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TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 668 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS . The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (see APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE: II. Old Testament), are an important constituent of the apocryphal scriptures connected with the Old Testament, comprising the dying commands of the twelve sons of See also:

Jacob. They " were written in See also:Hebrew in the later years of See also:John See also:Hyrcanus—in all See also:probability after his final victory over the Syrian See also:power and before his See also:breach with the See also:Pharisees—in other words, between 109 and 106. Their author was a Pharisee who combined See also:loyalty to the best traditions of his party with the most unbounded admiration of Hyrcanus. The Maccabean See also:dynasty had now reached the See also:zenith of its prosperity, and in its reigning representative, who alone in the See also:history of Judaism possessed the triple offices of See also:prophet, See also:priest and See also:king, the Pharisaic party had come to recognize the actual See also:Messiah. To this John Hyrcanus, in whom had culminated all the glories and gifts of this See also:great See also:family, ourauthor addresses two Messianic See also:hymns. The writer already See also:sees the Messianic See also:kingdom established, under the sway of which the Gentiles will in due course be saved, Beliar overthrown, See also:sin disappear from the See also:earth, and the righteous dead rise to See also:share in the blessedness of the living. Alas for the vanity of See also:man's See also:judgment and man's prescience ! Our See also:book had hardly been published, when Hyrcanus, owing to an injury done him by the Pharisees, See also:broke with their party, and, joining the See also:Sadducees, died a See also:year or two later. His successors proved themselves the basest of men. Their See also:infamy is painted in lurid See also:colours by contemporary writers of the 1st See also:century B.C., and by a See also:strange See also:irony the See also:work, or, rather, fragments of the work of one of these assailants of the later See also:Maccabees, has achieved See also:immortality by finding a covert in the See also:chief manifesto that was issued on behalf of one of the earlier members of that dynasty.

This second writer singles out three of the Maccabean priest See also:

kings for attack, the first of whom he charges with every See also:abomination; the See also:people itself, he declares, is apostate, and chastisement will follow speedily—the See also:temple will be laid See also:waste, the nation carried afresh into captivity, whence, on their repentance, See also:God will restore them again to their own See also:land, where they shall enjoy the blessedness of God's presence and be ruled by a Messiah sprung from See also:Judah. When we contrast the expectations of the See also:original writer and the actual events that followed, it would seem that the chief value of his work would consist in the See also:light that it throws on this obscure and temporary revolution in the Messianic expectations of Judaism towards the See also:close of the 2nd century. But this is not so. The See also:main, the overwhelming value of the book lies not in this See also:province, but in its ethical teaching, which has achieved a real immortality by influencing the thought and diction of the writers of the New Testament, and even those of our See also:Lord. This ethical teaching, which is indefinitely higher and purer than that of the Old Testament, is yet its true spiritual See also:child,- and See also:helps to See also:bridge the chasm that divides the See also:ethics of the Old and New Testaments." 1 In the See also:early decades of the See also:Christian era the See also:text was current in two forms, which See also:ate denoted by H" and HP in this See also:article and in the edition of the text published by the See also:Oxford University See also:Press. " The former of these was translated not later than A.D. 50 into See also:Greek, and this See also:translation was used by the See also:scholar who rendered the second Hebrew recension into Greek. The first Greek translation was used by our Lord, by St See also:Paul, and other New Testament writers. In the second and following centuries it was interpolated by Christian See also:scribes, and finally condemned undiscriminatingly along with other apocryphs. For several centuries it was wholly lost sight of, and it was not till the 13th century that it was rediscovered through the agency of See also:Robert See also:Grosseteste, See also:bishop of See also:Lincoln, who translated it into Latin, under the misconception that it was a, genuine work of the twelve sons of Jacob, and that the Christian interpolations were a genuine product of Jewish prophecy. The See also:advent of the See also:Reformation brought in See also:critical methods, and the book was unjustly disparaged as a See also:mere Christian See also:forgery for nearly four centuries. The See also:time has at last arrived for this book, so See also:noble in its ethical See also:side, to come into its own." 2 Versions and See also:MSS.—The two recensions' of the Hebrew original, to which we have already referred, were translated into Greek, the former being attested by the Greek MSS. chi and the latter by a b d e f g, which See also:groups for the See also:sake of brevity- we designate as a and l3.

The Greek version was in turn rendered into Armenian in the 5th or 6th century. The rendering was made, except in a limited number of passages, from /3. Of this version there are at least eleven MSS. known. Here again two types of text, Aaand AR, are represented, but for the most See also:

part the See also:differences originated within the Armenian. Finally about the 13th century the See also:Slavonic Version was made from the /3 See also:form of the Greek Version. Here 1 From § I of the Introduction to R. H. See also:Charles's The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, translated from the Editor's Greek Text (A. & C. See also:Black, 1908). 2 From § 1 of the Introduction to R. H.

Charles's The Greek Versions of the Testament of the XII. Patriarchs (Oxford University Press, 1908). 3 Some of the See also:

evidence for this conclusion will be given later. again we have two recensions S' and Si, but the one may be on the whole reasonably described as an See also:abbreviation of the other. The relations of the above authorities are too complicated to be treated of here in detail, but they are represented on the subjoined See also:diagram. Original See also:Language.—Apart from See also:Grabe, till within the last fifteen years no notable scholar has advogated a Hebrew original. See also:Nitzsch, See also:Dillmann, See also:Ritschl and Sinker are convinced that the book was not a translation but was written originally in Greek. To Kohler and Gaster belongs the See also:honour of re-opening the question of the Hebrew original of the Testaments. Only the latter, however, offered any linguistic evidence. In his article' on the question he sought to establish a Hebrew original of all the Testaments and to prove that the Hebrew text of See also:Naphtali which he had discovered was the original testament, and that the Greek Naphtali was a See also:late and corrupt See also:reproduction of it with extensive additions from other See also:sources. But he failed in establishing either thesis. The subject was next taken in See also:hand by R.

H. Charles, who in a preliminary form in the See also:

Encyclopaedia Biblica (i. 241, 1899), and later, with considerable fullness, in his edition of the Greek text of the Testaments (1908), brought to light a number of facts that put the question of a Hebrew original beyond the range of doubt. We will now See also:place a few of the grounds before the reader. (a) Hebrew constructions and expressions are to be found in every See also:page. Though the vocabulary is Greek the See also:idiom is frequently Hebraic and See also:foreign to the See also:genius of the Greek language. Thus in T. Reub. vi. 11, iv ,bra i See also:Eli aro=nna le. In T. See also:Jud. xx. 4, iv oriO s brri:av abrov—an utterly unmeaning phrase—becomes intelligible on retroversion—'asv a5a, " on his very See also:heart." In T.

Benj. x. 11 KarolhiiiEre ir' iXrlli iv iµoi =" ye shall dwell securely with me "; for here ir' i1`r(45l, as several times in the See also:

Septuagint, is a wrong rendering of nat.. (b) Dittographic renderings in the Greek of the same Hebrew expression; also dittographic expressions in the Greek implying See also:ditto-graphs in the Hebrew. See Introduction to R. H. Charles s Text, § i1. (c) Paronomasiae which are lost in the Greek can be restored by retranslation into Hebrew. There are over adozen of such instances. (d) Many passages which are obscure or wholly unintelligible in the Greek become clear on retranslation into Hebrew. Of the large See also:body of such passages (see op. cit. 12) we will give only one. In T.

Jud. ix. 3, we have the following impossible See also:

sentence, where See also:Esau is referred to: f1pOn vEKpOS iv Opel Eceip, ,cal ropeubµevos iv 'Avovipaµ arieaysv. Here a fragment of the Hebrew original, which has happily been preserved, reads n'sru, " wounded," where the Greek has vEKpOS = racial, which is manifestly a corruption of the former. In all the above cases there is no divergence among the MSS. and Versions. Yet the restorations are so many and so obvious that our contention might be taken for proven. But there is stronger evidence still, and this is to be found where the MSS. and Versions attest different texts, a See also:standing generally in opposition to 0, A (= Armenian Version), and S (=Slavonic Version). By means of this evidence we are able to prove not only that our book is from a Hebrew original, but that also the Hebrew existed in two recensions, H. and HP, which are the parents respectively of a and l? (see diagram above). ' " The Hebrew Text of one of the Testaments of the XII. Patriarchs " (Proceedings of the See also:Soc. of Bibl. See also:Archaeology, See also:December 1893, See also:January 1894). a and /3 are not, strictly speaking, Greek recensions; for their chief See also:variations go back to diverse forms of text already existing in the Hebrew H. and HP.

For the considerable body of evidence supporting this conclusion see the Introduction to R. H. Charles's Text, § 12. A couple of the many passages in which the variations in a and $ are due to variations in Ha and HP will now be given. In T. Benj. xii. 2 a reads ixol oOi "urvy xakp and # A S' cis-See also:

Wave . iv -yiipel saXyi. Here isolµitOn and airi8av€ may be taken as renderings of the same Hebrew word, but See also:Drag Ka i =n»n See also:nave, an undoubted corruption of none See also:eye' =" at a See also:good old See also:age." The same corruption invaded both Hebrew recensions in T. Zeb. x. 6; T. See also:Dan. vii. I ; T.

Ash. viii. I ; T. Jos. xx. 4, whereas in T. Iss. vii. 9 both recensions were right. In the late Hebrew text of Naph. i. i the correct Hebrew phrase is found. Again in T. Ash. vi. 6 a reads EioePip€l abrov ds 'cniiv aicvlov and p A SI rapaµuBEiral abrov iv Ca,ti. Here rapaµvOeiral= Ono, a corruption of env=Eto dpss. It is the soul of the righteous that is here spoken of, and a rightly says that the See also:

angel of See also:peace.

" leads him into eternal See also:

life." The rightness of Ha is confirmed by T. Benj. vi. 1, which reads o yap hyyeXos riffs Eipi vns hSnye2 rijv ,ki ,)v abrov. H. and HP, however, differed mainly from each other in words and phrases, as we infer from a and $. In some passages, however, the divergence is on a larger See also:scale. as in T. Lev. ii. 7–iii. Not-withstanding these divergences, however, the great similarities between a and 13 oblige us to assume that the translator of HP used the Greek version of Ha, or See also:vice versa. That the former is the more likely we shall see presently. To the above we have a good parallel in the Book of See also:Daniel; for the variations of its two chief Greek Versions—that of the Septuagint and of Theodotion—go back to variations in the Semitic. Date of the Original Hebrew.—" The date of the groundwork of the Testaments is not difficult to determine. Thus See also:Reuben (T.

Reub. vi. io–ii) admonishes his sons: Hpos See also:

rap Add iyytgare ~v rarelvWast KapStaas b/llav Iva bii See also:cOE EOAoytav iK TOU OTOµaTOS ahroi) . &a iv arcs- it,sMraro Kbplos ,p +ao4X€hav ivwrlov ravrhi roh ?aou. Here a high-priest who is also a king is referred to. Such a See also:combination of offices naturally makes us think of the Maccabean priest-kings of the 2nd century B.C. The possibility of doubting this reference is excluded by the words that immediately follow:—Kai rpooKbvnoare rb oripµa alnob 6T I. brip/~ h L41v aroeavvsiras iv roXiiiols Oparols sat aoparois' Kai iv See also:bale iaras rav,Xthi aicalws. A similar statement is made in T. Sim. v. 5. Thus the high-priest is not only a high-priest and See also:civil ruler, but also a See also:warrior. That the Maccabean high-priests are here designed cannot be reasonably doubted. But the See also:identification becomes undeniable, as further characteristics of this priestly dynasty come to light. It was to be a new priesthood and to be called by a new name (T.

Lev. viii. 14 ieparstav viaP . . ovoµa Kacvdv). Now the Maccabean high-priests were the first to assume the See also:

title ' priests of the Most High God '—the title anciently See also:borne by See also:Melchizedek. But the praises accorded in this book could not apply to all the Maccabean priest-kings of the nation. As it was written by a Pharisee, it could not have been composed after the breach arose between John Hyrcanus and the Pharisees towards the close of the 2nd century B.C. Thus the See also:period of See also:composition lies between 153, when See also:Jonathan the Maccabee assumed the high-priesthood, and the year of the breach of John Hyrcanus with the Pharisees; some time, therefore, between 153 and 107. But the date can be determined between closer limits. To one member of the Maccabean dynasty are the prophetic gifts assigned in our text (T. Lev. viii. 15) in See also:conjunction with the functions of kingship and priesthood. Now, in all Jewish history the triple offices were ascribed to only one individual, John Hyrcanus.

Hence we conclude that the Testaments were written between 137 and 107." But the limits of the date of composition be fixed still more definitely. For the text refers most probably to the destruction of See also:

Samaria, T. Lev. vi. 11. In that See also:case the Testaments were written between 109 and 107 B.C. Date of the Greek Version.—The a Version seems to have been translated first, indeed before A.D. 50; for it is twice quoted by St Paul. The first passage is in Rom. i. 32 See also:ea µdvov abra 7rocoPaly &XXa Kal ovvEUSOKOVQIV roil rpaoaovOly which is taken almost, verbally from T. Ash. vi. 2, 'arc of Slrpbamrol Seoocis txo).aaovTat (rd. aµapravovoc) Orl sal rpa000vol TO Kaxdy Kal uvvEVBoxouoc Tot} rpa000vow. Since bg, A omit the words Srs .

. rpbaoovety, we conclude that, though it is now found in a, adef, Si, it was originally wanting in 6' and probably also in Hp. For as we have already seen (see diagram above) aef were early influenced by a, and d is conflate in See also:

character. Hence in reality the passage was pre-served only by a originally. The second passage is the .well-known one in 1 Thess. ii. 16, Owe, Si ir' abrobs , Opyi (+See also:Toll Osoi DEFG it, Vulg. go) dS Tiros, which is borrowed from T. Lev. vi. i1, i4Oaesv Si (+iir f3) abrobs 6pyit TOU OEOV EIS TiXOS. Here 13 reads Kvplov for rot Beou. The irZ is omitted by a through a See also:simple scribal See also:error. On the ground of the above quotations we assume, therefore, that a was used by St Paul, and that Ha was therefore translated into Greek at latest before A.D. 50. H(=Hebrew Archetype) H'(,st.Hebrew Recension) HR(and.Hebrew Recension] p When Hs was translated we have no definite means of deter-See also:mining. It was in all likelihood done subsequently to He.

The translator of Hs appears to have had the translation of H. before him, and to have followed it generally unless where there were See also:

manifest divergencies between He and IlY4.' Jewish Additions to the Text.—(a) A large body of these additions can be classed under one See also:head as written with a well-defined See also:object and at a definite period. This period was about 70-40 B.C., and the object of the additions was the overthrow of the Maccabean high-priesthood, which in the 1st century B.C. had become guilty of every lewdness. T. Lev. x., xiv.-xvi.; T. Jud. xvii. 2-xviii. I (?), xxi. 6-See also:xxiii., See also:xxiv. 4-6; T. Zeb. ix.; T. Dan. v. 6-7, vii.

3 (?) ; T. Naph. iv.; T. See also:

Gad. viii. 2; T. Ash. vii. 4-7. These additions are identical in object and closely related in character and diction with the See also:Psalms of See also:Solomon. (b) Other additions are of various See also:dates and cannot be more than mentioned here, i.e., T. Reub. ii. 3-iii. 2; T. Lev. xvii.

1-9; T. Zeb. vi. 4-6, vii.-viii. 3; T. Jos. x. 5-xviii. Christian Additions to the Text.—These additions are to be found in most of the Testaments and were made at different periods. The existence of these Christian elements in the text misled nearly every scholar for the past four See also:

hundred years into believing that the book itself was a Christian apocryph. To Grabe, Schnapp and See also:Conybeare belongs the See also:credit of showing that the Christian elements were interpolations—to Conybeare especially of the three, since, whereas the two others showed the high probability of their contention on See also:internal evidence, Conybeare proved by means of the Armenian Version that when it was made many of the interpolations had not yet found their way into the text. For a full treatment of these passages see R. H. Charles's Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (1908), Introd.

§ 20. See also:

Influence on the New Testament.—We have already shown that St Paul twice quoted from the Greek text of the Testaments. These two passages in Rom. and 1 Thess. give but the very faintest See also:idea of the degree of his indebtedness in thought and phraseology in several of his Epistles, especially that to the See also:Romans. But of still greater See also:interest are the passages in the Gospels which show the influence of the Testaments, and these belong mainly to the sayings and discourses of our Lord. We may mention two of the most notable of these. Thus Matt. xviii. 15, 35, which See also:deal with the great question of forgiveness, are clearly dependent on our text. Matt. xviii. 15. 'Eav 6i aµap- T. Gad. vi. 3.

'Eav Tts auap- Titop O a'6eX06s aOV KaTa eoV, Tieet els oc elai a&See also:

rc, is eipitvq uraye aeytov atrrbv p.erafb eoi . . Kai iav . . . Jseravoi op Kai abro p6vov. &See also:fries af/T41. 35. 'Eav un &See also:Aire Exaeros r(J vi. 6. 'Haixaoov o) iXiyEvs. abea¢4i airroiv aab Twv Kapbtwv . . . 416.4e v.

7. AO is abTW See also:

cloth Kap6las. Next, the See also:duty of loving God and our See also:neighbour is already found in T. Dan. v. 3, which is the See also:oldest See also:literary authority which enjoins these two great commands. The form is infinitely finer in Matt. xxii. 37-39, but the See also:matter is already in the Test. Dan. See Introd. § 26 to R. H.

Charles's Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.

End of Article: TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS

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