The Book of Gad the Seer (Hebrew: דברי גד החזה, romanized: diḇrê Gāḏ ha-ḥōzeh) is a presumed lost text, supposed to have been written by the biblical prophet Gad, which is mentioned at 1 Chronicles (1 Chronicles 29:29). The passage reads: "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer."

Pseudepigraphic book of the same name

There is a pseudepigraphic book by the same title, extant in the form of a manuscript from the Black Jews of Cochin, India. The manuscript now in the Cambridge Library is a relatively recent (19th century) copy. According to Solomon Schechter, this manuscript is copied from a document purporting to be from Rome, and the late linguistic forms and features of the Hebrew manuscript, as well as its substantial similarity with some medieval Kabbalistic literature and some aspects of Christianity, indicate a relatively late date. He regards it therefore as not dating back to antiquity.[1] However, according to Professor Meir Bar Ilan, although some linguistic aspects of the Hebrew manuscript are of late date, there is evidence that the book originated in approximately the 1st or 2nd century A.D.[2][3][4]

A scholarly edition of the book was published in August 2015, edited by Professor Meir Bar Ilan of Bar Ilan University. The book also includes an English translation of the original text.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Schechter, Solomon, Note on Hebrew Manuscripts in the University Library at Cambridge (Part IV), Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 6, nr. 1 (Oct. 1893) page 140; Lieberman, Abraham A., Again: The Words of Gad the Seer, Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 111, nr. 2 (Summer 1992) pages 313-314; Kimelman, Reuven, Psalm 145: Theme, Structure, and Impact, Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 113, nr. 1 (Spring 1994) page 50.
  2. ↑ "פרופ' מאיר בר-אילן : The Date of The Words of Gad the Seer". faculty.biu.ac.il. Archived from the original on 2023-10-03. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  3. ↑ "פרופ' מאיר בר-אילן : The Words of Gad the Seer: The Author's Opponents and the Date of Its Composition". faculty.biu.ac.il. Archived from the original on 2023-10-03. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  4. ↑ "פרופ' מאיר בר-אילן : The Discovery of The Words of Gad The Seer". faculty.biu.ac.il. Archived from the original on 2023-10-03. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  5. ↑ "PDS login". aleph.nli.org.il.
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