( TBSTAMENTS TESTAMENTSOF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS menbin * *n1 :' Jays.'And I saw seven a : Israel.'b.Then the angelled me back to the earth, and gave me a-shieldand ;i;" the vestmentsof the Priesth 'Perform mrth' t sword, and said to me-, vengeanceon Shechemfor the sakeof Dinah, -O.tt^Oing' the robe of 'At I put an 4 your slster,and I shallbe with you, for theLord sentme.' that time ' ;; tht aPronfor ProPheticPower 'And I said 'rlotn on be a s lnd to the sonsof Hamor, aq ls written-1tlthel4ttets of the fathers'" . ;;; iiio, now 'I gavt to him, beg you, Lord, tea n.yo,u^inthe : with holYoil and 'I ;i"A;" a r day of tribula:tion.'.e,nd he said, am the angelwho makesintercessiond for the i"t"t. r.J*. bYhand with bread .And rn€son I naiionIsrael, that they might not be beaten.' afterthis I awoke"and blessed -,.' t.tgntnt. 'The third put on the Most High. ' uound ;;J:': wood'T::J*l::l'The sixthPle 5i'tlJ fill , 6 ..enO as I was going to my father, I found a brassshield. Thus the nameof t. oti"tifv"ii"" diademon, me.and is Asfis, wtrictr il nearGebal to the right oflbima.".'And I guarded r"r theLord God'd 2 the mountain ;".;il;l as i I thesewords in my heart..Then I advisedmy fatherand Reubenthat they tell the u" OiuiAiOinto threeottices sonsof Hamorthat they shouldnot be circumcised,bbecause I wasfilled with zeal 'And 4 on accountof the abominablething they had doneto my sister. I destroyed - rThen Gcn}.5] :ffi a s Shechemfirst, andSimeon destroyed Hamor. my brotherscame and destroyed shallfound Jub30: ]i l"ftmiA;ad 'His e thatcity by the sword..when my fatherheard of this he wasangry and sorrowful, t .nJ fit all nations' Presenc fath becausithey had receivedcircumcision and died," and so he passedus by in his :- ;;;.ft;i of Abraham' our shal z blessings..ihur *e sinnedin doing this confary to his opinion, and hetecame ;;;; lsrael, and You 'But 'Guilty,' because.theyhad ' them s sick th;t very day. I sawthat God's sentencewas ilt*Y will shareamong our 'u" at wanted to Ob ttr6 samething to Sarah and Rebeccathat they did to Dinah' Pti.ttt, joOges'and scribes' .They was thz s sister.But the Lord preventedthem. persecutedAbraham when he a . vfii;i-;;okJ, I understood grossly " not nomad,and they harissedhis flocks when they were pregnant,and they fttott as well' and I did 'This iu r0 mistreatedEblain,d who had beenborn in this house. is how they treated 'But trrcs:';c rr the nomadicpeople, seizing their wives and murderingthem. the wrath of "nnO after wo daYsJudab 9-*unalurtt.t. I God ultimatelycame uPon them. r 'And mY father's wantI t f,-.dtt"n. And he did not ,.And 'Through visioob r 7 I saidto my father,Jacob, you theLord will bringthe canaanites t" f"tit.t, Jacob,saw. a z to nothingand wif give their land to you and your descendantsafter you.'For si.so,zsr andPaid tithes f' .. iia;;;;;'lY 'Anc from thistay forward,Shechem shall be called"city ofthe Senseless,""because . io tf"Uton to settlethere' 'because sister Deut22:2i *re 3 asone mighi scoff at a fool, so we scoffedat them, by defilingmy : ,.t"tliu"te the Law of I they comiritted folly in Israel,' 'and we left thereand cameto Bethel' tueht me the law of the Pnest , t."t"i offglnssfol Produce, me'A r 8 ..ThereI againsaw the vision as formerly,uafter we had beenthere seventy ' himselfwith it is consra "i.,iiii"gof PrbmiscuitY, for c. The tablets are thought of as the rccord of b. In this passage-thoughnot in Gen 3ul-- divine historicaldecrees, which are fixed and im- bvi's oppositionto circumcisingthe Shechemites lacob as clcrl mutable,just as werethe lawswritten by the hand was basedon his determinationto kill them in b. Jub 32:3 rePreselts The investirurettc ofGod (Ex 2412;32:15f.;Deut 9:9, 11, l5). revenge,but he wantedto do so without resortto rrt. ptitritv guttdns however *venmen (ansels?)wt d. The intercessoryangel served a necessary a subterfugeand withoutinvolving them, i, #J"#i uv judsn when stt€sson the notion of superficially,in the sacredrites of the covenant ;;:;;' ;; ,it 'ix whoexecute function at a time in a morccr: God'stranscendence distanced him from mankind, people. ;:;:'ii';';; is orfered asin thisdocument. Michael fulfills thismediatorial c. Circumcisionis notmentioned in theaccounts ';4'{'ll*;lp:h'.'.ffi role in Dan 10:13,2l; l2:l (cf. lEn 20:5).An of this incidentin Jub 30 or Josephus,Ant l.2l' apparentlyon the ground that it was wrong to kill unnamed"one" intercedesin lEn 89:76 and in sir 45:&i angelof peaceaids the faithful in TDan ciriumcisedpersons. In the Gen 49 accountof ;;;; ;i;;; 1ns1 2$;r-4r; 90:14.The ttion Thevittues lir TAsh6:4; TBenj 6:1; and in lEn 52:5;53:4. Jacob's deathbedPronouncements, Simeon and ii a uriersxetch 6:5; reminiscentof I In lEn 40:8 the rolesof Michael and that of the Levi arecursed; in Deut33, Moses'farcwell bless- uiour-**tntt are but promiselevi the roles of Godis described angelofpeace are linked. Cf. alsoRev l2:7; TMos ings omit Simeon Jn"t"-O"" "f priest and instructor in the Law of God (Deut lhll'rn. "*"t l0:lf. in Ex2t:41-4 vision is ended,but the messageis to be 33:8-l1). *ointing'as e. The 'ii't" robing.the.higt guaded until th€ time appropriatefor its disclosure d. Eblaen is otherwiseunknown. The textual rlt,z' pt**iof variants. is descnbedin (6:2), with which is to be comparedDan 4:25 traditionoffers a wide ralge of i."1indnt*"nt ol -A wineare Melchizedek's GXX). i#"J n iiiis,.i. P' r to'+'lQaPGen 22:14 7 a. Sir 50:25-26declares that the "foolish peo- foodand dr is unknownas .i.ft*ta*'t uringing 6 a. The commonGk. word cspis ple" of Shechemate a non-nation; cf. CD of the co phenomenonwhich suggeststhat "ir"fiui *ittt no elaboration a placename, a 13.23-t4.2. the text as we haveit, includingthe namesof the *talutr," o -,tt.- ttit* of theinvestiture locales, originated in a Gk,-speakingsetting. diade E a. Jacob'svision (Gen 28:10-l?l 35:9; Jub it gi"ingof the priestly- ADr'na, though not distinctively Gk, is also other- reference textual varianis 2?:1F27) is replace&-orsupplemented-in Tlevi }"il"*.? uv-anenigmatic wise unknown. The wide rangeof officeis "g! (Abila, Ameba, Abcma, Abino) and conjecn'ral by l*vi's vision. Jub 3:3-9, however, depicts ofdcetS'rit' Thefirst is the readin$s(AbilEni) show that the difficulty is an t evi asfulfilling the roleof Priestfot his fatherand il;;;;t iecond Priesthood: ancieotone. the clan at Bethel. II-E PATRIARCHS T 79] TESTAMENTSOF THE TWELVE PATRIARCIIS guueme a shieldand J a 2 days' 'And I saw sevenmenb in white .Arise, the sakeof crothing,who were sayingto me, im '.for Dinah, put on the vestmentsof th-epriesthood, 1r .At thattime put the cro"wnof rigtrteoui;is, tr,"iracre or I an understanding,the robe of truth, the bieasplateof faitl, tn" o,it"r'io, tL r and the apron n"uo, for propheticpower.' .Each ianied ;f il;r;;'iuirn"rn trffi;iJf,,"'ff: 4 me and said,'From on l aares intercessiond now on-be a priest,you and""" alr your posterityi-.rne for the 5 anointedme with nrst tr ius I holy oil-andgave me a starr...rne seionoiastreJ'r. awoke"and blessed *rt:t' fed *irt pur - - me by handwith breid and.holy wine, andpur on n," 6.7vestrnenr. .The r,liy *d glorious third Duton m€something made of #;;ft. " s ;;p'f,ojAlff,," fount placed. aroundnre a girdle *hi.[;;-iik; purpr"..Th"'fif;h;;;;,. I rhreld.Thus the nameof r'to u or*.t of rich olive wood. .The sixth placeda wreath'on .Tlie a.And I guarded my head. seventhpraced .:r^{blma. the priestlydiadem on me.and filleo my tranos-*rttr E Keubenthat they tell the ,, iircenie,in oroo tluii mgr,t brse | 'ar45 -!rli.yme, .Levj, you. posi.ity filled with zeal fl:be divided fi lfi into:::"1,,:: three,o-rl:., *ld^9"*.:1,ry-iley,said.to u...u u* .rrar ]r stster..And I destroved ,,, gi'tri" ;i,h";Lfi ;ff 1T.#ffi : .The Jt(herscame and destroyed Gen 34:2il '4 secondshall be tT ungry Jub30:r'26 in{Igp+s!!y.rot€.. I andsorrowful, a king ;t=;ffi#r.,uar- l r. will ariseand shall found a newpriEsthood in accord ne passedus by in his 15 .His witntrr" l""tii. ."a"r and for all nations. presencei, tfou"J, u" prophet and he became 16 a of the Most High," a lopSql, descendantof Abraham,our father..to you ani yo,i, p'ort".ity \flrlry, becausethey had *irr-uJ.u"rytr,ing desiredin Israel, and you.shall eat evlrything r rheydid to Dinah.our Ir attractiveto behold, and your posterit! will shareamong themsetves theiorO,s .From Araahamwhen he was a table. amongthem will judges,and scribes,.and by their tr"ro Fpanr, and they grossly .i'rc. .[Rriests, irt" .*.t"* *ili'u"'E"*r,ro., . when I awoke'I understoodthat this *ur .And Inrs ls how theytreated tit tt" first dream. I hid this in .But my heart as well, and I did not report it to any" lftm. the wrathof rrh"rz,re numanUein! o" ih;;;;. I 9 "4,n0 after npo days Judah and I went with our father, Jacob,to Isaac,our z grandfather..And my fathet'r I rrll bringthe rutrt.iulrr.i',n." in accordwith the vision that I Canaanites r hadseen' And he did hdants .For not want.togo with us to Bethel..when we cameto Bethel after you.