14. The Apocalypse of Ellas.— Mention of this work occurs in (_)i i^cn's C'lnii. on Mt 27' (ed. de la Rue, iii. 916 ; ed. Lumiuatzscli, v. 29). Here it is said to he the source from which St. Paul quotes 1 Co 2» ' Eye hath not seen,' etc. Cf. also Epi- phanius, H(er. 42 [Dindorf, ii. 398] ; and Jerome, £pist. 57 act Pammachium. Fragments of this writing have been recovered in a Coptic manu- script brought from Akhmim. Some of these frag- ments were taken to Paris and some to Berlin. Those in the former place have been edited and published by Bouriant ; those in Berlin by Stein- dorff {Texte u. Unters., Neue Folge, ii. 3a). This editor thinks that the original was a Jewish apoca- lypse interpolated by a later Christian writer.
15. The Apocalypse of Zephaniah.— This was a larger work than the preceding, and «as known to Clement of Alexandria (,S7ra/H. v. 11. 77). Among the Akhmim fragments published by Bouriant and Steindorff there are portions of this apocalypse also, but they are not extensive enough to serve as a basis of any trustworthy judgment as to its origin and nature. The extracts recovered do not, however, contain Christian interpolations.
16. An Anonymous Apocalypse.— The Akhmim fragments contain, in atldition to the above, por- tions of a purely Jewish apocalypse, which cannot be identihed or associated with any special name. The author, speaking in the first person, names Elias among other saints wliom he has seen in heaven (14). The fragments are published along with Steindorff's above-named edition of the Akh- mim manuscripts.
17. The Prayer of Joseph — Origen (ed.de la Rue, iv. 84 ; Lommatzsch, i. 147) calls this ' a writing not to be despised, current among the Hebrews.' Nothing, however, besides Origen's quotations from it, is known of the contents of the work.
18. The Book of Eldad and Modad. — These names [EV Medad] occur in Nu ll-'"--''. A book bearing this name is mentioned in Hernias' Shep- herd ( Vis. ii. 3), but nothing more is known of it with certainty.
iv. General Charactekistics. — The general characteristics of apocalyptic literature may not all be found in ideal vividness in any single pro- duction of the class. Nevertlieless, 'in so - called apocalypses, most of the following traits are pre- dominant, and, with tlie majority of them, all appear in somt- di-uivr ,,i rlparness.
1. The Vist'ui F,,r,„. i'his is what gives the name to the clu-^, .inil, .ildmugh not an indispens- able feature, is quite clcl.iiniiiativp. The authors put themselves in the plar.. (,f ^c.is, and thiow upon the canvas large, \i\i.l, lit.Hlvr [lurtraitures. The imagery is in many r:i.-,i., i,iiil;isiii' .uid unreal as compared with the actual wurlJ, but it is strik-
ing and clearly drawn. Conflicts and struggles, judicial assize.s, conversations and debates, as well as cosmographical delineations, are placed before the eyes of the seer, and by him described more or less in detail.
2. Dualism. — The distinction between the world of sense and the world of Divine or spiritual reali- ties is always prominently in the mind. The other world IS, however, conceived as only imperceptible to the bodily senses, not as different in kind. A dualism as between matter and spirit underlies the philosophy of the apocalypse, but is necessarily ignored in the presentation of the realities of the spiritual. Tliese are put before the bodily senses as if a simple heightening of the powers of the senses would bring tliem into view.
3. Symhulhiii. rill- vi.^iiiii^ ijuilrayed abound in conventional ^viiiImiUi ;il li^iirc-;. Mixed organisms, partaking or the |i,irts ;inil rliaraoteristics of different creatuii's(l.iM.:-l- 1, frciiurntly recur. Gener- ally the diti'erent parts that enter into these mixed Hgures represent ditlerent abstract principles, and the mixed figure as a whole stands for combina- tions of powers. Mystic and symbolic numbers, too, constantly aiipear (seven heavens, seven arch- angels, ten shepherds). Sometimes this symbolism is ux|iUuiied ill minute terms, but sometimes it is left for tlie seer to unravel. SoniPtimes the pur- pose of tlie use of such syinhnli-in ^eenis to be
simply to harmonize the f >\ I'lr-inLition to
the mysterious nature of the >iihjei t m.ater ; but at other times it is evidently designed to conceal the exact import of the revelation from the un- initiated, and to keep it a secret within an esoteric circle. The nietho<r of interpretation known as Geiiiatria is tn this end fre.|uentl\ requited to.
4. .1//'/. /'</</</,/. -A s\ ,|eiii ()!' n'leiliai.ii- between the twi, uuihls is iiiriiiie,! .-,, .-Libli-hin- their
the OT (with the exrepti.iii of Daniel], this media- torial hieraicby is r,,nii,le\ and detinite. It is,
andtheevil, which .aie at enniily «ith i.ne another. In some apocalypses one iiarli(iilar aii^el is com- missioned to the task of aetiiiu as ihe n.inpanion and friendly interpreter of the s.ei- [I'li^/rlKs inter- pres). To him the seer appeals in his ignorance of the meaning of the mystic visions, and from him he receives needed explanations. Here, too, a difference must be noted between the apocalypses and the earlier prophets (cf. Am 7-9), who see visions, but speak directly with the Almighty in person.
5. The Unknown as subject-matter. — The subject- matter revealed concerns one of two spheres, viz., either the inscrutable mechanism of the other world, or the purposes of God regarding the present world : (rt) Under the first head are portrayed the characteristics, deeds, and destinies of angels, both good and evil, the secret forces and courses of the great nature-powers and elements, and the mode of the Creation, (b) Under the second head natur- ally tu...lniM,.nsaiv<li-.tinuuishable, the historical and the ,-Mli:,i.ih,jicaL Snrh ;:ieai landmarks in the hislun ol lln' u,.iM as the .■ntianre ot sin, the fortunes ni llie lii-t human pair, the l-'hjod, the destinies of Israel, are uiM'ii as known and decreed