Texts in conversation

Compare 4Q213a 2 18 and Testament of Levi 2:6

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings · Pseudepigrapha, Testaments

Summary

In 4Q213a from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Levi’s prayer leads into a fragmentary vision of heaven and an angel. The Testament of Levi gives a fuller scene, with the angel inviting Levi to enter the open heavens.

Passages

4Q213a 2 18

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings · Aramaic Levi b

8 the prayer of [your] servant […] 9 a true judgment for all […] 10 the son of your servant from before […] 11 Then I set out … […] 12 to my father Jacob, and when […] 13 from Abel-main. Then […] 14 I lay down, and I stayed on […] 15 Then I was shown visions […] 16 in the seeing of the vision, and I saw the heavens […] 17 beneath me, high until it reached the heavens […] 18 to me the gates of heaven, and an angel […]

160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q213a

Testament of Levi 2:6

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs

4 And I was grieving for the race of the sons of men, and I prayed to the Lord that I might be saved. 5 Then I fell asleep, and I saw a high mountain, and I was on it. 6 Then the heavens were opened, and an angel of God said to me, “Levi, enter.” And I entered from the first heaven, and I saw there a great sea hanging. 7 And I saw a second heaven, far brighter and more brilliant, for there was boundless light there as well.

100 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Levi

References

“... The text in question (4Q213a=4QTLevia 1 i 10) was initially published by Michael E. Stone and Jonas C. Greenfield, and has been dated by Józef T. Milik to the late 2nd-early 1st century B. C. E.39 However, the document itself was likely composed during the 3rd or perhaps even the late 4th century B. C. E.40 Since the wording of the Aramaic text corresponds closely to that of the more complete Greek manuscript from Mt. Athos (Athos Koutloumous no. 39, at Testament of Levi 2:3), the latter may be used to reconstruct many of the lacunae in 4Q213a.41 The text with which we are concerned is part of a prayer spoken by the patri- arch Levi just before he is granted a vision of heaven (cf. 4Q213a 1 ii 14–18) and commissioned to become a priest (cf. the later T. Levi 2:5–4:6).42 After Levi makes preparations through cleansing and gestures (4Q213a 1 i 6–10), a text of his prayer is given (Grk. vv. 5–19; Aram. 1 i 10–ii 10). The prayer, according to Robert Kugler, may be loosely structured as follows: (a) In verses 6–9 (Grk.; Aram. 1 i 10–16) Levi prays that God would purify him from evil and wickedness, show him the holy spirit, and endow him with counsel, wisdom, knowledge and strength, in order that he might find favor before God and give God praise; (b) in verse 10 (Grk.; Aram. 1 i 17) the patriarch petitions that God protect him from evil; and (c) in verses 11–19 (Grk.; Aram. 1 i 18–ii 10) the patriarch formulates a series of requests that resume themes touched upon during the earlier part of the prayer (a), namely, that God cleanse and shelter Levi from evil (Grk. vv. 12 and 14), that wickedness be destroyed from the earth (Grk. v. 13), and that Levi and his descendants be placed in God’s service for all generations (Grk. v. 18; 4Q213a 1 ii 8–9). ...”

Loren T. Stuckenbruck, The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 203.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Fragment 2

4Q213a6 chapters

Compare 4Q213a 2 18 and Testament of Levi 2:6

Summary

Passages

4Q213a 2 18

Testament of Levi 2:6

References

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