Category Archives: Pseudepigrapha

Andrei Orlov of Marquette University has published a new and very interesting looking book! Here are the details. It really does sound lke a fascinating book. Dark Mirrors Azazel and Satanael in Early Jewish Demonology Andrei A. Orlov Discusses the two most important figures in early Jewish mythologies of evil, the fallen angels Azazel andContinue reading “A New Book from Andrei Orlov”

Following is a translation by Alphonse Mingana of the Third Book of an apocryphal history of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. This book is typically referred to (somewhat imprecisely) as The Vision of Theophilus, for the discourse of the Virgin to Theophilus comprises the majority of this book. The translation and original Syriac textContinue reading “The Vision of Theophilus”

For behold, my cause is in Your hands and my recourse is to You. I know my sin, so cleanse me, O Lord, that I may enter into Your presence with self-respect. Now my offenses are weighty; I have drawn near to the fire which burns. Your mercy is upon all things, so that YouContinue reading “Near to the Fire”

Now Jael took a stake in her left hand and approached him, saying, “If God will work this sign with me, I know that Sisera will fall into my hands. Behold I will throw him down on the ground from the bed on which he sleeps; and if he does not feel it, I knowContinue reading “Whack!”

And I am now an orphan and desolate, and I have no other hope save in you, Lord, and no other refuge except your mercy, Lord, because you are the father of the orphans, and a protector of the persecuted and a helper of the afflicted. Have mercy upon me, Lord, and guard me, aContinue reading “A Pseudepigraphic Pearl”

For the Lord did not draw Ishmael and his sons and his brothers and Esau near to himself, and He did not elect them because they are the sons of Abraham, for He knew them. But He chose Israel that they might be a people for Himself. And He sanctified them and gathered them fromContinue reading “Who’s got your back?”

Today is the Sunday of Orthodoxy on which we commemorate the Seventh Ecumenical Council and the vindication of the Apostolic Faith. Though the particular emphasis on this day is on icons, as the Seventh Ecumenical Council definitively categorized iconoclasm and aniconism in the Church as heresy, since this was the last great theological challenge inContinue reading “Heroes of Faith”

For the youth of this world has passed away, and the power of creation is already exhausted, and the coming of the times is very near and has passed by. And the pitcher is near the well, and the ship to the harbor, and the journey to the city, and life to its end. ——2Continue reading “Deuterobaruchian Pearls”

I’ve just put up a web page which aligns the versification of Rosenstiehl’s translation of Apocalypse of Elijah with the Wintermute translation found in Charlesworth’s Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Some may have noticed their differences already, 3 chapters in Rosenstiehl, 5 in Wintermute, etc. Several contributors to the OTP volumes seem to have introduced their ownContinue reading “Apocalypse of Elijah Versification”

Why is their name called seraphim? Because they burn the tablets of Satan. Every day Satan sits with Sammael, Prince of Rome, and with Dubbiel, Prince of Persia, and they write down the sins of Israel on tablets and give them to the seraphim to bring before the Holy One, blessed be He, so thatContinue reading “Those Who Burn”