The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is a constituent of the apocryphal scriptures connected with the Bible. It is believed to be a pseudepigraphical work of the dying commands of the twelve sons of Jacob. It is part of the Oskan Armenian Orthodox Bible printed in 1666. Fragments of similar writings were found at Qumran, but opinions are divided as to whether these are the same texts. It is generally considered apocalyptic literature.
The Testaments were written in Hebrew or Greek, and reached their final form in the 2nd century CE. In the 13th century they were introduced into the Western world through the agency of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, whose Latin translation of the work immediately became popular. He believed that it was a genuine work of the twelve sons of Jacob, and that the Christian interpolations were a genuine product of Jewish prophecy; he accused Jews of concealing the Testaments "on account of the prophecies of the Saviour contained in them."
With the critical methods of the 16th century, Grosseteste's view of the Testaments was rejected, and the book was disparaged as a mere Christian forgery for nearly four centuries. Currently, scholarly opinions are still divided as to whether it is an originally Jewish document that has been retouched by Christians, or a Christian document written originally in Greek but based on some earlier Semitic-language material.J. Davila. "A Difficult Case: The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs ." Summary of lecture delivered on Feb. 20, 1997. Accessed Mar. 10, 2008. Scholarship tends to focus on this book as a Christian work, whether or not it has a Jewish predecessor (Vorlage).
Manuscripts The Testaments are known from fifteen Greek manuscripts; the oldest preserved complete version dates from the tenth century. There is also a Slavonic version, and a Serbian version close it. An Armenian version—which contains fewer Christian interpolations than the Greek version—is attested by about fifty manuscripts. An editio minor (a preliminary edition) of the Armenian version of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs was published in 2012.An editio minor of the Armenian version of the ‘Testaments of the twelve patriarchs’. By Michael E. Stone (with Vered Hillel). (Hebrew University Armenian Studies, 11.) Pp. viii+446. Leuven: Peeters, 2012. 978 90 429 2224 2. archive.org The early European translations are based on a Latin version made from the Greek text.Daniel Hamidovic, « Testaments des Douze Patriarches », dans Thomas Römer, Jean-Daniel Macchi et Christophe Nihan (éds.), Introduction à l'Ancien Testament, Labor et Fides, 2009, p. 860.
Aramaic fragments of documents relating to Levi (1Q21, 4Q213, 4Q213a, 4Q213b, 4Q214, 4Q214a, 4Q214b, 4Q215, 4Q540, 4Q541); Judah (3Q7, 4Q538); and Joseph (4Q539) have been found at Qumran among the Dead Sea Scrolls. An ancient Hebrew fragment of the Testament of Naphtali was also discovered at Qumran at Cave 4 (4Q215).The Testament of Naphtali. At jewishvirtuallibrary.org
Fragments of Levi, similar to 1Q21 and dated to the ninth century, were discovered in the genizah of a Karaite synagogue in Cairo.Daniel Hamidovic, « Testaments des Douze Patriarches », dans Thomas Römer, Jean-Daniel Macchi et Christophe Nihan (éds.), Introduction à l'Ancien Testament, Labor et Fides, 2009, p. 861. There is also a later medieval Hebrew version of the testament of Naphtali. Analysis of the discrepancies between the different fragments and copies reveals a process of synthesis and interpolation within the text.
The Testaments are not often cited in Patristic literature.
Historical references There is little external testimony regarding the Testaments: Tertullian appears to quote a passage of the Greek text of the Testament of Benjamin in his polemic against docetic theologian Marcion of Sinope (AD 85 - 160),Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem, Book 1 but this is not certain. Aside from that, a mention of them by name appears in a work of Origen (AD 185 - 253),Origen, Homilia in Josuam, Book 15, Chapter 6 while there are doubtful references by Jerome (AD ~345 - 420) and Procopius (AD 500 - 565), as well as specific mentions in the Stichometria of Nicephorus of Constantinople (758 - 828) and in the Synopsis Sacrae Scripturae (long attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria but now considered to be anonymous). After that, no reference to the Testaments exists until they were rediscovered by Bishop Grosseteste.
Ethics Testaments are regarded as exhortatory writings; ethics therefore are fundamental to the text. The Testaments have many different ethical motifs, the foremost of which is adhering to God's commandments. Each testament discusses a certain vice or virtue.
Another theme, extensively discussed by Hollander,Hollander, H.W. Joseph as an Ethical Model in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (Leiden, 1981). is the role that Joseph plays in the ethics. He is often the example of an ethical man, and the deeds of the patriarchs are often weighed against those of Joseph.
As argued by Robert Henry Charles, who studied and translated the Testaments in the beginning of the 20th century,
the main, the overwhelming value of the book lies ... in its ethical teaching, which has achieved a real immortality by influencing the thoughts and diction of the writers of the New Testament, and even those of our Lord.
He writes that the Testaments help to "bridge the chasm that divides the ethics of the Old and New Testaments." To a modern reader, the main value of the Testaments, is not in the variations on biblical text, but in their ethical teachings, as amplified by the following citations:
Love the Lord through all your life, and one another with a true heart Love yea one another from the heart; and if a man sin against thee, speak peacefully to him, and in thy soul hold not guile; and if he repent and confess, forgive him. But if he deny it, do not get into a passion with him, lest catching the poison from thee he take to swearing, and so then sin doubly … Love the Lord and your neighbor. Anger is blindness, and does not suffer to see any man with truth Hatred, therefore is evil; etc. (from The Apocrypha in English. Edited by Rev. R. H. Charles.)
Summary
The work is divided into twelve books, each purporting to be the last exhortations of one of the twelve titular patriarchs. In each, the patriarch first narrates his own life, focusing on his strengths, virtues, or his sins, using biographical material from both the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition. Next, he exhorts his listeners to emulate the one and to avoid the other. Most of the books conclude with prophetic visions.
Reuben The Testament of Reuben is predominantly concerned with admonishing lust, and the sinfulness of Reuben in his having had sexual intercourse with Bilhah, a concubine of his father. It is likely that the author wished to cover the topic of fornication anyway, and assigned it for Reuben to discuss due to Reuben's relationship with Bilhah being recounted in the canonical Bible.
The Testament adds that Reuben spies Bilhah as she bathes in secret; and that when she later becomes drunk, Reuben rapes her. That trope derives from a reading of Genesis 49:4, "wanton as water", as "wanton in water", taken from the Book of Jubilees.James Kugel, The Ladder of Jacob (Princeton University Press: 2006), page 110 This theme is also in 2 Samuel 11:2's account of David and Bathsheba.
The Testament portrays women as the cause of the downfall of the Watchers, and of man in general (excepting Bilhah, in accordance with Jubilees). Joseph is on the other hand portrayed as the ideal, for his resistance against Potiphar's wife.
Simeon The Testament of Simeon is primarily a diatribe against envy. In the Genesis narrative, Simeon is portrayed as having been bound in chains by Joseph, and the author of the Testament argues that Simeon had wanted to kill Joseph due to jealousy, allowing the Testament to continue with a discourse about envy. The narrative of the Testament explains that it was Judah who had sold Joseph into slavery, and goes on to portray Joseph as the ideal of virtue and generosity.
The Testament 5:4-6 in an aside attacks Simeon's children for the sin of miscegenation, Numbers 25. It does not mention the attack on Shechem, which in the Torah Simeon had mounted alongside brother Levi. Instead it posits that Simeon made war against Levi. Kugel concludes that the Testament agreed with Jubilees 30:23 in that the attack on Shechem was "righteous", and so the Testament suppressed the account to deny Simeon credit.
Levi The Testament of Levi is an apocalyptic section. It is one of the longest of the Testaments, and is predominantly concerned with arrogance. Taking the theme of the Levite priesthood, the Testament explains how Levi's descendants corrupted the office by their arrogant disregard for the proper regulations.
Chapter 2-8 involves Levi being taken to heaven and promised the priesthood forever, and then seven angels physically give him the insignia of the priesthood (as described in Exodus). This part parallels the beginning and end of a vision in the Aramaic Levi Document, whence the body of the vision is now lost; and is thought to preserve that part of the text.
In chapters 14-18 Levi cites a "book of Enoch", describing the sins of his descendants, with the promise that at the end there will be a glorious priest who will restore the righteousness of his office. The tropes of Levi's "Book" match those of the "Apocalypse of Weeks" in 1 Enoch.John Joseph Collins, The apocalyptic imagination: an introduction to Jewish apocalyptic literature, 2nd ed. (Eerdmans: 1998); 137 n.85
The Testament has an account of the raid on Shechem. Its take is that Jacob proposed a marriage between Shechem and Dinah, sincerely offering Shechem the option of circumcision. Levi opposed the circumcision from the start. Unlike Jubilees and, if Kugel is right, the Testament of Simeon: to the Testament of Levi, intermarriage is lawful in principle between Israelites and converts. Shechem was excluded for its other crimes.
Aramaic Levi document One way in which this testament is distinguished from the others is by additional footnotes in a Greek version of the manuscript from Mount Athos. These footnotes were found to be translated from a non-apocalyptic precursor of the text in Aramaic, partially preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The find consisted of six fragments in two manuscripts from cave 4 (4Q213-214). A small related fragment was also found in cave 1 (1Q21). According to some sources, these scrolls were dated by the Oriental Institute to between 100-200 BC using radiocarbon dating.
According to James Kugel at Bar-Ilan University, Aramaic Levi is a composite of two documents. One source was "a wisdom apocalypse derived from the exegetical elaboration of Malachi 2:4-7". The other, based on the same exegesis, "described Levi's actual initiation into the priesthood by angels". The narrative frame is based from the Book of Jubilees. The compiler of Aramaic Levi added that the priests would be kings. It is a Hasmonean compilation, 133–100 BCE.
Judah The Testament of Judah is primarily concerned with courage, monetary greed, and fornication. It begins by portraying Judah as idealistically courageous, involving bravery in front of wild beasts, as well as successful military expeditions, sometimes basing the narrative on acts that the canonical bible attributes to Jacob. However, it goes on to present a xenophobic focus, criticizing his marriage to a non-Israelite, as well as his sexual activity with Tamar, his daughter-in-law who at that time was pretending to be a prostitute.