Ancient Texts For New Testament Studies: A Guide To The Background Literature

577 Pages·2005·26.24 MB·English

by  Craig A. Evans

Ancient Texts for
New Testament
Studies

Ancient Texts for
New Testament
Studies
A Guide to the
Background Literature
CRAIG A. EVANS
r^l HENDRICKSON
P U B L I S H E RS
© 2005 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
P. O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473
ISBN 1-56563-409-8
Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies: A Guide to the Background Literature is a
major expansion and revision of an earlier work by Craig A. Evans, Noncanonical
Writings and New Testament Intepretation (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1992).
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, re
cording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing — November 2005
Cover Art: The cover photograph is of a third-century Christian sarcophagus de
picting the deceased reading his testament to his heirs. Museu i Necropolis
Paleocristians, Tarragona, Spain. Photograph by James H. Charlesworth.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Evans, Craig A.
Ancient texts for New Testament studies : a guide to the background
literature / Craig A. Evans,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56563-409-8 (alk. paper)
1. Bible. N.T.—Study and teaching. 2. Literature, Ancient—History and
criticism. 3. Intertextuality in the Bible—Study and teaching. 4. Literature,
Ancient—Bibliography. I. Title.
BS2530.E93 2005
225'.066—dc22
2005023156
For James A. Sanders
Scholar, Mentor, Colleague

Contents
Preface xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction I
An Overview of the Writings 1
The Value 3
The Method 6
General Bibliography 7
1. The Old Testament Apocrypha 9
Summaries 10
Themes 22
General Bibliography 24
2. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 26
Summaries 28
Themes 67
General Bibliography 73
3. The Dead Sea Scrolls 76
Contents 81
Discoveries in the Judaean Desert (DJDJ/DJD): 83
Identity of the Scrolls Community 86
Summaries of Qumran Documents 89
Summaries of Masada Documents 136
Summaries of Murabba^at Documents 138
Summaries of Nahal Hever Documents 138
Summaries of Nahal Se^elim (Wadi Seiyal) Documents 139
Summaries of Wadi Sdeir Documents 139
Summaries of Nahal Mishmar Documents 140
Summaries of Khirbet Mird Documents 140
ANCIENT TEXTS FOR NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES
Summaries of Wadi Ed-Daliyeh Documents 141
Summaries of Cairo Genizah Documents 141
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 142
Pesharim: Qumran's Commentaries on Scripture 146
Targumim 149
Themes 149
General Bibliography 153
4. Versions of the Old Testament 155
Summaries 155
Themes 164
General Bibliography 166
5. Philo and Josephus 167
Philo 168
Philo and the New Testament 170
General Bibliography for Philo 172
Josephus 173
Josephus and the New Testament 175
Versions of Josephus's Writings 180
General Bibliography for Josephus 183
6. TheTargums 185
Summaries 187
Themes 202
General Bibliography 214
7. Rabbinic Literature 216
Summaries of Talmudic Literature 220
Summaries of Tannaic Midrashic Literature 231
Summaries of Amoraic Midrashic Literature 238
Later Midrashim 245
Medieval Commentators 245
Special Themes 246
General Bibliography 254
8. The New Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 256
Summaries of Selected Writings 257
Studies 263
General Bibliography 267
9. Early Church Fathers 268
Summaries 269
General Bibliography 276
10. Gnostic Writings 278
Coptic Gnostic Library: Text, Translation, and Commentary 280
Contents ix
Studies 284
Mandaean Materials 285
General Bibliography 286
11. Other Writings 287
Greco-Roman Authors 287
Greco-Roman Authors on Jesus and Early Christianity 298
Corpus Hermeticum 300
Samaritan Writings 303
Papyri, Inscriptions, Coins, and Ostraca 306
General Bibliography 327
12. Examples of New Testament Exegesis 329
The Nazareth Sermon 329
The Parable of the Talents 330
The Parable of the Wicked Vineyard Tenants 333
"I Said,'You Are Gods'" 334
"The Word Is Near You" 335
Ascending and Descending with a Shout 337
Paul and the First Adam 338
APPENDIXES
1. Canons of Scripture that Include the Apocrypha 341
2. Quotations, Allusions, and Parallels to the New Testament 342
3. Parallels between New Testament Gospels and Pseudepigraphal Gospels 410
Sources and Bibliography 414
General Bibliography 416
Jesus' Parables and the Parables of the Rabbis 418
General Bibliography 422
Jesus and Jewish Miracle Stories 424
Honi ha-Me'^aggel 424
Abba Hilkiah, Grandson of Honi 425
Hanin ha-Nehba 425
Hanina ben Dosa 425
Eleazar the Exorcist 427
Phineas ben Yair 429
An Anonymous Hasid 429
Later Traditions about Famous Rabbis 429
General Bibliography 430
Messianic Claimants of the First and Second Centuries 431
Biblical and Historical Precedents 431