The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. Old Testament Apocrypha

The text of this Old Testament apocrypha was composed in the 1st century BCE. It addresses fundamental ethical issues and is written on behalf of the twelve sons of Jacob – the progenitors of the Jewish people. In the Bible, Jacob, feeling the approach of death, summoned his sons and told them about their future (Gen. 49). In this apocrypha, it is they themselves who address their descendants with instructions. Each of the twelve patriarchs' addresses is dedicated to a separate moral and ethical theme: courage, simplicity, mercy – or hatred, envy, anger.