Lorenzo DiTommaso

A Report On Pseudepigrapha Research Since Charlesworth's Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

This essay examines the state of research on the Pseudepigrapha and related literature since the publication of J.H. Charlesworths Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (1983—85). The current research is rich in scope, generally excellent in quality, and truly international in character. While in previous decades only a few scholars of the first rank were associated with the study of this literature, now many of the best scholars work in the field. In addition, the widespread availability of the Pseudepigrapha in translation has precipitated a far greater familiarity with these texts. Although there is still work to be done, it is not too much to suggest that at no point in the past has the Pseudepigrapha been the object of such remarkable and sustained work.

Dating the Eagle Vision of 4 Ezra: a New Look at an Old Theory

One of the best-known apocalyptic visions of ancient Jewish literature is that of the ’Eagle Vision’ of 4 Ezra 10.60-12.36.1 These chapters relate how Ezra, the Seer, has a dream in which a great eagle, festooned with three heads and a multitude of wings, rises from the sea. When the dream is interpreted, the eagle’s body parts are identified as kings, each of whom in his turn holds sway over the earth and its inhabitants.

Pseudepigrapha Notes IV: 5. The Testament of Job. 6. The Testament of Solomon

This is the fourth in a series of articles intended to present the results of manuscript research or provide bibliographic updates relevant to the study of the ‘Old Testament Pseudepigrapha’. It is usually reported that the Testament of Job is extant in three Old Slavonic manuscript copies, and that the Testament of Solomon is preserved in one Syriac manuscript and one Arabic manuscript, both of which remain unpublished. These statements do not accurately reflect our present knowledge.

Book Review: Michael E. Stone, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha and Armenian Studies: Collected Papers, Volumes I and II. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 144-145. Leuven/Paris/ Dudley, MA: Peeters, 2006. Cloth, xix + xviii + 939 pp. ISBN: 9042916435/ 9042916443

the identi cation of the Last Roman Emperor were continually updated in light of new information. It is clear that this process was markedly diminished in the post-1200 copies, a fact which in my opinion supports the author’s proposition that after the twelfth century the Latin text was being used for purposes other than to calculate the end of time. On the other hand, the post-1200 copies continue to bear witness to textual emendation, if diminished in scope, and here we might also bring into the picture the tremendous amount of textual variance exhibited by the Version IV copies, which, as noted, Holdenried has discovered, as well as the evidence of the Old French copies, which date from the same era (see Jeanne Baroin and Josiane Haffen, La prophétie de la Sibylle Tiburtine: édition des MSS B.N. fr. 375 et Rennes B.M. fr. 593, and the recent studies by Julien Abed). In short, apocalyptic texts can and do serve multiple purposes; Holdenried herself admits that ‘different meanings could co-exist’ (p. 169). If the Sibyl had become a ‘Prophetess of Christ’ by the late Middle Ages (N.B. München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek cod. icon. 414, which Holdenried cites in Appendix I but does not discuss), she also remained the voice by which the end of the world was foretold.

Pseudepigrapha Notes III: 4. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in the Yale University Manuscript Collection

This is the third in a series of articles intended to present the results of manuscript research or provide bibliographic updates relevant to the study of the ‘Old Testament Pseudepigrapha’. This article identi¿es and discusses the importance of manuscript copies of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, and in several cases provides editions of their texts.

Pseudepigrapha Notes II 3. The Contribution of the Manuscript Catalogues of M.R. James

This is the second in a series of articles intended to present the results of manuscript research or provide bibliographic updates relevant to the study of the “OT Pseudepigrapha.” This article discusses the contribution of the manuscript catalogues compiled by M.R. James (1862—1936), FBA, and the author of Apocrypha Anecdota (1893), Apocrypha Anecdota II (1897), the Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament (1920), and The Apocryphal New Testament (1924).

Pseudepigrapha Notes I: 1. Lunationes Danielis; 2. Biblical Figures outside the Bible

This is the first in a series of articles introducing (1) new texts or new copies of known texts from manuscripts, and (2) thematic updates to the Bibliography of Pseudepigrapha Research, 1850–1999. This article presents some new manuscript copies of the Lunationes Danielis (the lunar prognosticon attributes to the prophet Daniel) and a working bibliography of secondary sources on the apocryphal texts and traditions associated with .gures from the Hebrew Bible.