W. H. BENNETT.
MOSES, ASSUMPTION OF.—The Assumption of Moses [᾿Ανάληψις Μωυσέως ap. Gelasius of Cyzicum (Mansi ii. 844)] is a Jewish writing originally com- posed in Hebrew or Aramaic early in the Ist cent. A.D. It is extant in a Latin translation preserved in a single palimpsest MS, which was discovered by Ceriani and edited by him in Monumenta Sacra et Profana, vol. i. fase. i. ΒΡ. 55-64 (1864). The best edition is that of Dr. R. H. Charles (1897) : his division of the text into chapters and verses is here adopted, and his edition quoted by its pages [e.g. ‘Charles 87.
1, CONTENTS (Historical allusions not expressly
*An Alexandrian living shortly before the Christian era (Ewald, Hist. of Isr. tr.4 ii. 85 n.).
+ ‘Otherwise unknown, but certainly still later than Chere- mon,’ Ewald, op. cit. ii. 86,
named in the text are given in brackets).—I. In the year 2500 A.M., Moses, being 120 years old, calls Joshua and appoints him to be his successor, at the same time giving him the books, which he is to bury carefully in a safe place. 11. Joshua shall give the people their inheritance (1, 2): afterwards they will be ruled by chiefs and kings, and God will fix the place of His sanctuary (3, 4), though the ten tribes will break off (5). But the people will fall into idolatry (6-9). III. Then a king from the East [Nebuchadnezzar] will burn their ‘colony’ [Jerusalem] and the temple, and will carry them captive (1-3). The ten tribes and the two tribes will mourn together and pray, and will remember the warnings of Moses (4-13). They will be in bondage about 77 years (14). IV. Then a certain one [Daniel] will pray for them (1-5), and some of them will be allowed to return, though the ten tribes will remain among the Gentiles (6-9). V. At a later period the priests, ‘slaves, sons of slaves,’ will fall into idolatry and iniquity through the wicked kings who are over them [Antiochus and the Hellenizing Priests, such as Menelaus (2 Mac 4]. VI. Then will come kings calling themselves priests [716 Hasmoneans], who also will work iniquity (1). These in turn are to be followed by a king not of the race of the priests (Herod), who will tyrannize over them for 34 years (2-6): his children will reign for shorter periods (7), and a powerful king of the West [Varus, governor of Syria, B.C. 4] will conquer them and burn part of the temple (8, 9). IL. Here the history ends and the predictions begin : first will come rulers who will be hypocrites, gluttons, tyrannical, impious, boastful, proud .. . (This chapter is much mutilated inthe MS). VIII. Another visitation of wrath will descend upon them, and the ‘king of the kings of the earth’ will crucify those who confess their circumcision and give their wives to the Gentiles, and will make them carry unclean idols and blaspheme. IX. Then there will be a man of the tribe of Levi whose name will be TAxo [Zleazar (see below)], who will take his seven sons into the wilderness to fast for three days and then die, rather than transgress the law of the Lord of lords. X. Then the Lord’s kingdom will appear, and the angel [Michael] will “be commissioned to avenge the enemies of Israel (1, 2). The Most High will arise, while the earth trembles and the sun and moon are darkened, and He will punish the Gen- tiles ; but thou, Israel, wilt be blessed and mount up to the heavens, and thou shalt see thy enemies on the earth,* and shalt give thanks to thy Creator (3-10). But now Joshua is to keep these words safe: from the death of Moses to the Advent shall be 250 ‘times’ (11-15). XI. When Joshua hears these words of Moses, he is much grieved. What sepulchre (he says) can be fit for Moses? How can I, Joshua, guide the 600,000 Israelites, or defend them from the Amorites, who will attack them when Moses is gone? XII. Moses then places Joshua in his own seat, and comforts him by reminding him of the providence of God... (Here the MS breaks off in the middle of a sentence).
ii. DATE.—It follows from the above analysis that the Asswmption was written after Herod’s death, but before any of his sons had reigned so long as their father, t.e. between B.C. 3 and A.D. 80. The most probable date is soon after the deposition of Archelaus in A.D. 6. (So Charles lvili, who also examines the views of other scholars).
iii. STANDPOINT AND TEACHING.—The value of the Assumption of Moses for modern students is expressed by the title of J. E. H. Thomson’s work,
* Or, according to Charles’ conjecture, in Gehenna.
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* Books which influenced our Lord and His Apostles’ (see Charles xxvii f.). The author is characterized by Dr. Charles as a Pharisaic Quietist. He was not a Sadducee, for he attacks the priests and expects a theocratic kingdom. He was not a Zealot, for he is significantly silent about the exploits of the Maccabees, and his ideal hero, Taxo [Lleazar], is one who will be passively faith- ful unto death. Nor was he an Essene, for he is keenly interested in the fortunes of the temple. ‘He was a Pharisee of a fast-disappearing type, recalling in all respects the Chasid of the early Maccabeean times, and upholding the old traditions of quietude and resignation’ (Charles li-livy). Hence he represents that tendency in Jewish thought which was most nearly allied to primitive Christianity." It is this which gives real interest to the investigation of the many critical difficulties presented by the text of the book.