The ''Chronicles of Jerahmeel'' is a voluminous work that draws largely on

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 ...

's earlier history of Biblical events and is of special interest because it includes

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...

versions of certain

deuterocanonical The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...

books in the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...

. The ''Chronicles'' were published in English as
The Chronicles of Jerahmeel Or, the Hebrew Bible Historiale
' by the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

, translated by Moses Gaster, 1899. Gaster stated in his extensive preface his view (p. xx) that the ''Chronicles'' were compiled from several Hebrew sources, some quite ancient and others more recent. The actual compiler of the chronicles identifies himself as "Eleasar ben Asher the Levite" who, according to Gaster, lived in the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

in the 14th century. The most recent events depicted in the ''Chronicles'' refer to the time of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

, but the entire rest of it pertains to the period before AD 70. Among the early sources quoted in the work is the 1st century Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus. Gaster explained that he chose to title it "Chronicles of Jerahmeel" instead of "Chronicles of Eleasar" because of his analysis that Eleasar was merely a compiler, while the enigmatic "Jeraḥmeel" is the source most extensively reproduced, following the '' Yosippon'' which is otherwise extant. This 'Jerahmeel' has since been identified as Jerahmeel ben Solomon, thought to have flourished in Italy around 1150. After a thorough discussion of all the textual evidence, Gaster further concluded that, like the closely related '' Sefer haYashar'', it relies on sources ultimately dependent on

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

, particularly evident in its mention of "

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

" and "

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

" among the

Sons of Noah The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or Origines Gentium, is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known socie ...

References

External links

The Chronicles of Jerahmeel at sacred-textsThe Chronicles of Jerahmeel at archive.org
Hebrew manuscripts Hebrew-language chronicles Old Testament pseudepigrapha Samaritan culture and history {{Hebrew-lang-stub

See also

References

External links