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his saving covenant promise, and to pray to him continually.

      The Paraleipomena Jeremiou (The Things Omitted from Jeremiah = 4Bar)¹⁵ is an interpretive sequel to the book of Jeremiah which utilizes the promises in the history and proclamation of the prophet Jeremiah in interpreting and coping with their own experiences.

      The text, originally written in Greek and handed down only within the tradition of the Eastern churches, is preserved in one long and two short versions. The terminus a quo is the retrospect on the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE reflected in the account of the events of 587 BCE. The probable date of the work, which is addressed to a Jewish readership, is the first third of the second century CE. A Palestinian origin is likely in view of the work’s frequent Septuagintisms, the author’s exact knowledge of the topography of Jerusalem (cf. 3:10,15; 4:1; 5:9; 6:16), and his special interest in the Samaritans (8:1–9).

      The events narrated begin on the night of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 BCE. In a vision, God informs the prophet Jeremiah of the imminent destruction of Jerusalem because of the sins of its inhabitants, giving him time to bury the temple objects and save his servant Abimelech (cf. Jer 38:7). The Babylonians conquer Jerusalem and Jeremiah follows a contingent of the people into exile, while his scribe Baruch remains in Jerusalem. Abimelech falls into a 66-year sleep. He and Baruch then meet again and try to communicate with Jeremiah in Babylon. The latter promises a return for the exiles, while calling on them to separate themselves from their non-Jewish environment. Finally, the Israelites return home to Jerusalem. The text ends with a description of the death of Jeremiah that shows evidence of major Christian revision (with use of christological expressions; cf. 9:13f.).

      In the Paraleipomena Jeremiou, the disaster of the destruction of the Temple is interpreted retrospectively as a judgment which the people brought upon themselves. On the other hand, the basic religious sentiment of the book is marked by unbroken trust in the present and future mercy and goodness of God. The history of the liberation of the people of Israel from captivity becomes a paradigm of the bodily resurrection in the Eschaton (6:3).

      The Vitae Prophetarum (Lives of the Prophets)¹⁶ contains legendary short biographies of the four major prophets, the twelve prophets of the so-called Minor Prophets, as well as seven prophets from the historical books (Nathan; Ahijah the Shilonite; Joad; Azariah; Elijah; Elisha; Zechariah ben Jehoiada). Manuscripts of the text are preserved only in Christian revisions and translations.

      If the collection of vitae is not to be regarded as genuinely Christian¹⁷ but based on an underlying—Semitic or Greek—Jewish writing, then the composition of this foundation of a Jewish »hagiography«¹⁸ probably came into being by the second century CE at the latest, as some of the traditions collected in the Vitae are also to be found in the extrabiblical Jewish writings of this period. These texts also display agreements with the short biographies popular in the Hellenistic-Roman sphere from the third century BCE onward. A witness to the reception of the biblical prophets in ancient Judaism, the Vitae prophetarum provides details of Palestinian geography not found in the biblical tradition. From this we may conclude that the author was a Palestinian Jew, possibly even an inhabitant of Jerusalem.

      Framed by a title and a concluding statement, the 23 short biographies of the biblical prophets generally follow a stereotypical structure. An indication of the name, origin, and home of the prophet is followed by details of the location of his grave, of the miracles and signs he performed, of his violent death, and of his announcement of the signs of the end-times. Such a contemporizing interpretation of the prophetic literature of revelation is notable because it views the biblical writing prophets no longer as bringing a socio-critical message relating to the present or the immediate future, but as announcing events far ahead. Their messages serve as predictions of eschatological processes and events planned by God in accordance with his salvation-historical purpose.

      3 Fragments of Hellenistic-Jewish Historians

      The Fragments of Hellenistic-Jewish Historians¹⁹ are preserved incompletely in the Christian tradition. They may be regarded as early witnesses to the use of the Greek language and literary forms in ancient Judaism. All of these Jewish writings, quoted by Alexander Polyhistor in his compilation, »On the Jews,« and taken from there into the works of Eusebius of Caesarea and Clement of Alexandria, represent significant examples of the interdependence of a traditional way of life and Hellenistic culture. They aid the historical reconstruction of Jewish life and Jewish teachings of the era. They are important for early traditions of understanding and interpreting Jewish scriptures.

      The Jewish historian Eupolemos is an early witness to the use of the Torah in Greek translation. He wrote around 150 BCE, probably in Palestine (cf. 1 Macc 8:17f.; 2 Macc 4:11). In his »History of the Kings of Judah,« only five quotation fragments of which are extant,²⁰ he used a Greek version of the books of Chronicles alongside the Hebrew text of the Bible, which is evident from frequent echoes of the Greek wording of these writings. Moreover, his chronology for the period between Adam and Moses seems to follow Greek tradition.

      Eupolemos the historian is to be distinguished from an anonymous Samaritan author under the name of Pseudo-Eupolemos. This work emerged in the second century BCE, in single fragment.²¹ The highlighting of the Samaritan sanctuary on Mount Gerizim and the reception of older legends of the patriarchs, in particular the naming of Abraham as the first inventor and teacher of astrology are notable in that fragment.

      In the mid-second century BCE, the Alexandrian Jewish writer Artapanos wrote a work »On the Jews,« three fragments of which survived.²² These fragments depict Abraham as the inventor of astrology, Joseph as the inventor of surveying, and Moses as a creator of religion and culture in Egypt. The latter, a midrash-like retelling of Ex 1–17, accentuates the principle of the superiority of Judaism over the Egyptian cultures.

      Two works were handed down together pseudepigraphically under the name of the popular Greek historian Hecataeus of Abdera (ca. 300 BCE). Each are preserved in two fragments,²³ by two different Egyptian Jewish authors. The first assumes a non-Jewish position in his propagandistic description of Judaism around 100 BCE (mention is made of Moses, the Exodus, and the Babylonian Exile), while the second gives an apologetic discussion of the life of Abraham as the first monotheist and his relationship with the Egyptians.

      4 Teachings in Narrative Form

      The Book of Tobit²⁴ is theological wisdom with novelistic features. It presents a model Jewish life in the Diaspora in the form of a graphically shaped family history. The different forms of Greek texts of the book go back to at least one Semitic model, confirmed by the witness of Jerome and finds of Hebrew and Aramaic fragments in the Dead Sea²⁵ caves. This heterogeneity confirms that the popular narrative material of the Tobit tradition existed in multiple forms in the earliest strata of its tradition; and the »redactional« activity of its tradents continued into the first century CE.

      The historical inconsistencies of the book of Tobit characterize fictional narrative. Its protagonist witnesses important events in Israel’s history across more than three centuries. While the recognition of the commandments in the »Book of Moses« (6:13; 7:11–13) and the prophetic books as authoritative Holy Scripture (14:4) points to the fourth century BCE as terminus a quo, the Maccabean age with its strictly anti-pagan attitude, for which there is no match in Tobit (13:11; 14:6f.), can be viewed as the terminus ante quem. It most probably came into being around 200 BCE in the eastern Diaspora. This is indicated by the motif of endogamy and the emphasis on food law observance as »exile« problems.

      The short superscription (1:1f.) is followed by an exposition which tells of the suffering of Tobit and Sarah, in two parallel storylines. The main part (4:1–14:1a) contains an account of the adventurous journey Tobias from Nineveh to Media, his matching and marriage with Sarah, as well as the healing of Tobit from his unmerited blindness. The epilogue (14:1b–15) sets the events in a salvation-historical sequence.

      The three key words, »truth,« »justice,«

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