The Provenance Of The Pseudepigrapha

This book analyzes a substantial corpus of Old Testament pseudepigrapha, proposing a methodology for understanding them first in the social context of their earliest (Christian) manuscripts and inferring still earlier Jewish or other origins only as required by positive evidence.

This book analyzes a substantial corpus of Old Testament pseudepigrapha, proposing a methodology for understanding them first in the social context of their earliest (Christian) manuscripts and inferring still earlier Jewish or other origins only as required by positive evidence.

In the Seminar "The Pseudepigrapha and Christian Origins" of the "Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas", chaired from 2000 to 2006 by Professors James H. Charlesworth (Princeton) and Gerbern S. Oegema (McGill), the relation between the Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament has been discussed systematically and intensively in a way never seen before. The Pseudepigrapha investigated included the Old Testament ones and those found in the Qumran as well as the Pseudepigrapha of the New Testament and the ones used in the Early Church. The seminar and its participants, who were all internally renowned experts from around the world, have focused on the use, adaptation, reinterpretation and further development of non-canonical traditions (except for Philo, Josephus, the Essene and early Rabbinic writings) in the canonical writings of Early Christianity. The seminar has met in total five times in various locations, while systematically being arranged around the following topics: The Pseudepigrapha and the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John, the Epistles of Paul, the Other New Testament Writings, and the Revelation of John.

This work features original contributions from world class scholars from the Studiorum Novi Testament Societas.

The primary witnesses of the writings called Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament are, in great majority, of Christian provenance. It has been customary for scholars to look for an originally Jewish form of the documents, reflecting Jewish life and thought in the period between 200 BCE and 100 CE. In this volume, M. de Jonge argues that these writings should, first of all, be studied as documents relevant for Christians. This volume incorporates essays written earlier by the author as well as a number of new chapters. The first part deals with general questions concerning the transmission of the pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament whereas the second part has a particular focus on the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and the Greek Life of Adam and Eve.

A history of research that changed scholarly perceptions of early Judaism This collection of essays by some of the most important scholars in the fields of early Judaism and Christianity celebrates fifty years of the study of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha at the Society of Biblical Literature and the pioneering scholars who introduced the Pseudepigrapha to the Society. Since its early days as a breakfast meeting in 1969, the Pseudepigrapha Section has provided a forum for a rigorous discussion of these understudied texts and their relevance for Judaism and Christianity. Contributors recount the history of the section's beginnings, critically examine the vivid debates that shaped the discipline, and challenge future generations to expand the field in new interdisciplinary directions. Features: Reflections from early members of the Pseudepigrapha Group Essays that examine a methodological shift from capturing and preserving traditions to exploring the intellectual and social world of Jewish antiquity Evaluations of past interactions with adjacent fields and the larger academic world

This work stands among the most important publications in biblical studies over the past twenty-five years. Richard Bauckham, James Davila, and Alexander Panayotov’s new two-volume collection of Old Testament pseudepigrapha contains many previously unpublished and newly translated texts, complementing James Charlesworth’s Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and other earlier collections. Including virtually all known surviving pseudepigrapha written before the rise of Islam, this volume, among other things, presents the sacred legends and spiritual reflections of numerous long-dead authors whose works were lost, neglected, or suppressed for many centuries. Excellent English translations along with authoritative yet accessible introductions bring those ancient documents to life for readers today.