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 ofOld Testament Pseudepigrapha | 2 |
chapter one Jewish Pseudepigrapha and Christian | 10 |
How Can We Tell Them Apart? | 11 |
Section3 21 Section4 Early Christianity and the Parting of the Ways | 21 |
Proselytes GodFearers | 23 |
Section 6 Jewish Christianity andJudaizing Gentile Christianity Sympathizers and SyncretisticJews | 38 |
Section7 Non or QuasiJewish Israelites | 50 |
Section 8 The Range of Possibilities | 59 |
Section4 Christian Works with Episodes That Lack Any Christian Signature Signature Features Features | 95 |
Section5 A Probable Christian Work That Lacks Any Christian Signature Features | 111 |
Section 6 Conclusions | 115 |
chapter three Jewish Pseudepigrapha | 120 |
ÿÿexcursus Observations on Philo andJosephus | 164 |
chapter four Some Pseudepigrapha ofDebatable Origin | 180 |
ÿÿexcursus Observations on the Old Testament Apocrypha | 217 |
chapter five Conclusions | 228 |
Methodological Proposals | 64 |
Section 10 Conclusions | 71 |
chapter two Did Christians Write Old Testament Pseudepigrapha That Appear to Be Jewish? | 74 |
Section2 Some Preliminary Questions Pseudepigrapha | 77 |
Section3 Christian Works with Only a Few Easily Excisable Christian | 84 |
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
Abraham accepted addition ancient antiquity Apocalypse Apocrypha argued attributed authorship Baruch Biblical Brill Cambridge century chapter Christian signature features church circumcision Commentary common composed composition concerning contains context corpus critical discussion early edition elements Enoch eschatology evidence example Ezra follow fourth fragments gentile give given God-fearer Greek Hebrew History important interest Israel Jerusalem Jesus Jewish Jews Josephus Judaism late later Latin least Leiden Leviticus lines literature Maccabees manuscripts material matters mentioned Moses noted o^erings observance ofthe Old Testament pseudepigrapha Oracles origin passage perhaps period Philo positive possible present Press Psalms reading reason recension references regard ritual rules Samaritan Scholars scriptural seems sermon Sheªeld Sibylline Solomon sources story Studies Syriac temple third tion traditions translation transmitted vols Wisdom writer written ÿ ÿ ÿ