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respect a speech, in genre respect a tragic-pathetic historiography. It proves to be a synthesis of Jewish piety and Hellenistic popular philosophy, the aim of which is religious education. Using historical examples, it seeks to show that pious judgment is sovereign over the passions. Written in Greek, the book was falsely ascribed by Eusebius (Hist Eccl III 10:6) to Flavius Josephus; it has been handed down in numerous Christian manuscripts of the Septuagint. The rabbis, however, did not acknowledge it.

      Suggested dates range from ca. 20 CE to 120 CE. A pre-70 CE composition draws support from the description of worship at the Temple (4:20; 14:9) and the official titles in use (4:2). Alongside linguistic pointers, the detailed reports of martyrdom and the quick Christian acceptance of the writing indicate that it emerged during or shortly after the Tumultus Judaicus (115–117 CE). The form and content of the book reflect its emergence in a Hellenistic metropolis in Egypt (Alexandria) or Syria (Antioch), where its linguistically sophisticated and rhetorically trained Jewish author was able to draw upon a broad contemporary repository of education.

      The book is divided into four sections. An introductory section (1:1–12) indicating the subject and its treatment is followed by the first main section, which defines and justifies the work’s central philosophical thesis (1:13–3:18). The second main section (3:19–17:6) uses 2 Macc 3–7 to give an account of the martyrdoms of Eleazar and the seven brothers and their mother. The concluding section (17:7–18:24) provides a summary and a doxology.

      The Fourth Book of Maccabees tries on the one hand to reconcile the biblical law with Greek life ideals by making Jewish life in compliance with the commandments of the Torah seem rationally justifiable. On the other hand, by means of its dramatic martyrdom portrayals it shows that the approval of the neighboring world cannot be gained by assimilation but only through steadfast perseverance and faithfulness to the commandments of God.

      The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs³⁹ consists of twelve pseudepigraphal farewell speeches by the twelve sons of Jacob (cf. Gen 49). They contain stories from their lives that embellish or add to the biblical text, as well as ethical teachings and eschatological prophecies.

      In its present form the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is a Christian writing and has been handed down only in church tradition (in some cases as an appendix to the Septuagint). With regard to older stages of tradition, different positions are held, which, given the lack of references to sabbath observance, circumcision or food laws, either view it as originally a Christian work⁴⁰ or, given its specifically Hellenistic-Jewish language, style, motifs, and its wisdom characteristics, see it as going back to an underlying Jewish foundation.⁴¹

      The historical allusions (Naphtali 5:8; Lev 14) point to the second century BCE as the time when such a Jewish base text came into being. With the exception of the Testament of Asher (the content of which stands alone in terms of its dealings with sinners) the writing as a whole was penned by a single hand. The original language is probably Greek, as may be indicated by linguistic borrowings from Greek translations of the Bible and the use of Hellenistic terms.

      The twelve discourses have a uniform structure. Its opening biographical section begins with the patriarch’s reference to his impending death and the assembling of his relatives. The farewell discourses proper link haggadic expansions and accounts of events from the life of the son of Jacob with warnings against temptations and vices, ethical admonitions and recommendations (e.g. chastity, mercy, truthfulness, maintenance of the order of creation). These lead to an outlook on the future and the eschatological wellbeing of the tribe in question, of Israel, or of humanity. Each text concludes with a note of the death and burial of the patriarch.

      The sons of Jacob are regarded as exemplary models and the personification of piety and virtue. The course of history is determined by the antagonism between God and his adversary Beliar. At its end stand God’s victorious intervention in world events and the resurrection of the righteous. As leaders of the people during the end-times there appear two messiah figures, from the priestly tribe (Levi 18) and the royal tribe (Judah 24).

      The aim of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is ethical instruction and warning of its addressees, to not fall away from the laws of God. Only their pious lifestyle can be the basis for receiving the promises of salvation in the end-times.

      The Testament of Job⁴² is a continuation of the biblical book of Job, which can be both ascribed to Jewish testamentary literature, and interpreted as narrative midrash. The originally Greek work has been transmitted only in the Christian tradition in Greek, Old Church Slavonic, and Coptic manuscripts. A key to determination of the terminus a quo (1^st cent. BCE) is provided by a re-Hebraizing form of Job in the Septuagint. The reception of the Testament of Job by early Christian authors in the second century CE is the terminus ad quem. It is not possible to determine the exact place of origin (Egypt? cf. 28:7f.). The writing emerged within ancient Judaism, as suggested by the parenesis and the hymns, in particular the emphasis on genealogy, the warning against mixed marriages, and the Merkavah tradition.⁴³ Although haggadic traditions of various origins were used, the stylistic and linguistic homogeneity of the Testament of Job shows it as a unified literary composition. Structural elements are connected by repeated use of phrases and words, as well as intratextual allusions and quotations.

      We meet all the characters of the biblical Job narrative in the Testament of Job; its framework chapters in particular are broadly developed. The main section of the book is divided into several narrative units. First, an account is given of Job’s pagan past and his conversion. Satan appears to Job and is granted authority over his possessions by God (6–8). Job praises his merits and abilities (9–15). Satan’s attacks bring about the loss of Job’s cattle, the deaths of his children, and Job’s own sickness (16–20). The care and suffering of his wife Sitis are given detailed description (21–26). Job’s piety and perseverance in suffering are rewarded by God (27). Job’s arguments with his friends, kings Eliphaz, Baldad, and Sophar, at the center of which is the meaninglessness of all earthly things, are given extensive attention (28–45). When Job’s inheritance is distributed, his three daughters receive no material goods like their seven brothers, but miraculous belts (46–51). The epilogue (52f.) describes the dying, death, and burial of Job and the ascension of his soul.

      The main themes of the Testament of Job are patience in suffering, charity toward the needy, and the acknowledgment of God as creator of the world and eschatological judge. The problem of theodicy, the central theme of the biblical book of Job, is not mentioned. The author’s prime concern is to provide an account of individual piety motivated by hopes of eschatological salvation. Job, the archetype of pious patience, becomes a prototype of the Jewish righteous person and witness to the faith, oppressed because of his confession, remaining faithful to it out of love for the God of Israel.

      The Hellenistic-Jewish exegete Demetrios⁴⁴ is regarded as the oldest known witness to the existence of a Greek Torah translation. His exposition of the Torah is preserved in six fragmentary excerpts,⁴⁵ written in Alexandria during the time of Ptolemy IV Philopator (221–204 BCE). He gives chronographically arranged explanations of »difficult« passages of the Bible. He relies throughout on a Greek version of the books of Genesis and Exodus, which he takes as a normative text, offering a comprehensive exegetical exposition. Assuming there has been no secondary alignment with the Septuagint, Demetrios used only the Greek forms of the biblical personal and place names. The system of time and year data presupposed by him– sometimes contradicts the Hebrew Bible, but coincides with Greek traditions.

      The Alexandrian Jewish Bible expositor Aristobulus⁴⁶ (180–145 BCE), freely associates in his Greek reproduction of the content of the Torah, addressed to the Ptolemaic ruler. Aristobulus was familiar with the legend of a Greek translation of the Bible at the behest of Ptolemy II Philadelphos (282–246 BCE), given decades later in the Letter of Aristeas.

      The ancient exegete tried to show readers of his now fragmentary work⁴⁷ that the Torah was consonant with Hellenistic philosophy of his day. With the aid of the allegorical method of interpretation, Aristobulus aimed to extract deeper meaning from the Pentateuch to prove

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