Other ancient texts · Read in Jesus' day
Assumption of Moses
The Assumption of Moses, also called the Testament of Moses, is a Jewish work in which the dying Moses gives Joshua a secret prophecy of Israel's history, from the conquest of Canaan to the reign of Herod and his sons, and then to the end of the age, when God's kingdom will appear and the devil will be no more. People read it because Jude 9 seems to draw on its lost ending, and because it shows what some Jews were hoping for at about the time Jesus was born.
- early 1st century AD
- Hebrew or Aramaic (lost)
- Protestant Catholic Orthodox Ethiopian
Should it be in the Bible?
The case for
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A New Testament book draws on its story and treats it as a real example.
The evidence
Jude 9 tells how the archangel Michael argued with the devil over Moses' body and said 'The Lord rebuke you'. This story is not in the Old Testament, and Origen (On First Principles 3.2.1), Clement of Alexandria and Didymus the Blind all say Jude took it from the Ascension or Assumption of Moses.
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It gives a first-hand view of Jewish hope at about the time Jesus was born.
The evidence
Its references to Herod and his sons date it to roughly the time of Jesus' birth. Chapter 10 announces that God's 'kingdom will appear throughout all his creation' and that 'the devil will have an end', which is the same hope found in Jesus' preaching of the kingdom.
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Its teaching fits the Bible's own message, and Christians kept reading it.
The evidence
It builds on Deuteronomy's pattern of sin, exile, repentance and God's faithfulness to his covenant, and it praises Taxo and his sons, who choose death over disobeying God rather than taking up arms. Christians translated it into Latin, and in the 5th century Gelasius of Cyzicus still quoted it in a discussion of the Council of Nicaea.
The case against
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No Jewish or Christian community ever counted it as scripture.
The evidence
It is missing from every Jewish canon and every church canon, including the broad Ethiopian one. Ancient book lists that name it, such as the Stichometry of Nicephorus and the List of Sixty Books, put it among the apocrypha.
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It is written under Moses' name, and its 'predictions' were written after the events they describe.
The evidence
It claims to be Moses' words, but its history is detailed up to the death of Herod (4 BC) and the reigns of his sons, and then it breaks off into an end-time scene that did not happen as described. Scholars generally read this as prophecy written after the fact, a common style in Jewish writing of the time.
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The text is fragmentary, and Jude quoting it does not make it scripture.
The evidence
It survives in one damaged Latin copy, translated from a lost Greek version, with its ending missing, so the passage behind Jude 9 cannot be checked. Even its title is uncertain. New Testament writers also quoted pagan poets such as Aratus (Acts 17:28) without treating them as scripture.
Both sides are written as strongly as the honest evidence allows, so you can decide for yourself. Researched by claude-opus-5-5.
When, where and by whom
The book presents itself as Moses' farewell words to Joshua, expanding Deuteronomy 31–34. Scholars date its present form to about AD 7–30, written in Judea by an unknown Jewish author, because its 'prophecies' are detailed up to Herod's 34-year reign and the shorter reigns of his sons and then turn vague; some (e.g. Licht, Nickelsburg) argue it updates an earlier text from the Maccabean persecution of about 165 BC.
Jesus, the New Testament and this book
- Jude 9 (Michael disputing with the devil over Moses' body) is thought to come from its lost ending.
- Jude 9: Michael argues with the devil over Moses' body. Early church writers (Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Didymus) say this comes from the Assumption of Moses, probably from its lost ending. (strong link)
- Jude 16 ('grumblers… boasters… flattering people to gain advantage') echoes the book's attack on greedy, flattering, self-important leaders (5:5; 7:7–9). (possible link)
- 2 Peter 2:11 (angels do not bring slanderous accusations) seems to soften the same story about Michael that is told in Jude 9. (possible link)
- Moses as the 'mediator' of God's covenant, prepared from the beginning of the world (1:14), is similar to Galatians 3:19, where the law was given 'by the hand of a mediator'. (possible link)
- Chapter 10 has God's kingdom appearing along with signs in the sky: the sun darkened and the moon turned to blood. This is similar to Jesus' teaching about the end in Mark 13:24–26 and Matthew 24:29, though both draw on Joel 2. (possible link)
- The attack on hypocritical leaders who say 'do not touch me, lest you defile me' (7:9–10) is similar to Jesus' criticism of the religious leaders in Matthew 23. (possible link)
How it came down to us
The book survives in only one manuscript: a 5th- or 6th-century Latin palimpsest (a manuscript whose original writing was scraped off and written over) in the Ambrosian Library in Milan. Antonio Ceriani found it and published it in 1861. The same manuscript also preserves part of the Latin Jubilees. The original text was overwritten, many lines cannot be read, and the ending is lost. The Latin was translated from Greek, and the Greek was probably translated from a Hebrew or Aramaic original. The only other traces are short Greek quotations and summaries in church writers such as Origen and Gelasius of Cyzicus.
- Latin palimpsest, Ambrosian Library, Milan (Ceriani's 1861 edition)
- Jude 9 and 16; 2 Peter 2:11
- Early church writers: Origen (On First Principles 3.2.1), Clement of Alexandria (notes on Jude), Didymus the Blind, Gelasius of Cyzicus
- Ancient book lists: Stichometry of Nicephorus and the List of Sixty Books
- Modern critical studies and translations (J. Tromp's commentary; J. Priest in Charlesworth, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha; R. Bauckham on Jude; G. Nickelsburg on dating)