Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology

1 Enoch

1 Enoch provides insight into a Jewish theology that took the canonical text quite literally. There was no attempt to sidestep the reality or implications of Genesis 6:1-4. As scholars have noted for some time, in 1 Enoch the blame for the evil condition of the antediluvian world is placed squarely upon the Watchers and their offspring, not humanity (cf. Gen. 6:5). As Nickelsburg states, “Enochic authors attributed a significant part of the evils in this world to a hidden demonic world, and the corpus devotes considerable space to myths that trace the origins of that world to an angelic rebellion that took place in the heavenly realm and the hidden primordial past” (Anchor Bible Dictionary, 2:515). Such a literal view of antediluvian events was commonplace in Judaism and the early church. There is no evidence that any Jewish or Christian writer held any other interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4 than the literal understanding prior to Julius Africanus (ca. 160-240 C.E.), and he appears alone in this regard before Augustine. It was only with Augustine (354-430 C.E.) that a non-literal understanding of this pericope is put forth with vigor...

Life of Adam and Eve

The Life of Adam and Eve contains several items that would be of interest to both Old and New Testament exegetes. The merkabah (divine throne chariot) description in Apoc. Moses 8, 22, 33, 38 can inform us as to Jewish conceptions of the appearance and significance of the throne chariot of Ezekiel 1, 10. There is a tiered angelology, with cherubim and seraphim holding high rank (Apoc. Moses 22, 33, 36). Of specific interest with respect to the angelic realm is Vita 12-16, where Satan describes the circumstances of his own fall, noting that it was his refusal to worship Adam at God’s command after the human had been created. Satan can also disguise himself as an “angel of light” (Vita 9:1, 3; 12:1). Additionally, it is interesting to note that the Life of Adam and Eve has Eve as the source of sin and death, an idea contradicted by Rom 5:12-21, but perhaps echoed in other Pauline passages, like I Tim 2:13-14 and II Cor 11:3. Elsewhere Paul relates that he was caught up to the “third heaven,” the same description of the location of the heavenly Paradise, the throne room of God, where Adam was taken according to Vita 25-29.

Testament of Adam

The Testament of Adam has relevance for biblical exegesis on several counts. First, it is not dualistic in its outlook. God is credited for creating all things, even demons. They must worship him. There is also a definite time frame for the existence of life on earth. This work is an early witness to the idea that the earth was intended to last for six thousand years after the Flood, presumably to make the entire created enterprise be of duration for seven thousand years, a time span of numerical completion from a numerological perspective.

By far the two most significant content points for exegesis is the work’s angelology and the promised deification of Adam. Regarding the former, while pseudepigraphical works are known for their complex angelology, it should not be forgotten that the New Testament has an array of terms for inhabitants of the heavens, many of which are referenced in this work and other pseudepigraphical texts (e.g., archons, thrones, dominions). The Testament of Adam includes the concept of the guardian angel, and certain angelic beings (dominions) over political kingdoms. The idea of divine beings ruling over political geographies is an important part of the Old Testament worldview described in Deut. 32:8-9 (reading with LXX and Qumran; cp. Deut. 4:19-20; 17:3; 29:25) and Daniel 10 (see Heiser, Bib Sac and dissertation; Stevens). Concerning the latter, the Testament of Adam affirms that God’s original intention was to make Adam a god, but this glorification was ruined by the Fall and now has to await the final consummation of Christ’s victory. This too is an important, but often overlooked, biblical concept, one that has strong roots in ancient Judaism. As God’s imagers (cf. the beth of predication [“essentiae”] in the Hebrew phrase “in the image of God”), all humans were destined to be in God’s family, human sons and daughters of God, exalted over even the divine sons of God referenced elsewhere in Scripture (cf. Job 38:7-8; see Charlesworth, Dimant, Rakestraw, Risenfeld, Tabor).