James R. Davila and Richard Bauckham, eds. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2: More Noncanonical Scriptures

Davila, James R. and Richard Bauckham, eds. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2025. ix+694 pp. Hb; $89.99.   Link to Eerdmans

Eerdmans published volume one of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures (MOTP) in 2013. After a twelve-year wait, volume two of this important expansion of the original Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (1983, edited by James Charlesworth) adds another twenty-three texts to the collection. This valuable collection expands scholarship’s database of Jewish and Christian texts beyond the canonical Hebrew Bible and the Apocrypha to shed light on the history and culture of the Second Temple period.

In the introduction to this new volume, James Davilla observes that Old Testament Pseudepigrapha is a modern coinage for a “grab bag of ancient texts” that claim to be written by Old Testament figures. Like many such words in scholarship, “The term has stuck, and so far, no one has come up with a better one” (p. 1). This volume arranges texts in traditional biblical chronology so that pseudepigraphs concerning characters in Genesis are first, then Daniel, Ezra, etc. Three “thematic” texts in this collection do not fit the chronological arrangement (Justinus’s Book of Baruch, The Fifteen Signs before Judgment, and “Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Known Only by Title”).

MOTP follows the same pattern as the original Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (OTP). Each chapter begins with a detailed introduction, including a brief overview of the pseudepigraph, manuscript, and publication history, versions, and previous translations. Depending on the nature of the work, the author includes literary style and context, a theological overview (important for the Manichean texts, which require some historical orientation), and an extensive bibliography. Following the introduction, the author provides a new translation with notes. As in the original OTP, these notes are letters that restart each page. Marginal notes on the text suggest parallels to canonical texts or other similar literature. For example, in The Book of the Mysteries (Sefer Ha-Razim), Davila suggests parallels to PGM (the standard collection of Greek Magical Papyri). Following the translation, many of the contributions include commentary on the text.

It is unnecessary to summarize every chapter of the collection in this review, so I will comment on a few highlights. In “No Longer ‘Slavonic Only’: 2 Enoch Attested in Coptic from Nubia,” Joost L. Hagen tells a fascinating story of his discovery of a few Coptic fragments of Slavonic 2 Enoch. The Egypt Exploration Society discovered the four fragments at Qasr Ibrim in Egyptian Nubia, now an island in Lake Nassar. [Here is Davilla’s original blog post from 2009 on the discovery.] Originally published by J. M Plumley in 1972 (but not recognized as Coptic 2 Enoch), the fragments date to the eighth to tenth centuries. Hagen explains his initial encounter with the fragments. After realizing they represent a Coptic 2 Baruch 36:3-42:3, he presented his findings at the Enoch Seminar in 2009. This is the first publication of an English translation of the Coptic Fragments. Hagen argues these fragments are from a shorter recension of 2 Baruch. His translation of Coptic 2 Baruch 36:3-42:3 is about one page (with many lacunae), but his commentary on the text is nearly ten pages.

A significant section of MOTP volume 2 is dedicated to The Book of Giants. In his twenty-page introduction to the Book of the Giants, James Davila surveys the literature included in MOTB 2. He provides an excellent introduction to the “rich mythology of Giants in the Hebrew Bible,” which continues into the Second Temple period (Book of the Watchers, scattered references in canonical Hebrew Bible and other Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha). This introduction includes a “tentative reconstruction of the Book of the Giants” using both the Aramaic and Manichean evidence.

Loren T. Stuckenbruck contributes a chapter on The Aramaic Book of Giants from Qumran. He previously published The Book of Giants from Qumran: Texts, Translation, and Commentary (Mohr Siebeck, 1997). The Aramaic Book of Giants was first published by Josef Milik as early as the 1950s. There are nine or ten extremely fragmentary copies (mostly from Cave 4). Stuckenbruck presents the fragments in numerical order. Since it is almost impossible to read this material, Stuckenbruck also outlines the plot based on the fragments and comparison with the Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 6-11, see this post).

In addition to this well-known text from Qumran, MOTP includes the Iranian Manichean version of the Book of the Giants (preserved in Persian, Parthian, and Sogdian, translated by Prods Oktor Skjærvø) and the Old Turkic (Uyghur) version of The Manichean Book of Giants (translated by Peter Zieme). The Book of the Giants was a canonical text for the Manicheans, who flourished in northeast China (Xinjiang, once called Chinese Turkestan). These fragments were discovered in the early twentieth century (before the Aramaic Book of the Giants). The translations in MOTP are the first attempt to organize and translate the fragments for an English-speaking audience. Skjærvø observes that both the Aramaic and Manichean Book of the Giants appear related ti the Book of the Watches (1 Enoch 6-11), but they also include a “cast of characters taken from ancient Mesopotamian traditions” (p. 91). He provides a helpful analysis of fragments in all three languages (pp. 115-127) and a translation of all available fragments. Zieme published all available fragments of the Old Turkic version in 1975, but since 2000, more fragments have been identified. Although Zieme does not provide a summary of the Old Turkic version, he does describe each fragment and provide a new translation and commentary.

Since neither book is extant today, Richard Bauckham collects references to the books of the Assumption of Moses and the Testament of Moses (299-321). Why is this important? The canonical book of Jude says that the archangel Michael did not slander Satan when they had a dispute over the bones of Moses. Since this does not appear in the canonical Old Testament, early Christian writers thought he was referring to these two now-lost books.  Bauckham says this collection is the largest ever assembled. He divides the quotations of Christian writers into several categories and provides full translations of each. Bauckham argues Jude refers to the Testament of Moses and that the Assumption of Moses was not written until the second century A.D.

There are three Daniel-related pseudepigraphs in this collection. Lorenzo DiTommaso contributes an introduction and translation of Somniale Danielis and Lunationes Danielis. Both are examples of medieval oneiromancy, the interpretation of dreams, claiming to have been written by Daniel (famous for dream interpretations in the canonical book). Somniale Danielis was written in Greek in the fourth or fifth century, and Latin translations were popular until the sixteenth century. DiTommaso says there are 229 manuscripts, with 163 in Latin. DiTommaso states that this manuscript evidence rules out a late antique Jewish origin (not to mention medieval rabbinic rulings against divination). The rest are in a wide range of languages (including nine in Welsh, and single copies in Czech, Icelandic, and Irish). Somniale Danielis is a list of 302 dream subjects in alphabetical order. For example, dreaming about a fig tree means you will have strife with troublesome people (line 112), if you “handle lard” in a dream it means your parents will die (line 157), to dream of pigs signifies illness (line 210) but to see a rose signifies health (line 218). Lunationes Danielis is an example of a lunary, a list of what days of the month are good for certain activities (and what is to be avoided on certain days). Most days predict something about a child born on a specific day. For example, the boy born on the eighteenth day of the month will be unconquerable. The boy born on the twenty-third day will be popular.

Matthias Henze translates the little-known Syriac Apocalypse of Daniel. This text is only known from two manuscripts. The first (Harvard MS Syr 4) is mostly devoted to the writings of John of Dalyatha, an eighth-century Syriac mystic. Henze based his translation on this manuscript. The second manuscript was discovered in the Hill Museum library (CF MM 281). Dated 1475, the manuscript was found in the Deir-al-Zafran monastery, southeast of Mardin, Turkey. Henze edited and published this text in 2001. Based on internal evidence, the Syriac Apocalypse of Daniel was written in the middle of the seventh century in western Syria, possibly by a Melkite. Henze admits this is all conjectural and tentative (p. 463). The book’s content is similar to 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, an apocalyptic vision of the last days. The first fourteen chapters set the context, and chapters 15-40 contain a vision of apocalyptic disasters drawn from canonical prophets or other apocalyptic texts. Henze provides copious cross-references in the margins. I will mention a few highlights here. First, chapters 22-24 describe the coming of the false messiah (or, antichrist). He will lead the Agogites and Magogites (as in Ezekiel 38, Gog and Magog). There is a list of signs the false messiah will perform. He will attack Jerusalem, and people will think he is the messiah. But an “angel of peace” with the “men of war” will strike down this false messiah. Second, following this angelic battle, there will be a great theophany on Mount Zion, and the Lord Almighty will appear, and the King Messiah will appear and dwell in Zion. Chapters 30-32 clearly connect Jesus to the Messiah. King Messiah’s reign will be a time of natural prosperity (streams of water, bountiful harvests). New Jerusalem will be built (ch. 30), the dead will be raised (chs. 34-36), all nations will stream to Jerusalem for judgment (chs. 37-39) and the righteous will celebrate Passover on Mount Zion (ch. 40). This messianic banquet is the culmination of the gathering of the exiles of Israel in the days of the Messiah, “at the redemption of Israel.”  Other than one reference to Jesus, this apocalypse strikes me as a Jewish text, drawing on canonical Hebrew prophets.

Conclusion. There are many more fascinating pseudepigrapha in this collection. As with Eerdmans’s More New Testament Apocrypha series (see my reviews of volume one, volume two, and volume three), MOTP Volume 2 expands the pool of data available to scholars. There are a few potential problems with the ever-growing collection of texts. First, like the original OTP collection, some of these Jewish texts were preserved by Christians. Any text preserved by Christians may reflect developing Christian theology as much as Second Temple Judaism (or early Judaism). This is especially the case for the Jewish-Christian Manichean Book of the Giants. Second, the texts in this collection are far more fragmentary than the original OTP.  Many of these texts are preserved in only a few manuscripts, which are rarely complete. Third, with each volume, the collection grows more and more obscure. The original OTP collected all the primary pseudepigraphic texts (1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, Jubilees, etc.). These newly discovered, edited, and published texts are fascinating, but they did not have the same influence as the original OTP collection.

The caveats aside, More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha is an important contribution to the study of both early Judaism and early Christianity.

NB: Thanks to Eerdmans for kindly providing me with a review copy of this book. This did not influence my thoughts regarding the work.

Contents of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2: More Noncanonical Scriptures:

1. Texts Ordered According to Biblical Chronology
2. Alleged Jewish Pseudepigrapha Cited in the Cologne Mani Codex (John C. Reeves)
3. No Longer “Slavonic” Only: 2 Enoch Attested in Coptic from Nubia (Joost L. Hagen)
4. The Book of Giants: General Introduction (James R. Davila)
5. The Aramaic Book of Giants (Loren T. Stuckenbruck)
6. The Book of Giants: Iranian Manichean Version (Prods Oktor Skjærvø)
7. The Manichean Book of Giants: Old Turkic Version (Peter Zieme)
8. The Book of the Mysteries (Sefer Ha-Razim) (James R. Davila)
9. The Prophecy of the Witch Sibyl (Prophetia Sibyllae magae) or “The Earth Was My Origin” (Mundus origo) (Johannes Magliano-Tromp)
10. The Narration of Joseph (Anders Klostergaard Petersen)
11. An Apocryphon about Aseneth (Richard Bauckham)
12. The Hebrew Testament of Naphtali (Vered Hillel)
13. Fragments of the Assumption of Moses and the Testament of Moses (Richard Bauckham)
14. The Sword of Moses (Ḥarba de-Moshe) (Yuval Harari)
15. The Phylactery of Moses (Roy D. Kotansky)
16. Jannes and Jambres (W. B. Henry and T. M. Erho)
17. A Coptic Exodus Apocryphon (Frederic Krueger)
18. Fragments of Elijah Apocrypha (Richard Bauckham)
19. The Somniale Danielis and the Lunationes Danielis (Lorenzo DiTommaso)
20. The Syriac Apocalypse of Daniel (Matthias Henze)
21. Armenian 4 Ezra (Introduction by Vered Hillel; Translation by Michael E. Stone)
22. Two Pseudo-Philonic Works (Sze-kar Wan)
23. Thematic Texts
24. Justinus’s Book of Baruch (Todd E. Klutz)
25. The Fifteen Signs before Judgment (Brandon W. Hawk)
26. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Known Only by Title (Liv Ingeborg Lied and Matthew P. Monger)
27. Appendix: Summary of an Additional Manuscript of the Ethiopic Version of Jannes and Jambres