Isaiah, Ascension of

Isaiah, Ascension of

▪ pseudepigraphal work
      pseudepigraphal work surviving intact only in a 5th–7th-century-AD Ethiopic edition. Fragments exist in Greek, Coptic, Latin, and Old Slavonic. Three separate works comprise the total book, the final version by a Christian editor, which appeared in the 2nd century AD. The first section is entitled “The Martyrdom of Isaiah,” a Midrash on the Manasseh story in II Kings 21, possibly written originally in Hebrew or Aramaic in the early 1st century AD. It includes a legendary martyr motif and extensive passages on demonology. The second is the “Testament of Hezekiah,” a Christian work, dating from the late 1st century AD, that contains a concept of Antichrist as a spirit dwelling in the Roman emperor Nero (AD 54–68), whose persecution of Christians in 64–65 was thought to be the chaos preceding the advent of the messianic age. The third work is called the “Ascension (or Vision) of Isaiah,” also written by a Christian at the beginning of the 2nd century. It contains a description of the seven tiers of heaven paralleling that found in the Second Book of Enoch and in the New Testament.

      Both of the Christian sections are apocalypses, although they contain certain historical details on the state of the church at the end of the 1st century that coincide with descriptions given in the Second Letter of Peter, Second Letter of Paul to Timothy, and the letters of Clement of Rome. The martyr legend in the Jewish section has been linked with the tradition of royal persecutors associated with Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Syria (175–164/163 BC), although the details of Isaiah's martyrdom may represent the incorporation into Judaism of the myth of Adonis, the Near Eastern (later Greek) god. It has also been suggested that The Martyrdom of Isaiah was written by a member of the Qumrān sect of Essene Jews, who saw Isaiah as a type figure of their leader, the Teacher of Righteousness.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • ISAIAH, ASCENSION OF — ISAIAH, ASCENSION OF, early Christian apocalypse, containing the Jewish apocryphon the martyrdom of isaiah . The aggadah about Isaiah s violent death was already known at the beginnings of Christianity (see Acts 8: 34). Thus the Jewish apocryphon …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ISAIAH, MARTYRDOM OF — ISAIAH, MARTYRDOM OF, one of the source documents discerned by scholars in the Ascension of Isaiah (see ), relating Isaiah s persecution and eventual martyr s death at the hands of manasseh , king of Judah. From the first publication in 1819 of… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ISAIAH — (Heb. יְשַׁעְיָה ,יְשַׁעְיָהוּ Salvation of YHWH ), one of the eight books (as the Rabbis and the Masorah count them) of the Nevi im, or Prophets, the second division of the Hebrew canon (see bible , Canon). INTRODUCTION Outside the Book of… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Ascension of Isaiah — The book Ascension of Isaiah is one of the Pseudepigrapha.[1] Theories as to the date of its composition place it in a range from the late 1st century AD to the second half of the 2nd century AD. As for its authorship, it is believed almost… …   Wikipedia

  • ISAIAH, THE ASCENSION OF —    an apocryphal book giving an incoherent account of the martyrdom of Isaiah, and a vision he had under the reign of Hezekiah, apparently the origin of the tradition in Heb. xi. 37, about the prophet having been sawn asunder …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Ascension of Isaiah — An apocryphal work extant only in Ethiopic, probably Jewish in origin but containing extensive Christian additions. It describes the prophet s martyrdom and his subsequent elevation to heaven, and is useful for the information it gives on… …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • biblical literature — Introduction       four bodies of written works: the Old Testament writings according to the Hebrew canon; intertestamental works, including the Old Testament Apocrypha; the New Testament writings; and the New Testament Apocrypha.       The Old… …   Universalium

  • Judaism — /jooh dee iz euhm, day , deuh /, n. 1. the monotheistic religion of the Jews, having its ethical, ceremonial, and legal foundation in the precepts of the Old Testament and in the teachings and commentaries of the rabbis as found chiefly in the… …   Universalium

  • apocalyptic literature — ▪ literary genre       literary genre that foretells supernaturally inspired cataclysmic events that will transpire at the end of the world. A product of the Judeo Christian tradition, apocalyptic literature is characteristically pseudonymous; it …   Universalium

  • Messiah Part II — The last page of the Hallelujah chorus, ending Part II, in Handel s manuscript Messiah (HWV 56), the English language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741, is structured in three parts. This listing covers Part II in a table and… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”