plotting to kill her husband so that Joseph would be able to marry her without bigamy, then using love potions, and finally threatening suicide. Benjamin The Testament of Benjamin is very much an appendix to that of Joseph. It opens with the account Joseph gave Benjamin of how he was sold to the Ishmaelites. He exhorts his descendants against deceit, but, as all his brethren, he warns them against fornication. Prophecy The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs contain a substantial amount of prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah. From a Christian perspective, a number of statements can be associated with events in the life of Jesus. Many consider this significant since several of the books are thought to predate Jesus. For example, compare the following passages from the Testament of Levi: The heavens shall be opened, and from the temple of glory shall come upon him sanctification, with the Father's voice as from Abraham to Isaac. And the glory of the Most High shall be uttered over him, and the spirit of understanding and sanctification shall rest upon him in the water. (Levi 5:21-22) with this passage from the Gospel of Matthew As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." () Use in the New Testament Charles called attention to the frequent use of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs by Paul and other writers of the New Testament. In particular: I Thess. ii. 16 is a quotation of Test. Patr., Levi, 6:10-11; Rom. 12:19 is taken from Gad, 6:7; Rom. 12:21 is taken from Benjamin, 4:3; II Cor. 7:10 is a quote from Gad, 5:7; Ephes. 5:6 appeared first in Naphtali, 3:1. Later scholarship has highly debated this issue. Availability A copy of the testaments is published in several works including: The Ante Nicene Fathers, Volume VIII The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 1 Ancient Testaments of the Patriarchs, by Ken Johnson The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden. Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (MS Ff.1.24), a 10th century Greek manuscript in the collections of Cambridge University Library See also Testament of Qahat Testament of Job References Works cited