Introduction to the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.

Daniel M. Gurtner, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of New Testament
Bethel Seminary
St Paul, Minnesota

The scope of this project is to provide a volume complimentary to David A. deSilva’s

Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002).
Like deSilva’s volume, I envision a point of entry into a complicated array of ancient texts.
Unlike his work, the proposed volume will cover a much more expansive corpus of literature. In
that respect an extensive introduction would expand on aspects of my “Non-canonical Jewish
Writings (Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha)” in The Background of the New Testament: An
Examination of the Context of Early Christianity (Ed. Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald.
Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013).

Introduction. The introduction would begin by orienting readers to the nomenclature of

“pseudepigrapha” and the nature of “falsely attributed writings” in antiquity. I will also introduce
readers to the history study of these documents and their classification as “Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha.” I will locate the present project within the scope of pseudepigrapha studies by
entering debates on provenance, determining the likely date and origin of respective writings.
This will serve to set the scope of the ensuing survey by setting limits of the scope of documents
assessed to those mostly likely Jewish—as best as that can be defined—and dating to the first
century C.E. or earlier. While many document belonging to the corpus of “Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha” fall outside these limits, the utility of this parameter is found in its location of
documents within the context of Second Temple Judaism (typically defined as ending in 70 C.E.).
One is then equipped to consider these sources within their respective contexts. The diverse array
of texts considered in this collection defies uniformity. Each document is examined on its own,
with points of correspondence with other texts addressed secondarily. Given the inaccessibility
of these texts with respect to, for example, the OT apocrypha, readers may be aided by the
inclusion of full English translations of all these documents, if available, on CD, online, or in an
accompanying reader.

Texts.
From careful assessment of provenance, we will limit the scope of our texts to those widely
considered to date within the Second Temple Period, or at least no later than Bar Kochba, and
works that are demonstrably Jewish in origin. Works included would be divided by genre as
follows:
Apocalypses: 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, Sibylline Oracles 1 – 3, 2 Baruch, Apocalypse of Abraham, 4 Ezra
Testaments: Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Testament of Job, Testament of Moses, Testament of
Solomon.
Expansions of OT and Legends: Letter of Aristeas, Joseph and Aseneth, Life of Adam and Eve, Pseudo-
Philo (Liber antiquitatum biblicarum), Lives of the Prophets.
Wisdom and Philosophical Literature: 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, Pseudo-Phocylides, Sentences of the
Syriac Menander
Prayers, Psalms, and Odes: More Psalms of David, Prayer of Manasseh, Psalms of Solomon.

For each book, we will discuss the following issues:

1
 1. Introductory matters: This entails critical issues such as original language, date,
authorship, and geographical location of origin. This is where I will provide robust
discussion of the work’s provenance. Here I will also consider the history of the
transmission of respective documents in various cultural and linguistic contexts.
2. Survey of contents: Here I envision a familiar chapter-by-chapter summary of the entire
book, tracing its main argument(s) within a framework of its general outline.
3. Setting and context: Here I have in mind an attempt to locate the work within its
historical setting. Rather than providing readers with a narrative history of Second
Temple Judaism, like deSilva, I have in mind here an attempt to find clues in the
document itself to historical events within the period that occasioned the document. This
would also be the place to consider points of correspondence with other documents from
antiquity, including other pseudepigrapha but also apocrypha, Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo
and Josephus.
4. Reception history: This is a burgeoning field in biblical studies and related disciplines.
For our purposes, I will examine the reception of the work within early Judaism and
Christianity. This would include citations, references, and canonical status.
5. Annotated bibliography: Similar to Craig Evans’ Ancient Texts for New Testament
Studies, I aim to provide for readers annotated bibliographies of the most important
primary text editions and secondary studies.

Conclusion. Some concluding remarks will facilitate the contribution of the writings under
consideration for the study of early Judaism and Christianity.

Glossary. I have in mind here a set of short definitions to bolded terms in the body of the book.

Index. Ancient sources, modern authors, subjects.

Bibliography.

Length: approximately 250 – 300 pages.

Timeline: November, 2018

UPDATED: 24 SEPTEMBER 2013