The Heptadic Chronologies of Testament of Levi 16–17 and Their Sources

Abstract

Chapters 16–17 of Testament of Levi (T. Levi) preserve two examples for the creative reinterpretation of ancient Jewish chronologies in early Christianity. In T. Levi 16, the seventy weeks chronology from Dan. 9 is read as an announcement of Jesus' crucifixion and the destruction of the Second Temple. T. Levi 17, on the other hand, preserves an older Jewish source on the decline of the priesthood. This source was originally composed as a response to the deposition of Onias III (173 BCE) and later expanded through the addition of vv. 9-11 responding to the investment of Jonathan as high priest (152 BCE). For the Christian author of T. Levi 17, the original chronological implications of his source were no longer relevant. He incorporated it for purely theological reasons, namely, as a demonstration for the complete failure of the Jewish priesthood and its subsequent replacement by the eschatological high priest Jesus Christ (T. Levi 18).