הגלות השנייה: גלות, חזרה וגלגולי עריכה בספר הצוואות

The Greek composition entitled The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is one of the most controversial works among the Pseudepigrapha. Modern scholarship is deeply divided as to the extent of the Christian materials included in this seemingly Jewish composition, and what they signify: Are the Testaments a Jewish composition that has gone through a Christian redaction; or should the Testaments be regarded a Christian work which utilized Jewish sources? In any attempt to identify the composer or redactor of the Testaments, special attention should be given to passages of more or less uniform structure and content, which occur repeatedly within the different testaments and constitute their literary framework. It can be assumed that such passages were composed by the same hand which gave the Testaments their unified
character. In my paper I deal with one group of such corresponding passages that describe the sin, exile, and return of Israel, known as S.E.R. passages. After describing the form and function of this pattern in general, I examine selected S.E.R. passages from the Testaments that show important divergences from the common pattern. This study thus contributes to a better understanding of this literary form, its function within the Testaments, and its implications for their redaction and composition.