Pseudepigrapha Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...

are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseudo-Apostolic Letters", ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', Vo. 107, No. 3, September 1988, pp.469–494. Some of these works may have originated among Jewish Hellenizers, others may have Christian authorship in character and origin.

Apocalyptic and related works

* 1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch (Jewish, c. 200 BCE–50 BCE) * 2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch (Jewish, c. 30 BCE–70 CE) * 3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch (Jewish, in present form from c. 108 CE-135 CE) * Sibylline Oracles (both Jewish and Christian, c. 2nd cent. BCE–7th cent. CE) * Treatise of Shem (c. near end of first cent. BCE)Treatise of Shem
/ref> *

Apocryphon of Ezekiel The Apocryphon of Ezekiel is an apocryphal book, written in the style of the Old Testament, as revelations of Ezekiel. It survives only in five fragments including quotations in writings by Epiphanius, Clement of Rome and Clement of Alexandria, ...

(mostly lost, original form c. late 1st cent. BCE) *

Apocalypse of Zephaniah The Apocalypse of Zephaniah (or ''Apocalypse of Sophonias'') is a 1st-century pseudepigraphic Jewish text attributed to the Biblical Zephaniah and so associated with the Old Testament, but not regarded as scripture by Jews or any Christian group. ...

(mostly lost, original form c. late 1st cent. BCE) * 4 Ezra (original Jewish form after 70 CE, final Christian additions later) *

Greek Apocalypse of Ezra The Greek Apocalypse of Ezra, also known as The Word and Revelation of Esdras, is a pseudepigraphal work written in the name of the biblical scribe Ezra. It survived in only two Greek copies and is dated between the 2nd century and the 9th century ...

(present form is Christian c. 9th cent. CE with both Jewish and Christian sources) *

Vision of Ezra The ''Vision of Ezra'' is an ancient apocryphal text purportedly written by the biblical scribe Ezra. The earliest surviving manuscripts, composed in Latin, date to the 11th century AD, although textual peculiarities strongly suggest that the tex ...

(a Christian document dating from 4th to 7th cent. CE) * Questions of Ezra (Christian, but date is imprecise) * Revelation of Ezra (Christian and sometime before 9th cent. CE) * Apocalypse of Sedrach (present form is Christian from c. 5th cent. with earlier sources) * 2 (Syriac Apocalypse of) Baruch (Jewish, from c. 100 CE) * 3 (Greek Apocalypse of) Baruch (Christian utilizing Jewish sources, c. 1st–2nd cent. CE) *

Apocalypse of Abraham The ''Apocalypse of Abraham'' is a pseudepigraphic work (a text whose claimed authorship is uncertain) based on the Old Testament. Probably composed between about 70–150 AD from earlier writings and tradition, it is of Jewish origin and is usuall ...

(Jewish primarily, c. 70–150 CE) *

Apocalypse of Adam The Apocalypse of Adam, discovered at Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt in 1945, is a Sethian work of Apocalyptic literature dating to the first-to-second centuries AD. This tractate is one of five contained within Codex V of the Nag Hammadi library. ...

(Gnostic derived from Jewish sources from c. the 1st cent. CE) *

Apocalypse of Elijah The Apocalypse of Elijah is an early Christian work written in the Coptic language commonly held to be a documentation of the oral presentation of multiple original and classical manuscripts. Presented in part as the direct word of the Hebrew God ...

(both Jewish and Christian, c. 150–275 CE) *

Apocalypse of Daniel The Greek Apocalypse of Daniel is a Christian pseudepigraphic text (one whose claimed authorship is unfounded) attributed to the Biblical Daniel and so associated with the Hebrew Bible ( Old Testament). However, no Jewish or Christian groups re ...

(present form c. 9th cent. CE, but contains Jewish sources from c. 4th cent. CE).

Testaments

Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 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 Ort ...

(current form is Christian, c. 150–200 CE, but Levi, Judah, and Naphtali are Jewish and date before 70 CE and probably 2nd–1st cent. BCE) *

Testament of Job The ''Testament of Job'' is a book written in the 1st century BC or the 1st century AD (thus part of a tradition often called " intertestamental literature" by Christian scholars). The earliest surviving manuscript is in Coptic, of the 5th centur ...

(Jewish, c. late 1st cent. BCE) *

Testaments of the Three Patriarchs The Testaments of the Three Patriarchs is another name for the collection formed by the following three apocryphal works of the Hebrew Scriptures: *Testament of Abraham *Testament of Isaac *Testament of Jacob These are generally considered importa ...

(Jewish Testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from c. 100 CE which are linked with the Christian Testament of Isaac and Jacob) *

Testament of Moses A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller nov ...

(Jewish, from c. early 1st cent. CE) *

Testament of Solomon The Testament of Solomon is a pseudepigraphical composite text ascribed to King Solomon but not regarded as canonical scripture by Jews or Christian groups. It was written in the Greek language, based on precedents dating back to the early 1st mil ...

(Jewish, current form c. 3rd cent. CE, but earliest form c. 100 CE) *

Testament of Adam The Testament of Adam is a Christian work of Old Testament pseudepigrapha that dates from the 2nd to 5th centuries AD in origin, perhaps composed within the Christian communities of Syria. It purports to relate the final words of Adam to his son ...

(Christian in current form c. late 3rd cent. CE, but used Jewish sources from c. 150–200 CE).

Expansions of Old Testament and other legends

* The Letter of Aristeas (Jewish, c. 200–150 BCE) *

Jubilees The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is ...

(Jewish, c. 150–100 BCE) *

Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah The ''Ascension of Isaiah'' is a pseudepigraphical Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed ...

(has three sections, the first Jewish from c. 100 BCE, and 2nd and 3rd sections are Christian. The second from c. 2nd cent. CE, and the third— Testament of Hezekiah, c. 90–100 CE) *

Joseph and Asenath Joseph and Aseneth is a narrative that dates from between 200 BCE and 200 CE. The first part of the story (chapters 1-21), an expansion of Genesis 41:45, describes the diffident relationship between Aseneth, the daughter of an Egyptian priest of ...

(Jewish, c. 100 CE) *

Life of Adam and Eve The ''Life of Adam and Eve'', also known in its Greek version as the ''Apocalypse of Moses'' (, ''Apokalypsis Mōuseōs''; Hebrew: ספר אדם וחוה), is a Jewish apocryphal group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from aft ...

(Jewish, c. early to middle 1st cent. CE) *

Pseudo-Philo Pseudo-Philo is the name commonly used for the unknown, anonymous author of ''Biblical Antiquities''. This text is also commonly known today under the Latin title ''Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum'' (Book of Biblical Antiquities), a title that is no ...

(Jewish, c. 66–135 CE) *

Lives of the Prophets The ''Lives of the Prophets'' is an ancient apocryphal account of the lives of the prophets of the Old Testament. It is not regarded as scripture by any Jewish or Christian denomination. The work may have been known by the author of some of the P ...

(Jewish, c. early 1st cent. CE with later Christian additions) *

Ladder of Jacob The ''Ladder of Jacob'' (Hebrew: ''Sulam Yaakov'' סולם יעקב) is a pseudepigraphic writing of the Old Testament. It is usually considered to be part of the apocalyptic literature. The text has been preserved only in Slavonic, and it is ...

(earliest form is Jewish dating from late 1st cent. CE. One chapter is Christian) * 4 Baruch (Jewish original but edited by a Christian, c. 100–110 CE) *

Jannes and Jambres In Jewish and Christian traditions, Jannes and Jambres (Hebrew: יניס Yoḥanai, ימבריס ''Yambres'') are the names given to magicians mentioned in the Book of Exodus. This naming tradition is well-attested in ancient and medieval literatur ...

(Christian in present form, but dependent on earlier Jewish sources from c. 1st cent. BCE) *

History of the Rechabites The ''Story of Zosimus'' (also called the ''Narration'', ''Apocalypse'' or ''Journey of Zosimus'') is a Greek text of the 5th century AD. It has sometimes been classified as among the Old Testament pseudepigrapha. In the Middle Ages, it was transla ...

(Christian in present form dating c. 6th cent. CE, but contains some Jewish sources before 100 CE) * Eldad and Modat (forged on basis of Numbers 11.26–29, before the 1st CE is now lost, but quoted in Shepherd of Hermas c. 140 CE) * History of Joseph (Jewish, but difficult to date) *

Story of Melchizedek The ''Story of Melchizedek'' or ''History of Melchizedek'' ( la, Historia de Melchisedech) is an anonymous apocryphal account of the life of Melchizedek originally written in Greek. Melchizedek is a priest and king mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bi ...

(Jewish, 1st–3rd centuries CE)

Wisdom and philosophical literature

Ahiqar The ''Story of Aḥiqar'', also known as the ''Words of Aḥiqar'', is a story first attested in Imperial Aramaic from the 5th century BCE on papyri from Elephantine, Egypt, that circulated widely in the Middle and the Near East.Christa Mül ...

(Jewish dating from late 7th or 6th cent. BCE and cited in Apocryphal Tobit) * 3 Maccabees (Jewish, c. 1st cent. BCE) * 4 Maccabees (Jewish, c. before 70 CE) *

Pseudo-Phocylides Pseudo-Phocylides is an apocryphal work, at one time, claiming to have been written by Phocylides, a Greek philosopher of the 6th century BC. Its authorship was deciphered by Jacob Bernays. The text is noticeably Jewish, and depends on the Septuag ...

(Jewish maxims attributed to 6th cent. Ionic poet, c. 50 BCE–100 CE) * The Sentences of the Syriac Menander (Jewish, c. 3rd cent. CE).

Prayers, Psalms, and Odes

* More Psalms of David (Jewish psalms from c. 3rd cent. BCE to 100 CE) *

Prayer of Manasseh The Prayer of Manasses, also known as the Prayer of Manasseh is a short work of 15 verses recording a penitential prayer attributed to king Manasseh of Judah. Its canonicity is disputed. The majority of scholars believe that the Prayer of Manass ...

(sometimes in Apocrypha, Jewish from c. early 1st cent. CE) *

Psalms of Solomon One of the apocryphal books, the Psalms of Solomon is a group of eighteen psalms (religious songs or poems) written in the first or second centuries BC that are not part of any current scriptural canon (they are, however, found in copies of the P ...

(Jewish, c. 50–5 BCE) * Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers (Jewish, c. 2nd–3rd cent. CE) *

Prayer of Joseph The Prayer of Joseph is a pseudepigraphic writing (a text whose claimed authorship is unfounded) of the Old Testament. It was composed either in Aramaic (if Jewish) or in Greek (if Christian) in the 1st century AD. The text is almost lost and on ...

(Jewish, c. 70–135) *

Prayer of Jacob Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified an ...

(mostly lost Jewish document from c. 4th cent. CE) *

Odes of Solomon The Odes of Solomon are a collection of 42 odes attributed to Solomon. The Odes are generally dated to either the first century or to the second century, while a few have suggested a later date. The original language of the Odes is thought to ha ...

(Christian but influenced by Judaism and probably also Qumran, c. 100 CE)

References

Bibliography

* Lee Martin McDonald, ''The Origin of the Bible: A Guide for the Perplexed'', London: T & T Clark, 2011.

External links

Pseudepigrapha, Apocrypha and Sacred Writings

Early Jewish Writings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Testament pseudepigrapha Lists of books

Ancient Hebrew texts