Testament of Job

In the early Christian era, many Testaments of the Patriarchs circulated in Jewish and Christian communities, the foremost being the Testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The other major testaments were grouped together as the Testaments of the Twelve, which included the Testaments of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin. The Testament of Adam was used by the Sethians and later Sethian Gnostics. While the Testament of Job was used by the Christian Montanist sect, and the Gnostic Valentinian sect in the 2nd century. The Testament of Job appears to have never been accepted by orthodox Christians, however, a synopsis of the testament was included in orthodox translations of the Septuagint's Book of Job since the 3rd century, where it was described as being in the Syriac Bible of the time.

The Testament of Job also includes the Song of Eliphaz, which refers to the 'Northern One' as a dragon, which appears to be a reference to Thuban (Alpha Draconis), which was the North Star between the 4th and 2nd millenniums BC. This implies that the Song of Eliphaz may date back to the 2nd millennium BC, which is when Job lived according to the Torah. Several references within the testaments point to an origin in the Seleucid Empire, including mentions of Greek gods, and Zoroastrian terminology. The testament also includes Satan as an individual instead of a descriptive term, which is consistent with the Book of Job, the likely source is the Tobian Jews (Τουβιανοὺς Ιουδαίους) mentioned in 2nd Maccabees, who lived in Seleucid controlled regions. It is unclear where the Tobian Jews lived, however, according to Eusebius, writing circa 300 AD, in local lore Job lived in the Arabian town of Karnaia. The location of Karnaia is unknown today, however, is believed to have once been in what is modern southern Syria, and would have been in the Seleucid Empire when the testaments were likely written. The original work appears to be an anti-Levitical text, which dismissed the Levitical priesthood and pointed to an alternative priesthood, which is consistent with the division between the priesthood of Ezra and Tobiah referred to in the Septuagint's 1st Ezra.