This volume of the Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project contains the text, critical apparatus, translation, and introduction to the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, in which the Jewish author claims he has recorded the final words of the twelve sons of Jacob.
Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the winter of 1947, the composition was extant only in Greek, Armenian, and Slavonic manuscripts, with late Aramaic and Hebrew copies of some Testaments. The earliest Greek manuscript of this pseudepigraphon dates to the tenth century CE. All these manuscripts, which reveal creative evolutions, postdate the second century CE, and Christian additions are obvious. It is easy to imagine why early Christians thought this work, like the prophets in the Old Testament, prophesied the coming of the Christ, namely Jesus from Nazareth.
Long before 1947, scholars believed that the work was almost completely Jewish and pre-Christian with minor Christian interpolations. M. de Jonge concluded, shortly after 1950, that the work had been composed by a Christian, using older Jewish traditions. Later he stated that the composition, in Greek, preserved not only original Jewish sections proved by the Dead Sea Scrolls but also Christian interpolations and Christian redactions that are not easy to clarify.
The present work provides all the information necessary for continuing the search for more representative answers. James H. Charlesworth introduced, edited, and translated the Qumran manuscripts of the Testaments. Lea Berkuz assisted Charlesworth during the final years of the edition. Henry W. Morisada Rietz and Loren L. Johns served, as in previous volumes, as Associate Editors. This masterpiece clarifies the rich theology and history of early Judaism in which Christianity began to evolve and warns us that it is frequently impossible to separate Jewish and Christian ideas, terms, and concepts before about 200 CE, the time of the Mishnah and long after each document in the New Testament had been composed.
