Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament As Part of Christian Literature ― The Case of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and the Greek Life of Adam and Eve

A half-century ago, De Jonge (New Testament and early Christian literature, Leiden U.) described The Testaments , as a Christian document incorporating Jewish traditions, rather than as a Christian version of a Jewish document the original of which could possibly be reconstructed with much effort and creativity. He has since discovered that they are but one of many such documents. Having looked at many examples in particular, he here calls for a paradigm shift in psuedepigrapha research. He argues that the narratives have to be read primarily as Christian stories centering on figures in the specifically Christian Old Testament as opposed to the Hebrew or Jewish Bible and speak to Christian rather than Jewish concerns. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Marinus De Jonge is Emeritus Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature of Leiden University.