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The Testament of Job (also referred to as Divrei Lyov, [1] literally meaning "Words of Job") is a book written in the 1st century BC or the 1st century AD (thus part of a tradition often called "intertestamental literature" by Christian scholars). The earliest surviving manuscript is in Coptic, of the 5th century; other early surviving manuscripts are in Greek and Old Slavonic.
In folktale manner in the style of Jewish aggada, [2] it elaborates upon the Book of Job making Job a king in Egypt. Like many other Testament of ... works in the Old Testament apocrypha, it gives the narrative a framing-tale of Job's last illness, in which he calls together his sons and daughters to give them his final instructions and exhortations. The Testament of Job contains all the characters familiar in the Book of Job, with a more prominent role for Job's wife, given the name Sitidos, and many parallels to Christian beliefs that Christian readers find, such as intercession with God and forgiveness. In this text, Job's first wife dies and the seven sons and three daughters that he had in the epilogue of the book of Job were from his second wife, whom he married after his trials ended. According to the Testament of Job, his second wife is Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. [3] This would mean that not only was Job joined to the house of Israel, but also that Job lived between the death of Abraham and the birth of Moses.
Unlike the Biblical Book of Job, Satan's vindictiveness towards Job is described in the Testament as being due to Job destroying a non-Jewish temple. Indeed, Satan is described in a far more villainous light, rather than simply being a prosecuting counsel. Job is equally portrayed differently; Satan is shown to directly attack Job, but fails each time due to Job's willingness to be patient, unlike the Biblical narrative where Job falls victim but retains faith.
The latter section of the work, dedicated like the Biblical text to Job's comforters, deviates even further from the Biblical narrative. Rather than complaining or challenging God, Job consistently asserts his faith despite the laments of his comforters. While one of the comforters gives up, and the others try to get him medical treatment, Job insists his faith is true, and eventually the voice of God tells the comforters to stop their behaviour. When most of the comforters choose to listen to God's voice, they decide to taunt the one remaining individual who still laments Job's fate.
Unlike many Testament of .... works, there is little concentration on ethical discourses, instead the text concentrates on delivering narrative, as well as embedding a noticeably large number of hymns.
One passage concerns multicoloured cords for women to put around their breasts to enable them to sing in the language of the angels. Some say[ who? ] this is an early example of speaking in tongues.
The assertion has been made that the ecstatic speech of the Montanists (a later Christian sect), was another example of tongues. This has led several scholars to suggest that the Montanists may have edited parts of the Testament of Job, adding sections such as these.[ citation needed ]
The letter ends with a reference to life after death; "It is written that he will rise up with those whom the Lord will reawaken. To our Lord by glory. Amen." [4]
It has been suggested that the work originated from the Therapeutae. [5] [6] However, speaking in tongues has not been recorded as a practice of the Therapeutae.
At the end of the 5th century, the Testament of Job was relegated to the apocrypha by the Gelasian Decree, concerning canonical and noncanonical books. Subsequently, the Testament of Job was ignored by Roman Catholic writers until it was published in 1833 in the series edited by Angelo Mai (Scriptorum Veterum Nova Collectio Vol. vii, pp. 180–191). Mai's manuscript had a double title: Testament of Job the Blameless, the Conqueror in Many Contests, the Sainted (which seems to be the older title) and The Book of Job Called Jobab, and His Life, and the Transcript of His Testament.
A bilingual Greek and English edition, edited by Robert A. Kraft, was issued in New York by the Society of Biblical Literature in 1974 with ISBN 0-88414-044-X.
Apocrypha are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word apocryphal (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings that were to be read privately rather than in the public context of church services. Apocrypha were edifying Christian works that were not always initially included as canonical scripture.
The Septuagint, sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy, and often abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Hebrew. The full Greek title derives from the story recorded in the Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates that "the laws of the Jews" were translated into the Greek language at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus by seventy-two Hebrew translators—six from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
The Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish apocryphal text of 50 chapters, considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by Beta Israel. Jubilees is considered one of the pseudepigrapha by the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches. Apart from the Beta Israel community, the book is not considered canonical within any of the denominations of Judaism.
Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. The name of the author to whom the work is falsely attributed is often prefixed with the particle "pseudo-", such as for example "pseudo-Aristotle" or "pseudo-Dionysius": these terms refer to the anonymous authors of works falsely attributed to Aristotle and Dionysius the Areopagite, respectively.
The Testament of Adam is a Christian work of Old Testament pseudepigrapha that dates from the 2nd to 5th centuries AD in origin, perhaps composed within the Christian communities of Syria. It purports to relate the final words of Adam to his son Seth; Seth records the Testament and then buries the account in the legendary Cave of Treasures. Adam speaks of prayer and which parts of Creation praise God each hour of the day; he then prophesies both the coming of the Messiah and the Great Flood; and finally, a description of the celestial hierarchy of angels is given.
The Life of Adam and Eve, also known in its Greek version as the Apocalypse of Moses, is a Jewish apocryphal group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths. It provides more detail about the Fall of Man, including Eve's version of the story. Satan explains that he rebelled when God commanded him to bow down to Adam. After Adam dies, he and all his descendants are promised a resurrection.
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Job is the central figure of the Book of Job in the Bible. In Islam, Job is also considered a prophet.
2 Esdras, also called 4 Esdras, Latin Esdras, or Latin Ezra, is an apocalyptic book in some English versions of the Bible. Tradition ascribes it to Ezra, a scribe and priest of the fifth century BC, whom the book identifies with the sixth-century figure Shealtiel.
Modern pseudepigrapha, or modern apocrypha, refer to pseudepigrapha of recent origin – any book written in the style of the books of the Bible or other religious scriptures, and claiming to be of similar age, but written in a much later (modern) period. They differ from apocrypha, which are books from or shortly after the scriptural period but not accepted into the religion's canon. Exposing modern pseudepigrapha is part of the fields of palaeography and papyrology, amongst others.
The Psalms of Solomon is a group of eighteen psalms, religious songs or poems, written in the first or second century BC. They are classed as Biblical apocrypha or as Old Testament pseudepigrapha; they appear in various copies of the Septuagint and the Peshitta, but were not admitted into later scriptural Biblical canons or generally included in printed Bibles after the arrival of the printing press.
Joseph and Asenath is a narrative that dates from between 200 BCE and 200 CE. It concerns the Hebrew patriarch Joseph and his marriage to Asenath, expanding the fleeting mentions of their relationship in the Book of Genesis. The text was translated widely, including into Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Early Modern German, Latin, Middle English, Old French, Romanian, Serbian and Syriac.
Psalms 152 to 155 are additional Psalms found in two Syriac biblical manuscripts and several manuscripts of Elijah of Anbar's "Book of Discipline", first identified by the orientalist librarian Giuseppe Simone Assemani in 1759. Together with Psalm 151 they are also called the Five Apocryphal Psalms of David or the "Five Syriac Psalms". In addition to Psalm 151, Psalms 154-155 were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls in 11QPsa, though 151-155 all were likely composed in Hebrew.
The intertestamental period (Protestant) or deuterocanonical period is the period of time between the events of the protocanonical books and the New Testament. It is considered to cover roughly four hundred years, spanning the ministry of Malachi to the appearance of John the Baptist in the early 1st century AD. It is roughly contiguous with the Second Temple period and encompasses the age of Hellenistic Judaism.
The Jewish apocrypha are religious texts written in large part by Jews, especially during the Second Temple period, not accepted as sacred manuscripts when the Hebrew Bible was canonized. Some of these books are considered sacred in certain Christian denominations and are included in their versions of the Old Testament. The Jewish apocrypha is distinctive from the New Testament apocrypha and Christian biblical apocrypha as it is the only one of these collections which works within a Jewish theological framework.
The biblical apocrypha denotes the collection of apocryphal ancient books thought to have been written some time between 200 BC and 100 AD.
James Hamilton Charlesworth is an American academic who served as the George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature until January 17, 2019, and Director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project at the Princeton Theological Seminary. His research interests include the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, the Historical Jesus, the Gospel of John, and the Book of Revelation.
The Questions of Ezra is an ancient Christian apocryphal text, claimed to have been written by the Biblical Ezra. The earliest surviving manuscript, composed in Armenian, dates from 1208 CE. It is an example of the Christian development of topics coming out from the Jewish Apocalyptic literature. Due to the shortness of the book, it is impossible to determine the original language, the provenance or to reliably date it. This text has had no influence outside the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Angelic tongues are the languages believed by some religious traditions to be used by angels. It usually refers to sung praise in Second Temple period Jewish materials.
Michael Edward Stone is a professor emeritus of Armenian Studies and of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research deals with Armenian studies and with Jewish literature and thought of the Second Temple period. He is also a published poet.