The First Christians / pt. 10
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (T12P) is a long work made up of deathbed testaments of the sons of Jacob, they being the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha edition (1983) suggests a dating shortly after 150 BCE (I.778), loosely based on suspected parallels with Qumran literature. However, in recent decades the dating of Qumran has itself moved several generations later (DeVaux’s early Period 1 is doubtful), with the result that those suspected “Essene” parallels should now be moved up to a century later. This revised dating conforms with my own research that places both the heyday of the DSS and that of Naṣarene literature in the middle to the second half of I BCE. Thus, the T12P are probably contemporary with the Parables of Enoch that we have examined, and also with other literature of the first Christian generations after the death of Yeshu haNotsri ca. 64 BCE.
The twelve testaments are very uneven in quality and inspiration. Each testament has a focus. They are (in order):
Continence (encratism) – Against envy – Understanding (gnosis) – Against promiscuity, drunkenness, love of money – simplicity – Integrity, uprightness – Charity, compassion – Against anger – Against hatred – The two ways – Encratism, perseverance, humility – Right view, karma.
The above list is not typically Jewish. We note a focus on encratism, the two ways, the warning about “love of money” (ebionism), and an emphasis on ethics. The tone and content of the testaments is new. This is not Catholic (“Christian”), for the date is late I BCE—before the (mythical) ministry of Jesus of Nazareth!
Given the early date and the novel emphases, the above may well stem from the ministry of Yeshu haNotsri. Consider the following passage from the Testament of Gad, with obvious parallels to the much later New Testament:
Now, my children, each of you [is to] love his brother. Drive hatred out of your hearts. Love one another in deed and word and inward thoughts… Love one another from the heart, therefore, and if anyone sins against you, speak to him in peace. Expel the venom of hatred, and do not harbor deceit in your heart. If anyone confesses and repents, forgive him. If anyone denies his guilt, do not be contentious with him… But even if he is devoid of shame and persists in his wickedness, forgive him from the heart and leave vengeance to God. (Test. Gad. 6)
Passages such as the above show that a “Christian” tone towards forgiveness did not begin with the canonical gospels (which I date ca. 150 CE). It was prefigured in the T12P already towards the end of I BCE, that is, almost two centuries earlier.
Disagreement has existed and continues to exist regarding the extent and number of Catholic interpolations in T12P. There are at least a few. But readers of this website can now admit another possibility: some passages, formerly considered Catholic, actually refer to Yeshu haNotsri and not to Jesus of Nazareth. For example, consider the following, written from the point of view of the patriarch Benjamin, who on his deathbed speaks to his children:
And in later times there shall rise up the beloved of the Lord, from the lineage of Judah and Levi, one who does his good pleasure by his mouth, enlightening all the nations with new knowledge. The light of knowledge will mount up in Israel for her salvation, seizing them like a wolf coming upon them, and gathering the gentiles. Until the consummation of the ages he shall be in the congregations of the gentiles and among the rulers, like a musical air in the mouths of all. He shall be written of in sacred books, both his work and his word. And he shall be God’s Chosen One forever. He shall range widely among them, like my father Jacob, saying “He shall fill up what was lacking of your tribe.” (Test. Benjamin 11)
Scholarship has assumed that the “he” in the foregoing passage refers to Paul (minority position: Jesus of Nazareth), who brought “new knowledge” to Israel and to the gentiles. The passage knows “sacred books” in his name and considerable activity among the gentiles. Scholars who hold this view and who follow the traditional chronology consequently date the T12P to between the two Jewish revolts (c. 70–130 CE).
But Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin, not of “Judah and Levi.” The New Testament also does not exalt Paul to messianic and quasi-divine status, as we read in the above excerpt (enlightener “of all the nations”; alive “until the consummation of the ages”; “God’s Chosen One forever”; “beloved of the Lord” [Cf. Mk 1:11]). The minority position seems to make more sense to me, and some scholars suppose that the passage describes Jesus of Nazareth. The statement “he shall be… among the rulers” might even suggest a very late date, when Christianity was gaining ground among Roman ruling elites.
Quite overlooked (and understandably so) is that the above passage was written by the Naṣarenes, Yeshu’s followers in I BCE. This conforms to the later I BCE dating for T12P (scholarly consensus) and also does not require the additional hypothesis of later Catholic interpolation (to make it refer to Paul or Jesus).
When read in this new light, the above passage refers to John the Hasmonean, aka Yeshu haNostri, described as the “beloved of the Lord.” The passage tells us that he will rise up “from the lineage of Judah and Levi.” This unusual phrase reveals much about the Naṣarene view of their founding prophet. We will now look at it in some detail.
“Judah and Levi”
To my knowledge, this pairing of tribes occurs only in T12P. Generally, Judah (the southern kingdom) is paired with Joseph (the northern kingdom) in Jewish scripture, where the reference is geographical and demographic—“Judah and Joseph” means “all the land/people west of the Jordan River.”
The pairing “Judah and Levi” has other referents. Traditionally, the secular power of the state was invested in the tribe of Judah—Jewish kings could only come from that tribe (particularly from the lineage of David). Messiahship, too, was kingly and invested in the “Lion of Judah.”
“Levi,” on the other hand, was the tribe invested with religious power. Chief Priests (and priests in general) had to belong to that tribe. Thus, the combination “Judah and Levi” signifies the combined power of all Israel: secular and religious.
The above passage relates that the “beloved of the Lord” was of the lineage of both Judah and Levi. Interpreted, this means that he possessed both kingly and messianic/religious power. This combination occurred only once in Jewish history: during the period 134 BCE to 63 BCE (beginning with John Hyrcanus), when a few Hasmoneans (of the tribe of Levi) were invested with both the office of High Priest and the throne. Thus, as it happens, John the son of Absalom and grandson of John Hyrcanus (aka Yeshu) was both a Levite by birth and also a member of the ruling family. Though not officially so, to his Naṣarene followers he was both High Priest and Lion of Judah (i.e. messiah).
During the brief period following 134 BCE, secular and religious power were combined in the symbolic fusion of Judah and Levi. This non-traditional union, however, was a very sensitive point that did not sit well with either the Pharisees or the people. As a result, the two offices were soon divided once again (Hyrcanus II was only High Priest).
But Yeshu haNotsri (c. 100 to c. 64 BCE) lived precisely in the short period when the religious and secular powers were combined. We thus understand the later designation in T12P to “honor Levi and Judah, because from them shall arise the salvation of Israel” (Test. Joseph 19:11). This is a direct Naṣarene reference to the era in which Yeshu haNotsri lived.
We can now understand numerous other passages in T12P that refer to Judah and Levi in combination. Some of those passages follow:
• Test. of Simeon. “And now, my children, be obedient to Levi and to Judah. Do not exalt yourselves above these two tribes, because from them will arise the savior come from God. For the Lord will raise up from Levi someone as high priest and from Judah someone as king, God and man. He will save all the gentiles and the tribe of Israel.” (T. Sim. 7:1–3. COMMENT: This passage is usually considered a later Catholic interpolation, even though Jesus of Nazareth was not of the tribe of Levi.)
• Test. of Dan. “And there shall arise for you from the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Levi the Lord’s salvation. He will make war against Beliar; he will grant the vengeance of victory as our goal. And he will take from Beliar the captives, the souls of the saints; and he will turn the hearts of the disobedient ones to the Lord.” (T. Dan 5:10-11.)
• Test. of Joseph. “And you, my children, honor Levi and Judah, because from them shall arise the salvation of Israel.” (T. Joseph 19:11)
• Test. of Benjamin. “And in later times there shall rise up the beloved of the Lord, from the lineage of Judah and Levi, one who does his good pleasure by his mouth, enlightening all the nations with new knowledge.” (T. Benj. 11:2. Full passage with commentary furnished above.)
So we see that the Naṣarene veneration of Yeshu prefigured, in important ways, the later Christian veneration of Jesus. Both brought salvation to gentiles as well as Jews, but the Naṣarene prophet, the “beloved of the Lord,” was particularly venerated as a bringer of enlightenment, i.e. gnosis: “enlightening all the nations with new knowledge” (T. Benjamin).