they were doing. In almost all the extant literature, the writers offer little or
no direct hints about theirownpersona, and it is notoriously difficult to
identify the context of origin and the groups for which they were writing.
Nevertheless, from the perspective of the authors themselves, “pseudepig-
rapha” is a misleading label. They presented their works as divine revela-
tion that is binding on its readers. “Truth” in content was more important
than the literary genre or idiom chosen to convey it. By attributing the in-
structions and story lines to remote figures, the writers of pseudepigraphal
works contextualized their messages within or in relation to master narra-
tives that had been circulating widely and for a long time. Thus the effec-
tiveness of their communication may have depended on what readers
could be expected to be already familiar with from ancient tradition and,
on the basis of such familiarity, be able to draw inferences from the analo-
gies for themselves. On the other hand, the pseudepigraphal writings set
their own terms of reference and already filtered through the ancient tradi-
tions in particular ways (as in the historical apocalypses or in reviews of
the sacred past), so that direct acquaintance with such traditions would
not have been necessary. To this extent, the implied readers are drawn into
the sacred world being set before them: stark distinctions drawn between
the faithful pious and the disobedient apostates in narratives and between
divine or heavenly wisdom and errant knowledge in instructions invite
readers, especially if they are ideally aligned with an author’s intentions, to
participate imaginatively in the religioustruthsbeing revealed to them. In
those apocalyptic works that anticipate eschatological judgment, readers
are presented with a decision: whether to align themselves with the way the
righteous are described in the book and be rewarded or to reject the au-
thor’s message, knowing that for this they will suffer the consequences of
punishment. Thus, at the behest of the fictive protagonist, readers are
transported into a “biblical” world that has extended into and beyond
their time. Problems that beset the readers in the present — whether reli-
gious marginalization, social and political oppression, apostasy, or some
other form of religious disorder — are resolved by an appeal to a paradigm
in the remote past and imminent future. The pseudepigraphal idiom
would have reminded readers that divine activity on behalf of the pious
lies essentially outside the time in which they live. Now is the time for ac-
tion, for a clear-cut decision to be faithful, whatever the circumstances.196
loren t. stuckenbruckEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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