Meaning of TEST

This name is given to the Jewish writings that appeared, for the most part, between the years 150 BC. and 100 AD, which were not admitted into the OT canon (see CANON).

Its name is due to the fact that they give a false author name. There are other books, among the apocrypha, that are attributed to fictitious authors (see APOCRYPHA).

Below is a list of the pseudepigraphic writings that appear in the translation of them published by Kautzsch (Tübingen, 1900). Certain writings classified as apocryphal also appear as pseudepigrapha, and are not treated here (see APOCRYPHA). Works lacking religious value are also overlooked.

List:
(a) Legends:
The letter of Aristeas,
the Book of Jubilees,
the Martyrdom of Isaiah.

(b) Poetry:
The Psalms of Solomon.
(c) Didactic books:
the fourth book of Maccabees.
(d) Apocrypha:

The Sibylline Oracles,
the book of Enoch,
the Assumption of Moses,
the fourth book of Ezra,
the apocrypha of Baruch (one Syrian and one Greek),
the Testaments of the Twelve

Patriarchs,
the Life of Adam and Eve.
The letter of Aristeas. The author presents himself as a high dignitary of the court of Egypt, and as a gentile.

He writes to a friend (Philocrates) to relate the origin of the Greek version of the Bible (LXX): «King Ptolemy II Philadelphus wrote to the high priest Eleazar to obtain a translation of the Law of the Jews.

Eleazar sent seventy-two doctors (six from each tribe) to Ptolemy. After having captivated the king with their wisdom during a court banquet, the doctors were installed on the island of Pharos, and set to work.

They dedicated eight hours a day to it, while Demetrius of Falero, curator of the famous library of Alexandria, recorded in writing the translation of the Bible in which the seventy-two doctors showed total unanimity.

The task was completed in seventy-two days. This story is legendary. It cannot come from a pagan, since the Law is highly glorified.

It is evident that it was not written at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, because the author makes serious errors regarding the chronology of Ptolemy II.

The details he gives about Palestine lead to the conjecture that he returned around 100 BC, although certainly before Philo and Josephus, since the latter echoed this legend.

The Psalms of Solomon. They are eighteen. They are written according to the rules of Hebrew parallelism (see HEBREW POETRY). It seems that they must be attributed to the same poet.

His zeal for the Law, and his hostile attitude toward the Hasmonean dynasty, as well as his messianic hopes, allow one to see in him a member of the Hasidim, a fervently religious group preceding the Pharisees and with similarities to them.

Internal evidence shows that the author did not intend to pass off his poems as Solomon's. It is evident that this name was added later.

The reason that moved him to write was the brutal desecration of the Temple by the impious Pompey in the year 63 BC. An older date has been assigned to this work, seeing in the cursed man that the poet points not to Pompey, but to Antiochus Epiphanes.

Then, the evil kings would not be the Hasmoneans, but the Seleucids. But this hypothesis does violence to the internal evidence of the work, and causes more problems than it aims to solve.

The most plausible opinion is the one that places its writing shortly after the year 63, or even after the death of Pompey, in the year 48 BC.

These eighteen psalms, with the exception of the first, carry, as has already been pointed out, a heading with the name of Solomon. Written in Greek, they give evidence of their original writing in Hebrew.

Its writing period is sufficient to rule out any Solomonic origin. This work had completely disappeared until a ms was discovered. in the 17th century, being then published.

An analogous discovery, although of undoubtedly later date, has recently been made, the Odes of Solomon.

It is a compilation of songs and prayers: fourteen fragments (seven of them from the OT, three from the Apocrypha, two from the NT, and a last fragment of New Testament air, although independently written: it is a thanksgiving and prayer to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

It is found in some mss. (Alexandrino) and in editions of the LXX (Swete).

Fourth book of Maccabees. It is a didactic work, a kind of philosophical dissertation designed to show the superiority of reason over the passions.

The argument is based on Jewish history. The author considerably expands the account of 2 Mac. 6-7 (the martyrdom of Eleazar and that of the mother with her seven children). 5/6 of the length of the book are dedicated to this story. Hence its name 4 Mac.

This work was written in Greek, but is addressed to the Jews. Its author preaches obedience to the Law. He believes in the survival of the soul. It appears before 70 AD.

Various writing places are noted, the most favored being Egypt and Antioch in Syria, where the tombs of the Maccabean martyrs were located.

The attribution of this work to Josephus, supported by Eusebius of Caesarea, is unfounded. (See APOCRYPHAS, QUMRÁN.)