Testament of Isaac

By Scriptural Research Institute

The Testament of Isaac, like the Testament of Abraham is considered to be a Jewish work that was added to by Christians in the Christian era. It is unclear when it comes from, however is considered by some scholars to be a work that was complied in Alexandria around the time that Abraham and the Septuagint was complied.

The Testament of Isaac shows strong influences of Jewish thought dating to the Second Temple era, including the cloud-of-light in which angels and humans fly around. Examples of these flying clouds can be found in the Paraphrase of Shem, Acts of Peter, Acts of Peter and Andrew, 1st Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, Revelations of Metatron, Ethiopian Apocalypse of Peter, and the Apocalypse of John. In the Protevangelion, the cloud-of-light led the Magi to Jesus when he was born. In the Acts of Peter and the Acts of Peter and Andrew, the apostles flew around on clouds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scriptural Research Institute
• Release date: Dec 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781989604762

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Copyright

WHILE EVERY PRECAUTION has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

TESTAMENT OF ISAAC

First edition. December 31, 2019.

Copyright © 2019 Scriptural Research Institute.

ISBN: 978-1-989604-76-2

The Testament of Isaac was likely composed in Greek in Egypt between 250 and 200 BC, possibly by Athanasius.

This English translation was created by the Scriptural Research Institute in 2019

The image used for the cover is ‘Sacrifice of Abraham’ by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo painted in 1635.

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IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN era, a number of Testaments of the Patriarchs circulated in Jewish and Christian communities, the foremost being the Testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The other major testaments were grouped together as the Testaments of the Twelve, which included the Testaments of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin. These testaments were widely accepted by the early Christian churches, and continue to form part of the Armenian Bible. The books were popular in Western Europe during the Middle Ages when they were generally considered authentic ancient Jewish texts. Critical analysis in the 16th century changed the view of Protestants and Catholics, as scholars at the time came to the belief that the texts were written in the early Christian era, likely in Greek. Subsequently, the texts fell out of favor in most parts of Europe. However, Hebrew fragments of the Testaments of the Patriarchs were discovered in the 20th century among the Dead Sea Scrolls, proving the texts were originally written in Aramaic and Hebrew. The current academic view is that there was a simpler Hebrew Jewish version that was then updated in the early Christian era by