Armenian Church Aids Hebrew U. Scholar
in Publication of Book, 'Testament of Levi'
JERUSALEM—Among the events
resulting from the reunification of
Jerusalem, the publication of a
new book, "The Testament of I
Levi" by Dr. Michael E. Stone, I
marks the first cooperation be-
tween a Hebrew University scholar
and the Armenian Patriarchate,
publisher of the book. 1
"The Testament of Levi" is one
of the "Testaments of the 12 Pat-
riarchs"—the so-called last wills I,
and testaments of the 12 sons of
Jacob. Similar in form to the last
will and testament of Jacob as it
appears in Genesis, chapter 49,1
these testaments belong to the
pseudepigrapha, apocryphal writ-
ings,- which also include such welt-
known works as the Book of
Enoch.
Considerable scholarly debate
has always centered round the
question of whether the testaments
are Jewish in their present form or
whether they represent a later
Christian reworking of an earlier
Jewish text.
The testaments date to the
last two centuries BCE and the
1st Century CE, when the testa-
ment was a comparatively well-
known literary form.
An Aramaic text of the Testa-
ment of Levi was discovered in
the Cairo Geniza. but it was not
until the discovery of the Dead
Sea Scrolls that scholars were
finally able to confirm the early
date of this Aramaic text.
Hitherto. the primary texts for
the testament were Greek manu-
scripts of about the 9th or 10th
centuries CE, in one of which there
are long additions, not found in the
Northland
LOT G
others, which correspond word for
word with the Aramaic Geniza
text.
The Armenian version was trans-
lated from Greek in the 5th or 6th
century CE, which means that the
manuscript from which it was
translated was hundreds of years
older .than any of the surviving
Greek manuscripts.
supply for the origins of Christian-
;r y
They have a strong connection
with the Dead Sea Scrolls, and in
common with other writings asso-
ciated with the Qumran sect, they
also propound the idea of the two
Messiahs.
The importance of Dr. Stone's
book is that he has discovered a
manuscript form that is both
more reliable and earlier than
any previously published.
The mind of man is like a clock
that is always running down, and
requires to be as constantly wound
up. —William Ha zlitt.
The largest collection of Armen-
ian manuscripts is in Soviet Arm-
enia where there are some 24
copies of the testaments. The sec-
ond largest collection is in the
Armenian Patriarchate in Jeru-
salem which has a further eight
manuscripts, and it is from these
that Dr. Stone has selected as his
basic text the 13th Century Arm-
enian bible text from the Erznka
bible.
The importance of the testa-
ments of the 12 Patriarchs lies in
the light they throw on Jewish
moral, ethical and religious thought
of the time of the Second Temple
and the background they may
50 Per Cent Increase Is Seen for '69 Campaigns
NEW YORK (JTA)—Worldwide will be a principal speaker at the
campaigns for the Jewish Agency first Pan-American Conference of
for Israel will show a 50 per cent the General Zionists. While in
increase in 1969 over the money New York, Dulzin is conferring
raised in 1968, Leon Dulzin, tress- with leaders of the United Jewish
urer of the Jewish Agency, fore- Appeal and the various Zionist
cast on his arrival here. He came organizations. Following his stay in
from Canada where he attended Miami, he will spend 16 days in
meetings of the executive com- South America as the speaker at
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rael Appeal. Dulzin was scheduled Israel emergency campaign in
to leave for Miami today where he Venezuela, Peru and Chile.
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