Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

FROM THE GOSPELS TO JESUS §9.3
same time, however, many of the documents fall into groupings or reveal trends
which must have been present within the land of Israel during the first century
CE, so that a broad picture (which is all we need at this point) can be sketched.
(1) Most striking is the sequence of apocalyptic writings, particularly the
Enoch corpus, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, the Apocalypse of Abraham, and, we may add,
the Apocalypse of John (Revelation). 93 These all grew out of the overmastering
conviction that events on earth are determined by what happens in heaven, with
the consequent desire to know more of these heavenly secrets. Prominent in them
are angelic beings, both interpreter angels, but also glorious angels, the sight of
whom is to assure the seer that he is close to the presence of the one God, but
whose very glory can both enhance and threaten the exclusive majesty of the one
God. 94 To be noted here also is the overlap between apocalyptic and mysticism. 95
This is a Judaism focused in the immediacy of spiritual (revelatory) experience,
but in consequence also vulnerable to 'flights of fancy'.
(2) A testamentary literature also developed in this period (a patriarchal
figure giving his last will and testament). Though only the precursors of the Testaments
of the Twelve Patriarchs and the Testament of Moses fall for consideration
within the period of our concern, the fact that the format was so widespread
both in Israel and in diaspora Judaism is a further reminder that the interrelatedness
between the two must have been considerable. The overlap with apocalyptic
literature is substantial (warning us not to operate with too strict categories), but
the most distinctive feature of the testaments is the desire to promote righteous
living. In the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs the superiority of Levi over Judah
(particularly T. Jud. 21.2-4; 25.1) indicates a Judaism where Temple and
priest are still the central defining feature. 96
Apocrypha and OTP. See further Introductions in OTP; Stone, ed., Jewish Writings; Kraft and
Nickelsburg, Early Judaism; Schürer, History vol. 3.
93. In addition to those cited in n. 92, see also J. J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination:
An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984, 2 1998).
94. See particularly C. Rowland, The Open Heaven: A Study of Apocalyptic in Judaism
and Early Christianity (London: SPCK, 1982); L. T. Stuckenbruck, Angel Veneration and
Christology: A Study in Early Judaism and in the Christology of the Apocalypse of John
(WUNT 2.70; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995).
95. See particularly I. Gruenwald, Apocalyptic and Merkavah Mysticism (Leiden: Brill,
1980); see further below, vol. 3.
96. For a review of the ongoing debate, particularly regarding the Testaments of the
Twelve Patriarchs, see J. J. Collins, 'Testaments', in Stone, ed., Jewish Writings 325-55; also
'The Testamentary Literature in Recent Scholarship', in Kraft and Nickelsburg, Early Judaism
268-85. The Testament of Moses is usually dated between 4 BCE and 30 CE (e.g., J. F. Priest,
ABD 4.920-22) and so may be closer in origin to the period of Jesus' mission than any other extent
writing of Second Temple Judaism. The Testament of Job, which cannot be dated more precisely
than the first century BCE or CE, was composed in Greek.
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