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Testament of Moses

Assumption of Moses

About this book
Chapter 7

And when this is done the times shall be ended, in a moment the (second) course shall be (ended), the four hours shall come. They shall be forced. . . . And, in the time of these, destructive and impious men shall rule, saying that they are just. And these shall stir up the poison of their minds, being treacherous men, self-pleasers, dissemblers in all their own affairs and lovers of banquets at every hour of the day, gluttons, gourmands . . . . Devourers of the goods of the (poor) saying that they do so on the ground of their justice, but in reality to destroy them, complainers, deceitful, concealing themselves lest they should be recognized, impious, filled with lawlessness and iniquity from sunrise to sunset: saying: 'We shall have feastings and luxury, eating and drinking, and we shall esteem ourselves as princes.' And though their hands and their minds touch unclean things,⁠ yet their mouth shall speak great things, and they shall say furthermore: 'Do not touch me lest you should pollute me in the place (where I stand')

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 65:5 and Testament of Moses 7:10

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Testaments

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Summary

In Isaiah 65, God condemns people who eat unclean food yet tell others to keep away because they are too holy to touch. The Testament of Moses gives the same claim to the corrupt leaders of its own time, whose hands touch unclean things.

Passages

Isaiah 65:5

Hebrew Bible
2 I spread out my hands all day long to my rebellious people, who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable and who did what they desired. 3 These people continually and blatantly offend me as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards and burn incense on brick altars. 4 They sit among the tombs and keep watch all night long. They eat pork and broth from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans. 5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’ These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Testament of Moses 7:10

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Assumption of Moses
And, in the time of these, destructive and impious men shall rule, saying that they are just. And these shall stir up the poison of their minds, being treacherous men, self-pleasers, dissemblers in all their own affairs and lovers of banquets at every hour of the day, gluttons, gourmands . . . . Devourers of the goods of the (poor) saying that they do so on the ground of their justice, but in reality to destroy them, complainers, deceitful, concealing themselves lest they should be recognized, impious, filled with lawlessness and iniquity from sunrise to sunset: saying: 'We shall have feastings and luxury, eating and drinking, and we shall esteem ourselves as princes.' And though their hands and their minds touch unclean things, yet their mouth shall speak great things, and they shall say furthermore: 'Do not touch me lest you should pollute me in the place (where I stand')
20–50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Moses

References

“... The accusations which conclude the legible part of the description of the author's opponents concern impurity and, again, hypocrisy: whereas they will fear to be blemished by contact with the ritually impure, their hands as well as their minds deal with unclean things. Moreover (super), their mouths speak enormities, cf. Dan. 7:8 (LXX and Θ), about one of the horns of the fourth beast: στόμα λαλοῦν μεγάλα, Vulgate: et os loquens ingentia. Grandiloquence is a sign of hubris, cf. μεγαληγορία in Ps.-Phocylides 122. In Isa. 65:1-4 the infidelity and impurity of Israel is exposed, the impurity of those who say (οἱ λέγοντες): Πόρρω ἀπ' ἐμοῦ. μὴ ἐγγίσῃς μου, ὅτι καθαρός εἰμι (Isa. 65:5). For a similar contrast between outward purity and inward impurity, see Ps. Sol. 4:2-3 (about the man who is quick to condemn others, and ready to perpetrate all conceivable sins himself); Matt 23:25; Mark 7:1-7. ...”
Johannes Tromp, The Assumption of Moses: A Critical Edition with Commentary (Leiden: Brill, 1993), 213.

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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Isaiah 65:5 and Testament of Moses 7:10

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