Other ancient texts · Read in Jesus' day
Testament of Dan
The Testament of Dan is a short deathbed speech in which Jacob's fifth son admits he once wanted to kill his brother Joseph out of jealousy and anger, then warns his children against anger and lying. It is one of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, and people read it for its moral teaching, its picture of evil spirits and Beliar, and its hope for a saviour from Judah and Levi, ideas close to those in the New Testament.
- 2nd century BC, with later Christian additions
- Greek (possibly Hebrew)
- Protestant Catholic Orthodox Ethiopian
Should it be in the Bible?
The case for
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Its moral teaching is very close to the teaching of Jesus and the apostles.
The evidence
Dan 5:3 says, "Love the Lord through all your life, and one another with a true heart," which matches the two great commandments of Mark 12:30-31. Its warning that anger hands a person over to evil spirits (chs. 2-4) is like Ephesians 4:26-27, "do not give the devil a foothold."
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It was read and copied by Christians from early times as a valued religious book.
The evidence
Origen (Homilies on Joshua 15.6, 3rd century) refers to "the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs" and draws on it. Greek, Armenian and Slavonic Christians kept copying it through the Middle Ages, and some Armenian Bible manuscripts include the Testaments alongside the biblical books.
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It is an early witness to Jewish hopes that the New Testament says were fulfilled.
The evidence
Dan 5:10-13 expects "the salvation of the Lord" from Judah and Levi, a victory over Beliar, and the righteous rejoicing in a "New Jerusalem," which Revelation 21 also describes. Related Testament texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (Aramaic Levi, 4Q213-214; Hebrew Naphtali, 4Q215) show that this kind of writing goes back to Jewish circles before Jesus.
The case against
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No Jewish or Christian community has ever accepted it as scripture.
The evidence
It is missing from the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint codices, and every canon list from the Muratorian fragment and Athanasius (367) to Trent and the Reformers. The Stichometry of Nicephorus and the Synopsis of Pseudo-Athanasius list "the Patriarchs" among the apocrypha, the books not to be read as scripture.
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It is written in Dan's name but not by him, and its text has been edited.
The evidence
Scholars agree it was written more than a thousand years after the time of the patriarchs. Some passages are plainly Christian additions, such as 6:7 on the Saviour and the Gentiles. Because scholars cannot agree whether the work is Jewish with Christian additions or a Christian book built on Jewish sources, it is hard to tell which parts are early.
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Parts of its theology go beyond or differ from the rest of the Bible.
The evidence
It says Dan's descendants will have "Satan" as their prince (5:6), a curse on a whole tribe that the Hebrew Bible does not make. It looks for salvation from both Levi and Judah together, and it tells readers to draw near to an interceding angel who is "a mediator between God and man" (6:2), while 1 Timothy 2:5 gives that role to Christ alone.
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
Tradition presents it as Dan's last words, but no church or scholar treats it as his own work. Most scholars, following R. H. Charles, date the Jewish core to the 2nd century BC with Christian additions made later; Marinus de Jonge and his school argue instead that the work as we have it was put together by Christians around AD 200 from older Jewish material.
Jesus, the New Testament and this book
- Dan 5:3, love the Lord and one another, is the same pairing as Jesus' two great commandments (Mark 12:30-31; Matthew 22:37-40). It is unclear which way any borrowing went. (likely link)
- Christian scribes added lines about the Saviour of the Gentiles and a meek, lowly redeemer (6:7, 6:9), so Christians clearly read the book and shaped it. (strong link)
- The teaching that anger and lying give evil spirits power over a person (Dan 2-5) is like Ephesians 4:25-27, which links putting away lying and anger with not giving the devil a foothold. (possible link)
- The angel called "a mediator between God and man" (6:2) uses the same wording as 1 Timothy 2:5, though it is applied to a different figure. (possible link)
- The saints resting in Eden and rejoicing in the New Jerusalem (5:12) is like Revelation 21-22. (possible link)
- The idea that Dan's tribe would follow Satan (5:6) may lie behind Dan being left out of the tribes in Revelation 7:5-8, and behind Irenaeus' claim (Against Heresies 5.30.2) that the Antichrist would come from Dan. (possible link)
How it came down to us
It survives as part of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs in about a dozen Greek manuscripts. The oldest is Cambridge University Library Ff.1.24, from the 10th century, which Robert Grosseteste translated into Latin in 1242. Armenian and Slavonic translations also survive, all copied by Christian monks. No copy of the Testament of Dan itself has been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, though Aramaic and Hebrew texts about Levi and Naphtali have been.
- Greek manuscripts of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, especially Cambridge University Library Ff.1.24 (10th century)
- Critical edition by M. de Jonge, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (1978), and commentary by H. W. Hollander and M. de Jonge (1985)
- R. H. Charles, The Greek Versions of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (1908) and his English translation
- H. C. Kee's translation in J. H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (1983)
- Dead Sea Scrolls texts related to the Testaments: Aramaic Levi Document (4Q213-214) and 4QTestament of Naphtali (4Q215)
- Early church writers: Origen, Homilies on Joshua 15.6; Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.30.2
- Ancient lists of apocrypha: Stichometry of Nicephorus; Synopsis of Pseudo-Athanasius
- Armenian and Slavonic versions of the Testaments