Tobit, Testament of Dan and Apocalypse's "New Jerusalem"

by behemot 16 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • behemot
    behemot

    "For Jerusalem will be built with sapphires and emeralds, her walls with precious stones, and her towers and battlements with pure gold. The streets of Jerusalem will be paved with beryl and ruby and stones of Ophir, and her lanes will cry 'Hallelujah!' and will give praise, saying, 'Blessed is God, who has exalted you for ever.'" (Tobit 13,16-18, written 2nd century B.C.)

    "... and the saints shall rest in Eden, and the righteous shall rejoice in the new Jerusalem, which shall be unto the glory of God for ever and ever." (The Testament of Dan 5,12, written 106 B.C. ca.)

    I wonder whether the author of biblical Revelation (21:2,10-21) got his ideas of a "New Jerusalem" from here. That would be yet another example of the use of "apocryphal" books by Bible authors.

    Behemot

  • reniaa
    reniaa

    The apocrypha are an interesting subject people tend to focus more on NT because obviously jesus been out and about at same time as OT and not quoting from anything but the accepted OT Scriptures himself,

    Unfortunately NT books don't have this provenance so still hotly debated, Your choice of revelation is interesting as it inclusion into the Nt was not without contraversy, a good person to answer this on forum is Laialeo whose indepth research on bibilical origins is extensive.

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    The primary source for John of Patmos in this chapter was Ezekiel 48 but he also shows influence from noncanonical tradition about what New Jerusalem is supposed to be like. In addition to Tobit, one may also cite the New Jerusalem texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls -- specifically the visions in 1Q32, 2Q24, 4Q554-555, 5Q15, 11Q18 as well as the description in 11QTemple. On the enormous size of the city, see also the Jewish Sybilline Oracles: "On that day it will come to pass that the divine and heavenly race of the blessed Jews, who live around the city of God in the middle of the earth, are raised up even to the dark clouds, having built a great wall round about, as far as Joppa" (5.248-252-53). The idea of a heavenly city of Jerusalem (which owes somewhat to Greek philosophical influence, cf. Plato, Republic 9.13, Hermas, Vision 1.1-6, Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 4.26) developed in extracanonical tradition and is not found in the OT. So in 2 Baruch 4:2-7 and 4 Baruch 5:35, there is a heavenly Jerusalem that God showed Abraham and Moses and which would soon be revealed to those on the earth. The Jewish apocalypse of 4 Ezra, written around the same time as Revelation, similarly says that "Zion will come and be made manifest to all people, prepared and built" (13:35-36). The earliest reference to this concept in the NT is Galatians 4:26 and Paul hints at it also in Philippians 3:20. But outside of Revelation, the concept is most elaborated in the NT in Hebrews (cf. 11:10, 14-16, 12:22, 13:14), which has some striking similarities to the concept in 2 Baruch.

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia
    obviously jesus been out and about at same time as OT and not quoting from anything but the accepted OT Scriptures himself

    Well, first of all, your statement is based apparently on what is found in the gospels, which present themselves as only being incomplete testimonies of the acts and words of Jesus, so your statement is not necessarily true.

    Second, there are quite a few allusions to noncanonical scriptures that are attributed to Jesus in the gospels. (1) In John 7:38, Jesus says: "Let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'From his belly shall flow rivers of living water (potamoi ek tés koilias autou rheusousin hudatos zóntos).' " Which scripture is this? Psalm 105:41, Isaiah 12:3 and Zechariah 14:8 have some familiar elements, but the basic concept is absent in neither but found in Buddhist texts like the Patisambhida ("From his lower body flows a torrent of water", 1.53); it is possible that a lost Jewish apocryphon utilized a similar concept; (2) In 1 Enoch 69:27, we read regarding the Son of Man that "he sat on the throne of his glory (ekathisen epi thronou doxés autou), and the sum of judgment was given to the Son of Man (kai hé arkhés tés kriseós dothésetai tó huió tou anthrópou)", and this text is utilized in both Matthew 19:28 ("When the Son of Man sits on his throne of his glory (kathisé ho huios tou anthrópou epi thronou doxés autou), you shall also sit upon twelve thrones judging (krinontes) the twelve tribes of Israel") and John 5:22 ("Not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment (krisin pasan dedóken) to the Son"); (3) In the parable in Matthew 22:13, the instruction from the king to "Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness (désantes autou podas kai kheiras ekbalete auton eis to skotos to exóteron)" is dependent on the Lord's instruction to the angel Raphael to "Bind Asael hand and foot and throw him into the darkness (déson ton Azael posin kai khersin kai bale auton eis to skotos)"; (4) Matthew 26:24 states: "Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed, it would have been better for that man if he had not been born (kalon én autó ei ouk egennéthé ho anthrópos)" and this is allusive of 1 Enoch 38:2: "What would be the resting place of those who denied the name of the Lord of the Spirits? It would have been better for them never to have been born (kalon een autois ei ouk egennésan)"; (5) In Matthew 11:29 Jesus asks his disciples to "come to me" (deute pros me) and "take my yoke upon you (arate ton zugon mou eph' humas) and learn (mathete) from me, for I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest (heurésete anapausin) for your souls (psukhais humón)", and this reflects the statements about wisdom in Sirach 6:24-31: "Put your feet into her fetters and your neck into her harness, bend your shoulders and carry her ... court her with all your soul (pasé psukhée sou) and ... in the end you will find rest (heuréseis tén anapausin) in her and she will be a joy to you", and Sirach 51:23: "Come close to me (eggisate pros me), you uninstructed, take your place in my school ... put your necks under her yoke (hupo zugon) and let your souls (psukhé humón) receive instruction (paideian); (6) The promise Jesus makes to his followers in Luke 6:35 that if they do good expecting nothing in return "you will be sons of the Most High" (kai esesthe huioi hupsistou) is parallel to Sirach 4:10 which says that if you are a father to orphans and act like a husband to widows, "you will be like a son of the Most High" (kai esé hós huios hupsistou); (7) Jesus states in John 6:35, 54 that those who come to him "shall not hunger" (ou mé peinasé) and "shall never thrist" (ou mé dipsései pópote) because "he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood" (ho trógón mou tén sarka kai pinón mou) has eternal life. This is closely parallel to the declaration of Wisdom in Sirach 24:21 who states that "those who eat of me (hoi estheontes me) will hunger for more (eti peinasousin) and those who drink of me (hoi pinontes me) will thirst for me (eti dipsesousin)"; (8) In Luke 11:49 Jesus quotes an unknown scripture: "The Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets (aposteló eis autous prophétas) and apostles and some of them they will kill (apoktenousin) and persecute (dióxousin)' ". The only OT parallel is in the mere reference to the "killing of your prophets" (tous prophetés sou apekteinan) in 1 Kings 19:10 and Nehemiah 9:26-27, but there is a much closer parallel in Jubilees 1:12: "I will send them witnesses ('shlchh 'lyhm `dym lh`yd) so that I may testify to them but they will not listen and they will kill the witnesses (yqtlw `dym); they will persecute ('tmbqshy) those who seek the Law"; (9) In Matthew 10:28 Jesus tells his followers to "not fear those who kill the body (mé phobéthéte apo tón apokteinontón to sóma) but cannot kill the soul (psukhén), rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna (en Geenné)", and this reflects the phrasing and thought in 4 Maccabees 13:14-15 which warns: "Let us not fear him who thinks he is killing us (mé phobéthómen ton dokounta apoktennein), for great is the struggle for the soul (psukhés) and the danger of eternal torment (en aiónió basanó) lying before those who transgress the commandment of God".

    These are only some more obvious examples. One could also mention the antecedent of the golden rule (Matthew 4:17) in Tobit 4:15, the parable of the man who stored up riches only to die right away in Luke 12:16-20 which has close parallels in Sirach 11:18-19 and Wisdom 15:8, the statement in Matthew 27:43 about God "rescuing" a person who is a "son of God" which is anticipated by Wisdom 2:18, the parallel between Matthew 6:7, 14 and Sirach 7:14, 28:2, the eschatological gathering of Israel "from east and west" in 1 Baruch 4:37 being paralleled in Matthew 8:11, etc. And there are countless other ideas found in Jesus' sayings that have antecedents not in the OT but in the literature written between the OT and the NT.

  • behemot
    behemot

    Leo, thanks.

    Is there any single work that covers the topic (non-canonical influences on NT text) thoroughly? What can you suggest?

    Behemot

  • behemot
    behemot

    ... and, Leolaia, do you happen to have any info on the supposed ancient literature parallels to the Rich Man and Lazarus parable?

    (see my previous post here http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/164549/1.ashx)

    And, one more thing, if it's not too much: I read somewhere (but I can't remember where) that in 1 Corinthians 10:4 Paul's reference to "the spiritual rock-mass that followed them" hints to a rabbinical tradition according to which the Jews carried throughout the desert an actual rock-mass whence water would miraculously flow. Do you if such a tradition exists and, if so, what is the source?

    Thanks again.

    Behemot

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia
    Is there any single work that covers the topic (non-canonical influences on NT text) thoroughly? What can you suggest?

    Oh gee, I really don't know. Most of what I know comes from study of the books themselves (and the many commentaries devoted to noncanonical books). Charlesworth has a nice little book The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament, but it is definitely not comprehensive. Moffatt's classic Introduction to the Literature to the New Testament has a good section (pp. 25-35) on the literary background of the NT with lengthy lists of parallels but it also is incomplete and a little outdated.

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia
    I read somewhere (but I can't remember where) that in 1 Corinthians 10:4 Paul's reference to "the spiritual rock-mass that followed them" hints to a rabbinical tradition according to which the Jews carried throughout the desert an actual rock-mass whence water would miraculously flow. Do you if such a tradition exists and, if so, what is the source?

    Yeah, Paul's statement here was anticipated by Pseudo-Philo (early first century AD) who wrote: "Now he led his people out into the wilderness; for forty years he rained down for them bread from heaven, and brought quail to them from the sea and brought forth a well of water to follow him... And it followed them in the wilderness forty years and went up to the mountains with them and went down into the plains" (10:7, 11:15). The notion of a travelling rock arose through midrash in order to explain the doublet of Exodus 17:7 (J) and Numbers 20:13 (P) that arose in the redaction of sources for the Pentateuch. This doublet placed the rock of the waters of Meribah in two different locations. The same notion appears in later rabbinical texts: "And so the well that was with Israel in the desert was like a rock the size of a large container, gushing upwards as if from a narrow-neck flask, going up with them to the mountains and going down with them to the valleys" (Tosefta Sukkah 3:11).

  • behemot
    behemot

    Thanks Leolaia, amazing as always.

    I'll check my PDF copy of Moffatt's Introduction and I just booked Charlesworth's book at my library.

    Behemot

  • elvidtcb63
    elvidtcb63

    ill have to say cain is the son of satan

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