Apocalypse Apocalyptic Literature
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
was probably Orcok.
General rlmractcr like that of the ol(l<T Ixiok, but iiuich more iiitlufuced by GrtiU tliought. It (.ontainssomc pliilosopliicalsipccuhitidn. TUcre are niarki-d Gnostic ek-nieuts. tspcc-ially in tlic very detailed accoviut of the Creation. Noteworthy features: the seven heavens, the niilleiiniuin. and the condition of souls after death. The book is JewSome writers have attempted, but ish tliroujrhout. without sutlicient reason, to show that it contains Christian iidditioiis and interpolations. Written, probably in He4. Assumption of Moses. brew, at alinul the beiriiiiiing of the common era. In form, not a vision or dream, but a prediction of the future history of Israel delivered to Joshua by Jloses. The material which is more or less ajiocaiyptic in character is contained in chaps. vii.-.., with which Dan. xi. 4((-xii. 18 may be compared. The book as known to us is inconiplrte. 5. II Esdras (also 4 Ezra). The Semitic (apparently Hebrew) original was composed about the year 90. In all resjiects a typical Apocalypse of the theological type, of which it is the best" specimen. The instruction in hidden things here has to do Teachchiefly with matters of religion and faith. ing by allegory is a jiromiuent feature. The influence of Daniel (referred to by name in .ii. 11) is very noticeable, es|ieciallv in the dream-vision.s, chaps. xi.-xiii. The "signs of the end," v. 1-13. vi. 18-28. Messianic predictions, xii. 31 et neij. xiii. 32 ct mq. 51 (t acq. xiv. 9, etc. The general resurrection, and Extended account of the last judgment, vii. 30-3.'). (oniiitiouof souls after death, vii. 78-98. The standpoint of the book throughout is that of Palestinian Judaism (contrast, c.;i.. the account of the Creation. vi. 38-5-i, with Slavonic Enoch, xxv.-xxx.), but the author is decidedly original, as well as orthodox. Chaps, i.. ii., xv.. xvi. are a later addition, apparently of Ciiristiiiu origin (.see ii. 42-48). 6." Apocalypse of Barnch (preserved entire onlv in Syriac; hence sometimes termed the "Syriac Apoc. Beginning of the second century. Original liir. "). series of visions. language Hebrew or Aramaic. connected by narrative, hortatory, or sometimes highly rhetorical pas.sages. In its geniTal character, the book is the inferior counterpart of II Esdras, to which it also sustains a very close literary relationship, the correspondence extending even to the phraseology. The features mentioned above as characteristic of II Esdras are present here also. The appended letter (chaps. Ixxvii.-lxxxvii.) contjiius nothing of an a])ocaly)itic nature. 7. Greek Apocaljrpse of Barnch. Greek text first published in 1897 an aliriilged Slavonic recension known since 1886. work dating from the latter part of the second century. Oinginally Jewish, but now containing Christian additions. good example of a (h'generate Apocalypse of the Enoch type (see § IV. ). Baruch is conducted by an angel through the five (originally seven?) heavens, and sees strange sights, the account of which is grotesiiue rather than impressive. Next to nothing is said about the future; and the religious element, usually so prominent in
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this literature, is almost wholy wanting. There is evident dependence on the Slavonic Enoch, as well as on the curlier P.aruch literature. 8.
The
Sibylline Oracles,
Books III.-V.
A Jewish
adaptation and expansion of similar heathen "oracles. " The hypothesis of still further Christian additions is without sufficient ground. The plainly Jewish portions date from 140 n.c. down to about 80 of the present era. These Oracles lie quite outside the course of the characteristic apocalyptic tiadition but furnish in part a good example of the nearly related class of prophetical-eschatological wri;
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tings (see § III.). Thus, in Book III., which contains the pas,sages most nearly resembling the true Apocalypse: pre<iictiou of the successive kingdoms wiiich are to l)ear rule over the Jews; the woes to come upon the various lands: the signs of the end of the worhl; the judgment dav; the blessed age to come: lines 71-92. 107-198. 29r,-.'i(i 1 608-()23. 767806. Similar passages in Book IV. 40-48. 172-183. In Book v.: lo.VKil. 260 ,1 «<y.. 3t4-38.'>, 414-133, 513-531. With all these, the familiar passages in Joel, Zech. xiv., Malachi, Issv. xxiv. et »eg. shoidd be .
compared. Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. Probably a nt the lirsi entuiy ol tin- common era. originally written in Hebrew. Chiefly haggadic Midrash. combined with some predictive prophecy. The only apocalypti<- jjortions are in the Testaments of Levi and Naphtali. In Levi two visions are described: the seven heavens, ii.-v. the .seven angels, viii. Sec also xviii. iirediction of the Jlessianic age. In Naphtali, v., vi. (Hebrew text, ii.-vi.), two dreams arc narrated, which have something of the ajiocaiyptic The whole book, in the form known to character. us. has been cililcd by Christian hands. 10. Life of Adam and Eve (or. in another recension, the Apocalypse of Moses). Original language probably Hebrew; date uncertain. It has received someChinstiaii additions. The book contains hardly anything apocalvptic in the narrower sense; see, however. Apoc. ^Iosis, xiii. prediction of the resurrection and of the futine bliss in paradise (compare Dan. xii. 1 it seq.): and the fantastic visions in Apoc. Mosis, xxxiii.-xlii. compare also Life of Adam and Eve, xxv.-xxviii. See Ad.m. Book of. The following also deserve mention: The Book of Jubilees. Sometimes classed with this literature, and in Syiiccllus (ed. Dindorf, i. 5) called the Apocalypse of Moses. It i)ur]iorts to have been given, through angels, to Mos<'S on Mount Sinai, but in the character of its contents it is very far removed from being an Apocalypse. Ascension of Isaiah (also Vision of Isaiah). A brief Ajioealypsi'. found combined with the older Jewish "Martyrdom of Isiiiah." of which it forms chaps. vi.-.i.. and also existing sejiarately. It is a Christian product, however: the theory of a .Tewisli ki-rnel is liardly tenable. Apocalypse of Abraham. A true Apocalypse, of the second century. Aiijiareiitly Jewish, with Christian Preserved only in a Slavonic version (ed. additions. Bonwetsch, 1897). Apocalypses of Elias ami Zephaniah. Coptic fragments, ed. StcindorlT, issiil. Both probably Jewish in origin. lu:t worked over by Christian hands. The Apocalypses of Moses and Esdras published by Tischendorf. " Apocalyjises Ai"Miy|ili:e." 1.S66, Apocalypse of Sedrachis, a late are Christian works. production, dependent on Tischen(h)rf's "ApocaIvpsis Esdra"," and also upon II Esdras. Ed. by James. " Ai>ocrypha Anecdota." 1893. pp. 127-137. Apocalypse of Adam is a Greek fragment describe<l by James, /.r. l:^S-14."'). Testament of Abraham, and Testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are gmlilished, or translated in extract, by James and Bariu'S. "Texts and Studies," ii. 2. 1892. These all contain some apocalyptic material, perhaps Jewish. For a partial account of some characteristic medieval apocalypses, see Bousset, "Antichrist" (English trans), pp. 72-78. Of the early Christian writings of this class, the most important for the history of Jewish apocalyptic literature are the New Testament Revelations and the Shepherd of Hennas. See al.so Ai'f)CRvi'iiA. Es( ii.vToi.ooY. and the literature on the 9.
work
(
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several apcjcalyjises.
Among the more important books and essiays dealing witti this subject are the following HUgeofeld, Die
BiBLioGRAPHT
