Anonymous: Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

THE TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS. TESTIMONIES OF THE ANCIENTS

(GALLAND, *Veterum Patrum Bibliotheca*, vol. I, p. 241, Venice 1765, in-folio.)

I. ORIGEN, *Homilies on Joshua*, xv. From the most recent edition, Paris 1733, vol. II, p. 433 C. "But also in a certain little book which is called the *Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs*, although it is not held in the Canon, we nevertheless find a certain meaning (namely, that by each specific sinner, specific Satans should be understood)." *Testament I, Reuben, chap. 3.*

II. PROCOPIUS, *Commentary on Genesis*, chap. 38. "He (Judas), his wife having died, was seeking offspring. In the Testament (they say), God testifies to him that Judas had kept her (Tamar) for a long time while she was still a virgin: and he mourned her iniquity." *See the Testament of Judah, chaps. 10 and 12.*

III. ANASTASIUS SINAITA, *Anagogical Contemplations on the Hexaemeron*, book VII, from the edition *Biblioth. PP. Lugd.*, vol. IX, p. 895, D. "Whence it is that the Hebrews, from a book which has not been brought into the Canon—which is indeed called the *Testament of the Protoplasts*—say that Adam entered Paradise on the fortieth day, even as it also seems to a certain historical chronicler, Pyrrhon, and to certain expositors."

DISSERTATION ON THE BOOK WHICH IS ENTITLED THE TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS

(D. LE NOURRY, *Apparatus ad Biblioth. max.*, vol. I, p. 235.)

ARTICLE I. Analysis of this book.

In this book are exhibited the final words of the twelve patriarchs, the sons of Jacob, which they, at the very point of death, are said to have addressed to their sons, and—in the case of some of them, namely Reuben and Joseph—to their brothers as well. First among them, Reuben, the eldest, commences his testament with a confession of the incest which he had committed with Bala, his father's concubine. He then shows what punishments he underwent at the hands of God for this, and what penance he performed to wash away his sin. Wherefore, he exhorts his sons to avoid the sight of women and to flee from fornication, touching briefly and incidentally upon matters concerning the Christ who is to come.

Simeon, for his part, reveals the great envy that burned within him against his brother Joseph, how greatly he was punished for this reason, and how he repented of his sin. For that cause, he warns his sons that they must ^A most steadfastly persevere in avoiding envy and walk in simplicity of heart and brotherly charity. Finally, he predicts their future sins and the Christ who is to come, drawing from the book of Enoch.

Levi declares that he was gifted by God with two visions, in the first of which he professes to have seen the heavens, in which the just will be rewarded and the unjust punished, and in the second of which he declares that he was clothed in priestly vestments and constituted a priest forever. After these things, he announces to his sons, from the book of Enoch, into what sins they would fall, and he predicts many things concerning Christ, and concerning the dispersion, exile, and captivity of these same sons of his.

Judas narrates the extent of his bodily strength and vigor, and what glorious deeds he performed in battle. He adds that Esau was killed in battle by Jacob, and that he not only lay with his daughter-in-law Tamar, but also took a Canaanite woman to wife: yet that he had performed penance for both crimes. Thence, he admonishes his children to flee from drunkenness and fornication, and he tells them at length by what means he learned, through an angelic vision, how harmful women are to men. ^B

^A Lastly, he declares to them what they were about to sin, and he asserts without doubt that the future coming of Christ would take place.

After Issachar has finished speaking much about his birth, he confesses that he had walked in simplicity and cultivated the land, such that he never committed any mortal sin. For this reason, he greatly exhorts his children to simplicity and agriculture.

Zabulon also asserts that he did not sin, and, having recounted much regarding the sale of Joseph, he demonstrates that he was not guilty of that sale or of the sin of his brothers. He adds, however, that he was the first to make a skiff to sail upon the sea, and that from the various fish he had caught he provided alms to the needy. Wherefore he rouses his children to mercy, concord, and perfect charity among themselves. Finally, he announces their future crimes and the coming incarnation of Christ the Lord, having brought forth many testimonies from the book of Enoch.

Dan confesses that he was filled with joy concerning the sale and death of Joseph, against whom he had wished to lay hands. Therefore, he teaches his children that they must beware of anger, and he touches briefly upon the avoiding of lies. Finally, he prophesies from the book of Enoch regarding what crimes they would commit and that it would come to pass that Christ would become man.

Nephthali speaks at length about the parents of Bala; and he then warns his children to fear God and persevere in what is good. From the book of Enoch, and from his own visions, he predicts that it would come to pass that they would fall into sin, that tempests would arise, and that Christ would at length be born having assumed human flesh.

Gad, where he has handed down much that is spurious concerning the sale of Joseph, confesses that he had hated him with such implacable hatred that he had wanted to plot his murder, but that he had repented of these things and suffered the penalties. Wherefore he incites his children to avoid hatred and to foster fraternal charity, and finally he pours forth some prophecies concerning Christ.

Aser teaches his children that there are two ways: one of good, the other of evil; that the latter must be abandoned, the former must be taken. He then bears witness that he always walked in that way of good, and he seriously warns his children to enter the same path. Finally, he announces to them that they would sin, that they would wander dispersed, and that Christ would come afterward.

Joseph explains in what manner he was sold by his brothers, who had determined to destroy him, and was afterwards bought by Potiphar. He also sets before their eyes by what arts, flatteries, and threats Potiphar's wife tempted his chastity, both before and after he had been cast into prison; and finally, what great good he himself bestowed upon his brothers even after the death of Jacob. Therefore, he greatly rouses his children to sobriety, chastity, long-suffering, and fraternal love, and finally, from the visions of his dreams and the future tribulation, he asserts without doubt that Christ would come.

ARTICLE II

This book, inscribed with the name of no author, is proscribed by all, and it is asserted that it is full of inventions, fables, and errors, and that it teems with lies. Nay, more, we discover many things in it that are in conflict with the sacred text of Scripture.

For first, it is contrary to the divine text that Ruben should fabricate a story about his incest with Bala, and Judas about his with Tamar. Likewise, that which is established regarding the age of certain patriarchs—Simeon, for instance, and Zabulon. Finally, those things which we read that Simeon and Levi feigned concerning the punishments they exacted from the Sichemites for the rape of their sister Dina, and which Gad feigned concerning the sale of Joseph.

Furthermore, almost all the patriarchs ^C are brought in there citing the apocryphal book of Enoch, and citing it as corrupt. For if you accept the faith of Augustine, there were books of Enoch of two kinds: some true and genuine, others corrupt and adulterated. But that our author fell into only these latter ones will certainly seem doubtful to no one who has heard these words of Augustine: "We cannot deny that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, wrote some divine things, since the apostle Jude says this in his canonical Epistle. But they are not in that canon of the Scriptures, which was preserved in the temple of the Hebrew people, not without reason, by the diligence of later priests; except that they were judged to be of suspect authenticity on account of their antiquity, and it could not be discovered whether these were the things which he had written... Whence also those things which are brought forward under his name, and contain ^D these fables about giants, that they did not have human fathers, are rightly not considered by prudent men to be his; just as many things are brought forward by heretics under the names of other prophets, and newer things under the names of the apostles." Our author, indeed, with wondrous confidence, brings forward and sells these fables about the giants again and again as something true and certain. Hence, therefore, it is gathered clearly enough both that he cited the corrupt books of Enoch, and that his book is false and supposititious.

ARTICLE III. Of the antiquity of this book, and whether it proceeded from some Christian writer.

ARTICLE IV. Of the codices, version, and editions of this book, which was first written in Greek.

GALLANDI. DISSERTATORY PROOEMIUM ON THE SAME BOOK.

I. It is demonstrated that the author of these Testaments was a Christian, and that he wrote them in Greek. Truly, it is not unknown to me that several have supposed the author of these Testaments to have been a Jew, not a Christian; and that they were not written in Greek, but were originally composed in Hebrew; and that, in short, no value should be set upon a work of this kind: if all these things were certain, it would indeed be deservedly and in truth placed among the ancient monuments of the Church. However, many other learned men are rightly reported to have come over to a different opinion. And in the first place, many things openly reveal that the author was a Christian, noted especially by Wharton and Nourry: for he speaks so openly and clearly about Christ; and he brings forth from the sacred writings of the New Testament ^C things everywhere which clearly prove the writer to have been initiated into the mysteries of the Christians. Hence, therefore, Grab and Sgambatus seem to have conjectured less correctly, by reason of the style and other causes, that the little work was originally written in the Hebrew idiom; then rendered into Greek and interpolated by a Christian hand. "For although," as Wolfius aptly says, "the manner of writing which is observed in the Greek text reflects many Hebraisms, you could not from this infer that the little book was originally composed in Hebrew any more than you could rashly affirm the same of a codex of the New Testament that approaches closely to Hebraism." To which indeed [opinion]...

^A regarding the authorship of these Testaments by a Christian, I have also learned that John Clericus later subscribed.

The opportunity for this contrary opinion seems to have been provided by Matthew Paris, who, when speaking of an opusculum of this kind, says the following: In those same times (in the year 1242), Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, a man most learned in both Latin and Greek, translated the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs from Greek into Latin by a faithful interpretation. For a long time these were unknown and hidden through the jealousy of the Jews, because of the prophecies concerning the Savior contained in them. But the Greeks, the most diligent investigators of all writers, having first come to the knowledge of that writing, translated it from Hebrew into Greek, and kept it among themselves until our times. Nor, in the time of blessed Jerome or any holy interpreter, could it have come to the notice of Christians in any way, due to the machinations of the malice of the ancient Jews. That glorious treatise, therefore, for the strengthening of the Christian faith and for the greater confusion of the Jews, the aforementioned bishop translated fully and clearly from Greek, word for word, into Latin, with the assistance of Master Nicolaus the Greek, clerk of the Abbot of St. Albans. Thus he writes. This passage, indeed, changed slightly, is found at the end in some of the manuscripts or printed copies of the ancient version, as can be seen from the manuscript notes of Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, to Cave’s *Historia Literaria*, which appear at the end of volume II of that same History, recently published, on page 1. But SimonIUS rightly mocks ^B both the narrative of Matthew Paris, which that same historical writer repeats in nearly the same words later under the year 1252, and the words excerpted from it that are read at the end of certain copies, and he also testifies that they are absent from the Colbert manuscript: so that, consequently, the inscription of another manuscript copy of the Bodleian Library cited by Grabe, and expressed in these words: *The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, sons of Jacob, according to the translation of John Chrysostom from Hebrew into Greek*, is to be held as naught, for it is refuted both by what has been said thus far and by what is about to be said.

II. Its age is inquired into, and the purpose of its writing is opened in a few words.

At what time, however, this anonymous Christian author wrote these Testaments is not so clearly determined that anything firm seems to be able to be established regarding the matter. But if a question that is quite complex is to be settled by conjectures, we, ^C with Dodwell, Wolf, Ruchato, and others, judge that the writer flourished at the end of the first century; for he certainly employed a Hellenistic style, such as is found to have fallen into disuse at the beginning of the second century, although the distinguished Mazochius felt slightly differently. Nor, furthermore, are other arguments lacking, even with Grabe himself suggesting them, by which an opinion of this kind can be further confirmed. Namely, it is argued that these Testaments were not worked out before the year 52 of the common era, in which learned men—Pearson, Mill, and others—think the First Epistle to the Thessalonians was written; for in the Testament of Levi these things are read: "Venit autem ira Domini super eos in finem: The wrath of the Lord has come upon them to the end": which words, indeed, uttered against the Jews, are known to have been taken from the aforementioned Epistle inscribed to the Thessalonians. Nor does it appear that the author composed that little work before the year 64, in which the book of the Acts of the Apostles is said to have been committed to writing by Saint Luke, for it is evident from those things by which he portrays an image of the apostle Paul graphically described from those same Acts. Thus he introduces Benjamin speaking: "And I shall no longer be called a wolf ^D that ravens.... And there shall be raised up from my seed in the last times a beloved of the Lord, hearing his voice, illuminating all the Gentiles with new knowledge, kindling the light of knowledge for Israel for salvation, and snatching as a wolf from them, and giving to the synagogue of the Gentiles, and until the consummation of the ages it shall be in the synagogues of the Gentiles and among their princes, like a musical melody in the mouth of all, and it shall be inscribed in the holy books, both his work and his word: his work, indeed, as Grabe very well [notes], in the Acts of the Apostles; but his word, both in those same Acts and in the Epistles of Paul himself: so that, consequently, the author appears to have written even after all the Pauline Epistles, that is, after the year 67. Moreover, that those Testaments were composed after the year 70 is sufficiently shown by the things the author says regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the calamities inflicted upon the Jews as a punishment for the blood of Christ, in these words: "You will call the man who restores the law in the virtue of the Most High an impostor, and in the end, as one worthy of esteem, you will kill him, not knowing his resurrection, about to receive innocent blood in malice upon your heads. And for his sake your holy places will be desolate, desecrated even to the pavement." And a little before: "Because of these things, the temple which the Lord will choose will be laid desolate in uncleanness; and you will be captives among all the Gentiles, and an abomination among them; and

you shall receive reproach and everlasting confusion from the just judgment of God. Grabe indeed twists these things in another direction, and considers them inserted into the Testaments of the patriarchs by the hand of some Christian towards the end of the century or the beginning of the next (23): but anyone who probes the matter more deeply would say that this critic does violence to the passages cited in order to establish his hypothesis about a Jewish author; for if the passages which look to the New Testament, concerning the divinity of Christ and other heads of the Christian religion, were removed from the middle, it would be necessary for that little work to collapse. What of the fact that it is clear from the very work itself that all things were written by one hand, as Simon judges (24), because the same ratio of style breathes everywhere, and all things flow along equably in one tenor? Furthermore, the same learned man insists (25) that some things occur in these Testaments which seem inconsistent with having been committed to writing by a Christian man. I would not indeed deny this: but it is nothing strange if this Christian writer speaks frequently in the Jewish manner; for it is established that he composed his work with the intention that the Jews might more easily accept the things which he inculcates everywhere concerning Christ and his doctrine.

But it is of more interest to bring forward here the notable testimonies for the divinity of Christ, which against the Unitarians were collected from these Testaments and which it pleased the same V. C. to set forth elsewhere. Thus, therefore, he says (28): ^B In the Testament of Simeon we read these words (29): «Κύριος, ὁ Θεὸς μέγας τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, φαινόμενος ἐπὶ γῆς ὡς ἄνθρωπος, καὶ σώζων ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν Ἀδάμ. Dominus, DEUS MAGNUS Israel, apparebit in terra ut homo, et salvabit in ipso Adam. And soon after (30): Ὁ Θεὸς σῶμα λαβὼν, καὶ συνεσθίων ἀνθρώποις, ἔσωσεν αὐτούς. DEUS corpus assumens, et comedens cum hominibus, salvavit eos. And with a few words interposed (31), he calls the Messiah Θεὸν καὶ ἄνθρωπον, DEUM et hominem.»

But let us not dwell longer on these; as regards the age of this author, one more must be heard, Cave. He thinks, indeed (26), that it could hardly happen that some one of the ancients before Origen would not have mentioned this work; and thus he opines that it is not to be ascribed to the apostolic age. However, if any one should demand that this scruple be pulled from his mind, we submit this one thing, to pass over others: that the monuments of ecclesiastical writers who flourished in the first two centuries ^C are for the most part lost; and that, with a few exceptions, only some fragments survive from their works: so that, on that account, the silence of those very ancient Fathers is unjustly objected against us.

III. The value of the work is weighed: from which are transcribed in the first place the testimonies drawn by Grabe for the true divinity of Christ. Hence the opinion concerning a Christian author is confirmed again.

Now, indeed, it is better to set forth the value and utility of the work, with Grabe leading the way especially, who is found to have dutifully performed that task. First of all, the learned man observes (27) that the patriarch Jacob and other holy men, when close to death, issued either omens of future things or excellent moral precepts for how to live well: which, therefore, were accustomed to be held in high esteem by those listening and to be committed to writing. ^D Our author, therefore, having imitated this custom, not so much with the intention of deceiving as with the desire of imbuing the Jews with religion and discipline, in these Testaments introduces the twelve sons of Jacob; who, being about to die, both foretell things to come and instruct their sons and grandsons with the best of institutions. The predictions indeed look especially to the Messiah and the state of the Synagogue and the Church of the Gentiles under the New Testament: but in the history of the patriarchs, many things are related about them which do not occur in Genesis or other canonical books, but are judged to have been taken from apocryphal ones: yet most of them seem neither inconsistent with the truth, nor perhaps useless for the illustration of sacred history.

«In the Testament of Levi, the angel addresses this patriarch with these words (32): Διὰ σοῦ καὶ Ἰούδα ὀφθήσεται Κύριος ἐν ἀνθρώποις, σώζων ἐν αὐτοῖς πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων. Per te et Judam apparebit Dominus in hominibus, salvans in ipsis omne genus hominum. Then Levi says (33) that hell will be despoiled ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει τοῦ Ὑψίστου, in passione Altissimi.

In the Testament of Judah, mention is made (34) παρουσίας τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς δικαιοσύνης, adventus DEI justitiae; if I am not mistaken, from Jerem. XXIII, 6, and XXXIII, 16. And a little later it is said about the Messiah (35): Οὗτος ὁ βλαστὸς Θεοῦ Ὑψίστου. Hic est germen DEI altissimi: from Isaiah IV, 2.

In the Testament of Zebulun (36): Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀνατελεῖ ὑμῖν αὐτὸς Κύριος, φῶς δικαιοσύνης· καὶ ὄψεσθε Θεὸν ἐν σχήματι ἀνθρώπου. Et post haec orietur vobis ipse Dominus, lux justitiae... et videbitis DEUM in forma hominis.

In the Testament of Dan (37): Οὐκ ἔτι ὑπομενεῖ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐρήμωσιν, οὐδὲ αἰχμαλωτίσεται Ἰσραήλ, ὅτι Κύριος ἔσται ἐμμέσῳ αὐτῆς, τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συναναστρεφόμενος, καὶ Ἅγιος Ἰσραὴλ βασιλεύων ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἐν ταπεινώσει καὶ πτωχείᾳ. Non amplius sustinebit Hierusalem desolationem, neque captivus ducetur Israel; quoniam Dominus erit in medio ejus, cum hominibus conversatus, et Sanctus Israel regnans super ipsos in humilitate et paupertate.

^A In the Testament of Naphtali (38): "From Judah shall salvation rise to Israel, and in Him shall Jacob be blessed. For through His scepter shall God be seen, dwelling among men on earth, to save the race of Israel." *Per Judam orietur salus Israel, et in ipso benedicetur Jacob. Per sceptrum enim ejus apparebit DEUS, habitans inter homines in terra, ut salvet genus Israel.*

"In the Testament of Asher (39): "The Most High will visit the earth, and He Himself coming as a man, eating and drinking with men, and in silence crushing the head of the dragon through the water. He shall save Israel and all the nations, God appearing as man." *ALTISSIMUS visitabit terram; et ipse veniens ut homo, cum hominibus manducans et bibens, et in silentio conterens caput draconis per aquam. Hic salvabit Israel et omnes gentes, DEUS in virum absconditus.*

"Finally, in the Testament of Benjamin (40): "Then we too shall arise, each over our own staff, worshipping the King of the heavens, who appeared on earth in the form of human humility." *Tunc et nos resurgemus, unusquisque in sceptrum nostrum, adorantes regem cælorum, qui in terra apparuit in forma hominis (humanæ) humilitatis.* And soon he adds regarding the Israelites who were to be judged: "because they did not believe in the God who appeared in the flesh as a Savior." *quoniam advenientem DEUM in carne liberatorem non crediderunt.*

"Behold Christ, the Lord, God, the great God, the Most High, the Holy One of Israel, etc., so called." Thus far the learned Grabe, from whom Prudentius Maranus borrowed these same items, condensed, in his outstanding work entitled: *Divinitatis D. N. J. C. manifesta in Scripturis et traditione* (41). It is fitting to bring forward the judgment of this most learned man concerning the author of these Testaments, so that what we have discussed concerning his work may be the more confirmed. "This writer," he says, "proclaims himself a Jew through his very frequent use of Jewish fables; yet he is clearly a Christian, for his predictions concerning Christ are too plain to have been invented after the events. Some place him no earlier than the second century, and no one later, since he is cited by Origen in his fifteenth homily on Joshua. Grabe thinks this book was written long ago by a Jew before the birth of Christ, and interpolated by a Christian at the end of the first century or the beginning of the second. But the opinion of this learned man rests upon very slight conjectures. For nothing in this work appears insincere or interpolated; nothing that does not serve a purpose. Wherefore there is no reason why we should fear to hold these Testaments forgeries attributed to the patriarchs, as if they were a most genuine work of a Jew believing in Christ." ^B Having finally produced the excerpts which we recited above, he closes his opinion with these words: "These things are too clear and express to be twisted. And if (our adversaries) say they are added and insincere, there is no reason for us to litigate with them. For thus it would be permissible to elude all ecclesiastical writers. For there is here no variety of style, no discrepancy of facts or words; there is nothing here that is not simple and of one form. Yet this writer seems, through a motive not indeed evil, but through a guile that is not to be praised, to have attributed these prophecies to the patriarchs, so that he might entice his own Jews to the faith, and so that that great mystery of the nascent God, which they abhorred, might appear less hateful to them in the mouth of the twelve patriarchs." Thus far the distinguished Maranus. From which it is clear that Nourry, his colleague, thought too basely—a man otherwise learned—when he pronounced this concerning the Testaments: "They ought never to have been brought to light, or they should have been consigned to perpetual darkness" (42)—on which account he is noted even by Simon himself (43).

IV. *Concerning the various Greek manuscript exemplars, and the ancient version of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln.*

Various Greek manuscript copies of this work are circulated, praised by learned men, by Montfaucon and others. Fabricius mentions the Cambridge manuscript (45), and recites its titles or summaries of the chapters in Greek, though they are in no way different from the edition of Grabe. But concerning the English codices, [we shall treat] shortly below, where [we speak] of the Oxford edition. The first Greek exemplar, if one trusts Matthew Paris (46), is reported to have been discovered thus: "Master John of Basingstoke," he says, "Archdeacon of Leicester, a man most experienced in the trivium and quadrivium, learned in full in both Greek and Latin letters... had intimated to Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, that when he studied at Athens, he had seen and heard from expert Greek teachers certain things unknown to the Latins. Among which he found the Testaments of the XII Patriarchs, namely the sons of Jacob, which it is certain were part of the library; but had long since been unknown because of the jealousy of the Jews, on account of the ^C manifest prophecies concerning Christ that are evident in them. Whence the same bishop sent to Greece; and when he had obtained them, he translated them from Greek into the Latin tongue." These are the words of the English monk, where he says nothing of the Hebrew text—as he does elsewhere—which we have also seen above detailing how these Testaments were rendered from Greek into Latin by the same Bishop of Lincoln, albeit with the help of Master Nicholas the Greek, a cleric of the Abbot of St. Albans. Bale deals more distinctly with both interpreters (47).

V. Concerning the Grabian edition expressed here in print. Learned men are aware that this ancient Latin version of Robert’s has frequently been committed to print; and learned men considered it especially worthy of a place in the libraries of the ancient Fathers. In truth, in all the editions which were published from the year 1483 to the year 1677, this ancient version was so defiled by so many and such great errors that one can often scarcely elicit the meaning. Considering this, John Ernest Grabe, having compared the printed versions with two manuscripts of the Bodleian Library, removed very many errors and also corrected others almost too numerous to count which had been committed by the interpreter himself. Having thus purged this version, he made it public property at Oxford in 1698 in the first volume of the *Spicilegium SS. Patrum*, along with the Greek text, which had been verified against two codices, one from the Academy of Cambridge, the other from the Bodleian Library. Thereafter, however, revising his own edition, the same learned man compared the Greek text again with two manuscripts of Trinity College, Cambridge. He also polished the Latin version of Robert of Lincoln with perpetual emendations; having accepted into the text some [readings] which he had drawn from two manuscripts of the ^B Bodleian Library and had previously placed in the margins of the pages; others, indeed, were added by himself: as may be gathered from the preface to the second Oxford edition of the *Spicilegium* in the year 1714.

Fabričius followed the earlier Grabian edition in his *Codex pseudepigraphus Veteris Testamenti*, vol. I, printed and reprinted at Hamburg in the years 1713–1722, although, having suffered a lapse of memory, he asserts otherwise in some places: a fact which, to omit other matters, will be found to be certain by anyone comparing the note on page 224 of the second Grabian edition with the note on page 687 of the second Fabrician edition. We, however, have selected the later Oxford edition, as was fitting: we have retained those notes of the editor which serve to amend the text; others, which were longer, we have condensed, while meanwhile adding a few things which primarily respect the intention of the author.

THE TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS, THE SONS OF JACOB, TO THEIR SONS.

TESTAMENTA DUODECIM PATRIARCHARUM FILIORUM JACOB AD FILIOS SUOS INTERPRETE ROBERTO LINCOLNIENSI EPISCOPO. (GALLAND., Vet. Patr. Biblioth., I, 195.)

CHAPTER I.

I. Transcript of the testament of Ruben, whatsoever he commanded his sons before he died, in the 125th year of his life. Two years after the death of Joseph, his sons and his grandsons gathered together to visit him as he lay ill. And he said to them: "My little children, I am dying, and I go the way of my fathers." And seeing

there ^A Judah, and Gad, and Asher, his brothers, he said to them, “Raise me up, my brothers, so that I may tell my brothers and my children those things which I have hidden in my heart; for I am now passing away.” And having risen, he kissed them and, weeping, said, “Listen, my brothers and children, attend with your ears ^B to Ruben, your father, to those things which I command you. Behold, I call to witness against you this day the God of heaven, that you may not walk in the ignorance of youth and in the fornication in which I was poured out, and by which I defiled the bed of my father Jacob. I tell you, indeed, that the Lord struck me with a great plague in my loins for seven months; and if our father Jacob had not prayed for me to the Lord, the Lord would have destroyed me. I was thirty years old when I did this evil before the Lord, and I was ill for seven months even unto death; and by the resolve of my soul I repented for seven years before the Lord. I drank no wine or strong drink, and meat did not enter my mouth, and I did not taste any bread of desire, mourning for my sin, for it was great. And may it not happen thus in Israel.”

II. “And now, listen to me, my children, that I may manifest to you ^C what I saw regarding the seven spirits of error in my repentance. Seven spirits were given against man by Beliar, and these are the head of the works of youth; and seven spirits were given to him in creation, so that every work of man might be in them. The first spirit is that of life, with which the constitution is created. The second spirit is that of sight, with which desire is formed. The third spirit is that of hearing, with which teaching is acquired. The fourth spirit is that of smell, with which taste is given for the drawing in of air and respiration. The fifth spirit is that of speech, with which knowledge comes to be. The sixth spirit is that of taste, with which the eating of foods and drinks comes to be, and strength is created in them; for in foods is the foundation of strength. The seventh spirit is that of seed and intercourse, with which sin enters in through the lust of pleasure. ^D For this reason it is the last of creation, and the first of youth, because it is full of ignorance; and it leads the young like a blind man into a pit, and like a beast of burden over a precipice.”

III. “Above all these, the eighth spirit is that of sleep,

^A with which the ecstasy of nature and the image of death are created. To these spirits is joined the spirit of error. The first is that of fornication, which resides in the nature and in the senses. The second is the spirit of insatiability in the belly. The third is the spirit of fighting, in the liver and the bile. The fourth is the spirit of pleasurableness and fraud, so that one may appear beautiful through curiosity. The fifth is the spirit of pride, so that one may be moved, and think great things. The sixth is the spirit of lying, in ruin and in zeal for fabricating words, and for hiding one’s words from one’s family and kin. The seventh is the spirit of injustice, ^B with which theft and distortions occur, in order that one may fulfill the concupiscence of the lust of one's heart. For injustice cooperates with the other spirits through the assumption of guile. In all these, the spirit of sleep, the eighth spirit, is joined with error and fantasy. And thus every young man perishes, darkening his mind from the truth, and not understanding the law of God, nor obeying the instruction of his fathers, just as I suffered in my youth. And now, children, love the truth, and it will keep you. I teach you, listen to Ruben your father. Do not have regard for the appearance of a woman, ^C nor be alone with a woman who is under a husband, nor investigate the behavior of women. For if I had not seen Balla bathing in a covered place, I would not have fallen into the great iniquity. For my mind, conceiving the female nakedness, did not allow me to sleep until I had committed the abomination. For while Jacob our father was absent from us, with Isaac our father, and we were in Gader, near Ephrata, the house of Bethlehem, Balla was drunk and asleep, and she lay uncovered in her chamber; and I, entering and seeing her nakedness, committed the impiety, and leaving her asleep, I went out. And immediately the angel of God revealed to my father Jacob concerning my impiety; and coming, he mourned over me, and no longer touched her. ^D IV. “Therefore do not have regard for the beauty of women, nor contemplate their behavior; but walk in simplicity of heart, in the fear of the Lord, and working in tasks, and occupying yourselves in letters, and in your flocks, until the Lord gives you a wife, whom He Himself wills, so that you may not suffer as I did. Until the death of our father I did not have the confidence to look into the face of Jacob, or to speak to any of my brothers, on account of the reproaches. And even until now my conscience torments me concerning my sin. And my father consoled me, because he prayed for me

to the Lord, that the wrath of the Lord might pass from me, just as the Lord showed me. From that time ^A therefore I have guarded myself, and have not sinned. For this reason, my children, guard all that I command you, and you shall not sin. For fornication is the destruction of the soul, separating it from God and drawing it near to idols, because it leads the understanding and the mind into error, and brings young men down to Hades before their time. For indeed, fornication has destroyed many; for even if one be an old man, or noble, it brings upon him reproach before Beliar and before the sons of men. For because Joseph guarded himself from every woman, and purged his thoughts from all fornication, he found grace before the Lord and men. For the Egyptian woman did many things to him, and called for magicians, and offered him drugs; but his soul’s intent did not receive her wicked desire. For this reason the God of my fathers delivered him from every visible and hidden death. For if fornication does not prevail over the mind, neither will Beliar prevail over you.

V. « Women are wicked, my children; because they have no power or strength over man, they act craftily in their forms, ^B so as to draw him to themselves; and whom they cannot overcome by strength, him they overcome by deception. For the angel of the Lord also spoke to me concerning them, and taught me that women are overcome by the spirit of fornication more than men, and in their heart they plot against men, and by the adornment of their beauty they lead them into error, first in their minds, and by their glance they instill within them the poison, and then they capture them by their act; for a woman cannot force a man. Flee therefore from fornication, my children, and command your wives and your daughters that they do not adorn their heads and their faces; because every woman who acts craftily in these things is reserved for the punishment of the age. For thus they seduced the Watchers ^C before the flood; and those, continually seeing them, became inflamed with desire for one another, and conceived the act in their mind, and were changed into the likeness of men, and appeared to them in their husbands' company; and they, desiring in their mind the phantoms of them, brought forth giants. For the Watchers appeared to them as reaching even unto heaven.

VI. « Guard yourselves, therefore, from fornication; and if you wish to be pure in mind, guard your ^D senses from every female. And command them also not to associate with men, so that they too may be purified in mind,

insatiable, and even if the impiety is not carried out, to them it is an incurable disease, but to you it is an eternal reproach from Beliar; for fornication has within itself neither understanding nor piety, and all jealousy dwells in its desire. ^B For this reason you will be jealous of the sons of Levi, and you will seek to be exalted above them, but you will not be able. For God will execute their vengeance, and you will die a wicked death. For the Lord gave the principality to Levi and to Judah, and with them also to me, and to Dan, and to Joseph, that we might be rulers. For this reason I command you to listen to Levi, for he will know the law of the Lord, and he will settle judgments and offerings for all Israel until the fulfillment of the times of the high priest of Christ, whom the Lord spoke of. I adjure you by the God of heaven to perform truth, each one to his neighbor, and draw near to Levi in humility of heart, that you may receive a blessing from his mouth. For he himself will bless Israel and Judah; for in him the Lord chose to rule over all the nations. And you shall worship his seed, for he will die for you in visible and invisible wars, and he will be king of ages among you.”

VII. And Reuben died, having commanded these things to his sons; and they placed him in a coffin, until, carrying him up out of Egypt, they buried him in Hebron, in the double cave, where his fathers were.

CHAPTER II.

The Testament of Simeon, concerning envy.

^C I. The transcript of the words of Simeon, which he spoke to his sons before he died, in the 120th year of his life, in the year in which Joseph died. For they came to visit him ^D as he was sick; and he sat up with strength, and kissed them, and said to them:

II. “Hear, my children, hear Simeon your father, whatever I have in my heart. I was born of Jacob my father as the second son, and Leah my mother named me Simeon, because the Lord heard her prayer. I became very powerful; I did not shrink from any deed, nor did I fear any thing. For my heart was hard, and my liver was unmoved, and my bowels were without compassion; for even courage is given by the Most High to men in their souls and in their bodies. And in the time of my youth I envied Joseph, because our father loved him; and I hardened my liver against him to kill him, because the prince of error, having sent the spirit of jealousy, blinded my mind, so that I did not regard him as a brother, nor spare Jacob my father. But his God, and the God of his fathers, sending his angel, rescued him out of the hands of my brother.

For when I went to Shechem to bring ointment to the flocks, and Reuben to Dothan, where were our necessities and all our stores, Judas my brother sold him to the Ishmaelites. And Reuben coming was grieved, for he wished to rescue him for his father. But I was angry with Judas, because he let him go alive; and for five months I was angry with him, but God bound me and hindered the action of my hands, because my right hand was half-withered for seven days. And I knew, my children, that this happened to me on account of Joseph, and I repented and wept, and I prayed to the Lord that He would restore my hand, and that I might be cleansed from all pollution, and envy, and from all folly. For I knew that I had thought an evil thing before the Lord and Jacob my father, on account of Joseph my brother, in that I envied him. ^B

III. “And now, my children, guard yourselves from the spirits of error and of envy. For envy dominates the whole mind of a man, and does not allow him either to eat, or to drink, or to do any good thing; but it always suggests to him to destroy those whom he envies; and the one who is envied always flourishes, but the one who envies consumes away. For two years of days I tormented my soul with fasting in the fear of the Lord; and I knew that this is the solution to envy, through the fear of God. If a man flees to the Lord, the evil spirit runs away from him, and his mind becomes light; and henceforth he sympathizes with the one who is envied, and does not judge those who love him, and so he ceases from envy. ^C

IV. “And my father was inquiring about me, because he saw me sad, and I said: ‘I am suffering in my liver.’ For I was grieving more than all, because I was the cause of the sale of Joseph. And when we descended into Egypt, and he bound me as a spy, I knew that I was suffering justly, and I was not grieved. Joseph, however, was a good man, and had the Spirit of God within him, compassionate and merciful, and he did not hold malice against me, but even loved me as the other brothers. Guard yourselves, therefore, my children, from all jealousy and envy, and walk in simplicity of soul and in goodness of heart, mindful of your uncle, that God may give to you also grace, and glory, and blessing upon your heads, even as you saw in him. All his days he did not reproach us concerning this matter, but loved us as his own soul, and honored us more than his own sons, and bestowed upon us wealth, and cattle, and fruits. And you, therefore, my beloved children, love each one his brother with a good heart, and remove from you the spirit of envy, because this makes the soul savage, and destroys the body, and turns thoughts to anger and war, and incites one to blood, and leads the mind into distraction, and does not allow the understanding ^D

to act among men; indeed, it even takes away ^A sleep, and brings agitation to the soul, and trembling to the body; for even in sleep, some zeal of malice, presenting itself to his imagination, consumes him, and with wicked spirits it disturbs his soul, and causes the body to be startled, and the mind to be awakened in agitation; and just as one having a wicked and venomous spirit, so does he appear to men.

V. « Therefore Joseph was fair in appearance and beautiful to behold, because nothing wicked dwelt in him; for the countenance manifests the agitation of the spirit. And now, my children, make your hearts good before the Lord, and make your ways straight before men, and you shall find grace before God ^B and men. And guard yourselves from fornication; because fornication is the mother of all evils, separating one from God, and bringing one near to Beliar. For I have seen in the writing of Enoch that your sons will be corrupted with you in fornication, and they will commit injustice against Levi with the sword. But they will not prevail against Levi, for he will wage the war of the Lord, and will conquer your entire encampment, and there will be very few of you divided among Levi and Judah; and there will be ^C a leader for you, just as my father Jacob prophesied in his blessings.

VI. Behold, I have told you all things, that I may be justified from the sin of your souls. But if you take away from yourselves envy and all stubbornness, my bones will bloom like a rose in Israel, and my flesh like a lily in Jacob; and my scent will be as the scent of Libanus, and holy ones will be multiplied from me ^D unto eternity, and their branches will extend to a great length. Then the seed of Canaan will perish, and there will be no remnant for Amalech, and all the Cappadocians will perish, and all the Khettites will be utterly destroyed. Then the land of Cham will fail, and all the people will perish. Then all the earth will rest from agitation, and all that is under

all the earth from commotion, and all that is under heaven from war. Then Shem shall be glorified, when the Lord, the Great God of Israel, shall appear on earth ^A as a man, and shall save Adam in Himself. Then all the spirits of deceit shall be given over to be trodden underfoot, and men shall rule over the wicked spirits. Then I shall arise in gladness, and I shall bless the Most High for His wonders, because God, having taken a body and eating with men, has saved them.

VII. “And now, my children, obey Levi, and you shall be redeemed in Judah; and do not exalt yourselves above these two tribes, for out of them shall arise for you the salvation of God. For the Lord shall raise up from Levi a high priest, and from Judah a king, God and man. He shall save all the Gentiles and the race of Israel. Therefore, I command all these things to you, that you also may command your children, so that they may keep them unto their generations.”

VIII. And Simeon finished the words which he commanded his children, and he slept with his fathers, being one hundred and twenty years of age. And they placed him in a chest of incorruptible wood, to carry his bones to Hebron. And they carried them ^B away secretly during the war of the Egyptians. For the Egyptians were guarding the bones of Joseph in the treasuries of the kings. For the enchanters told them that at the departure of the bones of Joseph there would be in all the land of Egypt darkness and gloom and a very great plague for the Egyptians, so that with a lamp one would not even recognize his brother.

IX. And the sons of Simeon wept for their father according to the law of mourning; and they were in Egypt until the day of their departure from Egypt by the hand of Moses.

CAPUT III

Testament of Levi, concerning priesthood and pride.

I. The transcript of the words of Levi, whatever he arranged for his children, according to all things that they shall do, and whatever shall befall them until the day of judgment. He was in good health when he called them to himself: for he foresaw that he was about to die. But when they were gathered, he said to them:

II. “I, Levi, was conceived in Charran and born there; and after this I came with my father to Shechem. I was but a youth of about twenty years when I wrought with Simeon the vengeance of our sister Dinah upon Hamor. And as we were pasturing the flocks in Abel-Maul, the Spirit ^D of the understanding of the Lord came upon me, and I saw all men hiding their way, and that injustice had built walls for itself, and upon the towers

^A iniquity sits; and I was grieved for the race of men, and I prayed to the Lord that I might be saved. Then sleep fell upon me, and I beheld a high mountain: this is the mount of Aspidis in Abel-Maul. And behold, the heavens were opened, and an angel of the Lord said to me: "Levi, enter." And I entered from the first heaven into the second, and I saw there water hanging between this and that. And I saw ^B a third heaven much brighter than the two; for indeed there was infinite height in it. And I said to the angel: "Why is it so?" And the angel said to me: "Do not marvel at these things; for you shall see four other heavens more bright and incomparable, when you ascend there; because you shall stand near the Lord, and shall be his minister, and shall declare his mysteries to men, and shall preach of him who is to redeem Israel; and through you and Judah the Lord shall appear among men, saving in them all the race of men; and your life shall be from the portion of the Lord, and he himself shall be your field, vineyard, fruits, gold, and silver."

III.

Concerning the seven heavens

IV. "Now therefore know that the Lord will execute ^D judgment upon the sons of men, when the rocks are rent, and the sun extinguished, and the waters dried up, and the fire trembling, and all creation disturbed, and the invisible spirits liquefied, and hell despoiled in the passion

of the Most High, men who are unbelieving will remain in injustice; for this reason they will be judged in punishment. The Most High, therefore, heard your prayer, that He might separate you from injustice, and that you might become His son, and servant, and minister of His presence. You will shine with the light of knowledge in Jacob, and you will be as the sun to all the seed of Israel. And a blessing will be given to you and to all your seed, until the Lord visits all the nations in the bowels of His Son's mercy unto the age. Nevertheless, your sons will lay hands upon Him, to crucify Him. And for this reason, counsel and understanding have been given to you, that you might make Him known to your sons; for he who blesses Him will be blessed; but those who curse Him will perish.

^B V. “And the angel opened to me the gates of heaven; and I saw the holy temple, and the Most High upon the throne of glory. And He said to me: ‘Levi, to you I have given the blessings of the priesthood, until I come and dwell in the midst of Israel.’ Then the angel led me to the earth, and gave me a shield and a sword, and said: ‘Execute vengeance in Shechem for Dinah, and I will be with you, because the Lord has sent me.’ And I killed in that time the sons of Hamor, as it is written in the tablets of heaven. And I said to him: ‘I pray you, Lord, tell me your name, that I may call upon you in the day of tribulation.’ And he said: ‘I am the angel who pleads for the race of Israel, that they may not be smitten until the end, because every evil spirit assaults them.’ And after these things, as if awakened from sleep, I blessed the Most High, and the angel who pleads for the race of Israel, and all the just.

VI. “But when I came to my father, I found a bronze asp, from which the mountain also has the name Aspis, since it is near Gebal, to the right of Abila: and I kept these words in my heart. I persuaded my father and Reuben my brother, that they should tell the sons of Hamor to be circumcised; because I was moved with zeal for the abomination which they had committed in Israel. And I killed Shechem in the first place, and Simeon killed Hamor. And after this, the brothers came and struck the city with the edge of the sword. And my father heard it, and was angry, and was grieved, because they had received circumci-

- ^A sion, and after this died; and in the blessings he did otherwise. For we sinned, because we did this against his will; and he was afflicted on that day. But I saw that the sentence of God was for evils upon Shechem; because they wished to do to Sarah as they did to Dinah our sister; and the Lord prevented them. And thus they persecuted Abraham our father, being a stranger, and trampled upon his flocks, being swollen *when* with him; and Jeblai, born in his house, they beat severely. And thus they did to all strangers, by force seizing their wives, and driving them into exile. But the anger of the Lord came upon them to the end.

VII. And I said to my father: "Do not be angry, sir, because the Lord will bring to nothing the Canaanites before you, and will give their land to you, and to your seed after you. For from this day Shechem shall be called the city of the foolish; for as one derides a fool, so have we derided them; because they have wrought folly in Israel, to defile our sister." And taking from thence our sister, we set out and came to Bethel.

VIII. And there again I saw a matter, as before, after I had accomplished seventy days. ^B And I saw seven men in white raiment, saying to me: "Arise, put on the stole of the priesthood, and the crown of righteousness, and the breastplate of understanding, and the robe of truth, and the plate of faith, and the mitre of the sign, and the ephod of prophecy." And each one of them, carrying one thing, put them upon me, and said: "From henceforth become a priest of the Lord, you and your seed unto the age." And the first anointed me with holy oil, and gave to me the staff of judgment. The second washed me with pure water, and fed me bread ^C and wine, the Holy of holies, and put on me a holy and glorious robe. The third clothed me in a linen garment, like an ephod. The fourth put a girdle about me, like purple. The fifth gave me an olive branch of fatness. The sixth put a crown upon my head. The seventh put a diadem of priesthood upon my head, and filled my hands with incense, that I might serve as a priest to the Lord. And they said to me: "Levi, into three orders shall your seed be divided, for a sign of the glory ^D of the Lord who is to come; and he who believes shall be the first portion, and a great one shall not arise above him. The second shall be in the priesthood. The third, a new name shall be called upon him, because a King shall arise from Judah to the Lord, and shall make a new priesthood to all the nations, and to all the house of Israel.

^A His presence is ineffable, as of an exalted prophet [(26)] of the seed of Abraham our father. Every desirable thing in Israel shall be yours and your seed's; and you shall eat every thing that is beautiful to the view, and your seed shall dispense the table of the Lord, and of them shall be high priests, judges, and scribes; for in their mouths shall the holy thing be kept [(27)]. And having awakened, I understood that this is like unto that. And I kept this in my heart, and I did not tell it to any man upon the earth.

IX. ^B « And after two days, I and Judas went up to Isaac with our father; and the father of my father blessed me according to the words of my visions which I had seen; and he would not go with us to Bethel. But when we came to Bethel, my father Jacob saw in a vision concerning me, that I should be their priest to God. And rising early [(28)] he tithed all things to the Lord through me. And we came to Hebron to dwell; and Isaac kept calling me continually to remind [(29)] me of the law of the Lord, as the angel of the Lord had shown me. And he taught me the law of the priesthood, of sacrifices, of burnt-offerings, of first-fruits, of freewill offerings, of peace-offerings. And he was enlightening me every day, and was occupied with me before the Lord. And he said to me: "Beware, my child [(30)], of the spirit of fornication; for it will persist, and will be about to defile the holy things through your seed. Take therefore to yourself a wife, while you are still young, having no blemish, nor defiled, nor of the stock of aliens or of the nations. And before you enter into the holy things, wash; and when you sacrifice, wash; and when you finish the sacrifice, wash again. Offer to the Lord twelve trees that always have leaves [(fructus)], even as Abraham taught me. And offer sacrifice to the Lord of every clean beast and clean bird. And offer as first-fruits all your first-born and of your wine, a sacrifice to the Lord; and you shall season with salt every sacrifice." »

X. « Now therefore keep whatever I command you, my children; for whatever I heard from my fathers, I have declared to you. I am innocent of all your impiety and transgression, which you will do in the consummation of the ages, when you act impiously against the Savior of the world, deceiving Israel, and raising up against it great evils from the Lord. And you shall act wickedly with Israel, so that Jerusalem shall not endure before your malice; but the veil of the temple shall be rent, so that it shall not cover your shame [(31)]. And you shall be scattered as captives among the nations, and you shall be for a reproach, and for a curse, and for a trampling; for the house which the Lord shall choose shall be called Jerusalem, as the book of Enoch the just [(32)] contains. »

^A XI. « When, therefore, I took a wife, I was 28 years old, and her name was Melcha. And conceiving, she bore (a son), and called his name Gersam; for in our land we were sojourners; for Gersam is written as 'sojourning.' But I saw concerning him that he would not be in the first rank. And Kaath was born in the thirty-fifth year, toward the rising of the sun. And I saw in a vision that he stood in the midst of the heights of the whole congregation. For this reason I called his name Kaath, which is 'beginning of greatness' and 'instruction.' And a third time she bore me Merari in the fortieth year of my life. And because his mother had difficulty in childbirth, she called him Merari, which is 'my bitterness,' because he also died. But Jochabed was born in the sixty-fourth year in Egypt; and I was glorious then in the midst of my brethren.

^B XII. « And Gersam took a wife, and she bore him Lomni and Semei. And the sons of Kaath: Abram, Isaar, Hebron, and Oziel. And the sons of Merari: Mooli and Omusi. And in my ninety-fourth year, Abram took Jochabed, my daughter, for himself as a wife; for they were born on the same day, he and my daughter. I was eight years old when I entered the land of Chanaan; and eighteen years old when I killed Sichem; and nineteen years I performed the priesthood; and at twenty-eight years, I took a wife; and at forty years, I entered into Egypt. And behold, you are my children, the third generation. Joseph died in the one hundred and eighteenth year of my life. ^C XIII. « And now, my children, I command you that you shall fear ... »

[Regarding the Latin commentary on the lower half of the page:] XIII. And now, my children, I command you that you should fear... as for the contrary opinion of our author, R. Solomon Jarchi, who wishes her to have been born between the walls at the very entry into Egypt; but [that she was] conceived earlier, and thus counts her among the thirty-three souls who are said to have entered Egypt with Jacob (Gen. XLVI, 15). That this opinion also pleased other rabbis, Manasseh testifies in *Conciliator*, quest. 62, on Genesis. But Abenezra rightly contradicted these, urging by this reasoning that Jochabed would have been one hundred and thirty years old when she bore Moses; yet Scripture relates it as a miracle that Sarah, at ninety, bore Isaac. Therefore, he considers that Jacob himself must be counted among those thirty-three, while Jochabed was born long afterward in Egypt. ^D That R. Levi ben Gerson and Abarbanel feel the same as Abenezra, Manasseh reports in the cited place. And so also does our author, who furthermore designates the year of Levi's age in which Jochabed was born, which is entirely unknown to more recent rabbis. ID.

(33) Gersam. The scribe in the autograph erred, while he placed [the wrong name] for [the right name], with the letters beta and mu wrongly exchanged, just as a little before 'Lomni' was written for 'Domni'. As for these names of the descendants of Levi, and his whole genealogy, read Exod. vi, 16, seqq., from where our author seems to have described his own. ID.

(41) And now, etc. This passage, but slightly corrected, is recited from the manuscript of the Archbishop of Canterbury by Henry Wharton in his *Auctarium Historiae Dogmaticae* of James Ussher, *De Scripturis et sacris vernaculis*, chap. 2, pag. 322.

^A the Lord our God with all your heart, and walk in the simplicity of heart according to all his law. Teach also your children letters, that they may have understanding in all their life, reading the law of God unceasingly; for everyone who knows the law of God shall be honored, and shall not be a stranger wherever he goes. He shall also acquire many more friends than his parents, and many men shall desire to serve him, and to hear the law from his mouth. Do justice, my children, on the earth, that you may find it in the heavens; and sow good things in your souls, that you may find them in your life. For if you sow evils, you shall reap every trouble and tribulation. Possess wisdom in the fear of God with diligence; because if captivity should occur, and cities be destroyed, and regions, and gold, and silver, and every possession perish, no one can take away the wisdom of the wise, except the blindness of impiety and the hardness of sin; for it shall be glorious to him even among enemies, and a fatherland in a strange land, and in the midst of enemies a friend shall be found. If he teaches these things, and does them, he shall sit on a throne with a king, just as also Joseph our brother.

XIV. « And now, my children, I have known from the writing of Enoch that in the end you will act impiously, laying hands on the Lord in all malice; your brethren shall be confounded because of you, and you shall become a reproach to all the nations. ^C For our father Israel shall be clean from the impiety of the chief priests, who will lay their hands upon the Savior of the world. Pure is the heaven above the earth; and you are the luminaries of heaven, as the sun and the moon. What will all the nations do, if you become darkened in impiety, and bring a curse upon your race—you, upon whom has risen the light of the world, given in you for the illumination of every man? Wishing to extinguish this, teaching commandments contrary to the justifications of God, you will plunder the offerings of the Lord, and will steal from His portions; and before you sacrifice to the Lord, you will take the choicest parts; and eating in contempt with harlots, you will teach the commandments of the Lord in avarice; you will defile those who are under husbands; and you will violate the virgins of Jerusalem; and you will be joined with harlots and adulteresses; you will take the daughters of the Gentiles as wives, purifying them with an iniquitous purification; and your mixture shall become as Sodom and Gomorrah in impiety, and you will be puffed up in ^D the priesthood, elated against men; and not only them,

^A but also against the commandments of God, being puffed up, you will mock the holy things, deriding them in contempt.

XV. "For these things the temple, which the Lord shall choose, ^B shall be desolate in uncleanness, and you shall be captives among all nations, and you shall be an abomination among them, and you shall receive reproach and everlasting shame from the righteous judgment of God; and all who see you shall flee from you. And were it not for Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, our fathers, not one from my seed would be left upon the earth.

XVI. "And now I have known from the book of Enoch, that you shall go astray for seventy weeks, and you shall defile the priesthood, and you shall pollute the sacrifices, and you shall invalidate the law, and you shall set at naught the words of the prophets, in perversion you shall persecute righteous men, and you shall hate the pious, you shall abhor the words of the truthful, and you shall call the man who renews the law in the power of the Most High an impostor; and at the end, as you will think, you shall kill him, not knowing his resurrection, receiving innocent blood in wickedness upon your heads. And for his sake your holy places shall be desolate, profaned even to the ground; and there shall be no place for you that is clean, but among the nations you shall be for a curse and for dispersion, until he shall visit again, and having compassion shall receive you in faith and water.

XVII. "And since you have heard concerning the seventy weeks, hear also concerning the priesthood. For according to each jubilee the priesthood shall be. And in the first jubilee the first anointed into the priesthood shall be great, and he shall speak to God as a father; and his priesthood shall be full of the fear of the Lord; and in the day of his joy he shall arise for the salvation of the world. In the second jubilee the anointed ^C shall be conceived in the grief of those he loves, and his priesthood shall be honorable, and shall be glorified by all. The third priest shall be taken into grief. And the fourth shall be in pains; because iniquity shall multiply upon him into a multitude: and all Israel shall hate every one his neighbor. The fifth shall be taken into darkness: likewise also the sixth and the seventh. And in the seventh there shall be an abomination, which I cannot express, before the Lord and men; because they themselves who do them shall know. On account of this they shall be in captivity and in plunder; and their land and their substance shall be destroyed. And in the fifth week they shall return to the land of their desolation, and ^D they shall renew the house of the Lord. But in the seventh week shall come priests who are idolaters, warlike, avaricious, proud, lawless, licentious, corrupters of boys, corrupters of cattle.

XVIII. "And after that vengeance shall have befallen them

^A from the Lord, the priesthood shall fail; and then God shall raise up a new priest, to whom all the words of the Lord shall be revealed; and he shall execute a judgment of truth upon the earth in the fulness of days. And his star shall arise in heaven, ^B as a king, shedding forth the light of knowledge in the sun of the day; and he shall be magnified in the world until his ascension. He shall shine as the sun upon the earth, and shall remove all darkness from under heaven, and there shall be peace in all the earth. The heavens shall exult in his days, and the earth shall be glad, and the clouds shall rejoice, and the knowledge of the Lord shall be poured forth upon the earth, as the water of the seas; and the angels of the glory and of the presence of the Lord shall rejoice in him. The heavens shall be opened, and from the temple of glory shall come upon him sanctification with the Fatherly voice, as from Abraham to Isaac. And the glory of the Most High shall be uttered over him, and the spirit of understanding and sanctification shall rest upon him in the water. He shall give the majesty of the Lord to his children in truth for ever; and there shall not be succession to him for generations and generations until the age. And in his priesthood all sin shall come to an end, and the lawless shall rest from evil; but the righteous shall rest in him. And he shall open the gates of paradise, and shall remove ^C the threatening sword against Adam, and he shall give to the saints to eat from the tree of life, and a spirit of holiness shall be upon them. And Beliar shall be bound by him, and he shall give power to his children to tread upon the wicked spirits. And the Lord shall rejoice in his children, and the Lord shall be well pleased in his beloved ones for ever. Then shall Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob exult; and I will rejoice, and all the saints shall put on gladness.

XIX. "And now, my children, you have heard all: choose, therefore, for yourselves either the darkness or the light, either the law of the Lord or the works of Beliar." And we answered our father, saying: "Before the Lord we will walk, according to his law." And our father said: "The Lord is witness, and his angels are witnesses, and I am witness, and you are witnesses regarding the word of your mouth." And we said: "We are witnesses." And thus Levi fell asleep, giving these charges to his children, and he stretched out his feet, and was gathered to his fathers, having lived one hundred and thirty-seven years. And they placed him in a coffin; and afterwards they buried him in Hebron, ^D near Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.

CHAPTER IV. Testament of Judah, concerning fortitude, and avarice, and fornication.

I. Transcript of the words of Judah, whatever he spoke to his sons before he died. They gathered and came to him, and he said to them: "I was the fourth son born to my father, and my mother called me Judah, saying: 'I give thanks to the Lord, because He has given me also a fourth son.' I was swift and diligent in my youth, and obedient to my father in every word; and I used to bless my mother, and the sister of my mother. And it came to pass, when I became a man, that my father Jacob prayed for me, saying: 'You shall be a king, prospered in all things.' ^A

II. "And the Lord gave me grace in all my works, both in the field and in the house. As I saw [a deer], I used to run with the deer, and capturing it, I made food for my father. I used to overcome goats by running, and whatever was in the fields I would capture. I captured a wild mare, and capturing it, I tamed it; and I killed a lion, and I snatched a kid out of its mouth. Taking a bear by the foot, I rolled it down a precipice; and any wild beast, if it turned against me, I would tear it apart like a dog. I used to run with a wild boar, and getting ahead of it in running, I tore it apart. A panther in Hebron leapt upon a dog; and catching it by the tail, I threw it, and it was broken within the borders of Gaza. A wild ox feeding in the region I held by the horns, and whirl- ^B ing it around and stunning it, I threw it down and killed it.

III. "And when the two kings of the Canaanites came, clad in armor, against the flocks, and much people with them, I alone running against king Sur, seized him, and striking him upon the shins, I threw him down, and thus I killed him. And the other king, Taphue, sitting on a horse, I killed him, and thus I dispersed all the people. Achor the king, a man of the giants, shooting arrows before and behind, while on horseback, catching him, I hurled a stone of sixty pounds, and I gave it to the horse and killed him. And having fought Achor for two hours, I killed him, and having cut his shield into two parts, I hacked off his feet. But as I was taking off his breastplate, ^C behold, eight men, his friends, began to fight against me. Wrapping therefore my garment upon my hand, I struck them with stones from a sling, and I killed four of them; the others, however, fled. And Jacob our father killed Beelisa, king of all the kings, a giant in strength, twelve cubits tall. And terror fell upon them, and they ceased from fighting against us. On this account my father was secure in the battles, because I was with my brothers. For he saw in a vision concerning me, ^D

^A that an angel of might followed me in all things, that I should not be defeated.

IV. « And toward the south there occurred for us a battle greater than that in Shechem; and being drawn up in battle array with my brothers, I pursued a thousand men, and I killed of them two hundred men, and four kings. And I ascended upon them on the wall, and I killed two other kings; and thus we delivered Hebron, and we took all the captivity of the kings.

V. « And on the following day we went to Areta, a city powerful and walled, and inaccessible to us, threatening death. I, therefore, and Gad came from the east of the city; Ruben, however, and Levi from the west and the south. And the men who were upon the walls, thinking that we were alone, were drawn out toward us; and thus my brothers, lying in wait on both sides, ascended the wall with poles, and entered the city, while they were unaware. And we took it at the edge of the sword, and those who were fleeing into the tower, having set fire to the tower, we took with them. And as we were departing, the men of Thaphue attacked our booty; and when they had taken it with our children, we engaged with them as far as Thaphue; and we killed them, and we set fire to the city, after we had plundered all things that were in it. ^B

VI. « And as I was at the waters of Chuzeba, those from Jobel came against us for battle; and we engaged them, and we killed them, and those from Selon who were their allies; and we gave them no exit to come to us. And those who were from Mechir came upon us on the fifth day, to carry off the captives; and engaging them with a strong battle, we overcame them, because they were powerful in quantity; and we killed them before they ascended the ascent. But when we came to their city, their women were rolling stones upon us from the summit of the mountain on which the city was. And hiding, I and Simeon at the rear, we took the heights, and we destroyed the whole city. ^C

VII. « And on the following day it was told to us that the cities of two kings with a heavy force were coming against us. I, therefore, and Dan, feigning ourselves to be Amorites, came as allies into their city. But in the deep of night, when my brothers arrived, we opened the gates, and we destroyed them all, and plundering all their possessions, we leveled their three walls. And we approached Thamnæ, where was the entire refuge of the warring kings. Then, having suffered an injury, I was angered, and I made an attack upon them ^D

^A super verticem; and they were slinging stones and shooting with bows at me; and had not Dan my brother fought with me, they would have killed me. We came upon them therefore with fury, and they all fled; and passing by another way, they besought my father, and he made peace with them, and we did them no harm, but we took them into a covenant, and restored to them all their captives. And I built Thamnæ, and my father Rambahel. I was twenty years old when this war happened; and the Canaanites were afraid of me and my brothers. ^B VIII. «Now I had much cattle, and I had a chief of shepherds, Iran the Odollamite; having come to whom, I saw Barsan, king of Odollam. And he made a feast for us; and by entreaty he gave me his daughter Bessue to wife. She bore me Er, and Aunan, and Silom; of whom the Lord slew the two without children; for Silom lived, and his children are you.» ^C IX. «Eighteen years we made peace, our father and we, with his brother Esau, and his sons with us, after we came from Mesopotamia from Laban. And when the eighteen years were completed, in the fortieth year of my life, Esau the brother of my father came upon us with a heavy and mighty people; and he fell by the bow of Jacob, and was carried off dead upon Mount Seir; and going on above Eirramna he died. But we pursued the sons of Esau. Now they had a city, and a wall of iron, and gates of bronze; and we were not able to enter into it, but we sat around and besieged them. And when they did not open for twenty days, seeing them, I brought up a ladder, and my shield over my head; and I ascended, receiving stones up to the weight of three talents; and having ascended, I slew four of the mighty ones of them. And on the next day, Ruben and Gad entering, slew six others. Then they sought from us terms of peace; and being guided by the counsel of our father, we received them as tributaries. And they were giving us two hundred cors of wheat, five hundred of oil, and one thousand five hundred measures of wine, until we went down into Egypt.» ^D X. «After these things, Er my son takes to wife Thamar from Mesopotamia, daughter of Aram. Now Er was wicked, and he doubted concerning Thamar, because she was not from the land of Canaan. And the angel of the Lord slew him in the third night, and he had not known her, according to the craftiness of his mother; for he did not wish to have children from her; and he also died in wickedness. In the days of the bridal chamber I gave her Aunan as a husband; and he...

too in wickedness did not know her, having lived with her for a year. And when I threatened him, he did indeed come to her, but he destroyed the seed upon the ground, according to the command of his mother ^A. And he also died in wickedness. I wished to give her also to Silom, but my wife Bessue did not allow it; for she was malicious toward Thamar, because she was not of the daughters of Chanaan, as she herself was.

XI. And I knew that the race of Chanaan was wicked, but the counsel of youth blinded my heart. And seeing her pouring wine, I was deceived by the drunkenness of the wine, and I fell toward her. In my absence, she went and took Silom as a wife from the land of Chanaan. But when I realized what she had done, I cursed her in the pain of my soul; and she also died in the wickedness of her sons.

XII. ^B After these words, while Thamar was a widow, after two years she heard that I was coming up to shear my sheep, and being adorned in bridal ornaments, she sat before the city at the gate. For it is the law of the Amorites that the woman who is married should sit in prostitution near the gate for seven days. Being drunk, therefore, with the waters of Chozeb, I did not recognize her on account of the wine; and her beauty deceived me through the form of her adornment. And turning toward her, I said, "I will come in to you." And she said to me, "What will you give me?" And I gave her my staff, and my belt, and the crown of royalty; and when I lay with her, she conceived. And being ignorant of what she had done, I wanted to kill her; but she, sending the pledges in secret, covered me with shame. Summoning her, I heard also the mysterious words which I had spoken, sleeping with her, in my drunkenness; and I could not kill her, because it was from the Lord. I said, ^C indeed, "Lest she act deceitfully with me, having taken the pledge from another." But I did not touch her again until my death, because I had committed this abomination in all Israel. And those who were in the city said that there was no woman betrothed in the city; because she had come from another place and for a short time sat in the gate; and she thought that no one knew that I had gone in to her. And after these things we came into Egypt to Joseph because of the famine. I was forty-six years old, and I lived there seventy-three years.

XIII. And now, all that I command you, hear, my children, Judah your father, and keep all my words, to do all the righteous requirements of the Lord, and to obey the commands of God. And do not walk after your desires, nor in the thoughts of your ^D counsels, in the pride of your heart, and do not boast in the works of the strength of your youth,

^A for this also is pernicious in the eyes of the Lord. For because I also boasted that in wars the face of a beautiful woman had not deceived me, I reproached my brother Reuben concerning Balla, my father's wife; and the spirit of jealousy and fornication settled upon me, until I fell into Bessue the Canaanite, and into Thamar, who was betrothed to my sons. And I said to my father-in-law, "I will persuade my father, and thus I will take your daughter." And he showed me an infinite multitude of gold in the name of his daughter; for he was a king. And having adorned her with gold and pearls, he caused wine to be poured out for us at the banquet, in the beauty of women. And the wine perverted my eyes, and pleasure darkened my heart. And being enamored of her, I fell, and transgressed the commandment of the Lord and the commandment of my fathers, and took her as my wife. And the Lord recompensed me according to the counsel of my heart, because I did not rejoice in her children.

XIV. On Drunkenness

XIV. ^B "And now, my children, do not be drunk with wine; for wine turns the mind away from the truth, and instills the anger of desire, and leads the eyes into error. For the spirit of fornication has wine as a minister for the pleasures of the mind; for these two take away the power of man. For if one drinks wine to drunkenness, he troubles his mind with filthy thoughts toward fornication, and sets the body on fire for union; and if the occasion of desire is present, he works the sin, and is not covered with shame. Such is wine, my children, that he who is drunk respects nothing. For behold, it made me also to err, so that I was not ashamed before the multitude in the city; ^C for in the eyes of all I turned aside to Thamar, and I committed a great sin, and I uncovered the veil of the impurity of my sons. Having drunk wine, I did not respect the commandment of God, and I took a Canaanite wife. For he who drinks wine has need of understanding, my children; and this is the understanding of wine-drinking, that he should drink only as long as he possesses modesty; but if he passes this limit, the spirit of error enters the mind, and makes the drunkard speak basely, and act unlawfully, and not be ashamed, but rather to boast in his dishonor, thinking it to be good.

XV. "He who commits fornication and is stripped of his kingdom, goes forth ^D enslaved to fornication, just as I was stripped. For I gave my staff, that is, the support of my tribe; and my girdle, that is, my strength; and my diadem, that is, the glory of my kingdom. And repenting of these things, I took no wine or meat until old age, and I knew no joy at all. And the angel of God showed me that unto the end of the age, whether to a king or to a pauper, women will dominate; and they shall take away the glory of the king and the strength of the brave man, and from the pauper, the very least support of his poverty."

^A XVI. "Keep, therefore, my children, the limit of wine. For there are in it four pernicious spirits: of desire, of inflammation, of licentiousness, and of filthy lucre. If you drink wine in gladness, with the fear of God, being ashamed, you shall live. But if you drink without being ashamed, and the fear of God departs, then drunkenness ensues, and shamelessness enters in. But if you do not drink at all, so that you do not sin in words of abuse, and fighting, and slander, and in the transgression of the commandments of God, you will not perish before your time. For wine reveals the mysteries of God and men to foreigners (as I also revealed the commandments of God and the mysteries of Jacob my father to the Canaanite woman Bessue, which God forbade to reveal). And wine is also the cause of war and tumult."

^B XVII. "I command you, therefore, my children, not to love silver, nor to look upon the beauty of women; for because of silver and beauty I went astray to Bessue the Canaanite. For I know that because of these two things my race will be in iniquity; for they will lead away the wise men of my sons, and will cause the kingdom of Judah to be diminished, which the Lord gave me in the obedience of my father. For I never grieved the word of my father Jacob, for all that he said, I did. And Abraham, the father of my father, blessed me, that I should reign in Israel; and Isaac blessed me in like manner. And I know that from me the kingdom shall stand."

^C XVIII. "And I read in the books of Enoch the righteous what evils you will do in the last days. Beware, therefore, my children, of fornication and avarice. Hearken to Judah your father, for these things separate one from the law of God, and blind the counsel of the soul, and teach pride, and do not suffer a man to show mercy to his neighbor, and they deprive his soul of all goodness, and hold him in labors and pains, and remove sleep from him, and consume his flesh; and they hinder the sacrifices of God, and he remembers not his blessings, and he obeys not the prophet who speaks, and is offended by the word of piety. For one who serves two passions contrary to the commandments of God cannot obey God, because they have blinded his soul, and he walks in the day as in the night."

^D XIX. "My children, avarice leads to idols, because through silver they call those who are not gods, gods in error; and it causes him who possesses it to fall into ecstasy. Because of silver I lost my sons; and had not the repentance of my flesh, and the humility of my soul, and the prayers of Jacob my father intervened, I would have died childless. But the God of my fathers, the merciful and compassionate, knew that I did it in ignorance. For the prince of error blinded me, and I was ignorant, as a man, and as flesh, corrupted in sins. And I perceived my own weakness, ^A thinking myself to be invincible.

^B XX. Know therefore, my children, that two spirits attend upon man: the spirit of truth and the spirit of error; and in the midst is the spirit of the understanding of the mind, whose will it is to incline whithersoever it desires. And the things of truth and the things of error are written upon the breast of man, and the Lord knows each one of them. And there is no time in which the works of men can be hidden, because they are written upon the breast of the bones before the Lord. And the spirit of truth bears witness to all things, and accuses all; and he who sins is scorched from his own heart, and cannot lift up his face to the judge.

^C XXI. “And now, my children, love Levi, that you may remain, and do not exalt yourselves against him, that you may not be destroyed. For to me the Lord gave the kingdom, and to him the priesthood, and He subjected the kingdom to the priesthood. To me He gave the things upon the earth; to him, the things in the heavens. As the heaven excels the earth, so does the priesthood of God excel the kingdom that is upon the earth. For the Lord chose him above you to draw near to Him, and to eat of His table, and of the first-fruits of the delicacies of the sons of Israel; and you shall be to them as the sea. For just as in it the just and the unjust are storm-tossed, the one being taken captive, the other becoming rich; so too in you every race of men, some being in danger, taken captive, and others becoming wealthy by plundering. For those who reign shall be as sea-monsters, swallowing men like fishes; they will reduce free daughters and sons to slavery; they will plunder houses, fields, flocks, and money; ^D and for a great number they will unjustly satisfy ravens and ibexes with their flesh, and they will progress in evil, being exalted in greed. And false prophets shall be like tempests, and shall persecute all righteous men.”

XXII. “But the Lord will bring upon them divisions one against another, and there shall be continual wars in Israel; and in the midst of foreigners my kingdom shall be brought to an end, until the salvation of Israel comes, until the coming of the God of righteousness, that Jacob may rest in peace, and all the nations. And He Himself shall guard the power of my kingdom even unto the age. For by an oath the Lord swore to me, that my kingdom shall not fail from my seed, all the days, even unto the age.”

XXIII. “But there is much grief for me, my children, because of the indecencies, and witchcrafts, and idolatries which you will commit in the kingdom, following ventriloquists, divinations, and demons of error. You will make your daughters musicians and public women, and you will mingle yourselves in the abominations of the nations; for which the Lord will bring upon you famine, death, and the sword, a vengeful siege, and dogs for tearing, the reproach of enemies and friends, destruction and...”

^A such slaughter of your children, and the carrying off of your wives, the plundering of your possessions, the burning of the temple of God, and your own enslavement among the nations; and they shall make eunuchs of you for their wives, until you return to the Lord with a perfect heart, repenting, and walking according to all the commandments of God, and the Lord shall visit you in mercy, and lead you back from the captivity of your enemies.

XXIV. « And after these things shall a star arise to you from Jacob in peace, and a man shall rise up from my seed, as the sun of righteousness, walking with the sons of men in meekness and righteousness, and no sin shall be found in him. And the heavens shall be opened over him, to pour out the Spirit, the blessing of the holy Father; and he himself shall pour out the spirit of grace upon you, and you shall be to him sons in truth, and you shall walk in his commandments, the first and the last. This is the sprout of God ^B Most High, and this is the fountain for the life of all flesh. Then shall the sceptre of my kingdom shine forth, and from your root a shoot shall arise; and in him shall rise a rod of righteousness to the nations, to judge and save all that call upon the Lord.

XXV. « And after this shall Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob arise unto life; and I, and my brother-princes, shall be your sceptre in Israel: Levi first, second I, third Joseph, fourth Benjamin, fifth Simeon, sixth Isachar, and so on in order for all the rest. And the Lord blessed Levi; the angel of the presence, [blessed] me; the powers of glory, Simeon; the heaven, Ruben; the earth, Isachar; the sea, Zabulon; the mountains, Joseph; the tabernacle, Benjamin; the lights, Dan; ^C the pleasures, Nephthalim; the sun, Gad; the olive, Aser: and there shall be one people of the Lord, and one tongue; and the spirit of error of Beliar shall be no more, for he shall be cast into the fire for ever. And those who died in sorrow shall rise in joy; and those who were impoverished for the Lord’s sake shall be enriched; and those who were in need shall be satisfied; and those who were in infirmity shall be strengthened; and those who died for the Lord’s sake shall awake in life. And the deer of Jacob shall run in exultation, and the eagles of Israel shall fly in joy; but the ungodly shall mourn, and sinners shall weep, and all the peoples shall glorify the Lord for ever.

XXVI. « Keep, therefore, my children, every law of the Lord, for there is hope for all who direct their way according to Him. » And he said to them: « I die today, one hundred and nineteen years old, in your eyes. Let no one ^D bury me in a costly garment, or tear my...

that these things the rulers are about to do. ^A And bring me to Hebron with you." And when he had said these things, Judas fell asleep; and his sons did according to all that he commanded them, and they buried him in Hebron with his fathers.

CHAPTER V. Testament of Issachar, on simplicity.

I. The transcript of the words of Isachar. When he had called his sons, he said to them: "Hear, O children of Isachar, your father, incline your ears to the words of him who is beloved by the Lord. I was born the fifth son to Jacob, as the wage for the mandrakes. For Ruben brought mandrakes from the field, and Rachel meeting him took them. Ruben wept, and at his voice Lia my mother came out. ^B Now these were fragrant apples, which the land of Aram produces in the heights beneath the water-courses. And Rachel said: "I will not give them to you, for they shall be mine instead of children." Now there were two apples. And Lia said: "Let it be enough for you that you have taken the husband of my virginity; are you also going to take these?" But she said: "Behold, let Jacob be yours this night in place of the mandrakes of your son." And Lia said to her: "Do not boast, and do not glory; for Jacob is mine, and I am the wife of his youth." But Rachel said: "What then? Since he was joined to me first, and for my sake served our father fourteen years. What shall I do to you, since the deceit and craftiness of men have multiplied, ^C and deceit goes forward upon the earth? For if it were otherwise, you would by no means see the face of Jacob; for you are not his wife, but in deceit you were brought in instead of me. And my father beguiled me, and moving me away that night, he did not allow me to see; for if I had been there, this would not have happened." And Rachel said: "Take one mandrake, and in return for one I will hire him out to you for one night." And Jacob knew Lia, and conceiving, she bore me; and because of that wage I was called Isachar.

II. "Then the angel of the Lord appeared to Jacob, saying that Rachel would bear two sons, ^D because she had rejected the intercourse of a man, and had chosen continence. And if my mother Lia had not given back the two apples in place of intercourse, she would have been about to bear eight sons; because of this she bore six, and Rachel two, because in the mandrakes the Lord visited her. For He saw that it was for the sake of children that she wished to have intercourse with Jacob, and not for the sake of the desire of pleasure. For she even offered more on the morrow and gave up Jacob, in order to take the other mandrake. On account of this, the Lord heard Rachel regarding the mandrakes; because even though she desired them, she did not eat, but rather dedicated

them in the house of the Lord, offering them to the priest of the Most High who was at that time.

III. “When, therefore, I became a man, my children, I walked in the uprightness of my heart, and I became a husbandman for my fathers and my brothers, and I brought fruits from the fields in their season; and my father blessed me, seeing that I walked in simplicity. ^B And I was not a busybody in my deeds, nor malicious and envious of my neighbor. I did not speak evil of anyone, nor did I disparage the life of any man, walking in the simplicity of eyes. On account of this, at thirty years of age I took a wife for myself, because labor had consumed my strength; and I did not notice the pleasure of a woman, but through labor, sleep overcame me, and my father always rejoiced in my simplicity. For whatever I labored at, I would offer every fruit and every first-fruit first to the Lord through the priest, then to my father, and only then to myself. And the Lord doubled the good things in my hands. Jacob also knew that God cooperates with my simplicity; for to every poor man and to every afflicted person I provided the goods of the earth in the simplicity of my heart.

IV. “And now hear me, my children, and walk in the simplicity of heart, for I have seen in it every good pleasure of the Lord. The simple man does not covet gold, does not circumvent his neighbor, does not desire various foods, does not want diverse clothing, does not prescribe for himself long times to live, but only receives the will of God; and the spirits of error will avail nothing against him. For he does not know how to receive the beauty of a woman, ^C so that he might not defile his mind with perversion; no zeal will come upon his counsels; no envy consumes his soul, and he does not devise gain in insatiability; but he walks in the uprightness of life, and sees everything in simplicity, not receiving into his eyes the malignities from the error of the world, that he may not see anything of the commandments of the Lord perversely.

V. “Guard, therefore, my children, the law of God, and possess simplicity, and walk in innocence, not searching too curiously into the commandments of the Lord and the actions of your neighbor; but love the Lord and your neighbor, have mercy on the poor and the infirm. Submit your back to the tilling of the field, and to laboring in the works of the earth, offering gifts with thanksgiving to the Lord according to every agriculture; for in the first-fruits of the labors of the earth the Lord blessed you, as He blessed all the saints from Abel even until now. For no other portion is given to you than the fatness of the earth, ^D whose fruits are in pains; for our father Jacob also blessed me in the blessings of the earth and the first-fruits. And Levi and Judah were glorified by the Lord among the sons of Jacob. For the Lord gave them an inheritance, and to the one He gave

glorified by the Lord among the sons of Jacob. For God took the inheritance from them; and to one He gave the priesthood, and to the other the kingdom. Obey them, therefore, and walk in the simplicity of your father; for to Gad also it was given to destroy the temptations that come upon Israel.

VI. «I know, my children, that in the last times your children will forsake ^B simplicity and will cleave to avarice; and, forsaking innocence, they will draw near to wickedness; and forsaking the commandments of the Lord, they will cleave to Beliar; and forsaking agriculture, they will follow their own pernicious counsels, and they will be scattered among the nations, and will serve their enemies. Do you, therefore, tell these things to your children, so that if they sin, they may quickly return to the Lord; for He is merciful, and He will deliver them, so that they may return to their land.»

VII. «I am one hundred and twenty-two years old, and I have not known sin unto death upon me. Beside my wife, I have known no other; I have not committed fornication in the lifting up of my eyes; I have not drunk wine unto perversion; ^C I have not coveted anything that was my neighbor's; deceit was not in my heart; falsehood did not ascend through my lips. I have groaned with every man who was suffering pain, and I gave my bread to the poor. I did not eat alone; I did not remove the boundary; I practiced piety in all the days of my life, and truth. I have loved the Lord with all my strength, and likewise I have loved every man as my own children. Do this, my children, and every spirit of Beliar will flee from you, and every action of wicked men will not have dominion over you. And you shall subject every wild beast to service, having with you the God of heaven; walking with men in simplicity ^D of heart.» And he commanded them to carry him to Hebron, and there to bury him in the cave with his fathers. And he stretched out his feet, and the fifth [son of Leah] died in a good old age, having every limb sound, and in his strength he slept the sleep of eternity.

CHAPTER VI. Testament of Zebulun, concerning compassion and mercy.

I. Transcript of the Testament of Zabulon, which he drew up for his sons in the one hundred and fourteenth year of his life, two years after the death of Joseph. And he said to them: «Hear me, sons of Zabulon, attend to the words of your father. I...

am Zabulon, a good gift to my parents. ^A For when I was born, our father was greatly increased, both in flocks and in herds, when he obtained his portion by means of the variegated rods. I do not know, my children, that I have sinned in my days, except in my mind; nor do I remember that I have committed any iniquity, except for the ignorance that I committed regarding Joseph, in that I kept it hidden with my brothers, so as not to tell my father what had happened. And I wept much in secret; for I feared my brothers, because they had all conspired together that if anyone should reveal the secret, he would be put to the sword. Nevertheless, when they wanted to kill him, I testified much to them with tears, that they should not commit this iniquity.

II. «For Simeon and Gad came against Joseph to kill him; and falling on his face, Joseph said to them: ^B “Have pity on me, my brothers, have pity on the viscera of Jacob our father. Do not lay your hands upon me to shed innocent blood, for I have not sinned against you. But if I have sinned, chastise me with discipline, but do not lay your hand upon me, for the sake of Jacob our father.” As he spoke these words, I was moved to pity, and I began to weep, and my liver was dissolved within me, and all the substance of my bowels was loosened upon my soul. Joseph also wept, and I with him, and my heart trembled, and the joints of my body were shaken, and I could not stand. And seeing me weeping with him, and them coming up to kill him, he fled behind me, entreating them. Then Ruben arose and said: “Brothers, let us not kill him, but let us cast him into one of these dry pits ^C which our fathers dug and found no water.” For this reason the Lord forbade water to rise up in them, so that there might be a preservation for Joseph. And the Lord did so, until they sold him to the Ishmaelites.

III. «For I did not partake in the price of Joseph, my children; but Simeon, and Gad, and the other six brothers of ours, receiving the price of Joseph, bought shoes for themselves, and for their wives, and for their children, saying: “Because this is the price of our brother’s blood, let us not eat it, but let us trample it underfoot, because he said that he would reign over us; and let us see what his dreams portend.” ^D For this reason it is written in the scripture of the law of Enoch, that he who does not wish to raise up

^A seed to his brother, the sandal shall be loosened, and he shall be spat upon in the face. And the brothers of Joseph did not wish the life of their brother; and the Lord loosened for them the sandal of Joseph ^B before the gate, and thus they worshipped Joseph. For indeed, upon arriving in Egypt, they were loosened by the servants of Joseph, according to the type of Pharaoh. And not only did they worship him, but they were also spat upon, immediately falling down before him; and thus were they shamed before the Egyptians. For after this, the Egyptians heard all the evils that we had done to Joseph.

IV. “After this they sat down to eat. I, however, for two days and two nights did not taste food, having compassion on Joseph. And Judah did not eat with them; but he kept his attention upon the pit, for he feared that Simeon and Gad might leap down and kill him. And seeing that I was not eating, they set me to watch him until he was sold. He was in the pit for three days and three nights, and thus he was sold without food. And Reuben, hearing that he had been sold while he was absent, tore his clothes and mourned, saying: ‘How shall I see the face of Jacob my father?’ And taking the money, he ran ^C to the merchants, but found no one; for they had left the main road and traveled through the rocky defiles on a shortcut; and Reuben did not eat bread on that day. So Dan went up to him and said: ‘Do not weep, nor grieve; for I have found what we shall say to our father Jacob. We shall slaughter a young goat, and we shall dip the tunic of Joseph in it, and say: ‘Recognize whether this is the tunic of your son.’ For they had stripped our father's tunic from Joseph when they were about to sell him, and had put upon him the old garment of a slave. But Simeon had the tunic, and did not want to give it up, wishing to cut it to pieces with his sword, angry that Joseph lived and that he had not killed him. But we all rose up against him together and said: ‘If you do not give it, we will say that you alone committed this evil in Israel.’ And thus he gave it, ^D and they did as Dan had said.

V. “And now, my children, I announce to you to keep the commandments of the Lord, and to show mercy to your neighbor, and to have feelings of compassion toward all, not only toward men, but also toward irrational creatures. For because of these things the Lord blessed me, and while all my brothers were falling ill, I passed through without sickness; for the Lord knows the heart of each one. Have, therefore, mercy in your inward parts, my children, for as anyone does to his neighbor, so also does

^A the Lord do to him. For the sons of my brothers were sick and dying because of Joseph, since they did not show mercy in their inward parts; but my sons were kept without sickness, as you know. And when I was in Chanaan, on the sea-coast I hunted fish for Jacob my father; and while many were suffocated in the sea, I remained unharmed.

VI. “I was the first to make a boat to sail on the sea, for the Lord gave me understanding and wisdom in it; and I lowered a pole behind it, and spread a sail on a mast in the middle; and in it I traveled along the shores, fishing for my father’s house until we came into Egypt; and from my catch I gave to every stranger in compassion. And if there was a stranger, or sick, or aged, I would cook the fish and prepare them well, and provide them to everyone according to each one’s need, gathering and suffering together with them. For this reason the Lord caused me to catch much fish. For he who gives to his neighbor receives manifold more from the Lord. For five years I fished, giving to every man I saw, and sufficient for all my father’s house. In the summer I fished, and in the winter I pastured the flock with my brothers.

VII. “Now I will announce to you what I did. I saw a man afflicted in the nakedness of winter, and having compassion on him, I stole a garment from my house secretly and gave it to the afflicted one. You, therefore, my children, from what God provides to you, show mercy without distinction to all, and give to every man with a good heart. But if you do not have the opportunity at the time to give to the needy, have compassion in the bowels of mercy. I know that my hand did not find at the moment what to give to the needy, and walking ^C seven stadia more with him, I wept; and my bowels were stirred for him in compassion.

VIII. “And you, therefore, my children, have bowels of compassion toward every man in mercy, so that the Lord also may have mercy on you and be compassionate toward you; for even in the last days God sends his compassion upon the earth, and wherever he finds bowels of mercy, he dwells within it. For as much as a man has compassion on his neighbor, so much does God upon him. For when we went down into Egypt, Joseph did not remember the evil against us; but ^D seeing me, he had compassion. Looking upon whom, you also become forgetful of evils, my children, and love one another, and do not any of you account the wickedness of his brother.”

of his brother; for this divides unity, and scatters all kinship, and disturbs the soul. ^A For one who stores up malice has no bowels of mercy.

IX. "Attend to the waters, for when they move together, they draw along stones, wood, and sand; but if they are divided into many streams, the earth absorbs them, and they become worthless. So also you, if you are divided, you will be so. Do not be split into two heads, for everything God made has one head. He gave two shoulders, feet, and hands; but all the members obey one head. I know in the writing of my fathers that in the last days you will depart from the Lord, and you will be divided in Israel, and you will follow two kings, and you will do every abomination, and you will worship every idol, and your enemies will lead you captive, and you will sit among the nations in all infirmities, and tribulations, and ^B sorrows of soul. And after these things you will remember the Lord, and you will repent, and He will turn you back, for He is merciful and compassionate, not imputing evil to the sons of men, because they are flesh, and the spirits of error deceive them in all their actions. And after these things the Lord Himself will arise for you, the light of righteousness, and healing and mercy is in His wings. He will redeem all the captivity of the sons of men from Beliar, and every spirit of error will be trodden down; and he will turn all the Gentiles to envy Him; and you will see God in the likeness of a man, whom the Lord will choose, Jerusalem is His name. And again, by the malice of your words you will provoke Him to anger, and you will be cast away until the time of the consummation. ^C

X. "And now, my children, do not be sorrowful that I am dying, nor be cast down because I am leaving you. For I shall rise again in the midst of you, as a leader in the midst of his sons, and I shall rejoice in the midst of my tribe, as many as kept the law of the Lord and the commandments of Zabulon their father. But upon the ungodly the Lord will bring eternal fire, and will destroy them unto the generations. I go to my rest, as my fathers; but you, fear the Lord your God, with all your strength, all the days of your life." And having said these things, he slept a good sleep, and his sons placed him in a chest; afterwards, bringing him up to Hebron, they buried him with his fathers. ^D

CHAPTER VII. Testament of Dan, concerning anger and lying.

I. Transcriptum verborum Dan, quæ dixit filiis suis in ultimis diebus suis. Centesimo vicesimo quinto anno vitæ suæ vocans tribum suam, dixit:

^A “Hear, O sons of Dan, my words, and attend to the sayings of the mouth of your father. I have tested in my heart and in all my life that truth with just dealing is a good thing and pleasing to God, and that falsehood and anger are pernicious, since they teach man every wickedness. I confess to you today, my children, that in my heart I rejoiced at the death of Joseph, that true and good man, and I took pleasure in the selling of Joseph, because our father loved him more than us. For the spirit of jealousy and arrogance said to me, ‘Even you are his son.’ And one of the spirits of Beliar worked with me, saying, ‘Take this sword, and with it kill Joseph, and your father will love you when he is dead.’ This is the spirit of anger, persuading me that, just as a leopard devours a kid, so I should devour Joseph. But the God of Jacob my father did not deliver him into my hands, that I should find him alone; nor did He permit this ^B iniquity to be done, that the two scepters might be destroyed in Israel.

II. “And now, my children, I am dying, and in truth I say to you that if you do not guard yourselves against the spirit of falsehood and anger, and love truth and long-suffering, you will perish. There is blindness in anger, my children, and no angry man sees the face in truth; for even if it be father or mother, he regards them as enemies; if it be a brother, he does not know him; if it be a prophet of the Lord, he disobeys him; if it be a righteous man, he does not see him; he does not recognize a friend. For the spirit of anger wraps around him the nets of error, and blinds his natural eyes, and through falsehood darkens his mind, and gives him his own vision. But in what does it wrap his eyes? In hatred of the heart, and it gives him a heart of his own against his brother for envy.

^C III. “Pernicious is anger, my children; for it becomes the soul to the soul itself; and it makes the body of the angry person its own, and it lords it over the soul, and grants to the body its own power, so that it may perform every iniquity; and when the soul has acted, it justifies what has been done, because it does not see. For this reason, he who is angry, if he is powerful, has a triple power in his anger: one through the power and assistance of his ministers; the second through wealth, persuading and conquering in injustice; the third, having the natural power of the body, and working evil by himself. But if he who is angry is weak, ^D he possesses a double power beyond that which is natural; for anger always assists them in iniquity. This is…”

^A a spirit that always walks with falsehood at the right hand of Satan, so that his deeds may be done in cruelty and deceit.

IV. ^B "Therefore understand the power of anger, for it is vain. For it first provokes by a word, then strengthens the person who is being stirred up through deeds, and in bitter losses it disturbs his counsel; and thus it rouses his soul in great anger. When, therefore, anyone speaks against you, do not be moved to anger; and if anyone praises you as good, do not be puffed up, nor changed, either toward pleasure or toward a stern countenance. For first it pleases the hearing, and thus it sharpens the mind so that it may perceive what was reproached; and then, having become angry, one thinks it just to be moved to wrath. But if you fall into any loss or ruin, my children, do not mourn; for this very spirit causes one to covet what is lost, so that he may become angry through his desire. But if you suffer loss voluntarily, do not be grieved; for from grief, anger is raised up with deceit. For anger mixed with deceit is an evil that has a double face, and they converse with each other so as to disturb the counsel; and when the soul is constantly disturbed, the Lord departs from it, and Beliar ^C dominates it.

V. "Keep, therefore, my children, the commandments of the Lord, and observe His law; but depart from anger, and hate falsehood, that the Lord may dwell in you, and Beliar may flee from you. Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, and you will not fall into wrath and troubles, but you will be in peace, having the God of peace, and war will not prevail against you. Love the Lord in all your life, and one another with a sincere heart. For I know that in the last days you will depart from the Lord, and you will provoke Levi to anger, and will set yourselves against Judah; but you will not prevail against them. For the Angel of the Lord guides both, that Israel may stand in them. And when you depart ^D from the Lord, you will walk in all malice, doing the abominations of the Gentiles, committing fornication with the women of the lawless, and in all the malice of the spirits of error working in you. For I read in the book of Enoch the righteous that your prince is Satan, and that all the spirits of fornication and pride will obey Levi, to lie in wait for the sons of Levi and cause them to sin before the Lord. And my sons will draw near to Levi, and will sin with them in all things; and the sons of Judah will be in avarice, snatching the goods of others like lions. Because of this, you will be led away with them into captivity, and there you will receive all the plagues of Egypt, and all the wickedness of the Gentiles; and thus, returning to the Lord, you will obtain mercy, and He will lead you into His sanctuary, proclaiming peace to you. And there shall arise for you from the tribe of Judah and Levi the salvation of the Lord; and He shall make war against Beliar, and will give the vengeance of victory to our people."

and the souls of the saints he will deliver from Beliar, and he will turn disobedient hearts to the Lord, and will give to those who call upon him eternal peace, and the saints will rest in Eden, and the righteous will rejoice in the new Jerusalem, which shall be for the glorification of God unto the age. And Jerusalem will no longer endure desolation, nor shall Israel be led captive; for the Lord shall be in the midst of her, having conversed with men, and the Holy One of Israel reigning over them in humility and poverty: and he who believes in him shall reign in truth in the heavens.

VI. ^B « And now fear the Lord, my children, and pay heed to yourselves against Satan and his spirits. Draw near, however, to God, and to the angel who intercedes for you; for this one is a mediator between God and man, for the peace of Israel. He shall stand against the kingdom of the enemy; wherefore the enemy strives to subvert all who call upon the Lord. For he knows that in the day Israel believes, the kingdom of the enemy shall be brought to an end. This angel of peace shall strengthen Israel, that he may not fall into the final state of evils. But in the time of the iniquity of Israel ^C the Lord will depart from them, and will go after him who does his will, for there will be none among the angels who shall be as he is. His name shall be in every place of Israel, and among the Gentiles, Savior. Preserve yourselves, therefore, my children, from every pernicious work, and cast away anger and every lie, and love truth and long-suffering, and what you have heard from your father, transmit also to your children, that the Father of the nations may receive you; for he shall be truthful and long-suffering, meek and humble, and teaching the law of God through his works. Depart, therefore, from all injustice, and cleave to the righteousness of the law of the Lord. And bury me ^D near my fathers. »

VII. And when he had said these things, he kissed them and slept the eternal sleep. And his sons buried him; and after this they brought back his bones to be near Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But as Dan had prophesied to them, that they would neglect the law of their God, and would be alienated from the land of their inheritance, and from the people of Israel, and from their fatherland, so also it came to pass.

CHAPTER VIII. Testament of Naphtali, on natural goodness.

I. The transcript of the testament of Nephthali, concerning the things which he disposed in the time of his end, in the hundred and thirtieth year of his life. His sons having gathered together in the seventh month, on the fourth day of the month, while he was yet healthy, he made for them a feast and a magnificent drink. And after he had awakened in the morning, he said to them: « I am dying, » and they did not believe him.

^A And blessing the Lord, he confirmed that he would die after the supper of the previous day. He began, therefore, to say to his sons: « Hear, my children, sons of Nephthalim, hear the words of your father. I was born of Balla; and because Rachel acted cunningly and gave Balla to Jacob in place of herself, and I was born upon the knees of Rachel, for this reason I was called Nephthalim. And Rachel loved me, because I was born upon her knees; and seeing that I was tender, she kissed me, saying: "May I see a brother of yours from my womb, like unto you." Whence also Joseph was like me in all things, according to the prayers of Rachel. My mother, however, is Balla, the daughter of Ruthus, the brother of Debora, the nurse of Rebecca; which Balla was born on the same day as Rachel. ^B Now Ruthus was of the lineage of Abraham, a Chaldean, a worshiper of God, free, and noble. And when he was a captive, he was bought by Laban; and he gave to him his handmaid Enam as a wife; who bore a daughter, and called her Zelpha, by the name of the castle in which he was a captive. Afterward she bore Balla, saying: "My daughter is a new haste," for immediately upon being born, she hastened to suck milk.

II. ^C And because I was light of foot, as a deer, my father Jacob appointed me for every errand and announcement; and he blessed me as a deer. For just as the potter knows the vessel, how much it holds, and brings the clay to it, so also does the Lord make the body according to the likeness of the spirit, and He places the spirit according to the power of the body; and there is not even a third of one hair missing; for by weight, and measure, and rule, every creature of the Most High consists. And just as the potter knows the use of each individual one, what things it is able to suffice for, so also does the Lord know the body, how long it shall suffice in good, and when it begins in evil. For there is no creature, nor any thought, which the Lord has not known; for He created every man according to His own image. As his strength is, so also is his work; and as his mind is, so also is his work; and as his preference is, so also is his act; as his heart is, so also is his mouth; as his eye is, so also is his sleep; as his soul is, so also is his word, either in the law of the Lord, or in the law of Beliar. ^D And just as there is a division between light and darkness, between sight and hearing, so there is a division between man and man, and between woman and woman; and it is not to be said that in any respect there is a lack of face or of similar things.

^A For God made all things in order, and good: the five senses in the head, and he joined the neck to the head, and the hair for glory; then the heart for prudence, the belly for the digestion of the stomach, the reed for health, the liver for anger, the gall for bitterness, the spleen for laughter, the kidneys for craftiness, the loins for strength, the ribs for a sheath, the back for power, and the rest. So, therefore, my children, be in order in good things in the fear of God, and do nothing out of order in contempt, nor out of your proper time. For it is not possible, if you say to the eye, "Hear," so neither can you do the works of light in darkness.

III. ^B Do not, therefore, strive in avarice to corrupt your acts, or in empty words to deceive your souls, because by keeping silent in purity of heart you will be able to hold the will of God and to cast away the will of the devil. The sun and the moon and the stars do not change their order; so do not you change the law of God in the disorder of your acts. The nations, wandering and forsaking the Lord, changed their order, and followed stones and wood, following the spirit of error. But do not you so, my children, acknowledging in the firmament, in the earth, and in the sea, and in all created things, the Lord who made all these things, so that you do not become like Sodom, which changed the order of its nature. ^C Similarly also did the Watchers change the order of their nature, whom the Lord cursed at the flood, having on their account made the earth uninhabitable as regards habitation and fruits. ^D

^A IV. « This I say, my children, because I read in the holy Scripture of Enoch, that you also will depart from the Lord, walking according to all the wickedness of the Gentiles, and you will act according to all the iniquity of Sodom. And the Lord will bring captivity upon you, and you will serve there your enemies, and you will be encompassed by every affliction and tribulation, until the Lord has consumed you all. And after you have been diminished and made few, you will return and acknowledge the Lord your God; and He will restore you to your land, according to His great mercy. And it shall be, that when they come into the land of their fathers, they will again forget the Lord and act impiously, and the Lord will scatter them upon the face of all the earth, until the mercy of the Lord shall come, a man performing righteousness and performing mercy to all those who are far away and those who are near.

^B V. « For in the fortieth year of my life, I saw in the mountains of oil towards the east of Jerusalem, that the sun and moon stood still. And behold Isaac, the father of my father, says to us: "Running, take hold, each according to his strength; and the sun and moon shall be his who catches them." And we all ran together; and Levi caught the sun, and Judah, outstripping him, caught the moon; and both were exalted with them. And when Levi was as the sun, a certain young man handed to him twelve palm branches; and Judah was radiant as the moon, and under his feet were rays. And Levi and Judah, running to each other, took hold of one another. And behold, a bull on the earth, having two great horns and eagle’s wings on its back; and we, desiring to catch it, could not. But Joseph, outstripping us, caught it, and ascended with it on high. And I saw (for I was present there), and behold, a holy Scripture appeared to us, saying: "Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Elamites, Gelachaei, Chaldeans, Syrians shall possess in captivity the 16 sceptres of Israel."

VI. « And again after seven months, I saw our father Jacob, standing in the sea of Jamne; and we his sons were with him. And behold, a ship came sailing along, full of salted fish, without sailors or captain; and there was written upon it, The Ship of Jacob. And our father says to us: "Let us embark into our ship." And when we had embarked, a violent storm arose, and a blast of a great wind, and our father was swept away from us.

^A And we, tossed by the storm, were carried away onto the sea, and the ship was filled with water, broken by the waves so that it was even being shattered. And Joseph fled in a small boat; but we were separated, the ten of us, upon planks. Levi and Judah were together. We were all dispersed, even unto the ends of the earth. But Levi, clothed in sackcloth, prayed to the Lord for us all. And when the storm ceased, the vessel reached the land as if in peace. And behold, our father Jacob came, and we rejoiced with one accord.

VII. "These two dreams I told to my father, and he said to me: 'These things must be fulfilled in their own times, after Israel has endured much.' Then my father says: 'I believe that Joseph is alive; for I see always that the Lord numbers him with you.' And weeping, he said: 'You are alive, my son Joseph, and I do not see you, and you do not see Jacob who begat you.' And he made us weep also at these words. And I was burning in my inmost heart to declare that he had been sold, but I feared my brothers."

VIII. "Behold, my children, I have shown you the final times, for all things shall come to pass in Israel. Do you therefore command your children that they be united to Levi and to Judah. For through Judah shall salvation arise to ^B Israel, and in him shall Jacob be blessed. For through his sceptre God shall appear, dwelling among men on earth, to save the race of Israel; and he shall gather the righteous from among the Gentiles. If you work what is good, my children, both men and angels shall bless you, and God shall be glorified through you among the Gentiles, and the devil shall flee from you, and the wild beasts shall fear you, and the angels shall cleave to you. ^C For just as if one brings up a child well, he is always grateful and mindful, so also in a good work there is a good memory before God. But he who does not do the good, the angels and men shall curse, and God shall be dishonored through him among the Gentiles, and the devil shall claim him as his own vessel, and every wild beast shall have dominion over him, and the Lord shall hate him. For the commandments of the law are twofold, and they are fulfilled with skill. 'For there is a time for cohabiting with one's wife, and a time for abstaining from her for prayer.' And there are two commandments, and if they are not done in their order, they bring sin. So it is also with the remaining commandments. ^D Be therefore wise in God and prudent, knowing the order of his commandments and the ordinances of every matter, so that the Lord may love you."

IX. And when he had commanded them many such things, he prayed that they might transfer his bones to Hebron, and bury him with his fathers. And having eaten and drunk in gladness of soul, he covered

his face, and he died. ^A And his sons did according to all that Nephthalim their father had commanded them.

Chapter IX. TESTAMENTUM GAD, DE ODIO.

I. Transcript of the testament of Gad, which he spoke to his sons in the one hundred and twenty-seventh year (32) of his life, saying: "I was the seventh son born to Jacob, and I was valiant in the flocks. I kept the flock by night; and when a wolf, or a lion, or a leopard, or a bear came upon the flock, I would pursue it, and seizing its foot with my hand and twirling it in a circle, I would blind it, and casting it two stadia away, I would thus kill it. Now Joseph was shepherding the flock with us for about thirty days; and being delicate, he fell ill from the heat (35); and he returned to Hebron to his father; and he laid him down beside himself, because he loved him. And Joseph said to our father that the sons of Zelpha and Bala were slaughtering the choice animals and devouring them, without the knowledge of Judah and Ruben. For he knew that I had rescued a lamb from the mouth of a bear, and I had killed it, and I slaughtered the lamb (concerning which I was grieved, because it could not live), and we ate it; and he told our father. And I was troubled at this word of Joseph, ^B until the day of his sale into Egypt. And the spirit of hatred was in me; and I did not wish either to hear or to see Joseph. And he rebuked us to our face, because we ate the animals without Judah; and all that he said to our father, he persuaded him."

II. "I confess now my sin, my children, that I often wanted to kill him, because I hated him even to the soul, and there were no bowels of mercy in me towards him (37). And because of his dreams, I conceived hatred, and I wanted to remove him from the land of the living, just as a calf licks the grass from the earth (38). For which reason I and Judah (39) sold him to the Ishmaelites for thirty pieces of gold (40); and, hiding the ten, we showed the twenty to our brethren. And thus, through greed, I was hardened in my intent for his murder. But the God of my fathers delivered him from my hands, that I might not commit iniquity in Israel."

^A III. "And now listen, my children, to the words of truth, that you may do justice and all the law of the Most High; and do not go astray through the spirit of hatred, for it is evil in all the deeds of men. Everything that he who hates does is abominable; if he does the law of the Lord, he does not praise him; if he fears the Lord and desires what is just, he does not love him; he disparages the truth, he envies him who prospers, he embraces detraction, he loves arrogance; because hatred has blinded his soul, just as I looked upon Joseph.

IV. "Beware, therefore, my children, of hatred, because it commits iniquity against the Lord Himself. For he who hates does not wish to hear the words of His commandments regarding love for one's neighbor, and he sins against God. For if his brother stumbles, he wishes at once to announce it to all, and he hastens that he might be judged for this offense, and utterly perish. And if he be a servant, he accuses him before his master, and in every tribulation he sets upon him, if by any means he might kill him. For hatred works together with homicide, and, according to the progress of those who do well, hearing or seeing them, he always grows faint. For just as love desires to restore even the dead to life, and wishes to recall those who are under a sentence of death, so hatred wishes to kill the living, and deems those who have sinned even in a small matter, unworthy of life. For the spirit of hatred, through faint-heartedness, cooperates with Satan in all things unto the death of men; but the spirit of love co-operates with the law of God in long-suffering for the salvation of men.

^B V. "Hatred is evil, because it abides continually with deceit, speaking against the truth, and makes small things great, brings light to darkness, calls the sweet bitter, and teaches calumny, and war, and injury, and every abundance of evils, and fills the heart with diabolical poison. ^C Taught by experience, I say these things to you, that you may flee from hatred, and cleave to the love of the Lord. Justice casts out hatred, humility kills hatred. For the just and humble man is ashamed to do unjustly, not being reproved by another, but by his own heart, because the Lord protects his counsel. He does not detract from a man, because the fear of the Most High overcomes hatred. For he who fears does not offend the Lord; he does not wish at all, not even in thought, to do injustice against a man. These things I knew at last, ^D after I repented concerning Joseph. For that which departs from the Hebrew text, which has twenty pieces of silver (Gen. XXXVII, 28) — yet among the Hebrew Questions of Jerome, Vol. II, p. 540, A, edit. Paris, the ancient version held before itself 'twenty gold pieces.' But the new Vulgate has 'twenty silver pieces.' Hence Jerome himself in Matt. XXVI, Vol. IV, page 126, F: 'Joseph,' he says, 'was not, as many think according to the LXX Interpreters, sold for twenty gold pieces; but according to the Hebrew truth, for twenty silver pieces.' Concerning which matter Ambrose, in his book *De Joseph*, ch. 3, page 488: 'Therefore,' he says, 'we find Joseph bought elsewhere for twenty, elsewhere for twenty-five gold pieces, elsewhere for thirty.' So here also there is a diversity: either twenty, or thirty gold or silver pieces, etc."

I learned after I repented concerning Joseph. For true repentance according to God destroys disobedience ^A and puts darkness to flight, and illuminates the eyes, and provides knowledge to the soul, and guides the mind toward salvation; and things that it did not learn from men, it knows through repentance. For God brought upon me an illness of the liver, and had not the prayers of my father Jacob intervened, my breath would have almost departed from me (56). For through the things by which a man does wrong, through these he is also punished. Since therefore my liver was set mercilessly against Joseph, suffering mercilessly in my liver, I was judged for eleven months, the length of time during which I plotted against Joseph, until he was sol(d) (58).

VI.

VI. Concerning Repentance and Love.

VII. "If anyone prospers more than you, do not grieve; but also pray for him, that he may prosper perfectly. For perhaps it is expedient for you in this way; and if he is exalted on high, do not envy, remembering that all flesh will die. Offer a hymn to the Lord, who gives good and useful things to all men (31).

[continued from previous page] ...examine the judgments of the Lord, and thus your counsel will be released and will rest. ^A But if any one should become wealthy from evils, as Esau my father’s brother did, do not be envious; for you shall await the end of the Lord. For He either takes these things away in evils, or forgives those who repent, or keeps the unrepentant for eternal punishment. For the poor man, who is free from envy, thanking the Lord in all things, is himself made rich among all, because he does not have the pernicious distraction of men. Therefore, remove hatred from your souls, and love one another in the fullness of the heart.

VIII. “Do you also say these things to your children, that they may honor Judah and Levi: for from them shall the Lord rise for you, the Savior of Israel. For I knew that in the end your children will depart from them, and they will be in all wickedness, and malice, and corruption before the Lord.” ^B And resting a little, he said again to them: “My children, obey your father, and bury me near my fathers.” And drawing up his feet, he fell asleep in peace. And after five years they brought him back, and placed him in Hebron with his fathers.

CAPUT X.

Testament of Asher, concerning the two faces of malice and virtue.

I. The transcript of the testament of Aser, which he spoke to his sons in the hundred and twentieth year of his life. Still being in health, he said to them: “Listen, children of Aser, to your father, and I will show you everything that is right before God. God gave two ways to the sons of men, two counsels, and two acts, and two places, and two ends. ^C Therefore all things are two, the one over against the other. There are two ways, of good and evil; in which there are two counsels in our breasts, judging them. If, therefore, the soul wishes to be in good, all its action is in justice; and if it sins, it immediately repents. For thinking just things, and casting away malice, it immediately overthrows the evil, and roots out the sin. But if it inclines the counsel to evil, all its action is in malice, and rejecting the good it takes to itself the evil; and being placed under the dominion of Beliar, even if it does some good thing, it turns it into malice. For when it begins as if doing good, it leads the end of its action into an evil work. Because the treasury of the devil is filled with the poison of the pernicious spirit.

II. “Therefore,” he says, “his soul says that the good is above the evil, and he leads the end of the matter into malice. There is a man ^D...

^A who does not pity one ministering to him in evil; and this is double-faced, but the whole is wicked. And there is a man who loves the evildoer; he likewise is in malice, because he chooses even to die in evil for his sake. And it is manifest concerning this that he is double-faced, but the whole is an evil act. And even love itself is malice, concealing the evil; just as it is by name as if it were good, but the end of the action comes to evil. Another steals, does injustice, plunders, defrauds, and pities the poor; this too is double-faced, but the whole is wicked. He who defrauds his neighbor provokes God to anger, and swears falsely by the Highest, and pities the poor; he disregards and irritates the commander of the Law of the Lord, and gives rest to the needy; he defiles his soul, and makes his body shine; he destroys many and pities few; and this is double-faced. Another commits adultery, fornicates, and abstains from foods; and while fasting he does evil, and through power and wealth ^B he leads many astray, and out of swollen malice he performs commandments. And this is double-faced, but the whole is evil. Such people are like swine and hares, because they are half clean, but in truth they are unclean. For God has spoken thus on the tablets of the heavens.

III. “Therefore, my children, do not become double-faced like them, of goodness and of malice; but cleave only to goodness, because God rests in it, and men desire it; but flee from malice, destroying the devil by your good deeds; because those who are double-faced do not serve God, but their own desires, so that they may please Beliar and men like themselves.

IV. “For good men, ^C and those of a single face, even if they are thought by those who are double-faced to be sinning, are righteous before God. For many, in destroying the wicked, perform two works, evil for the sake of good, but the whole is good; because he who has rooted out the evil has destroyed it. There is one who hates the merciful man, and does injury to the adulterer and the robber; and this is double-faced; but the whole work is good, because he imitates the Lord, not accepting what seems good together with true evil. Another does not wish to see a good day with the profligate, so that he may not stain his mouth ^D and pollute his soul; and this too is double-faced, but the whole is good, because such people are like roes and deer; because in their wild nature they appear to be unclean; but in the whole they are clean, because in zeal

for God they walk, abstaining from those things which God also, hating through the commandments, forbids, warding off the evil from the good. ^A

V. « See then, my children, how there are two things in all, one against another, and one is hidden under the other. Death succeeds life, dishonor glory, night day, and darkness light; but all things are under the day, and all things that are just are under life; therefore eternal life awaits death; and it is not permitted to call truth a lie, nor the just unjust; because all truth is under the light, just as all things are under God. All these things I have proved in my life, and I did not wander from the truth of the Lord, and I sought out the commandments of the Most High, walking with all my strength in a single path toward what is good. ^B

VI. « Give heed, therefore, also you, my children, to the commandments of the Lord, following the truth with a single path; because those who are double-faced are punished doubly. Hate the spirits of error, which contend against man. Keep the law of the Lord, and do not look upon what is evil as good; but look toward the things that are truly good, and keep them in all the commandments of the Lord, turning back to Him, and resting in Him (because the ends of men make known their righteousness), recognizing the angels of the Lord, and of Satan. For when a troubled soul departs, it is tormented by the pernicious spirit to whom it also served in wicked desires and works; but if it has quietly and in joy recognized the angel of peace, he will console it in life. ^C

VII. « Do not become, children, as Sodom, which did not recognize the angels of the Lord, and perished unto the age. For I know that you will sin, and you will be delivered into the hands of your enemies; and your land will be desolated, and you will be dispersed to the four corners of the earth, and you will be despised in dispersion, as useless water, until the Most High visits the earth; and He, coming as a man, eating and drinking with men, and in quiet crushing the head of the dragon by water. Through water he will save Israel and all the Gentiles. God hidden in man. ^D Tell these things, therefore, to your children, that they may believe in Him. For I have read in the tables of heaven, that you who are unbelieving will not believe in Him, and in acting impiously, you will be >

of the heavens, because you will behave disobediently towards Him, and you will act impiously toward Him, not heeding the law of God, but the commandments of men. For this reason, you shall be scattered as were Gad and Dan, my brothers, who will not know their own lands, nor their tribe, nor their language. But the Lord will gather you together in faith, through the hope of His mercy, for the sake of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. » ^A

VIII. « And when he had said these things to them, he commanded them, saying: « Bury me in Hebron; » and he died, having fallen asleep in a good sleep. And after this his sons did as he had commanded them, and bringing him up, they buried him with his fathers. ^B

CHAPTER XI. Testament of Joseph, on chastity.

I. Transcript of the testament of Joseph. When he was about to die, calling his sons and his brothers, he said to them: « My sons and brothers, listen to Joseph, the beloved of Israel; give ear, O sons, to your father. I saw in my life envy and death, and I did not wander from the truth of the Lord. These brothers of mine hated me, and the Lord loved me; they wanted to kill me, and the God of my fathers kept me. They cast me into a pit, and the Most High brought me up. I was sold into slavery, and the Lord set me free. I was taken into captivity, and His powerful hand helped me. I was held in famine, and the Lord Himself nourished me. I was alone, and God comforted me. I was in sickness, and the Most High visited me. I was in prison, and the Savior made me glad; in bonds, and He loosed me; in false accusations, and He protected me; in the bitter words of the Egyptians, and He delivered me; in envy with deceits, and He exalted me. ^C

II. « And thus Photimar, the chief cook of Pharaoh, entrusted his house to me. And I wrestled against an impudent woman who was soliciting me to do iniquity with her. But the God of my father Israel kept me from the burning flame. I was cast into prison, beaten with stripes, and mocked; and the Lord caused the keeper of the prison to be moved with mercy towards me. For the Lord will not abandon those who fear Him.

^A For God is not ashamed as a man, nor does He fear as a man, nor does He grow weak or get rejected like an earthly being; but in all places He is present, and He comforts in diverse manners, withdrawing for a brief time to test the disposition of the soul. In ten temptations He showed me to be approved, and in all of them I was patient; for patience is a great medicine, and long-suffering gives many good things.

III. The Temptations of the Egyptian Woman

III. How often did the Egyptian woman threaten me with death, and how often did she hand me over to punishments and then recall me; and did she threaten me when I refused to lie with her? She used to say to me: "You shall be master over me and all that is mine, if you give yourself to me, and you shall be as our lord." I, however, remembered the words of the fathers of my father Jacob, and entering into my chamber, I prayed to the Lord ^B and fasted during those seven years, and I appeared to the Egyptian as one living in luxury; because those who fast for God's sake receive grace upon their countenance. And when wine was given to me, I would not drink it; and I would take my food every three days and distribute it to the needy and the infirm. And I would rise early to the Lord and weep for the Memphitian Egyptian, because she was exceedingly and unceasingly troublesome to me; and by night she would enter in to me, under the pretext of visiting me; and at first, because she had no male child, she pretended to hold me as a son. And I prayed to the Lord, and she bore a male. Until that time, she embraced me as a son; and I was unaware; but finally she drew me toward fornication. And perceiving ^C it, I was grieved even unto death; and when she went out, I came to myself, and I mourned for her many days, because I knew her deceit and her error. And I spoke to her the words of the Most High, in case she might turn from her wicked desire.

IV. "How often did she flatter me in words as if to a holy man, deceitfully praising my chastity before her husband with her words, while wishing to subvert me in private? She glorified me as chaste in public, and in secret she said to me: "Do not fear my husband; for he is convinced of your chastity; so that even if someone were to tell him about us, he would not believe it." For all these things, I used to lie on the ground dressed in sackcloth and beseech the Lord that He might deliver me from the Egyptian. When she could accomplish nothing, ^D she came to me again under the pretext of wishing to be instructed, that she might learn the word of the Lord; and she said to me: "If you wish me to abandon my idols, comply with me; and I will persuade the Egyptian to depart from his idols, and in the law of the Lord

^A (though He says: 'The Lord does not desire those who worship Him in uncleanness, nor is He pleased with adulterers')." And she kept silent, desiring to fulfill her desire, and I added fasting and prayer, that the Lord might deliver me from her.

V. "Again, at another time, she says to me: 'If you are unwilling to commit adultery, I will kill the Egyptian, and thus by law I will take you as my husband.' I, therefore, when I heard this, tore my garment and said: 'Woman, revere the Lord, and do not perform this wicked deed, so that you may not be destroyed; for I will also proclaim the plan of your impiety to all.' Fearing, therefore, she begged that I would not announce her wickedness to anyone; and she departed, tempting me with gifts, and sending me all things that are for the use of the sons of men.

VI. "And she sent me food mixed with sorcery. And when the eunuch came bringing it, I looked, and saw a terrible man, handing me a sword with a dish. And I understood that this curiosity was for the seduction of my soul. And when he went out, I wept, and tasted neither that nor any other of her foods. After one day, she came to me and recognized the food, and says to me: 'Why is it that you did not eat of the food?' And I said to her: 'Because you have filled it with death. And how did you say that I do not approach idols, but to the Lord alone? Now, therefore, know that the God of my father revealed to me through an angel ^B your wickedness, and I kept the food as a refutation of you, if perhaps by seeing it you might repent. But in order that you may learn that the wickedness of those who act impiously does not prevail over those who worship God in chastity,' taking it before her, I ate, saying: 'The God of my fathers, and the angel of Abraham, will be with me.' And she fell upon her face at my feet, and wept; and I raised her up and admonished her; and she agreed not to perform this impiety again.

VII. "But her heart was still set upon me for immorality, and she fell down groaning. When the Egyptian saw her, he says to her: 'Why has your face fallen?' She said: 'I am in pain, for I grieve in my heart, and the groanings of my spirit constrain me.' And he treated her for not being sick. Then she leapt upon me, while her husband was still outside, and says to me: 'I am suffocated; either into a well, or over a precipice I will throw myself, if you do not comply ^C with me.' And understanding that the spirit of Beliar disturbs her, praying to the Lord, I said to her: 'Why are you troubled and in an uproar, blinded in sins? ^D Remember that if you kill your-

- ^A self, Sethon, your husband’s concubine, your rival, will buffet your children and blot out your memory from the earth.' But she said to me: 'If, then, you love me, it suffices for me alone that you protect my life and that of my children; and I have the expectation of enjoying my desire.' And she did not know that I said this because of my God, and not because of her. For if anyone falls into an onslaught of pernicious desire, and is enslaved to it, as she was, even if he hears something good, he takes it for the desire to which he is overcome, toward that pernicious desire.

VIII. I tell you, children, that the hour was about the sixth when she went out from me; and I, bending my knee to the Lord the whole day and the whole night, continued, and at dawn I arose, weeping and asking for deliverance from the Egyptian woman. Then at last she laid hold of my garments, pulling me by force to have intercourse. So when I saw that she was madly holding my garments, I fled naked. And she slandered me to her husband; and the Egyptian cast me into the prison which was in his house; and on the next day, having scourged me, he sent me to the prison of Pharaoh. And when I was lying bound ^B in chains, the Egyptian woman was sick from grief, and kept listening to me, as I praised the Lord with hymns in the house of darkness, and with a cheerful voice, rejoicing, I glorified my God alone, because by this occasion I was removed from the Egyptian woman.

IX. Many times she sent to me, saying: "Deign to fulfill my desire, and I will deliver you from the bonds, and rescue you from the darkness." And not even in my thoughts did I incline toward her. For God loves more the one who fasts in chastity in a pit of darkness than him who lives in luxury in store-chambers with dissipation. Whosoever lives in chastity and wishes for glory, if the Highest knows that it is profitable, He grants him these things also, as He did to me. How often, though she was sick, did she descend to me at an untimely hour, and heard the voice of me praying? But I, understanding her sighs, was silent. For even when I was in her house, she bared her arms and breasts and legs, that I might fall into her ^C snares; for she was very beautiful, and greatly adorned, that she might deceive me. And the Lord preserved me from her attempts.

X. See, therefore, my children, how much endurance and prayer with fasting accomplish. And therefore, if you also follow sobriety and chastity in endurance and humility of heart, the Lord will dwell in you, because He loved sobriety. But where the Highest dwells, even if anyone falls into envy, or ser- ^D

servitude, or false accusation, ^A the Lord who dwells in him, because of his chastity, not only delivers him from evils but also exalts and glorifies him, as He did me. For truly, a man is contained either in deed, or in word, or in thought. My brothers know how my father loved me, and I was not exalted in my heart; even though I was a child, I had the fear of God in my mind. For I knew that all things pass away, and I governed myself, and I honored my brothers. And because of my fear of them, I kept silent when I was being sold, so as not to tell the Ishmaelites my lineage—that I was the son of Jacob, a man great and powerful.

XI. « And do you, therefore, have the fear of God in your conduct, and honor your brothers. For everyone who does the law of the Lord will be loved by Him. When, therefore, I came to the Indocolpitae ^B with the Ishmaelites, they kept asking me, and I said that I was a slave from a house, so that I would not shame my brothers. But their leader said to me: “You are no slave, for your very appearance shows it about you,” and he threatened me even with death. But I kept saying that I was their slave. And when we came to Egypt, they fought over me, as to who would pay a greater price to take me. Because it seemed good to all of them that I should be in Egypt for the exchange of their merchandise, until they should return carrying goods. And the Lord gave me grace in the eyes of the merchant, and he entrusted his house to me. And the Lord blessed him through my hand, and increased his store of silver and gold; and I was with him for three months and five days.

XII. « At that time, the Memphitic wife of Petephris ^C passed by with great glory, and she cast her eyes upon me, because the eunuchs had spoken to her about me. And she says to her husband about the merchant, that he had become rich through the hand of a certain Hebrew youth; but people say, moreover, that they stole him by theft from the land of Canaan. “Now, therefore, perform a judgment with him, and take the youth away to be your steward; and the God of the Hebrews will bless you, for the grace from heaven is upon him.”

XIII. « Petephris, being persuaded by her words, ordered the merchant to be brought, and says to him: “What is this I hear, that you are stealing souls from the land of the Hebrews ^D to sell them as slaves?” The merchant then fell on his face, beseeching him, saying: “I pray you, master, I do not know what you are saying.” But he said: “Whence, then, do you have the Hebrew boy?” And he said: “The Ishmaelites entrusted him to me, until their return.”

But he did not believe him; but he ordered him to be whipped while naked. And as he persisted, Petephris said: “Let the youth be brought in ^A.” And having been brought in, I bowed down to the chief eunuch; for he was third in dignity under Pharaoh, chief of all the eunuchs, having wives, and concubines, and children. And having separated me from him, he said: “Are you a slave, or free?” And I said: “A slave.” And he says to me: “Whose slave are you?” And I say to him: “Of the Ishmaelites.” And again he says to me: “How did you become their slave?” And I said: “Because they bought me from the land of Canaan.” And he did not believe, saying: “You are lying,” and he ordered me to be whipped while naked.

XIV. “But Memphitica [Potiphar's wife] saw me through a window being whipped, and she sent word to her husband, saying: ‘Your judgment is unjust, because you punish even the free man who was stolen, as one who acted unjustly.’” And when I did not change my story while being whipped, he ordered me to be imprisoned ^B until, he says, the masters of the boy arrive. And his wife says to him: “Why do you keep a captive noble boy, whom it would have been better to release, and have him serve you?” For she wished to see me in the desire of sin; and I was ignorant of all these things. But he said to Memphitica: “It is not permitted among the Egyptians, before proof is given, to take away another's property.” This he said concerning the merchant, and concerning me, for I ought to be kept incarcerated ^C.

XV. “But after twenty-four days the Ishmaelites arrived; and because they had heard that Jacob my father was grieving for me, they said to me: ‘Why did you say that you are a slave? For behold, we have learned that you are the son of a great man in the land of Canaan, and your father is grieving for you in sackcloth.’” And again I wanted to weep, but I restrained myself, so as not to shame my brothers. And I said: “I do not know this; I am a slave.” Then they took counsel to sell me, so that I would not be found in their hands. For they feared Jacob, lest he take vengeance upon them for the danger. For it had been heard that he is great with the Lord and with men. Then the merchant says to them: “Release me from the judgment of Petephris.” Approaching, therefore, they asked for me, saying: “Say that you were bought from us for silver, and he will release us.”

XVI. “But Memphitica revealed to her husband that he should buy me: ‘For I hear,’ she says, ‘that they are selling him.’” And he sent a eunuch to the Ishmaelites ^D, and he asked for me for sale; and not wishing to do so with them, the chief steward then called the Ishmaelites and asked for me for sale.

^A He left, and the eunuch, having been tested by them, showed the mistress that they were asking a great price for the boy. She then sent another eunuch, saying: "If they ask even for two minas of gold, take heed, do not spare the gold; only buy the boy and bring him to me." So he gave them eighty gold pieces for me, but told the Egyptian woman that a hundred had been given for me. Seeing this, I remained silent, so that the eunuch might not be examined.

XVII. "See, my children, how much I endured, so that I would not put my brothers to shame. You, therefore, love one another; in forbearance, hide one another's faults. For God delights in the harmony of brothers, and in the choosing of a heart that is well-pleasing in love. And when my brothers came into Egypt, once they knew that I had returned the silver to them, and I did not reproach them, but even comforted them, and after the death of Jacob I loved them even more abundantly, and everything that he commanded ^B I did in abundance, and they were amazed. For I did not allow them to be afflicted, even for a small thing. And everything that was in my hand, I gave to them. Their children were my children, and my children were as their servants. Their soul was my soul, and all their pain was my pain, and all their infirmity was my infirmity. My land was their land; my counsel was their counsel; and I did not exalt myself among them in pride, because of my worldly glory, but I was among them as one of the least.

XVIII. "If, therefore, you also walk in the commandments of the Lord, my children, He will exalt you here, ^C and will bless you with good things forever. And if anyone should wish to do you evil, you, in kindness, pray for him; and you shall be delivered from every evil through the Lord. For behold, you see that because of my long-suffering, I even took the daughter of my masters ^D as my wife; and a hundred talents of gold were given to me with her; since the Lord made them serve me. And the beauty

^A of it He gave to me, as a flower over the beautiful, faultless.

XIX. Hear, my children, even the dreams which I saw. Twelve harts were grazing, and nine were divided and dispersed throughout the earth; likewise also the three. And I saw that from Judah a virgin was born, having a linen robe; and from her came forth a spotless Lamb, and from His left side, as it were a lion; and all the wild beasts rushed against Him, and the Lamb overcame them, and destroyed them unto ^B trampling. And the angels, and the men, and all the earth rejoiced over Him. But these things shall happen in their own time, in the last days. Do you, therefore, my children, keep the commandments of the Lord, and honor Judah and Levi; for from them shall rise to you the Lamb of God, by grace saving all the nations and Israel. For His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, which shall not be shaken. But my kingdom among you shall be brought to an end, as a fruit-keeper’s shelter, for it shall not appear after the harvest.

XX. I know that after my death the Egyptians will oppress you; but God will execute your vengeance, and will lead you into the promise of your fathers. But carry up my bones with you; for when my bones are being led up, the Lord will be in light with you, and Beliar will be in darkness with the Egyptians. And bring up Zelpha your mother, and near Balla beside the hippodrome, near Rachel, lay her. And having said these things, ^C having stretched out his feet, he fell asleep an everlasting sleep. And they lamented for him with a great lamentation; and all Israel and all Egypt mourned for him. For he was also...

And all Israel and all Egypt mourned him with great mourning. For ^A he had also compassion on the Egyptians, as if they were his own members, and he did good to them, assisting them in every work, and counsel, and task.

CHAPTER XII. Testament of Benjamin concerning a pure mind.

I. The transcript of the words of Benjamin, which he bequeathed to his sons, having lived one hundred and twenty years. And kissing them, he said: “As Isaac was born to Abraham in his hundredth year, so was I to Jacob. And because Rachel died when she gave birth to me, I had no milk. I therefore suckled at the breast of her handmaid, Bilhah. For Rachel, after she had borne Joseph, was barren for twelve years; and she prayed to the Lord with fasting for twelve days; and conceiving, she gave birth to me. For our father loved Rachel exceedingly, and prayed to see two sons from her. On this account I was called the son of days, which is Benjamin.

II. “When, therefore, I entered into Egypt, and my brother Joseph recognized me, he said to me: ‘What did you tell my father when they sold me?’ And I said to him, that you stained your tunic with blood, and sending it ^B they said: ‘Recognize if this is the tunic of your son.’ And he says to me: ‘Indeed, brother. For when the Ishmaelites were taking me, one of them, stripping me of my tunic, gave me a loincloth and, whipping me, told me to run. And while he was going away to hide my garment, a lion met him and killed him. And so his companions, being afraid, sold me to their associates.’

III. “And you, therefore, my children, love the God of heaven and keep His commandments, imitating the good and holy man Joseph. And let your mind be toward the good, as you know me to be. He who has a good mind sees all things rightly. Fear the Lord, and love your neighbor; and if the spirits of Beliar incite you into every malice of tribulation, no malice of tribulation will dominate you, just as it did not dominate my brother Joseph. How many men wanted to kill him, and God protected him? For he who fears God and loves his neighbor cannot be wounded by the aerial spirit ^C of Beliar, being protected by the fear of God; and he cannot be overcome by the plots of men or of beasts, being aided by the love of the Lord which he has toward his neighbor. For I besought our father Jacob that he might pray for our brothers, that the Lord might not impute to them what they had devised in wickedness against him. And thus Jacob cried out: ‘O sons

of Joseph, you have overcome the affections of Jacob, your father.’ ^A And embracing him, he kissed him for two hours, saying: ‘In you shall be fulfilled the prophecy of heaven concerning the Lamb of God, and the Savior of the world, that He, being blameless, shall be delivered up for the ungodly, and being without sin, shall die for the wicked in the blood of the covenant, for the salvation of Israel and the Gentiles, and shall destroy Beliar and those who serve him.’

IV.

The Testament of Benjamin

V. « If you have a good mind, my children, even evil men will be at peace with you; and the profligate, constrained to reverence you, will turn to good; and the covetous will not only depart from their passion, but will also give their superfluities to those who are afflicted. If you are doing good, even the unclean spirits will flee from you, and the very wild beasts will fear you. For where there is fear of good works in the mind, darkness flees from it. For if someone insults a holy man, he repents; for the holy man has mercy on his insulter, and is silent. And if a just soul is betrayed, even if the righteous man is humbled for a little while, afterwards he appears much more ^C brilliant, as indeed Joseph my brother became.

VI. « The counsel of a good man is not in the hand of the spirit of error, Beliar. For the angel of peace guides his soul. He does not look upon corruptible things with desire, nor does he gather riches for the purpose of pleasure; he is not delighted by what is luxurious, nor does he cause distress to his neighbor; he is not filled with food, nor does he wander about with the uplifted eyes of pride; for the Lord is his portion. Good counsel does not accept the glory or the dishonor of men, and it knows nothing of any deceit or falsehood, ^D of strife or of railing.

^A For the Lord dwells in him and illuminates his soul, and he rejoices towards all at every time. A good mind does not have two tongues—of blessing and cursing, of indignity and honor, of sorrow and joy, of quiet and agitation, of hypocrisy and truth, of poverty and wealth; but it has one sincere and pure disposition towards all. It does not have double sight or double hearing; for in everything that he does, or speaks, or sees, he knows that the Lord visits his soul, and he purifies his mind so as not to be condemned by God and men. But every work of Beliar is double, and it has no simplicity.

VII. ^B Therefore, my children, flee the malice of Beliar, for he gives a sword to those who obey him. And the sword is the mother of seven evils. First, the mind conceives through Beliar. And the first is envy; second, perdition; third, tribulation; fourth, captivity; fifth, want; sixth, agitation; seventh, desolation. For this reason also, Cain is delivered by God to seven vengeances. For every hundred years the Lord brought one plague upon him. For two hundred years he suffered, and in the nine hundredth year he is desolate in the flood, because of Abel his righteous brother. For seven hundred years Cain was judged, and Lamech for seventy times seven; because those who are assimilated to Cain in envy toward fraternal hatred will be judged by the same punishment unto eternity.

VIII. ^C And you therefore, my children, flee malice, envy, and fraternal hatred, and adhere to goodness and love. He who has a pure mind in love, does not look upon a woman with a view to fornication; for he has no defilement in his heart, because the Spirit of God rests in him. For just as the sun is not defiled by touching dung or mire, but rather dries both and drives away the stench, so too a pure mind, while held fast in the defilements of the earth, rather builds up, but is not itself defiled.

IX. I perceive, however, that your actions will not be good, from the words of Enoch the righteous. For you will commit the fornication of Sodom, and you will perish for a short time, and you will renew the same with women in lust, and the kingdom of the Lord will not be among you; for He will take it away immediately. ^D Nevertheless, in your portion there shall be the truth.

temple of God, and it shall be glorious among you. For the Lord Himself shall receive the kingdom, and the twelve tribes shall be gathered there, and all the nations; until the Most High shall send forth His salvation in the visitation of the Only-begotten. And He shall enter into the first temple, and there the Lord shall be insulted and scorned, and shall be lifted up upon a tree. And the veil of the temple shall be rent, and the Spirit of God shall descend upon the nations, as fire poured forth. And rising from the grave, He shall ascend from earth into heaven; and He knew how humble He was upon earth, and how glorious in heaven.

^B X. When Joseph was in Egypt, I longed to see his appearance and the form of his countenance; and through the prayers of Jacob my father I saw him, while waking in the day, even as he was in every respect. Know, therefore, my children, that I am dying. Perform, therefore, truth and righteousness, each one with his neighbor, and judgment unto the faithfulness of the operation, and keep the law of the Lord and His commandments. For these things I teach you instead of any inheritance. And do you, therefore, give them to your children as an everlasting possession. For this did Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. All these things they gave us as an inheritance, saying: "Keep the commandments of God, ^C until the Lord reveals His salvation to all nations." Then shall ye see Enoch, Noah, and Shem, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob rising from the right hand in gladness. Then shall we also arise, each one over our own tribe, worshipping the King of the heavens, who appeared on earth in the form of a man of humility. And as many as believed in Him on earth shall rejoice with Him, when they also shall all arise, some unto glory, and others unto shame. And the Lord shall judge Israel first, for the injustice committed against Him, because they did not believe in God when He came in the flesh as a deliverer. And then shall He judge all the nations, as many as did not believe in Him when He appeared upon earth; and He shall convict Israel among the elect of the nations, even as He convicted Esau among the Midianites, who deceived ^D him to become their brother through fornication and idolatry; and they were estranged from God, falling away from the inheritance of the children, who do not fear God. But you, if you walk in sanctification according to

the face of the Lord, shall dwell again in hope in me; and all Israel shall be gathered to the Lord. ^A

XI. And I shall no longer be called a ravenous wolf, because of your rapines, but a worker of the Lord, distributing food to those who work what is good. And there shall arise from my seed in the last times the beloved of the Lord, hearing his voice, illuminating all the Gentiles with new knowledge, kindling the light of knowledge in Israel unto salvation, and snatching away as a wolf from them, and giving to the Synagogue of the Gentiles; and until the consummation of the ages he shall be in the synagogues of the Gentiles, and among their rulers as a musical melody in the mouth of all; and he shall be written in the holy books, both his work and his word; and he shall be the elect of God for all ages; and for his sake my father Jacob instructed me, saying: "He shall fill up the deficiencies of thy tribe." ^B

XII. And when he had finished his words, he said: "I command you, my children, carry up my bones from Egypt, and bury me in Hebron near my fathers." And Benjamin died at the age of one hundred and twenty-five years, in a good old age; and they placed him in a coffin. And in the ninety-first year before the departure ^C of the sons of Israel from Egypt, they and their brethren carried up the bones of their fathers in secret, into the place called Chanaan; and they buried them in Hebron, near the feet of their fathers. And they returned from the land of Chanaan, and dwelt in Egypt, until the day of their departure from the land of Egypt.

The End of the Twelve Testaments of the Sons of Jacob.

^D Expliciunt Testamenta XII patriarcharum secundum translationem domini Roberti Grosseteste, Lincoln. episcopi.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

The years of the birth of the Patriarchs according to the mind of the author of the XII Testaments are to be designated, and therefore the beginnings are to be understood. Wherefore the ends of the years are always to be sought in the following numbers.

[For the table of years 159–189, see the facsimile. Note: the column "DINE." and "BENJAMIN." are aligned at the bottom right.]

(a) When Jacob had completed the seventh year of servitude, then at last he took Leah as his wife. Rightly, therefore, the firstborn son is referred to the following year, which was the eighth of servitude. (b) In the eighth year of Levi they entered Canaan, Levi 12. And yet, since it is established that this occurred in the twentieth year of servitude, Levi was born in this year according to the mind of the Author. (c) In this year Issachar seems to have been born, younger than Judah and older than Zabulon. However, the Author provides no note of the year. (d) Nephthali [is] older than Joseph, Nephthal. 1. (e) Gad, although according to the order of these testaments he is the ninth son, and is said to be such in the Oxford Greek codex, yet in the order of births he seems to have been the seventh son, as is stated in the Cambridge Greek [codex] and the Latin version of Robert. (f) When Zabulon was born ("at the time of my birth," he says) Jacob was increased in flocks by the lot of the rods, Zabul. 1. Whence it is evident, from the mind of the author, that the birth of Zabulon is to be ascribed to one of those years in which Jacob served Laban for wages from the cattle, not to those in which he performed service for his daughters. (g) The birth year of Joseph, in the mind of this author, falls in the twentieth year of servitude, the last for the sake of the cattle, which, however, the Sacred Scriptures refer to the end of the fourteenth year of servitude for the sake of his daughters, when he had not yet contracted for wages from the cattle, Gen. XXX, 25, 31 seqq. (h) In the eighteenth year of his age, Levi killed Shechem, Levi 12. From which passage the looser number of § 2 is to be explained and determined, where Levi says he was about twenty years old when he committed this slaughter. (i) In the nineteenth year of his age, Levi [became] a priest, Levi 12, that is, he became a priest and was taught the rite of sacrifices by his grandfather Isaac, who was still alive at that time. (j) Benjamin born in year of Jacob 100, that is, completed. Benjam. 1. Therefore in the year of Jacob 101, as it was passing. (k) In the twentieth year of Judah. War against the Canaanites. Jud. 7.

^C Esau, son of Jacob, Jud. 9. Mention is made of Jacob’s bow in Gen. XLVIII, 22. But it was against the Amorites, not the Idumaeans. Judah was not yet in Egypt, ibid. Nay, there follows one year in which he lived with Onan, the son of Tamar. Then two years of widowhood before Judah had relations with her, chapter 11, 12. ^D (l) Zebulon, year 38, or 39, he began to fish; 5 years before they descended into Egypt, Zab. 6. (m) For Naphtali, the dreams in his 40th year, which suppose that he was still in Palestine, not yet in Egypt. Nephth. 5. Seven months after. Nephth. 6. After the sale of Joseph, and yet before they descended into Egypt. Nephth. 7. (n) Levi descended into Egypt in the 40th year of his age. Levi 12. But the number above [40] is missing. For Judah, who was younger than Levi, was then in his 46th year. Jud. 12. Therefore Levi had completed his 49th year, which fell within the 130th year of Jacob, in which they descended into Egypt. Gen. XLVII, 9. (o) In the 46th year of Judah, the descent into Egypt. From then he lived in Egypt for 73 years. Jud. 12. (p) In the 64th year of Levi, Jochabed was born. And indeed in Egypt. Lev. 11. On the same day her husband Amram was born, Lev. 12.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE TESTAMENTS OF THE XII PATRIARCHS

In the 94th year, Jochabed married Amram.

(…) died in the 120th year of his life, in the same year as Joseph. Sim. 1, 8. They guarded the bones of Joseph, so that they might not be carried off into Egypt, until he was buried by Simeon. Sim. 1. Hence also [we conclude] that both died in the same year, according to Hebrew calculations.

Levi died in his 118th year; Joseph [died in his 110th year]. Lev. 12.

(…) died in the 125th year of his life, two years after the death of Joseph. Rub. 1.

(e) Zabulon died in the 114th year, [reckoned as] the one hundred and fourteenth year. [Text reads:] in the one hundred and fourteenth year. Conversely, correctly, 2 years after the death of Joseph, which is [confirmed by] Zab. 1.

(f) Judas died in the 119th year. Jud. [refers to] Rubenem. Rub. 1.

(g) Issachar died in the 119th year of his age.

(h) Dan died in the 119th year of his age. “After these things they carried up his bones,”

^A We have derived the position of the patriarchs for the most part from the year of Joseph’s death. Moreover, we have learned the date of Joseph’s birth from the birth of Benjamin, and in what manner it must be connected to the age of Jacob and the era of the promise made by God to Abraham. These facts, when compared with one another, demonstrate what position those patriarchs hold within the 430 years counted from that promise—if not truly, then at least according to the hypotheses of this author. I confess, however, that accurate markers of time are missing ^B for the other patriarchs, and in their absence, we must indulge in reasoning, which must nevertheless be sought from the author’s own arguments. Thus, the birth of Issachar must necessarily be referred to some year midway between the births of Judah and Zebulun. However, what our author meant regarding the sons of the handmaids is very obscure. They are to be placed such that they are younger than Judah, yet all surpass Joseph in age. For after Judah was born, Rachel gave her handmaid to her husband, to bear children in her own name, when Leah had ceased to bear. Gen. XXIX, 35. This implies that the departure meant Leah had interrupted her childbearing for at least one year. Therefore, in that very year which Leah omitted, Rachel bore her first son by Bilhah, namely Dan, and in the following [year] his second, Naphtali. Thus Rachel had two sons in the space of time in which Leah bore only one, Issachar. Hence she boasts that her sister was surpassed by her in the struggle of childbirth. Soon, however, Leah, emulating her sister’s example, likewise gave her handmaid Zilpah to her husband; so much so that the first son of Zilpah, Gad, coincided with the same year as Naphtali, yet so that he was slightly younger than Naphtali. Asher and Dinah are referred to the following years, whom the text of Genesis shows to have been older than Joseph. Nor will any gap remain between Judah and Joseph. Thus Dinah was in her twelfth year when she was abducted, while her brother Levi, according to our author’s mind, was in his twentieth. Namely, one year older than the marriageable age, according to the custom of the Romans. Thus, the death of Gad falls in the year of the Promise CCXCV. That is, the forty-fifth year before the translation of their remains. For the author believed that after Joseph’s death, the remains of Joseph, lest they be transferred to Hebron, were guarded by the Egyptians due to a certain Oracle which he invents: nor was it permitted from that time to bury the other Patriarchs, who died after him, in Hebron. Thus we read in the Testament of Simeon, ch. 8. He says, therefore, that the surviving Patriarchs were hidden in chests until there was respite from the Egyptians, by which they might transport the chest to Hebron. Thus in the Testament of Reuben, the last chapter: “And they put him in a chest, until they brought him up from Egypt and buried him in Hebron in the double cave, where his fathers slept.” And in Simeon, ch. 8: “And they put him in a chest of wood which does not rot, so that they might bring back his bones to Hebron.” In Levi, last chapter: “And they put him in a chest, and afterwards buried him in Hebron,” etc. We see here that the same work was performed in procuring the burials of several Patriarchs. Therefore, from this, the places in the other Testaments in which the same thing is implied, though more obscurely, are to be understood. We are taught the time in the Testament of Benjamin, in which the Israelites transferred all the Patriarchs, except Joseph, to Hebron: namely, that it was the ninetieth year before the exodus of the sons of Israel from Egypt. For this is what both Greek Codices say. Therefore, the Latin codices are wrong, which add yet another year. For it is truly very likely that Robert Grosseteste used no other codex to prepare his version ^C than the Cambridge one, or one very similar to it. But, conversely, the Greek is to be corrected from the Latin: Καὶ ἐν τῷ ἐτει τῷ ἐνενηκοστῷ τῆς ἐξόδου. It should be read πρὸ τῆς ἐξόδου. That year, the ninetieth before the Exodus, was the same as the four-hundred-and-thirtieth from the promise made to Abraham. If one trusts this Author, the Patriarchs were translated then.

(a) Gad died in the 125th year of his age. Gad 1. But according to the Latin codices, in the 127th; yet he certainly lived, according to the arguments of our author, after Joseph. For he, when dying, gives instructions regarding his mother Zilpah, that she be buried near Bilhah and Rachel, as it seems, the sons of Zilpah, both Gad and Asher. Indeed, he even lived after Reuben. For he addresses both when dying. Rub. 1. (b) Asher died in the 126th year of his life. Gr. As. 1. For one must not trust the exemplar of Robert Grosseteste where it diverges from the Cambridge codex. He certainly lived after Joseph and Reuben, as is clear from what was said above. (c) Naphtali died in the 130th year. Gr. Oxon. 132. Ms. Trin. Neph. 1. (d) Levi died in the 137th year of his life. Lev. 19. Exod. VI, 16. His descendants were still only of the third generation, Lev. 12. Therefore, no children had yet been born from the marriage of Amram and Jochebed, according to the hypotheses of this author. Not even Miriam was born, who, when Moses was born, was a young girl. (e) Benjamin died in the 125th year of his life. Benj. 1, [he is] the last only by position of the preceding list. (f) In the 340th year of the promise, the Israelites transferred the remains of the Patriarchs to Hebron, except for those of Joseph. For the arguments of this author, namely. Moses was born in the 350th year of the Promise. For he was 80 years old in the 430th year of the promise, when he departed from Egypt. Thus Amram would have been 121 years old when Moses was born, according to the arguments of this author. All other things regarding Amram [are found in] Demetrius, and are indeed more plausible. ^D