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Testament of Moses

Assumption of Moses

About this book
Chapter 5

And when the times of chastisement draw near and vengeance arises through the kings who share in their guilt and punish them, they themselves also shall be divided as to the truth. Therefore it has been said: 'They shall turn aside from righteousness and approach iniquity, and they shall defile with pollutions the house of their worship,' and [because] 'they shall prostitute themselves with strange gods.'⁠ For they shall not follow the truth of God, but some shall pollute the altar with the (very) gifts which they offer to the Lord, who are not priests but slaves, sons of slaves. And many in those times shall show favor to influential persons and receive gifts, and pervert judgment [on receiving presents]. And on this account the city and the borders of their habitation shall be filled with lawless deeds and iniquities: those who wickedly depart from the Lord shall be judges: they shall be ready to judge for money as each may wish.

Texts in conversation

Compare Testament of Moses 5:3 and Romans 1:25

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · New Testament

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Summary

In Romans, Paul portrays humanity abandoning truth for lies and giving honor to what is unworthy, echoing Jewish traditions that criticize idolatry, such as the Testament of Moses, where leaders distort justice, accept bribes, and defile worship.

Passages

Testament of Moses 5:3

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Assumption of Moses
Therefore it has been said: 'They shall turn aside from righteousness and approach iniquity, and they shall defile with pollutions the house of their worship,' and [because] 'they shall prostitute themselves with strange gods.' For they shall not follow the truth of God, but some shall pollute the altar with the (very) gifts which they offer to the Lord, who are not priests but slaves, sons of slaves. And many in those times shall show favor to influential persons and receive gifts, and pervert judgment [on receiving presents]. And on this account the city and the borders of their habitation shall be filled with lawless deeds and iniquities: those who wickedly depart from the Lord shall be judges: they shall be ready to judge for money as each may wish.
20–50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Moses

Romans 1:25

New Testament
20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones,
55–58 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Romans

References

"... That the Wisdom of Solomon is playing some role in the early arguments of Romans, and especially in 1:18–32, is widely acknowledged. But the full extent of this intertextual relationship is seldom appreciated. It is strikingly extensive. Moreover, the reason for the relationship, largely unparalleled in Paul, is seldom explored. We will address first the question of extent in more detail. It is possible in the first instance that the text of Romans 1 resonates not with the Wisdom of Solomon per se but with a whole cluster of Jewish texts that uses arguments reasonably similar to those found in both these passages—the Jewish “propaganda literature” (compare the Third Sibylline Oracle, especially verses 8–45, 184–87, 594–600, and 764 [arguments concerning homosexuality]; Josephus, Against Apion, 2.145–286 [LCL, 350–407]; the Letter of Aristeas, 128–72; and Pseudo-Phocylides, especially 190–92 [material on homosexuality] and 213–14 [discussion of long and short hair] ... Dunn, drawing on other interpreters, lists further possible intertexts, but their specific content, while not irrelevant, is still further away from our concerns here: see Jubilees 3:28–32; Adam and Eve; 4 Ezra 4:30; Second Baruch 54:17–19/22; the Letter of Jeremiah, the Testament of Naphtali 3:2–4; 1 Enoch 91:4; 99; and the Testament of Moses) ..."
Douglas A. Campbell, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 516.

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

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Testament of Moses 5:3 and Romans 1:25

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