The Testament of Jacob is a work now regarded as part of the

Old Testament apocrypha The biblical apocrypha (from the grc, ἀπόκρυφος, translit=apókruphos, lit=hidden) denotes the collection of apocryphal ancient books thought to have been written some time between 200 BC and AD 400. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Ort ...

. It is often treated as one of a trio of very similar works, the other two of which are the

Testament of Abraham The Testament of Abraham is a pseudepigraphic text of the Old Testament. Probably composed in the 1st or 2nd century AD, it is of Jewish origin and is usually considered to be part of the apocalyptic literature. It is regarded as scripture by Be ...

and

Testament of Isaac The Testament of Isaac is a work now regarded as part of the Old Testament apocrypha. It is often treated as one of a trio of very similar works, the other two of which are the Testament of Abraham and Testament of Jacob, though there is no reason ...

, though there is no reason to assume that they were originally a single work. All three works are based on the

Blessing of Jacob The Blessing of Jacob is a prophetic poem that appears in Genesis at and mentions each of Jacob's twelve sons. Genesis presents the poem as the words of Jacob to his sons when Jacob is about to die. Like the Blessing of Moses, Genesis 49 assess ...

, found in the Bible, in their style. Christian elements are usually regarded as later additions to what were originally purely Jewish works.

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The Testament of Jacob begins with Jacob being visited by the archangel

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

and told of his impending death, and then being taken on a visit to heaven, where he first sees the torture of the sinful dead, and then meets the deceased

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

. In this Testament it is the angels that Jacob meets who deliver the bulk of the sermonising passages.

References

{{Christian-book-stub Jacob Apocrypha 1st-century books 2nd-century books Old Testament pseudepigrapha Jewish apocrypha Apocalyptic literature Texts in Koine Greek Roman Egypt

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See also

References