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The Testament of Judah teaches that those who suffer or die for God will be resurrected, turning their sorrow into blessing. Jesus in Matthew echoes this in teaching that those who face persecution will be blessed, expressing the same hope for future reversal.
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Testament of Judah 25:4
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
Pseudepigrapha
And the Lord blessed Levi, and the Angel of the Presence, me; the powers of glory, Simeon; the heaven, Reuben; the earth, Issachar; the sea, Zebulun; the mountains, Joseph; the tabernacle, Benjamin; the luminaries, Dan; Eden, Naphtali; the sun, Gad; the moon, Asher. And ye shall be the people of the Lord, and have one tongue; And there shall be there no spirit of deceit of Beliar, For he shall be cast into the fire for ever. And they who have died in grief shall arise in joy , And they who were poor for the Lord's sake shall be made rich, And they who are put to death for the Lord's sake shall awake to life. And the harts of Jacob shall run in joyfulness, And the eagles of Israel shall fly in gladness; And all the people shall glorify the Lord for ever.
Date: 100 B.C.E. - 100 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Matthew 5:10
New Testament
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. 11 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... An even more significant parallel to Jesus' 'beatitudes' and 'woes' occurs in Jewish writings that are not Essene, but belong to the fringe of the Essene movement. These are the so-called Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs that we possess in a Christian recension. It is easy, however, to detect the Jewish provenance of these writings. The work is presented in the form of the valedictory speeches of the twelve sons of Jacob. Judah speaks about salvation at the end of time ... The similarity between the beatitudes and woes of Jesus, and the Testament of Judah is obvious. The Jewish author has poetically expanded the common tradition and especially elaborated on the resurrection of the dead ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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