Testament of Abraham

Dale C. Allison

Walter de Gruyter, Aug 26, 2013 - Religion - 543 pages

This first verse-by-verse commentary on the Greek text of the Testament of Abraham places the work within the history of both Jewish and Christian literature. It emphasizes the literary artistry and comedic nature of the Testament, brings to the task of interpretation a mass of comparative material, and establishes that, although the Testament goes back to a Jewish tale of the first or second century CE, the Christian elements are much more extensive than has previously been realized. The commentary further highlights the dependence of the Testament upon both Greco-Roman mythology and the Jewish Bible. This should be the standard commentary for years to come.

Contents

• I The Greek Texts: 4
• II The Other Versions: 8
• III The Relation of the Two Greek Recensions: 12
• IV Jewish or Christian?: 28
• V Local Origin: 32
• VI Date: 34
• VII Genre: 41
• VIII Structure: 43
• IX Literary Themes and Leading Ideas: 48
• X Bibliography: 53
• COMMENTARY: 61
• Chapter 1 Abrahams Virtues Michaels Assignment: 63
• Chapter 2 Michael and Abraham meet Each Other: 82
• Chapter 3 Signs and Wonders: 101
• Chapter 4 God commissions Michael again: 125
• Chapter 5 Isaacs Dream: 147
• Chapter 6 Recognition of Michaels Identity: 157
• Chapter 7 Isaacs Dream Michaels Interpretation Abrahams Refusal: 171
• Chapter 8 Gods Speech: 186
• Chapter 9 Abraham strikes a Bargain: 199
• Chapter 10 Abraham surveys the World: 216
• Chapter 11 Two Ways and Two Gates: 236
• Chapter 12 The Postmortem Judgment: 253
• Chapter 13 The Judgment Interpreted: 274
• Chapter 14 Abraham Repents and Intercedes: 294
• Chapter 15 Abraham reneges: 307
• Chapter 16 God sends Death to Abraham: 319
• Chapter 17 Death reveals Himself: 333
• Chapter 18 The Resurrection of Abrahams Servants: 359
• Chapter 19 The Interpretation of Deaths SelfRevelation: 368
• Chapter 20 Abrahams Death: 381
• Index of References: 413
• 12 Deuterocanonical Writings: 426
• 13 New Testament: 428
• 2 Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: 436
• 3 Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Texts: 457
• 4 Apostolic Fathers: 459
• 5 Nag Hammadi Codices: 460
• 6 New Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha: 461
• 7 Rabbinic Literature: 464
• 72 Tosefta: 465
• 74 Jerusalem Talmud: 467
• 75 Targumic Texts: 468
• 76 Other: 469
• 8 Classical and Ancient Christian Writers and Works: 472
• 9 Papyri Inscriptions: 508
• 10 Ancient Near Eastern Samaritan Persian Sanskrit Arabic Sources: 510
• Index of Names and Subjects: 512
• Index of Modern Authors: 521

About the author

Dale C. Allison Jr. is Errett M. Grable Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Early Christianity at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pa./USA.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Testament of Abraham; Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature
• Author: Dale C. Allison
• Publisher: Walter de Gruyter, 2013
• ISBN: 3110923971, 9783110923971
• Length: 543 pages
• Subjects: Bibles / General; Religion / Ancient; Religion / Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / Old Testament; Religion / Judaism / General; Religion / Judaism / History