Testament of Moses,
an early Jewish apocalypse discovered in 1861 previously in existence only in an incomplete 6th cent. A.D. Latin
manuscript. The original work was probably written in Hebrew in the early 1st
cent. A.D. It contains reflections on Jewish history and experiences in
Palestine during the 1st and 2d cent. B.C., with allusions to the revolt of the Maccabees, the
Romans entering (63 B.C.) Jerusalem, and the rise of Herod the Great.
The work, which reflects upon the apocalyptic motifs of the coming of God's
Kingdom, contains a narrative of the priest Taxo and his sons, who are martyred
as the eschatological age is about to break. See J. H. Charlesworth, ed., Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (Vol. I,
1983).
1
2 |
The Testament of Moses even the
things which he commanded in the one hundred and twentieth year of his
life, that is the two thousand five hundredth year from the creation of
the world: [But according to oriental reckoning the two thousand and seven
hundredth, and the four hundredth after the departure from Phoenicia],
when the people had gone forth after the Exodus that was made by Moses to
Amman beyond the Jordan, in the prophecy that was made by Moses in the
book Deuteronomy: and he called to him Joshua the son of Nun, a man
approved of the Lord, that he might be the minister of the people and of
the tabernacle of the testimony with all its holy things, and that he
might bring the people into the land given to their fathers, that it
should be given to them according to the covenant and the oath, which He
spoke in the tabernacle to give (it) by Joshua: saying to Joshua these
words: '(Be strong) and of a good courage so as to do with thy might all
that has been commanded that you may be blameless unto God.' So says the
Lord of the world. For He has created the world on behalf of His
people. But He was not
pleased to manifest this purpose of creation from the foundation of the
world, in order that the Gentiles might thereby be convicted, yea to their
own humiliation
might by (their) arguments convict one another. Accordingly He designed
and devised me, and He prepared me before the foundation of the world,
that I should be the mediator of His covenant. And now I declare unto you that
the time of the years of my life is fulfilled and I am passing away
to sleep with my fathers even in the presence of all the
people And receive this
writing
that you may
know how to preserve the books which I shall deliver unto you: and you
shall set these in order
and anoint
them with oil of cedar and put them away in earthen vessels in
the place
which He
made from the beginning of
the creation
of the world, that His name should be called upon
until the
day of
repentance in the
visitation wherewith the Lord will visit them in the consummation of the
end of the days.
And now they shall
go by means of you into the land which He determined and promised to give
to their fathers, in the which you shall bless and give to them
individually and confirm unto them their inheritance in me and establish
for them the kingdom, and you shall appoint them local magistrates
according to the good pleasure of their Lord in judgment and
righteousness. And five years
after they enter into the land, that thereafter they shall be ruled by
chiefs and kings for eighteen years, and during nineteen years the ten
tribes shall break away. And the twelve tribes shall go down and transfer
the tabernacle of the testimony. Then the God of heaven will make the
court of His tabernacle and the tower of His sanctuary, and the two holy
tribes shall be (there) established: but the ten tribes shall establish
kingdoms for themselves according to their
own ordinances. And they shall offer sacrifices throughout twenty
years: and seven shall entrench the walls, and I will protect nine, but
four shall transgress the covenant of the Lord, and profane the oath which
the Lord made with them. And
they shall sacrifice their sons to strange gods, and they shall set up
idols in the sanctuary, to worship them. And in the house of the Lord they
shall work impiety and engrave every form of beast, even many
abominations.
| |
3 |
And in those days a king from the east
shall come against them and his cavalry shall cover their land. And he
shall burn their colony with fire together with the holy temple of the
Lord, and he shall carry away
all the holy vessels. And he
shall cast forth all the people, and he shall take them to the land of his
nativity, yea he shall take the two tribes with him. Then the two tribes
shall call upon the ten tribes, and shall march as a lioness on the dusty
plains, being hungry and thirsty. And they shall cry aloud: 'Righteous and
holy is the Lord, for, inasmuch as ye have sinned, we too, in like manner,
have been carried away with you, together with our children.' Then the ten
tribes shall mourn on hearing the reproaches of the two tribes, and they
shall say: 'What have we done unto you, brethren? Has not this tribulation
come on all the house of Israel?' And all the tribes shall mourn,
crying unto
heaven and saying: 'God of Abraham God of Isaac and God of Jacob, remember
Thy covenant
which You made with them, and the oath which You didst swear unto them by
Yourself, that their seed should never fail from the land which You hast
given them.' Then they shall
remember me, saying, in that day, tribe unto tribe and each man unto his
neighbor: 'Is not this that
which Moses did then declare unto us in prophecies, who suffered many
things in Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness during forty
years: and assuredly called heaven and earth to witness against us, that
we should not transgress His commandments, in the which he was a mediator
unto us? Behold these things
have befallen us after his death according to his declaration, as he
declared to us at that time, yes, behold these have taken place even to
our being carried away captive into
the country of the east.' Who shall be also in bondage for about seventy
and seven years. | |
4 |
Then there shall enter one who is over
them, and he shall spread forth his hands, and kneel upon his knees and
pray on their behalf saying: 'Lord of all, King on the lofty throne, who
rules the world, and did will that this people should be Your elect
people, then (indeed) You didst will that You should be called their God,
according to the covenant which You didst make with their fathers. 3 And
yet they have gone in captivity in another land with their wives and their
children, and around the
gates of strange peoples and where there is great vanity. Regard and have compassion on
them, O Lord of heaven.' Then
God will remember them on account of the covenant which He made with their
fathers. and He will manifest His compassion in those times also. And He will put it into the mind
of a king to have compassion on them, and he shall send them off to their
land and country.
Then some
portions of the tribes
shall go up and they shall come to their appointed place, and
they shall anew surround the place with walls. And the two tribes shall
continue in their prescribed faith, sad and lamenting because they will
not be able to offer sacrifices to the Lord of their fathers. And the ten
tribes shall increase and multiply among the Gentiles during the time of
their captivity. | |
5 |
And when the times of chastisement draw
nigh and vengeance arises through the kings who share in
their guilt and punish
them, they themselves also shall be divided as to the truth. Wherefore
it hath been
said: 'They shall turn aside from righteousness and approach iniquity, and
they shall defile with
pollutions the house of their worship,' and [because] 'they shall
prostitute themselves with strange
gods.' For they shall not
follow the truth of God, but some shall pollute the altar with the (very)
gifts which they offer to the Lord, who are not priests but slaves, sons
of slaves. And many in those times shall have respect unto desirable
persons and receive gifts, and pervert judgment [on receiving presents].
And on this account the colony and the borders of their habitation
shall be
filled with lawless deeds and iniquities: those who wickedly depart from
the Lord shall be judges: they
shall be ready to judge for money as each may wish. | |
6
|
Then there shall be
raised up unto them kings bearing rule, and they shall call themselves
priests of the Most High God: they shall assuredly work iniquity in the
holy of holies. And an
insolent king shall succeed them, who will not be of the race of the
priests, a man bold and shameless, and he shall judge
them as they shall deserve. And he shall cut off their chief men with the
sword, and shall destroy them in secret places, so that no one may
know where their bodies are. He shall slay the old and the young, and he
shall not spare. Then the
fear of him shall be bitter unto them in their land. And he shall
execute
judgments on them
as
the
Egyptians
executed upon them,
during thirty and four years, and he shall punish them. And he shall beget
children, (who) succeeding him shall rule for shorter periods. Into their parts cohorts and a
powerful king of the west shall come, who shall
conquer them: and he shall take them captive, and burn a part of their
temple with fire, (and)
shall crucify some around their colony. | |
7 |
And when this is done
the times shall be ended, in a moment the (second) course shall be
(ended), the four hours shall come.
They shall be forced. . . . And, in the time of these, destructive
and impious men shall rule, saying that they are just. And these shall
stir up the poison of their minds, being treacherous men, self-pleasers,
dissemblers in all their own affairs and lovers of banquets at
every
hour of the day. gluttons, gourmands.... Devourers of the goods of the
(poor) saying that they do so on the ground of their justice, but in
reality to destroy them, complainers, deceitful, concealing
themselves lest they should be
recognized, impious, filled with lawlessness and iniquity from sunrise to
sunset: saying: 'We shall have feastings and luxury, eating and drinking,
and we shall
esteem ourselves as princes.' And though their hands and their minds touch
unclean things, yet their mouth shall speak great things, and they shall
say furthermore: 'Do not touch me lest you should
pollute me in the place (where I stand') . . . | |
8 |
And there
shall come upon them a second visitation and wrath, such as has not
befallen them from the beginning until that time, in which He will stir up
against them the king of the kings of the earth and one that rules with
great power, who shall crucify those who confess to their circumcision:
and those who conceal (it) he shall torture and deliver them up to be
bound and led into prison. And their wives shall be given to the gods
among the Gentiles, and their young sons shall be operated on by the
physicians
in order to bring forward their foreskin. And others amongst them shall be
punished
by tortures
and fire and
sword, and they shall be forced to bear in public their idols, polluted
as
they are
like those who keep. them. And they shall likewise be forced by those who
torture them to enter their inmost sanctuary, and they shall be forced by
goads to blaspheme with insolence the word, finally after these things the
laws and what they had above their altar. | |
9 |
Then
in that day
there shall be a man of the tribe of Levi, whose name shall be Taxo, who
having seven sons shall
speak to
them exhorting (them): 'Observe, my sons, behold a second ruthless (and)
unclean
visitation has come upon the people, and a punishment merciless and far
exceeding the first. For what nation or what region or what people of
those who are impious towards the Lord, who have done
many abominations, have suffered as great calamities as have befallen
us? Now, therefore, my sons, hear
me: for observe and know that neither did the fathers nor their
forefathers tempt God, so as to transgress His commands. And you know that this is our
strength, and thus we will
do. Let us
fast for the space
of three
days and on the
fourth let
us go into a
cave which is in the field,
and let us die rather than transgress the commands of the Lord of
Lords, the God of our fathers. For if we do this and die, our
blood shall be avenged before the Lord. | |
10 |
And then His
kingdom shall appear throughout all His creation, And then
Satan shall be no more, And sorrow
shall depart with him. Then the
hands of the angel shall be filled Who has
been appointed chief, And he
shall forthwith avenge them of their enemies. For the
Heavenly One will arise from His royal throne, And He will
go forth from His holy habitation With
indignation and wrath on account of His sons. And the
earth shall tremble: to its confines shall it be
shaken: And the high
mountains
shall be made low And the
hills shall be shaken and fall. And the
horns of the sun shall be broken and he shall be turned into darkness;
And the moon
shall not give her
light, and be turned wholly into blood. And the
circle of the stars shall be disturbed. And the sea
shall retire into the abyss, And the
fountains of waters shall fail, And the
rivers shall dry
up. For the Most
High will arise,
the Eternal
God alone, And He will
appear to punish the Gentiles, And He will
destroy all their idols. Then you,
O Israel,
shall be happy, And you
shall mount upon the necks and wings of the eagle, And they
shall be ended. And God will
exalt you, And He will
cause you to approach to the heaven of the stars, In the place
of their habitation. And you will
look from on high
and see your enemies in Ge(henna) And you
shall recognize them and rejoice, And you
shall give thanks and confess thy Creator. And do you;
Joshua (the son of) Nun, keep
these words
and this
book; For from my
death
[assumption]
until His advent there shall be 250 times [= year-weeks = 1750
years]. And this is the
course of the times which they shall
pursue
till they
are
consummated. And
I shall go
to sleep with my fathers. Wherefore, Joshua you
(son of)
Nun, (be
strong and) be of good
courage; (for) God has
chosen (you) to be minister in
the same covenant. | |
11 |
And when
Joshua had heard the words
of Moses that
were so
written in his writing all that he had before said, he rent his clothes
and cast himself at Moses' feet.
And Moses comforted him and wept with
him. And Joshua answered him and said: 'Why do you comfort me, (my) lord
Moses ? And
how shall I be comforted in
regard to the bitter
word which you hast spoken which has
gone
forth from
thy mouth, which is full of tears and lamentation, in that you depart
from this people?
(But now) what place shall receive you? Or what shall be the sign that
marks (your) sepulcher? Or who shall dare to move your body from there as
that of a mere
man from
place to place? For all men when they die
have
according to their age their sepulchers on earth; but your sepulcher is
from the rising to the setting sun, and from the south to the confines of
the north: all the world is
your sepulcher. My lord, you
are departing, and who shall feed this people? Or who is there
that shall have compassion on them and who
shall be their guide by the way? Or who shall pray for
them, not omitting a single
day, in order that I may lead
them into the land of their
forefathers? How
therefore
am I to foster this people as a father (his) only son, or as a mistress
her
daughter, a
virgin who is being prepared to be given to
the husband whom she will revere, while she guards her person from the sun
and (takes care) that her feet are not unshod for running upon the ground.
(And how) shall I supply them with food and drink according to the
pleasure of their will? For
of them, there shall be 600,000 (men), for these have multiplied to this
degree through your prayers,
(my) lord
Moses. And what wisdom
or understanding have I that I should
judge or answer by
word in the house (of the Lord)? And the kings of the Amorites also when
they hear that we are attacking them,
believing
that there is no longer among them the holy spirit who was worthy
of
the Lord,
manifold and incomprehensible, the lord of the word, who was faithful in
all
things,
God's chief prophet throughout the earth, the most perfect teacher in the
world, [that he is no longer among
them], shall say "Let us go against them. If the enemy have but once
wrought
impiously against their Lord, they have no advocate to offer prayers on
their behalf to the Lord, like Moses
the great messenger, who every hour
day and night had
his knees
fixed to the earth,
praying and looking for
help to Him
that rules all
the world with compassion and righteousness, reminding Him of the
covenant of the fathers and propitiating the Lord with the oath." For they shall say: "He is not
with them: let us go therefore and destroy them from off the face of the
earth." What shall
then become of this people, my lord Moses?' | |
12 |
And
when Joshua
had finished (these) words, he cast himself again at the feet of
Moses. And Moses took his
hand and raised him into the seat before him, and answered and said unto
him: Joshua, do not despise yourself; but set your mind at ease, and hear
my words. All the nations
which are in the earth God has created and us, He has foreseen them and us
from the beginning of the creation of the earth unto the end of the age,
and nothing has been neglected by Him even to the
least thing,
but all
things He
hath foreseen and caused all to come forth. (Yes) all things which are to
be in this earth the Lord has foreseen and, look, they are brought forward
(into the light. . . . The
Lord,) has on their behalf
appointed me to (pray) for their sins and (make intercession) for
them. For not for any virtue or
strength of mine, but of His
good pleasure have His compassion and
longsuffering fallen to my lot.
For I say unto you, Joshua: it is not on account of the godliness
of this people that you
shall root out the
nations. The lights of the
heaven, the foundations of the earth have been made and approved by
God and are under the signet ring of His right hand. Those, therefore, who do and
fulfill the commandments of God shall increase and be prospered:
but those
who sin and set at naught the
commandments shall be without the blessings
before mentioned, and
they shall be punished
with many torments by the nations. But wholly to root out and destroy
them is not permitted. For God will go forth who has
foreseen all things for ever, and His covenant has been established and by
the oath which . . . |
** Chapters 6 & 7
are widely held to be a first century AD interpolation
(referring to the
Herodian family)
into a second century BC document
(referring to events
precipitated by the persecution of Jews by Antiochus IV
Epiphanes).
Edited and adapted
by George Lyons