Go to Related Reading
About this book

Testament of Levi

Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs

About this book
Chapter 18

1 And after their punishment has come from the Lord, the priesthood will fail. 2 Then the Lord will raise up a new priest. 3 And to him all the words of the Lord will be revealed; and he will execute a righteous judgment on the earth for many days. 4 And his star will arise in heaven like that of a king. 5 Lighting up the light of knowledge as the sun lights the day, and he will be magnified in the world. 6 He will shine forth like the sun on the earth, and will remove all darkness from under heaven, and there will be peace throughout the earth. 7 The heavens will exult in his days, and the earth will be glad, and the clouds will rejoice, and the knowledge of the Lord will be poured out on the earth, as the water of the seas. And the angels of the glory of the presence of the Lord will be glad in him. 8 The heavens will be opened, and from the temple of glory sanctification will come upon him, with the Father’s voice, as from Abraham to Isaac. 9 And the glory of the Most High will be proclaimed over him, and the spirit of understanding and sanctification will rest on him in the water.⁠ 10 For he will give the majesty of the Lord to His children in truth forever; and none will succeed him for all generations ever. 11 And in his priesthood the Gentiles will be multiplied in knowledge on the earth, and enlightened by the grace of the Lord. In his priesthood, sin will come to an end, and the lawless will cease to do evil.⁠ 12 And the just will rest in him. And he will open the gates of paradise, and will remove the threatening sword against Adam. 13 And he will give to the saints to eat from the tree of life, and the spirit of holiness will be upon them. 14 And Beliar will be bound by him, and he will give power to His children to trample upon the evil spirits.⁠ 15 And the Lord will rejoice in His children, and be well pleased in His beloved ones forever. 16 Then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be joyful, and I will be glad, and all the saints will clothe themselves with joy.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 11:2 and Testament of Levi 18:9

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Testaments

Share:

Summary

The Testament of Levi describes a leader empowered by the Spirit to give fair judgment and act in ways that please God, based on Isaiah’s description of a shoot from Jesse endowed with wisdom, counsel, and loyalty by God's Spirit.

Passages

Isaiah 11:2

Hebrew Bible
1 A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s root stock, a bud will sprout from his roots. 2 The Lord’s Spirit will rest on him—a Spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, a Spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, a Spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord. 3 His smelling is in the fear of the Lord7. He will not judge by mere appearances or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. 4 He will treat the poor fairly and make right decisions for the downtrodden of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and order the wicked to be executed.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Testament of Levi 18:9

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
8 The heavens will be opened, and from the temple of glory sanctification will come upon him, with the Father’s voice, as from Abraham to Isaac. 9 And the glory of the Most High will be proclaimed over him, and the spirit of understanding and sanctification will rest on him in the water. 10 For he will give the majesty of the Lord to His children in truth forever; and none will succeed him for all generations ever. 11 And in his priesthood the Gentiles will be multiplied in knowledge on the earth, and enlightened by the grace of the Lord. In his priesthood, sin will come to an end, and the lawless will cease to do evil.
100 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Levi

References

"... The fourth text from the second temple period that alludes to Isaiah 11:2 is the “Prayer of Levi.” The Prayer of Levi is found in two places, in Aramaic in 4Q213 (= 4QTLevia) and in Greek, inserted after Testament of Levi 3:2 in manuscript Athos from the Monastery of Koutloumous. The language of Isaiah 11:2 shows up in lines 8–9 of the Greek text ... Stone and Greenfield write that the terms “are presumably derived from Isaiah 11:2.” Of note is that Levi, having undergone (cultic?) purification, asks in line 18 for the Lord to enable him to render true judgment, a central result of the Spirit coming upon the Davidic figure of Isaiah 11:1–5. Levi expresses the goal of his request for the Spirit to be the empowerment to do (“the things pleasing to you”). This language parallels Colossians 1:9–10, where the goal of Paul’s prayer for the Colossians to be “filled ... in all Spirit-given wisdom and understanding” is that they might “walk worthily of the Lord in all that pleases.” The fifth text is Testament of Levi 18:5, 7 (second century BCE). Testament of Levi 18:5 is a citation of Isaiah 11:9, and 18:7 is an allusion to Isaiah 11:2 ..."
Christopher A. Beetham, Echoes of Scripture in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians, BibInt 96 (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 68–69.

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

Your feedback

Isaiah 11:2 and Testament of Levi 18:9

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library