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New Testament Field Guide

  1. Lesson One
    Getting Ready
    15 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  2. Lesson Two
    Geopolitics and Culture
    17 Activities
  3. Lesson Three
    Religious Movements
    17 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  4. Lesson Four
    2nd Temple Period Sources
    11 Activities
    |
    6 Assessments
  5. Lesson Five
    Impact of the New Testament
    16 Activities
    |
    5 Assessments
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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New Testament Field Guide 2nd Temple Period Sources Behind | Pseudepigrapha
Lesson 4, Activity 6

Behind | Pseudepigrapha

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It’s easy to confuse the deuterocanonical texts with the Bible’s Pseudepigrapha, especially for Protestants who don’t have either type of text in their Bible. The first part of the word, “pseude,” means “false,” and “grapha” means “writing.” These are books that have an author’s name falsely attributed to them. They were written by someone other than the person they claim to be written by. This is an intentional forgery that was recognized in the Second Temple Period.

A good example would be the Assumption of Moses, or the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. These books tend to contain “first hand” accounts from biblical figures that have actually been written on their behalf at later dates. Not all of these books are pseudonymous but the label of “Pseudepigrapha” is applied generically to them all. Some of these works are listed below. 

  • Assumption of Moses
  • Slavonic Second Book of Enoch
  • 3 Baruch
  • Letter of Aristeas
  • Life of Adam and Eve
  • Ascension of Isaiah
  • Psalms of Solomon
  • Sibylline Oracles
  • 2 Baruch
  • Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

Assessments