The Initial Narrative of the Visions of Amram and Its Literary Characteristics

Since the preliminary publication of the first Aramaic fragments of the Visions of Amram , scholars have considered this priestly composition as having a testamentary form. Such a conclusion has been mostly based on the purported literary identity between the introductory narrative of the Visions and the introductory sections of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs . The present study first presents the arguments of previous scholars concerning the topic, then an analysis of the form and content of the initial narrative of the Visions is undertaken, finally a comparison between the Aramaic text and the Greek Testaments illustrates the process of literary development detectable in the latter work. The comparison of the two texts makes it clear that from the point of view of literary criticism it is not justifiable to see a literary identity between the two compositions, and the historical process of genre transformation has to be duly recognized and described.