2nd Testament of Abraham

By Scriptural Research Institute

The 2nd Testament of Abraham is the Jewish version of the Testament of Abraham, which was somewhat Christianized by some of the groups that use it, but not to the level as the 1st Testament of Abraham. The designation of 1st and 2nd were determined by early Christian scholars, who decided that the 2nd version was a corrupted version of the 1st version. Modern scholars have come to the conclusion that the 1st version was a Christianized version of the older 2nd version, which itself was likely a Jewish version, originally written in Aramaic or Hebrew. One of the reasons that the 2nd version is considered older, is because it has survived in a number of languages, including Greek, Coptic, Old Slavonic, Arabic, Ge'ez, and Romanian, while the 1st version has only survived in Greek and Romanian.

The 2nd version has also been considered scripture by several Churches and Israelite groups, including the Coptic Church in Egypt, Beta Israel in Ethiopia, and Beta Abraham in Sudan. The Testament of Abraham was also quoted by Origen circa 200 AD, and later in the Qur'an, showing it's significance to the people of the Middle East in the early Christian era. It is generally accepted that Origen was quoting the 1st version, meaning the text had already been Christianized by his time, however, the final paragraph is believed to be a later addition by an Orthodox cleric some time after the Council of Nicene in the 4th-century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scriptural Research Institute
• Release date: Dec 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781989604748

Book preview

Copyright

WHILE EVERY PRECAUTION has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

2ND TESTAMENT OF ABRAHAM

First edition. December 30, 2019.

Copyright © 2019 Scriptural Research Institute.

ISBN: 978-1-989604-74-8

The 2nd Testament of Abraham was likely composed in Aramaic sometime before 250 BC.

The 2nd Testament of Abraham was translated into Greek sometime before 200 BC, possibly by Athanasius.

This English translation was created by the Scriptural Research Institute in 2019

The image used for the cover is ‘Abraham and the Three Angels’ by Pieter Lastman painted in 1623.

Forward

IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN era, many Testaments of the Patriarchs circulated in Jewish and Christian communities, the foremost being the Testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The other major testaments were grouped together as the Testaments of the Twelve, which included the Testaments of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin. These testaments were widely accepted by the early Christian churches, and continue to form part of the Armenian Bible. The books were popular in Western Europe during the Middle Ages when they were generally considered authentic ancient Jewish texts. Critical analysis in the 16th century changed the view of Protestants and Catholics, as scholars at the time came to the belief that the texts were written in the early Christian era, likely in Greek. Subsequently, the texts fell out of favor in most parts of Europe. However, Hebrew fragments of the Testaments of the Patriarchs were discovered in the 20th century among the Dead Sea Scrolls, proving the texts were originally written in Aramaic and Hebrew. The current academic view is

Reviews for 2nd Testament of Abraham

[Renard Mclean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

very informative and straight forward.
I will advice everyone to read it.