Publisher's Synopsis
This volume collects, translates, and restores the core ancient Jewish texts written between the Babylonian exile and the destruction of the Second Temple (516 BCE to 70 CE)-a period of intense religious development, foreign rule, and messianic expectation. These works were once read, preserved, and even revered by Jewish communities, but were later excluded from biblical canon or lost to time.
Featured in this collection are:
1 Enoch, Jubilees, Book of Noah, Book of Giants, Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Apocalypse of Abraham, 2 Esdras, 3 Baruch, Psalms of Solomon, Prayer of Manasseh, Letter of Aristeas, Book of Tobit, Life of Adam and Eve, Apocalypse of Ezra, Apocalypse of Baruch, Book of Jasher, and a reconstructed version of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.
Many of these texts are presented here for the first time in contemporary English. Each has been reconstructed using a triangulation method-drawing from manuscript fragments, ancient citations, and comparative scholarship-to produce the most complete and faithful versions available.
Rendered in clear, modern prose, this collection offers scholars, readers, and spiritual seekers unprecedented access to the lost scriptures of ancient Judaism-texts that formed the foundation of both rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity.
