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The Testatments of the Twelve Patriarchs
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Introductory Notice to The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
[67] [ἐπὶ τῳ πάθει τοῦ ῾Υψισοῦ. Compare Tatian, vol. ii. p. 71, this series.]
[68] This document, the idea of which is that of a book containing what is fore-ordained in heaven as to the course of the future, is one often appealed to in Apocalyptic literature, when some oracular declaration of weighty import is needed. Thus, in the Book of Enoch, the angel Uriel tells Enoch that the tablets contain all wisdom, the dying Enoch tells his children that the tablets are the source of all understanding, etc. (see, e.g., cc. 81. 1; 93. 2; 106. 19, ed. Dillmann). In the Book of Jubilees, again, it is said that inscribed on the tablets are, e.g., the punishment of the angels who sinned with mortal women, the plan of the division of weeks, the name of Abraham as the friend of God, etc. (cc. 5, 6, 19). See also Test. Asher, 2, 7, infra.
[69] [Gen. xlviii. 16. The Jehovah-Angel.]
[70] ἀσπίς. The Latin version gives the other meaning to ἀσπίς here, of asp or viper. The epithet χαλκῆν, however, renders “shield” much more probable, as there seems nothing in the context pointing to the “brazen serpent.”
[71] A quotation from 1 Thess. ii. 16, where the context also is similar to the present. [See Lardner’s refutation of the learned Grabe on this quotation, vol. ii. p. 359.]
[72] With the whole of this passage we may compare the description of the vestments of Aaron. See especially Ex. xxix. 5, 6 (LXX.). The πέταλον is the translation of צִיץ, the plate of gold on the forehead of the high priest over the mitre. The λογίον, or λογεῖον, is the breastplate, with the Urim and Thummim. For the ποδήρης, see Ex. xxviii. 27 (LXX.).
[73] On the possible reference here to the elements of the Eucharist, see Grabe’s note, Spicilegium, in loc.
[74] Nitzsch (p. 19, n. 37) explains this division into three ἀρχαί, as referring to the three orders of the Christian priesthood. This, however, seems improbable. Cf. Kayser, p. 119; Vorstman, p. 41. It is far more probable that the reference is to Moses, Aaron, and Christ. Thus with πιστεύσας we may compare Num. xii. 7. For this use of ἀρχή, cf. Gen. ii. 10. [Isa. lxvi. 21.]
[75] [Rom. 16.15-17; Heb. 5.1.]
[76] Or, if we follow the reading of Cd. Oxon., “Prophet of the Most High.”
[77] Or rather, with Cd. Oxon., “with our father.”
[78] We constantly find Peter, in the Clementine Homilies and Recognitions, combining with the Agapæ the practice of bathing. Cf., e.g., Recog., iv. 3, v. 36.
[79] Cf. Hom., xiv. 1. [Lev. ii. 13; Mark ix. 49.]
[80] [Annas and Caiaphas. John xix. 11.]
[81] This document is frequently quoted in the Testaments: cf. Sim. 5; Levi 14, 16; Judah 18; Dan 5; Naph. 4; Benj. 9. Most of these citations, however, are not to be found in the work as it has come down to us. We must therefore either assume the reference to some other books of Enoch not now extant, or rather perhaps that they are general appeals to the spirit of the book, regarded as a great fount of prophecy.
[82] Read αὐτοῦ with Cd. Oxon.
[83] [John i. 4-9; viii. 12; ix. 5, etc.]
[84] The word πλεονξία, like the English “excess,” has not unfrequently special reference to sins of sensuality. Cf. 1 Cor. v. 11; Eph. iv. 19; v. 3, 5; Col. iii. 5; 1 Thess. iv. 6, the context in all of which passages points strongly to this conclusion. See Suicer’s Thesaurus, s.v.
[85] Cf. Matt. xxvii. 63, where ἐκεῖνος ὁ πλάνος is said of our Lord.
[87] [John iii. 5; Isa. xii. 3; 1 Pet. iii. 20.]
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