Summary
Summary of The Testament of Moses
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A farewell becomes a promise
Moses is close to death when he speaks to Joshua, the man who will lead Israel after him. His farewell reaches far beyond their own moment, tracing what will happen to the people from their entry into the promised land to the end of the present age.
The Testament of Moses brings warning and hope together. Written amid foreign rule and quarrels within Israel, it asks what faithful people should do while waiting for God to act. Its unknown author presents that question through Moses' final words.
Key idea 2
One damaged manuscript preserves the speech
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Key idea 3
Joshua must preserve the prophecy
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Key idea 4
History reveals the cost of disloyalty
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Key idea 5
Corrupt leadership deepens the people's suffering
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Key idea 6
Taxo refuses betrayal without armed revolt
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Key idea 7
Joshua fears the responsibility ahead
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Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who love the Bible and its neighbouring writings, students of Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity, and anyone curious about how ancient writers faced oppression.
What this book is
The Testament of Moses is an ancient Jewish text in which Moses, close to death, speaks to his successor Joshua. He tells Joshua what will happen to Israel from the conquest of the land to the end of the present age. It is a farewell speech, a survey of history and a promise of rescue, all in one short work. The author is unknown, and the work is also known by the name Assumption of Moses.
The text survives in a single Latin manuscript of about the sixth century, and it breaks off before the end. Many scholars place its writing in the early first century of the common era, though some think an older layer lies beneath. It was written in a time of foreign rule and quarrels inside Israel, and it asks what faithful people should do while they wait for God to act. You will hear how the book is built, what it says about Israel's past and future, and why it was kept by some readers yet left out of most Bibles. First, the manuscript itself and the questions about its date.
In this summary
- 1One Latin manuscript carries the whole textFree
- 2Moses hands his charge to Joshua
- 3Israel's history runs from the land to exile
- 4Corrupt rulers bring a harsher age
- 5Taxo and his sons choose death over betrayal
- 6Joshua's fear and the text's later life
Key point 1 of 6
One Latin manuscript carries the whole text
The Testament of Moses comes to us from a single source. It is a Latin manuscript of about the sixth century, found in the Ambrosian Library in Milan by Antonio Ceriani, who published it in 1861. The pages had been scraped and written over, so the text lies under later writing, a kind of manuscript called a palimpsest. The Latin was translated from Greek, and most scholars think the Greek in turn came from a Hebrew or Aramaic original.
The manuscript is damaged and incomplete. Pages are missing, and the text stops in the middle of Moses' speech to Joshua. Because of this, some details of the work are uncertain, and scholars have to reason about what was lost. Early Christian writers mention a work called the Assumption of Moses, which seems to have told of Moses being taken up at his death. Many think that the Milan text is the testament part of one book and that the assumption part has not survived. Others think they were two separate works.
The date is argued. Most scholars hold that the work in its present form was written soon after the death of King Herod, in the early first century of the common era. A smaller group argues that it was first written in the 160s before the common era, in the time of the persecution under the Syrian king Antiochus, and later updated. Both views agree on one point. The author wrote in a period of pressure on faithful Jews.
The book has twelve short chapters in the usual numbering. It moves from Moses' charge to Joshua, through a survey of history, to a prayerful hope for God's kingdom, and then to a closing dialogue between the two men. Knowing this plan makes the text much easier to follow.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
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Check yourself
What does Moses tell Joshua to do with the prophetic writings?
Right. “He is to take certain writings and keep them safe, storing them in jars of cedar oil so that they last until the end of days.”Not quite. “He is to take certain writings and keep them safe, storing them in jars of cedar oil so that they last until the end of days.”
What pattern shapes the book's view of Israel's history?
Right. “Disaster follows disloyalty, and mercy follows honest repentance.”Not quite. “Disaster follows disloyalty, and mercy follows honest repentance.”
How does Taxo respond to persecution?
Right. “He proposes that they fast for three days and then go into a cave in the countryside, and that they die rather than break the law of their ancestors.”Not quite. “He proposes that they fast for three days and then go into a cave in the countryside, and that they die rather than break the law of their ancestors.”
Questions about The Testament of Moses
What is the Testament of Moses about?
It is a farewell speech by Moses to Joshua. Moses foretells Israel's history, including exile, corrupt rulers and persecution, and promises that God will finally establish his kingdom and rescue the faithful.
Is the Testament of Moses the same as the Assumption of Moses?
The names are often used for the same work, but scholars disagree. The surviving Latin text is a testament, and the assumption, the taking up of Moses, may have been a lost part or a separate book.
Why is the Testament of Moses not in the Bible?
It was never accepted into the Jewish or main Christian canons. No single reason is recorded, but communities settled on other books, and this one survived only in a single Latin manuscript.
When was the Testament of Moses written?
Most scholars date it to the early first century of the common era, soon after Herod's death. Some argue for an older core from the time of persecution in the 160s before the common era.
Who is Taxo in the Testament of Moses?
Taxo is a man of the tribe of Levi with seven sons, who chooses death over breaking the commandments. Scholars debate whether he is a real person, a symbol of the faithful, or something else.
