This entry only concerns the historical genre of apocalyptic literature. Justifications and interpretations within theological contexts are abundantly available at entries for individual books. For other uses, see Apocalypse (disambiguation) for a list.

Apocalyptic literature was a new genre of prophetical writing that developed in post-Exilic Jewish culture and was popular among millennialist early Christians. Apocalypse can be: Apocalypse: a Biblical event, the end of the world Apocalypticism: a worldview found in both religious and secular settings Film & Television Apocalypse: a film by Cloud Ten Pictures Apocalypse Now: a film by Francis Ford Coppola Apocalypto: Mel Gibsons 2006 film that depicts the decline of... This article or section seems to describe future events as if they have already occurred. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Millennialism (or chiliasm), from millennium, which literally means thousand years, is primarily a belief expressed in some Christian denominations, and literature, that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth where Christ will reign prior to the final judgment and future eternal state, primarily derived from the book... Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch...

"Apocalypse" is from the Greek word for "revelation" which means "an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known and which could not be known apart from the unveiling" (Goswiller 1987 p. 3). The poetry of the Book of Revelation that is traditionally ascribed to John is well known to many Christians who are otherwise unaware of the literary genre it represents. Look up Apocalypse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Visions of John of Patmos, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. ... Saint John on Patmos by Hans Baldung Grien, 1511 Saint John of Patmos, by Jean Fouquet John of Patmos is the name given to the author of the Book of Revelation (or Book of the Apocalypse) in the New Testament. ...

The apocalyptic literature of Judaism and Christianity embraces a considerable period, from the centuries following the exile down to the close of the middle ages. In the present survey we shall limit ourselves to the great formative periods in this literature--in Judaism from 200 BCE to 100 CE, and in Christianity from 50 to approximately 350 CE. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

Transition from prophecy to apocalyptic literature

Apocalyptical elements (αποκαλυπτειν, to reveal something hidden) can be detected in the prophetical books of Joel and Zechariah, while Isaiah xxiv.-xxvii. and xxxiii. presents well-developed apocalypses. In the Book of Daniel we have a fully matured and classic example of this genre of literature. The Book of Joel is part of the Jewish Tanakh, and also the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... The Book of Zechariah is a book of the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh attributed to the prophet Zechariah. ... The Book of Isaiah (Hebrew: Sefer Yshayah ספר ישעיה) is one of the books of Judaisms Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, traditionally attributed to Isaiah. ... For other uses, see Book of Daniel (disambiguation). ...

The way, however, had in an especial degree been prepared for the apocalyptic type of thought and literature by Ezekiel, for with him the word of God had become identical with a written book (ii. 9-iii. 3) by the eating of which he learned the will of God, just as earlier writing conceived that the eating of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden imparted spiritual understanding and self-consciousness. When the divine word is thus conceived as a written message, the sole office of the prophet is to communicate what has been written. Thus the human element is reduced, and the conception of prophecy becomes stenographic. And as the personal element disappears in the conception of the prophetic calling, so it tends to disappear in the prophetic view of history, and the future comes to be conceived not as the organic result of the present under the divine guidance, but as mechanically determined from the beginning in the counsels of God, and arranged under artificial categories of time. This is essentially the apocalyptic conception of history, and Ezekiel may be justly represented as in certain essential aspects its founder in Israel^[1]. Ezekiel the Prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures is depicted on a 1510 Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo. ... Tree of Knowledge may refer to: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil mentioned in the Book of Genesis The Bodhi tree under which the Buddha received enlightenment according to Buddhism The metaphysical Tree of Jiva and Atman in Vedic mythology The Axis mundi, or world axis, which takes... The Fall of Man by Lucas Cranach, a 16th century German depiction of Eden The Garden of Eden (from Hebrew גַּן עֵדֶן ) is described in the Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, lived after they were created by God. ...

Sources of apocalyptic literature

The origin of the apocalyptic genre is to be sought in unfulfilled prophecy and in traditional elements drawn from various sources.

Unfulfilled prophecy

The judgments predicted by the pre-exilic prophets had indeed been executed to the letter, but where were the promised glories of the renewed kingdom and Israel's unquestioned sovereignty over the nations of the earth? One such unfulfilled prophecy Ezekiel takes up and reinterprets in such a way as to show that its fulfilment is still to come. The prophets Jeremiah(iv.-vi.) and Zephaniah had foretold the invasion of Judah by a mighty people from the north. But as this northern foe had failed to appear Ezekiel re-edited this prophecy in a new form as a final assault of God and his hosts on Jerusalem, and thus established a permanent dogma in Jewish apocalyptic, which in due course passed over into Christian. Another alternative is that the invasion from the north predicted in Jeremiah 4:6; 6:1 was fulfilled in the subsequent invasion of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, since Jeremiah 25:9 suggests that northern armies would assist Nebuchadnezzar in his invasion of Judah. Other scholars suggest that a Scythian invasion that possibly occurred during that time was intended by Jeremiah, though this seems unlikely. Thus, the Battle of Gog and Magog prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39 could be a quite different invasion altogether. The Book of Jeremiah, or Jeremiah (יִרְמְיָהוּ Yirməyāhū in Hebrew), is part of the Hebrew Bible, Judaisms Tanakh, and later became a part of Christianitys Old Testament. ... // Who wrote it? The superscription of the Book of Zephaniah attributes its authorship to “Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah” (1:1, NRSV). ... Kingdom of Judah (Hebrew מַלְכוּת יְהוּדָה, Standard Hebrew Malḫut Yəhuda, Tiberian Hebrew Malḵûṯ Yəhûḏāh) in the times of the Hebrew Bible, was the nation formed from the territories of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin after the Kingdom of Israel was divided, and was named after Judah... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ... Nebuchadnezzar (or Nebudchadrezzar) II (ca. ... Babylon (in Arabic: بابل; in Syriac: ܒܒܙܠ in Hebrew:בבל) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq), the ruins of which can be found in present-day Babil Province, about 80km south of Baghdad. ... Scythia was an area in Eurasia inhabited in ancient times by an Indo-Aryans known as the Scythians. ...

But the non-fulfillment of prophecies relating to this or that individual event or people served to popularize the methods of apocalyptic in a very slight degree in comparison with the non-fulfilment of the greatest of all prophecies--the advent of the Messianic kingdom. Thus, though Jeremiah had promised that after seventy years^[2] Israel should be restored to their own land^[3], and then enjoy the blessings of the Messianic kingdom under the Messianic king^[4], this period passed by and things remained as of old. On the other hand, some scholars believe that the Messianic kingdom was not necessarily predicted to occur at the end of the seventy years of the Babylonian exile, but at some unspecified time in the future. The only thing for certain that was predicted is the return of the Jews to their land, which occurred when Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon in c. 539 BC. Thus, the fulfillment of the Messianic kingdom remained in the future for the Jews. Cyrus the Great (Old Persian: 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁[1], Kūruš,[2] modern Persian: کوروش بزرگ, Kurosh-e Bozorg) (c. ... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC Events and Trends 538 BC - Babylon occupied by Jews transported to Babylon are allowed to return to...

Haggai and Zechariah explained the delay by the failure of Judah to rebuild the temple, and so generation after generation the hope of the kingdom persisted, sustained most probably by ever-fresh reinterpretations of ancient prophecy, till in the first half of the 2nd century the delay is explained in the Books of Daniel and Enoch as due not to man's shortcomings but to the counsels of God. Regarding the 70 years of exile predicted by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29:10, the Jews were first exiled in the year 605 B.C. in the reign of King Jehoiakim, and were allowed to return to their land in c. 536 B.C. when King Cyrus conquered Babylon. This time period was approximately 70 years, as prophesied by Jeremiah. But some people claim that the 70 years of Jeremiah were later interpreted by the angel in Daniel^[5] as 70 weeks of years, of which 69 1/2 have already expired, while the writer of Enoch^[6] interprets the 70 years of Jeremiah as the 70 successive reigns of the 70 angelic patrons of the nations, which are to come to a close in his own generation. The Book of Enoch, however, was not considered as inspired Scripture by the Jews, so that any failed prophecy in it is of no consequence to the Jewish faith. The Book of Haggai is a book of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and of the Old Testament, written by the prophet Haggai. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Cyrus the Great (Old Persian: Kūruš,[1] modern Persian: کوروش بزرگ, Kurosh-e Bozorg) (c. ...

The above periods came and passed by, and again the expectations of the Jews were disappointed. Presently the Greek empire of the East was overthrown by Rome, and in due course this new phenomenon, so full of meaning for the Jews, called forth a new interpretation of Daniel. The fourth and last empire which, according to Daniel vii. 10-25, was to be Greek, was now declared to be Roman by the Apocalypse of Baruch^[7] and 4 Ezra^[8]. (Again, these two books were not considered as inspired Scripture by the Jews, and thus were not authoritative on matters of prophecy.). Earlier in Daniel chapter 7, and also in chapter 2, however, the fourth and final world empire is actually Rome, since Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome were world empires which all clearly arrived in succession. This may mean that according to the Book of Daniel, Rome would be the last world power before the kingdom of God. The fifth monarchy is a millennarian idea, based on Biblical sources. ... It has been suggested that Epistle of Jeremy be merged into this article or section. ... 2 Esdras is a Jewish Christian apocalypse written toward the end of the first century AD. It is not accepted as scriptural by most Christians, therefore they count it among the apocrypha, however the Ethiopian Orthodox and Russian Orthodox consider it canonical. ...

Once more such ideas as those of "the day of Yahweh" and the "new heavens and a new earth" were constantly re-edited by the Jewish people with fresh nuances in conformity with their new settings. Thus the inner development of Jewish apocalyptic was always conditioned by the historical experiences of the nation. But the prophecies found in Jewish Scriptures, which have not changed over time, await their fulfillment.

Traditions

Another source of apocalyptic was primitive mythological and cosmological traditions, in which the eye of the seer could see the secrets of the future no less surely than those of the past. Thus the six days of the world's creation, followed by a seventh of rest, were regarded as at once a history of the past and a forecasting of the future. As the world was made in six days its history would be accomplished in six thousand years, since each day with God was as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day; and as the six days of creation were followed by one of rest, so the six thousand years of the world's history would be followed by a rest of a thousand years^[9]. Of primitive mythological traditions we might mention the primeval serpent, leviathan, behemoth, while to ideas native to or familiar in apocalyptic belong those of the seven archangels, the angelic patrons of the nations^[10], the mountain of God in the north^[11], the garden of Eden. It has been suggested that Leviathan in rabbinic literature be merged into this article or section. ... Behemoth and Leviathan, an engraving by William Blake For other uses, see Behemoth (disambiguation). ... The Seven Seals of the Seven Archangels from a 16th century treatise, The Complete Book of Magic Science; the seals of the Seven Olympian spirits are also shown A system of seven major Archangels is an old tradition in angelology. ... The Fall of Man by Lucas Cranach, a 16th century German depiction of Eden The Garden of Eden (from Hebrew גַּן עֵדֶן ) is described in the Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, lived after they were created by God. ...

Object and contents of apocalyptic literature

The object of this literature in general was to solve the difficulties connected with the righteousness of God and the suffering condition of His righteous servants on earth. The righteousness of God postulated according to the law the temporal prosperity of the righteous and the temporal prosperity of necessity; for as yet there was no promise of life or recompense beyond the grave. But this connexion was not found to obtain as a rule in life, and the difficulties arising from this conflict between promise and experience centred round the lot of the righteous as a community and the lot of the righteous man as an individual. Old Testament prophecy had addressed itself to both these problems, though it was hardly conscious of the claims of this latter. It concerned itself essentially with the present, and with the future only as growing organically out of the present. It taught the absolute need of personal and national righteousness, and foretold the ultimate blessedness of the righteous nation on the present earth. But its views were not systematic and comprehensive in regard to the nations in general, while as regards the individual it held that God's service here was its own and adequate reward, and saw no need of postulating another world to set right the evils of this. But later, with the growing claims of the individual and the acknowledgment of these in the religious and intellectual life, both problems, and especially the latter, pressed themselves irresistibly on the notice of religious thinkers, and made it impossible for any conception of the divine rule and righteousness to gain acceptance, which did not render adequate satisfaction to the claims of both problems. To render such satisfaction was the task undertaken by apocalyptic, as well as to vindicate the righteousness of God alike in respect of the individual and of the nation. To justify their contention they sketched in outline the history of the world and mankind, the origin of evil and its course, and the final consummation of all things. Thus they presented in fact a theodicy, a rudimentary philosophy of religion. The righteous as a nation should yet possess the earth, even in this world the faithful community should attain its rights in an eternal Messianic kingdom on earth, or else in temporary blessedness here and eternal blessedness hereafter. So far as regards the righteous community. It was, however, in regard to the destiny of the individual that apocalyptic rendered its chief service. Though the individual might perish amid the disorders of this world, he would not fail, apocalyptic taught, to attain through resurrection the recompense that was his due in the Messianic kingdom or in heaven itself. Apocalyptic thus forms the indispensable preparation for the religion of the New Testament. Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh to refer to its canon, which corresponds to the Protestant Old Testament. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the Christian scriptures. ...

Apocalyptic literature as a genre

The formulas of apocalyptic literature are the marks of a literary form; for we cannot suppose that the writers experienced the voluminous and detailed visions we find in their books. On the other hand the emotional value of the visions is to some extent guaranteed by the writer's intense earnestness and by his manifest belief in the divine origin of his message. But the difficulty of regarding the visions as actual experiences, or as in any sense actual, is intensified, when full account is taken of the artifices of the writer; for the major part of his visions consists of what is to him really past history dressed up in the guise of prediction. Moreover, the writer no doubt intended that his reader should take the accuracy of those events already accomplished to be a guarantee for the accuracy of that which was still unrealized. How, then, it may well be asked, can this be consistent with reality of visionary experience? Are we not obliged to assume that the visions are a literary invention and nothing more? In religion, visions comprise inspirational renderings, generally of a future state and/or of a mythical being, and are believed (by followers of the religion) to come from a deity, directly or indirectly via prophets, and serve to inspire or prod believers as part of a revelation or an epiphany. ...

However we may explain the inconsistency, we are precluded by the moral earnestness of the writer from assuming the visions to be pure inventions. But the inconsistency has in part been explained by Gunkel, who has rightly emphasized that the writer did not freely invent his materials but derived them in the main from tradition, as he held that these mysterious traditions of his people were, if rightly expounded, forecasts of the time to come. Furthermore, the visionary who is found at most periods of great spiritual excitement was forced by the prejudice of his time, which refused to acknowledge any inspiration in the present, to ascribe his visionary experiences and reinterpretations of the mysterious traditions of his people to some heroic figure of the past. Moreover, there will always be a difficulty in determining what belongs to his actual vision and what to the literary skill or free invention of the author, seeing that the visionary must be dependent on memory and past experience for the forms and much of the matter of the actual vision. Translated and abridged from the German version of wikipedia. ...

Apocalyptic literature as distinguished from prophecy

We have already dwelt on certain notable differences between apocalyptic and prophecy; but there are certain others that call for attention. Look up Apocalypse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section seems to describe future events as if they have already occurred. ...

In the nature of its message

The message of the prophets was primarily a preaching of repentance and righteousness if the nation would escape judgment; the message of the apocalyptic writers was of patience and trust for that deliverance and reward were sure to come.

By its dualistic theology

Prophecy believes that this world is God's world and that in this world His goodness and truth will yet be vindicated. Hence the prophet prophesies of a definite future arising out of and organically connected with the present. The apocalyptic writer on the other hand despairs of the present, and directs his hopes absolutely to the future, to a new world standing in essential opposition to the present.^[12] Here we have essentially a dualistic principle, which, though it can largely be accounted for by the interaction of certain inner tendencies and outward sorrowful experience on the part of Judaism, may ultimately be derived from Mazdean influences. This principle, which shows itself clearly at first in the conception that the various nations are under angelic rulers, who are in a greater or less degree in rebellion against God, as in Daniel and Enoch, grows in strength with each succeeding age, till at last Satan is conceived as "the ruler of this world"^[13] or "the god of this age"^[14]. Ahura Mazda is the Avestan language name for an exalted divinity of ancient proto-Indo-Iranian religion that was subsequently declared by Zarathustra (Zoroaster) to be the one uncreated creator of all (God). ... For other uses, see Satan (disambiguation). ...

Under the guidance of such a principle the writer naturally expected the world's culmination in evil to be the immediate precursor of God's intervention on behalf of the righteous, and every fresh growth in evil to be an additional sign that the time was at hand. The natural concomitant in conduct of such a belief is an uncompromising asceticism. He that would live to the next world must shun this. Visions are vouchsafed only to those who to prayer have added fasting.

By pseudonymous authorship

We have already touched on this characteristic of apocalyptic. The prophet stood in direct relations with his people; his prophecy was first spoken and afterwards written. The apocalyptic writer could obtain no hearing from his contemporaries, who held that, though God spoke in the past, "there was no more any prophet." This pessimism and want of faith limited and defined the form in which religious enthusiasm should manifest itself, and prescribed as a condition of successful effort the adoption of pseudonymous authorship. The apocalyptic writer, therefore, professedly addressed his book to future generations. Generally directions as to the hiding and sealing of the book^[15] were given in the text in order to explain its publication so long after the date of its professed period. Moreover, there was a sense in which such books were not wholly pseudonymous. Their writers were students of ancient prophecy and apocalyptical tradition, and, though they might recast and reinterpret them, they could not regard them as their own inventions. Each fresh apocalypse would in the eyes of its writer be in some degree but a fresh edition of the traditions naturally attaching themselves to great names in Israel's past, and thus the books named respectively Enoch, Noah, Ezra would to some slight extent be not pseudonymous. Noahs Ark, Französischer Meister (The French Master), Magyar Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest. ...

By its comprehensive and deterministic conception of history

Apocalyptic took an indefinitely wider view of the world's history than prophecy. Thus, whereas prophecy had to deal with temporary reverses at the hands of some heathen power, apocalyptic arose at a time when Israel had been subject for generations to the sway of one or other of the great world-powers. Hence to harmonize such difficulties with belief in God's righteousness, it had to take account of the rôle of such empires in the counsels of God, the rise, duration and downfall of each in turn, till finally the lordship of the world passed into the hands of Israel, or the final judgment arrived. These events belonged in the main to the past, but the writer represented them as still in the future, arranged under certain artificial categories of time definitely determined from the beginning in the counsels of God and revealed by Him to His servants the prophets. Determinism thus became a leading characteristic of Jewish apocalyptic, and its conception of history became severely mechanical. Determinism is the philosophical proposition that every event, including human cognition and behavior, decision and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. ...

Old Testament Era Apocalyptic Literature

Canonical books

• Isaiah xxiv-xxvii; xxxiii; xxxiv-xxxv
• possibly Jeremiah xxxiii 14-26?
• Ezekiel ii. 8; xxxviii-xxxix
• Joel iii. 9-17
• Zechariah xii--xiv
• Daniel

(See the separate headings for the various apocalyptic books mentioned in this article.) All are probably pseudepigraphic except the passages from Ezekiel and Joel. Of the remaining passages and books, large sections of Daniel belong unquestionably to the Maccabean period, and the rest possibly to the same period. Isaiah xxxiii. was probably written about 163 B.C.^[16]; Zech. xii.-xiv. about 160 B.C., Isaiah xxiv.-xxvii. about 128 B.C., and xxxiv.-xxxv. sometime in the reign of John Hyrcanus. Jeremiah xxxiii. 14-26 is assigned by Marti to Maccabean times, but this is highly questionable. The Book of Isaiah (Hebrew: Sefer Yshayah ספר ישעיה) is one of the books of Judaisms Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, traditionally attributed to Isaiah. ... The Book of Jeremiah, or Jeremiah (יִרְמְיָהוּ Yirməyāhū in Hebrew), is part of the Hebrew Bible, Judaisms Tanakh, and later became a part of Christianitys Old Testament. ... Ezekiel the Prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures is depicted on a 1510 Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo. ... The Book of Joel is part of the Jewish Tanakh, and also the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... The Book of Zechariah is a book of the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh attributed to the prophet Zechariah. ... For other uses, see Book of Daniel (disambiguation). ... The Hasmonean Kingdom The Maccabees (Hebrew: מכבים or מקבים, Makabim) were a Jewish national liberation movement that fought for and won independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator. ... John Hyrcanus (Yohanan Girhan) (reigned 134 BC - 104 BC, died 104 BC) was a Hasmonean (Maccabeean) leader of the 2nd century BC. Apparently the name Hyrcanus was taken by him as a reignal name upon his accession to power. ...

Non-Canonical Books

Book of Noah

For more details on this topic, see book of Noah.

This is a lost work, known through fragments. The Book of Noah is currently thought to be an non-extant Old Testament pseudepigraphal work, attributed to Noah. ...

1 Enoch, or the Ethiopic Book of Enoch

Main article: Book of Enoch

This is the most important of all the apocryphal writings for the history of religious thought. Like the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Megilloth and the Pirke Aboth, this work was divided into five parts, which, as we shall notice presently, spring from five different sources. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Look up Pentateuch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Psalms (from the Greek: Psalmoi (songs sung to a harp, originally from psallein play on a stringed instrument), Ψαλμοί; Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים) is a book of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh or Old Testament. ... In the third major section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), which is called Ketuvim (The Writings), there are five relatively short biblical books that are grouped together and known collectively in the Jewish tradition as The Five Scrolls (Hebrew: Hamesh Megillot or Chamesh Megillos). ... Pirkei Avoth (Hebrew: Chapters of the Fathers, פרקי אבות ) or simply Avoth is a tractate of the Mishna composed of ethical maxims of the Rabbis of the Mishnaic period. ...

Originally written partly in Aramaic (i.e. vi.-xxxvi.) and partly in Hebrew (i.-vi., xxxvii.-cviii.), it was translated into Greek, and from Greek into Ethiopic and possibly Latin. Only one-fifth of the Greek version in two forms survives. The various elements of the book were written by different authors at different dates, vi.-xxxvi. was written before 166 B.C., lxxii.-lxxxii. before the Book of Jubilees, i.e. before 120 B.C. or thereabouts, lxxxiii.-xc. about 166 B.C., i.-v., xci.-civ. before 95 B.C., and xxxvii.-lxxi. before 64 B.C. There are many interpolations drawn mainly from the Book of Noah. Aramaic is a Semitic language with a four-thousand year history. ... The word Hebrew most likely means to cross over, referring to the Semitic people crossing over the Euphrates River. ... The Geez language (or Giiz language) is an ancient language that developed in the Ethiopian Highlands of the Horn of Africa as the language of the peasantry. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

Testaments of the XII Patriarchs

Main article: Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

This book, in some respects the most important of Old Testament apocryphs, has only recently come into its own. Owing to Christian interpolations, it was taken to be a Christian apocryph, written originally in Greek in the 2nd century A.D. Now it is acknowledged by Christian and Jewish scholars alike to have been written in Hebrew in the 2nd century B.C. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is an important constituent of the apocryphal scriptures connected with the Old Testament, comprising the dying commands of the twelve sons of Jacob. ...

From Hebrew it was translated into Greek and from Greek into Amenian and Slavonic. The versions have come down in their entirety, and small portions of the Hebrew text have been recovered from later Jewish writings. The Armenian language (Armenian: , IPA: — hayeren lezu, conventional short form hayeren) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people in the Republic of Armenia, in Georgia (especially in Samtskhe-Javakheti), Mountainous Karabakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and also used by the Armenian diaspora. ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup...

The Testaments were written about the same date as the Book of Jubilees. These two books form the only Apology in Jewish literature for the religious and civil hegemony of the Maccabees from the Pharisaic standpoint. To the Jewish interpolation of the 1st century B.C. (about 60-40)^[17] a large interest attaches; for these, like I Enoch xci.-civ. and the Psalms of Solomon, constitute an unmeasured attack on every office-- prophetic, priestly and kingly--administered by the Maccabees. Wojciech Stattlers Machabeusze (Maccabees), 1844 The Maccabees (Hebrew: מכבים or מקבים, Makabim) were Jewish rebels who fought against the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, who was succeeded by his infant son Antiochus V Eupator. ... The Psalms of Solomon are a group of eighteen psalms (religious songs or poems) that are not part of any scriptural canon. ...

Psalms of Solomon

These psalms, in all eighteen, enjoyed but small consideration in early times, for only six direct references to them are found in early literature. Their ascription to Solomon is due solely to the copyists or translators, for no such claim is made in any of the psalms. On the whole, Ryle and James are no doubt right in assigning 70-40 B.C. as the limits within which the psalms were written. The authors were Pharisees. They divide their countrymen into two classes--"the righteous," ii. 38-39, iii. 3-5, 7, 8, &c., and "the sinners," ii. 38, iii. 13, iv. 9, &c.; "the saints," iii. 10, &c., and "the transgressors," iv. II, &c. The former are the Pharisees; the latter the Sadducees. They protest against the Asmonaean house for usurping the throne of David, and laying violent hands on the high priesthood (xvii. 5, 6, 8), and proclaim the coming of the Messiah, the Son of David, who is to set all things right and establish the supremacy of Israel. Pss. xvii.-xviii. and i.-xvi. cannot be assigned to the same authorship. The hopes of the Messiah are confined to the former, and a somewhat different eschatology underlies the two works. Since the Psalms were written in Hebrew, and intended for public worship in the synagogues, it is most probable that they were composed in Palestine. (See Psalms of Solomon) Artists depiction of Solomons court (Ingobertus, c. ... The Holy Land or Palestine Showing not only the Old Kingdoms of Judea and Israel but also the 12 Tribes Distinctly, and Confirming Even the Diversity of the Locations of their Ancient Positions and Doing So as the Holy Scriptures Indicate, a geographic map from the studio of Tobiae Conradi... The Psalms of Solomon are a group of eighteen psalms (religious songs or poems) that are not part of any scriptural canon. ...

The Assumption of Moses

Main article: Assumption of Moses

This book was lost for many centuries till a large fragment of it was discovered by Antonio Maria Ceriani in 1861 (Monumenta Sacra, I. i. 55-64) from a palimpsest of the 6th century. Very little was known about the contents of this book prior to this discovery. The Assumption of Moses (otherwise called the Testament of Moses) is a Jewish apocryphal pseudepigraphical work of uncertain date and authorship. ... Antonio Maria Ceriani was born at Uboldo, in the province of Varese in Italy on May 2, 1828. ...

The present book is possibly the long-lost Διαθηκη Μωυσεως mentioned in some ancient lists, for it never speaks of the assumption of Moses, but always of his natural death. About a half of the original Testament is preserved in the Latin version. The latter half probably dealt with questions about the creation. With this "Testament" the "Assumption," to which almost all the patristic references and that of Jude are made, was subsequently edited. The book was written between 4 B.C. and A.D. 7. As for the author, he was no Essene, for he recognizes animal sacrifices and cherishes the Messianic hope; he was not a Sadducee, for he looks forward to the establishment of the Messianic kingdom (x.); nor a Zealot, for the quietistic ideal is upheld (ix.), and the kingdom is established by God Himself (x.). He is therefore a Chasid of the ancient type, and glorifies the ideals which were cherished by the old Pharisaic party, but which were now being fast disowned in favour of a more active role in the political life of the nation. He pours his most scathing invectives on the Sadducees, who are described in vii. in terms that recall the anti-Sadducean Psalms of Solomon. His object, therefore, is to protest against the growing secularization of the Pharisaic party through its adoption of popular Messianic beliefs and political ideals. Moses with the Tablets, 1659, by Rembrandt This article is about the Biblical figure. ... Hasidic Judaism (Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות) is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. ...

Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

Main article: 2 Baruch

This apocalypse has survived only in the Syriac version. The Syriac is a translation from the Greek, and the Greek in turn from the Hebrew. The book treats of the Messiah and the Messianic kingdom, the woes of Israel in the past and the destruction of Jerusalem in the present, as well as of theological questions relating to original sin, free will, works, &c. The views expressed on several of these subjects are often conflicting. We must, therefore, assume a number of independent sources put together by an editor or else that the book is on the whole the work of one author who made use of independent writings but failed to blend them into one harmonious whole. In its present form the book was written soon after A.D. 70. For fuller treatment see Baruch. 2 Baruch or the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical text written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 CE. It is not part of the canon of either the Jewish or most Christian... Baruch (בָּרוּךְBlessed, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ) may refer to: Baruch College, part of the City University of New York Book of Baruch or 1 Baruch, a deuterocanonical book, considered by Jews and most Protestants to be apocryphal 2 Baruch, also called the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch 3 Baruch, also called...

4 Ezra

Main article: 2 Esdras

This apocryph is variously named. In the first Arabic and Ethiopic versions it is called 1 Ezra; in some Latin MSS. and in the English authorized version it is 2 Ezra, and in the Armenian 3 Ezra. With the majority of the Latin MSS. we designate the book 4 Ezra. In the Septuagint and for Eastern Orthodox Christians, 2 Esdras refers to the combination of Ezra and Nehemiah. ...

In its fullest form this apocryph consists of sixteen chapters, but i.-ii. and xv.-xvi. are of different authorship from each other and from the main work iii.-xiv. The book was written originally in Hebrew. There are Latin, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic (two), and Armenian versions. The Greek version is lost. This apocalypse is of very great importance, on account of its very full treatment of the theological questions rife in the latter half of the 1st century of the Christian era. The book, even if written by one author, was based on a variety of already existing works. It springs from the same school of thought as the Apocalypse of Baruch, and its affinities with the latter are so numerous and profound that scholars have not yet come to any consensus as to the relative priority of either. In its present form it was composed A.D. 80-100. The Apocalypse of Baruch is a Jewish apocryphal or pseudepigraphical text written in the late 1st century CE, after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 CE, which seemed to the author to signify the imminent end of the world (the apocalypse). ...

Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

Main article: 3 Baruch

This work is referred to by Origen (de Princip. II. iii. 6): 3 Baruch or the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical text written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 CE. It is not part of the canon of either the Jewish or most Christian... Origen Origen (Greek: Ōrigénēs, 185–ca. ...

"Denique etiam Baruch prophetae librum in assertionis hujus' testimonium vocant, quod ibi de septem mundis vel caelis evidentius indicatur."

This book survives in two forms in Slavonic and Greek. The former was translated by Bonwetsch in 1896, in the Nachrichten von der königl. Ges. der Wiss. zu, Gott. pp. 91-101; the latter by James in 1897 in Anecdota, ii. 84-94, with an elaborate introduction (pp. li.-lxxi.). The Slavonic is only of secondary value, as it is merely an abbreviated form of the Greek. Even the Greek cannot claim to be the original work, but only to be a recension of it; for, whereas Origen states that this apocalypse contained an account of the seven heavens, the existing Greek work describes only five, and the Slavonic only two. Gottlieb (Georg) Nathanael Bonwetsch (5 February 1848–18 July 1925) was a Russian-born German theologian. ...

As the original, work presupposes 2 Enoch and the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (2 Baruch) and was known to Origen, it was written between A.D. 80 and 200, and nearer the earlier date than the later, as it would otherwise be hard to understand how it came to circulate among Christians. The superscription shows points of connexion with the Rest of the Words of Baruch, but little weight can be attached to the fact, since titles and superscriptions were so frequently transformed and expanded in ancient times. As James and Kohler have pointed out, part of section 4 on the Vine is a Christian addition. A German translation of the Greek appears in Emil Kautzsch's Apok. u. Pseud, ii. 448-457, and a strong article by Kohler on the Jewish authorship of the book in the Jewish Encyclopedia, ii. 549-551. (See Baruch.) The Second Book of Enoch (usually abbreviated 2 Enoch, and otherwise variously known as Slavonic Enoch or The Secrets of Enoch) is a Jewish pseudepigraphic apocalyptic text of uncertain date and unknown authorship. ... 2 Baruch or the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical text written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 CE. It is not part of the canon of either the Jewish or most Christian... Emil Friedrich Kautzsch (1841-1910) was a German Hebrew scholar and biblical critic, born at Plausen (Saxony). ... Kohler is a family name of German origin and can refer to: Kohler, Wisconsin Kohler Company Kohler Glacier Kohler Range People Alan Kohler, Australian journalist Kaufmann Kohler, reform rabbi Herbert Kohler, Jr. ... Baruch (בָּרוּךְBlessed, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ) may refer to: Baruch College, part of the City University of New York Book of Baruch or 1 Baruch, a deuterocanonical book, considered by Jews and most Protestants to be apocryphal 2 Baruch, also called the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch 3 Baruch, also called...

Apocalypse of Abraham

Main article: Apocalypse of Abraham

This book is found only in the Slavonic (edited by Bonwetsch, Studien zur Geschichte d. Theologie und Kirche, 1897), a translation from the Greek. It is of Jewish origin, but in part worked over by a Christian reviser. The first part treats of Abraham's conversion, and the second forms an. apocalyptic expansion of Gen. xv. This book was possibly known to the author of the Clem. Recognitions, i. 32, a passage, however, which may refer to Jubilees. It is most probably distinct from the Αποκαλυψις Αβρααμ used by the gnostic Sethites (Epiphanius, Haer. xxxix. 5), which was very heretical. On the other hand, it is probably identical with the apocryphal book Αβρααμ mentioned in the Stichometry of Nicephorus, and the Synopsis Athanasii, together with the Apocalypses of Enoch, &c. The Apocalypse of Abraham is a Jewish scripture probably composed between 80-100 AD. It has survived only in Old Slavonic recensions. ... The Stichometry of Nicephorus is a stichometry by Patriarch Nicephorus I of Constantinople. ...

Lost Apocalypses: Prayer of Joseph

The Prayer of Joseph is quoted by Origen^[18]. The fragments in Origen represent Jacob as speaking and claiming to be "the first servant in God's presence," "the first-begotten of every creature animated by God," and declaring that the angel who wrestled with Jacob (and was identified by Christians with Christ) was only eighth in rank. The work was obviously anti-Christian.^[19] Jacob Wrestling with the Angel – Gustave Doré, 1855 Jacob or Yaakov, (Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: يعقوب, ; holds the heel), also known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: اسرائيل, ; Struggled with God), is the third Biblical patriarch. ...

Book of Eldad and Modad

This book was written in the name of the two prophets mentioned in Num. xi. 26-29. It consisted, according to the Targ. Jon. on Num. xi. 26-20, mainly of prophecies on Magog's last attack on Israel. The Shepherd of Hermas quotes it Vis. ii. 3. (See Marshall in Hastings' Bible Dictionary, i. 677.)

Apocalypse of Elijah

Main article: Apocalypse of Elijah

The Apocalypse of Elijah is an anonymous apocryphal work presenting itself as a revelation given by an angel. ...

Apocalypse of Zephaniah

Main article: Apocalypse of Zephaniah

Apart from two of the lists this work is known to us in its original form only through a citation in Clem. Alex. Strom. v. II, 77. The Apocalypse of Zephaniah is an ancient apocryphal work attributed to the Biblical Zephaniah. ... Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ...

2 Enoch, or the Slavonic Enoch, or the Book of the Secrets of Enoch

This new fragment of the Enochic literature was recently brought to light through five MSS. discovered in Russia and Servia. The book in its present form was written before A.D. 70 in Greek by an orthodox Hellenistic Jew, who lived in Egypt. For a fuller account see 2 Enoch. The Second Book of Enoch (usually abbreviated 2 Enoch, and otherwise variously known as Slavonic Enoch or The Secrets of Enoch) is a Jewish pseudepigraphic apocalyptic text of uncertain date and unknown authorship. ...

Oracles of Hystaspes

See under N. T. Apocalypses, below.

Testament of Job

Main article: Testament of Job

This book was first printed from one MS. by Mai, Script. Vet. Nov. Coll. (1833), VII. i. 180, and translated into French in Migne's Dictionnaire des Apocryphes, ii. 403. An excellent edition from two MSS. is given by M. R. James, Apocrypha Anecdota, ii. pp. lxxii.-cii., 104-137, who holds that the book in its present form was written by a Christian Jew in Egypt on the basis of a Hebrew Midrash on Job in the 2nd or 3rd century. A. D. Kohler (Kohut Memorial Volume, 1897, pp. 264-338) has given good grounds for regarding the whole work, with the exception of some interpolations, as "one of the most remarkable productions of the pre-Christian era, explicable only when viewed in the light of Hasidean practice." See Jewish Encycl. vii. 200-202. The Testament of Job is a book written in the 1st century BCE or the 1st century CE, elaborating upon the Book of Job with many parallels to Christian belief. ... Mai can mean several things: Mai (Traditional Chinese : 麥) is a Chinese surname that is often transliterated as Mak. Mai also means May, the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, in French, German and Norwegian. ... Jacques Paul Migne (25 October 1800 - 25 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely-distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias and the texts of the Church Fathers. ... Montague Rhodes James, (August 1, 1862–June 12, 1936). ... Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש; plural midrashim) is a Hebrew word referring to a method of exegesis of a Biblical text. ... The Hasideans (Hasidæans or Assideans) were a Jewish religious party which commenced to play an important role in political life only during the time of the Maccabean wars, although it had existed for quite some time previous. ...

Testaments of the III Patriarchs

For an account of these three Testaments (referred to in the Apost. Const. vi. 16), the first of which only is preserved in the Greek and is assigned by James to the 2nd century A.D., see that scholar's "Testament of Abraham," Texts and Studies, ii. 2 (1892), which appears in two recensions from six and three MSS. respectively, and Vassiliev's Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina, (1893), pp. 292-308, from one MS. already used by James. This work was written in Egypt, according to James, and survives also in Slavonic, Romanian, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions. It deals with Abraham's reluctance to die and the means by which his death was brought about. James holds that this book is referred to by Origen (Hom. in Luc. xxxv.), but this is denied by Schürer, who also questions its Jewish origin. With the exception of chaps. x.-xi., it is really a legend and not an apocalypse. An English translation of James's texts will be found in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library (Clark, 1897), pp. 185-201. The Testaments of Isaac and Jacob are still preserved in Arabic and Ethiopic (see James, op. cit. 140-161). See Testaments of the III Patriarchs.

Sibylline Oracles

Main article: Sibylline oracles

Of the books which have come down to us the main part is Jewish, and was written at various dates, iii. 97-829, iv.-v. are decidedly of Jewish authorship, and probably xi.-xii., xiv. and parts of i.-ii. The oldest portions are in iii., and belong to the 2nd century B.C. The surviving Sibylline Oracles are not the famous Sibylline Books of Roman history, which were lost not once, but twice, and thus there is very little knowledge of the actual contents. ...

New Testament Area Apocalyptic Literature

When we pass from Jewish literature to that of the New Testament, we enter into a new and larger atmosphere at once recalling and transcending what had been best in the prophetic periods of the past. Again the heavens had opened and the divine teaching come to mankind, no longer merely in books bearing the names of ancient patriarchs, but on the lips of living men, who had taken courage to appear in person as God's messengers before His people. But though Christianity was in spirit the descendant of ancient Jewish prophecy, it was no less truly the child of that Judaism which had expressed its highest aspirations and ideals in pseudepigraphic and apocalyptic literature. Hence we shall not be surprised to find that the two tendencies are fully represented in primitive Christianity, and, still more strange as it may appear, that New Testament apocalyptic found a more ready hearing amid the stress and storm of the 1st century than the prophetic side of Christianity, and that the type of the forerunner on the side of its declared asceticism appealed more readily to primitive Christianity than that of Him who came "eating and drinking," declaring both worlds good and both God's.

Early Christianity had thus naturally a special fondness for this class of literature. It was Christianity that preserved Jewish apocalyptic, when it was abandoned by Judaism as it sank into Rabbinism, and gave it a Christian character either by a forcible exegesis or by a systematic process of interpolation. Moreover, it cultivated this form of literature and made it the vehicle of its own ideas. Though apocalyptic served its purpose in the opening centuries of the Christian era, it must be confessed that in many of its aspects its office is transitory, as they belong not to the essence of Christian thought. When once it had taught men that the next world was God's world, though it did so at the cost of relinquishing the present to Satan, it had achieved its real task, and the time had come for it to quit the stage of history, when Christianity appeared as the heir of this true spiritual achievement. But Christianity was no less assuredly the heir of ancient prophecy, and thus as spiritual representative of what was true in prophecy and apocalyptic; its essential teaching was as that of its Founder that both worlds were of God and that both should be made God's.

Canonical

Apocalypse in Mark xiii

According to the teaching of the Gospels the second advent was to take the world by surprise. Only one passage (Mark xiii. = Matt. xxiv. = Luke xxi.) conflicts with this view, and is therefore suspicious. This represents the second advent as heralded by a succession of signs which are unmistakable precursors of its appearance, such as wars, earthquakes, famines, the destruction of Jerusalem and the like. Our suspicion is justified by a further examination of Mark xiii. For the words "let him that readeth understand" (ver. 14) indicate that the prediction referred to appeared first not in a spoken address but in a written form, as was characteristic of apocalypses. Again, in ver. 30, it is declared that this generation shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled, whereas in 32 we have an undoubted declaration of Christ "Of that day or of that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." On these and other grounds verses 7, 8, 14-20, 24-27, 30, 31 should be removed from their present context. Taken together they constitute a Christian adaptation of an originally Jewish work, written A.D. 67-68, during the troubles preceding the fall of Jerusalem. The apocalypse consists of three Acts: Act i. consisting of verses 7, 8, enumerating the woes heralding the parusia, Act ii. describing the actual tribulation, and Act iii. the parusia itself. (See Wendt, Lehre Jesu, i. 12-21; Charles, Eschatology, 325 sqq.; H. S. Holtzmann, N. T. Theol. 1-325 sqq. with literature there given.)

2 Thessalonians ii

The earliest form of Pauline eschatology is essentially Jewish. He starts from the fundamental thought of Jewish apocalyptic that the end of the world will be brought about by the direct intervention of God when evil has reached its climax. The manifestation of evil culminates in the Antichrist whose parusia (2 Thess. ii. 9) is the Satanic counterfeit of that of the true Messiah. But the climax of evil is the immediate herald of its destruction; for thereupon Christ will descend from heaven and destroy the Antichrist (ii. 8). Nowhere in his later epistles does this forecast of the future reappear. Rather under the influence of the great formative Christian conceptions he parted gradually with the eschatology he had inherited from Judaism, and entered on a progressive development, in the course of which the heterogeneous elements were for the most part silently dropped.

Apocalypse (Revelation)

Since this book is discussed separately we shall content ourselves here with indicating a few of the conclusions now generally accepted. The apocalypse was written about A.D. 96. Its object, like other Jewish apocalypses, was to encourage faith under persecution; its burden is not a call to repentance but a promise of deliverance. It is derived from one author, who has made free use of a variety of elements, some of which are Jewish and consort but ill with their new context. The question of the pseudonymity of the book is still an open one. It is also speculated in some Catholic circles that this book is also a depiction of the Mass in Heaven and a testament to the sacrificial nature of the Mass and was written poetically so as not to bring attention to the first century Christians who were under much persecution at the time from the Romans as well as their Jewish counterparts. A Medieval Low Mass by a bishop. ...

Non-Canonical

Greek Apocalypse of Peter

Main article: Apocalypse of Peter

Until 1892 only some five or more fragments of this book were known to exist. These are preserved in Clement of Alexandria and in Macarius Magnes^[20]. It is mentioned in the Muratorian Canon, and according to Eusebius^[21] was commented on by Clement of Alexandria. The recovered Apocalypse of Peter or Revelation of Peter is extant in two translations of a lost original, one Greek, one Ethiopic, which diverge considerably. ... Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ... Macarius Magnes is probably to be identified with the bishop of Magnesia who, at the Synod of the Oak in 403, brought charges against Heraclides, bishop of Ephesus, the friend of John Chrysostom. ... The Muratorian fragment is a copy of perhaps the oldest known list of the books of the New Testament. ... Eusebius is the name of several significant historical people: Pope Eusebius - Pope in AD 309 - 310. ...

In the fragment found at Akhmim there is a prediction of the last things, and a vision of the abode and blessedness of the righteous, and of the abode and torments of the wicked. Akhmim, or Ekhmim, ia a town of Upper Egypt, on the right bank of the Nile, 67 mi by river south of Assiut, and 4 mi above Suhag, on the opposite side of the river where there is railway communication with Cairo and Assuan. ...

Testament of Hezekiah

This writing is fragmentary, and has been preserved merely as a constituent of the Ascension of Isaiah. To it belongs iii. 13b-iv. 18 of that book. It is found under the above name, Διαθηκη Εζεκιον, only in Cedrenus i. 120-121, who quotes partially iv. 12. 14 and refers to iv. 15-18. For a full account see Ascension of Isaiah. The Ascension of Isaiah is an apocryphal pseudepigraphal book dating from some time in the 2nd century and compiled by an unknown Christian. ...

Testament of Abraham

This work in two recensions was first published by James, Texts and Studies, ii. 2. Its editor is of opinion that it was written by a Jewish Christian in Egypt in the 2nd century A.D., but that it embodies legends of an earlier date, and that it received its present form in the 9th or 10th century. It treats of Michael being sent to announce to Abraham his death: of the tree speaking with a human voice (iii.), Michael's sojourn with Abraham (iv.-v.) and Sarah's recognition of him as one of the three angels, Abraham's refusal to die (vii.), and the vision of judgment (x.-xx.).

Oracles of Hystaspes

This eschatological work ( Χρησεις Ὑστασπον: so named by the anonymous 5th-century writer in Buresch, Klaros, 1889, p. 95) is mentioned in conjunction with the Sibyllines by Justin (Apol. i. 20), Clement of Alexandria (Strom. vi. 5), and Lactantius (Inst. VII. xv. 19; xviii. 2-3). According to Lactantius, it prophesied the overthrow of Rome and the advent of Zeus to help the godly and destroy the wicked, but omitted all reference to the sending of the Son of God. According to Justin, it prophesied the destruction of the world by fire. According to the Apocryph of Paul, cited by Clement, Hystaspes foretold the conflict of the Messiah with many kings and His advent. Finally, an unknown 5th-century writer (see Buresch, Klaros, 1889, pp. 87-126) says that the Oracles of Hystaspes dealt with the incarnation of the Saviour. The work referred to in the last two writers has Christian elements, which were absent from it in Lactantius's copy. The lost oracles were therefore in all probability originally Jewish, and subsequently re-edited by a Christian.

Vision of Isaiah

For more details on this topic, see Ascension of Isaiah.

This writing has been preserved in its entirety in the Ascension of Isaiah, of which it constitutes chaps, vi.-xi. Before its incorporation in the latter work it circulated independently in Greek. There are independent versions of these chapters in Latin and Slavonic. The Ascension of Isaiah is an apocryphal pseudepigraphal book dating from some time in the 2nd century and compiled by an unknown Christian. ...

Shepherd of Hermas

Main article: The Shepherd of Hermas

In the 2nd century this book enjoyed a respect bordering on that paid to the writings that were eventually incorporated into the New Testament. Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria and Origen quote it as Scripture, though Tertullian speaks slightingly of it. The writer belongs really to the prophetic and not to the apocalyptic school. The Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian work of the first or second century which had great authority in ancient times and was considered by some as one of the books of the Bible. ... Irenaeus (Greek: Εἰρηναῖος), (b. ... Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ... Origen Origen (Greek: Ōrigénēs, 185–ca. ... Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian, (ca. ...

His book is divided into three parts containing visions, commands, similitudes. He lets us know that he had been engaged in trade, that his wife was a termagant, and that his children were badly brought up. Various views have been held as to the identity of the author: some have made him out to be the Hermas to whom salutation is sent at the end of the Epistle to the Romans, others that he was the brother of Pius, bishop of Rome in the middle of the 2nd century, and others that he was a contemporary of Clement, bishop of Rome at the close of the 1st century. The Epistle to the Romans is one of the letters of the New Testament canon of the Christian Bible. ... ...

Theodor Zahn fixes the date at 97, Salmon a few years later, Richard Adelbert Lipsius 142.^[22] Theodor Zahn or Theodor von Zahn (1838 - 1933) was a biblical scholar born in Rhineland, Prussia (now Germany). ... Richard Adelbert Lipsius (1830-1892) was a distinguished German theologian, born in Gera. ...

5 Ezra

This book, which constitutes in the later MSS. the first two chapters to 4 Ezra, falls obviously into two parts. The first (i. 5-ii. 9) contains a strong attack on the Jews whom it regards as the people of God; the second (ii. 10-47) addresses itself to the Christians as God's people and promises them the heavenly kingdom. It is not improbable that these chapters are based on an earlier Jewish writing. In its present form it may have been written before A.D. 200, though James and other scholars assign it to the 3rd century. Its tone is strongly anti-Jewish. The style is very vigorous and the materials of a strongly apocalyptic character.^[23]

6 Ezra

This work consists of chapters xv.-xvi. of 4 Ezra. It may have been written as an appendix to 4 Ezra, as it has no proper introduction. Its contents relate to the destruction of the world through war and natural catastrophes--for the heathen a source of menace and fear, but for the persecuted people of God one of admonition and comfort. There is nothing specifically Christian in the book, which represents a persecution which extends over the whole eastern part of the Empire. Moreover, the idiom is particularly Semitic. Thus we have xv. 8 nec sustinebo in his quae inique exercent, that is בשא ב ; in 9 vindicans vindicabo: in 22 non parcet dextera mea super peccatores = φεισεται ... επι = יתמול...על. In verses 9, 19 the manifest corruptions may be explicable from a Semitic background. There are other Hebraisms in the text. It is true that these might have been due to the writer's borrowings from earlier Greek works ultimately of Hebrew origin. The date of the book is also quite uncertain, though several scholars have ascribed it to the 3rd century.

Christian Sibyllines

Critics are still at variance as to the extent of the Christian Sibyllines. It is practically agreed that vi.-viii. are of Christian origin. As for i.-ii., xi.-xiv. most writers are in favour of Christian authorship; but not so Johannes Geffcken (Oracula Sibyllina, 1902), who strongly insists on the Jewish origin of large sections of these books.

Apocalypses of Paul, Thomas and Stephen

These are mentioned in the Gelasian decree. The first may possibly be the [Greek: Anabagikon Paulou] mentioned by Epiphanius (Haer. xxxviii. 2) as current among the Cainites. It is not to be confounded with the apocalypse mentioned two sections later.

Apocalypse of Esdras

This Greek production resembles the more ancient fourth book of Esdras in some respects. The prophet is perplexed about the mysteries of life, and questions God respecting them. The punishment of the wicked especially occupies his thoughts. Since they have sinned in consequence of Adam's fall, their fate is considered worse than that of the irrational creation. The description of the tortures suffered in the infernal regions is tolerably minute. At last the prophet consents to give up his spirit to God, who has prepared for him a crown of immortality. The book is a poor imitation of the ancient Jewish one. It may belong, however, to the 2nd or 3rd centuries of the Christian era. See Constantin von Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apocryphae, pp. 24-33. Constantin von Tischendorf, around 1870 Lobegott Friedrich Constantin (von) Tischendorf (January 18, 1815 – December 7, 1874) was a noted German Biblical scholar. ...

Apocalypse of Paul

Main article: Apocalypse of Paul

This work^[24] contains a description of the things which the apostle saw in heaven and hell. The text, as first published in the original Greek by Tischendorf (Apocalypses Apocr. 34-69), consists of fifty-one chapters, but is imperfect. The Apocalypse of Paul is one of the texts of the New Testament apocrypha. ...

Internal evidence assigns it to the time of Theodosius, i.e. about A.D. 388. Where the author lived is uncertain. Justin Perkins found a Syriac MS. of this apocalypse, which he translated into English, and printed in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1864, vol. viii. This was republished by Tischendorf below the Greek version in the above work. In 1893 the Latin version from one MS. was edited by M. R. James, Texts and Studies, ii. 1-42, who shows that the Latin version is the most complete of the three, and that the Greek in its present form is abbreviated. Justin Perkins (Holyoke, Massachusetts,1805-Chicopee, Massachusetts, 1869) was an American Presbyterian missionary and linguist. ...

Apocalypse of John

(Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apocr. 70 sqq.) contains a description of the future state, the general resurrection and judgment, with an account of the punishment of the wicked, as well as the bliss of the righteous. It appears to be the work of a Jewish Christian. The date is late, for the writer speaks of the "venerable and holy images," as well as "the glorious and precious crosses and the sacred things of the churches" (xiv.), which points to the 5th century, when such things were first introduced into churches. It is a feeble imitation of the canonical apocalypse.

Arabic Apocalypse of Peter

Contains a narrative of events from the foundation of the world till the second advent of Christ. The book is said to have been written by Clement, Peter's disciple. This Arabic work has not been printed, but a summary of the contents is given by Alexander Nicoll in his catalogue of the Oriental MSS. belonging to the Bodleian (p. 49, xlviii.). There are eighty-eight chapters. It is a late production; for Ishmaelites are spoken of, the Crusades, and the taking of Jerusalem. See Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apocrypae pp. xx.-xxiv. Lobegott Friedrich Constantin (von) Tischendorf (January 18, 1815 at Langenfeld, Saxony near Plauen – December 7, 1874 in Leipzig) was a noted German Biblical scholar, the son of a physician. ...

Apocalypse of the Virgin

This book contains her descent into hell. It is not entirely published, but only several portions from Greek MSS. in different libraries, by Tischendorf in his Apocalypses Apocryphae, pp. 95 sqq.; James, Texts and Studies, ii. 3. 109-126.

Apocalypse of Sedrach

This late apocalypse, which M. R. James assigns to the 10th or 11th century, deals with the subject of intercession for sinners and Sedrach's unwillingness to die. See James, Texts and Studies, ii. 3. 127-137.

Apocalypse of Daniel

See Vassiliev's Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina (Moscow, 1893), pp. 38-44; Uncanonical Books of the Old Testament (Venice, 1901), pp. 237 sqq., 387 sqq.

The Revelations of Bartholomew

Dulaurier published from a Parisian Sahidic MS., subjoining a French translation, what is termed a fragment of the apocryphal revelations of St Bartholomew (Fragment des révélations apocryphes de Saint Barthélemy, &c., Paris, 1835), and of the history of the religious communities founded by St Pachomius. After narrating the pardon obtained by Adam, it is said that the Son ascending from Olivet prays the Father on behalf of His apostles; who consequently receive consecration from the Father, together with the Son and Holy Spirit--Peter being made archbishop of the universe. The late date of the production is obvious.

Questions of St Bartholomew

See Vassiliev, Anec. Graeco-Byzantina (1893), pp. 10-22. The introduction, which is wanting in the Greek MS., has been supplied by a Latin translation from the Slavonic version (see pp. vii.-ix.). The book contains disclosures by Christ, the Virgin and Beliar and much of the subject-matter is ancient.

More thoughts on apocalyptic

An apocalypse is a literary report of a fearful, often violent, vision that reveals truths about past, present and future times in highly symbolic and poetical terms. The poet may represent himself as transported into a heavenly realm, or the vision may be unveiled— and even interpreted— by an angelic messenger. Apocalyptic exhortations are aimed at chastening and reforming their hearers with threats of punishment and rewards in the coming "end times." A brief apocalyptic vision is found in Gospel of Mark 13 is sometimes called the "Little Apocalypse" and parallel passages can be found in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. // In the three Abrahamic Religions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity), the End Times are depicted as a time of tribulation that precede the predicted coming of a Messiah figure. ... The Gospel of Mark (literally, according to Mark; Greek, Κατά Μαρκον, Kata Markon),(anonymous[1] but ascribed to Mark the Evangelist) is a Gospel of the New Testament. ...

Apocalyptic poetry concentrates the character that Northrop Frye has found in the Bible as a whole: "a series of ecstatic moments or points of expanding apprehension—this approach is in fact the assumption on which every selection of a text for a sermon is based" (Frye 1957 p 326). Herman Northrop Frye, CC, MA, D.Litt. ...

In connection with a PBS documentary "Apocalypse!" Dr. L. Michael White said, "Apocalyptic thinking has been called "the child of prophecy in a new idiom." (see link). White drew attention to the new direction prophecy took after the Hebrews' return from the trauma of the "Babylonian captivity." Earlier prophets of Israel and Judah had spoken of the word of God, calling the children of Israel to their duty. The newer apocalyptic writings, in the aftermath of the destruction of Solomon's temple looked forward to coming divine retribution and made forecasts of the future that contrasted hope and despair. The throne of David itself, as it was not unshakeable as events had proved, took on metaphoric meanings. Early examples of the apocalyptic world-view can be found in the late additions made to Isaiah by the pseudepigraphical writer called the "Third Isaiah" (chapters 56 to 66), and in the collection of prophetic forecasts of this new kind that are collected as Ezekiel Main article: Jew Jewish religion Etymology of Jew  · Who is a Jew? Jewish leadership  · Jewish culture Jewish ethnic divisions Ashkenazi (German and E. Europe) Mizrahi (Arab and Oriental) Sephardi (Iberian) Temani (Yemenite)  · Beta Israel Jewish populations Germany  · France  · Latin America Britain  · Famous Jews by country Jewish languages Hebrew: (Biblical / Modern... Solomons Temple (Hebrew: בית המקדש, transliterated Beit HaMikdash), also known as the First Temple, was, according to the Bible, the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. ... Isaiah (Hebrew: , Standard  Tiberian  ; Greek: , Ä’saiās ; Arabic: اشعیاء, Ash-ee-yaa ; Salvation of/is the ) is the main figure in the Biblical Book of Isaiah, and is commonly considered to be its author. ... Pseudepigrapha (Greek pseudos = false, epi = after, later and grapha = writing (or writings), latterly or falsely attributed, or down right forged works, describes texts whose claimed authorship is unfounded in actuality. ... Ezekiel the Prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures is depicted on a 1510 Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo. ...

The new cultural element included extreme and vivid polarized contrasts, a distinctly realized Satan in opposition to Yahweh, a city of Evil (Babylon) contrasted to the city of God (Jerusalem), the evil and corruption and despair of the visible world contrasted with the blinding light of the world to come and often embodied in demons and dragons, elements deriving from Zoroastrian dualism. A new focus on eschatology, the End of All Things, was also foreign to the earlier Hebrew tradition. Some, though not all apocalyptic literature was messianic, predicting the imminent arrival of a savior—even in Essene writings, of more than one savior. “Fiend” redirects here. ... Saint George versus the dragon, Gustave Moreau, c. ... Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra, Zartosht). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the book by Pope Benedict XVI, see Eschatology (book). ... For discussion of the messiah in Judaism, see Jewish messianism and Jewish messianic claimants. ... The Essenes (Issiim) were a Jewish religious sect of Zadokites that flourished from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. The name Essene, itself, is either a version of the Greek word for Holy, or various Aramaic dialect words for pious, and is probably not what the...

The overtly allegorical nature of this new literature inspired new allegorical readings, now applied to every kind of earlier statement, a detailed unravelling of texts, often to give results not originally foreseen, which influenced the development of techniques of exegesis for Jewish and Christian scholar alike and became a foundation of the medieval hermeneutics, which are still practiced today in some traditionalist circles, as "Biblical hermeneutics". Allegory of Music by Filippino Lippi. ... Exegesis (from the Greek to lead out) involves an extensive and critical interpretation of an authoritative text, especially of a holy scripture, such as of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, the Talmud, the Midrash, the Quran, etc. ... Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts. ... Biblical Hermeneutics, part of the broader hermeneutical question, relates to the problem of how one is to understand Holy Scripture. ...

Among books of prophecy of this new kind, the Book of Daniel was accepted into the Hebrew Bible, among the "Writings," as the sense of a canonic literature developed in the Rabbinic tradition during the first centuries of the Common Era. Other apocalyptic literature did not make the cut: The Book of Enoch, some of which is older than Daniel (though it has received some Christian interpolations and editing in the versions that have survived) was never considered canonical by Jews or Christians, though it is quoted or paralleled dozens of times in the New Testament. Enoch has been called "an ecstatic elaboration" of the line in Genesis (v.22): "And Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he begat Methuselah." The book of Jubilees (2nd century BCE) also contains some apocalyptic poetry. The so-called Sibylline Oracles, which were assembled partly in Alexandria, are filled with pseudo-prophecy (vaticinium ex eventu, written after the fact) and threatening generalities; they bridge any apparent gap between late Jewish apocalyptic literature and early Christian writings in the genre. For other uses, see Book of Daniel (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Book of Jubilees (ספר היובלים), sometimes called the Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work. ... The surviving Sibylline Oracles are not the famous Sibylline Books of Roman history, which were lost not once, but twice, and thus there is very little knowledge of the actual contents. ... Vaticinium ex eventu (Prophecy from the event) is a technical theological or historiographical term referring to a prophecy written after the author already had information about the events he was foretelling. The text is written so as to appear that the prophecy had taken place before the event. ...

Within the Christian tradition, the Apocalypse of Peter and The Shepherd of Hermas are examples of apocalyptic literature that devotees of Revelation would also enjoy, though their poetry never reaches the same intensity. The recovered Apocalypse of Peter or Revelation of Peter is extant in two translations of a lost original, one Greek, one Ethiopic, which diverge considerably. ... The Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian work of the first or second century which had great authority in ancient times and was considered by some as one of the books of the Bible. ...

Apocalyptic literature has had a long history. Some aspects of apocalyptic visions can be found in the Kabbalah. This article is about traditional Jewish Kabbalah. ...

See also

• Apocalypse
• Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius
• Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic science fiction
• Apocalypticism
• Millennialism
• Summary of Christian eschatological differences

Look up Apocalypse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius is a 7th-century apocalypse that shaped the eschatological imagination of Christendom throughout the Middle Ages. ... Apocalyptic science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization, through nuclear war, plague, or some other general disaster. ... Apocalypticism is a worldview based on the idea that important matters are esoteric in nature (hidden) and they will soon be revealed in a major confrontation of earth-shaking magnitude that will change the course of history. ... Millennialism (or chiliasm), from millennium, which literally means thousand years, is primarily a belief expressed in some Christian denominations, and literature, that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth where Christ will reign prior to the final judgment and future eternal state, primarily derived from the book... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

Notes

2 Esdras is a Jewish Christian apocalypse written toward the end of the first century AD. It is not accepted as scriptural by most Christians, therefore they count it among the apocrypha, however the Ethiopian Orthodox and Russian Orthodox consider it canonical. ... Lommatzsch is a small town located in the district of Meissen, Saxony, Germany. ... Emil Schürer (May 2, 1844 - April 30, 1910), German Protestant theologian, was born at Augsburg. ... Adolf Bernhard Christoph Hilgenfeld (June 2, 1823 - January 12, 1907) was a German Protestant divine. ... Many people have the surname Zahn; Paula Zahn Peter von Zahn Steve Zahn Theodor Zahn (1838 - 1933) Timothy Zahn This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... The Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian work of the first or second century which had great authority in ancient times and was considered by some as one of the books of the Bible. ... Adolf Bernhard Christoph Hilgenfeld (June 2, 1823 - January 12, 1907) was a German Protestant divine. ... Robert Lubbock Bensly (born Eaton, Norfolk, England, August 24, 1831; died at Cambridge, April 23, 1893) was an English Orientalist. ...

External links

• L. Michael White, "Apocalyptic literature in Judaeism and early Christianity" Thorough historical introduction.
• Prof. Felix Just, S.J., offers definitions of apocalypse.
• David M. Williams, "The Book of Revelation as Jewish Apocalyptic Literature" Concise introduction to the genre.

Bibliography

• Richard Goswiller, Revelation, Pacific Study Series, Melbourne, (1987).
• Frye, Northrop, 1957. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays.