d. In the year 1843 the missionary Krapff sent to Tübingen

the title of an Ethiopic Codex, in which Ewald recognised the writing referred to frequently by the Church Fathers as the =Book of Jubilees= (Ἰωβελαῖα) or the =Little Genesis= (Λεπτογένεσις). This book, written probably about A.D. 50 or 60, is a complete summary of the Jewish legendary matter about the early biblical history from the creation down to the entrance into Canaan, divided into fifty jubilee periods. The name _Little Genesis_ was given it, notwithstanding its large dimensions, as indicating a Genesis of the second rank.[82]

§ 32.3. The following Pseudepigraphs are of =Christian Origin=.

a. The short romantic =History of Assenath=, daughter of Potiphar and wife of Joseph (Gen. xli. 45). Its main point is the conversion of Assenath by an angel.

b. =The Testaments of the XII. Patriarchs=, after the style of Gen. xlix., written in Greek in the 2nd cent., and quoted by Origen. As in the chapter of Gen. referred to parting counsels are put in the mouth of Jacob, they are here ascribed to his twelve sons. These discourses embrace prophecies of the coming of Christ and His atoning sufferings and death, statements about baptism and the Lord’s supper, about the great Apostle of the Gentiles, the rejection of the O.T. covenant people and the election of the Gentiles, the destruction of Jerusalem and the final completion of the kingdom of God. The book is thus a cleverly compiled and comprehensive handbook of Christian faith, life and hope.

c. Of the =Ascensio Isaiæ= (Ἀναβατικόν) and the =Visio Isaiæ= (Ὅρασις) traces are to be found as early as in Justin Martyr and Tertullian. The Greek original is lost. Dillmann published an old Ethiopic version (Lps., 1877), and Gieseler an old Lat. text (Gött., 1832). Its Cabbalistic colouring commended it to the Gnostics. In its first part, borrowed from an old Jewish document, it tells about the martyrdom of Isaiah who was sawn asunder by King Manasseh; in its second part, entitled _Visio Isaiæ_ it is told how the prophet in an ecstasy was led by an angel through the seven heavens and had revealed to him the secrets of the divine counsels regarding the incarnation of Christ.