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PSEUDEPIGRAPHA

Lit., “falsely ascribed writings.” This anachronistic term describes a variety of ancient noncanonical Jewish documents from the Hellenistic and Roman periods (ca. 250 b.c.e.–200 c.e.). The texts are not a part of the Hebrew Bible (Protestant OT) or the OT Apocrypha (roughly equivalent to the Roman Catholic Deuterocanonicals), but such a delineation does not do justice to the fluidity of this “modern” category. There is no widespread agreement as to what texts should be included in this corpus for there is no consensus on the criteria for inclusion. A maximalist view includes nearly any text associated with a character, or passage, from the OT, whether the text is considered Jewish or not, and whether the text derives from the Hellenistic and Roman periods or not (e.g., Vision of Ezra). Minimalists would tend to restrict the category to those works that are clearly Jewish, and almost certainly date from ca. 250 b.c.e.–200 c.e. Confusion arises in that a sizable majority of the texts often included in the Pseudepigrapha were clearly transmitted and altered by Christians, thus making strict categorization impossible.

Though not included in any of the major Western canons of Scripture, these texts, along with the Dead Sea Scrolls, are important for any attempt to understand the religious, political, and social world at the turn of the eras. They represent the multifaceted Jewish responses to the encroachment of Hellenism, the establishment of Maccabean power, Roman conquest and hegemony, the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, and the rise of Christianity. Christian preservation and adaptation of nearly all of these texts also enhance our knowledge of Jewish-Christian relations in the first several centuries c.e. In addition, many theological notions present in embryonic form in the OT are explored and expressed with increased sophistication within the Pseudepigrapha, making this literature an invaluable resource for the study of both early rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. For example, the NT book of Jude includes an extracanonical prophecy attributed to the antediluvian figure Enoch found only in the noncanonical 1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch. Judging from the context, the author of Jude clearly approved of this writing. He may even have considered this pseudepigraph “canonical.” Jude’s use of 1 Enoch helps us to understand the processes of canonization of both the OT and the NT.

Many, but not all, of these texts are associated with a figure or character from the Hebrew Scriptures such as Enoch. He was a prime candidate for “authorship” because of the OT’s description of his fate (Gen. 5:24). The ancient authors expanded on this passage and built a significant interpretative framework in which Enoch becomes a scribe in heaven, recording both the secrets of creation and of the eschaton, and then revealing these secrets to a select group. The characters Ezra and Baruch are also employed because of their historical connection with the destruction of the first Jewish temple by the Babylonians. Later authors, attempting to come to grips with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans in 70 c.e., used Ezra and Baruch to draw parallels between the two disastrous events. However, instead of an historical restoration as in the Persian period when the Jews were allowed to return from exile and rebuild the temple, the authors of the later pseudepigrapha look forward to a final, eschatological restoration. As one might surmise there are documents associated with many other great heroes of Israel, including Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, and Jeremiah.

Other texts attempt to fill in gaps in specific OT stories, or to smooth over theological problems perceived to be present in such stories. One of the best examples of this type of pseudepigrapha involves the marriage of Joseph and Asenath. In the OT, Asenath is described as the daughter of an Egyptian priest (Gen. 41:45). The text does not address the theologically thorny issue of a marriage between a foreign woman and a Jewish man, a union heavily discouraged in other parts of the OT (cf. 1 Kgs. 11:1-4; Neh. 13:26-27), but a later author composed a full narrative that details Asenath’s conversion to Judaism, followed by her marriage to Joseph. The expansion of the biblical story eliminates the problem of Joseph having entered into a potentially corrupting marriage to a foreigner. Other such narrative expansions, or rewritings, include the story of Adam’s ritual atonement for eating the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden (he stands up to his neck in the Jordan River for 40 days; Life of Adam and Eve), a narrative that relates Abraham’s discovery of the worthlessness of his father’s idols (Apocalypse of Abraham), deathbed testamentary speeches by Jacob/Israel to each of his 12 sons (Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs), tales about the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses (Jannes and Jambres; cf. 2 Tim. 3:8-9), and a full and graphic description of the martyrdom of seven sons and their mother that is presented in abbreviated form in 2 Macc. 6–7 (4 Maccabees). Each “new” story tends to address issues of concern for the actual author’s contemporaries, concerns directly related to the text being expounded and/or to the unstable religious and social situation of the period.

In addition to expansions or retellings of limited portions of the OT, some texts offer nearly complete reworkings of whole sections of the biblical text. Jubilees recounts the history of Israel from creation to the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. This pseudepigraphical text recasts, supplements, and sometimes eliminates the familiar stories of the OT so that its narrative supports the reckoning of dates according to the solar calendar (as opposed to the lunar/solar calendar which predominated within Judaism). Pseudo-Philo’s Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum (Biblical Antiquities) describes the period from Adam to David, interweaving adaptations of the biblical text with legendary elements in order to emphasize the Law and its eternal validity. It is by the Law that God will judge the whole world at the eschaton. The righteous will be granted peace and happiness in the age to come while the wicked will be destroyed. Beyond any attempt to understand the particular theological and religious emphases of the individual pseudepigraphical works described here, it is also important to note the freedom with which the Hellenistic and Roman period authors treated the texts of the OT. The biblical texts were not considered untouchable or final, but instead served as starting points for these new narratives.

Still other biblical texts served as models or templates for several of the Pseudepigrapha. This is most evident in the hymns, prayers, and wisdom texts generally included in the corpus. The 18 Psalms of Solomon, which clearly imitate the biblical psalms, describe the lawlessness of those who have established a non-Davidic monarchy and who have profaned the temple, but also relate the anticipation of the righteous as they await the appearance of the Messiah. The Prayer of Manasseh (sometimes classified among the OT Apocrypha), based on 2 Chr. 33, , provides the content of the wicked king’s penitential prayer in which he details his own abominable actions and prays for divine forgiveness. Several apocryphal psalms, some of which are found in a Qumran scroll interspersed with biblical psalms (11QPs), highlight the fluidity and malleability of the biblical canon in this period. Several wisdom texts included among the Pseudepigrapha (e.g., Pseudo-Phokylides, Syriac Menander, Aristobulus) clearly incorporate Hellenistic traditions, often concealing by means of style and substance any distinctive Jewish elements. In such cases the authors may very well have been trying to demonstrate the compatibility of Jewish and Greco-Roman wisdom traditions.

At least a few other pseudepigrapha consciously imitate Greek epic poetry. The Sibylline Oracles, e.g., are claimed to be the ecstatic prophecies of a legendary character from the distant past. The Jewish and Christian oracles focus on both ritual and ethical violations that have led, or will lead, to punishment by God, although they also contain some hope for future restoration. Several other fragmentary poetic texts, preserved only in later Christian works, include a history of Jerusalem (Philo the Epic Poet), an extended reworking of the story of the rape of Dinah in Gen. 34 (Theodotus), a dramatic rendering of the Exodus story (Ezekiel the Tragedian), a reconstruction of the life of Job based on the Greek version of the canonical story (Aristeas the Exegete), to name just a few.

As is evident from this survey, the Pseudepigrapha covers a wide range of theologies within Hellenistic and Roman period Judaism. This diversity incorporates attempts to contemporize traditional biblical stories as well as efforts to reconcile Hellenistic and Jewish philosophical notions. However, the most persistent theme within the corpus is the eschatological hope centering on the renewal of all creation by God or God’s Messiah. In nearly every genre represented in the Pseudepigrapha, the hopelessness of the present is balanced by the expectation that God will judge the world, punishing the wicked and those who oppress Israel, and will reward the righteous for their steadfast faithfulness to the commandments.

Bibliography. J. H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2 vols. (Garden City, 1983-85); M. de Jonge, Outside the Old Testament (Cambridge, 1995); G. W. E. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah (Philadelphia, 1981); H. F. D. Sparks, ed., The Apocryphal Old Testament (Oxford, 1984); M. E. Stone, ed., Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period. CRINT 2/2 (Philadelphia, 1984).

James R. Mueller

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PSEUDEPIGRAPHA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)