 Ascneth’s lips. And the man said to the bees. Go. please, to your10 places. And they all left Aseneth and fell to the ground, every one of17 them,l} and died. And the man said. Get up now, and go to your

place; and they got up’4 and went, even one of them, to the courtround Asencth’s tower.

XVII. And the man said to Aseneth, Have you observed this? And

* So BDH: G 'the hidden things'; F 'the mysteries'; A the indescribablemysteries’.

' So BDA: KGH ‘the Most High'.

6 BF add'your'.

7 i.e. the Garden of Fxien (cp. the LXX at c.g. Gen. iii. 23 and Ezek. xxxi. 9).

" Lit. ‘and he gave of the comb with his hand'.

a B Lai. *his forefinger".

10 So D Lat.: B Slav, ‘appearance’.

" Lit. ‘and their wings were as purple, and hyacinth, and as threads of gold"

(= B: A *... hyacinth, and as scarlet': DSIav. om. ‘and as threads of gold’).

IJ Aseneth . . . bees: Dorn.

1 * even one of them = B: D Slav. om.

14 And they got up = BFG A Slav.: D om.

491

Joseph and Aseneth

2 she said. Yes,1 my lord, I have observed ii all. And the man said. So

3 shall be the2 words I have spoken to you. And the man touched thecornb, and fire went up from the table and burnt up the comb; and,as it burned, the comb gave out a refreshing fragrance that filled

4 the room. And Aseneth said to the man. There are, my lord, sevenvirgins with me, who have been brought up with me, and who waitupon me: they were born in the same night as I was and I lovethem: let me call them,3 so that you can bless them as you have

5 blessed me. And the man said, Call them;4 and Aseneth calledthem, and the man blessed them and said, God,5 the Most High.

6 will bless you6 for ever. And the man sairl to Aseneth, l ake thistable away; and Aseneth turned to move the table, and' the manvanished out of her sight, and Aseneth saw what looked like a

7 chariot of lire being taken up into heaven towards the east. AndAseneth said, Be merciful. O Lord, to thv maidservant, because itwas in" ignorance that I spoke evil* before thee.

XVIII. And while this was happening,' behold,2 a young man, oneof Joseph's3 servants, came and said, Lo. Joseph, the mighty man

2 of God is coming to you4 to-day. And Aseneth called her steward5and said. Get ready a special dinner for me, because Joseph, the

3 mighty mail of God, is coming to us. And Aseneth went into herroom and opened her wardrobe, and she took out her finest'’ robe

4 that shone like lightning, and she put it on. And she tied a resplen-dent royal girdle round her waist - and this girdle was7 of precious

1 Lit. ‘l-o’. * B ‘my’.

5 Lit. ‘Pray, 1 will call them = DGA: Bom.

4 And the man . . . them = BG: Slav. ‘And he said. Call them'-, D otn.

5 So Dfc.FG Slav.: A 'the Lord God’; B om.

* E adds ‘and you shall be seven pillars of the City of Refuge*.

7 B adds ‘immediately’.

8 Dadds‘mv’. * B‘this word’.

1 So B: D Slav, ‘and when Aseneth said this’; F ‘and Aseneth was saying thesethings to herself’; A ‘and while Aseneth was yet saying these things to herself’.

’ So B Slav.: D ‘immediately’

’ So BDA Slav.: EFG ‘PentephresY.

4 So I) Slav, (plural): B ‘you’ (sing.). 5 Lit him who was over her house’.

b Lit. ‘first’. 7 and this g. was: Born.

492

Joseph and A senelh

:> stones. And she put golden bracelets round her hands, and goldenboots on her feet, and a costly necklace about her neck; and she puta golden crown upon her head, and in the crown, in front, were the,7 costliest of stones. And she covered her head with a veil. And shesaid to her maidservant. Bring me pure water from the spring. AndAscneth bent down to the water in the basin [on the cockle-shell |;Mand her lace was like the sun. and her eyes like the rising morningstar.

XIX. And a little slave came and said to Ascneth. I.o. Joseph is atthe gates of our court; and Ascneth went down with the seven

2 virgins to meet him.1 And when Joseph saw her. he said to her.Clonic to me, pure virgin, for I have had g(x>d news about you from

3 heaven, explaining everything about you.2 And Joseph stretchedhis hands out and embraced Ascneth, and Ascneth embracedJoseph,' and they greeted each other for a long time and receivednew life in their spirit.4

XX. And Ascneth said to him, Come, my lord, come into uivhouse; and she took his right hand and brought him1 inside her

2 house. And Joseph sat dowo on her father Pentcphres's seal, andshe brought water to wash his feet; and Joseph said to her. Lot one

3 of your virgins come, and let her wash my feet. Arid Ascneth said tohim. No, my lord, for my hands are your hands, and your feet myfeet,2 and no one else shall wash your feet; and so she had her way

' Philonrnko would exclude these words on the ground that they make no sense.He interprets the verse as a description of a rile of divination flccanomancy):Ascneth. therefore, could not bend over both a basin and a shell at the same time. Itis worth noting, however, that Batiflbl’s much fuller text, not only makes nomention of a shell, but also leaves no mom for doubt that Ascneth's purpose insending lor the water was ‘to wash her lace', and that it was only when she saw herreflection in the water that she desisted ('Lest I wash off this great and welcome

beauty*).

1 So D: BFA ‘Joseph-. 2 from heaven . . . you: 1) om.

■’ and embraced As . . . Joseph = DA: Bom.

* Or ‘by their breath’: I) om. ‘and ree. . . . spirit'.

1 So B: D ‘and hand in hand (lit. ‘holding each other’s right hands') they

entered’. 1 So DFA Slav.: B 'mv feel vnur feet’.

Joseph and Aseneth 493

4 arid washed his feet. And Joseph took her by the right hand and

1 kissed it,3 and Aseneth kissed his head. And Aseneth’s parents4came back from their country estate, and they saw Aseneth sittingwith Joseph and wearing a wedding5 robe; and they rejoiced and

6 glorified God, and they ate and they drank. And Pentephres said toJoseph, To-morrow 1 will invite the lords and satraps of Egypt,and I will celebrate your wedding, and you shall take Aseneth as

7 your wile. And Joseph said, First I must tell Pharaoh aboutAseneth, because he is my father; and he will give me Aseneth asm^

8 wife himself. And Joseph stayed that day with Pentephres; and hedid not sleep with Aseneth, for he said, 11 is not right for a man whoworships God to have intercourse with his wife before theirmarriage.

XXI.1 And Joseph got up early in the morning, and he went away

2 to Pharaoh and told him about Aseneth.2 And Pharaoh sent and

3 called3 Pentephres and Aseneth.4 And Pharaoh was astonished ather beauty and said. The Lord will bless you, even the God of3Joseph,6 who has chosen you to be his bride, for7 he is the first-bornson of God, and8 9 you will be called the daughter of the Most High,

4 and Joseph shall be your bridegroom for ever. And Pharaoh took

5 golden crowns and put them on their heads and said, God Most

6 High will bless you and prosper your family0 for ever. And

J Or ‘her’.

4 B adds ‘both her father and her mother'.

J So BA Slav.: D ‘bright'.

1 Philonenko’s text oi this chapter is lor the most part a reconstruction from theSlavonic, B and D having a number of omissions. A, on t lie other hand, agrees in themain with the Slavonic apart from a few small variations, expansions, and addi-tions.

1 and told . . . Aseneth: BDorn.

i And Phar. . . . called = Slav.: D ‘Anri Phar. railed'; B om.

* Pent, and As. = D: Slav. ‘Pent, and his daughter’; B om.

* And Phar.. .. God of = (A) Slav.: BD om.

* So A: Slav. ‘Israel’; BD om.

1 who ... Ibr ~ (A) Slav.: BD om.

* he is . .. and = F(A) Syr.: BD Slav. om.

9 Lit. ‘and multiply you’.

494 Joseph and Asenelh

Pharaoh turned them towards each other, and they kissed eachother. And Pharaoh celebrated their wedding with a banquet andmuch merry-making10 for seven days: and he invited all the chief

7 men in the land of Egypt.11 And he issued a proclamation, saying,12Any*' man who does any work during the seven days of Joseph and

8 Ascncth’s wedding14 shall die. And when the wedding was overand the banquet ended. Joseph had intercourse with Ascneth; aridAsenelh conceived by Joseph and bore Manasseli and his brotherKphraim in Joseph's15 house.

XXII. And after this the seven years of plenty ramc to an end, and

2 the seven years of famine began. And when Jacob heard about hisson1 Joseph, he came into Egypt, with all his family, in the secondmonth, on the twenty-first day of the month; and he settled in the

3 land of Goshen.2 * And Ascneth said to Joseph, I ' will go and seeyour father, because your lather Israel is my father; and Joseph

4 said to her. Let us go together. And Joseph and Ascneth came intothe land of Goshen, and Joseph’s brothers met them4 and made

5 obeisance to them upon the ground. And they came to Jacob andhe blessed them and kissed them;5 and Asencth hung upon his

6 father6 Jacob’s neck and kissed him. And alter this they ate and

7 drank. And Joseph and Asencth went to their house, and Simeonand Levi escorted them, to protect them:7 Levi was on Asencth’s

8 right hand and Simeon8 on the left. And Ascneth took I.evi’s handbecause she loved him as a man who was a prophet and a worshipper

IV I.it. ‘drinking’.

11 you will be railed . . . Egypt = (A) Sla\.: BDorn.

12 And . . . saying — (D; (A) Slav.: Bom.

13 So BFGA Slav. (lit. ‘every"): I) ‘if any* ("man docs ... he shall die ).

14 B Slav, add ‘that man’.

15 So DFA Slav.: BG ‘Pharaoh’s*.

1 his son: Slav. om.

2 So BA Slav.: D‘Egypt’.

J So BEFGA Slav.: D "we*.

4 into . . . them = BA Slav.: D ‘and Joseph’s brothers’; B adds 'in the land of

Goshen’. 1 and kissed them = B Slav.: Dom.

6 his father: D om.

4 Lit. ‘escorted them because their enemies were envious of them'.

* So B: DFA Slav. ‘Joseph’.

495

Joseph and Aseneth

of God and a man u ho feared the Lord. And he used to see letterswritten in the heavens, and he would read them and interpretthem* to Aseneth privately; and Levi saw the place of her rest in thehighest heaven.

XXIII. And as Joseph and Aseneth were passing by. Pharaoh s

2 eldest son saw them1 from the wall.* And when he saw Aseneth* hewas driven to distraction by her Ixvause she was so beautiful; andPharaoh's son sent messengers' and summoned Simeon and Levi

3 to him. and they came to him and stood before him.4 And Pharaoh'sson said to them. I have heard5 that you are better soldiers thanany others there are on earth, and that with your own right handsyou destroyed the city of Shechem and with your own two swords

4 you cut to pieces thirty thousand fighting men.* I need your help:let us get together without delay;1 and l will give you gold andsilver in abundance, and menservants and maidservants, andhouses and great estates." Make a compact with me,* and shewkindness to me; for I was greatly wronged by your brother Joseph,because he married Aseneth although10.she was originally pledged

5 to me. And now come with me. and [ will take up arms againstJoseph and kill him with my sword, and 1 will marry Aseneth; and

6 you shall be my brothers and11 my friends for ever, But if you willnot listen to me, I will kill you with my sword (and as he said this he

7 bared his sword and showed it them). Now Simeon was a brave butimpetuous man, and he drew his sword from its scabbard and

8 made a rush at Pharaoh's son. as if to strike him. And Levi was

9 So B (lit. ‘he would reveal them'): 1) ‘he would reveal all dimes'.

1 D 'her'.

1 from the wall — BKA: DFG Slav. om.

* So BFA Slav.: DG om.

4 and stood Ixrforc him = BFG: [) Slav. om.

5 Lit. *1 know'.

6 Lit. ‘thirty thousand men of war’ {D om. ‘of war’).

7 So Slav. (lit. ‘I rail you to my aid: make haste. Im, i will take you ascompanions'): D 'I call you to my aid: make haste’: B ‘And lo, 1 will take you to myaid this day’; A ‘And I this day will take you to myself as companions'.

* Lit. ‘inheritance’.

9 So G: B ‘swear to mc‘; D ‘listen to me’; A ‘strive together with me’.

10 Lit.’and’. 11 my brothers and: Dom.

■MM > Joseph and A senelh

aware of what Simeon was afxmt to do. lor Levi was a prophet andIbresaw everything that was to happen; and Levi trod hard on<> Simon's right loot as a sign to him to t urb his wrath. And Levi saidto him. Why so angry with him? For w<* art* the children of a manwho worships God. and it is not right Idr a man who worships Godin to repay his neighbour evil for evil. And Levi said to his neigh-bour.12 Pharaoh's son. respectfully and in good humour. .Ur lord,why do you speak to us like this? For” we are men who worshipGod. and our lather is the servant of (rod Most High, and ourbrother Joseph is loved by God: how could we do14 anything so

11 wicked in (rod's eyes? And now, listen to fis. and be careful you

12 never repeat what you have just said about our brother Joseph. If.however, you persist in this wicket! plan. see. our swords are drawn

l:i against you. And they1* drew their swords from their scabbardsand said. Do you see these swords? It was with them that theLord16 God avenged the outrage on the sons of Israel, which themen of Shechem committed in the alfair of our sister Dinah.

1 t whom17 Shechem. Hamor's son, defiled. And Pharaoh's son saw

their drawn swords, and lie was afraid and trembled and fell on his15 face to the ground at their feet. And Levi stretched his hand outand lifted him up, saying. Do not be afraid: only be careful you savl(j nothing against our brother. And the\ went out from him. leavinghim trembling and afraid.

XXIV. And Pharaoh's son was in much affliction and torment

2 because of Aseneth. and he was greatly distressed. And his servantswhispered in his car. Lo, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. themaidservants of Leah and Rachel. Jacob's wives, hate Joseph andAseneth and arc jealous of them, and they will do w hat you want.

:t And Pharaoh's son sent messengers1 and summoned them, andthey came to him by night; and Pharaoh's son said to them, I havet heard2 that you are good soldiers. And Gad and Dan. the elder

w his nriglilxtur: Di>m. ” Lit.’And’.

14 Lit. ‘and how (Dom.) shall wc do'.

’* D ‘Simeon and Levi'.

14 tin-Lord: I)nm. ’’ Bl) Shiv, add "in'.

1 So BOA Slav.: DF om.

■ Lit. *1 know'.

Joseph and Aseneth 497

brothers, said to Pharaoh’s son, Let our lord (ell his servants what

5 it is he wants, and we will do it. ' And Pharaoh’s son was overjoyed,and he said to his servants, (Jo away and leave us alone, for I have

6 something to say to these men privately. And all the servants wontout; and Pharaoh’s son told them lies, saying, I offer you a choicebetween prosperity and death:3 4 so choose prosperity5 and not

7 death. I know that you are good soldiers, and that you will not dieas women die-, but art like men and take vengeance on6 your

8 enemies. I heard (he continued7) your brother Joseph say to mylather Pharaoh, Dan and Gad arc the children of maidservants8 *

9 and are not my brothers. And I am only waiting for my lather to dieto take action against them and all their progeny, so that they willnot share the inheritance with us, for they are the children ofmaidservants, and it was they who sold me to the Ishmaclitcs.

10 When my father is dead 1 will repay them for the wrong they did

11 me. And my lather Pharaoh commended Joseph and said to him,vWhat you have said is quite right, my son; and now10 take some ofmy soldiers" and proceed against them as they did against you,

12 and I will help you. And when the men heard what Pharaoh’s sontold them they were much12 troubled and distressed, and they saidto him, We appeal to you, our lord, to help us; and whatever you tell

13 your servants to do, we w ill do it. And Pharaoh’s son said to them,To-night 1 will kill my father, for my father Pharaoh is like1-' afather to Joseph; and10 do you also kill Joseph,14 and I will marry

14 Aseneth. And Dan and Gad said to him, Wc will do everything youhave told us to. We overheard Joseph say to Aseneth, Go to-morrow to our country estate, for it is vintage-time; and he hasarranged for six hundred armed soldiers to go with her and fifty

3 Lit. ‘his (= B: DEGASIav. ‘your’) will'.

4 Lit. ‘Blessing and death are before your lace (= BFG(A): D Slav, ‘before the

face of God J. 5 Lit.‘the blessing’.

* and ... on = DA Slav.: B ‘and greet’.

7 Lit. ‘he says’.

8 B ‘a maidservant’.

8 to him: Bom. 10 Lit.‘for the rest’.

11 D Slav, add ‘with you’.

I? DF Slav. om. 11 Doin.

14 and .. .Joseph = D Slav.: BF om.

498

Joseph and Aseneth

13 outrunners.:s And when Pharaoh’s son heard this, he'6 gave thefour men five hundred men each and appointed them their officers

16 and commanders. And I)an and Gad said to him,17 We will go bynight and lie in wait at the brook and hide in the woods on the

17 banks.'* And as for you, take fifty men with you. archers onhorseback, and go on ahead,19 some distance in front; and Asenethwill come and fall into our20 hands,21 and we will cut down the men

18 who are with her.22 And Aseneth will tlcc in her chariot and fallinto your hands and you will he able to deal with her as you wish.

19 And afterwards we will kill Joseph while he is fretting about

20 Aseneth; and we will kill his children before his eyes. And Pharaoh'sson was delighted when he heard this, and lie sent two thousand

21 soldiers alter them. And they came to the brook and hid in thewoods on the hanks, and five hundred men took up their position infront; and in between them was a highway.25

XXV. And Pharaoh's son went to his lather's room to kill him; but

2 his father’s guards would not allow him1 to go in to him. AndPharaoh’s soil said to them, l want to see2 my father because I am

3 going off to gather the grapes from my newly planted vine.3 Andthe guards said to him. Your father is in pain, and he has beenawake all night; but he is resting now; and he said to us. Do not let

4 anyone in to me, not even my eldest son. And he went away inanger; and he took fifty mounted archers, and he went in front of

3 them as Dan and Gad had told him to. And Naphtali and Asher4said to Dan and Gad, Why must you plot5 again against out fatherIsrael and against our brother Joseph? For God looks after him as if

'* and fitly outrunners = (F)ASIav: BDom.

16 when ... he: D ‘the son of Pharaoh’.

11 1) "tlit son of Pharaoh’.

'* Lit. ‘in the wood of recd(s)’ {and so subsequently at x.xiv. 21; xxvii. 7; xxviii.5.7;. ,q BA add‘of her’.

20 So EFA Slav.: B your’ (plur.): DC ‘your’ (sing.).

21 EF “ambush’.

22 who are with her: B om.

2:* Lit. ‘a wide (Bom.) road’.

1 B adds “to kill him or’.

2 Lit.‘I will see’. 5 D ‘vineyard’.

4 and Asher: B om. 5 Lit.‘work evil’.

49!)

Joseph ami Aseneth

fj he were the appie of his eye. Did you not oiut sell Joseph as a slave.

and to-day he is king of the whole earth.h and its saviour.1 2 * and gives7 us corn? And now. il'you make plots against hitn again, he will c allupon the God of Israel.8 and he will send lire from heaven.* and itwill burn you up. and the angels of God will tight against you."'it And their elder brothers Dan and Gad were angry with them,saying, Are we then to die like women;1 God forbid! And they wentout to eneounterJoseph and Aseneth.

XXVI. And Aseneth got up early in the morning and said to Joseph. 1am going to our estate in the country; but I am frightened becausei you are not coming with me. And Joseph said to her. l ake heartand do not be afraid, but go; for the Lord is with you and lie will

3 keep you from all evil1 as the apple of an eye. And I will go anddistribute my corn, and give corn to all the men in the c ity.' so that

4 no one dies of famine in the land of Lgypt.' And Aseneth departedj on her journey and Joseph to the distribution of the corn. And

Aseneth came to where the brook was with her six hundred men:and suddenly4 the men that were with Pharaoh's son leaped outfrom their ambush5 and joined battle with Aseneth's soldiers, andthey cut them down with their swords and killed all6 Aseneth’s6.7 outrunners. And Aseneth fled7 in her chariot. And Levi, the son ofLeah, was informed about all this (for he was a prophet), and hetold his brothers8 about Aseneth's danger; and they took, each one

* B(;.\ 'land of Egypt'.

1 and its saviour: Bom.

* the God oflsrarl - BI): A’(lit* Most High'; Slav, ’heaven' (• p. I\<; Syr.'he willgo up into heaven’).

9 from heaven: Slav. am.

111 and the angels . . . you: Slav. mn.

1 B‘danger-.

2 all. .. city = FA: BI) ‘those in the city’; Slav, 'all men’.

■' So DA: Slav, ‘in all the land’; B ‘in Egypt, in all the land whirh is under it’.

4 Slav. om.

5 from (heir ambush: Slav. om.

* killed all: B om.

’ And As. fled = EFGA Slav.: I) ‘And As. was distressed and fled’; B om.

* And Levi... brothers = B: D ‘And Levi was informed about.., told the men ofhis counsel'; Slav. ‘And I-evi (old his brothers'.

500 Joseph and Asenetk

of them,9 his sword on his thigh, and their shields on their arms,10and their spears in their right hands,11 and they went after Ascncth

8 with what speed they could.12 And Asencth fled, and lo, Pharaoh’sson met her, and fifty men with him; and Asenerh saw him, and shewas afraid and trembled.13

1.2 XXVII- And Benjamin was sitting with her in the chariot. AndBenjamin was a sturdy1 lad, about eighteen years old, indescribably

3 handsome,2 3 and as strong as a young lion; and lie feared God. AndBenjamin jumped down from the chariot, and he took a roundstone from the brook and hurled it with all his might * at Pharaoh’sson and hit him on his left4 temple and wounded him severely,5 6 and

4 he fell from his horse half-dead. And Benjamin clambered up on arock and said to the driver of Ascnelh’s chariot, (Jive me fifty

5 stones from the brook; and he gave him fifty stones. And Benjaminhurled the stones and killed the fifty men that were with Pharaoh’s

6 son; and the stones sank into the temples of each one of them. Thenthe sons of Leah, Reuben and Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issachar*and Zebulon, went after the men who had lain in ambush; and theyfell upon them suddenly, and cut down7 the two thousand men,

7 and the six of them8 killed them. And their brothers, the sons oPBilhah and Zilpah, fled; and they said, We have been ruinedthrough our brothers;10 and" Pharaoh’s son is dead, killed by

9 of them - BA Slav.: DEFGom.

10 and . . . arms = DA Slav.: BF 'and their shields’.

11 and . . . hands - F.A Slav. (cp. F ‘and their spears in their hands’): B ‘and theirspears on their arms'; D out.

'• with what speed they could (lit ‘at a swift run’) = EF(A) Slav.: BD om.

A Slav, add ‘and she called upon the name of (A + ‘the Lord') her God’.

1 So BA: the others vary not a little here.

2 D adds‘beyond the nature of man’.

3 Lit. ‘filled his hand and hurled it’: cp. 2 Kings ix. 24.

4 BD om.

s Lit. ‘and wounded him with a great and grievous wound" (= G Slav.: F.FA 'andwounded him with a grievous wound’): BD om.

6 Slav. om. 7 Dadds‘all'.

* Lit. ‘the six (D add ‘hundred’) men’

* the sons of: D om.

10 Lit. ‘We are perished from out of our brethren'.

" D ‘for’.

Joseph and .1 seneth 501

Benjamin, and all those with him have perished at his hand:1’come now. let us kill” Aseneth [and Benjamin].14 * and let ns make8 for the woods. And they came, with their swords drawn, covered inblood: and Aseneth saw them, and she said. () Lord my God. thatdidst quicken me from death, that didst say to me. Thy soul shalllive forever, deliver me from these men. And the Lord (Jod heardher voice, and immediately15 their swords toll from their hands tothe ground and were reduced to dust.

XXVIII. And the sons of Biihah and Xilpah saw the miracle thathad happened and they were afraid1 and said. The Lord is fighting'2 for Aseneth against us. And they fell on their laces to the groundand made obeisance to Aseneth. saying. Have mercy on us. yourservants, lor you are our mistress and queen, and* we have doneyou' a great wrong and our brother Joseph.4 And now God hasbrought retribution on us: we pray you. therelbrc. have mercy onus, and deliver us from our brothers' hands,5 lor they will avenge4 the outrage done to you and their swords will be against us. AndAseneth said to them. Lake heart and do not be afraid, lor6 yourbrothers are men who worship (Jod. and do not repay evil for evil7 8 * 103 to any man.K But retire to the woods until I can secure your pardonand mollify their wrath; for what you have been trying to do tol> them is indeed no trilling matter.v Lake heart though, and do

7 not be afraid, for the Lord will see justice done between us."1 And

8 Dan and Gad Bed to the woods. And behold, the sons of Leah

1' ami all . . . hand: HD om.

" So KFliA Slav.: BI) 'make war against'.

14 So all MSS: Slav, om

15 she said. . . immediately = (A) Slav.: BDnm.

1 IXi'much afraid'.

! your servants . . . queen and = KfA): BI) ‘your servants. tMrau.sc*: Slav, 'our

mistress*. * I) adds’our lady*.

4 and . . .Joseph: Slav. om.

* BI) ‘from our brothers*.

* And . . . for ® E(J(A) Slav.: 1) ‘And ... them. Do not Icar for'; B ‘And we know

that*. ' for evil: B om.

8 to any man: Doni.

** Lit. ‘for you have dared great things against them'.

10 Lit. ‘iM’lween me and you’ (= KA Slav.: BI) ‘between you*).

502 Joseph and Asenelh

came, running like deers in pursuit of them; and Asenelh got down'! from her chariot, and she greeted them with tears. And they madeobeisance to her on the ground and wept aloud; and they askedabout their brothers, the maidservants* sons, intending to killin them. And Aseneth said to them. Spare your brothers and do themno harm, for the Lord has shielded me and reduced the swords intheir hands to dust, and they melted away like wax belbrc the fire.

11 Surely this is enough for us that the Lord is fighting for us: so"

12 spare your brothers. And Simeon said to Aseneth, Why should ourIS mistress plead12 lor her enemies? No! U'c will cut them down1'with

our swords, because they have plotted evil against our father Israeland against our brother Joseph14 now on two occasions,,s and theyM have plotted against you to-day. And Aseneth said to him. Nobrother, you must not repay evil for evil to your neighbour.16 forI:> the Lord will avenge this outrage. And after this17 Simeon bowedto Aseneth:18 and Levi came to her. and he kissed her right hand1<» and blessed her.19 Thus Aseneth saved the men from their brothers*wrath, so that they did not kill them.

XXIX. And Pharaoh's son lifted himself up from the ground andsat up; and he spat bltxxl from his mouth, because his blood was2 running from his temple into1 his mouth. And Benjamin advancedupon him2 and look hold of his sword5 and drew it from itsscabbard (for Benjamin had no sword ofhis own with him). And ashe was about to strike Pharaoh's son, Levi rushed up and seizedhim by the hand and said. No brother, you must not do this, for we

" Lit.’for the rest’.

I.it. ‘Why docs our mistress speak'.

11 I) adds ‘limb from limb’.

14 against our father . . .Joseph = Ann.: B ‘concerning our bro the r Joseph andhis lather Israel"; D ’against our father Joseph'.

'* bo DF (lit. ‘now this twice'): B om.

16 evil for. . . neighbour = BA: FG 'evil for evil'; 1) 'your neighbour evil'.

17 alter this = B: D om.

So B (lit. "Simeon greeted Aseneth’): D ‘Aseneth greeted Simeon’.

'* and blessed her = B: Dom.

' Lit. ‘in’.

1 upon him = BFA: Dom.

1 D adds ‘to strike him’.

503

Joseph and Asenetk

are men who worship God, and it is not right tor a man whoworships God to repay evil for evil, or to trample upon a man who4 has already fallen, or to harry his enemy to death. But come: let usbind up4 his wound; and if he lives, he will be our friend, and his') father Pharaoh will be our father. And Levi raised Pharaoh’s sonup and washed the blood off his f ace and bound a bandage roundhis wound; and he set him on his horse and took him to his father.

6,7 And Levi told him everything that had happened. And Pharaohgot up5 from his throne and made obeisance to Levi upon the8 ground.6 And on the third day Pharaoh’s son died from the wound0 of Benjamin’s stone.7 And Pharaoh mourned for his eldest son,8 9

10 and he was worn out with grief. And Pharaoh5* died at10 11 the age of

11 one hundred and nine; and lie left his crown" to Joseph. And

12 Joseph was king in Egypt for10 forty-eight years. And after thisJoseph gave the crown to Pharaoh’s grandson; and Joseph was likea father to him in Egypt.

4 Lit. ‘let us heal him from'.

5 So BFGA: D 'And when Pharaoh heard he got up’

6 B adds ‘and he blessed him.’

7 So BFG: D ‘his wound which Benjamin gave him’.

* for ... son = BA: D ‘and all the council of the palace'.

9 So B Slav.: D ‘he’.

10 D adds ‘about’.

11 So BEG A: F ‘the crown of his kingdom'; D 'his dominion arid his crown’.

THE TESTAMENTS OF THETWELVE PATRIARCHS

IN'TROni'CTION

The Testaments, as wo know them, are a collection of the ‘lastwords' of the twelve sons of Jacob. In the form in which they havebeen transmitted to us they arc clearly the work of a single authoror editor, inasmuch as each individual testament is constructedaccording to the same overall pattern. First, the patriarch gives hisimmediate family, assembled round his death-bed. details abouthis own early life and experiences: next he discourses at somelength either on a particular virtue they should cultivate or on aparticular vice they should avoid, charging them meanwhile tokeep ‘the law of the Lord' and live in obedience to ‘the commandsof the Most High*: then he warns them (not infrequently on thebasis of what he lias read in ‘the writing of Knoch*) of the evils thatwill come upon them as a result of their moral deterioration,though he can usually assure them that ‘in the last times' God willbring ’salvation', not only to Israel, but also to the Gentiles; andthen, finally, he asks to be buried, not in Kgypt, but in Canaan, atthe family burial-place in Hebron - and it is recorded in eachinstance that this was done.

The earliest explicit reference to the existence of the Testamentsin anything like their present form is in Rufmus's translation ofOrigen’s Homilies on Joshua:’ here Origen seems to be referring tothe passage about ‘the seven spirits of error’ in T. Reuh. ii and m:

he calls the work in which the passage occurs (according toRufinus) ‘a certain little book which is called The Testament (sic)of the Twelve Patriarchs'; and he notes that it is extra-canonical.Similarly. Jerome knew a ‘Book of the Patriarchs', and adds that itis apocryphal:2 he says he found in it a statement which is mustnaturally understood as a free quotation from T. Naph. ii. 8; sothere can hardly be any doubt that it is to our Testaments he isreferring. Later on, the ‘Patriarchs’ occur among the recognized1 Orig. in Jesu hom. xv. 6.

J Hirrim. Tract. dePs. xv. 7.

apocrypha in the List of Sixty Books, the pseudo-AthanasianSynopsis, and the Stichometry of Xiccphorus, though not in theGclasian Decree. Parallels between the Testaments and Christianwriters earlier than Origen (especially Hernias. Irenacus,Hippolytus, and Tcrtullian) have sometimes been noted and usedto argue that these writers knew the Testaments and were in-fluenced by them, but the evidence is in fact insuHicicnt to provedependence in either direction: what it suggests, rather, is thecommon use of the same popular contemporary ideas and phrases.

For the text of the Testaments we are dependent to-day upontwenty-six witnesses in all — nineteen continuous Greek manu-scripts. three collections of extracts from the Greek text, and fourversions (Armenian. Slavonic. Serbian, and ‘New Greek ). A Latinversion should also be mentioned, made in the thirteenth century,by Robert Grosseteste from the Greek manuscript now in theL’niversity Library at Cambridge (FT. 1.24: 10th cent.).

It was this Cambridge manuscript that J. K. Grabe used for histext in the first primed edition of the Testaments in 1698; and to ithe appended a selection of variants from the Oxford MS. Bodl.Barocc. Gr. 133 (13th cent.). Grabc‘s text was reprinted byj. A.Fabricius in 1713 and by A. Gallandi in 17bo (= PC ii. 1025-1160). In 1869 R. Sinker provided the first genuinely criticaledition: he printed a much more accurate reproduction of theCambridge MS as his text and added a full conspectus of variantreadings from the Oxford MS in his apparatus: ten years later hepublished an Appendix with collations of two more MSS.

To R. H. Charles belongs the distinction of having investigatedfor the first time the details and inter-relationship of all the evi-dence then available. In his edition of 1908 Charles used nineGreek MSS (designated by the letters a to /J) together with theArmenian and Slavonic versions. He divided the Greek MSS intotwo groups, a and /3. a represented the agreement o{chi: all otherMSS belonged to the /3-group, which in turn Charles divided intotwo smaller groups. The former of the smaller groups consisted ofaej, to which the Slavonic version was related: the latter consistedoi'hdg, to which the Armenian version was related. Charles thoughtthat in general the a-group was preferable to the /3-group, and for' In ihisdesignationCamb. Ff. 1.24 = band Oxf. Bodl. Barocc. 133 = a.

the construc tion ofhis text he relied chiefly, within the a-group, onc {= Vat. Cod. Or. 731: 13th cent.).

The next development was M. de Jonge's editio minor of 1964.This was in no sense a rival edition to Charles's. It was. rather, anabridgement and simplification, the purpose of which was ‘toassist scholars in using Dr. Charles's material to greater profit'. Itsimportance lies in its editor’s radical dissent from Charles's prefer-ence for the a-group among the Greek MSS. Instead of reprintingCharles's a-type text based on r, dejonge reverted to the practiceofC’harles's predecessors and printed as his own text a transcript ofb (= Camb. Ff. 1.24), which he regarded as the best representativeof the preferable /l-group. To his apparatus he admitted onlycorrections of obvious mistakes and corruptions in b. and also asmall selection of other variants (taken from Charles) that hethought might have some claim to originality or were interestingon their own account. The only exception here was the inclusion ofvariants found in the extracts from the Testaments in Cod. Yenet.Marc. Gr. 494 {13th cent.), published by M. R. James in 1927. andwhich he designated k.

Fourteen years later, in 1978. followed the promised editio maior-the joint work of de Jonge and three colleagues. A number ofdiscoveries had been made since Gharles’s day, but their totalcficct on the new edition was not nearly as great as might have beenexpected. Of the ten additional continuous Greek MSS discoveredeight turned out to be copies of MSS already known, and thereforeof no independent value: of the three collections of Greek extractsonly one {k) proved to be ofany serious significance; and of the fourversions, only the Armenian was thought worth citing regularly inthe apparatus. So far as the text itself is concerned, Charles'sdivision of the Greek MSS into the a and groups was abandoned.Since all witnesses except b (A) exhibit common errors against b(k), and since b (A:) exhibit common errors against all other witnes-ses, the true division was recognized to be between b (k) and therest — between what were now called Fam. I and Fam. II. At thetop of the stemma, as reconstructed, stands the archetype of thewhole tradition, which in course of time was developed and de-based: b (£) represent the earliest surviving direct derivatives fromthe archetype: other groupings spring from later developments

508 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

and debasements. The text printed is therefore an ‘eclectic* text, inwhich the readings of Fam. I (6(A)) are usually, though not invari-ably, preferred to variants from Fain. 11.

Our translation follows very closely the text of de Jonge’s editiomaior, and the symbols in the notes are the symbols from itsapparatus.

Attempts to determine the origin of the Testaments haveoccasioned no little controversy.

Grabe. recognizing that in their present form they embody bothJewish and Christian elements, suggested that they were writtenby a Jew and interpolated afterwards by a Christian. But histheory was not accepted belbrr 1884. when F. Schnapp. usingSinker’s new critical edition, revived and developed it. In theintervening period the Testaments were universally thought to hea Christian work, and argument centred on the question whetherthe author was a Jewish Christian or a Gentile Christian.Schnapp's analysis, however, was adopted by Schiirer in thesecond edition of his Geschichte (188b) and tints became widelydisseminated. Bousset accepted it in a modified form. And so didCharles.

When purged of their interpolations, Charles maintained, theTestaments arc patently Jewish. Their original language wasHebrew; and they were written in the later years of John Hyrcanus(in all probability between 109 and 106 BC). The author was aPharisee, who combined loyalty to the best traditions of his partywith unbounded admiration for Hyrcanus, in whom the Pharisaicparty had come to recognize the actual Messiah. Having dated theTestaments thus exactly, Charles went on to stress that theirpermanent value lies, not so much in the light they shed onmovements within Judaism in the late second century BC, as in theinfluence they exercised on the authors of the New Testament.‘The main, the overwhelming value of the book’, he wrote, ‘lies ...in its ethical teaching, which has achieved a real immortality byinfluencing the thought and diction of the writers of the NewTestament, and even those of our Lord’.4

* R. H. Charles, The Testaments oj the Turtle Patriarchs, translatedJrnm the Editor'sGreek Text, p. xvii.

509

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

This account of the Testaments met with a ready welcome andsoon found its way into the text-books, with the result that theTestaments became firmly established as an essential part of the‘background reading’ required of all students of New Testamenttheology and ethics. In 1953. however, in his The Testaments of theTwelve Patriarchs: /i Study of their Text, Composition. and Origin, deJongc challenged the whole basis of Charles's position. So far frombeing an interpolated Jewish work, de Jongc argued, theTestaments were in origin a Christian work that incorporated andadapted traditional Jew ish material. They were to be dated, in allprobability, about AD 200. To ust* them as ‘background’ evidencefor the understanding of the New Testament, except in the mostgeneral way, is therefore illegitimate. What they illustrate is not‘the preparation of Christianity' but the social and religious life ofthe early Christian Church'.5

De Jongc’s challenge inevitably forced on all those interested inthe Testaments a fundamental reconsideration of the question oftheir origin. From the ensuing debate it has become clear thatneither hypothesis is tenable in its extreme form, and that many ofthe details in both require considerable modification if either is tobe seriously maintained.6 And a number of mediating hypotheseshave been put forward - H. C. Kec, for example, after investigat-ing the ethical background of the Testaments, suggested that theywere produced in a Jewish environment that thought and spoke inGreek, possibly Kgvpt, about 11)0 BC. It has become apparent, too,that certain lines of demarcation can no longer be drawn as firmlyand finely as was once assumed. For instance, the distinctionbetween the terms ‘Jewish’ and ‘Christian’, so lar as they arcapplicable to the contents of the Testaments, has become blurred:a very great deal of the materia) in them is neither specificallyJewish nor specifically Christian - to counsel love for the brethrenis not necessarily Christian, nor is it necessarily Jewish to utterwarnings about the dangers of fornication. Or again, although in

s M. de Jonge, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs .... p. 128.

* 11 is perhaps worth remarking that in the progress of the debate de Jongchimself played a not inconspicuous pari, both by weighing carefully and answeringthe criticisms levelled at him, and by modifying details where he thought itexpedient.

') I (I The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

theory the distinction between a hypothesis which postulates aJewish original interpolated by Christians and an alternativewhich postulates a Christian original based on traditional Jewishmaterial is plain enough, if the (Christian interpolations are held tobe numerous in the one case and the basic Jewish material to beextensive in the other, the difference between the two in practice isnothing like so great as might be supposed.

On the Jewish side, attention has been concentrated on thedetailed examination of the contacts of the Testaments with post-Biblical Judaism. Kspccially striking are the parallels betweensome of the ’extra-canonical' items in the Testaments and the Bookof Jubilees: thus, Judah's exploits in battle, recounted in T. Jud.iii-vii. lit naturally into the context of the wars of Jacob and hissons against the Canaanitrs described in Jnb. xxxiv. 1-9. while T.Naph. i. 9-12 andjub. xxviii. 9 agree in representing Zilpah andBilhah as sisters. Such parallels might easily be explained, ofcourse, by supposing that a Christian author of the Testamentshad read Jubilees in Greek (Ibr we know that there was a Greekversion of Jubilees circulating in the Church). But this kind ofexplanation is by no means universally applicable. At T. Zeb. iii. 2,for instance, is found the rather odd piece of information that, afterselling Joseph, his brothers took the money and bought sandalswith it for themselves and their families. The statement is paral-leled in the Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. xxxvii. 28 andagain in the Pirke de Rabbi Kliczer xxxviii. In such instances therecan hardly be any doubt that the author of the 'Testaments wasdirectly dependent on popular Jewish traditions, either oral orwritten.

Of special interest in this connection are the so-called ’AramaicLevi' and ‘Hebrew Naph tali'. Among the manuscripts discoveredin the Genizah of the synagogue at Cairo, and published in theearly years of this century, were some sizeable fragments of twohitherto unknown works. One was a text in Aramaic, which wasmost naturally interpreted as part of a Testament of Levi andexhibited a scries of verbal parallels with our T. Levi viii-ix andxi—xiii: the other was a ‘Testament of Naphtali’ in Hebrew, com-plete, and which, although essentially very different from our T.Naph., nevertheless had a number of points of contact - particu-

511

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

larly in its far longer version of the two visions recorded in T.Naph. v and vi. The manuscripts containing both works are to lx*dated in the early mediaeval period. Subsequently (in the 1950s)further fragments containing texts similar to the Cairo texts,though by no means identical with them, came to light atQumran.We can thus be certain that in pre-Christian times there were inexistence a Testament of Levi in Aramaic and a Testament ofNaph tali in Hebrew, though what, if any. connection there wasbetween them we do not know. The fact that one was in Aramaicand the other in Hebrew does not suggest any immediate connec-tion. It may be. of course, that both derive ultimately from acollection of twelve Testaments, written either in Hebrew orin Aramaic, and the the preservation of the particular texts wchave is due to accident and no more. Yet, if so, it still remains truethat texts of Levi and Naphtali alone have been preserved for us,7that two texts of both have been discovered quite independently intwo different places and in manuscripts of widely disparate dates,and that both texts of Levi are in Aramaic and both texts ofNaphtali are in Hebrew. In any event, the ancient texts recovereddifl’er so markedly from the Levi and Naphtali we know as topreclude the possibility that they were in either case the Semiticoriginal of which our Greek text is a translation.

On the other hand, as might be expected, our Greek Testamentsshow the unmistakable influence of the Septuagint. A trivialinstance of this occurs at T. Jos. viii. 2, where Potiphar’s wifeclutches at Joseph’s ‘garments’ (in the plural, as in the Septuagintof Gen. xxxix. 12), and not at his ‘cloak’ (in the singular, as in theHebrew). A more substantial instance in the same Testament isthe mention of‘the hippodrome’ by Rachel’s tomb.1’ Many of theseinstances are explicable as changes made casually by copyists, oras deliberate modifications introduced into the text by revisers.9But not all. In his initial work on the Testaments de Jonge drew

1 I'he fragments of Aramaic Levi at Qumran appear to come from no less thanfour separate MSS, which makes the absence of texts of any other Testaments(apart from Hebrew Naphtali) all the more significant.

* T. Jos. xx. 3, from the Septuagint of Gen. xlvtii. 7.

9 Thus, in the first instance just quoted ‘cloak’ is read by a number of the MSS inpreference to the 'garments’ of our preferred text.

attention to the statement in T. Iss. iii. i that Issachar grew up tobe a farmer, which reflects the Septuagint of Gen. xlix. l.r> asagainst the Hebrew (‘a slave in iorced labour')10. Since there areallusions to farming all through the Testament, and Issachar’ssons are also described as farmers, it follows that this is no freakrendering, ascribable to some translator of a Hebrew or Aramaicoriginal, who, when he came to T. Iss. iii. 1 just substituted theSeptuagint rendering from Genesis for what he found in the text infront of him. The Testament oflssaehar as a whole must have beencomposed in Greek. And, if Issachar, then in all probability theother Testaments as well.

It was observed at the beginning of this Introduction that intheir present form all twelve Testaments arc constructed accord-ing to the same overall pattern, and therefore w'e must supposethey are the work of a single author or editor. Who it was that firstconceived the idea of producing this collection of twelve Testa-ments from the material at his disposal we do not know. (Thelikelihood is that he was a Christian of the second century.) Whatdoes seem fairly certain is that the material at his disposal wasconsiderable, that others before him had produced Testaments ofindividual patriarchs, and that others after him (to judge from thecomplexities of the textual problems raised by both the survivingmanuscripts and the versions) had no scruples about continuingthe tradition he had inherited by altering his text and introducingfurther modifications and additions of their own.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

Greek

R. SlNKER, TestamentaXIIPatrianharum; adfidem codicis Cantabrigi-ensis edita: accedunt lecliones cod. Oxoniensis (Cambridge, 1869). , Testamenta XII Patriarcharum: Appendix containing a colla-tion of the Roman and Patmos MSS and bibliographical notes(Cambridge, 1879).

10 M de Jonge, The Testaments . .., pp. 77—78.

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 513

R. H. CHARLES, The Greek Versions of the Testaments of the TwelvePatriarchs. edited from nine MSS. together with Ike variants of theArmenian and Slavonic Versions and some Hebrew fragments {Oxford,

1908).

XL R. JAMKS. ‘The Venice Extracts from the Testaments of theTwelve Patriarchs' inJTSxxvYii (1927). pp. 337-348.

\I. DK JONtiK, Testamenta XII Patriarcharuni, edited according toCambridge University Library MS FJ J. 24.fol. 203a-262b, with ShortNotes (— PVTG I. i; Leiden, 1964).

. in co-operation with H. \V. HOLLANDER, H. J. DK

J()N<;i:. and Til. KORTEWEti, The Testaments of the TwelvePatriarchs: ,4 Critical Edition of the Greek Text (= PiT'G I. ii;Leiden. 1978).

Armenian

S. HoVSKPHKAM X. .4 Treasury of Old and New Primitive Writers.Vo). 1 (I ’ncanonical Books of the Old Testament; Venice. 1896).pp. 27-131.

Slavonic

N. S. TIKHON RAVOV. Pamyalniki otrechennoi russkoi literatuiy, i (St.Petersburg, 1863). pp. 96-232.

TRANSLATIONS

English

R. SlNKKR. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs Translated ( =Ante-Nicene Christian Library, xxii. 2 (Edinburgh, 1871),pp. 5-79).

R. H. CHARLES, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, translatedfrom the Editor’s Greek Text and edited, with Introduction, Notes, andIndices (London, 1908).

. APOTxx, pp. 282-367.

, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (= S.P.C.K., Transla-tions of Early Documents:; London, 1917).

J. lSSAYERDENS, UWOT2, pp. 267-338-from the Armenian.

514

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

German

F. SCHNAPPin K. K.\l l /.scH. APATii. pp. 458-506.P. RiESSl.KR, AjSaB\ pp. 1149-1250.

J. BKCKKR mJSh—rZ HI. I (1974). pp. 1-104.

GENERAL

J. B KCKKR, l ntersuchungen zar Entstehungsgeschicte der Testamente derZwolf Patriarchen (= Arbeiten zur Geschicte des antiken Judenlums middes I 'rchristentums, 8; Leiden, 1970).

E. J. BlCKERMAN. ‘The Date of the Testaments of the TwelvePatriarchs’ in JBL Ixix (1950). pp. 245-200.

\\ . Boi'SSKT. ‘Die Testamente der /wolf Patriarehcn' in Z.VU'i(1900). pp. 141-175, 187-209,344-346.

F. -M. BRAUN, *Les Testaments des \II Patriarches et leproblcmc de leur originc" in R Bibl lxvii (1900). pp. 510-549.

C. Bl'RCHARI), ‘Zur armcnisehen L’berliefertuig der Testamenteder zwolf Patriarchen’ in (ed. W. Ei.TKSTKR) Studien zu denTestamenten der Zwolf Patriarchen (= Beihe/te zur ZNll\ xxxvi;Berlin, 1969), pp. 1-29.

F. C. Co.NYBEARE, ‘On the Jewish Authorship of thel estaments of the Twelve Patriarchs’ in JQR v (April 1893).pp. 375-398.

A.-M. Denis, I PGA 7\ PP. 49-59.

O. Eissfeldt. OTI. pp. 631-636.

J.-B. FREY, art. ‘Apocryphes de PAnticn Testament’ in DB Sup i,cols. 380-390.

J. W. H UN KIN, ‘The lestaments of the Twelve Patriarchs' mjrsxvi (1915), pp. 80-97.

M. DEjONGE, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: A Study of theirText, Composition and Origin (Asscn, 1953).

(ed.), Studies on the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: Text and

Interpretation (= SVTP 3; Leiden, 1975).

, ‘'The Main Issues in the Study of the Testaments of the

Twelve Patriarchs’ in NTS xxvi. 4 (July 1980), pp. 508-524.

H. C. Kf.E, ‘The Ethical Dimensions of the Testaments of the XII

Patriarchs as a Clue to Provenance’ in NTS xxiv. 2 (fan. 1978).pp. 259-270.

K. Kohi,KR, ‘The Pre-Talmudic Haggada I.a. The Testamentsof the Twelve Patriarchs’ in JQR v (April 1893), pp. 400-406.

, art. ‘Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs’ in JE xii (New

York, 1906), pp. 113-118.

E. PREl'SCHKN, ‘Die armcnisthc Uhersetzung der Testamcntedcr zw olf Patriarchen’ in ZA’It'i (1900). pp. 106- 1 40.

K. H. RENGSTORK, ‘Herkunft und Sinn der Patriarehen-Redenin den Testamcnlcn dcr zwolf Patriarchen' in La litterature juiceentre Tenach et Misckna: Quelques prohlemes (ed. VV. C. VANU N XIK.;Bib. 9, Leiden, 1974). pp. 29 47.

P. RlF.SSLER. AjSaBK pp. 1335-1338.

E. Rost, EATAP, pp. loo-lio.

K. SCHNAPP, Die Teslamente der zwolf Patriarchen untersucht (Halle,1884).

E. ScijCRER, HJPTJC II. iii, pp. 111-121.

, GjVZfCP iii, pp. 339-356.

C. C. TORREV, AL, pp. 129-131.

E. TTRDF.ANl'. Les Testaments des Douze Patriarches on slave’in Journalfor the Study ofJudaism, i (1970), pp. 148-184.

testament of reuben

Till. TESTAMENT OF REUBENABOUT IDEAS

I. A copy of the Testament of Reuben, which he gave as acommand to his sons before he died, in the hundred and twenty-lifth year of his life.

2 When he was ill, two years after the death of Joseph, his sons and

3 grandsons met together to visit him. And he said to them, My

4 children, I am dying and going the way of my fathers. And seeingthere Judah and Gad and Asher, his brothers, he said to them,Raise me up, my brothers, so that I can tell my brothers and my

5 children what lies hidden in my heart; for 1 am about to die. And he

.*) I(i The Testaments oj the Twelve Patriarchs

gut up and kissed them and said, weeping. Listen, my brothers,pay attention (my sons).1 to Reuben your lather, and to the(i commands 1 give you. And behold. I call the God of heaven towitness against you to-day, so that you do not live your lives in theignorance of youth and give yourselves up to fornication, as l did,7 and defiled my fat her Jacob's bed. For I tell you. he struck me witha loti I disease in my loins for seven months; and had not my fatherJacob prayed for me to the Lord. (I would have died).2 for' theK Lord was minded to destroy me. For I was thirty years old when Idid this evil belbrc the Lord; and lor seven months I wasfi dangerously ill. And with determination I set myself for sevenin years to repent before the Lord. I drank no wine nor strong drink,no meat entered my mouth, and I lasted no pleasant lood at all. asI mourned over my sin (lor it was great). May no such thing everagain happen in Israel!

If. And now listen to me. children, and / will tell you what I saw

2 concerning the seven spirits of error when I repented. Seven spiritswere appointed' by Beliar against man, and they arc responsible

3 for what he does when young.2 [' Also seven spirits were given himj at the creation to be the means of his doing everything.4 The first is

the spirit of life, with which man's substance is created. The secondj is the spirit of sight, with which comes desire. The third is the spiritof hearing, with which is given5 teaching. The lourth is the spirit ofo smell, with which taste is given to draw in air and breath. The fifth7 is the spirit of speech, with which comes knowledge. The sixth is thespirit ol taste, with which comes eating and drinking;*1 and by1 Tlir restoration seems t ailed lor by Reuben's description of himself as ‘yourlather’ Ini add ‘and my children' and cfn atld 'and my sons' after "my brothers', andd reads ‘children’ instead of*my brothers', Cp. T. Jus. i. 2.

’ Cp. T.Jud. xtx. 2: T. Gad v. <>.

' So b ej : gtdm a fhi oin.

’ Lit. ‘given'.

* Lit. 'and they are the origin of the works of youth'.

1 We follow’ Charles in bracketing ii. 3-iii. 2 as an interpolation: iii. 3 followsnaturally on ii. 2.

4 Lit. 'so that by them should be done every work of man'.

5 So (dm ej\ bka chi 'with which comes’.

* Lit. ’with which comes the eating ol foods and drinks’.

517

The Testaments of the Twelve. Patriarch

them7 man’s strength is built up (for food is the foundation of

8 strength). The seventh is the spirit of procreation and sexual

9 intercourse, with which sin enters through love of pleasure. Forthis reason it is last in the order of creation and first among the desires ofyouth, because the truth about it goes unrecognized.8 and it leadsthe young man like a blind man to a pit, and like a beast over aprecipice.

111. Besides all these there is an eighth spirit of sleep, with whichwere brought into being the deep sleep1 * of nature and the image of2,3 death. With these spirits is mingled the spirit3 of error.] The first,the spirit of fornication, is seated in the nature and the senses: thesecond, the spirit of insatiate desire, in the stomach: the third, the

4 spirit of fighting, in the liver and the gall. The fourth is the spirit ofobsequiousness and chicanery, so that by studied effort a man can

5 make a good impression. The fifth is the spirit of arrogance, so thathe can boast3 and have a good opinion of himself. The sixth is thespirit of lying, which leads a man to invent things in depravity andenvy, and to conceal things4 from his family and the members ofhis

6 household. The seventh is the spirit of unrighteousness, with whichcome theft and acts of rapacity, so that a man can satisfy his ownnatural love of pleasure;5 for unrighteousness works together with

7 the other spirits by a mutual give-and-take.6 |And besides all thesethe spirit of sleep, the eighth spirit, is combined with error and

8 phantasy.]7 And so every young man perishes and plunges hismind into darkness away from the truth, inasmuch as he neitherunderstands the law of God nor takes note ofhis fathers’ warnings

9 (as, indeed, happened to me in rny youth). And now, children, love

7 So bl: 11 -l (</) ‘by it' (i.e. by the spirit of taste).

* Lit. ‘because it has been tilled with ignorance’.

1 Or ‘trance’ or ‘fear’ (Gk. exaraoig: cp. Gen. ii. 21, xv. 12; I Sain xi. 7; etc.).

3 So bdm: II-dm ‘are mingled the spirits’.

3 So II: bk ‘so that he can be excited’.

A b coin, ‘and to conceal things’.

5 Lit. ‘so that he can do the love of pleasure ofhis heart’.

6 There are several dillerent readings here, none of which is entirely satisfactory.Charles preferred ‘by the taking of gifts’.

1 Cp. verse 1.

the truth and it will keep you sale. This is my advice to you.8 Listento your lather Reuben.

10 Ray no attention to a woman's face, and never be alone withanother man's wile, nor be too inquisitive about women’s affairs.

11 For had 1 not seen Bilhah bathing in a secluded place I would notl'2 have fallen into so great a sin." For my mind was obsessed by the

thought o\ her woman's nakedness and would not let me sleep untilIt I had done the abominable thing. For while our lather Jacob wasaway on a visit to his lather Isaac, when we were in Fder. near thehouse of Kphrath (that is Bethlehem).10 Bilhah had been drinking;and she was lying asleep in her bedroom with nothing over her.14 And 1 went in and saw her nakedness and did the wicked deed; andir» I left her still asleep and went away. And immediately an angel ofGod told my father Jacob about my wickedness; and he came andmourned over me. And as for Bilhah. he had no further relationswith her.

IV. Pay no attention, therefore, to women’s beauty, neither botheryour minds about their affairs; but live in simplicity of heart and inthe fear of the Lord, persevering in your labours and devotingyourselves to learning and the tending o/ your flocks,1 until the Lordgives you the wife he has chosen for you,2 * so that you do not suffer■J as I did. Until' my lather's death I had not the courage to lookJacob in the face, nor to speak to any of my brothers because of theirreproaches. And even now my conscience smites me because of my

4 sin. However, my father encouraged me, for he prayed to the Lordfor me, that the Lord's anger might pass me by, even as the Lordshowed me. And from then on I repented and4 I have been very

5 careful and have not sinned. So. my children, observe all theli commands I give you and you will not sin. For fornication is

* Lit. ‘I am teaching you'.

9 Lit. ‘into the great sin’.

10 St>/>-. tdme near Kphrath and Bethlehem’;ajachi'near Kphrath in Bethlehem’.

1 and devoting ... flocks: lit. ‘and wandering in letters and your flocks’.

: Lit. ‘a wife whom he wills'.

1 So£: II ’for until'.

4 So gtd Arm.: b ‘from then on therefore'; taf ‘from then on even in my thoughts’;chi ‘from then on until now’.

destruction to the soul: it separates from God and drives those whoindulge in it to idols, inasmuch as it clouds the mind and under-standing; and it leads young men down to Hades ludore their

7 time.5 For fornication has ruined many: because, even though aman be old or of noble birth, it makes him an object oj reproach and

8 a laughing-stock with both Beliar and his fellow men.6 For it wasbecause Joseph avoided women and kept his mind pure from allthoughts of fornication that he lound favour with the I.ord and

9 men. For the Kgyptian woman did many things to him, and sentfor magicians, and brought him love-potions; but he stood firm

10 against temptation.1 And so the God of my lathers rescued him

11 from every visible and hidden death. For if fornication has notgained the mastery over the mind.'1 neither will Beliar gain themastery over you.

V. Women are evil, my children: because they have no power orstrength to stand up against man. they use wiles and try to ensnare

2 him by their charms;1 and man. whom woman cannot subdue by

3 strength, she subdues by guile. For. indeed, the angel of God toldme about them and taught me that women yield to the spirit offornication more easily than a man does, and they lay plots in theirhearts against men: by the way they adorn themselves they firstlead their minds astray, and by a look they instil the poison, and

4 then in the act itself they take them captive - for a woman cannot

5 overcome a man by force. So shun fornication, my children, andcommand your wives and daughters not to adorn their heads andfaces,2 for every woman that uses wiles of this kind has been

t> reserved for eternal punishment. It was thus that they allured theWatchers before the flood; lor, as a result of seeing them continu-ally, the Watchers1 lusted after one another, and they conceivedthe act in their minds and changed themselves into the shape ofmen and appeared to the women3 4 when they were having inter-

5 Lit.‘not in their time'. * Lit. ‘and the sons of men-.

1 Lit. ‘the inclination of his soul admitted no evil desire'.

■ So b a: 11-a ‘your mind’.

3 So bk: 11 adds ‘to deceive the mind’.

4 Lit. ‘them'.

1 Lit. ‘these’.

7 course with their husbands. And the women,1 lusting in theirminds after their phantom forms, gave birth to giants (for theWatchers seemed to them tall enough to touch the sky),

VI. Beware, then, offornication; and if you would he pure in mind.

I guard your senses against every woman.1 And command thewomen,2 * too, not to make close friends of men.-' so that they alsomay he pure in mind. For constant meetings, even though no sinfulacts may be involved, are for women2 a disease for which there is no

I cure, and lor us an eternal reproach of Beliar. For indulgence infornication allows no scope lor either understanding or godliness,and the lust that inspires it provides a home for every kind ofj jealousy.4 And so you will he jealous5 of the sons of Levi and seek5f> to be raised above them; but you will not succeed. For God will7 avenge them, and you will die a cruel death. For to Levi the Lordgave the sovereignly-and to Judah (and with them also to me and» Dan and Joseph, that we should be rulers too). For this reason Icommand you to listen to Levi, for he will know the law of the Lordand interpret his precepts and oiler sacrifice for all Israel until the<» coming6 7 * of the anointed high priest,’ of whom the Lord spoke. Icharge you by the God of heaven to deal honestly, each one with his10 neighbour, and to have love, each one for his brother." Andapproach Levi with humility, so that you may receive a blessing

II from his mouth. For he shall bless Israel and Judah, because the12 Lord has chosen him to rule as king over all the peoples. And

accord his sons their proper reverence9 for they10 will die in wars onour behalf (in wars seen and unseen), and he10 will be among you aneternal king.

1 Lit. ‘female'.

* Lit. ’them*.

■ Lit. 'not to associate with men as couples*.

4 Lit. ‘For fornication has neither understanding nor godliness in itself, and altjealousy dwells in its lust’.

’ The tenses vary in the MSS: the future seems preferable in both places.

* Lit. "until the consummation of the times’.

7 Or ‘of Christ, the high priest’.

" So II: A om ‘and to have . . . brother".

** Lit. ‘And bow down Ircfore his seed'.

10 Lit. ‘it’ (i.e. his seed).

521

VIII. And when he had given his sons these commands, Reuben2 died. And they put him in a coffin until they carried him up fromEgypt and buried him in Hebron in the double cave where hisfathers were.

testament of simeon

THE TESTAMENT OF SIMEON,

ABOUT ENVY

1. A ropy of the words of Simeon, which he spoke to his sons beforehe died, in the hundred and twentieth year of his life - the year in2 which Joseph died. For they came to visit him when he was ill; andhe made an effort and sat up and kissed them, and he said to them,'

U. Listen, children, listen to Simeon your father, and / will tel!you

2 what is* in my heart. I was my father Jacob’s second son; andLeah, my mother, called me Simeon because the Lord had heard

3 her prayer. 1 became a hardened warrior: no venture deterred me;

4 and 1 was afraid of nothing. For my heart was hard, my will2

5 inflexible, and my feelings3 without compassion (for courage is agift to men from the Most High and is manifest both in their souls andin their bodies).

6 And at that time I was jealous of Joseph, because our father

7 loved him. And I determined4 to kill him. because the prince oferror sent the spirit of jealousy and blinded my mind, so that 1 didnot regard him as a brother, nor did I consider my lather Jacob.

8 But his God and his fathers’ God sent his angel and rescued him

9 from me. For when I had gone to Shechetn to take ointment for theflocks, and Reuben had gone to Dothan (where our stocks were, and

10 all our stores), our brother Judah sold him to the lshmaelites. Andwhen Reuben came, he was upset, for he had intended to take him

11 back safely to his lather. But I was angry with Judah because of

' So b: II om. Mo them'.

1 Lit. ‘what I have’.

2 Lit. ‘liver’. 5 Lit. ’bowels’.

4 Lit. :J set my liver against him’.

this5 {because lu' had let him go alive); and lor five months 112 continued so. But God* restrained me and withheld from me theuse of my hands; lor my right hand was halt withered for sevenl:t days. And ( realized, c hildren, that it was because of Joseph thatthis had happened to me; and 1 repented and wept, and I prayed tothe Lord that 1 might be restored7 and keep myself from all14 pollution and envy and from all wrong-doing." For I realized thatwhat, in envy. I had planned to do to my brother Joseph was wrongin the Lord's sight and my father Jacob's.

III. And now. my children, beware ol the spirits of error and envy.2 For envy dominates a man's whole mind and lets him neither eat:t nor drink nor do anything that is good. It is continually suggesting

to him that he should kill the man that is envied; yet1 the man thatis envied continues to flourish, while the man that envies wastes4 away. For two whole years2 I humbled myself with lasting in thefear of the Lord; and I realized that deliverance from envy comes.*> from the fear of God. IP a man flees to the Lord for shelter, the evilf» spirit runs away from him, and the load on his mind is lightened. Andfrom then on he feels sympathy for the man that is envied andshows no prejudice against those who love him; and so he isenvious no more.

IV. And my lather asked about me. because be saw that I was sad;2 and I said. My heart is torn with anguish.1 (For I mourned more

than all my brothers. because it was I who was responsible for sellingJoseph.) And when we went down into Egypt and he bound me as4 a spy, I knew that I was suffering justly and was not put out. ButJoseph was a good man, and he had the spirit of God in him: he was

s So II: b chi cun. ixTau.sc of this’.

6 So b: II 'the Ijord’.

’ So gl eaj: b ’that he might restore my hand'; dm chi ‘that my hand might t>erestored’. * Lit. ‘folly’.

1 Lit. ‘and’.

1 Lit. ‘For two years of days’.

* So bk\ II ‘for if.

Lit. ‘I am distressed in my liver*.

compassionate and merciful; and he bore me no grudge, but loved

5 me just as he did his other brothers. So beware, rny children, of alljealousy and envy, and live in sincerity of soul and with a goodheart, keeping in mind the example of your father’s brother, so thatGod may give you also grace and glory and blessing on your heads,

(i just as you saw in him. Never in all his days did he find fault with usfor what we did,2 but ho loved us as his own soul and honoured usmore than his sons,3 and he bestowed riches arid cattle and fruits

7 on all of us. So loo each one of you, my beloved4 children, must lovehis brother with a good heart, and you must rid yourselves of the

8 spirit of envy. For this makes the soul savage and destroys thebody: it causes anger and conflict in the mind, and acts as a spur todeeds of blood: it impairs a man's natural powers of thought aridparalyses his intelligence:5 moreover, it deprives him of sleep,

y causing confusion in his soul and trembling in his body. And even ifhe gets some sleep,* some vicious passion deludes him and devourshim, and with evil spirits disturbs his soul, stirs up his body, andensures that he wakes up with his mind in turmoil: and he appearsin consequence to other men as someone possessed of an evil andpoisonous spirit.

V. The reason why Joseph was handsome and good-looking wasthat no wickedness had found a home with him; lor the face is an

2 index of the turmoil in the spirit.1 And now. my children, set yourhearts on what is pleasing to the I.ord, and follow a straight path

3 among men, and you will win favour with God and men. Andbew'ard of committing fornication, for fornication is the mother ofall evils: it separates from God and drives those who indulge in it to

4 Beliar. For I have seen it recorded in the writing of Lnoch thar yoursons together with you2 will be corrupted by fornication and turn

2 Lit. ‘concerning this thing7.

’ So II: b reads \ .. soul, and more than his sons, and he honoured us‘,

4 So b: II om.

5 Lit. it leads the thinking process to ecstasy and does not allow intelligence to

work in men’. * Lit.'And even in sleep’.

1 Lit. ‘for out of the distress ol the spirit the face makes clear’.

2 So b: 11 ‘yo«r sum after you’.

.j your swords against Levi.’ But they will not be able to gel thebetter of Levi, for it is the Lord’s war he will be fighting and he will(> gain the victory overall your company. And your sons1 * * 4 will be fewin number, scattered in Levi and Judah;5 and no one of you willever be chosen as a leader,6 just as my father Jacob prophesied inhis blessings.

VI. Behold, I have told you everything beforehand, so that l may2 not be answerable for the sin of your souls. If. then, you can ridyourselves of envy and all stubbornness.

As a rose shall my hones flourish in Israel.

And as a lily my flesh in Jacob,

And my fragrance shall be as the fragrance ol Lebanon.

And as cedars shall my faithful sons' be multiplied forever.

And their branches shall stretch afar off.if Then shall perish the offspring of Canaan.

And no remnant shall be left to Amelek,

And all the Cappadocians shall perish.

And all the Hittitcs shall be destroyed.

4 Then shall fail the land of Ham.

And all the people perish.

Then shall the whole earth rest from trouble.

And all that is under heaven from war.

5 Then shall Shem be glorified.

For the Lord, the great God oflsracl, shall appear on earth asman

And shall save Adam through him.2

6 Then shall all the spirits of error be trodden under foot.

And men shall rule over the wicked spirits.

* Lit. *di> harm to Levi with the sword'.

4 Lit. ‘And they'. ' Cp. Gen. xlix. 7.

* Lit. 'will be for leadership'.

1 Lit. ‘holy men from me’.

! Lit. \ . . Israel, appearing on earth as man and saving Adam in him'. There is

uncertainty about the details of the text at this point, but all authorities arc in

agreement about God's appearance on earth.

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 525

7 Then shall I arise in jay;

And I will bless the .Most High because of his marvellousworks,'

Because (»od took a body, and ate with men. and saved men.

VII. And now, my children, submit to Levi, and through Judah1you will gain your freedom; and do not set yourselves up againstthese two tribes, because it is from them that God's salvation will

2 come2 to you. For the Lord will raise up from Levi as it were a highpriest, and from Judah as it were a king. God and man: he’ will

3 save all the Gentiles and the raceoflsrael. That is why I am givingyou all these commands, so that you also may command yourchildren to observe them generation after generation.

VIII. And Simeon finished his commands to his sons; and he slept

2 with his fathers, being an hundred and twenty years old. And theyput him in a cofTin made of wood that would not rot. to take hisbones up to Hebron; and they carried them up secretly during1

3 a war of the Egyptians. For Joseph's bones were kept by the■l Egyptians with the royal treasures.2 For the magicians told them

that if Joseph's bones were taken away,3 there would be darknessand gloom throughout all the land of Egypt4 - a very great plaguefor the Egyptians, so that they would not he able to recognize oneanother even with the aid of a. lamp.

IX. And Simeon’s sons wept for their father in accordance with2 the law of mourning. And they were in Egy pt until the day they left

Egypt under Moses.1

5 bit. ‘in his marvellous works’.

1 Lit.‘in Judah’. 2 Lit.‘spring up, sprout'.

’ So II (i.c. the king - reading ovxo$ cxbott): b ‘so he’ (i.e the Lord - readingoO t<u5 muon).

1 Lit. ‘in’.

2 Lit. ‘in the treasure-houses of the kings (6 / palaces)’.

•l Lit. ‘that at the exodus of Joseph’s bones’.

4 So II: hom. 'the land of\

1 Lit. until the day of their exodus from Egypt by the hand of Moses’.

testament of levi

526 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

THE TESTAMENT OE LEVI.

ABOUT THE PRIESTHOOD AND ARROGANCE

I. A copy of the words of Levi, which he left as a testament to hissons bclore his death,1 about everything they would do, and what

2 was going to happen to them, till the day ofjudgcment. He was ingood health when he called them to him (for it had been revealed tohim that he was about to die). And when they had met together hesaid to them.

II. I. Levi, was conceived in Haran and born there; and after that2 I came with my lather to Shechem. And I was a young man, about

twenty, when, with Simeon, I took vengeance on Hamor because of:l what he had done to our sister Dinah. And when we were1 feeding theflocks in Abcl-meholah a spirit of understanding from the Lordcame upon me. and I observed all men’s evil ways,2 and thatunrighteousness had built itself walls, and iniquity had entrenched4 itself behind ramparts. ' And I was grieved on man’s behalf; and I*> prayed to the Lord that I might be saved. Then sleep fell upon me,and I saw a high mountain-that is mount Aspis in Abel-meholah.

6 And behold, the heavens opened, and an angel of the Lord said to

7 me, Levi, come in. And I went from the first heaven into the

8 second; and I saw there water hanging between the two. And Isaw4 a third heaven, far brighter and more brilliant5 than these

9 two, and infinite in height. And I said to the angel, Why is this?And the angel said to me. Do not stay wondering at these, for whenyou have gone up there, you will see four other heavens even more

10 brilliant and beyond comparison with them., for you will stand closeto the Lord and be his minister, and you will declare his mysteriesto men and be the herald of the good news about the one who is to

1 So I I-a: ba om. ‘before his death*.

1 So bi. 11 ‘when 1 was*.

J Lit. ‘all men having destroyed their way'.

} Lit. ‘iniquity sat upon towers'.

* So bk: II adds ‘yet*.

1 So II: Mom. ‘and more brilliant’.

11 come to set Israel tree. And through you and Judah will the Lordappear among men and bring salvation through them6 to all

12 mankind. And the lord's portion will provide your livelihood; andhe will be your field and vineyard, vour fruits. andyour gold and silver.

III. Hear, then, about the seven heavens. The lowest is thegloomiest because it witnesses' all the unrighteous deeds of men.

2 The second holds fire, snow, ice. ready for the day which the Lordhas decreed2 in the righteous judgement of God: in it are all the

3 spirits' of retribution for vengeance on the wicked. In the third arethe warrior hosts appointed to wreak vengeance on the spirits oferror and of Bcliar at the day of judgement. But the heavens down to

4 the fourth above these are holy.4 For in the highest of all the Great

5 Glory dwells, in the holy of holies, far above all holiness. And in theheaven next to it are the angels of the Lord's presence, who ministerand make expiation to the Lord for all the sins committed unwit-

6 tingly by the righteous; and they offer to the Lord a soothing odour,

7 a spiritual and bloodless offering. And in the heaven below it are theangels who bear the answers to the angels of the Lord’s presence.

8 And in the heaven next to it are thrones and powers, in which

9 praises,5 are offered to God continually. And when the Lord looksupon us. all of us are shaken; and the heavens and the earth and the

10 abysses are shaken at the presence of his majesty. Vet men do notperceive these things, and they sin and provoke the Most High.

IV. But know 1 that the Lord will execute judgement on men.because when the rocks are being rent, and the light of the sunextinguished, and the waters dried up, and fire losing its power,2

6 Lit. ‘in diem* (so bk lm): g eaJ'Un himself; (hi in himself; d om.

1 So 11: h "it is near*; k ‘it endures'.

1 Lit. ‘the day of the I-ord's decree".

* Or ‘winds*.

4 The text is difficult. There is clearly a division ai this point between the threelower heavens, described already, and the four higher, which arc now described indescending, instead of ascending, order. Charles proposed to emend ‘And the fourheavens above these are holy*. 5 Lit. ‘hymns*.

1 Lit. ‘Now, therefore, know (pi.)’

i Lit. 'cowering'.

528 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

and all creation in confusion, and the unseen spirits wasting avvav,and Hades despoiled through the suffering of the Most High, menwill be unbelieving and persist in their iniquities; and on this

2 account will they be judged and punished.1 Rut the Most High hasheard your prayer: he will separate vou from iniquity and makeyou his son4 and servant and a minister of his presence.

3 A bright light of knowledge will make you to shine in Jacob,And like the sun will you be to the whole race5 oflsrael.

1 And a blessing shall be given to you and to all your sons,5Until the Lord looks upon all the Gentiles with the affection

of his son for ever.

Nevertheless, your sons will lay hands on him to get him out of5 their way.6 And this is why wisdom and understanding have been15 given you, that you may instruct your sons about him. For blessedshall he be who blesses him, and they who curse him shall perish.

V. And the angel ofxmcd to me the gates of heaven, and 1 saw the

2 holy temple, and the Most High sitting on a throne of glory. And hesaid to me, Levi, To you have I given the blessings of the pricst-

3 hood until I come and dwell in the midst of lsrael. Then the angelbrought me down to earth; and he gave me a shield and a swordand said, Take vengeance on Shechem because of Dinah, and 1 will

4 be with you, lor the Lord has sent me. (And it was at that time thatI killed the sons ofllamor, as it is written in the heavenly tablets.)

5 And 1 said to him. Please, sir, tell me your name, so that I can call

6 on you in time of trouble. And he said, I am the angel thatintercedes for the nation of Israel, so that no one may destroy them

7 completely, for every evil spirit is ranged against them.1 Andafterwards I woke up, and I blessed the Most High and the angelthat intercedes for the nation oflsrael and all the righteous.

VI. And when I was going to my father, 1 found a bronze shield

} Lit. ‘in punishment will they be judged’.

4 Lit. ‘to separate you from iniquity and to become to him a son’.

5 I .it. ‘seed’. 6 So bk\ II ‘to crucify him'.

1 Lit. ‘him’.

529

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

(hence the name of mount Aspis. which is1 near Gebal to the south,3 of Abila). And I kept these things in mind. 1 urged my lather andmy brother Reuben ro tell the sons of Harnor they must becircumcised — lor I was furious at the abominable thing they had

4 done in Israel. And I killed Shechem first, and Simeon killed

5 Hamor. And afterwards our brothers came and put the city to theC sword. And our father heard about it and was angry, and he was

grieved that they had accepted circumcision and after that hadbeen put to death; and in his blessings he made an exception of us7 among our brothers.-’ For we sinned because we had done thisH against his will (he* was in lad unwell that day). But I saw thatGod had pronounced sentence4 on Shechem because they hadwanted to do to Sarah what they had done to our sister Dinah; and

9 the Lord prevented them. And so too they had persecuted ourlather Abraham as a foreigner; and they trampled on5 his flockswhen they were pregnant, and they shamefully ill-treated Jcblae,

10 who had been born in his household. And they behaved like this toall foreigners: they took their wives away from them b) force and

11 then sent them away. But retribution from the Lord6ov ertook themat last.

VII. And I said to my father. Do not be angry, sir, lor by you theLord will destroy the Canaanites and give their land to you and

2 your descendants after you. For from to-day Shechem will becalled a oily of imbeciles; for as a man inocks a fool, so did we make

3 a rnockerv of them, because they had indeed committed an out-

4 rage1 in Israel by defiling our sister. And we took our sister awayfrom there and departed and came to Bethel.

So II: If 'lor it is’.

2 Lit. ‘he did !or 'made ) otherwise*. Whatever precisely this obscure expressionmay mean, there can be no doubt that it refers to Gen. xlix. 7. where Simeon andLevi arc cursed by Jacob and told they will Ik- ‘scattered in Israel'.

* So be. 11-rT.'

' Lit. 'that there was a sentence of God for e\ ils'.

5 So /»/: II-/‘they vexed' (g is absent ).

* Lit. 'the Lord's wrath’.

Lit. 'folly .

:i’M)

VIII. And after we had lurn there seventy days, I had another

2 vision1 just as I had had before. And I saw seven men clothed inwhite saying to me. (Jet up, put on the robe uf the priesthood, andthe crown of righteousness, and the breast-piece of understanding,and the mantle of truth, and the rosette of laith. and the turban of

3 the sign, and the ephod of prophecy. And one by one they broughtthese things and put them on me and said. From now on be a priest

t of the Lord, you and your descendants lor ever. And the firstj anointed me with holy oil and gave me a staff of judgement. Thesecond washed me with pure water and fed me with bread andwine (the holiest of holy things) and arrayed me in a holy andii glorious robe. The third clothed me with a linen vestment like an7.H ephod. 1'he fourth put round me a girdle like purple. The fifth gave‘*.lo me a branch of rich olive. The sixth put a crown on my head. Theseventh put round meJ a diadem of priesthood; and they filled myhands' with ineense, so that I might serve as priest to the Lord.

11 And they said tome. Levi, by three functions will your descendantsbe distinguished.4 lor a sign of the glory of the Lord who is to come.

12 And he who believed will be the first, and no office5 shall be greater3.H than his." The second will be the priesthood. The third will be

called by a new name, for a king shall arise out of Judah aridestablish a new priesthood, after the f ashion of the Gentiles, for all|j the Gentiles. And his coming will he marvellous, as of a mightyhi prophet.7 of the stock of Abraham our father. Kvcrything that isdesirable in Israel shall be yours and your descendants’; and youshall eat of everything that delights the eye. and from the Lord's

17 table shall your descendants assign themselves a portion. Andsome of them shall be high priests, and judges, and scribes; for by

18 their testimony" shall what is holy be preserved.9 And when 1 woke

1 I.it. 'again 1 saw a tiring [bk: il 'a vision’).

• So » eaf (hi (1dm arc missing): bk explicitly 'put on my head’.

' This is the technical ()ld Testament term lor comerration to the priestly ollicctsece.g. Lxod. xxxii, 25»;Judg. xvii. *», 12; 1 Kings xiii. 33).

■* Lit. 'into three Ix-gi linings tin seed will lx- divided'. (lharles rendered ‘thy seedshall be dix ided into three ollires'.

* Lit. ’lot*. * Lit it- or he'.

So bk: II 'as ol a prophet of the Most High-.

N Lit.'their mouth'.

9 Or 'shall the holy place lx- guarded-.

19 up 1 realized that this vision was like the other one. And I kept thisone secret t<x>, and 1 told it to nobody.

IX. And after two days Judah and 1 went up with our lather to2 Isaac. And my grandfather blessed me in words that recalled theA visions' I had seen; and he would not come with us to Bethel. Bur

when we came to Bethel, my father Jacob saw in a vision about me4 that I should be their priest before Gocl. And he got up early in themorning and paid tithes to the Lord on everything through me.5,6 And we went to Hebron to settle there. And Isaac sent lor merepeatedly to instruct me in2 the law of the Lord, just as the angel of

7 God had shown me. And he taught me the law of the priesthood, ofsacrificcS'Of whole-offerings, of first-fruits, of frcewill-olferings, and

8 of peace-offerings. And each day he continued instructing me and

9 busied himself on my behalfbeforc the Lord. And he said. Beware.my son, of the spirit of Corn i eat ion; for this will persist, and through

It) your descendants it will pollute the sanctuary.' So find yourself awife while you are young, a girl without fault, not worldly minded,

11 and not of foreign4 or of Gentile stock. And before you enter thesanctuary,3 bathe; and when you offer the sacrifice, wash, and

12 when you finish the sacrifice, wash again. Use only wood from thetwelve trees that always have leaves to present your offerings to the

13 Lord by fire, as indeed Abraham taught me.5 And sacrifice to the

14 Lord only dean animals and birds. And offer'* the choices! of allfirst-fruits and wine. And every sacrifice you must salt with salt.

X. Now, children, observe the commands I give you, tor what 1

2 have heard from my fathers 1 have told you. 1 am innocent of allyour ungodliness and of the sin1 you will commit at the end ol limeagainst the Saviour of the world, acting godlessly, leading Israel

3 astray, and stirring up against it great evils from the Lord. Andtogether with the rest of Israel you will sin against the law, so that

1 T.ii. 'blessed me according ro all the words of my visions'.

2 Lit. ‘to put me in remembrance of.

3 Lit.‘the holy things'. 4 Or'Philistine'.

5 Cp. Jub. xxi. 12. 6 So b: II adds ‘to the l-oid'.

1 Lit. ‘transgression’.

he will not bear with Jerusalem* because of your wic kedness, hut•4 will tear in two the temple veil-1 * so as not to cover your shame. Andyou will Ik* scattered as captives among the Gentiles and be1 a5 reproach and a curse3 and be trampled under loot. For the housewhich the l.ord will choose shall be called Jerusalem, as it standswritten in the book ol the righteous Knoch.

XI. When I married 1 was twenty eight years old, and my wife’s2 name was Melcha. And she conceived and bore a son. and she

called him Gershom because we were living as foreigners in ourland (for Gershom means' 'living as a foreigner*). And I saw m a) vision about him that he would not be in the front rank. Andf> Kohuth was born in ///)• thirty fifth year, towards sunrise. And I sawin a vision that he was standing raised above the rest of theti congregation round alxml him (that is why I called him Kohath,7 which is 'beginning of greatness* and reconciliation’*’). And as athird son she bore me Mcrari in my fortieth year; and it was adillieult birth (that is why his mother called him Merari, which isH 'my bitterness' - and his life too was in danger). And Jochcbed wasborn in my sixty fourth year, in Egypt; for by then I was muchesteemed among my brothers.

XII. And Gershom married, and his wife bore him I.ibni and2 Shimei. And Kohath's sons were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and

1,4 L’zziel. And Mcrari’s sons. Mahli and Mushi. And in my ninetyfourth year Amram married my daughter Jochcbed, lor they were

5 born the same day. he and my daughter. I was eight years old whenI went into the land of Canaan and eighteen when I killedShechem, and at nineteen I became a priest; and l was twenty eight

6 when I married and forty when I came into Egypt. And you, mychildren, are a third generation. Joseph died in my hundred andeighteenth year.

’ Or ‘mi that Jerusalem will not lx*ar it'.

' Lit.‘garment'. * Sob: U adds 'there'.

s So I I-jgm: bgm om. ‘and a curse*.

1 Lit.‘is written".

: Lit. 'hnuging together'.

533

XIII. And now. my children. 1 command you to fear die Lord withall your heart and live in sincerity in accordance with all his law.

‘2 And you too must teach your children how to read.' so that theymay have understanding all their life through reading the law of:5 God continually. For everyone that knows the law of God will he•t honoured and accepted wherever he goes. He will in fact find manymore friends than his parents; and not a few will he anxious to do*> him service and hear the law from his mouth. Do good works, myii children, on earth, so that you may find your reward in heaven. Andsow good things in your souls, so that you may find them in yourlife; for if you sow evil things, you will reap every kind oftrouble and

7 tribulation. Acquire wisdom in the fear of God with diligence; foreven if exile comes, and cities and lands are devastated, and goldand silver and all possessions become a total loss, no one can takeaway the wise man's wisdom - only the blindness of ungodliness

8 and the disablement2 * that comes of sin. For wisdom* will be for him ashining light even among enemies, and in a strange country a

‘i fatherland, and in the midst of foes she will be found a friend. Ifanyone teaches these things and acts on them, he will share a king'sthrone, as indeed Joseph our brother did.

XIV. And now, children, I understand from the writing of Knockthat at the end you will sin against1 the Lord, and lay hands .. .2 inall wickedness, and your brothers will be ashamed because of you,

2 and you will become* a laughing-stock among all the Gentiles. Butour father Israel will not be held responsible lor4 the godlessness ofthe chief priests who will lay their hands upon the Saviour of the

3 world. The heaven is purer than the earth; and you are the lights of

4 heaven,5 like sun and moon. What will all the Gentiles do. if you

1 Lit. ‘loach your children letters'.

; So bg: dim raj (hi ‘callousness’.

* Lit. 'she'.

1 Lit. ‘you will act godlcssly towards’.

’ An object is required here: (hi have ‘upon him’.

* So kl eajc: b gdm hi ‘and there will become’.

* Lit. ‘will lx- pure from’ (so bkl: II-/ ‘is purr from').

5 So bkl: 1!-/ ‘Israel’.

a it darkened by ungodliness and bring a curse upon our rate, forwhose sake the light of the law* was given ffor what was giventhrough you was given for the enlightenment of every man)? Himyou will desire to kill: and you will teach commandments contraryf> to the precepts of God. You will rob the Lord's offerings; from theportions alloted to him you will steal; and before sacrificing to theland you will take/or yourselves the choicest pieces and share themti like common Ibod7 with whores. You will teach the Lord's com-mandments for your own personal gain. You will pollute marriedwomen and defile the virgins of Jerusalem." and you will be unitedwith prostitutes and adulteresses. You will take Gentile women aswives and purify them with a form oj purification contrary to thelaw; and your unions will be like Sodom and Gomorrah in7 ungodliness. And you will be lull of self-important e on account ofthe priesthood and set yourselves up against other men: and notonly so. hut you will think yourselves of more importance eventhan the commandments of God, and you will mock at holy things9and make cheap jokes about them.10

XV. And so the temple, which the Lord will choose, will be laidwaste because of vo//r uncleanness.1 and you will be carried off as

2 captives by all the Gentiles. And you will he an abomination tothem and bear the reproach and eternal shame of hav ing been:i condemned by the righteous judgement of God. And all who see4 you will turn and run away from you. And if it were not becauseof Abraham. Isaac, and Jacob, our fathers. I should have nodescendant left a live on earth.

XVI. And now I understand in the book of Knoeh that y ou will goastray and profane the priesthood and pollute the sacrifices lor

2 seventy weeks. And you will set aside the law and discredit thewords of the prophets: you will persecute righteous men with a

* So gin eajth: bki 'tin* light »l‘the world'; M'lhe light of the world and the law'.

' Lit. 'and rat them in contempt".

* So h k: II 'Israel'. " (Jr'the holy place'.

and make . . . them: lit. ‘jesting in contempt'

1 Lit. 'will he desolate in uncleanness'.

535

crazy determination and hate the godly and abhor the words of the

'i faithful. And you will brand as a deceiver a man who renews thelaw in the power of the Most High, unaware of who he is.1 and youwill finally kill him. as you suppose, and through your wickedness

4 bring innocent blood upon your heads. Because2 * of him yoursanctuary will be laid waste, levelled to the ground, and polluted.

5 And your land*' will be unclean: and4 a curse will rest upon you,and you will be dispersed among the Gentiles until he comes to youand once more receives you in pity through5 * faith and water.

XVII. And since I have told you about the seventy weeks, let me

2 tell you also1 about the priesthood. For in each jubilee there will bea priesthood. In2 the lirst jubilee the first priest anointed to thepriesthood will be great, and he will speak to God as to a lather;and his priesthood will be perfect with the Lord,' and on his day of

3 joy he will stand up for the salvation of the world. In the secondjubilee the anointed priest will be conceived amid the distresses ofhis people;4 and his priesthood will be held in high honour and

4 esteem by all. And the third priest will be overcome by sorrow.

b And the fourth will suffer anguish because unrighteousness will

make a determined assault upon him.5 and Israelites" will hate one6,7 another. The fifth will be overcome by darkness. And so also the

8 sixth and the seventh. And in the seventh jubilee there will bepollution of a kind that I cannot speak of in the presence of the Lord

9 and men7 (but they will know whodo these things). Because of thisthey will be taken as captives and plundered, and their land and

10 their possessions will be destroyed. And in the fifth week they willreturn to their land in its desolation, and they will renew the house

1 Lit. "unaware of his majesty'.

‘ So bk: II "And because*. * Lit. "place".

4 Lit. "but". Lit. "in".

1 Lit. ’since you have heard . . . hear also".

: So hi: 11 -/'and in".

' So II: b "perfect with the fear of the Lord".

1 Lit. ’in the sorrow oi the beloved ones".

5 Translation uncertain.

* Lit. "and all Israel’.

So b: II om. ‘the Lord and".

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

11 of the Lord. And in the seventh week will conic priests, who will b<idolaters, quarrelsome, money-lovers, arrogant, lawless, licenti-ous, corrupters of children, and given to unnatural vice wit!animals.

XVIII. And alter judgement has come upon them from the Lordthe priesthood will fail.

2 Then " ill the Lord raise up a new priest,1

To whom all the words of the Lord will lie revealed;

And he will execute true judgement on earth for many days.

:i And his star will arise in heaven, as a king.

Lighting up the light of knowledge as the sun the day;2And he will rank as great in the world until he is taken up.

4 He will shine forth like the sun on the earth.

And dispel all darkness from under heaven;

And there will he peace in all the earth.f> The heavens will exult in his days.

And the earth will be glad, and the clouds rejoice;

And the knowledge of the Lord will be poured out on theearth.

Like the water of the seas.

And the angels of glory of the Lord's presence will be glad inhim.

ti The heavens will he opened.

And from the temple of glory will come his call to his sacredoffice3

With the Father’s voice, as from Abraham Isaac 's father.

7 And the glory of the Most High will be uttered over him,

And the spirit of understanding and holiness will rest uponhim in the water.

a He will declare4 the majesty of the Lord to his sons in truthfor evermore.

1 So II: A "And after . . . from (he I-ord. hhrn will the Ia>rd raise for (hepriesthood a new priest*.

*’ The MSS vary here: none is entirely satisfactory

■' Lit. ‘will come upon him the sacred thing*

* l.it. ‘give*.

537

The 'Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

And there will be no successor to him from generation togeneration lor ever.

9 And in his priesthood the Gentiles will increase in knowledge

on the earth.

And be enlightened through the grace of the Lord;

But Israel will be weakened through ignorance.

And plunged into darkness by sorrow.5In his priesthood will all sin come to an end.

And the lawless cease to do evil;

And the righteous will rest in him.

10 And he will open the gates o! Paradise.

And destroy the power of the sword that threatened Adam.

11 And he will give the saints the right to eat from the tree of lile,And the spirit of holiness will be on them.

12 And Beliar will be bound by him.

And be will give power to his children to tread the evil spiritsunderfoot.

i;i And the Lord will rejoice over his children,

Andb lake pleasure in those who are dear to him lor ever.

14 Then will Abraham and Isaaeaudjaeob shout in exultation.And I will be glad,

And all the saints will be clothed with joy.

XIX. And now, my children, you have heard everything. Choose,then, for yourselves either darkness or light, either the law of the2 Lord or the ways' of Beliar. And we answered our father, saying,In the Lord’s presence we w ill live our lives in accordance with his‘i law. And our father said. The Lord is a witness, and his angels arewitnesses, and I am a witness, and you are witnesses, of what you

4 have said. And we said, lie are witnesses. And with this Levibrought his commands to his sons to an end; and he stretched outhis feet, and was gathered to his fathers, when he was a hundred

5 and thirty seven years old. And they put him in a coffin; and lateron they buried him in Hebron, b\ the side of Abraham, Isaac, andJacob. ,

■ • So II: bk om. 'And in his pru’stlKxxi . . . sorrow .

So II: A (A) add 'the Lord'.

1 Lit.'works’.

testament of judah

538 The Testaments oj the Twelve Patriarchs

I IIK TKSTAM LNT OK Jl'DAH.

AHOl'T COl'RAGK. AND L<)\ L OK MONKV.AND FORNICATION

I. A copy of the words of Judah dial he spoke to his sons before he:\:i died. They met together and l amr to him; and lie said to them, I

was my father's Idurth son. and my mother1 ealled me Judah,saying. I give thanks to die Lord because he has given me a Idurth> son as well. I was agile and active in im youth; and 1 was obedient') to m\ lather in everything. And 1 blessed2 my mother and myi> mother's sister. And when I grew up. my lather Jacob promisedme. * saying. You will be a king and prosper in all tilings.

II. And the Lord showed me favour in everything I did. both outin the eountrv and at home - as I saw when1 I raeed a hind andcaught it and made it into a meal Idr my lather. The gazelles Iwould cateh as they ran. and I could overtake anything on theplains. A wild mare I overtook and caught it and tamed it: and 1

1 killed a lion and rescued a kid from its numtli. 1 took a hear by itspaw and dashed it against a crag;* and any beast, if it turned on

:> me. I tore it apart like a dog. 1 raced the wild hoar and grasped it ash I ran. and 1 tore it in pieces. A leopard in Hebron jumped out on mi-dog. and I caught it by the tail and sent it living and destroyed it.'; A wild ox. which was feeding in the fields near Gaza, I took by thehorns, and whirled it round and stunned it and threw it on theground and killed it.

III. And when the two kings of the Canaanites, armed with theircoats of mail, came against the flocks with all their lorces. on myown I fell upon the king of Hazor. seized him and struck him on the

2 greaves, and I dragged him down and so killed him. And the other.

1 So t>: 11 'my mother Leah*.

- So b: II 'honoured'.

' So h chi: gtdm eajSprayed tor God's blfKing oh me*.

1 So the probable text behind A: II ‘I know that*.

• Lit. 'rolled it away into a crag'.

* Lit.‘and it was broken*.

539

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

the kint; °f Fappuah. I killed as he was sitting on his horse; and so 1

3 scattered all his people.1 And when I killed king Achor2 (one of thegiants who was shooting arrows in from of him and behind him as hesat on his horse), I took aim w ith a stone weighing sixty pounds and

4 flung it at his horse and killed it. And I fought Achor lor two hours.

5 and 1 killed him; and I cut his shield in two and cutoff his (bet. Andas I was stripping oil his breastplate, eight comrades of his began

f> to light with me. So I wound my garment round my hand andthrew stones at them; and 1 killed lour of them, but the others fled.

7 And our father Jacob killed Beelisas, the loader of the kings,* a

8 giant in strength and over eighteen feet in height! And terror4 seized

9 them, and they brought their war against us to an end. My lather

10 had no anxiety, if there was a war, and I was with my brothers. Forhe had seen in a vision about me that an angel of might alwaysfollowed me everywhere, so that 1 should not be overcome.

IV. And in the south we became invoked in a more serious warthan the one in Shcchcm. And 1 took die field with my brothers;and I went in pursuit of a thousand men, and 1 killed two hundred

2 men of them and lour kings. And I went up against them on the

3 wall, and I killed two more kings. Also wc set Hebron free andliberated all the prisoners that had been taken by the kings.1

V. On the next day wc set olffdr Aretan, a city strongly fortified,

2 inaccessible and menacing.1 Gad and I approached from the east

3 of the city, and Reuben and Levi from the west.2 And the men that

1 So b:! e hi explicitly ‘his people’; gdaj c 'their people’.

2 There is obviously some confusion here since only two kings are mentioned in

verst* 1, but verse 3 introduces a third with ;i proper name. Charles argued, on thebasis of Rabbinic sources, that verses 3-f> originally described Judah’s encounterwith the king ofTappuah and that the otherwise unknown name Achor arose as acorrupt dittographv of ‘the other' (Heb.'flfcr) at the beginning of verse 2. Heaccordingly bracketed the end of verse 2 and the beginning of verse 3 as aninterpolation. 1 Lit. 'king of all the kings’.

4 Lit. ‘trembling'.

1 Lit. 'and we took all the captivity of the kings’.

1 Lit. ‘promising death to us’.

2 Set 11-/: b i add ‘and on the south'.

540

The Testaments oj the Twelve Patriarchs

were on the wall, thinking we were alone, were drawn away after

4 us. And so the rest oj our brothers, without being seen, climbed upthe wall on the other two sides on ladders' and entered (lie city

5 while the defenders were unaware of it. And we took it and put it tothe sword; and as for those who had taken refuge in the tower, we

fi set fire to the lower and took both it and them. And as we weregoing away the men of Tappuah set upon our prisoners; and weput these in charge of our sons,4 and we fought with them as far as7 Tappuah. And we killed them too and burned their city, andeverything in it we tarried olfas spoil.

VI. And when I was at the waters of'Cozeba, the men ofjobcl took2 the field against us. And we (ought with them;1 and wc killed their'A allies from Shiloh and gave them no opportunity to attack us.2 And

the men of Machir1 came upon us on the fifth day to take ourprisoners, and we advanced against them and got the better ofthem in a fiercely contested battle (for there were many seasonedwarriors among them); and we killed them before they had gone up4 the slope. But when we came to their city, their women rolled downfj stones on us from the brow of the hill on which the city stood. AndSimeon and I hid ourselves at the hack; and we seized the heightsand destroyed the whole city.

VII. And the next day we were told that the men of'Gaash, the city of

2 the kings,1 were coming against us with a massive force. So Danand I pretended to be Amorites and gained entrance into their city

3 as allies. And at dead of night our brothers came, and we openedthe gates for them; and wc destroyed all the inhabitants2 and theirpossessions, and wc took as booty everything they had, and razed

i Lit. ‘by stakes'.

4 So gdl eaj (m is larking): h ‘and having taken these with ns together with oursons’.

1 bo b\ gdt eaj add ‘and defeated them'.

2 Lit. 'no passage to come in against ns’.

Or ‘And from Machir they’.

1 So (?) aj: there is a bewildering variety of readings at this point.

1 Lit.‘all of them'.

A their three walls to the ground. And we approac hed Timnah,where all those were who had taken refuge from3 the warring kings.

.’> Here4 they were abusive, and in my fun, I rushed against them tothe brow of the hill on which the city stood.* And they kept slinging stones

6 and throwing darts at me. And had not my brother Dan fought with

7 me. they would have killed me. Ilut so furious was our assault onthem that they all lied; and they found their way to my father by adiilerent route, and they pleaded with him, and he made peace

ii with them. And wc did them no harm, but made a truce with them

9 and restored all our prisoners to them. And I rebuilt'’ Timnah, and

ic my father rebuilt6 Rabael. 1 was twenty years old when this war

11 happened. And the Canaanitcs were afraid of my brothers and ofme.

VIII. And I had a number of flocks and herds, and rny chief2 herdsman was Iran the Adullamite. When 1 went to see him I met1

Barsam, king of Adullam. And he gave us a feast; and he invitedH me and gave me his daughter Bathshua in marriage. She bore meEr and Onan and Shelah: two of them the Lord struck downchildless: but Shelah was spared,2 and you are his c hildren.

IX. After wc came out of Mesopotamia, from Laban, into Canaanour father* lived in peace wilh his brother Esau for eighteen years,

2 and his sons with us. And when eighteen years had gone by, in myown fortieth year, Esau, my lather's brother, attacked us with a

3 large and powerful company. And he fell by the bow of Jacob andwas taken up wounded2 in the hill-country of Seir; and he died on

4 the road abov e Anoniram. And w'e went in pursuit of Esau's sons.Now they had a city with a wall of iron and gates of brass, and wecould not get into it; arid we encamped round about it and beseiged

a them. And w’hen after twenty days they had not opened the gates

3 [.it. ‘where was ail l lie refuge of.

4 I.it.‘Then’. 3 Cp. vi. 4.

" Lie. ‘built’.

‘ Lit. ‘saw*. 1 Lit. ‘lived’.

1 So I I-d: b d ‘our lather and ourselves’.

1 Lit. ‘dead’.

and wore looking at us. I got a ladder, and. with my shield over myhead, climbed up it. and was met with a shower of stones3 weighingnearly three talents; and when I got to the top I killed four of their

ti warriors. And on the day following Reuben and Gad went in and

7 killed six4 more. Then they asked us lor terms oi peac e, and, after

8 consulting our father, we put them to forced labour. And they usedto give us each rear two hundred cors of wheat, five hundred baths ofoil, and fifteen hundred measures of wine, until we went down intoEgypt.

X. After this my son Kr married Tamar,' a girl from

2 Mesopotamia, an Aramaean. And Kr was wicked and had doubtsabout Tamar because she was not from Canaan; and an angel of

3 the Lord struck him on the third day in the night.2 And he had nothad intercourse with her as a result of his mother's crafty schcm-

4 ing; for he did not want to have children by her.3 While thewedding was still being celebrated,4 I gave her Onau in marriageas a husband's brother; and he too was wicked and would not haveintercourse with her. though he lived with her for a whole year.

a And when I threatened him, he lay with her but spilled his seed onthe ground, just as his mother had told him to; and he also died

ti through his wickedness. And 1 wanted to give Shelah to her as well,but my wife Bathshua would not agree to it; for she had set her faceagainst Tamar, because she was not a Canaaniic as she washerself.

XI. And 1 was well aware that the Ganaanitc stock was wicked,

2 but youthful passion blinded my mind. And when I saw herpouring out the wine at dinner,1 I was led astray under the influ-

3 ence of the wine and spent the night with her. And she, while 1 was

' Lit. ‘and I went up accepting stones'.

4 So 11-t:b t 'sixty*.

1 According to Gen. xxxviii. (> Judah himself was responsible for marrying Er toTamar. 1 So b: gdt ea/'on the third night’; m ‘on the third day*; rAiom.

3 Or ‘she did not want him to have children by her-.

4 Lit. *ln the days of the bride-chamber’.

1 C'.p. xiii. 3-7.

4 away, went and found a wile lor Shelah from Canaan. And when I

') discovered what she had done. I cursed her in my distress. And shedied too through her sons’ wickedness.

XII. And after this, while Tamar was a widow, she heard, twoyears later, that l was on my way to shear my sheep; and sheadorned herself in bridal array and sat in the city of Knaim.1 at the

2 gate. For it was a custom of the Amorites that a girl who was about

3 to marry should sit by the gate for seven days as a prostitute. I hadmyself been drinkingat the waters of Cozcba, and. fuddled as I waswith wine. I did not recognize her; moreover, the way she hadadorned herself made her seem the more desirable; and so I was

4 deceived. And I turned to her and said. Let me lie with you. Andshe said. What will you give me? And I gave her my staffand mybelt and the diadem of the kingdom, and I lay with her; and she

f> conceived. And not knowing what she had done, it was my inten-tion to kill her;2 but she secretly sent me the pledges, and

6 humiliated me. And when I asked her to come and see me. she toldme5 also what I had said to her privately while I was lying with herin my drunken stupor; and so I could not kill her. for it was the

7 Lord’s doing. And I thought4 perhaps it was a trick and she had got

8 the pledges from someone else. Hut I never approached her again.*because I had done something that all Israelites regard as an

9 abomination. And the people in the city said there had been noprostitute* in the gate7 (because she came from somewhere else

10 and sal in the gate for only a little while). And 1 thought that noone

11 knew that I had had intercourse with her. And after this we went

12 into Lgypt, to Joseph, because of the famine. And I was forty-six;and I lived there for seventy three years.

XIII. And now. my instructions to you.1 Pay attention, my

1 There are a number of variants here: t seems to give the original text.

•’ Cp. <Jen. xxxviii. 24.

f Lit. ‘I heard’. 4 Lit. ‘I said’.

5 Lit. ‘But I did not approac h tier any more until my death’.

0 Lit. ‘temple-prostitute’.

7 So 11-/ (dis larking and chi have a dillerent text): h l ‘in the city’.

1 Lit. “whatsoever things I command you’.

544 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

children, to your lather.2 and keep all my sayings, and conform tothe ordinances-1 ol the Lord, and obey the commandments of the

2 Lord God.4 And do not follow after your natural desires, nor yieldto the promptings of your own inclinations: do not he proud andoverbearing:5 and do not boast of your feats in youth, for this too is

3 evil in the Lord's eyes. 1 myself boasted that when at war nobeautiful woman's face ever beguiled me. and I censured mybrother Reuben because of what he had done to Bilhah, my father'swife; yet the spirit of pride6 and fornication ranged itself against meuntil I had spent the night with Bathshua. the C lanaanitc, and with

•l Tamar, who had been married to my sons. And 1 said to myfather-in-law, I will talk to my father about it, and only so will I takeyour daughter. And he showed me an immense hoard of gold that

h was ear-marked for his daughter7 (for he was a king). And headorned her with gold and pearls and got her to pour out the wine

t> for us at dinner and display her beauty.8 And the wine turned away

7 my eyes, and pleasure dulled my wits. And I became enamoured ofher, and 1 spent the night with her and transgressed the Lord’s

8 command and my father's also; and 1 married her. And the Lordrewarded me as I deserved, inasmuch as 1 had no joy of herchildren.

XIV. And now. my children, do not give way to drunkenness, lorwine turns the mind away from truth, inflames our lustful inclina-

2 tions. and leads the eyes into error. For the spirit of fornicationuses* wine as an instrument to give pleasure to the mind; and both

3 of these destroy a man's powers. For if a man drinks wine andmakes himself drunk, it disturbs his mind with filthy thoughtswhich lead him on to fornication, and it heats his body to hanker aftersexual intercourse; and il there is opportunity to gratify his lust, he

1 Sob: II ’to Judah your father'.

* So b: II ‘all the ordinances’.

4 So bm: \\-m ’oPGtid'.

5 do not . . . overbearing: lit. ‘in the haughtiness ot your heart'.

6 Or 'jealousy' (lit. ‘zeal’).

7 that . . daughter: lit. ‘in his daughter's name’.

* Lit. \ . . at dinner in the beauty of women".

Lit. 'has'.

545

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

1 tom mils tin.- sin and is not ashamed. Such is the effect ofwine, myf> children; lor a man that is drunk has no respect for anyone. Forlook how it made me go astray, so that although there were manypeople in tiie city I was not ashamed to turn aside to I amur belorethem all; and I committed a great sin and brought shame on my<* sons.1 * * Similarly, after I had Ix cn drinking wine. I was not ashamedto transgress the command of God. and I took aCanaaniie woman as7 my wife. So the man who drinks wine needs to exercise discretion, mychildren: and discretion means drinking for only as long as one canH preserve one's self-respect.’ Otherwise, if one goes beyond thislimit, the spirit of error gets into the mind and makes the drunkardindulge in filthy talk and transgress and feel no shame, but rathertake pride in what is dishonourable and think it something good.

XV. The man who commits Ibrnieation has no inkling that lie is•> being damaged and no shame at being frowned upon. For even if

he is a king, if he commits fornication, he is stripped of his kingshipand goes away naked:1 he has become the slav e of fornication and;i has been stripped, just as 1 was myself. For l gave away my staff(that is the prop of my tribe) and my belt (that is my power) and myI diadem {that is the glory of my kingdom). And after 1 had repentedof it. I drank no wine nor did I eat any meat5 until I was an old

5 man; and 1 took no part in any festivities. And God's atigel showedme that women hold sway over king and beggar alike, and that

6 they always will.' From the king they take away Ins glory, and fromthe warrior his strength, and from the beggar even the little thatkeeps him from utter destitution.4

XVI. So when you drink wine, my children, observe the limit: forthere arc four evil spirits in it - lust, consuming passion, profligacy.

*’ Lit. 'and uncovered the covering of my sons' umleamirss'.

‘ Or ‘respect for others'.

1 In verses I and 2 b urn. ‘has no inkling . . . if he commits fornication' through

homioteleutnn. and then adds a negative ijclorr ‘goes away" to help the sense.

*’ bit. Vine and Ilesh I did not take'.

* bit. (hr ever'.

* bit. 'the smallest prop of his poverty'.

'1 and money-grubbing. If you drink wine at a celebration,1 do it withmoderation2 * and in the fear of God;' for if you drink immod-erately.2 and the fear of God is lacking, drunkenness ensues and:l shamelessness creeps in. But better still, do not drink at all.4 so thatyou do not sin through violent talk and quarrelling and slanderand transgression of the commands of God, and you perish before

1 your time. Moreover, wine reveals the secrets of God and men toforeigners (just as I revealed the commands of God and the secretsof my lather Jacob to the Canaauite woman. Bathshua); and God

■> has told us not to reveal them to them. And wine, too, is a cause ofstrife5 and confusion.

XVII. ! warn you. my children, not to be lovers of money nor tolocus your attention on women’s beauty, because it was her money

2 and her beauty1 that led me astray to Bathshua the Canaanite. ForI well know that it is these two things that will lead my family into

:i wickedness: they will corrupt even the wise men among my sons;and they will be responsible lor the decline of the kingdom ofJudah, which the Lord gave me because of my obedience to my4 father. For I never disobeyed2 my father Jacob: whatever he tolda me, I did. And Abraham, my father's lather, gave me his blessingand said that 1 should be king in Israel; and Isaac again gave me a<) similar blessing. And so 1 know that it is from me that the royal linewill stem.'

XVIII. And 1 have also read in the books of the righteous Enoch2 about the evils you will do in the last days. So be on your guard, mychildren, against fornication and the love of money: pay attention:l to your father Judah. For these things separate us from the law of

1 Or ’with a merry heart': lit. ‘in gladness'.

J Lit. ‘being respec tful. .. not bring respectful'.

' b adds ‘you will live' and so understands the sentence dillercnlly (‘If youdrink . . . with moderation . .. you will live’).

4 b seems to be defective here: the other MSS difl'er widely , though they agree onthe general sense. 5 I.it.‘war.

1 Lit. ‘shapeliness*.

Lit. 'caused grief with regard to the word of.

Lit. 'the royal thing will stand'.

547

God. and distract our thoughts,' and entourage arrogance, and

4 prevent us from showing mercy to one another. They rob a man'ssoul of all goodness, and oppress him with toils and troubles, and

5 deprive him of his sleep, and devour his llcsh. And he holds backthe sacrifices due to God,2 and ignores his blessing, and pays noheed to a prophet when he speaks, and is offended by even so much

(5 as a mention of religion.-* For the man who is a slave to two passionsthat are contrary to God's commands cannot obey God, becausethey have blinded him: and he walks about in broad daylight as il’iiwere night.

XIX. My c hildren, the love of money is a sure path to idolatry,because, when led astray by money, men call gods those that are no

2 gods,1 and it drives to distrac tion whoever is in its grip. For the sakeof money I lost my children; and had l not repented and humbledmyself, and had not my father Jacob prayed lor me, l should have

3 died childless. But the God of my fathers, the compassionate and

4 gracious one, pardoned me, because I did it in ignorance. For theprince of error blinded me. and 1 was ignorant, being but a manand a creature made o/ flesh, corrupted by his sins: and I came tounderstand my own weakness when 1 had been thinking myselfinvincible.

XX. Understand then, my children, that two spirits attend on

2 man. the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. And in between is thespirit of rational understanding.1 to incline us whichever way it

3 wills. And men's deeds of truth and deeds of error arc written on

t their hearts;2 and the Ford knows each one ol'ihem. And there is no

time when men’s deeds can be hidden, because they have been

5 written in his innermost heart-' before the Lord. And the spirit of

1 [.it. 'blind the inclination of dir soul'.

: Lit. 'And he hinders the sacrifices of God'.

* Lit. 'by a word of godliness'.

1 Or‘those that do not exist’.

1 Lit. ‘the spirit of the understanding of (he mind'.

! Lit. '.And the things of truth and the things of error are written on the breast ofman'. ’ Lit. *in the breast ol his hours’.

548 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

truth testifies to everything and accuses everyone; and the sinner isdestroyed by fire on the evidence of* his own heart and cannot evenraise his face to the judge.

XXI. And now. children, show Levi the respect due to him, 1 sothat you may endure, and do not set yourselves up against him, or

2 you will be swept away completely. For the Lord gave me thekingdom and him the priesthood; and he made the kingdom:t inferior to the priesthood. He gave me the things on earth, him the4 things in heaven. As the heaven is higher than the earth, so is God’spriesthood higher than the kingdom on earth, unless it falls awayfrom the Lord through sin and becomes subservient to the earthly.*> kingdom.2 For the I^ord chose him rather than you,3 to approachhim, and to cat at his table, and to offer the first-fruits, the choice

6 offerings* of the sons of Israel. But you will be king in Jacob;5 andyou will be like a sea for them.6 For just as on the sea both uprightand wicked arc tossed about, and some arc taken prisoner whileothers make their fortunes, so also shall every race of men be in you:some will be in danger and taken prisoner while others will grow

7 rich through plunder. For those who reign as kings will behave7like sea-monsters and gulp down men like fish: they will enslavesons and daughters that are free and plunder houses, lands, flocks,

8 and money. And in their wickedness they will feed the flesh ofmany to the ravens and the cranes;* and they will excel in every kind

9 oj evil, spurred on by greed. And false prophets will appear likehurricanes and persecute all upright men.

XXII. But the Lord will divide them into opposing groups, and2 there will be continual wars in Israel. And my kingdom will be

4 Lit. 'is burned up out of.

' Lit.'love Lrvi\

2 Worn, 'unless ... kingdom'.

1 Lit. 'thee”. Note the abrupt change Co second person singular (cp. T. Iss. v.4-5): chi accordingly add ‘the angel of the Lord said to me' before 'the Lord chosehim'. 4 So h (/): I l-l 'the first-fruits of the choice offerings'.

5 b uni. 'But. . .Jacob’.

* So btr. 11-a 'among them'.

5 Lit. ‘be’. " Gr. ‘ibises’.

549

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

brought to an end by men of another race before the salvation ofIsrael comes and the God of righteousness appears.1 so that Jacoband all the Gentiles may rest in peace. Anti he will preserve mysovereign rights2 forever: for the Lord swore to me on oath that mykingdom and my descendants' kingdom shall never fail to the end oftime.'

XXIII. Now I am much grieved, my children, because of thelicentious acts and meddlings in witchcraft and idolatries of whichvou will be guilty, contrary to the royal Ian-, iti running alterL> ventriloquists, omens, and the demons of error. You will turn yourdaughters into singing-girls and prostitutes and take part in the:t abominable things the Gentiles do. Because of this the Lord willbring on you famine and pestilence, death and sword, unrelentingsiege and vicious dogs’ and taunts front friends, destruction andfailure of eyesight, slaughter of children and abduction of wives,seizure of your possessions, the burning of the temple of God. thedesolation of your land, and your own enslavement by the Gentiles.

1,3 And they will make some of you eunuchs for their wives. Andwhen2 you return to the Lord in purity of heart and repent andorder your lives in accordance with God's commands, then theLord will show you mercy and restore you from >o«r captivityamong your enemies.

XXIV. And after this a star will come forth for you out of Jacob inpeace, and a man will arise from among my descendants like thesun of righteousness, living with men in meekness and righteous-ness, and no sin will be found in him.

2 And the heavens will be opened over him.

To pour out the blessing of the spirit of the Holy Lather;

And he will pour out the spirit of grace upon you.

5 And you will be his sons in truth,

1 Lit. ‘until the salvation of Israel comes, until the appearing (Gk. n aQovola) of theGod of righteousness". 1 Lit. ‘thr power of my kingdom*.

‘ So b g: the other MSS vary, but give much the same sense.

1 Lit. ’and dogs for tearing enemies in pieces'.

; So b g: JI-£ 'until'.

'j'>0 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

And live in accordance with his commands from first to last.

4 This is the shoot of God Most High.

And this the fountain that gives life to1 all mankind.

■> Then will the sceptre of my kingdom shine lorth.

And from your root will conic a stem.

*i And from2 it will spring a staif of righteousness lor the(Jen tiles.

To judge and to save all that invoke the Lord.

XXV. And after this Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will rise to lifeagain, and my brethren and 1 will be chiefs of our tribes in Israel:Levi will he first. 1 second. Joseph third. Benjamin lourth, Simeon2 fifth. Issachar sixth, and so all in order. And the Lord will bless1Levi, the angels of the presence me. the powers of the glory Simeon,the heaven Reuben, the earth Issachar. the sea Zebulon, themountains Joseph, the tabernacle Benjamin, the lights of heavenDan, Kdetr Naphtali. the sun Gad, the olive3 Asher.

:i And there will be one people of the Lord and one language;And there will be no spirit of error of Bcliar any more.

For he will be thrown into the fire for ever.

4 And those who have died in grief will rise again in joy.

And those who Arc in penury for the Lord's sake will be maderich.

And those who are in want4 will eat their fill.

And those who are weak will receive strength.

And those who have been put to death for the Lord's sake willawake to life.5

■> And the harts of Jacob will run with gladness,

And the eagles of Israel w ill fly with joy

1 Lit. ‘the fountain to the life of".

’ Or‘through* (lit.’in*).

1 So gdm ej: bl chi "the [.ord blessed’: kn lacking.

* Lit. ‘the delicacy’ (= i) TQvepf), used a number of limes in the Greek OldTestament to render the Hebrew ‘Kden").

* So b Arm. (cp. Dcut. xxxiii. 21): others ‘ihc moon’.

* So h\ dm tj ‘in hunger’; lg a chi lacking.

* Lit. ‘in life’.

testament of issachar

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 5f) 1

(Bui the ungodly will mourn and sinners weep).

And all the peoples will glorify the Lord for ever.

XXVI. Anil so. my children, observe the whole of the law of the

2 Lord, for there is hope for all who make straight their way.1 And hrsaid to them. I am a hundred and nineteen years old, and I am to

3 die in the sight of you all this day. Do not bury me in expensiveclothes, nor tear my belly open (lor this is what those who are kings

i would do): and take me up to Hebron with you. And as he finishedspeaking Judah fell asleep; and his sons did everything he hadcommanded them, and they buried him in Hebron with hisfathers.

THE TESTAMENT OK ISSACHAR.

ABOUT SIMPLICITY

I. A copy of the words of Issachar.

He called his sons and said to them. Listen, children, to yourfather, Issachar: listen carefully, you whom the Lord loves, to what

2 1 say, I was born to Jacob as his fifth son as a result of the hire lor

3 the mandrakes.' For Reuben2 * brought in mandrakes from the} country, and Rachel met him outside and took them. And Reuben

was in tears; and Leah, my mother, heard him crying and came out.5 (Now these mandrakes were sweet-smelling apples that the land ofAram used to produce on a piece of high ground underneath a(i water-spring.) And Rachel said, I will not give them to you: 1 will7 treasure them as if they were my children.1 Now there were twoapples;4 and Leah said. Surely it is enough for you to have takenaway the husband I married as a girl:5 will you take these

1 All the MSS read either ‘his wav' (bt) or ‘his ways' (II-/): (hi. in addition, have'hold fast to’ instead of'make straight'.

1 Lit. 'in hire of the mandrakes'.

J So 11:6 ‘Jacob’.

* I will. .. children: lit. ‘for they will be to me instead of children’.

4 So b: II ‘two of these apples’.

* Lit. ’the husband of my virginity'.

H away too? And she said. Behold. Jacob shall be yours to-night inft exchange for your son's mandrakes. And Leah said to her. Do notbe so superior and flatter yourself, for Jacob is mine, and 1 am thein wife of his youth. But Rachel said. How so? For he was pledged inmarriage to me first, and it was for my sake he served our father

11 fourteen years. What should I do to you? For men's deceit andcunning are always on the increase, and on earth deceit prospers.

12 If it were not so. you would not be living with Jacob now.6 For youare not his wife, but you were deceitfully foisted on him instead of

13 me. And my father deceived me and took me away that night, andwould not let me see what was going on; for. if 1 had been there, this

14 would not have happened. And Rachel said. Fake one mandrake,13 and for the other’ I will hire him out to you Ibr one night. And

Jacob slept with Leah, and she conceived and bore me; and onaccount of the hire I was called Issachar.

II. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Jacob, saying, Rachelshall bear two children, for she has declined intercourse with her

2 husband and chosen continence. And had not Leah, my mother,given up1 the two apples in exchange Ibr intercourse she wouldhave borne eight sons: as it was, she bore only six, and Rachel borethe other two because the Lord looked favourably on her because of

3 the mandrakes.2 * For he saw that it was for children she wanted

4 intercourse w ith Jacob and not for pleasure. For on the very nextday she gave Jacob up again to get the other mandrake also. And

5 so’ the Lord look notice of Rachel because of the mandrakes.4 Forthough she very much wanted to, she would not eat them, butdedicated them in the house of the Lord and presented them to thepriest of the Most High who was there at that time.

III. So when 1 grew up, my children. I lived an upright life, and I

5 Lit. ‘you would not tx* seeing the fare ol'Jarob'.

T Lit.‘the one'.

1 Lit. 'paid' (sob: II ‘sold').

1 Lit. 'looked upon her in the mandrakes'.

* Sob: II om. ‘And so’.

4 Lit. ‘listened to Rachel in the mandrakes'.

became the family's farmer1 and brought in the fruits of the fields inf their season. And my father blessed me. for he saw that I livedI simply. And 1 was not a busybody in what I did. nor wicked* and aI slanderer of my neighbour. I never spoke evil of anyone, nor did I> censure any man's style of life, living simply myself.' And so I wasthirty when I married; for my labours exhausted my strength, andthe thought of pleasure with a woman hardly ever entered mymind, lor I used to Ik* so worn out that sleep would get the better ofj me almost at once. And my father always rejoiced in my simplicity;lor whatever it was I was labouring at, all the choice fruits and allthe firstfruits I would oiler first through the priest to the Lord, then

1 to my father, and then 1 would enjoy it4 myself. And the Lorddoubled my possessions;5 and Jacob also knew that (iod was

{ assisting my simplicity. For l used to bestow the good things of theearth on everyone that was poor and everyone that was oppressedin simplicity of heart.

IV. And now, listen to me. my children, and live in simplicity of

2 heart;1 for I have observed that it finds favour with the Lord.2 * Thesimple-Awr/erf man does not covet gold, is not jealous of his neigh-bour. is not concerned about variety in his food, is not always

;j wanting diflerent clothes, makes no plans' lor a lung life, but waits\ on the will of God alone. And the spirits of error have no powerover him. for he averts his eyes from a woman's beauty, so as not to5 mislead or corrupt his mind. No envy will invade his thoughts:malice does not subvert his soul; nor is his mind obsessed by<> money-getting.■* For he lives an upright life, and looks at every-thing simply, and gives no countenance to the wickedness that

1 Lit. ‘a farmer of my lathers ami my brothers’.

: So b t: 11-/ ’envious'.

' Lit. 'walking in simplicity of eyes’.

* 1 hr addition 'would enjoy if is in fact found in g: d (»n) add 'would partake til

them’. * Lit. 'the good things in my hands'.

1 So b: 11 ‘in the simplicity of your hearts’.

* Lit. ’Ibr I have seen in it all the good pleasure of the Lord'.

* Translation uncertain.

* So b (lit. 'nor does he think of money-get ting with insatiable desire’). For

‘money-getting’ {.Togiofiof'j II reads 'distraction' (xegioxaoMOvl.

results from the error of the world.5 so as not to gel a distorted viewof any of6 the Lord’s commands.

V. So keep the law of God. my children, and try to live simply andin innocence; and do not he over-inquisitive about the Lord’s

2 commands, nor about the atlairs of your neighbour. But love theLord and vowrncighbour, show compassion lor the poor and the

3 weak. Put your backs into your work as farmers: give yourselves upto your lalxjurs in the field of every kind; and offer gifts to the Lord

4 with thanksgiving. For with thefirst-fruitsof the earth has theLordblessed1 you,2 just as he has blessed all the saints from Abel until

h now. For the share allotted you is no other than the richness of ther, earth, whose fruits are produced by toil. For1 our father Jacob blessed

7 me w ith blessings of the earth arid of first-fruits. And Levi andJudah were honoured by the l.ord among Jacob’s sons: for theLord gave them each their share,4 and to the one he gave the

8 priesthood and to the other the kingdom. So then, obey them, andlive simply like your father (for to Gad. too, it has been granted todestroy the raiders that are coming on Israel).

VI. 1 know, my children, that in the last limes your sons will turntheir backs on simplicity and become obsessed by greed:1 they willabandon innocence and resort to cunning; and, forsaking the

2 Lord’s commands, they will attach themselves to Bcliar. And theywill give up farming and follow their own worked inclinations; andthey will be dispersed among the Gentiles and enslaved by their

3 enemies. And tell your children this, so that, if they sin, they may

4 the more quickly return to the Lord; for he is merciful and willdeliver them and restore them to their land.

* So* (lit. ‘not accepting wickedness with his eyes from the rrmr of the world'): II'not accepting wicked eves from the error of the world'

* So h: 11 out. ‘any of\

■ So h: I ] ‘will the Lord bless’.

: SoH:*om. * So*: 11 Tor even'.

4 Lit. ‘cast lots among them’.

Lit. 'and will cleave to insatiable desire'.

535

VII. 1 am a hundred and twenty two years old. and I am not aware

2 that I have committed any deadly sin. I have not had intercoursewith any other woman but my wile: I have not committed fornica-

3 tion through a lustful eye.1 I have not drunk wine to be led astrayby it: I have not coveted any desirable thing that was rtiv neigh-

4 hour’s. My heart has harboured no deceit: no lie has ever passed

5 rny lips. If anyone were in distress, I joined my sighs with his: andwith the poor have I shared my bread. I never ate alone. Noboundary-stone have I moved. I have been reverent and truthful

6 all my days. 1 have loved the Lord with all my strength; and in thesame way 1 have loved all men as though they were2 my own

7 children. Do these things too, my children, and every spirit ofBeliar will turn and run, and nothing that wicked men can do willprevail against you; and you will gain the mastery over' every wildbeast, since you have with you the God of heaven, sharing men’s

8 company,4 in simplicity of heart. And he commanded them tocarry him up to Hebron and bury him there in the cave with his

9 fathers. And he stretched out his feel and died {Jacob's fifth son),5 ina good old age. in full possession of all his faculties;6 and with hisstrength unimpaired he slept the eternal sleep.

testament of zebulon

THE TESTAMENT OF ZF.BCLON.

ABOUT COMPASSION AND MERCY

I. A copy of the words1 of Zebulon, which he left as a testament tohis children, in the hundred and fourteenth year of his life, two2years after the death of Joseph.

2 And he said to them. Listen to me, you sons of Zebulon, pay

3 attention to your father’s words. I am Zebulon, a good gift to my

1 Lit. 'by die uplifting of the eyes'.

2 So b: il ‘more than'. 3 Lit. you will enslave'.

4 Lit. ‘walking with men'. * So 6: Horn

* Lit. 'having every limb healthy '.

1 So eaj'chi: dim ’of the testament'; A^om.

2 So II: b 'thirty-two’.

parents; for when I was born, the numbers of our father's flocksand herds had been much increased by the share he had received1 as a result of the strategcin of the different coloured rods.’ I am notaware, my children,4 that I have ever sinned, save only in thought.5 Nor do 1 remember that I have done anything contrary to the law.except for the part 1 played without knowing what I was doing inthe conspiracy against Joseph (for I promised my brothers5 not to tellfj my father what had happened). And I wept much'' when I was onmy own, for I was afraid of my brothers, because they had allagreed that if anyone betrayed the secret he should he put to the7 sword. But when they wanted to kill him. I warned them solemnlywith tears against this wicked deed.

II. For Simeon and Gad were incensed against Joseph and madean attack on him.1 * intending to kill him; and Joseph fell on his faceJ and said to them, Have mercy on me, brothers, pity our fatherJacob: do not raise your hands against me to shed innocent blood.:J for I have not sinned against you. And if indeed 1 have sinned, thenpunish me; but do not raise your hand against nie: lor our father» Jacob’s sake. And as he was saying this, I lelt pity/or him and began’> to weep, and 1 was overcome completely.3 And Joseph i<x> wasweeping, and I wept with him; and my heart was throbbing, andthe joints of my body refused to function,4 and I could not stand,b And when he saw me weeping with him. and the two ojthem coiningon him to kill him, he took refuge behind me and begged them Jor

7 mercy. But Reuben stood up and said, Brothers, let us not kill him,but let us throw him into one of these dry pits that our fathers dug

8 and found no water. (For that is why the Lord prevented waterfrom welling up in them, so that Joseph should be preserved. Andthe Lord did so until they sold him to the Ishmaelites.)

> Lit. . . increased when in the different coloured rods he had his share', tip.Geu. xxx. 25—Ft. 4 So b: 11 otn. ‘my children'.

5 Translation uncertain: b & {/) ‘I covered tor niv brothers': dm eaj{hi'l confirmedto my brothers'. 6 Sob: II ‘And I wept many da\s atxuU Joseph’.

1 Lit. 'For Simeon and Gad came against Joseph with (A otn.) anger (Awn.)'.

! ‘Against me’ is in fact added by gdm it:r‘ tut) and taf (ycoO.

1 Lit. ‘and rny liver was loosened and ail the substance of my bowels becameweak upon niv soul\ 4 Lit. ‘and the joints of my body went out of place'.

557

III. And I refused, my children, to take my share of the money that

2 was paid for Joseph. But Simeon and Gad and our six otherbrothers took what was paid lor Joseph and bought sandals lor

3 themselves and for their wives and children, saying, We will notbuv food with it,1 for it is our brother's blood-monev, but let ustread it well under foot, because he said he would be king over us;

I and so let us see what will become of his dreams. (That is why it iswritten in the writing of the law of Enoch that whoever will notraise a child2 for his brother, his sandal shall be taken off and his

3 face spat upon. Joseph’s brothers had no wish for their brother to

6 live; and the Lord took offjoseph’s sandal3 from them. For whenthey came into Egypt they had their sandals taken olT* by Joseph’sservants as soon as they arrived at the gate, and so they made theirobeisance to Joseph, as was the custom at the Pharaoh’s court.5

7 And not only did they make obesiance to him, but they were alsospat upon immediately they fell down in front of him; and so they

8 were put to shame before the Egyptians. For the Egyptians heardafterwards how disgracefully wc had treated Joseph.)

1,2 IV. And then they sal down to eat.1 But I ate nothing for two daysand two nights out of pity for Joseph; and Judah did not eat withthem either. but kept watch on the pit, for he was afraid that Simeon

3 and Gad might makeofTand kill him. And when they saw that I too

4 was not eating, they seL me to guard him until he was sold. And hespent three days and three nights in the pit; and so when he was

5 sold lie was very' hungry. And when Reuben heard that he hadbeen sold while he was away, he tore his clothes olfand lamented.

fi saying, How shall I look my father Jacob in the lace? And he tookthe money and ran after the merchants, but did not find anyone;

1 Lit.‘Wc will not eat it’. 2 Lit.‘raise up seed’.

3 So b: 11 explains ‘the sandal that they wore against their brother Joseph’.

4 Lit. ‘they were taken off’.

5 Lit. 'according to the form prescribed by the Pharaoh (so b g: Il-g ‘by KingPharaoh’).

1 There are wide variations between the MSS here. The translation is based on b

('After these things they threw to cat’).

for they had It'll the main road and gone olf through the country oj the

7 Trogolmolpites by a short cut. And Reuben ate nothing that day.

8 So Dan eame to him and said. Do not weep or mourn, lor 1 have

9 thought of* something we can tell our father Jaeob. I.et us kill ahe-goal. and dip Joseph's tunic in its blood. and say. Do yourecognize it? Is this your son s tunic? And this is what they did.'

to For they had stripped Joseph of our father's tunic when they wereIt about to sell him and had put a slave s old coat on him. NowSimeon had the tunic and would not giv e it up. and he wanted tocut it in pieces with his sword, because he was angry Joseph was still12 alive and he had not killed him. Hut we all stood up against himtogether and said. If you will not give it up. we will say you did thisI t evil thing in Israel on your own. And so he gave it up: and they didas Dan had suggested.

V. And now. my children, I appeal to you to keep the Lord'scommands, and to show mercy to your neighbour and be compas-sionate towards all men - and not only towards humans, but

2 towards animals too. For that was why the Lord blessed me, andwhen all my brothers were taken ill. I eseapetl unharmed; for the

3 Lord knows each man's motives. So let mercy reign in your hearts,1my children, because as a man treats his neighbour, so also will the

4 Lord treat him. For my brother's sons were being taken ill as wellas their fathers, and were dying, on account ofjoseph, because theyhad shown him no mercy; but my sons were preserved in perfect

5 health, as you well know. .And when 1 was in Canaan, on the coast,I used to catch fish for my father Jacob; and although many otherpeople were drowned in the sea. I survived unhurt.

VI. I was the first to make a boat to sail on the sea. for the Lord2 gave me the necessary knowledge and skill.1 And 1 fitted a rudder2

behind it and stretched a sail on an upright piece of wood in the

* I.it. ‘I have found’.

' So 11:6 omits the whole clause.

1 Lit. ‘Have, therefore, mercy in your bowels’.

1 Lit. ‘Rave me understanding and wisdom in it'.*’ Lit. ‘And I let down a piece of wood’.

3 middle of it. And I sailed it along the shores and caught fish for my

4 father's household until vve came to Egypt. And' out olYompassion

5 I gave some of my catch to4 every man that was a foreigner. And ifthere was anyone who was foreign, or ailing, or aged. I boiled anddressed the fish and offered it to all men. as each had need, making

6 them my guests out of a lellow-feeling for them. And so the Lordgave me a rich catch offish; for he who shares what he has with his

7 neighbour is repaid many times over by the Lord. 1 caught fish forfive years; and I shared it with whoever I came across5 and there

8 was still enough for my father's entire household. In the summer lcaught fish, and in the winter 1 looked alter the sheep with mybrothers.

VII. Now 1 will tell you what 1 did. 1 saw a man who was in distressbecause he had nothing warm to put on in winter.' and I hadcompassion on him; and I took a garment from my house without

2 anyone noticing and gave it to the man that was in distress. So youtoo, my children, must show compassion and mercy to all menwithout partiality, and give to every man with a good heart from

3 the things that God has given you. And if you have nothing at thetime to give a man in need, have a fellow-feeling for him, and show

4 him compassion and mercy. I remember2 I had nothing ready tohand on one occasion to give a needy man, so I accompanied him onhis journey for seven furlongs in tears, and my heart went out tohim in sympathy.

VIII. And so, my children, be compassionate and merciful to everyman, that the Lord may be compassionate and merciful to you too.

2 (Because, indeed, in the last days the Lord sends1 his compassionon the earth, and wherever he finds a merciful heart.2 he makes his

3 dwelling there.) For just in so far as a man has compassion on his

1 vi. 4-6, 7b (‘and 1 shared . . . household') and vii. 1-viii. 3 (\ . . on him') arefound in bgld lm) only. 4 bo b: gldnt ‘1 shared with’.

5 Lit. ‘with every man I saw’.

1 Lit. ‘in distress by nakedness of winter'.

1 Lit. ‘I know’.

' So bd\ kgl (m) 'will send’.

1 Lit.‘bowels of mercy'.

1 neighbour, so has the Lord' compassion on him. And when we wentdown l«> Kgypt. Joseph bore no malice against us; and when he sawme lie had compassion.4 Let him be an example to you and bear nomalice either,5 my children, and love one another.0 and do not,(> each of you. keep a record of his brother’s wrongdoing. For this is abar to unity and splits up any family, and is a source of confusion inthe soul and destroys a man completely.7 For the man that bearsmalice is devoid of mercy.8

IX. See what happens to water; lor when it Hows all of it together as aJ single river it sweeps along with it stones, wood, earth.1 * sand. But ifit is divided into a number ojseparate streams, it disappears into theground and becomes of no account at all. So will you be too, if youI are divided. Do not let yourselves, therefore, be split in two. so thatyou have two heads.•’ for everything the Lord has made has but onehead only: he has provided two shoulders, hands, and feet; but all■> the limbs obey the one head. I understand from the writing of myfathers that in the last days you will forsake the Lord, and3 4 you willbe divided in Israel and follow two kings, and you will commitevery kind ofabomination and worship every kind oj'idol. And yourenemies will lake you away as captives, and you will be oppressedby4 the Gentiles and suffer every kind of'indignity5 and distress and7 mental anguish.0 And afterwards you will remember the Lord andrepent; and he will bring you back again, for he is merciful andcompassionate and has no evil designs on men. because he knowsthat they are flesh and ’that the spirits of error deceive them inH everything they do. And then shall the Lord himself, the light of

1 Si) b k: gtdm add ‘also’

4 and when ... compassion: lound in bgtdonlv.

5 So bg (</): others om. ‘and hear . . . either*.

* So bg {//): others add ’also'.

Lit. “and destroys existence': so tit taj: bg om. through hnmoiolrleiiton; chievidently secondary. * For . . . mercy: linmd in bgtdonly.

1 bt wrongly ‘the’ (sand) - reading rijv for yf)v.

* Lit. “split into two heads'.

’ in the last .. . Lord, and: found in bgtd only.

4 So ift eaj hi: bde “you will lx‘ forced to live among’.

s Lit. “weakness*.

" and mental anguish: found in bgtd only.

righteousness, arise fnr you, and healing and compassion shall l>ein his wings:7 he shall ransom mankind from their slavery to Beliar;and every spirit of error shall be trampled underfoot. And ho shallconvert all the Gentiles, so that they are tilled with zeal for him.KAnd you shall see God9 in human form in the house10 which the Lord9 will choose (Jerusalem is its name). And then by the wickedness ofyour doings" you will provoke him again, and you will be thrownout until the end of time.

X. And now, my children, do not be sad because 1 am dying, nor

2 cast down at my departure. For I shall rise again in the midst ofyou, as a ruler in the midst of his sons; and I shall rejoice in thernidst of my tribe with as many as have kept the law of the I -ord and

3 the commands of their father Zcbulon. But upon the ungodly willthe Lord bring eternal fire, and he will destroy them for all time.

4.;> Meanwhile,1 1 am going to my rest, as did my fathers. Do you featthe Lord your God with all your strength all the days of your life,b And when he had finished speaking, he slept the perfect2 sleep; and7 his sons put him in a coffin. And afterwards they carried him up toHebron and buried him with his fathers.

testament of dan

THK TESTAMENT OF DAN,

ABOU T ANGER AND FALSEHOOD

I. A copy of the words of Dan, which he spoke to his sons in his lastdays, in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life.

2 He called his family together and said. Listen to my wards,you

3 sons of Dari, and pay attention to what your father has to say.' Ihave found by experience all through my life that truth and just

’ and healing . . . wings: found in bkgtdm only.

* So bkgt (</): others ‘And you shall return to your own land'.

9 So bki: gdm eaf'ihe Lord' {with subsequent omission through hnmoiocdemon ineaj ). 10 Some such addition is needed: <*p. T. Levi x. 5, xv. 1.

11 bk ‘words’: II ‘works'.

1 So l I-g: bk Ijz) om. 1 Lit.'good1.

Lit. ‘the words of your father's mouth’.

361? The Testaments oj the Twelve Patriarchs

dealing are good and pleasing to (rod, and that falsehood and

1 anger are evil, because2 * they teach man every kind of wickedness. Iconfess to you to-day. my children, that I was myself delightedwhen it was suggested that we should kill Joseph.' although he was

.') a true and good man. And I was overjoyed when Joseph4 was sold,o because his father loved him more than us. For the spirit of7 jealousy and self-esteem said to me. You are his son as well. Andone of (he spirits of Beliar egged me on.5 saying. Fake this swordand kill Joseph with it. and your father will love you when he isM dead. (This spirit that tried to persuade me to thirst for Joseph’s'.I blood, like a leopard for a kid’s, is the spirit of anger.) But the Godof ourft lather Jacob would not let him fall into my hands, and heprevented me from ever finding him alone to do that wicked deedand thus destroy two tribes in Israel.

II. And now. my children. I am dying, and I assure you thatunless you keep yourselves from the spirit of falsehood and anger,

2 and love truth and patience, you will perish. Anger blinds a man,my children, and the angry man can sec no one as he truly is.1 Forthough it is his own father or mother, he treats them as enemies:though it is his brother, he does not recognize him: though a prophetof the Lord, he disobeys him: though a righteous man, he takes no

} notice of him: though a friend, he docs not acknowledge him. For thespirit of anger wraps the nets of error round him and blinds hisnatural eyes: through’ falsehood it darkens his mind and gives himfi its own distorted vision. And what docs it blind' his eyes with? Witha bitter hatred;4 and it makes him like itself,5 so that he is envious ofhis brother.

III. Anger is evil, my children, for it becomes as it were a soul to the

■ So b: 11 urn.

* Lit. ‘that in my heart I was delighted about the death of Joseph*.

4 So b: U ‘hr*. 5 Lit. ‘worked with me”.

6 So b. II *my\

1 Lit. ‘There is blindness in anger, my children, and no (6 adds ‘angry*) man sees

a fare in truth’. : So A: 11 ‘and through'.

* Lit.'wrap round*. 4 Lit. 'With hatred ofheart*.

* Lit. 'and it gives him its own heart’.

563

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

2 soul itself. And it makes the body ofrhc angry man its own. andgains the mastery over his soul, and motivates the body to commit

3 iniquity of every kind. And when it does it, the soul justifies what is

4 done,1 because it does not see. Consequently, the man that isangry, if he is a man of influence, has a threefold power in hisanger: first, through the power and2 the help of his servants;secondly, through his wealth, which enables him to exert pressureand win the verdict, although he is in the wrong; and thirdly,because he has the natural power of his own body and himself' does

5 the evil. And even if the man that is angry is a weakling, henevertheless has twice the power that was given him by nature; lor

6 anger always helps trangressors. This spirit, togeihcr with the spiritof falsehood stands'* ever at Satan’s right hand, so that by crueltyand falsehood his ends may be achieved.

IV. Understand, then, how powerful anger is, and how deceptive

2 it is.1 For first ofall it provokes by word: then it strengthens the manprovoked by deeds, and creates disorder and makes havoc in his

3 mind;* and thus it goads his soul to fury. So when anyone criticizesyou, you must not3 be moved to anger; and if anyone praises you asgood men, you must not be too elated do not all of a sudden either

4 go into ecstacies or take offence. For first it delights the ear, and soit alerts the mind to consider what has been said in provocation, and

5 then, in a fit of rage, the man thinks his angerJustified. If any loss ordeprivation befalls you,4 my children, do not lose your heads, forthis very spirit makes a man desire what he has been deprived oi so

6 that he becomes angry through longing for it. If you suffer a lossvoluntarily,5 6 do not grieve about it, for grief leads on to anger'’ with

1 Or, possibly. ‘And when it (i.e. 'lht: soul") docs it, it justifies what is done'.

2 So A: II am. *ihc power and*. 1 Lit.'through himself

4 Lit. 'goes' or 'lives its life’.

1 Lit. ‘that it is in vain’ (thcGk. word jteiraios. usually rendered ‘vain’ or ‘empty’,

is in several passages in the Gk. Old Testament used to render the Heb. ka&ibh. ‘lie,falsehood’ — e g. Amos ii. 4: K/.ek. xiii. 6j.

3 Lit. 'and disturbs his mind with bitter damages'.

b om. 4 Hob: 1L ‘If you fall into any loss or deprivation'.

5 So b i: 11-/ add ‘or involuntarily’.

6 Lit. ‘for from grief it causes to arise anger’.

7 falsehood. Anger with falsehood is a double evil, and each assiststhe other to stir up the mind; and when the soul is stirred upcontinually the Lord departs from it and Bcliar has dominion overit.

V. So keep, my children, the Lord's commands and observe hislaw; and turn from anger and hate falsehood, that the Lord may

_> dwell in you and Bcliar may flee from you. Speak the truth to eachother, and you will be preserved from the ill-effects oj pleasure1 andfrom troubles; and2 you will be at peace, since you will have with youtin* God of peace, and contention will have no hold over you. Lovethe Lord throughout3 your life, and one another with a true heart.

4 For I know that in the last days you will turn away from the Lord,and you will despise Levi and set yourselves up against Judah, butyou will he powerless against them; for an angel of the Lord will

5 guide them both, because by them will Israel stand. And when youturn from the Lord, you will give yourselves up to even kind ofevil, doing all the abominable things the Gentiles do and wantonlypursuing the women of the lawless, while the spirits of error work

b in you every kind of wickedness. For I have read in the book of therighteous Enoch that your prince is Satan, and that all the spirits offornication and arrogance will turn their attention to Levi4 andconstantly dog the footsteps of Levi’s sons in order to make themsin against the Lord.

7 And my sons will associate themselves with Levi,

And join with them in all their sins;

And Judah’s sons will be covetous.

And plunder other men's goods like lions.

8 Because of this you will be carried captive with them,

And there will you sutler all the plagues of Egypt,

And all the evils of the Gentiles,

Yet,5 when you return to the Lord,

1 [.it. ‘you will not tall into pleasure' (so b: I [ ‘wrath’).

2 Lit. 'but'.

1 Or'with all’(lit. “in all').

4 Or ‘will obey Levi’ (lit. ‘listen to Levi’).

5 Lit. “And so'.

9

You will find merry.

And hr will bring you to his sanctuary.

Proclaiming to you* peace.

10 And there will arise to you from the tribe of Judah and from Levi

the Lord s salvation.

And he will make war against Reliar.

And avenge our fathers in a mighty victory.’

11 And he will set free the prisoners of Rebar*

(The souls, that is, of the saints);

And he will turn the hearts of the disobedient back to theLord again;

And he will give to them that call on him eternal peace.

12 And the saints will rest in Kden,

And in the new Jerusalem will the righteous rejoice.

And it will be to the glory of God lor ever.

13 And no longer will Jerusalem lie in ruins.

Nor Israel endure captivity;

For the Lord will be in the midst of it,

Living together with men.

And the Holy One of Israel will reign* over themIn humility and poverty.

And he who has laith in him will reign in truth in theheavens.

VI. And. now fear the Lord, my children, and beware of Satan and

2 his spirits. Draw near to God and to the angel that intercedes foryou, for he is a mediator between God and men for the peace ofIsrael; and he will* stand up against the kingdom of the enemy.

3 I’his is why the enemy is at such pains to overthrow all those that

4 invoke the Lord. For he knows that on the day that Israel puts its

5 faith in God1 2 the enemy’s kingdom will be brought to an end. The

R So bk: 11 ‘And he will give you’.

Lit. 'And he shall give a vengeance of victory to our fathers (b ’boundaries')'.

* Lit. ‘ And the captivity shall he take from Beliar'.

9 Lit... Israel reigning'.

1 So b: II.. God and men; and for the peace of Israel he will

2 Lit. ‘Israel believes'.

angel of peace himself will strengthen Israel and preserve it from(i the worst of evils. But in the time of Israel's lawlessness the Lordwill leave them and go to the Gentiles that do his will, for none of

7 the angels will be equal to him.3 And his name shall be in every

8 place of Israel and among the Gentiles, his name «/Saviour. Keepyourselves, therefore, my children, from every wicked deed, andturn your backs on anger and all falsehood, and love truth and

9 patience. And what you have heard from your father pass on toyour own children, so that the Saviour4 of the Gentiles may acceptyou; for he is true and patient, meek and lowly, and teaches the law

10 of God by what he docs. Turn, then, from unrighteousness of everykind and hold fast to the righteousness of the law of the Lord; and

11 your race will be kept safe lor ever.5 And bury me near my fathers.

VII. And after saying this, he kissed them and slept the eternal2 sleep. And his sons buried him; and afterwards they carried up hisbones and laid them alongside /Ao^o/Abraham and Isaac and,Jacob.S Nevertheless, just as1 Dan had prophesied to them (that theywould forget the law of their God arid be alienated f rom their ownland and from the race of Israel and their family and kinsmen2), soit came to pass.3

testament of naphtali

TDK TESTAMENT OF NAPHTAl.I,

ABOUT NATURAE GOODNESS

I. A copy of the Testament of Naphtali, which he left as a testa-ment at the time of his death, in the hundred and thirty-secondyear of his life.

2 When his sons were met together in the seventh month, on thefourth1 day of the month, while he was still in good health, he made

3 So II: b . . leave them and go alter him (hat docs his will, tor to none of theangels will he he as to him’. * So [ I-/: kkl 'Father’

5 So II: Vomits (his last clause.

1 Sob: II <>m. ‘just as’. * So II: bom. ‘and kinsmen (lit. ‘seed’)’.

1 So b (</): 11 (-</} om. the final clause.

So b: II ‘first*.

3 a feast for them2 * — in fact, a banquet. And after he had woken upnext morning lie said to them, I am going to die. And they did not

f believe him. And he blessed the Lord and insisted that after the

5 feast of the day before he would die. So he began to say to his sons,'Listen, my children, you sons of Naphtali, listen to what your

6 father is saying. I was Bilhali’s child; and because Rachel craftilygave Bilhah to Jacob instead of herself and she bore me on Rachel's

7 thighs. I was consequently called Naphtali. And Rachel loved mebecause I was born on her thighs; and as I was an attractive child.4she would kiss me and say. May I live to sec a brother of yours, from

8 my own womb, just like you. So it came about that Joseph was like

9 me in everything, in answer to Rachel’s prayers. And my motherwas5 6 Bilhah, the daughter of Rotheus, the brother of Deborah,Rebecca’s nurse, and she was born on the very same day as Rachel.

10 And Rotheus was of Abraham’s stock, a Chaldaean. devout, Iree-

11 born, and well-bred. And he was taken as a prisoner and bought byLaban, and he gave him Aina, his slave-girl, as his wife; and shebore a daughter, and he called her Zilpah after the village where he

12 had been taken prisoner. And again0 she bore a daughter and hecalled her Bilhah.7 8 saying, My daughter is one of those who arealways in a hurry to run after any thing new;H for as soon as she wasborn she was in a hurry to be suckled.

n. And since I was as light-footed as a deer, my father Jacob choseme for all missions and messages: and as if I were a deer he gave me

2 his blessing. For just as the potter knows how much the vessel he ismaking is to contain, and takes the right amount oj elay lor it, so too the

2 .So 11: 4‘hc made a supper himself

* So b: II om. ‘to his sons'.

4 So b (lit. ‘being delicate in form’): If "when I was still young' (lit- "being stilldelicate’).

5 Lit. ‘is’.

6 Lit. ‘next’.

' The text in all the MSS is difficult here. Hither wc must assume that somewords have fallen out (hence our translation, which ioflows a reconstruction basedon the analogy of the previous verse), or we must emend the masculine particle‘saying’ to the feminine in order to make Aina, and not Rotheus, the speaker (and sothe parent responsible forgiving Bilhah her name).

8 Lit. ‘My daughter is a hurrier-after-novelty’.

Lord makes the body with a view to the spirit it is to contain.1 and.4 be puts the spirit into it according to the body's capacity. And theproportions of the two correspond perfectly,2 lor the whole4 creation3 of the Most High has been fashioned by weight and measureand rule. And just as the potter knows what the use of each vesselis. and what it is lit for. so also the Lord knows for how long the bodyT> will persist in goodness and when it will turn to evil.4 For there isnothing that is made and no thought which the Lord docs noth know, for he created every man in his own image. As is a man'sstrength, so also is his work; and as his mind, so also his skill;5 andas his purpose, so also his achievement; and as his heart, so also hismouth; and as his eye. so also his sleep; and as his soul, so also his7 word, either in the law of the Lord or the law of Beliar. And as thereis a distinction between light and darkness, and between seeing andhearing, so also there is a distinction between one man andanother, and between one woman and another; and it cannot beH said that one is like another either in face or in mind.6 For Godmade all things good in their order: first the five senses in the head(and he joined7 * the neck to the head and the hair to give it glory**),then the heart for understanding, the belly tfor secretion of thestomach*, the windpipe for health, the liver for anger, the gall forbitterness, the spleen for laughter, and kidneys for shrewdness, themuscles ofthe loins for power, the ribs to form a chest,9 the loins for!) strength, and so on. So then, my children, order your lives to dowhat is right10 in the fear of God. and do nothing that is not inIt) order, out of context, or not in season. For if you tell the eye to hear,it cannot: so neither, if your are in darkness, will you be able to dothe deeds of light.

1 Lit. 'with a view to the likeness of the spirit’.

: Lit. 'And there is no remainder, one out ofthe one, a third of a hair'.

' Or ’lor even- creature’.

4 Lit. 'when it begins in evil’.

5 So II: b wrongly repeals 'his work’.

6 All the Gk. MSS are more or less corrupt: the translation is based on areconstruction made with the help of Arm.

’ Sob: II 'andjoining'.

* So bl: H-/\.. to the head, adding also to it the hair to give it dignity and glory*.

* Or 'the sides For sleeping on". Both text and translation are uncertain.

10 b 'be in order to good things': II 'let all your works be in order to good things'.

569

HI. Do not. then, be goaded into wrong-doing by covetousness,'neither deceive yourselves with empty words, because if you keepsilent in purityofheart you will understand how2 to hold fast God’s

2 will and reject the devil’s. Sun moon and stars do not change theirorder: so too you must not change the law of God by the disorderli-

3 ness of what you do. The Gentiles went astray and forsook the Lordand changed their order, and they went after stones and stocks, led

4 away by spirits of error. But you will not he so. my children: youhave recognized in the vault of heaven, in the earth, and in the sea.and in all created things, the I*ord who made them all, so that youshould not become like Sodom which changed the order of its

5 nature. Similarly, the Watchers also changed the order of theirnature, and the Lord cursed them also at the Hood, and it wasbecause of them that he made the earth a waste, without inhabi-tants or fruits.

IV. I am telling you this, my children, because I have read in theholy writing of Enoch that you yourselves also will forsake the Lordand do the same wicked things that the Gentiles do and behave like

2 the lawless men of Sodom.1 And the Lord will bring captivity uponyou, and you will be slaves there to your enemies and subjected toevery kind ^hardship and ill-treatniern until the Lord lias made an

3 end of you altogether. And after your numbers have diminishedand your strength is exhausted, you will return and acknowledgethe Lord your God; and in his great mercy he will bring you back

4 into your own land. And it shall be, when they have come into theland of their fathers, they will again lorget the Lord and art

5 impiously. And the Lord will scatter them over the whole surface ofthe earth, until the Lord’s compassion comes - a man that doesrighteousness and deals mercifully with all those who are far olfand those w<ho are near by.

1 Lit. 'Be not eager, therefore, to corrupt your deeds through covetousness1.

: So IL b ‘you will be able'.

1 Lit. \ . . the Lord, walking according to all the wickedness ofthr Gentiles, and

you will do according to all the lawlessness of Sodom’.

V. In the fortieth year of my life I had a vision1 on the Mount ofOlives2 * (on the east of Jerusalem), that the sun and the moon were

’J standing still. And behold. Isaac, my father's father, said to us.Run and take hold of them, each one of you as best he can, andwhoever lays hands on them, to him will the sun and the moonA belong. And we ran, all of us together; and Levi took hold of thesun, andJudah was the first to lay hands on the moon, and both oft them were lifted up with them. And when Levi was as the sun, ayoung man gave him twelve palm branches; and Judah wasj radiant like the moon, and under his feet were twelve rays. AndLevi and Judah ran towards each other and took hold of oneti another. And behold, a bull appeared upon the earth, having twogreat horns, and there were eagle's wings on its back; and we wanted7 to lay hands on it. but we could not. For Joseph got hold of it firstN and ascended up on high with it. And I looked1 (for I was in thegardens*), and behold, a holy writing appeared to us. saying,Assyrians. Modes. Persians. Klamites. Galachians. Chaldaeans,Syrians, shall in turn lake captive4 the twelve tribes of Israel.

VI. Aiul again, seven months afterwards, I had a vision of1 ourfather Jacob standing by the sea ofjamnia, and we, his sons, were

> with him. And behold, a ship came sailing by. full of salt fish,2 butwithout sailors or steersman; and the ship was inscribed. The;t Ship1 of Jacob. And our father said to us, Let us gel into our ship,t And when we had gone on board, a violent storm got up, and therewas a great gust of wind, and our father, who was at the helm, wasit blown away from us. And we drifted4 storm-tossed; and the shipfilled with water, and it was pounded by massive waves so that it

] Lit. I saw'.

J [.it. 'on the mountains ofolivets)*.

* Sugdtm Arm.: others corrupt.

4 Lit. 'shall inherit in captivity’.

1 Lit. *1 saw*.

* In all probability ‘lull of salt fish" is a corrupt diltography of the following

'without sailors'. ’ So 11-/: bl »m. ‘ I’hc Ship’.

4 Lit. 'wr were carried over the sea’.

6 was broken up. And Joseph made his escape in a dinghy; and wegol away on ten planks (Levi and Judah were on one plank together).

7,it And wc were all scattered to the ends of the earth. But Levi, in

9 sackcloth prayed for us all to the Lord. And when the storm ceased,the ship reached the land, just as if nothing unusual had hap-

10 pened.5 And behold, our father Jacob came, and we all rejoicedtogether.

VII. 1 told the two dreams to my father, and he said to me, Thesethings must be fulfilled at their proper time, after Israel has

2 suffered much. Then my father said to me, I believe that Joseph isalive, for I see that the Lord always includes him along with you.

3 And he said in tears. You are alive, Joseph, my child, though I amunable to look on you, and you cannot see Jacob who begot you.

4 And he reduced us to tears as well by what he said; and I longed1 totell him that Joseph had been sold, but 1 was afraid of my brothers.

VUI. And behold, my children, l have shown you what shall be in

2 the last times, for all these things shall happen in Israel. Instructyour children, therefore, that they keep united with Levi andJudah; lor through Judah will salvation come to Israel.1 and in him

3 will Jacob be blessed. For through his tribe God will appear,dwelling among men on the earth, to save the race oflsrael; and lie

4 will gather together the righteous of the Gentiles. If you do what isgood, my children, both men and angels will bless you; and Godwill be glorified through you among the Gentiles, arid the devil willflee from you, and the wild animals will be afraid of you, and the

3 Lord will love you,2 and the angels will keep close to you. For justas a man who has brought up a child well is remembered as a

6 benefactor, so also a good work is a sure memorial before God.3 Butwho does not do what is good - men and angels will curse him; and

5 Lit. 'as it were in peace’.

1 Lit. ‘I burned in mv bowels'.

1 Lit. ‘will salvation sprout up lor Israel'.

2 Sogle: all others om. ‘and the I.ord will love you’ through homoioieleuton.

* Lit. ‘For as when anyone has brought up a child well, he has a happyremembrance, so also lor a good work there is a happy remembrance before Cod'.

572 The Testaments oj the Twelve Patriarchs

God will he dishonoured among the Gentiles through him. and thedevil will use him as his own peculiar instrument, and every wildanimal will gain the mastery over him. and the I.nrd will hate him.

7 For the commandments of the law are lar f rom simple, and the

8 keeping of them requires some skill.4 For there is a time to embraceone’s wife, and there is a time to abstain, so that one can give

9 oneself to prayer. There are. then, two commandments; and,unless their proper order is maintained, the result is sin. And so too

10 it is with the other commandments. So he wise in God, andprudent; and understand the order of his commandments and thelaws of every action, so that the Lord may love you.

IX. And when he had charged them with many such words, heasked them to take his bones to Hebron and bury them with his

2 fathers. And when he had eaten and drunk and made merry, he

3 hid1 his face and died. And his sons did everything their fatherXaphtali had instructed them.

testament of gad

THE TESTAMENT OF GAD.

ABOUT HATRED

I. A copy of the Testament of Gad, which he gave' to his son in

2 the hundred and twenty-seventh* year of his life, saying, I was heninthJ son born to Jacob, and I was a courageous keeper of the

3 flocks. I used to guard the flock at night, and whenever a lion cameagainst the flock, or a wolf, or a leopard, or a bear, or any wildanimal, I would go af ter it and get hold of it by the foot with myhand, and whirl it round my head and stun it and send it flying from

4 me,4 and so kill it. Now Joseph had been feeding the flocks with usfor about a month, and, delicate as he was, he was affected by the

* Lit. \ . . are double, and through skill must they be fulfilled'

1 Lit. 'covered*.

1 Lit. ‘spoke*.

’ So M: II-/'fifth*. ' So 11: b ‘seventh'.

4 Lit. ’and hurled it over two stadcs - i.c. about a quarter of a mile!

573

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

') heat and taken ill. And he returned to Hebron to liiss father; and heti made him lie down near him, because he loved him. And Josephsaid to our father, Zilpah and Bilhah's sons are killing the best of thesheep*' and eating them without Judah and Reuben’s knowledge.7

7 For he had seen that 1 had rescued a Iamb out of a bear’s mouthand killed the bear, and 1 had destroyed the lamb because 1 wasworried that it would not live, and wc had eaten it; and he told our

8 father.8 And I held this against Joseph until the day he was sold!> into Egypt. And the spirit of hatred was in me, and I did not want

either to see Joseph or to hear about him;9 and he accused us to ourfaces of eating the sheep without Judah knowing it. And whatever hetold our father, he believed him.

H. I confess my sin now. mr children, how I often wanted to killhim, because I cordially hated him and had no kindly feelings2 towards him at all.1 And 1 hated him even more because of hisdreams; and I would have licked him out of the laud of the living,:* just as a calf licks up the fresh green grass oir the ground. That waswhy Judalr and I sold him to the Ishmaclites for thirty pieces ofgold; and we hid ten of them' and showed the other twenty to our

4 brothers. And so through covetousness I was bent on killing him.

5 But4 the God of my fathers saved him from me and prevented mefrom committing an outrage in Israel.

III. And now, my children, listen to the truth:1 do what is right andkeep the whole law of the Most High; and do not be led astray by the

* So h: II 'our'.

6 hit. *... killing the good things'.

’ Or 'in deliancr of J udali and Krutien* (lit. ’contrary to the opinion of Judah andReuben').

" So b: Il-rftmi. ‘and hr told our father': d 'and having seen the lamb be spokeagainst us to Jacob'.

" Lit. ‘and ! did not wish either through ryes or through hearing to see Joseph'.

1 Lit. ‘because I hated him up to the soul and there was altogether no liver ofmercy ill me for him'. ‘ Sob: II ‘Simeon’.

* Lit. ‘we hid the ten'. 4 Lit. ‘And'.

Lit. ‘listen to words of truth*.

574 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

2 spirit of hatred, for it corrupts all human relationships.2 A maninspired by hatred takes exception to anything anyone does: ifanyone keeps the law of the Lord he gets no praise: if anyone fears:l the Lord and strives for what is right, he is not loved. A man inspiredby hatred maligns the truth, envies the successful, welcomes back-biting, and loves arrogance; lor haired has blinded him.-' And this ishow I regarded Joseph.

IV. .So beware of haired, my children, because it is a sin1 against

2 the Lord himself. For it refuses to listen to his commandments that

3 we should love our neighbours, and it sins against God. For if a•brother stumbles.2 it wants to publish it abroad immediately toeveryone, and urges that be should be brought into court for it. and

4 punished, and put to death. And with a servant, it stirs him upagainst his master, and applies every kind of pressure,-’ in the hope

j that it can somehow kill him. For hatred joins forces with envyagainst those who prosper: when it hears of their success, or secs it,t> it is always dismayed.4 For just as love would bring back the deadto life and revoke a death sentence, so hatred would kill those whoare alive and allow no one to live who is guilty of even the smallest7 crime. For the spirit of hatred co-operatcs with Satan in everythingthrough faint-heartedness, and the result is men’s death; but thespirit of love co-operates with the law of God by long-suffering, andthe result is men’s salvation.

V. Hatred is evil, for it invariably goes hand in hand with false-hood and speaks against the truth; and it makes small things out tobe great, represents darkness as light, calls what is sweet bitter,and breeds1 slander and wrath2 and war and violence and a

' Lit. ‘lor it is evil in all the doings of men'.

' Lit. ‘his sou!'.

1 Lie. ‘ic makes lawlessness’.

; So A: II ‘falls'.

1 So bl: I I-f ‘and rejoices over him in ex-cry affliction'.4 Lit. ‘sickly*.

1 Lit. ‘leaches'.

3 So II: bom. ‘and wrath'.

575

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

craving for all kinds of evil things,3 and it fills the heart with

2 devilish poison. And4 I tell you this from my own experience, mychildren, so that you may turn your backs on hatred5 arid hold last

3 to the love of the Lord. Righteousness gets rid of hatred: humilitydestroys hatred: for the righteous and the humble man is ashamedto do what is unrighteous, since he is rebuked, not by someone else,but by his own conscience,6 because the Lord looks at his inten-

4 tions. Ho speaks no ill of anyone.7 lor the fear of the Most High*

5 overcomes hatred. Because he is afraid he might offend the Lord,ti he will do no wrong at all to anyone, even in thought. I learned this

myself in the end, after I had repented of my behaviour to Joseph.

7 For true repentance, as Cod understands it,y destroys ignorance,10drives out darkness, enlightens the eyes, gives knowledge to the

8 soul, and leads the mind to salvation. And what it has not learned

9 f rom men, it comes to know through repentance. For God afflictedme with a disease of the liver, and if it had not been for the prayers

10 of my father Jacob, I would in all probability have died.” For bythe very same things by which a man transgresses, by them is he

11 punished. Consequently, since it was my liver that was set againstJoseph without mercy, in my liver was I judged and sufferedwithout mercy lor eleven months-for just as long as I had nursed agrudge against Joseph until he was sold.

VI. And now, my children, love each one of you his brother, andput away hatred from your hearts, and love one another in deed

2 and word and thought.1 For in my father’s presence 1 would speakamicably' to Joseph, and, when I had gone out, the spirit ol hatred

3 would darken my mind and excite mv soul to kill him. So love one

5 Lit. 'and all covetousness of evil things’.

4 So b: II om.

5 So b: II “so that you may drive out the haired of die devil’.

Lit. 'heart’.

7 So£ (lit. 'of a man’): II ‘ofa holy man’.

8 So hi: 11-/ 'of God’.

17 Lit. ‘true repentance according to God’.

10 So II: b ‘disobedience’.

11 Lit. \ . .Jacob, my spirit would almost have been lost from me'.

Lit. ‘and inclination of the soul’.

5/6 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

another from the heart. .And if anyone sins against you, speak tohim as a friend, havingjfrj/ got rid of the poison of hatred, and be

4 frank with him; and if he confesses and repents, forgive him. But ifhe denies it, do not get involved in a dispute with him, in case he

5 starts to swear and you become responsible for a double sin. Do notlet another man hear your secret in an action at law:2 3 if you do, hewill hate you and become your enemy and do you serious harm;5for often enough when he talks to you deceitfully, or concernshimself in your affairs with evil intent, he has only caught the poison

6 from you. And if he denies it, and yet exhibits a sense of shamewhen reproved, desist:4 do not provoke him any further, for a manwho denies something may repent and not wrong you again: on thecontrary, he may even do you honour, and be afraid of you, and live

7 at peace with you. But if hr is shameless and persists in his wrong-doing, even so forgive him from the heart, and leave vengeance toGod.

VII. If anyone is more prosperous than you are, do not distressyourselves; but pray for him, that he may have perfect prosperity,

'2 for to do so, maybe, is for your own good.1 And if he is even moresuccessful, do not be envious: remember that everyone must die;and offer a hymn2 to the Lord, who gives good and profitable

3 things to all men. Study the lord’s judgements, and he will not

4 forsake your mind, but give it peace.5 And if a man gets rich by evilmeans, like F.sau rny father’s brother, do not be jealous; but4 wait

5 for the time appointed by the Lord.5 For either he takes away whathas been acquired by evil means, or he forgives those who repent,

6 or for the unrepentant he reserves punishment for ever. For the

2 Or 'in a quarrel’ (lit. ‘in battle’). The alternative in the translation lias beenpreferred because the author was evidently influenced here by Prov. xxv. 8-10.

3 Lit. ‘and commit a great sin against you’.

4 So II {lit. ‘keep quiet’): b has a passive form of the verb ('he is to be leftundisturbed’ (?) ).

1 Or ‘for to do so is just as much for your own good'.

2 So bl: 11-/ ‘offer hymns’.

3 A combination of the readings of b (which leaves out ‘not’) and of the prototype

of 11 (which leaves out the emphatic ‘he’). 4 So II: b ‘for’.

5 Lit. ‘the limit of the Lord’.

577

The Testaments oj the Twelve Patriarchs

man who is poor and free from envy, who gives thanks to the Lordin all things, is himself richer than all men.6 because he avoids the7 vexations o[other men.7 Have done. then, with hatred, and love oneanother in sincerity.8

VIII. And also, tell your children to honour Judah and Levi; for'1 from them will the Lord raise up a saviour1 lor Israel. For I knowthat at the last your children will turn away from them and beinvolved in all kinds o/ wickedness and oppression and corruption3 before the Lord. And when lie had rested a little, he said to them7again, My children, obey your father and bury me near my fathers.And he drew up his Icet and fell asleep in peace. And five yearsafterwards they carried him up and buried' him in Hebron with hisfathers.

testament of asher

THE TESTAMENT OF ASHER.

ABOl'T THE TWO ASPECTS'

OF VICE AND VIRTUE

I. A copy of the Testament of Asher, w hich he gave1 to his sons inthe hundred and twenty-sixth' year of his life.

2 While he was still in good health he said to them. Listen,children of Asher, to your father, and I will tell you everything thatA is right in the sight of God. Two ways has God appointed lormankind, and two impulses, and two kinds of action, and two

6 So II: A ’rich among all men'.

7 Or “because he does not engage in the worthless toils of other men’ (lit- becausehe has not the evil distraction of men’ - cp. Keel. i. lit; etc.).

* [.it. ’in uprightness ofheart'.

1 So b: I dm eaj ’arise as a saviour*; kg chi Arm. 'raise up salvation*.

■’ So b: It om. 'tothem*.

1 So M: £ ’laid’.

1 Lit. ‘laces' - and so throughout this Testament.

1 Lit. ’spoke*.

J So II: b ‘hundred and twentieth’.

\ courses.'3 and two ends. Thus, all things are in twos, one over,j against the other. There are two ways, of good and evil, and alongwith these are the two impulses in our breasts that make thefj distinctions between them. So. if the soul is well disposed to whatis good, its every action is in righteousness, and. if it sins, it

7 repents at once; for when a man's thoughts are set on things thatare righteous and he rejects what is wicked, he upsets what is evil

8 immediately and uproots what is sinful. But if the soul inclines theimpulse to wickedness, its every action is in wickedness: havingspurned what is good, such a man takes to himselfWhat is evil, andunder Beliar’s control, even if he docs anything good, he turns it to4

[•) wickedness; for whenever he begins as though to do good, the endof his action spurs him on to doing evil.s since the treasure-house ofthe impulse6 is filled with the poison of an evil spirit.

II. Someone, then, may say what is good1 (he said; for the sake of2 evil, and the end of what he does leads to evil. A man may2

because he shows no compassion few his accomplice in evil: this:* indeed has two aspects, but the whole is evil. A man may love aknave:4 he is just as much involved in wickedness as the other man.because he would be willing even to die in evil because of him; andhere too it is clear that there arc two aspects, but the result as a1 whole is evil. Though it is love, it is wickedness,5 lor it concealswhat is evil: it may look good nominally,6 but the end tends to evil.

5 Another man is a thief, a scoundrel, a robber, and a cheat, and yethas pity on the poor: this case also has two aspects, but the whole is

6 evil. By cheating his neighbour, he7 angers Cod and swears falsely

* So 11: b 'places*. 4 Lit.'in'.

• Or ‘he lories the end of his action into doing evil'.

6 So II: A \»i the dew!’.

1 Lit. There is, then, a soul saying the good'.

2 Lit. ‘There is a man' - and so subsequently.

•' Comparison with verse 3 suggests that a clause is missing here.

4 Lit.‘the wicked-doer’.

s So A: II ‘it is in wickedness’.

6 So 11: A is corrupt.

7 So A: II ‘He who cheats his neighltour. ..’.

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 579

against the Most High, yet he pities the pour: the Lord, whocommands the law, he flouts and treats with contempt, and yet to

7 the poor man he gives relief. He defiles the soul and makes the bodyglamorous: he destroys many and pities a few; and this also has (wo

8 aspects, but the whole is evil.* Another man commits adultery andfornicates, yet abstains from fi>od: while he lasts he does evil, andby his power and wealth drags down many others with him. and yetin spile o{ his excessive wickedness he does what is commanded:

9 this also has two aspects, but the whole is evil. Such men are like

10 pigs or hares; for they are half clean, but in truth are unclean. ForGod has said so in the heavenly tablets.

III. So do not be like them, my children, men of two aspects, onegood and the other evil; but cling to goodness only. Ibr God1 makes

2 his home in it and men strive after it. Turn away from evil and.destroy the devil by your good works; for those of two aspects donot serve God, but their own lusts, in order to please Beliar andmen like themselves.

IV. For good men and those of a single aspect, though they may bethought sinners by those of two aspects, are righteous in God's

2 eyes. For many who kill the wicked do two things - a good thingthrough an evil one;1 hut the whole is good because whoever does it

3 has uprooted and destroyed what is evil. A man may hate the manwho pities the poor and is unrighteous, and the man who commitsadultery and fasts:2 this also has two aspects, but the thing as awhole is good, because he follows the Lord's example in notaccepting what seems gocxl together with what is in truth evil.

4 Another man will not keep a festival3 with profligates, in case hemay defile his mouth4 and pollute his soul: this also has two

* So II: b nm. ‘but... evil*.

1 So b: 11 'lor even God’.

1 So I I-fj; b g 'an evil thing through a g<H>d one’.

1 So II: b. through corruption, has a slightly diUerent text here with a completelydiilcrent (and impossible) meaning.

J Lit. ‘will not see a good day' (cp. Esther viii. 17; ix. 19. 22: also I Sam. xxv. 8).

* So A: II 'his body’.

580

The Testaments oj the Twelve Patriarchs

.> aspects, but the whole is good. For5 such men are like stags andhinds because just like wild animals they seem to be unclean, butthey arc altogether clean because they live their lives full of zeal lorGod: in so far as they abstain from what God hates too, and forbidsby his commandments, they keep what is evil away from what isgood.

V. So you sec, my children, how there are two in all things, the one

2 over against the other, and the one is hidden by the other.1 Deathsucceeds to life, dishonour to glory, night to day, and darkness tolight; but all things are under the day, and the things that arerighteous under life (that is why eternal life has to wait lor2 death).

3 And it cannot be said that truth is a lie, nor right wrong; for all

4 truth is under the light, just as all things are under God. All thishave I proved in my life, and I have not strayed from the path oftruth which the Lord marked out;5 and I have examined thecommandments of the Most High and lived, so far as I could, witha single aspect directed to what is good.

VI. Observe then, my children, the commandments of the Lord

2 yourselves, and follow the truth with a single aspect. For men oftwo aspects receive a two-fold punishment.1 Hate the spirits of

3 error that contend against men. Keep the law of the Lord, and donot look on evil as if it were good; but concentrate your attention onwhat is really good, and persevere in it along with2 all the Lord’scommandments, and settle yourselves down in it3 and take your

s Sob: (loin.

1 This .short text is found in b g: k and l are larking; dm caj chi have variousadditional clauses. Originally the (probably secondary ■ longer text may have read'by the other: in a judgement is hidden partiality, in ownership greed, in feastingdrunkenness, in laughter sorrow, in marriage self-indulgence'.

1 Lit. 'eternal life waits lor’.

5 Lit. ‘1 have not wandered from the truth of the Lord'.

1 Again dm eaf ch have an obviously secondary addition, 'for they both do what is

evil and applaud those that do it': subsequently eaf ch read ‘following the exampleof’instead of‘Hate’. * Lit. ‘and keep it in’.

3 So II: b ‘in him’.

581

The Testaments ofthe Twelve Patriarchs

4 rest in it.' For men's ends reveal their progress in righteousness.

when they make the acquaintance oi the angels of the Lord and theh angels of Satan. For if the soul departs from the body troubled, it istormented by the evil spirit that it served in lusts and evil deeds.<i But if it departs quietly and with joy, that man has already becomeacquainted with the angel of peace that will com tort him with4life.

VII. Do not. children,1 be like Sodom, which did not recognize the

2 Lord’s angels and perished for ever. For I know that you will sinand be handed over to your enemies, and your land will be desol-ated and your holy places destroyed.2 and you will be scattered tothe four corners of the earth and be dispersed and despised likewater that is useless, until the Most High looks with favour on the

3 earth. And he will come himselfas a man. eating and drinking withmen and quietly breaking the head of the dragon through water: inthis way he will save Israel and all the Gentiles - God playing the

•l part of man. Tell this, then, to your children, so that they do not?> disbelieve him. For I have read in the heavenly tablets that youcertainly will disbelieve him and you will undoubtedly treat himshamefully, and pay no attention to the law of God but only to theG commands of men.1 Because of this you will be scattered like mybrothers Gad and Dan. who will forget their own lands and tribe7 and tongue. But the Lord will gather you together in faith becauseof the hope of his compassion Joryou, for Abraham and Isaac andJacob's sake.

VIII. And when he had finished speaking to them he gave theminstructions, saying. Burs- me in Hebron. And he died and slept the

2 perfect sleep.1 And afterwards his sons did as he had instructedthem and carried him up and buried him with his fathers.

4 Lit. 'in'.

' So b: 11 orti.

: So 11: A om. ‘and your holy plan's destroyed'.

■ So b I a: i\dt add 'carried away by wickedness of’single aspect', a reading thatprobably underlies the variants in /and (hi.

1 Lit. ‘And lie died, having fallen asleep with a g»xxi sleep'.

testament of joseph

5B2 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

THK TESTAMENT OF JOSEPH.ABOUT CHASTITY

I. A copy of the* Testament of Joseph.

When lie was about to die he railed his sons and his brothers and2 said to them, My children and brothers.

Listen to Joseph, Israel's loved one:

Listen carefully, wy sons, to your father.

:j I have seen in my life envy and death.

But1 1 did not go astray in the truth of the Lord.

1 These my brothers hated me. but1 the Lord loved me:

They wanted to kill me. blit1 the Cod of my fathers kept me

safe:

They let me down into a pit, but' the Most High brought meup again.

:» I was sold into slavery, but1 the Lord2 set me free:

I was taken into captivity, but' his strong hand supportedme:

I was assailed by hunger, but' the Lord himself fed me:

(> I was atone, but1 God gave me comfort:

1 was ill. but' the Most High came to my help:

I was in prison, but1 the Saviour showed me favour;

In bonds, and he released me;

7 Slandered, and he pleaded my cause;

Reviled by the Egyptians, and he delivered me;

Envied by my lellow-servants.' and he promoted me.

II. And thus it came about that Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s

2 bodyguard.1 entrusted his household to me. And I had to struggle

1 Lit. ’and*.

- So b t: I ‘the Lord of all*.

’ So I! (lit. “in envyings with my fellow-servants’): b ‘envied and tricked’ (lit. ‘inonvyiill's with tricks’).

1 Lit. ’Fharoah’s chief-cook’: already in the Gk. Old Testament the title seems to

have chunked its meaning (rp. especially Dan. ii. 14, in both the Scptuagim andThcodotion’s translation, with Josephus. Ant. X. x. 3 t§l‘>7) ).

against a shameless woman, who was pressing me to transgresswith her; but the God of my father Israel kept me1 2 from the burning

3 flame. I was thrown into prison. I was beaten. I was mocked; but'

4 the Lord caused the jailer to take pity on me. For he will not forsakethose who fear him. whether it lx* darkness they are in. or prison, or

1 distress, or need. For God is not ashamed as a man is ashamed, nor ishe afraid like a mortal, nor is he weak or easily pushed out of the

i) way like an earth-born human. But in all places he is near at hand,and gives comfort in diflerent ways, though fora little while he may

7 absent himself in order to test the disposition of the soul. By tentemptations he showed his approval of me, and in all of them 1endured; for endurance is a first-rate4 medicine, and fortitudebestows on us many excellent gifts.

III. How often did the Egyptian woman threaten me with death!How often did she give me over to punishment, and then call meback and threaten me. when I refused to have intercourse with her!

2 And she would say to me. You shall be my lord, and lord of all Ipossess, if you will give yourself to me, and you shall be as our

3 master. But I would remember the words of'my father Jacob,' and

4 I would go into my room and pray to the Lord. And I used to fastduring those seven years, but21 looked to the Egyptian3 as if 1 wereliving on the fat of the land (for God grants those who fast for his

5 sake the gift of a healthy look4). And if he was away from home, Iwould not drink wine;5 and for three whole days I would lake my

6 food and give it to the poor and the siek. And I used to get up earlyto seek the Lord and weep for the Egyptian woman of Memphis,for she kept on pestering me — even during the night she would

come to me under the pretence that she was concerned about me.

2 So A: II “delivered me".

■ I.it. ‘and'. * Lit. ‘great'.

1 Thr text here is very confused. the MSS varying Ijclwcrn ‘the words of myfathers' and ‘the words of my lather' (with or without “Jacob'): b combines allpossibilities and reads 'the words of the fathers and of my lather Jacob' (cp. Job.xxxix. 6): the text translated is found only in d.

2 Lit. ‘and'. •' i.e. to Potiphar.

* Lit. ‘for those who fast lor God’s sake receive grace of fare’.

5 So 11-/ d: b (t) d (?) ‘And ifhe gave me wine I would not drink it'.

7 And at first,6 because she had no son,7 she pretended to regard me

8 as a son; and so I prayed to the Lord, and she bore a son.7 Thus,®for a time it was as a son that she embraced me, and I did notrecognize ike truth; but at last she tried to lure me9 into fornication.

9 And when f realized it, I was ready to die with grief; and after shehad gone away, I came to myself, and I made a lamentation for herfor many days, because I was now aware of her wiles and her deceit.

10 And I repeated to her the words of the Most High, in the hope thatsite might turn10 from her evil lust.

IV. How often did she flatter me with words as a holy man, craftilyin her talk praising my chastity in her husband’s presence, whilewhen we were alone she would do all she could to bring about my

2 downfall. She would laud me openly as chaste, but in secret say tome, Have no fear of my husband, for he is convinced about yourchastity; and even if anyone told him about us, he would not

3 believe it. And because of all this1 I would lie on the ground insackcloth and beseech God that the Lord would deliver me from

4 the Egyptian woman. But when she saw she had achieved nothing,she came to me again under the pretence that she wanted to be

o instructed and learn the word of the Lord. And she said to me, ifyou want me to forsake idols, be persuaded by me,2 and I willpersuade the Egyptian to give up idols too, and both of in will live as

6 the law of your Lord requires.3 But I said to her, The Lordrequires4 that his worshippers should not live unclean lives, nor

7 has he any use for adulterers. And she made no reply, still craving

6 for the satisfaction of her lust. And as lor me, 1 gave myself even

more to fasting and to prayer that the Lord might deliver me fromher.

6 So t> d: 11-rfom. ‘And at first’.

7 Lit. ‘male child ... a male’.

" So b: II om.

9 Lit. ‘she lured me’.

10 So b\ II ‘return*.

1 Lit. ‘In all these things’.

2 So b: 11 ‘lie with me’.

3 Lit. \ .. give up idols, walking (pi.) in the law of your Lord’.

4 So II (lit. ‘wills’): b ‘says’.

585

V. And again, on another occasion, she said to me, if you will notcommit adultery, I will kill the Egyptian, and so take you as a

2 lawful husband. And I, when I heard this, rent my robe and said,Woman, show some respect for the Lord, and do not do such anevil thing:1 if you do, you will destroy yourself; for 1 will let

3 evcryl»ody know of your impious plan. So she was frightened and

4 begged me not to tell anyone about her wickedness. And she wentaway and sent me all kinds of delectable gifts to mollify me.

1,2 VI. And she sent me food mixed with incantations. And when theeunuch that brought it came, 1 looked up and saw a frighteningman presenting trie with a sword together with the dish; and Irealized that she had had recourse to magic1 to lead my soul astray.

3 And when he had gone out, 1 wept; and I ate neither that nor any

4 other of her food. So then, a day later, she came to me, and noticingthe food said to me, Why is it you have not eaten any of the food?

5 And I said to her. it is because you have filled it with death. Did

6 you not say. I will serve idols no more,3 but the Lord only? So I cantell you now that the God of my father revealed your wickedness tome through an angel, and 1 have kept the food3 as evidence against

7 you, in the hope that you might see it and repent. But so that youcan learn that the wickedness of evil-doers has no power over thosewho worship God in chastity, (I look some of the food and ate it infront of her. saying.) The God of my fathers and the angel ofAbraham will be with me. And she fell on her face at my feet and

9 wept; and I lifted her up and admonished her. And she promisednot to transgress again.

VIII. But because her heart was set1 on me and she was still hopingto seduce me,2 she took to groaning and throwing herself to the

1 Lil. 'this evil deed’.

1 Or VI realized that her scheme was’

2 Lil. 'I do not approach idols .

1 Lil. ‘kept it’.

' So A: II ‘was still set'.

2 Lit. \ .. set on me with a view to licentiousness'.

f)8f> The Testaments oj the Twelve Patriarchs

U ground.•* And when the Egyptian saw her. he said to her. Why areyou looking so sad?"1 And she said. I am pained at heart, and myspirit's groanings distress me. And he took special tare of her,although there was nothing wrong with her. Then she rushed in tome, while her husband was away from home.5 and said to me. Ishall hang myself, or throw myself down a well, or over a el i If, if you■\ will not he persuaded by me.6 And when I saw that the spirit ofj Beliar was troubling her. I prayed to the Lord. And I said to her.Why are you so troubled and distraught, and blinded by year sins?Do not forget that if you kill yourself. Setho, your husband'sconcubine, your rival, will ill-treat your children and obliterateii your memory from the earth. And she said to me. So then you dolove me! It is enough for me that you are concerned about my lifeand my children's lives: I have a good hope that 1 shall attain my7 end.7 And she did not realize that it was because of my God 1 hadH said this, and not because of her. For if a man has yielded to thepassion of an evil desire, and become a slave to it, as she had,whatever good thing he hears about the passion he is overcome by,he lakes as a justification of his evil desire."

VIII. 1 tell you, my children, it was about noon when she left me;and I spent the rest of the day and all the night in prayer to theLord. And about dawn I got up in tears, begging to be rescued:2 from the Egyptian woman. In the end. she took hold of my clothes3 and forcibly dragged me to her to have intercourse with me. Andwhen I saw that in her madness she was holding onto my clothes byt force, I Med naked. And she falsely accused me.1 and the Egyptianimprisoned me in his house; and next day he had me flogged andf» sent me to Pharoah’s prison.2 And because 1 was now in fetters the

' So A: 11 'and looking sad’.

4 Lil. 'Why has your fare fallen?'s Lit.‘was still outside'.

* So b: 11 *if you will not lie with nic\

Lit. 'that I shall enjoy my desire'.

* Lit. ‘hr takes it towards an evil desire'.

1 So I J: A adds‘to her husband'.

J So 11: A wrongly repeats ‘the Egyptian sent me to the prison in his house'.

587

The Testaments ojthe Twelve Patriarchs

Egyptian woman was prostrate with grief; and she heard aboutme, how I was singing praises to the Lord, although* in the houseof darkness, and rejoicing with a cheerful voice, and glorifying myGod — for 1 had been at last set free from the Egyptian woman.4

IX. And she sent to me frequently saying. If you will consent togrant me my desire, then I will release you from your bonds and set

2 you free from the darkness. But the idea of giving in to her neverentered my head; for God prefers a man. who in a den of darknessfasts in chastity, to the man who lives in extravagance and wanton-

3 ness in his apartments in a palace.1 (And the man who lives inchastity wants glory too. and if the Most High2 knows that it isgood for him, he bestows this on him also, even as he did on me.)

4 How often, although unwell, did she come down to me in the deadof night and listen to my voice as I prayed; but when I heard her

:> groanings I kept quiet. For when I was in her house she would bareher arms and breasts and legs to entice me into having intercoursewith her; for she was more than ordinarily beautiful, and sheadorned herself especially to beguile me. But the Lord protectedme from her devices.

X. So you see, my children, what great things fortitude can do,2 together with prayer and fasting. And you too - if you strive for

chastity and purity in fortitude and humility of heart, the Lord willi dwell in you, for he loves chastity. And wherever the Most Highdwells, even though a man encounters envy, or slavery, or slander,or darkness,1 the Lord who dwells in him. because of his chastity,not only rescues him from the evils, but also exalts him and glorifies

4 him, even as he did me. For in every way man is under constraint, in

5 deed and word and thought. My brothers know how my father

J So b (lit. ‘being’): f I om.

* Lit. *— only that by the occasion I had been set free.

1 So l (lit. ‘in the inner rooms of palaces’): gm eaj (with a otic-letter difTrrenec inthe Gk.) ‘in the inner rooms of kings'; b ‘in inner rooms'.

2 So b\ [ I 'And if the man . . . too. and the Most High ..

So II: A om. ‘or darkness'.

loved me. and yet 1 did not set myself'above them in niy heart:3although but a child. I had the fear of(»od in niy mind.’ lor I knewt> that all things will pass away. And I knew my proper place, and Ihonoured my brothers; and out of respect lor them' 1 kept quietwhen I was being sold, so that I did not tell the lshmaelites myrace, or that I was a son of Jacob, a great and powerful man.

XI. You too, then, must have the fear of Cod before your eyes' ineverything you do.3 and honour your brothers; for everyone that

2 keeps the law of the Lord will be loved by him. And when I came tothe Itidocolpitae with the lshmaelites. they questioned me, and Isaid. I am their home-born slave, so as not to shame my brothers.And the senior among them said to me. You are no slave: only tolook at you makes that clear enough. And he threatened me with4 death. But I said, I am their slave. And when we came into Egyptthey began to quarrel over me. about which oj them should pay■> money for me and take me as his own. However, it was agreed that Ishould be left in Egypt with one of their retailers until they cameti back again with more goods for sale.4 And the Lord made theretailer well-disposed towards me. and he entrusted his household7 to me. And the Lord blessed him through me. so that he becameH richer and richer.4 And 1 was with him three months and five days.

XII. It was at that time that the Memphian woman, the wile ofPetephris, passed in a chariot' with a great display, and she casther eyes in my direction, for the eunuchs had told her about me.

2 And she said to her husband with reference to the retailer, He hasgot his riches through a young Hebrew; and they say that he was

3 stolen out of the land of Canaan. Now then, see that justice is done

1 So b: II *. . . in niy mind ... in niy heart*.

* Lit. ‘and because of Tear of them'.

1 So II: b om. 'brfortr your eyes'.

1 So 11:6 'in what you do’.

' Or ‘with the profits of their trading*.

4 Lit. ‘and he multiplied him in silver and gold*.

' So I I-jg: bg om. ‘in a chariot*.

lo him and take the youth away to be your steward; and the God ofthe Hebrews will bless you, ior the favour of heaven2 is on him.

XIII. And Pctcphris was persuaded by what she said, and heordered the retailer to be brought; and he said to him, What is itthat I hear, that you steal people1 out of the land of the Hebrews2

2 and sell them as slaves? But the retailer fell on his face andimplored him, saying. Please, my lord, 1 do not understand what

3 you are saying. But he said. Where then, did you get your Hebrew'servant from? And he said, The Ishmaelites put him in my charge

4 until they came back. And he did not believe him but ordered himto be stripped and beaten. And when he persisted in his statement’

5 Petephris said. Let the young man be brought. And when I wasbrought in, I did obeisance to the chief eunuch (for he was third inrank beside Pharoah and in charge of all the eunuchs, with a wife

6 and children and concubines). And he took me apart from him and

7 said to me. Are you a slave or a freeman? And l said. A slave. 4AndH he said [to me], Whose [slave are you]? And I said [to him], The

Ishmaelites’. And [again] he said to me, How did you become theirslave? And I said. They bought me out of the land of Canaan.59 And he did not believe me and said,6 You are lying. And he orderedme to be stripped and beaten.

XIV. Bui the Memphian woman was looking out of the windowwhile l was being beaten, and site sent to her husband, saying,What you are doing1 is unjust, lor you arc punishing a free man

2 that has been stolen as if he were an evil-doer. And when, afterbeing beaten, I made no change in what I said, he ordered me to be

3 imprisoned, Until, he said, the boy’s owners come. And his wife

2 Lit. ‘for favour from heaven’.

1 Lit. ‘souls'.

2 So b: 11 ‘the land of Canaan’.

s So II: Aom. ‘in his statement.

4 The bracketed words in verses 7 and 8 are not found in 11.

5 So II: 6 ‘out of Canaan’.

6 And he did not. . . said: so b\ 11 ‘Arid he said to me’.

Lit. ‘Your judgement’.

590 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

said to him. Why are you keeping him under arrest? He came here asa captive and is a well-bred boy: far belter set him free and make4 him one of your servants. (For she wanted to see me as a result ofn her sinful yearning; and I was completely unaware of it.) But hesaid to the Memphian woman, It is not the custom1 2 of the Egyptiansli to take away what belongs to others before proof is given. This hesaid with reference to the retailer; and about me he said that I mustbe kept in prison.3

XV. And twenty-four days afterwards the Ishmaelites rame. And

2 they had heard that my father Jacob was mourning for me. Andthey said to me. How was it that you said you were a slave? Wchave discovered that you are the son of a great man in the land of

3 Canaan,' and your father is in mourning2 in sackcloth. And again Icould have wept,3 but 1 restrained myself so as not to shame mybrothers. And I said, I do not know anything about that at all: 1 am a

4 slave. Then they made up their minds to sell me in case l should be

5 found in their possession. For they were afraid that Jacob mightwreak a savage vengeance on them; for it was reported4 that he was

G a great one with the Lord and with men.t Then the retailer said to7 them, Release me from the judgement of Petephris. And they cameand asked me, saying. He was bought by us with money, And heset us free.5 t

XVI. And the Memphian woman told her husband to buy me, For2 I hear (said she) they are selling him. And she sent a eunuch to the

Ishmaelites and asked them to sell me. And the chief of the

2 This is implied in all MSS and added explicitly mg ldm Arm.

3 So b: 11 and the boy, he said, must be kept in prison'.

1 So 11: h :irt Canaan’.

2 Sob: II adds ‘for you'.

‘ So b (lit. ‘And again 1 wanted to weep’): II ‘And I wanted very' much to weep’.

4 Sob: II ‘lor they heard'.

s Or ‘And he sent us away'. The text of verses 6 and 7 is clearly in disarray. Inverse 7 there are wide variations between the MSS, from no one of which, whentaken by itself, is it possible to construct a consistent sense, nor, when all are takentogether, is it possible to reconstruct a hypothetical original witli any degree ofprobability. 1 he translation offered is a fairly literal rendering of what is found in b.

591

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

bodyguard summoned the Ishmaelites and also asked them to sell

3 me.1 And as he was not able to come to an agreement with them,2he withdrew. But the eunuch who had been sounding them outtold his mistress, They arc asking an enormous price for the boy.

4 And she sent another eunuch, saying. Even if they want two minasin gold, do not worry or be sparing with the gold: only buy the boy

5 and bring him. And he paid them eighty pieces of gold for me, buthe told the Egyptian woman that a hundred had been paid for me.

fi And although I had seen it* I kept quiet, so that the eunuch shouldnot be called to account.4

XVII. You see, my children, how much l had to put up with in

2 order not to shame my brothers. So you too must love one another

3 and by your endurance hide one another's faults, for God delightsin brotherly concord and in the inclination of a heart directed to

4 love. And when my brothers came into Egypt, when they dis-covered that I had returned their money to them, and 1 did not

5 reproach them but rather welcomed them, and when, after Jacob’sdeath, I showed even more love towards them and did even more

6 than he had told me to, they were astonished.1 For I would not letthem suffer even the most trivial hardship: indeed, I gave them

7 everything I had. Their sons were my sons, and my sons as theirslaves: their life2 was my life,2 and all their suffering was mysuffering, and every weakness of theirs my own feebleness: my land

» was their land, their will my will.3 And I did not arrogantly exaltmyself among them because of my worldly glory, but 1 was amongthem as one of the least.

1 So most MSS. Fn hg dc there is an omission through homiotekutou resulting inthe whole verse appearing as ‘And he (she?) sent a eunuch to the Ishmaelites andasked them to sell me’.

: So b: II om, 'to come loan agreement with them’.

1 So b: II ‘And although I knew if.

4 Or ‘tortured’. So b: 11‘put to shame’ 'jgdm have an obviously-secondary lorni ofthe sentence, ‘so that 1 should not shame the eunuch’ - t-p. xi. 2, xv. 3, xvii. 1).

1 So b: II om. ‘they were astonished'.

2 Lit. ‘soul’.

* So II: b ‘my will their will*.

XVIII. So if you too, my c hildren, live in accordanc e with theLord's commands, he will exalt you here.1 and he will bless you

2 with what is good for ever.1 And if anyone tries to harm you, treathim well and pray for him. and you will be delivered2 3 by the Lord

3 from every evil. For you know well enough2 that it was because ofmy endurance that I married a daughter of my masters; and ahundred talents of gold were given me with her. for the Lord made

\ them as if they were my slaves. And he gave me heauty also, like aflower, surpassing the beauties of Israel; and he preserved me intoold age in strength and in splendour, because I was like Jacob ineverything.

1,2 XIX. Listen, my children, also to the visions1 that I saw. Therewere twelve stags feeding, and nine of them were dispersed and

« scattered2 over the earth.' and so also were the other three4 * * 7 And I

saw that from Judah was born a virgin wearing a linen robe, andfrom her came Ibrth a lamb without blemish; and on his left hand

1 Or ‘in this world ... in eternity".

’ Lit. ‘redeemed*. 1 I.ic ’For Itehold. you s(r‘.

1 So h r. ;dl other witnesses. including Ann., read singular.

* So hkl all others, including Arm., om. 'dispersed and'.

' So bk: II 'over all the earth': Arm. om.

* For ‘and . . . three' Arm., reads hut three were saved: and on the nest day theytoo were sc attered'. For verses 3-7 only Arm. is extant: whether it has preserved Un-original (Ik. text, either as a whole or in part, is not dear: the following is M. K.Stone's translation in his The Armenian Version uj the Testament of Joseph: Introduction,Critical Hditwn. and Translation [S.H.I.. Texts and Translations Senes. (i: l‘seudef>igraphetSeries, 3: Missoula, Montana. 1 '<73. pp. 33-33):

3 And I saw that the three stags became three lambs and they cried out to theLord and he brought them Ibrth out of darkness into light and he brought them

4 to a green and watered place. And there they cried out to the Lord until thenine stags were gathered to them and they beeame like twelve sheep, and altera little they increased and became many Mocks.

3 Alter this I saw and. Ix-hold, twelve bulls which were sucking the one rowwhich, through the vast amount ot her milk, w as making a sea. And the twelve

<> flocks and the innumerable herds were drinking from it. And the horns of thefourth bull were elevated up to the heavens and liecanie like a wall for the flocks

7 and another horn flowered Ijctwecii the horns. And 1 saw a calf which circled ittwelve times and became an aid to the bulls altogether.

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 393

there was as it were a lion; and all the animals made an assault onhim. but5 the lamb overcame them and destroyed them and trarnp-') led them underfoot. And the angels rejoiced because of him. and

10 men rejoiced also, and the whole earth.6 And these things shall come

11 to pass at their proper time, in the last days. So you must, mychildren, observe the Lord's commands, and honour Judah andLevi, for from them shall come7 to you the Lamb of God. who by

12 grace will save all the Gentiles and Israel. For his kingdom is aneternal kingdom, that shall not be shaken. But my kingdom amongyou shall come to an end like a watchman's hut in a fruit-garden,for after the summer it will disappear.

XX. I know that after my death the Egyptians will oppress you.but God will avenge you and will bring you into the land he promised2 to your fathers.' But you must take my bones up with you: for whilemy bones are on the way. the Lord will be with you in light, and:i Bcliar will be in darkness with the Egyptians. And take up yourmother Xilpah also, and bury her near Bilhah,1 2 * by (he hippo-

4 drome.' close tu Rachel. And when he had finished speaking, he

5 stretched out his feet and slept the eternal sleep. And all Israelb mourned for him. and all Egypt, with a great mourning; for he had

fell for the Egy ptians as if they were part of himself,4 and he hadhelped them atid stood by them in all their undertakings and plansand business matters.

* Lit. 'and'.

* In verses H and 9 Arm. lias a number ofvariants which are not likely to Ih*original. Nevertheless the Armenian text ol these verses is given (tor information) inStone's translation:

B And I saw among the horns a virgin who had a many -coloured garment andfrom her a lamb went Ibrth. And from its right side all wild beasts and creeping9 things attacked and the lamb overcame them and destroyed them. And thebulls and the cow and the three horns were glad because of it and rejoiced withit.

file variants in Arm. in verses 10—12 (mainly omissions) have not been thoughtworth recording. 7 I .it - 'arise'.

1 bk ‘into the promise of your lathers'; glejc “into the promises of your fathers';

d 'into the land of the promise of your lathers'; mahi are larking.

1 CIp. Job. xxxiv. 16. ’ Cp. Gen. xlviii. 7 (LXX).

4 Lit. 'as for his own limbs'.

testament of benjamin

594 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

THE TESTAMENT OF BENJAMIN.

ABOUT A PURE MIND

I. A ropy of the words of Benjamin, which he left as a testament tohis sons after he had lived a hundred and twenty-five years.1

2 And after he had kissed them he said. As Isaac was born toAbraham in his hundreth year, so also was I to Jacob. And sinceRachel died in giving me birth, I had no milk: so 1 was suckled by•I Billiah. her slave-girl. For Rachel was barren for twelve years aftershe had borne Joseph; and she prayed to the Lord and fasted forh twelve days, and afterwards she conceived and bore me. For ourfather loved Rachel very dearly and was longing to have two sons(i by her.* That was why 1 was called Son of days (that is Benjamin).

II. Now when I went into Egypt and my brother Joseph recog-nized me, he said to me, What did they tell my father when they

2 sold me? And I said to him. They spattered your tunic with blood,and sent it and said. Do you recognize this as your son’s tunic?:j ‘And he said to me. Yes, brother; for when the Ishmaelites tookme, one of them stripped off my tunic, gave me a loincloth, and

4 flogged me, and told me to run off. But when he went away to hide

5 my coal, a lion met him and killed him. And so his companionswere frightened and sold me to some others of them.

III. So you, my children, must love the Lord, the God of heaven,and keep his commandments, and follow the example of the good

2 and holy man Joseph. And let your mind be set on what is good,just as you know mine is:1 the man who has his mind so set2 sees all

1 So 11: b ’a hundred and twenty years”.

: I.il. 'to see two sons from her'.

1 In ii. 3 — iii. 5 the Armenian has a very different text. There is no reason tosuppose it ordinal despite fhe somewhat inconsequential nature of the Greek aspreserved.

1 Lit. 'be towards the good, as also you know me".

: Lit. ‘he who has the mind good”.

The Testaments oj the Twelve Patriarchs ">9">

things rightly. Fear the Lord, and love vowr neighbour; and even ifthe spirits of Bciiar claim you. and ajjlictyou with every kind of eviland hardship.1 yet no evil or hardship3 will gain the mastery over■I you, even as they did not over my brother Joseph. How many therewere that wanted to kill him! But God protected him; lor a manwho fears God and loves his neighbour cannot be struck down bythe spirit of the air (that is the spirit of Beliar). because he isj protected by the fear of God. Nor can he be overcome by anythingthat men or animals contrive against him. lor he is helped by the(> love of the Lord, which he has towards his neighbour. For Josephbegged our father4 to pray lor his sons.8 that the Lord would not

7 hold them accountable for their wicked plots against him. And itwas because of this that Jacob cried out. .1 h child Joseph, you goodchild.6 you have won your father Jacob's heart.7 And he embraced

8 him and kissed him for two hours, and said. In you shall be fulfilledthe prophecy of heaven about the Lamb of God and the Saviour ofthe world - that one without blemish shall be oflered up on behalfof sinners, and one without sin shall die on behalf of the ungodly, inthe blood of the covenant, for the salvation of the Gentiles and ofIsrael, and he shall destroy Beliar and those who serve him.

IV. You saw, children, how that good man was rewarded in theend.1 Imitate, therefore.2 his compassion in sincerity,3 so that you2 also may wear crowns of glory. The good man has not an eye thatcannot see;4 lor he shows mercy to all men, sinners though theymay be, and though they may plot his ruin. This man, by doinggood,5 overcomes evil, since he is protected by the good; and he4 loves the righteous as his own soul. If anyone is honoured, lie does

1 I.it.‘evil of tribulation'.

* So II: b *tor I begged our father Jacob'

So 11 (Idm ‘for his sons’): h ‘for our brothers’.

* So probably the original text: b otn. ’you gtxxl child'; / taf r <>m. 'My childJoseph".

1 Lit. ’You have conquered the Ixmcls ol your lather Jacob'.

1 Lit. 'You saw*, children, the end of the good man'.

*' So II: A om. > Lit. ‘in good purpose'.

4 Lit. ‘has not a dark eye’.

5 So 11 (lit. ’This man who docs good'): b ‘Thus the man who docs good’.

not envy him: it anyone is rich, he is not jealous: if anyone is brave,he applauds him: the man who is chaste he trusts and sings hispraises: on the poor man he has mercy: on the sick compassion; and

5 the praises uf God are ever in his mouth. Whoever fears God hedefends: whoever loves God he helps:6 if anyone repudiates theMost High, he admonishes him and reclaims him; and whoeverhas been blessed with a good spirit he loves as dearly as he loveshimself.

V. If, then, your minds are predisposed to what is good, children,'wicked men will live at peace with you, the profligate will rever-ence you and turn towards the good, and the money-grubbers willnot only turn their hacks on the things they have been striving for,but even give what they have got by their money-grubbing to those

2 who are in distress. If you do good, the unclean spirits will keepaway from you, and even the wild animals will be afraid of you.2

3 For where there is the light of good works* in a man's mind, darkness

4 flees from him. For if anyone insults a holy man. he repents; for theholy man shows merry on the man that has reviled him and says

f) nothing in reply. And if anyone betrays a righteous man,4 and therighteous man prays about it. though lie may be humiliated fora little while, not long afterwards he appears in far greatersplendour, as my brother Joseph did.

VI. The good man’s impulse is not in the power of the error of the

2 spirit of Beliar, for the angel of peace acts as a guide to his soul. Andhe docs not look with greedy eyes on the things that perish, nor

3 does he pile up riches and delight in them. He takes no delight inpleasure: he causes his neighbour no pain: he docs not overloadhimself with luxuries:' nor is he led astray by a lustful eye;2 for the

s So b: II ’he agrees with' (lit. 'runs together with').

1 So b I: II-/ »iii.

! So II: A "will run away from you in fear’.

’ So 11:6 ‘rcvi-rciico for gcxxl works'.

4 Lit. ‘soul’.

' So II: 6 ‘food’ (with one letter different in the Ok.).

1 Lit. "he does not go astray by uplifting of eyes’.

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 597

4 Lord is all in all to him. His3 good impulse acknowledges neitherhonour nor dishonour from men, neither does it countenance anydeceit, or lie, or strife, or reviling; for the Lord dwells in him andlights up his soul and gives him joy in the face of all men always.

3 His good mind will not let him speak with two tongues,4 one ofblessing and one of cursing, one of insult and one of compliment, oneof sorrow and one of jov, one of quietness and one of tumult, one ofhypocrisy ^nd one of truth, one of }>overty and one of wealth; but ithas a single disposition only, simple and pure, that says the same

C thing to everyone.5 It has no double sight or hearing; for wheneversuch a man does, or says, or sees anything,6 he knows that the Lord is

7 looking into his soul in judgement. And he purifies his mind so thathe is not condemned by God and men. But everything that Beliardoes is double and has nothing single about it at all.

VH. Be wary, therefore, my children, of Beliar’s malice; lor to

2 those who trust it he gives a sword. But the sword is the mother ofseven evils. To start with, the mind conceives through Beliar. andthe first child is envy, secondly comes destruction, third oppression,

3 fourth exile, fifth famine, sixth tumult, seventh desolation.1 Andthis is why Cain was given over to seven vengeances by God; for the

4 Lord brought one plague on him every hundred years. After twohundred years2 he began to suffer, and in the2 nine hundredth yearhe was destroyed3 at the flood, because of the righteous Abel, hisbrother. By the seven evils4 was Cain judged, but Lainech by

5 seventy times seven. For those who like Cain are inspired by envyto hate their brothers will always be judged with the samepunishment.

■* Lit. ‘The’.

4 Lit. ‘The good mind has not two tongues’.

5 Lit. \ . . pure, concerned with all men'.

** Lit. 'tor every thing he does or says or sees’.

1 Or ‘destruction’ (cp. verse 4).

2 Or ‘when he was two hundred years old ... in his'.

4 Lit. ‘desolated’ (rp. verse 2).

4 So gldm Arm.: bjkin the seven hundred years’; t ‘in (by) the seven hundred’;

cl ‘by (in) the seven’; c ‘by (ini all the evils’.

598

The Testaments of the Twelve. Patriarchs

VIII. And so you, my children, must turn your backs on malice,envy, and hatred of your brothers, and take your stand with

2 goodness and love. A man with a pure mind, who is well-grounded inlove, never looks at a woman with a view to fornication; for there is

3 no defilement in his heart, because God’s spirit rests upon him. Foras the sun is not defiled when it shines on1 manure and mud, butrather dries l>oth up and drives away the unpleasant smell, so alsothe pure mind, though surrounded by the defilements of the earth,rather becomes a source of strength,2 * but itself is not defiled.

IX. But 1 gather from the words of the righteous Enoch that youwill give yourselves up to evil practices.1 For as the men 0/'Sodomcommitted fornication, so also will you, and all but a few ol you willperish. And you will renew jour wanton relations with women; andthe Lord’s kingdom will not remain2 among you, for he himself will

2 take it away from you immediately. But God’s temple will be in yourportion, and the last will be more glorious than the first;’ and thetwelve tribes will be gathered together there, and all the Gentiles,until the Most High sends forth his salvation by the visitation of an

3 only-begotten prophet.4 And he will enter into the first temple, aridthere the Lord will be insulted and treated with contempt5 and

4 lifted up on a tree. And the curtain of the temple will be torn apart;and God’s spirit will pass to6 the Gentiles, like a fire poured out.

5 And he will come up from Hades and ascend7 from earth toheaven. (And I know how humble he will be on earth, and howglorious in heaven.)

X. And when Joseph was in Egypt, I longed to see what he was

1 Lit. ‘when it turns towards’.

2 Lit.‘rather builds up'.

1 Lit. ‘that there will be also doings among you that are not good’.

2 Lit. ‘will not he’.

J So gld: bk are corrupt and eaf incomplete.

4 So II: bk oin. ‘prophet’.

5 So bk: II om. ‘and treated with contempt’.

6 So II-d: bkd ‘will descend on’.

1 Sobk: II ‘pass’.

like, and what his face looked like; and through the prayers of myfather Jacob I did see him. while I was awake in the daytime.

2 exactly as he was. You must realize, my children, that I am dying.

:t Deal honestly, therefore, each one of you with his neighbour, and dowhat is right and just to encourage mutual trust.8 and keep the law

4 of the Lord and his commands. For these things. I tell you. are ofgreater value than anything else 1 can bequeath to you:" you too.then, must give them to your children as an eternal possession; for

5 so did Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. They left all these things tous as a heritage, saying. Keep God’s commands until the Lordreveals his salvation to all the Gentiles. Then will you see Lnoch,Noah, and Shorn, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, rising on

7 the right hand in gladness. Then shall we also rise, each one overour tribe, and worship the king of heaven, w ho appeared on earthin tile guise of a humble man; and all those w ho believed him on

8 earth will rejoice with him. Then, too. all men will rise, some toglory and some to disgrace. And the Lord will judge Israel first forthe wickedness done to him; for when he appeared as God in the

9 flesh, as a deliverer, they did not believe him. And then he willjudge all the Gentiles, everyone of them who did not believe him

10 when he appeared on earth. And he will convict Israel through thechosen ones of the Gentiles, just as he convicted Esau through theMidianitcs. who refused to become their brothers because of theirfornication and idolatry.10 and they were estranged from Gtxl and

11 had no place among those who fear the Lord.11 But if you live inholiness in the Lord’s presence, you will again dwell in securitywith12 me. and all Israel will he gathered to the Lord.

XI. And I shall he called a ravening wolf no longer because of yourravages, but a worker of the Lord, who pros ides food for those who

2 do what is good. And in the last times there will appear fromamong my descendants a man beloved by the Lord, who will hear

* Lit. ‘Do, therefore, truth and righteousness, each one with his neighbour, andjudgement to assurance’.

’ Lit. Tor these things I teach you instead of all inheritance*.

10 None of the extant readings in this clause is intelligible.

11 Lit. *. .. from (iod. Iternming not children in the portion of those who tear the

Lord'. ■’ Lit.'in’.

(if If) The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

his voic e on earth, and do his will and pleasure,1 and enlighten allthe Gentiles with new knowledge: he u iH be a light of knowledgebursting in on Israel with2 salvation, ravaging them3 like a wolf,and giving what he has snatched from them to tiie synagogue of theGentiles. And until the end of time his fame* will endure4 in thesynagogues of the Gentiles, and among their rulers, like a musical4 tune that is in everyone's mouth. And lx>th his deeds and his wordswill find a place in the sacred books.5 and he will he one of God'sf> c hosen ones lor ever. And it was to him that my father Jacob wasreferring when he said to me. He will compensate lor thedeficiencies of your tribe.

XII. And when he had got to the end of what lie had to say. he- said,1 c harge you. my children, carry my hones up out of Kgypt, and2 bury me in Hebron, near my fathers. And Benjamin was a hundredand twenty-five years old when he died, having ac hieved a ripe old:i age;1 and they put him in a coflin. And in the ninty-first year afterthe entry2 of the sons of Israel into2 Kgypt their c hildren’ took thebones of their lathers up secretly, during the war with Canaan.44 and buried them in Hebron, at their fathers' feel. And theyreturned from the land of Canaan and lived in Kgypt until the dayof their departure from the land of Kgypt.

1 Lit. I»rd. hearing on earth lib voice, and doing the good pleasure of his

will": so deaj\ c.. Ia>rd. hearing . and doini’.. of his mouth': A.i'/om. 'and domic... of his will*. 1 Lit.‘in'.

' b 'him'. 4 Lit.. lime, lie shall be’.

5 Lit. ‘And in the saeretl books he will lx* written up. both his work and his word’.

1 Lit. *. .. died, in a good old age'.

z All MSS read ‘exodus . . . from', whic h must In- wrong in the light of verse 4;Jith. xlv. I and xlvi. U. when taken together, support the emendation that thishappened ninetv-onc years after the* entry.

* Lit. ‘they and their brothers'.

4 So 11 (lit. ’in the war oi’Canaan'): b ‘in a place called Canaan'.

assumption of moses

THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES

INTRODUCTION

The Assumption is preserved only in an incomplete Latin version,which has survived as the underwriting on a single quire of a fith or7th cent, palimpsest in the Ambrosian library at Milan (Cod. C73Inf.). This palimpsest contains on other quires the Latin fragmentsof Jubilees and also fragments of an anonymous heretical com-mentary on St. Luke. The text was published by Ccriani in 1861 inthe first fascicle of his Monuments Sacra el Prof ana. Although the firstthree lines of the Assumption are unfortunately wanting, it seemsthat the work started at the beginning of the quire. But at the endthe text breaks off in mid-sentence, and there are no means ofknowing how much has been lost.

The MS itself gives the work no title. The common title. ‘TheAssumption of Moses*, was interred by Ccriani from the fact thatGelasius ofCy/.icus, in his Collection of the Acts of the Council ofNicaea, quotes i. 1-1 and explicitly attributes it to the Assumption,’a work independently proved to have been known in the earlyChurch from references in other patristic writers and from theancient lists of apocryphal hooks.

Nevertheless, the identification is not certain. The lists mentiona ‘Testament* of Moses as well as an 'Assumption'; and ‘Testa-ment* is a description that fits the contents of our fragment verywell. Moreover, the lists all place the Testament before theAssumption. A variety of possibilities is therefore opened up.Three of them may be stated: (1) that our fragment is indeed theAssumption, as Ceriani inferred, and that the Testament eitherhas been lost or is Jubilees under another name (this last hypothesiswill explain why the fragments ofjubilecs were found in such closeproximity to our fragment in the same palimpsest); (2) that ourfragment is the Testament and not the Assumption, and thatGelasius's ascription of i. 14 to the Assumption is due to confusionon his part between the two (in this case it is the Assumption which

1 Ciclasius, Hist. Cone. Sic, II. xvii. 17.

(i(l2

The Assumption of Moses

has been lost); and (3) that the Testament and the Assumption,originally two distinct works, were at an early date combined andsubsequently circulated as the ‘Assumption', and that it is theopening of this combined work which has been preserved in ourfragment (this was Charles’s view).

But whatever the true solution may be it is worth observing thatGelasius attributes two further quotations to the Assumption, andthat neither of them is found in our fragment. Both concern adispute between the archangel Michael and the Devil:

'In llie Book of the Assumption of Moses-. Grlasius writes. ‘Michael thearchangel, disputing with the Devil, says. For from his Holy Spirit wc allwere created. And again he says. From (Joel's presence went forth hisSpirit, and the world came into bring'.2

More details about this dispute may be gleaned from otherFathers, some of whom explicitly name the Assumption as theirsource. The earliest reference to the legend is to be found in theEpistle of Jude in the New Testament. There wc are told that thedispute was ‘about the body of Moses', and Michael is quoted ashaving said to the Devil ‘May the Lord rebuke you!'; but there is nomention of any source.'

Problems of date and origin, though by no means simple, arc notintractable. Ostensibly the Assumption supplies details which arclacking in Moses's final charge tojoshua as recorded in Dcut. xxxi.In fact it is an apocalypse, which sketches the history of Israel fromthe time of Moses's death to the final consummation (i. 18). Invi.2If. Moses predicts the succession of‘an insolent king . . . who willnot be of priestly stock . . . and he will treat them ruthlessly .. . forthirty-four years'. This king is dearly Herod the Great, whosucceeded the Maccabaean priest-kings in 37 bc and reigned till 4BC. Moses goes on tu predict that this king will have sons, ‘who willsucceed him and rule for shorter periods’: 'a powerful king of thewest’ will come and “take them captive and burn a part of theirtemple with fire, and crucify some of them round their city’; andthen the End will come (vii. i).

2 Gclas. Hist. Cone. Sic. II. xxi. 7.

Jude 9.

The Assumption of Moses l>03

Charles argued that ihis reflects a situation soon alter Herod’sdeath and beldre any of his sons had reigned as long as their lather- i.e. the period l>et\vecn 3 BC: and Al> 30. According to this view,the ‘powerful king of the west' is Varus, the Roman governor ofSyria, who in 4 BC: suppressed a Jewish rebellion and crucified twothousand Jews after the troops olhis lieutenant Sabinus had set fireto the roof of the Temple. And this view has been very generallyaccepted.

Another, very dillerent. view has been proposed by J. Liclit andadopted and developed by G. W. K. Niekelsburg. According to thisview the Assumption was originally written during the persecutionof Antiochus Kpiphancs, near the beginning of the fourth decade ofthe second century Bt: (that is. roughly about the same time as theapocalyptic parts of Daniel - perhaps even earlier), and it wassubsequently interpolated and updated in Hcrodian times. In thisease, there are two distinct strata in the text as we have it. and wehave to deal both with an original author and with at least oneeditor.

At the other extreme, G. Hdlschcr and others, accepting theunity of the work, have connected it with the second-century Al)revolt in Hadrian's lime. Hdlschcr himself identified the ‘powerfulking of the west’ with Titus, and explained what this king is said todo against the background of the events of AD 70; and he suggestedAD 130 as the date at which the author wrote - just before theSecond Revolt began. On the other hand. K. Haackcr, who attri-buted the work to a Samaritan, would date it after the SecondRevolt - at any time between AD 135 and the end of the century.

In any event the author was not a revolutionary. Charlesdescribed him as “a Pharisaic Quictist’; though it must be admittedthat there is no sound reason for connecting him so unambiguouslywith the Pharisees. Nor do there seem any sound reasons forconnecting him with any other Jewish sect or party of which wehave any definite knowledge - least of all with the Zealots, asSchurer proposed! But there can be no doubt whatever about hisbelief that the passive obedience exhibited by the Hasidim, ratherthan the militancy displayed by the Maccabees, was the attitudethat would earn God's final vindication (ix. 6-x. 10). And in thisconnection we should note that the figure of the Lcvite Taxo, w ho

is to appear at the end (ix. 1} and exhort his seven sons to retire to acave and die rather than transgress the commandments, is mani-festly modelled on elements in the stories of the scribe Klie/.er andthe seven sons of a mother, who die rather than eat pork in 2 Mace,vi. 18-vii. 42, and of the faithful who were cut to pieces in theirhiding-places rather than profane the Sabbath in I Macc. ii. 29-38and 2 Macc. vi. 11.

There are nodiscernible traces ofC Christian influence anywhere.

The text of the fragment is very corrupt and its Latin debased. Itis clearly a version translated from Greek, for a number of Greekwords have been transliterated, and many of the curiosities in theLatin may be explained as Greek phrases and idioms that havebeen translated over-literally. Also, the patristic evidence stronglysupports the existence at one time of a Greek version. And behindthe Greek, in all probability, lay a Semitic original, thoughwhether that original was in Hebrew or Aramaic is an openquestion.

The translation which follows is a revision of Charles's transla-tion: a number of his emendations have been dispensed with,however, when the text can be made to yield a tolerable sense as itstands.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

A. M. CKRIANI, Monumenta sacra el projana. I. i (Milan, 1881), pp.55-64. [Ceriani’s text is reproduced, not only by Charles, butalso by Volkmar and by Laperrousaz - see below.]

A. Hi LGENFELD, Novum Testamentum extra canonem receptum, lasc. i(Leipzig, 1866), pp. 93-116.

R. H. CHARLES, The Assumption of Moses, translated from the Latinsixth-century MS, the unemended Text oj which is published herewith,together with the Text in its restored and critically emended form, editedwith Introduction, Notes, and Indices (London, 1897).

C. CLEMEN, DieHimmelfahrl des Alose (= Kleine Texlefur theologischeVorlesungen und Ubingen, 10; Bonn, 1904—2nd edit. 1924).

605

TRANSLATIONS

English

R. H. CHARLES. The Assumption of Moses, translated ... [as above](London, 1897).

, in APOTn, pp. 407-424.

W. J. FkRRAR. The Assumption oj Moses. translated u ith Introductionand Notes {= S.P.C.K., Translations of Early Documents', London,1917).

French

K.-M. LaPKRROL SA/., Is Testament de Moise (generalement appele'Assomption de Moise'): Traduction avec introduction et notes (= Semitica,xix; Paris, 1970).

German

G. VOLK MAR, Most Prophetie und Himmelfahrt: Fine Quelle Jut dasNeue Testament zum ersten Male deutsch heraus^egeben (Leipzig,1867).

C. Cl.KMKN in K. K.M'T/SCM. APATiu. pp. 311-331.

P. RlKSSLKR, AjSaB2, pp. 485-495.

E. Brandknbi*Rc;kR inJSh-rZW 2 (1976), pp. 57-84.

(iKNKRAL

F. C. Bl'RKIT\\ Jewish and Christian Apocalypses (London. 1914),pp. 19 and 37-40.

A. - M. D KNIS, IPG A T, pp. 128—141.

O. ElSSFKLDT, OTl, pp. 623—624.

J. -B. Frky, art. ‘Apoeryphcs de I’Ancien Testament* in DBSup i,cols. 403-409.

K. H A ACKER. ‘Assumptio Mosis - eine samariianischc Sehrift?’in 7Z xxv (1969), pp. 385-405.

G. HOLSCHER, ‘Ubcr die Entstehungszeit der “HimmelfahrtMoses” in ZJVU’xvii (1916), pp. 108—127 and 149-158.

M. R. J A M ES, LA OT, pp. 42-51.

J. LlCHT, ‘Taxo, or the Apocalvptic Doctrine of Vengeance’ inJJSxii (1961), pp. 95-103.

606 The Assumption of Moses

G. YV. E. NickklsBTRGJR. (ed.) .Studies on the Testament of Moses(= SBL Sepiuaginl and Cognate Studies, 4; Cambridge Mass.,1973).

P. Rikssi.fr, AjSaBfpp. 1301-1303.

F. ROSF.NTHAI., Vier apokryphische Bucher aus der Zeit und Schule R.

Akiba's (Leipzig, 1885), pp. 1-38.

L. Rost, EATAP,??. 110-112.

E. ScHORF.R, HJPTJC IT. iii, pp. 73-83.

, GjVZJC4 iii, pp. 294-305.

C. C. Torrf.y, AL, pp. 114-116.

S. ZEITLIN, ‘The Assumption of Moses and the Revolt of BarKokba’ inJQR N.S. xxxviii (July. 1947), pp. 1-45.

I. {The Testament of Moses - the instructions he gave in the one

2 hundred and twentieth year of his life,)1 that is the two thousand

3 five hundredth year from the creation of the world (or according tooriental reckoning (the two thousand seven hundredth), and the

4 four hundredth) after the departure from Phoenicia, when thepeople had gone out after the Exodus,2 under the leadership of

5 Moses, to Amman beyond the Jordan [, in the prophecy that was

6 made by Moses in the lxx»k Deuteronomy]. Moses3 called to him

7 Joshua the son of Nun, a man approved by the Lord to be theminister4 of the people and of the Tabernacle of the Testimony

8 with all its holy things, and to bring the people into the land given

9 to their fathers, so that it might be given them in accordance withthe covenant and the oath, by which he had declared in the Taber-

10 naclc that he would give it them by Joshua. And Moses said toJoshua,5 Promise6 to do with all diligence everything you have

1 Three lines are wanting al the beginning of (he MS. The translation is ofCharles’s restoration, based on the model of The Testaments of the TwelvePatriarchs.

1 Lit. ‘after the departure'. J Lit.‘who’.

4 Lit. 'successor*. The I.at. successor, which occurs again at x. 15, is in allprobability a rendering of an underlying Gk. dtOdoxog, used in several passages inthe Gk. Bible, and elsewhere, in the sense of‘minister' (cp. especially Ecclus. xlvi. I).

* Lit. ‘(... give it them by.joshua), saying to Joshua this word’.

4 Text ‘And promise’. A verb seems to have fallen out: Charles conjectured '(Bestrong) and of a good courage’ on the basis of Deut. xxxi. 7.

<507

The Assumption o f Moses

11 been commanded, so that you may be blameless before God. So says

12 the Lord of the world. For he created the world for his people's

13 sake. But he did not reveal this purpose in creation at the world’sfoundation, so that the Gentiles might thereby be convicted, andmight by their arguments with one another, to their own humilia-

14 tion, convict themselves. Accordingly, he chose and appointedme,7 and prepared trie from the foundation of the w orld, to be the

15 mediator* of his covenant. And now T warn you that my span of lifeis near its end and that 1 am about to pass on to sleep with my

16 fathers, even in the presence of all the people. So study this writingcarefully, so that you may know how to preserve the hooks that 1

17 entrust you with. Set them in order and anoint them with cedar-oiland store them away in jars of earthenware in the place the Lordintended9 from the beginning of the creation of the world as the place

18 where men should invoke his name till the Day of Repentance, whenhe will look on them with favour at the final consummation.10

II. (And now) under your leadership1 they shall enter the landwhich he determined to give them and promised to their fathers.

2 You shall bless them and give to each one of them a portion in it, andconfirm their inheritance in it,2 * and establish lor them a kingdom;and you shall appoint local magistrates for them,1’ in accordance

3 with their Lord’s design, injustice and in righteousness. . . . Butafter they enter their land . . . years; and afterwards they shall beruled by chiefs and kings for eighteen years, and for nineteen years

4 . . . .4 For two5 6 tribes will go down and transfer the Tabernacle of the

5 Testimony.0 Then the God of heaven will make there the court of his

1 Lit. ‘he thought oul and invented me’.

* Lat. arbiter (and so also at iii. 12).

9 Lit. ‘in the place he made’.

10 Lit. *... in the respec t with which the Lord will respect them in the consumma-tion of t he end of the days'.

1 Lit. "through you’. 2 Text'in me’.

1 Lit. ‘and you shall send out oifices of places for them’.

4 The text here is untranslatable (el ■xviiii- annas abmmpens tib■ x-). Charles

suggested cither ‘the ten tribes will be apostates' or ‘the ten tribes will breakaway1.

5 Sn text. Charles emended to ‘twelve’ and saw here a reference to 2 Sam. vi. I -2.

6 Lit. ‘the testimony of the tabernacle’.

608 The Assumption of Moses

tabernacle and the tower of his sanctuary, and the two holy tribesshall be established there (but the ten tribes will establish kingdoms

6 for themselves according to their own arrangements). And they

7 will offer sacrifices for twenty years. And seven will surround theplace with walls,7 and I will protect8 nine, and (four) shall transgressthe Lord's covenant and profane the oath the Lord made with

8 them. And they will sacrifice their sons to foreign gods, and they

9 will set up idols in the sanctuary and serve them. And in the Lord’shouse they will commit all kinds of abominations and carve repre-sentations oj every kind of animal all round the walls.

HI. (And) in those days a king from the cast will come against

2 them and his cavalry will cover their land. And he will burn theircity1 with fire, together with the Lord’s holy temple, and he will

3 carry off all the holy vesslcs. And he will drive out the wholepopulation and take them to his own country; and the two tribes he

4 will lake along with him. Then will the two tribes call indignantly onthe ten tribes, like a lioness on the dusty plains, hungry and thirsty.

5 And they will cry out aloud. Righteous and holy is the Lord, lorbecause you have sinned, we too, in just the same w ay, have been

6 carried off with you, together with our children.2 Then the tentribes will mourn, when they hear the reproaches of the two tribes,

7 and they will say. What can we do for you. brothers: has not this

8 misery come to all the house of Israel? And all the tribes will mourn

9 and cry to heaven saying, God of Abraham, and God oflsaac, andGod ofjacob, remember thy covenant w hich thou didst make withthem, and the oath which thou didst swear to them by thyself, thatthey should never lack descendants in the land which thou didst

10 give them. 1’hen will they remember me in that day. tribe saying to

11 tribe, and one man saying to3 another, Is not this what Moses saidwould happen to us4 in his prophecies - Moses w'ho suffered muchin Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years?

1 Lit. ‘surround the walls’. Cp. iv. 7.

* Lit. ‘go round’, ‘encircle’.

1 Lit. ‘colony’. Cp. v. 6; vi. 8.

2 In the text ‘together with our children’ follows ‘thirsty’ at the end of %’crse 4.

3 Lit. ‘about’.

4 Lit. ‘Is not this what Moses was testifying to us’.

609

The Assumption of Moses

12 He warned us5 (and summoned heaven and earth to witnessagainst us) not to transgress God’s6 commandments, of which he

13 was himself the mediator to us. These things have happened to usafter his death, just as he said they would and as he warned us7 atthe time; and his prophecies have been fulfilled.* even to our being

14 carried off as captives into eastern lands. And they will be kept inslavery for some seventy-seven years.

IV. Then one of those set over them will go into his house andspread out his hands and fall on his knees and pray for them,

2 saying. Lord of all. king who sittest on the lofty throne, who rulestthe world, and dost will that this people should be thy chosenpeople: then didst thou will that thou shouldest be called theirGod, according to the covenant thou didst make with their fathers.

3 And they have gone as captives into another land with their wivesand their children, and they are living among1 * * foreign peoples and

4 where there is much idolatry.’ Look upon them and have pity on

3 them, O Lord of heaven. Then will God remember them because of

the covenant that he made with their fathers, and he will show his

<> pity at that time also. And he will put it into the mind of a king topity them; and he will send them back to their own land and

7 country. Then some from the tribes-' will go up and come to their

8 appointed place and once again surround the place with walls. Andthe two tribes will continue in the faith appointed for them, insadness and lamentation because they will be unable to offer

9 sacrifices to the Lord of their fathers. And the ten tribes will befruitful and increase among the Gentiles during the time of theircaptivity. 4

* Lit. 'lit- testified'. Cp. Deut. iv. 23-27.

* Lit.‘his’. ' Lit.‘hr testified toils'.

" Lit. 'and which things have come to pass'.

1 Lit. ‘and aruund the gate of*.

1 Text ‘great majesty". The translation offered is based on Charles's emendation‘great vanity’ (‘vanity* in the Old Testament is not infrequently associated withidols).

1 Lit. ‘some parts of the tribes’.

■* After ‘And the ten tribes will lx* fruitful* the text lieeomes more than usually

unccrtain.

610

The Assumption of Moses

V. And when the day of reckoning’ draws near and retribution2 comes through kings who share their guilt and punish them, they:i themselves also will be divided as to truth - hence the sayings. They

will abandon righteousness and turn to iniquity, and. They willdefile with their pollutions the house of their worship, and. They will4 turn wantonly to foreign gods. For they will not follow the truth ofClod; but some of them will pollute the altar with the (very) giftsthey oflfer to the Lord, who are not priests but slaves and sons of.i slaves. And those who arc then masters, that is their teachers at thattime, will show favour to the rich and take bribes and sell judge-t> rneiits in return for presents. And so their city* and their whole land1will be filled with acts of lawlessness and deeds of evil; and theirj udges will be ungodly men, who have turned their backs on the Lord,and are ready to give judgements for money as each man wants.4

VI. Then shall arise kings to rule over them, and they shall becalled priests of the Most High God (they will be responsible for

2 much ungodliness in the holy of holies). And an insolent king willsucceed them, who will not be of priestly stock, an arrogant and a:i shameless man; and he will judge them as they deserve. And hewill put their leaders to death with the sword, and bury them4 secretly so that no one should know where their bodies are. He will"> kill both old and young and spare no one. He will be the object of(> universal dread and detestation.1 And he will treat them ruth-lessly, as the Egyptians treated them, for thirty-four years, and

7 make their lives unbearable. And he will produce children, who

8 will succeed him and rule tor shorter periods. Into their parts will

[.it. 'the times of censuring'.

: [.it. ‘colony*. Cp. iii. 2; vi. B.

* [.it. ‘and the borders of their dwelling’.

4 l.il. ‘as each may wish'. The text of verses 5 and (i is very corrupt, although thegeneral sense is plain. In verse 5 Charles excised ‘that is their teachers* and 'in returnlor presents' as explanatory glosses, and he preferred the emendation 'pervertjudgement* for the ‘sell judgements' of the MS. In verse 6 six lines of text arcrepeated in the MS with a number of variations: the second version is. on the whole,the belter, and this has been followed, so far as it can be made to yield anyconsecutive sense at all.

1 Lit. ‘Then the fear of him will be bitter unto them in their land*.

The Assumption of Moses fi 1 I

come the cohorts and a powerful king of the west, who will conquerthem, and take them captive, and burn a part of their temple withfire, and crucify some of them round their city.2

VII. And after this the times shall corne to an end, in a moment the

2 ... course shall (coinc to an end): the four hours shall come. They

3 will be forced . . .’ And in their time2 pestilential and impious men

4 will bear rule, alleging that they are righteous. And these will stirup their minds to anger.3 * lor they will be crafty men, self-indulgent,hypocritical, ready lor a parly at any hour of the flay, glurrons,

5,6 guzzlers,. .whodevour the goods of the ( poor) on the pretext of

7 justice, but in reality to destroy them, grumblers, deceitful people whohide themselves away in case they should be recognized, impious,

8 full ot'every vice and villany, who say from sunrise to sunset, Let us5have feasts and revels, eating and drinking; and let us behave like

9 princes.6 And although their hands and minds are occupied withthings unclean, they will make a fine show in words, even saying,7Do not touch (me), lest you pollute me in the place where. . . .*

VIII. 1 . . . And there shall come upon them (a second) retribution

and wrath, such as has not befallen them from the beginning untilthat time, when he will stir up against them the king of the kings ofthe earth, a man who rules with great power, who will crucify those

1 Lit. ‘colony’. Cp. iii. 2; v. 6.

' At the beginning of this chapter the Mb is so defective as to be virtuallyuntranslatable.

■ Or‘And from among these’.

J Lit. ‘stir up the anger of their minds’.

* MS again defective. s Lit.’We shall'.

6 Lit. ‘and wc shall esteem ourselves as though we shall he prim es’.

■ Lit.‘and moreover they will say”. * MS defectiv e.

1 According to Charles, chaps, viii and ix reHecl the period of Antiodms

Epiphancs and the Maccabccs so closely that in thrir present context they must be

out of place: originally, Charles thought, chaps, viii and ix stood between v and vi,

and they were transposed ‘by the final editor'. Granted the truth of Charles's

observation, however, it may well be (in view of the chaotic slate of the existing text)

that their present position is due to some accident in the textual tradition rather

than deliberate transposition.

612 The Assumption ojMoses

2 who confess their circumcision. And those who deny it1 he will

3 tortue and put in chains and imprison. And their wives will begiven to the gods among the Gentiles, and their young sons will beoperated on by the doctors to look as though they had not been

4 circumcised. And others among them will suffer punishment bytorture and fire and sword; and they will lie forced to can y roundtheir idols publicly, polluted things, just like the shrines that house'

d them. And in the same way they will be forced by those who torturethem to enter their inmost sanctuary and forced with goads toblaspheme and insult the Name,4 and, as if that were not enough.5the laws as well by having a pig upon the altar.

IX. Then in that day there will be a man of the tribe of Levi, whose

■> name will be Taxo, and he will have seven sons. And he w ill ask

them, saying, See, my sons, a second cruel and unclean retributionhas come upon the people and a punishment without mercy and far

i worse than the first. For what nation or w hat region or what peopleamong those who do not worship the Lord, who have done manyatrocious things, have suffered as great calamities as have befallen

4 us? So now, my sons, listen to me: you know well enough' thatneither the fathers nor their forefathers provoked God by trans-

5 grossing his commandments. For you know that our strength lies

6 here, and let us act accordingly.2 Let us fast for three days; and onthe fourth day let us go out to a cave in the country, and let us dierather than transgress the commandments of the Lord of lords, the

7 God of our fathers. For if wc do this and die, our blood will beavenged before the Lord.

X. And then shall his kingdom appear throughout all his

creation;

And then shall the Devil meet his end,

2 Reading tuguntei lor the nrcantei of the text. Charles suggested celanles (‘thosewho conceal it’). Another suggestion is stcanUs or circumsecanles (‘those who circum-cise' - cp. 1 Macc. i. <il).

1 Lit.‘contain’. 4 Text’the Word’.

s Lit. ‘finally after these things'.

1 Lit. ‘see and know'.

2 Lit. ‘For you know that these things are strength to us and this will we do’.

The Assumption of Moses 613

And sorrow shall depart with him.

2 Then shall be consecrated1 the angel who has been

appointed chief.

Who will immediately avenge them of their enemies.

3 For the Heavenly One will { arise) from his royal throne.

And go forth from his holy dwelling-place

With wrath and anger because of his sons.

4 And the earth will tremble:

It will be shaken to its farthest bounds;

And high mountains will collapseAnd hills be shaken and fall.2

5 And the sun will not give its light;

And the horns of the moon will he turned into darkness,

And they will be broken,

And it will be turned wholly into blood;

And the orbit of the stars will be disturbed.

6 And the sea will retire into the abyss,

And the fountains of waters will fail.

And the rivers dry up.

7 For the Most High will arise, the Eternal God alone,

And he will appear to punish the Gentiles,

And he will destroy all their idols.

8 Then happy will you be, Israel;

And you will trample upon their necks [and the wings of aneagle],3

For the time allotted them will have run its course.4

9 And God will exalt you,

And set you in heaven above the stars.5

1 Lit. ‘Then shall be filled the hands of’. Cp. Kxod. xxviii. 41, xxix.9; Lev.xxi. 10.

1 Text reads 'And high mountains will be broueht low and shaken and valleyswill fair.

3 The first two lines ol this verse arc clearly inspired by Deut. xxxiii. 29as read inthe Septuagint and other versions (‘Happy are you Israel,. .. and you shall trample(lit. ‘go upon') their neck(s)’). Hence the words in square brackets arc likely to be agloss, presumably added by someone who took the original ‘go upon' in the sense of‘mount’ or Tide upon’, and had cither Exod. xix. 4 or Isa. xl. 31 in mind.

* Lit. 'And they will be ended’ (Lai. et tnpleOunlur). Cp. Luke xxi. 24 (Lat. doneeimpleantur tempota nationum).

* Lit. ‘And make you abide in the heaven of the stars’.

614

The Assumption of Moses

In the place where he dwells himself.6

10 And you will look from on high and sec your enemies on

earth,7

And you will recognize them and rejoice,

And give thanks and confess your Creator.

11 And as for you. Joshua, son oj Xun, take heed of what is written in

12 this book.8 For from my death [, that is my assumption,]9 until his

13 advent there shall be two hundred and fifty times.10 And this is thecourse of these {times), which they will pursue until they are

15 complete. But I am about to depart to sleep with my fathers, Sothen, Joshua, son o/Xun, Be strong: God has chosen you to be theminister in my place of the same covenant.

XI. And when Joshua had heard what Moses had written in hiswriting and all he had foretold,1 he rent his clothes and threw

2 himself at the feet of Moses. And Moses comforted him and w ept

3 with him. And Joshua answered him and said, What kind ofconsolation is it that you give me, my lord Moses, and how can 1 be

4 consoled when you tell me something so distressing? When you saythat you are about to leave this people, tears and laments are

i.6 bound to be. {But now), where will you be buried?2 Or what shall

7 be the sign that marksjewr burial place? Or who shall dare to moveyour body from it as ij it were that of an ordinary man from place

8 to place? For all men when they die have their burial-placescorresponding to the age in which they live3 on earth, but yourburial-place is from the rising to the setting sun, and from the southto the confines of the north: the whole world is your burial-place.

6 Text ‘In their (masc.) dwelling-place’.

7 Charles would read ‘in Gehenna’, supposing that Lat. in Urram was a renderingof Gk. enge, and that the Gk. ge here was a transliteration of Hcb. ge (‘valley’), usedabsolutely forge-Hinnam as injer. ii. 23 (cp. vii. 31,32).

8 Lit. ‘keep these words and this hook'.

y According to Charles, an addition by the editor who combined the ‘Assump-tion’ with the ‘Testament’.

10 i.c. weeks of years.

1 Or ‘said previously’.

2 Lit. ’what place will receive you?’ 1 Or ‘corresponding to their age’.

615

The Assumption of Moses

1,10 My lord, you are about to go away; and who shall feed this people? Or

11 who is there to pity them, and who shall guide them on the way? Orwho shall pray for them day by day.4 so that 1 may be able to lead

12 them into the land of their forefathers?5 How. then, am I to look afterthis people as a lather looks after his only son. or as a mother6 hervirgin daughter, who is being brought up to be given the husbandshe will revere {for the mother will shield her body from the sun and

13 take care she does not run al>out without her shoes)? (And how)shall I supply them with food and drink according to their needs?7

14 For they number some six hundred thousand {men).* and they

15 have become so many through your prayers, lord Moses. Andwhat wisdom or understanding have I that 1 should either give

hi judgement or answer by word in the house {of the Lord) ? And thekings of the Amoritcs also, when they hear wc arc attacking them.and believing that there is no longer among them that sacred spiritworthy of the Lord, made up of many parts and beyond all under-standing, the lord of the word, faithful in all tilings, the divineprophet throughout the earth, the most perfect teacher in theworld - believing that he is no longer among them, they will say. Let

17 us go against them. If only once our enemies have done what iswrong against the Lord, they have no advocate* to offer prayers forthem to the Lord, as did Moses the great messenger, who hour byhour, day and night, prayed without ceasing for them™ looking tohim who rules the whole world with mercy and justice, and remind-ing him of the covenant made with their fathers and propitiating the

18 Lord with an oath. For they will say, He is not with them: so let us

19 go and wipe them off the face of the earth. What then shall becomeof this people, my lord Moses?

XII. And when Joshua had finished speaking, he threw himself to

2 the ground again at the feet of Moses. And Moses took his hand

4 Lit. *... for them not omitting a single day'.

5 Text arabomm. The emendation supposes alavorvm: another possibility is amorr-eorum - cp. verse 16.

6 Lit. ‘lady’.

7 Lit. ‘according to the will of their will’.

* Text'{...) for of them there were a hundred thousand’. Cp. Lxod. xii. 37.

* Lit. 'defender'.

Lit. ‘had his knees fixed to the earth praying’.

616 The Assumption of Moses

3 and lifted him up into the seat in front of him. And he answeredand said to him, Joshua, do not belittle yourself, but take courage

4 and listen to me, God has created all the nations on the earth, andhe has created us: he has foreseen what wilt happen to both them and usfrom the beginning of the creation of the earth to the end of the age;and nothing has been overlooked by him. not even the smallestdetail, but he has foreseen everything and brought everything about.

5 (And) everything that is to be on this earth the Lord lias foreseen,

6 and lo, it is brought (into the light.. .. The Lord) has appointed me(to pray) for them and lor their sins and (to make intercession) for

7 them. For it was not because of any virtue or steadfastness on mypart, but because he willed i( so.1 that his pity and patience took

3 hold of me. And I tell you, Joshua, it is not because of this people’s

9 godliness that you are to destroy the nations. All the pillars of theheaven and the earth have been made and approved by God and are

10 under the signet ring of his right hand. Thus, those who keep and

11 observe God’s command merits will increase and prosper. But thosewho sin and ignore the commandments will be denied the blessingsthat have been mentioned, and they will be punished with many

12 torments by the nations. Yet it is impossible that he should wholly

13 destroy them and forsake them. For God has gone forth, he whohas foreseen everything to the end, and his covenant has beenestablished; and by the oath which . . .2

1 Lit. ‘but by careful arrangement’. If Charles was right the original will havemeant ‘but ofhis good pleasure’.

2 The MS breaks ofTin mid-sentence.

THE TESTAMENT OF .JOB

INTRODUCTION

If the ‘liber qui appellatur Tostamemum Job. apocryphus*mentioned in the Gelasian Decree refers to our Testament, therewould seem to have been a Latin version of it circulating in theWest in the fifth and sixth centuries. But apart from this possi-bility. there is no reference to the Testament, or certain quotationfrom it, anywhere in antiquity.

The Testament was first introduced to the modern world by A.Mai, who in 1833 printed a Greek text in the seventh volume of hisScriplorum Yeterum Sova Collectio. Mai did not disclose the source ofhis text, since identified as the 13th century Vatican MS Vat. gr.1238. In 1890 M. R. James ‘was able to examine a MS of theTestament at Paris*: this was B.N. gr. 2838 (I 1th century), con-taining also the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs as well as thewell-known * Interpretation of Hebrew Names’ and the ‘Questionsand Answers' attributed to Anastasius of Sinai; and it was this MSthat was used by James as the foundation of his edition in 1897, thevariants of Mai's text, which are often considerable, being set outin full in the apparatus. The only other MS know n to James wasParis B.N. gr. 938 (18th century), w hich was obviously a transcriptof B.N. gr. 2858 and therefore negligible. In 1911 the collation of afourth MS (Messina San Salvatore 29; AD 1307), made againstJames's text, was published by A. Mancini.1

Meanwhile, the existence of a version in Slavonic had beenbrought to light. In 1878 S. Xovakovic published the first text ofthis version from a MS in Belgrade; and thirteen years later Gj.Poltvka produced a critical edition, printing the text of a Safarik MSas his basic text and adding the variants of the Belgrade MS andanother from Moscow in his apparatus. For text-critical purposes,however, the Slavonic version has not proved of much assistance;it is exceedingly periphrastic and there are many (obviouslydeliberate) abbreviations and expansions.

1 A. Mancini. ‘Per la crilira del “Testamenturn lob” {= Rendtconti della RealeAccademia del Lituei, Scr. V, xx (1911), pp. 479-502).

(i 18 The Testament of Job

The Greek text in S. P. Brock's edition of 19(>7, as in James’sedition, is basically that of the Paris MS (= P); though where P ismanifestly corrupt preference is given to the readings of either theVatican MS (= V), or the San Salvatore MS (= S), or both.Because of its internal complications reference is made in theapparatus to the Slavonic version only when it dearly confirms aGreek variant.

The American Society of Biblical Literature PseudepigrahaGroup edition, which was published seven years after Brock underthe editorship of R. A. Kraft, had of necessity to rely on the sameGreek MSS. However, as might be expected in an attempt at whatwas described as ‘a step towards an eclectic text'. P assumes ratherless prominence than previously. Moreover, the traditional versedivisions were not a little modified.

About the origin and date of the Testament nothing whatever isknown. Nevetheless. several widely differing opinions have beenexpressed. For example, Kohler, in the introduction to his transla-tion, published in 1897, declared himself in favour of an Ksseneorigin for the work and a pre-Christian date. On the other hand,James, in the introduction to his edition, published in the sameyear, maintained that the author was ‘a Jew by birth, a Christianby faith*, and that he lived in Egypt in the second or third centuryAD. Subsequently, Kohler seems to have modified his views some-what, for in his Jewish Encyclopaedia article of 1904 there is nomention of the Essencs, and he refers simply to the Testamentbeing ‘one of the most remarkable productions of the pre-Christianera, explicable only when viewed in the light of ancient Hasideanpractise’. Another strong supporter of the Testament's Jewishorigin was Torrcy, who characteristically saw beneath the extantGreek ‘texts' an underlying original in Aramaic, which he dated tothe first century BC.

What is indisputable, however, is that the author of the Testa-ment as it now stands knew and used the canonical Job in the GreekSeptuagint version and not in the Hebrew original or any otherversion: this means that he wrote in Greek and that he was nottranslating f rom Aramaic or anything else - the Septuagint wordsand phrases arc throughout so much part of the texture of the work

The Testament oj Job (i 19

that they could not possibly be due to a translator. In other words,the Testament is a Hellenistic work through and through. HencePhiloncnko. for instance, looked to Egypt and went on to suggest apossible origin among the Thrrapeutae there during the firstcentury ad.

Further, there is much to be said for the view that the author wasfamiliar with the New Testament as well as with the Old - suchexpressions as anQoown6/.rjnr6^ cot tv |o KCgtog j. arzodidovg iktiorw(iv. 8: cp. 1 Pet. i. 17; Rom. ii. b . . .). oKojXtjKdfiQajTog (xx. H: cp.Acts xii. 23), and eigrddfi/t'fjrf^fxxxiii. 7: cp. Heb. vii. 3. x. I. 12.14) tell strongly in favour of it; and it may also be argued that the‘patience* or ‘endurance* of Job (i. j) and his final vindication(lii-liii) arc presented as a type of the sufferings and end* of Christ(cp. James v. II). If this be so the author must have been aChristian, although he seems to have made no conscious attemptto ‘Christianize* the details of his material, and his contacts withthe New Testament look much more like unconscious reminiscencesthan deliberate allusions.

Beyond this it is difficult to go. He may have known a HebrewMidrash on Job or an Aramaic Targum: he may have been familiarwith stories about Job from contemporary Jewish lolk-lore; or hemay have been dependent on his own creative imagination, exceptin so far as it was inspired by the contents of the canonical Job inthe Septuagint, and modified by such scraps ol Jewish tradition asthat Job’s wife was named Dinah-a tradition which appears bothin the Targum to Job and in Pseudo-Philo (who dearly identifiedher with the daughter of Jacob2), although it is to be observed thatin the Testament Job marries twice and Dinah is his second wife(i. 6). In any case, the Septuagint Job emerges as the only source’that can be certainly identified.

Finally, if the author was a Christian and familiar with the NewTestament, he cannot have written before the second century. Hisvocabulary contains some ‘late* words - ‘late’ either in occurrenceor in the meaning he attaches to them; and this fact should make uspause before assigning the earliest possible date to the Testament.

: Pseudo-Philo, Liber Anliquitalum BtbtUarvm, viii. H.

Our translation is bast'd on Broc k's edition and for the most partfollows his text.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

KDITIONS

Creek

A. M.\l, Seriptorum Yeterum S’ova Collectio. vii {Rome. 1833),

pp. 180-191.

M. R. JAMKS, ‘The Testament of Job' in Apocrypha Anecdota, ii(= TS V. i; Cambridge, 1897), pp. lxxii-cii and 103-137.

S. P. Brock. Testamenlum lobi (= P\TC ii (Leiden, 1967),

pp. 1-60).

R. A. Kraft, with Harold Attriixjk. Ri sski.i. Sph i i.kr.and JaNKTTiMBLK. The Testament oj Job: Greek Text and EnglishTranslation (= SBL Texts and Translations 5. Pseudepigrapha Series 4;Missoula, 1974).

Slavonic

S. NOVAKOVK':. ‘Apokrifna priea o Jovu' in Star me, x (Zagreb,1878), pp. 137-170.

Gj. POLfVKA, 'Apokrifna priea ojovu’ in Starine, xxiv (Zagreb,1891), pp. 135-155.

TRANSLATIONS

English

K. KoHl.HR, ‘The Testament ofjob: An Kssene Midrash onthe Book ofjob. re-edited and translated with Introductory andKxegetical Notes' in G. A. KoHl'T (ed.). Semitic Studies inmemory oj Rev. Dr. Alexander Kohut (Berlin. 1897), pp. 264-338 - the text is a reprint of Mai’s.

R. P. SPITTLKR in R. A. KRAFT, The Testament oj Job . . . [asabove).

The Testament of Job

621

French

M. PH 11.( >N ENK(). 1-e Testament de Job: Introduction, traduction el notes(= Semitica, xviii; Paris. 1968).

German

P. RlKSSI.ER. AjSaB*. pp. 1104-1131.

B. Sc HAl.I.ER inJSh-rZ III. 3 (1079). pp. 301-387.

(JKNKRAI.

M. DeLCOR, ‘Lc Testament dr Job, la prim* dr Nabonidc et Irstraditions targoumiques' in S. \ V A<; N E R (cd.}. ibel und Qtmtran(Berlin, 1968), pp. 57-74.

A. - M. D EN IS, IPG A T. pp. 100-104.

J. -B. FREY, art. 'Apocrvphes dr l'Anrirn Testament’ in DP Sup i,

col. 455.

L. (i I N/.BERC, The legends oj the Jews, ii (Philadelphia, 1910), pp.225-242 and v (Philadelphia, 1925), pp. 381-390.

K. Kohler, art. ‘Job. Testament of \n JEvii (New York, 1904),

pp. 200-202.

\1. Pmi.ONENKO, *Ee ’restament de Job ct les Therapeutes’ inSemitica. viii (1958), pp. 41-53.

D. RaHNKNFI HRER, 'Das Testament ties Hiob und das NeueTestament’ in ZiVM'lxii (1971), pp. 08-93.

P. RlKSSI.ER, .4jSaB1. pp. 1333—1334.

B. ScHALLKR, ‘Das Testament Hiobs und die Septuaginta-Ubcrsetzung des Buchcs Hiob’ in Biblica, Ixi, fase. 3 (1980),pp. 377-406.

E. SCHpRER, GjVZJC* iii, pp. 406-407.

F. SPITTA, ‘Das l estament Hiobs und das Neue Testament’ inZ«r Geschickte und Litteralur des I'rchristentums, III. 2 (Gottingen,1907), pp. 139-200.

YV. B. STEVENSON, The Poem ojJob (London, 1947), pp. 78-80.

C. C. Torrey, AL, pp. 140-145.

testament of job

(>22 The Testament of Job

I. The Book of the Words of Job. who was railed Jobab.

2 On the day when he was taken ill and about to bring hisstewardship to an end. lie railed his seven sons and his three:i daughters to him. Their names were Tcrsi. Choros. Huon. Nike,Phoros. Phiphe. Phrouon. Hemera. Cassia, and Amalthcias-keras.l And when he had railed his children, he said, (lather round, mychildren, gather round nur. so that I can describe to you what the.'» Lord did to me and everything that has happened to me. For I amyour father Job. who has endured much; and you are a chosen.(> honoured, race, of the stock of Jacob, your mother's father. For Iam of the sons of Fsau. Jacob's brother; and your mother Dinah,through whom I became your lather, was Jacob's daughter1 - myformer wife, with ten other children, died a bitter death. So listen tome, my children, and I will tell you w hat befell me.

1,2 II. I wasjobab before the Lord gave me the name of Job. When Iwas called Jobab, I used to live at that time very near a much-;5 venerated idol's temple.1 And as 1 looked continually at the whole

1 burnt-offerings olfered to it. I thought to myself. Can this really bethe God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and usourselves? How can I know?2

III. And in the night, w hile I was asleep, there came to me a loud

2 voice with a very great light, saying, Jobab. Jobab. And I said.Here am 1; and it said. Get up and I will show you who it is you

3 want to know. He to whom they bring the whole burnt-offeringsand pour out drink-offerings is not God but the power of the Devil,

•I by whom human nature is1 deceived. And when I heard this, I fell"» down on my bed in worship. And I said. My lord, who hast come(> for the salvation of my soul; I beg thee, if this is the sanctuary2 of

1 Lit. ‘Fur I am of the sons of Ksau. brother of Jacob, of whom is your motherDinah, from whom I lirgot you’.

1 V has a much fuller text in this chapter and reads here 'near my house there wasa certain idol (lit. ‘an idol of someone’) that w as worshipped by the people’.

: So PS: V adds ‘what is true’.

Lit. 'will be'.

1 Lit. ‘place’.

The Testament oj Job (>23

Satan, by whom men arc1 deceived, give me authority to go out7 and cleanse his sanctuary.2 so that I can put an end to his drink-oHerings — and who is there to stop me, seeing I am king of thisland?

IV. And the light answered me and said. You can indeed cleansethis sanctuary;1 but I must let you know everything the Lord has

2 commanded me to tell you. And 1 said. Kverv thing he has vom-it manded me, his servant, I will listen to and do. And again he said,•t This is what the Lord says. If you do attempt to cleanse Satan'ssanctuary.1 he will turn against you in anger and fight against you;but although he will afflict you with many calamities, he will not be

5 able to kill you. He will take your possessions away: lie will destroy

6 your children. But if you endure, I will make your name lamous

7 among all generations on earth till the end of time. And 1 willreturn your possessions to you. and double shall be restored to you.

8 so that you may know that the Lord2 has no favourites and richly

9 repays everyone who obeys him. And you will be raised up at the

10 resurrection; lor you will be like a boxer in the games1 who keeps

11 the struggle up and gains his crown. Then you will know that theLord is just, true, and strong, and gives strength to his elect.

V. And I, my children, made answer to him. To death will I

2 endure, and I will not yield. And after I had been sealed by theangel, he departed from me; and then, my children, the next night 1got up and took fifty servants with me and set out for the shrine of

3 the idol's temple and razed it to the ground. And this done, I wentback into my house, with orders that the doors were to he securelyfastened.

VI. And you will be astonished, my children, when you hear what

2 happened next.1 For as soon as I had gone into my house and had

3 secured my doors. I gave orders to my door-keepers. If anyonecomes for me to-day, do not tell me about it, but say. He is not

1 Lit. ‘place’. 1 Lit. ‘hr’.

' Lit. ‘like an athlete boxing'.

1 Lit. ‘Hear, my children, and marvel'.

624 The Testament of Job

4 available; for he is indoors dealing with urgent business. And whileI was indoors. Satan disguised himself as a beggar and knocked at

5 the door. And he said to the girl at the door, T ell Job I want to see6,7 him. The girl came in and told me this. And she was instructed to

make it clear that 1 was not at the moment available.

VII. When Satan heard this, he went away and put an assalion1 onhis shoulders, and he came and spoke to the girl at the door and

2 said. Say to Job, Give me of your bounty2 a loaf of bread, so that 1

3 may have something to eat. And 1 gave the girl a loaf that had been

4 burnt to give him; and I sent a message to him,3 Do not expect to

5 eat of my bread again, for you have become my enemy. And the girlat the door was ashamed to give him the loaf that was burnt and

6 ashy (for she did not know that he was Satan); so she took a good

7 loaf of her own and gave him. He took it, and. knowing what hadhappened, said to the girl, Go back, you good-for-nothing servant,

8 and fetch the loaf that was giv en you to give me. And the girl wasmost upset, and she said in tears, You are quite right to say I am agood-for-nothing servant. If 1 had not been, I would have done as

9 my master told me. And she went back and brought him the burnt

10 loaf, and said to him, My lord says, You shall not eat of my bread

11 again, because I have become your enemy: yet I have given youthis so that I cannot be accused of refusing an enemy who asked of

12 me. When Satan heard this, he sent the girl back to rne, saying,Just as this loaf is burnt through and through, so too will I makeyour body; for 1 go my way, and within a single hour I will make

13 you desolate. And I answered him again, Do what you will, and ifyou are determined to afflict me,4 I am ready to bear whatever youlay upon me.

VIII. When he had left me, he went away and roamed to and fro2 beneath the vault of heaven. And he got the Lord to promise him

1 A word of doubtful meaning, which does not occur elsewhere in Greek. Kohler(Semitic Studies . . ., p. 316) declares that it is for doMa (= K^*DN ), and, appealingto Kohut’s Arukh (s.v.^DK), translates it as ‘basket’; but this word in !>oth Hebrewand Greek means ‘yoke*. V adds the adj. ‘ragged’: hence Kohler’s translation, ‘anold tom basket’. 2 Lit. ‘from your hands’.

3 Lit. ‘and I said to him’.

4 Lit. 'Do what you are doing; for if you wish to bring something on me’.

62:3

The Testament of Job

authority over my possessions. And then, when he had been giventhe authority, he came and took away all my wealth.

IX. So listen, for I will tell you everything that happened to me

2 arid what was taken from me. For 1 had a hundred and thirty

3 thousand sheep; and I set apart seven thousand of them to be shorn

4 for the clothing of orphans, widows, the poor, and the helpless. I

5 had a pack of eight hundred dogs that guarded my flocks; and 1had another two hundred dogs that guarded1 my house. I had ninethousand camels; and from them I selected three thousand and setthem to work in various cities;2 * and 1 loaded them with goods, andI sent them off into the cities and villages with instructions to goand distribute to the helpless and to those in want and to all the

6 widow s. I had a hundred and forty' thousand asses in the pastures;and I set apart five hundred of them and gave orders that theirfoals4 should be sold and the proceeds given to the poor and needy.

7 And the poor5 from all countries used to come and seek me out;6

8 and the four doors of my house were ever open. And 1 would givemy servants orders that these should be kept open: my aim was toensure that no one should come asking for charity and see mesitting at the door, and turn away out of nervousness, and getnothing. My aim was rather that whenever people saw me sitting atone door, they should go in by another and get as much as theyneeded.

X. There were thirty tables set up in my house, available at all

2 hour s, for the exclusive use of strangers: I had also twelve other

3 tables laid for widows; and it any stranger appeared asking forcharily, he had to be fed at table before being given what he needed

4 - for 1 would not allow anyone to leave my door empty-handed.13 And I had three thousand five hundred yoke of oxen; and from

' So SV Slav.: Pom. ‘my flocks ... that guarded".

1 Lit. ‘three thousand to work in every city’.

} So SV Slav.: P‘thirty". * Lit. ‘oHspring’.

' So V Slav.: PS ‘And all’. 6 Lit. ‘come to meet me".

1 Lit. "with an empty bosom’. Not infrequently ’bosom’ was used metaphorically

for the told of the garment above the girdle in which valuables were stowed (e.g.

Prov. xvii. 23; Luke vi. 38): hence the natural meaning here is what we mean hy the

<>2t» The Testament of Job

them I picked out five hundred yoke and alloc ated them to plough-t) ing in any field of anyone who could use them: and what they7 produced* I set apart for the poor at their table. And 1 had fiftybake-houses, from which I provided what was necessary lor theservice of the beggars' table.

XI. And there were also some strangers who saw my goodwill andJ were anxious to help in the service themselves. And there weresome others who were at the time without the wherewithal and sowere unable to contribute anything,1 and they would come andappeal to me. saying. Might we also share in this service.2 although.1 we have nothing? As a favour to us. letul us money, so that we cango offand trade in cities far away, and so be able to render service■!..-> to the poor. And afterwards we can repay you what is yours. Andwhen 1 heard this. I was glad that they would actually take moneyn from me to care lor the beggars. And I would eagerly accept the7 bond and give them as much as they wanted. And l took no» security from them, apart from just the written record. And so theyu would trade with what was mine. And sometimes they would besuccessful in their trading and make enough to give to the beggars.In Sometimes, again, they would be robbed; and they would comeand appeal to me. saying. He patient with us. we beg you, while we11 see* how we can pay you hack. And when I heard this. 1 would feelsympathy lor them and bring out their note of hand and read it intheir presence and tear it up and release them from their debt.4saying. Inasmuch as I trusted you in the cause of the poor. I will

phrase ’with his pockets empty’. However, it is just possible (hat in this particularcontext the sense intended was 'with an empty stomach’, though such an extendedmeaning li»r 'lxworn’ would lx- unusual, if not unparalleled. In any case we aredealing with an exact quotation from Job xxxi. 31 in the Scptuagint version, whichunderstands the whole passage rather dilTcrentlv from what is implied by theHebrew original.

1 Lit.'and their fruit’.

1 l.it. 'unable to spend'.

1 Lit. 'We beg you, can we also perform this service?'

' SV Slav, “that we may see': P 'let us see'.

4 And when I heard . . . debt: so V; PS obscure.

2 take nothing from you. And I would not accept anything from anydebtor.5

XII. And if ever any well-intentioned man1 came to me and said. Ihave not myself the means to aid the poor, yet I would gladly serve

2 the beggars to-day at your table, permission would be granted, hewould do his service, and he would be given his own meal: andwhen evening came and he was leaving to go oil home, he would be

3 made take something from me. lor I would say. I know you are aworking-man. who expects and looks for your wages: you musttake something. And I would not allow the hireling’s wages toremain with me in my house.

XIH. Quite spent were those who milked the cows, Ihr the milk'streamed on the mountains; and the butter was spread over my

2 paths. And my cattle were so numerous that they were folded

3 among the rocks and the mountains because of those in labour. Soit was that the mountains were drenched with milk and became

1 like solid butter. My slaves who cooked the widows’ (bod grew5 weary. And. with scant regard lor the poor, they called down

curses on me. saying. Would God we were full of his meats -t> whereas I was being more than ordinarily kind.

2 XIV. I had six harps1 and a ten-stringed lyre. And every day. afterthe widows had been fed. I would get up and take the lyre and play

3 it for them, and they would sing. And with the harp I wouldl remind them of God, so that they might glorify the Lord. And if

ever my slave-girls started complaining, I would take the harp up3 and sing of the wages of recompense; and I would put an end totheir fault-finding2 and complaints.

5 I .it. “from my debtor*.

1 Lit. ‘any man of a cheerful heart’.

1 So SY: P OII1. 'ihr milk’. V has .several significant divergences, both here andelsewhere, in this c hapter.

1 Reading ipaXvjQia for yaAftov;: cp.Job xxi. 12 (LXX).

2 So SY: P adds ‘of the psalm, that is'.

(>!2B

XV. And every day. when the ministry of service was over, my:2 sons would have their dinner. And they would go to their eldest:i brother’s house to dine with him; and they would take with them

their three sisters and their attendant maidservants1 (for when my\ sons were at table they had male slaves waiting on them). And Iwould get up early and oiler sacrifices on their behalf according totheir number, three hundred pigeons, fifty hc-goals. and twelvesheep. All this, after what was needed lor the actual sacrifices hadbeen set aside,21 would order to be got ready for the beggars; and Iwould say to them. Take this, which is over and above what ish needed for the sacrifices,-' so that you can pray for my children. Itmay be that my sons have sinned in the Lord's sight by boasting.

7 saying superciliously. We are this rich man's children and these

8 goods are ours. Why then should we do service too? - because pride«> is an abominable thing in the sight of God. And again would I oiler

on God's altar a choice bullock, in cast* my sons had plotted evil intheir heart before God.

XVI. 1 And I had been doing this for seven years after the angel's2 message to me. Then Satan, after he had been given authority, at:i last came down without pity. He burned up the seven thousand

sheep appointed tor the clothing of the widows and the threethousand camels and the five hundred asses and the five hundred4 yoke of oxen. All this he destroyed himself, since he had been given*i authority to take action against me. And the rest of my beasts wereC) taken olf by my fellow-countrymen. They had always been welltreated by me; but now they rose against me and took oil' my7 remaining animals lor themselves. And I w as told about the loss ofmy possessions; and I gave praise to God and did not blaspheme.

XVII. Then the Devil, when he saw my reaction,' contrived a plot

1 Lit. ‘and the things laid upon the maidservants'.

1 Lit. 'after the arrangement'.

} Lit. ‘which is superfluous after the arrangement'.

1 V has a di lie re nt (and shorter) text for this chapter.

1 Lit. ‘having come to know my heart'.

^ against me. He disguised himself as the king of the Persians.

appeared before my eity. and assembled all the rogues that were in;i it. And he addressed them in a threatening manner and said. Thismanjohal) has squandered all the good things of the earth untilthere is nothing left, and he has shared them out among the needy,

1 the blind, and the lame. He has also destroyed the shrine of thegreat God and laid waste the place of libation, and tor this I willbring retribution on him — for what he has done to the house ofGod. So get together, and despoil him yourselves of all his animals

"> and whatever else he has on earth. And they answered and said tohim. He has seven sons and three daughters: suppose they flee lorprotection to other lands and lodge complaints against us forbehaving like tyrants, and then, they might raise a force against us<* and kill us. And lie said to them. Have no fear at all: the greaterpart of his possessions I have already destroyed by fire, the rest Ihave taken from him. behold,2 I will destroy' his children also.

XVIII. When lie had said this, lie went off and brought down the

2 house upon my children and killed them. My fellow-countrymen,when they saw that what he said had really happened, turned onme suddenly and drove me out and started to lay their hands on

:t everything in my house. I saw with my own eyes worthless and4 disreputable men sitting at my tables and on my couches. And Iwas unable to utter a word, lor I was exhausted like a woman in’> labour, whose loins are weakened by the intensity of the pains. ButI was especially mindful of what the Lord had foretold to methrough his angel about the campaign there was to be against me, aswell as the panegyrics that were toJot low, about which he had spokento me too. .And I became like someone who wants to go into a city to7 see its wealth and inherit a part of its glory - like (someone with) acargo on board a sea-going ship, who, when out in mid-ocean, secsthe rising swell and adverse winds, and flings the cargo into thesea, saying, I am prepared to lose everything provided 1 can getr into this city to inherit better things than chattels and ship. In thisway I thought of my possessions as nothing when compared withthat city the angel had spoken to me about.

1 So SV: P 'now'.

’ So SY: P om. “I will destroy’.

630

XIX. When the final messenger came arid informed me ofihe loss

1 of my children, I was greatly distressed. And I rent rny robe and:i said to the man who brought the message. How was it then that

you escaped? And then, when I understood what had happened. Icried out and said,

4 1 hr Lord gave, the Lord has taken away:

As it pleased the Lord, so has it eorne to pass.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

XX. So, when all that J had was lost. Satan realized that he could

2 not turn me into a mocker. And he went olf and begged my bodyfrom the I^ord, so that he might strike me with diseases. Then theLord handed me over to him to do with iny body as he would, but

4 over my life* he gave him no authority. And he caine to me as I was

5 sitting on my throne, mourning the loss of my children. And lie waslike a great hurricance and overturned my throne, and l spent

•> three hours in my throne, unable to get out.1 2 And he struck me with

7 a cruel disease from head to foot. And in great agitation and

8 distress I went outside the city and sat on a dunghill. My body waseaten by worms, and I drenched the earth with moisture: pus

9 streamed from me, and3 many were the worms in my body. And ifever a worm crawled out. f would pick it up and put it back4 in thesame place, saying, Stay in the same place where you were put, tillinstructions are given by him who gave you your orders.

XXI. And I spent forty-eight years on the dunghill outside the city,

2 diseased as I was. With my own eyes, my children. I saw my firstwife carrying water to some fine fellow’s house like a maidservant,

3 so that she might get bread and bring it to me. And cut to the quickI would say, O, the pretentious arrogance of the rulers of this city!

4 How can they treat my wife like a slave-girl? And then 1 wouldresume my patient mtisings.

1 Or ‘soul’. Gk. xpvxfl as in the I.XX at Job ii. 6 lor the Hebrew nepkesh.

2 So PS: V ‘... three hours lying on the ground’.

* So V (reading xai fyAges rowoAuardgftov IqqcovKai): PS om. Iqqcov teat.

4 So V: PS “bring it near’.

The Testament of Job

631

XXII. And after eleven years they prevented even the bread frombeing brought to me, scarcely allowing my wife1 lo have her own

2 food. And when she got it. she would share it out between herselland me, saving in her grief. Woe is me! Soon there will not even be

3 bread for him to eat. And she had no hesitation in going out intothe market-place to beg bread from the breadsellers, so as to bringit to me to eat.

XXIII. And Satan, when he hoard about this, disguised himself as

2 a breadseller. And, quite by ehanee. my wife went to him and

3 asked for bread, thinking he was human. And Satan said to her.

4 Put down the purchase-money, and take what you want. Sheanswered him and said. Where am I to get money from? Do you

.'> not know about the evils that have come upon us? Have pity, if you

<» can: if not. then let it be.1 And lie answered her. saying. Had you

7 not deserved your ills, they would not have come upon you.*' Butnow, if you have no money with you, leave the hair of your headwith me as a pledge and take three loaves: may'be you will he able

H to live on them for three days more. Then she thought. Well, what isthe hair of my head to me compared with my hungry husband?

9 And so with scant respect lor her hair, she said to him. Very well.'

10 take it. Then with a pair of scissors he cut her hair off and gave her

11 three loaves, publicly. She took them and came and brought themto me; and Satan followed her along the road, but so as she shouldnot see him,4 and led her heart astray.

XXIV. As soon as my wife c ame near me, she cried out, wailing,and said to me, Job. Job. how long will you go on sitting on thedunghill outside the city, thinking it will only be for a little while

2 longer, and waiting and hoping for your deliverance? As for me. 1wander about from place to place, a vagabond serving-maid; and1

1 Lit. 'allowing her'.

1 Lit. “hut if not, see to it yourself.

1 Lit. ‘you would not have received them*.

' Lit.‘Arise and'. * Lit.‘walking secretly'.

' P 'wherefore': SY ‘for already' -rp.Job ii. 9 l> (LXX).

632

The Testament of Job

your memorial has vanished from the earth — that is, the sons anddaughters that I bore and endured the pains oflabour for, all to no

3 purpose. You yourself sit stinking and infested with worms, and

4 you spend the night under the open sky. And I, again, utterlywretched, work by day and suffer at night to get bread to bring you.

5 For it is difficult enough now to get my ow n food,2 3 and I share it out

G between us; for I do not think it right that you should be racked

7 with pain and at the same time have nothing to eat. Thai is why Imade up my mind to go out shamelessly into the market-place.

8 And when the breadseller said to me, Fay me the money and you

9 can t ake the bread,' 1 told him about our poverty. And I heard himsay, If you have no money, woman, let me have the hair of yourhead, and take three loaves; maybe you will be able to live on them for

10 three days more. And I lost heart and said to him, Very well,4 cut itoff. And5 so he got up and dishonoured me by cutting off my hairwith a pair of scissors in the market-place, while a gaping crowdstood by.

XXV. And they said,

2 Who is not amazed that this is Sitidos, the wife of Job, she whoused to have fourteen curtains to protect her sitting-room, and adoor inside the other doors so that only someone who was of realimportance could gain access to her?

3 Now she exchanges her hair for bread!

4 Her camels loaded with good things used to carry them abroadfor beggars,

Yet now she gives her hair in return for bread!

5 Lo! She who at home had seven tables that were never moved, atwhich the beggars and every stranger used to eat.

Yet now she sells her hair for bread!

6 See! She who had a basin to wash her feet in, made of gold andsilver,

2 So {it seems) P; SV Slav, have a longer text.

3 The text here is in considerable confusion. The MSS differ widely and severalconjectural restorations have been proposed. Our translation is based on V, whichoffers a sense that is reasonably consecutive, even if not perfect.

4 Lit.‘Arise and’.

* So SV Slav.: Pom. ‘Very well... And’.

But now she goes barefoot,1 and even gives her hair in exchangefor bread!

7 Lo! 1’his is she who had clothing of tine linen embroidered withgold,

But now she is dressed in rags and gives her hair in exchange forbread!

8 See her that had gold and silver couches,

But is now selling her hair for bread!

9,10 Once for all, Job,2 to cut a long story short,' I tell you straight, Mywill is broken and my strength is gone:4 get up, take the loaves, andsatisfy your hunger; and then curse5 the Lord and die; and I, atleast, shall be spared the exhaustion that comes from my concern joryour body’s pain.

XXVI. And I answered her, Lo, I have l>een afflicted by diseasesfor seventeen years, and I have submitted patiently to the worms in

2 my body. Bui I have never been so dispirited by the pains as by the

3 words you have just uttered, Curse' the Lord and die. This is aburden we both of us bear together - the loss of our children andpossessions: would you have us now curse1 the Lord and so deprive

4 ourselves oP the great wealth that is to be? Why is it you do notremember the great benefits wc once enjoyed? If, then, we havereceived good at the Lord’s hand, should we not also endure evil?

5 But let us be patient till the Lord is moved with pity and shows us

6 mercy. Do you not see the Devil standing behind you and turningwhat goes on in your mind upside down, so that he can lead meastray as well? For he wants to cast3 you as one of those brainlesswomen who subvert their own husbands' integrity.

1 Lit. 'she treads the ground with her feet'

2 So SV Slav.: P ‘Job. Job’.

1 Lit. 'many things there are that have been said’.

4 Lit. 'Because of the weakness of my heart my bones arc broken'. In Hebrew'bones’ in the plural are not infrequently used for the whole personality: for theparallelism ‘heart.. . bones' cp. Isa. Ixvi. 14.

s Lit. ‘speak a work against’.

1 Lit. ‘Speak a word against’.

2 Lit. 'and so be alienated from’.

' Lit. ‘show’.

The 'Testament of Job

63-1

XXVII And I turned backwards towards Satan, who was behindmv w ile, and I said, Come out into the open. Stop hiding yourself.Does a lion display his strength in a cage? Does a bird fly away

2 when in a basket? Come out and do battle with me. Then be cameout from behind my wife and stood and lamented, saying, To. Job.1 am exhausted, and I give in to you. though you are human and Iam a spirit: you are smitten by disease, but I am in great distress as

3 well. For it is as if two athletes were wrestling.1 and one threw theother; and the one that was on top silenced the one underneath by

\ filling his mouth with sand and twisting his even limb. But the oneunderneath bore it all with patient endurance, and did not give in2,

5 and it was the one on top that at last shouted out that he was beaten. Soyou too. Job, were underneath, and smitten by disease; but youhave overcome my wrestling tricks that I employed against you.tj.7 Then Satan went away from me in shame for three whole years. Sonow. my children, you too must be patient whatever happens toyou; for patience is better than anything.

1,2 XXVIII. And after I had been smitten for twenty years, the neigh-bouring kings heard what had happened to me, and they set out andcairn; to me, each one from his own country, to visit me and console

;t me. When they were some distance off, they did not recognize me;but they cried out aloud and lamented, and they rent their robes

4 and sprinkled themselves with earth. And they sat down by me forseven days and seven nights, and not one of them said a word to

■> me. And it was not because they were being patient with me thatthey waited without speaking: it was because they had known mebefore these evils in my wealthy days, when 1 would display1 tothem my precious stones, and they would look on with amazementand clap their hands, and say, If all that we three kings possesswere brought together into a single place, there would be no

1 A free translation of an uncertain text.

* Or ‘and did not flint'. So SV: if we read without the negative, as in F, the sensewould seem to be ’though much weakened'. Again, the text in this verse is veryuncertain.

1 Lit. 'when I would begin to bring up’.

The Testament of Job (i3f>

(» comparison with the splendid stones of your kingdom. For I was7 the leading nobleman ol the Hast. And when they rainc to the (andofAusitis. they asked in the city. Where isjobab. who is the king of aila Egypt?* And people told them about me. He is sitting on thedunghill outside the city, lor he has not come up inside the city for9 twenty years. They asked again about my possessions and it wasexplained to them what had happened to me.

XXIX. And when they heard it. they left the city in company with

2 the citizens, and my lellow-citi/.ens pointed me out to them. Hut

3 they contradicted them, saying that I was not Jobah. While theywere still in open disputation, Lliphaz, the king of the Temanites.

4 turned towards me and said. Are you Jobah. out lellow-king? Iwept and sprinkled earth upon my head, and by nodding I made itplain to them that 1 was.

XXX. And when they saw me nod my head, they foil to the ground

2 in a faint. And their armies were alarmed at the sight of the threekings lying prostrate on the ground {for they remained there for three

3 hours, like corpses). Then they got up and said to one another. It is

4 he. And finally they sat for seven days, discussing my affairs,reckoning up my cattle and possessions, and saying. We wereaware, were we not, of the many good things that were sent by himto the villages and cities round about for distribution to thebeggars, besides what was given away1 in his house/ How is it thathe is now reduced to this corpse-like condition?

XXXI. After they had discussed the matter in this way for sevendays, Elihu1 answered and said to his fellow-kings. Let us go closerto him and examine him carefully to see whether it is really lie or

2 not. Now they were about a hundred yards away, because of the

3 stench from my body. And they got up and came closer to me with

1 So all MSS. Perhaps an early copyist's slip for 'Ausitis'. V adds 'and of thiscountry".

1 So V: PS'lying about'.

1 So all MSS. See note at xxxiii. I.

63(> The Testament of Job

perfumes in their hands, while their soldiers, accompanying them,burned2 incense all round me, so that they could come near me.■1.5 Three days they spent burning1 incense. And when they came upto me, Klihu look up the tale4 and said to me. Are you Jobab, ourfellow-king? Are you the man who once was held in great esteem?Are you the man who was like the day’s sun throughout the earth?Are you the man who was like the moon and the stars shining at8.7 midnight? And I said to him. 1 am. And at this he raised a great8 lament and lifted up his voice in a royal dirge, while the other kingsand their armies made response.

XXXII. Hear, then, the lantern of Klihu, declaring to his serv antsthe wealth of Joh:

2 You are the man who mustered the seven thousand sheep lor

the clothing of the beggars!

Where then is the glory of your throne?

You arc the man who mustered the three thousand camelsfor the carriage of goods for the poor!

Where then is the glory of your throne?

3 You arc the man who mustered the three thousand cattle lor

the poor man’s ploughing!

Where then is the glory of your throne?

4 You are the man who had the golden couches, hut are now-

sitting on a dunghill!

Where now is the glory of your throne?

5 You are the man who had the throne of precious stones, but

arc now sitting in ashes!1Where now is the glory of your throne?

<> For who was like you in the midst of your children? For youblossomed together like a fragrant apple-tree!

Where now is the glory of your throne?

7 You are the man who established the sixty tables set apart (orthe beggars!

Where now is the glory of your throne?

J Lit. ‘threw’. ’ Lit. ‘supplying’.

* Lit. ‘answered’.

1 SoS (= tvaxodfy)-. P'in a roadway* (= tvbdfy). Vurn. verses 5 and 8.

637

The Testament of Job

You are the man who had the censers lor the sweet-smellingassembly,2 but now you live in a stench!

{ Where now is the glory of your throne?)JYou are the man who had the golden lamps upon the silverlampstands, but now you wait for the light of the moon!Where then is the glory of your throne?

You are the man who had the ointment made with resin fromthe frankincense-tree, but now you are in want.4Where then is the glory of your throne?

You are the man who laughed the wrong-doers and sinnersto scorn, blit now you_>'<mr«//havc become a jest!

Where now is the glory of your throne?

You arc Job, who had great glory!

Where now is the glory of your throne?

XXXIil. Elihu1 went on with his lament, and his fellow-kings maderesponse, so that there was a great disturbance. And when thenoise ceased, Job said to them, Silence!

Now will I show you my throne,

And its glory and its splendour that is among the saints.

My throne is in the realms above the world,

And its glory and its splendour at the right hand of theFather.2

The whole world will pass away and its glory he destroyed,

And those who are attached to it will perish with it;

But my throne is in the holy land.

And its glory is in the world of changelessness.

The rivers will dry up.

And the pride of their waves will go down to the depths of theabyss;

But the rivers of my land, where my throne is,

: So PS: V ‘the censers for song rrwdrofprecious stones’.

3 P omits this line altogether: SV insert it between . . assembly’ and ‘but now..above.

4 So PS (= ivdxoQltt): V ‘in rottenness’ (= tvaajiQlff).

1 So PS: V ‘Eliphaz’. ‘Eliphaz’ would seem to be required all through chaps,

xxxi-xxxiit. 1 So P: S ‘(kxP; V ‘the Saviour’; Slav, ‘the heavenly king’.

Do not dry up. nor will they disappear.

Hut they will last for ever.

« These kings will pass away, and the leaders will pass on.

And their glory and their Iroast will he like a reflection in amirror.5

<i But my kingdom is for ever.

And its glory and its splendour are among the Father’schariots.

1.2 XXXJV. And as I said this to them to silence tiiem. FJiphaz saidangrily to his friends. What use is there in our having come to himas we have, with our armies, to console him? Lo! he even castsaspersions on us as well: let us. therefore, go back to our own lands.J He himself sits in misery, eaten by worms and smelling horribly/and yet he exalts himself against us - Kingdoms pass away andtheir governments, he says, but my kingdom2 will last for ever!:> Much disturbed Kliphaz got up and turned away front them inhigh dudgeon, saying. I am going; for wc have come to consolehim. and yet he has rebutted us in the presence of our own soldiers.

XXXV. Then Bildad took hold of him, saying. You must not speaklike this to a man who is in mourning/or his children and is suffering2 under many other afflictions too. \Yc are in the best of health, andyet, because of the stench, we were not able to get near him withoutthe help of many perfumes. Have you forgotten altogether. Kliphaz,■\ what you were like when you were ill yourself for only two days. Solet us now be patient and try to find out' what his condition reallyis. It may be, may it not, that his mind has gone? It may be, may itnot, that he remembers his former good fortune and has beenS driven mad by it? For who would not be put out of his mind andi> driven mad when beset with such plagues? But let me approach himand try to find out what his condition is.

' So SY: P ‘like a mirror'.

1 Lit. ‘in distress of worms and (in) slcmhes’.

2 So SY Slav.: P 'and lo. ours'.

1 So SY Slav.: P om. ‘and try to find out*.

The Testament of Job

639

XXXVI. Then Bildad got up and approached me, saying. Are you2 Job? And I said to him. Yes. And he said. Are you in your right:i mind? And I said. My mind is not set on earthly things (for theearth is transient and so are they that dwell on it), but my mind1 isset on heavenly things, because there is no disturbance in heaven.I Bildad answered and said. We know that the earth is transient,since from time to time it changes: sometimes it is directed rightly,and sometimes it is at peace, and then at other limes it is at war.j But about heaven we hear that it enjoys tranquillity. If you arefi really sane I will ask you a question. If you answer me sensibly tobegin with, I will ask you a second question. And if you answer mesatisfactorily again, we shall know for certain that your mind is inno way impaired.

XXXVII. And again he said to me. In whom do you put your trust?1

2,.5 And I said, In the living God. And again he said to me, Who took1 away your possessions and brought these mislortunes on you? And

5 I said, God. And again he answered and said to me, So you putyour trust in God. Was he not unjust (it is for you to judge)2 inbringing these misfortunes on you or taking your possessions

6 away? If he gave and ux>k away, he ought not to have givenanything at all - no king will ever humiliate his own soldier, histrusty guardsman (though who is there that can ever comprehendthe depths of the mysteries ofthc Lord and of his wisdom?) Or should

7 we presume3 to attribute injustice to the Lord? Answer me this,H Job. And again I say to you, If you are in >our right mind, show me

(if you understand) how it is we see the sun rise iri the cast and setin the west, yet when we get up again in the morning, we find thesame sun rising in the cast? Explain this to me, if you are God’sservant.

XXXVni. And to this I said, I do have understanding, and mymind is sane enough. Why, then, should I not speak of the Lord’s

1 Lit. 'but it'.

1 Or 'On what do you pin your hopes’’

2 Following Janies: ail MSS are corrupt.

3 Lit. ‘Or docs anyone presume’.

640

The Testament of Job

mighty works? Should my mouth fail altogether in its duty to my

2 Master? God forbid! For who are we to pry into heavenly things,

3 seeing we arc mortal and our portion dust and ashes? So, in orderto prove to you that f am sane, listen to a question I will put to you.Food enters the body through the mouth, and through the samemouth water too is drunk, and it passes down the same throat; butwhen both go lower still,1 they are separated from one another.

,5 Who, then, makes the separation? Bildad said. I do not know. Ianswered and said to him, If, then, you do not comprehend theworking of the body, how can you comprehend celestial things.

6 And Zophar, answering, said, We are not conducting an enquiryinto what is beyond our powers: what we want to know is whetheryou are in your right mind; and in fact wc have discovered that

7. vour powers of thought have not deserted you. What, then, wouldyou have us do for you? For, see, we have brought with us2 thephysicians of our three kingdoms. Will you be treated by them, and

8 so, perhaps, find relief? But 1 answered and said, My healing andmy treatment are from the Lord, who is the creator even ofphysicians.

XXXIX. And as 1 was saying this to them, my wife Sitidos came in

2 her rags. She had run away from the master, to whom she was inservice, because she had been prevented from going out in case my

3 fellow-kings should sec her and take her off. And when she came,she flung herself at their feet, and she wailed and said, Do you

4 remember me, Eliphaz and your two friends? Do you remember whatI used to be like among you and how gorgeously I used to be arrayed?

.6 But now, see how I am dressed when I go out! Then they set up agreat wailing, till they became doubly weary and grew silent.

7 Eliphaz took hold of his purple cloak to tear it off and throw it

8 round my wife. And she begged them saying, Bid your soldiers, Iask you, to dig in the ruins of the house that collapsed over mychildren, so that their bones may be preserved as a memorial of

9 themFor we have not fxten able to do it ourselves2 because of the

1 I.it. ‘go into the drain’.

2 Following Brock’s restoration: all MSS are corrupt.

1 Or ‘lor a commemoration of them , or ‘for a tomb’.

2 may be preserved . . . able: so S(V) Slav.; P corrupt.

641

The Testament oj Job

10 expense: we shall at least then be able to look upon their bones. AmI only a wild beast or have I the womb of a brute that my ten

11 children are dead, and not one of them have I buried? And theywere going off to dig. but I restrained them, saying. Do not labour

12 in vain. You will not find my children, because they have been

13 taken up into heaven by their maker and their king. Then again theyanswered me and said, Who now will not say you are out of yourmind and mad to say. My children have been taken up intoheaven? Show us how this can be true.

XL. 1 answered and said to them, Lift me up, so that I can stand.

2 So they lifted me up and supported my arms on cither side. And

3 then, standing up. I gave thanks to the Father.1 And after myprayer 1 said to them, Fill up your eyes to the east and see mychildren with crowns on then heads beside the glory of'the Heavenly

4 One. When my wife Silidos saw them, she fell to the ground inworship and said, Now I know that 1 have a memorial with theLord. 1 will get up and go into the city and shut my eyes a little and

■> refresh myself lor my menial tasks. And she set off to the city, andshe went into the byre where her own cattle were that had been

t> seized by the rulers whose slav e she was. And beside a manger she

7 fell asleep and died content. The ruler, who owned her, searched

8 lor her without success. In the evening he went into the cattle-byre

9 and found her prostrate corpse. All who saw her cried out, lowingand wailing over her.2 and the noise was heard throughout the city.

0,11 Then they rushed in to find out what had happened. And theyfound her dead, and the animals standing round and wailing for

12 her. So they carried her out and buried her; and they laid her in the

13 ruins oj the house that had collapsed over her children. And thebeggars in the city made a great lamentation, saying,

See! This is Sitidos, the wife to boast about and glory in!

She was not thought worthy of a proper burial!

14 And the dirge made over her you will find in the Paraicipomena.

1 So P: S Slav, ‘first (oin. Slav.) io ihe Lord and to God’; V ‘to God first’.

1 Of (his incident James wrote (TS V. i. p. c): ‘The sense of the original ... is 1think this, that when the employer of Sitis found her dead in the stable, all the beastscried out over hcr/tfrftfevtajuaro^ ki.avdfiot>: and the noise they made attracted thecitizens, who rushed in and lound her dead, and the beasts weeping over her'.

M'2

The Testament of Job

XLI. Eliphaz and the rest sat down beside me alter this, arguing2 and saying many fine things against me. After twenty seven days5 they got up to go to their own country.' And then Hlihu made themswear an oath, saying. Stay with me till I have made things plain tohim. Ibr you have spent far loo many days listening patiently to

1 Job’s boasting about his righteousness. For my part I will not putup with it. For from the beginning I, like you.1 2 * have kepi up thelament Ibr him. remembering his former good fortune; and he hasonly used it for self-glorification. High-sounding and presump-

f> tious are his words, saying, he has his throne in heaven. But listenti to me. and I will show you that he has no portion there.* ThenElihu. inspired by Satan, launched into a scurrilous attack uponme. as is recorded in the Paraleipomcna of Eliphaz.4

XLH. After he had ceased his fine words, the Lord appeared to me

2 and spoke through whirlwind and clouds. And he censured Elihu,making it clear to me that he who had been speaking by him was

:> not a man but a beast. And while the Lord was speaking to methrough the cloud, the four kings also heard his voice as he spoke,i And alter the Lord had finished speaking to me, he said to Eliphaz,.i What now Eliphaz? You have sinned and your two friends also; forli you were wrong in what you said about my servant Job. So bestiryourselves and get him to offer sacrifices on your behalf, that yoursin may be removed; for had it not been for him, I would have

7 destroyed you. And they brought me the materials for sacrifice.

8 And I took them and offered them on their behalf; and the Lordaccepted the sacrifice and forgave them their sin.

XLI1I. Then Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar perceived that the Lordhad forgiven them their sin (though he had not deemed ElihuA worthy). And Eliphaz was inspired and sang a hymn. And his

1 So PS: V has a much longer text in these first two verses, giving the substance ofthe friends arguments against Job.

• I.it. ‘I also*.

1 So PS: V ‘what his purtion is‘.

* So the MSS. Should we read ‘Elihu’? Op. note on xxxiii. I.

other friends and the armies made response to him near the altar.

4 His hymm was this:'

Banished are our sins, and buried is our wickedness.

5 Elihu, Elihu, the only wicked one, will have no memorial

among the living:

His lamp is quenched, its light has failed:2

6 The brilliance of his torch will turn to judgement on himself;

For he is the child of darkness and not of light.

And the door-keepers of darkness will inherit his glory andhis splendour.

7 His kingdom has passed away: his throne has crumbled into

dust:

And the honour of his dwelling-place3 is in Hades,ft He has loved the serpent's beauty and the dragon's scales:

Its venom and its poison shall be his food.4

9 Never has he sought the Lord’s favour.5 nor has he feared

him,

And even those who are honoured by him he has provoked.

10 The Lord has forgotten him, and the saints6 have abandoned

him;

11 And anger and passion shall be his dwelling-place.3

12 He has no pity in his heart, nor peace in his mouth:7The poison of asps he has on his tongue.

13 Righteous is the Lord: true are his judgements.

With him is no favouritism: he will judge us all alike.

14 Lo, the Lord is at hand: lo, the saints6 have been made ready,While crowns with panegyrics lead the way.

15 Let the saints6 rejoice, let them be joyful in heart.

16 For they have obtained the glory (or which they hoped.

17 Done away is our sin, cleansed is our wickedness.

But wicked Elihu has no memorial among the living.

1 Lit. ‘Thus Eliphaz spoke'.

2 Lit. ‘he (it) has put out its light’.

3 Lit. ‘tabernacle’.

4 Reading ticfloQ&v. PSV Slav, tic (SoQQdv {‘to the north’}.s Lit. ‘He has not gained the I,ord tor himself*.

6 Or‘holy ones’ (i.e. ’angels')

7 Reading h «£> mOftan ainot: P evr. owuau av. ( in his body ); SV Slav. om.

The Testament oj Job

l>44

XLIV. After Lliphaz had finished the hymn, while all maderesponse to him and circled round the altar, we got up and wentinto the city where we now have our home. And we held greatfestivities and took our delight in the Lord; and once again I did mybest to help the beggars. And all my friends came to me. and thosef who knew how to do good.1 And they asked me. sav ing. What doyou ask of us now? And I, with the beggars in mind, to do themgood again, asked them and said. (Jive me. each one of you. a lamb.'> to clothe the beggars’ nakedness with. And then each of thembrought me a lamb apiece and a ictradrachm of gold. And the Lordblessed everything I had and doubled it.

XLV. And now. see. my children. I am about to die. Nev er forget

1 the Lord. Do good to the beggars, and do not neglect the helpless.» And do not marry wives that are daughters of foreigners. And now, my

children. I will divide* among you everything I have, so that eachone of you may be in complete control of the portion that is his.2

XLVI. And they brought what was to be divided to the seven

2 boys.1 And he set aside nothing from the property for the girls2 ata/I. And they were hurt and said to their father. Our lord andfather, are we not also your children? Why hav e you not given us a

:i share in your property? Job said to the girls.2 Do not be distressed,4 my daughters, lor I have not forgotten you. In fact I have providedfor you' an inheritance better than that of your sev en brothers..r> Then lie motioned to his daughter called Hemera. and he said toher. l ake this4 ring and go to the strong-room and fetch the three<> little golden urns, so that I may give you your inheritance. She7 went away and fetched them. And he opened them and took out

1 So I’: SV 'those who knew that I was doing good'.

1 I.it. 'Behold, therefore, my children, I divide'.

1 With these words Job ends his personal testimony, and at the beginning of thenext chapter the narrative, with which the work opened, is resumed. It appearsfrom li. 4 (hat the narrator is Ncreos, Job's brother.

1 I.it. 'males'. ■ Lit. 'females’.

' Lit.'I sent to you’. * Lit.‘the*.

645

The Testament of Job

three cords of many colours, such as no man could possibly

8 describe; for they were not of earth but of heaven, flashing with

9 sparks of fire like the rays of the sun. And he gave one cord each tohis daughters,5 saying, l ake them and gird them round you, thatthey may keep you safe all the days of your life and fill you withevery good thing.6

XLV11. The other daughter, called Cassia, said to him, Father isthis the inheritance you were saying was better than our brothers’?What is the use of these strange cords? How can we live on them?

2 And their father said to them, Not only will you be able to live on

3 them; but these cords will lead you to the greater world - to life in

4 the heavens. Surely, children, you cannot be unaware of the valueof these ropes? l'he Lord thought me worthy of them on the daywhen he willed to have mercy on me and to cure my body of the

5 diseases and the worms. He called to me and supplied me withthese three cords, saying to me. Arise, gird up your loins like a

6 man: I will question you, and do you answer me. I took the cords andgirded myself; and immediately, from that very moment, theworms disappeared from my body, and so too did the diseases.

7 And after that my body received strength through the Lord, as

8 though it had not suffered anything at all. And I even forgot my

9 distress of mind. And the Lord spoke to me in power, showing me

10 what has been and what will be. Consequently, my children, withthese cords you will never now have the Enemy arrayed against younor even his thoughts in your hearts, because it is the Father’s1

11 amulet. Get up, then, and gird them round you before I die, so thatyou may be able to see those who are coming for my soul andmarvel at God’s creatures.

XLVID. Accordingly, the one called Hemera got up and wound her

2 rope about her, just as her father had said. And she assumed

3 another heart, no longer minding earthly things. And she gave

s So SV: P om. ‘each to his daughters’.

6 So V: PS ‘Take them about your breast, that it may be well (Pom.) with you allthe days of your life’.

So P: SV Slav, ‘the Lord's’

<)4ti The Testament of Job

utterance in lilt* speech of angels, sending up a hymn to God afterthe pattern of the angels' hymnody; and the Spirit let the hymnsshe uttered be recorded on her robe.

XLIX. And then Cassia girded hersell, and she too experienced achange of heart, so that she no longer gave thought to worldly2 things. And her mouth took up the speech of the heavenly powers.:i and she lauded the worship of the heavenly sanctuary.1 So ilanyone wants to know about the worship that goes on in heaven.Jhe can find it in the hymns of Cassia.

L. And the remaining one. the one called Aniallheias-Keras, puton her girdle; and she likeivise gave utterance with her mouth in the2 speech of those on high. Her heart too was changed and withdrawnfrom worldly things: and she spoke in the language of the cherubim,extolling the Lord of V irtues, and proclaiming their glory . Anyonewho would pursue the Father's glory any further will find it set outin the prayers of Amalthcias-Koras.

1,2 LI.’ Alter the three had finished singing their hymns, 1, Nercos,i Job's brother, sat down beside him as he lay upon his bed; and Ilistened to my brother's three daughters as they discussed togetherI the heavenly mysteries2. And I wrote down this book, except for thehymns and the signs of the word, for these arc the mysteries2 ofCod.

LII. So Job lay1 ill in bed, yet without pain and suffering, for pain

1 Lit. ‘she lauded the work of the High Place’.

2 Lit. ‘to know the work of the heavens’.

1 The translation in this ehapter follows V, which yields a reasonably consistentsense. P and S arc both difficult and in varying degrees very evidently corrupt.

2 Lit. ‘the great things'.

1 So V. P and S arc corrupt and add ’And after three days’ at the beginning (by

diitography from the next verse).

647

The Testament of Job

was no longer able to a lire i him because of the sign of the girdle2 that he wore. And after three days he saw the holy angels1 2 whocame for his soul. And he got up immediately and took a lyre and4 gave it to his daughter Hemera: to Cassia he gave a censer: to:'i Ainaltheias-Kcras he gave a tamlxjurine; that they might give(i praise to those who had conic for his soul. And as they took them,7 they saw the shining chariots which had come for his soul. Andt) they gave praise and honour, each in her special tongue. And aftery this, he who sat in the great chariot got out and greeted Job (thisthe three daughters saw, as did also their lather, but no one else).

10 He took Job’s soul, went off with it in his arms, and placed it in the

11 chariot and journeyed to the east. Rut Job’s body was made ready112 for burial and carried to the grave. His three daughters led the

way, with their girdles round them, singing hymns of praise to the

Father.3

LIII. And I Nereos. his brother, and the seven boys.' together with

2 the poor and orphans and all the helpless, made lamentation. Andthey said. Woe to us to-day, double woe, for to-day the strength of

3 the helpless has been taken away, the light of the blind has beentaken away, the father of the orphans has been taken away, he whoreceived strangers has been taken away, he who clothed the

4 widows2 has been taken away. Who, then, will not mourn for the

5 man of God? No sooner had they brought the body near the gravethan all the widows and orphans gathered round and prevented his

6 being put in it.3 But after three days they laid him in the grave.

’ So V: PS nm. ‘the holy angels*.

' So P (lit. 'singing praise in hymns of the father’): 5V Slav, singing praise toGod in hymns’.

1 Lit.'malechildren’.

2 Lit. ‘the clothing of the widows'. So P: the other MSS have some additional

clauses in the catalogue. * Lit. ‘in the grave’.

ii-ta

The Testament of Job

sleeping peacefully as he was. having won fur himsclfa name to behonoured in every succeeding generation. Amen.4

4 So I* Slav.: SY om. “Amen*. Then S Slav, adds:

'And Job lived after the plague (Slav. + 'and his sufferings') one hundred andseventy years, and the whole span of his life was two hundred and 1'nrly-eiglil years.And he saw his children's children (Slav, ‘children and grandchildren and greatgrandchildren') to (he fourth (Slav, 'third') generation'.

V adds:

‘He left seven sons and three daughters; and there were not found under heavenany lairer than Job's daughters. Job was formerly named Jobah; but his name waschanged to Job by the latrd. He lived Indore the plague for eighty-five years; andafter the plague he received double of all things, including also his years, onehundred and seventy. So he lived altogether two hundred and forty-eight years.And he saw his children’s children to the fourth generation. It is written also that herose with those whom tiie Ia>rd raised. To God lie glory'.

THE PSALMS OF SOLOMON

I\ [ ROm CTIOX

1’he Psalms of Solomon are neither quoted nor referred toexplicitly by any of the Fathers. The earliest mention of them is inthe catalogue of contents in the Codex Atexandrinus of the Bible in theBritish Library (5th cent.) where 'eighteen PsalmsofSoIomou*arelisted right at the end. after the two Fpistles of Clement, which inturn follow the ‘Apocalypse of John'. Presumably Atexandrinuscontained a text of the Psalms, but it docs so no longer: its lastleaves have been lost, and the text breaks off rather more manhalf-way through 2 Clement. Later on. the Psalms occur in the Li.aof Sixty Books, as also in the psrudo-Athanasian Synopsis and theStichometry of Nicephorus. In the last two. however, they arejoined together with the Odes - ‘Psalms and Ode(s) of Solomon .They are not mentioned in the Gelasian Decree.

The text of the Psalms is preserved in some ten Greek manu-scripts (two of them defective), one Greek fragment (consisting ofxvii. 2-xviii. 14).1 and also in two defective Syriac manuscriptsand two Syriac fragments (both, oddly enough, containing xvi.(>—13). The Greek MSS date from the late 10th or early 11th cent,to the early 15th, and in all of them the Psalms appear as oneamong a number of other works, some Biblical and someecclesiastical. In the two Syriac MSS. however, the Psalms arepreceded by the Odes, but there is no distinction between them:the Psalms follow immediately on the Odes without a break: all aregiven the title “Psalms'; and they are numbered consecutively fromthe beginning of the Odes - thus. Psalm i in our numerationbecomes Psalm xliii in the Syriac, and soon up to lx. Neither SyriacMS contains any other work. One of them (Rylands Cod. Syr. 9;16th cent.) is deficient at the beginning of the Odes and also fromPs. xvii. 38 to the end: the other (B.L. Addit. 14538; 9th or 10th

1 See W. Baars. 'A New Fragment of the Greek Version of (hr Psalms of Solomon'in ITxi(l%l).pp. 441-444.'

cent.) contains only Odes xvii. 7-xlii. 20 and Pss. i.i-iii. 3 and x.4-xviii. 3.

The combi nation of Odes and Psalms in a single series known as‘Psalms* in the Syriac tradition raises the question. Was this apeculiarity of the Syriac-speaking church or was it also knownelsewhere? As we have seen, both the pseudo-Athanasian Synopsisand the Stichomelry of Nicephoros list the ’Psalms and Ode(s) ofSolomon* together. It is possible that there is evidence here that thePsalms and Odes were combined in some Greek MSS - though inthe reverse order, it would seem, from the order in the Syriac. It ispossible, too, that when Afexandrinus and the List of Sixty Hooksmention the ‘Psalms* only they are referring to a similar combina-tion.* But all this is mere hypothesis. The facts arc that only tenGreek MSS of the Psalms are known, all of which have preservedthe Psalms without the Odes; and these, together with the Syriac,are the only evidence there is for the text of the Psalms.

It is now generally agreed that the Psalms were originally writtenin Hebrew. The Greek will accordingly be a version from theHebrew. It has been suggested that the Syriac is also a versionfrom the Hebrew; but this suggestion has found few supporters,and most regard the Syriac as a secondary version made from theGreek.

There are no obviously Christian passages in the Psalms nor anythat look as if they had been worked over by Christian editors. ThePsalms are Jewish through and through and breathe the atmos-phere of the canonical Psalms of David, in conscious imitationofwhich they wore doubtless written.

The writer himself belongs to the circle of ’the righteous* (iii.3-8), or God's ‘holy ones’ (ix. 3), or ‘those who Icar the Lord* (xv.13), as against their opponents ‘the unrighteous’ (xv. 4—13), or‘sinners’ (ii. 34—33), or ‘lawless ones' (xiv. 6). These latter arecharged, not merely with general misbehaviour, immorality, andungodliness (e.g. iv. 1-22), but specifically with having set up anon-Davidic monarchy {xvii. 4-6) and with having profaned theTemple and its sacrifices (ii. 3; viii. 11-12). 'The writer and his

2 Though this is most unlikely in the case of Alexandrians, since the text, as itstands, refers explicitly to ’eighteen* Psalms.

circle abhor such lawless deeds (xii. 1-4): they pride themselvesthat they ‘walk in the righteousness of [God’s] ordinances, in thelaw which he commanded’ (xiv. 2): and they await in patience theadvent of the legitimate Davidir Messianic King (xvii. 21—35:cp. xviii. o-9).

It is not difficult to see here a reflection of the opposition betweenthe Pharasaic and Sadducaean parties sometime during the firstcentury BC. References to a foreign conqueror in three of thePsalms enable us to fix the date of these three, at least, moreexactly. The foreign conqueror came ‘from the end of the earth'(viii. 15) and sent off his captives ‘to the west’ (xvii. 12) — so fromthe west he presumably came. At first he was welcomed by some ofthe nation, and the way was left open lor him to approach Jerusalem(viii. 16-18). Later, it seems, he encountered resistance and usedbattering-rams to breach the walls (ii. i). Having capturedJerusalem, he was responsible for a general massacre (viii. 19-21)and introduced his soldiers into the Temple where they con-temptuously ‘trampled’ the altar (ii. 2). Ultimately he wasmurdered in Egypt, and his body lay exposed lor lack of burial (ii.26—27). These details correspond very closely with what isrecorded elsewhere of the details of Pompey’s capture of Jerusalemin 63 BC and his death in Egypt in 48 BC.

Whether the Psalms were all the work of a single author or notwc have no means of knowing. Nor can wc tell how close in date theother Psalms arc to the three which refer to Pompcy. Manymoderns think of a ‘school’ as having produced the Psalms ratherthan a single author, and most would connect it with the Pharisees- hence the popular (but quite unofficial) title Psalms of thePharisees’. Some, however, would dispute this connection, partlyon the ground that the Psalms themselves provide only the mostgeneral evidence for it, and partly on the ground that wc know asyet far too little about the various movements and parties withinJudaism in the 1st cent. BC to make certainty possible - in par-ticular, it seems likely that there was in fact a much greater varietyin the groupings and factions at the time than the conventionalPharisee—Sadducee-Essene categorization suggests (in which casethe authors of the Psalms may well have belonged to one of theseotherwise ‘unknown’ groups).

652 The Psalms of Solomon

But in any rase, there is no need to suppose that all the Psalmswere written at once. Schupphaus. lor example, has maintainedthat two separate ‘dusters' of Psalms t ail he identified, which, heclaimed, represent two separate stages in the development of asingle community (though it was for Schupphaus a Pharisaiccommunity): one cluster stems front the time of the Roman invasionin 63 BO, the other from somewhere between 48 and 48/2 BO.

On any hypothesis, however, the Psalms are patently Palestinian;and the probability is that they were written in Jerusalem.

The translation which follows is based on Gray's. The versenumeration is that of von Gebhardt (with Gray's numeration inbrackets).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

Greek

H. E. RYLE and M. R. JAMES VaXuol ZoAo/x(uvto$: Psalms of thePharisees, commonly called The Psalms oj Solomon. The Text newlyrevisedJrom all the MSS, Edited with Introduction, English Translation.Notes, Appendix, and Indices (Cambridge, 1891).

O. VON GEBHARDT, WaXfiol ZoXof/wvrog: Die Psalmen Salomo'szum ersten Male mit Benulzung der Athoshandschrijten und des CodexCasanatensis herausgegeben (= TV xiii. 2; Leipzig, 1895).

]. VlTEAU and F. MARTIN. Les Psaumes de Salomon. Introduction,texte grec el traduction . . . avec les principals varianles de la versionsyriaque {= Documents pour Delude de la Bible; Paris, 1911).

H. B. S\VETE, The Old Testament in Greek*, in (Cambridge, 1912).pp. 765-787.

, The Psalms of Solomon with the Greek Fragments of the Book of

Enoch (Cambridge, 1899), pp. 1-28. [Reprinted from the above.)

A. RAHLFS, Sepluaginta5. ii (Stuttgart, 1952). pp. 471-489.

Syriac

J. Ren DEL HARRIS, The Odes and Psalms of Solomon, now firstpublished from the Syriac version (Cambridge, 1909; 2nd ed. 1911).

653

The Psalms of Solomon

J. Rk.XDKL HARRIS and A. Mixgana. The Odes and Psalms ofSolomon, re-editedfor the Governors of the John Rylands Library. Vol. i:The Text with Facsimile Reproductions (Manchester, 1916).

\V. BaaRs, Peshilta, Part IV, lasr. 6 (Leiden, 1972), pp. i—vi.1-27.

TRANSLATIONS

English

H. K. RVLKand M. R. Ja.MKS. V'a/^olZoX. . . . [as above).

G. B. Gray in R. H. Charles. APOTW, pp. 625-652.

J. RknDEL HARRIS, The Odes and Psalms of Solomon, now firstpublishedfrom the Syriac version (Cambridge, 1909; 2nd ed. 1911).

J. Rkndkl Harris and A. Ml.NGA.NA, The Odes and Psalms ofSolomon, re-edited for the Governors of the John Rylands Library. Vol. ii:The Translation with Introduction and Soles (Manchester, 1920) . . .[from the Syriac].

French

J. Y(THAI* and F. MARTIN,. .. [as above).

German

A. HlLGKNFKLI), ‘Die Psalmen Salomo’s, dcutsch ubersetzt undauf Ncuc untersucht’ in Zeitschrift fur wissenschaftliche Theologie(Leipzig, 1871). pp. 383-418.

R. KlTTHI. in K. KaL’T/.SCH. APAT ii ( Tubingen, 1900), pp.127-148.

P. Rikssler, AjSaB\ pp. 881-902.

S. Hoi.M-NlKI.SKN inJSh-rZ IV. 2 (1977), pp. 49-112.

GENERAL

J. BEGRICH, ‘Der Text der Psalmen Salomos’ in ZNW xxxviii(1939), pp. 131-164.

A. - M. D kn IS, IPG A T, pp. 60-64.

O. ElSSFELDT, 077, pp. 610-613.

VV. FRAN KEN BERG, Die Datierung der Psalmen Salomos (= Beiheftezur ZAIV, i; Giessen, 1896).

J.-B. Frey, art. ‘Apocryphes de 1’Ancien Testament’ in DBSup i,cols. 390-396.

654

The Psalms of Solomon

K. (». Kl HN, Die altesle Textgestalt der Psalmen Salomos, inbesondereauj Grand der syrischen L'bersetzung neu untersucht (= Beitrage zurWissenschafl uom Allen und Neuen Testament, IV. Folgc, 21. Heft;Stuttgart, 1937).

J. O’DkI.L. 'The Religious Background of the Psalms of Solomon(Re-evaluated in the light of the Qumran Texts)’ in Revue deQumran. III. 2 (1961-1962), pp. 241-257.

P. RIESSLKR.AjSaB2, pp. 1322-1323.

L. Rost. EATAP, pp. 89-91.

J. SchCPPH.US, Die Psalmen Salomos: Pin Zeugnis jerusalemer Theo-logie und Frommigkeit in der Mitte des vorchristlichen Jahrhunderts(= Al.GhJl\ Leiden, 1977).

E. SoHl'RKR, HJPTJCW. iii, pp. 17-23.

, GjrZJC* iii, pp. 205-212.

C. C. ToRRKY, AL, pp. 106-108.

C. H. Toy, art. 'Psalms of Solomon, The’ ‘in JE x. (New York,1905), pp. 250-251.

R. B. WrkjHT, ‘The Psalms of Solomon, the Pharisees and theEsscnes’ in SCS 2 (cd. R. A. KRAFT; Missoula, 1972), pp.136-154.

I

I1 cried to the Lord in my utter affliction,

I o God when sinners assailed.

Suddenly there was heard the clamour of war before me:

I said, He will listen to me, for I am full of righteousness.

I considered in my heart that I was full of righteousnessWhen I prospered and was rich in children;

Their wealth was spread over the whole earth,

Their glory reached the extremity of the earth.

They were raised up to the stars:

Men said, They will never fall.

But they became insolent in their prosperity.

And have no understanding.2

1 Jerusalem is speaking.

2 So Syr.: Gk. has ‘and they brought not {*al ovtc ffveyxav)', which may be acorruption ofxal ojhr fyvuixav, presupposed by Syr.

psalms of solomon

The Psalms of Solomon 655

7 Their sins were in secret.

And I knew it not.

8 Their lawless deeds went beyond those of the heathen before

them;

They utterly profaned the sanctuary3 of the Lord.

II

A Psalm. OjSolomon. Concerning Jerusalem.

1 When the sinner became proud he cast down fortified walls

with a battering-ram.

And thou didst not restrain him.

2 Foreign nations went up to thine altar.

In pride they trampled it with their sandals;

3 Because the sons of Jerusalem had defiled the sanctuary1 of

the Lord,

Had profaned the offerings to God with lawless deeds.

4 Wherefore he said, Cast them far from me.

I take no pleasure in them.2

5 Her3 glorious beauty was held of no account before God,

It was utterly dishonoured.

6 Her sons and her daughters were in grievous captivity.

Their neck bears a seal-ring, a mark* among the nations:

7 He dealt with them in accordance with their sins;

1 Lit. ‘holy things'.

’ Lit. ‘holy things'.

1 Following Hilgcnfeld’s emendation (oi>*r ev6ok<u tv atfrtifc for ovx eviudanccvaviolq in the MSS). If the reading (and punctuation) of the MSS be followed, verses4-5 will run:

‘Wherefore he said. Cast them far Tram me.

Her glorious beauty did not prosper them.

It was held of no account before God.

It was utterly dishonoured'.

3 i.e. Jerusalem’s (cp. verse 20). So M: others 'his'.

4 Lit. ‘Their neck in (with) a seal, in (with) a mark . .Prisoners had a thong orrope around their necks, fastened with a seal.

()j(j The Psalms of Salomon

For he abandoned them into the hands of those whoprevail.

H He turned away his face from pitying them.

Young and old and their children together;

!> For they did evil together in not listening.

‘I (10) And heaven abhorred them and tin- earth detested them.

Ml) For no man upon it had done what they did.

10 (12) And the earth shall recognise all tin righteous judgements.

OGod.

11 (13) They set the sons of Jerusalem to he mocked heeause of the

harlots in her;

Every passer by entered in in the full light of day.

12 (I t) They used to make moek with their lawless deeds, as they

themselves used to do:

In the lull light of day they paraded their iniquities.

13 And the daughters of Jerusalem were profane according to

thy judgement.

11 ">) Because they had deliled themselves in unnaturalintercourse.

14 1 am pained in my bowels and my inward parts at these

things.

15 (16) I will justify thee, OGod. in uprightness of heart.

For in thy judgements lies thy righteousness, (Kind.

Hi (17) For thou hast rendered to the sinners according to theirdeeds,

And according to their sins, which were very wicked.

17 (18) Thou hast uncovered their sins, that thy judgement might bemanifest:

(19) Thou hast blotted out the memory of them from the earth.IH God is a righteous judge, and will respect no one.

I!) (20) For the nations reviled Jerusalem, trampling it down;

Her beauty was dragged down from the throne of glory.

20 (21) She girded on saekeloth instead of fine raiment.

A rope about her head in place of a crown.

21 (22) She removed the diadem of glory which God had set upon

her:

(23) In dishonour was her beauty cast upon the ground.

22 (24) And I saw, and entreated the Lord and said.

637

The Psalms of Solomon

Long enough, I^ord. hath thy hand lx*en heavy on Jerusalemwith the onset of the nations.

23 (23) For they have mocked, and spared not. in wrath andimplacable anger;

(2ti) For they5 will be utterly destroyed, unless thou, Lord,rebuke them in thy wrath.

21 (27) For it was not out of zeal that they acted, but in lust of soul.

(28) So as to pour out their wrath upon us in plunder.

25 (2f») Delay not, C) God. to bring recompense upon their heads.

To change6 the pride of the dragon into dishonour.

2(> (3U) And I did not wait long before Gtxl showed me his body.7Stabbed, on the mountains of Fgypt.

Esteemed of less account than the least on land and sea-

27 (31) His body, carried about on the waves in great ignominy.

With none to bury him, because he* had rejected him indishonour.

28 He did not consider that he was man.

(32) Nor did he consider the end.

2ft (33) He said, 1 will be lord of land and sea;

And he did not recognise that Gcxl is great.

Mighty in his great strength.

:«) (34) He is king in the heavens.

And judges kings and dominions.

31 (35) It is he who raises me up to glory.

And lays low the proud in eternal destruction, indishonour.

Because they knew him not.

32(38) And now behold, primes of the earth, the judgement of theLord,

For he is a great king, and righteous, judging the earth thatis under heaven.

* i.e. the people of Jerusalem. The passive in the Gk. may. however, rest on amistranslation.

6 Gk. 'say’, due to a misinterpretation of an underlying Hel>. Imr (for lhntr\, taken

7 Gk. ‘his insolence*, due to a misinterpretation of an underlying Hcb. guilt- (lor

£ir>7tr), taken as g'lvtir. The allusion is in all probability to the details of theassassination of Pompey in the neighbourhood of Mount Cassius, near PclusiuminKgypt. in 48 Hi:. * i.e. God.

33 (37) Bless God, you who fear the Lord with understanding,

For the mercy of the Lord is on those who fear him, injudgement;

31 (38) So as to distinguish between righteous and sinner.

To recompense sinners for ever according to their deeds:

35 (3tn And to have mercy on the righteous, delivering him from the

affliction of the sinner,

And to recompense the sinner for what he has done to therighteous.

36 (40) For the Lord is good to those who call on him in patience,

Acting according to his mercy towards his holy ones,•Setting them continuously belore him in strength.

37 (41] Blessed be the Lord for ever before his servants.

Ill

A Psalm. OJ Solomon. Concerning the Righteous.

I Why do you sleep, my soul, and why do you not bless the Lord?

1 (2) Sing a new song to God who is worthy of praise.

2 Sing and be wakeful in vigilance for him,

For pleasing to God is a psalm from a glad heart.

3 (3) The righteous remember the Lord continually,

With thanksgiving and justification, the Lord’sjudgements.

4 (4) The righteous man will not be heedless when chastened by

the Lord,

His good pleasure is always before the Lord.

3 (5) The righteous man stumbled, and yet held the Lord righteous;

He fell, and watches what God will do for him,

(6) He gazes eagerly towards the source whence his deliverancewill come.

6 (7) The steadfastness of the righteous is from God their saviour.

In the righteous man’s house sin has no permanentlodging1:

1 Lit. ‘In the righteous man's house there docs not lodge sin upon sin”: cp. verse10(12).

The Psalms oj Solomon 659

7 (8) The righteous man continually searches his house.

So as to remove unrighteousness arising from unwittingsin.

8 (9) Fie made atonement for sins of ignorance hy fasting and

affliction of his soul:

(10) And the Lord purifies every man that is holy together withhis house.

9(11) The sinner stumbled, and he curses his life.

The day of his birth, and his mother's travail.

Id (12) He has added sins to sins in his lifetime.

(13) He fell - how2 grievous his fall! And he shall not rise up.

11 The destruction of the sinner is for ever.

(14) And God' will not remember him when he visits the

righteous.

12(15) This is the portion of sinners for ever;

(16) But they that fear the Lord shall rise to life eternal.

And their life shall be in the light of the Lord, and shallcome to an end no more.

IV

Conversation of Solomon with the men-pleasers.

1 Why do you sit. godless man, in the council of the holy,

When* your heart is far removed from the Lord,

Provoking with transgressions the God of Israel?

2 Extravagant in speech, extravagant in appearance above all

men,

Is the man severe in speech when he condemns sinners injudgement.

i And his hand is first upon him as if in zeal.

While1 he is himself guilty of manifold sins and ofintemperance.

1 Gk. ’because’: the underlying Heb. Ay. however, was probably exelamatory.

’ Gk. 'he'.

Gk. ‘and’.

660

The Psalms of Solomon

4 His eves are upon every woman without discrimination;

His tongue is lying when he makes a contract with an oath.

5 At night and in secret he sins as if he were not seen:

With his eyes he speaks to every woman in evil agreement:

5 (6) He is quick to enter every house cheerfully as though

w ithout guile.

6 (") May God destroy those who live in hypocrisy in the company

of the holy:

With corruption of his flesh and with penury may Goddestroy his life.

7 (8) May God reveal the works of the men-pleasers:

With mockery and derision may God reveal his works.

8 (9) And may the holy vindicate the judgement of their God.

When sinners are destroyed from the presence of therighteous -

(10) The man-pleaser who proclaaims the law2 with deceit.

9(11) And their eyes are upon the house of the man who is insecurity,

1’hat like a serpent they may destroy each other’s3 wisdomwith transgressors’ words.

10 m His words are deceptions for the accomplishment of an

unrighteous desire:

(13) He did not cease until he had succeeded in scattering

families as if in bereavement:

11 He laid waste a house for the sake of a lawless desire.

(14) He deceived with words, saying. There is no one who sees and

judges.

12 (15) At this he was filled with lawlessness,

And his eyes turned to another house.

To destroy it with high-flown words;

13 Yet his soul, like Shcol, is not sated with all these.

14 (16) May his portion, Lord, be dishonoured before thee;

May he go forth groaning, and return home cursed.

15(17) May his life be spent in anguish and penury and want, OLord:

2 Lit.‘who speaks law’.

i each other’s: so the Gk., hut probably corrupt, though no satisfactory suggetion has been put forward.

The Psalms oj"Solomon 661

l(> (IK) May his sleep lx* beset with grief, and his waking withanxiety.

May sleep be taken from his eyelids at night:

May he fail dishonourably in every work he undertakes.4

17 (I9j May he enter his house empty-handed.

And may his house be void of everything wherewith tosatisfy his appetite.

18 (20i May his old age right up to his death5 be spent in loneliness

without children.

10 (21) May the flesh of the men-pleasers be torn apart by wildbeasts.

And may the bones of the lawless lie dishonoured in thesight of the sun.

20 (22) May ravens pluck out the rys of hypocrites,

(28) For they have laid waste many houses of men

dishonourably.

And have scattered them in their lust;

21 (24) And they were not mindful of God,

Nor did they fear God in all these things;

(25) And they provoked and aroused God’s anger.

22 May he destroy them from the earth.

Because with deceit they have beguiled the souls of theinnocent.

28 (28) Blessed are those who fear the Lord in their innocence:

(27) The Lord will deliver them from deceitful men andsinners,

And he will deliver us from every snare of the lawless.

24 (28) May God destroy those who insolently work every kind of

unrighteousness.

For a great judge, and mighty, is the Lord our God inrighteousness.

25 (28) May thy merev, Lord, be upon all those who love thee.

4 Lit.'work of his hands’.

s Lit. ‘to his being taken up’ (cp. I.ukc ix. 51).

«i2

Y

A Psalm. OJSalomon.

1 C) Lord God. I will praise thy name with joy.

In the midst of those who have knowledge of thy righteousjudgements.

2 For thou art good and merciful, the refuge of the poor:

2 (3) When I cry unto thee, do not disregard me in silence.

3 (4) For no one will take spoil from a mighty man;

{*>) And who shall take of all that thou hast made, unless thouthyself give it?

4 <t>) For man and his portion lie before thee in the balance:

He cannot make increase beyond what is prescribed bythee.1 O God.

5 (7) When we are afflicted we will call upon thee for help.

And thou wilt not turn back our prayer.

Because thou art our God.

(i (8) Make not thy hand heavy upon us,

Lest, from distress.2 wc sin.

7 (9) And if thou dost not restore us ,yet wc will not keep away,

But unto thee will wc come.

8 (Id) For if I hunger, I will cry unto thee, O God;

And thou wilt give to me.

9 (I !) Thou dost feed the birds and the fish.

When thou gives! rain to the steppes that green grass mayspring up,

U) So as to provide3 fodder on the steppe for every livingthing;

(12) And if they hunger, they lift their face to thcc.

11 (13) Kings and rulers and peoples dost thou nourish, O God,

And who is the hope of the poor and the needy, unless it bethou, Lord?

12 (14) And thou wilt listen (for who is good and kind but thou?),

' Lit. 'beyond thy judgement*.

1 Or‘under restraint’.

3 So the MSS. Von Gcbhardt conjectured 'Thou hast provided’.

The Psalms of Solomon fi(>3

Making glad the soul of the humble by opening thy handin mercy?

13(13) Man's goodness is grudging and . . .;4

And if he repeat it without murmuring, that loo us marvel-lous.

14 (16) Blit thy gift is great in goodness and generous;

And he whose hope is in thee will not be sparing in giving.15(17) Thy mercy. Lord, is upon the whole earth, in goodness.

16 (18) Happy is the man whom God remembers and supplies with

what he needs in moderation.5(19) If man has an excess, then he sins.

17 (ill) Sufficient are moderate means with righteousness.

And in this the blessing of the Lord becomes abundancewith righteousness.

18(21) May those that fear the Lord rejoice6 in prosperity.

And let thy goodness be upon Israel in thy kingdom.

19 Blessed is the glory of the Lord, for he is our king.

VI

In Hope. Of Solomon.

1 Happy the man whose heart is set to call upon the name of

the Lord;

2 When he makes mention of the name of the Lord, hr will

be saved.

2 (3) His ways are guided by the Lord.

And the works of his hands are protected bv the Lord hisGod.

3(4} His soul will not be disturbed with the sight of evil dreams:

(5) When he crosses rivers, and when the seas toss, he will not

be dismayed.

4 (6) He arose from his sleep and blessed the name of the Lord:

4 Gk. ‘and the morrow' (similarly Syr., expanded), which cannot be right.Possibly the underlying Heb. was bmtjr (‘at a price').

5 Lit. ‘remembers in due proportion of sufficiency'.

* May ... rejoice: MSS ‘rejoiced’.

(?) In peacefulness of heart he sang to the name of his God;

And he entreated the Lord for all his household.

(K) And the Lord hears1 the prayer of everyone who is in fear ofGod:

The Lord grants every request of the soul that hopes uponhim.

(9) Blessed is the Lord who acts mercifully to those who love himin truth.

VII

Of Solomon. Of turning.1

1 Remove not thy habitation from us. () God.

Lest those that hate us without cause assail us.

2 For thou hast rejected them. O God:

Let not their foot trample upon thy holy inheritance.

3 Do thou chasten us in thy good pleasure;

Yet give us not over to the nations.

4 For if thou semlesi death,

Thou thyselfgivest it charge concerning us;

5 For thou art merciful,

And wilt not be angry and destroy us utterly.

6 (5) While thy name dwells in our midst, we shall find mercy,

(6) And no nation will prevail against us;

7 For thou art our protector,

(7) And we shall call upon thee, and thou wilt hear us;

8 (8) For thou wilt pity the race of Israel for ever,

And wilt not reject us;

9 And we shall be under thy yoke for ever.

And under the lash of thy chastening.

10(9) Thou wilt guide us in the time that thou helpcst us,

Showing mercy to the house of Jacob on the day thou didstpromise them.

1 Lit. ‘heard’.

' The Gk. could mean "conversion' or ‘restoration’. Neither, however, is verysuitable in the light of the contents of the psalm itself.

The Psalms of Solomon

t>65

VIII

Of Solomon. For victory.

1 Distress and the sound of war has my ear heard.

The noise of the trumpet sounding out slaughter anddestruction.

2 The sound of much people as of a great and howling wind.1

As a hurricane with mighty lire sweeping through thewilderness.

3 And I said in mv heart. Where, then, will God's judgement

be?*

4 I heard the sound at Jerusalem, the holy city:

4 (5) My loins were broken at hearing it.

5 (<>) My knees tottered, my heart was afraid.

My bones were shaken like flax.

(7) I said. They establish their ways in righteousness.

7 1 considered the judgements of God since the creation of

heaven and earth:

I held God righteous in his judgements which have beenfront of old.

8 (8) God laid open their sins to the sun.

All the earth came to know the righteous judgements ofGod.

9(9) In hidden places beneath the earth were their iniquitiesperformed in provocation:

(10) 1'hey committed incest, soil with mother, and father withdaughter;

10(11) They committed adultery , every man with his neighbour’swife.

They made agreements under oath with one anotherconcerning these things.

1 l.il. ’of an exceedingly great wind'.

} Lit. 'Where, then, will God judge him?' - i.e. Israel. 11 is possible, however, thatthrough a simple misunderstanding on the part of the Gk. translator, two pronounshave been confused - hence the suggested emendation. 'Where, then, will Godjudge us?'

666

The Psalms of Salomon

11 (12) They plundered the sanctuary’ of God,

As though there was no heir to redeem.4

12 (13; They trampled the altar of the Lord, coming straight from all

kinds oj unclcannrss.

And with menstrual blood they defiled the sacrifices asthough they were common flesh.

13 (14) They left no sin undone, wherein they did not surpass the

heathen.

14 (15) Therefore God mixed for them a spirit to mislead them,

And gave them to drink a cup of undiluted wine to makethem drunk.

15 (ifi) He brought the man that is from the end of the earth, the man

whose lash is ruthless:5

(17) He determined upon war against Jerusalem and her land,ifi; 18) The rulers of the land went to meet him with joy.

They said to him, Welcome is your journey! Come, enterin with peace.

17(19) They levelled out the rough ways belbre his entering in,They opened the gates to Jerusalem, they crowned itswalls.

18 (20) He entered, as a father enters his sons’ house, in peace:

He set down his feel with great assurance.

19 (21) He took possession of her fortified towers, and of the wall of

Jerusalem;

(22) For God led him on in assurance, while they went astray.20(23) He put to death their rulers, and every man wise in counsel:He poured out the blood of the inhabitants ofjemsalemlike unclean water:

21 (24) He led away their sons and daughters, whom they had

begotten in defilement.

22 (25) They did according to their uncleanness, as their fathers had

done:

(26) They defiled Jerusalem and the things consecrated to thename of God.

' [.it. 'the holy things'.

* i.e. to recover what had been taken aways Lit. ‘him who smites mightily’.

23 (27) God is shown righteous in hisjudgements among the nations

of the earth;

(28) And the holy ones of God are like lambs innocent in theirmidst.

24 (29) Worthy to be praised is the Lord who judges the whole earth

in his righteousness.

25 (30) Behold now, O God, thou hast shown us thy judgment in thy

righteousness:

(31) Our eyes have seen thy judgements, O God.

26 We have justified thy name that is honoured for ever;

(32) for thou art the God of righteousness, who judges Israel

with discipline.

27 (33) 'Turn, O God, thy mercy upon us,

And have pity on us:

28(34) Gather together the dispersion of Israel w ith mercy andgoodness,

(35) For thy faithfulness is with us.

29 And we stiffened our neck;

And thou art our chastener.

30 (38) Disregard us not, O our God,

Lest the nations swallow us up, as though there were noneto deliver.

31 (37) But thou art our Cod from the beginning;

And upon thee is our hope, O Lord.

32 (38) And we shall not be distant from thee,

For thy judgements upon us are good.

33 (39) U pon us and our children is thy good will for ever:

O Lord our Saviour, wc shall never more be moved.

31 (40) Worthy of praise for hisjudgements is the Lord by the mouthof his holy ones;

And Israel is blessed by the Lord for ever.

IX

Of Solomon. For rebuke.

\ When Israel was led away in captivity to a foreign land,

When they fell away from the Lord who redeemed them.

1 (2) They were cast out from the inheritance which the Lord

had given them.

2 The dispersion of Israel was among every nation, according

to the word of God,

(3) That thou mightest bejustified. O God. iri thy

righteousness by reason of our transgressions;

(4) For thou art a just judge over all the peoples of the earth.

3 (5) For no one who does evil shall be hidden from thy knowledge,{6} And the righteous deeds of thy holy ones are before thee, O

Lord;

And where shall man hide himself from thy knowledge, OGod?.

4 (7) Our actions' are subject to our own choice and freedom of

will,

To do right or wrong in the works of our hands;

(8) And in thy righteousness dost thou visit the sons of men.

5 (9) And he who does right lays up life for himself with the Lord.

And he who does wrong is responsible for his owndestruction;

(10) For the judgements of the Lord are given in righteousness

for each man and his house.

(»(11) Unto whom wilt thou show kindness. O God, if it be not tothem that call upon the Lord?

(12) He will purify a soul in sin when confession and

acknowledgement is made;

(13) For shame is upon us and upon our faces on account of all

these things.

7 (14) And to whom will he forgive sins, if it be not to those who

have sinned?

(15) Thou shalt bless the righteous and not call them to account1 2for the sins they have committed;

And thy goodness is upon sinners when they repent.

8 (Ifi) And now-, thou art ourGod, and we are the people whom thou

hast loved;

1 Lit. ‘works’.

2 The sense of the verb is uncertain - possibly 'and wilt thou not guide them (cases where tliey have sinned)?’

Look and show pity, () God of Israel, for we are thine;

And remove not thy mercy from us, lest they assail us.

9(17) For thou didst cluxisc the seed of Abraham above all thenations.

And didst set thy name upon us. () Lord;

(18) And thou wilt never cast us off.1

10 l hou didst make a covenant with our lathers concerning us;

(19) And we shall hope in thee, as our souls turn to thee.

The mercy of the Lord he upon the house of Israel foreverand ever.

X

A Hymn. Of Solomon.

1 Happy is the man whom the Lord remembers by giving a

reproof.

And who is fenced olf1 from the evil road by a whip,

That he may be cleansed of sin, so as not to multiply it.

2 He who prepares his back for lashes shall be purified;

For the Lord is good to those who endure his discipline.

2 (3) For he will make straight the ways of the righteous, and not

turn them aside by discipline;

3 (4) And the mercy of the Lord is upon those who love him in

truth.

4 And the Lord will remember his servants in mercy;

(5) For the testimony is in the law of the everlasting covenant,The testimony of the Lord for the ways of men at hisvisitiation.

5 (6) Just and holy is our Lord in his judgements for ever.

And Israel shall praise the name of the Lord with gladness.

6 (7) And the holy ones shall give thanks in the assembly of the

people;

' Lit. 'And thou wilt not rest (or ‘cease’) for ever', von Gcbhardt, by conjecture,‘and thou wilt not reject us for ever*.

1 Lit. ‘encircled’: Syr. (by emending the Ok.) ‘restrained’.

670 The Psalms of Solomon

And upon the poor shall God have mercy, to the joy ofIsrael,

7 (8) For God is eternally good and merciful,

And the congregations of Israel shall glorify the name ofthe Lord.

8 The salvation of the Lord be upon the house of Israel for

everlasting joy.

XI

Of Solomon. For expectation.

I Sound in Sion the trumpet to summon the saints,l (2) Proclaim in Jerusalem the voice of him who brings goodtidings

That the God of Israel has shown mercy in his visitation ofthem.

2(3) Stand upon the height, O Jerusalem, and behold yourchildren,

From the east and the west, gathered together by the Lord.

3 (4) From the north they come in the joy of their God:

From the islands far away has God gathered them.

4 (5) H igh mountains has he made low to make a plain for them:

(6) The hills fled at their approach.

5 The woods gave them shade as they passed by:

(7) God caused to spring up for them every kind of sweet-

scented tree;

6 That Israel might pass by at the visitiation of the glory of

their God.

7 (8) Put on, O Jerusalem, the garments of your glory:

Make ready the robe of your consecration;

For God has spoken good concerning Israel, for ever andever.

8 (9) May the Lord perform what he has spoken concerning Israel

and Jerusalem:

May the Lord raise up Israel by his glorious name.

9 The mercy of the Lord be upon Israel for ever and ever.

The Psalms ojSolomon 671

XII

OJ Solomon. Against the tongue of lawless men.

1 O Lord, deliver my soul from the lawless and wicked man.

From the tongue that is lawless and slanderous.

And which utters lies and deceit.

2 Infinitely agile arc the words of the tongue of the wicked

man.

Like fire burning up stubble on a threshing-floor.1

3 The purpose o/his sojourn is to fill households with a lying

tongue.

To cut down the trees of the joy that sets the lawless onfire,2

3 (4) To conlbund households3 in warfare by means of

slanderous lips.

4 May God remove far from the innocent the lips of the lawless

by bringing them to want;

And may the bones of slanderers he scattered Jar fromthose who fear the Lord:

(5) May the slanderous tongue perish in flaming fire Jar from

the holy.

5 (6) May the Lord preserve the quiet soul that hates the unjust;

And may the Lord guide the man who makes peace in thehome.

6 (7) The salvation of the Lord be upon Israel his servant for ever;

And may sinners perish altogether at the presence of theLord;

And may the holy ones ol the Lord inherit the promises ofthe Lord.

1 So one MS(H), though this may be a secondary conjecture to make sense of thedifficult reading of the other MSS and Syr. ('like fire among the people burning upits beauty’).

1 Both text and interpretation of this verse are very uncertain. ‘The trees of joy’arc probably the righteous: ‘on lire' — sc. with envy?

* Text, 'lawless households’; but the adjective is probably by riittography fromthe preceding line.

672

The Psalms of Solomon

Of Solomon. A Psalm. Comfort Jor the righteous.

1 The right hand of the Lord sheltered me.

The right hand of the Lord spared us:

2 The arm of the Lord saved us from the sword that passes

through.'

From famine and the death of sinners.

3 Lvil beasts rushed upon them:

With their teeth they tore their flesh.

With their langs they crushed their bones.

4 (:t) But from all these the I,ord delivered us.

b (4) The godly1 2 man was troubled on account of his errors.

Lest he should be taken away along with the sinners;

6 (,i) For the overthrow of the sinner is terrible.

But not one of these things shall touch the righteous.

7 fti) For the chastening of the righteous for:sins done in ignorance

And the overthrow of the sinners are not alike:ft (7) The righteous is chastened with circumspection.

So that the sinner may not rejoice over the righteous;

<) (H) For he will admonish the righteous as a beloved son.

And his chastisement is that of a firstborn;

10 (9) For the Lord will spare his holy ones.

And will wipe out their errors by means of discipline.

11 For the life of the just is for ever,

(10) But sinners shall be taken away into destruction.

And their memorial shall be found no more.

12(11) But upon the holy is the mercy of the Lord,

And upon those who fear him his mercy.

1 Sc. the land (cp. Kzek. xiv. 17).

2 bo Wcllhauseii. by an easy emendation: MSS ’ungodly'.

673

XIV

A Hymn. Of Solomon.

1 Faithlu! is the Lord to those who love him in truth.

To those who endure his discipline.

2 (]) To those who walk in the righteousness of his ordinances.

In the law which he commanded us that we might live.

3 (U) The Lord's holy ones shall live by it lor ever:

The garden of the Lord, the trees of life, arc his holy ones.

4 (3) Their planting is rooted for ever:

They shall not be pulled up all the days of heaven;

.=> For the portion and the inheritance of God is Israel.

(> (4) But not so are the sinners and lawless ones.

Who preferred a day in the companionship of their sin:

7 Their desire was for the briefness of corruption.

(5) And they remembered not God.

8 For the ways of men are known before him at all times.

And he knows the secrets1 of the heart before they come topass.

»(ti) Therefore their inheritance is Sheol and darkness anddestruction.

.And they shall not be found in the day when the righteousobtain mercy.

10(7) But the Lord’s holy ones shall inherit life with joy.

XV

A Psalm. Of Solomon. With a Song.

1 When I was in distress I called upon the name of the Lord.

I hoped for the help of the God ofjacob, and was saved;l (2) For thou art the hope and the refuge of the poor, O God.

1 Lit. ‘store-houses’.

2 (3) For who, O God, is strong, except to give thanks to thee in

truth?

(4) And how can a man show his power.' except in givingthanks to thy name?

3 (5; A new psalm with song in gladness of heart.

The fruit of the lips together with the tongue in harmony,1 2The first-fruits of the lips from a holy and righteous heart -

4 (t>) He who performs these things shall never be shaken by evil:

The flame of fire and the wrath against the unrighteousshall not touch him.

5 (7) When it goes forth from before the Lord against sinners.

To destroy all the substance of sinners;l» (H) For the mark of God is upon the righteous for salvation.

7 Famine and sword and death shall be far front the righteous,{?>) For they shall flee from the holy as men pursued in war;3

8 But they shall pursue sinners and overtake them,

And those who act lawlessly shall not escape thejudgement of the Lord:

9 As by enemies skilled in war shall they be overtaken.

(10) For the mark of destruction is upon their forehead.

10(11) And the inheritance of sinners is destruction and darkness,And their iniquities shall pursue them to Sheol below:

11 (12) Their inheritance shall not be found by their children,

(13) For sins shall devastate the houses of sinners;

12 And sinners shall perish for ever on the day of the Lord's

judgement,

(14) When God visits the earth with his judgement.

13(15) Bui those who fear the Lord shall find mercy on it.

And shall live by the compassion of their God;

But sinners shall perish eternally.

1 l.ii. 'And whrrrin is a man mighty'.

1 Lit. 'The fruit of the lips with a well-tuned instrument of the tongue'.

’ The MSS read ‘famine*.

XVI

A Hym. Of Solomon. For Help to the Holy.

1 When my soul slumbered, away from the Lord. I almost

slipped

In the lethargy of the sleep of those1 lar from God -

2 My soul was almost poured out to death.

Cllosc to the gates ol'Sheol. alongside the sinner.

3 With my soul separated from the Lord God of Israel -

Had not the Lord succoured me in his everlasting mercy.

4 He goaded me. as a horse is spurred, to awaken me to him.

My saviour and helper at all times saved me.

.i I will give thanks to thee. O God. for thou didst help me. tosave me,

And thou didst not reckon me among sinners fordestruction.

6 Remove not thy mercy from me, () God.

Nor mindfulness of thee from my heart until death.

7 Hold me back2 from wicked sin, () God,

And from every wicked3 woman who causes the foolish tostumble;

8 And let not the beauty of a woman who acts lawlessly beguile

me.

Nor that of any useless thing which takes its origin in sin.

9 Direct the works of my hands before thee.4

And preserve my footsteps in the mindfulness of thee.

10 Keep my tongue and my lips in words of truth:

Anger and unreasoning wrath remove far f rom me.

11 Complaint and faint-heartedness in affliction keep far from

me.

When, if I sin. thou chastcnest me to turn me back.

' Reading r&v for1 Lit. 'prevail over me'.

* Possibly read JiOQvelag ('of utichasticy'j for-Tovjjpdj ('wicked’).1 MSS ‘in thy place'.

f>76 The Psalms of Solomon

12 But confirm my soul with good will and cheerfulness:

When thou strengthencst my soul, what is given me willsuffice me.

13 For if thou strengthencst not.

Who will endure chastisement in penury?

14 When a man is rebuked because of his corruption.

Thy testing of him is in his flesh and in the afiliction ofpenury.

13 If the righteous endures in all these, he shall receive mrrevfrom the Lord.

XVII

A Psalm. OJ Solomon. With Song. OJ the King.

1 O Lord, thou art our king lor ever and ever.

For in thee, O God. shall our soul glory.

2 What is the duration of man's life upon earth?

As are his days, so is his hope set upon them.

3 But we will hope in God our saviour;

For the might of our God is for ever with mercy.

3 (4) And the kingdom of our God is for ever over the nations in

judgement.

4 (3) Thou, Lord, didst choose David as king over Israel.

And thou didst swear to him concerning his posterity lorever,

That his kingdom would not fail before thee.

5 (6) But, for our sins, there rose up against us sinners:

They assailed us and thrust us out (they to whom thou didstgive no promise),

(7) They took possession with violence, and did not praise thy

honourable name.

6 They set up in splendour a kingdom in their pride.1

(8) They laid waste the throne of David in the arrogance of

their fortune.2

1 The sense of the Uk. is uncertain: possibly ‘as a result of their elevation1.

2 Lit. ‘change’ {i.c. of fate).

The Psalms of Solomon (>77

7 And thou. () God. will overthrow them and w ilt remove theiroffspring from the earth.

(9) When there rises up against them a man that is foreign toour rare.

8(10) According to their sins wilt thou recompense them. O God.

That it may befall them according to their works.

9(l i) God will show them no pity.

He sought out their offspring, and let not one of them go.10(12) Faithful is the Lord in all his judgements which he performson earth.

11 (13) I he lawless one laid waste our land so that none inhabited it:

They destroyed young and old and their children together.

12 (It) In the wrath of his anger' he sent them off to the west.

And the rulers of the land he exposed to derision withoutmercy.

13(15) In his foreign ways the enemy acted arrogantly.

And his heart was alien from our God.

14 (Mi) And everything he did in Jerusalem

Was in accordance with what the heathen do in their strongcities.4

15(17) And the children of the covenant ruled over them amongpeoples of mixed origin:

There was not among them one who dealt honestly andfaithfully in the midst of Jerusalem.

U) (IB) Those who loved the assemblies of the holy fled from them.

As sparrows sc attered from their nest.

17 (19) 'They roamed about in deserted places that their souls might

be presen t'd from harm;

And precious in the eyes of those who lived abroad was anythat escaped alive from them.

18 (20) Over the whole earth were they scattered by lawless men.

(21) For the heavens withheld the rain from dropping upon the

earth:

* Gk. ‘beauty*, which can hardly be right. Perhaps an original Hcb. 'pyu (‘hisanger*) was misread as ypyw ('his beauty*), or alternatively the Gk. x&Hovq('beauty') may be a corruption of xanvoO (‘smoke’ - i.e. ‘in his smoking anger', cp.Isa. Ixv. 5).

* MSS 'in their cities to their gods'.

678

The Psalms of Solomon

19 The perennial springs from the deeps were stopped up, and

the streams from the high mountains stayed;

For there was none among them who dealt righteously andjustly.

20 From their ruler to the lowest of the people, they were utterly

sinful:

(22) The king was a transgressor, and the judge disobedient,and the people sinful.

21 (23) Behold, O Lord, and raise up for them their king, the son of

David,

For the time which thou didst fore see, O God, that he mayreign over lsrel thy servant.

22 (24) And gird him with strength, that he may shatter unrighteous

rulers;

(25) And purify Jerusalem of the nations which trample herdown in destruction.

23 (26) In wisdom, in righteousness, may he expel5 sinners from the

inheritance:

May he smash5 the sinner’s arrogance like a potter’svessel.

24 With a rod of iron may he break5 in pieces all their substance:(27) May he destroy5 the lawless nations by the word of his

mouth,

25 So that, at his rebuke, nations flee before him;

And may he reprove5 sinners by the word of their ownhearts.

26(28) And he shall gather together a holy people, whom he shalllead in righteousness,

And he shall judge the tribes of the people which has beensanctified by the Lord his God.

27 (29) And he shall not permit unrighteousness to lodge any morein their midst.

Nor shall there dwell with them any man with knowledgeof wickedness;

(30) For he shall know them, that they are all sons of their God.

5 These verbs could be taken as infinitives rather than optatives (i.e. following‘gird him ... that. ..’).

679

The Psalms oj Solomon

28 And he shall divide them up by their tribes over the land:(31) Neither settler nor alien shall live among them any more.

29 He shall judge peoples and nations in the wisdom of his

righteousness. Selah.

30 (32) And he shall have the peoples of the Gentiles to serve him

under his yoke;

And he shall glorify the Lord at the centre6 of all the earth,(33) And he shall purify Jerusalem, making it holy as of old;

31 (34) So that nations shall come from the ends of the earth to sec

his glory,

Bringing as gifts her sons who had fainted,

(35) And to see the glory of the I^ord, with which God glorified

her.

32 And he shall he a righteous king, taught by God, over them,

(36) And there shall be no unrighteousness in his days in their

midst,

For all shall be holy, and their king the anointed Lord.

33 (37) Arid he shall not put his trust in horse and rider and bow,

Nor shall he increase his store of gold and silver for war,Nor shall he concentrate his hopes on numbers for the dayof battle.

34 (38) The Lord himself is his king, the hope of him who is strong in

the hope of God;

And he shall have mercy on all the nations that stand beforehim in fear.

35 (39) For he will smite the earth with the word of his mouth for

ever:

(40) He will bless the people of the Lord with wisdom and joy;36(41) And he himself ir pure from sin, so that he may rule a greatpeople,

That he may rebuke rulers, and remove sinners by themight of Air word.

37 (42) And during his days he shall not be weakened, relying on hisGod;

* Lit. ‘mark' (i.e. navel). Others take the phrase as 'conspicuously before’; but itis doubtful whether the Gk. can bear this meaning.

680 The Psalms of Solomon

For God created him strong in the holy spirit.

And wise in prudent counsel, together with strength andrighteousness;

38 (43; And the blessing of the Lord is with him providing7 strength.

And he shall not Iw* weakened.

39 r+4; His hope is upon the Lord:

Who then ran prevail against him -

40 Strong in his works, and mighty in the lear of God,

(45) Shepherding the flock of the Lord faithfully and righteously:'

And he will not let any among them languish in theirpasturing.

41 (46) Ami he shall lead them in equity;

And there shall be no arrogance among them that any ofthem should be oppressed.

42 (47) This is the majesty of the king of Israel, of which God has

knowledge,

So as to raise him up over the house of Israel, to educatethem.

43 (48) His words are refined more than the very choices! gold:

In the assemblies he will administer justice to the tribes ofa people that has been sanctified.-!

(49) His words are as the words of holy men amidst sanctifiedpeoples.

44 (50) Blessed are they who shall be in those days.

Seeing the good things of Israel which God .shall accomplishin the gathering of the tribes.

43(51) May God hasten his mercy upon Israel,

May he deliver us8 from the uncleanness of profaneenemies.

46 The Lord is our king for ever and ever.

7 Ok. ‘in’.

8 Ok. "he will deliver us’.

'Die Psalms of Solomon

681

XVIII

A Psalm. Of Solomon. Again of the Anointed of the Lord.1

1 Lord, thy mercy is over the w orks of thy hands for ever:

Thy goodness is over Israel with a rich gift.

2 Thine eyes look upon them, and not one. of them is2 in want:

2 (3) Thine ears listen2 to the hopeful prayer of the poor.

3 Thy judgements extend over the whole earth in mercy,

(4) And thy love is upon Abraham’s children, the sons of

Israel.

4 Thy discipline is upon us as on a first-born, an only son,

(5) So as to turn the obedient soul away from ignorant

stupidity.

j ((3) May God purify Israel for the day of mercy and blessing.

For the day of election, at the manifestation3 of his anointedone.

6 (7) Blessed are they who shall l>e in those days.

Seeing the good things of the Lord which he will performlor the generation that is to come.

7 (8) Under the rod of discipline of the Lord’s anointed in the lear

of his God,

In wisdom of spirit, and of justice and of might,

8 (!>) So as to direct every man in works of righteousness in the fear

of God,

So as to establish them all Indore the Lord,

9(10; A generation excellent in the fear of God in the days of Ammercy. Sctali.

10(11; Great is our God and glorious, dwelling in the highest,

(12; He who established the luminaries in their course for thedetermining of seasons from year to sear.

And they have not turned aside from the path which heappointed them.

' Or ‘anointed Lord’ (cp. xvii. 32).

; Cik. ‘shall be . . . will listen'.

■s hollowing Manson's conjecture of dvadct£c» lor avd£ci in the MSS - a wordotherwise unknown.

6 82

The Psalms of Solomon

11 (13) Their path each day is in the fear of God.

From the day God created them unto eternity:

12 (14) They have not gone astray from the day he created them.

From the generations of old they have not turned asidefrom their paths.

Except when God ordered them through the command ofhis servants.

THE ODES OF SOLOMON

INTRODUCTION

For the text of the Odes we are dependent on two Syriac MSS(both defective), supplemented by a Greek text of one of the Odesand also by a Coptic version of five of them preserved in thewell-known Gnostic work Pi si is Sophia.

The two Syriac MSS are: (1) Rylands taxi. Syr. 9 i llith cent.:— H) in the John Rylands Library at Manchester, which containsall the Odes except i, ii. and the beginning of iii: and (2) ILL.Addit. 14538 (9th or 10th cent.: = B). which has a much greaterdeficiency at the beginning, but is complete from the middle of.wii.7 to the end. I’he text of the single ode which has survived in Greek(Ode xi) is one of a number of items in a 3rd century papyrus codexin the Bodmer collection at Geneva (Pap. Bod. XI).‘The five odespreserved in Coptic in the Pisiis Sophia are i. v. vi. xxii. and xxv.Ode ii is thus unattested by any authority. as is also the beginningof Ode iii.

Ode i is extant only in Coptic and our translation of it has beenmade by Dr. K. H. Kuhn from Schmidt's text of the Pistis Sophia.Otherwise the translation is from the Syriac. It follows mainly thetext of H. although from xvii. 7 onwards B has been preferredoccasionally: ail differences between H and B, however, have beenrecorded in the lootnotes, as well as the Coptic and Greek variantswhere they occur.

If we take the Odes as they stand, there can be no doubt at allthat they arc Christian. Christ is mentioned by name: there arereferences to events in the Gospels (e.g., to the Baptism in xxiv);

1 The remaining items in the codex are a miscellaneous collection - two psalmsfrom the Old Testament, Jude and the two Kpisilcs of Peter from the New Testa-ment, the apocryphal correspondence of St. Paul with the Corinthians, the Nativityof Mary (The Apocalypse of James), the Apology of Phi leas, and Meliio's Homih anthe Pasck.

()84 The Odes of Solomon

and the prevailing atmosphere is Christian throughout (c.g.« theopening ofxix could not have been written by anyone who was nota convinced Trinitarian). Nevertheless, several theories of redac-tion and interpolation have been pul tbrward. the most influentialbeing that of Harnack. who maintained that Odes iv and vi wereJewish in origin (on the basis of the references to the Temple,which Jesus had said was to Ih* destroyed), that xix and xxvii werepurely Christian, and that the rest were originally Jewsish odeslater interpolated by a Christian. But none of these theories hasmet with any general acceptance.

From a rather dilFemn point of view it has been argued that theOdes betray Gnostic influence In particular. H. Sehlier has sug-gested that they stem from a syncrctistic Baptist sect, which insome respects had similar beliefs and practices to the Mandaeaus.Vet there is no evidence in the Odes either of the characteristicGnostic doctrine of emanations from a distant God, or of a radicaldualism between matter and spirit: on the contrary. Ode xviwitnesses to a doctrine of Creation which would have been impos-sible for any thoroughgoing Gnostic. Ultimately, of course, theevaluation of such Gnostic alTinitics as there arc in the Odesdepends on the general theory held of the nature of Gnosticism andthe date of its rise. But this much is certain, that, while the Odesmay very well have been composed in an area where Gnostic (orproto-Gnostic) speculations were current, and their theologyaffected accordingly, they show no trace of any developed, orlogically formulated. Gnostic system.

If, then, we are thinking in terms of a single author (and there isno sound reason for suggesting a plurality of authors) the most thatthe evidence will permit us to say is that he was a Christian. In allprobability he was a Jewish Christian. And, if we are prepared tostress certain parallels between the Odes and the Qumran litera-ture, and at the same time accept the view that the members of theQumran community were Essenes, we can go on to suppose (withJ. H. Charlcsworth) that the author either had been himself anEssene before his conversion, or at least subjected to very strongEssene influences.

But whatever the truth, from very early days the Odes wereascribed to Solomon. No claim to Solomonic authorship is made in

The Odes oj Solomon (>85

the text and there is little to suggest it. It may hr that the belief'thatSolomon was the author arose because of the association ol theOdes with the Psalms. This association obtains not only in theSyriac tradition, but also in the Coptic and the Creek. In the twoavailable Syriac MSS both Odes and Psalms are arranged as asingle collection with the Odes first: the individual pieces arcnumbered consecutively i—lx (i.r. 42 Odes + 18 Psalms); and all olthem seem to have been known as ‘Psalms’. Where our Ode i isquoted in the Coptic Pistis Sophia it is described as ‘the nineteenthOde*, which is clear enough evidence that in the tradition known tothe author of Pistis Sophia the Psalms and the Odes were alsocombined (but in tin* reverse order to that found in the Syriac), andalso that the whole collection was known to the Copts as ‘Odes'.The two Greek lists of Biblical books, the pseudo-AthanasianSynopsis and the Stichometry of Nicephoros, both refer to the‘Psalms and Ode(s) of Solomon*. This last phrase is most naturallyunderstood as a reference to two distinct collections, with twoseparate titles, although it can be interpreted as the title of a singlecollection - especially as the Stichometry very obviously treats thetwo together and assigns them in all 211K)s/tcAoi. However, in eitherease. Psalms and Odes are very closely related.

But whether the Odes were composed in the (irst instance as anentirely independent work or were designed as a Christian supple-ment to the Psalms, there can bo no doubt about the antiquity ofthe title ‘Odes*. Not only is ‘Odes' the title of the combined work inthe tradition represented by the author of the Pistis Sophia {3rdcentury?); the Greek text of Ode xi, preserved in Bodmer PapyrusXI (also 3rd century)- is prefaced by the heading ‘Ode of Solomon’;and the Latin apologist Lactantius (r.240-r.320) quotes from Odexix in such a way as to make it quite clear that he was familiar witha collection of‘Odes’ which were numbered as ours are {‘Solomonin ode undevicesima ita dicit; Injirmatus est uterus Virginis .. .’).2 The

' Lnctanlius. Die. Inst. IV. xii. 3 (One MS reads ‘psalnio' in place of “ode').Whether Lactantius was quoting from an independent collection of Odes or from acombined collection olOdrs and Psalms cannot, of course, be determined; but ifthclatter, the Odes will have preceded the Psalms, as in our two Syriac MSS Nor canwc know whether Lactantius was quoting from a Latin version or making his owntranslation (presumably from the Creek).

title 'Odes' would thus appear to be very ancient indeed, if notoriginal: and it was in all probability inspired by the summary ofSolomon's achievements in 1 Kings iv. 32 (’And he uttered threethousand proverbs: and his songs [Sept, ‘odes'] numbered athousand and five').

The quotation of the Odes by Lartantius as if they were Scripture,and also by the author of the Pis (is Sophia. together with theevidence of the Bodmer papyrus, suggests that they were knownand respected over a wide geographical area by the end of the thirdcentury at the latest. Comparison with other early writers, how-ever. yields little of any real value. There are possible literaryconnections between the Odes on the one hand, and Cyril ofJerusalem, the Acts of Thomas, and Kphraem Syrus. on the other.Vet the evidence is far from conclusive. More compelling than anyare a number of rather striking similarities between the Odes andIgnatius of Antioch: some of these may be accidental, but there aretoo many to be entirely so; and, although insufficient to proveliterary dependence one way or the other, they leave no doubt thatboth the author of the Odes and Ignatius were products of thesame environment. On the whole, therefore, a date for the Odesr.Al) 100-200 is the most probable and Syria and its neighbour-hood the most likely place of origin. But when, where, and in whatcircumstances they were first combined with the Psalms it isimpossible to say.

There remains the question of the original language. The factthat the text of the Odes has come down to us in Syriac, Coptic,Greek, and Latin (albeit in a solitary quotation), suggests Greek asthe common denominator; and there is no lack of scholars whohave argued forcefully for a Greek original. Vet the mere existenceof a Greek text, from which Syriac, Coptic, and Latin versions mayhave been derived, is no guarantee of its originality. From anentirely different angle attention has been drawn to certain Semiticfeatures in the Odes-notably to the regular use of parallelism, andto the occurrence from time to time of indubitably Semitic con-structions (c.g. ‘He richly blessed me’ at xxviii. 4); and argumentshave been advanced accordingly in favour of Hebrew, Aramaic, orSyriac originals. Since the author was a Christian, however, he isunlikely to have written in cither Hebrew or Aramaic at the date

687

suggested above, so that, if we arc to suppose a Semitic original,Syriac is the most probable. On the other hand, it is claimed thatthe Semitic features can quite adequately be accounted for bysupposing that the author was writing in Greek, but in a con-sciously ‘Biblical’ style, and taking as his model the poetical booksof the Sepluagint. The discovery of the Greek text of Ode xi and itspublication in 1959 gave a fresh impetus to the discussion in that itwas now at last possible to set the Greek side by side with theSyriac and compare them, even if over a very limited area. But thecomparison has resulted in no firmer conclusions than formerly.M. Tcsluz, who edited the Greek text of Ode xi, declared himselfdefinitely in favour of a Greek original, while freely admittingSemitic influences. However, J. A. Emerton, in 1967, at the endof a very full discussion of all the arguments brought forward todate, could sum up, ‘ The most probable conclusion to be drawn isthat the Odes of Solomon were composed in Syriac’; and J. H.Charlesworth. tojudge from the notes in his edition of 1973, wouldseem inclined to agree.3 * 5

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

Greek

M. TeS'JTZ, La Onzieme Ode de Salomon in Papyrus Bodmer, X-XII(Geneva, 1959), pp. 47-69.

M. LaTTKK, Die Oden Salomos. . . [as below ], vol. I.

3 A technical point is perhaps worth noting in this connection. In tin- Odes, the

third person prefbrmative of the imperfect begins with /M rather than v-). From theevidence of the Syriac inscriptions it seems that the change took place round aboutAl> 200 (see E. Jcnni, ‘Die altsyrischcn Inschriften, 1.—S.Jahrlmndcrt n. Chr.’ in TZxxi (1965), pp. 371-38.0). We cannot, of course, be precise in such matters, and

there may well have been a time lag between the change in popular speech in someplaces arid its appearance in inscriptions. Nevertheless, this suggests that we ranscarcely date the present Syriac text of the Odes much before .\l) 200 - thoughinevitably, in itself, it gives us no help in deciding whether that text is the author'soriginal, or an edited version of the original, or a translation from Greek!

J. H. CHARLKSWORTH, Papyri and leather Manuscripts ... (asbelow], pp. 7-12.

Syriac

J. Ri:\DKI. HARRIS, The Odes and Psalms of Solomon, now firstpublished from the Syriac version (Cambridge, 1909; 2nd edit. 1911).

J. ReNDKI. HARRIS and A. MlNGANA, The Odes and Psalms ojSolomon, re-editedJor the Governors oj the John Rv/ands Library. Vol. i:The Text with Facsimile Reproductions (Manchester, 1916).

J. H. CHARLKSWORTH, The Odes of Solomon, edited with TranslationandSotes (Oxford, 1973).

, Papyri and Leather Manuscripts oj the Odes of Solomon (- The

Dickerson Series oj Facsimiles oj Manuscripts Important for ChristianOrigins. Vol, 1; Durham N. C., 1981), pp. 21 - 89.

M. LATTK.K. Die Oden Salomos in ihrer Bedeulungjiir Xeues Testamentund Gnosis. 3 vols. (= Orbis Biblicus et Orientahs, XXY. 1, la, 2;Fribourg and Gottingen, 1979/80. [The Syriac text is printedin Kstrangela in vol. la, and there is a transliterated version of itfacing the translation in vol. 1. Vol. 2 contains Greek, Syriac,and Coptic concordances.]

Coptic

C. SCHMIDT, Pistis Sophia neu herausgegeben. mil Einleitung nebstgriechischem und koptischem Wort-und Samenregister (— Coptica II;Copenhagen, 1925). [For the text of Odes i. v,vi,xxii,andxxv.]

M. LATTICE, Die Oden Salomos ... [as above], vol. I.

J. H. CHARLKSWORTH, Papyri and Leather Manuscripts ... (asabove], pp. 13 — 20.

TRANSLATIONS

English

J. Ren DEL HARRIS, The Odes and Psalms oj Solomon, now firstpublishedfrom theSynac Version (Cambridge, 1909; 2nd edit. 1911).J. RKNDEL Harris and A. Mi.NGANA, The Odes and Psalms ojSolomon, re-edited jor the Governors of the John Rylands Library. Vol. ii:The Translation with Introduction and Notes (Manchester. 1920).

J. H. BERNARD, The Odes oj"Solomon (= TS VIII. iii; Cambridge,1912).

J. H. CHARI.KSWORTH. The OdesojSolomon . . . [as above].

G. HoRM-R. Pislis Sophia (London. 1924). [Of Odes i. v, vi. xxii.and xxv, from the Coptic.]

French

J. LABOI'RT. *Les Odes de Salomon’ in R llihl x.s. vii {On.1910), pp. 484—f>(X)and N.S. viii (Jan. 191 1). PP- a—21. [Reprintedinj. LABOI'RT and P. B.\TIFFOI.Am Odes de Salomon: I'neeeuvrechretienne des environs de I 'an 1(H)—120 (Paris, 191 1). pp. j—38. ]

German

J. Fl.KMMIXt; and A. Hakn.u.K. Emjiidisch-christliches Psalmbuchaus dem erslen Jahrhunderl, aus dem syrischen iibersetzt (— TCxxxv. 4;Leipzig. 1910).

\V. B.UT.R, ‘Die Oden Salomos' in K. Hkx.NLCKK and W.SCHNKKMKLCHKR. Seuteslamentliche Apokryphen in deutscherI'bersetzung\ ii (Tubingen, 1964), pp. 576-625.

C. SCHMIDT. Koplisch-gnostische Schnjten. I. Die Pistil Sophia, usw.{- GCS 13(45); Leipzig. 1905-3rd ed. 1959). [Of Odes i, v. vi.xxii, and xxv. from the Coptic.)

M. L.VTTKI,, Die Oden Salomos ... (as alxncj. vol. I.

GKNKRAI.

K. A. ABBOTT. ‘The Original Language of the Odes of Solomon*in JTS xiv (April 1913). pp. 441-445 and xv (Oct. 1913), pp.44-45.

A. ADAM. ‘Die ursprungliehe Sprache der Saloino-Oden' in Z.VJTlii (1961), pp. 141 — 156.

P. BaTIFFOL, ‘LesOdesdcSalomon' in RBthls.s. vii (Oct. 1910),pp. 483-484. N.S. viii (Jan. 1911), pp. 21-59. and N.S. viii(April 1911), pp. 161-197. [Reprinted inj. LABOUR !'and P.B AT I FF<) L. Les Odes de Salomon: Une ttuvre chretienne des environs deI'an 100-120 (Paris, I911),pp. 39-115.]

\V. BaI'KR, ‘The Odes of Solomon* in ST A ii. pp. 808—810. [Atranslation, by R. M(:L. WILSON, of the Introduction toBauer’s German translation of the Odes (see above).]

J. CaRMIGNAC, ‘Les affinites Qumraniennes de la onziemc Odede Salomon* in Revue de Qumran, III. i (1961-1962). pp. 71-102.

The Odes of Solomon

mo

‘Rccherches sur la languc origincllc tics Odes dc Salomon' in

Revue de Qumran, IV. iii (1963), pp. 129—132.

H. CHADWICK, 'Some Reflections on the Character andTheology of the Odes of Solomon’ in Kyriakon: Festschrift JohannesQuasteri, i (ed. P. GRA.NKIKI.DandJ. A.Jl NCMANN; Munster,

1970), pp. 266-270.

J H. ClJARLKSWORTH ‘The Odes of Solomon - Not Gnostic’ inCBQxxxi (1969). pp. 357 -369.

, 'Les Odes de Salomon et les manuscrits de la Mer Morte’ in

R Bib! Ixxvii (Oct. 1970}, pp. 322-549.

R. H. CONNOLLY.‘The Odes of Solomon: Jewish or Christian?*in JTS xiii (Jan. 1912), pp. 298-309.

, 'Greek the original Language of the Odes nfSolomon' in JTS

xiv (July, 1913), pp. 530-538. and xv (Oct. 1913). pp. 45-47.A.-M. Denis, IRC AT, pp. 65-66.

J. I)E ZWAAX, ‘The Edesscne Origin of the Odes of Solomon* inQuantulaaimque: Studies presented to Kirsopp Lake (ed. R. P. C ASFA.S. L.AKKand A. K. Lake; London 1937), pp. 285—302.

H. J. W. ORIJVLRs, 'Die Oden Salomos und die Polcmik rnit denMarkioniten im syrischen Christentum* in Symposium Syriacum1976 (= Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 205; Rome, 1978), pp.39-53.

, The 19th Ode of Solomon’ in JTS N S. xxxi (1980), pp.

337-355.

J. A. IvMKRTON. Some Problems of Text and Language in theOdes of Solomon’ in JTS N.s. xviii (Oct. 1967), pp. 372-406.

R. M. GRANT. ‘’Hie Odes of Solomon and the Church of Antioch’\nJBL Ixiii (1944), pp. 362—377.

H. GUNKKL, 'Die Oden Salomos' in 7.NW xi (1910), pp. 291-328.

G. KlTTEL. Die Oden Salomos, iiberarbeitel oder einheitlich? (—Beitrage gur Wissenscha.fi vom Alien Testament, xvi; Leipzig, 1914).

1!. ScHLIER, ‘Zur Mandaerlrage in Theologische Rundschau, N.K. v(1933), pp. 1-34and 69-92.

W. H. WORRELL, ‘The Odes of Solomon and the Pislis Sophia' inJTS xiii (Oct. 1911), pp. 29-46. [Contains an English transla-tion of the five Coptic odes.]

odes of solomon

The Odes of Solomon

691

1'

The Lord is upon my head like a wreath.

And I shall not leave him.

The wreath of truth has been plaited for me,

And it has let thy branches bud within me;

For it is not like a withered wreath that does nor bud:But thou art alive upon my head.

And thou hast budded upon me.

Thy fruits are full and perfect:

They are full of thy salvation.

II

This ode is not extant.

. .. I clothe.

And his1 limbs are with him,

And I hang on them, and he loves me;

For 1 should not have known how to love the Lord,

If he had not loved me.

Who can understand love.

But he who is loved:’

I love the Beloved One, and my soul loves him;

And where his rest is, there too am I.

And 1 shall not be a stranger.

Because there is no grudging2 with the Most High and mercifulLord.

1 Extant only in Coptic.

1 There is some confusion in the MS between the readings ‘his’ and ‘my\

2 Or "envy’.

692

The Odes of Solomon

7 I was united to him, because the lover has found the Beloved One.Because I love that Son, I shall become a son; '

8 For he who is joined to him that does not die.

He too will become immortal,

y And he who takes pleasure in life4Will become a living one.

It) This is the guileless Spirit ol the Lord,

Thai teaches men to know his ways.

11 Be wise, and understand, and be attentive.

Hallelujah.

IV

1 No man changes thy holy place, () my God,

And there is no one who will change it and set it in another place,

2 For none has authority over it;1 *

For thou didst purpose thy sanctuary before thou mudest places:

:i What* is older will not be changed by those that are younger than

it.3

Thou has given thy heart. O Lord, to thy faithful ones:

4 Thou wilt never be ineffectual.

Nor wilt thou be fruitless;

5 For one hour of thy faithfulness4Is better than all days and years.

(5 For who will put on thy grace and be rejected?

7 Because thy seal is (kn)own,

And thy creatures are known to it,

8 And <the) hosts (h)old it.

And the elect archangels are clothed in it.

9 Thou hast given us communion with thee:5

* Text ’Because 1 shall love that Sou, in order that 1 may heroine a soil'.4 Difleremly pointed, the consonants could mean ‘the living one’.

1 Or 'Because there is no authority over it'.

: Or‘He who’. •* Or'he'.

4 Or‘faith in thee’.

* Or‘thy fellowship’.

The Odes of Solomon 693

It was not that thou wast in need of us, but that we were in need ofthee.

10 Sprinkle upon us thy dews,

And open thy rich springs which flow with milk anti honey for us.

11 For t here is no regret with thee,

That thou shouldcst feel regret lor anything that thou hastpromised;

12 And the end was manifest to thee.

IS For what thou hast given thou hast given freely.

So that thou shouldest not take them back henceforth;'’

For everything was manifest to thee, as God,

14 And was prepared from the,bcginning before thee;

And thou, O God, hast made all.

15 Hallelujah.

V

1 1 thank thee, O Lord,

Because I love thee.

2 O Most High, do1 not forsake me,

Because thou art my hope.

3 Freely I received thy grace:

I shall live by it.

4 My persecutors will come, but will not see me:

5 A cloud ofgloom will fall (upon) their eyes,

And a mist of obscurity will bring darkness upon them;

6 And they will not have light to see,

That they may not seize me.

7 Their plan will become stupidity,2

And what they have plotted will come back upon their own heads;

8 For they have thought out a plan,

But it will not come to anything for them;

6 Text 'So that thou shouldest not henceforth pull and take them’.

1 This verb may also be translated as an indicative. Conversely, verses 3-7 may-express wishes rather than statements.

* Lit. ‘swellings’.

694

The Odes of Solomon

;> They have wickedly made preparations.

But rhey have been found to be in vain.

10 For my hope is in the I.ord.

And I shall not be afraid;

11 And because the Ford is my deliverance.

I shall not he afraid.

12 Arid lie is on my head like a crown.

And I shall not be shaken;

13 And even if every thing is shaken.

I shall remain;

14 And even if every thing that is visible perishes,

I shall not die:

15 Because the Lord is with me, and I am v\ ith him.Hallelujah.

VI

1 As the (wind)1 moves over the harp, and the strings speak,

2 So does the Spirit of the Lord speak in my members, and I speak by

his love.

3 For he destroys anything foreign,

And everything is of the Lord.

t For so it was from the beginning.

And will be to the end;

5 That nothing might withstand him,

And nothing might rise up against him.

6 The Lord has multiplied the knowledge of himself/

And has been zealous that the things should be known which, byhis grace, have been given us.

7 And he has given us his praise for his name:

Our spirits praise his Holy Spirit.

8 For a stream went out, and became a great and broad river,

For it overwhelmed everything, and broke it up, and carried it to

the temple;3

’ The word supplied also means spirit'.

2 Or‘his knowledge’.

1 Or ‘and broke up and carried away the temple'.

The Odes oj Solomon ()95

fl And the restraints of men were not able to restrain it.

Nor the skill of those who restrain water;

10 For it came upon the face ol the whole earth.

And filled everything;

11 And all the thirsty on earth drank.

And their thirst was brought to an end and quenched;

12 For the drink was given by the Most High,

13 Blessed, therefore, arc the ministers of that drink.

Those who have been entrusted with his water:

14 They have refreshed the dry lips.

And have raised up the will that was paralysed;

15 And souls that were near to expiringThey have held back from death;

16 And limbs that were fallen

They have straightened and raised up:

17 They have given strength to their coming.

And light to their eyes;

18 For everyone has known them in the Lord.

And by means of the waters they lived eternal lile.4Hallelujah.

VII

1 Like the course of anger over wickedness.

So is the course of joy over the Beloved One;

And he1 brings in of its fruits without hindrance.

2 My joy is the Lord, and my course is towards him:

This my path is beautiful;

3 For I have a helper to the Lord.

He made himself known to me, without grudging,2 in hisgenerosity;

For in his kindness he set aside his majesty.’

* Or ‘And they lived by means of the eternal living waters'.

‘ Or ‘if (i.e. the course).

1 Or‘as one without envy’.

* Lit. ‘For his kindness made little his greatness’.

1 He became like me, in order that I might accept him:

In appearance he seemed like me, in order that I might put him on.

5 And I did riot tremble when I saw him.

Because he had pity on me.

6 He became like my nature, in order that I might learn to know him.And like my form, in order that 1 might not turn away from him.

7 The Father of'knowledgcIs the Word of knowledge:

8 He who created WisdomIs wiser than his works;

9 And he who created me before I came into beingKnew4 what I should do when I came into being.

10 Therefore hr had pity on me in his great pity.

And granted me to ask of him, and to receive of his sacrifice;

11 Because he is incorruptible.

The completion of the ages and their Father.

12 He granted him to appear to those who are his.

In order that they might recognize him who made them,

And that they might not think that they had come into being ofthemselves.

13 For to knowledge he set his way:5

He made it broad and long, and brought it to all perfection;

14 And he set upon it the footprints of his light,

And it6 went from the beginning to the end;

15 For by him was he served,7

And he was well pleased with the Son.

16 And because of his deliverance he will take hold of everything;And the Most High will be known in his saints,

17 To proclaim to those who have psalms of the coming of the Lord,That they may go out to meet him. and may sing to him,

With joy and with the harp of many sounds.

18 The seers will go before him.

And be seen belorc him;

19 And they will praise the Lord in his love,

4 MS‘knows’.

5 Or ‘For he appointed knowledge as his way’.

4 Some prefer to point the consonants so as to read *!’.

7 Or‘was it made’.

The Odes of Solomon 697

Because he is near and secs.

20 And haired will be taken away from the earth.

And will be drowned together with jealousy;

21 For ignorance has been destroyed,

Because the knowledge oi the Lord has come.

22 Those who sing will sing ol the grace of the Lord Most High.*And W'ill offer their psalms;

23 And their heart will be like the day,

And the sound of their voices like the great beauty of the Lord.And there will be nothing that lives'That is either ignorant or dumb;9

24 For he has given a mouth to his creation,

To open the voice of the mouth to him, and to praise him.

23 Praise his power, and proclaim his grace.

Hallelujah.

VIII

1 Open, open your hearts to the exultation of the. Lord,

And let your love overflow1 from the heart to the lips,

2 To bring forth fruits to the Lord, even a holy life,

And to speak with watchfulness in his light.

3 Arise and stand up.

You who once were brought low:

4 You who were in silence.

Speak, for your mouths have been opened:

3 You who were despised,

From henceforth be raised up, for your righteousness has beenraised up;

6 For the right hand of the Lord is with you,

And he is your helper,

7 And peace was prepared lor you

s Or ‘Those who sing of the grace of the Lord Most High will sing’.y Lit. ‘And there will he nothing with life.

Nor with ignorance, nor with sorcery’.

1 Lit. ‘increase’.

698

The Odes of Solomon

Before your war began.

# Hear the word of truth.

And receive the knowledge of the Most High.

9 Your flesh will nut know what 1 am saying to you.

Nor your clothing what I am declaring to you.

10 Keep my secret, you who are kept by it:

11 Keep my faith, you who are kept by it;

12 And know my knowledge, you who know me in truth,in Love me with allection.

You who love.

i t For I do not turn my face from those that arc mine.

Because I know them;

15 And before they tame into beingI perceived them;

And on their laces I set mv seal,it') I fashioned their members;

And my breasts I prepared for them,

That they might drink my holy milk, that they might live by it.

17 I was well pleased with them.

And I am not ashamed of them;

Ifl For they are my own work.

And the power ol’mv thoughts,if) Who. therefore, will stand against my work,

Or who is he that is not subject to them?

20 1 willed and formed mind and heart,

And they are mine;

And I set my chosen ones at my right hand.

21 And my righteousness goes bclbrc them;

And they will not be separated from triv name.

Because it is with them.

22 Pray and continue earnest!) in the love of the Lord,

And, you who are beloved, in the Beloved One;

And, you who arc kept, in him who lived again]

And, you who arc delivered, in him who was delivered;

23 And you will be found incorruptible in all ages because of the name

of your Father.

Hallelujah.

The Odes of Solomon

(599

IX

1 Open your ears.

And I will speak to you:

2 Give me yourselves,1

That I too may give you myself,2

3 The word of the Lord, and his will.

The holy purpose which he planned concerning His Christ.

4 For in the will of the Lord is your life,

And your perfection is incorruptible.

5 Become rich in God the Father,

And receive the mind of the Most High:

Be strong, and be delivered in his grace.

6 For I proclaim peace to you, his pious ones.

That none of those who hear may fall in the war.

7 And that those also who have known him may not pe rish.

And that those who receive him may not be ashamed.

8 Truth is an eternal crown

(Blessed arc those who set it on their heads),

9 A stone of great price;

For the wars are on account of the crown;in And righteousness took itAnd gave it to you.

11 Put on the crown in the true covenant of the Lord;

And all those who have been victorious will be written in his book;

12 For their book is the victory that is yours;

And she3 sees you before her, and wills that you may be delivered.Hallelujah.

X

The Lord directed my mouth by his word,And opened my heart by his light,

1 Lil. ‘yoursouls’.

2 Lit.'my soul'.

* i.e.. victory.

700

The Odes of Solomon

2 And caused his immortal life to dwell in me,

And granted me to tell of the fruit of his peace.

3 To restore the souls of those who wish to come to him.

And to lead a goodly band of captives back to freedom.

4 1 became strong and powerful and led the world captive.

And it became to me to the glory of the Most High, even of God myFather.

5 And the peoples who were scattered were gathered together,

And I was not defiled by my sins,'

Because they praised1 2 me in high places.

6 And the footprints oflight were set on their hearts,

And they walked in my life and were delivered,

And became my people2 for ever and ever.

Hallelujah.

XV

1 My heart was circumcised,2 and its flowers appeared.And grace sprouted up in it;

And it bore fruit to the Lord.3

2 For the Most High circumcised2 me with his Holy Spirit,And laid bare my kidneys towards himself;

And filled me with his love.

3 And his circumcision4 became my deliverance;

And I ran in the way in his peace,

In the way of truth:

4 From the beginning to the end1 received his knowledge.5

1 A slight change of the pointing would render possible the translation ‘by mylos e’. 2 Or ‘confessed’.

3 Or‘And were with me’.

1 Ode xi is extant in Greek as well as in Syriac, and all but minor ways in which

the former differs from the latter are recorded in the notes. Some obvious errors inthe Greek are ignored. 2 Or‘cut’.

3 Gk. ‘God’. * Or ‘incision’.

s Or‘knowledge of him’.

701

The Odes of Solomon

5 And I was firmly established on the rork of truth,*

Where he set me;

6 And speaking waters touched my lipsFrom the Lord's spring7 without grudging;**

7 And I drank, and was intoxicatedBv the living,g immortal, waters;

8 And my intoxication was not without knowledge.

But Iabandoned vanities,

9 And turned10 towards the Most High, my (»od.

And became rich through his gift;

Ml And I abandoned lolly, which is cast over the earth."

And I stripped it olfand cast it from me;

11 And the Lord renewed me with his clothing.

And possessed me12 with his light,

\> And gave me incorruptible refreshment from above,1'

And I became like the ground which sprouts and rejoices in itsfruits.

13 And the Lord is like the sunl*pon the face of the ground:

14 He enlightened my eyes.14And my face received15 the dew;

15 And my breath took pleasure

In the pleasant fragrance16 of the Lord;

Iti And he brought me to his paradise.

Where are the riches of the pleasure of the Lord.17

6 Gk.‘a Hrm rock'. ’ Gk. adds’of'litc'.

"Or ‘From the spring of the la»rd who is without envy'.

" C*H. out. ‘living-. "* ,n C;k. I turned limn vanities'.

" Or‘lolly lying on the ground'- so Gk.

12 (4k. ‘revived me’, or ‘regained me for himself.

Gk. ‘And brought me to life again with his incorrupt ion'.

'J Or‘mv eyes shone' —so Gk. ,s Gk.‘was besprinkled with'.

lft (ik. ‘the fragrance of the kindness'.

Gk. adds. 'I behrld trees. I>eautilul and bearing fruit.

And their crown was a natural growth:

Their branches sprouted, and their fruits laughed:

Their shoois came up from an immortal land.

And the river of joy watered them.

Andflowed round their land uf eternal file.’

(The word translated ‘shoots' usually means ‘roots'.)

702

The Odes of Solomon

17 And I worshipped the Lord because of his glory:

1H And I said. Blessed, O Lord,

Are those who have been planted in thy ground.

And those who have a place in thy paradise.

0* And grow up in the growth of thy trees.

And have moved from darkness to light.

2(1 Behold, all thy lafxntrcrs are excellent.

'"Who perform good works.

21 And turn from wickedness to thy pleasantness.

And have turned the bitterness of the trees away from them.When they were planted in thy ground.'*

22 And everything has become like a relic of thee,

And an eternal remembrance of thy faithful servants.

23 For there is much room in thy paradise.

And there is nothing that is unprofitable;

Bui everything is full of20 fruits.

21 Praise be to thee. O God,2‘the pleasure that is in the eternalparadise.21Hallelujah.

XII

1 He filled me with the words of truth.

In order that I might speak it;

2 And truth flowed from my mouth like the flow of waters.

And my lips declared its' fruits.

3 And lie1 made his* knowledge abound in me.

Because the mouth of the Lord is the true Word.

And the gate of his light.

4 And the Most High gave him' to his worlds.

Ok. ' They makegood transformationsFrom wickedness to kindness;

The bitterness of the plants is changed in th\ land .'

"* tik. 'heroines like thy will’. It then adds 'Blessed are the ministers of thywaters'. 10 Ok. ‘bears’.

’1' •1 (Ik. in the paradise of eternal delight'.

1 These pronouns can be translated into Knglish as cither masculine or neuter.

703

The Odes of Solomon

The interpreters of his beauty.

And the narrators of his glory.

And the confessors of his thought.

And the preachers of his mind.

And the sanctifiers (?) of his works.

3 For the swiftness of the Word cannot be told.

And like its2 telling, so too are its2 swiftness and its2 speed.

And his course is without limit:

6 He never falls, but stands fast.

And he knows not his descent, nor his wa\ .5

7 For as is his work, so is his expectation;4For it is the light and sunrise of thought.

8 And by him the worlds spoke one to another.

And those that were silent acquired speech;

9 And by him friendship and agreement came into being,

And they spoke one to the other what they had tosaj;

10 And they were goaded on by the Word;

And they knew him who made them,

Because they were in agreement;

11 For the mouth of the Most High spoke to them,

And through him His explanation had free course.

12 For the habitation of the Word is a man.5Anri his truth is love.

13 Blessed are those who have understood everything through him,'And have known the Lord in his truth.

Hallelujah.

XIII

t Behold, the Lord is our mirror:

Open your eyes and see them in him;

2 And learn how your face is,

2 i.e. of the swiftness: a slight change in the pointing w ould render possible shetranslation ‘his’.

’ With a slight emendation, ‘And his descent and his way are unknown'.

‘ The form is anomalous but very close to the word (dr his expectation'.

’ Or ‘man’: or ‘the Son of man'.

704

The Odes of Solomon

And utter praises to his Spirit;

:t And wipe the filth1 from your face.

And love his holiness and put it on;

4 And you will be without blemish all the time with him.

Hallelujah.

X!Y

1 Like the eyes of a son on his father,

So are my eyes, O Lord, continually towards thee;

2 Because with thee are my breasts and my pleasure.

:i Turn not thy compassion away from me, O Lord.

And take not thy kindness from me.

•I Stretch out thy right hand to me continually. O my Lord.

And be a guide to me until the end because of thy good pleasure.') I shall1 be pleasing before thee because of thy glory,

And because of thy name I shall1 lx* delivered from the evil one;(3 And thy gentleness, O Lord, will1 abide with me.

And the fruits of thy love.

7 Teach me the psalms of thy truth.

That I may bear fruits in thee;

8 And open to me the harp of thy Holy Spirit,

That I may praise thee, O Lord, with every melody.

9 And according to the abundance of thy compassion, so mayest

thou grant me;

And make haste to gram our requests.

10 And thou art sufficient for all our needs.

Hallelujah.

XV

l As the sun is a joy to those who seek its day.

So my joy is the Lord;

1 The Syriac word here is otherwise unknown.

1 These verbs may be optative rather than indicative.

The Odes of Solomon

705

2 Because he is my sun,

And his rays roused me.

And his light dispelled all the darkness from my face.

3 I obtained eyes by him,

And saw his holy day:

4 Kars became mine,

And I heard his truth.

,‘j The thought of know ledge became mine.

And I delighted myself through him.

♦> I forsook the way of error,

And 1 went to him and received from him deliverance withoutgrudging;1

7 And according to his gift he gave to me,

And according to his great beauty he made me.

8 I put on incorruption through his name,

And I put oft'corruption by his grace.

9 Death was destroyed from before my face,

And Sheol was brought to nothing at my word.

10 And immortal life rose up in the land of the Lord,

And it became known to his faithful ones,

And was given unsparingly to all those who trust in him.Hallelujah.

XVI

1 As the work of the ploughman is the ploughshare,

And the work of the helmsman is the steering of the ship,So, too, my work is the psalm of the Lord in his praises.

2 My craft and my occupation arc in his praises,

Because his love nourished my heart,

And it brought up his fruits to my lips.

3 For my love is the Lord,

Therefore I will sing to him;

4 For I am made strong by his praises.

And I have faith in him.

1 Or ‘received deliverance from him that is without envy’.

7 (MS

The Odes of Solomon

3 I will open my mouth.

And his Spirit will proclaim in meThe glory of the Lord and his beauty,

(j The work of his hands,

And what his fingers have made.

7 For the multitude of his mercies,

And for the might of his Word.

8 For the Word of the Lord searches out what is unseen,And perceives his thought;

9 For the eye sees his works,

And the ear hears his thought.

iu He spread out the earth.

And set the waters in the sea:

11 He stretched out the heavens.

And set in order the stars;

12 And set iu order the creation and established it;

And he rested from his works.

13 Arid the created things run iri their courses.

And perform their tasks.

And know not how to stand still and be idle;

11 And the hosts are subject to his Word.

15 The treasury of the light is the sun.

And the treasury of the darkness is the night;

16 And he made the sun lor the day that it might be bright.And night brings darkness upon the face of the earth.

17 And they take over, the one from the other;

They proclaim1 the beauty of God.

18 And there is nothing that is apart from the Lord,Because he was before anything came into being.

19 And the worlds came into being by his Word,

And by the thought of his heart.

20 Glory and honour l>c to his name.

Hallelujah.

’ Or ’complete’.

The Odes of Solomon

707

XVII

1 I was frowned by my God.

And my c rown is the Living One:

2 And I was justified by my Lord.

And my deliverance* is incorruptible:

3 I was released from vain things.

And I am not a man condemned:

■\ My bonds were severed by his1 hands:

I received the face and likeness of a new person:

And I walked in him2 * and was delivered,

"> And the thought of truth led me:

And 1 went after it and did not go astray.

<) And all who saw me were amazed.

And I seemed to them to he a stranger.

7 And he who knew and brought me up is the Most High in all his

perfection;

And he held me in honour' in his kindness.

And he raised my mind to the height of truth.

8 And thence he gave me the way of his steps.

And I opened the gates that were shut:

<) And I broke in pieces the bars of iron;

But my fetters4 * grew hot and melted before me.

10 And nothing seemed to me to be shut.

Because I was the opening of everything;

11 And I went to all my* prisoners to release them.

That I might leave no man hound and6 binding.

12 And 1 gave my knowledge without grudging,7And my prayer was in my love.

13 And I sowed my fruits in hearts.

And 1 transformed them in myself.

14 And they received my blessing and lived,

1 The removal of a point gives this translation instead of the ‘her' in the MS.

2 Or ‘I entered into it*.

■’ So H: B ‘And he is glorified*.

4 Lit. 'mytmn iron*. * So H: B ‘the*.

* SoH:B'ur\ 7 Or'envy*.

708

The Odes of Solomon

And were gathered to me and delivered.Because they became my members,

And I am their head.

Glory be to thee, our head, O Lord Christ.Hallelujah.

XVIII

My heart was raised up by the love of the Most High and wasenlarged.

That 1 might praise him through my name.

My members were strengthened.

That they might not fall from his power:

Diseases departed far from my body,

And it' stood up for the Lord by his will.

Because his kingdom is firm.

O Lord, because of those who lack the knowledge of thee.

Wilt thou take away2 thy word from me?

Neither, because of their works.

Wilt3 thou withhold front me thy perfection.

The light will not be conquered by darkness.

Nor will truth flee from falsehood.

Thy right hand will make our deliverance victorious,

And thou wilt receive from every place.

And wilt preserve, everyone who is held by evil.4

Thou art my God: falsehood and death are not in thy mouth,

But thy will is perfection;

And thou knowest not vanity.

Because it, too, knows not thee;

And thou knowest not error.

Because it, too, knows not thee.

And ignorance appeared as fine dust.

' .So H: B ’they'.

1 So H: B Vast'.

* The verbs in verses 5—7 may be optative.4 Or ‘by misfortunes'.

709

The Odes of SolomonAnd as the scum of the sea.

12 And vain people thought concerning it that it was great:

They.5 too. came to resemble it and became vain.

IH And those who have knowledge understood6 and thought.

And were not defiled in their thoughts:

14 Because they were in the mind of the Most High.

And they laughed at those who were walking in error:i:> But they spoke the truth

From the inspiration which the Most High breathed into them.It> (Jlorv and great honour1 be to his name.

Hallelujah.

XIX

1 A cup of milk was ottered to me,

And I drank it in the sweetness of the kindness of the Lord.

2 The Son is the cup.

And he who was milked is the Father.

And the Holy Spirit milked him;'

3 Because his breasts were full,

And it was not desirable that his milk should be emitted withoutreason;

4 The Holy Spirit opened her2 bosom.

And mixed the milk of the two breasts of the Father,f> And gave the mixture to the world without their knowing;

And those who receive it are in the fulness of the right hand.

<> The womb of the Virgin embraced ' it.

And she conceived and bore;

7 And the Virgin became a mother with great compassion;

* So H: B ‘And they’.

6 Lit. 'knew'.

’ I.it. ‘beauty’.

1 So H: B ‘.And she who milked him is the Holy Spirit' (The Syriac word for’Spirit’ is feminine).

: C’p. note1, [fa point were removed, ‘his' (i.e. the f ather’s) could be read.

' Or‘caught’.

710

The Odes of Solomon

a And she was in labour, and bore a Son without feeling pain.

Because it did not happen without a reason;

(* And she did not seek a midwife.

Because he delivered4 her.

10 She bore as it were a man by the will oj Cod}

And bore him and made him known,6And obtained him in great power;i i And she loved him in deliverance,

And guarded him in kindness.

And made him known in greatness.

Hallelujah.

XX

1 l am a priest of the Lord.

And to him I minister as priest,

2 And to him I offer the olfcring of his thought.

3 For not as the world.

Nor as the flesh, is his thought,

Nor as those who serve in a fleshly way.

+ The offering of the Lord is righteousness,

And purity of heart and lips.

3 Offer your* kidneys without blemish.

And let not your bowels afflict another's bowels.

And let not your soul afflict another's soul,fi You shall not acquire a stranger by the blood of your soul,

Nor shall you seek to defraud your neighbour.

Nor shall you deprive him of the covering of his nakedness.

7 But put on the grace of the ungrudging Lord;1 2

And come to the3 paradise, and make yourself a garland from histree,

4 Or 'krpt alive’.

* Or * by her own will*.

6 I-it. ‘And Imre kim in showing forth'.

1 So H: B ‘my*.

1 Or 'the Lord who is without envy*.

3 So H: B ‘his’.

The Odes of Solomon

71

8 And put it on your head, and delight in it,

And recline on his serenity.

9 And his glory will go before you,

And you will receive of his kindness and of his goodness,4And grow fat in the glory of his holiness.

10 Glory and honour be to his name.

Hallelujah.

XXI

1 1 raised my arms' on highTo the pity of the Ix>rd,

2 Because he cast away my bonds from me;

And my helper raised me up to his pity and his deliverance.

3 And I put oil’darkness.

And pul on light.

4 And my soul acquired membersIn which is no2 pain.

Neither distress, nor sufferings.

5 And supremely helpful to me became the thought of the Lord,And his incorruptible fellowship.

6 And I was raised up in his light,

And I passed3 before his face;

7 And I came near to him.

Praising and thanking him.

8 He made my heart overflow, and it was found in my mouth.And it appeared on my lips;

9 And the exultation of the Lord and4 his praise lit up5 my face.Hallelujah.

4 So H: B ‘grace'.

1 So H: B ‘arm’.

1 So B: H om. ‘no’.

3 So B: H ‘worked’. Theonlv difference is the position of a point.* So H: B ‘inf

5 Lit. ‘became great upon’.

712

The Odes oj Solomon

XXII

! He who brought me down from the height.

And raised me up from the lower regions,

2 And he who gathered the things that were in the middleAnd laid them1 low for me,

3 He who scattered my enemies.

And my adversaries;

4 He who gave me power over bonds,

That I might loose them;

s He who overthrew by my hands the seven-headed dragon,

(And thou didst set me over his roots,2 that. I might destroy hisseed) -

6 ll is thou :3

Thou wast there and didst help me,

And in every place thy name was blessed by me.4

7 Thy right hand destroyed his evil venom;5

And thy hand made the way level for those w ho believe in thee,

8 And chose them from the graves,

And set them apart from the dead:

9 It took dead bones,

And covered them with bodies;

10 And they were motionless,

And it gave them help6 fur life.

11 Thy way and thy person7 were incorruptible:

Thou didst bring thy world to corruption,

J’hat everything might be dissolved and renewed,

12 And that the foundation for everything might be thy rock;

And upon it thou hast built thy kingdom;

1 So R: om. H.

3 So H: B ‘root’.

4 The syntactical relationship of this verse to verses 1 — 5 is difficult.

4 So H: B 'was encircling me' (and similarly the Coptic).

5 So H: B ‘the venom of evil*.

6 So H: B ‘energy’.

7 According to the punctuation of the MSS ‘thy person’ goes with tlie next line togive 'And thou didst hring thy person into the world, even into corruption’.

And thou didst become" the dwelling-place of the saints.Hallelujah.

Will

1 Joy belongs to the saints.

And who will put it on but they alone?

2 Grace belongs to the elect.

And who will receive it but those who have trusted in it from thebeginning?

Love belongs to the elect.

And who will put it on but those who have possessed it from thebeginning?

4 Walk in the knowledge of the Most High,1

And you will know the grace of the Lord2 without grudging, '

His exultation and the perfection of his knowledge,ii And his thought was like a letter.

His4 will came down from on high;

(> And it was sent like an arrow from a bow.

That is shot with force;

7 And many hands rushed upon the letter.

To snatch it and take it and read it;

8 And it fled from their fingers;

And they were afraid of it and of the seal which was upon it.

9 Because they were not allowed to loose his-' seal.

For the power that was upon the seal was greater than they.

10 But those who saw it went after the letter.

That they might know where it would stop.

And who would read it.

And who would hear it.

* So H: B “And it tx'ramr’.

1 So H: B ’ofthr Lord*.

; “And you will know. . . Lord': om. H.

' Or ‘who is without rnvy\

4 So H: B “And his*.

5 So H: B “its*.

11 But a wheel received it.

And it came upon it;

12 And with it was a sign

Ol'kingship and of government.l;i And everything that was moving the wheelIt mowed and cut down;

14 And it gathered a multitude of adversaries;

And it covered up rivers;

tr» And it crossed over and uprooted many woods,6And made a broad path.

Ui The head came down to the feet,

Because as far as the feet7 ran the wheel.

And what was coming* on it.

17 The letter was one of command,’

Because10 all places were gathered together.

Ill And on his5 head appeared the head that was revealed.

And the Son of truth from the Most High Father.

]<) And he took possession of everything and received it;

And the thoughts of many came to nothing.

20 And all who led astray escaped11 and fled,

And those who persecuted were extinguished and blotted out,12

21 But the letter became a great tablet,

Which w as written completely by the finger of God;

22 And the name of the Father was upon it.

And of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

To reign for ever and ever.

Hallelujah.

® So H: B 'peoples'.

’ So B: H ’foot*.

* So H: B 'had come’. If the word were ditlerrmly pointed the line might betranslated 'And that which was the sign upon it’.

* So H: B ‘ 11 was a letter and a command*.

10 So H: B And because*.

" Text'were bold*.

'* So B: H “irritated*.

The Odes of Solomon

XXIX

The dove Hew upon the head of our Lord1 Christ.

Because he was her head.

And she sail#over him.

And her voice was heard.

And die inhabitants lea red.

And die settlers trembled.

The birds2 forsook their wings.1And all the reptiles died in their holes.

And the depths were opened and were covered again.

And they sought the Lord like those in travail:

But he was not given to them for food.

Because he was not theirs.

But the depths were immersed in the immersion of the Lord.And those who existed from of old perished in that thought:For they became corrupt4 from the beginning.

And the completion of their corruption5 was life.

And every one of them that was lacking perished.

Because they were not permitted to utter a word1* in order toremain.

And the Lord destroyed the thoughtsOf all those with whom the truth was not:

For they lacked wisdom.

Those who were proud of heart.

And they were rejected.

Because the truth was not with them.

Because the Lord made his way manifest.

And enlarged his grace.

And those who perceived itKnow his holiness.

Hallelujah.

1 the head of our Lord'om. H. 2 SoH:B‘Itflc wantf.

' The exact meaning of these three words is uncertain: the translation 'took toflight’has also been suggested. J Or’travailed’.

5 This is the usual meaning. But the cognate verb can mean 'travailed' (cp. note*),and so perhaps this noun means ‘travail*.

6 Or ‘Because they had no word to utter’.

7 Hi

The Odes oj Solomon

XXV

1 I escaped from my bonds,

And to thee 1 fled, O rny God.

2 Because thou hast been a right hand of deliverance.

And my helper.

3 1’hou hast restrained those who rose up against me,

And I shall not see him again,1

4 Because thy person was with me.

Which saved me in thy grace.2 *

But 1 was despised and rejected in the eyes of many.

And 1 was in their eyes as lead.t> And strength from thee was given me.

And help.

7 Thou didst set a lamp for me on niv right hand and on my left.And there will be1 nothing in rne without light.

8 And I was covered with the covering of thy Spirit,

And 1 removed from myself4 the5 garments of skins,

9 Because thy right hand raised me up.

And caused sickness to pass away from me.

10 And I became mighty in the* truth.

And holy in thy righteousness.

11 And all who were opposed to me were afraid of me.

And 1 became the Lord's, in the name of the Lord.

12 And I was justified in his kindness;

And his rest is forevermore.

Hallelujah.

XXVI

1 I poured forth praise to the Lord.

Because 1 am his.

1 So H: B ‘And they were not seen again'. 1 So H: B 'goodness'.

3 So H: B ‘That there might be": and. similarly, the Coptic.

4 The consonants might be pointed to read ‘Thou didst remove from me'.

s So H: B 'my". 6 So H: B ‘thy’.

The Odes of Solomon

And I will utter his holy psalm.

Because my heart is with him;

For his harp is in my hands,

And the psalms of his rest will not he silent.

I will cry to him with all my heart:

I will praise and exalt him with all my members;For from the east to the westBraise is his.

And from the north to the southThanksgiving is his.

And from the top of the heights to their furthest partPerfection1 is his.

Who can write the psalms of the Lord.

Or who can recite them?

Or who can instruct his soul for life.

That his soul may be delivered?

Or who can rest upon the Most High.

That he may speak from his mouth?

Who is able to interpret the wonders of the Lord?For he who interprets will he destroyed.

And what is to l>e interpreted will remain.

For it is enough to know and rest;

For the psalmists remain in rest.

Like a river (hat has an abundant spring,

And flow for the help of those who seek it.Hallelujah.

XXVII

I spread out my hands.

And sanctified my Lord;

Because the stretching out of my hands is his sign,1And my spreading out2 is the upright wood.Hallelujah.

1 Or perhaps, ‘whole-offering’.

1 Su H: B ‘was hindered’.

~ The word often means ‘simplicity’.

718

The Odes of Solomon

XXVIII

] Like the wings of doves over their young

(And the mouths1 of their young are towards their mouths)So, too, arc the wings of the Spirit over my heart.

2 My heart is delighted and leaps lor joy,

Like the babe who leaps in the womb of his mother.

3 I believed: therefore21 was at rest.

Because he is faithful in whom I believed.

4 He richly blessed me,

And my head is towards him;

And no sword shall separate me from him.

Nor blade;

.r> Because 1 was made ready1 before destruction came.

And I was placed on his incorruptible wings,4ft And immortal life came forth,*

And kissed me.

7 And from it is the Spirit in6 me,

And she7 cannot die for she is living."

8 Those who saw me wondered.

Because I was persecuted;

9 And they thought that 1 was swallowed up.

Because I appeared to them as one of those that perish.

10 But my oppressionBecame my deliverance.

11 And I became an abomination to them.

Because there was no envy in me:

12 Because 1 did good to every man,

I was hated;

' So B: H ‘mouth’.

1 SoH: B‘therefore, also’.

* So H: B ‘I made ready’ or ‘I was made ready’.

4 Or ‘the wings of incorruption’.

5 So H: B ‘embraced me'.ft So H: B ‘who is in’.

7 See note1 at Ode xix. 2.

* So H: B life’.

The Odes of Solomon 719

13 And they surrounded me like mad dogs.

Who ignorantly attack their masters,

14 Because their intelligenc e is corrupted.

And their intellect perverted.

15 But I was holding waters in my right hand.

And I endured9 their bitterness by my sweetness;

16 And I did not perish, because I was not their brother.

Nor was my birth like theirs.10

17 And they sought my death, but were not successful,

Because I was older than their memory,

And in vain did they attack" me.

18 And those who were after me12Sought in vain to destroy

The memory of him who was before them;

19 Because the mind of the Most High is not to be forestalled.And his heart is better than all wisdom.

Hallelujah.

XXIX

1 The Lord is my hope:

I shall not be ashamed in him.

2 For according to his glory he made me;

And according to his goodness,1 so he gave to me;

3 And according to his compassion he raised me up;And according to his great beauty he exalted me;

4 And he brought me up from the: depths ofSheol,And from the mouth of death he drew me.

5 And I laid low my enemies.

And he justified me in his grace;

6 For I believed in the Lord’s Christ,

9 So H: B ‘forgot'.

10 So H: B ‘Nor did they recognize my birth .

11 So H: HmR and B ‘east lots upon',

12 So H: Bom. ‘me.

1 So H: B‘grace’.

And it was plain to me that he was the Lord.

7 Arid he showed me2 his sign.

And led me in his light:

H And he gave me the rod of his strength.

Thai I might subdue the thoughts of peoples.

And lav low the power of mighty men;

H To make war by his word.

And to gain the victory by his might.

In And the Lord east down my enemy by his word.

And he became like the chafl w hich the wind carries away.

11 And 1 gave praise to the Most High,

Because he made great his servant and the son of his handmaid.Hallelujah.

1 Draw yourselves water from the living spring ol the Lord,Because it has been opened to you.

2 And come, all you who thirst, and take a draught.

And rest by the spring of the Lord,

Because it is excellent and pure.

And gives rest to the soul.

4 For its waters are far pleasanter than honey.

And the honeycomb of bees is not to be compared with it;

5 Because it comes out from the lips of the Lord,

And from the heart of the Lord is its name.

(> And it came unhindered and unseen,

And until it was set in their midst men did not know it.

7 Blessed are those who drank from it.

And were refreshed by it.

Hallelujah.

: So B: H ‘him*.

721

XXXI

1 The depths melted belorc the Lord,

And darkness was destroyed by his appearanrr:

2 Krror erred and perished before him,1

And folly2 * became inactive,J and it sank because of the truth ol'the

Lord.

3 He opened his mouth and sjioke grace and joy.

And spoke a new song of praise to his name;

4 And he lifted up his voice to the Most High.

And he presented to him those sons who had come into beingthrough him:4

'> And his person was justified.

Because his holy Father had granted him that it should be so.Come forth, you who have been oppressed.

And receive joy;

7 And take possession of your souls through grace.

And take to yourselves immortal life.

H And they condemned me when I stood up,

Me, who was uncondemned;

9 And they divided my spoil.

Although nothing was owing to them.

10 But 1 endured, and was silent and quiet.

That I might not be moved by them:

11 Bull stood without moving, like a firm rock.

Which is buffeted by the waves and yet endures;

12 .And 1 bore their bitterness because of humility.

In order that I might deliver my people and take possession ofthem,

13 And that I might not render void the promises to the patriarchs,Whose seed I promised to deliver.5

Hallelujah.

1 Lit. 'from him'.

•’ So B: H Yoiiicmpf.

' Lit. ‘received (so B: H ‘gave’) immobility’.

4 Or ‘who were in his hands' (so H: B ‘hand’).

5 Or ‘For the deliverance of whose seed 1 was promised'.

The Odes of Solomon

122

XXXII

The blessed have joy from their heart.

And light from him who dwells in them,

And the Word from the truth who was1 from' himself;

Because he became strong in the holy power of the Most High,And will remain unmoved forever and ever.

Hallelujah.

XXXIII

But again grace1 ran and left corruption.

And came down upon him to bring him to nothing.And he destroyed destruction2 from before him,

And spoiled all his work.

And he stood upon a high peak and uttered his voice.From one end of the earth to the other;

And he drew to himself all those who obeyed him,And he did not appear as an’ evil one.

But a perfect virgin stood.

Proclaiming, arid crying out. and saying,

Turn, you sons of men,

And you, their daughters, come,

And leave the ways of this corruption,

And draw near to me.

And I will enter into yon.

And bring you out from destruction.

And make you wise in the ways of truth.

Do not be corrupted,

And do not perish.

1 Or 'tame into being’.

2 B om.

1 ‘Grace’ is tem.: 'corruption’ is masc.

2 Or ‘wrought complete destruction’.

* Or‘the’.

723

The Odes of Solomon

10 Hear me and be delivered.

For l proclaim among you the grace of God;

1 ] And by me you will be delivered and become blessed:

I am your judge.

12 And those who have put me on will not be rejected,

But will obtain incorruption in the new world.

13 O my elect ones walk in me!

And I will make my ways known to them that seek me.And cause them to trust in my name.

Hallelujah.

XXXIV

1 There is no difficult way where there is a simple heart,

Nor a barrier' in upright thoughts,

2 Nor a storm in the depth of an enlightened thought.

3 Where the man who is virtuous is surrounded on every side,There is in him nothing discordant,2

4 The likeness of what is beneath.

He is what3 is above;

5 For everything is above,

And beneath is nothing,

But there is believed to be something by those who have noknowledge.

6 Grace was revealed for your deliverance:

Believe, and live, and be delivered.

Hallelujah.

XXXV

1 The dew1 of the Lord overshadowed me in rest,2

And he set up a cloud of jreace above my head,

1 Or ‘offence’: the word usually means ‘wound’.

3 Or 'doubtful' (lit. ‘divided’).

1 Or attaching verse 4a to 4b instead of to 3b, read * Is he who’.

Or ‘shower’.

So H: B ‘gentleness’.

724

The Odes of Solomon

2 Which kept me continually.

And became my deliverance3.

All things4 were shaken and agitated.

Arid smoke and judgement5 went out from them;

4 And I was at peace in the legion6of the Lord,

And he was to me more than dew7 and more than a foundationj And I was carried as a child by his mother.

And he gave me as milk the dew of the Lord;

(> And I grew up according to his gift,

And I rested in his perfection;

7 And I spread out my hands in the ascent of my soul.

And stood erect8 towards the Most High.

And was delivered with4 him.

Hallelujah.

XXXVI

1 I rested on the Spirit of the Lord.

And she1 raised me on high;

2 And she made me stand on my feet on the Lord's heights,Before his perfection and his glory,

While I was praising2 Aim in the composition of his psalms.-

3 She bore me before the face of the Lord;

And although I was a son of man,

1 was named the Shining4 One. the Son of God,

4 While I was praised2 among those who are praised.5

’ So Bill ’And was mine in deliverance’.

4 H might also be translated ‘ail people' or even 'everyone.

5 So H: B ‘a judge . ® Or ‘precept*.

: The words 'dew’ hei r and in verse 5, 'overshadowed* in verse I. and 'childverse 5 all conic from similar roots. Here die word might Ik- ‘shade’, writdefectively.

s Or‘was directed'. Q Oi‘towards’as in

1 Sec note1 at Ode xix. 2.

2 The participle could be either active or passive.

1 B connects this line with the next verse.

4 Or ‘enlightened’. 5 So B: H ‘who praise’.

And was great6 among the great ones;

5 For according to the greatness of the Most High, so she madeAnd according to his renewal he renewed me.

<; And he anointed me from his perfection.

And I became one of those near to him.

7 And my mouth was opened like a cloud of dew.

And my heart gushed forth like7 a fount of righteousness;

8 And my access to him was in peace.

And I was established in the Spirit of providence.

Hallelujah.

XXXVII

1 1 spread out my hands towards my1 Lord.

And towards the Most High I lifted up my voice;

2 And I spoke with the lips of my heart.

And he heard me when my voice reached2 him.

3 His word came to me.

That gave me the fruits of my labours,

4 And gave me rest in the grace of the Lord.Hallelujah.

XXXVIII

1 I went up into the light of Truth as if into a chariot,1And Truth led me and brought me,

2 And took me across chasms and rifts,2And delivered me from crags and valleys;3

3 And he became to me a harbour of deliverance,

And placed me on the arms4 of immortal life;

® Or “the greatest’. 1 B om.

' SoH: B “(he*. 1 Lit. Tell to’.

* Or, perhaps, “ship'. 1 So H: B‘empty rifts’.

3 Or‘waves'. * So H: B‘stair’.

m

me.

4 And lie went with me and gave me rest, and did not let me err,Because he was5 Truth.

a And l was in no danger, because I walked with him.

And i erred in nothing, because I obeyed him;fi For Error fled from him.

And did not meet him.

7 But Truth went along a straight path;

And everything which I did not knowHe showed me.

H Even all the drugs of Error.

And all the scourges of death6 7 which arc thought1 to be sweetness,‘i And the corruptor of corruption

I saw while the bride who is corrupted8 was adorning herself.Even the bridegroom who corrupts and is corrupted;

10 And I asked Truth, Who are these? And he said to me,

This is the Deceiver,9 and l/ial is Error;

11 And they imitate the Beloved One and his bride,

And cause the world to err, and corrupt it;

\2 And they invite many to a banquet.

And give them to drink the wine of their intoxication,

13 And they cause them to vomit their wisdom and understanding,And they render them10 * irrational;

H And then they abandon them.

But they go about raving" and corrupting.12Because the\ arc without understanding,

For neither do they seek it.

15 And I acted wisely, so that 1 did not fall into the hands of theDeceiver.13

And I congratulated myself, because Truth had gone with me.

5 So H: B 'was and is'.

6 Or ‘of death’ may go with 'sweetness’. The word translated ‘scourges’ couldalso be rendered 'attractions’.

7 So B: H ‘w hich men suppose*.

* So H: B has a participle which could be active or passive.

* Lit. ‘This is he who causes to err’.

10 So H: the fern. sing, pronoun in B presumably refers to wisdom.

" So B: H 'entreating'or‘commanding’.

12 Or‘corrupted’.

’* So H: B plural. Sec also note* on verse 10.

And 1 became strong, and lived, and was delivered,And my foundations were laid near14 the Lord;Because he planted me.

For he set the root.

And watered it, and made it firm, and blessed it;And its fruits will be lor ever.

It went deep, and grew tall, and spread out.

And became full and large.

And the Lord alone was praisedFor his planting and for his cultivation,

For his care and for the blessing of his lips,

For the beautiful planting ol his right hand.

And for the discovery13 of his planting,

And for the intelligence of his mind.

Hallelujah.

XXXIX

Mighty rivers arc the power of the Lord,Which carry headlongThose who despise them.

And twist their steps.

And ruin their fords,

And seize their bodies,

And destroy their souls;

For they are swifter than lightning1And faster.

But those who cross them in faithWill not be shaken,

And those who walk on them without blemishWill not be perturbed;

Because the Lord is a sign in them,

14 Or ‘on the hand of\

15 Some emend to ‘splendour7.

' So H: B lightnmgs’.

72H The Odes oj Solomon

And die sit'll becomes the path of those who c ross in the name ofthe Lord.

k Pul on. therefore, the name of the Most Hit'll, and know him.And you will cross without danger.

Because the rivers will lx* obedient to you.

‘i The Lord bridged them by his Word.

And walked, and crossed them on loot:

Hi And his footprints remain on the waters, and have not beenobliterated.

But are like a piece of wood which is firmly2 fixed:

II On ihis side and that the waves are lifted up.

Bui the loot prims of our Ixird Christ remain.

U? Anti are not effac ed.

Or obliterated;

n And a path has been established for those who cross after him.And for those who follow in the steps of his faith.

And worship his name.

Halleluiah.

1 As honey drips from the honeycomb of bees.

And milk flows from the woman who loves her children,

2 So. too. is my hope on thee, O my God.

As a spring brings forth its waters,

So my heart brings forth the praise of the Lord.

And my lips utter praise to him.

And my longue is sweet (in) his anthems,1And my members grow fat in2 his psalms;

•l And my face3 rejoices in his exultation.

And my spirit exults in his love,

: Or'in truth’.

1 Or '(in} intimacy with him’.

’ So B: H mn. "is sweet. . . fat in’. . . . though 'in' was probably read Ixiforc ‘hispsalms' and later erased.

■' B ‘also’. The following verse could be construed with the subject of 3l».

729

The Odes of Salomon

And my soul shines in him.

3 And he who is fearful will trust in him.

And deliverance will he established in him;(5 And his gain is immortal life.

And those who receive it are incorruptible.Hallelujah.

XU

1 All1 his children will2 * praise the Lord.

And they will4 receive the truth of his faith;

2 And his sons will be known to him:4Therefore let us sing in his love.

3 We live5 in the Lord by his grace.

And we receive lift: through his Christ.

4 For a great clay has shone upon us.

And marvellous is he who gave us6 of his praises.

5 Let us all, therefore, join together in the name of the Lord,

And let us honour him in his goodness;

6 And let our faces shine in his light,

And let our hearts meditate in his love,

By night and by day:

7 Let us exult on account of the exultation of the Lord.

8 All those w ho see me will marvel.

Because 1 am of another race;

9 For the Father of truth remembered me -He who possessed me trom the beginning:

10 For his wealth gave me birth,

And the thought of hi.s heart.

11 And his Word is w ith us all along our way,

File deliverer w'ho gives new life to i/.r does not reject our souls -

12 The man who was brought low .

1 So H: B ‘All ol us\

1 The verbs in this verse could express a wish.

» SoH: B‘we shall’.

4 B originally read ‘And they will be known to his sons'.

s So H: B‘rejoice’. 6 Rom.‘us’.

730 The Odes of Solomon

And was raised up in his righteousness.

1:5 The Son of the Most High appearedin the perfection of his Father;

14 And the light dawned from the Word.

That was1 beforehand in him.

I'» The Christ is one in truth.

And was known from before the foundation of the world.

Hi That he might give new life to souls for ever in the truth of hisname.

Lei Ihere be a new song of praise to the Lord from those who lovehim.

Hallelujah.

XLll

] I spread out my hands, and drew near to my Lord.

Because the stretching out of my hands is his sign,

2 And my spreading out1 is the outspread1 wood.

Which was set up on the way of the Upright One.

:i And I became useless

To those 2who knew me.

In order that 1 might be hidden from those2Who did not take hold of me;

4 And I will be with thoseWho love me.

') All my persecutors died;

And they who trusted in ine sought me, because I am alive;

8 And I arose and am with them.

And I will speak through their mouths.

7 For they rejected those who persecute them.

And I have laid upon them the yoke of my love.

8 As the arm of the bridegroom upon the bride.

So is my yoke upon those who know me;

7 Or ‘came into being'.

1 These ivvo words could be translated 'simplicity' and ‘simple' respectively.i_J So B: H om.

9

The Odes of Solomon 731

And as the bed that is spread in the bridal chamber.

So is my love upon those who believe in me.

10 I was not rejected, even though I was thought to be.

And I did not perish, even though they supposed it of me.

11 Shcol saw me and was grieved.

And Death disgorged me, and many with me:

12 I was vinegar and bitterness to him.

And ! went down with him as far as his depth extended:

13 And he let feet and head hang loose.3Because they4 could not endure my face.

14 And I made an assembly of living men among his dead.

And I spoke to them with living lips.

In order that my word might not be without effect.

15 And those who had died ran to me.

And cried and said. Have pity on us. Son of God!

16 And deal with us according to thy kindness.

And bring us out of the bonds of darkness.

17 And open for us the gate,

That by it we may come out with thee.

For we see that our death docs not touch thee.

18 May we too be delivered with thee.

Because thou art our deliverer.

19 And I heard their voice.

And set their faith in my heart,5

20 And I set6 my name on their heads.

Because they are free men7 and arc mine.

Hallelujah.

3 Or ‘let go of feet and head’.

4 SoH: B‘hc’.

1 H omits this line.

® So B: H unintelligible

’ Lit. ‘they are sons of free men’.

THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON

INTRODUCTION

The Testament, which is extant only in Greek,1 relates how Solomondiscovered that his building operations on the Temple were beingfrustrated by the demon Ornias: how in answer to prayer he wasgiven authority, not only over Ornias but also over all the demons,to ‘confine’ them and use them as builders; and how, in the exerciseof this authority, he summoned them before him one by one and seteach a particular task until the Temple was completed. Ostensibly,the Testament is Solomon’s warning to Israel against the dangersof apostasy, idolatry, and demon-worship, written shortly beforehis death and as a result of his own bitter experience (chaps, xv andxxvi). In fact, it is an essay in popular demonology and magic.

We arc thus introduced by the Testament to that area of beliefsand practices which is probably best illustrated by the contents ofthe Hellenistic magical papyri. But wc catch glimpses ofit also in avariety of sources - for instance, in the incidental allusion in theGospels. Acts, and Pauline Epistles to 'the rudiments’ (or ‘ele-ments’) of the world,’2 to ‘devils' (or ‘demons’) as the cause ofdisease,3 and to the ‘casting out’4 of them and cures5 by ‘exorcists’.'1

In view of the widespread acceptance of these ideas in theancient world it is hardly surprising that Jews, who reflected on theaccounts of the nature and extent ol Solomon’s wisdom recorded inI Kings iv. 29-34 and Wisd. vii. 17-22, should assume that heknew as much about demons as he did about the other depart-ments of nature, and that he had been given power to control them.Josephus, at all events, is a witness to this belief. In his descriptionof Solomon he writes:

1 G. Graf (Gesthichtt(hrist. aiab. IJleralur, I. (= Stvdie Testi, 118; Vatican, 1944),p. 210) has. however, drawn attention to the existence of a Syriac MS in Paris (B.N.Funds Syriaque 194; Kith cent.) and an Arabic MS in the Vatican (Vat. ar. 448;

17th cent.), both of which seem to contain texts of the Testament.

* Gal. iv. 3; Col. ii. 8.

‘ Matt. xii. 22. * Mark iii. 15, 22.

* Luke ix. 42. * Aetsxix. 13.

The Testament of Solomon

‘And (i()d granted hint knowledge of the art used against demons lor thebenefit and healing of men. He also composed incantations by whichillnesses are relieved, and left behind forms of exorcisms with whichthose possessed by demons drive them out. never to return'.7

And Josephus goes on to record how he himself had seen a certainJew, named Klcazar, exorcise a demon in the presence of theRoman Kmpcror Vespasian and his retinue. Klcazar held underthe possessed man’s nose a ring ‘which had under its seal one of theroots prescribed by Solomon', and then, as the man smelled it,Klcazar dragged the demon out through the man’s nostrils. Theman immediately fell to the ground. Klcazar then solemnly forbadethe demon to re-enter the man. using the name of Solomon andpronouncing over him one of the Solomonic incantations. Josephusdoes not say explicitly in this passage that Solomon wrote down the‘incantations', and ‘forms of exorcism” which he composed. Butthat he did so is a natural inference. At a later date, Origcncertainly knew of exorcists who used ‘adjurations written bySolomon'.K

But the Testament is very far from being a collection of Solomon'smagic formulae. As a ‘testament' it belongs to an establishedliterary category - a category, moreover, which it seems wasoriginated by Jews. Further, its main motif (that Solomon ac-quired power over the demons and used them to build the Temple)reappears in the Talmud.’ This means that the Testament’sframework, at least, is firmly fixed within Judaism. On the otherhand, despite many features in the body of the work that arcunmistakeably Jewish (such as the name of the demon Asmodcusin chap, v and the phrase quoted at iii. 5 from Wisd. ix. 4). there arcmany more that arc attributable to pagan, and particularlyGnostic, influence. A good illustration here is the summary inchap, xviii of‘the thirty-six elements': these are the well-knowndecani of the Zodiac circle, which are described, for example, byGelsus,10 though in less detail than in the Testament. And thereare. too, a number of distinctively Christian features. Thus,

7 Jos.. /In/. VIII. ii. (§ 4.i: Locb Library translation).

" Orig. .\falt. comm. str. 110.

* T. B. 6V//ia68a—b.

10 Orig. c. Cels. viii. 58.

735

The Testament of Solomon

Christ’s power over the demons is referred to several times." It istrue that Christ is not mentioned by name, but the references to hisVirgin Birth and Crucifixion are unmistakeable.'2 Most interest-ing of all in this connection is the passage in chap, xi describing the'‘legion of demons' subordinate to the ‘Lionbearer’. who is in-hibited ‘by the name of him that endured after many sufi'erings atthe hands of men. whose name is KmmanucI, who even now hasenchained us and will come to plunge us from a clitf under thewater’. This is a clear allusion to the story of the healing of theGerascne demoniac as recorded in Mark v. 1-20 and Luke viii.26-39.11

Fleck, the first editor of the Testament, regarded it as aByzantine work of the Middle Ages. Borncmann dated it early inthe 4th century on account of the resemblances between its de-monology and the demonology of the Institutes of Laetantius.Conybearc suggested that an original Jewish document of un-certain date was worked over by a Christian, possibly as early asAD 100. Schurer simply described the Testament as ‘Christian*and suggested no date.

In his edition of 1837 Fleck printed the text of a single 16th cent.Paris MS (B.N. Anciens fonds grccs, no. 38 - Colbert 4895). Forhis edition of 1922 McCown had access to no less than twelveadditional MSS (all 15th or 16th cent.) which represent fourdifferent recensions (ABCD). As the basis of the TestamentMcCown postulated an initial Jewish talc, beginning with Solomon'sbirth and continuing with stories of his dealings with demons andhis building of the Temple, roughly similar to what is now found inRecension D, though very far from identical with it. The Testa-ment was an adaptation of this nucleus by a Greek Christian, whowrote, perhaps in Asia, perhaps in Egypt, but more probably inGalilee, somewhere between AD 200 and AD 250 - in any case theTestament must have been in existence by AD 400 at the latest,because it is quoted as ‘his (i.e. Solomon's) Testament', in TheDialogue of Timothy and Aquila.'* Recension A differs little from the

11 xi. <>; xv. 10, l l;xvii. 4; xxii. '20. xii. 3; xv. H); xxii. 20.

15 The parallel version in Matt, viii 28-34 does not mention the name ‘Legion'.

14 Cp. F. C. Conybcare. The Dialogues of Athanasius and Zacchaeus and of Timothy andAquila (= Anecdote Oxoniensia. Classical Series. Part viii; Oxford, 1898), p. 70.

original, though it is obviously secondary at the beginning andshows signs of expansion at the end. Recension B. which is inde-pendent of A, fills out the details about individual demons and isalso inclined to expand the Christian passages: it is to be dated inthe fourth or the fifth century. Finally, perhaps as late as thetwelfth or thirteenth century, came Recension C\ a further recen-sion of Recension B.

Fleck’s Paris MS belongs to Recension B. and so bothBornemann’s Grrman translation and Conybcare’s Knglish trans-lation follow this recension. The text in McCown’s edition, how-ever, is based mainly on Recension A; and it was this text that wasadopted by Riessler for his German translation in 1927. The textpublished by Delatte is that of the Paris N1S B.X. 2011 (18th cent.):it is a similar, though substantially longer, version of the materialin McCown’s Recension D. Our own translation is based onMcCown.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

F. F. Fl.KCK, U'issenschajtliche Reise dutch das siidtiche Deutschland.Italien, Sicilien undTrankreick. II. iii (Leipzig. 1837), pp. 111-140.[Fleck's text is readily available in the reprint in PG exxii.1315—1358, together with accompanying Latin translation.!

Cl. CL McCOWN, The Testament of Solomon, editedfrom manuscripts atMount Athos, Bologna, Holkham Hall, Jerusalem, London, Milan.Paris and Vienna, with Introduction (= I'ntersuchungen znm NeuenTestament, Heft 9; Leipzig, 1922).

A. DELATTE, Anecdota Athemensia, Tome I (= Bibliotheque de laFaculle de philosophie el lettres de TL'niversite de Liege, fasc. xxxvi;Liege and Paris, 1927), pp. 211-227.

TRANSLATIONS

English

F. C. CONYBEAREinJQRxi (Oct. 1898), pp. 1-45. [Translationwith Introduction}

737

German

F. A. BoRNKMAW in Zeitschriftjirdiehistorische Theotogie, N.K.. Bd.

\1 II. Heft iii (1844), pp. 9-56. (Translation with Introduction!P. RlKSSLKR, AjSAB:. pp. 1251-1262.

C» I'.N KRAI.

F. A. BoRNKMANN. 'Conjectanra in SalomonisTestamcntum' inBiblische Studien von Geistlichen des Konigreichs Sachsen. 11. Jahrgang(1843), pp. 45-60. IV. Jahrgang (1846). pp. 28-69.

A.-M. Dims. IPGAT.p. 67.

J. -B. FRKV, DBS up i. cols. 455-456.

L. OlNZBKRt;. The Legends of the Jeus. iv (Philadelphia. 1913).

pp. 149-154 and vi (Philadelphia. 1928), pp. 291-293.

P. Rikssi.KR. AjSAIT. pp. 1338-1339.

K. SCHCRKR. UJPTJC II. iii. pp. 151-155.

. GjVZJC4 iii, pp. 407-414, 418-420.

C. H. T()V, art. ‘Solomon. Testament of in JK xi (New York,1905), pp. 448-449.

A. Ll'KYN WILLIAMS. ‘The Cull of the Angels at Colossae’ inJTS x (April 1909). pp. 424-425.

Blessed art thou, O Lord God. who didst give to Solomon thisauthority; to thee be glory and might forever. Amen.

I. And behold, while the temple of the city of Jerusalem was beingbuilt and the craftsmen were at work on it. the demon Ornias usedto come at sunset arid take half the pay of the young ov erseer1 andhalf his rations. And he used to suck the thumb of his right handevery day. And the young man, whom 1 loved dearly, was wastingaway.

Now I, Solomon, questioned the young man one day and said tohim, Did I not think more of you2 than all the craftsmen that work

1 (>k. nputTOfiatmutQ: the meaning is unknown.

2 Lit. 'love you more’.

testament of solomon

738 The Testament oj Solomon

in the temple of God and grant you double pay and rations? How is

4 it that you are wasting away day by day? But the young man said,Let me tell you, O king, what has happened to me. After we aredismissed from work on the temple of God at sunset, while I amresting, an evil demon comes and takes away half my pay and halfmy rations, and takes hold of my right hand and sucks my thumb.And behold, my soul is in torment and my body is wasting awayday by day.

5 When I heard this, I, king Solomon, went into the temple of Godand prayed him with all my soul, praising him day and night, thatthe demon might be delivered into my hands and that I might have

f> authority over him. And it came to pass, as 1 was praying to theGod of heaven and earth, that a little ring with a seal carved from aprecious stone was given me from the Lord Sabaoth by the arch-

7 angel Michael. And he said to me, l ake, Solomon, son of David, agift sent you by the Lord Sabaoth, the Most High God, and youwill be able to confine all the demons both female and male, and,through their agency, build Jerusalem w hile you wear this seal ofGod.

a And with very great joy I began to praise and glorify the Lord ofheaven and earth. And the next day 1 ordered the young man to

9 come to me and gave him the seal and said to him, At whateverhour the demon comes upon you throw this ring at the demon'schest and say to him, Solomon summons you to him; and then cometo me quickly, and do not be frightened or alarmed.3

10 And behold, at the usual hour came Ornias, the cruel demon,like burning fire, to take the young man's wages as was his custom.

11 But the lad, according to Solomon’s orders, threw the ring at thedemon's chest, saying to him, Solomon summons you to him; and

12 he went off in haste to Solomon. The demon cried out aloud andsaid to the young man, Why did you do this? Take the ring and giveit to Solomon, and I will give you all the silver and gold there is in

13 the earth; only do not take me away to Solomon. And the youngman said, As the Lord lives, the God of Israel, I cannot cope with

14 you unless I take you away to Solomon. And the young man cameand said to Solomon, King Solomon, I have brought you the

* Lit. 'taking no thought ofwhat is likely to frighten you.’

demon, as you told me to. arid behold, lie is standing in front of thegates outside, bound, and crying out in a loud voice that he willgive mo all the silver and gold there is in the earth to prevent mebringing him to you.

II. And when I. Solomon, heard this, I got up from my throne andsaw the demon shivering and trembling; and I said to him, who arcyou, and w hat is your name? The demon said, I am called Ornias.

2 And I said to him, Tell me what sign of the zodiac you lie under.And the demon answered and said, The YVater-pourer; and Isuffocate those who lie under the Waier-pourer, who because of

3 their lust for women have called upon the sign of the Virgin. 1 alsoappear iri sleep, changing into three forms: sometimes I am like aman lusting for the beauty of young girls not yet fully grown, and atmy touch they are in great pain: sometimes I take wings to

4 heavenly regions: sometimes I take on the appearance of a lion. 1am an offspring of the archangel, the Power of God, but 1 am

5 inhibited by the archangel Uriel. When I, Solomon, heard thename of the archangel 1 prayed and glorified the God of heavenand earth; and when I had sealed the demon 1 set him to work atstone-cutting, to cut the stones of the temple that were lying by the

6 sea shore and had been brought through the Arabian sea. And hewas afraid to touch the cutting tools.1 and he said to me, I pray you,king Solomon, set me free and 1 will bring all the demons up to you.

7 Since he refused to be subject to me, I prayed the archangel Urielto come to my aid; and immediately I saw the archangel Uriel

8 coming down to me from heaven. And he ordered great fish tocome up out of the sea, and he dried up their province, and cast hisportion upon the ground; and in that way and this he subjected thegreat demon Ornias so that he cut the stones and contributed tothe construction of the temple which I, Solomon, was building.

9 And again I glorified the God of heaven and earth; and I orderedOrnias to go round to his portion, and I gave him the seal and said,Be off! And bring me here the ruler of the demons.

ID. Ornias took the ring and went oil to Beezebul and said to him,

2 Solomon summons you to him. Beezebul said to him. Tell me, who

1 Lit. 'to touch

740 The Testament of Solomon

3 is this Solomon you speak ul? Ornias threw the ring at Becvebul's

1 chest, saying. King Solomon summons you. And Bcczcbul criedout as if at a great burning (lame of fire, and he got up and followed

5 him of necessity and came to me. And when 1 saw the ruler of thedemons. 1 glorified God and said. Blessed art thou. O Lord GodAlmighty, who didst give to thy servant Solomon wisdom that sitsbeside thy throne,1 and didst make subject to me all the power of

(i the demons. And I questioned him and said, fell me. who are vou?

7 The demon said. I am Bee/.ebul, the leader of the demons. Icommanded that he should stay close beside me and makearrangements lor the demons to appear before me. He himselfpromised to bring to me all the unclean spirits in chains. And lagain glorified the God of heaven and earth, giving thanks to himat all times.

IV. I enquired of the demon whether there was a female among

2 the demons. When he said there was. I asked to see her.1 AndBcczcbul went ofTand fetched Onoskelis2 lor me to see. ' She wasvery beautiful in form, and had the body of a fair-skinned woman,

i but the shanks of a mule. When she came to me 1 said to her, Tell

4 me who you are. She said. I am called Onoskelis, a spirit in bodilyform, who lurks in holes on earth, for I have my dwelling in caves;

5 hut my ways are varied. Sometimes 1 choke a man: sometimes Ipervert them from their nature. My most frequent dwellings are

t> cliffs, eaves, chasms. Often, too, I have intercourse with men, sincethey consider me a woman - most often with the olive-skinned,because they share my star, for these worship my star both secretlyand openly, and then do not realize that they harm themselves andstimulate me to more mischief. For they want through the recollec-

7 tion oj it to get money. But I supply little even to those who worshipme well.

8 I asked her whence she was born. And she said. From anunseasonable noise, the so-called echo of the sky when it emits a

tip. Wisd. ix. 4.

1 Lie 'I wished to know*. -Sonic MSS. however, read 'I wished to see*.

1 This could be translated ’Donkey Shanks'. She was a well-known Hellenisticdemon ' I.ii. ’And going away Beeizebul showed me Onoskelis’.

The Testament oj'Salomon

741

!t leaden noise, was I horn in a wood. I said to her. Under what stardo you pass? And she said. Under the lull moon, because it is underthe moon that I travel for the most part. I said. What is the angelin that inhibits you? And she said. The very same as in you, () king.

11 Thinking that this was a piece of ftjolcry, I ordered a soldier to hither; but she cried out and said. I tell you, () king, by the wisdom of

12 God that is given to you. And I blessed4 the name of the Holy Oneof Israel; and I ordered her to spin hemp for the ropes oft he work ofthe temple of God. Thus sealed and bound she was inhibited, sothat I made her stand spinning hemp night and day.

V. And I ordered another demon to be brought to me. And he2 brought me Asmodeus.1 the evil demon, bound. I asked him, Who;i are you? And he. with a threatening look. said. And who are you? Isaid to him, Under punishment, as you are. do you dare answer melike this? And he lixed me with the same look and said. How should1 answer you? You arc a man's son, and I an angel’s (though born2of a man’s daughter), so that no word from a member of the heavenlyl race to an carthborn is overbearing. My star lurks in heaven andmen call me the Waggon,3 others Snakefooted. For this reasonsmaller stars too take their position along with my star, for my.■> father's dignity and throne is in heaven to this day. Do not ask memany questions, Solomon, for your kingdom also in due time willbe torn in pieces: this glory of yours is transient, you havc6u/ a shorttime to torment us; and then we shall again have free range overmankind, that they may worship us as gods (lor they do not know

6 the names of the angels that arc appointed over us). When I,Solomon, heard this, I bound him with greater precaution, and Iordered him to be flogged and to confess what he was called and

7 what was his function. The demon said, I am called renownedAsmodeus. I increase men’s evil-doing throughout the world. Iplot against the newly-wed: I mar the beauty of maidens and

8 estrange their hearts. I said to him, Is this your only function? He

* [.it. ‘spoke’.

1 t’.p., i’obit iii. 8, 17. In Hebrew (e.g. T. B. (>8a-b) he is Ashmedai.

1 Lit. ‘and 1 was born".

1 Another name of the Great Bear.

replied. Through the stars I spread madness among women, andthen it spreads itself in great waves; and I have killed up to seven.

9 And so I adjured him by the name of the Lord Sabaoth, Fear Cod,Asmodeus; and tell me what angel you are inhibited by. Thedemon said, Raphael, who stands in the presence of God: I am alsodriven away by the liver of a fish along w ith its gall smoked over

10 saffron ashes. I questioned him again, saying. Do not hide any-thing from me, because I am Solomon the son of David, and tell methe name of the fish you reverence. And he said, The name is calledsheat-fish: it is found in the rivers of Assyria, for there only is it

11 produced, because 1 too am found in those parts. And I said tohim. Nothing else from you, Asmodeus? And he said to me, Thepower of God, who through his seal bound me with unbreakablebonds, knows that what I told you is true. But I beg you, king

12 Solomon, do not condemn me to water. But 1 smiling said. As theLord lives, the God of my lathers, you shall have iron to wear, andyou shall make clay for the construction of' the temple. And Iordered that there should be ten water-pots arid that they shouldbe heaped upon him. And with a terrible groan the demon began tocarry out his orders. Asmodeus did this because he had fore-

13 knowledge also. And I, Solomon, glorified God, who had given methis authority. The liver of the fish and the gall along with a piece ofw hite storax I burnt over Asmodeus, because of his strength; andhis voice w-as inhibited and his tooth full of sharpness.

VI. And I ordered Beezebul to stand before me again, and I sathim beside me, and I thought it fit to ask him, Why are you the only

2 ruler of the demons? He said to me, Because I am the only one ofthe heavenly angels left remaining. For I was a leading heavenly

3 angel called Beezebul. And with me was a second impious onewhom God cut off, and now confined here he rules my folk that areimprisoned in Tartarus: he gets his lood in the Red Sea, and in his

4 own time will come to triumph. And 1 said to him, What are yourfunctions? And he said to me, I too destroy through tyrants, andcause the demons to Ik: worshipped among men, and excite holypriests, who have been chosen by God, to lust; and I bring about

5 jealousies in cities and murders, and 1 bring on wars. And I said tohim, Bring me the one you mentioned, who feeds in the Red Sea.

The Testament oj Solomon 743

But he said. I will not bring up anyone to you myself; but one calledKpliippas shall come, who will bind him and bring him up from the

fi depth. And I said to him. Tell me how he comes to be in the depthof the Red Sea and what his name is. He said. Do not ask me: youcannot learn it from me; for he himself will come to you because l

7 too am with you. I said to him. Tell me. what star are youassociated with? He said. What is called the Evening Star among

8 men. I said. Tell me what angel you are inhibited by. He said. Bythe all-powerful God; he is called among the Hebrews Patike (hethat came down from on high); but he is the Emmanuel of theGreeks. And 1 am afraid ol him and tremble before him.1 If anyone

9 adjures me by Eloi.J his great name of power, I disappear. When 1.Solomon, heard this. 1 commanded him to saw Theban marbles.When he began to saw. all the demons shouted with a loud voice

to because of their king Beezebul. I. Solomon, questioned him, say-ing, If you want to obtain your release, tell me about heavenlythings. And Beezebul said. Listen. () king. If you burn gum andincense and sea-bulbs, nard and saffron, and light seven lamps inan earthquake, you will make your house secure. But if {that is. ifyou are pure) you light them in the early morning sunlight, youwill sec how the heavenly serpents wind along and draw the

II chariot of the sun. When I. Solomon, heard this, I rebuked himand said. Be quiet, and saw the marbles I told sou to.

Chaps. VII to XVIII all follow the same pattern. Demons are sum-moned, questioned as to their names and functions and the angel bywhom each is inhibited, and finally assigned to work on the temple. Thecontents are summarised.

VII. Lix Tctrax,1 who carries his face high in the air, hut the rest of hisbody winding like a snail. He raises a violent dust storm to frightenSolomon. He is busiest in summer, causing colics and fires and semi-tertian fever, and is inhibited by the archangel Azacl. He is ordered tothrow stones to the craftsmen on top of the temple.

1 Lit.'[ fear him with trembling'.

1 Cp. Mark xv. 3-f.

1 An cmendatiim of McCown. These terms occur in the magical formulae know nas Ephtsiaca q rammata.

744

The Testament of Salomon

VIII. Seven intertwined comely demons.1 the seven elements, world-rulers of darkness, Guile, Strife, Clotho, Storm, Error. Power. Worst: thislast one foretells Solomon's succumbing to love. They are set to dig thefoundations of the temple.

IX. A headless demon. Murder, seeing through his breasts, continuallysevering and devouring men’s heads, inhibited by the fiery lightning. Forthe moment he is ordered to remain with Bcc?.cbul.

X. A demon like a great dog, called Rod, mastering men’s minds throughthe throat and destroying them, inhibited by Briathus. He offers to showSolomon’s servant a green stone in a mountain and Solomon agrees. Whenhe brings it Solomon decrees that he and the headless demon, Murder,should be bound and carry the stone round like a lamp day and night to thecraftsmen at work. Later they too arc set to work cutting marble.

XI. An Arabian demon like a lion rampant, called Lionbearcr. He has alegion of demons subordinate to him; and, when Solomon asks by whom heis inhibited, replies, ‘By the name of him that endured after many sufler-ings at the hands of men, whose name is Emmanuel, who even now hasenchained us and will come to plunge us from a cliff under the water.’Solomon orders the legion to carry wood, and the demon to saw it up finew ith his nails and feed the furnace.

XJI. A three-headed serpent, called Serpent's Crest, inhibited by 'theplace of the skull,’ ior there the Angel of the Great Council lore-ordainedthat 1 should suffer, and now openly he will dwell upon a cross.’ He tellsSolomon that there is much gold hidden in the foundation of the temple.Solomon finds this and orders him to make bricks.

XIII. A female demon with long dishevelled hair, called Obyzuth, attack-ing women and children, inhibited by the angel Raphael, whose namewritten on a scrap of paper is a protection against her lor women inchildbirth. Solomon orders her to be bound by the Itair and hung up infront of the temple that the children of Israel can see her and glorify God.

1 Prohablv the Pleiades: the third. Clotho, the Spinster, was the name of one ofthe three Greek fates.

1 Lit.‘the brain’.

745

XIV. A demon with the fart* and left of a man and die limbs of a serpent,with wings on its bark, railed Winged Serpent, who c auses abortions inpregnancy among beautiful women. He threatens Solomon, and burns upwith his breath the forests of Lebanon, the timber destined lor the temple.Solomon invokes the angel who inhibits him, Ha/azatb, and condemnshim to saw marbles.

XV. A three headed female demon, called Lnepsigus. who is also ‘calledbv countless names’.' She has connections with the moon and can bebrought down by enchantment, inhibited by Rathanacl. She prophecies toSolomon the division of his kingdom and the destruction of the temple,when the jars in which he has enclosed the demons will be broken and theywill he dispersed over the world again, until the son ofGcxi should bestretched upon a tree, he whose number is 644 - i.c.. Kmmanuel.*’ Solomondoes not believe her until his death, when he writes the Testament to warnthe children of Israel about the demons. He orders her to lx- fettered withunbreakable Ixmds.

XVI. A demon like a horse in front and a fish liehind. living in the sea andcausing shipwrecks, who also transforms himself into a man, calledCynopcgus,1 inhibited by Jameth. He is beginning to faint without water,so Solomon puls him in a jar with ten measures of sea water, smears themouth with asphalt..pitch, and tow. seals it with the ring, and orders it tobe stored in the temple.

XVII. An anonymous lascivious spirit of a giant slaughtered in the time ofthe giants, who lives in tombs and causes men to become demoniacs,inhibited by ’the Saviour that is to descend'. He is c onfined with the rest.

XVIII, The thirty-six elements, man-shaped, bull-shaped, bird-faced,animal-faced, sphinx-faced, serpent-shaped. Most of them cause physical

1 Reminiscent of Artemis, who had three forms, being also the moon and, asHecate, a goddess of the underworld. The epithet ftvQidiwuo^ recalls Isis, who alsohad connections with the moon.

•' If the Greek letters of Krnmanuel are taken as numerical symbols they add up to644, though, of course, 644 would normally be expressed by the three letters yI5 (asit is here).

1 The name appears to be a compound of'dog' and 'fountain', and the demonprobably has a connection with Poseidon.

troubles, and often charms and remedies are given for these. They are setto draw water.

XIX. And I, Solomon, was honoured by all men under heaven. Iwas building the temple of God, and my kingdom was prospering.

2 All the kings used to come to me to see the temple of God which Iwas building, and they used to bring me gold and silver and offerbronze and iron and lead and timber for the construction of the

3 temple. Among them also came Sheba, queen of the South, whowas an enchantress of great skill, and she did obeisance to me.

XX. And behold, an aged man, one of the craftsmen, threw him-self down before me saying, King Solomon, son of David, have pityon my old age. And 1 said to him. Tell me. old man, what it is you

2 want. He said, I appeal to you, O king. I have an only son. andevery day he makes some kind of attack on me; for he has hit me inthe face and on the head and threatens to murder me. This is why I

3 have come to you so that you may avenge me. When 1 heard this.I gave orders that his son should he brought to me. When he came, I

4 said to him, Is this the truth about you? And he said, O king,I must have been out of my mind to frighten my father in the way Ihave.1 Be merciful to me, O king, for suc h irregular behaviour

5 makes a sorry story.2 So when 1, Solomon, had heard the youngman, I urged the old man to think it over. But he was unwilling toand said, He should be put to death.

6 And when I saw that the demon Ornias laughed, I was very'angry at his laughing in my presence; and I put the other aside andordered Ornias to come, and I said to him. Accursed one, how dare

7 you laugh at me? He said, I appeal to you, O king. It was notbecause of you that I laughed, but because of the unfortunate oldman and the wretched youth, his son; for in three days he will bedead, and behold, the old man wants to put him to a painful death.And I said, Is this really so? The demon said, Yes, O king. And Iordered the demon to stand aside, and the old man and his son to

1 Lit. ‘I have been full mad to make my father quake through my hand.’

2 Lit. ‘for it would be contrary to what is established to hear such a parable anddistress’.

747

10 come, and I ordered them to become friends. And I said to the oldman. In three days bring your son to me here. They did obeisanceand departed.

11 And I gave orders that Ornias should be brought to me again,and I said to him. Tell me how you know this, that in three days the

12 young man will be dead. And he said . We demons mount upon thevault of heaven and fly amid the stars, and we hear the decrees that

13 come forth from God and that relate to the lives of men. Then wego. and whether by force of influence, or by fire, or by sword, or by

14 mishap, we disguise ourselves and destroy. And I asked him. Tellme, then, how is it that you demons are able to go up into heaven.

1*> He said to me. Whatever is done to perfection in heaven, so also isit upon earth; lor the rulers and authorities and powers fly above

l(j and are thought worthy of entrance to heaven. Hut we demons getexhausted, for we have no Ibothold for ascending or resting, and wefall away like leaves from trees, and the men that sec it think stars

17 are falling from heaven. It is not so. () king: we fall because of ourweakness; and. because we have no support from any quarter, wefall down like lightnings upon the earth, and burn up cities, and setfields on fire. But the stars of heaven .are secure in the vault of

18 heaven. When I. Solomon, heard this. 1 ordered the demon to bekept under guard for five days.

19 After the five days were over I summoned the old man. and hewas unwilling to come. Then he came, and I saw he was broken

20 and miserable. And I said to him. Where is your son. old man? Hesaid, I am now childless, O king, and 1, without hope, keep watch

21 by my son's tomb. When I, Solomon, heard this, and knew thatwhat had been told me by the demon was true, I glorified the Godof heaven and earth.

XXI. And Sheba, the queen of the South, was astonished when shesaw the temple I was building, and she gave ten thousand shekels

2 of bronze. She went into the temple and saw the altar, and thecherubim and seraphim overshadowing the mercy scat, and thetwo hundred precious stones of the lamps flashing with different

3 colours, lamps of emerald and hyacinth stones and sapphire. Andshe saw the vessels of silver and bronze and gold, and the bases ofthe pillars entwined with bronze wrought like chains. She saw also

748 The Testament of Solomon

4 the brazen sea with its base1 and the thirty-six bulls. And they wereall working in the temple of God - lor the wage of one gold talent,except for the demons.

XXII. Now Adarccs, king of the Arabians, sent a letter w hich ranas follows,

Adarccs, king of the Arabians, to king Solomon greeting. Be-hold, we have heard of the wisdom that has been given you andthat, man as you arc, understanding has been given you from theLord in respect of the spirits of the air and earth and under the

2 earth. There is a spirit in Arabia; for at dawn there comes a windwhich blows until the third hour, and its blast is terrible, and it killsmen and cattle, and nothing that breathes can live before the

3 demon. I beg you, therefore, since the spirit is like a wind, to devisesomething wise in accordance with the wisdom that has been givenvon by the Lord your God, and deign to send a man able to arrest

4 it. And behold, we will be yours, king Solomon, both 1 and all mypeople; and all my land, even all Arabia, w ill be at peace, if you can

5 bring about this deliverance1 tor us. Wherefore we beg you, do notignore our supplication, and become our lord for all time, forever.May my lord fare well always, continually.

6 I Solomon, when I had read this letter, folded it and gave it tomy slave, saying to him, After seven days remind me of this letter.

7 Jerusalem had been built, and the temple was being completed.And there was a great corner-stone, that I wanted to put into place

8 as the main corner-stone, to complete the temple of God. And allthe craftsmen and all the demons that were co-operating with themcame together to bring the stone and set it on the pinnacle of the

9 temple; but they were not strong enough to lift it. But after sevendays I remembered the letter of the king of the Arabians; and I

10 called my slaveling and said to him, Load up your camel, and takea wine-skin and this seal, and go to Arabia, to the place where theevil spirit blows, and hold the wine-skin and the ring in front of the

11 mouth of the wine-skin. And when the wine-skin is inflated, youwill find that it is the demon who inflates it. Then quickly tie the

1 The meaning ofimataB6v is uncertain. Sec 1 Kings vii. 23-25; 2 Chron.iv. 2-4.

1 Lit. ‘vengeance’.

749

The Testament ojSolomon

wine-skin up tightly, and. when you have sealed it with the ring,load it onto your eamcl and bring it here. So go. and fare you well.

12 Then the slave did as he was ordered and journeyed to Arabia.And the people there were doubtful whether he would after all be

1H able to arrest the evil spirit. And at daybreak the servant got upand stood in front of the spirit's blast: and he put the wine-skin mithe ground, and on it he put the ring also. And it entered the

1 t wine-skin and inllated it. But the slave stood and tied the wine-skin

tightly at the mouth, in the name of the Lord Saluioih; and the

13 demon was kept a prisoner* in the wine-skin. The slave, too,remained for three days to see that all was well;4 and the spirit nolonger blew, and the Arabians recognised that lu* had safely cou-ld fined the spirit. Then he loaded the wine-skin onto his camel. The

Arabians sent the slave on his way w ith gifts and honours, praisingGod (for they now had peace). But the slave brought the spirit andset it on top of the temple.

17 On the next day I. Solomon, went into the temple; and 1 wasworried about the main corner-stone. And the wine-skin, standingup, walked seven paces, and stood on its mouth and did obeisance

18 to me. And amazed that, although tied up in the wine-skin, it stillwas able to walk. I told it to stand up. The wine-skin stood up. and

l<) stood inflated on its feet. And I questioned him, saving. Who areyou? The spirit inside said. 1 am a demon called Kphippas, the20 Arabian. And I said to him. What angel are you inhibited by? Hesaid. By him who is to he horn of a virgin, since angels worshiphim. and who is to be crucified by the Jews.

XXIII. I said to him. Tell me, what can you do? He said. 1 can

2 move mountains and transport houses and throw down kings. AndI said to him. II you can, lift this stone up to the highest point of thecorner of the temple. He said. Not only will I lift this stone up, Oking, but with the help of the demon in the Red Sea I will UJt up alsothe airy pillar that is in the Red Sea. and you can set it where you

3 will. And, saying this, he slipped in underneath the stone, and helifted it, and mounted the steps carrying the stone, and placed it at

* I.it. ’tin* demon remained*.

4 Lit. *. . . tor three days as a dentnnsirutitm*.

750

4 tin* top of the (‘inrana* to the temple. I. Solomon, said in elation.Truly now has been fulfilled the scripture that says. The stone thatthe builders rejected, this became the head of the corner-and soon.

XXIV. And again I said to him. Go. and bring me the pillar in theRed Sea you spoke of. Ephippas went off and brought up the

2 demon and the pillar, both of them carrying it from Arabia. But I.because these two spirits were able to shake the whole world in asingle moment, cleverly outwitted them by sealing them around on

3 this side and that, and I said. Keep careful watch. And they haveremained supporting the pillar in the air to this day. as a demon-

•» st ration of the wisdom that was given me. The pillar, of an enorm-ous size, was hanging in the air, supported by the spirits; and from

5 below the spirits supporting it looked as if they were air. When welooked carefully, the base of the pillar seemed slightly askew; and itis so to this day.

XXV. And I asked the other demon, the one who came up from thesea with the pillar. Who are you, and what are you called, and

2 what is your function, for I have heard much about you? And thedemon said, I, king Solomon, am called Abezethibu, and once I

3 used to dwell in the first heaven, which is named Amcluth. I, then,am a malevolent winged spirit, with a single wing, who plotsagainst everything that breathes under heaven. I was presentwhen Moses went in to Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and 1 hardened his

4 heart. I am he whom Janncs and Jambres invoked, when theywithstood Moses in Egypt. I am he who wrestled against Moses

5 with wonders and signs. So I said to him. How was it then that you

6 were found in the Red Sea? He said, At the exodus of the sons ofIsrael I hardened Pharaoh’s heart; and I stirred up Pharaoh andhis servants and caused them to pursue after the sons of Israel. AndPharaoh followed close upon them and so did all the Egy ptians. I wasthere then, and we followed close; and we all came to the Red Sea.

7 And it came to pass that when the sons of Israel had crossed, thewater turned back and covered the entire Egyptian army. I waswith them then, and I too was covered by the water; and so 1

8 remained in the sea, kept under the pillar, until Ephippas came. I,

The Testament of Solomon 751

Solomon, charged him solemnly 10 support the pillar till the end of

9 time. And with God's help I adorned his temple with all seemli-ness. And I continued to rejoice and glorify him.

XXVI. Now 1 took wives without number from every land andkingdom. And I was on a visit to the king of the Jcbusites: and Isaw a woman iri their kingdom, and fell violently in love, and

2 wanted to add her to my wives. And I said to their priests. Give methis Shumanite (Wc), because l have fallen violently in love withher. They said to me, If you have fallen in love with our daughter,

3 worship our gods, great Raphan and Moloch, and take her. But 1

4 refused to worship and said, I do not worship a foreign god. Butthey made the girl promise, saying. If it should happen that you gointo Solomon’s kingdom, say to him. I will not sleep with you.unless you do what my people do:1 lake five locusts and slaughter

5 them in the name of Raphan and Moloch. 1, because I loved thedamsel (for she was very beautiful), and because I was withoutunderstanding, thought nothing of the blood of the locusts; and Itook them under my hands and sacrificed in the name of Raphanand Moloch. And 1 took the girl into my royal palace.

6 And the spirit of God was taken away from me. and from thatday onwards what I said seemed like nonsense. And she forced me

7 to build temples to idols. So I, miserable wretch, did what she toldme; arid the glory of God departed from me altogether, and myspirit was plunged in darkness, and I became a laughing-stock toidols and to demons.

8 That is why I have written this my Testament, so that you, whohear may pray, and give heed to the last things and not l he first, andso may find a full measure of grace for ever and ever. Amen.

Lit. ‘unless you become like my people'.

THE APOCALYPSE OF ELIJAH

INTRODUCTION

Among thr Coptic Biblical fragments from Akhmim. acquired lorthe Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris by G. Maspero in the early1880s, were fourteen papyrus leaves in the Aklunimic dialect andseven in the Sahidie. These proved on examination to he theremains of two distinct codices. The texts were previously un-known, though undoubtedly of an apocrypha! work or works.There was a considerable overlap between them so that it wasfrequently possible to restore gaps in the Akhmimir from theSahidie and vice versa. The presumption, therefore, was that theywere, at least in part, two versions in different dialects of the sameoriginal (s).

The first editor (L\ Bouriant in 188“)) took the view that only asingle work was involved: and from the fact that Zephaniah ap-peared as the speaker on one of the Sahidie leaves he concludedthat the work was the lost Apocalypse of Zephaniah. known tohave existed from its mention in the last of Sixty Books. A similarview was taken by L. Stern in the following year. However, in 1888a further eight leaves, recently acquired by the Berlin Museum,were identified as belonging to the same codex as the fourteenAkhmimic leaves in the Bibliotheque Nationale; and at the end ofthe text on one of these leaves (it would seem the last in the codex)was the colophon ‘The Apocalypse of Klijah*. Consequently, thecodex must have contained more than one work. The question was(and is). How many?

An answer depends partly upon the order in which the looseleaves from both codices are arranged, and partly upon what ispresumed to be the relationship between the two codices. Thecodices certainly overlapped. But that does not necessarily meanthat their contents were precisely the same. And Bouriant andStern had each arranged the Paris leaves in a different order.

In the Introduction to his edition of the texts in 1899G. Steindorlf examined this question in detail and concluded that

three works were involved: (1) an apocalypse of Elijah; (2) anapocalypse of Zephaniah; and (3) an ‘Anonymous* apocalypse.'This interpretation was decisively rejected by Schiircr some tenyears later, who maintained not only that there were no adequategrounds for distinguishing the ‘Anonymous* from Zephaniah, butalso that there were none lor distinguishing a separate Elijahapocalypse either. Elijah, he pointed out. was referred to in the textof the alleged separate apocalypse twice, together with Enoch, inthe third person; but if Elijah were in fact being represented by theauthor as the recipient of the revelations and as himself recordingthem, he might naturally be expected to refer to himself in the firstperson. Thus, in spite of the colophon at the end of the Akhmimict<;xt. we have to do (so Schiirer argued), not with three works, butwith one only, and that the Apocalypse of Zephaniah.

Although many subsequent students have been doubtful aboutSteindorfTs ‘Anonymous’, few. if any, have been prepared to treatthe final colophon as cavalierly as did Schiirer. especially since thepublication in 191*2 by E. A. Wallis Budge in his edition ofB. L.Or. 7594 (an uncial MS of the mid 4th cent., containing Sahidictexts of Deuteronomy. Jonah, Acts, and Revelation) of what hecalled ‘the opening part of a short composition’, written in acursive hand at the end of Acts. This ‘opening part’ of Budge’s’short composition* was identified by C. Schmidt in 1925 as thebeginning of the Elijah apocalypse isolated by Stcindorff;2 and soan additional argument was produced in favour of SteindorfTsanalysis, at least so far as his isolation of the Elijah apocalypse isconcerned and his definition of its contents.

The final vindication of SteindorfTs view was provided by thediscovery of yet another Sahidic text in the Chester Beatty collec-tion in Dublin (P. Chester Beatty 2018). This text had been knownto exist since the 1950s, but no details became generally availableuntil A. Pietersma and S. T. Comstock published their edition of itin the autumn of 1981.

The manuscript consists of ten leaves, of which the first five arevirtually complete, while the remainder are rather morefragmentary. Quite apart from the fragmentary nature of these last

At iii. '25 and 91.

} i.c. i. 1-15.

leaves, however, the mamiseript comes loan abrupt end at iii. 72.On palaeographies! grounds the editors argued that this was notdue to accidental loss or mutilation, hut to the copy that the scribehad before him having ended similarly. Vet. whether or not we areprepared to accept the editors' arguments in their entirety, tin- fadis that P. Chester Beatty 20111 begins and (lor practical purposes)ends with the Klijah apocalypse, and there is no indication that itever contained anything else: in this respect it dilfers markedlyfrom the primary Akhmimic and Sahidie texts discovered in the1880s. It should also be noted that in those texts, complementaryas they otherwise were, there was a gap between ii. 13 and ii. 23.caused by the absence of a single leaf of the Akhmimic. where therewas no complementary Sahidie: this gap (i.e. ii. 14-22) wascovered by the Chester Beatty manuscript, with the result that it atlast became possible to read through the text of the apocalypsefrom beginning to end as a single continuous whole.

In these circumstances no excuse is needed tor treating 'Klijah'as a separate entity here, and for leaving '/.ephaniah' and the‘Anonymous* for independent treatment later.

There can be no doubt that the early Church knew of at least oneapocryphal work bearing Elijahs name. Origen, in his Commentaryon Matthew (according to the Latin translation) attributes St.Paul’s quotation at 1 Cor. ii. 9 to 'the Secrets of Klijah theProphet’.3 Ambrosiastcr refers it to 'the Apocalypse of Klijah'.4Jerome, in denying this and explaining the quotation as a freeparaphrase of Isa. Ixiv. 4. nevertheless admits the existence of an‘Apocalypse ol Klijah’, from which some said St. Paul wasquoting.5 Similarly, Kpiphanius explains Kph. v. 14 as a quotationfrom ‘Elijah’.6 An apocryphal ‘Elijah’ (without further definition)is mentioned in The Apostolic Constitutions;1 a work ‘Of Klijah the

* Orig. [Mall. com. ser. 11 7): ‘in nullocnim regulari libro hue position invenimr.nisi in secret is Eliae pruphetae’. The (»k. original is, ofeourse, no longer extant.

* Ambrosias!, (in / Cor. ii. 9): ‘hoc scriptutn est iti Esaia proleta aliis verbis test inapocalypsi Heliac in aporryfis)'.

5 Hieron. (Ep. Ivii. *1; in Esai. Ixiv. •}-.'»).

6 Epiph. {Haer XLII. xii. 3); ‘roOro 6t iftiptQCTat aaQtx rtp Hki<}\

7 Const. Apost. VI. xvi. 3.

7o6 The Apocalypse oj Elijah

prophet’ is listed in the pseudo-Athanasian Synopsis and dieStichomclry of Nicephoros; and an 'Apocalypse of Elijah’ occursin the List of Sixty Books. But the only ancient reference. whichgives any serious indication of contents, is a passage in theapocryphal Epistle of Titus, published from an 8th cent. Wurz-burg MS by Dorn Donation de Bruyne in 1925.8 The passage,which presumably comes from the Elijah apocryplon mentionedpreviously in the Epistle,4 runs as follows:

‘And then the prophet Elijah witnesses to what he saw: “The angel ofthe Lord”, he says, ‘‘showed me a deep valley, which is called (ichenna,burning with sulphur and pitch. And in that place are many souls ofsinners, and they arc tortured there with torments of different kinds.Some suffer through hanging by their genitals, others by their tongues,some by their eyes, and yet others hanging upside down; and womenwill be tortured through hanging by their breasts, and young men hytheir hands: some girls are roasted on the gridiron, and some souls areimpaled and in perpetual pain. By these different punishments isproclaimed what each one has done: those that suffer through theirgenitals arc the adulterers and pederasts: those that are suspended bytheir tongues are the blasphemers and false witnesses: those that arehung up by their eyes are those who have caused their own fall throughwhat they see, gazing in concupiscence on the guilty deeds of others:those that were hanging upside down, these arc those who hated therighteousness of God, inert of evil counsel (no one of them is in agree-ment with his brother) - rightly, therefore, do they endure the punish-ment decreed for them. And as for the women that are ordered to betormented in their breasts, these are those who gave their bodies to menin wantonness; and the men also will be close by them in their torments,hanging by their hands for this very reason.” Mu

s D. de Bruyne, ‘Epistula I id, discipuli Pauli. Dr Disposition Sanctirrionii’ inR Ben xxxvii (1925), pp. 47—72. A useful discussion of the epistle, especially of its(juotations of Biblical and apocryphal texts, was almost immediately afterwardspublished by A. von Harnack, ‘Dcr apokryphe Brief des Paulussc huJrrs Titus “Dedispositione sanctimonii” ’ in Sitznngsberichle derpreussiscfien Akademu der Wissenschaf-ten, Jnhrg. 1925: phil.-hist. Kl. (Berlin, 1925). pp. 180—213. Harnack assigned theEpistle to the 5th cent, and argued that it was Priscillianist.

9 de Bruyne, op. cit.. pp. 54-55:... ‘O tlivina dei met! it ado ut ante praevideretdc futuro saeeulo, ut Enoch iustus de primo populo reputato constituitur scriberegesta hominum priora. et Helias sanctus huius plebis serotinae novae conseriberetacta .. 10 de Bruyne, op. cit., p. 58.

757

The Apocalypse of Elijah

Such descriptions of the torments of Hell are not uncommon inapocalyptic literature, especially in the later literature (cp., forexample, Apoc. Esdras iv. 7-v. 6- below, pp. 955-7). But nothinglike it is to be found in our Coptic apocalypse.11 Nor are St. Paul’salleged quotations at 1 Cor. ii. 9 and Lph. v. 14 to be found thereeither, although it is possibly not without significance that the firstof them docs occur at the very beginning of the apocryphal Titus,where it appears to be cited as if it were a well-known word of theLord’. Prom the evidence available, therefore, it looks as if therewere several apocrypha, bearing the name of Elijah, circulating inthe early centuries. They may have been different recensions of thesame basic material: they may have been completely independent.We have no means of knowing.

But about our Coptic apocalypse two things may he said withlittle fear of contradiction: (1) it is of some respectable antiquity;and (2) if not entirely Christian in origin, whatever Jewish sourcesit may have had have been so thoroughly Christianized as to hevirtually unrecognizable.

To take the first point first. The two main MSS containing theSahidic text (i.e. SteindorfTs and the Chester Beatty) arc datedeither in the late 4th cent, or in the early 5th, and that containingthe Akhmimic in the 4th. The cursive hand which made theaddition corresponding to the opening verses of the Akhmimic textat the end of Acts in B. L. Or. 7594 is dated to c. AD 350; so that thistext must have come into existence in the earlier half of the 4thcent, at the latest. Most Coptic texts of this kind arc translationsfrom Greek; and that our apocalypse is no exception was made ascertain as can be by the publication by F. Pistelli in 1912 of a small4th cent, papyrus fragment, the verso of which contains (though ina very mutilated state) the Greek text of iii. 90-92. If we are toallow time for the Greek text to become generally known, to betranslated into Coptic, and then to become known in Coptic, itwould seem that we must push back the date of composition intothe 3rd cent, or even earlier.

The Christian elements in the apocalypse are undeniable, es-

" The nearest approach is the very general statement at iii. 86-87 (cp. also‘Anon.1 Apoc. i. 6, ii. 4, iii. 12-16- below, pp. 920,922,924).

758

The Apocalypse oj Elijah

pecially the many apparent reminiscences of the New Testament.It is possible to discount some of the contacts with Revelation(such as ‘they shall neither hunger, nor shall they thirst’ at i. 10 —cp. iii. 61, or ‘they will give them the right to eat from the rreeoflifeand to wear white garments’ at iii. 60)12 as no more than part of thecommon stock-in-trade of apocalyptic literature, whether Jewishor Christian. But it is not so easy to apply this explanation to thedescription of the Antichrist as ‘the Son of Perdition’ and ‘theLawless One’ at ii. 33-34:13 the warning against believing inthe Antichrist’s claims at iii. 1—2 looks very much as if it derivedfrom Our Lord’s words as recorded at Matt. xxiv. 5, 23; and theinjunction ‘Love not the world nor the things in the world' at i. 2seems to be an exact quotation of 1 John ii. 15. Furthermore,according to iii. 3, when the Christ comes, he will be preceded by‘the sign of the cross’; and at i. 6-7 there is an nnmistakeablestatement of the Doctrine of the I ncarnation (‘That is why the Godof glory took pity on us: he sent his Son into the world to deliver usfrom our slavery. When he came to us, he told neither angel norarchangel nor any power; but he assumed the form of a man whenhe came to us to save us’).14 What is uncertain is whether theseChristian elements arc an original part of the apocalypse or weresuperimposed by a Christian editor who re-wrote and expanded aJewish source (as has been argued by several scholars, notably bySteindorfThimself. Bousset, and Rosenstiehl).

Jn 1897 M. Buttenwicser published from a Munich MS a JewishApocalypse of Elijah, which records a revelation made by thearchangel Michael to Elijah on Mount Carmel concerning thetimes of the End. From the historical references in it Buttenwicserthought that the original apocalypse had been written soon afterAD 260 and that it had been edited and expanded in the 6th and 7thcents. There are indubitably contacts between this Jewishapocalypse and our Coptic apocalypse, particularly in the histori-cal section in chap, ii of our apocalypse, though none of them arevery close. According to Rosenstiehl, our apocalypse, as it now

12 Cp. Rev. ii. 7, vii. 9. 16.

15 Cp. 2 Thess. ii. 3, tt.

14 Cp. F.p. adDifignetum, vii. 2-4.

stands, dates from the 3rd cent, of our era; and it is the work of anauthor who refashioned material composed in the 1st cent. B(: by aJew with Esscne learnings, who lived in Egypt.

The possibility of a Jewish base must consequently be left open.However, it is worth noting that if that base was in its essentials thesame as the nucleus that Buttenwieser discerned in his apocalypse,and he was right in dating that nucleus after Al) 260 (a date withwhich Boussct concurred), then our apocalypse cannot have beenthe “Secrets of Elijah' known to Origen (since Origin died c. 250).Likewise, Rosenstiehl’s 3rd cent, date for the apocalypse as it nowstands would seem to suggest the same conclusion. But, as wasremarked previously, there were probably several “Elijahs'circulating in the early centuries in various languages, some ofwhich were only distantly related to one another, if related at all.

The translation which follows is based on the Akhmimic text asprinted in StcindorlFs edition, the Sahidic texts, when available,being used to fill the gaps in the Akhmimic. whether these gaps beof only a word or two, or more extensive (the minor gaps areindicated by the sign ‘ ( ) '. others by . .’). Occasionally, too, a

Sahidic reading has been preferred to the Akhmimic as represent-ing a better text. But in any ease, all significant textual variants, orany that might be thought of any special interest, have attentiondrawn to them in the notes.

The chapter and verse divisions are those adopted by Roscn-stiehl; but for convenience StcindorlFs page-numeration, accord-ing to his ordering of the individual leaves, has been inserted inbrackets in the translation where applicable - thus, (A 19)' indi-cates page 19 in the Akhmimic codex as reconstructed bySteindorff, to be found on pp. 66-67 of his edition, and “(SaM 6)’indicates page 6 of his Sahidic text, to be found in his edition on pp.120-125. Similarly in the notes, ‘A’ and ‘Sa's" indicate SteindorlFsAkhmimic and Sahidic respectively, ‘SaCB’ indicates the ChesterBeatty Sahidic, and lSaSrh’ indicates the Sahidic fragment from thebeginning of the apocalypse as edited by Schmidt.

Thus, apart from the Greek fragment from iii. 90—92, the textsavailable are:

A: i. I—ii. 13 (\ .. saving’); ii. 23 (‘Thecities.. .’)-iii. 19 (\ .. all the

saints’); iii. 33 (‘Shameless One . . iii. 69 {*... perish in'); iii.84 (’A righteous judgement. . .')-iii. 99.

Sa4 w: i. I-iii. 72 (*.. . passed me by').

SaM: i. 23 (‘because . . .'}-ii. 13 (\ . . saying*); iii. 7 ('the sky...*)-iii. 84 (*... give tongue'.)

SaVh: i. 1-9 (*... lor vou thrones'); i. 12 (‘ofthe earth .. .*}-13 ('. ..the Evil One’).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

Coptic

L’. Boi rianT, ‘Lcs papyrus d’Akhmim (Fragments de manu-scrits en dialectcs bachmourique ct thebain)’ in Memoirespublicspar les membres de la mission archeologiqueJranqaise au Cave, tom. i,fasc. 2 (Paris, 1885), pp. 242-304.

G. S I K IN DORKK, Die Apokalypse des Elias, fine unbekannte Apokalypse,und Bruehsliicke der Sophomas-Apokalypse: koptische Texte, Ubersetzung,Glossar (= TUxvii (N.F. ii) 3a; Leipzig, 1899).

L. A. WALLIS BuDCJK, Coptic Biblical Texts in the Dialect of UpperEgypt (London, 1912), pp. Iv-lvii and 270-271.

C. SCHMIDT, ‘Der Kolophon des MS orient 7594 dcs BritischcnMuseums; cine Untersuchung zur Elias-Apokalypse* in Sitzungs-berichte der preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Jahrg. 1925:phil.-hist. Kl. (Berlin, 1925), pp. 312—321.

A. PlKTKRSMA and S. T. COMSTOCK, with H. W. ATTRIDGK,The Apocalypse of Elijah based on P. Chester Beatty 2018 (SBL: Textsand Translations 19, Pseudepigrapha Series 9; Scholars Press, Chico,California, 1981).

Greek

E. PiSTELLI, Papin greci e latini, i (Florence, 1912), pp. 16-17(no- 7).

Cl. WESSELY, ‘Les plus anciens monuments du christianismeecrits sur papyrus: textes edites, traduits ct annotes’ in POxviii.3 (Paris, 1924), pp. 487-488.

The Apocalypse o f Elijah

761

A. - M. Di;\ IS. Fragmenta Pseudepigraphorum quae supersunt Graeca (=PVTG iii; Leiden. 1970). p. 104.

A. PlETERSMA and S. '1'. COMSTOCK, The Apocalypse of Elijah .. .[as above), pp. 90-94.

TRANSLATIONS

English

H. P. H OTClirON, ‘The Coptic Apocalypse' in Aegyptus, xxxix(1959), pp. 179-210.

French

U. BoLRIANT, ‘Les papyrus ..[as above].

J.- M. RostNS i i EHL, /, 'Apocalypse dEhe: Introduction, Traduction clNotes (= Tex les el fctudes pour servir a I'histoue du judaisme inter-teslamenlaire, i; Paris, 1972).

German

L. STERN, ‘Die koplische Apocalypse des Sophonias, mit einernArt hang uber den untersahidischcn Dialect' in Zeitschrift furagyptische Sprache und AUerthumskunde (Leipzig. 1886), pp. I 15-

185.

G. STF.INDORFF, Die Apokalypse des Elias ... [as above).

C. S OHM IDT, ‘Der Kolophon . . .’ [asaLx)ve].

P. RlESSLER. AjSaB2, pp. 114-125.

YV. SCHRAGK, inJSh-rZV. 3 (1980), PP. 193-288.

GENERAL

YV. Bot’SSKT, ‘Bcitrage ztir Geschichte der Eschatologic, I: DieApokalypse des Elias' in Zeitschrift fur Kirchengeschichte, xx(Gotha, 1899), pp. 103-112.

M. B UTTKN WIESER, Die hebrdische Elias-Apokalypse und ihre Stellungin der apokalyptischen Lilteralur des rabbinischen Schrifttums und derKirche (Leipzig, 1897).

A.-M. Denis, IPG AT. pp. 163-169.

J.-B. FREY, art ‘Apocryphes de l’Ancien Testament’ in DBSup i.cols 456-458.

apocalypse of zephaniah

762 The Apocaiyp.se of Elijah

M. R. James. LAOT. pp. 53-61.

P. RieSSI.KR, AjSaB2 *, P. 1272.

VV. Sc H NEEME EC HER; ‘Spatere Apokalypsctr in E. Hhn.NFCKEand VV. SCJINEEMKECHER, Seutestamentiuhe Apoktyphen\ ii.(Tubingen. 1961), p. 53-1. [Translated, by E. Best, in STA ii,p. 752.]

E. SCHL'RER, OjVZJC4 5 iii, pp. 361-369.

H. VVEINELin EL'X, pp. 16-1-167.

I. (A 19) The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man,1say to this people. Why do you2 pile sin upon sin and provoke the2 Lord God who has made you to wrath? Love not the world nor thethings in the world, for the boastfulness of the world is of the devil.5 and its destruction. Remember that the Lord of glory,1 who hasmade all things, has taken pity on you to deliver us from the slaver y1 of this present age. For time and time again the Devil has desired toslop the sun from shining on the earth, and to stop the earth from5 bearing its fruit, and wanted to devour men like the fire that runs(A 20) among the stubble,4 wanting to devour them like water,fc That is why the God of glory took pity on us: he sent1 his Son into

7 the world to deliver us from our slavery. When he came to us, hetold neither angel nor archangel nor any power;6 but he assumed

8 the form of a man when he came to us to save us.7 For this reason

9 (von will) be his sons, since he is your lather. Remember he hasprepared ibr you thrones and crowns in heaven, saying, All whoobey me shall receive thrones and crowns from what is mine (saidthe Lord); for I will write my name upon their forehead and seal

10 their (A 21) right hand. They shall neither hunger, nor shall theythirst, nor shall the Son of Lawlessness have his way with them,nor shall thrones hinder them; but they shall walk with angels to

1 Sa1"1*and Srh om. ‘Sun of man’.

1 £,:dN’1’ ‘Why do you sin and'.

' SaCB,1',dS*!,oiii.‘ofglory’.

4 So Sac:Hands,h; A ‘that rims with a voice’ (i.e. noisily).

5 Sa( H ‘he will send".

4 SaCBan<*^h om. ‘nor any power’.

7 Sa(:B adds ’(from the) flesh’.

763

The Apocalypse of Elijah

11 my city. But sinners shall be pul to shame: they8 shall not passbeyond the thrones; but the thrones of death will hold them backand rule over them, because the angels do not acknowledge them9and they have become strangers to God’s10 dwelling-places.

12 Listen, wise men of the earth, and be on your guard against11 the

13 deceivers, of whom there will be many at the end of time. For theywill have doctrines that arc not of God: they will reject the law ofGod — men who have made (A 22) their belly their god,12 saying,

14 Fasting has no substance and God did not create it. 1'hcy makethemselves strangers to the covenant (of God)13 and rob them-selves of the glorious promises. Such men are never established in

15 firm faith. So do not let them lead you astray. Remember (that) theLord created fasting when he made the heavens, for men's profit,because of the passions and desires14 rhai arc at war with you, so

lb that the Evil One may not burn you up.15 But I have created a pure

17 fasting, said the Lord. The man who fasts always (A 23) will not sinIB, 19 through jealousy or strife.16 Let the man who is pure last. But theman who fasts, and is not pure provokes the Lord and the angelsalso: and he harms his own soul, laying up for himself a store of

20 retribution for the day of retribution. But I have17 created a pure

21 fasting with a pure heart and pure hands. It forgives sins: it healsdiseases: it drives out demons: it is efficacious at the throne ofGotl,like a Sweetener, like a fragrance, for the forgiveness of sins18 by

22 pure prayer. What respectable workman among you will go outinto the fields without (A 24) his tools? Or who will go out to fight

23 in war without a breastplate? Will he not be killed if he is found.

24 because he has despised the king’s service? So, too, it is impossible

25 for anybody to come to the holy place and doubt. The man who

8 Sa*"** um. ‘shall be pm lo shame: they’.

w Lie. ‘do not autre with them’.

10 Lit. 'his'.

n Lit. 'Listen, wise men of die earth, concerning'.

12 Slightly emended on die basis of‘Sa*'**a:Kl v,‘.

'• Si>'Sall,“",ls'''

14 Sa‘ " adds 'oi d.llcrnt kinds’.

15 Sa' 'may nol dneeivi yuu'.

10 Lit. 'sin with jealousy and strife in him'.

” Sat B ‘But the Lord has'.

So Sa( 1J: A is siightiy defective here.

764

The Apocalypse of Elijah

doubts — his prayer is . . . in hiniscU:lv neither do the angels

26 acknowledge him.20 Be then of one mind always in the Lord,21 sothat you may be able to interpret all things.22

It. But as for the Assyrian kings and the destruction of the heavenand the earth and the things under the earth1 - irorn now on theyshall not prevail over (those who arc mine), said the Lord; and

2 those who are mine2 3 shall not be a (raid i A 25) in the war. Whenthey (see a king) appearing in the north, (they will call hirn) the

3 (Assyrian) king (and) the King of Unrighteousness. (He will makeendless) wars on Egypt and be the cause nj many disturbances: therewill be groaning throughout the land, for your children will be

4 carried away. Many will seek death in those days, but death will

3 elude them.' And a king will arise in the lands of the west, who will

6 be called the King of Peace. He will run upon the sea like a roaring

7 lion; and he will kill the King of Unrighteousness. He will take

a vengeance on Egypt with much lighting and bloodshed. (A 26) And

it will come to pass in those days that the orders (peace) from

9 (Egypt) and an (empty) gift.t (He will give) peace to the (saints,

10 saying), The name of (God) is one. (He will) do honour to the

11 priests of God4 and exalt5 the places of the saints.6 He will givetemptyt gifts to the house of God: lie will w ander about in the

12 cities of Egypt in secret and without their knowledge. He will countthe holy places: he will weigh the idols of the Gentiles: he will count

13 their riches: he will set up priests for them. He will order the wisemen of the land and the great men of the people to be arrested andtaken to the metropolis that is by the sea. saying. There is but one

14 single language. And when you hear, There is peace and joy . . .

19 Sas’ He who doubts in his prayer is (.lark in himself ’ (and similarly Sa! B).

20 I.it. ‘agree with him’.

21 Sal B adds ‘be wise in the time’.

22 So Sa*'B*ad Sl: A ‘every hour’ or ‘at every hour .

1 Sa'-ftaiK’St om. and the things under the earth’.

2 Lit ‘and they’.

3 Sa4 om. “hutdeath will elude them’.

4 $oCB a,,d Sl: A ‘to the saints’.

s Or‘erect’.

6 Sat:B and Sl ‘the holy places’.

765

The Apocalypse of Elijah

(Sa<-B 7) behold, I will tell you what is distinctive about him,7 * so

5 that you ran recognize him. For he has two sons, one on his rightand one on his left. Now, the one on his right will look like a devil,and he will defy the name of God (for four kings come from that

6 king). But in his thirtieth year he will comedown* to Memphis, and

;7 he will build a temple in Memphis then. His own son will rise up

against him and kill him: the whole land will be in turmoil on that

iH day. He will issue an edict throughout the whole land that thepriests of the land and all the saints be arrested, saying. All the giftsand all the good things my father gave you, (Sa‘ H8) you shall give

19 bark twice over. He will shut up the holy places: he will take away

20 their houses:9 he will make captives of their children. He w ill giveorders that they oiler sacrifices which are abominations and bringdeep distress upon the land: he will appear beneath the sun and the

21 moon on that day. The priests of the land will rend their garments.

22 Woe to you, rulers of Egy pt. in those days, for your day has passed:the violence done to the poor will redound on you; and your

23 children will be carried off as spoil. (A 27) The cities of Egypt willgroan in those days, for they will not hear the voice of the seller nor

24 the voice of'the buyer. The market-places of the cities of Egypt willgather dust: those in Egypt will weep together: they will seek

25 death, but death will elude them and pass them by. In those daysthey will run up onto the rocks and jump off, saying, Fall down

2f> upon us; and still they will not die.10 * Two further afflictions will

27 come upon the whole land in those days. The king will give ordersthat all women with children at the breast be arrested and broughtbefore him bound, and that they suckle dragons, (A 28) and that

28 their blood be squeezed out of their breasts, and that it be used as

29 poison for arrows." Because of the need for soldiers for the wars12 hewill also order that all children of twelve and under be taken and

30 made to learn how to shoot w'ith bow and arrow. Every midwife in

7 Lit. ‘I will tell you his signs'.

* Or'up'.

9 Lit. ‘their house*.

10 Sa( R adds 'but death will elude them'.

" Lit. ‘and that it (or ‘they*) bo given to the poison of the arrows'.

lJ So Sa< B (lit. ‘the need of the wars'): A ‘the need of (i.e. ‘the famine in’) thecities’.

the land will mourn; and the woman who has children will raise hereyes to heaven, saying. Why ever did I sit on the birth-stool tobring children into the world? The childless and the virgin will

31 rejoice, saying, Now is the time for us to rejoice because we have nochildren upon earth: our children are in the heavens.

S? Iri those days three (A 29) kings will arise among the Persiansand will take the Jews that are in Egypt, and transport them to

:w Jerusalem; and they will inhabit it and dwell there. Then if youhear. Safety is3 * * * * * * * * * 13 in Jerusalem, then rend your garments, you priestsof the land, for the coming of (the) Son of Perdition will not long be

34 delayed. The Lawless One will appear in those days in the holy-places.

:i.r> The kings of the Persians will flee in (those) days to Hrearit14with the Assyrian kings. Four kings will fight with three. They willspend three years in that place until they can lay their hands uponthe riches of the temple15 there.

37 In those days (A 30) blood will flow from Kos to Memphis. Theriver of Egypt will turn into blood, and no one will be able to drink

3K from it for three days. Woe to Egypt and those who live there!

39 In those days a king will appear in the city called the City ofthe Sun; “’and the whole land will be in turmoil. He will hurry

40 up to Memphis in the sixth year of the Persian kings. He will starta rebellion17 in Memphis: he will kill the Assyrian kings; and

41 the Persians will wreak vengeance on the land. He will order theslaughter of all the Gentiles and the lawless: he will order thetemples of the Gentiles to be: plundered and their priests destroyed:he will order the temples of the saints to be (re)built; and he will

42 give double gifts (A 31) to the house of God. He will say, 1’he name

3 ISa*" ‘Safety and security arc'.

14 Obscure: perhaps a place-name, or alternatively a verb ol unknown meaning.

15 SaCBom. ‘of the temple’.

16 The translation of verses 39b-42 follows Sa , which seems to give a better

sense in the context. A reads ‘.. . and the whole land will be in turmoil (and) flee lip

to .Memphis. In the sixth year the Persian kings will start a rebellion in Memphis.

They will kill the Assyrian king; and the Persians will wreak vengeance on the land

and order the slaughter of all the Centiles and the lawless. They will order the holy

temples to be (re)buih: they will give double gifts (A 31) to the house of God. They

will say. The name of God is one’.

!7 Lit. ‘he will act treacherously’.

43 of God is one. The whole land will worship ihc Persians: and theremnant which has survived the onslaught will say. The Lord hassent us a righteous king so that the land might not become a desert.

44 i*He will command not to give any king +,sfor three years and sixmonths. The land will be full of good things in great abundance.

45 The living will turn towards the dead and say. Rise up and sharewith us this life of peace.19

III. In the fourth year of that king, the Son of Lawlessness will

2 appear, saying, I am the Christ' (though he is not). Do not believe

3 him. When the Christ comes, he will come (A 32) encircled byangels, like a flock of doves circling round their dove-cote:2 he willwalk3 on the clouds of heaven, with the sign of the cross preceding

4 him. The whole world will see him, like the sun that shines from theeastern regions to the western: thus will lie come,4 with all his

5 angels round him. The Son ol Lawlessness will also try to stand in

6 the holy places. He will say to the sun. Kail; and it will fall: he will

7 say, Shine; and it will: he will say. Be darkened; and it will.5 He willsay to the moon, Turn into blood; and it will. He will go with them

8 through the sky. He will walk upon the sea and (A 33) on the riversas if on the dry land.6 He will make the lame walk: he will make thedeaf hear: he will make the dumb speak: he will make the blind see:

9 he will make the lepers clean: he will heal the sick; and he will castout demons from those possessed by them. He will do many signs

10 and wonders in the sight of everyone. He will do everything7 that

'* A possible emendation might be '. . . anything to the king' (i.e. ‘He willcommand that nothing he given to the king ). Pietersma and Comstock renderedSal-H ’He will command that no king lx- given them’.

19 Lit. 'and be with us in this rest’.

' Note that in Coptic Xqigt6$ always has the article, whether it is used as a title(’the Christ', 'the Anointed One’) or as a proper name ('Christ').

1 Lit. 'he comes like a dove-cote, with a crown ol doves surrounding him’.

•' Lit. ‘he walks'.

4 Lit. ‘thus he comes’.

s Sal,“ reverses the order of the last two commands to the sun and omits thefollowing command to the moon.

* Sal B an" St convert the following sentence into a command introduced hv ‘Hewill say. Walk . . .’, with further variants between the two authorities.

7 Lit.‘the works'.

768 The Apocalypse of Elijah

11 the Christ will do,8 except only the raising of the dead. By this youwill know that he is the Son of Lawlessness, lor he has no power

12 over the soul. Behold, I will tell you what his distinguishing

13 features arc, so that you may be able to recognize him. He is aspare,9 weedy,10 man, tall," thin-legged, with a patch of grey hairat the front of his head, (A 34) hut otherwise bald, with hiseyebrows12 reaching to his ears, and with leprous sores on the tips

II of his fingers.1* He will transform himself in front of those who lookat him:14 he will become a child: he will become an old man:15 hewill transform all his features; but what distinguishes his head

15 cannot be changed. By this you may be certain that he is the Son of

Lawlessness.

16 The virgin, whose name is Tabitha, w ill hear that the Shameless

17 One has appeared in the holy places. And she will put ori her linen

18 garment and pursue him up into Judaea; and she will reproach

19 him all the way to Jerusalem, crying out, O Shameless One, O Son ofLawlessness, O you who have been an enemy of all the saints.

20 (Sa*1 6) Then the Shameless One will turn in fury upon the21,22 virgin. He will pursue her to the west. He will suck her blood at

eventide, and throw it16 on the temple; and it'6 will become the

23 salvation of the people. She will arise in the morning, alive, andwill reproach him, saying. Shameless One, you have no power over

24 my soul, nor over my body; for I live in the Lord always. (SaSl 7)And she will say also, My blood you have thrown on the temple hasbecome the salvation of the people.

23 Then, when Elijah and Enoch hear that the Shameless One hasappeared in the holy place, they will come down to fight againsthim, saying. Arc you then not ashamed to cling to the saints,17 for

26 you are a stranger, always? You have been an enemy of what is in

* So Sa-Sl: A ‘has done’, and so apparently Sa( Q

’ Lit. ‘little’.

10 Meaning doubtful.

11 So SaSt: A ‘young’: Sa* B is defective at this point.

12 SaCB‘eyelids’.

l* Lit. ‘there being bareness of leprosy at the front of his hands1.

14 SaCB anrt ‘in from of you’.

15 reverse the order (*. . . old man . . . child’).

16 Text ‘her’... ‘she’ (rp. verse 24).

17 Sa*-'B om. ‘to cling to the saints'.

769

The Apocalypse oj Elijah

27 heaven and what is on the earth: you have been an enemy of the

28 thrones and of the angels. You are a stranger always. You fell from

29 heaven like the morning stars. You abandoned your proper

30 home:18 you were alienated from your tribe.19 Are you then notashamed to cling to God, lor you are the Devil?

31 The Shameless One will hear it and be furious, and he will fightwith them in the market-place of the great city; and he will spend

32 seven days fighting with them.20 And they will lie dead in themarket-place for three and a halfdays; anti all the people will sec

33 them. But on the fourth day they will arise and reproach him,saying, O (A 35) Shameless One, O son of Lawlessness,21 are youthen not ashamed to lead astray the people of God, for whom you

34 have not suffered? Do you not know that we live in the Lord, so thatwe can reproach you continually when you say, Over these have 1

35 prevailed?32 We will lay aside the flesh of the body25 and kill you,

36 since you will have no power to speak on that day. For we arcstrong24 in the Lord always; but you are ever an enemy of God.25

37 The Shameless One will hear it and be furious and fight with them;

38 and the whole city will gather round them. On that day they willshout aloud to heaven, shining like the stars, and all the people26 and

39 the whole world will see them. The Son of Lawlessness will not

40 prev ail over them. (A 36) He will vent his fun' on the land27 and set

41 himself to sin against the people. He will hunt down all the saints,and they will be brought to him as prisoners with the priests of the

42 land. He will kill them and destroy them . . .,2* and their eyes will

43 be put out with iron spikes. He will peel off their skins from their

Lit. ‘you changed*.

SoSa* (lit ‘the iribr became darkness for you'): Sa<B is fragmentary here, butit certainly read ‘your tribe'.

2U Sa1-1* adds 'and kill them’.

21 .So A: Sa4'1* ’**“*Sl om. ‘O Son of Lawlessness’.

12 So SatBand‘Sl: in A the last half of this verse is manifestly corrupt.n So Sa . A ‘spirit’; SaCB is defective at this point.

24 Sa* ’for we live’: Sa( B is defective.

•s Sai:BandM om.‘ofOod’.

26 Sa,,Bani1 Sl om. ‘and all the people’.

2’ So Sa(:Bands': A ‘He will go to the land’.

2" This lacuna in A cannot be filled from Sa. since both SaCB and Sa* om. verse41 and verse 42 as far as here.

770 The Apocalypse of Elijah

44 heads:29 he will pull out their nails one by one. He will order

45 vinegar and lye to be put in their noses. Those who are unable toendure the tortures of that king will take their money and flee on

46 ferries to desert places.30 When they die they will be like men

47 asleep.31 The Lord will receive to himself their spirits and theirsouls. Their (A 37) flesh will be as permanent as rock:32 no wild beast

48 shall eat them until the last day of the great judgement. Then willthey rise up and find a place of rest; but they will not share in the

49 kingdom of the Christ like those: who have endured. For the Lordsaid, I will grant them to sit on my33 right hand. They will obtain

50 grace for others.34 They will be victorious over the Son of Lawless-ness: they will see the destruction of heaven and earth: they will

51 obtain the thrones of glory and the crowns. Sixty righteous will bechosen in those days, who are prepared:3* they will arm themselveswith the breastplate of God. and run to Jerusalem, and fight with

52 the Shameless One, saying, All the mighty works (A 38) which theprophets did from the beginning, you have done; but you could not

53 raise the dead, for you have no power over the soul. By this wc

54 have recognized that you are the Son of Lawlessness. He will hearit and be furious, and order fires to be lit on the altars36 and the

55 righteous to be bound and put on them and burned. And on thatday many will change their minds and desert him, saying, This isnot the Christ: the Christ does not kill the righteous: he does notpursue honest men: does he not rather seek to persuade them by-signs and wonders?37

56 In those day's the Christ will take pity on his own. He will send

19 SaCB om. "He ... heads'.

Sa4-Band Sl ‘flee to the ferries (Sa^* ‘rivers'), saying, Ferry us to the desert'.

31 Lit. ‘They will sleep like men asleep'.

” SaSl, wrongly, ‘Their flesh tastes like ham (i.e. Jitgva fur Jittga)'-. Saf B isdefective. M So Sat-BandS:: A‘their’.

M Sa( :Band Sl om. this sentence.

M So Sa5": A Sa,jB ‘Sixty righteous who are prepared tor this hour will hear(Sat B adds ‘in those days’)

■** Lit. ‘and order altars to be kindled’. Sa4--8 and Sl om. the reference to thekindling of the altars, though the righteous are burned on them.

” So Sa1”: A, obviously corruptly, ‘he does not pursue men while he will seek, buthe persuades them bv signs and wonders'. SaCB is defective but appears to agreesubstantially with Sa^1.

771

The Apocalypse oj Elijah

his angels from heaven, in number six hundred and four

57 thousand,’8 each one of them having six (A 39) wings. Their voicewill shake heaven and earth as they bless and glorify their Lord.

58 Those upon whose forehead the name of Christ is written, and

59 upon whose39 hand is the seal, both small and great, they will setCO upon their wings and protect40 them from his wrath. Then will

Gabriel and Uriel be a pillar of light to lead them41 into the holyland; and they will give them the right to cat from the tree of life,42and to {wear white) garments, and to be guarded (by angels).Cl (They shall) not (thirst),43 nor (shall) the Son of (Lawlessness)62 have power over them. (But) on (that day) the land will be inturmoil (and the sun be) darkened: peace and the spirit will beremoved from the earth:44 the trees will be uprooted and fall: the6.3 w'ild beasts and the cattle will die in confusion. (A 40) The birdswill fall dead upon the ground:4* the earth will be dry;46 and the

64 waters of the sea will be dried up. The sinners on the earth willgroan, saying, What have you done to us, Son of Lawlessness, by

65 saying, I am the Christ, though you are the Devil? You have no

66 power to save yourself: how can you save us? You have performed47(signs) before us and48 estranged (us) from the Christ who made

67 us.49 (Woe) to us (that we have) listened to you. (Behold, now we)

68 shall die of famine.50 (Where) now is there the vestige of a (right-eous man that we may) reverence him?51 Or where is there (a

69 teacher) that we can appeal to (him)? Now we shall perish in (SaSl

38 jjaCBandSi sjxly-four thousand’.

** Sa(:BamlSl add ‘right’.

40 Lit. ‘lake’.

41 Sa< B a,ld add ‘until they bring them’.

42 On the restorations from here to the end of A 39 see Schmidt. Der Kotophon

p. 321. 47 Sa<-R 2IKl St ‘They shall not hunger nor thirst*.

44 Lit. 'They will cany the (peace) from upon the earth and the spirit’. I'hc‘spirit’, which is to be removed from the earth’, is presumably the Divine spirit,which was active initially at the creation (Gen. i. 2) and subsequently ‘filled thewhole world’ (Wisd. i. 7). 45 Cp. Anon. Apoc. iii. 26 (below, p. 925).

46 Sat B om. ‘the earth will be dry’.

47 Sa(U an<i add ‘empty’. On the restorations from here to the end of A 40 see

Schmidt. Der Kolophon .... p. 321. 4IS Lit. ‘until you’.

49 So A SaSt: Sa*-8 'everyone’.so Sa< BillK1 S( add ‘and tribulation’.

51 A ‘it7: Sat B ‘you’ (i.c. ‘thee’); Sas* leaves the pronoun unexpressed.

772

The Apocalypse of Elijah

70 13)52 the day of wrath, for wc have disobeyed God. We went to the

71 deep places in the sea; but we found no water. We dug in the rivers

72 to a depth oj sixteen cubits; but we Ibund no water. 1'hen will theShameless One weep‘s on that day, saying, Woe is me that my time

73,74 has passed me by. I said my time would nor pass me by. My yearshave become months, my days have vanished like dust driven by

75 the wind: now I shall perish with you. Run out, therefore, into the

76 desert; lay hands upon the brigands, and kill them, bring the saints

77 up; for it is because of them (SaSl 14) that the earth bears fruit. Forit is because of them that the sun shines upon the earth. For it is

78 because of them that the dew comes down upon the earth. Thesinners will w'ccp, saying. You have made us enemies of God. (If)you can, (get up) and pursue (them).

7fj Then will he spread his iicry wings and fly forth after the saints.

80,81 He will fight with them again. The angels will hear oj it, and they

82 will come down and fight with him in a war with many swords. Oilthat day the Lord will hear and order the heav en and the earth in

83 great anger to send forth fire. And the fire w ill overwhelm the earthto an extent oj seventy-two cubits: it will devour the sinners and the

84 devils like stubble. (A 41) A righteous judgement will there be on

85 that day: the mountains of the earth will give tongue.S4 The pathswill speak with one another, Did you hear to-day the sound55 of (a)man walking, who did not come to the judgement of the Son ofGod?

86 The sins of each will stand against him in the place where theywere committed - those committed in the day as well as those

87 committed in the night. The righteous5*’ and the . . . will see thesinners in (their) punishments, both those who have persecuted

88 them and those who have handed them over to death. Then thesinners . . . will see the place of the righteous, and thus will they be

89 favoured.57 In those days what the (righteous) (A 42) ask for many

52 One folio of A is missing here; but SaSl is available until A resumes at verse 84,as is also Sa*’" as tar as the end of verse 72.

Si Text ‘Then the Shameless One wept*.

54 So Sas‘: A has ‘.. . in a righteous judgement. On that day will the mountainsand the earth give tongue’.

55 Lit. ‘voice’.

i<5 Text ‘unrighteous’.

57 Lit. ‘and thus there will he grace’.

773

The Apocalypse oj Elijah

90 times will be given them. On that day will the Lord judge heavenand earth. He will judge those who have transgressed in heavenand those who have done the same on earth. He will judge theshepherds of the people. He will ask them about the sheep; andthey will be given him, unencumbered by wickedness and lies.5*

91 Then will Elijah and Enoch descend. They unit lay aside their

92 worldly flesh and take on spiritual flesh. They will put sue the Son

93 of Lawlessness and kill him without his being able to speak. On

91 that day he will melt before them like (A 43) ice melted by fire. He

95 will perish like a dragon that has no breath. He will he told. Your

time has passed you by: now you arc to perish together with those

% who believe in you. They will be flung into the pit of the abyss, andit will be shut over them.

97 On that day the Christ, the King, with all the saints, will come!W

98 from heaven. He will burn59 the earth, and spendM a thousandyears upon it; for the sinners had taken possession of it. He willmake a new heaven and a new earth, no devil... will be60 in them.

99 He will reign with the saints, going up (and) down; and they will bewith the (A 44) angels always, and with the Christ a thousandyears.

The Apocalypse of Elijah

58 Lit. 'there being no deadly deceit in them'.so Lit. ‘comes .. burns ... spends'.

Lit. ‘is*.

THE ASCENSION OF ISAIAH

INTRODUCTION

A tradition that Isaiah was 'sawn in two* hy Manasseh was knownby both Jews and Christians. Most early Christian writers give nodetails,' although some specify that the saw used was made ofwood.2 The Talmud, however, is more explicit. In one versionIsaiah is brought to trial before Manasseh: at the conclusion of thehearing Isaiah pronounces the Name and is immediately swal-lowed up by a cedar-tree: the cedar is sawn in two, and ‘when thesaw reached his mouth he died’.’ In another Talmudic versionManasseh resolves to kill Isaiah: Isaiah hears of it and flees andhides himself inside a cedar-tree: unfortunately a piece of hisgarment sticks out and betrays him: so Manasseh orders the cedarto be cut through; and it is this crime which is alluded to particu-larly at 2 Kings xxi. 16 (‘Manasseh shed so much innocent blood,that he filled Jerusalem with it up to the brim’).4 Yet anothervariant of the same story is to Ik* found in a f ragmen t preserved as agloss attached to Isa. lxvi (the last chapter in the book) in two MSSof the Targum of Jonathan on the Prophets - Codex Reuchlinianusand Cod. Vat. Ebr. L'rbin. 1: aeeording to this account. Isaiah,outraged by Manasseh’s profanation of the Temple, prophesied itsdestruction by Nebuchadrezzar: when Manasseh heard of it hewas filled with fury,

‘He said to his servants, Run after him, seize him! They ran alter him.He fled from before them, and a carob tree opened its mouth andswallowed him. They brought saws [+ of iron Cod. Rruch.\ and rutthrough the tree until Isaiah’s blood flowed like water.’*

The first indication of the existence of a separate apocryphal

1 c.g. Ten. (pat. 14; scorp. 8).

2 c.g. Justin (Tryph rxx. 14-15).

} T. B. Yebamoth, +9 b. * T.J. Sanhedrin, x. 2.

5 Sec I*, dt* Lagardc, Prophttat Chaldaicr (Leipzig, 1872), p. xxxiii; 1’. < ire lot,‘Deux losephtas targoumiques inedites sur IsaTr LXVI’ in R Bib/ Ixxix (1972).pp. 515-51H.

work concerned with this incident is found in Origen. ‘It is clear’,Origen writes, ‘that tradition relates that Isaiah the prophet wassawn asunder and the circumstances arc recorded in a certainapocryphon.’6 In a similar passage he names this apocrvphon ‘theIsaiah apocryphon’.7 * * And in yet another passage (in Jerome’stranslation) he mentions a tradition that Isaiah was condemnedfor blaspheming Moses and the Law;* and the terms in whichOrigen states this charge have obvious points of contact withBalchira’s accusation in Ascension iii. 6-10.

In the century after Origen, Didymus the Blind, when describ-ing the details of Isaiah’s martyrdom in the course of his commenton Ps. xxxv. 15, mentions a second charge as having been broughtagainst Isaiah also — that he had described his contemporaries as‘rulers of Sodom’ and ‘a people of Gomorrah'and it is to be notedthat precisely the same second charge follows immediately on theheels of the blasphemy charge in Ascension iii. 10. Again, whencommenting on Ecd. xi. 6, Didymus refers to Christ’s journeyingthrough the heavens and adds that his source is the description ‘byIsaiah ... in the Ascension’ (a clear allusion to Ascension x.20-31 ).10 Epiphanius, too, about the same time (end of 4th cent.),refers twice to ‘The Ascension of Isaiah' as accepted and used byheretics: the Archontici used it:11 the Egyptian heretic Hicracasappealed to it for confirmation of his doctrine of the Spirit; and inthis last connection Epiphanius cites Ascension ix. 35-36 in full.12

In the early 5th cent. Jerome provides three pieces of evidence:

(1) He records that contemporary Jewish opinion gave tworeasons for Isaiah’s condemnation — first, Isaiah had offended allclasses in Jerusalem by addressing them as ‘rulers of Sodom'and *apeople of Gomorrah’ (Isa. i. 10); and second, whereas God himselfhad laid it down through Moses, ‘No man may see me and live’

6 Ep. ad AJric. 9.

Comm, in Matt. tom. .V. 18 (on Matt. xiii. 56): ep. Malt. romwi. ser. 28 (uu Matt,xsiii. 37-39). * In Es. horn. i. 3.

" Comm, in Pss. 2I8*-14 ( = M. Groncwald, Papyrologischt TtxU und Ahhandltmgen,

viii (Bunn, 1969), pp. 334-337).

10 Comm, in Eccl. 329:I_,J (— G. Binder and L. I. icsen burghs. Pap. TtxU und AM. ix

(Bonn, 1969), pp. 66-67). 11 Haer. XL. ii. 2.

Haer. LXVII. iii. 4.

The Ascension of Isaiah 777

(Exod. xxxiii. 20), Isaiah had dared to claim ‘I saw the Lord' (Isa.vi. 1). The same two charges, as we have seen, are found inconjunction both in the mouth of Bafchira at Ascension iii. fi-lt)and in Didymus: Jerome, however, has them in the reverse order,influenced, perhaps, by the order of' the passages in the canonicalIsaiah.13

(2) Two interpretations of Isa. Ivii. 1—2, Jerome says, arc possible.Either the passage can be taken generally as a reference to all thosewhose ‘innocent blood’ Manassch shed, or it can be taken as aprophecy by Isaiah of his own martyrdom. Both interpretationsarc allowed by the Jews of Jerome’s day, and the tradition thatIsaiah was ‘sawn in two by Manasseh with a wooden saw' is “a veryfirmly established tradition among them .14

(3) In commenting on Isa. Ixiv. I-5 Jerome remarks that theseverses are paraphrased by St. Paul ar 1 Cor. ii. 9: he then adds ‘TheAscension of Isaiah and the Apocalypse of Elijah also quote thispassage'. The quotation is found (in its Pauline form) in the Latinand in the Slavonic versions at Ascension xi. 34. though not in theEthiopie.15

In the mid-sixth century the unknown author of the Pscudo-Chrvsostom Opus imperjectum in Malthaeum gives an account of aninterview of ilczckiah with Manasseh and Isaiah, which is notonly generally very similar to the scene described in Ascension i,but also exhibits many detailed points of contact.16 But sincePseudo-Chrysostom mentions no source, it is impossible to saywhether he was dependent upon the Ascension as.we know it. or(possibly) upon a source of the Ascension, or whether he derivedhis information independently from tradition.

And finally, in the eleventh century, Georgius Cedrcnus saysthat Isaiah prophesied the coming of the Antichrist, the durationof the Antichrist’s rule on earth and his being cast into ‘Tartarus’,the coming of Christ, and the resurrection to judgement of bothgood and evil, ‘in the Testament of Hezekiah King of Judah’17 —a

13 Comm, in £<. i. 1U.

14 Comm, in Es. Ivii. 1—2. 14 Comm, in Es. Ixiv. 4— 5.

14 Op. impelj. in Mall. Horn, i {— PC !\i 626).

11 i/isloriarzim Compendium (= Corp. scr. hut. Hvz. (<tf. I- Bekker; Bonn, 1838, vol. i,pp. 120-121: also PC exxi. 152).

778 The .4 scension of Isa iah

work whose existence is otherwise unattested. IfCedrcnus had notnamed his source so distinctly, it would naturally be assumed thathe was alluding to Ascension iv. 12-18. Was Cedrenus, then,guilty of a slip in naming his source? Or was ‘The Testament ofHezekiah* a recognised alternative title for the Ascension? Or wasit, perhaps, the title of one of the Ascension's constituent parts,which may still have survived in the eleventh century as a separatework?

The complete text of the Ascension here translated is preservedonly in Kthiopie. Three Kthiopic manuscripts are available: A(Bodl. Aeth.d. 13-Formerly Huntington626; 15thcent.), B (B. L.Or. 501; 15th cent.), and C (B. I.. Or. 503; 18th cent.). Forcomparison with the Kthiopic there are also available: (1) sevenleaves of a papyrus codex of the 5th-6th centuries in the AmherstCollection (now part of the Pierpont Morgan Library in NewYork), giving a Greek text of ii. 4-iv. 4 with some lacunae, firstpublished by B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt in 1900; (2) two Latinfragments from a Vatican MS (Vat. lat. 3750; 5lh-6tli cent.),containing ii. 14-iii. 13 and vii. 1-19. first published by A. Mai in1828; (3) a Latin text ofvi-xi. first primed by Antonius de Fantisin 1522 from an unknown MS and subsequently reprinted from deFantis by J. K.. L. Giescler, C. F. A. Dillniann, and R. H. Charles(‘with certain corrections'); and (4) a Slavonic text ofvi-xi, nowknown from six MSS, first published by A. X. Popov in 1879. Allthese texts will be found conveniently assembled in parallel columnsin Charles’s edition (pp. 83-139).18

As further authorities may be listed: (5) two very fragmentaryleaves of a mid-to-late 4th century papyrus codex giving theSahidic text of iii. 3-6, 9-12, and xi. 24-32. 35-40; (6) thirteeneven less well preserved fragments of a papyrus roll giving scraps ofan Akhmimic text extending from the very beginning of the book tovery near the end, and probably also dating from the 4th cent.; (7)the so-called ‘Greek Legend’, published by O. von Gebhardt in1878 from a 12th century Paris MS (B. N. Gr. 1534), which

"* It is to be observed that Charles primed the Slavonic text inal^tin translationmade by Bonwetst h.

The Ascension of Isaiah 779

contains a number of legends of saints commemorated between1 March and 151 May - the Isaiah legend seems to be based on atleast some knowledge of the contents of the Ascension, andCharles, in reprinting from von Gebhardt the major part of it in hisedition (pp. 141-8), has picked out the possible literary parallelsby the use of heavy type; and (8) another Slavonic text publishedby L. Stojanovic in 1890.

The translation which follows is a translation of the Ethiopic:and in the apparatus all the more important variants of the threeEthiopic manuscripts are recorded. Similarly recorded are allimportant variants in the Amherst Greek text (— 'Ok'), in theLatins (Vat. Lai. 3750 = ‘L‘‘: do Fantis = *LJ). in theSahidic ( =‘Salt'), in the Akhmimic ( — *Akh.*) and in Popov's Slavonic ( =‘Slav’). On a few occasions the evidence of the Greek Legend hasbeen cited (= ‘Gk1’).

As it now stands in Ethiopic, the Ascension divides naturallyinto two parts — i-v and vi-xi. File first part describes the eventsthat led up to the death of Isaiah and the details of his martyrdomat the hands of Manassch: the second part takes the reader hack to‘the twentieth year of the reign of Hczckiah' and describes a visionwhich Isaiah saw in that year, preceded by the title The visionwhich Isaiah the son of Amoz saw’. And this twofold division in theEthiopic is supported by both L2 and Slav., which arc not frag-ments. but versions of the vision and no more (i.e. of vi-xi only); andthey also both have the title at the beginning ‘The vision . . .‘Chapters vi-xi, therefore, circulated independently ul the rest olthe work. It is possible of course that some late editor of theAscension detached from it the last six chapters and so turnedthem into a separate work which he called ‘The Vision'. Neverthe-less the fact that the Ethiopic also has the title before vi makes itmuch more likely that these chapters were originally separate andthat it was only later that they were joined on to i-v because theyalso were about Isaiah. In any case, vi—xi show clear signs ofChristian authorship (e.g. ix. 12-17 and xi. 1-22), whether we areprepared to leave it at that or prefer to particularize furtherand attribute their origin to ‘Christian-Gnostic circles' {soFlelmbold).

780 The A seem ion oj Isaiah

Chapters i—v raise more difficult questions. Not only is the storyof Isaiah’s martyrdom rooted firmly in Judaism, hut there are inthe story as it is told in these chapters not a few features thatsuggest a Jewish origin for them (e.g. the statement at ii. 2 thatBalchira was a Samaritan). On the other hand, there is even moreevidence of a Christian origin (e.g. i. 7 and iii. 18—20). At the verybeginning there is some confusion about whether Hezckiah’spurpose in summoning Manasseh was to give him ‘commands’ (i. 6;ii. 1) or to ‘deliver to him' the written records of his own vision inhis fifteenth year and of Isaiah's vision in his twentieth year (i.2—6). And the progress of the narrative between iii. 12 and v. 1 isvery awkwardly interrupted by the details of another vision ofIsaiah, in which are discussed the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, theResurrection, the early history of the Church, the events leadingup to the End, and the East Judgement.

The generally agreed solution of these dilliculties is that tin-basis of i-v is a document recounting Isaiah’s marty rdom, prob-ably Jewish in origin, into which a Christian editor has inserted aChristian apocalypse (iii. 18—iv. 22) and made also a number ofother additions and adaptations. Whether or not it was this sameeditor who at the same time added vi-xi to i-v it is impossible tosay. Certain it is that, inasmuch as i. 5 looks forward to vi-xi, thisverse at any rate is unlikely to have been added until very near thefinal stage in the Ascension’s history.

That this final stage was reached bv the mid-lourth century atthe latest is proved by the Sahidie fragments. These fragmentsrepresent two leaves from a single codex: they preserve sections oftext from opposite ends of the book; and they are to be dated c. Al)850-875. If we are prepared to allow a reasonable margin for thecirculation of the work in Sahidie before our particular MS wascopied, for its translation into Sahidie from Greek, and for itscirculation in Greek after final editing, we are taken back to AD 850as the latest possible date.19 And the actual date is in all probability-very much earlier. Indeed, Gharles committed himself to a date in‘the latter half of the second century’ and went on to claim that the

’* If we can rely on the approximate 4th cent, date suggested for the Akhmimicfragments, they will, of course, support this conclusion.

three ‘constituents ... circulated independently as early as the firstcentury'.20

Charles may very well be right. What is important to rememberis that Origen's ‘Isaiah apoeryphon’ may have been no more thanthe section recording the martyrdom, and, further, that althoughEpiphanius and Jerome refer explicitly to 'The Ascension ofIsaiah’ as the source of quotations from chaps, ix and xi, this is noclear proof that they knew the book in its final form - ‘TheAscension of Isaiah’ may have been their name for vi-xi only.This last possibility is, however, unlikely. Whatever Origen’s‘apoeryphon’ may have contained, the likelihood (especially inview of the evidence of the Sahidic fragments) is that ‘The Ascen-sion’ known to Didymus, Epiphanius, arid Jerome, was the Ascen-sion as we know it to-day.

If the section recounting the martyrdom was of Jewish origin, agood case can be made for its having had a Hebrew or Aramaicoriginal, which was later translated into Greek. But the originallanguage of the other two sections was undoubtedly Greek (as wasthe language of the complete book). And, to judge from the evi-dence of the surviving Greek fragments, the Ethiopic is a veryfaithful translation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

Ethiopic

R. Laurence, Ascensio Isaiae Vatis, Opusculum pseudepigraphum,muitis abhinc seculis, ut videtur, deperditurn, nunc autern apud Aelhiopascompertum, et cum versione Latina Anglicanaque publici iuris Jadum(Oxford, 1819).

C. F. A. Dill MANN, Ascensio Isaiae Aethiopice et Latine, cum pro-le gomems, udnotalionibus criticis et exegeticis, additis versionumLatinarum reliquiis (Leipzig, 1877).

R. H. Charles, The Ascension of Isaiah (London, 1900), pp. xi-xii.

R. H. CHARLES, The Ascension of Isaiah, translated from the Ethiopicversion, which, together with the new Greek fragment, the Latin versionsand the Latin translation of the Slavonic, is here published in full. Editedwith Introduction, Notes, and Indices (London. 1900).

Greek

B. TP. GRENFELL and A. S. Hunt. The Amherst Papyri, being anaccount of the Greek papyri in the. collection of the Right Hon. LordAmherst of Hackney. Part 1 (London, 1900), pp. 1-22.

0. VON GkBHARDT, ‘Die Asccnsio Lsaiae als Hciligenlcgende' inZeitschriflfur wissenschaftliche Theologie, xxi (1870), pp. 330 -353.

Coptic

L. 1’H. I.EFORT. ‘Coptica Lovanicnsia’ in I* Museon, li (1938),pp. 1-32.

, ‘Fragments d’Apoeryplies en Copte - Akhnumique’ in Le

Museon, lii (1939), pp. 1 — 10.

, Les manuscrits copies de PUniversitede Louvain, i {TextesLitteraires',

Louvain, 1940), pp. 72-78.

P. LacAU, ‘Fragments de 1’Ascension d’Isaic en Copte’ in LeMuseon, lix (1946), pp. 433-467.

Latin

A. Mai, Scriptomm Velerum Nova Colledio e Vaticanis codicihus edita,III. ii (Rome, 1828), pp. 238-239.

Slavonic

A. N, POPOV, Opisanie rukopisei i katalog knig tserkovnoi pechalihihlioteki A. /. Khludova (Moscow, 1872), pp. 414-419.

—, Bibliograficheskie materialy, i (= ChOIDR; Moscow, 1879 I. vii),pp. 13—20.

L. STOJANOVIC, ‘Stare srpske hrisovulje, akli, biografije, letopisi,tipici, pomenici, zapisi i dr/ (= Spomenik Srpske KraljevskeAkademije, iii (Belgrade, 1890), pp. 190-194).

A. A. SHAKHMATOV and P. A. L.WROV, Shomik XII vekaMoskovskogo Uspenskogo sobora, i (= ChOIDR, Moscow, 1899 II.ii. 1), pp. 129—136. [Reproduced photographically with anIntroduction by D. ClZEVSKIJ, The Hague, 1957.]

1. Ivanov, Bogomilski knigi i legendi (Sofia, 1925), pp. 134-149.

783

TRANSLATIONS

English

R. LAURENCE, Ascensio Isaiae Vatis . . . (as above. 1 he Englishversion was reprinted under the title The. Ascension of Isaiah theProphet, translated from the Ethiopic; Glasgow, 1889.]

R. H. CliARLKS, The Ascension of Isaiah ... [as abovc|.

, ‘The Martyrdom of Isaiah’ in A POT ii, pp. 155-162 [A

translation of i. 1—iii. 12 and v. 1 — 14 only].

. The Ascension oj Isaiah {= S.P.C.K., Translations of Early

Documents; London, 1919).

D. IIlLL, ‘The Ascension of Isaiah’ in ST A ii, pp. 642- 663. [AnEnglish version of the German translation of J. FLEMMING andH. 1)1 KNS1NG below.)

French

R. BASSET, Ijs Apocrypkes fcthiopiens traduilsenjranqais. III. I.’Ascen-sion d'lsa'ie (Paris, 1894).

E. TlSSERANT, Ascension d’Isaie: Traduction de la version ethiopiermeavec les principales variantes des versions grecque, latines el slave: Intro-duction el notes {Paris, 1909).

German

G. BEER in E. K.AUTZSCII, APATW, pp. 119-127 [A translationof ii. 1—15, iii. 1-12, and v. 2-14 only].

J. FLEMMING and H. DuenSING ‘Die Himmelfahrt dcsjrsaja’in E. HENNECK.E and VV. ScHNKEMEl.CHER, NeutestamentllicheApokryphen in deutscher Obersetzung*, ii (Tubingen, 1964), pp. 454-468.

P. RlESSl.KR, AjSaB2, pp. 481-484 [A translation of i. 1-2, ii.1-iii. 12, and v. 1-14 only],

E. HaMMERSHAIMB in JSh-rZ 11. 1 (1973). pp. 1-34 [A transla-tion ofi. 1 —iii. 12 and v. 1-14 only].

GENERAL

G. H. Box, Introduction in The Ascension of Isaiah (trans. R. H.CHARLES; S.P.C.K.. Translations oj Early Documents; London,1919), pp. vii-xxvi.

784 Tke Ascension of Isaiah

F. C. BL’RKITT,y«MjA and Christian Apocalypses (London, 1914),pp. 45-48 and 72-74.

J. D.\ NI KLOL\ The Theology ojJewish Christianity ( = The Developmentof Christian Doctrine before the Council of Nicaea. I. Translated andedited bv J. A. BaKER; London, 1964), pp. 12-14.

AM. Den i s, I PGA T, pp. 170-176.

O. ElSSFELDT, 077, pp. 609-610.

D. FlL’SSER, ‘The Apocryphal Book of Ascensio Isaiae and theDead Sea Sect’ in Israel Exploration Journal, iii (1953), pp. 30-47.

J.-B. FREY, art. ‘Apoiryphes dc I’Ancien Testament’ in DBSup i,cols. 409-411.

L. GlNZBERG, The Legends of the Jews, iv (Philadelphia, 1913),pp. 277-279 and vi (Philadelphia, 1928), pp. 370-375.

A. K. HELM BOLD, ‘Gnostic Elements in the “Ascension ofIsaiah” ’ in NTSxviii (Jan. 1972), pp. 222-227.

E. LlTTMANN, art. Isaiah, Ascension of, in JE vi (New York,1904), pp. 642-643.

W. 1,0DTK.E, ‘Beitrage zu slavischen Apokryphen: 3. Zur AscensioIsaiae' in ZAU'xxxi (1911), pp. 222-226.

M. PHII.ONENKO, ‘Le Martyre d’Esaie et Thistoire dc la secte deQoumran’ in Pseudepigraphes deVAncien Testament et manucrits de lamer Morte, i (Paris, 1967), pp. 1-10.

P. Rl KSSLER, AjSaB2, pp. 1300-1301.

L. Rost, EATAP, pp. 112-114.

E. ScHl’RER, HJPTJC II. iii, pp. 141-146.

. GjVZJC* iii, pp. 386-393.

C. C. ToRREY, AL, pp. 133-135.

E. Tl RDKANU, ‘Ajxjcryphcs bogomiles et apocr^phes pseudo-bogomilcs’ in Revue de I’histoire des religions, cxxxviii (1950), pp.

213-218.

A. VAILLANT, *Un apocryphe pseudo-bogomile: La Visiond ’ I safe’ in Revue des etudes slaves, xlii (1963), pp. 109-121.

I. And it came to pass in the twenty-sixth1 year of the reign of

Hezekiah, kingofjudah, that he summoned Manasseh his son (his2 only son). And he summoned him in the presence of Isaiah the son1 Gk.L ‘twenty-fifth’; Akh. ‘sixteenth’.

ascension of isaiah

The Ascension of Isaiah 785

of Amo/, the prophet, and in the presence ofjosab Isaiah's son, in?, order to deliver to him the truths2 the king himself had seen about-1the eternal judgements,4 and the torments of Gehenna, and whatconcerns the prince of this w orld5 and his angels and his sovcrcign-1 itics and his powers, and the expectations for the coming of theBeloved,** which he himself had seen in the fifteenth year of hisreign during his illness. And he delivered to him the writtenrecords that Samnas the scribe bad made,7 and also those thatIsaiah the son of Amoz had given to him and to the prophets,1* sothat they might write out and store up with him what he himselfhad seen in the king’s housey about the judgement of the angels andthe destruction of this world, and about the garments of the saintsand their10 going forth, and about their10 transformation, and theij persecution and ascension of the Beloved. Iri the twentieth year ofHezekiah's reign Isaiah had seen the words of this prophecy, and7 he had delivered them to Josab his son. And while Hezekiah11 wasgiving his commands, and Josab, Isaiah’s son. was standing by.Isaiah said to king Hezekiah (thus Manasseh was not the only-other person who heard what Isaiah said12). As the Lord lives,whose Name has not been entrusted to this world, and as theBeloved of my Lord lives, and as the Spirit that speaks in me lives,all these commands and all these precepts111 will be repudiated byyour son Manasseh, and I myself will be tortured by him and so

* Lit.‘words of truth'.

-' Lit. ‘and’.

4 So A: BC ‘the judgements of this world’.

5 So Dillrnann: A reads ‘the place of eternal punishment’ and BC read ‘the placeof punishment of this world'.

* Lit. ‘and the words of faith in the Beloved".

7 Lit. ‘the written words . . had written’.

* A ‘that Isaiah the son of Amoz and the prophets also had given to him'.

* A "what the king alone had seen'.

10 Charles regarded these pronouns as‘all but certainly wrong": in his judgementthe "going forth’ and the ‘transformation" arc the Messiah’s. Cp. iii. Ilk

" Lit. he".

Lit. ‘but not in the presence of Manasseh only did he say to him’. Could theoriginal here possibly have meant that Manasseh was iiol present at this stage o( theproceedings - i.e. that when the essential business had been concluded Manassehdisappeared and only Josab was left, in addition to Hezekiah. to hear Isaiah’sorade? ,i Li.t. ‘words’.

786 The A scension of Isaiah

H depart this Life. And Balchira will serve Sammacl before Manassch.14

and will carry out all his designs; and Manassch u will become a9 disciple of Bcliar rather than of me. .And many there are inJerusalem and in Judaea that lie will turn away from the true faith;and Bcliar will make his abode in Manassch, and by his hands Iin shall be sawn in two. When he heard these words Hezekiah weptvery bitterly, and he rent his garments and put earth upon his head

11 and fell on his lace. But Isaiah said to him, The design ofSammaelagainst Manassch is accomplished already, there is nothing you

12 can do. And Hezekiah determined there and then to kill his sonr.i Manas.sell. But Isaiah said to Hezekiah, The Beloved has

frustrated your plan, and vour purpose will not be achieved: for tothis end15 have 1 been ealled. and 1 shall inherit what the Belovedhas in store lor me.'6

II. And after Hezekiah died and Manassch became king, lie didnot remember his father Hezekiah's commands, but forgot them;and Sammael made his abode in Manasseh and clung fast to him.2 And Manasseh abandoned the service of his father’s God andA served Satan and his angels and his hosts. And he turned away hisfather Hezekiah’s household from the pursuit of wisdom1 and from

4 the service of God. And Manassch turned away his own heart toserve Bcliar for the angel of lawlessness, who is the ruler of t hisworld, is Bcliar. whose name is Matanbukus. And he delighted inJerusalem because of Manasseh arid supported him in his leading

5 Judah astray, and in the lawlessness prevalent in Jerusalem. Magicand sorcery and divination and augury and fornication andadultery2 increased, as also the persecution of the righteous byManasseh and Balchira3 and Tobiah the Canaanite and John of

14 Bill, reads ‘And Sammacl Malchira will sen e Manassch’. which suggests thatMalchira is a son of surname of Sarnmael’s. The emendation assumes thatMalchira is a corruption of the Balchira nr Belchira, who appears at ii. 12, iii. 1, etc.(or, perhaps, the original lbrin of the name).

15 Lit. ‘for with this calling’.

14 Lit. ‘inherit the inheritance of the Beloved'.

1 Lit. ‘And he turned away the house of his lather which had been before the face

of I Irv.ckiah (front) the words of wisdom’. 2 Ok. om. ‘and adultery’.

-1 Gk. om. ‘and Balchira’.

787

The Ascension of Isaiah

o Anarhoth, and by Zadok4 the c hief of the works. And the rest ofwhat happened is recorded in the book of the kings of Judah andIsrael.

7 And when Isaiah, the son of Arno/, saw the lawlessness that wascommon practice in Jerusalem, arid the worship of Satan and hiswantonness, he left Jerusalem and settled in Bethlehem of Judah.

8 And there too there was much lawlessness, so that he left Beth-

9 lehem and settled on a mountain in a desert place. And Micaiahthe prophet, and the aged Ananias, and Joel, and Habakkuk, andhis son Josab, and many of the faithful w ho believed in the ascen-sion into heaven, also left where they were and settled on the tnoun-

1U tain. They were all clothed with garments of hair,5 and they wereall of them prophets: they had nothing with them, hut were naked;and they all lamented with a great lamentation because of the

if apostasy of Israel. And they had nothing to eat but only the wildherbs that they gathered on the mountains; and they rooked themand lived on them together with the prophet Isaiah. And theyremained oil the mountains and on die hills for two years.

12 And after this, while they were in the desert, there was inSamaria a certain man named Balchira,6ofthe family of Zedekiah,the son of Chcnaanah, the false prophet, whose home was inBethlehem. (Now Zedekiah,7 the son of Chcnaanah, wasBalchira’s* father’s brother, and in the days of Ahab king of Israelhe had been the master of the four hundred prophets of Baal, andhad himself hit Micaiah, the son of Amada, the prophet, and

13 abused him. And Micaiah had also been abused b) Ahab and putin prison w ith the prophet Zedekiah. They were with Ahaziah, son

14 of Ahab, king of Samaria.9 And Elijah the prophet from Theborr0 inGilead was reproving Ahaziah and Samaria; and he prophesiedabout Ahaziah that he would die upon a bed of sickness, and that

4 So Gk. only: Kth. lias no name.

5 They .. . hair: R om. (perhaps because ol the succeeding statement that theywere naked).

0 So BG here: A Belchira', Gk. ‘Bclirhciar’. There is considerable variationbetween Ihe authorities at other occurrences ol the name. YVc print regularly‘Bah hira’. 1 SoGk.: Fth. ‘Hezekiah’.

* Lit. ‘his’.

9 Charles’s restoration of a text which is a jumble, both in Kth. and Gk.

10 So A: BC ‘/ebon'.

Samaria would be delivered into the hands of Shalmaneser."

15 because he had slaughtered the prophets of God. And when thefalse prophets who were with Ahaziah, the son ol Ahab, and theirmasterjalerjas of mount Ephraim'1 2- he1' was Zedekiah’s brother— heard it, they persuaded Ahaziah. king of Gomorrah.14 and hekilled15 Mieaiah).

HI. And Balchira1 was well acquainted with the place whereIsaiah and the prophets who were with him were, and lie had seenit, lor he himself lived near Bethlehem; and he was an adherent ofMartasseli. And he prophesied lies in Jerusalem; and many of thepeople in Jerusalem attached themselves to him, though he was a2 Samaritan. (For when Shalmaneser,2 king of Assyria, attackedand captured Samaria and took away the nine and a half3 tribes ascaptives and carried them oil to the mountains4 of the Medes and$ the rivers of Gozan,5 this Balchira, while still a youth, got away andcame to Jerusalem in the days of Hczekiah, king of Judah; but hedid not follow the way of life of his Samaritan lather, for he was

4 afraid of Hczekiah. And in Ilczckiah’s time he was Ibund making

5 seditious statements6 in Jerusalem. And Hezekiah’s servantsaccused him, and he made his escape to the neighbourhood of

t> Bethlehem. And they persuaded .. .7) And Balchira accused Isaiahand the prophets who were with him, saying. Isaiah and those whoare with him arc prophesying against Jerusalem and against the

11 Eth. vI.eba Nasr’; Gk. ‘Alnasar’.

" So L1: Etli. ‘Joel* or'Ijoe)’; Gk. ‘Islal* (corrupt lor ‘Israel’?).

11 So I.1: Eth. ‘Ibchira’; Gk. ‘Bccheira’.

14 So Gk. and Ll: Eth. 'Aguaron'. Gomorrah is a contemptuous reference toSamaria (cp. Isa. i. 10;Jer. xxiii. 13—14).

15 So 1 Gk. ‘they killed’; Eth. om.

1 So Gk. L1; Eth. ‘And to Bclchira’.

2 Eth. 'Alagar /agar’; Gk. ‘Algasar’; L1 ‘Salmanassar’.

1 So Gk. and L*: Eth. om. ‘and a half.

4 SoGk.: I,1 ‘mountain’; Eth. 'boundaries’.

* SoGk. I.1; Eth. ‘Tazon’.

4 I.it. ‘speaking words of lawlessness’.

7 There appears to be a gap in the text at this point. Gk. reads 'And theypersuaded’ and then carries straight on: similarly Eth. and Sah. with ‘And hepersuaded’; E1 om. ‘And (t)he(y) persuaded" altogether.

cities ofjudah, saying that they will he laid in ruins, and against thesons of judah and Benjamin8 that they will go into captivity, andagainst you, my lord king, that you will go loo, haded with hooks and

7 iron chains. But they prophesy falsely against Israel and Judah.

8 And Isaiah himself has said, I see more than the prophet Moses.

0 For Moses said. No man can see God and live; but Isaiah has said.

JU 1 have seen God, and behold I am still alive! You must know, o

king,9 that he is a liar.10 Furthermore, he has called JerusalemSodom and addressed the princes ofjudah and Jerusalem11 aspeople of Gomorrah. And Balchira12 brought many charges

11 against Isaiah and the prophets before Manassch. Now Bcliar hadtaken up his abode in the heart of Manassch, and in the hearts ofthe princes ofjudah and Benjamin, and the king’s eunuchs and

12 counsellors. And what Balchira said pleased Manasseh13 greatly,and he sent and had Isaiah arrested.

13 For Beliar was especially furious with Isaiah because of hisvision, and because of his exposure of Santmacl, and because it wasthrough him that the going forth of the Beloved f rom the seventhheaven had been made known, and his transformation, and hisdescent to earth, and the likeness into which he would be trans-formed (that is the likeness of a man), and the persecution to whichhe would be subjected, and the torments the sons of Israel wouldinflict on him, and the calling and instruction14 of his twelvedisciples, and that before the sabbath he would be crucified upon

14 the tree,15 and that he would be crucified with wicked men, andthat he would be buried in the tomb, and the twelve who had beenwith him would have their faith in him shaken, and the guards who

15 would guard the tomb, and the descent of the angel16 of the

? So L': Eth. om ‘against the sons of Judah and’; Gk. om. ‘thai they will be laid... sons ofjudah’.

4 Lit. *C) king, know ’.

10 So Gk. L': Eth. ‘that they are prophets of lies’.

11 So Eth. L': Gk. Sah. ‘Israel’.

12 A Gk. Sah. L' ‘he’: BC ‘they’.

13 Lit. ‘him’.

14 So Eth. (lit. ‘and the presence {or ‘advent’) and teaching’): Gk. ‘and theteaching’ only.

15 Gk. om. this clause.

14 SoAGk.: BC ‘angels’.

790 The Ascension of Isaiah

Christian church which is in the heavens (whom lie will summon

16 in the last days), and that (Gabriel),17 the angel of the Holy Spirit,and Michael, the prince of the holy angels, would on the third day

17 open the tomb, and the Beloved himself, sitting upon theirshoulders,1* would come forth and send out his twelve disciples.

18 And they will teach all nations and every language about theresurrection of the Beloved; and those who believe in his cross andin his ascension to the seventh heaven (where he came from) will

19 be saved. And many who believe in him will speak by the Holy

'2(1 Spirit. And many wonders and miracles will be performed in those

21 days. And afterwards, before he comes again,"' his disciples willforsake the teaching of the twelve apostles and their faith20 and

22 their love and their purity. And there will he much strife before he

23 comes.21 In those days many there will be who love office, even

24 though they are devoid of wisdom. And there will be many lawlesselders and shepherds who oppress their flocks; and they will ravage

25 them, because they have not holy shepherds.22 And many willexchange the honour of the garments of the saints lor the garmentsof money-lovers; and there will be much respect of persons in those

26 days, and many friends of this world’s pomp. And there will bemuch backbiting and empty ambition before the Ix>rd comes,1''

27 and the Holy Spirit will turn away from many; and there will beonly a few iii those days, whether prophets or any others21 whose

28 words can be trusted24 - just one here and one there in differentplaces, because of the spirit of error and fornication and empty

17 There is a lacuna in the Gk. at this point: the suggestion that it was filled by'Gabriel’ is due to Gretlfcll and Hunt. 'The angel of the Holy Spirit' appears severaltimes in the Ascension (c.g. iv. 21, vii. 23): cp. especially xi. 4.

So BC Gk.: A ‘upon the shoulders of the seraphim'.

” Lit. ‘when he (the I*ord) draws near’.

20 A Gk. 'the Faith'.

21 So Gk.: Kth. ‘much strife at his coming and when he draws near'.

22 Kth, is hopelessly corrupt after ‘and they will ravage’. Gk. has a lacuna andresumes with what appears lobe the end ofa passive participle (‘... ed because theyhave not pure shepherds'). Our translation follows Charles in combining elementsfrom both Kth. and Gk. and assumes that ‘pure’ inGk. (Ayvoti^) is a corruption of anoriginal l&ytovg) preserved in Kth.

Jl So Kth.: Gk. 'and there will not be in those days many prophets’.

24 Lit. 'whose words arc strong'.

The Ascension oj Isaiah 7‘) 1

ambition and love of money25 in those who will be called the

29 servants of the Beloved26 and have received him.26 Shepherds and

30 elders will hate one another. For in the last days there will be greatjealousies, because each one will proclaim what he himself thinks is

31 right. And they will ignore the prophecies of the prophets that werebefore me, and these my visions27 also they will repudiate in orderto give free expression to their own lusts.

IV. And now. Hczckiah. and son Josab. at the consummation of the

2 world it will happen like this.' At the consummation2 Beliar. thegreat prince, will come down, the king of this world, who has haddominion over it since it first came into being: he will come downfrom his abode in the vault of heaven5 in the lorm of a man, as a

3 lawless king and a matricide. And this king4 will persecute the plantwhich the twelve apostles of the Beloved have planted; and one of

4 the twelve will be delivered into his hand. Beliar5 will come in theform of that king,6 and all the powers of this world will come with

5 him, and they will do whatever it is he wants. At his command thesun will rise during the night, and he will make the moon appear at

6 mid-day. And he will have his own way in the world over every-thing: he will act and speak like7 the Beloved and will say, It is 1

7 who am the Lord, and before me there has been no other. And all

8 the people in the world will believe in him. And they will sacrificeto him and serve him, saying. This is the Ford, and beside him

9 there is no other. And he will turn away the greater part of those

2S Gk. has a lacuna from here to the end of verse 30.

24 Fit. ‘that one’.

27 B "the visions'.

’ Lit. 'these are the days of the consummation of the world'. For ‘consummation'Eth. has an unusual form, which might be rendered 'calling', but in any case it canhardly be right. Gk. has been imperfectly preserved, though there is little doubt thatthe word here was 'filling' or ‘filling up'.

2 Lit. 'After it is consummated’.

5 Lit. ‘from his firmament’.

4 The translation here oilers a slightly abbreviated version of both Eth. and Gk.texts, neither of which in its present form gives an entirely satisfactory sense.

* C Gk. ‘this prince': AB 'this prince Beliar’.

4 So BC Gk.: A 'even this king will come'.

7 So AC; B 'he will make himselflikc’.

10 who have been united to receive the Beloved alter him. And thecflcct of his miracles will he Jell in every city and in every place.

11,12 And he will set up an image of himself in every city. And he will

13 rule for three years and seven8 months and twenty-seven days. Andof the faithful and of the saints who saw him in whom they hoped(him who was crucified, that rr Jesus, the Lord Christ) - after that I,Isaiah, had seen him who was crucified and ascended9 - and ofthose too who have believed in him without seeing him, few will be leftas his servants in those days. They will flee f rom one desert place toanother as they await his coming.

14 And after (one thousand) three hundred and thirty-two19days theLord with his angels and with the hosts of the holy ones" will comefrom the seventh heaven with the glory of the seventh heaven, and

15 he will lake Beliar and his hosts away to Cichenna. And he will giverest to the godly that he finds still in the flesh in this world (whilethe sun will be ashamed12] and to all who through faith in him have

16 cursed Beliar and his kings. But the saints will come with the Lord,with their garments that are now stored up on high in the seventhheaven: with the Lord will come those whose spirits are reclothed,and they will come down and will be in the world; and he willstrengthen those found in the flesh together with the saints, in thegarments of the saints, and the Lord will minister to those who

17 have kept watch in this world. And after that, they will change intotheir garments from on high, and their flesh will be left behind in

18 this world. Then will the voice of the Beloved rebuke the heavenand the earth11 in anger, and the mountains and the hills, and thecities and the desert, and the trees, and the angel of the sun14 andthe angel of the moon,15 and everything Beliar has used to publicize

8 So AC: B ‘three’.

4 Charles thought this parenthesis "an editorial addition made to adapt theTestament of Hezekiah to its present context".

10 A reads ‘three hundred and thirty and two" (without ‘one thousand'): BC‘thirty times one hundred and thirty-two’.

11 Or‘saints’. 12 Cp. Isa. xxiv. 23.

13 So A: B ‘the heaven and that which is of the earth’; C ‘that which is in theheaven and that which is of the earth’. Charles, by a slight emendation, ‘the thingsof heaven and the things of earth’.

14 B om. ‘and the angel of the sun".

15 So BC: A‘and the moon’.

himself and his activities in this world. Then will come the resur-rection and the judgement; and the Beloved will send lire amongthem,16 and it will burn up all the ungodly, anti they will be asthough they had never been.

19 And the rest of the details” of the vision is written in the vision of

2t) Babylon. And the rest of the vision of the Lord, behold, it is writtenin the parables I have written down in the book which contains my

21 public prophecies. And the descent of the Beloved into Shcol,behold, it is written in the place'8 where the Lord says. Behold, myson will understand.14 And ail these things are written in thePsalms.20 in the parables of David, the son of Jesse, and in theProverbs of Solomon his son. and in the words of Korah and ofEthan the Israelite, and in the words of Asaph, and also in theother psalms which the angel of the Spirit has inspired (that is in

22 those21 which have no name attached to them), and in the words ofmy father Amos, and of the prophet Hosea. and of Nlicah, and ofJoel, and of Nahum, and of Jonah, and of Obadiah, and of Habakkuk,and of Haggai, and of Zcphaniah, and of Zcchariah,22 and ofMalaehi, and in the words of Joseph the just, and in the words ofDaniel.

V. Then Beliar's anger was roused against Isaiah because of thesevisions, and lie took up his abode in Manassch s heart; and he

2 sawed Isaiah in two with a wood-saw.1 And while Isaiah was beingsawn, his enemy Balchira stood by. and all the false prophets stood

3 by, laughing and rejoicing at what was happening to Isaiah. AndBalchira. inspired by Mcchembcrhus,2 came near to Isaiah,-'

Lit. “will cause a fire to go up Iron? him'.

11 Lit.‘words*. So AC: B 'the psalms'.

" i.e. Isa. lii. 13 (LXX).

:D Charles thought ‘the Psalms'a gloss, added to explain “(he parables of David'.

11 So BC: A ‘and in those’.

!J So AC: B 'and of/.cchariah. and of Zephaniah’.

1 The ‘wooden saw' of the MSS and the tradition is due, according to Charles, toa misunderstanding of an original Hebrew phrase, “a saw of wood', which wasintended to mean ‘a saw lor sawing wood', presumably made of metal — indeed, inone passage in Gk. * (iii. 14—15) ii is specifically said to be "an iron saw’.

1 Lit. ‘in M.': Dillmann emended “and M.‘ to accord with the verbs in the rest ofthe verse which are plural. ' Lit.‘stood up before Isaiah’.

794 The Ascension of Isaiah

4 laughing and making fun4 of him. And Balchira5 said to Isaiah, Say,I have been wrong* in everything I have said: what Manasschdoes:t is good and right- And what Balchira and those with him do is alsofi good. And this he said to him when they started sawing him in two.7 Blit Isaiah was in a vision of the Lord: his eyes were open but he didK (not) see them. And Balchira said to Isaiah. Say what I tell you to,and I will make them change their minds; and I will make Manasschand the princes of Judah and the people and all Jerusalem fall*> down before you. And Isaiah answered and said, All I can say is,May you be accursed and damned, you and all your powers and allHi your house.7 For you can take nothing/rom me but only the skin off11 my body. Then they took Isaiah, the son of Amo/, and sawed himI:? in two with a wood-saw. And Manassch and Balchira and the false

13 prophets and the princes and the people all stood looking on. Butbefore he was sawn in two he had said to the prophets who werewith him. Make your escape into the region of Tyre and Sidon,

14 because God has mixed this cup for me alone. And while he wasbeing sawn in two Isaiah neither cried out nor wept; but he went on

Li speaking by the Holy Spirit until he was sawn right through. ThisBeliar did to Isaiah using Balchira and Manassch as his agents; forSammael had been furious with Isaiah since the days of Hezckiah,king of Judah, because of the vision he had seen about the Beloved,Hi and because of the vision about the destruction of Sammael he hadseen through the Lord, when Hezckiah hisK father was still king.And he9 acted in accordance with the will of Satan.

Tilt' Vision which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.

VI. In the twentieth year of the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah,Isaiah the son of Amoz, and Josab, Isaiah’s son, came from Gilgal*

2 to Hezekiah in Jerusalem. And Isaiah sat down on the king’scouch; and they brought him a seat, but he would not sit on it.2

3 And Isaiah began to talk to king Hezekiah about what was certain

4 bo C: AB 'laughing, making fun’. Charles omitted ‘laughing’ as a doublet.

4 So B: AC; ‘Beliar*. * Lit.‘I have lied'.

1 So B: A and C have several small variations.

* i.e. Manasseh's. * i.c. Manassch.

1 So C. supported by G1’: AB ‘from Galilee': L2 Slav. om.

'' and they brought... on it: L2 Slav. om.

795

The Ascension of Isaiah

and sure, and all the princes of Israel and the eunuchs and theking's counsellors were seated round him;3 and there were forty4prophets and sons of the prophets w ho had come from the villagesand the mountains and the plains, when they heard that Isaiah

4 had come from Gilgal5 to Hezekiah. And they had come to greet

5 him, and to hear what he said. And they hoped he would lay hishands on them, and that they might prophesy and lie would listento their prophecy;6 and all of them were assembled before Isaiah.

t> And while Isaiah was talking al>out what was sure and certain7 toHezekiah,8 they all heard a door opened and the voice of the Holy

7 Spirit.*’ And the king gathered together all the prophets and all thepeople that could be found there, and they came; and Mieah andthe aged Hananiah and Joel andjosah10 were sitting on his right.11

8 And when they all heard the voice of the Holy Spirit, all of themworshipped and jell on their knees and glorified the God of truth,the Most High - he who is in the world above, the Holy One, who

9 sits on high, and who takes his rest among the saints.12 And theygave praise to him who had thus given to a man a door into an

10 unknown world.13 And while he was speaking in the Holy Spirit inthe hearing of all. he suddenly became silent, and his spirit wascaught up into heaven,14 and he no longer saw the men who were

11 standing in front of him. But his eyes were open although his lips

12 were silent, and the spirit of his body was taken up from him.15 And

* lASlav. ‘were standing before him’.

4 IASlav. om.

5 SuBC L* Slav.: A ‘Galilee*.

6 So AC: B ‘and that he might prophesy and that they might listen id hisprophecy". L* and Slav, have the whole passage differently ordered and slightlyabbreviated, though it is clear that they support AC in that it was the prophets whowere to prophesy and not Isaiah (as in B).

7 Lit. ‘was speaking words of truth and of faith" (and similarly in verse ’.V).

* So AC: B om. ‘to Hezekiah"; L2 Slav. om. ‘and of faith to H."

*-0 L* Slav, ‘the Holy Spirit came upon him. and all saw and heard the words ofthe Holy Spirit’. 10 L2 Slav. om. ‘and Josab*.

11 L2 Slav, add ‘and on his left".

11 Or ‘holy ones’. I.2 Slav, abbreviate *. . . knees and sang to thr Most High God.who takes . .. saints'.

Lit. ‘who thus has given a door in an unknown world, has given it to a man": L2Slav, differ here. 14 and . . . heaven: 1,2Slav. om.

15 and . . . from him: L2 Slav. om.

796

The Ascension of Isa iah

13 only his breath remained in him,16 for he was in a vision. And theangel that was sent to explain things to him in the vision17 was notof this world,18 nor was he one of the angels of glory of this world,

14 but had come from the seventh heaven. And, apart from the circleof the prophets, the people who were there did (not) 10 believe that

15 the holy Isaiah had been caught up into heaven. For the vision thatthe holy Isaiah saw was not a vision of this world, but of the world

16 that is hidden from man.20 After Isaiah had seen this vision he gavean account of it to Hczekiah and to his son Josab2'and to the other

17 prophets who had come. But the magistrates and eunuchs and thepeople did not hear it, but only Samnas the scribe, and Joachim,and Asaph22 the secretary of state; for they were men who did whatis right and were approved of by the Spirit.1 2' And the people didnot hear it either, for Micah and his son Josab had sent them awaywhen the wisdom of this world had been taken from him, and hewas left looking like a corpse.

VU. And Isaiah related the vision he had seen to Hczekiah, and tohis son Josab, and to Micah, and to the other prophets:

2 When I was prophesying and you were listening to me, I saw aglorious angel, whose glory was not like that of the angels I hadbeen in the habit of seeing; for he had a glory and a dignity' of a kind

3 so great that I cannot describe the splendour of this angel.2 And Iwas looking at him when he took me by the hand;3 and I said to him,

19 I.2 ‘sed inspiral io sancti spirit us crat cum illo*. and similarly Slav, without'sancti'. Both L2 and Slav, om the rod of this verse and verse 13.

17 Lit. 'sent to make him see’. '* Lit. ‘firmament'.

19 Supplied from LJ Slav.: Eth. has no negative.

20 Lit. ‘from his (i.c. man's) flesh'. So AO: B ‘whilst he (i.e. man) is in the flesh';L2 Slav, ‘from all flesh".

21 and lei the other . . . vii. I his son Josab: I.2 Slav. om.

22 We should probably emend Joachim, son of Asaph' (see 2 Kings xviii. 16, 37,and par.).

21 Lit. 'and had upon them the soothing odour of the Spirit'.

1 Lit. ‘order’: L'Slav. 'light'; L1 'holy' (i.e. 'a great and holy glory').

2 L2 Slav, 'which (i.e. the light) I cannot make known*; l.' ‘which glory 1 cannotdescribe'.

' Ll ‘And he approached and took me by the hand’; I.2 Slav. ‘And he took me bythe hand and raised me on high'.

Who are you? What is your name? And where are going to take me?

4 (For the power to talk to him had been given to me.) And he said tome. When I have taken you up and shown you the vision I havebeen sent to show you, then you will understand who I am, but inyname you shall not know,4 because you are to return again to your

r» flesh. But in the place where I am to take you,5 you will see a vision,

6 for I have been sent lor this very purpose.6 And I was overjoyed

7 because he spoke gently to me. And he said to me. Are you thenoverjoyed because I have spoken gently to you? And he said, Onewho is greater than I am will you see, and he will speak to you

8 gently and graciously. And the Father of the One who is greaterthan / am will you also see,7 for I have been sent from the seventh

9 heaven to explain all this to you. And we went up, he and I, into thevault of heaven, and there I saw Sammael and his hosts; and therew as much strife there, for the angels* of Satan were all jealous of

10 one another. And as it is on high, so also is it on earth: whathappens in the vault of heaven happens similarly here on earth.

11 And I said to the angel, (What is this strife and)9 why this jealousy?

12 And he said to me, It has been like this since the world was madetill now';10 and this strife will continue until the One you are to seecomes and destroys him.

13 After this he took me up (into the regions)” above the vault,

1-1 wdiich is the first11 heaven. And there I saw in the middle of it a

15 throne;12 and on its right and on its left were angels. And the angels

on the left13 w’ere not like those on the right; but those on the righthad a greater glory and they all sang praises together.14 The throne

4 So Lth. I? Slav.: I.1 ‘1 will noi tell you’.

5 L'L2 Slav. ‘Bui when t have taken you up'.

6 L2 Slav. om. 'for I .. . purpose’.

7 There is not a little variation in detail between the authorities here.

8 So [.' (and by implication L2 Slav., which have a substantially difl'erem text):Lth. 'words’ ' reading k&yoi for 6.yytkoi).

9 Supplied from L1: L2 Slav. ‘VVliat is this strife and jealousy and conflict?’

10 It has been ... now: L* Slav, ‘this is the Devil’s strife’.

" Supplied from I? Slav.

12 L2 Slav, add ‘and on it there sat an angel in great glory’.

So L1: Elh. om. ‘And the angels on the left’; I.2 Slav. om. ‘And the angels... left... right’.

14 Lit. ‘with one voice’.

was in the middle, and they sang praises.15 And those on the leftsang praises after them, but their voices were not like the voices ofthose on the right and their praises were not like the others’ praises.

Hi And I asked the angel who was accompanying me and said to him,

17 To whom is this praise addressed? And he said to me. To thegloryofhim who is in16 the seventh heaven, to him who takes his rest in theholy world.17 and to the Beloved, from whom I have been sent toyou.'8

18 And again he took me up - into the second heaven (now theheight of this heaven is the same as the distance from the heaven to

Ml the earth”). And (there, as)20 in the first heaven, were angels on theright and on the left, and a throne in the middle, and the praises ofthe angels in the second heaven; and the one who was seated on thethrone in the second heaven had greater glory than all the rest.11

20 And great was the glory in the second heaven, and their praises

21 were not like the praises of those in the first heaven.22 And I fell onmy face to worship him; but the angel who was accompanying me23would not permit it and said to me, You must not worship anythrone or angel that is in the six heavens24 (that is why25 1 havebeen sent to accompany you26), butjwt shall worship only him whom

22 I shall tell you to in the seventh heaven.27 For your throne, yourgarments, and your crown, which you will see later, are set above

23 all these heavens and their angels. And I rejoiced greatly because

15 The throne . . . praises: 1/ Slav, uni.; L1 om. ‘and they sang praises'.

16 Kill. 'In the glory of. The emendation is based on L’L* Slav., but moreparticularly on I.1,

1 So A: the other authorities van. Charles thought them all corrupt andsuggested as a possible ordinal ’to him who inhabits eternity’.

IK Kilt, adds ‘thither is it sent'.

19 So BC I.1:1,2 Slav, ‘from the first heaven to the earth’; A ‘from the earth to theheaven*; then Kth. L1 add ‘and to the vault*.

20 Supplied on the basis of L*L* Slav. 'And I saw there as* (L1 + ‘I had seen’).

21 and a throne ... all the rest: I.* Slav, om.; Ll breaks off at ‘middle’.

22 L2 ‘And the glory of these angels and their song were more excellent than thoseof the first angels’; and similarly Slav.

23 I.2 Slav, ‘instructing me'.

24 So Kth.: L2 ‘in that heaven’; Slav, ’from heaven’.

23 So L* Slav.; Kth. ‘whence*.

26 L2 Slav.‘to instruct you*.

27 I.2 Slav. om. ‘in the seventh heaven*.

The Ascension of Isaiah

799

those who love the Most High and his Beloved will in the end betaken up there by the angel of'the Holy Spirit.

24 And he took me up into the third heaven; and. as lx-1 ore. I sawangels on the right and on the left, and there also a throne was set inthe middle,28 but the memory of this world had no place there.2"

25 And I said to the angel who was with me (for my face wasbecoming brighter and brighter'” as I went up from heaven toheaven). Has nothing, then, of that vain world any place here?31

26 And he answered and said to me. Nothing oj lhal world has anyplace32 because of its frailty, yet nothing is hidden here of what is

27 done there.31 And I asked'4 how it is known, and he answered,saying. When I have brought you up to the seventh heaven, fromwhich I was sent, that is to the heaven which is above these heavens,you will understand that nothing is hidden from the thrones andfrom those who live in the heavens and from the angels. .And greatwere the praises which they sang and the splendour of the one whowas seated on the throne; and the glory of the angels on the rightand on the left was greater than that of the heavens beneaththem.35

28 And again he look me up - into the fourth heaven; and the heightfrom the third to the fourth heaven was greater than that from the

29 earth to the vault of heaven. And there I saw again angels on theright and angels on the left, and one seated on a throne in the

30 middle;36 and there too they sang praises. And the praises and thesplendour of the angels on the right were greater than those o[the

31 angels on the left. So also the splendour of the one who was seatedon the throne was greater than that of the angels on the right, yettheir glory was greater than the glory of those who were below.

2* So B: At' add ‘and one who sat’: I.1 Slav, invert \ . . I saw a little throne andangels on the right and on the left'.

29 l.it. ‘of this world was not named’.

30 Lit. ‘for the glory of my faer was being transformed

” Lit. ‘Is nothing . . . world named here.3’

32 Lit. 'is named'.

33 So Slav.: Eth. L3 ‘and nothing is hidden there of'what is done’.

34 Lit. 'And I desired to understand'.

3* Both L2 and Slav, have milch shorter texts in this verse.

36 LJ Slav. 'And thrrr 1 saw a throne and angels on the right and on the left’. I.3om. from here to the end of verse 30.

800

The Ascension of Isaiah

32,33 And he took me up into the fifth heaven. And again I saw angelson the right and on the left, arid one seated on a throne, more

31 glorious than those of the fourth heaven. But the glory of the angels

35 on the right was greater than the glory of those on the left.1 2 3 ' And thesplendour of the one who was seated on the throne was greater

36 than that of the angels on the right. .And their praises were more

37 glorious than those of the fourth heav en. And I praised him whocannot be named, and the only-begotten Son who dwells in theheavens, whose name has not been revealed to any man,3* who hasgiven such great glory to the angels and even greater glory still tothe one who is seated on the throne.39

VIII. And he took me up into the air of the sixth heaven and 1beheld a glory I had not seen in the five heavens while I was being2.3 taken up, and angels1 resplendent in great glory.2 And the praises

4 there were sublime3 and wonderful.4 And I said to the angel who

5 was accompanying me, What is it that I see, my lord? And he said

6 to ine, I am not your lord but your companion.5 6 And again 1 askedhim and said to him, Why are there no companions lor the angels

7 on the rights And he said. From the sixth heaven and above it thereare no more angels on the left, nor is there a throne set in the middle,but (they have their direction)7 from the power of the seventhheaven, where he dwells that cannot be named, and the Elect One,whose name has not l>een revealed, and whose name none of the

8 heavens can learn.8 For it is to his voice alone that all the heavens

,? Eth. adds ‘from the third to the fourth heaven

38 Lit. ‘flesh’.

3,1 I.2 Slav, diverge widely from Lth. in their description of the fifth heaven: verses32—34are much abbreviated, 35 is larking, and 37 is altogether different.

1 Charles emended .. five heavens. For I saw angels.. .’on the basis off1 Slav.

2 Both L2 and Slav, have an additional clause here about the angelic powers.

' Lit. ‘holy’.

4 So L2 Slav.: Eth. reads manbar (‘throne’), presumably a corruption ofmanker.

* So Eth.: probably a rendering of an original oirvdovXoz (‘fellow-servant’), fromwhich, through a corruption, L2 Slav, got • counsellor’ {oOnfiovko^}.

6 L2 Slav. om. this verse.

7 Supplied on the basis of L? ‘they Itavt- their arrangement’ and Slav, ‘ihey areadministered’.

8 L2 ‘where is the precious Son of Cod’ and Slav, similarly.

and the thrones respond: and I have been empowered and sent to

9 bring you up here so that you may behold this glory, and so thatyou may see the Lord of all these heavens and of these thrones,

h) transforming himself until he becomes like you in Ibrm and in

11 appearance." And I tell you, Isaiah, no man who is to return into abody ol that world has ever come up here and seen what you see,

12 what you have seen, and what you will see.10 For you have beenpermitted to come up here because you are to share in the lot of the

13 Lord.11 And I glorified anti praised my Lord, because through

14 sharing in his lot I was to go up there. And he said to me. Hear thenthis again from your companion.12 When by the angel of the Spirityou have been taken up there from that alien l>od\ oj yours.1* thenwill you receive the garment14 that you will see, and you will also

l.i see other garments numbered and stored up there. And then will

Hi you become equal to the angels of the seventh15 heaven. And hetook me up into the sixth heaven, and there were no angels on theleft nor was there a throne in the middle, but all the angels looked the

17 same and their praises were equal. And I was allowed to singpraises with them too. and also the angel who was accompanying

18 me.16 and our praises were like theirs. And they glorified the Fatherof all.17 and his Beloved.IK the Christ, and the Holy Spirit, all

19 together.And the voices of these angels were not like the voices of the

20 angels iti the five heavens,20 nor like their words; but the voices

21 were dillerem there, and there was much light there. And then,

M I.' Slav. mn. verse In. The reference is to the successive transformationsdescribed in detail in \. 1711'.

1,1 I hr translation of this verse follows Charles's lead in a slight re-arrangementof the details.

11 Hill, adds first “in the lot ol the cross' and then 'and thence comes the |*mer ofthe sixth heaven and of the air'.

Hear . . . companion: I.* Slav. oui.

" So AC: B “when Cod the Spirit has taken you up in .in alien IxxfC, I.; Slav,follow- a text which is different.

11 I.* “vour garment*; Slav, ‘a garment'. Both om. the rest of the verse.

15 I.1 “sixth'.

’* Lit. “and with that angrl'.

,T So I.1 Slav.: Kth. “And they all named the first (C om.) Father'.

'* So A: BC “the Beloved-; LJ Slav, “his Ix'lovcd Son" and om. 'the Christ'.

"* Lit. “all with one voice'.

L“' Slav, ‘the fifth heaven' and om. 'nor like their words’.

802 The Ascension of Isaiah

when 1 was in the sixth heaven. I (bought the light I had seen in the

22 five heavens21 was darkness. And I rejoieed and gave praise to himwho had bestowed such lights on those; who await his promise."

2:1 And I besought the angel who was accompanying me23 that 1

2+ might not hare lo return from there to the world ol the flesh. ! Fortruth to tell, Hcxekiah and sonjosab and Mieah,24 there is great

2:i darkness here.) And the angel who was accompanying me1 2 3’realized what 1 was thinking and25 said. 11 you rejoice in this light,how much more will you rejoice in the seventh heaven when you

26 see the lights where are the Lord and his Beloved.’6 and also thegarments and the thrones and the crowns stored up for the righteous,for those, lhal is. who believe in that Lord who will descend in yourhuman form (lor great and marvellous is the light that is there).27

27 But as for your not returning to your body - the time has not c ome

28 for your coming here. And when 1 heard this 1 was much troubled:but he said, Do not be troubled.28

JX. And he took me up into the air of the seventh heaven, andagain' I heard a voice: it said. How far may anyone go up who lives2 among aliens:’2 And 1 was afraid and trembled. And"’ as I trembled,behold there came a second voice which said. The holy Isaiah is8 permitted to come up here, for here is his garment.4 And I askedthe angel who was with me and said, Who was it who forbade me tor go up, and who was it who permitted5 6 me? And he said to me, He

‘' l.: Slav, ‘the tilth heaven’.

n 12 Slav, 'mercy*. 21 12 Slav.‘instructin# me’.

2-1 Ilezekiah ... Mieah: 1/ Slav oiri.

25 realized . . . and: I.* Slav. nm.

26 So fall.: 12 Slav, ‘where sits the heavenly Kail in and his only-begotten Son’;lit h. then adds ‘whence 1 have been sent, who is to be tailed Son in this world. -Notyei has he been manifested. In- who shall Ik- in the corruptible world’.

21 for those . . . there: 12 Slav. nm.but... troubled: LJ Slav. orr..

1 12 Slav. o:n. ‘again’.

2 So Kill.: 12 Slav, ‘who wills to live in the Hosh".

3 Eth. adds ‘hr said to me’.

4 f 2 Slav, vary in the details of this verse.

5 Kill, 'turned to’: 12 Slav, ‘commanded’, l hc emendation is derived from

6 rmzgauovftui in Ok.1- ii. 24.

7 he A seem io noj Is a uih 803

who forbade* von is he who is over6 the praises of the sixth heaven.:> And he who permitted'you is \ our Lord, t he Lord of the world, theloot'd Christ, who will in the world be called Jesus;8 but his nameyou cannot hear until you have left your body.

(> And he took me up into the seventh heaven, and I saw there a7 marvellous light and angels innumerable. ’And I saw there all theH righteous from the time of Adam. And I saw there the holy Abel9 and all the righteous. And 1 saw there Enoch and all who were, withhim.10 stripped of the garments ol the flesh; and 1 saw them in theirgarments of the world above, and they were like angels.11 standingit) there in great glory. Bur they were not seated on their rhroncs. and

11 their crowns of glory were not upon them. And I asked t lie angelwho was with me,12 Why have they received the garments, but not

12 the thrones and crowns? And he said to me. They will not receiveeither their crowns or their thrones of glory (although they see andknow non which of (hem will have the thrones and which thecrowns) until the Beloved descends in the form in which you will

13 see him descend. He will indeed descend into the world in the lastdays the Lord who will be called Christ after he has descendedand become like you in form;1' and they will think he is flesh and a

M man.H And the prince15 of that world will stretch out his handagainst the Son,16 and they will hang him on a tree and will kill13 him,17 not knowing who he is. And his descent, as you will see, will

* Kill, 'miwhon: is*: I .'Slav, read the verse*... is the angel vv hois over the angels(Slav. oin. ‘the angels’) of the sixth heaven who sing praises’.

So AB: (1 is our Lord’: 1/Slav, is the Son ot (iod\

" L‘ Slav. oni. 'the Lord of the world . .Jesus’.

®"10 I.: Slav. 'And I saw certain oft hr righteous’.

11 l.1 Slav. om. 'like angels'.

12 who was with me: L‘ Slav. 'and I said’.

1 ■* like you in form: B ‘as you will see’.

u Ktli. 1." and Slav, diilei widely in verses I - and 13. and all three are dilHeulr.Charles suspected a displacement in Lth. and would transfer the clause wilhiuBrac kets in verse 12 to follow ‘Christ* in \ersc 13 (\ . . called Christ, although theysee . . . crowns after he lias descended . ..'). iS So LJ Slav.: Kelt. ‘god’.

Ift Lth. ‘by the hand ofhisSon’: L2 ‘his hand against the Son of God (cp. Slav. \ ..on account of his Son will stretch out his hands against him’).

15 (the Son; and they . . . kil. him: Lth. ‘and they will lay their hands upon him andwill hang him on a tree'; LJ and he will kill hint and will hang him on a tree and willkill him’: Slav, ‘and they will hang him on a tree and he will kill him’.

l)i* hidden even from the heavens, so that it will not be known whoKi he is. And when he has plundered the angel ofdealh, he will ascendon the third day (and he will have been in the world for five17 hundred and forty-five days).'* Then will many of the righteousascend with him. whose souls do not receive their garments untillit the Lord Christ ascends and they ascend with him.19 Then willthey receive their (garments and their]20 thrones and their crowns,in when he has ascended into the seventh heaven. And I asked himju what I had already asked him in the third21 heaven. And he said to

21 me. Kvcrything that happens in that world is known here. Andwhile I was still talking to him. one of the angels that stood nearby,who was even more glorious than the angel who had brought me

22 up from earth, showed me a book22 and opened it, and the bookhad writing in it.2' but not like the writing in the books of this world.And he gave it to me. and 1 read it; and behold, the deeds of thesons of Israel24 were written in it, and also the deeds of others

23 whom you do {not) know,25 my son Josab.26 And I said. There isindeed nothing that happens in this world that is hidden in the

21 seventh heaven.27 And 1 saw there many garments stored up, and2,r> many thrones and many crowns. And 1 said to the angel, Whose2<i are these garments, and thrones, and crowns? And he said to me,These are the garments which many from the world will receive,28

Charles was persuaded that this clause was not part of the original, (hough hethought that the Kth. translator found it in hisGk. text since the idea is Gnostic.Both l.2 and Slav., however, omit it. although they have a much fuller text of versesIf) and Hi containing a dear reference to the Descent into Hell.

whose . . . with him: 1/ Slav, 'and he will send out his preachers into all theworld and will ascend into the heavens’.

20 I." Slav. om. “garments ami their’.

21 I.2 Slav, ‘first* (but see vii. 27).

22 Kth. ‘books’ (and plurals similarly throughout this verse).

2* I.it. ‘the b«xik was written’.

24 the sons of Israel: I.2 Slav. ‘Jerusalem’.

25 Kth. ’whom you know’; Slav, 'whom I do not know’; I.J ‘concerning which I

also was’. 26 LJ Slav. om. ‘my son Josab’.

21 K2 Slav, have an additional question at this point about the identity of the’more glorious’ angel, who is named in the answer as Michael (cp. verses 29 and

-12).

•K So Kth.: I.2 ‘lose’; Slav, ‘be robbed of. Both L2 and Slav, require that ‘the one’later in the verse be taken as a reference to the Antichrist.

805

who believe in the words of the Out* who is to be named.’"as I toldyou; and they will observe these things '" and will believe in them.'1and they will believe in his eross —for them are these garments stored

27 up.32 And I saw One standing, whose glory surpassed that o! all the

28 others, and his glory was great and wonderful. And when I sawhim," all the righteous I had seen, and the angels also I had seen,approached him. and Adam and Abel and Seth and all the righteouscame near him and worshipped him and praised him with onevoice; and I too sang praises with them, and my praises were as

29 theirs. And then all the angels cann* near and34 worshipped and

30 sang praises. And I3* was transformed again36 and became like an

31 angel. Then the angel who was accompanying me said. Worship

32 him; and 1 worshipped and sang praises. And the angel said to me.

33 This is the Lord of all the splendours you have seen. And while lie’7was still speaking I saw another glorious One like him. and therighteous came near him and worshipped and sang praises, and I3Hsang praises with them; but my'" glory was not transformed so that

34 J looked like them.40 Then the angels came near and worshipped

35 him. And I saw the Lord and a second angel, and they were

36 standing. But the second that I saw was on my Lord’s left. And lasked, Who is this? And the angel u ho was accompanying me said to me.Worship him. Ibr this is the angel ol the Holy Spirit, who is upon

37 you, and who has spoken also in the other righteous.41 And the eyesof my spirit were open, and 1 saw the Great Glory; but 1 could not

:'1 1,2 Slav, onv ‘who is to lx- named'.

So AC: B ‘observe his commandments*.

" So A: BC 'him'.

w AC‘but lor thou are stored up': M w hich lot them .ire stored up*. t.f Slu\ . <>m‘and they will observe .. . stored up'.

” And I saw One . . . 1 saw- hint: I,2 Slav. 'And l>cing turned I saw the Lord ingreat glory, and 1 feared exceedingly. And'.

M I? Slav. ‘And then Michael came near and worshipped and with him all theangels' (cp. verses 23 and 421.

” So 1.*' Slav.: Kth. ‘he'.

** So 1.* Slav.: Kth. oni. 'again'.

17 So Slav.. Kth. i' (l.2 »m. ‘while . . speaking ).

■’* St> Kth.; I.1 Slav. ‘he'.

’* Kth. ‘his', supported by I.2 Slav, ‘and he transformed not himself.

40 Kit. ‘transformed after the manner of their appearance*.

41 L2 Slav.. . Holy Spirit, who speaks in you and in all the righteous'.

806 The Ascension of Isaiah

then look upon him. nor could the angel who was with me. nor any38 of the angels I had seen worshipping my Lord. Vet I saw the3‘> righteous gazing intently upon the Glory.42 And m\ Lord (and theangel of the Spirit too) came near me and said, Privileged indeedyou are to have been allowed to see God. and privileged also,H) because of you. is the angel w ho is with you.41 And I saw how myLord worshipped, and the angel of the Holy44 Spirit too, and both

41 together gave praise to God.45 And then all the righteous came

42 near anti worshipped, and the angels came near and worshipped;and all the angels sang praises.40

X. And I heard then the voices and the praises that I had heard in

2 each of the six heavens-that 1 had heard as 1 ascended. And all thevoices and the praises were addressed to that Glorious One,1 whose

3 glory I could not look upon. And I heard and saw the praises which

4 were being sung to him. And the Lord and du- angel of the Spirit werej hearing and seeing everything.2 For all the praises which come upu from the six heavens arc not only heard but seen. And I heard the

angel, who was accompanying me. speaking lo me: and he said, Thisis the Most High, who sits enthroned above the heavenly hosts,3who dwells in the holy world and rests among his holy ones, whowill be called by the Holy Spirit through the lips of the righteous? the Father of the Lord.4 And I heard the voice ol the Most High,the Father of my Lord, saying to my Lord the Christ, who will be8 called Jesus,5 Go and descend through all the heavens: descend to

42 So L5: lah. 'upon dial One's glory’: Slav, 'upon his glory .

43 Lit. ‘Sec how it is given u» yon to see Go<l, anti Ixxauseofvou power (B adds ‘ofeOtlllng here ) is given lo the angel who is with vou ".

44 BCom. ‘Holy’.

45 ’Vaine near ... to God: 1/ Slav. Yame near (Slav. + ‘to them’) and theyworshipped (I. • ‘him*) and sang praises both together'.

46 There are a number of minor variations in verses 11 and 12 L/ Slav, againhave a reference to Michael (up. verses 2d and 2h).

1 Ami all... Glorious One: 1/ Slav. ‘And all were glorifying him’.

: L"' Slav. om. verses 3 and 4.

■' Lit. ‘the Most High of the high ones'.

4 L2 Slav, express the details of this verse rather didercntly: instead of‘will betailed’ they have ‘is praised',and they omit the father of the Lord'.

s 1/ Slav, 'tin* voire of the Eternal saying to the Lord Son'.

The Ascension of Isaiah <H()7

[he vault of heaven and to the world:*’ descend m the angel in Sheol;9 hut to Haguel you shall noi go.6 7 * * * 11 * * And you must translbrm yourself:u so as to be like all those who arc in the live heavens. And you musttake care to transform vourseli so as to be like the angels of thei 1 vault of heaven as well, and the angels also wh< > are in Sheol.* Andso none of tile angels of the world will know that you are Lord with

12 me of the seven heavens and of their angels. And they will not knowthat you are with me until with a loud voice I call to the heavens andtheir angels and their lights, right up to the sixth heaven, so thatyou may judge and destroy the princes and the angels and the godsof that world and the world itself over which they exercise

13 dominion.4 For they have denied me and have said. We alone are.

14 and who is there apart from us? And afterwards you will ascendfrom the angels of death to your appointed place:,Q and you will haveno need to translbrm yourself as you go up," for you will ascend in

13 glory to sit on my right hand. Then the prim es and powers of thelf> \vui!d;: will worship you. And l heard the (beat (dory1'giv ingthese commands to my Lord.

17 And so it was that when he had left the seventh heav en. 1 saw myIB Lord in the sixth heaven.14 IS Arid the angel who had accompaniedrne:s from this world was with me, and lie said to me, Understandthis, Isaiah, and watch.16 so that you may see17 the transformation19 and descent of the Lord. And I looked,,H and when the angels saw

6 descent! to the vault ofheaven and in die world: sc* A: B(: descend in die vaultof the heaven ol the world': 1. Slav, 'and yo.i will be in ihr world*.

but... go: I.* Slav. om. * who are hitlie Jive ... Sheul: L’out.

,f file lull. MSS diller in this verse and an agreed text is highly uncertain l.:Slav, have a much shorter and simpler text both in verse 11 and in verse 12.

'" And allerwards . • ■ place: AC And afterwards . from the gods of death

place’: II 'and when you have died and risen yon w ill ascend to jour tipftoi tiled place';Slav, ‘and when you are raised from the earth’; 1/om.

11 Lit. 'and you shall not translbrm yourscl: in each heavenI.2 Slav, expand the details here.

'■* So 11C: A 'him oi the ureal glory'.

'* L3 Slav. And men the Lord went out from the seventh heaven and descended

into the sixth heaven’.

IS ISlav. 'who was instructing me', and thru mu. iVoni this . . . and lie .

,s Lit. see’.

” So AC: B 'so that you may know'; L! Slav, 'what is".

’* LJ Slav. uni. ‘And I looked' land so similarly at the liegiuniug of verse 20].

} U )8 7 he A scetts ion oj Isa iah

him. those in the sixth heaven gave him glory and praised him (lorhe had not hern transformed so as to look like the angels there):

20 and they praised him. and I also praised him with them. And I sawthat when he descended into the lift(1 heaven and transformedhimself in the fifth heaven to look like the angels there, they did not

2; praise him. for his lortn was like theirs. And then he descended intothe fourth heaven and transformed himself to look like the angels

22 there; and when they saw him, the\ neither gave him glory nor did

23 they praise him, for his form was like their form. 1And I saw againthat when he descended into the third heaven he transformed

24 himself to look like the angels in the third heaven. And those whokept the gate of the third heaven demanded the password, and theLord gave it to them, so that lie might not be recognized; and whenthey saw' him. they neither gave him glory nor did they praise him,

2*> for his form was like their form. And again I saw2'* that when hedescended into the second heaven, there again he gave the pass-word. for those who kept the gate demanded if and the Lord gave it

2t> to them. And I saw that when he was made like the form of theangels in the second heaven, they saw him and did not praise him,

2/ for his form was like their form. And I saw him again, when hedescended into the first heaven, and there too he gave the passwordto those who kept the gate; and lie made himself like the form of theangels who were on the left of the throne there, and they neithergave him glory nor did they praise him. for his form was like their

28 form. But as for me, no one questioned me because of the angel who

29 was accompanying me. And again he descended into the vault ofheaven w her e dwells the prince of this world.21 and he gave thepassword to those on the left; and his form was like theirs, and theydid not praise him there - instead, they were all jealous of oneanother and were fighting one another (such is the power of evil

30 there and of jealousy about things that do not matter22) .And I saw

L' Slav, summarize verses 23-28 (‘And he came into the third heaven and intothe second and into (he first, transforming himself in each of them, so that theyneither sang praises to him nor worshipped him, ior he looked like them. And heshowed the signs 10 the guardians of the gates as he passed through each of theheavens*). 2,1 So A: BC add ‘him’.

:i where . . . world — Kth. Slav.: I.‘oni.

22 So AC: B ran. 'about. .. matter’; L2 Slav. oni. 'instead . . matter'.

The .1 seem ion o/ Isa tah HO*)

that when lie descended and made himself like the angels ol theair,ill he looked just like one of them. And he gave no password, for eachone of them was busy cheating and doing violence to hisneighbour.2'

XI. And after this I looked, and the angel who was talking withme, who was accompanying me.1 said to me. Understand this,2 Isaiah, son of Amo/, lor this is why I have been sent by God.2 And Isaw clear! \ a woman of the family of the prophet David, whosename was Mary, and she was a virgin: and she was betrothed to aman whose name was Joseph, a carpenter (and he too was of thestock and family'of the righteous David, of Bethlehem in Judah::? and he had received her as his wife by lot4'. And when she wasbetrothed she was found to be with child; and Joseph the carpenter4 was minded to repudiate her. But the angel of the Spirit9 appearedin this world; and after that Joseph did not repudiate her, but kept’> Mary and told no one anything alx>ut it. And lie did not approachMary but kept her as a holy virgin, though a child was in herfi.7 womb. And he did not live with her Jor two months. And twomonths afterwards Joseph was in his house and Mary his wife;6

8 and they were alone together. And w hile they were alone, Mary

9 looked up and saw a little child; and she was frightened. And at

So l ah.: Slav, ’for tlurv did nut ask liitu Jor one': I.J 'and llicv sang no praises’.

: I,J Slav. <im. ‘who was talking . . accompanying me'.

2 So Eth. Slav.: L- 'the Lord-. LJ Slav, then give verses 2-22 only in suinmarv(\ .. sent by God) to show you all things, for no man before vou has seen, nor willany mar. after you be able to see. what you have seen and heard. And I saw one like ason of man, and he lived with men in the world, and they did not recognize him’).

i It tun. "and family’.

1 Lit. ‘and he entered into possession of his lot’, this curious statement isexplicable in the light of the tradition that appears in t in- Proleinni’etium of James (i\.I, xix. 1) that Mary had Iwreri brought up in the Temple, and that when stir wastwelve years old. all the widowers in the neighbourhood were assembled in theTemple, each bringing a rod, so that a sign from heaven through the rods mightindicate which of the widowers should lx* her husband. When, alter prater.Joseph's rod was handed back to hitn. a dove flew out of it and settled on his head.

5 So AC: B 'Holy Spirit’.

* So AC (though in A it has been almost completely erased): 11 'betrothed'.

810

The Ascension of Isaiah

that very moment7 her womh was found" as it had been bclure she

10 had conceived. And when her husband" Joseph said to her. What isit that has frightened you?. his eyes were opened and he saw theinfant and praised the Lord, because he realized that God had conic

11 into what was his.10 And there came a voice to them. Tell no one

12 abotil this vision. Yet the story of the infant spread through Beth-el lehcm. There were some who said. Marv tin- virgin lias home a11 child less than two months after she was married. And many said.

She has not borne a child, for no midwife has attended /w?r, and wehave heard no cries of labour pains. And they were all kept fromrecognizing who he was: they all knew about him: but they did not1 ;> know where lie came from. And they" took him and went tolb Nazareth in Galilee.t£ And I saw, Hezekiah and soil Josab (and Isay this also to the other prophets who are standing by1’} - / sawthat the whole of this was hidden from all the heavens and from alli? the princes and from all the gods of this world.14 And I saw how asa babe at Nazareth he sucked the breast like any other babe,15 inIK order not to be recognized. And when he was grown up, great werehis marvels and wonders in the land of Israel and at Jerusalem.1?> And then the Enemy, in a lit of jealousy, roused the sons of Israelagainst him (not knowing who he was), and they handed him overto the king and crucified him; and he descended to the angel of20,21 Sheol.lt> In Jerusalem then I saw him hanging upon a cross. And soalso after the third day I saw: him rise again anti remain on earth forseveral days.” (And the angel who was accompanying me said,

22 Understand this, Isaiah.) And f saw him when he sent out the

23 twelve apostles and ascended. And I saw him, and he was in thevault of heaven,1" but he had not transformed himself; arid all the

' Lit. And after slit* was frightened'.

M So A: BC ‘she found her womb'.

" her h us band = AC (but erased in Ah |5mn.

ll> Lit. ‘into his portion'. ' i.e. Joseph and Mary.

12 B om.‘in Galilee’. 11 Lit. 'who are there’.

“ So AC: B 'and from him who is oh this world’.

15 Lit.. . breast, ami it was ac cording to custom'.

16 Descent ho the angel of Sheaf is mentioned in (. ii. !W.

17 So AB: C ‘lor Ibrty days'. Cp. is. 1 b.

JK .And I saw him (BC um.) .. . vault nlhea\ rn: I.2 Sla\. ‘Aral I saw him ascendinginto the \ anil of heaven".

The Ascension of Isaiah

HI 1

angels of the vault and Satan1* saw him. and they worshipped.’"

24 And there was mueh lamentation there as’1 they said. How was itthat our Lord descended into our midst” and we did not perceivethe glory which was upon him and which w e see has been upon him

2f> from the sixth heaven? And he ascended into the second heaven;2-'

■2ti and he did not transform himself. But all the angels who were onthe right and on the left and the throne in the middle both worship-ped him and praised him; and they said. How was it that our Lordwas hidden from us while he was descending and we did not

27 perceive his glory?2* And so too he ascended into the third heaven;

28 and they praised him and said the same. And in the fourth heaven

29 and also in the fifth they said precisely the same. But now theycould all see him in his true glory, for he did not transform

30 himself.2' And I saw that when he ascended into the sixth heaven

31 they worshipped him and praised him. And in every heaven the

32 praises increased. And I saw how he ascended into the seventhheaven and all the righteous and all the angels2** praised him; andthen I saw him sit down on the right hand of the Great Glory,27

33 w hose glory I told you 1 was not able to look upon.28 And I saw also

31 the angel of the Holy Spirit2* silting on the left hand. And this angel

said to me, Isaiah, son of Amo/.. 1 set you free; ’0 for you have seen

'* I.* Slav. om. "and Satan*.

and they worshipped = AC: B om.; I.-' Slav , and they feared greatly andworshipped*. f * Slav. om. there was . as'.

" Bill, 'upon us*; I.: in our midst’; Slav, 'in the midst*. Built I.; and Slav,continue ’and we did not recognize the king of glory* tomitting “which... heaven ).

*■* L* Slav. 'And from the first heaven he ascended more glorious'; Sah. 'Anil he]ascended into the lir[.»/ heaetu.

*4 I.- Slav. 'How did you pass through us. Lord, and we did not see (Slav,'recognize') you. nor did we worship you/' Both then summarize verses 27-411('And thus he ascended into the second and the third and the fourth and the fifthand the sixth heaven’). Sah. agrees substantially with I.: Slav, against Kth. as far as'the fifth heaven' in the summary in verse 29. hut after this it approximates rathermore closely to Kth.

:s Lit. ‘But there was hut a single glory, and from it he did not change himself.

*6 So Kth. Sah.: L: Slav, add 'and all the powers'.

17 So B Sah. Slav.: AC 'ofhim*; I? om. ‘and then I saw . . (dory*.

28 So Kth. Salt.: I? Slav, ’upon whom {'which'?) I was not able to look'.

•9 So Kth.: Slav, 'the angel of the Spirit': LJ 'a marvellous angel'.

*° So Kth.: !.•’ Slav, 'it is enough for you': and then Kth. adds "for these are greatthings'.

812

The Ascension of Isaiah

3f> what no mortal man has seen before.” Yet you must return toyour garments oj the flesh until your days are completed. T hen willyou come up here.

‘its These things Isaiah saw and told them32 to all who were in

37 attendance, and they sang praises.33 And he spoke to king

38 Hezekiah and said. Thus have 1 spoken. And34 the end of the world

39 and all this vision will l>e fulfilled in the last generations.35 AndIsaiah made him swear that he would neither tell the people of

10 Israel nor give36 these words to any man to transcribe. . . . Andthen shall you read them?1 And keep watch in the Holy Spirit, sothat you may receive your garments and thrones and crowns ofglory, which arc stored upJoryou in the seventh heaven.3*

41 It was because of these visions and prophecies that Sam madSatan sawed Isaiah, the son of Amo/, the prophet, in two, using

+2 Manasseh as his agent. And Hezekiah entrusted all these things to

43 Manasseh in the twenty-sixth year.39 But Manasseh did not re-member them, nor did lie lake any notice of them; and so, bybecoming the servant of Satan, he was destroyed.

Here ends the vision of Isaiah the prophet together with hisascension.40

31 I.2 Slav, add Isa. Ixiv. 4 ax ij unfed by Si. Faul ai I Cor. ii. 9: they then continue'And he said to me. Return . ..'.

So L2 Slav.: Kth. These things I saw. and Isaiah told them' (which wouldseem to be supported by Sah.).

}J So Eth.: L2 Slav ‘and when they heard these marvellous things they (I.2 +‘all’) sang praises and glorified God who shows such favour tu men’.

■* Ij Slav. oin. ‘and said . . . spoken. And .

3' 8 ‘at the Iasi day’.

16 L2 Slav. ‘And he lurbade them to tell.. . and to give’.

There must be a lacuna here since Isaiah is obviously speaking. The transla-tion follows AC. 1/and Slav, both have long and interrelated texts; but thcydonoihelp since both arc corrupt.

I.2 Slav, ‘in the heavens': they then add ‘And he finished speaking and wentout from king Hezekiah' and om. verses 41-43. Sah. would seem to have endedsimilarly, although it certainly read ‘in the seventh heaven’.

w B adds‘of his reign*.

40 So AC: B om. altogether; I.2‘Here ends the vision of Isaiah the prophet’; Slav,has a doxology instead.

THE PA RALE I POM ENA OFJEREMIAH

INTRODUCTION

The fact that texts of this work have survived in Greek, in Kthiopic,in at least three different Armenian recensions, and in more thanone Slavonic recension, suggests that it was known in antiquityover a wide area and enjoyed considerable popularity. Yet it seemsnever to have been either quoted or referred to by any of theFathers. Neither, apparently, does it occur in any of the Greek listsof apocryphal hooks.1 2 It does, however, find a place in both theArmenian and the Slavonic lists.

As a title, ‘The Paralcipomena of Jeremiah* represents an abbrevi-ation of what, to judge from the manuscripts, was the popularGreek title —‘The Paralcipomena of Jeremiah the Prophet*. And sosimilarly the Armenian and the Slavonic traditions. * Paralcipomena'(i.e. ‘things left out’), used absolutely, was the recognized title forthe Books of Chronicles in the Greek Old Testament; and, as aresult, the term gained a wider currency and came to be used,especially among those concerned with Biblical apocrypha, todescribe a new edition of a work already in existence, or, moreoften, a supplement to it - for example, in The Testament of Jobthe reader is referred lor further details atxml a more than ordinarily‘scurrilous attack' upon Job to 'the Paralcipomena of KliphazVAs we have seen, the Greek, Armenian, and Slavonic traditionsagree in calling our work ‘The Paralcipomena of Jeremiah’ (orsomething similar), but the Kthiopic tradition prefers as a title‘The Rest of the Words of Baruch’; and, since it was in its Kthiopicversion that the book first became known to the modern world, it

1 There is no reason to suppose that the Baruch pseudepigraphon'. whichfigures towards the end of the lists in Pseudo-Athanasius and Nicephoros, wasintended to refer to the Paralcipomena. No number of stichoi is indicated; and if areference to a work now extant was intended, it is far more likely to have been to theGreek Apocalypse of Baruch.

2 Test. Job xli. 6: cp. xl. 14 (sec above pp. 642 audG4l).

was only natural that it should initially hr grouped among theHarm'll books. Yet manifestly the book is primarily aboutJeremiah and not Baruch: Baruch is an important, but subsidiary,figure; and his importance lie's in his function as scribe (as in thecanonical Jeremiah). Furthermore, when numbers began to beassigned to the dilVercnl Baruch books < I Baruch. 2 Baruch.4 Baruch, 4 Baruch), there was inevitably confusion about whichbook was which, and particularly between the last two. I l one cameacross a reference in an author to 'I Barueh' without furtherexplanation, was it to he understexxi that the reference was to theParaleipomena ol’Jeremiah or to the (ireek Apocalypse of Baruch?()r, to put the question the other way round, il one wanted to referto the Paraleipomena should one call it ‘4 Barueh' (with M. K..James1) or ‘4 Baruch' (with R. H. Charles4)? In consequence, ithas become increasingly common to distinguish the two works byreverting to the use of the titles found in the ancient Creek manu-scripts, even though we cannot be sure in either case that thesetitles are original. (And it may be noted, too. that it has alsobecome much more common than once it was to speak of ‘TheSyriac Apocalypse of Baruch* rather than "2 Baruch').

The attention of the modern West was first drawn to theTaraleipomena by C. K. A. Dillmanu's article on the Old Testa-ment pseudepigrapha in the first edition of Herzog's Real-EncykbpddieJarprotestantische Theobgie und Kirche which appeared in.181)0.* Dillmann there described it as *a Christian apocryphon'.Six years later he himself published an edition of the Ethiopic text,which was translated into German by F. Pratorius in 1872. andagain by E. Konig in 1877; and so it became generally available.

An edition of the (ireek text was published by A. M. Ceriani in1888 on the basis of a single 15th cent. MS from Bra in Piedmont,supplemented by evidence from some of the Nlcnaca MSS of theEastern Church for 4 November (when the Fall of Jerusalem wascommemorated). These Mcnaea MSS preserve only portions ofthe text in an abbreviated and less pure form, so that, despite the

' M. R. James, Apocrypha Anccdota, ii (= TS V. i (Cambridge, 1897), pp. liii andIxxi). * R. H. Charles. APOTii. p. -171.

* J. J. Herzog, op. cit., \ ol. xii, p. 314.

1 he Paruleipomena of Jeremiah 81 :>

fact that there are additions here and there, they represent whatwould normally be called a 'short recension’: the title in them, isusually either ‘Narrative about the Capture of Jerusalem and theLamentation of the Prophet Jeremiah and concerning the Tranceof Abimeleeh’ nr a variant version of it.*

J. Rondel Harris’s edition of 1889 provided a critically con-structed Greek text (of the ‘long recension’), with an apparatusand full Introduction. In constructing his text Harris relied onthree Greek MSS (« = Cod. Braideusis A. F. ix. 31, loth cent. —Ceriani's MS; h — Cod. S. Sepuleri 31, I I th cent.; and r - Cod. S.Sepuleri (>, l()th cent.), the evidence of several of the Menaea('short recension’) MSS. and also of the Ethiopir version for whichhe professed a high regard.

Since Harris’s day a number of other manuscripts have come tolight belonging to both recensions; but few of them have as yet beenadequately examined. Moreover, the relationship between the tworecensions (if indeed, there arc only two), and the versional materialin its various recensions, is more than ordinarily complex, andlittle detailed work has so far been done to unravel the complexity .However, in the brief introductory matter to their pilot edition of1972 R. A. Kraft and A.-E. Purintin gav e a convenient list of allknown and ‘suspected’ witnesses up to that date, together with asuggested classification. With a commendable honesty they empha-sized that ‘all the materials presented here arc in every way provi-sional’. And it is clear that this statement is intended to cover notonly their list of available witnesses and their suggested classifica-tion of them, but their eclectic Greek text of the ‘long recension* aswell.

The scene of the Paraleipomena is set in Jerusalem both at thebeginning and the end of the Babylonian exile. Jeremiah goes withthe exiles to Babylon: Baruch stays near Jerusalem, lamenting itsdesolation; and Abimeleeh (i.e. the Lbed-mclcch ol Jcr. xxxviii.7-13), having been sent to gather figs so that he may not see the

* A lair specimen of this ‘short recension' text will Ik1 found in A. \nssilie\.Aneaiola Graeco-Byzanlim, i (Moscow. IB93), pp. 308-316. The text is from Vat.Barbe riiii 3 {a. 1497).

816 The Pa ra le ipomena oj jerem ink

impending destruction of the city, falls into a miraculous sleepwhich lasts for sixt\-six years. Since the Lord proclaims '1 willshelter him there until I bring the people back to the city’ (iii. 10),the sixty-six years of Abiniclech's sleep are presumably of signifi-cance in determining the date of the Return.

So, at any rate, Harris, who by identifying the destruction ofJerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 Be: with its sack by theRomans in AD 70, and adding 66, arrived at the date AD 186. Theauthor. Harris argued, was clearly a Christian, and in his opinion aJewish Christian, who was writing a Tract for the Times. After theSecond Jewish Revolt had been finally crushed in ad 135.Jerusalem, which had been a ruin for more than sixty years, wasrebuilt and renamed Aelia Capitolina. It was to be peopled exclu-sively by Gentiles, and an imperial edict prohibited Jews fromentering on pain of death. The Paralcipomcna points out that Jewscan evade this edict by forsaking Babylon (i.e. Judaism) andentering their rightful city (i.e. the Christian Church). The book istherefore ‘the Church’s Eirenicon to the Synagogue, at the time ofthe Hadrianic edict'.7

This view, accepted in its essentials by a number of subsequentscholars, notably by P. Bogaert in the Introduction to his transla-tion of the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, has not gone unchal-lenged. E. Schurer, for example, drew attention to a number ofwhat would seem to be distinctively Jewish features in the work;and later, G. Del ling emphasized the fundamental concern withthe fate of Jerusalem and the future of the Jew ish people, thereferences to the need tor social purity (vi. 13- 14, viii. 2-5) beingespecially significant in this respect. So. according to Dolling, it is‘a book for edification’, stressing the importance for Jews of theHoly City, the Temple, and the regular life o( praise and prayer;and it is to be dated at any time in the first third of the secondcentury AD.

If we take this last view we shall, of course, have to explain theChristian elements in the book as later additions. There is nodifficulty in explaining ix. 10-32 in this way {as does Dclling): ix.10—32 gives a circumstantial account of how Jeremiah was re-

7 J. R. Harris. The ResloJ Ike Words oj Baruch, p. 14.

The Paraleipomena of Jeremiah 81 7

stored to lift* three days after his natural death, how he prophesiedthe advent of Christ and what followed from it {including theexplicit reference to ‘the Son of God who awakens us out of sleep.Jesus Christ*), and how this prophecy provoked the Jews to stonehim; and it may well have been added as a suitable tail-piece inorder to Christianize an otherwise purely Jewish work.

But is the work, apart from ix. 10-32. purely Jewish? There are.in particular, several apparent reminiscences of the New Testa-ment. such as Jerusalem which is above* (v. 34; cp. Gal. iv. 2b}.‘teaching them to keep themselves from the pollutions of theGentiles’ (vii. 32; cp. Acts xv. 19-20). and ‘the true Light whichlighteth me* (ix. 3; cp. John i. 9). Are these examples to beexplained as genuine reminiscences of Christian writings on thepart of a Christian author? Or, are they Christian intrusions into aJewish document? Or, are they, perhaps, mere verbal coincidences?

If we are prepared to accept the l>ook as a unity and regard it asChristian throughout, the original language is likely to have beenGreek. If it was Jewish, apart from the later Christian modifica-tions. then it may have been written originally either in Greek, orin Hebrew or Aramaic. The mention of *Zar* as a god's name at vii.23 has sometimes been held to point to a Hebrew original, in-asmuch as zor is the common Hebrew word lor ‘strange(r)' or‘forcign(cr)\ But this argument is not conclusive. It cannot besupposed that the hypothetical translator into Greek did not knowwhat -<7r meant and therefore transliterated, since in the very nextverse he refers to Jeremiah's grief because bis contemporaries‘were invoking a foreign god* (vii. 2b). Nevertheless, ‘thou god Zar*is undoubted proof that the Greek text had a Semitic background,even if it was not a translation from Hebrew. And another piece ofevidence that tells in the same direction is the use of 6 7trdvo> lor‘the Almighty* at vi. 3. which accords with the practice of the latertranslators of the Old Testament (i.e. Aquila, Symmachus. andTheodotion), who normally render the Hebrew shaddai in this way.though usually without the article.

Finally, a number of contacts with the other apocryphalJeremiah or Baruch books deserve notice. Thus, the account ofJeremiah’s hiding of the Temple vessels at iii. 7-8 is paralleled orechoed, not only in 2 Macc. ii. 4-3, but also in Syr. Apoc. Bar. vi.

H18 7 he Pa raleipomena oj Jeiern iah

7-10. in the apncryphal I.ileofjereniiah in The lAves of the. Prophets*and in thcGarslumi Jeremiah Apocryphon' edited by A. Minganain the first volume of'the Wondbrooke Studies in 1927.4 Again, thestory of Abimclcch and his long sleep reappears in the JeremiahApoeryplionV0 and it is also apparently referred to in the Prologueto Gk. A poo. Bar. (i. 2). Especially important are die dozen or soparallels with Syr. Apoe. Bar., the more striking of which occur inthe same relative order in both books (e.g. Par. Jer. i. 1-2 : Syr.Bar. ii. 1-2; Par.Jcr. iv. 3-4 | Syr. Bar. x. IP; Par. Jer. vii. H- 12 fSyr. Bar. Ixxv ii. 19—2b']. Theoretically it is possible to explain theseparallels either by supposing that the author of the Paralcipornertaknew and used the Syriac Apocalypse, or that the author of theSyriac Apocalypse knew and used the Paraleipornena, or that bothauthors knew and used a common source. Among those who havediscussed the question, P. Bogaert preferred the first alternative,"and G. \Y. E. Nickdsburg the third.1'

It is perhaps also worth noting that the statement of die peopleafter Jeremiah’s prophecy ol the advent of Christ at ix. 20 (‘Theseare the very same words that were spoken by Isaiah, tin- son of

M Life of Jeremiah. 9-12 (Sec C. C. Torrcy. The Lives of the Prophets (“ JIU.Monograph Senes, i; Philadelphia, 1946), pp. 22 and 46).

u A. Vlingana. WoodbrookeStudies, i [Cambridge. 1927). pp. i2j-138and 148-233(= Bulletin oj the John Rj lands Library, \i (Manchester, 1927). pp. 329 .342 and332- 437): see especially pp. 171-173 ;=* Bulletin . . .. pp. 373-377). Theapocryphon had previously been translated into French by L. Amclincau in hisContes et romans tie ! '£gypte ihretienru. ii (Paris, 1888), pp. 97-1 hi. under the title‘Hisroire dr Id captivite de Babylnne'. Another edition ol the text, together with aFrench translation, was published by L. Leroy and P Dib under the title L'napoeryphe carchouni snr la captivite de Baby lone’, in Itevue de 1'Oritnl chretien, xv(Paris. 1910). pp. 2.V) 274, 398-409 and xvi (Paris. 1911). pp. 128-134. To whatextent tltis apocryphon should lx1 regarded as a completely separate work, and notjust another (though widely divergent) recension of the Paraleipornena, isdcbatcable.

10 A. Mingana. op. fit., pp. 167 and 185-187 (= Bulletin . pp. 371 and389-391).

11 As had previously, for example. R. H. Charles, The Apocalypse of Baruch(London. 1896), p. xviii.

IJ N'ickelsburg rightly points out in this connection that the author of 2 Mac-cabees claims to be dependent for his story of Jeremiah and the Temple furnishingson an extant written source (2 Macc. ii. i), so that presumably there were writtenJeremiah-Baruch traditions in circulation which antedated the Syriac Apocalypse.

819

The Paraleipomena of Jeremiah

Ainoz, when lie said. I beheld God arid the Son ol God ) showsacquaintance with a detail in the tradition of Isaiah's martyrdomwhich reappears elsewhere in Origen,11 in Jerome,14 and in theapocryphal Ascension of Isaiah.,s

Our translation is. in all essentials, a translation of the text asprinted by Harris, which, as explained abo\e. represents the ‘longrecension'.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

Creek

A. M. C ERI AM, Monument a sacra et prof ana, V. i (Milan. 1868).pp. 9-18.

J. REN DHL HARRIS, The Rest of the Words of Baruch: .4 ChristianApocalypse of the year 136 AD (Cambridge. 1889).

R. A. K.RAFT and A.-K. PlJRlNTlW, Paraleipomena Je.remiou ( =SBL Texts and Translations 1. Pseude.pigrapha Series 1: Missoula.

1972).

Ethiopic

C. F. A. DlLLMANN, Chreslomathia aethiopica {Leipzig, 1866).pp. viii-x and 1-13.

Armenian

S. HOVSEPHEANTZ, .4 Treasury of Old and New Primitive Writers.Vol. I (Uncanonical Books of the Old Testament; Venice, 1896).pp. 349-377.

Slavonic

N. S. TikHONRAVOY, Pamyatniki otrechennoi russkoi literatury. i (St.Petersburg, 1863), pp. 284-297 and 273-284.

15 Grig. In Es. hom. i. 5.

14 Hieron. Cummin Es. i. 10.

15 Asc. Isa. iii. 8-9 (seeabove p. 789).

820 The Paraleipomena of Jeremiah

A. N. P()P()V. Opisanie rukopisei i kalalog knig tserkovnoi pechatibiblioteki A. 1. Khludova (Moscow. 1872). pp. 406-413.

S. NoVAKOVK':. ‘Apokrifi jcdnoga srpskog cirilovskog zhornikaXIV. virka* in Slari tie. viii (Zagreb. 1876), pp. 40-48.

TRANSLATIONS

English

R. A. KRAFT and A.-K. Pi RINTL'N (as above].

J. ISSAYERDKNS. {.*11*0 7*. pp. 193-232 (Separate translations ofthree of the Armenian versions].

French

R. B ASSET, I.es Apocryphes Ethiopiens traduils en franytis. I. ljeLivre.deBaruch el la Ugende deJeremie (Paris. 1893).

German

F. PRATORIIS. 'Das apokryphisrhc Bueh Baruch imAthiopisrhcn* in Zeilschrift fur wissenschaftliche Theologie, xv(1872), pp. 230-247.

K. K( )\U;, *I)er Rest der Wortc Baruchs. Aus dem Aethiopischenubersetzl und mil Anmerkungen versehen1 in Theologische Studientind Kri liken. 1 (1877), pp. 318-338.

P. R l ksslkr. AjSaBT pp. 903-919.

GENERAL

P. B()(t A HR T. /. 'Apocalypse Syriaque de Baruch, i (= Sources chreliennes,no. 144; Paris, 1969), pp. 177-221.

G. DKI.I.INO. Judische Lehre und Frommigkeit in den ParalipomenaJeremiae (= Beiheftezur ZAIV, 100; Berlin, 1967).

A.-M. Denis. I PC AT. pp. 70-78.

J. - B. FREY. art. 1 Apocryphes de FAncien Testament’ in DBSup i,eols. 454—455.

L. GlNZBKRO, The Legends of the Jews, iv (Philadelphia, 1913),pp. 318-321 and vi (Philadelphia, 1928), pp. 409-411.

K. KoHLER. ‘The Pre-Talmudic Haggada, I. B. The SecondBaruch or rather the Jeremiah Apocalypse’ in JQR v (April1893), pp. 407-419.

paraleipomena of jeremiah

The Paraleipomena oj Jeremiah 821

G. \V. E. NlCKhLSBURG, Jr., 'Narrative Traditions in theParalipomena ofjeremiah and 2 Baruch’ in CBQxxxv (1978),

pp. 60—68.

P. Rilssi.KR, AjSaB2, p. 1828.

E. SCHORER, CjVZJC4 iii, pp. 898-395.

M. E. STOXK, ‘Some Observations on the Armenian Version ofthe Paralipomena of Jeremiah’ in CBQxxw [ 1978). pp. 47-59.

I. It came to pass, when the Israelircs were raken captive by theking of the Chaldaeans, God spoke to Jeremiah saying, Jeremiah,my chosen one, gel up and leave this city, you and Baruch, for I amabout to destroy it because of the many sins of those who live in it.

2 For your prayers arc like a solid pillar in the middle of it, and like a

3 wall of adamant around it. Get up now. both of you, and leave it,+ before the army of the Chaldaeatis surrounds it. And Jeremiah

answered, saying, I beseech thee, Lord, permit thy servant tospeak before thee. And the Lord said to him, Speak, Jeremiah, my

5 chosen one. And Jeremiah spoke, saying. Lord Almighty, will thoudeliver the chosen city into the hands of the Chaldaeatis. so that theking can boast, together with his hosts, and say, 1 have prevailed

6 against the holy city of God? No, my Lord: if it is thy will, let it be

7 destroyed by thine own hands. And the Lord said to Jeremiah,Since you are my chosen one, get up and leave this city, you andBaruch, for I am about to destroy it because of the many sins of

8 those w ho live in it. For neither the king nor his army will be able to

9 enter it, unless I first open its gates. So get up, and go to Baruch.It) and tell him what I have said. And then, get up both of you at

midnight,1 and go onto the city walls, and I will show you that11 unless I first destroy the city they will not be able to enter it. Andwhen he had said this, the Lord left Jeremiah.

D. And Jeremiah rent his clothes arid put dust upon his head; and2 he went in to the sanctuary of God. And when Baruch saw himwith dust sprinkled on his head and his clothes rent, he cried out

1 hit. "al the .sixth hour of the night'.

H'2‘2 The Para leipomena ofJeremiah

aloud, saying. Father Jeremiah, What is the matter with you?13 What sin have the people committed now? (And he said this because,whenever the people sinned, Jeremiah would sprinkle dust on his

1 head and pray for the people, that their sin might be forgiven. Thatis why Baruch asked him. saying. Father, what is the matter with

"> you?1) And Jeremiah said to him. See that you too rend yourclothes, but rather let us rend our hearts; and let 11s not draw waterfor the drinking-troughs, but rather let us weep and fill them withn tears, for the Lord will have no mercy on this people. And Baruch7 said. Father Jeremiah, what has happened? And Jeremiah said.

God is delivering the eity into the hands of the king of thek Chaidaeans, to take the people captive to Babylon. And whenBaruch heard this, he too rent his clothes and said. Father*> Jeremiah, who has told you this? And Jeremiah said to him. Staywith me here a little longer, until midnight.2 and you will learn thatl(» what 1 have told you is true. So they remained by the altarweeping.

(II. And when midnight came1 Jeremiah and Baruch went uptogether onto the city walls in accordance with the Lord's instruc-

2 lions to Jeremiah. And behold, a trumpet-blast sounded, andangels came forth from heaven with torches iu their hands; and

:J they stood on the city walls. And when Jeremiah and Baruch sawthem, they wept, saying. Now we know indeed that what we were1 told is true. And Jeremiah pleaded with the angels, saying, Do notdestroy the city yet, I beg you, Ijcforc I have had an opportunity tosay something to the Lord. And the Lord said to the angels. Do notdestroy the eity belorc 1 have spoken with Jeremiah, my chosenone. And Jeremiah said, Lord. I pray thee. bid me speak before thee.And the Lord said, Speak. Jeremiah, my chosen one. And.fi Jeremiah said. Behold, Lord, now wc know that thou art deliveringthy eity into the hands of its enemies, and they will earn off the7 people to Babylon. What should we do with the sacred things in thytemple and the vessels used in thy service? What wouldcst thou have

1 Lit. ‘What is it 10 you?'

; Lit. ‘until tilt* sixth hour oft hr night’.

Lit. ‘And when the hour of the nighi ranie’.

The I’araleipomena of Jeremiah 823

8 us do with them? And the Lord said to him. Take them and consignthem to the earth.2 saying. Listen, O earth, to the voice of him whocreated you in the abundance of the waters, who sealed you withseven seals in seven periods of time, and who will afterwardsreceive your beauty: guard the vessels of the service till the coining

9 of the Beloved One. And.Jeremiah said, I beseech thee. Lord, showme loo what I should do about Abimeleeh the Ethiopian, for he hasdone nianv kindnesses to the people, and to thy servant Jeremiah(i'or it was he who hoisted me up out of the muddy pit), and I wouldnot wish him to sec the city's destruction and desolation, and be

l() distressed about it. And the Lord said to.Jeremiah. Send him to thevineyard of Agrippa by the mountain road\ and I will shelter him

l! there until I bring the people hack to the city. And the Lord alsosaid to Jeremiah, Go with your people to Babylon, and stay with

12 them and preach to them,-' until I bring them hack to the city. But

IS leave Baruch here until I speak to him. And when he had said this.

H he left .Jeremiah and went up into heaven. And Jeremiah and

Baruch went into the sanctuary and consigned the vessels of theservice to the earth,4 as the Lord had instructed them, and theearth swallowed them instantly; and the two of them sat down and

13 wept. And in the morning early. Jeremiah sent Abimeleeh away.sa\ ing, Take^mr basket and go to Agrippa’s farm by the mountainroad; fetch a few figs, and give them to those of the people who arcill: on you be jov from the Lord, and may his glory rest upon your

10 head. And Abimeleeh went offand did as ho had been told.

IV. And in the morning early, behold, the army of the Chaldaeanssurrounded the city: and the great angel blew the trumpet, saying,Enter the city, army of the Chaldaeans, lor behold, the gate has

2 been opened lor you. So the king entered with his host and took all

S the people captive. And Jeremiah took the keys of the temple, andwent outside the city and threw them up in the fare of the sun.saying, I tell you, sun, take the keys of God’s temple, and guardthem until the day when the la>rd tells you what to do with them:

4 because wc have proved unworthy guardians of them and faithless

2 So ah: t: Kih. add ‘and in the altar'. Cp. versr 14.

' Lit. ’sta\ with them rvanyrli/.ing them’. Cp. v, 21.

4 So ah Kth.tcadds and to the altar'. Cp. verse tJ.

8 24

The Paraleipomena of Jeremiah

■\ stewards. And while Jeremiah was still weeping for the people, hef. and they were dragged oil*to Babylon But Baruch put dust on hishead, and sat down and uttered this lament, saying.

Why is Jerusalem desolated?

Because of the sins of the beloved peopleShe is delivered into the enemies' hands.

Because of our sins and the sins of the people.

7 But let not llie lawless ones boast and say.

Wc have been able to take Cod’s city by our own strength.You have indeed prevailed against her;

But it was because of our sins that we were delivered up.li And our God will have pity on us.

And he will restore us to out city.

But as lor you, you will not endure.1y Blessed are our lathers. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

For they departed from this worldAnd did not see the destruction of this city.

10 And when he had said this, he went out weeping and saying, O

11 Jerusalem, I leave you. mourning for you. And he remained,sitting on a tomb, while the angels came and told him in detailabout everything.

V. Now Abimelech had gone to fetch the figs and was bringingthem back in the midday heal;1 and he came upon a tree, and satdown in its shade to rest awhile. And he leaned his head on thefig-basket and fell asleep; and he slept soundly for sixtv-six years

2 without waking up. And afterwards, when he did wake up. he said.It is a pity I did not sleep a little bit more; 1 feel very drowsy,2

3 because I have not had enough sleep. Then he took off the cover

4 over the fig-basket and found the figs oozing sap. And he said, I;> would have liked a bit more sleep, because I feel so drowsy.2 But I

am afraid that if I do go to sleep. I might not wake up for sometime,and my father Jeremiah will be put out; for if he had not been in a

1 Lit. ‘you will not have life'.

Lit. ‘And Abimelech ietched the figs in the heat'.

2 Lit. ‘my head is weighed down'.

82')

t> hurry, he would not have sent me out to-day at daybreak. So l willget up, and go on in the heat - would that I could find somewhere

7 where there is no heat and daily toil!1 He got up accordingly, andpicked up the fig-basket and put it on his shoulders, and made hisway into Jerusalem; and he did not recognize it. neither his house,nor the district where he lived.4 nor amid hefind any ol'his relations.5

8 And he said. Blessed be the Lord, for f must be in a trance: this is

9 not the city. 1 am lost, for 1 t ame by the mountain road alter I woke

in up from my sleep. And because I was drowsy6 through not having

11 had enough sleep. I must have lost my way. h would be absurd to

12 tell Jeremiah that I got lost. And he went out some distance from thecity; and. looking at it. he saw the city's landmarks and said. This

13 is indeed the city, but I am lost. And he went hack again inside thecity, and searched, and discovered no single person that he knew.7

It And he said. Blessed be the Lord. I or a mighty trance has fallen on

15 me. And he went outside the city again, and remained there in

Iti deep distress, not knowing where to go. And lie put the basketdown, saying. I will sit here until the Lord takes this trance away

17 from me. And while he was sitting there, he saw an old man comingin from the country; and Abimclcch said to him, fell me, old man.

18 what city that is? And he said to him. Jerusalem. And Abimclcchsaid to him. Where is Jeremiah the priest, and Baruch the scribe,and all the people of this city, because 1 have not been able to find

19 them? And the old man said to him. Surely you must be from this

20 city yourself: otherwise why should you be thinking aboutJeremiah to-day and asking about him such a long time after he

21 went away? Jeremiah is in Babylon with the people; lor they weretaken captive by king Nebuchadnezzar, and Jeremiah is with them

22 preaching to them and instructing them.8 And as soon as

23 Abimclcch heard what the old man told him. he said to him. No oneshould insult anyone who is older than he is himself, and if youwere not an old man, I would laugh at you and call you mad to tell

' Harris's reconstruction on ihr basis nl'd and b\ rom.; F.th. is dearly corrupt.4 Lit. “nor place'.

’ Lit. ‘nor his own stock*.

* I.it. “And inv head tiring heavy’.

7 Lit. ’no one ol'his own people’.

* Lie “to evangelize them and instruct them in the word'. Cp. iii. 11.

82(i The Paraleipomena of Jeremiah

24 nit* that the people have been taken captive to Babylon. Kvcn if thecataracts tifhcavcn9 had descended on them there would not yet2f> liave been time for them to reach Babylon. For how long is it sincemy lather Jeremiah sent me to Agrippa's farm for a few ligs to give2t) to those of the people who are ill? I went olfand fetched them, andon (he war back in the heat I came to a tree, and I sat down to rest abit. and leaned my head on the basket, and went to sleep; and whenI woke up, I look oil the cover over the fig-basket, as I thought Ihave been rather a long time, and l found the figs oozing sap, as if Ihad just picked them. Vet you tell me the people have been taken27 captive to Babylon. So that you may know that I am telling you the2K truths come, look at the figs. And he took off the cover of the.30 fig-basket for the old man. And lie too saw them oozing sap. Andwhen the old man saw them he said. My son, you are a righteousman. and God would not let you see the city’s destruction; for it isGod who has brought this trance upon you. For. behold, it issixty-six years to the very day since the people were taken captive

31 to Babylon. And so that you may understand that this is true, mychild, look out on the countryside, and see how much progress thecrops have made, and you will realize that it is not yet the time lor

32 figs.'” Then Abimelech cried out aloud, saying, I will bless thcc,Lord God of heaven and earth, the repose of the souls of the

33 righteous in every place. And he said to the old man. What month

34 is it? And he said, Xisan; and it is the twelfth of Nisan." AndAbimelech picked out some of the figs, and gave them to the old man.and said to him, God will light your way to the city of Jerusalemwhich is above.

VI. Alter this Abimelech went outside the city and prayed to theLord. And lo. an angel ol the Lord came and led him back to where2 Baruch was; and he found him sitting on a tomb. And when theysaw each other, they both wept and kissed each other. And Baruch

v See Gen. vii. 11. viil. 2; 2 Kings vii. 2. I!»; Mai. iii. ID- in the LXX.

10 Both text and interpretation here are uncertain: but the translation attemptsto give the sense that seems to lx: required.

11 at> "Nisan, which is the twelfth month'; r "Isaac is this month'; Eth. "the twelfthol the month Nisan. which is Mijazja'.

The Paraieipornena of Jeremiah 827

looked up and saw the figs covered up in the basket; and he liftedhis eyes up to heaven and prayed, saying. It is God who rewards

3 his saints. Prepare yourself, my heart, and make merry, and rejoicewhile you are in your body’ - that is, in your house of flesh; for yoursorrow has been turned into joy. For the Almighty is corning, and

4 he will take you out of your body, for there is no sin in you. Revive.

5 my virgin laith. and believe that you will live. Look at this basket offigs; for lo. they arc sixty-six years old and they have not gone

6 mouldy, nor do they smell at all, but they are oozing sap. So will itbe with you. my flesh, if you do what you are commanded by the

7 angel of righteousness. He who has preserved the basket of figs, he

8 will preserve you again by his power. And then Baruch said toAbimcleeh. Get up, and let us pray to the Lord and ask him toshow us how wc can send word to Jeremiah in Babylon and tell himabout how you have been protected. And Baruch prayed, saying,O Lord our God, our Strength, the chosen Light which came forthfrom his mouth. I beg thee and bcsccch thee by thy goodness, the

10 great Name no man can know, hear the voice of thy servant, and letthere be knowledge in my heart. What wouldest thou that wc

11 should do? How can I send word to Jeremiah in Babylon? WhileBaruch was still praying, behold, an angel of the Lord came and

12 said to Baruch, Baruch, counsellor of light, have no anxiety abouthow you are to send word to Jeremiah; for to-morrow, at dawn, aneagle will come to you, and you can send him as a messenger to

13 Jeremiah. And write a letter, saying. Speak to the Israelites and sayto them, The stranger that is among you, let him be separated jromyou, and let this continue for fifteen days; and after this I will bring

14 you to your city, says the Lord. Whoever does not separate himselffrom Babylon, Jeremiah, shall not enter the city; and I will punishthem, so that they are not received back again by the Babylonians,

,16 says the Lord. And after saying this, the angel left Baruch. AndBaruch sent to the Gentiles’ Market1 2 and got some paper and ink,and wrote a letter as follows,

17 Baruch, servant of God, to Jeremiah, who is of the captivity thatis in Babylon, greeting. Rejoice that God has not allowed us to

1 Lit. ‘tern, tabernacle'. Cp. 2 Cor. v. 1.4.

J So r: ab ‘to the Diaspora of the Gentiles'; Eth. ‘to the street (or'market')'.

leave this body in mourning Tor the city’s desolation and humilia-

18 tion. Rejoice because the Lord has had compassion on our tears andremembered the covenant he made with our fathers, Abraham,

19 Isaac, and Jacob. For he sent me his angel and spoke these words

20 to me that now I send to you. These, then, are the words the LordGod of Israel has spoken, who brought us out of the land of Egypt,

21 out of the mighty furnace. Because you did not keep my precepts,but were arrogant and obstinate, I was furious and delivered you

22 in anger to the furnace in Babylon. If, then, you will listen to me,says the Lord, and do as my servant Jeremiah tells you,3-whoeverlistens I will bring back from Babylon, but whoever will not listen

23 shall become a stranger both to Jerusalem and lo Babylon. Youshall test them by the water of Jordan, and whoever w ill not listenwill be obvious enough: this is the sign of the great seal.

1.2 VII. And Baruch got up and left the tomb.' And the eagleanswered in a human voice and said. Hail, Baruch, steward of the

3 faith. And Baruch said to him, Chosen you are, you who nowspeak, out of all the birds of heaven; for this is plain from the light

4,5 in your eyes. 'Fell me, then, what you are doing here. And the eaglesaid to him, I was sent here so that you could send any message you

6 wanted by me. And Baruch said to him, Can you take this message

7 to Jeremiah in Babylon? And the eagle said to him. This is why I

& was sent. And Baruch picked up the letter, and fifteen figs from

9 Abimelcch’s basket, and tied them round the eagle’s neck. And he

said to him. I tell you, king of birds, go in peace, arid carry my

1U message safely. Do not be like the raven, which Noah sent out, andwhich never returned to him in the ark again; but be like the dove,which on the third occasion brought back a message to that good

11 man. So do you too take this message of encouragement2 toJeremiah and those with him, and fare you well: take this letter3 to

12 the chosen people of God. Even if all the birds of heaven gather

* Lit. \ .. Lord, by the mouth of my servant Jeremiah’.

’ So ab Eth.: c adds ‘and he found the eagle silling outside the tomb’. Clearlysomething has dropped out at some stage.

2 Lit. ‘this good message’.

3 Lit. ‘this piece of paper’.

round you, and all ihr enemies of truth set themselves in arrayagainst you, light them; and may the Lord give you strength. Flystraight as an arrow, without deviating either to right or to lef t, in

13 the strength of God. Then the eagle flew oil'with the letter andmade his way to Babylon, and he alighted on a tree outside the city

14 in an unfrequented spot. And he stayed there in silence untilJeremiah came by. accompanied by some others of the people,coming out to bury a man who had died. (For Jeremiah had askedNebuchadnezzar, saying. Give me a place where I can bury my

15 people’s dead. And he had given him one.) So they were comingout of the city and weeping over the dead man, and they came up towhere the eagle was; and the eagle cried out, saying, I tell you,Jeremiah, God’s chosen one, go and gather together all the people,and bring them here to hear the good news I have brought you

16 from Baruch and Abimelech. When Jeremiah heard this, he gavepraise to God; and he went offand gathered the people together,with the women and the children, and came where the eagle was.

17 And the eagle flew down upon the man that was dead, and he came

18 to life again (this happened so that they should believe). And allthe people were amazed at what had happened, saying, Is not thisthe God who appeared to our fathers in the wilderness throughMoses? Did he not then refer to himselfas if he were an eagle?4 Has

19 he not now appeared to us through this great eagle here?5 And theeagle said to Jeremiah. Gome, untie this letter, and read it to the

20 people. So he untied the letter and read it to the people. And when

21 the people heard il, they wept and put dust on their heads. Andthey said to Jeremiah, Help us, and tell us what we must do to

22 regain our city. And Jeremiah answered and said to them. Doeverything you have been told to do in the letter, and God will

23 bring us to our city. And Jeremiah also wrote a letter to Baruch asfollows,

Do not neglect, my dear son, to make petition for us in yourprayers that God may prosper our way till we escape from thecontrol of this lawless king; for you were found righteous beforehim and he did not let you come here with us, so that you might not4 Op. Exod. xix. 4; Drut. xxxii. 1U-11.

* Lit. \ .. Moses, and he made Imnselfin the form of an eagle, and appeared to usthrough this great eagle?’

set* the affliction that has befallen the people at the hands of the_’! Babylonians. For just as anyone who is anxious to do what he canfor a lather, whose only soil has to undergo punishment, will putsomething over the father's fare so that he cannot see the sonactually being punished and thus be mortified even more than hewas before, so God had pity on you and ditl not let you come toBabylon, so that you might not see the people's ailiietion; for sincewe came to this city we have been afflicted continuously, lor:*f> sixty-six years to the very day. For often enough when I have comeout of doors I have found some of the people about to be hanged byking Nebuchadnezzar, and they would he in tears, saying. Have•Jti mercy upon ns. thou god Zar.ft When 1 heard this I was distressedand made a double lamentation, not only because they were beinghanged, but also because they were invoking a foreign god. saying,1*7 Have merry on us. And I would remember the feast days we keptin Jerusalem Indore we were made captives. And when l re-membered them. I would groan and turn back to my house in•JH anguish and in tears. So now make petition in7 the place where youare. you and Abimelcch, on this people's behalf, that they maylisten to me and the instructions that I give them, and that we may■_»!> escape from here. For I tell you. the whole time we have been herethe Babylonians1* have pestered us and said. Sing us one of thesongs of Zion, even the song of your God. And we would answerthem. How can we sing to you, seeing we are in a foreign land?

:{<) And after thisJeremiah tied the letter to the eagle’s neck, saying,:tl Go in peace, and may the Lord watch over both oj them. And theeagle flew off’, and carried the letter, and gave it to Baruch. AndBaruch untied it. and he read it and kissed it. and when he heardV> about the distresses and afflictions of the people he wept. AndJeremiah took the figs and distributed them among the people whowere ill. And he remained there teaching them to keep themselvesfrom the pollutions of the Gentiles of Babylon.

So a and h. 'Z;ir is a transliteration of the common Hebrew word ^ttr —‘strange' or ‘foreign’ (Ibr its use in the phrase ‘strange god’ see Pss. xliv. 20 andIxxxi. 0). c reads ‘Sabaoih’. The Kth. MSS van,- between ‘Zar\ ’Sorin'.and ‘Sami'.

' Lit.‘In’(aec.).

" Lit. ‘they'. Cp. IN. exxxvii. 3.

831

VIII. And the day came when God led the people out of Babylon.

2 And die Lord said to Jeremiah. Get up. both you and the people.

and make your way to Jordan; and say to the people. He that is forthe Lord, let him leave behind what was done in Babylon- the menwho married Babylonian1 wives and the women who marriedBabylonian1 husbands. And let those who listen to you c ross over,and bring them to Jerusalem; but those who will not listen to you.

1 do not bring into it. And Jeremiah told them this; and they got upand came to Jordan loeross over, and he repeated to them what theLord had told him. And half of those who had married Babylonians1refused to listen to Jeremiah, but said to him. We will never leave

*> our wives behind: let us lake them back with us to our c ity . So theycrossed the Jordan and c ame to jerusalem. And Jeremiah stoodup. and Baruc h, and Abimelec h. and said. No one with a Babylo-

i; Ilian partner shall enter this city. And they said to them. Let usthen return to Babylon where we belong.’ And they went away.

7 But when they came to Babylon, the Babylonians came out to me etthem, saying. You shall not enter our city bec ause in your hatredfor us you left secretly: you shall not return to us for that reason.For we have bound ourselves by oath, in the name of our god. notto receive either you or your children. lx*rause you left us secretly.

8 And when they heard this, they turned back and came to a de-serted place some distance from Jerusalem; and they built a city for

5) themselves and railed it Samaria. And Jeremiah sent a message tothem, saying. Repent, for the angel of’righteousness is coming andwill lead you to your place on high.

IX. And those who were ol’Jcremiah’s party rejoiced and offered

2 sacrifice on the people’s behalf continuously tor nine days. On the

3 tenth day Jeremiah alone olfered sacrifice. And he prayed, saying,Holy, holy, holy, the 1 license of the living trees, the true Light whic h

4 lighteth me till I am taken up to thee, beyond the sweet voice of the

1 Lit. 'married from them'. After ‘Babylonians* in verse 1 the text nfr breaks oiland eoneltides with a collection of historical scraps, mostly derived Irom I and 2Ksdras (I.XXj.

* Lit. 'to Babylon, to our place".

two seraphim. and beyond the sweet smell of the incense of ther> cherubim.1 Michael, the archangel of righteousness, is my con-(> slant delight till he brings the righteous in.2 I beseech thee.Almighty Lord of all creation, the Unbegotten and the Incom-prehensible. in whom all judgement was hidden before these7 things came into being . . . And as Jeremiah was saying this,standing at the altar with Baruch and Abiinelech, he sank into aH death-like swoon.' And Baruch and Abimclcch stayed there weep-ing and crying out aloud. Jeremiah our father, the priest of God,!» has left us and gone away. And all the people heard their wailing,and they all ran to them and saw Jeremiah lying dead upon theground; and they rent their clothes and pul dust on their heads andH) made a bitter lamentation. And afterwards they made prepara-

11 tions to bury him. And lo, a voice came, saying, Bury not a manwho is still alive, because his soul is coming back into his body

12 again. And when they heard the voice they did not bun- him, butremained round his body4 for three days discussing, but not know-

13 ing, when he would rise up. And after three days his soul came backinto his body, and he raised his voice in the middle of them all andsaid. Glorify God, glorify God, all of you, and also the Son of Godwho awakens us out of sleep. Jesus Christ, the Light of all the ages,

14 the unquenchable Lamp, the Life of faith. After four hundred andseventy-seven years from now. he will come5 to earth; and the Treeof Life, which was planted in the middle of Paradise will make alltrees that arc barren bear fruit, and they will grow and sprout.6

15 And as lor those that have sprouted and boast and say, VVc havethrust out our topmost branches to the sky7-the Tree that is firmlyrooted will make them wither, tall though they are, and will bend

Hi their branches lo lhe earth. And it will make scarlet white like wool:

' So Kill.: ab '1 beseech thee beyond another sweet smell ol int ense’.

1 So ab: Eth. ‘I beseech thee lhat Michael, skilled in song (the ant'd of righteous-ness is he), may hold open the gates ol righteousness till they enter in’.

1 Lit. 'he became like one of those delivering up his soul’.

* Lit. ’his tabcrnaele’. Cp. 2 Cor. v. 1,4.

5 Lit. 'There arc. alter these times, other tour hundred and seventy-seven years,and he comes'.

* So ab: Eth. adds ‘and their fruit will dwell with the angels’.

7 Lit. 'We gave our end to the air’.

The Paraleipomena of Jeremiah <333

snow will be turned black; and sweet water will become salt.* in the17 great light of the gladness of God. And he will bless the islands, sot8 that they bear fruit by the word of the mouth of his Christ. Tor hewill come and go out and choose for hirnsell twelve apostles topreach the gospel among the Gentiles (I have seen him adorned byhis Father and coming into the world on the mount of Olives); and19 he will feed the hungry souls. While Jeremiah was saying thisabout the coming of the Son of God into the world, the people2() became incensed and said, These are the very same words thatwere spoken by Isaiah, the son of Amoz, when he said, I beheld

21 (iod and the Son oi'God. (Dome then: let us kill him, but not in the

22 same way as we killed Isaiah: let us rather stone him to death. AndBaruch and Abimclech were much distressed by this madness,especially because they were anxious for a full account of the

28 mysteries that he had seen. And Jeremiah said to them. Make nomove,9 and do not weep, for they will not kill me until I have told21 you everything that l saw. And he said to them, Bring me a stone.25 And beset it up and said, Light of the ages, make this stone become26,27 like me. And the stone assumed the likeness of Jeremiah. And they

28 stoned the stone, thinking (hat it was Jeremiah. And meanwhile hedelivered ail the mysteries he had seen to Baruch and Abimclech.

29 Then, with the firm intention of bringing his stewardship to an80 end, he went and stood in the middle of the people. And the stone

shouted out, saying. You foolish Israelites, why are you stoningme, under the impression that 1 am Jeremiah? Lo. Jeremiah is

31 standing in the middle of you. And when they saw him, they boredown upon him at once with many stones. And his stewardship

32 was fulfilled. And Baruch and Abimclech came and buried him;and they took the stone and set it up as a memorial to him, andinscribed these words upon it, This is tin1 stone that came to the aidof Jeremiah.IW

* Eth. adds 'and salt water will become sweet-.

* Lit. 'Be silent’.

a and b add ‘And the rest of tlic words of Jeremiah, and all his might, belief d.arc they not written in the Epistle of Baruch?'

THE SYRIAC APOCALYPSEOF

BARUCH

IN TROIH'CTIOX

References and quotations in patristic writers make it clear thatseveral other hooks, either attributed to. or connected with.Baruch were known in antiquity in addition to the Baruch of ourApocrypha and the Ixioks translated in the present collection,'rhus. we hear of: (1) a hook of‘Baruch', to which three MSS ofCyprian's Testimonia ascribe an otherwise unknown quotation ofsome twelve lines, which appears (in these MSS only) at Test. iii.29: (2) a hook, from ‘near the end of which' an alleged prophecy ofChrist's birth, mode of dress, death, and resurrection, is quoted inthe AUercatio legis inter Simonem Iudaeum et Theophilum Christiamm ofthe monk Evagrius;1 and (3) a Gnostic lxxtk which is quoted anddiscussed at length by Hippolytus.2 But about these hooks we haveno further information. As books they have disappeared com-pletely.

The Syriac Apocalypse only narrowly escaped a similar fate. Forreasons at which we can but guess, it seems to have been especiallypopular in the Svriac-speaking churches of the East and on occa-sion to have been included in the Syriac Bible. Normally, however,only chaps. Ixxviii— Ixxxvi were included in the Bible; and thesechapters appeared as an independent work, with the title ‘TheEpistle of Baruch', or something similar, and with no hint that theywere an extract. It thus came about that, although the ‘Epistle'was well known to the modern world because it was found in a

1 See (.'SKI. xlv (Vienna, p. lit. The possibility tliai ibis book is to In-

identified with The Paralripomrna of Jeremiah (which lias a prophec y of thecoming of Christ in the middle of the final chapter: sec Par. (or. ix. 13-1H) wouldseem to be ruled out by the fact that the words quoted by 'Thcophilus' are not foundthere. However, the whole section Par.Jcr. ix. 10-32 is easily detachable (scealx)vepp. HM>— 7). and it may he that ‘Thcophilus' was quoting from a different recension.

* Hippolyt. Phitosoph. v. 24-27.

The Syriac Apocalypse oj Baruch

Kid

number of Syriac Biblical MSS, the book as a whole was lost untilA. M. Ceriani discovered it in the mid-nincteenth-ccntury in thenow famous sixth-century MS of the Bible in the AmbrosianLibrary at Milan (Cod. B. 21 Ini'). Ceriani published first a Latintranslation in I8fifi.1 and then the Syriac text itself in 1871. Aphoto-lithographic facsimile of the complete Ambrosian MS fol-lowed in 187(>-1883. Another edition of the text of the Apocalypseonly was published by M. Kmosko in 1907 {with a Latin Introduc-tion and translation), and yet another, by S. Dedering, in 1973.

The title of the book in the MS states that the Syriac wastranslated from the Greek. Whether this statement goes back to thetranslator, or was inserted by a later copyist or editor, it is imposs-ible to say. But there is no reason to doubt its truth. All the internalevidence is in favour of it; and the discovery at Oxvrhynchus in1897 of a fragmentary leaf from a fourth or fifth-century Greekcodex, containing xii. l-xiii. 2 and xiii. ll-xiv. 3, proves theexistence at one time of at least a Greek version.*

The earlier critics all assumed that Greek was the language inwhich the book was written. R. H. Charles questioned this assump-tion and argued in favour of a Hebrew original; and his argumentswere for many years very widely accepted. Subsequently, however,P. Bogaert questioned Charles's arguments; none of the suggestedinstances of mistranslation, Bogaert maintained, on which Charleshad mainly relied to support his case, are at all compelling; and forBogaert the hypothesis of an original in Greek, addressed in allprobability to the Jewish Dispersion is equally plausible.

And similarly with regard to the unity of the book. Charlesclaimed to have identified no less than six separate sources, sometaking an optimistic view of Israel’s future in the world and somethe reverse, while some presupposed that Jerusalem was stillstanding (and were therefore to be dated before AD 70) and some

•* In Monumrnla sacra ft prof ana, 1 ii. pp. t—iv and 73-98.

* S» far as the possible existence of versions in other languages is concerned. P. S.van Koningsveld (‘An Arabic Manuscript of the Apocalypse of Baruch' in TheJournal Jor iht Study of Judaism, vi (1975). pp. 205-207) has drawn attention to theexistence of an Arabic version in a Mt. Sinai MS (no. 589 in A. S. Aliya's hand list),which is especially interesting because it is clearly not a direct translation of theSyriac text as given in the Ambrosian MS.

837

The Syriac Apocalypse oj Baruch

presupposed that it had already been destroyed (and were there-fore to be dated after AD 70). These six sources. Charles suggested,were assembled, and in many respects radically altered, by aneditor who worked round about \1) 100. Bogaert, on the otherhand, was impressed by the evidence of an underlying plan in thebook, and in consequence was concerned to stress its literary unity.Inconsistencies there certainly are: it is also possible that some ofthem may be accounted for by the use of different sources, somebelonging to the years before AD 70 and some after; but that thesesources can be identified with that degree of precision whichCharles claimed, and the history of the composition of the hookreconstructed in such detail, is unlikely.

However. Charles's final date for the book as it stands (c. Al)100) is probably not far wide of the mark. B. Violet put it a littlelater -c. Al) 115. and thought it not impossible that F. Rosenthalwas right in seeing the author as a member of the circle gatheredround Rabbi Akiba atjamnia. Bogaert particularized even furtherand suggested as a possibility the name of Rabbi Joshua benHananiah (c. AD 40-125).

At all events, the author was not a Christian; for the book showsno trace of Christian influence of any kind. He was unmistakeablya Jew, who was living in the difficult times following the destruc-tion of Jerusalem in Al) 70, whose general outlook was essentiallytraditional, and whose main concern was to give his dispiritedco-rcligionists. whether in Palestine, or scattered among theGentiles, a message of hope. Observance of the L.aw is his constantrefrain - 'Look at what has befallen Zion, and what has happenedtojerusalem . .. If von endure and persevere in the fear of him, anddo not forget his law, the times will change for your good, and youwill see the consolation of Zion’:5 the whole world will be trans-formed, the dead raised, and ‘those who have now beenjustificd byobedience to my law* will be glorified and attain ‘the world whic hdoes not die’.6 Moreover, the End is at hand, ‘for the youth ol theworld is past. .. the times have run their course and the end is verynear: the pitcher is near the cistern, the ship to port, the traveller tothe city, and life to its consummation’.7

6 li. 3.

5 xliv. 3. 7.

’ Ixxxv. 10.

Attention should he drawn to a number of parallels with theEzra Apocalypse (4 Ezra in the Vulgate and 2 Esdras in ourApocrypha) and also with The Biblical Antiquities of pseudo-Philo.*These parallels have usually been explained by theories of literarydependence on the part of the authors, cither on one or both of theother works as we know them, or on their sources. This may be so.But all three works seem to reflect the same background and theyare probably roughly contemporary. There is. therefore, no needto suppose that any one of them was directly dependent on theothers. All three were presumably written under the influence ofthe same traditions, ideas, and aspirations, and several authorsmay quite independently have given expression to them in Ken.-much the same words.9

Furthermore, it has been suggested that the words quoted from‘another prophet' at Ep. Bam. xi. 9 arc in fad a quotation from Syr.Apoc. Ixi. 7. If this is so the quotation will be the earliest piece ofevidence there is for the existence of the Syriac Apocalypse. Un-fortunately the date ofThe Epistle of Barnabas is, if anything, evenless certain than are the dates of the Ezra Apocalypse, of TheBiblical Antiquities, and of the Syriac Apocalypse itself!

The translation which follows is Charles's translation revised.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

Syriac

A. M. CKRIAXI, Monumenta sacra et profana, V. ii (Milan, 1871),pp. 113-180.

* Thr parallels with the Kzra Apocalypse will Ik found conveniently set out inG. H. Box, The E^ra-Apocalypse (London, 1912), pp. lxix-lxx. and those withpseudo-Philo in M. R. Janies, The Biblical Antiquities of Philo (S.P.C.K.. Translationsof Early Documents; Lindon, 1917). pp. 46-54. Parallels with The Paralcipomcna ofJeremiah are discussed above on pp. 817-8, those with The Greek Apocalypse ofBaruch are discussed below on pp. ‘XXI— I.

9 On the figure of Baruch generally in Jewish tradition and the legends attachedto his name sec L. Ginzbcrg, The Legends of the Jews, iv (Philadelphia, 1913),pp. 322-325 and vi (Philadelphia, 1928), pp. 411-413.

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch 839

, Translatio Syria Pescitlo Veteris Testaments ex codice Ambrosiano sec.

fere, vi, phololithographice edila (Milan, (1876— 1883).foil. 257a-267a.

R. H. CHAR1.es, The Apocalypse of Baruch, translated from the Synac. . .(London, 1896), pp. 125-167. [An edition of the text of‘TheEpistle of Baruch’ only - sec below.]

M. K.MOSKO, Patrologia Syriac a 1. ii (Paris, 1907), coll. 1056-1306.

S. D ED BRING, Peshitla. Part IV. fast*. 3 (Leiden, 1973), pp. i-ivand 1—50.

Greek

B. P. GRENFELL and A. S. Hint. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, iii(London, 1903), pp. 3-7 (no. 403).reprimed in

R. H. Charles, APOTn, pp. 487-490.

B. V IOLKT, Die Apokahpsen des Esra und des Baruch . . . [as below],pp. 219-220 and 222-223.

A.-M. DENIS, Eragmenta Pseudepigraphorum quae supersunt Graeca ( =Pl’TG iii; Leiden. 1970), pp. 118-120.

P. BotJAKRT, L Apocalypse syriaque de Baruch . . . [as below], i.

pp. 40-43.

TRANSLATIONS

English

R. H. CHARLES. The Apocalypse oj Baruch translated from the Syriac.Chapters I—LXXVIIJrom the sixth cent. MS in the Ambrosian Library ofMilan, and Chapters LXXl Ill- LXXXl'II - the Epistle of Baruch —from a new and critical text based on ten MSS and published herewith.Edited, with Introduction, Notes, and Indices (London, 1896).

, .4P07'ii, pp. 470—526.

, The Apocalypse of Baruch (= S.P.C.K.. Translations of Early

Documents; London, 1918).

French

P. BOCJAKRT, L\Apocalypse syriaque de Baruch, introduction. traductiondu syriaque el commentaire, 2 vols. (= Sources chrettenues, nos. 144—5;Paris, 1969).

H40

The Syriac Apocalypse oj Baruch

German

V. Rvsski. in K. K.ur/si:H./l/\!7’ii, pp. 402-446.

B. VIO J.KT, Die Apokahpsen des Esra anddes Baruch m deulscher Gestalt( = GCS Bd.32; Leipzig, 1924). pp. 203-336.

P. RI KSSI.KR. AjSaB2. pp. 55-113.

A. F.J. Kl.IJN in JSh-rZ V 2 (1976). pp. 103-191.

(»K\ KRAI.

W. B.AARS, ‘NeueTextzeugcndersyrisehen Baruchapokalypse'inITxiii (1963), pp. 476-478.

A.-M. Denis. I PC AT. pp. 182-180.

(). KisskKLDT, 077. pp. 027-030.

j.-B. Frf.Y, art. ‘Apocrvphes de I’Ancicn Testament’ in DBSup i,cols. 418-423.

L. GlN/.BERG, an. ‘Baruch, Apocalypse of (Syriac)’ in JE ii (NewYork, 1902). pp. 551-356.

L. (jRY, ’La date de la (in des temps scion les revelations ou lescalculs du Pseudo-Phi Ion el de Baruch’ in R BibI xlviii (1939),pp. 337-356.

J. H.ADOT. ‘La Datalion de /'Apocalypse synaque de Baruch' inSemilica, xv (1965), pp. 79-95.

J. RkNBKI. HARRIS, The Rest of the Words of Baruch (Ixmdon,1889), pp. 6—9.

Nl. R. James, ‘Notes on Apocrypha’ in JTS xvi (April 1915),pp. 403-405.

A. F. J. Kl.IJN, ‘The Sources and the Redaction of the SyriacApocalypse of Baruch’ in The Journal for the Study of Judaism, i(1970). pp. 65-76.

G. \V. K. NlCKI.ESBl’RG, Jr., ‘Narrative Traditions in theParalipomena of Jeremiah and 2 Baruch’ in CBQ xxxv (1973),

pp. 60—68.

\V. O. K. OKSTKRLEY, Introduction in R. H. CHARLES, TheApocalypse of Baruch (= S.P.C.K., Translations of Early Documents,London, 1918), pp. vii-xxxiii.

P. RI KSSI.KR, AjSaB2, pp. 1270-1272.

(syriac) apocalypse of baruch

The Syriac Apocalypse oj Baruch 841

F. ROSENTHAL I ier apakryphische Hitcher aus der Zeil ttnd SchuleAkiba's (Leipzig. 1885). pp. 72-104.

L. Rost, EATAP. pp. 94-97.

E. ScUL RKK, HJPTJCU. iii. pp. 84-94.

, (*jI ZJC* iii, pp. 505-415.

C. C. ToRRKY. AL. pp. 125-120.

B. VlOI.ET. Die Apokalypsen ... (as above], pp. Ivi-xcvi.

F. Xl.MMERMANN, ‘Textual Observations on the Apocalypse olBaruch' mJTSxl (1959), pp. 151 — 15(5.

The Book of the Revelation of Baruch, the sou of Xeriali:Translated from the Greek into Syriac.

I. And it came to pass in the twenty-filth year of Jeeoniah, king ofJudah, that the word of the Lord came to Baruch, the son of

2 Xeriah, and said to him. Have you seen all that this people aredoing to me, that the evils which these two tribes that remainedhave done are greater than those oj the ten tribes that were carried

3 away as captives? For the former tribes were forced by their kingsto commit sin. but these two tribes have of themselves been forcing

•t and compelling their kings to commit sin. For this reason I amabout to bring ruin on this city and on its inhabitants, and for atime it shall be taken away out of my sight; and I will scatter thispeople among the Gentiles, that they may do good to the Gentiles.5 And my people shall be chastened; but the time will come whenthey will seek prosperity once more.

II. I have told you this so that you may tell Jeremiah, and all those2 that are like you, to leave this city. For your deeds arc like a solid

pillar to this city, and your prayers like an impregnable wall.

UI. And I said, O Lord, my lord, have I come into the world for noother purpose than to see the evils of my mother? Surely not. my

2 lord. If I have won thy favour, take my life away first, so that I

3 may join my lathers and not witness my mother's destruction. I amcaught in a dilemma: I cannot resist thee; and yet I cannot bear to

842

The Syriac Apocal vpsc o f Baruch

\ watch the ruin' of my mother. Rut one thing 1 will ask of thee, * O■» Lord. What is to happen after this? lor if thou ties troves I thy cityand dost deliver up thy land to those that hate us, how will ther> name of Israel again he remembered? How will anyone proclaim7 thv praises? To whom will what is in tin law be explained? Is theuniverse3 to return to its original slate arid the world to revert toH primeval silence? Is the human race4 to be destroyed and mankind<■> to be blotted out ?5 And what is to Ixvome of all thou didst say toMoses about us?

IV. And the Lord said to me. This city shall be given up for a time,and for a time the people shall be chastened; yet the world will not

2 be consigned to oblivion. Do you think that this is the city about

3 which I said. On the palms of my hands have I engraved you? Thisbuilding, which now stands in your midst, is not the one that is tobe revealed, that is with nte now, that was prepared beforehand hereat the time when I determined to make Paradise, and showed it toAdam before he sinned (though when In* disobeyed w>-command-

4 ment it was taken away from him. as was also Paradise). And afterthis 1 showed it to my servant Abraham by night among the

r) divided pieces of the victims. And again I showed it also to Moseson mount Sinai when I showed him the pattern of the tabernacle

6 and all its vessels. And now it is preserved with me, as is also

7 Paradise. Go, then, and do as l command you.

V. And I answered and said.

So, then, I am to be held responsible tor /ion,1For thine enemies will come to this place.

And they will pollute thy sanctuary.

And the)' will lead thine inheritance into captivity

1 Lit. ‘to see the evils’.

; Lit. ‘I will say before thee'.

' 1 ext ‘ornament’, doubtless through a misunderstanding ot thr C»k. i<Oofio:.

1 Lit. ‘the multitude of souls’s Lit. ‘and the nature of man not again be named’.

' Lit. ‘So. then, I am to he guilty lor Zion', (diaries emended ‘So, then, I amdestined to grieve for /.ion’.

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch 843

And make themselv es masters of those whom thou hastloved;

And they will depart again to the place of their idols,

And they will boast before them.

And what wilt thou do for thy great name?

2 And the Lord said to me,

My name and my glory are to all eternity;

And my judgement will maintain its right in its own time.

And you will see with your eyes

3 That the enemy will not overthrow Zion,

Nor shall they burn Jerusalem,

hut they shall be the ministers of the Judge for a time.

4 Rut go and do what 1 have told you to.

5 And 1 went and look Jeremiah, and Iddo. and Seriah, and Jabish,and Gedaliah, and all the nobles of the people, and 1 led them outto the Kidron valley; and I repeated to them everything that had

6,7 been told me. And they cried out aloud, arid all of them wept. Andwe sat there and fasted until the evening.

VI. And on the next day the Chaldaean army surrounded the city;and when evening came, I, Baruch, left the people, and I went and

2 stood by the oak.1 And I was grieving over Zion and lamenting

3 over the captivity that had come upon the people. And suddenly apowerful spirit2 lifted me up and carried me over the wall of

4 Jerusalem. And I saw four angels standing at the four corners of

5 the city, each of them holding a fiery torch in his hands. Andanother angel began to descend from heaven; and he said to them,

6 Keep hold of your lamps, and do not light them till I tell you. For Iam sent first to speak a word to the earth and to put in it what the

7 Lord, the Most High, has commanded me. And 1 saw him descendinto the Holy of Holies, and take from it the veil, and the holy ark,3and its cover, and the two tablets, and the holy vestments of the

1 Cp. Ixxvii. 1ft.

1 Or ‘a strong wind’.

Text ‘ephod\

841

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

priests, and the altar ol incense, and the forty-eight precious stoneswith which the priest was adorned, and all the vessels of theH tabernacle. And he cried to the earth in a loud voice,

Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the mighty God,

And receive what I commit to you.

And guard them until the last times.

So that, when you are ordered, you may restore them,

And strangers may not get possession of them.

*.) For the time has come vvhenjerusalem also will be deliveredfor a time.

Until it is said that it shall be restored again for ever.

!() And the eartli ojjencd its mouth and swallowed them up.

VII. And after this 1 heard that angel saying to the angels that heldthe lamps.

Destroy and throw down the wall to its foundations.

So that the enemy cannot boast and sav,

We have thrown down the wall of Zion.

And we have burnt the place of the mighty God.

2 And the spirit restored me to1 the place where I had been standingbefore.

VIII. Then the angels did as he had comauded them: and whenthey had broken up the corners of the walls, a voice was heard fromthe interior of the temple, alter the wall had fallen, saying.

2 Enter, you enemies of Jerusalem,

And let ner adversaries come in;

For he who kept the house has abandoned it.

3.4 And I, Baruch, went away. And after this the Chaldaean armyentered and took possession of the house and all that was round

3 about it. And they carried the people off as captives: some of themthey killed; and they put Zedekiah the king in fetters and sent himto the king of Babylon.

1 Conjectural reading based on vi. 3. Text ‘And you have seized’.

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

845

IX. And I. Baruch, came, together with Jeremiah, whose heartwas found pure from sins, and who had not been captured when the

2 city was taken. And we rent our clothes and wept, and we mournedand lasted seven days.

X. And after seven days the word ol God came to me and said to

2 me. Tell Jeremiah to go to Babylon and support the people in their

3 captivity there. But you must remain here to share in /ion's deso-

4 lation;1 and I will show you afterwards what is to happen at the end.i of days. And I passed on to Jeremiah the Lord’s commands. And

he went away with the people; but I. Baruch, returned and sat infront of the gates of the temple and made this lament over Zion andsaid,

6 Happy the man who was never horn.

Or the child who died at birth.2

7 But as lor us who arc alive, woe to us.

Because we see the afflictions of/ion.

And what has happened to Jerusalem.

8 I will summon the sirens from the sea. and say.

Come you night-demons from the desert.

And you, demons and jackals from the forests:

Awake and prepare yourselves for mourning.

And take up with me the dirges.

And make lamentation with me.

9 Sow not again, you farmers;

And why, earth, should you yield your crops at harvest?

Keep to yourself your goodly fruits.

10 And why any longer, vine, should you produce your wine?

For no offering of it will again be made in /ion,

Nor again will they offer first-fruits from it.

11 And you. heavens, withhold your dew.

And open not the treasuries of rain.

And you, sun, withhold the brightness of your rays,

1 Lit. *.. . here amid the desolation of Zion'.

5 Lit. ’Or he, who having been born, has died’.

846

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

12 And you, moon, conceal the brilliance of your light;

For why should any light again be seen

Where the light of Zion is darkened?

13 And you, bridegrooms, go not into the bridal chamber,

And let not the brides1' adorn themselves with garlands;And let not the married women pray for children,

11 For Ihc barren shall rejoice above all,

And those who have no sons will be glad,

And those who do have sons will be in anguish.

If) For why should they bear children in pain.

Only to bury them in grid?

1C Or why, again, should men have sons,

Or why any more should a human infant3 4 be given a name.

Where this mother is desolate

And her sons are carried away as captives?

17 Speak not henceforth ofbeauty,

Nor talk of comeliness.

IK And you, priests, take the keys of the sanctuary,

And throw them up to the heaven above,

And give them to the Lord and say,

Guard thy house thyself.

For we have been found false stewards.

10 And you, virgins, w ho weave fine linenAnd silk with the gold ofOphir,

l ake quickly all these things and throw them into the fire,That it may bear them up to him who made them.

And the flame carry them to him who created them,

Lest the enemy get possession of them.

And I, Baruch, say this against you, Babylon,

If you had prosperedAnd Zion had dwelt in her glory,

Great would have been our griefThat you should be equal to Zion.

But now our grief is infinite

XI. .

2

3 Text ‘virgins’, who first (rightly) occur in verse If#.

■* Lit. ‘the seed of their kind’.

And our lamentation measureless;

For lo, you arc prosperousAnd Zion desolate.

3 Who will be the judge concerning these things?

Or to whom shall we complain about what has befallen us?

O Lord, how hast thou lx>rne it?

4 Out' lathers went to their rest without suffering,

And the righteous sleep in the earth in peace;

5 For they did not know of this present distress,

And had heard nothing about what has befallen us.

6 Would that you had cars, o earth.

And that you had a heart, n dust.

So that you could go and announce in Shcol,

And say to the dead,

7 You are happier than we who are alive!

XII. But I will tell you what is in my mind,

And I will speak against you, prosperous land.

2 The noonday docs not always burn,

Nor do the sun’s rays constantly give light:

3 Do not expect [and hope] that you will be always prosperous

and joyful;

And be not proud and domineering.

4 For without doubt in its own good timeThe divine wrath will awake against you,

Which now is restrained by patienceAs if by reins.

5 And when I had so said, I fasted seven days.

XIII. And after this, I, Baruch, was standing on mount Zion, and

2 lo, a voice came from on high and said to me, Stand up, Baruch,

3 and hear the word of the mighty God. Because you have beendismayed at what has happened to Zion you shall he kept safe and

4 preserved until the consummation of the times. And you shallserve as witness, so that if ever those prosperous cities say, Why

5 has the mighty God brought this retribution on us?, you can say tothem (you and those like you who have seen this evil), (This is the

H U! The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

evil) and retribution which has come on you and on your people inits appointed time, so that the nations may be thoroughly chastened.<i,7 And they will be waiting lor the end of it.' And if they say at thatli lime. When will the end of it be?, you shall say to them.

You who have drunk the wine that lias been strained.

Drink also of its dregs.

This is the judgement of the Kxalted One.

Who has no favourites.

For this very reason he once had no mercy on his own sons.

But alliicted them as if they were his enemies.

Because they sinned:

It) Thus were they chastened then.

That they might be sanctified.

] l But now, you peoples and nations, you are guilty.

Because you have always trodden down the earth.

And treated the creation shamefully:

For I have always showered my gifts upon you.

And you have always been ungrateful lor them.

XIV. And I answered and said, Lo, thou hast shown me thecourse of the times and what is to he alter these things; and thouhast explained to me that retribution, which thou hast described toJ me, shall come upon the nations. And now I know that there havebeen many sinners, and they have lived in prosperity and departedfrom the world; but there will be lew nations left in those times, towhom what thou hast said can be repeated. What advantage isthere in this? What worse evils than those we have seen come uponus arc we lo expect to see?

■I..r> Once again will I speak in thy presence. How have they profited,who were men of understanding in thy sight, and did not pursuepaths that led nowhere like the rest of the nations, and never said todead idols, Give us life, but always feared thee and followed thy<> ways? Lo! They have been carried off; nor because of them hast7 thou had mercy on Zion. Kven if others did evil, was it not due toZion that she should be forgiven because of the good things that

' Lit. ‘they will be expecting’.

819

'/'he Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

they did, instead of being overwhelmed because of the evil tilingsft the others did? But who, C) Lord, my Lord, can comprehend theworkings of thy judgement? Or who can search out rhe depths of thv9 way? Or who can trace the profundity of thy path? Or who candescribe thy unfathomable counsel? Or what man that lias everbeen born has ever discovered cither the beginning or the end of10.11 thv wisdom? For we all have been made like a breath. For as ourbreath comes up from inside us. and docs not return, but dis-appears. so it is with men:1 they do not depart this life as and whenthey would,2 nor do they know what will happen to them in the12 end. The righteous quite rightly look forward to their end. and theyleave their dwelling here without fear, because they have a store ofn good works laid up in thy treasuries. So they lease this worldwithout fear, and trust that they will artain the world which thouhi hast promised (hem. But as for us, our lot is hard:3 we suffer injury15 and insult now. and we can only look forward to further evils. Butthou knowest truly what thou hast done4 on behalf of5 thy servants:lor we cannot understand what is good as thou, our c reator, canst.

!<> And yet again I will speak in thy presence, O Lord, my lord.17 When of old there was no world, and no one to inhabit it. thou didstmake thy plan, and thou didst utter thy word, and immediately theIB works of creation stood Ik*fore thee. And thou didst say that thouwouldcst make man for thy world to he the administrator of thyw’orks, so that it might Ik* known that he was not made because of19 the world, but the world because of him. And now it would seemthat* the world which was made because ol us remains, but we, lor7whom it was made, disappear.

XV. And the Lord answ ered arid said to me, You are quite rightlyperplexed about the disappearance of man, but you are wrong in2 what you think about the evils that come upon sinners. When you

' Lit. "with the nature of men'.

2 Lit. 'according to their own will'.

' Lit. ‘woe to us:.

4 Or ‘made’.

5 Or ‘by means of.

I.it. ‘And now I see that’.

" Lit. ‘because of.

said. The righteous are carried oil', and the wicked are prospered;:i and again, when you said, Man cannot comprehend the workings of4 thy judgement - listen, and I will tell you: pay attention, and I will:> explain to you. Man would have had excuse for not understandingmy judgement, if he had not been given the law, and I had not0 instructed him in understanding. Rut now, because he has trans-gressed with his eyes open, on this ground alone (that he knew) he

7 must be punished. And as regards what you said about the righteous,that it was because of them that this world came into being, so also

8 shall that which is to come come into being because of them. For thisworld is for them a place oj strife, and weariness, and much trouble;but that which is to come will he a crown with great glory.

XVI. And I answered and said. O Lord, my lord, our years here1are few and evil, and who is able in so brief a time to acquire whatcannot be measured.

XVII. And the Lord answered and said to me, With the Most High

2 it does not matter whether a man’s life be long or short.1 For w hatprofit was it to Adam that he lived nine hundred and thirty years,

3 and yet transgressed the command that had been given him. Thelength of time that he lived did not profit him, but brought death

4 and shortened the lives of his descendants. Or in what way wasMoses the loser in that he lived only a hundred and twenty years,and yet, inasmuch as he obeyed his creator, brought the law to thesons of Jacob and lit a lamp for the nation of Israel?

XVIII. And I answered and said, He that lit the lamp took advantage2 of its light;1 but there are lew who have done as he did. Many ofthose to whom he has given light have preferred2 Adam’s darknessand have not rejoiced in the light of the lamp.

I..it, ‘the years of this time’.

Lit. ‘With the Most I figh account is not taken of much time nor of a few years’.

Or ‘He that lit the light received it from the Light’ (so Bogaert).

Lit. ‘have taken from’.

XIX. And hr answered and said to me. That is why hr establisheda covenant for them at that time and said, Hr hold I have set beforeyon life and death; and he summoned heaven and earth to witness

2 against them. For hr knew that his time was short, but that heaven

,i and earth would endure for ever. Yet after his death they sinnedand transgressed, though they knew that they had the law againstthem, and the light which nothing could deceive, and the celestial

1 spheres to add their testimony, and also me. Now so far as thepresent state of things is concerned, it is for me to pass judgement,so do not worry about them nor distress yourself because of what

5 has happened. For it is now the end of time that should be con-sidered (whether it is a matter of business, or of prosperity, or of

(> misfortune) and not the beginning of it. Because though a manmay have been prosperous when he was young, if misfortunecomes upon him in his old age. he will forgot all his former

7 prosperity. Conversely, though a man may have been the victim ofmisfortune when he was young, if at the end of his life he becomes

K prosperous, he will not remember his former misfortunes. Further-more. even if, from the day on which death was decreed againsttransgressors, every single man had been prosperous all throughhis life,1 and in the end had been destroyed, it would all have beenin vain.

XX. Behold, the time is coming when the days will speed on moreswiftly than of old. and the seasons will succeed one another morerapidly than in the past, and the years will pass by more quickly

2 than they do now. That is why I have now taken Zion away, so that

3 I may the more speedily punish the world at its appointed lime. Sonow hold last in your heart everything that I command you and

4 seal it in the recesses of your mind. And then will I show you the

5 judgement of my might, and my ways that arc unfathomable. Go,therefore, and purify yourself for seven days; eat no bread, drink no

6 water, and speak to no one. And afterwards come to this place,'and I will reveal myself to you, and tell you hidden truths, and give

1 Lit. *all that time'.

1 Lit. 'that place*. Presumably mount Zion (cp. xiii. i and xxi. 2).

you instruction about the course of the times; for they are coming,and there will be no delay.

XXI. And 1 went away and sat in a cave in the hillside in theKiclron valley, and I purified myself there, and though I ate nobread I was not hungry, and though 1 drank no water 1 was notthirsty; and I was there till the seventh day, as he had commanded2 me. And afterwards 1 came to the place where he had spoken with:i me. And at sunset my mind was beset by many thoughts, and Il began to speak in the presence of the Mighty One. And I said, Othou who hast made the earth, hear me, thou who hast fixed thevault of heaven by thy word1 and hast made fast the height of it bythy spirit, thou who hast called into being from the beginning of theworld things which did not previously exist, and they obey thee,j Thou who hast commanded the air by thy nod, and hast seen the(i things which arc to be as the things which have been already. Thouwho rules! in thy great design the hosts that stand before thee, anddost control, as with a rod of iron,2 the countless holy beings whomthou didst make from the beginning, of flame and fire, which stand7 around thy throne. To thee only docs it belong to do at onceh whatever thou dost wish. Thou makest the rain to fall drop by dropupon the earth, and thou alone knowest the end of the times beforet) they come: have respect unto my prayer. For thou alone art able tosustain all who arc, and those who have passed away, and those who

10 are to be, those who sin, and those who are righteous.3 For thoualone dost live, immortal and past finding out, and thou knowest

11 the number of mankind. And if in the course of time many havesinned, yet others, not a few in number, have been righteous.

12 Thou knowest the place which thou hast reserved for the end ofthose who have sinned, and the destiny of the others who have been

13 righteous. For if there were this life only, which belongs to all men,I t nothing could be more bitter than this. For what gain is strength

that turns to weakness, or plenty that turns to famine, or beauty

' Text 'in its fulness’: rp. Ps. xxxiii. 6.

1 I.it. ‘control in anger'.

-* Text ‘who arc jus lifted’. The text then adds ‘as living and being past finding out’- dearly a dittograph of the opening clause of the next verse.

15 that turns to ugliness? For the nature of man is always changing.

16 For what we once were, now we no longer are, and what we now

17 are, we shall not long remain. For ifa term had not been set for all.

18 their beginning would have been in vain. Hut do thou inform meabout everything that comes from thee, and enlighten me abouteverything I ask thee.

19 For how long will what is corruptible endure, and for how longwill mortals thrive on earth.4 and the transgressors5 in the world

20 continue in their pollutions and corruptions? In thy mercy issuethy command and bring to pass everything thou saidst thouwouldst, that it may be made known to those who think thy

21 patience is but weakness. And show to those who do not know thateverything that has happened to us and to our city up till now hasbeen in accordance with the patience of thy power, because lor thy

22 name’s sake thou hast called us a beloved people. So bring mortality

23 to an end now.6 Restrain the angel of death, and let thy glory appearand the might of thy beauty be known: let Sheol be sealed so thatfrom now onwards it may not receive the dead; and let the

24 treasuries of souls restore those that are held last in them. For therehave been many years of desolation since the days of Abraham andIsaac and Jacob, and of all those like them who sleep in the earth.

25 on whose account thou didst say thou didst create the world. Andnow show thy glory quickly, and do not put off what thou hastpromised.

26 And when I had finished this prayer I was completely ex-hausted.

xxu. And after this, behold, the heavens opened, and I saw avision, and strength was given me, and a voice was heard from on

2 high, and it said to me, Baruch, Baruch, why are you troubled?

3 What comfort is there for a man if he sets ofTon a journey by roadand never reaches his journey’s end, or if he goes by sea and never

4 arrives at the port he was making for? Or if he promises to givesomeone else a present and never docs, is it not equivalent to

4 Lit. ‘will the time of mortals be prospered’.

5 Or ‘those who pass away': cp. verse 9.

* Text ’Every nature, from now onwards, is mortal'.

5 robbery? Or ifhe sows seed in the earth, but docs not reap the fruit

6 from it in its season, does he not suffer a total loss? Or ifhe plants aplant, tan he expect any fruit from it before the regular time lor

7 fruit? Or if a pregnant woman bears a still-born child, is she not the

H unwitting cause of'her infant’s death? Or ifa man builds a house and

does not finish it by putting a roof on it. can it properly be called ahouse? Fell me that first.

1.2 XX1I1. And I answered and said, Indeed, no,OLord, my lord. Andhe answered and said to me. Why then are you troubled aboutwhat yon do not know, and upset by things you do not understand.

3 For just as you have not forgotten the people w ho now are. andthose who have passed away, so l remember those who are to

1 come.1 Because when Adam sinned and death was decreed againstthose who were to he born from him. then the number of those to beborn was fixed, and for that number a place was prepared wherethe living might live out their lives and the dead might be kept in

5 security. Thus, until that number is reached, no creature will liveagain (since my spirit is the creator of life) and Shcol will receive

f> the dead. And again, you are to be privileged to hear what is to

7 come after these times. For my redemption is near and is not as faraway as once it was.

XXIV. For behold, the time is coming when rite books will beopened in which are written the sins of all who have sinned, andalso the treasuries in which are stored the records of the righteous

2 deeds of all created beings who have been righteous. And then youwill appreciate1 (and many with you) the patience of the MostHigh in every generation; for he has been ever patient with all men,

3 both with those who sin and with those who are righteous. And Ianswered and said, But behold. Lord, no one knows how many arcthe things that are already past, nor how many there arc that are

4 yet to come. For I know only too well what has happened to us, butwhat will happen to our enemies 1 do not know; nor do I knowwhen thou wilt visit thy works.

1 Text 'so l remember those who are remembered and those who are to come’.

Lit. 'see’.

8.r>5

XXV. And he answered and said to me. You too will he preservedtill the time of the coming of the sign which the Most High will

2 provide for (hose on earth at the end ol days. And this shall be the

3 sign — when a stupor seizes those on earth and they are assailed by

4 all kinds of misfortune and adverse circumstances. And when theysay as a result of their sufferings. The Mighty One lias no longerany interest in the earth, then, when they have given up hope, thetime will come.1

XXVI. And I answered and said. Willlhe period of suffering that isto be continue for long, and will the ordeal last many years?

XXVII. And he answered and said to me. That lime will be dividedinto twelve separate periods,' and each one of them will have its

2 own special characteristics.2 The first period will sec the beginning

3 oft he troubles. In the second period will occur assassinations of the

4 great ones of the earth. In the third period the annihilation of many5,6 bv death. In the fourth period destruction by the sword.3 In the

7 fifth period famine and lack of rain.4 In the sixth period carth-8,9 quakes and terrors . . .* In the eighth period the appearance of many

10 spectres and attacks by demons. In the ninth period die falling of

11 fire from heaven. In die tenth period every kind of havoc and

12 oppression. In the eleventh period much wickedness and impurity.

13 And ill the twelfth period chaos resulting from the mixing together

14 of all these things. For although each of the periods of that time willbe marked off from the rest by its special characteristics, they will

15 ultimately all he mixed together and reinforce one another.6 For

1 Lit. ‘the time will awake'.

1 Lit. ‘twelve parts* (and similarly subsequently].

1 Lit. ‘each one of them is reserved for that which is appointed for it’.i Lit. ‘the sending of the sword".

4 Lit.‘withholding of rain'.s ‘In the seventh period . ..’ is omitted in the MS.

6 Charles thought verses 11 and 15 not only 'obscure' bill also ‘possibly corrupt".Me translated ‘For tthrsc parts of that time are reserved. aml+ shall be mingled onewith another and minister one to another. For some shall leave out some of their own.and receive in its stead frnrn others, and some complete their own and that ofothes. sothat those . .

85(> The Syriac Apocalypse oj Baruch

stunt will fall short7 in the calamities I hey bring and have theirdeficiency made up by others, while some will supply their full talethemselves and also make up lor what is lacking in others, so thatthose on earth in those days mat not understand that this is thefinal consummation.

1.2 XXVIII. Nevertheless, whoever is wise then will understand, forthe measure and reckoning of that time are two parts weeks or:i seven weeks.1 And 1 answered and said. It is good Ibr a man tocome to that time and sec what happens them yet it is surely better

1 that he should not come in case he fails. [Bur I will ask2 this also.f> Will the Inc orruptible despise what is corruptible and not care about

what happens to the corruptible, and concern himself only with<i what is not corruptible?]3 But if, Lord, what thou hast Ibrctold tome will assuredly come to pass, reveal this also to me. if I have' indeed found favour with thee. Will these things happen in oneplace or in just one area4 of the earth, or will the whole earthexperience them?

XXIX. And he answered and said to me, Whatever happens thenwill happen to the whole earth; so that all who are alive will

2 experience it. for at that time I will protect only those who are

3 found in those days in this land. And it shall be that when all isaccomplished that was to come to pass in the twelve periods beforethe end,' the Messiah shall then begin to be revealed. And

I Behemoth shall appear from his place and Leviathan shall ascend

Sense required 1>\ die context: text ‘increase'.

1 So literally. Charles thought interpretation impossible-. On various pos-sibilities see M. R. James’s note in The Biblical Antiquities of Phi In (London, |v>17),pp. 131-132. ; Lit. ‘say’.

1 Verses 1 and 5 break the connection of thought, and no account is taken nf themin I he context, ait hough some sort ot answer appears to he given to the question inxliii. 2. 4 Lit. or in one oi the parts’.

1 I ..it. 'in those parts’. We have taken the reference here to be u* the twelve

divisions ol the time of the Messianic woes (described in detail in chap, xxvii):

however, the reference could possibly l>e to the 'parts of the earth' mentioned in

xxviii. 7.

The Syriac Apocalypse oj Ba ruch <f> 7

from flic sea — rhose two great monsters I created on the fifth day ofcreation and have kept until then; and then they shall serve as food

3 for all that survive. The earth also shall yield its fruit ten thousand-fold; and on each vine there shall be a thousand branches, and eachbranch shall produce a thousand dusters, and each cluster pro-duce a thousand grapes, and each grape produce a cor of wine.

6 And those who have been hungry will rejoice; and. also, they shall

7 see marvels every day. For winds shall go forth from me hearingthe scent of aromatic fruits every morning, and, at the close oi day,

R clouds distilling a health-giving dew. And at that time the store-house of manna shall descend from on high again; and they shallcar of it in those years, because it is they who have come to the finalconsummation.

XXX. And it shall come to pass after this, when the time of thepresence1 of the Messiah on earth has run its course, that he willreturn in glory to the heavens: then all who have died and have set

2 their hopes on him will rise again. And it shall come to pass at thattime that the treasuries will Ik* opened in which is preserved thenumber of the souls of the righteous, and they will come out. andthe multitude of souls will appear together in one single assembly;and those who are first will rejoice, and those who are last will not

S be cast down. For each one of them will know2 that the pre-

4 determined end of the times has come, but the souls of the wicked.

5 when they see all this, will be the more discomforted.-' For they willknow that their torment is upon them and that their perdition hasarrived.

XXXI. And after this I went to the people arid said to them.

2 Summon all your ciders to me, and I will speak to them. And they

3 all assembled in the Kidron valley. And 1 answered and said tothem.

Hear, O Israel, and I will speak to you.

And give ear, you sons of Jacob, and I will instruct you.

’ Or 'adven t' ((> k. xoqottoia j.

1 [.it. ‘For he knows’.

5 Lit. ‘will waste away the more’.

8f)H The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

4 Forgol not /ion.

But keep in remembrance the anguish of Jerusalem.

.*) For behold, the lime is coming.

When everything that is shall become the prey of corruption.Anil he as though it had never been.

XXXII. But as lor you. if you prepare your hearts, and sow in themthe fruits of the law. it will he a protection to you when the Mighty2 ()no shakes the whole creation. For after a little while the building:t of /ion will be shaken so that it may be built again. But thatbuilding will not endure, but will after a time be razed to the4 ground.' and it will remain desolate until the appointed time. Andafterwards it must be renewed in glory and be made perfect for'» evermore. We should not. therefore, be distressed-’ so much over theii evil which has come now as over what is still to be. For there will bea greater trial than either of these two tribulations when the7 Mighty One renews his creation. And now. do not come near meH lor a lew days, and do not seek me out until I tome to you. Andwhen I had said all this to them. 1. Baruch, went my way; andwhen the people saw me going they cried out in dismay.' saying.0 Where are you going, Baruch, are you going to desert us. as afather might desert his children, and leave them orphans?

XXXIII. Are these the orders your companion, the prophet

2 Jeremiah, gave you when he said to you. Look after this peoplewhile I go and support the rest of our brothers in Babylon, who

3 have been sentenced to be held as captives there? If now yon aregoing to desert us too, it were better for all of us to die while you arestill with us.1 and that only then should you go away.

XXXIV. And 1 answered and said to the people. God forbid that 1should desert you or leave you. I am only going to the Holy ofHolies to inquire of the Mighty One about you and about Zion, in

1 Lit. ‘fx‘ rooted out'.

! Text has the active ‘cause griel".

1 Lit. ‘they lifted up their voice and lamented'.

1 Lit. ‘to die IxTure you".

859

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

the hope that I may get some further understanding. Alter this !will come back to you.

XXXV. And I, Baruch, went to the holy place and sat down amidthe ruins, and 1 wept and said.

2 Would that mine eyes were springs of water.

And mine eyelids a fountain of tears:

For how shall I lament for /.ion.

And how shall I mourn for Jerusalem?

4 Because in the very place where I now lie prostrate.

The high priest of old offered holy sacrifices.

And burned incense of fragrant odours.b But now our pride has turned to dust.

And our hearts' desire to ashes.

XXXVI. And when 1 had said this I fell asleep there; and I saw a2 vision in the night. And lo. a forest of trees planted on a plain, withhigh mountains and steep dills all round it: and the forest covered.1 most of the plain. And lo, alongside it there grew up a vine, andt from underneath it issued a softly-flowing stream. And when thestream reached the Ibrest it became a raging torrent, and its wavessubmerged the forest and in a moment uprooted nearly all the treesthat were in the Ibrest and undermined the mountains that werea round about it. And the topmost branches of the forest were laidlow. and the peaks of the mountains crumbled;1 and the waters fromthe stream increased more and more, so that nothing was left ofti that great forest but a single cedar. And when they had beatendown and destroyed and uprooted all the other trees that were in theforest, so that nothing was left of it. nor could the place where onceit had been be recognized, then the vine came with the stream, v eryquietly and unobtrusively, to a place not far from where the cedar7 was lying; and the stricken cedar found itselfclosc to the vine.2 AndI looked, and lo, the vine opened its mouth and spoke and said tothe cedar. Arc you not the cedar that was left of the forest ofwickedness, by whose means wickedness persisted and flourished

1 l.it. 'wore laid low’.

1 [.it. 'and they brought the cedar that had been east down to it’.

8 all those* years. and goodness never? You kept conquering whatwas not yours, and you showed no pity towards what was notyours: you kept extending your power over those who were fardistant from you. and those who were near sou. you held fast in thetoils of your wickedness; and always you carried yourself proudly

<> as if you could never be uprooted. But now your time has gone by

10 and your hour is come. So. cedar, go the way of the forest, whichhas gone be litre you. and Ik* reduced to dust like it, and let all your

11 ashes be mingled together. Recline now in anguish and take yourease in torment till your last hour comes, when you will come backagain and be tormented even more.

XXXVII. And after this I saw the cedar burning, and the vinenourishing; and all around it the plain was full of unfading flowers.And I awoke and got up.

XXXVIII. And I prayed and said, () Lord, my lord, thou dost

2 always enlighten those whose guide is understanding. Thy law is

3 life and thy wisdom the true guide. Explain to me. therefore, what

4 this vision means. For thou knowest that I have always followedthe path of thy law, and from my earliest days I hast* never turnedaway from thy wisdom.

XXXIX. And he answered and said to me, Baruch, this is the

2 interpretation of the vision you have seen. You saw the great forestwith high and rugged mountains round it - the meaning is this:

3 Behold, the time is coming when this kingdom, which once de-stroyed /ion, will itself be destroyed, and it will be made subject by

4 another that will come after it. And then, after a time, that kingdomalso will be destroyed, and yet another, a third, will arise; and thatalso will have the sovereignty for its time, and then it will be

5 destroyed. And after this a fourth kingdom will arise, which willprove far more tyrannical and savage than any of those that wentbefore it; and it will extend its rule1 like the forests on the plain, andit will hold sway for many years2 and exalt itself even more than the

1 Lit. 'and it will rule many time's'.

; Lit.'lor times'.

6 cedars of Lebanon. 1 ruth will be hidden by it, and all those whoarc polluted by iniquity will take refuge in it. just as evil beasts lake

7 refuge and creep into the forest. And when the time for its end hascoine, and its fall is imminent, then will be revealed my Messiah'skingdom,3 which is like the stream and the vine; and when that is

8 revealed, it will destroy4 the hosts that arc gathered round it. Andas for the lofty cedar that you saw.s the sole survivor of the lores t,and what you heard the vine saying to it, the meaning is this:

XL. The last leader of that time will be left a live after the rest of hishosts have been destroyed, and he will be put in fetters and takenup to mourn Zion; and my Messiah will charge him with all hisiniquities, and will enumerate all the evils his hosts have

2 perpetrated, and will confront him with them. And afterwards hewill put him to death; and he will preserve the remnant of my

3 people, gathered in the place that I have chosen. And his kingdom1shall stand for ever, until this world of corruption comes to an end

4 and the times appointed are fulfilled. This is your vision, and this iswhat it means.

XLI. Arid I answered and said, Who w ill take part in this, and howmany of them will there be? And who will be judged worthy of a

2 place in that world?1 Lor 1 will declare to thee my thoughts and ask

3 about what is in my mind. For I see many of thy people w ho have

4 rejected thy covenant and thrown off the yoke of thy law. Butagain, I have seen others who have abandoned their vanities and

5 fled Ibr refuge beneath thy wings. What is to happen to them, and

6 what will be their lot at the end? Can it be that everything theyhave done throughout their lives2 will be weighed, and they will bejudged as the balance tips?

■' Text ‘beginning’ (probably through a misunderstanding oi an underlying (Jk.doXti ~ either ‘beginning, origin' or 'first place, sovereignty').

4 Lit. ‘uproot*.

5 Or ‘And as tor the cedar you saw lying on the ground’ (cp. xxxvi. fi . .

1 See n.i to the previous chapter.

1 Lit. ‘worthy to live at that time'.

2 Lit. ‘Or perhaps the time of these’.

8ti2

XLII. And he answered and said to me. I will explain these things

2 to you as well. N’ou asked. Who will take part in this, and howmany of them will there be? Believers will receive the good things

3 they have been promised and scolfcrs the reverse. And you askedabout those who have embraced the covenant and those who have

4 abandoned it.1 The answer is this. Those who were at one timesubject to the covenant. and afterwards went off and mingled withforeigners of mixed descent - their former manner oflilc will count

5 for nothing. And those who started in ignorance but afterwardsfound the secret of life, and joined the people' set apart from otherpeoples - their former manner of life will count for nothing either.2

i> And time will succeed to time, and season to season, and one willrecive from another; and then, at the end. everything will becompared' according to the measure of the times and the hours of

7 the seasons. For corruption will claim those who belong to it. and

h life those who belong to it. And the dust will be summoned andtold. Ciive up what is not yours, and surrender everything you haveguarded until its appointed time.

XLII1. But you. Baruch, must apply your mind to what has beensaid to you, and understand the visions that have been shown you;

2 for many eternal consolations await you. For you will depart fromhere, and leave behind you the scenes now so familiar to you; andyou will forget these corruptible things and have no recollection of

:t what happens among mortals. So go and give your people their

' Lit. ‘those who have drawn near and those who have none away'.

1 '[‘ext ‘the peoples'.

: l he whole of this passage is obscure and verses 4 and "> are peculiarly difficult.We have taken our cue from Bogacrt, whose translation not only makes good sense,but also lias the merit of being in line with the doctrine of retribution formulated byhzekiel. Charles rendered the verses, 'As for those who were before subject, andafterwards withdrew and mingled themselves with the seed of mingled peoples, thetime of these was the former, and was accounted as something exalted. And as forthose who before knew not but afterwards knew life, and mingled only with the seedof the people which had separated itself, the time of these is the tatter, and isaccounted as something exalted' (= APOT ii, p. 502: his earlier version in TheApocalypse of Baruch, pp. 67-b8, has several significant differences).

1 So Charles: Bogacrt rendered ‘toules choscs deviendront egalcs’.

orders, and come back to this place; and afterwards fast sevendays, and then I will come to you and speak to you.

XLIV. And I. Baruch, went and came to my people; and I calledmy eldest son and Gedaliah, my friend.1 2 and seven of the elders of thepeople, and I said to them.

2 Behold. I go to my fathers.

And tread the way’ of all the earth.

3 Do not forsake the way of the law.

Bui guard and guide the people that are left.

Lest they forsake the commandments of the Mighty One.

1 For you can see that he whom we serve is just.

And that our creator has no favourites.

5 Look at what has befallen /ion,

And what has happened to Jerusalem.

<> For the judgement of the Mighty One will be made known

thereby.

And his ways, which though unfathomable, are right.

7 For if you endure and persevere in the fear of him.

And do not forget his law.

The limes will change for your good.

And you will see the consolation of Zion.

8 Because whatever is now. is nothing,

But what is to be will be very great.

9 For everything corruptible will pass away.

And everything mortal will disappear:

No memory of it will endure.

For it is defiled with evils.

U) What makes good progress now will end in vanity.

And what prospers now will shortly fallAnd be reduced to dust.

11 What is to be will become the object of desire.

And on what is to come will we set our hopes.

For it is a time that does not pass away.

1 TfXi ‘the Grdaliahs. my friends’.

2 I.it. 'According to the wav'.

12 '[’hr age* is coming, which abides for ever.

And the new world which does not turn to corruptionThose who own its sway:411 has no pity for those on the road to torment.

And leads not to perdition those who live in it.l;j For these are they who will inherit the time that has beenspoken of .

And theirs is the inheritance of the time that has beenpromised.

1 I These are they who have won lot themselves treasuries of

wisdom.

And with whom are found stores of understanding.

And have not turned their backs on mercy.

And have held fast to the truth of the law.

15 To them will be given the world to come;

Hut the dwelling-place of the rest (and there are many ofthem)

Will be in the abyss of fire.

1.2 XLV. So instruct the people as best you can: that is our task. For ifyou teach them, you may preserve them.

XL VI. And my son and the elders of the people answered and saidto me. Does the Mighty One wish to chasten us so much that he is

2 prepared to take you from us so soon? Then we shall really be indarkness, and there will be no light at all (or the people who are left.

3 For where again shall we look for instruction in the law, or who willI show us the difference between death and life? And I said to them.

I cannot resist the will1 of the Mighty One: nevertheless, Israelshall never want a wise man. nor the race of Jacob a son of the law.3 Only make up your minds to obey the law; and be subject to thosewho, in fear, are wise and understanding, and determine that youti will never depart from them. For if you do this, the good things Itold you about before will come to you; and you will escape the

* Lit. 'hour*.

* Lit. 'those who walk in its beginning*. See n.’ u> chap, xxxix.

1 Lit. 'throne*.

7 punishment, about which I warned you. Hut I said nothing aboutmy being-taken up,1 either 10 them or to my son.

XLVII. And 1 dismissed them and went away, and I said to themas I went, I am going to Hebron, tor the Mighty One has sent me2 there. And 1 came to the place where I had been tolrl to go: and Isat there, and I fasted seven days.

XLVIII. And after the seventh day \ prayed before the Mighty Oneand said,

2 O my Lord, thou dost summon the times to come to thee.

And they stand before thee:

Thou dost cause the power of the ages to pass away,

And they do not resist thee:

Thou dost arrange the course of the seasons,

And they obey thee.

3 Thou alone knowest for how long the generations will

endure.

And thou revealest not thy mysteries to many

4 Thou makest known the might of fire,

And thou weighest the lightness of the wind.

5 Thou dost explore the limit of the heights.

And scrutinize the depths of darkness.

6 Thou dost decree the number of those who pass away and of

those who are preserved.

And thou prepares! an abode for those who arc to he.

7 Thou dost remember the beginning thou hast made.

And forget test not the destruction that is to be.

8 With frightening and formidable signs thou dost command

the flames,

And they change into spirits.'

1 Lit. ’taken’. This would most naturally he- understood simply as a reference toBaruch’s impending death, had he not already announced this in no uncertainterms at xliv. 2. The probability is that what is intended here is an ‘ascension’ or‘translation’ (as also at xlviii. 30), a sense welt attested in the ()ld Testament (Gen.v. 24; 2 Kings ii. 5,9; I’ss. xlix. 15, Ixxiii. 2 V; Eccius. xlviii. 9).

Or ‘winds’.

And with a word thou dost quicken that which was not.And with thy mighty power thou boldest back that which noryet has come.

9 Thou dost instruct created things by thy understanding,And thou teachest the spheres to minister in their orders.

10 Armies innumerable stand before thee.

And minister in iheir orders quietly at thy nod.

11 Hear thy servant,

And give ear to my petition.

12 For we arc born to live only lor a little while.

And very soon we go away.

13 Rut with thee hours are like an age,

And days as generations.

14 Be not therefore angry with man, for he is nothing.

And take no account of our deeds, for what are we?

15 For lo, it is by thy gift that we come into the world,

And we do not leave it by our own decision.

16 For we said not to our parents, Give us birth.

Nor did we send to Sheol and say, Receive us.

17 How then can our strength withstand thy wrath.

Or how can we endure thy judgement?

18 Protect us in thy compassion,

And in thy mercy help us.

19 Behold the little ones that are subject io thee,

And save all those that draw near to thee;

And destroy not the hope of our peopleAnd cut not short the times of our aid.

20 For this is the nation2 thou hast chosen,

And these arc the people without equal in thine eyes.

21 But I now' will sjx'ak before thee.

And tell thee what is in my mind.

22 In thee do we trust, for lo, thy law is with us,

And we know we shall not fall so long as we keep thy statutes.

23 For all time are we blessed in this at least,

That we have not mingled with the Gentiles.

24 For we are all one famous people.

: Text‘until’.

Who have received one law from the only CAnd the law which is with us will help us.

And the matchless wisdom which is incur midst will sustainus.

2.i And after 1 had prayed and said these things 1 was muchexhausted.

28 And he answered and said to me.

Your prayer has been plain enough, Baruch.

And all your words have been heard.

27 But my judgement claims what is due to it.

And my law exacts its rights.

28 In accordance with your own words will I answer you.

And in accordance with your prayer will I speak to you.

29 For the truth is. he that lias become corrupt is not at all:' he hasdone evil so far as he could do anything; and he has neither

30 pondered4 my goodness nor understood4 my patience. But you will

31 indeed he taken up,5 as I have already told you. And that time lhave also told you about will come, and the time of distress begin: itwill come and pass by with a sudden fury, creating havoc through

32 the vehemence of its onset. And in those days all the inhabitants ofthe earth will lean upon one another.4 because they arc unawarethat my judgement has come upon them.

33 For there will not be found many wise at that time.

And the prudent will Ik* but few;

And even those possessed of knowledge will keep silent.

3-t And there will be many rumours and numerous idle tales.

And uncanny things will be seen to happen,

And not a few predictions will pass from mouth to mouth:Some of them will prove unfounded.

And some will be confirmed.

35 And honour will be turned to shame,

' Charles described the text here as ’unintelligible’.

4 Lit. 'remembered .. . accepted’.

5 See n.1 to chap. xlvi.

* Lit. 'rest against caeh other'. Charles would emend be moved one againstanother’.

And strength fall into disrepute:

Confidence will disappear.

And beauty will become an object of contempt.

:s<) And many will say toothers at that time.

Where has discretion hidden itself.

And where has wisdom fled tor refuge?

M And while they are meditating on these things,

1'hose who had thought nothing of themselves will be seizedby envy.

And the even-tempered man will become a prey to passion:Many will be stirred up by anger to their mutual hurt,

And they will raise up armies to shed each others' blood.

And in the end they will perish all together.

And it will come to pass at that very time.

That it will he apparent to all that the times are c hanging.Because in all those times they polluted themselvesAnd oppressed the poor;

And each one of them went his own way.

And remembered not the law of the Mighty One.

:w Therefore a fire shall consume their thoughts.

And in the flame shall the plans they have made be tested;

For the judge will come and will not delay.

•in Faeh one of the earth's inhabitants knew when he was

sinning,

But because of their pride they would not recognize7 my law.

•11 But many will then weep bitterly

Over the living more than over the dead.

12 And I answered and said, O Adam, What was it that you did to allyour posterity? And what should be said to Eve who first listened to•lS the serpent? For all this multitude is going to corruption: innumer-able are those whom the fire will devour.

44,45 Vet again I will speak in thy presence.Thou, O Lord.my Lord,46 knowest what is in thy creature. For thou didst of old command thedust to produce Adam; and thou knowest the number of those whohave been born from him, and how much they have sinned beforethee — those who have been born and have not confessed thcc as

T Lit. ‘they did not know’.

The Syriac Apocalypse of Ba ruch 869

47 their creator. And. so lar as all these are concerned, ihcir end willconvict them, and thy law, which they have transgressed, willrequite them on thy day

48 But now let us leave aside the wicked and inquire about the

49 righteous. And I will recount their blessedness and proclaim8 the30 glory that is reserved for them. For without question, just as in this

transitory world in which you live, you have for a little whileendured much toil, so in that world, to which there is no end. youwill receive great light.'9

XLIX. But I will again ask of thee,O Mighty One.and beg mercy

2 from him who made all things. In what form will those live who live

3 in thy day, and what will they look like afterwards?' Will they thenresume their present form and pur on these entrammelling mem-bers, which are now involved in evils and are the instruments ofevils; or wilt thou perhaps transform what has been in the world, asalso the world itself?

L. And he answered and said to me. Listen, Baruch, to what I say,

2 and keep a record in your mind of everything you learn. For theearth will certainly then restore the dead it nov\ receives so as topreserve them: it will make no change in their form, but as it hasreceived them, so it will restore them, and as I delivered them to it,

3 so also will it raise them. For those who are then alive must beshown that the dead have come to life again, and that those who

4 had departed have returned. And when they have recognized thosethey know now, then the judgement will begin,1 and what you havebeen told already will come to pass.

8 Lit. ‘and not be silent in celebrating'.

* According to Charles verses 48— 30 arc a fragment of an address delivered b\Baruch to the people, and not to God. He found another fragment of this sameaddress (originally preceding 48-30 here) in liv. 16- 18, and vet another (following40-30) in lit. 5-7.

1 Lit. ‘and how will the appearance (or ‘splendour’) oi those alter that limecontinue?’

Lit. ‘will grow strong’.

870

The Syriac Apocalypse ojBaruch

LI. And after the appointed day is over, the appearance1 of thosewho have been condemned will be changed, as will also be the

2 glory of those who have been justified. For the appearance of the

3 evil-doers will go from bad to worse, as they sutler torment. Again,the glory of those who have now been justified through2 3 theirobedience to my law, who have had understanding in their life, andwho have planted in their heart the r<xtt ofwisdom - their faces willshine even more brightly and their features will assume a luminousbeauty,* so that they may be able to attain and enter the world

4 which docs not die, which has been promised to them then. Forover this, more than over anything else, will the others who comethen lament that they rejected mv law, and stopped up their ears,

5 so that they might not hear wisdom or receive understanding. Forthey will sec those who are now their inferiors in a iar better andmore glorious state than they are - for these will be transformed sothat they look like angels, while they can only contemplate in

6 horror the decaying shadows of their former selves.4 For they willsee all this first; and afterwards they will depart to their torment.

7 But those who have been saved by their works.

Whose hope has been in the law.

Who have put their trust in understanding,

And their confidence in wisdom,

Shall see marvels in their time.

8 For they shall behold the world which is now invisible to

them,

And realms5 now hidden from them,

9 And time shall no longer age them.-

1 So, by the change of a single diacritical point: text ‘pride’.

1 Or 'in’.

3 Lit. ‘their appearance (or ‘splendour’) will be glorified in changes and the formof their fare will be turned into the light of their beauty’.

4 Thai the initial punishment of the wicked is not only to witness the transforma-tion of the righteous, but also to appreciate to the full the serious deterioration intheir own condition, would seem to be the sense required in this most difficultpassage. Charles (perhaps over-file rally) rendered ‘they shall yet more waste awayin wonder at the visions and in the beholding of the Ibrms’.

* Lit.‘the time’.

871

The Syriac Apocalypse o f Baruch

H) For in the heights of'that world shall they dwell.

And they shall be made like the angels.

And he made equal to the stars;

And they shall be changed into whatever form they will.From beauty into loveliness.

And from light into the splendour of glory.

11 For the extent of Paradise will be spread before them, and they willbe shown the majestic beauty of the living creatures that arcbeneath the throne, and all the armies of the angels, who are nowkept back by my word lest they should reveal themselves, and arerestrained by my command, so that they may keep then places until

1 '2 the moment oj their advent tomes. Then shall the splendour of the13 righteous exceed even the splendour of (he angels. For the first

shall receive the last, those whom they were expecting, and the lastthose of whom they had heard that they had passed away.6

M For they will then have been delivered from this world ofmisery

And laid down the burden of sorrow.

13 For what then have men lost their life.

And for what have those who were on earth exchanged theirsoul?

16 For then they chose lor themselves this time,

Which cannot pass without sorrow:

They chose for themselves this time.

Whose issues arc full of lamentations and evils,

And they denied the wor ld which ages not those who come toit,

And rejected that time and the glory of ifSo that they cannot share in the triumphs about which 1 havetold you.

LII. And I answered and said, How can we forget those whose

2 future is punishment? And why, again, do we mourn for those who

6 The distinction here seems to lx* not between the angels and the righteous, butbetween the righteous who have already died and those who would not join themuntil after the resurrection: op. 2 Esdras v. 42; 1 Thcss. iv. 15 - also vxx. 1-3(above}.

3 dir, and weep for (host* who depart toSheol? bar better, surely, keepour lamentations for the beginning ot' that torment which is to be,

4 and reserve our tears lor (hedestruction when it comes. But on the') other hand - the righteous: what should they do now:' I would say,1(i Rejoice in the suffering you now endure: why concern yourselves7 about2 the downfall of vour enemies' Make yourselves ready for

what is reserved for you. and prepare yourselves for the reward laidup for you.'i

LIU. Anti when I said this I fell asleep there, and 1 saw a vision;and lo, a very great cloud was coming up out of the sea. And 1 keptlooking at it. And lo. it was full of waters, white and black; andthere were many colours in those waters, and what looked like

2 flashes of lightning appeared at the top of it. And I watched the

3 cloud as it moved, and it quickly covered all the earth. And afterthis, the cloud began to pour the waters that were in it on the earth.

4 And i saw that the waters that descended from it were not all the:> same. For at first, lor a time, they were all black; but afterwards I

saw that the waters became bright (though there were fewer ofthem); and after this again J saw black waters, and then again<j bright; and again black, and again bright. This happened twelve

7 times; but there were always more black waters than bright. Andwhen the end of the cloud came, lo, it rained black waters, darkerthan all that had been before, with fire mixed with them; andwhere those waters descended they left a trail of devastation and

8 destruction. And after this I saw the lightning I had seen at the

9 top of the cloud take hold of it and hurl it to the earth. And thelightning shone so brilliantly that it lit up the whole earth, and itrestored those regions where the last waters had descended and left

U) such devastation. And it took hold of the whole earth and subjected

11 it to its control. And after this I looked and I saw twelve riverscoming up out of the sea; and they began to surround the lightning

12 and become subject to it. And I woke up in terror.

; The rendering of verses 4 and 3 here given represents a slight re-ordering of thetext in an attempt to make some sense. Charles rendered ‘But even in the lace olthese things will 1 speak. And as lor the righteous. What will they do now?’

J Lit. ' Why do you look for?’

Sec n.® tochap. xlviii.

873

The Prayer of Baruch.

LIV. And I besought the Mighty ()no and said.

Thou alone. O Lord. k no west beforehand the secrets1 of theworld.

And what happens in its time thou dost bring about by thyword;

And in the light of what is done by2 * those on earthThou wilt speed up the beginnings of the times.

And the end of the ages thou alone knowest.

For thee nothing is too hard.

Thou doest everything easily by a nod.

To thee the depths come as the heights.

And the beginnings' of the ages are obedient to thy word.Thou rcvealcst to those who fear thee what is prepared forthem.

And so dost thou comfort them.

Thou showest wonders to the ignorant:

Thou dost break down the dividing wall lor those who do notknow;

And thou dost light up what is darkAnd reveal what is hidden to the pure.

Who in faith have submitted to thee and to thy law.

Thou hast shown thy servant this vision:

Reveal to me also its interpretation.

For I know that when I have besought thee, thou hastanswered me,

And when 1 have made request, thou hast made response tome.

Thou didst reveal to me with what language41 should praisethee.

And with which of my members I should offer my praises andhallelujahs to thee.

1 Lit. ‘the heights' (i.c. the inaccessible things).

2 Lit. 'And against (or ‘according to ) the works of.

* Or ‘princes’ (i.c. angels).

* Lit. ‘voice’.

874 The Svriac Apocalypse of Baruch

H For il all mv members were months, and the hairs of my headvoices.

Even then I could not praise or magnify thee as I should,

Nor could I recount thv praise nor tell the glory of thybeauty.

9 For what am I among men.

And whv am I reckoned among those of far more worth than

I,

That 1 should ha\e heard all these marvellous things fromthe Most High.

And numberless promises from him who created me.J

10 Happy my mother among those that bear children,

And worthy of praise among women is she who gave me

birth!

11 For I will not cease to praise the Mighty One,

And with a thankful voice I will recount his wonders.

12 For who can do wonders like thine,O God.

Or who can understand thy purpose in creation?'

13 For w ith thy counsel thou dost govern all the creaturesWhich thy right hand has created,

And thou hast established every source of light beside thee,And the treasuries of wisdom thou hast prepared beneath thythrone.

14 .Justly do they perish who have not loved thy law:

The torment ofjudgcmcnt awaits those who have not sub-mitted to thy power.

15 For though Adam first sinned and brought untimely death uponall men, yet each one of those who were born from him has eitherprepared for bis own soul its future torment or chosen for himself

lf> the glories that are to be (for without doubt he who believes will

17 receive his reward). But now, as for you, you wicked that now are,prepare to meet6 destruction: your punishment will come quickly,because you have rejected the understanding of the Most High.

18 For what he has done has not taught you, nor has the craftsman-

19 ship revealed perpetually in his creation persuaded you.7 Thus

* Lit. ‘thv deep thought of life.

6 Lit. 'turn tn\ 1 -See ti.'> to chap xlviii.

The Syriac .1 pocatypse of IIa ruch H 7 .”>

Adam was responsible for himself only:** each one of us is his own

20 Adam. But do thou.O Lord, explain to me the things thou hastrevealed to me, and give me an answer to the questions that I

21 asked. For at the consummation retribution will fall on those whohave done evil for** the evil they have done, ami thou wilt make

22 glorious the faithful for* their faithfulness. For those who art*among thine own thou rulest. and those who sin thou dost root outfrom among thine own.

LV. And when I had finished this prayer. I sat down there under a

2 tree, to rest in the shade of its branches. And as 1 considered it, Iwas astonished and amazed at the immensity of the goodness thatsinners on earth have rejec ted, and the scale of the torment theyhave despised, although they were very well aware that they would

3 be tormented for their sins. And while I was pondering these andsimilar things, lo. the angel Ramie!, who presides over genuine

■t visions, was sent to me; and he said to me. Why are you so

5 distraught. Baruch, and why so troubled in mind? For if you are somoved {when) you have only heard about the judgement, what are

fi you going lo be like when you see it happening before your eyes? Andif you are so overwrought at the prospect of the coming of the day of

7 the Mighty One, what will you be like when it actually arrives? Andif you are so upset by what you have been told about the torment ofthe evil-doers, how much more so will you be when the complex

8 details arc disclosed?' And if you are distressed about what youhave heard is to happen then (things both good and bad), how willit be with you when you see what the Mighty One in his majesty willreveal, when he convicts some and gives others cause for rejoicing?

LVI. However, you have asked the Most High to reveal to you theinterpretation of the vision you have seen, and I have been sent to

2 tell you. For the Mighty One has indeed made known to you thesequence of the times that have passed and of those that are yet tobe in the world, from the beginning of its creation right up to its

* [.it. ’Thus Adam is not the cause, but of his own sou) only'.

" [.it. ‘according to*.

1 Lit. ‘when the work (’event'] reveals marvels'.

87() The Syriac Apocalypse oj Baruch

:5 consummation — tiinrs of falsehtxxl and times of truth. You saw agreat cloud coming up out of the sea that went on and covered theearth: this cloud is the duration of the age of the world, which the

1 Mighty One determined when he decided to make the world. Andso it was that when the world had gone out from his presence, theduration of the world came into being, something of small account,established according to the richness of the understanding of himwho sent it. And you saw at the top of the cloud black watersdescending first upon the earth — this is the transgression oft he first

t> man. Adam. For when he transgressed untimely death appeared:sorrow came to he. and suffering was produced and pain created,and toil became the rule: pride reared its head:1 Shcol insisted onbeing renewed by blood: the conception of children was broughtabout and the passion of parents roused: man's whole status

7 received a blow; and gtxtdncss languished. What could be blacker

8 or darker than all this? This is the beginning of the black waters

!* that you saw. And from these black waters again other black watersin were derived, and even greater darkness2 was produced. For the

man who was a danger to himself became a danger even to the11.12 angels. For at the time he was created they enjoyed freedom. Andsome of them came dow n to earth and had intercourse with women.13.14 And those who did so then were tormented in chains. But the rest15 of the innumerable' host of angels restrained themselves. Andthose who lived on earth perished all together through the watersHi of the flood. These arr the first black waters.

LVII. And after these you saw bright waters: these represent thefount of Abraham and his family, and the coining of his son and of

2 his grandson, and of those like them. For at that time the unwrittenlaw was observed by* them and the provisions2 of the command-ments were then fulfilled: then originated belief in the comingjudgement: hope for a world to be renewed was then established;

1 Charles rendered ‘disease began In lx* established'.

1 Lit. ‘and the darknesses of darknesses'.

' I lie text has no negative.

1 Lit.‘was named among’.

Lit. 'works'.

H77

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

and the promise of a life to eome hereafter was implanted in men's3 hearts. These are the bright waters that you saw.

LVIII. And the black third waters that you saw - these represent tilemixture of all thesinsofthe nations that followed the death of thoserighteous men, and the wickedness of the land of Kgypt in suhjeci-2 ing their sons to such cruel servitude. However, these in their turnhad their day.

LIX. And the bright fourth waters that you saw represent the com-ing of Moses and Aaron and Miriam and Joshua, the son of Nun.

2 and Caleb and all those like them. For at that time the lamp of theeternal law shone on all those in darkness, giving to believers thepromise of their reward, and warning unbelievers about the tor-

3 ment of fire reserved for them. At that time, too, the heavens shook,and what was beneath the throne of the Mighty One trembled.

1 when he was taking Moses to himself . For he showed him manyother things together with the ordinances of the law1 - the consum-mation of the times' (just as he has also shown you), and similarlythe pattern of Zion and its dimensions, as it was to be constructed,.i and the pattern of the sanctuary, as it now is. Then he showed himalso the dimensions of the fire, the depths of the abyss, the weight of

6 the winds, and the number of the drops of rain; and the mastery of

7 anger, the dignity2 of patience, and the truth of judgement: and theroot of wisdom, the riches of understanding, and the fount of

H knowledge; and the height of the air. the extent of Paradise, theconsummation of the ages, and the beginning of the day ofjudge-

ment; and the uumlx’r of the oH’crings. and the countries which

in were as yet unknown;’ and the mouth of Gehenna, the abode of

11 vengeance, the home of faith, and the dwelling-place of hope; andthe vision of the future torment, the throng of innumerable angels,the flaming hosts, the splendour of the lightning, the sound of thethunder, the orders of the archangels.4 the treasuries ol light. the

12 changes of the seasons.5 and the careful study of the law. These arethe bright fourth waters that you saw.

1 Text ‘laws . . . time'. ' [.it. 'abundance'.

' bit. ‘anti the earths ti.e. 'lands') which had m>t yet t ome’

* Text ‘thief (sing.) of tin* angels'. ' bit.'times'.

878

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

LX. .And the black fifth waters you saw coining down as rain arewhat the Amoritcs did. their spells and incantations, the evils oftheir mysteries, and the contaminating effect1 of their pollutions.2 Lor ev en Israel was then polluted and went astray in the day sol thejudges.2 although they witnessed many signs given them by theircreator.

LXI. And the bright sixth waters that you saw - this is the time1 when David and Solomon were born. And at that time Zion wasbuilt, and the sanctuary* dedicated; and much blood of the nationsthat had sinned then was shed, and many offerings were offered at:’> the dedication of the sanctuary. And peace and tranquillity

4 reigned at that time. The voice ufw isdom w as heard in the assembly,and the riches of understanding were prized in the c ongregations.

5 And the holy festivals were celebrated enthusiastically' and witht» much joy. The rulers' judgements were then seen to be unbiased,

and the justice of the precepts of the Mighty One was maintained

7 in truth. And because the land enjoyed God’s favour2 at that time,and because those who lived there did not sin. it was made moreglorious than any other land; and the city of Zion became the ruler

8 of all lands and countries. These arc the bright waters that yousaw.

LXJI. And the black seventh waters that you saw represent theperversion brought about by Jeroboam’s plan to make two golden

2 calves; and all the iniquities of the kings after him: and the curse of

3 Jezebel,1 and the idol-worship that Israel practised at that time;

4 and the withholding of the rain, and the famines that followed until.i women even ate their ow n children; arid the captivity that overtook

1 Lit. ‘and thi: mingling’.

1 Text ‘judgement*.

' Lit. ‘in goodness’.

2 Lit. 'tin* land was Ih-KamI'.

• So literally: it is unclrar whether the reference is lu the curse pronounced uponJezebel and its fulfilment {! Kings xxi. 23; 2 Kings ix. 10, 30-37j. or in the cursewhichjczebel was in herself and consequently to Israei ;2 Kings ix. 34).

ti the nine and a hall' tribes because of their many sins (torShalmaneser, king of Assyria, came and carried them oil'as cap-7 lives). And so far as the Gentiles are concerned, there is no need tostress how they always did what was sinful and wicked, and neverH what was righteous. These are the black seventh waters that yousaw.

LX1II. And the bright eighth waters that you saw - these art* theintegrity and honesty of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and the grace2 that was accorded him.1 For when Sennacherib was stirred up todestroy himself, and his anger maddened him into leading to theirdestruction also the motley collection of peoples that were with:* him: when, moreover, king Hezekiah heard what the king ofAssyria was plotting, to come and destroy his people (the two and ahalf tribes that were left - and he wanted to lay waste /ion too):then Hezekiah. in trust and reliance on his righteousness, spoke4 with the Mighty One and said. Behold, Sennacherib is ready todestroy us: and he will l>oast when he has laid Zion waste and take*> credit to himself. And the Mighty One heard him. lor Hezekiahwas wise, and he listened to his prayer, because he was righteous.t» And the Mighty One then gave instructions to his angel Kamiel

7 {the angel who is speaking to you now). And 1 went and destroyedthe whole host of them - the number of the oflicers alone was ahundred and eighty-five thousand, and each one of them had an

8 equal number under his command. And on this occasion 1 burnedtheir bodies inside, but their outer clothing and their armour Ipreserved intact, so that what the Mighty One had done mightseem still more wonderful, and that as a result his name might be

y spoken of throughout the entire earth. Thus Zion was saved and

10 Jerusalem delivered: Israel too was freed from its distress. And allthose who were in the holy laud rejoiced, and the name of the

11 M ighty One was glorified so that it was spoken of everywhere. Theseare the bright waters that you saw.

LXIV. And the black ninth waters that you saw - these represent allthe wickedness there was in the days of Manasseh, Hczekiah's son.

1 I.it 'andliis grace*.

B8() The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

2 For he ciici very many wicked things: he killed the righteous: heperverted judgement: he shed the blood of the innocent: he vio-lated and polluted married women; and he demolished the altarsand destroyed their offerings, and drove out the priests so that theycould not minister in the sanctuary. And he made an image withlive faces, four of them looked to the four winds, and the fifth at thetop of the image uas there to provoke the jealousy of the Mighty•1 ()ne. At that time a sentence oj wrath went out from the presence ofthe Mighty One that /ion should be rooted up (and it has hap-j pened in your days). And also against the two and a half tribesthere went out a decree that they too should he carried off asli captives (as you have now seen). And to such lengths did theimpiety of Manasseh go that the glory of the Most High departed7 from the sanctuary. For this reason Manasseh was even in his ownH day called ‘The Impious', and his final lodging was in the fire. Forthough the Most High at last heard his prayer when he was shut upin1 the bronze horse, and the horse was melting, and a sign was!i given to him then, his life was lar from perfect, and all he deserv edin was to know by whom he would be tormented in the end.2 For hewho is able to do good is also able to punish.

LXV. Thus Manasseh did many wicked things, and he thoughtthat in his time the Mighty One would not inquire into them.2 These arc the black ninth waters that you saw.

LXV1. And the bright tenth waters that you saw - these arc thefaithfulness of the generation of josiah, king of’Judah, who was theonly one at the time who submitted himself to the Mighty One with2 all his heart and soul. And he purged the land of idols, andhallowed all the vessels that had been polluted, and restored theofferings to the altar, and lifted up the heads1 of the holy, andexalted the righteous, and honoured men of wisdom and under-standing. and brought back the priests to their ministry, anddestroyed and removed the magicians and soothsayers and

1 [.it. ‘when he was thrown into".

2 “Text corrupt' (Charles).

Lit. “the horn*.

881

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

3 necromancers from the land. And not only did he kill the impiousthat were still alive, but he also had the bones of the dead taken

4 from their graves and burnt. And the festivals and the sabbaths herestored with their proper rites:1 2 he burned those who were pol-luted: he burned also the lying prophets that had deceived thepeople; and the people that had iistened to them he threw alive into

") the brook Kidron, and raised a heap of stones over them. And hedevoted himself heart and soul to the Mighty One; and he wasremarkable in his day for his strict observance of the law.3 so thatduring his life-time no one that was unc ircumcised was left any-

6 where in the land, nor any evil-doer. He will indeed receive aneternal reward, and he will be more honoured by the Mighty One

7 than many at the last time. For it was because of him, and thoselike him, that the honours and the glories you were told about

R before were created and prepared. These are the bright waters thatyou saw.

LXVII. And the black eleventh waters that you saw - these are the

2 calamity that has now overtaken Zion. Do you imagine that theangels in the presence of the Mighty One experience no pain thatZion should be so delivered up, and when they sec the Gentilesboasting in their hearts, and crowds before their idols saying,

She is now trodden dow n, she who so often trod others down.And she has been reduced to servitude, she who reducedothers?

3 Do you imagine the Most High rejoices at this, or that his name is

4 thereby glorified? How will it serve towards his righteous judge-

5 ment? Yet alter this, great troubles will afflict those who aredispersed among the Gentiles, and wherever they may be living

6 they will be humiliated. So long as Zion is delivered up andJerusalem laid waste, idols will prosper in the Gentile cities: andwhile the sweet smoke of the incense of the righteousness which isaccording to the law no longer ascends in Zion, it will be replaced

1 Charles rendered 'he established in their sanctity’, although the last word is

plural.

■* Lit. ‘and he alone was firm in the law at that time'.

everywhere in /ion’s neighbourhood by the smoke of godlessness.17 And the king of Babylon, who has now destroyed Zion, will exalthimself, and he will make great claims in the Most High’s pre-8.9 senco. But he also will come to grief at last. These arc the blackwaters.

LXVIII. And the bright twelfth waters that you saw - this is the2 meaning oj them. After all this, a time will come when your peoplewill be in such a sorry state that there is a risk of their perishing^ altogether. F.ven so, they will be saved, and their enemies will fall4.5 before them. And lor a lime they will have much joy. Arid then,after a short interval. Zion will be rebuilt, and its offerings will berestored again, and the priests will return to their ministry, and the(> Gentiles also will come and acclaim it .1 However, things will not be

7 as they were in former limes. And after this, disaster will strike

8 many nations. These are the bright waters that you saw.

I.XIX. The last1 waters that you saw. darker than all that had beenbefore them - those waters that came after the gathering together of2 the twelve other waters concern the whole world. For the MostHigh made a separation at the beginning,2 because he alone knowswhat will happen. As lor the enormities and impious deeds thatI would be committed before him, he foresaw six kinds of them. Andas for the good deeds of the righteous to be done before him, heforesaw six kinds of them also, apart from what he himself would do5 at the consummation of the age. That is why there were not blackwaters mixed with black, nor bright with bright;* for it is theconsummation.

Lit. . in Zion, and in the plare of Zion everywhere, lo. there is (he smoke ofgodlessness’.

1 Lit. ‘come to glorify it*.

1 Lit. ‘other*.

■ The phrases ‘gathering together’ and ‘make a separation* recall the language ofGen. i. 7 and 10.

' This, as it stands, is obscure. What is dear, however, is that the black waters ofthe 'consummation' and the bright waters that follow are to be understood asdisiinet from the previous alternations of black and bright waters in the course ofworld history.

883

LXX. Hear then the interpretation of the last black waters which

2 are to come after the other black waters: this is the meaning. Behold,the days are corning, and when the time of the age has ripened, andthe harvest1 2 oi its evil and its good seeds has come, the Mighty Onewill bring upon the earth and its inhabitants, and upon its rulers,

3 trepidation of spirit1 and consternation of mind. And they will hateone another, and provoke one another to fight; and obscure menwill have dominion overmen of reputation, and the lowly horn will

4 be exalted above die nobles. And the many will he delivered intothe hands of the few, and those who were nothing will rule over thestrong, and the poor will have much more than the rich, and the

5 impious will set themselves up against the brave* Arid the wise willbe silent, and only fools will speak: neither the designs of ordinarymen, nor the plans of the powerful,' will come to anything, nor will

<o any hopes tor the future prove well-founded.3 4 And when what hasbeen predicted has happened, then will confusion descend upon allmen: some of them will fall in battle: some of them will perish inanguish, and some of them will be destroyed'1 by their own people.

7 Then will the Most High reveal those peoples whom he has pre-pared beforehand, and they will come and make war with the

8 leaders that then are left. And whoever escapes in the war w ill dieby earthquake, and whoever escapes the earthquake will beburned by fire, and whoever escapes the fire will be destroyed5 by

9 famine. And whoever, whether of the victors or the vanquished,escapes all these things, and comes safely through them, will be

10 delivered into the hands of my servant, the Messiah. For the wholeearth will devour those who live on it.

LXX1. But the holy land will have mercy on its own, and will

2 protect those who are living there at that time. This is the vision

3 that you saw, and this is the interpretation of it. And I have come totell you this because your prayer has been heard by the Most High.

1 Plural in the MS.

2 Singular in the MS.

•' Lit. 'nor will the hope of those who hope be confirmed’.

4 Text‘be hindered’.

s Text ’will add’.

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

884

LXXI1. Listen now also to what I have to tell you about the brightwaters' that are to come at the consummation after these black2 waters: this is the meaning oj them. After the signs have appeared,which you were told about lx*lore, when the nations are in confu-sion, and the time of my Messiah is come, he will call all the nationstogether, and some of them he will spare, and some of them he will.1 destroy. This is what will happen to the nations spared by him.-t Kvery nation that has not exploited1 2 Israel and has not trampled■> the race of Jacob underfoot will be spared. And this will be because♦> some out of all the nations will become subject to your people. Butall those who have had dominion over you, or have exploited2 you,will be given over to the sword.

LXXII1. And when he has brought low everything that is in theworld, and has sat down in peace for ever on the throne of hiskingdom.

Then shall joy be revealed.

And rest made manifest.

2 And then shall healing descend as dew.

And disease shall disappear;

And anxiety and anguish and lamentation shall pass frommen.

And gladness spread through all the earth.

:i And never again shall anyone die before his time.

Nor shall any adversity suddenly befall.

•I And law suits' and accusations and contentions andrevenges,

And murder2 and passions and envy and hatred.

And all things like these shall be done awayAnd go to their condemnation.

' Both fieri* and at Ixxiv. 1 (Diaries substituted 'lightning' tor 'waters' to accordwith the details of the vision as given in liii. 8- in.

■ Text 'known'.

1 I.it. 'judgements'.

■’ Lit. ‘blood’.

885

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

For it is these things that have filled this world with evils.

And it is because of these that the life of man has been sotroubled.

And wild beasts shall cornr from the forestAnd minister to men,

And asps and dragons shall come out of their holesTo submit themselves to a little child.

And women shall no longer have pain when they hearchildren,

Nor shall they suffer agony when they yield the fruit ol thewomb.

LXXTV. And in those days the reapers shall not grow weary,

Nor those that build be toilworn;

For both works and workers togetherWill prosper in complete accord.

For that time marks the end of what is corruptibleAnd the beginning ol what is incorruptible.

1'hus, what was predicted will be fulfilled in it:

It is beyond the grasp of evil men,

Accessible only to those who will not die.1

These are the bright waters2 that came after the last dark waters.

I.XXV. And I answered and said,

Who can be compared with thee, O I.ord, in thy goodness?For it is beyond us altogether.

Or who can search out thine infinite compassion?

Or who can comprehend thine understanding?

Or who is able to describe the workings of thy mind?

Who among mortals can hope to come near doing any of thesethings,

Unless he is one of tlio.se to whom thou art merciful andgracious?

1 So, strictly, the Syriac, which has masculines tor evil’ and ‘those who will notdie’. It is possible, however, to take the Syriac masculines as a misunderstanding oforiginal neuters - as Charles (‘It is far away from evils, and near to those thingswhich die not’).

2 See note on Ixxii. 1.

t» For il thou didst not have compassion upon man.

Those who arc under thy right hand

Could not achieve these things-

Only those who arc called to be among the number thou hastdetermined.1

7 Hut if we, who are alive, know for what reason we have

come.2

And submit ourselves to him who brought us out ofTlgypt.

We shall come again3 and remember what is past.

And rejoice in what has been.

8 But if we do not know for what reason we have conic2

And do not recognize the sovereignty of him who brought usout nfKgypt.

We shall come again3 and regret4 what has been now.

And grieve over what is past.

LXXVI. And he answered and said to me. Since the interpretationof this vision has been given you as you asked. Listen to what theMost Higli has to say, so that you may know what is to happen to2 you after this. For you must certainly leave this world, yet you willnot die. but you will be presence! until the consummation1 of the:f times. So go up to the top of that mountain, and you will get a viewof the entire land and be able to distinguish its various features2 -the tops3 of the mountains, the bottoms3 of the valleys, the depthsof the seas, and the many rivers, so that you can sec w hat you are4 leaving behind and where you are going. This shall be in forty days.r> time from now. But now go and spend these days leaching thepeople as best you can, so that they may understand what will leadto death and what to life in the last times.4

1 I.it. ‘who arc able to br called in the numbers named'.

1 i.e. ‘we have been born'.

’ i.e. at the resurrection.

4 Lit. ‘desire’.

1 Text “but lo the preservation’. C’p. xiii. anti xxv. I.

; Lit. ‘and all the regions of the land shall pass before you and the figure of the

world'. * Singular in the MS.

4 Lit. ‘so that they may learn so as not to die in the last times, but may learn inorder that they may live in the last times’.

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

887

LXXVII. And I. Hanu h. went away: and ] came to the people, and2 I called them together, high and low alike. And 1 said to them.Listen, vou sons oflsrael: see how mam there are of you who haveA survived, out of the twelve tribes of lsrael. For it was to you and tot your lathers that the Lord gave tin- law. and not to all peoples. Andbecause your brothers disobeyed the Most High's commandmentshe brought retribution both on you and on them: he did not sparethe one. anti he caused the others to be led away as captives and lef t

j.t) none of them behind. But you are here with me. II. then, you directyour ways aright, you will not go as your brothers went; hut they7 will come to you. For he whom you worship is merciful, and he inwhom you hope is gracious: and lie can he relied on to do good and

H.t» not evil. Vou have seen, have you not. what happened to Zion:* l)oyou think, perhaps, that it was the place that sinned, and that itwas because of this that it was overthrown? Or again, that the landhad committed some outrage, and that was why it was delivered

Id up? Are you not aware that it was because of you. who had sinned,that the city, which had not sinned, was overthrown, and that it wasbecause of row evil-doers that the land, which had done no evil, was

11 delivered up to its enemies? And the whole people answered andsaid to me. So far as we can recall the good things the Mighty Onehas done for us. we do recall them; and what we do not remember.

12 lie in his mercy knows. But do this for us. your people: write to ourbrothers in Babylon a letter on a scroll, a letter of instruction andencouragement, to reassure them also before you leave us.

n For the shepherds ol Israel have perished.

And the lamps that gave light have gone out.

And the fountains have held hack their streams.

From which we used to drink.

H And we are left in darkness.

Amid the trees of the forest, and in the thirst of thewilderness.

l.r> And I answered and said to them.

Shepherds and lamps and fountains come from the law;

And though we depart, yet the law remains.

Hi [f, then, you respect the law and turn your hearts to wisdom.

HHK The Sy rut c .-1 poca lypse oj Ba ruch

A lamp will tioi be wanting and a shepherd' will not lail.

And no fountain will dry up.

IT But. as you asked nu\ I will write a letter to your brothers inBabylon, and I will send it by the hands of men; and I will writealso ft similar letter to the nine and a hall' tribes, and send it byIK means of a bird. And on the twenty-first day of the eighth month, I,Barueh, tame and sat down under the oak2 in the shade of itslit branches, and no one was with me — 1 was alone. And I wrote twoletters: one ( sent by an eagle to the nine and a half tribes; and theother I sent to those that were in Babylon by the hands of three20.21 men. And I called the eagle and said to it. The Most High created22 you to be the king of1 all the birds. (»o now: stop nowhere on wurjourney: neither look tor any roosting-placc.4 nor settle on any tree,till you have crossed the broad waters of the river Euphrates, andcome to the people that dwell there, and laid this letter at their feet.2:t Remember how, at the time of the flcxid. a dove brought Noah back24 an olive,5 when he had sent it out from the ark. Ravens, too. waitedon Elijah, and brought him food, as they had been commanded.2f> Solomon also, when he was king, whenever he wanted to send amessage or find out anything, would give instructions to a bird.2(i and it obeyed his instructions. And now. never mind how tired youare: do not stray from your course, cither to right or left, but flystraight there; and carry out the instructions of the Mighty One. asI have explained them to you.

The Letter of Baruch, the son of Neriah. which he wrote to theNine and a Half Tribes.

LXXVIII. This is the letter1 that Baruch, the son of Neriah, sent tothe nine and a halftribes, which were across the river Euphrates, inwhich these things were written.

2 Baruch,2 the son of Neriah, to his brothers in captivity, Mercy

1 Text‘mind'. 1 ('p. vi. I.

•' Lit. ’to lie higher than'. 1 Lit.‘neither enter a nest'.

* Lit. 'the fruit of an olive'.

1 Lit. 'These are the words of the letter'.

: Lit. 'Thus says Baruch'.

889

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

3 and peace to you. 1 can never forget, my brothers, the love of himwho created us, who loved us from the beginning and never hared

4 us, but rather subjected us to discipline. Nor cari I Ibrgct that all weof the twelve tribes are united by a common bond, inasmuch as we

5 are descended from a single lather. Hence my concern to leave youin this letter, before I die, some words ofcomlort amid the evils thathave come upon you, in the hope that you may also he moved toshare in your brothers’ grief at the evil that has befallen them, and.again, that you may accept as just the sentence the Most Highpassed upon you, namely, that you should be carried ofl'as captives(even though what you have suffered is scarcely in proportion towhat you did), in order that in the last times you may be found

6 worthy of your fathers. For if you realize that what you now sufferis for your good, so that you may not in the end be condemned andtormented, then you will receive eternal hope- if, that is, you havepurged your minds of the vanities and errors that were the cause of

7 your being taken away. For if you do this, he will remember youcontinually, he who always promised on our behalf to those whowere far superior to ourselves, that he will nev er lot get us or lorsakcus, but in the greatness of his mercy will gather together againthose who hav e been dispersed.

LXXIX. Now, my brothers, hear first what happened to Zion, how

2 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made an attack on us. (For wehad sinned against him who t reated us and had not kept thecommandments he gave us, although he did not chasten us as we

3 deserved.) And so we feel far greater sympathy for you since whathappened to you happened also to us.'

LXXX. And now, my brothers, 1 tell you that when the enemyhad surrounded the city, the angels of the Most High were sent,and it was they who threw down the fortifications of the strong walland destroyed the firm iron corners, which could not be dislodged.

2 But they hid all the vessels1 of the sanctuary, so that they should not

1 Both text and translation here arc very uncertain.' Text ‘But they hid the vessels of the vessels’.

890 The Syriac Apocalypse of Haruih

3 be polluted by the aienty." And when they had done this, theysurrendered to the enemy the wall that had been thrown down, theplundered house, the burnt temple, and the people who wereovercome because they had been surrendered, so that the enemycould not boast and say. By our prowess in battle have we been

4 able to lay waste even the house of the Most High. Your brothers,too. were put in chains and taken away to Babylon and made to

} live there. But we have been left here; and there are very tew of us.ts,7 This is the wretched situation 1 am writing to you about. For Iknow' full well what a consolation it was for you when /ion wasinhabited: the knowledge that it prospered was a major consola-tion for the suffering you endured in being exiled from it.

1.2 LXXXI. But as to consolation, I should tell you this.' 1 was mourn-ing for Zion, and I prayed the Most High for mercy, and I said.

3 Will things continue lor us as they are to the end?2

And will those evils come upon us always?

4 And the Mighty One responded-' in the fullness ol'his mercy.

And he spoke to me by way of revelation,4

So that I might receive consolation;

And he showed me visions.

So that l should suffer no more anguish;

And he made known to me the mystery of the ages,

And the advent of the times he showed me.

LXXX11. And so, my brothers, I am writing to you, so that you may

2 find consolation in the midst of your many troubles. Do not doubtthat our creator will avenge us on all our enemies, in accordancewith what each one of them has done to us: above all. have no doubtthat the consummation which the Most High has appointed is verynear, and his mercy that is coming; and the consummation of hisjudgement is not far oil'.

2 C tharlc.s emended 'Jest the enemy should get possession of than’.

1 Lit.‘hear the word'.

2 Or (according toother MSS) ‘How lung will these things continue for us'.

•' Lit. *aet«T.

4 Lit. “And he revealed to me the word1.

3 For lo. wc see now the Gentiles in great prosperity.

Though their deeds are impious;

Bui they shall be like a breath of wind that dies away.

-1 And we behold the extent of their power.

Though what they do is wicked;

But they shall become like a drop from a bucket.

5 And we see the strength of their might,

Though they resist the Mighty One every hour:

But they shall be treated like spittle,ti And wc consider their glory atid grandeur,

Though they do not observe the Most High's statutes.

But they shall disappear like smoke.

7 And we reflect on their beauty and their gracefulness,Though they are soaked in pollutions;

But as grass that withers shall they fade awa>.

8 And we consider their brutality and cruelty,

'Though they give no thought to their end:'

But as a passing wave shall they be broken.

9 And wc remark the boastings of their might,

Though they deny the beneficence of the God w ho gave itthem;

Bui as a passing cloud shall they pass away.

LXXX11I. For the Most High will assuredly speed up histimes,

And he will assuredly bring on his seasons.

2 And lie will assuredly judge those who are in his world,

And will truly punish all men,1

III accordance with their hidden2 works.

3 And he will assuredly examine their secret thoughts,

And what is stored away in the innermost recesses of their

being,3

And he will expose and censure them openly.

1 Or ’In the end of it’.

1 I,it.‘all things’.

1 Another reading is 'sinful'.

•' J.ii. ‘in the chambers which arc iti all the limbs of man’.

892 7 he Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

■1 Do not. then, worry yourselves about these present things,4 butrather look to the future, because what has been promised to us willj come. And let us not now fix our attention upon the delights theGentiles enjoy in the present age. but let us remember what hastj been promised to us in the end. For set times and seasons,5 and all7 that goes with them,6 will assuredly pass away. And then theconsummation of the age will reveal the great might of its ruler,K when all things come to judgement. So prepare yourselves for thecoming fl/ what you have believed in in the past, so that you do notfind yourselves the losers in both worlds, by having been carried off9 as captives here, and being tormented there. For in what is now, orin w hat has been, or in what is to come, in all these things, the evilis not entirely evil, nor, again, is the good entirely good.

1U For all the health that now is is turning into disease.

11 And all the strength that now is is turning into weakness,

And all the might that now is is turning into impotence.

12 And all the energy of youth is turning into old age and

dissolution,

And all the beauty and gracefulness that now are are turninginto decay and ugliness.

13 And all the proud dominion that now is is turning into

humiliation and shame.

M And all praise of the splendour that now is is turning into theshame ol'specchlessncss,

And all the luxury and pomp that now arc arc turning intosilent ruin,

15 And ail the delight and joy that now are are turning to worms

and corruption.

16 And all acclaim of the pride that now is is turning into dust

and stillness.

17 Arid all heaping-up of riches that now is is turning only into

Sheol.

1 ft And all the spoils of passion that now are are turning intoinexorable death,

a Lit. ‘Let none of these present things, therefore, go up into your hearts’.s Lit. ‘For the limits of the times and of the seasons’.

6 Lit. ‘and all that is in them’.

893

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

And all passion of the lusts that now is is turning into a

judgement of torment.

19 And all artifice and craftiness that now are are turning into a

proof of truth.

20 Arid all sweet-smelling ointments that now are are turning

into judgement and condemnation.

21 And all love of falsehood is turning into well-earned

degradation.

22 Since, then, all these things are happening now, can anyone be-

23 lieve that vengeance is far ofi?7 The consummation of all tilings willresult in truth.

LXXXIV. Behold, I have informed you about these things while Iam still alive, and I am telling you about them so that you mayunderstand what is worth pursuing;1 for the Mighty One hascommissioned me to instruct you, and I will, there/ore, remind you

2 of some of the precepts he has given us2 before I die. Rememberhow Moses at one time summoned heaven and earth to witnessagainst you and said, If you transgress the law you will be scat-

3 tered, but if you keep it you will be firmly planted3 in your land. Andother things, too, he told you when you, the twelve tribes, were

4 together in the wilderness. But after his death you rejected them;

5 and so there came upon you wliat had been predicted. Moses toldyou beforehand, so that it might not happen to you; and it hap-

6 pened to you,4 because you forsook the law'. And now I also tellyou. after you have suffered. that if you take note of what you havebeen told, you will receive from the Mighty One whatever has been

7 appointed and reserved for you. Furthermore, may this letterstand as a witness between us (between you and me), so that youmay remember the commandments of the Mighty One, and that I

8 also may have a defence before him who sent me. Remember the

7 Lit. ‘that they will not be avenged?'

1 Lit. ‘that you may learn the things that are excellent'

2 Lit. ‘and 1 will set before you some of the commandments of his judgement’.1 Another reading is 'you will be kept’.

4 Or ‘Moses told you before it happened to you, arid it happened to vim'.

law and Zion, the holy land and your brothers, and the covenant of9 your fathers; and do not forget the festivals and the sabbaths. Andhand on this letter and the traditions of the law to your sons afterl(j you, just as your fathers handed them on to you. Be always regularin your prayers, and pray diligently with all your heart that theMighty One may restore you to his favour, and that he may nottake account of your many sins, but remember the faithfulness of11 your fathers. For if he is not to judge us in the fullness of his mercy,woe to all of us poor mortals!*

LXXXV. Consider, too, that in days gone by and in the generationsof old our fathers had to help them1 righteous men and holy'2 prophets. Moreover, we were in our own land; and they helped uswhen we sinned, and. relying on their merits,* interceded for uswith our creator, and the Mighty One heard their prayer andforgave us. But now the righteous have been gathered to theirfathers, and the prophets have fallen asleep, and we also have beenexiled from our land: Zion has been taken from us, and nothing is4 left us now save the Mighty One and his law. But if we direct anddispose our hearts aright, wr shall retrieve everything that we havelost, and gain main more and much better things than we have lost.*> For what we have lost was subject to corruption, but what we shallf> receive is incorruptible. (And I am writing also to our brothers inBabylon in the same terms, to assure them about these things.)7 Keep everything you have been told constantly in mind, becauseso long as the breath is in our bodies we are still free to choose.3fi Once again, the Most High is patient with us here: he has shown uswhat is to be and has not hidden from us what is to happen in the

9 end. Before, then, the judgement demands its own, and the truthwhat is its due, let us prepare ourselves to take possession, and notbe taken possession of, to hope and not be put to shame, and tohave rest with our fathers and not be in torment with our enemies.

10 For the youth of the world is past, and the strength of the creation

5 Lit. 'all of us who have hern lx»rn!’

• I.it. 'had helpers’.

1 I .it. *!it*rause they trusted in their works’.

5 Lit. ‘because we arc still in the spirit and the power of our liberty'.

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch 893

already exhausted: the times have run their course and the end isvery near: the pitcher is near the cistern, the ship to port, the

11 traveller to the city, and life to its consummation. And yet again,prepare yourselves, so that when you have finished your journeyand leave the ship, you may find rest and may not be condemned

12 when you go away. For when the Most High brings all these thingsto pass, there will be there no further opportunity for repentance,no set times4 nor appointed seasons,5 no possible change in ways oflife,6 no place for prayer nor offering7 of petitions, no acquiring ofknowledge nor giving of love, no place of repentance for the soulnor supplication for offences, no intercession by the fathers nor

13 prayer by the prophets nor help from the righteous. But there willbe there the sentence of destruction, the way of fire and the path

14 that leads to Gehenna. That is why there is one law, given by one1*> man, one world and an end for all who are in it. Then will the Mighty

One preserve those he can forgive, and at the same time destroythose who are polluted by their sins.

LXXXV1. So when you receive this letter that I have written, see

2 that you read it in your congregations. And think about it, es-

3 pceially on your fast-days. And may this letter serve as a means ofyour remembering me, as 1 also have remembered you in writing it,and always do remember you.

LXXXVIL And when I had finished this letter, and had written itcarefully to the very end, I folded it, and scaled it as a safeguard,and tied it to the eagle's neck, and despatched it and sent it off.

Here ends the Book of Baruch, the son of Xeriah

4 Lit. *no limit to the limes’.

5 Lit. 'no length for the seasons’.

* l'hc text is uncertain here owing to variations in the MSS.

7 Lit. ‘sending’.

THE GREEK APOCALYPSEOF BARUCH

INTRODUCTION

There can be little doubt that this apocalypse is ‘the* book ofBaruch the prophet’ known in Origen’s day and said by him tocontain ‘very clear information about the seven worlds orheavens'.1

The credit for its discovery in modern times belongs to DomCuthbert Butler, who found a Greek text of it in 1896 among acollection of apocryphal and ecclesiastical items in a late fifteenthcentury paper manuscript in the British Library (B.L. Addit.10073). This Greek text was published by M. R. James in thefollowing year. It mentions, however, only five heavens.

Fen years before Butler's discovery S. Xuvakovic had publishedthe text of a Slavonic version, preserved in a fifteenth centurySerbian manuscript; and James printed an Knglish translation ofit, by \V. R. Morfill, immediately after his own edition of theGreek. This Slavonic text would seem to be even less completethan the Greek, inasmuch as it mentions only two heavens.

Meanwhile, unknown to James, there had been published (in1894) N. S. Tikhonravov’s text of a second Slavonic version con-tained in a Moscow manuscript, also of the fifteenth century.Subsequently other MSS of both Slavonic versions have conic tolight, as well as another Greek manuscript. The complicationsarising from these discoveries, particularly so far as the Slavonicversions are concerned, both in their mutual relationship to oneanother and in their joint relationship to the Greek, have not beenresolved; and it wras for this reason that J.-C. Picard, in his editionof 1967, ignored the Slavonic versions altogether, except for severalpages devoted to the statement and discussion of some of theproblems in his Introduction. However, Picard did make lull use ofthe other Greek MS (Andros, Monastery of the Hagia, 46; 15th

Orig. Deprint. M. iii.ti.

898

The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

rent.), which he had discovered himself; but unfortunately it is soclosely allied to the British Library MS that it is of little help inestablishing a critical text.

It is possible that there was at one time a Latin version as well asa Slavonic, which was in circulation at least in the north-westernarea of Spain in the seventh century. But the evidence here is onlyindirect. There are no surviving Latin texts or fragments of text.2

About the date and origin of the Greek Apocalypse opinionsdiller. James took the view that it is ‘a Christian Apocalypse of thesecond century'. There arc some passages that could have beenwritten only by a Christian. The author betrays knowledge, notonly of the Pauline epistles, but also of certain of the apocryphalwritings - notably of the Paralcipomcna of Jeremiah, which (onHarris's dating) is assignable to AD 136. Vet the Greek Apocalypsewas known to Origcn. 11 must accordingly be dated c. AD 140-200.

In opposition to James, L. Ginzberg was of the opinion that thebook was almost wholly Jewish. 'Only one passage’, he main-tained, 'can with certainty be considered a Christian interpolation;and that is the one concerning the vine ... in eh. iv\ The author,moreover, betrays signs of both Indian and Gnostic influence. Hewas, therefore, a Jewish Gnostic, who wrote ‘about the beginningof the second century, when gnosis was at its height among bothJews and Christians’.3

H. M. Hughes, in the Introduction to his translation in R. H.Charles's Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, trod a middle road betweenthese two extremes. For Hughes the framework of the apocalypsewas characteristically Jewish, and a number of features mark it outas a work of Jewish origin. But 'the hand of a Christian redactorcan be traced in certain interpolations’. These interpolations arenot confined to the passage about the vine in chap, iv: they are,in fact, 'most evident in the concluding chapters’. The original(Jewish) apocalypse, according to Hughes, is to be dated some-where near the beginning of the second century, and the Christianredactor ‘soon after AD 136’. The book in its present form is thus

2 Sec M. R. James in JTSxvi (1915), p. 413.

' L. Ginzberg id JE ii (1902), p. 551.

899

The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

roughly contemporary with Jeremiah’s Paraleipomena (on Harris’sdating), a product of the same circumstances, arid inspired by thesame motives — i.e. ‘the conversion ofjews and Ebionites’.

Any ultimately acceptable solution to this question will thusobviously depend on what answ ers are given to the two subsidiary,but related, questions: (1) How compelling in themselves are thealleged Christian dements, and howr integral are they to the workas a whole?; and (2) How significant are the parallels with theOther Baruch literature, and how are these parallels bestexplained?

The passage concerning the vine in chap, iv is universallyadmitted to be Christian, though, if we are thinking of it as aChristian interpolation, opinions may diiler about the actualextent of the interpolation (iv. 15 is in fact the only verse in thepassage that is incontrovertably Christian). At xiii. 4 the mentionof the renegades ‘in f/r* church’ {iv iKKXrjolq) and of 'their spiritualfathers’ sounds Christian enough: on the other hand at xvi. 4 thereference to those who ‘despised my commandments and myassemblies {x6)V bcKXrjoicov piov), and insulted the priests whoproclaimed my words to them’, though it may be Christian, ismore naturally taken asjewish; and our judgement in either case islikely to depend on whether wc translate iracArjola as ‘church' or‘assembly’. Similarly, the catalogues of vices at iv. 17, viii. 5 andxiii. 4, may be echoes of such New Testament passages as Matt. xv.19 : | Mark vii. 21-22 and Gal. v. 19-21; or they may equally wellbe explained as no more than part of the stock-in-trade of anyancient writer who was concerned with morals, whether pagan,Jewish, or Christian.4 Evidence of this kind is unfortunatelyindecisive.

Of far more significance is the occurrence of the rather curiousword translated ‘smite’ at xvi. 3 {dixoro^fjoare: lit.‘cut in two’).This word also occurs in an almost identical context at Matt. xxiv.51 Luke xii. 46, where it is usually remarked on by the com-mentators and not infrequently explained as a misunderstandingof an Aramaic original on the part of the Greek translator of one of

4 Cp. c.g. Diog. I.dcrt. vii. 1 ID-114 [Zeno): Dead Sea Mm. Disc. iv. 9-11; Wisd.Xiv. 25-26; Philo, Deftasl. Cain, xv; Ep. Bam. 1-2.

9(H) The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

the (»os pci sources. What makes the use of the word at Cik. Apoe.xvi. 3 even more significant is the lad that it is found only threeverses after a v ery clear reminiscence of Matt. xxv. 21 (one of thethree passages bracketed by Hughes as indubitably Christianinterpolations). Add to this two phrases found elsewhere (‘noliving creature would lx* preserved", viii. 7; and ‘God ... shortenedits days', ix. 7). compare them with And except the Lord hadshortened the days, no flesh would have been preserved; but for thesake of the elect ... he shortened the days' (Mark xiii. 20 Matt,xxiv. 22); and it is difficult to escape the conclusion that we aredealing in the Greek Apocalypse with an author who is writingwith the Lord's Discourse concerning the Knd in mind, and,moreover, with someone who knew it in its Markati form as well asits Matthaean.4 5 And we might take the point even further byarguing that the whole idea of the three classes of angels, some ofwhom offer Michael baskets full of flowers, others baskets onlypartially full, and yet others nothing at all (the idea worked out indetail in chaps, xii-xvi) was inspired from the same Gospel source- i.e. by the secne at the end of the Parable of the Talents, whereone servant offers his master five talents gained by trading, anothertwo, but a third nothing (Matt. xxv. 14-30).

All this means that wc cannot account satisfactorily for such acomplicated situation either by suggesting that it is accidental orjust by positing ‘Christian interpolation' and leaving it at that. Thefinal redactor, or editor, or author, whoever he may have been, wasundoubtedly a Christian. Whatever Jewish material he may haveused he certainly re-phrased and very thoroughly recast. He wasnot a mere interpolator.

The parallels with the other Baruch literature can be dealt withmore briefly, since there are no verbal parallels other than thosewhich arise naturally out of the narrative setting. In verse 2 of thePrologue Baruch is introduced, located beside a river, ‘weepingover the captivity of Jerusalem’: this corresponds generally to thecontents of Syr. Apoe. v. ")—6 and vi. 2, and Par. Jer. iv. 6—10. Thestatement in the next verse that ‘he was sitting at the beautiful

4 To appreciate the lull force of this argument the relevant texts should be

compared in Greek in each instance.

901

The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

gates, where the Holy of Holies lay5, can be compared with Syr.Apoc. x. 5 and xxxiv. 1-xxxv. I.6 The particularly noteworthyfeature in this verse is the reference to Abimelech and his being‘preserved by the hand of God at Agrippa's farm5, which plainlyrefers to the contents of Par. Jer. iii. 9—10, 1 ">, v. 1— vi. 1, even if notto the text.7 And then immediately, at the beginning of chap, i, thestatement that Baruch was weeping over Jerusalem’s captivity isrepeated (though this time in the first person), with the additionalinformation that this was made the occasion lor an angelic visita-tion: we may compare again Syr. Apoc. vi. 2 and Par. Jcr. iv. 6-10with the addition of Syr. Apoc. vi. 3-4 and Par. Jer. iv. 11.

It is thus evident that the Greek apocalypse belongs squarelywithin what may be called ‘the Baruch tradition’, so far as itsnarrative setting is concerned. But there are few, if any, contactsoutside this setting. If we are prepared to take the text of theopening verses as they stand, we can argue equally well either thatthe author knew both the Syriac Apocalypse and the Paraleijxwienamuch as wc know them to-day, or, alternatively, that he had accessto much the same sources and traditional material that theirauthors had. If, however, wc are doubtful about whether thePrologue is an original part of the book (on the ground that it refersto Baruch in the third person, whereas the rest of the book purportsto have been written by Baruch himself in the first person), the casefor direct knowledge of the Syriac Apocalypse and the Paralei-pomena on the part of our author is very much weaker, inasmuchas the most telling contacts are to be found in the Prologue only.But in either case it is tempting to see the Greek Apocalypse as alater apocalyptisms amplification of the situation described soneatly at Par. Jcr. iv. 11 (‘And he [i.e. Baruch] remained, sitting ona tomb, while the angels came and told him in detail abouteverything’). In no case are there grounds for positing dependencein the reverse direction. 1'he Greek Apocalypse may be later thanthe other two works, or it may be contemporary with them: it isunlikely to be earlier.

6 At Par. Jer. iv. 11 (cp. vi. 1 and vii. 1) Baruch sits on a tomb.

7 Agrippa’s property is described as (‘farm’ lit. ‘place’, ‘estate’) atGk.

Apot. pro!. 2 and Par. Jer. iii. 15, v. 25, but as an tymtX&v (‘vineyard’) at Par. Jer.iii. 10.

902

The Greek Apocalypse oj Baruch

Them remains the question of the identity of our present bookwith ‘the Book of Baruch, the prophet’ known in Origcifs day.Origcn says that his book gave information about seven heavens(the usual number when a plurality of heavens is mentioned),whereas our book treats of only five. Is our surviving text anabbreviated recension of the originahJ Was Origcn suffering from alapse of memory when he specified seven heavens? If he was notfamiliar with the contents ol the book himself, had he been mis-informed about the details? Or was lie referring to a different bookaltogether?

Since the translation which follows has been based on that ofHughes, it has been thought best to retain the square bracketswhich Hughes inserted to identify what he thought were the morenoteworthy Christian interpolations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

F.D1 HONS

Greek

\1. R. J AM F.S, ‘The Apocalypse of Baruch’ in Apocrypha Anecdota ii(— TS V. i (Cambridge, 1897), pp. li-lxxi arid 83-94).

J.-C. PICARD, Apocalypsu Baruchi Graece (= PVTG ii (Leiden,1967), pp. 61-96).

Slavonic

S. No YAKOV 1C, ‘Otkrivenje Varuhovo’ in Starine, xviii (Zagreb,1886), pp. 203-209.

N. S. TlKHONRAVOY, Apokrificheskie skazaniya (— SORYaS Iviii. 4(St. Petersburg 1894), pp. 48-54).

\f. L SOKOLOV, ‘Apokrifieheskoe Otkrovenie Varukha’ inDrevnosti: trudy Slavyanskoi komisii lmperatorskngo Moskovskogoarkheologicheskogo obshchestva, iv, 1 (Moscow, 1907), pp. 201-258.

1. IVANOV, Bogomilski knigi i legendi (Sofia, 1925), pp. 193-200.

The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

903

TRANSLATIONS

English

H. \I. Ht'OHEsin R. H. (*H ari.ks. APOTU. pp. 7— 5>41.

\V. R. MoRFILL. The Apocalypse of Baruch: Translated fromthe Slavonic* in Apocrypha Anecdota ii (= TS V. i (C'.ambridge,1897), pp. 95-102).

German

V. RYSSEI.in E. KaI'1 ZSCH. .1/M7*ii, pp. 440—157.

P. RlESSl.ER. AjSaB'. pp. 40- 54.

W. HAOKinJsh-rZX. 1 (1974). pp. 1 —44.

X. BONWK I'SOH. 'Das slavisch erhaltene Baruchbuch* inXachrirhlen con der Kdnigl. Gesellschajt tier Wissenschajten zu Gottingen.Phifolog.-hist. E fosse (1890: Heft i; Gottingen, 1890. pp. 91-101).[Of the Slavonic, j

(* i:\t.rai.

A.-M. Denis. IPG AT. pp. 79-84.

O. EissFKI.DT, 077, pp. 030-031.

L. GlN/.BERO. art. ‘Baruch, Apocalvpse of (Greek)' in }E ii(1902), pp. 549-351.

M. R. JAMES. ‘Notes on Apocrypha vi: 'Traces of the GreekApocalypse of Baruch in other writings' in /TS xvi (1915), pp.410-413.

W. LCD I KE. ‘Beitrage zu slavischen Apokryphcn: 2. Apokalypsedcs Baruch* in Zllfxxxi (1911), pp. 219-22.

P. RlESSLER, AjSaB*, pp. 1269-1270.

L. ROST. EATAP, pp. 80-88.

E. StiHTRER, GjVZJC* iii, pp. 313-314.

E. Tl'RDEANL’ ‘Apocryphcs bogomilcs et apocryphes pseudo-bogomiles’ in Revue de Thistoire des religions, cxxxviii (1950), pp.177-181.

, L*Apocalypse de Baruch en slave* in Revue des Etudes slaves, xlviii

(1969), pp. 23-48.

(greek) apocalypse of baruch

91 14 The Greek Apocalypse oj Bamch

Prologue

A narrative and revelation of Baruc h c oncerning those ineffablethings which he saw by command of God. May the Lord add hisblessing.1

2 A revelation of Baruch, who was beside the river Gel2 weepingover the captivity of Jerusalem, when also Abimclech was pre-:i served by the hand of God at Agrippa's farm. And he was sitting atthe beautiful gates, where the Holy of Holies lay.

I. I. Baruch, was weeping in my mind and sorrowing1 on accountof the people, and because Nebuchadnezzar the king had been

2 permitted by God to destroy his city, saying. Lord, why didst thouset on fire thy vineyard and lay it waste? Why didst thou do this?And why. Lord, didst thou not punish us in some other way, butdidst deliver us to nations such as these, so that they reproach usand say. Where is their God? And behold, as I was weeping andsaying such things, 1 saw an angel of the Lord coming and sayingto me. Listen Baruch.'z for you are a man much beloved: do not be sodistressed about the condition of Jerusalem - so says the Lord, the

•t Almighty. For he has sent me to you to make known and to show

3 you all the things of God. For your prayer has been heard by himC> and has reached the ears of the Lord God. And when he had said

this to me, I was silent. And the angel said to me, Argue with Godno more, and 1 will show you other mysteries, greater than these.7 And 1, Baruch, said. As the Lord God lives, if you will show me and1 hear from you, I will say nothing more: may God hold it againstH me3 in the day of judgement if I do say more! And the angel of thepowers said to me. Come and 1 will show you the mysteries of God.

II. And he took me and brought me where the vault of heaven wasset. and where there was a river that no man can cross, nor any

1 Lit. 'Bless thou. O Lord'.

; James suggested ‘Kidron'. an original KEA\PQN] having been corrupted intoCEA: cp. Syr. Apoe. v. 3. xxi. I. xxxi. 2.

' Reading xtvQutv tor fya/v.

’ Lit. I'ndersiand, C) man’.

1 Lit. 't«od shall add judgement to me’.

The G reek .-1 pocalypse of Bn ruch 9()j

2 alien creature' from any of those that God created. And lie look meand brought me to the first heaven and showed me a d(x>r of greatsize; and he said to me. Lei us go in through it. And we went in as ifwe were being carried along on wings, about a thirls days' journey.

3 And he showed me a plain inside the heaven; and (here were menliving on it with the faces of oxen, and the horns of stags, and the

4 feet of goats, and the hind-quarters of lambs. And I. Baruch, askedthe angel, Tell me, pray, what is the extent of the heaven in whichwe journeyed, what are its dimensions, and what is the plain, so

H that I also may tell my fellow men? And the angel, whose name wasPhamicl,1 2 said to me. This door that you sec is die door of theheaven, and the extent o(theheaven is as great as the distance fromearth to the heaven; and again, the length of the plain you saw is as

6 great as the distance {horn north to south). And again the angel ofthepowers said to me. Come and I will show you greater mysteries.

7 But I said. I pray you show me w hat these men are. And he said tome, These are the men who built the tower of strife against Cod. andthe Lord banished them.

HI. And the angel ol the Lord took nu* and brought me to a secondheaven and showed me there also a door like the first and said. Let

2 us go in through it. And we went in. carried on wings, about a sixty

3 days’journey. And he showed me a plain there too. and it was full

4 of men; and they looked like dogs, and their feet like slags' leet. And

5 1 asked the angel, .l/y lord, I pray you tell me who these are? Andhe said, These are the men who planned the building ofthe lower;for the men you see deported multitudes of both men and women tomake bricks (and no woman who was making bricks was allowedto stop, even when about to give birth to a child, but had toproduce her child while she was still making the bricks, and

6 support her child in her apron, and go on making the bricks). Andwhen they had built the tower to a height of lour hundred andsixty-three cubits the Lord appeared to them and confused their

1 Or’breeze’.

1 A corruption, richer of'Phanuel’. which is supported by the Slavonic here tcp.I Enoch xl. 51. liv. 6. lxxi. 8,!). 13), or oPReniiel* (cp. Syr. Apor. lv. 3: also 1 Enochxx. H and 2 Esdras iv. 36).

901 i The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

7 speech. And they took a drill and tried to bore through the heaven,saying. Let us see whether the heaven is made of clay, or ofbrass. orH of iron. When (hid saw this he would not allow them to. hut struckthem with blindness and confusion of speech, and made them asyou see.

IV. And I. Baruch, said. Behold, my lord, you have shown me .tomegreat and wonderful things; and now show me all things lor the2 Lord's sake. And the angel said to me. Come let us go through //.’{And 1 went) with the angel from there about a hundred and:t eighty-live days' journey. And he showed me a plain and a serpent.

which appeared to be two hundred plethra in length.' And lie showed} me Hades: and it looked dark and god-forsaken. And I said. Who isj this dragon, and who is the cruel creature round him? And the angelsaid. The dragon is the one who eats the bodies of those who live»* wicked lives, and he depends on them tor sustenance. And this isHades, which itself is very like him. in that it drinks about a cubitout of the sea. and yet the level of the sea does not go down at all as a7 result. Baruch said. And how is this? And the angel said. Listen, theLord (iod made three hundred and sixty rivers, of which the mostimportant are Alphias. Abyrus, and the Gcricus; and it is becauseH of these that the level of the sea does not go down. And I said. Showme. I pray you, which tree it was that led Adam astray. And theangel said to me. It was the vine, which the angel Sammacl'planted, and the Lord God was angry about it and cursed him andhis plant; and lor this reason he forbade Adam to touch it, and thatwas why the devil was roused to envy and deceived him through

9 his vine. [And I, Baruch, said. Since then the vine has been thecause of so much evil, and is under the judgement of the curse ofGod, and brought about the destruction of the first created man. how

10 is it that it is now so useful? And the angel said. A gtxxl question.When (iod brought the flood upon the earth, and destroyed allmankind4 and four hundred and nine thousand giants, and the

1 It would seem that the entry to the third heaven is> to lx1 located here, but thatthe descriptive details have somehow fallen out of the text. n‘ to chap. x.

• Reading wg ogOauuz .TAtQga o for wgwQ6oriugutdQas (i.c. nearly four miles).

’ Text 'Samuel’: ep. ix. 7. * Lit. ‘flesh*.

907

The Creek Apocalypse of Baruch

water rose fifteen cubits above the highest mountains, then the waterentered Paradise and destroyed every flower there; but it dislodgedthe vine5 from its place inside Paradise altogether and thrust it out.

11 And when the earth appeared out of the water, and Noah came out

12 of the ark, he began to plant sonic of the plants he found. And hefound a shoot of the vine6 and picked it up and asked himself’. What

13 is it? And I came and told him about it. And he said, Shall I plantit, or what shall I do? If Adam was destroyed because of it. 1 have nodesire to incur God’s anger through it. And so saying he prayed

14 that God w'ould reveal to him what to do about it. He prayedearnestly and wept for forty days; and when he had finished hisprayer he said, Lord, 1 entreat thee to reveal to me what to do

15 about this plant. And God sent his angel Sarasael and said to him,IJp, Noah, and plant the shoot, for these are the Lord's words.

Its bitterness shall be changed into sweetness.

And its curse shall liecome a blessing,

And what is produced from it shall become (lie blood of God.

And as it was through it that the human race was condemned, soagain through Jesus Christ, the Immanuel, will they be restored in

Hi him and gain entry into Paradise.] But you must realize, Baruch,that just as it was through this vers tree that Adam was con-demned and divested of the glory of God. so men who now drink7the wine that tomes from it without moderation are worse trans-gressors than Adam, and are far from the glory of God and on the

17 road to eternal fire. For <no) good comes out of it. Those who drinkto excess are led astray in all sorts of ways:8 brother has no pity forbrother, nor father for son, nor children for parents: from drinking4wine come all evils - murders, adulteries, fornications, perjuries,thefts, and such like; arid nothing good is achieved by it.

V. And I, Baruch, said to the angel, Let me ask you one thing, my

2 lord. You told me that the dragon drinks a cubit out of the sea: tell

5 Lit. 'the shoot of the vine’.

6 Lit.‘the shoot’.

7 Readingnivovreg for dgtbvreg.

* Lil.'... excess do these things’.

v Reading rzOoeun; for rmbotutg.

A inc also how big is his belly? And tlu* angel said. His belly is Hades;and it extends about as far as three hundred men can throw aplummet.1 But mine, so that 1 may show you even greaterwonders2 than these.

VI. And he took me and brought me to where the sun starts out on

2 its daily journey. And be showed me a chariot and four, under whichburned a lire; and in the chariot a man was sitting, wearing acrown of fire, and the chariot was drawn by forty angels. Andbehold, a bird was circling l>elbrr the sun, about nine . . . away.1

3 And I said to the angel, What is this bird? And he said to me. This

4 is the guardian of the world. And I said. My lord, how is it the

:> guardian of the world? F.xpluin to me. And the angel said to me.

This bird Hies beside the sun, and, as it stretches out its wings, it

(i catches the sun's fiery rays. Hit did not catch them, the human racewould not be preserved, nor any other living creature. Gtxi

7 appointed this bird to do this. And the bird stretched out its wings,and I saw on its right wing some very large letters indeed, as large asthe area of a threshing-floor - about four thousand modii; and the

8 letters were of gold. And the angel said to me. Read them. And Iread them, and they said this. Neither earth nor heaven brought me

‘l to the birth, but wings of fire brought me to the birth. And I said,

It) What is this bird, my lord, and what is its name? And the angel said

11 to me. Its name is Phoenix. And (I said), What does it eat? And he

12 said to me. The manna of heaven and the dew of the earth. And Isaid, Does the bird excrete? And he said to me. It excretes a worm,and the excrement of the worm is cinnamon, which kings and

13 princes use. But wait and you shall see the glory ofGod. And whilehe was talking with me there came a thunder-clap, and the placewas shaken where we were standing. And I asked the angel, Whatis this noise, my lord? And the angel said to me, The angels are nowopening the three hundred and sixtv-fivc gates of heaven, and the

14 light is being separated from the darkness. And a voice came,

1 Lit. 'and as far as a plummrt is thrown (b\) thrrr hundred men. so hi3 is hisbelly'. ’ Lit.'works’.

1 I he text reads <u^6q€i twta. lor which no satisfactory emendation has yet been

proposed.

15 which said, I.ightgivcr, give brightness to the world. And when I

16 heard the bird’s cry I said. What is this cry, my lord? And he said.This is the bird that wakes up the corks on earth. For just as others dothrough their mouths,’ so too does the cock proclaim his message tothose who are in the world in his own way. For the sun is madeready by the angels, and the cock crows.

VII. And I said. And where docs the sun begin its labours after the

2 cock crows? And the angel said to me, Listen, Baruch. All thethings I showed you are in the first and second heaven; and in thethird heaven the sun passes through and gives brightness to the

3 world. But wail and you shall see the glory of God. And while I wastalking with him, I saw the bird, and it appeared in front, and it

4 grew smaller and smaller, and then returned to its full size. Andbehind the bird1 I saw the shining sun, and the angels with itdrawing it, and a crown on its head - a sight too brilliant for our

5 eyes to look upon. And as soon as the sun shone the phoenixstretched out its wings. And when I beheld such great glory I wasreduced to abject terror, and 1 backed away and hid in the wings of

6 the angel. And the angel said to me. Do not be afraid Baruch: onlywait and you shall see their setting also.

VIII. And he took me and brought me to the west. And when thetime of the setting came, 1 again saw the bird coming in front, andthe sun coming with the angels; arid as soon as it came I saw the

2 angels, and they took the crown off its head. But the bird stood

3 exhausted and with its wings folded. And when I saw this 1 said,Why did they take the crown off the sun’s head, my lord, and why is

4 the bird so exhausted? And the angel said to me. The sun’s crown,when it has been through the day, four angels take it and carry it upto heaven and renew it, because its rays have been defiled on earth;

5 and so it is renewed in this way each day. And I, Baruch, said, Andwhy, my lord, are its rays defiled on earth? And the angel said tome, Because it beholds the lawlessness and unrighteousness of men- their fornications, adulteries, thefts, extortions, idolatries,

1 Reading ra did cnOuartK lor rCt dlaro^a.

Lit. ‘this’.

carousals, murders, quarrels, jealousies, slanders, wranglings,gossipings. divinations, and so forth, which are not pleasing toh God: that is why it is defiled, and that is why it is renewed. And youasked about the bird, how it gets exhausted. It keeps the suns raysunder control through the fire and burning heat of the entire day,7 and it gels exhausted by it. For, as we said before, unless its wingsacted as a screen to the sun’s rays, no liv ing creature would bepreserved.

IX. Atid when they had gone away, the night fell, and with it came'1 the chariot1 of the moon, together with the stars. And I. Baruch,

said. My lord, show me this also. I beg you. how it goes out, wherei it goes from, and in what form it moves along. And the angel said,Wait, and you shall see this also shortly. And on the next day I sawit in the form of a woman, sitting in a wheeled chariot. And in frontof it were oxen, and there were lambs in the chariot, and a multi-t Hide of angels likewise. And I said. What arc the oxen and the:> lambs, my lord? And he said to me, They also arc angels. And againI asked. Why is it that at one time it waxes, but at another wanes?0 (And he said to me.) Listen, Baruch, What you arc looking at nowwas intended by God to be the most beautiful of all the things he7 made.2 And when the first Adam sinned, it was near Sammaclwhen he took the serpent as a garment. And it did not hide itselfaway; and God was angry with it and punished it, and shortenedH its days. And I said. And how is it that it does not shine always, butonly in the night? And the angel said. Listen: as courtiers cannotspeak freely in the presence of a king, so the moon and the starscannot shine in the presence of the sun; for the stars are alwayssuspended /«their places. but they are overpowered3 by the light oj thesun, and the moon, although it is not injured, is worn out by thesun’s heat.

X. And when I had learned all these things from the archangel, he

1 Reading r6 ao^a lor/icrft xal.

' Lit. *lhis (fcm.) which you arc looking at was written by God beautiful as noother (fcm.)'.

’ Lit. 'dispersed'.

2 look me and brought me into a fourth1 heaven. And I saw a level:i plain, and in the middle of it a poo! of water. And there were in itmany flocks of birds of all kinds, hut not like those here on earth: forthe crane I saw was as big as great oxen, and all the birds were much} bigger than those in the world. And I asked tin- angel. What is tin-plain, and what is the pool, and what are the many flocks of birds’> round it? And the angel said. Listen. Baruch: the plain that has thepool in it and other wonders is the place where the souls of therighteous come whenever they meet together in groups to talk tot> one another. But the water is what the clouds receive and rain7 upon the earth and cause its fruits to grow.2 And 1 said to the angelof the Lord again. And the birds? And he said to me. They area those which sing the lord's praises continually. And 1. Baruch.

said. .1 tv lord, how is it that men say that the water which descends9 as rain is from the sea? And the angel said. What descends as rain isfrom the sea, and also from the waters on earth; but what makesIt? the f ruits grow is front the latter source. You must understand thatthis is where what is called the dew of heaven comes from.

XJ. .And the angel took me and brought me from there to a fifth2 heaven. And the gate was shut. And I said. My lord, cannot thisgateway be opened1 for us to go in? And the angel said to me. Wecannot go in until Michael comes, who holds the keys of thekingdom of heaven: only wait and you shall see the glory of God.And there was a great noise, like thunder. And I said. What is thisI noise, my lord? And he said to me. Prince Michael is now corning.r> down to receive the prayers of men. And behold, a voice came,saying. Let the gales be opened! And they were opened;2 and there(> was a roar, as ofthundcr. And Michael came, and the angel who

1 The text reads 'third-. But Baruch is conducted into 'a fifth heaven- at xi. 1;hence we must presume that the events recorded in chaps, iv-ix happened in thethird heaven, despite the absence of.my explicit indication to that effect at iv. 1 -2.tip., however, vii. 2: also n.1 to chap. iv.

•' Lit. ‘and the fruits grow’.

1 Lit. “is not this gateway opened'.

3 Lit. ‘And they (impersonal} opened them'

!) 12 The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

was with me met him and made obeisance to him and said,7 Greetings, my prince, and prince of all our order. And PrinceMichael said. Greetings to you also, our brother and the inter-ti prclcr of the revelations to those who live good lives. And aftersaluting one another in this way. they stood still. And I saw thatPrince Michael had in his hands an enormous bowl: it was as deepas the distance from heaven to earth, and as wide as the distance fromv north to south. And 1 said. My lord, what is it Prince Michael isholding? And he said to me. This is where the merits of therighteous enter, and such good works as they do. which are carriedin it into the presence of the God of heaven.

XII. And as I was talking with them, behold, angels came with2 baskets full of flowers: and they gave them to Michael. And I asked

the angel. Who are these, my lord, and what arc they bringing with.< them? And he said to me. These arc the angels who are over the» righteous.1 And the archangel took the baskets and emptied them.’> into the bowl. And the angel said to me, These flowers are thet» merits of the righteous. And I saw other angels carrying basketsthat were (neither) empty nor full.2 And they began to lament andwould not c ome near because what they had to offer was imperfect.57 And Michael cried out and said. Come here, you angels, and bringf! me what you have brought as well. And Michael was very sad (aswas also the angel who was with me) because they did not fill thebowl.

XIII. And there came in the same way other angels weeping andwailing, and saying in fear. Sec, lord, how worn out we are,1 for we

2 were allotted to evil men, and we want to get away from them. AndMichael said. You cannot get away from them, or the Knemy will:i win the victory in the end; but tell me what you are asking for. Andthey said. We beg you. Michael, our prince, transfer us away fromthem, for we cannot remain attached to wicked and foolish men,

' Rcadii^ dticalutv lor ££ovoi&v.

! Reading oPre kcvH oCtc ytpovza lor *rv6 oi) yipiovra.

' Lit. 'because they had not the prizes complete'.

1 I.it. 'how blackened we arc'.

The Greek Apocahp.se ajBaruch 913

for then: is nothing good in them, but only even kind of uu-

4 righteousness and greed. For we have never seen them devotingthemselves [in the church either to their spiritual fathers or] to anyone good thing.1 2 but where there is murder, there arc they in themiddle of it. and where there are fornications, adulteries, theirs,slanders, perjuries, envvings. carousals, quarrels, jealousies,wranglings, idolatry, divination, and so forth, there are they doingthings like this, and others worse. So we beg you to lei us be quit of

5 them. And Michael said to the angels, Wail till 1 have been told bythe Lord what is to happen.

XIV. And Michael departed immediately, and the doors were2 shut; and there was a noise like thunder. And I asked the angel,

What is the noise? And he said to me, Michael is now presentingthe merits of men to God.

XV. And then Michael came down again, and the gate was

2 opened; and he was carrying oil. And he went to the angels with thebaskets that had been full; and he filled them with oil, saying, Take itaway, reward our friends a hundred times over - those who havetoiled in patience and done good things; (or those who have sowed

3 generously shall also reap generously. And he said also to thosewho had brought the baskets that were not full. Come here as well:take the reward that is due for what you brought, and distribute it

4 among the race of men. [1’hen he said both to those who hadbrought the full baskets and to those who had brought the baskets thatwere not full, Go and bless our friends and say to them. So the Lordsays, You have been' faithful in a few things,3 lie will put you incontrol of many things: come and share the joy of your Lord, j

XVI. And he turned round and said to those who had broughtnothing, The Lord says to you. Do not be gloomy and weep; and do

2 Lit. ‘For we did not see them enter in church ever eiilter into spiritual fathers orinto one good thing’. The syntax here is very difficult and it may well be that theoriginal text has been tampered with.

1 Lit.‘You are’.

2 Reading ini dAlya for ini oAiyfl.

914 The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

2 not leave the rare of men alone. But inasmuch as they angered ineby what they did. go and make them jealous and angry andembittered against a people lhal is no people, against a people that\\ has no understanding. And more-alfliet them with caterpillar andmaggot, and rust and locust, (and) hail with flashes ol lighteningand wrath, and smite them1 with sword and with death, and their} children with demons. For they did not heed my voice, neither didthey observe my commandments nor do them: but they despised mycommandments and my assemblies.2 and insulted the priests whoproclaimed my words to them.

1,2 XVII. And as he spoke the door was shut, and we withdrew. Andthe angel took me and restored me to where / was at the beginning.And when I came to myself I ascribed glory to God. who had» accounted me worthy of so great an honour. And do you, mybrothers, who have been granted such a revelation, ascribe glory toGod also yourselves, so that he too may glorify you now andalways, even to all eternity. Amen.

1 Lit. 'cut them in two’. See Introduction [pp. KW-WXI above).

1 Or 'and my churches’ {Gk. KalrfaviKK/.riolwvpov).

THE APOCALYPSE OF ZEPHANIAHAND

AN ANONYMOUS APOCALYPSE

lXTROlHC TION

The details of tilt* discovery of the Coptic MSS containing the textof these apocalypses, the problems involved in the arrangement ofthe individual leaves in some sort of intelligible order, and theopinions of the editors and other scholars who have worked onthem, have already been treated in the Introduction to I’heApocalypse of Elijah.1

According to SleindorfV three distinct works are preserved inthese leaves, in varying degrees of completeness: (1) an apocalypseof Zephaniah, of which only a very small portion has been pre-served on one side of one of the Sahidic leaves.2 and to the text ofwhich there is no parallel in the Akhmimic; (2) an apocalypse ofElijah, contained on the last thirteen Akhmimic leaves in the orderin which SteindorlTarranged them, and also on the remaining sixSahidic leaves, which oiler (with gaps) a parallel text to a consider-able portion of the Akhmimic text; and (3) an ‘Anonymous’apocalypse contained in the first nine of the Akhmimic leaves.

Nearly all subsequent authorities have followed Stcindorlfto theextent of distinguishing the first two apocalypses - the passage onthe single Sahidic leaf where Zephaniah speaks in the first person(‘Truly 1, Zephaniah, saw') has been generally regarded as con-clusive evidence that on this leaf, at least, we have before us part ofthe text of a Zephaniah apocalypse, while the colophon at whatappears to be the end of the Akhmimic codex (‘The Apocalypse ofElijah’) was usually taken to be sufficient proof that what im-mediately precedes it was the text of an Elijah apocalypse, evenbefore the publication of the much fuller Sahidic text of thisapocalypse contained in P. Chester Beatty 2018 left no doubt at allabout its separate identity.

1 Sec above, pp. 7f>:5—;>.

1 I'he text on the other side ol this leal is illegible.

916 The .4pocalvpse of Zephaniah

But beyond this there has been less unanimity. The first nineleaves of the Akhmimie eodex (according tn Steindorffs arrange-ment) are so markedly different in subject-matter from the lastthirteen (i.e. the Elijah apocalypse) that they must belong to adiHerein work. The question is. Is that ‘different work* yet a third,independent, apocalypse (lor about its being an apocalypse therecan be no doubt at all), or is it part (indeed, the major part) of theZephaniah apocalypse?

As we have seen, Stcindorff preferred the former alternative; andhe called his third apocalypse ‘ The Anonymous Apocalypse’, be-cause in the portion of its text that has been preserved the seer isnot named. But this further distinction of Stcindorffs has beenchallenged from more than one angle. It has been pointed out thatthe fact that there is no Akhmimie parallel to the single Sahidic'Zephaniah' leaf, whereas there arc Akhmimie parallels to theremaining six Sahidic leaves, is almost certainly accidental: thema jority of the surviving Akhmimie leaves have no Sahidic paral-lels; and there is no reason to suppose that the coverage is likely tobe complete on one side rather than the other. In any ease, theAkhmimie text of the presumed ‘Anonymous’ is itself far fromcomplete: we do not know, for instance, how much is missing at thebeginning; and the Sahidic ‘Zephaniah’ fragment may well belongthere, or in the gap in the middle, or, even, at the end. Moreover,there are some very evident contacts in subject-matter between the‘Zephaniah’ leal' and the Anonymous’: both are concerned withthe torments of Hell; and there arc several coincidences oflanguage, the most obvious being concentrated in Apoc. Zeph. 6-7and ‘Anon.’ Apoc. i. 11-12. All this tells in favour of their not beingtwo independent works, but one and the same.

A further complication was introduced into the debate by thepublication in 1940 by L. Th. Lcfort3 of a very small, and for themost part illegible, fragment, which may have some bearing onthe problem. As reconstructed by Lcfort, the text of the fragmentends with the words ‘{Truly I Zc)phaniah saw (these things)’,followed by the colophon ‘(The Apocalypse of Zc)phan(iah)'. Ifwe

' I.. Th. Lcfort, 1*5 manusents coplci dt CUntitrsiti de l*>utam, i {= Ttxlts LtUeraires;Louvain. 19-10), pp. 79—80.

The Apocalypse of Zephaniah 917

arc to trust Ixfort's reconstruction, and if there is any relationshipat all between the new fragment and the previously known‘Zephaniah’ leaf, it would seem that the first lines on the‘Zephaniah- leaf, as far as 'Truly 1, Zephaniah, saw and took noteof these things’, are the conclusion of the Zephaniah apocalypse,and that what follows (from ‘And the angel of the Lord . . .*)belongs to something else - unless, of course. Truly l, Zephaniah.saw these things’ was a kind of refrain, occurring regularlythroughout the apocalypse at the end of each section, and then,finally, at the very end. However, in view of the fact that on Lcfort'sfragment only very few complete words arc legible, it would beunwise to pursue the possibilities here.

For these reasons it has been thought best to treat the whole ofthe ‘Zephaniah’-4Anonymous’ material together and print thetranslations of the Sahidic and Akhtnimic texts one alter the other.Those who follow Steindorlf can then read them, as he did, asfragments of two separate works. Those who do not can either readthem as fragments of the same work (i.e. as all belonging to theApocalypse of Zephaniah), or alternatively indulge in whateverre-ordering of the individual leaves and identification of theircontents they please.

A Zephaniah apocalypse w-as certainly known in the earlyChurch, since one is mentioned in the List of Sixt> Books; and thisapocalypse is in all probability the same work as ’The Book of theProphet Zephaniah’ mentioned by pseudo-Athanasius and theStichometry ofNicephorus. An indication of contents may perhapsbe found in a solitary quotation in Clement of Alexandria. Thepassage in Clement runs as follows:

‘Are not these statements like those of Zephaniah the prophet? “Andthe spirit took me, and brought me up to the fifth heaven, and T beheldangels called lords: and their diadem had been set upon them by theHoly Spirit; and earh of them had a throne seven times brighter thanthe light of the rising sun; and they dwell in temples of salvation, aridthey hymned the ineffable Most High God." '*

But Clement’s quotation has no parallel, either in the Sahidic

4 Clem.-Alex. Strom. V. xi. 77.

918 The Apoca I ypse oj Zephan iah

‘Zephaniah' fragment or in what remains of Steindortrs 'Anony-mous'; nor is there any obvious gap anywhere into which it mightsuitably be fitted.

I he Sahidic ‘Zephaniah’ fragment affords no clue as to theorigin of its text: that text might be Jewish in origin: it might heChristian; and it might equally well be a re-working by a Christianof an originally Jewish source. On the other hand, most agree thatthe ‘Anonymous' was in origin Jewish, but that thejewish originalhas been reworked by a Christian, though far less drastically thanthe associated Apocalypse of Klijah: there are in the Anonymous'no unequivocally Christian passages or phrases, hut there areseveral apparent reminiscences of the New Testament.5

As in the Apocalypse of Klijah. the translation is based on thetexts as edited by Steindorff and his page numeration has beeninserted in brackets where applicable, in order to facilitatereference.’' *Sa’ = ‘Sahidic’and *.V = ‘Akbmimic'.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

KDITIONS

Coptic

L\ Bot"RIANT, *Lcs papyrus d'Akhmim (Fragments de manu-scrits en dialeetes bachmouriquc ei thebain)' in Alenwirespubliespar les membres de la mission archeologique fran<;aise au Caire. torn. i.fuse. 2 (Paris, 1885), pp. 242-804.

G. STKINDORFF. Die Apokahpse des Elias. eine unbekannte Apokalvpse,and Bruchstiicke der Sophomas-Apokafypse: koptische Texte, l bersetzung.Clossar (= 7Y xvii (N.F. ii) 8a; Leipzig, 1899).

TRANSLATIONS

English

H. P. HOUGHTON. ‘The Coptic Apocalypse’ in Aegyptus. xxxix(1959), pp. 40-91.

* e.g., with i. 3rp. Matt, x.xiv, 40-41 I.ukr xvii. !i4—14.^; with ii- 10—12 rp. Rrv. i.13. 15. ii. 1H, xix. 10. xxii. 8-9; and with iij. I Hep. 1 Cor. xv. Utt.

* Sot- above p. 759.

apocalypse of zephaniah

The. Apocalypse of "Zephaniah

919

French

L\ BouRI.W'I . *Les papyrus d'Akmim . . . [asabovc|.

German

L. STERN. *Die koptische Apocalypse ties Sophonias, mil eincmAnhang ubcr den unlcrsahidisohen Dialect’ in Zeilsckrijt furagyptische Sprache und Alterthumskunde (Leipzig, 1886), pp. 115-135.

G. STKIXDORFF, Die Apokalypse des Lilias .. . [as above].

P. Rl I'.SSLKR, AjSaBf pp. 168-177.

GENERAL

A.-M. Denis,//>GV171pp. 192-193.

J.-B. PRKY.art. ‘AjKK rvphesde l’A.T.' in DDSup i. cols. 456-108.M. R. James. IAO'l\ pp. 72-74.

P. Riessler, AjSaB2. pp. 1274-1275.

\V. SCHNEF.MF.I.CHER, ‘Spatcrr Apokalypsen’ in L. HeNNKCKI.and W. ScHNKKMEJ.CHER, Xe.uteslammllic.he ApokryphenK ii(Tubingen, 1964), pp. 533-534. (Translated, by K. Best. inNTA ii, pp. 751-752.]

E. SchC’RKR, GjVZJC4 iii, pp. 367 369.

H. \\ Eixri. in ELX, pp. 162-164.

THE APOCALYPSE OF ZEPHANIAH

(Sa I )(I saw) a soul, five thousand angels set over it (and) guardingit, taking (it) to the cast, and carrying it to the west, striking . . .

2 giving it hundred (?)... scourges each one daily. 1 was afraid: I

3 threw myself on my face, lor my knees were weak. The angel gaveme his hand. He said to me. Re victorious that you may bevictorious, and l>e strong that you may be victorious over the

4 accuser and may come up from hell.1 And when 1 got up, 1 said,

' Up. Anon. Apoc. iii. 1.6-7 (pp. 923and 924 hdow).

f>20 An Anonymous Apocalypse

> And who is this they arc set over? He saici to me. This is (a) soulwhose lawless doings were no secret:2 and belorc it succeeded int> repenting, it was visited and taken out of its body. Truly I.

Xephaniah, saw and look note of these things. ’

7 And the angel of the Lord walked with me. I saw a wide openplace, with thousands upon thousands surrounding it on the leftand myriads upon myriads on the right.4 The nature of each onewas dillerent. their hair all loose like women's hair, (their) teethlike the teeth of... .5

AN ANONYMOUS APOCALYPSK

L (A 1) ... dies, we will bury him like every man: if he dies, we willcarry him out. and play the lyre before hint, and sing our songsover his body.

2 But I went with the angel of the Lord. He took me over my wholei city. There was no one to be seen. Then 1 saw two men walkingtogether on the same road: I saw (them talking). And I saw alsotwo women grinding at a mill together: and I saw them talking.And ! saw (also) two on (one) couch, (both of them taking) theirl (rcst(?)) on their couch. (And I saw) the whole world (suspended)like a drop of (water, hanging from a bucket) (A 2) that comes upj (from) a well.1 I said to the angel of the Lord, Is there no darknessnor night in this place? He said to me. No; for where the righteousand the saints arc. in that place there is no darkness, but they arc»i always in the light. And I saw all the souls of men who wereundergoing punishment. And I cried out unto the Lord Almighty,(How long) wilt thou abide with the saints and be patient with the7 world (and) these souls which are undergoing punishment? The

• Lil. 'a soul which was found in its lawlessness'.

' Lit. ’saw, seeing these things'. For the jxjssibility that these words mark the endof the apocalypse see the Introduction (pp. filfi-7 above).

4 Cp. Anon. Ajioc. i. I l.

5 Cp. Anon. Apoc. i. 12. ii. 7.

’ Cp. Isa. xl. 15. The text is restored following P. Larau (‘Rcmarques sur Icmanuscrit akhmimique des Apocalypses dc Sophonic ft d’filie’ in Journal asiaiique,it lie (lfKiti), pp. Ui‘f-195).

/In Anonymous Apocalypse

921

angel of ihc Lord said to me. Come and I will show you . . of

righteousness. And he took me up onto mount Seir; and he (showedme) three men, {A 3) with whom two angels were walking, happyH and rejoicing over them. I said to the angel. Who2 are these? Hesaid to me. These arc the three sons ofjoatham the priest, who didnot keep their father's commandment, nor did they observe thestatutes of the Lord. Then 1 saw two more angels weeping over the<* three sons ofjoatham the priest. 1 said (to) the angel. Who arethese? He said. These are the angels of the Lord Almighty, whowrite down all the good works of the righteous upon their' roll,while they (sit) at the gate of heaven. But I take them from themand bring them (up) (A 4) before the Lord Almighty for him to

id write their name in the book of the living. And the other angels ofthe accuser, who is on the earth, also write down all the sins of menupon their roll; and they too sit at the gate of heaven and read themout to the accuser for him to write them down on his roll, so that he

11 can accuse them when they come out of the world down below. Ithen walked further with (the) angel of the Lord, and 1 hx)ked infront of me: I saw a place there . . . thousand and myriads upon

12 myriads of angels walking through (it.4 Their) face was like apanther’s, their tusks protruded from their mouths (like) a wildboar’s, their eyes (A 5) were bloodshot, their hair all loose like

13 women’s hair,4 and they had scourges of fire in their hands. Andwhen I saw them. I was afraid; and I said to that angel who was

14 walking with me. Who5 are these? He said to me. These are theattendants upon the whole creation, who come to the souls of theungodly and take them and put them here. They spend three daysgoing round with them in the air before they take them and hurl

15 them into their eternal punishment. I said, I pray you, my lord, give

Hi them no authority to come to me. The angel said, Have no fear: I

will not allow them to come to (you), for you are holy belorc {A 6)the Lord: I will not allow them to come to you, for the Lord

17 Almighty has sent me to you, for (you are) holy before him. 'Thenhe signalled to them, and they turned back and kept their distancefrom me.

1 Lit.‘What sort'. J Text'his'.

4 Cp. Apoc. Zeph. 7.

* Lit.‘What sort'.

922

An Anonymous Apocalypse

II. But I walked with the angel of God. 1 looked in front of me; and1 saw gates. Then, when I approached them. 1 found they weregates of copper. The angel touched them and they opened before2 him. I went in with him. I found myself in what seemed to he themain street of (a) beautiful city. [ walked down the middle of it.Then the angel of the Lord transformed himself beside me there.:i And I looked and I saw1 2 gates of copper with bolts of copper andbars ofiron. (A 7) And they closed against me there. I saw in fromof me the gates of copper breathing out fire lo a distance oj about fiftyl stadcs. Again I turned;' and I saw a great sea. And I thought it wasa sea of water. I found it was a whole sea of fire, like a marsh, thatbreathed out fire continually, and its waves burned with sulphur*) and pitch. They began to come near me. I thought therefore thatthe Lord Almighty had come to visit me. When I saw (him).4 51 fell(i on my face before him to worship him. I was very much afraid. Iimplored (A 8) him to save me from this torment. I cried out,saying. Eloi, Lord Adonai Sabaoth. I entreat thee to save me fromthis torment that has come upon me.

7 Then31 stood up. I saw a great angel in front of me. his hair flyingout round his head like the lionesses, his teeth showing outside hismouth like a bear's, his hair Hying out like women's.6 while hisK body was like serpents who wanted to swallow me. And when I sawhim. I was so afraid of him that every limb in my body was

9 paralysed. I fell down on my face: I was not able lo stand. I prayedbefore (A 9) the Lord Almighty, / pray thee that thou wilt save mefrom this torment, thou who didst deliver Israel from Pharaoh,king of Egypt, thou who didst deliver Susanna out of the hand ofthe unrighteous elders, thou who didst deliver the three saints,Shadrach, Meshach, and Abcdncgo, out of the fiery blazingfurnace, I pray thee that thou wilt save me from this torment.

10 Then I got up and stood upon my feet. I saw a great angel standing

1 Lit. ‘I found its whole street like that of.

1 Lit. 'And I looked at them, and I found that they were’.

* Here follows a word (lit. ‘they will walk’) which seems to have no place in the

context. * SoLacau.

5 Lit.‘In that same hour’.

6 Cp. Apor. Zcph. 7 (p. 920above).

An Anonymous Apocalypse 5>23

in from of me: his face shone like the rays' of the sun in its glory: liisface was like the face of a man filled with its glory; and he had whatlooked like a golden girdle round his breast, and his feet were like

It brass (A 10) refined by fire. And when 1 saw him. I rejoiced, for Ithought the Lord Almighty had come to visit me. I (ell on my face:

12 I worshipped him. He said to me. It is God you must pay homageto:* you must not worship me. I am not the Lord Almighty; but Iam the great angel Krcmiel. whose place is in the u orld below, and /have been appointed over the abyss and hell, in which all souls havebeen imprisoned from the end of the flood, which was upon the

13 earth, until to-day.* Then I asked the angel. What is the place I

14 have come down10 to? He said to me. This is hell. I then asked him.Who is this great angel I have seen, who is standing as he is? Hesaid, This is the one who accuses men bclore the Lord. Then (I)looked: I saw he had a roll (A 11) in his hand, and he began to

15 unfold it. And when he had spread it out, 1 read it in my ownlanguage. I found all the sins I had committed written down byhim. from my childhood till to-day, all written on that roll of mine

16 without a mistake anywhere. II' I had not been to visit (a) sickperson or a widow, I found it ascribed to me as a failure on my roll:an orphan I had not visited I found" ascribed to me as a failure on

17 my roll. 1Jthere had been a day when I did not fast, when I did notpray at the hour of prayer, I found it ascribed to me as a very badthing indeed on my roll; (A 12) and if there had been a day when I hadnot visited the sons of Israel, 1 found it ascribed to me as a failure

IB on my roll. So I fell down on my face and prayed bclore the LordAlmighty, May thy mercy reach as far as me and wipe my rollclean; for thy mercy is everywhere and fills every place.

III. Then I got up and stood upon myjeet. I saw a great angel in frontof me, saying to me, Be victorious, be strong; for you have beenstrong, you have been victorious over the accuser, you have comeup from hell and the abyss,1 you shall now cross at the ferry-place.

7 Text’gifts’. * Lit. ’Devote yourself to him’.

* Cp. 1 Enoch xx. 7 (Ok.45); 2 Esdras iv. 36.

10 Text’up’. " Text‘was found’.

1 Cp. Apoc. Z.cph. 3 (p. 919 above).

J Again lit* brought another roll, written by hand: he began to unfoldit. I road in it. I found it was written in my own language... 2pagesmissing... (A 13) They helped me: they set me upon that boat: theywere singing praises before me, namely thousands upon thousandsand myriads upon myriads of angels. I also put on an angelicl garment. 1 saw all those angels praying. I too prayed together withj them: I knew their language that they spoke with me. (This, mysons, is the trial that has to be - that the good and evil deeds ojeveryii man arc weighed in a balance.) Then a great angel came out with agolden trumpet in his hand. He sounded it three times over myhead, saying. Be victorious, he who has been victorious, be (A 14)7 strong, he who has been strong. For you have been victorious overit the accuser, you have escaped from the abyss and hell.1 You shallnow cross at the fern-place; for your name has been written in the‘i book of the living. I wanted to exchange greetings with him; but Il() could not, so great was his glory. Then he hurried ofT to all therighteous, to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Enoch, andElijah, and David. He talked with them like a friend with friends,while they themselves were in conversation with one another.

11 Then the great angel came to me, the golden trumpet in his hand.He sounded it up to heaven; and the heaven opened from east to

12 west, from north to south. ! saw the sea I had seen (A 15) down inhell: its waves rose up to the clouds. I saw all the souls submergedin it. I saw some bound with their hands to their necks, and fetters

lit on their hands and feet. I said, Who are these? He said to me,These are those who search men out2 and give them gold and silverto lead the souls of men astray.

14 And I saw others covered with fiery mats. I said, Who are these?

He said to me, These are those who lend money on interest andl.r> take interest on interest. And I saw others, blind men crying out. Iwas astonished when 1 had seen all these works ofGod. I said, WhoK» are these? (A 16) He said to me, These are those who were underinstruction and heard the word of God, but were weak and fell17 away.3 But I said to him, Have they no opportunity jor repentance?He said, Yes. I said. How long for?4 He said to me, Until the day

1 Text ‘who carry them along'.

3 Lit. ‘but were not perfect in the thing which they heard’.

4 Lit. ‘Until what day?’

An Anonymous Apocalypse

92j

18 when the Lord will judge the world. And I saw others with their hairon them. I said. Are there hair and body in this place? He said. Yes:the Lord gives them body and hair as he pleases.

19 And 1 saw very many others also: he brought them out. and theylooked at all these punishments. They cried out in prayer beforethe Lord Almighty, saying. We beseech thee (A 17) for those whosuffer all these punishments, that thou wouldesi have mercy on

20 them all. But when 1 saw them, I said to the angel who was talkingwith me. Who are these? He said. Those who are interceding with the

21 Lord arc Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. At the same time eachday they come with the great angel. He sounds the trumpet up toheaven and another fanfare over the earth. All the righteous hear

22 the fanfare. They come running, praying daily to the Lord

23 Almighty for these who suffer all these punishments. And again tin-great angel comes with the golden trumpet in his hand and soundsit over the earth. It is heard from east to west and from south tonorth. Again he sounds the trumpet (A 18) up to heaven; and histrumpet-call5 is heard.

24 I said, my lord, why did you not let me see them all? He said tome, I have no authority to show them to you, until the LordAlmighty arises in his wrath to destroy the earth and the heavens.

25 They will see what is happening and be troubled, and all will cry out,saying, All men6 who belong to thee, we will give them all to thee on

26 the day of the Lord. Who will be able to stand before him when hearises in his wrath to (destroy) the earth and (the heavens)? Alltrees that grow upon the earth will be uprooted with their roots andfall down. And all high towers and the birds that fly (over them)[down and all high towers) will fall (to the ground).7

s Lit. ‘sound'.

* Lit. ‘flesh’.

7 The text is restored following I-arau. C’p. Apoc. Elijah iii. 62-63 (p. 771 above).

1’HE APOCALYPSE OF ESDRAS

INTRODUCTION

Apart from the canonical Book of Ezra in the Old Testament,several apocryphal books bearing Ezra’s name have been at onetime or another known and esteemed in the Church.

In the MSS of the Greek Bible the book entitled ‘Esdras A5represents a parallel version of the material contained in thecanonical 2 Chron. xxxv-xxxvi, Ezra, and Nehemiah: there aretwo substantial omissions, one noteworthy addition, and a varietyof minor variations both in order and in detail. There is no reasonfor thinking that Esdras A was derived directly from the canonicalEzra-Nehemiah, either in Hebrew or in Greek, in all probability itwas a fresh Greek translation of a different recension of theHebrew. In the Latin Bible it appears as ‘III Ezra’ (or Esdras),and it is now usually printed an an appendix alter the NewTestament. In the English Ajxxaypha it stands first as ‘ 1 Esdras’.1

‘2 Esdras’, which stands next in our Apocrypha, is a completelyindependent work with complications of its own. In the Latin Bibleit is identified as TV Ezra’ (or Esdras), and in the modern editionsfollows ‘111 Ezra’ in the appendix. The central part of the book(chaps, iii-xiv) is preserved not only in Latin, but also in not lessthan seven Oriental versions; and it is evident from quotations inthe Lathers that there was at one time a Greek version as well.Most scholars regard chaps, iii-xiv (which are in form anapocalypse) as the original core, written by a Jew in either Hebrewor Aramaic about the end of the first cent. AD, to which were addedsubsequently chaps, i-ii as an introduction and chaps, xv— xvi as aconclusion. These additions now survive only in Latin, although a4th cent, fragment of a Greek text ofxv. 57-59 is known, having-been published in 1910.2 It is not uncommon, following the lead of

1 'Esdras B’ of the Greek Bible is the translation of the canonical Ezra-Nrlieiuiah(reckoned as a single book). In the Latin tradition, however, it became the customto distinguish them: hence in Latin Bibles ‘I Ezra' (or Esdras) = the canonical Ezraand ‘II Ezra’ (or Esdras) = the canonical Nehemiah.

2 Pap. Oxyr. 1010. Published by A. S. Hunt in The Oxyihynchus Papyri, vii(19UJ),pp. 11-15.

92»

some of the Latin MSS. to refer to these additions as *Y K/ra' (orKsdras) and "VI F.zra* respectively.

Standing in the same tradition as 2 Ksdras. ol which they areplainly later developments, are the three K/ra books translated inthis collection — viz. The Ajx>calypse of Ksdras. The Vision ofKsdras. and The Ajjocalypse ofSedrach. Other K/ra hooks whichhave not been included in the collection, but which may bementioned, are: (I) a Syriac a[>ocalyp.se. edited and translated intoGerman by Baethgcn in IttBfi. which is chiefly concerned with theduration of the rule of Islam:1 (2) an Kthiopic apocalypse, editedand translated into French by Halevy in 1902.4 which reviews thewhole course ofhuman history from the days of Adam, dividing itinto ‘weeks*, and assigning to Kthiopia and ‘the Son of the Lion* aprominent place in the events just before the Knd: and (3) theArmenian ‘Inquiries made by the prophet Ksdras of the Angel ofthe Lord concerning the Sons of Men*, the Armenian text of whichwas printed by Hovsephcantz in IH9f>s and an Knglish translationby Issaverdens in 1901.4 This last has in general more in commonwith our three works than either the Syriac or Kthiopicapocalypses, in that in it Ksdras enquires (and is informed) aboutwhat God has prepared lor the righteous and tor sinners at the endof lime*, but there are no points of contact in detail.

The Apocalypse of Ksdras, with which we are immediatelyconcerned, is known from two MSS. The first (Paris B.N. gr. 929;

15th cent.) contains a text in very poor condition. It was this textthat (’. Tischendorf used as the basis for his edition of 18(il>. itbeing then the only text available. Subsequently a second text inanother Paris MS (B.N. gr. 390; Itith cent.) was brought tu light,but inasmuch as this text appears to have been copied directly

* Sec* F. Haethgeii. ‘Beschreibuni’ drr syriseben Handschrift “Sachau Ft I" aufdor Kbnigliehen Biblioibck zu Berlin' in Z.4ll'vi (18Mb). pp. IW-2II1.

4 J. Halevy, ‘TeVzaza Sanhat (Coininandenirms du Sabbat), acnimpagnc desix autres eerits |Weudu-epiKraphicjues’ (= Hibhotheque de l'fault des Hautts Eludes:section des sciences historiques elphilologiques, last-, exxxvii (Paris. 19U2). pp. xviii-xxii.and 178—I!•'»).

' S. Hovsepbcamz. A Treasury oj Old and \esv Printline Unless. Wil. ! (CncanonicalHooks oj the Old TeslamrnC, Venice. pp. 300-304.

* J. Issaverdens. I’U'OT2, pp. 503-509.

from that in the earlier MS its critical value is minimal. Both, ofcourse, were used by (), Wahl in his edition of 1977.

The similarities between our apocalypse and what may be re-garded as its model. 2 Ksdras. are numerous. Both works grapplewith the problem of evil and seek to justify the ways of God to manin the form and language of apocalyptic. God's justice isquestioned, and his treatment of the righteous is contrasted withhis treatment of the unrighteous. The fundamental question isasked, why was Adam allowed to sin? Man’s state under judge-ment is claimed to be worse than that of the brute beasts. Deepconcern is shown for sinners and Ksdras pleads for them, that theymay be spared, have time and opportunity to repent, and so gainthe reward of their rcpcntence. (In the Apocalypse, this concern isemphasised by the incident at the end. where Ksdras refuses tosurrender his soul and enjoy the eternal life which is promised himuntil he is satisfied about the fate of these who are being punishedfor their sins.)

On the other hand, there are few exact verbal parallels betweenthe two works, so that it can hardly be maintained that the writer ofthe Apocalypse was using 2 Ksdras as a source in the acceptedsense of that word. The closest parallels are the dating of Ksdras'svision in the Apocalypse in ‘the thirty-second year' (i. I; ep. 2 Ksdr.iii. 1), the instruction to him to fast (i. 3-5; cp. 2 Ksdr. v. 13, vi. 31,35). the description of Adam as the work of God's hands followedby the details of how he was set in Paradise and there transgressedthe Divine command (ii. l()-l(i; cp. 2 Ksdr. iii. 5-7), and therepeated assertion that it were ‘better for man not to have beenborn than to come into the world' (i. (>, 21. v. 9. 14; ep. 2 Ksdr. iv.12, vii. 116). Especially instructive in this connection is such apassage as Apoc. v. 12-13. Here a comparison is made between the‘farmer’ who ‘sows wheat seed in the earth’ and ‘man’ who ‘sowshis seed in the field of a woman*, and then the process of'grow-th tillthe time of birth is described in detail. The passage, thoughintelligible, does not help the argument, and it is difficult to seewhy it has been placed where it is. The parallel at 2 Ksdr. viii. 41,however, is in form a parable (‘The farmer sows many seeds in theground .... but not all the seeds sown come up ... So too in theworld of men: not all who arc sown will be saved’). There the point

930 The Apocalypse oj Esdras

is clear enough, the argument is illuminated, and the comparisonfits the context admirably. We are left, with the impression that theparable in 2 Esdras is primary and that somehow, iri the traditionas it has been handed on by the author of the Apocalypse, theoriginal point has been lost, although certain keywords have beenpreserved.

The Apocalypse as it stands is patently Christian, and. althoughattempts have been made to explain it as a fundamentally Jewishwork with extensive Christian interpolations,7 they can hardly besaid to have been successful. There ran be little doubt that theauthor was a Christian, since Christian features arc discernible onalmost every page. For instance, Esdras pleads three times for ‘therace of Christians', at i. 6, ii. 7, and v. I: Paul and John arementioned at i. 19, ‘all the apostles’ at ii. 1, and 'Peter and Paul andLuke and Matthew' in between 'Enoch and Elias and Moses’ and‘all the righteous and the patriarchs’ at v. 22: Mark xiii. 7-8,12-13, 28-29, is clearly the source of iii. 12-13, while 1 Cor. xv. 52is quoted in part at iv. 36.

There is a presumption, therefore, that our Greek text is not atranslation but (apart from its corruptions) what the originalauthor wrote. W ith this accords the close agreement of vii. 5-7with the Septuagint Greek text of Isa. xl. 12 and Ps. cxxxvi. 25.

Various dates have been suggested. James, for instance, thoughtthe Apocalypse as late as the 9th cent. AD.* Others have dated itearlier.9 All that can safely be said is that if it stands in the sametradition as 2 Esdras and is indeed a later development of it, thenthe Apocalypse cannot be dated before c. AD 150 at the earliest.Against such an early date is the fact that there are no certainlyidentifiable quotations from the Apocalypse in any Father; nor isthere any certain reference to it in any ofthc Scriptural lists (the‘Apocalypse of Esdras’ mentioned at the very end of the OldTestament items in the List of Sixty Books may be to our

1 Thus, Ricsslcr distinguished: (1) the Jewish base (i. 1—iii. 10; iii. 16-iv. 8; iv.16—21; v. 6—vi.2) and (2) thcChristian interpolations (iii. 11 — 15; iv. 9—15; iv. 22—v.5; vi. 3-vii. 16).

* M. R. James, Apocrypha Aneedota (- TSII. iii; Cambridge, 1893), p. 113.

9 c.g. P. Batiilol (art. ‘Apocalypses apocryphes in F. Vigouroux Dictionaire de UBible, I. ii (Paris, 1892), col. 765) suggested the 5tl»—8th cents.

The Apocalypse of Fsdras 931

Apocalypse, but it is much more probably a reference to2 bsdras).

The translation which follows is made from the text as printedby Wahl. And in this connection it is worth observing that the lateGreek style in which the Apocalypse is written has combined withthe unsatisfactory condition of the MSS to make it extremelydiflicult in many passages to coax the text into yielding anythingapproaching a tolerable sense.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

C. Tlsc:m:\DORF, Apocalypses Apocryphac (Leipzig, 1866),pp. 24-33.

C). WaHL, Apocalypsis Esdrae. Apocalypsis Sedrach. Visio Bealae Esdrae( = PVTG iv; Leiden 1977), pp. 25-35.

1 RANSI.ATIONS

English

A. WALKER, Apocryphal Gospels, Acls. and Revelations (= Ante-NiceneChristian Library, xvi; Edinburgh. 1870), pp. 468-476.

German

P. RlESSl.ER, AjSaB2, pp. 126-137.

U. B. MCfLLER inJSh-rZ\'. 2 (1976), pp. 85-102.

GENERAL

A.-M. Denis, IPG AT, pp. 91-96.

M. R. JAMES, The Testament of Abraham (= TS II. ii; Cambridge,1892), pp. 64-65.

, in R. L. Bensi.Y, The Fourth Book of Ezra (= TS III. ii;

Cambridge, 1895), pp. lxxxvi—Ixxxix.

P. RlESSLER, AjSaB2, p. 1273.

apocalypse of esdras

932 The Apocalypse of Esdras

C. TlSCHLNDORF. 'Einlcitung in die Offenbarung des Johannestisw.’ in Theologische Studien und Kriliken (Hamburg, 185 1). pp.-123-431.

B. Violet. Die Esra-Apokahpsr {IV Esra) (— CCS wiii; Leipzig.1 Mill), pp.

A word and revelation of the holy prophet Esdras, even God’sbeloved.

May our Father add his blessing.1

I. It came to pass in the thirty-second year and on the twentieth2 day of the month I was in my house. And I cried out, saying to the:i Most High, Lord, grant me the privilege to see2 * thy mysteries. Andwhen it was night there came an angel. Michael the archangel, andhe said to me. From to-morrow. Esdras.1 you must abstain JromJ food for seventy days. And I fasted as he told me. And Raphael, theprince, came and gave me an incense stick. And I fasted for twice(i five4 weeks; and I saw God’s mysteries and his angels. And I said tothem. 1 would plead with God for the race of Christians; it werebetter for man not to have been born than to come into the world.7 So I was taken up into heaven. And I saw in the first heaven a greatH company of angels; and they led me to the judgements. And Iheard a voice saying to me. Have mercy on us, Esdras, God’s‘i chosen one. Then I began to say. Woe to the sinners, when they seethe righteous above angels, and they themselves arc in the fires of

III hell.5 And Esdras said. Have mercy on the works of thy hands, thou

11 who art full of compassion and mercy: pass sentence on me ratherthan on the souls of the sinners; for it is better to punish one soul

12 than to bring the whole world to destruction. And God said, I will

13 give rest to the righteous in Paradise; and I am indeed merciful. And

14 Esdras said. Lord, why dost thou favour the righteous? For just as

1 I.it. ‘Bless, Father'.

2 Lit. ‘Ixird, give the glory that I may see’.

* Lit.'the prophet Esdras’.

4 So Walker (thus making seventy days in all): the MSS read “sixty’.

* Lit.'into the (ichrnna offire'.

9'33

The Apocalypse oj Esdras

a hired servant6 who has served his time and goes away, and thencomes again into the service of hisformer master as a slave by a luckychance,7 so also is the righteous man who has received his reward6 in1 j heaven. But have mercy on the sinners, for we know that thou artHi merciful. And God said, I do not see how I can have nicrcv on17,in them. And Esdras said. They cannot endure thy wrath. And God111 said. They have brought it on themselves.'* And God said. 1 would21) have you as Paul and John: you oiler me freely, uncorrupt, theinviolable treasure, the precious jewel of virginity.g the rampart of

21 men. And Esdras said. It were better for man not to have been born.

22 better not to be alive: the irrational creatures are better whencompared with man. because they have to endure no punishment.

23.24 But thou hast fashioned us, and given us over to judgement. Woeto sinners in the world to come, lor their judgement is interminableand their flame unquenchable.

II. \\ hilc I was talking thus with him, Michael came, and Gabriel.2,3 and all the apostles, and said. Hail, faithful man of God. (And4 Esdras said,) Up, Lord, and come with me to judgement. And Godsaid, Behold, I give you1 * * my covenant, mine and yours,1 for your*.*>,<) acceptance. And Esdras said. Let us plead in thine ear. And Godsaid. Ask Abraham your father how a son should plead with a7 father,* and then come and plead with me.4 And Esdras said. As theLord lives, I will not cease pleading with thee on behalf of the raceH of Christians. Where are thy ancient mercies. Lord? Where is thy!* patience? And God said, As I made night and day, I made therighteous and the sinner, and the sinner should have lived as the

6 Gk. fitodtog (‘lured servant') . . . utadOv ('reward'). Both translation and sensein this verse are far from certain.

1 Reading imrvxtt»; lor imrvxfiv.

8 Lit. ‘These things are of such men*.

a Reading .TagtfrWti; for rragfitvor.

1 Singular. -* Plural.

* Lit. *... your father what sort of son pleads in a father’. (The occurence hereof

the rarcdtvdCfotfat tv should be noted, which, if the B text of the l.XXatJudg. vi 32is any guide, should mean 'plead against': in this case the reference could conceiv-ably be to Geii. xxii rather than to Gen. xviii).

4‘ MSS 'us'.

Hi righteous. And ilir prophet said. Who made thr lirst-fbrmrd

11 Adam, thr first man? And God said. My unsullied hands. And I set

12 him in Paradise to keep the pasture of the tree of life. But he thenl:t set liis mind on disohedienee and transgressed. And the prophetI t said. Was he not guarded by an angel? And was he not watched

over by the cherubim in lhis I ife ffl that he might came to the world thatlj has no end? How then was it that he who was watched over byangels was deceived? Thou didst .specifically command him to takelii heed and to conform to what thou rlidst say to him.5 Vet if thouhadst not given him Eve, the serpent would not have deceived him.17 As for thee, whom thou wiliest thou dost save, and whom thouIK wiliest thou dost destroy. And the prophet said. Let us pass over.i»i my Lord, to a second judgement. And God said. I east fire upon-»u Sodom and Gomorrah. And the prophet said. Lord, thou dost_I reward us as we deserve.6 And God said. Your sins exceed the

22 limits of my tolerance.7 And the prophet said. Remember theScriptures, my Father, who didst measure out Jerusalem and set it

23 up: have mercy. Lord, on sinners: have mercy on thy creation:21 have pity on thy works. Then God remembered what he had made.2.*> and he said to the prophet. How can 1 have mercy on them? They

gave me vinegar and gall to drink, and not even then did they2i> repent. And the prophet said. Reveal thy cherubim, and let us go27 together to judgement: and show me w hat the day ofjudgemenl is2K.2!* like. And God said, You are wrong. Ksdras; for the day of judge-ment is like a day on which there is no rain upon the earth:to,31 compared with that day* it is a merciful judgement. And theprophet said. I will not cease pleading with thee, unless I see that32 final day.9 (And God said.) Count the stars and the sand of the sea:and if you can count them, you can also plead with me.

111. And the prophet said. Lord, thou knowest that 1 am but

* Thr text in verses 12—1'» is very badly preserved. In consequence. the transla-tion ottered is highly questionable.

* Lit. ‘worthily dost thou bring it upon us‘.

1 Lit. ‘rxrml my kindness'.

* Reading q/itgav Un ioxtyuv.

" Lit. ‘the day otthe consummation-.

The Apocalypse of Esdras 935

2 human.1 and how can l coum die stars ofheavcn and the sand of:i the sea? And God said. My prophet, my chosen one, no man mayknow that great day and the manifestation that must precede the4 judgement of the world.2 For your sake, my prophet. I have told“i you the day. but the hour I have not told you. And the prophet0 said. Lord, tel! me also the years. And (God said.) Il l see that theworld's righteousness has increased. 1 will be patient with them.But if not, I will stretch my hand out and take hold of the world bythe four corners, and 1 will collect all the peoples into the valley ofJchoshaphat. and I will wipe out the race of men. and the world7 will be no more. And the prophet said. How then can thy right8,‘» hand be glorified? And God said. 1 am glorified by my angels. Andthe prophet said. Lord, if thou didst purpose so. why didst thou

10 fashion man? Thou didst say to Abraham our father. 1 will greatlymultiply your descendants until they are as numerous as the stars ofheaven and as the sand on the sea shore. Where, then, is thy

11 promise? And God said. First I will make earthquakes and bring

12 ruin on beasts and men. And when you sec that brother betraysbrother to death, and children turn against parents, and a wife

13 leaves her own husband, and when nation makes war upon nation.

14 then you will know that the end is near. Then brother will have nomercy on brother, nor man on wife, nor children on parents, nor

lf> friends on friends, nor slave on master. For the Adversary of menhimself will ascend from Tartarus and make a great display beforeHi men. What shall I do with you. Esdras; and why do you plead withme?

IV. And the prophet said. Lord. I will not cease to plead with thee.2.:i And God said. Count the flowers on the earth. If you can count

4 them, you can also plead with me. And the prophet said. Ix>rd. Icannot count them: 1 am but human;1 but in spite of this I will not

5 cease my pleading with thee. I would, Lord, sec also the lower parts(i.7 of Tartarus. And God said, Come down and see. And he gave me

H Michael and Gabriel and thirty-four other angels. And I went

1 Lit. ‘I wear human flesh".

* I.it. 'the manifestation whieh holds back to judge the world".

Lit. *1 wear human flesh".

!M<> The Apocalypse of Esdras

down eighty-live steps; and they took me down another live hundred'» steps. And I saw a fiery throne, and upon it an old man was sitting,in and his judgement was merciless. And l said to the angels. Who is11 this, and what was his sin? And they said to me. This is Herod whofor a short spell was a king, and ordered the slaughter of the babes12.14 from two years old and under. And 1 said, Alas lor his soul. Andagain they led me down a further thirty steps, and I saw there au seething lire, and in it a multitude of sinners; and I heard their1.’) voices, but their Ihrms I did not see. And they led me down manyHi steps lower still, which I could not count. And 1 saw there agedmen. and red-hot lengths of metal were being screwed2 into theirI7.li! ears. And I said. Who are these, and what if their sin? And theyI‘i said to me. These were’ eavesdroppers. And they led me down

20 again another five hundred steps. And I saw there the worm that•21 does not sleep, and the lire that consumes the sinners. And they led

me down to the bottom o(thepit of'destruction, and I saw there the22 twelve plagues of the abyss. And they led me away towards thesouth, and 1 saw there a man hanging by his eyelids, and the angels24 were scourging him. And 1 asked. Who is this, and what was his

21 sin? And Prince Michael said to me. This man committed incestwith his mother: as a punishment for his miserable lust4 he was

2'» ordered to be hanged. And they led me away towards the north.2H and I saw there a man held down by iron bars. And I asked. Who is27 this? And he said to me. Phis is the man who says. I am the son of2H God. and who made stones' bread and water wine. And theprophet said. Lord, tell me what he looks like, and I will instruct62!) mankind not to believe him. And he said to me. His face is like awild beast's. His right eye is like the Daystar,1 and the other doesiff) not move:8 his mouth is a cubit across: his teeth are each a span long:41 his fingers are like pruning-hooks: his footmarks measure two spans;

: Lit. 'ami burning pivots were turning'.

‘ Lit. ‘are'.

4 Lit. "having accomplished his little will-.

' Reading At9ov$ tor .TujfloVv” Reading .'zagayyfJJb for^agayytX^ui.

Lit. ‘like a star that rises early'. Cp, Isa. xiv. 12; Rev. ii. 28, xxii. Hi.

" Gk. 6o6AevTog - the Greek Bible rendering tor the 'phylactery' which was to beworn ‘between the eyes' (at Kxod. xiii Hi and Deut. vi. 8. xi. 18).

and on his forehead is an inscription. ’Antichrist' He has hern

33 exalted to heaven: to hell shall he descend.g At one time In* will

34 become a child, at another an old man. And the prophet said.Lord, how cansl thou permit z/.in and meanwhile the human race is

33 led astray? And God said. Listen, my prophet: In* becomes lx»th achild and an old man, and yet no one believes him. that he is my3(> beloved son. And after this a trumpet will sound.11 and the tombs37 will be opened, and the dead will be raised incorruptible. Then theAdversary, when he hears the fearful threat, will hide himself3B outside in the darkness. Then will the heaven and the earth and the3<> sea be destroyed: then will I burn the heaven to the extent of eighty■Mi cubits and the earth to the extent of eight hundred cubits. And the41 prophet said. And what sin has the heaven committed? And Godt‘2 said. When {. ..) there is the evil.12 And the prophet said. Lord, and43 what sin has the earth committed? And God said. When theAdversary, after hearing my fearful threat, has hidden himself, andbecause of this, I will melt the earth in a furnace and with it therebel of the human race.

V. And the prophet said. Have mercy. Lord, on the raceofChrist-

2 ians. And I saw a woman hanging, and four wild beasts were

3 sucking her breasts. And the angels said to me. This woman not onlybegrudged to give her milk, hut she also threw her infants into the

4 rivers. And 1 saw grim darkness and night without stars or moon.3 And there is there neither young nor old. nor brother with brother,ti nor mother with child, nor wife with husband. And I wept and7 said. Sovereign Lord, have mercy on the sinners. And while I was

saying this a cloud came and took hold of me and carried me awayH,<» again to heaven. And I saw there many judgements. And 1 weptbitterly and said, Better were it for a man not to have come out of his

10 mother's womb. And those who were undergoing punishmentcried out saying. Since you came here, you holy man of God, we

11 have found little respite. And the prophet said, Blessed are they

12 that weep for their sins. And God said, Listen my beloved Esdras,

9 Cp. Isa. xiv. 13-15; Mate. xi. 23 I.ukcx. 13.

10 Or 'him'.

" So B: A am. ‘will sound’.

God's answer here is dearly incomplete.

Just as a farmer sows wheat seed in the earth, so also a man sowsi:s his seed in the field of a woman. During the first month it remains as itwas,1 * in the second it increases in size,7 in Ike third it grows hair, in thefourth it grows nails, m the filth it takes milk for fond,3 in the sixth itbecomes ready4 and receives its soul, in the seventh it preparesitself,5 6 and in the ninth the doors of the woman’s womb" are opened11 and it is born safe and sound upon the earth. And the prophet said.r> Lord, better were it for the man not to have been born. Woe to theIfi human (race) then, when thou contest7 to judgement. And I said tothe Lord, Lord, why didst thou fashion man and deliver him to17 judgement? And God said with sonic vehemence.8 1 will not haveIK mercy on those who disregard my covenant. And the prophet said.IK Lord, where is thy goodness? And God said. 1 created all things for

20 man’s sake, and man does not keep my commandments. And the

21 prophet said. Lord, show me the judgements and Paradise. Andthe angels led me away towards the east, and 1 saw the tree of life.

22 And I saw there Enoch and Elijah and Moses and Peter and Pauland Luke and Matthew9 and all the righteous and the patriarchs.

23 And I saw there the fpunishmentt10 of the air and the blowing ofthe winds and the stores of crystals and the everlasting judge-

24,2.1) ments. And i saw there a man hanging by his head. And they said2ts to me, This man moved boundary-stones. And I saw there somecruel judgements.” And I said to the Lord, Sovereign Lord, what, '27 man is there who has ever been boi n and has nor sinned? And theyled me down lower in Tartarus, and I saw the sinners all mourning28 and weeping, and (lamenting) their evil lot.12 And I wept also whenI saw' the human race being punished so.

I Lit.'it is all together’.

: Reading oyxotmu lor oi/utore.

* Lit. *it becomes milky".

4 Reading hoifiov tor airt/tov.

s Here the eighth stage is omitted.

6 Lit. ‘gate-house'.

’ So MS (iAdfls). Perhaps we should read 'it comes’ (£t%).

* Lit. ‘with a lofty proclamation'.

u Reading MarOaiov for MaxBelav {Matthias).

10 Gk. k6Jmoiv.

II I .it. ‘And I saw there great judgements’.

12 So A: B om 'and (lamenting) their evil lot’.

The Apocalypse of Esdras

939

VI. Then God said to me. Do you know, Ksdras. the names of the2 angels at the consummation - Michael, Gabriel, L’ricl. Raphael.:t Gabuthelon, Aker, Arphugitonos. Hrburos. and Zebuloti? Thencame a voice to me. Come die. Ksdras my beloved, and give up4 what was entrusted to you. And the prophet said. And how willa you get at my soul to take it away? And the angels said. We can get atii it and expel it through your mouth. And the prophet said. Mouthto mouth I spoke with God, and it shall not come out1 from there.7.H And the angels said. Let us take it through your nostrils. And the!> prophet said. My nostrils have savoured the glory of God. And theIt) angels said. I.et us get it and take it through your eyes. And

11 the prophet said. My eyes did see the hack parts of God. Andthe angels said. Let us get it and take it through the top of your

12 head. And the prophet said. I walked together with Moses on the

13 mountain-/o/>, and it shall not come out1 from there. And the angelsI t said, Let us take it and expel it through your tors. And the prophetLi said. My feet also walked at the altar. And the angels went awayHi without success, saying. Lord, we cannot take his soul. Then he

said to his only-begotten Son, Go down, my beloved Son. with a17 great host of angels, and take the soul of my beloved Ksdras. And2the Lord look a great host of angels and went down and said to theprophet. Give up to me what was entrusted to you - what IIH entrusted U) you: the crown has been made ready for you. And theprophet said. Lord, if thou takest my soul from me, who willl‘> remain to plead with thee on behalf of the human race? And Godsaid. Since you arc mortal and of the earth you should not plead

20 with me. .And the prophet said, I will not stop my pleading with

21 thee. And God said. Even so. give up now what has been entrusted

22 to you: the crown has been made ready for you. Come die. so that

23 you may obtain it. Then the prophet began to weep and say, OLord, what have I gained from my pleading with ihec, if I am now to

24 sink down into the earth? Alas, alas, for I am to be consumed by

25 worms. Weep for me all saints and righteous men; for I pleaded2fi much. Weep for me all saints and righteous men, for 1 have entered

the depths of hell.4

1 Lit. *it docs not t ome out'

2 Lit.‘For’. * Lit.'the dish of Hades'.

940

The Apocalypse of Esdras

VU. And God said to him, Listen, P^sdras my beloved. I, althoughimmortal, endured a cross; I tasted vinegar and gall: I was buried

2 in a tomb; and I raised up my chosen ones. Adam I called forthfrom hell, that the human race might have no cause to be afraid of

3 death. For that part of man which is of me, that is his soul, departs toheaven; that part of him which is of the earth, that is his body,

4 departs to the earth from which it was taken. And the prophet said,

5 Alas, alas, What shall I do? How shall I fare? I do not know. Andthen the blessed Esdras began to say,

0 eternal God, the creator of all that is.

Who didst measure the heaven with thine outstretched hand.And dost hold the earth in thy grasp,

6 Who ridcst upon the cherubim,

Who didst take up the prophet Elijah to heavenIn a chariot of fire,

7 Who givest food to all flesh,

Whose [tower all things fear,

And before whose face they tremble;1H (iive ear to me and my constant pleading with thee.

9 And grant to all who transcribe this book,

And to all who have charge oj it.

And remember my name and preserve my memory,

Grant to them blessing from heaven.

10 And bless all their2 concerns

As thou didst also bless the end ofjoseph,

11 And remember not their2 former sinsIn the day of their2 judgement.

12 But as many as do not believe this bookWill be utterly consumed.

As were Sodom and Gomorrah.

13 And there came to him a voice saying, Esdras, my beloved, what-

14 ever you have asked I will grant to each one. And immediately hesurrendered his precious soul with much honour, in the month of

1 Lit. ‘at whom all things shudder and tremble before the face of thv power’.

2 MSS.‘his’.

The Apocalypse of Esdras

941

15 October on the eighteenth day. And they buried him with dueceremony;3 and his honoured and holy body is a perpetual sourceof strength, both of soul and body, to those who are moved to come

16 to him. To Him to whom it belongs be glory, power, honour, andworship, to the Father, and to the Son. and to the Holy Spirit, nowand always, world without end. Amen.

Lit. ‘with incense and psalms’.

THE VISION OF ESDRAS

INTRODUCTION

The Vision of Ksdras, liki* The Assumption of Moses, is extant onlyin Latin; and when G. Mercaii published his edition in 1W1 he hadto rely on a single MS (Vat. lat. 3838: 12th cent ). Seventy yearslater, by the tiineO. Wahl tame to prepare his edit ion ofall three ofthe Ksdras apocrypha translated in the present collection, a secondMS of the Vision had also become available (Lin/.. Bihliothek desPriesterseminars A I/<>; 10th or ! 1th cent.). This second MS raisedunexpected complications. When a second M S of the Apocalypseof Ksdras was discovered, as we have seen.1 the effect was minimal,since the newly discovered MS was no more than a copy of the onealready known. Not so with the new MS of the Vision. In theVision there are several noteworthy divergencies in basic subject*matter between the two MSS towards the end of the text (addi-tional classes of sinners appear in the Linz MS which are absentfrom the Vatican): there are continual dilferences in wordingthroughout (especially in the order of words, even when the samewords are used): and further, whereas in the Vatican MS thenarrative refers consistently to Ksdras in the third person, in theLinz MS Ksdras almost invariably speaks of himself in the first. Aspecimen will serve to illustrate these last two points:

1 alican MS

I Voniebam viri tbnissimi

et transiebant flammam,

!> et non tangebat cos. Kt dixitKsdras:

Qui sunt isti, qui turn securiproved u nt?

I.mz MS

l Venicbamquc per sc viri magniet transiebant flammam cius.

3 et non cos tangebat. Kt imerro-gavi angel os, qui me duccbant:Qui sunt isti. qui cum tamogaudio proccdunt?

How are these differences to be accounted for? If the Vision wasoriginally written in Latin, did some later worthy tamper with, or‘improve’, the author’s text? Or, if Latin was not the original

Above, pp. 928-9.

944 The Vision of Esdras

language, are we to suppose there were two independent transla-tions of the same (presumably Greek) original? Or were there two(not necessarily independent) translations of two different recen-sions of the original? Wahl ventilated possibilities of this kind in hisIntroduction but, understandably,did not pursue them; and in thebody of his work he printed the text of both MSS in parallelcolumns.

Wahl's typescript was ready for the Press when there came to hisnotice a further text of the Vision tucked away at the end of the firsthook of the Magnum Legcndarium Austriacum in a late 12th cent.MS from Lower Austria (Heiligenkrcuz, cod. 11), which had, infact, already been edited by A. Mussafia as long ago as 1871.■2Fortunately, this additional evidence necessitated no seriousrearrangement of his book as it then stood. The Heiligenkrcuzcodex aligned itself very definitely with Nlercati’s Vatican MS,though it was far from identical with it, so that all Wahl needed todo was to record its variants at the foot of his ‘Vatican’ column.

In the absence, therefore, of any established critical edition, andof any clear indication as to how such an edition might be estab-lished, it seemed that the wisest course for us was to base our owntranslation unreservedly on the Vatican MS (= V). From time totime, however, attention is drawn in the footnotes to any variantsoffered by either the Linz (= L) or Heiligcnkreuz (= H) MSS thatmight either be important for the understanding of the documentas a whole or be of interest in the interpretation of any particularpassage.

Thai the Vision is related in some way to the Apocalypse ofEsdras is clear enough. In both Vision and Apocalypse Esdras istaken on a tour of the nether regions to inspect the torments of thedamned and conducted down a series of steps by angels.3 In bothhe asks the angels who the particular individuals are that areundergoing particular punishments: he receives answers in theform ‘These are .. and he then beseeches God for mercy on eachparticular class of sinner. Some of the punishments described in

' A. Mussafia, Sulla vision* di Tundalo (= Silzungsberichle der phil.-hisl. Class* derKaiserlichen Akadrmieder ll'issaisthajlen, Band 67 {Vienna, 1871), pp. 202-206).

1 Vis. Ksdr. 2. 12, t«: cp. Apoo. Esdr. iv. 8, \'S, 15, 19.

945

The Vision of Esdras

hoth books art*, of four si1, similar, as is inevitable in this type ofliterature, and so also are some of the sinners; but especiallysignificant for the relationship between the Vision and theApocalypse are the descriptions in each of Ring Herod seated on afiery throne',4 and the descriptions of the punishment of the in-cestuous — it is to be noted that in both Vision and Apocalypse thisparticular punishment is inflicted in 'the south'.5 Attention mayalso be drawn to the passage at the end of the Vision, where Ksdrasrefuses the angels* first offer to take hint to heaven, where hecompares man's lot on earth unfavourably with that of the ani-mals. and where God replies '1 fashioned man in my own imageand I commanded them that they should not sin. and they did sin:that is why they are in torments'. There are parallels here, not onlyin the Apocalypse, but also in the Apocalypse of Sedrach and in2 Ksdras.6

None of these last parallels (nor. indeed, any of the others) aresufficiently close to demand direct literary dependence. They sug-gest rather that the Vision stands squarely in the K/.ra apochry-phal tradition and that it is essentially an independent re-workingof some of the same material that found its way also into theApocalypse (chaps, iv and v). When the Vision as a whole iscompared with the other Ezra apocrypha, it looks very much as ifthe author was concerned to concentrate on one element only inthe tradition - namely, the details of the torments of the damned.No doubt lie has himself elaborated it and developed it. But theresult has been that all the other elements in the tradition arevirtually ignored. That is why. for instance, the fundamentalquestion why God created man and then arranged things so thathe suffers as he does (a question which is discussed at some lengthin the other Ezra apocrypha) gets in the Vision only a very cursorsmention, and then only at the very end.

That the author was a Christian can hardly be denied. It is truethat he is less obviously Christian than the author of the

* Vis. Ksdr. 37-39: cp. Apoc. Ksdr. iv. 9-12.

5 Vis. Ksdr. 19—21: cp. Apoc. Ksdr. iv. 22—24.

6 With Vis. Ksdr. 56-5? cp. Apoc. Ksdr. vi. 3-15 and Apoc. Scdr. ix. 1-3: withVis. Ksdr. 62 cp. Apoc. Ksdr. i. 22and 2 Ksdr. vii. 65—66, viii. 29-30: with Vis. Ksdr.63 cp. Apoc. Ksdr. ii. 10-12, Apoc. Scdr. iv. 4-6. and 2 Ksdr. iii. 5-7.

946 The Vision of Esdras

Apocalypse. He makes no mention of Christians as such, or ofChristian worthies: and there are no explicit references in theVision to the New Testament (other than to Herotl 'who in Beth-lehem of Judaea killed young children because of the Lord'). Onthe other hand, there are references to 'the Lord's Day' (10). to'baptism' (46). to the ‘Mass' (10 LH), to 'confession' (2b YH, 36VH, 64). and to ‘penance' (36 YH, 64). And with this agrees theauthor's concentration on the torments in Hell. The Apocalypse ofPeter (? 2nd cent.) provides a very early example of Christianinterest in these matters, and the Apocalypse of Paul (xxxi-xliv)another, rather later (4th cent.).

About the date of the Vision it is impossible to say vers much. Ifit was written in Latin, it could be as late as the 10th cent, (the dateof the earliest MS). If, on the other hand, our Latin text is atranslation of a Greek original, any date between the 5th and 9thcenturies is possible.7

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EDITIONS

G. MkRCATI, Note di letter a turn bibhea e cristiana antica (= Studi eTesli, V; Rome, 1901), pp. 61-73.

O. W.\HL, Apocalypsis Esdrae. Apocalypsis Sedrach. Visio Beati Esdrae{= PVTG iv; Leiden. 1977), pp. 49-61.

TRANSLATIONS

German

P. RlKSSLKR, AjSaB2, pp. 350-354.

7 I n his edition Merrati drew attention to the fact that the phrase ‘because of theLord" {propter domtnum). which occurs at the end of the description ol Herod (38), isfound also in one ol the antiphons set in some breviaries for use at Lauds on HolyInnocents' Day. Docs this mean that the author of the Vision wrote in I^itin andwas influenced hv the Liturgy, or that a translator from Greek was so influenced, orthat the phrase was added by a later copyist?

visions of esdras

The Vision of Esdras

947

(IKNKRAL

A.-M. Denis, IPG AT p. 93.

P. RikssleR, AjSaB2 3, p. 1291.

Esdras prayed to the Lord, saying. Give me, Lord, faith so that l

2 may not Tear when I see the judgements of the sinners. And sevenangels of Tartarus were given him. who carried him down1 seventy

3 steps into the nether regions. And he saw the fiery gates; and inthese gates he saw two lions lying, from w hose mouths and nostrils

» and eyes fierce tongues of'flame protruded. And strong men werecoining and passed through the flame; and it did not touch them.

3 And Esdras said, Who are those who walk through thefame with such

6 confidence?2 The angels said to him. Those are (hr righteous

7 whose fame has reached to heaven, those who have done greatworks of mercy, who have clothed the naked, and whose thoughts

8 and inclinations have been always good.1 And others were coining.and tried to go in through the gates; and the lions4 mauled them, and

9,10 the fire burned them. And Esdras said, Who are those? The angelssaid, Those are they who denied the Lord, and on the Lord’s Day5

i 1 sinned with women. And Esdras said. Lord, spare the sinners.

12 And they led him a further fifty steps lower down; and he saw

13 there men standing and undergoing punishment. Some angelswere piling fire upon them in front, and others were beating them

14 with fiery whips. And the earth was crying out, saying. Beat them,and do not spare them, bec ause it was upon me that they did their

15 wicked deed. And Esdras said, Who are those who are daily

16 punished so severely? The angels said. Those are they who had

17 intercourse with married women. The married women are womenwho adorned themselves, not for their own husbands, but to please

1 Lit. over': L down in’.

; L ‘who walk with such great joy’.

3 fit. 'anddesired a good desire’.

4 All three MSS read ‘dogs'.

5 LH add ‘before Mass'.

948 The Vision of Esdras

i« others (and so yielded to their evil indinations).6 And Esdras said,Lord, spare the sinners.

i‘> And again they look him and set him down1 at the south; and hesaw a fire, and poor people hanging up, both men8 and women, ami9

20 angels were heating them with fiery cudgels. And Lsdras said,1"

21 Who are those? And the angels said. These (sic) are they w'ho hadintercourse with their mothers, and yielded to their evil indi-

22 nations." And Esdras said. Lord, spare the sinners.

23 And they led him down furiherjntn the nether regions;1* and hesaw a caldron of burning13 sulphur and pitch, and the level of it rose

24 and fell like a wave of the sea. And some righteous were coming,and they were walking in the middle of it, over the waves ol fire,praising the name of the Lord, just as if they were walking over dew

25 or cool water. And Esdras said, Who arc those? The angels said,

26 Those are they who to their profit daily made confession in thepresence of God and of his holy priests, by doing w orks of mercy,

27 and by resisting sins.14 And some sinners t ame, wanting to crossover, and angels of Tartarus carnc and plunged them into the

28 burning fire. And they cried out from the fire, saying, Lord, have

2CJ mercy on us; but13 he showed them16 no mercy. Their voices could

be heard, but they themselves could not he seen17 because of the30,31 fire arid torment. And Esdras said, Who are those? The angelssaid, Those were covetous men and thieves’" all their days: no

32 stranger did they take in, no work of mercy did they do. They tookfor themselves unjustly what belonged to others: they followed

33 their evil inclinations;19 and that is why they are in torments. AndEsdras said. Lord, spare the sinners.

* Lit. ‘desiring an evil desire’.

7 L ‘And they took me down and set me down’.

B Y nm. " LH add ‘lour’.

10 V adds ‘Lord, spare the sinners'-obviously in error.

11 Lit. ‘desiring an evil desire’.

12 So VH: L specifies that he was taken down what would seem to be an

impossible number of steps {‘II quingentos’). 11 Vom. ‘burning’.

14 I. ‘Those are they who did many works of merry and clothed the naked’

15 Lit.‘and’. "* Vom.‘them’.

17 Lit. ‘A voice was heard and no flesh was seen’.

18 Or‘slanderers’ (so VH. I.at ‘detractores’): L ‘robbers’ (Lai. ‘raptores’).

10 Lit. ‘they had (L ‘desired’) an evil desire'.

949

The I isioti of Esdras

M And he walked on further, and he saw in a dark place the worm

55 that does not die20-its size he could not measure. And in front of itsmouth were standing many sinners; and when it drew in a breaththey were sucked into its mouth21 like flies, but when it breathed

5(i out they all came out again w ith a different colour. And Esdras said,Who are those? And the angels said. Those were full of every evil,and they passed over without confession and penance.22

.57 And he saw23 a man sitting on a fiery throne, and from the fire hisservants ministered to him on every side, and his counsellors sttxxl

.5H round about him in the fire. And Esdras said. Who is that? And theangels said. That man was a king for many years. Herod by name,who in Bethlehem of Judah killed24 young children because of the

:» Lord. And Esdras said. Lord, thou hast pronounced a properjudgement.

40 And he walked on further and saw men hound, and angels of

41 Tartarus were slabbing them in the eyes with thorns. And Esdrassaid, Who are those? The angels said. Those who showed the lost

42 wrong ways. Esdras said. Lord, spare the sinners.

4:5 And he saw girls coming with shackles weighing five hundred

44 pounds towards the west. And Esdras said. Who are those? Andthe angels said. Those are the girts who violated their virginity beforetheir marriages.

45 And he saw25 a collection of old men lying on the ground, and overthem was being poured molten iron and lead; and he said, Who are

41) those? The angels said. 'Those are the doctors of the law whoconfused baptism and the law of the Lord, because they used toteach with words only and not follow up their words with deeds;26 and

20 Lit. 'the immortal worm' (cp Isa. Ixvi. 24: Mark ix. 4H),

11 Lit. ‘they entered its mouth'.

22 So VH: Lorn, 'and they ... penance’. Then LH add ‘And he walked on further

still and saw a fiery river and a threat bridge over it. And sonic righteous men cameand crossed over if with joy and exultation. And some sinners came, and the bridgewas reduced to the thinnest thread. And they fell into the river confessing their sins.and saying, \Yc have done every evil thing there is to do, and that is why we arc beingpunished ill this way. And they were begging lor mercy; but no mercy was grantedthem'. 2'* So V: LH 'And hr walked on further and saw’.

u V om.

23 Vom. ‘he saw’.

26 Lit. 'were not filling out in deed’.

950 The Vision of Esdras

47 they arc judged in ihis way. And Ksdras said. Lord, spare thesinners.

IK And he saw over against the setting of the sun a smelting-furnace

of enormous size hunting with fire, into which were being thrown•f‘t many kings and princes rtf'this world. And many thousands of thepoor were accusing them and saying. Those are the ones who madeuse of their power to oppress us. and turned free men27 into slaves,ait And he saw another furnace burning with pitch and sulphur,into which were being thrown sons who had laid hands upon theirparents, and done them injury with their mouth.Ma! And in a very dark place he saw another furnace burning, intowhich many women were being thrown; and he said. Who are;VJ those? The angels said. Those are they who conceived3* children in:>n adultery and killed them. And the little ones themselves wereaccusing them, saying. Lord, the souls thou guvest us. they have.VI destroyed.'0 And he said. Who are those? The angels said. Those.m arc the women who killed their children.” And Ksdras said. Lord,spare the sinners.

:n> Then came Michael and Gabriel and said to him. Gome to’>7 heaven. '2 And Ksdras said. As my Lord lives. I will not come beforeI see all the judgements of the sinners.’23H And they led him down into the nether regions a further Iburtccnsteps. And he saw lions and little dogs24 lying round a flame ol fire;and the righteous were passing through them arid crossing overinto Paradise. And he saw many thousands of the righteous; andtheir dwellings were very splendid and enduring.'5

Or ‘turned our children*.

I.H add ‘And into il were also living thrown those who had denied («od andhad not paid their hired servants the wages doe to them*.

iu Lit. ‘had*.

I.H add ‘And he saw other women hanging in the fire, and serpents suc kingtheir breasts’.

“ I.H add 'And did not give their breasts to others who were orphans'.

I. adds ‘that we may celebrate the Pasrh*.

” I.H add ‘And he saw further some men who were being mauled by wild beasts.And he said. Who are those? And the angels said. Those are men who alteredboundary-marks and gave false witness. And he said. Lord, spare the sinners’.

14 I.H‘lions and camels'.

’* LH add ’Light is there, and joy. and prosperity. And every day they havemanna from heaven, tiecause they did many deeds of mercy while on earth. And

The l ision of Ksdras *)’> I

u And after he had seen these things he was taken up intoheaven:'6 and a host of angels came and said to him. Intercede withthe Lord for the sinners. And they set him down in the Lord'spresence.

i! And he said. Lord, spare the sinners. And the Lord said. Lsdras.

let them receive what is due to them from the record of their deeds.2 And Ksdras said, laird, thou hast dealt more leniently with theanimals than with us: they feed on grass and render thee nopraises: they die and have no sin: but us thou dost torment bothi:i when living and when dead. And the laird said. Ksdras. I fashionedman in my own image, and I commanded them that they should*4 not sin, and they did sin: that is why they are in torments. But theelect’7 will go to eternal rest by virtue of confession and penance’*»'i and the abundance of their works of mercy. And Ksdras said. Lord,ti what is it that the righteous do so that they escape judgement? Andthe Lord said to him. 'flu* slave who has done well for his lord willreceive his freedom: so also the righteous the kingdom of heaven.Amen.

there* are main there who did not do them, bec ause they had not the wherewithal(K+ “they were inhibited by their small means'). Nevertheless they enjoy a similarrrsl because oft hr goodwill they had. And so they praise the ford our (iixl. who hasalways loved righteousness'.

I. specifies that Ksdras was taken up into the* seventh heaven.

” Kit. “And those who are chosen’.

M So VH: I. 'by virtue of penance and prayer and confession'.

THE APOCALYPSE OF SEDRACH

ixTRonrcTiox

This work is extant only in Greek and was edited by M. R. Jamesfrom a single MS in the Bodleian Library at Oxford (Bodl. Cod.Mise. gr. 36; 15th cent.), in which it occurs as the final item. Thetext, even more than the text of the Apocalypse of Esdras, is inmany places very corrupt, with the result that the sense is often tarfrom clear: particularly is this so in chap, xi, where Sedraeh uttersa lamentation over the various members of his body. Moreover,the original opening of the work seems at some stage to have beenlost. The text as it now stands in the MS begins with a threc-and-a-half page homily on love, which is obviously a separate piece and inall probability to be attributed to Lphraem Syrus. James primedonly the opening and closing sections of this homily, and anabbreviated version of these sections has been included in ourtranslation (chap. i).

The title ‘The Apocalypse of Sedraeh' is due tojames. The titlein the MS is 'The Word of.. . Sedraeh', though whether or not thiswas the author's own title it is impossible to say - it may well bedue to a later editor or scribe. But in any case the work is not anapocalypse as the term 'apocalypse' is usually understood; for.although Sedraeh. like St. Paul, is caught up into ‘the third heaven’(ii. 4: cp. 2 Cor. xii. 2), no revelation in the strict sense is made tohim.1 Instead, there follows a dialogue between Sedraeh and Godin which Sedraeh questions God about His purposes in Creationand God defends himself against any charges of injustice andcruelty in His treatment of man.

The name 'Sedraeh' also present a problem. 'Sedraeh’ appearsin the Greek versions of the Book of Daniel as the equivalent of theHebrew and Aramaic 'Shadrach’ - i.e. it is the recognised Greekform of the name given to Daniel’s friend Hananiah by the chief of

1 Ii is also worth noting that, although the title explicitly states that the work isabout ‘the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ' as well as ‘love and repentanceand orthodox Christians', there is no mention of the Second Coming in it anywhere.

9:>4 The Apocalyp.se oj Sedrach

the eunuchs at the Babylonian court (Dan. i. 7, etc.); and it maywell be that our author had Sharfrach-Hananiah in mind when hewrote. On the other hand, it is much more probable that,James’sconjecture is correct and that 'Sedrach' represents the corruptionof an original ‘Esdras’.

The main reason for thinking this is that the work is un-doubtedly related both to 2 Esdras and to The Apocalypse ofKsdras - it stands firmly, that is, within (he apocryphal Esdrastradition. Not only is the theme of the justification of God’s ways toman, so prominent in Sedrach, treated at length in both these otherworks; there are also a number ofoftcn very close parallels betweenSedrach and one or other of them, or both. As examples of suchparallels may be given: (1) God’s particular choices - ‘amonganimals the sheep, . . . among rivers the Jordan, among citiesJerusalem’ (Sedr. viii. 3; cp. 2 Esdras v. 23-27); (2) Sedruch'sreluctance to surrender his soul immediately he is asked to do soand, when he finally agrees, his question about what limb it wouldbe taken out through (Sedr. ix-x: cp. Apoc. Esdras vi. 3-vii. 3);and (3) Sedrach’s observation that ‘it were better for man ifhe hadnot been born’, his fundamental question why did God make manin the first instance if He would not have mercy on him, and God’sreply that man’s present condition is due to his disobedience inParadise (Sedr. iv: cp. 2 Esdras iv. 12 and Apoc. Esdras i. 6, 21,v. 9, 14; 2 Esdras vii. I lb- 126 and Apoc. Esdras iii. 9; 2 Esdras iii.5- 7 and Apoc. Esdras ii. 10-17).

By way of contrast, there is little obvious contact between Sed-rach and The Vision of Esdras. What parallelisms there are are fewand insubstantial: they are confined to the section at the very endof the Vision;1 2 and each of them is shared with the other Esdrasbooks. All in all, the general impression created is that the authorof the Vision selected for amplification from the elements in thetradition that found a place in the Apocalypse the details about thetorments of the damned (i.e. Apoc. Esdras iv—v), while the authorof Sedrach chose to concentrate on the more fundamental theme of

1 They are: (I) the prophet’s reluctance to surrender his soul (Sedr. ix-x: cp.

Vision 56-57); (2) his questioning of’CJod about the reasons lor man’s present evillot (Sedr. iv: cp. Vision 62—63); and (3) his final entry into heaven (Sedr. xvi. 9: cp.Vision 60).

the justice of God’s dealings with His creatures. If the question beasked why it should Ik; thought that Sedrach represents a laterstage in the tradition than the Apocalypse rather than vice versa, theanswer is that a close study of the parallels suggests it. For inst-ance, at Sedr. ix. 1 God’s ‘only-begotten Son1 * is very awkwardlyintroduced without warning as the agent chosen to demand Scd-rach’s surrender of his soul, whereas at Apoc. F.sdras vi. 1-17 aband of angels is selected for this task and the oiilv-begottcn is onlycommissioned to lead them on a second attempt after their firstattempt on their own had failed; and, in the same context, theargument with the angels that follows Ksdras’s question aboutwhich limb his soul should be taken out through at Apoc. Fsdrasvi. 3-14 makes much better sense than God's distinctly obscurereply to Sedrach’s similar question at Sedr. x. 1-4. There shouldbe no difficulty here in deciding which version is primary andwhich secondary.

If James’s date for the Apocalypse of Esdrus in the 9lh cent, beacceptable, then the likelihood is that Sedrach will be lOth or 11thcent., though both may be very much earlier.3 In lavour of a latedate is the fact that the language of Sedrach abounds in neo-Greekforms and constructions and not infrequently (as James ratherunfortunately pul it) ‘degenerates into modern Greek’. Nor isSedrach mentioned in any of the lists of apocryphal books. Somescholars have claimed to be able to detect at various points evi-dence for the use of Jewish sources, which, it seems, were not usedby the authors of the other Esdras books;4 but whatever justifica-tion there may. or may not, be for this claim, there is no gainsayingthe evidence of such incontrovertibly Christian features as theintroduction of Christ himself as the speaker at xii. I. the referencesto ‘apostles’, ‘gospels’, ‘services’, and ‘my holy churches' at xiv.10-12, and the knowledge of books of the New Testament dis-played at vi, 5, vii. 7-8, xiv. 5-6, and xv. 3, 6-7.

i See above p. 930

4 e.g. R. Mcver, art. ‘Scdrach-Apokalvpsc’ in Religion in Oeschichle und Gegenwart/

v f 1961), col. 1631.

956

BIBLIOGRAPHY

KDI HONS

M. R. Ja.UKS. Apocrypha Anecdota (= 7’S'll. iii; Cambridge. 1893),pp. 127-137.

O. Wahl, Afiocalypsis Esdrae. Apocalypsis Sedrach. Visio Beati Esdrae.(= /JI7Y; iv; Leiden. 1977). pp. 37—PS.

TRANSLATIONS

English

A Rl' 1‘HKRFORI). The Apocalypse of Sedrach (= Ante-Sicene ChristianLibrary, Additional Volume (Kdinburgh. 1897). pp. 175-180).

German

P. RlKSSI.KR, AjSaBI, 2. pp. 156-167.

(JKNKRAI.

A. -M. Dknis, I PGA T. pp. 97-99.

M. R. JaMKS. The Testament of Abraham (= TS II. ii: Cambridge.1892). pp. 31-33.66.

G. MkkcaTI. ‘The Apocalypse of Sedrach' in JTS xi (1910).pp. 572-3.

P. RlKSSLKR, AjSaB2 y p. 1274.

B. VlOLKT, Die Esra-Apokahpse (IV Esra) (= G('S xviii; Leipzig,1910). pp. 1-lix.

The word of the holy and blessed Sedrach concerning love andrepentance and orthodox Christians and concerning the secondcoming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, give thy blessing.

I, Beloved, let us prefer nothing before unfeigned love.... There is

no greater love than that a man lay down his life for his friends.

apocalypse of sedrach

The Apocalypse oj Sedrach 957

U. And an unseen voice sounded in his ears saying. Come. Sed-rach, since you desire so earnestly to speak with God and to askhim to reveal what you would enquire about. And Sedrach said,Why so, my lord? And the voice said to him, I am sent to you to

3 bring you up here into heaven. And he said, I would indeed speaklace to face1 with God; but I am not worthy, lord, to go up into the

4 heavens. And stretching out his wings the angel took him, andwent up into the heavens, and set him down in the third heaven.And the flame of the Godhead rested upon him.

HI. And the Lord said to him. It is well you have come, my belovedSedrach. What is it that you would plead before the God whoformed you, for you said, I would speak lace to face1 with God?

2 Sedrach said to him, I would indeed plead before thee, as a son

3 with his father.2 Why, my Lord, didst thou make the earth? The

4 Lord said to him. For the sake of man. Sedrach said, And why didstthou make the sea? Why didst thou sow every good thing upon the

f),ii earth? The Lord said. For the sake of man. Sedrach said to him. If7 thou didst these things, why didst thou then destroy him? The Lordsaid, Man is my work, and what my hands have fashioned, and Idiscipline him3 as I find necessary.

IV. Sedrach said to him, Thy discipline1 is punishment and fire:

2 they are bitter, my Lord. It were better for man if he had not been

3 born. Why then didst thou make him, my Lord? Why didst thouweary thy unsullied hands with toil and fashion man. since thou

1 wouldest not have mercy on him? God said to him, I made thefirst-formed Adam, and 1 set him in Paradise where grew2 the treei of life; and I said to him. You may cat of all the fruits, only keep away

1 Lit. 'mouth to mouth’.

1 Lit. ‘mouth to mouth’.

2 Lit. ‘Yes: the son has a cause me the lather’

* Or ‘I educate him’.

1 Or ‘education’.

2 Lit. ‘. .. Paradise, in the midst of’.

*> from the tree of life, for ifyou eat of it. you will most surely die. Andhe disobeyed niv command ami was deceived by the devil and aleof the tree.

V. Sedrach said to him. It was in accordance with thy will, my2 Lord, that Adam was deceived. Thou didst command thine angels

to worship Adam; and the first of the angels who disobeyed thycommand and did not worship him. thou didst banish, because hetransgressed' thy command and refused to approach what thy» hands had fashioned. If thou didst love man, ve in didst thou notfj kill the devil, who devises every kind oj wickedness? Who can fight aninvisible spirit? He enters the hearts of men like smoke (and)t* teaches them every sin. He even fights against thee, the immortal7 God. What then can wretched man do against him? But havemercy. Lord, and remit thy punishments: or else, count2 tne alsoK among the sinners. If thou hast no mercy upon sinners, where arethy mercies, where is thy compassion. Lord?

VI. God said to him. You must understand that I gave Adam12 dominion over all things. I made him wise and heir of heaven and

earth, and 1 put all things under him. And every other living thing

4 runs away from him and avoids his presence. But although he hadreceived my gifts, he became estranged and an adulterer and a

5 sinner. What father is there, tell me, who alter giving his son hisshare of his estate, and the son, after taking what was now his, left hisfather, and went away into a foreign land and became the slave of a

(i foreign master - what father is there,2 seeing that his son has7 deserted him, will not be furious,3 and go after him and take hisproperty back, and disown his son,4 because he deserted his father?H How then should it he otherwise with me? I, the terrible and jealousGod, gave Adam1 all things, and he, after he had received them,became an adulterer and a sinner.

1 MS ‘Why did he transgress . . .?*

* Lit. ‘receive’.

1 Lit.‘him’.

2 Lit.‘and the father'.

' Lit. ‘his heart is smoking'.

4 Lit. ‘and banish him from his glory *.

939

VII. Sedrach said to him. Thou. Lord, didst fashion man. Thouknowest of what kind his inclinations were, and of what kind ourknowledge is, andyet thou dost plead man himself as the excuse for

2 his punishment. But cast him out - surely I alone will not he

:t sufficient to fill the heavenly places? {Ifnot.) save man also. Lord;Jar

4 wretched man has sinned, Lord, against thy will. (God said tohim,) Why do you waste words on me. Sedrach? I fashioned Adamand his wife and the sun (and the moon), and I said. Look at oneanother, and see how bright the other1 is (for the sun and Adam had

5 the same stamp upon them2). The wife of Adam is more radiant in

(j beauty than the moon; and he gave her life.' Sedrach said. And

7 what docs beauty profit if it wastes away in the earth? How rtw.r itthat thou didst say, Lord, Do not repay evil (or evil? How is it.

8 Lord? The word of thy Godhead never lies: so why dost thou

9 reward man thus? Dost thou not will evil for evil? I know thatamong the animals no one of them is more contrary than the mule.

.11 Yet vve force it to go where we want it to with a bridle. Thou hastangels: send them as guardians;4 and when man takes a step in thedirection of sin, let them take hold of one of his feet so that he doesnot go where he would.

VIII. God said to him. If I were to take hold of his foot, he wouldonly say. Thou didst show me no kindness in the world. So I left him

L' to his will because I loved him. That is why I sent my righteous

3 angels to guard him night and day. Sedrach said, I know. Lord,that among thy creatures thou didst love man first, among animalsthe sheep, among trees the olive, among fruits the grape, amongwinged creatures the bee, among rivers the Jordan, among cities

4,5 Jerusalem. And all these things man also loves, my Lord. God said

' Lit. ‘how bright he' or ‘how bright it’.

1 Lit. ‘the sun and Adam were our stamp'.

5 This passage is more than usually obscure. From the text as it stands it isunclear whether the comparison is Ix’twcen Adam and Kvc on the one side and thesun and m<x>n oil the other, or between Adam and the sun on the one side anti Kveand the moon on the other. However, in either ease, not a little must havedisappeared from the original text. Perhaps, also, we should emend the final clauseto read ‘and I gave her life*.

* Lit. ‘send them to guard them’.

960 The Apocalypse of Sedrach

to Sedrach, 1 will ask you one question, Sedrach. If you can answerme, I can rightly take your part, although you have been cross-b examining him who fashioned you. Sedrach said. What is the7 question,1 my Lord God. (The Lord God said to him.) Since the daythat I made all things, how many men have been horn, how manyS have died, how many will die, and how many hairs have they? Tellme, Sedrach, since the heaven and the earth were created, howmany trees have there been on the earth, how many have fallen,how many will fall, how many will there be, and how many leaves

9 have they? Tell me, Sedrach. since l made the sea, how manywaves have risen up, how many have fallen hack again, how many

10 will rise up, and how many winds blow on the seashore? fell me,Sedrach, since the creation of the ages of the earth, when it rains,how many drops have fallen on the earth, and how many will tail?

11 And Sedrach said. Thou alone. Lord, knowest all these things:

12 thou alone hast understanding of all these things. Only, 1 praythee, set man free from punishment; otherwise. 1 too must go topunishment and not be separated from our race.

IX. And God said to his only-begotten Son. Go, take the soul of my

2 beloved Sedrach, and set it down in Paradise. The only-begottenSon said to Sedrach, (Give up what was entrusted to you),' whatour Father deposited in your mother's womb, in the holy tabernacle

3 oj'your body before you were born. Sedrach said, 1 will not give my

4 soul to dice. The Son2 said to him. Why then was I sent and came■> here, and you make excuses to me? For I was ordered by my Father

not to take your soul by force:' so then, give me your soul which hedesires so much.

X. And Sedrach said to God, And how wilt thou take my soul?2 From what limb? And God said to him, Do you not know that your

1 Lit. ‘Sedrach said, Say’.

1 Not in the MS: supplied from Apoc. Ksdr. vi. 3 {sec above, p. 939).

1 Reading 6 vt6g tor 6 0e6?. What follows immediately leaves no doubt that it isthe Son who is speaking here, though there is some confusion later cm Up. especiallyx. I and xii. II. A parallel ambivalence, if not necessarily a confusion, may beobserved at Apoc. Ksdr. vi. 16, 17, IS*, and 21.

1 Lit. ‘shamelessly’.

961

The Apocalypse of Sedrach

soul is centred in your lungs and your heart {and) is dispersed

3 through all your limbs? It is brought up through throat and larynxand the mouth. And when the time comes for it to come out, it isfirst of all collected and gathered together from the toes and all the

4 other limbs, and then it has to be separated from the body and parted

5 from the heart. When Sedrach had heard all this, and thoughtri about the reference to death, he was much disturbed. And Sedrach

said to God, Grant me. Lord, a little respite4 so that I can weep: for Ihave heard (that) tears arc a most powerful and effective medicinefor the weak body that thou hast fashioned.

XI. And he began to say with tears and lamentation,

O head, so marvellous and adorned like heaven,

Blight as the sun that lights the heaven and earth!

2 Your hairs arc wiser guides chan Teman,

Your eves than Bozrah,

Your ears than thunder.

Your tongue than a trumpet.'

3 And your brain is but a tiny creature;

Yet the head controls the whole body's movement.

O fairest and most beloved of all my members.

4 N’o>v must you2 sink into the earth and be forgotten.

3 O hands, so gentle, docile, and hard-working,

Through which the body5 receives ils food!

(j O hands, so well adapted to provide domestic needs.4

7 O fingers embellished and adorned with gold and silver!

Great works are wrought by the fingers,ti The three joints unite the palms

And enhance their beauty.

And now you must become strangers to this world.

4 Reading fiveoiv tor laoiv (cp. Apoc. Esdr. v. 10;.

1 Lit. 'Those who know are your hairs from Teman, your eyes from Bozrah, yourt ars from thunder, your tongue from a trumpet'. (For Edom as the traditional homeof wisdom cp. Jcr. xlix. 7-22, where both Tertian and Bozrah are specificallymentioned.) 2 Text'it'.

> Lit.'the vessel’.

' Lit. 'O hands, most apt of all. which heaping up, you equipped the houses’.

962

The Apocalypse ofSedrach

•J (.) feet that walk so well, that run of your own accord.

Most agile, that cannot be restrained!5]() () knees, jo joined that without you the body1 does not move!

11 The feet run by the light of sun and moon.

By night and by day:

They provide everything to eat and drink.

And give the body’ food.

12 O feet most swift6 and nimble, that stir up the dust of the

earth,

To stock houses with every good thing!

IS C) feet that carry the whole body.

That run to the holy places to do penance7 and entreat thesaints!

Now must you stay motionless.

14 O head and hands and feet.

Now no longer may I keep you."

la O soul, what sent you into my lowly and wretched body?

Iti Now must you be separated from itAnd go up where the Lord calls you.

And the wretched body go away tojudgement.

17 () body beautified: hair flowing like the stars:

Head embellished and adorned like heaven!

Ill O face, fragrant with ointment:

Lyes that give light:

I'J Voice like the sound of a trumpet: tongue most gentle:

Beard most handsome: hair like stars:

Head reaching up towards the sky:

Body most beautifully adorned, light-giving, elegant.g all-knowing!

* Lit. ‘Must swift, exceedingly invincible'.® Reading uitcOxaioi for dvBOzaTot.

’ Or \ . . holy places in penitence’.

* I .it. 'until now have I kept you’.

* Reading yXaepvgdv for yXctxpoQov.

The Apocalypse oj Sedrach 963

20 Now must you sink into the earth,

And beneath the earth10 your beauty disappear.

XII. Christ said to Him, Enough, Sedrach. How long will you shedtears and moan? Paradise has been opened lor you, and by dying2 you will live. Sedrach said to him. Vet once again will I speak tothee, Lord. How long have l to live before I die? Do not refuse me3,4 my request. The Lord said to him. Speak, Sedrach. (Sedrach said.)If a man lives eighty (or) ninety years, or even a hundred, and livesthem as a sinner,1 and then turns again and lives in penitence, lorhow many days must he have lived in penitence before thou dost5 forgive his sins? God said to him. If a man lives a hundred (or)eighty years, and then turns and repents lor three years and hasfruits of righteousness to show, and then death overtakes him, Iwill not remember any of his sins.2

XDI. Sedrach said to him, Three years are a long time, my Lord:suppose death overtakes him bclore he has completed his three years

2 of penitence. Have mercy, Lord, upon thine image, and have

3 compassion, for three years are a long time. God said to him, If aman lives a hundred years and then remembers his death andmakes his confession1 before men and I find him, after a time I will

4 forgive all his sins. Sedrach said again, Lord, yet again I implore

5 thy compassion (for) thy creature’s sake. The time is long: suppose

6 death overtakes him and snatches him away at once. The Savioursaid to him, I will put one question to you, Sedrach, my beloved:then shall you put yours to me.2 If the sinner repents for forty days,I will remember none of the sins that he committed.

XIV. And Sedrach said to the archangel Michael, Hear me,powerful advocate, and help me, and act as my ambassador, and10 Reading vnt> yf)g for foraye.

1 Lit. ‘lives them in sins’.

2 Lit. ‘all his sins'.

1 Or ‘confesses me' (cp. Matt. x. 321 Luke xii. 8).

2 Something seems to be missing from the text here, since Cod asks no question,nor does Sedrach reply with another question or repeat his previous one.

964

The Apocalypse of -Sedrach

2 plead that God have mercy on the world. And falling down on theirfaces together they prayed to God and said. Lord, teach us how manis to be saved. What kind of penitence is necessary, and what in

3 particular must he do? (God said,) Man is saved by acts of peni-tence, by intercessions, by services in church, by floods of tears, and

4 by fervent lamentations. Do you not know that my prophet Davidwas saved by tears? And the rest too — do you not know that they were

j saved, each of them, at one critical moment? Do you not know,Sedrach, that there are Gentiles who, though they have not the

f> law, (yet) fulfil (the requirements) of the law?1 For (even though)they are unbaptised, yet my divine spirit has entered into them,and they arc converted to my baptism, and 1 receive them with my

7 righteous ones in Abraham’s bosom. And there are some, whohave been baptized with my baptism and have been anointed withmy holy2 * oil, who yet turn their backs on it altogether and show no

8 sign of a change of mind. But with deep compassion and anunfailing wealth of mercy I wait (or their repentance, althoughthey do what my Godhead hates and pay no attention to the wise

9 man’s saying, No sinner is ever acquitted. ’ Do you really not knowthat Scripture says, And those who repent shall not see punish-

10 ment? And (they pay no attention either to the) apostles, nor to my

1 ] word in the gospels; and they make my angels sad. And more, inmy assemblies and services they do not respect my messenger.4

12 Neither do they keep quiet5 in my holy churches, but instead oftailing on their knees in fear and trembling, they stand up andmake fine speeches, which I do not accept myself, neither do myangels.

1 Lit. ‘(yet) do (the things) of the law’.

2 Lit. ‘divine’.

* Lit. ‘In nowise do we justify a sinner'.

4 Meaning obscure (Gk. ov JiQooeirxpvoiv rdv ayyekdv fiov). The occurrence ofJTQOOttixetv in the active is unusual, to say the least. Furthermore, who is the ayy&ios— Christ, or the angel presumed to be in attendance at the service, or the Christianminister in charge?

5 Reading KaOLoravrai for Tozavrcu though the corruption is probably moredeep-seated. It is possible that llnr details here have been suggested by the parablein Lukexviii. 9—14. (I owe this last observation to Dr. A. M. Allchin, who has kindlyassisted me over some of the other liturgical passages in this document. Ed.)

965

XV. Sedrach said to God, Lord thou alone art sinless and of

2 infinite compassion, and hast mercy and pity upon sinners. Vet thyGodhead said, 1 came not to call the righteous but sinners to

3 repentance. And the Lord said to Sedrach, Do you not know,Sedrach that the robber was saved at one critical moment when he

1 repented?' Do you not know that my apostle2 and evangelist was

5 also himself saved at one critical moment? (But sinners arc not sosaved,) because their hearts are like a decaying stone - these arcthose who follow unholy paths and are to be destroyed with

6 Antichrist. Sedrach said. My Lord, thou didst also say, My divinespirit entered into the Gentiles, who though they have not the law

7 (yet) fulfil (the requirements) of the law. ' As with the robber, andthe apostle and evangelist, and the others who have attained to4

8 thy kingdom, my Lord, so also. Lord, pardon those who havesinned at the last, for life is full of hardship and olfcrs littleopportunity for repentance.

XVI. The Lord said to Sedrach, I made three periods in man’s

2 life.1 When he is a youth I overlook his failures because they arc thefailures of a youth: when later he becomes a man, I keep watch overhis thoughts; and when later still he grows old, 1 watch over him

3 also, in the hope that he may repent. Sedrach said, Lord, thouknowest all these things and understaridest them: only be compas-

4 sionate towards sinners. The Lord said to him, Sedrach, my be-loved, I promise to be compassionate; and I will reduce the forty

5 days to twenty.2 And whoever makes mention of your name shallnot see the place of punishment, but shall be with the righteous in a

6 place of refreshment and rest. And if anyone records this admir-able discussion3 in writing, his sin shall never be reckoned against

’• Lit. ‘was saved ... to repent’.

2 Read ing dnOoroXoc for faiOcnokoi.

3 Lit ‘(yct)do<thc tiling^ of the law’.

4 Reading q>06oavres ri<- for maloairtct;.

1 Lit. ‘I made man in three orders’. >

2 Lit. \ . . compassionate even from below the forty days as far as twenty .

3 Or ‘saying’.

966 The Apocalypse oj Sedrach

1 him. And Sedrach said, Lord, if anyone brings illumination to thyft servant, deliver him. Lord, from every evil. Arid Sedrach, they servant of God, said, Now lake my soul, Lord. And God took himarid set him in Paradise with all the saints. To whom be glory andmight for ever arid ever. Amen.

INDEX OF SCRIPTURALREFERENCES

Oi l) TESTAMENT

Genesis

i 1

1.2

i 2

i. 7, 10

882

i. II

ii. 21

517

ii. 22

18

iii.23

490

iv. 1

132

v. 24

805

vii. 11

826

viii. 2

826

ix. 5

28

xii. 6

49

xii. 10-20

3

xiv. 14-20

51

xv. 11

53

xv. 12

517

xv. 16

388

xv. 17

53

xv. 20

53

xvii. 8

54

933

XX. 1-18

3

xxi. 25

79

xxi. 30

79

xxii

933

xxii. 13

63

xxv. 27

64

xxv. 30

77

xxvi. 1-17

3

xxvi. 14

78

xxvii. 11

6-4

xxviii. 10-12 ....

453

xxx. 25-43

556

xxx.28

90

xxx. 32-42

90

xxxii. 28

458

xxxv. 9

458

xxxviii. 6

542

xxxviii. 24

543

xxxviii. 26

120

xxxix. 6

116

xxxix. 12

511

xii. 45

-m

xii. 50-52

468

xlv. 12

125

xlvi. 20

468

xlvi. 30

’.28

xlviii. 7

511,593

xl viii. 11

446

xlix 7

524. .529

xlix. 15

512

1.22-26

466

Exodus

xii. 6

135

xii. 11

136

xii. 37 . .

615

xiii. 16 .

936

xv. 22

1.2

xix. 4

613.829

xix. 5

58

xix. 6

58

xxiv. 1

1

xxiv. 7

1

xxiv. 12—18

1

xxiv. 16

10

xxviii. 41

613

xxix. 9

613

xxxii. 29

530

xxxii i. 20

777

xxxiv. 27

1

Leviticus

ii. 13

69

iii.9-10

68

xxi. 10

613

968

xxiii. 36 .xxv.9- !0

Numbersxxix. 3.5

Deuteronomy

vi. 8

vii. 6

xi. 18 ....

xvi. 3 ....

xxxi

xxxi. 7 ...xxxii. If)- IIxxxiii. 2-1 .xxxiii. 29 .

Joshua

xv. 3

xxiv. 2

Judges

i. 17

vi. 32

xvii. .5. 12

I Samuelxi. 7

2 Samuel

vi. 1-2

1 Kingsiv. 29-34iv. 32

vii. 23-25xiii. 33 ..xxi. 23 ..

101 ix. 10, 30-37

ix. 24

ix. 34

xvii. 30 ....xviii. 13. 37xxi. 16

2 Chronicles..('>09 i\. 2- 1 . ...

. 936 xx. 7

58. 65 xxxv-xxxvi. . 936

. . 136 Nehcmiah

.602 viii. 18 . ...

.. 606

. . 829 Esther. . 350 viii. 17 ...

..61.3 ix. IQ.22 ..

Job

. .. 92 'ii. 6

..365 ii.9

xxi. 12 ....xxxi. 34 ...

..127

..933 Psalms..5.30 xxxiii. 6 ...xxxv.15 ...xliv. 2U ....

. .517 xlix. 15 ....

. . 579 Ixxiii. 24 ...Ixxviii. 30 ..Ixxxi. 9 . . . .

. 607 cxxxvi. 25 .txxxvii. 3 . .

.. 73.3 I Proverbs

. . 686 x. 12

. . 748 ! xvii. 23 ....

. . 5.30 xix. 17 ....

. .878 i xxv. 8-H) .

2 Kings Ecrlesiastcs

ii. 3.9 865 i. 13

vii. 2. 19 826 xi. 6

878

500

878

459

796

775

748

375

927

579

579

630

631627620

852

776

8.30

865

865

.350

8.30

930

830

451

625

451

576

577

776

969

Isaiah

i. 1(1 776. 788

vii. 31.32 614

vxiii. 13-14 788

xiv. 12 936

xiv. 13-1:*) 937

xxiv. 23 792

F./ckicI

viii. 3 IT 386

xl. 13 920

xl.3! 613

xiv. 17 672

xli.R 37.3

Daniel

Iviii. 13 17

ixiv. 4 733. ft 12

Ixiv. 4-3 777

ii. 11 382

Amos

it. -1 363

Ixvi 773

Ixvi. 14 633

Ixvi. 24 949

Jeremiah

ii. 23 43.614

Zrchariah

xiii. 6 463

Malachi

iii. 10 826

APOCRYPHA

2 F.sdras

iii. 1

iii. 5-7

iv. 12

iv. 36

v. 13

v. 23-27

vii. 17-22

929 ■ ix. 4

929.954;

905.923 j F.cdesiaslirus

733

734. 740

899

346

v. 42

871

xlvi. 1

606

vi.3I.35

929

xlviii. 9

863

vii. 65-66

945

xlix. 8

437

vii. 116

929

vii. 116--126 ....

954

1 M area bees

viii. 29-30

94,3

i. 61

612

viii. 41

929

ii. 29-38

604

xv. 57-39

927

2 Maccabees

Tobit

ii. 4-5

817-18

iii. 8. 17

741

vi. II

604

iv. 12

423

vi. 18-vii. 42

604

. 771 j

Wisdom

i. 7 ....

970

See ft fur.

Abraham. TheTaleofthejust Man 365

Adam. The Apocalypse of 141

Adam. The Bonk of I4i

Adam and Evr with Satan. The Conflict of 1+1

Adam. The Penitence of 1+1

Adam. The Testament of 141

Ezekiel Apocryphon. The xv. ' 72

Hezekiah. Kinsr of Judah, The Testament of 777- 78

Joseph. The Prayer of +63

4 Maccabees xv<

Moses. The Apocalypse of 6. M2.158. 161-7

Narrative concerning thing* done in Persia .453

Noah, Bonkfslof 173

NEW TESTAMENT

Matthew

i 17 . ... 430

viii. 26-39 735

ix. \'} 733

viii. 28-34 735

»x. 51 601

x 15 937

xi 23 937

xii. 8 963

xii. 22 733

xii. 46 899

xvii. 34-35 918

xxii. 37-40 xvii

xxiv. 5, '23 758

xxiv. 22 900

xxiv. 40 11 918

xxiv. 51 899

xxv. 14-30 900

xviii. 9-14 964

xviii.30 +15

xx i. 24 613

John

iv. 5 .453

v. 22. 27 174

Mark

iii. 15.22 733

xiv. 2 351

Acts

xii. 23 619

vii. 21-22 899

ix. 48 919

x. 31) 445

xii. 29-31 xvii

xiii. 7 8, 12-13.28-29 930

xiii. 20 900

xv. 34 743

Luke

vi.38 625

xv. 19-20 817

xix. 13 738

Romans

ii. 6 619

1 Corinthians

ii. 9 755.757.777,812

iii. 16 432

xv. 38 918

xv. 52 930

971

2 Corinthians

lames

«27.

832

375

953

v 1 1

619

v. 20

.4:31

Galatians

i Peter

iv. 26

.619

v. 19-21

MHO

i\. 8

.151

Enhe.siaiis

v. 14

755

757

2 Peter

ii. 4

. . 335

Gninssians

ii. 8

733

1 fohn

ii. 15

“58

1 fhessalonians

671

Jude

<)

602

ii.3,8

“38 i

i 4- 1 5

.... 16!,169, 174. 185

Hebrews

Revelation

v. 6

325

i 13. 15

918

vii. 3

32.3.

69l

ii 7

758

325

ii IK

918

vli. 22

325

ii. 26

936

viii. 6

325

vii. 9 lf>

758

ix 15

325 1

918

x 1 12, 14

6:9

. . 918

xii.24

325

xxii. 16

936

See also

James, The Prot evangel ium of 809

Mary. The Nativity of 683

Nicodcniiis.The Gospel of I'13, 1 >8

Paul. The Revelation of 916

Peter, The Gospel of -171

Peter, The Revelation of 171- 946

Pilate, The Acts of 143. 158

Thomas. The Arts of • 686

Titus. The Epistle of 756-5/

INDEX OF ANCIENT AUTHORSAND WORKS

Ahikar, The Story of xiv, xv

Ambrosiastcr 755

Anaslasius (ufSiuait i'll 7

Apostolic Constitutions. The ... 141, 463.

423,733

Ar is teas. The Letter of xv

Athanasius 3*15, '123.424, 150

Augustine (of Hippo) 170

Barnabas. The Epistle of 160. 176.

178. 453,838. 899Kenshith Rahbah 2,32

Cedrenus 6.777.778

(pseudo- ) Chrysostom. Opus mperfertnm

in Matthaeurn 777

Clement (of Alexandria) .... 323, 324,917

Clementine Recognitions. The .... 366-67

Cyril (of Jerusalem) 686

Cyprian 833

Damascus Document, The 5.6

{See Zadokite Work)

Didymus (the Blind) . 5. 776, 777, 73!

Diogenes Laertius 899

Diognelus, The Epistle to 758

Ephraem (Syrus) 686

Epiphanius .. 5,6. HI.363,433. 755,776,781

IB. Erubin 2

Eusebius (ofCaesarea) 465

Kvagrins (monk) 835

Celasian Decree, The .5. 141. 170.506.

617,649

Gdasitis (ofCyzicus) 601.602

T. B. (liltin 734, 741

Her mas 50C

Hippolytus .306.835

Ignatius (of Antioch) 686

I renneus 506

feromc 5. 170.505, 755. 776-77.

781.819

Jonathan on the Propheu. The Tar cum

of .... 775

(pseudo-) Jonathan on the Pentateuch.

The Tar gum of 310

Josephus 2. 143.582. 733. 734

Justin Martyr 775

Lactantius 685.686. 735

List of Sixty Books, The {See Sixty)

Manual of Discipline. The 899

Mclito ! 172. 683

Niceohorus ... 13. 170. 18!, 363,393,306. 649. 650. 685. 756, 813.917

Origcn 169. 170. 175. 323, 324,

465. 505. 506, 734, 755. 759. 7/6,781,819.897.898, 902

Palaea inlerpretatu 364, 453-54

Palladius 363. 364

Phileas 683

Philo 899

(pseudo-: Philo 619.838

Pirke Ahoth xiv

Pirke de Rabbi Elieger 510

Pistis Sophia 683, 683. 686, 688

Prisci Ilian 363.423

Rtiftnus 505

Samaritan Chronicle. The 27

974

T.J. Sanhedrin 775 i Timothy and Aquila. The Dialogue of .733

Sibylline Oracles, The xv j

Sixty Books. The List of 170.306. Vincent 'of Beauvais) 463

640. 630,733, 736, 917. 030

Syncellus 6,33.34. 132. 170. 171. 174. T.B. Yebnmoth 773

! 73. 176. 179. 181

Synopsis {the pseudo-Athanasian) (pseudo-) ZachariasScholastic us ....

‘ 170. 363. 393, 506. 649.650.685. 756. 466,468

813.917 Zadokite Work. The Fragments of a . .

xiv. xv

Tertullian i69, 178. .606. 775 (See Damascus Document)

INDEX OF MODERN AUTHORS

Abbott. Y.. A 689

Ackrovd, P. R xxi

Adam’ A 68!)

Allchin, A. \I 96+

Amclineau, K 8!8

Anriersson, E 398. 426.442. 130

Aptmvitzer. V 469.472

Atiyah, A. S 836

Attridgc, H. W G2U. 760

Raars.W 649.633.810

Bacth^cn, F 928

Baillol, M 8

Baker. ]. A 784

Barnes’. W. F. 397. 126. 442

Rartheletnv, D 7

Rasset. R 783.820

Batiflol. P 466. 467. «i8.469.

470.471.192.689.930

Bauer. W 689

Becker,.) 314

Beer. (3 182.783

Begrieh.J 633

Bckkcr. 1 777

Bcnsly. R. L 931

Berger. K 9

Bernard. ). H 688

Best. E. ’ 762.919

Bezold.C 144, 146

Birkerman. H. J 314

Binder. G 776

Black. M 181

Bfthiig, A 113

Bogaerl. P. ... 8)6,818.820.836.837.

839.850. 862

Bonner, C 172, 177. 181

Bonweisch. G. N 322, 326.327,

368, 385, 389.455. 457.461. 778.903

Borncmann, F. A 735. 736. 737

Bouriam. U 171. 180, 753. 760.

761.918.919

Bousset. W 394, 508. 514. 758.

759, 761

Box, G. H 9. 367. 368. 391. 397.

423.426.783.838Brandcnhi:rger. F. 605

Bratko. F.

453,455

Braun. F.-M. .

. . 514

Brock, $. I5. . . .

. . . xviii. 18i.6l8.G20

Brodrick, M . .

472

Brooks. K. W. .

468,471,472

Brown. F

183

Bruce, j

170

Budge. K. A W.

145, 754, 760

Burchhard.C

. . . 467. 468. 469, 472.

51 +

B.irkitt. !■'. C

178.183.327,605. 784

Buttenwieser. M

758.759.761

Caquot. A.

398

Carmitrnac. J.

689

(larriere. A. . .

471

Gascv. R. P.

690

Cerium. A. M

.... 6. 8. 142. 1 14.601.

604,8:4.819. 836,838

Chadwick. H

690

Chainc, \1. ..

398. 426,442

Charles, R. H . . . ix. x, xi. xiii, xiv. xv.xvi.xvii. xix.6.7.8.9.10. 13. 17.20.27.28. 31.35, 36, 37, 38. 39. 40. 43.47.51.53, 54.69. 73. 77.84.90.96.97.100. 101. 113, 114. 115, 125. 127.128. 130, 142. 145. 171. 172. 174.175. 176, 177. 178. 179. 180. 182.252.323. 324. 325.327. 328,506.507.508. 509. 513. 51C. 517. 527.530, 539, 602. 603.604.605.606,607, 609, 610.611.612, 611.616.652. 653, 778. 779.780. 781.782,783. 785. 787. 790. 792. 793. 794.798, 800, 801.803.804. 814.818.836. 837. 838. 839. 840, 842,855.856. 862. 867. 869.870.872. 876.880. 881. 884. 885,890. 898. 903

976

Charles worth. J. H 684. 687. 688.

689. 690

Christie. P \x

Cizrvskij. D 782

Clemen. C 604. 605

Ctitnstofk, S. T. . .. 734. 760: 761. 767

Connolly. R. H 690

Conybcare. F. C. . . 145. 514. 755. 756

Cooper. I). S 597

Craig ic. \V, A 397

Daniclou.J 784

Davenport. 0.1 9

dc Bruync. D 756

Dodrring. S 836. 839

dr Fa mis, A 77(5. 779

dcjonge. H. J 513

dr Jonge, M 507. 50ft. 509. 511.

512,513. 514

do Fagarde. P 775

Dclatte. A 736

Dclcor. M. ... 394.397.39ft. 426. 142.

621

Dolling, G 816.820

Denis. AM. . . xx. 8. 9, 146. 183, 32ft.36ft. 398.172. 514.605.621.653. 690.737. 761. 784.820,839. 840.903. 919.

93:. 94 7, 936

de Vaux. R ft

dc Zwaan.J . 690

Dib, P. . 818

Dillmaim. C. F. A. .. 6, 7. 9. 146. 171.179. 180. 182,778. 781. 793.8:4,819

Dindorf. VV 6. 152. 170. 181

Drijvers. H. J. W 690

Durnsing, H 783

Eissfeldt, O xxi, 9. 146, 183. 328.

514. 60.5, 653, 784,840. 903Eincrton. J. A 687.690

Fabrieius. J. A 465. 506

Feriar, VV. J 605

Finkclstein. 1 9

Fishburne. C. VV 398

Flec k, F. F 735. 736

Flemming. J. 179. 180. 182.689. 783

Fl jsser. D 784

Forbes. \ 326. 327

Foiheringham. J K 328

Frankenberg. \V 653

Free. J -B 9. 183. 328. 514. 605.

621.653. 737. 761. 784. 820. 840. 919

Fuchs. C 146

Gallandi. A 506

Gaseleo.S 425. 126. 442. 413

Caster. M 397

Gicscler. J. K. L 778

(Jildormeisler. J 180

Ginzberg. 1 146. 183.328.366.

368. 394. 398. 472.621. 737. 784. 820,

8.38. 840. 89ft. 903

Gorsk\. A. V 321

Ora be. J. K 506. 508

Graf. G 733

Gran field. P 690

Gram. R. M 690

Grav. G B 652. 653

(Jreentield. J. G 183

Grrlot. P 183,775

Grenfell. B. P 778, 782, 790. 839

Gross maim, H 394

Gronewald, M 776

Grosseteste. R 506

Grv. 1 840

Ouidi. I. . 396. 123.425. 426. 442. 413

Gunkel. H 690

Haa< ker. K 603, 605

I ladot. J 840

Hagc, VV 903

Halevv. J 928

Hammershaimb. F. 783

Harnatk. A 684,689, 756

Harper. R. F 183

Harris, J. R 652. 653.68ft. 815,

816.819.825.840.898

Helm bold, A. K 779, 784

Hcnnerke. F. 689. 762, 783,919

Heizog.J.J 814

Hilgcnfeld, A 604,653, 635

977

Hill. D 783

Hindiev, J. C 183

Holscher. G 883. 605

Hollander, H. \V 513

Holm-N'iclsen. S 653

Horner. G 689

Hurt. F. J. A 146. 790

Houghton, H. P 761,918

Hovscpheantz. S. . 144.471. .613.819.

928

Hughes, H. M 898,902.903

Hunkin.J. YV 314

Hunt. A. S. ... 778, 782, 7%, 839. 927

Issaverdens,J. xxi. 143.471. .313,820.

Istriii. V. M 47?

Ivanov, 1 143, 782.902

Jagic, V 14.6

James, M. R ix. xi. xx, 144. 146.

158, 171. 181. 393. 394, 393.396.410.420, 426. 435. 443, 455, 467,507. 513.605. 617,618,620. 639. 641.652.653.762, 814. 838. 840. 856. 897.898.902.903, 904.919.930,931.953.954.955.

956

Jannsen, E 398

Jenni, E 687

Jungmann. J. A 690

Kraft. R A . 618.620,654,815,819.820

Kuhn, K. G. 169,173. 654

Kuhn. K. H 425.426.683

Kiimmel, YV. O xx

Kurrik’id/e, C. 143

Kushelev-Bezboj odko. G A. 368. 454

Labib. P

145

Labourt, J. .

689

l.acau, P . .

..782. 920,922. 925

Lake. A. K

690

Lake, K

328

Lake. S

690

Landsman, J. 1.

. . 368, 370, 379. 385,387. 388, 389

Laperrousaz. E ■

M 605

Lauke, M

687. 688. 689

Laurence, R . .

170. ISO. 182. 781.783

Lavrov, P A.

365.782

I.awlor. H. I .

183

Lefort, L. T. ..

782.916- i 7

Lerov.I

818

Leslan. YV

397

I.ic ht J

603.605

Liescnborghs. L.

776

Littmann. E. . .

. . . 9.69. 183. 328. 784

Lods. A

171.180

Liidlkt. W.

784.903

Kautzseh. F, xix. 9. 146. 182.514,

605,653,783. 840, 903

Kee. H. C 509. 514

Kenyon, F. G 181

Kind. G 690

Kittel, R 653

Klijn, A. F.J 840

Krnosko. M 144, 836, 839

Knibb. M. A. . .xi, 172. 173. 174, 178,

179,180. 182

Konig. E 814,820

Kohler. K 9, 394. 398,473,515,

618, 620, 621,624. 820

Kohut, G. A 620, 624

Kortcweg, T 513

MacRae, G 397

Mahe,J.-P 146

Mai, A 171. 176. 180,617.620.

778. 782

Malan, S. C 145

Mancini, A 617

Mar^ais. P 398

Martin, F 182,652, 633

Maspcro. G 733

Maunder. A. S. J) 323.328

McCown, C.C 735, 736, 743

Mercati, G 943. 946,936

Meyer, R 933

Meyer, YV 142. 143.144

Migne. J. P xxi

978

Miiik. f. (' .7.8.

172. 174. 175. 1 76.

177

178.181. 185.328

Mingana, A

655.688.818

Moore, G. F.

183

MorfiN.W. R .326

327. 351.897. 903

9

Nlozlev.J.H.

113. PM

M tiller. L'. B

931

Mnssafia, A

044

Nagel, T

427

Nevostruev. K 1. .

321

Nickleshurg. Jr. G. VV. F. ... 397. 398.

603.606.818. 821.840

Novakovic. S

321.326. 4 71.6! 7.

620,820.897. 902

O'Dell, |

654

O.vstenVv. VV. O. K

182,840

Oppenheim. G. ...

467.471

Philonenko, M ..

368.467. 468. 469.

470, 471.472. 47.3. 492. 193,619,

621.784

Philonenko-Savar. B

368

Picard. J.-C

897. 902

Pieterstna. A

751. 760. 761,767

Pi rot. L

xix

Piste! li.E. ..

Polivka. G

.... 3%. 617.620

Popov. A. N. .321,

326. 778.779,782.

820

Porfircv. l.Ya ...

364,368. 454. 455

Pratorius, F

814.820

Preuseheii. E

146,515

Purtntin, A.-lv . ..

. ..815,819.820

Pvpin, V N

365.368.454.45b

Radermacher. I.,

182

Rahils. A

632

Rahnenluhrer. D.

62 i

Renan, E

144,145

Rengstorf, K. FI. . .

515

Rcnouf. P. le P. .

472

Riessler. P xix. 9. 146.182, 183.

327, 328. 368.398,

426, 427,469. 472.

473. .') 14. 313.605. 606.621. 633.651.736. 737. 76 i. 762. 783. 7R4. 820. 821.83!). 8111. ‘M«. 919. 930. 831. 946. 947.

9:36

Ronsrh. H 6.8.!). 127

Rosenstiehl. j.-.M 736. 739. "61

Rosenthal. F 606. 837. 81!

Rost. L xix, 9. 146. 183. 328. 313.

606. 6:34. 784. 841.903

Rowley. H. H 10

Rubinstein. A 326. .328. 368

Rutherford. A 9.36

Rvlr, H. K 6.32.633

Ryssel, V. 840.903

S« halier. 11 62!

Srhlicr. H 684. 69(1

.Schmidt. C 683, 688, 689. 734,

7.3!I. 760. 761.77!

Schmidt. H xix

Schmidt. N 183.322. 328

Srhnapp. F .308, .314. .31.3

Schnremeleher. VV 689. 762. 785.

919

Schodde, G. H 8

Schragc. VV 761

Schiipphaus. J 632.6.34

Schtirer. K x.\. 10. !46. 183, 328,

368. 394. 398.173. .308, 313.603.6*56. 621.634. 733. 737, 734. 762,784,816. 821.811.903.919

Shakhniatm. A. A 782

Sharpe. J. L 146

Simmonds. J. S. G xviii

Sinker, R. 506. .308, .312, .313

Smith. J. Z. 465

Smith. W 146

Sokolov. M. 1 32 L 322.326. 902

Speransky. M. N 322

Spitta. F 621

Spinier. R. P 620

Srrznevskv. 1.1 364. 367,379

SteindorfF G 753. 7.34, 737. 738.

759, 760. 761.915, 916,917.918,919

Steudahl, K. 473

Stern. L 753, 761,919

979

Stevenson. \Y. B 621

779.782.592.82118 i. <>52

xx

. 10.687

Tikhonravov. N. S 50-1, 367. 396.

4.34. 45.6.3 13.819.897.902Timble.J 620

Tisohendorf. 0. ..

. 142.!44.928.931.

932

Tissrrant. R

6. 8, 783

Torres, G. C

xix. 6. 10. 116. 183,

515.606.6:8,621

1.664. 78-1.818.841

Tov.C.H

654.737

’I runipp, I-

145

Turdeanu, fi

. 146.328. 368.398.

51.5. 781.903

Turner. X

394. .398

IJIlendorfl'. K 178. 179. 183

Stojanovic. I.. .Stone. M R. ..183.Swete.H. B. .

1‘avlor. S.IVstuz. M.

Vail lam. A 322. 323. 326.327.

329, 333, 338. 339.340. 342.345.346.

347. 349. 351.352. 356, 358.360. 784

van den Brock. R .. 146

Vanderkam, J. C. , 10

van Koningsvrld, P. S 836

van Unnik. \V. C 473. 515

Vassiltcv. A 393.396.455, 815

Vermaseren, M. J 146

Yigouroux. F 950

Violet. B 837. 839,840.841.932.

956

Vi trail. | 652. 653

Yolk mar. G 605

von Gebhardt. 0 652. 662. 669.

778. 779. 782

Ware. H 116

Wagner. S 621

Wahl. 0 929. 931.943.944.946.

956

Walker. A 143.93l

Weber. H B 397

Weinel, H. . . xix, 368. 398. 427. 155.

762.919

Wcllhauscn, J 672

Wells. L. S. A 142. 145

Wesseley. C 760

Wiesenbcrg. B 10

Williams. A. L 737

Wilson. R. Mel xx,689

Woltr. J.-C 165

Worrell. W. H 690

Wright, R. B 654

Voutie. H. C 181

Zeitlin. S 10.606

Zimmermanti. F 841

Zuntz. G 184

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

Abel: sits as judge before thegates of heaven 410-12.

Abraham: argues with his falherabmit his idols 47, 371,372-74.

Abyss, the: the place of punishment and torment 19fi, 210. 275, 278. 289. 923.924.

Adam: 'the first-formed’ 409. 934; the secrets of the future revealed to A. in Edenand subsequently told to Seth 154-55; A. sits as an observer outside the gates ofheaven 408—9; each man ‘is his own A.’ 874.

Addition: name of the final day ol the feast of Tabernacles 101. See Feasts and

Festivals.

Angel: the a. of Abraham 427-28.585: the a. of the Christian Church 789-90; the a.of death 053; the a. of the Holy Spirit 790. 799.805-6. 809. 81) -cp. ‘the a. of theSpirit’ who has inspired certain psalms to which no name is attached 793: thr a.that intercedes for Israel 528, 565.

Angels: a. of the presence 13. 14,527;.guardian a. 108; (heir food 147-cp. 490: theirlanguage 646. 924; they must not be worshipped 921: they will he friends ofperfect priests and monks 433; they write the records of the deeds ofmen 336.921,923; their function as recorders at the Judgement 289, 410- 12. and as accusers921,923; in the age to come the righteous will he made like a. 871 - cp. 231.

Angels (the fallen): their names 189. 190-1, 251-52; their fall 188-90, 203. 251,277, 316. 519; their imprisonment 25, 41. 196. 210, 246. 249. 278, 330. 335. 876;their judgement and final punishment 196, 199, 201.208. 210, 233-35, 249-.40,289, 293,' 785. See Watchers.

Antichrist, the: 431, 767-73, 777. 791-92.933,936-37: lie fell from heaven like themorning stars 769; his personal appearance described 768, 936-37. See TheShameless One, The Son of Lawlessness, The Son of Perdition.

Archetypal Temple in heaven, the: dates from the Creation and shown to Adam.Abraham, and Moses 842- cp. 528,877. and 790 where the Christian Church ‘isin the heavens’; cp. a Iso431 and 433 where men’s.service on earth corresponds tothe archetypal service in heaven, and 347 where man's judgemcm-plarc. w ith thenecessary weight and measure, was prepared for him before he existed.

Atonement, the Day of: fore-ordained 26; instituted on the news of the loss of Joseph106.

Awaited One, the (title ofChrist): 462.

Azazel(in I Enoch a leader of the fallen angels): 190, 193,195,251,378-79.383-85.389-cp. 277; his imprisonment 19.5. 199. 233 —cp. 278; his judgement and finalpunishment 195. 234-35-cp. 289.

Babel: Baruch sees the builders of the Tower in the second heaven 905-6.

Balance. See Weighing of souls.

Baptism: 155, 158, 949, 964.

Baruch: will be preserved until the End 847,855, 886.

Beezebul: 739. 74<), 742-43.

Behemoth: 239,856-57. See also Leviathan.

Beliar: 12, 36 and very frequently’in Test. XI] Pat. and chaps, i-v of Asc. Isa.

982

Beloved (One). the: title of Christ inOd. Sol. (691-92.695. 698, 726). throughoutAsc. Isa. (785-86. 789. 790-93. 798. 801-3'. and once in Par. )er. (823VRinding ol a sacrificial animal before- slaughter iti 2 Enoch, the: 826. 35!. 355. 358.Rlood. eating of forbidden: 28-9. 3-4-5. 68-9. 301.

Book of Life, the: 95. 110. 451.488.

Books, heavenly: record the deeds of men 95. 110. 116. 270. 309. 318. 804. 921.923;

and inspected at the Judgement 229.289. 319, 410-1!. 854.

Books of Moses, the: to bo preserved in earthenware jars 607.

Bread of Lilc. the: 43!. 480.488 - cp. 481.

Burial: the b. of Adam and Abel in the regions of Paradise by Michael and Uriel thepattern Ibr human h. 160.

(Iain: the victim of seven different plagues brought on him at intervals of a hundredyears 597: the manner of his death was in accordance with the rule on theheavenly tablets 24.

Cataracts of heaven, the: 826.

Chariot: the eh. oft he cherubim 164, 407-cp. 437: the great ch. (ofGod) 647-cp.163: a ch. of fire 491.940.

Chastening: Cod's eh. of the righteous 6.38, 669, 672. 673, 675-76: of Israel 664.681,811,848.

Cherubim: 163, 166. 201-2. 209. 242. 255. 329. 336-37. 340. 411,456-57 ('four-laced’). 646. 832, 934,940.

Chosen. See Elect.

Christ Jesus): mentioned by name 158.431,452. frequently in Od. Sol.. 745,792,801,803. 806. 832-33, 907, 956; his advent will be 5500 years after the death ofAdam 158,4 2 generations after the death oflsaac 430-31, and 477 years after thedeath of Jeremiah 832: the signs of his advent 462; the historical details described- his Virgin Birth 431,592, 709-10, 749,809- 10; the Star and the Wise Men 463,.536; his Baptism 158, 536, 715; his miracles and master),- over demons 163,744—15. 749, 810; his call or the Apostles 431. 789, 833; his persecution by theJews 389, 593, 598, 785. 789; his Crucifixion 431, 436, 463, .595. 598. 717, 73(1,744—45. 749, 789, 792, 803, 810, 9-40: the Rending of the Temple Veil 598; theHarrowing of Hell 431, .598. 804, 807, 810, 940- cp. 158; his Resurrection 431,438. 789-90, 810; his Ascension 598, 785 , 790. 792. 804. 810: the apostolic-preaching 790. 810, 833; the conversion and salvation of the Gentiles 389. 456,571, 593. 595, 598-99; the Christian Churc h 158. 431,462-63, 593, 595, 790-2;the second (?) advent 767. See Incarnation, Son ofGod, Lamb of God, Saviour ofthe World. Awaited One. Beloved (One).

Christians: +31,932-33, 937,9.56.

Confession: cleanses from sin 668; c. and penance 948-49,951: Ascnrth’s c. 483-6.

Consummation, the final: 1%, 20.5,520, 607, 792-93.856-57, 882, 886,892-93; itis very near 890, 895. See Day.

Covenant: God’s c. with Noah 28, with Abraham .53.54-5.

Creation: the acts ofc. and the twenty-two kinds of created things described 14-15,16: the details revealed by God to Enoch 339-40; apparently ex nihilo 852 rp.

983

866; the existing world was treated for man’s sake ft49. for Israel's sake 607, or lorthe sake of the righteous 850. 858: it will Ik- transformed or renewed and the newc. will Iasi forever 13, 227. 257. 293. 858. 864.870.87<i.

(hip. (he: of (God's) blessing 481; ot'immortality 180, 488: of life 488.

Daughter: a younger must not be given in marriage before her elder sister 88.

Day. the (= the tl. of the Lord, when he will destroy the earth and the heavens. 9*25):that great <1. 234; the d. of the great consummation 205; the (great) d. of (thegreat) judgement 25. 72, 212. 276. 312. 5*27. 904. etc.; the d. of cursing andpunishment 308; the d. of darkness 297: the d. of destruction 30! -2; the d. "fdistress 184. 235. 301: the d. of iniquity 298; the d. of repentance 607. SecJudgement.

Dead, the: the abode of 210-12.

Death: the spirit sent by God to claim the soul of Abraham 406. 415-21 - cp. 411:his reaping-hook 402. 406: the angel ofd. 833.

Devil, the: originally an angel driven out of heaven because he refused to worshipAdam 150.9.58.

Dispersion, the: Israel is dispersed among the Gentiles 532.335.554.581.392.668.881: a praver for their gathering together again 667; God will gather them 670.889.

Eden. See Paradise, also Garden.

Elect (Chosen) One, mv: title applied to Joseph 486, Jeremiah 821,822. 829. andEstlras 935; mv (the) FA. One - the Messiah 223. 226. 227. 230. 231, 232. 233.233, 242.243, 391,800.

Elect (chosen) ones: the el. of Israel 14; more generally 481; and especially inI Enoch as a synonym lor the righteous 184,236- 37, etc.

Emmanuel: title of Christ 743. 744. 745 .See Immanuel

End. .fifeConsummation.

Enoch: the scribe (of righteousness) 198. 203, 294. 413 - cp. 342; the first man onearth to write 22-3 - cp. 274; his writings listed 23, his writings quoted or referredto 68. 31 7, 328 especially in Test. XII Pat. 523, 532. 533. 546, 557, 564. 569.598; they describe what is in the heavens 344, and what is to happen on earth 756;some 360 ol his hooks were written at (he dictation of the archangel Vreveil 338.340, .341.344; all are to be carefully preserved for the benefit and profit of futuregenerations 271, 313, 341. .342. 347. 349; he did not die 413, 430. but wastranslated 254-55, 342-, 354; in Eldcn he keeps the records of men’s deeds till theDay of judgement 23 4 - cp. 42,342, 348,349; he will descend with Elijah on theDay and destroy the Antichrist 773, and he will function as a witness at theJudgement 42,342.

Error: the prince of'er. 521; the spirit ofer. 790; the spirits of er. 524,527,561,569,580; the seven spirits of er. 516-17.

Eternal life: 196, 221,224, 237, 345, 353. 445.659- cp. eternal rest 428, etc.

Fasting: created when God made the heavens 763.

984

Feasts and Festivals:

First-fruits ( = ‘Weeks’) origin and regulations 29-30: celebrated in heaven fromthe creation 29, by Abraham when God made his covenant with him 54, byAbraham when Isaac was born 58, by Abraham with Isaac, Ishmael. andJacob, before his death 70-3, by Jacob before setting out for Egypt 126.Passover, the: origin and regulations 134-37.

Sabbath, the: instituted at the creation 16—17; rules and regulations 138—39;

a sign of the resurrection and the rest of the age to come 161.

Tabernacles (‘the Feast'): origin and regulations 59-60; the additional day 101.Unleavened Bread: mentioned 137.

First-fruits. See Feasts.

Friend ofCrxi: title applied to Abraham 64. 376- cp. 375. 400,402, 407, 415, 416,421.444. also 380. .382; Levi was described on the heavenly tablets as a fr. 95; Godspoke to Enoch as a trusted fr. 342. and was a fr to the patriarc hs during theirlife-time 450.

Garden, the (— Eden): of life 243; of righteousness 219. 241, 266 - cp. 239. SeeParadise.

Garment (s): of life, the reward of the righteous, 245 cp. 771.785. 790,924: they arestored already in the seventh heaven 792, 798. 801 -2-3-4,812. where Enoch isclothed in his by Michael 337.

Gate(s) of heaven, the: the entrance^! 312, 408-10, 528,905,9! 1,9! 3, 914.921.Gates (Doors) of heaven, tlte: the openings in h. through which the sun, moon,stars, and winds, go out and in 219- 20, 257-72, 332-4. 908.

Gehenna: name for the placed torment 756, 785. 792.877.895,932-cp. 216,289.Gentiles, the: w ill be saved .525,527,528,530,537,549,550, 561. 571,581,593,595,598,599, 600-cp. 229.

Giants, the: born from the union of angels with women 25. 33, 190, 193.203, 520-< p. 277: they became evil spirits on earth 204: their destruction 25. 33-4, 66,195-6, 199. 201,203. 205 - cp. 278.

Glory, the Great: title for God 527.805.807.811 - cp. ‘He who is great in glorv’ 202,308.

Head of Days, the: title for God 227, 228.229. 234.238. 256.

Heaven: a new- h. will replace the old 293 - cp. 13.

Heavenly Tablets. See Tablets.

Heavenly Temple. See Archetypal.

Heavenly Voice, the: 536, 853.

Heavens, the seven: described in detail 330-42,379-90, 526-27, 796-812,904-14-cp. 376, 750, 789, 790, 792,917.

Hebrew: the original language in which the early books were written, but which fellout of use after the collapse of Babel, taught to Abraham 19.

Herod: 936, 945, 949.

Hippodrome by Rachel’s tomb, the: 511. 593.

Holy places: there arc four on earth (Eden, the mount of the east. Sinai, and Zion)

24-cp. 38.

985

Holy Spirit, the: 158.402.429,437.439.452.680.694.700. 704. 700. 714. 700. 794.795, HOI. 805. 806. 811.812. <141. See Spirit ol God.

Immanuel: title ofChrist 907. See Emmanuel

Immortality Cup.

Impulses, the two in man: 577 78, 596-97.

Incarnation, the: God will appear among men 527. he w ill dwell w ith men on earth13. 155. 565. 571. in the midst oflsrael 528. in human form 524. 561.581. in theguise of a humble man 599, and he will become man 438. with a human body 463.523; the Elect One will dwell among turn 227; the Son assumed the form of manwhen he came to save us 762; the Saviour wall be both God and man 525; theBeloved will be like a man in form 789. 801,803, Sire Christ, etc.

I ncorruption, the unction of: 480. 488.

Israel: God’s rldest son whom he has hallowed for ever 16; his servant 671.

Tssacliar: a farmer 511-12.

Jealousy, the idol of: 386-8 - cp. 880.

Jerusalem: the navel of the earth 38. 679-cp. 215: the holy city 665. one of God’sfour holy places on earth 24 - cp. 38; God will gather her dispersed childrentogether 670; in the new creation J. will beset apart for the hallowing of the earth24; in the newj. the Lord will live with men 563-cp. 290.842; ‘J. which is above’826.

Jobab: the original name of Job 622.

John f St): 933.

Joseph: the son ofGod 478.479; the firsr-borr. son ofGod 493; a writing described as‘the words of Joseph the just' 793.

Jubilee(s): instructions about ‘the year of jubilee’ (i.e. every fiftieth year) and themeasurement of time in ‘jubilees’ (i.r. periods of fifty years, 3-3. 13, 137-38.

Judgement, the: references to the final j. as distinct from the first (i.e. the flood, e g.234) are very frequent, and common phrases in this connection arc ‘the great j.’(211). ‘the eternal j.’ (312).’the great day ol j.’ (195). or simply ‘the day of j.’ (72):sometimes the emphasis is on its aspen as a universal world j. cp. 160-61. 185.293, and for representative descriptions of the details 327-28, 792-93.933; moreoften interest is concentrated on the j. of individuals, particularly on sinners —cp.110, 238, 674, and for detailed descriptions 26. 305-6, 408-14; according to2 Enoch man’s place of j., together with a measure and a weight, was prepared forhim before even he existed 347; according to T. Abr. there are three judgementsfor each individual, the first before Abel, the second before the twelve tribes ofIsrael, and the third before the Sovereign Cod of ail 412. See Consummation.Day.

Justification: by obedience to the Law 870.

Keys, the: of'the T emple entrusted to the keeping of the sun by Jeremiah 023, and toheaven by the priests 846; of the kingdom of heaven held by Michael 9M; thekeepers of the k. officii 343.

986

Kingdom: Job's k. is eternal 638; the advent of God's k. 6!2— 14: [he keys of the k. ofheaven held by Michael 911.

kittim: 79. 112.

lamb of God. the: a rhrislological title .393. 505 — cp. 592.

I.avv. the: the patriarchs obeyed it before it was written 876; man is justified byobedience to it 870; it is life 860; it is eternal 302. 887 - cp 669; it is a lamp fi»rIsrael lit by Moses 850. 877; Israel will never want' ”a son of the I ’ 864; in thedistress of exile there is nothing left to Israel hut God and his 1. 894.

Lawless One. the; 7.38. 766. See Son of Law lessness.

Length ol -human life, the; 74-6.

Levi: chosen for the priesthood because of his zeal in the affair of Sherhem 94. Isaacblesses him 97. 331. and teaches him the law of the priesthood 331: L.’s ownvisions' of his appointment and that of his sons and of his installation 99. .328..330-31; Jacob has a similar vision 331. he installs L. 99. and passes on to him theancestral b<x>ks before his death 129; I.. and Ins sons must be accorded theirproper reverence 9". 320.325.348; hr was a prophet w<ho foresaw everything thatwas about to happen 496,499-cp. 49.9; the service of the Icvitical priesthood theearthlv eounterpart of that of the angels in heaven 94. 97.

Leviathan: 239.376.384.462,856-57. See also Behemoth.

Lord ofSpirits, the: a title IbrGod 221 (and so regularly in I Enoch xxxvii-lxxi).

Lord’s Day. the: 947.

Love of God: associated with love of neigh Ixmr xvii. 5.34, 555. 364.

Luke (St.): 938.

Mankind: the number of those to lx’ born was fixed when death was decreed 854-ep.868

Marriage: with Canaanites forbidden 66, 72. 80-1.86 - cp. 542-46. with Gentiles93-4,5.31 - cp. 831.

Mastema: 41,45,61-2.(56.132-34.

Matthew (St.): 938.

Melehizcdck: his birth 360-61: put by Gabriel in the garden of Eden to keep himsale from the flood 362;.cp. 325-26.

Messiah (= Anointed One), the: so named 230. 232, 681,8.%, 857, 861.884 - cp.679; otherwise the Elect (Chosen) One (q.v.), the Righteous One 22!. theRighteous and Chosen One 233. the Son of Man 'q.v.), the Son ofDavid 678, MySon 313; he will spring from Judah 97,53(1.549-50. 592, from Levi 536-37, fromJudah and/or Levi 520. 565; the signs of his advent 855 57, 884; his role andactivities 549, .365. 678-80, 681, 857. 861, 884; the (Messianic) age and its joys13-14. 76-7. 196-98. 226-27. 236-37, 245. 256. 536-37.550-51, 565,612-14,861.884-85.

Millenium, the; 439. 773-cp. B57.

Moon, the journeyings of the; 260-63, 333-34, 920.

Moses: the intercessor for Israel 616; the mediator of God’s covenant and com-mandments 607, 609; revelations concerning the natural order and the futuremade tc him on Sinai 11-14, 842, 877.

987

Music in the heavens: 331-38. 376. 380-82. 121.43t>-3fl. la 1.6-Mi-47. 797-801.805-6.

Name, the: 1 10. 78.) - rp. mv X. 843 ihy X. 664: the great X. 78.827 -cp. thy throatX. 843. his great X. 231.

One. the: 797. MB.

Ophannim: 242.233. 330. 310.

Paradise (= Eden): Adam and Kve in P. 19-21. 147. 102-67. 383-86. etc: Enochwas translated there and keeps his records there 23; tt is in charge of Gabriel 209:angels eal its honey and no mortal who eats will ever Hie 490; the P. shown toF.norh in the third heaven was prepared (or the righteous 331: the new priest willopen its gates for them to enter 337: here they will find their eternal resting-place333. 409. 121. :>6:>; the P. of righteousness (the righteous) described 133 34.331.343. 701- 2. 938; the heavenly archetype (?) is preserved with God 842. SeeGarden.

Passover, the. See Feasts.

Paul (St.); 933. 938; Benjamin prophesirs his mission and fame 599-600.

Penitence: 488-90, 963-64; the p. of Adam and Esc 117-15!; the p. of Aseneth■181-86: see also 949. 951.

Peter (St.): 791.938.

Phoenix, the: 908-cp. 336.

Plant of righteousness (* Israel), the: 59,110.196,294.295-cp. ‘an upright plant’12.

Priest: the anointed high p. who is income 320; a new p. will be raised up 33b: a kingwill arise from Judah who will establish a new priesthood for the Gentiles 530.

Punishment of sinners, the: it is eternal 332, 391.409, 921. 933; references to theplace! $) ofp. 34.41,12. 72,205-10.212.216.246.310.318.331 -32,344-45,383.386. 391.413. 756. 864, 923. 924: the torments and the tormentors 411. 434-36,447-48. 756.857, 919-22.924.936. 937,938. 947-50.

Qumran: 5. 6, 172. 174-77,323,511. 684.

Rebirth: to lift* eternal by water and the Holy Spirit !58.

Remembrance, Days of (marking the four divisions of the year): 30.

Repentanrc: the Day of (national) R. before the final consummation 607; r. securessalvation for the individual 413. 575, and eternal life 224, though the op-portunities will not be available indefinitely 895 (cp. 245—46:; r. still possible tillthe judgement 924-25: questions about how long the period of penitence must hrbefore Ibrgiveness is secured and what form the penitence should take 963-64.

Resurrection, the: of Adam 166, of the patriarrhs 550. 561, 599, of Job 623:sometimes it is to be a r. of all the dead 231. 550, 561.599. 793. H57(?), 862,869,937{?). sometimes of the righteous only 245,292,294,659, 770-1; it is to be a r. ofthe body, inasmuch as the dead will rise looking as they did when they died, sothat they ran hr recognised, transformation in their appearance for better or

988

worse supervening upon the judgement 809— 70: the sabbath is a sign of the r. andthe rest of the age to come 161

Resuscitation ofjeremiah after three days, the: 835.

Righteous, the: their merits and good deeds are presented by Michael to God912—) 3; they have a store of good works laid up in the heavenly treasuries 849,854. and recorded in the heavenly hooks 95. 309, 312. 318, 921, which will beopened and inspected at the judgement 220-29. 349. 851: descriptions of theirfuture blessings van. - they may be rewarded by an extended life on earth 214-13;contrast 852). though almost invariably their lile is eternal 236-37. 353. in aworld that endures for ever 861. 869: sometimes the emphasis is on the joys oftheir condition 309-10. 312. 318-19, 874. and they may he clothed in heavenlygarments 24.3, 792-812. or become (like) angels 231.312.870- 7!; sometimes it ison the place of light and peace to which they go 222-24,428. 965. which is oftenParadise .353.409. 870-71,932.963,966. und there, it seems, individual resting-places may be allotted them 351.448.

Sabbath, the. See Feasts.

Samaritans: their origin 831.

Saviour (- God): 566.582.667.676.

Saviour of the world (= Christ): 531.593-cp. 593. 762.

Seales. See Weighing.

Sea-monster, the great: 485.

Seraphim: 242,255. 337. 340,437, 438. 832; the song of the s. 457.

Serpent, the: wisest of all the animals 162; originally had hands and feet like aman’s, and six wings, 385: used by the devil as his mouthpiece to beguile Eve162-63: used as a cloke by Sammael to tempt Adam 910; as a result he is cursedand loses his bands, feet, ears, and wings 165-66- cp. 20.

Shameless One (= the Antichrist), the: 768, 769. 770. 772.

Shcchemitcs: vengeance on the Sh. 93.329: their destruction became a legend 495.496.

Signs of the End: 855-56, 867-68, 883 - rp. 613.

Solomon: his wisdom a gill from God 740. 741, 748, 750. but taken away from himbecause of his idolatry 751.

Son of David {“ the Messiah), the: 678 80.

Son of God. the: of Joseph 478. 479-cp. ‘the first-born s. ofG.' 493: of Christ 158,431,745. 832, 833 - cp. 'his s.’ 762, ‘his only begotten s.' 939, 960 (also 598 and806), Vmv s.’ (of the Messiah?) 3)3.

Son of Lawlessness (= the Antichrist), the: 762, 767-73.

Son of Man (= the Messiah), the: 174-75,227, 229.239. 244, 245,246, 254,256.

Son of Perdition (= the Antichrist), the: 758. 766.

Spirit of God (the Lord), the: 249,477, 522, 598- cp. 25.481. 785.852(3;. See Holy

Spirit.

Spirits of truth and error, the two: 547.

Stone: Jeremiah’s memorial st. 833.

Sun, the journey ings of the: 257-60. 332-33,908- 10.

989

Tabernacles. See Feast*.

Tablets: two sets oft., one of clay and the other of stone, recording the lives of Adamand Eve. made bv Seth 160- Hi I; the hcuvenlv arc the heavenly original of theIcvitieal laws 19. 21.21.26, 29, 30. 31. 56. 59.63. 88.93. 100. 101. 103. 133. .">70.record gixxl men's names and deeds .r)7. 64. 95. 99. 270. 3i)9. 528. and predict theevents of the future 77. HO. 295. 317. 581.

Tartarus: 208. 777. 933.938. 947, 9-48. 949.

Taxo: 603 K 6! 2.

Te rah: is a worshipper of idols. Abraham argues with him. and sets fire to his idols*house 17—18: he is not only an idolater but also a craftsman who makes and sellsidols. Abraham argues with him. and his house is destroyed h\ act of Cod369-75.

Thtoilet's): the throne of God 164. 202. 207. 214. 989. 399. 336. 337. 339. ‘341.381-82, 609. 61.3- ep. ‘the throne of; his) glorv' 226.228.235,238.2 52.243.244.251, 255. 457, 528; thrones are prepared in heaven for the patriarchs 128. for Job637. 642. and for the righteous 762. 770. 802.803.804.812.

Torments of the damned, the. See Punishment.

Treasuries, heavenly: tr. where the righteous have a store of good works laid up849.854: tr. in which their souls are preserved after death 857 - ep. 853.

Tree(s): the tree of knowledge in F.den 154. 156, was variously a fig-tree 161. or adate-palm 385. ora vine 906 rp. 'the tree of wisdom* 219: the tree of mercy fromwhich flows the oil of life 157.! 58; the tree of life !63. 164. 166,331,451,537,771,832. 957-58 (eaten by Adam', - ep. 213-15 (a date-palm): God’s holy ones' are‘trees of life’ 673.

Trinity, the: 429.437, 7t)9. 714. 801,806. and in doxologics439, 452. 941.

Trisagion hymn, the: 421.

1.’ net ion: 964, ‘the unction of incorrupiion’. 480. 488.

Unleavened Bread. See Feasts.

Vessels of the Temple, the: carried awa\ by Nebuchadnezzar 608; consigned u> theearth to prevent this happening, by Jeremiah 823, by an angel 843-14. 889.

Vine, the: as the human race was condemned through the v., so il will be restored(through the Eucharist) 907.

Watchers (= archangels): 198. cp. 208. 223, 243, 255. also 335.

(= fallen angels): 22 (?;, 25. 33. 36. 41. 184. 195. 198, 200. 203. 204. 205.293, 334-35. 519, 569. See Angels (fallen).

Ways, the two: 577, 578 - cp. 291. 29*1.296. also 408- 10.

Weeks. See Feasts.

Weighing of souls at the Judgement: 224.242. 349. 410,412,924.

Wisdom: God’s agent in creation 340: from heaven she sought a dwclling-placc onearth and did not find it 225.

Wood: regulations about the w. to be used in sacrifices 69.

Word (ofGod), the: 47, 702, 703, 706, 722, 729. 730, 852'?).

Worship God: men (or women) who w. G. 477.480.493.494- 95,496,501.503.585.•

990

\\ rl li ii£j(s;: Seth makes two sets of tablets. mu' of day. the other ofstone. recordingthe lives of Adam and Eve 160-61: thr wriiin.es of Adam and Seth art- to endure tothe end of time 341 - cp 312: the angel IVnemue taught men t hr arc of writingwith ink and pajjer. through which manv have been led astrav 2:52: Enoch wasthe first among men to writr 22—3 — cp. 274; Vrevril dictates the books to F.uoch338. and Enoch is to give them to his children as a permanent legarv for futuregenerations 341-12: Kainam finds and transcribes an ancient inscription on arock, containing the teaching of the Watchers 36; Noah writes a medical treatise*and leaves everything he had written to Sherri 12: Abraham transcribes andstudies his fathers’ hooks 44. and commends them to Isaac fi.e. 'the words ofEnoch’ and ‘the words of Noah’t 68; Jacob reads from ‘the words of Abraham’116. and passes on the ancestral Iwoks to I,rvi 129: !a*\i used to ser ‘letterswritten in the heavens’ and read atid interpret them to Asencth 195: Zebulonrefers to ‘the writing of my fathers’ 560.

This is a volume of translations of the more important of the non-canonical Old Testament books (e.g. Jubilees, The Odes ofSolomon, The Apocalypse of Elijah) by a team of scholars, editedwith introductions and brief bibliographies. The book is designedfor general, rather than strictly academic use: it should be foundvaluable by those who in the past have had to resort to R.H.Charles’s second volume. The Pseudepigrapha, being both more up-to-date in its approach and more handy to use. It is planned as acomplement to M.R. James’s The Apocryphal New Testament, whichover the years has proved its worth.

Dr Sparks was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of HolyScripture in the University of Oxford from 1952 to 1976.

ALSO PUBLISHED BY OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament

Edited in conjunction with many scholars by R. H. CharlesVolume 1. The ApocryphaVolume 2. The Pseudepigrapha

The Apocryphal New Testament

Being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses withother narratives and fragmentsTranslated by Montague Rhodes James

ISBN 0-19-826177-2

OXFORD

www.oup.com