Testament of Levi

By Scriptural Research Institute

The Testament of Levi, like the other Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, 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, fragments of the Testaments of Joseph and Levi have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls in Aramaic, dating to between 135 and 37 BC, implying the rest of the Twelve were compiled at the same time. The Testament of Levi also refers to the Book of Enoch, an Aramaic Second Temple era work that was not included in the Septuagint, which implies it was written around the same time as the Books of Daniel and Enoch, which would date it to anywhere between 300 and 100 BC.

The surviving copies of the Testament of Levi contain multiple layers of prophecy that was once accepted as being authentic pre-Christian predictions of the coming of Jesus Christ. This view shifted in Western Europe during the Protestant reformation, and the text was assumed to be a Christian era work, and generally dismissed as a forgery. This view shifted by the 1900s, as an Semitic layer of text was found within it that indicated it was originally a pre-Christian work that was later Christianized, and it was then assumed to be a Pharisee work that the Christians had added all the prophecies to. Since the discovery of fragments of the testament have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating to between 135 and 37 BC, and written in Aramaic, the Pharisee theory has been discredited. The Dead Sea Scrolls fragments have also shown that some of the prophecies were present in the Aramaic texts by 37 BC, meaning that the Christians had simply added to the prophecies to indicate they were about Jesus. The original work appears to be an anti-Levitical text, which dismissed the Levitical priesthood, and pointed to an alternative priesthood. As this was not a Samaritan text, it was likely a text written by the Tobian Jews mentioned in 2nd Maccabees, that lived in Seleucid controlled regions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scriptural Research Institute
• Release date: Jan 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781989604816

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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 LEVI

First edition. January 1, 2020.

Copyright © 2020 Scriptural Research Institute.

ISBN: 978-1-989604-81-6

The Testament of Levi was likely composed in Aramaic between 300 and 50 BC.

The Testament of Levi was translated into Greek and Hebrew before 50 BC.

The Testament of Levi was Christianized by the monks at the Mount Athos, sometime after 300 AD.

The Testament of Levi was translated into Armenian by 1666.

This English translation was created by the Scriptural Research Institute in 2020.

The image used for the cover is ‘The Rape of Dinah’ by Giuliano Bugiardini, painted in 1531.

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IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN era, many 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