The Provenance of the Pseudepigrapha: Jewish, Christian, Or Other?The Old Testament pseudepigrapha are ancient quasi-biblical texts inspired by the Hebrew Bible. Although frequently mined as Jewish background by New Testament specialists, they were transmitted almost entirely in Christian circles, often only in translation. Christian authors wrote some pseudepigrapha and did not necessarily always mention explicitly Christian topics. This book challenges the assumption that pseudepigrapha are Jewish compositions until proven otherwise. It proposes a methodology for understanding them first in the social context of their earliest manuscripts, inferring still earlier origins only as required by positive evidence while considering the full range of possible authors (Jews, Christians, "God-fearers," Samaritans, etc.). It analyzes a substantial corpus of pseudepigrapha, distinguishing those that are probably Jewish from those of more doubtful origins. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION Establishing the Origins of Old Testament | 2 |
Pseudepigrapha | 67 |
How Can We Tell Them Apart? | 68 |
CHAPTER TWO Did Christians Write Old Testament Pseudepigrapha That Appear to Be Jewish? | 74 |
CHAPTER THREE Jewish Pseudepigrapha | 120 |
EXCURSUS Observations on Philo and Josephus | 164 |
CHAPTER FOUR Some Pseudepigrapha of Debatable Origin | 180 |
EXCURSUS Observations on the Old Testament Apocrypha | 217 |
CHAPTER FIVE Conclusions | 228 |
LIST OF WORKS CITED | 236 |
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The Provenance of the Pseudepigrapha: Jewish, Christian, or Other? James Davila Limited preview - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
Apocalypse Aramaic argued Aristeas Baruch boundary-maintaining Brill Cambridge century CHAPTER I Jewish Christian Apocrypha Christian author Christian composition Christian signature features Christians write Old circumcision Commentary corpus cult Dead Sea Scrolls Early Christian Enoch Ephrem eschatological evidence Ezra fragments Galileans Galilee gentile Christians God-fearer Hebrew Heptateuchos Ibid idem Israel Jerusalem Jesus Jewish composition Jewish origin Jewish pseudepigrapha Jewish signature features Jewish-Christian Jews Jews and Christians Joseph and Aseneth Josephus Judaism judaizing late antiquity Latin Leiden Leviticus Maccabees manuscripts Messiah Mohr Siebeck Old Testament pseudepigrapha passage Philo of Alexandria polytheistic Psalms of Solomon pseudepigrapha & Christian Qumran rabbinic Rechabites references ritual Samaritan Scholars Press second temple sermon Sibylline Oracles Similitudes Story of Zosimus Studies surviving SVTP Syriac Testament of Abraham Testament of Job Testament of Moses tion Torah traditions translation University Press vols Wisdom of Solomon write Old Testament writer Zosimus