147 - The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol 2
By James H. Charlesworth, ed.
Garden City, Doubleday & Co., 1985. 1006 pp. $40.00.

With the appearance of this second volume, the monumental Old Testament Pseudepigrapha is now complete. Some 39 works are introduced and translated, only nine of which were included in the previous standard collection-R.H. Charles' The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament. Volume 2 follows the same format as the first: the general introductory and prefactory material is repeated from the first volume; the ancient documents are divided into major categories, each of which receives its own introduction; and the translations of the individual works within each category are preceded by an introduction and brief bibliography.

The four classifications into which Charlesworth has placed the 38 documents are: (1) Expansions of the Old Testament and Legends (e.g., Jubilees, Pseudo-Philo); (2) Wisdom and Philosophical Literature (3-4 Maccabees, etc.); (3) Prayers, Psalms, and Odes (the Odes of Solomon, for example); and (4) a Supplement: Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works (Aristobulus, Eupolemus, etc.). The last 85 pages contain an index (largely of topics and names) for both volumes. There is no doubt that this will be the standard reference work in the field for many years to come and that Charlesworth and his team of contributors deserve the hearty thanks of all for their enormous efforts.

James C. VanderKam
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, N.C.