As noted in the previous post in this series (here), James H. Charlesworth’s two-volume OTP has been joined by a new collection edited by Richard Bauckham, James R. Davila, and Alexander Panayotov: Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures (MOTP). This work supplements OTP by presenting translations of approximately eighty “documents purporting to be ancient and to be composed in honor of a biblical sage or by a biblical luminary” (Charlesworth 2013, xv).

Volume 1 of MOTP was published in 2013; a second volume will follow sometime in the future. Although only one volume has been published at the time of this post, SBL Press treats the work as a multivolume work in citations of it. Thus the citation format for MOTP follows closely that previously given for OTP.

1. A simple pointer to a text within MOTP may include only the abbreviation and the volume and page. Because MOTP is treated as a multivolume work, no comma appears between the abbreviation and the volume number. Note further the use of a colon between the volume and page numbers.

13. For an introduction to the Apocryphon of Seth, see MOTP 1:33–38.

2. It is good practice to identify the name of the translator when quoting from MOTP. As with OTP, in addition to locating a text by volume and page, one should identify the specific passage using the internal numbering system of the work when it is given in MOTP.

15. The Book of Noah reports: “Then all the children of Noah together with their children came and reported their afflictions to Noah their father and told him about the pains their children endured” (Bk. Noah 3; trans. Martha Himmelfarb, MOTP 1:46).

3. Referencing MOTP by abbreviation assumes, of course, that the work is properly listed in an abbreviations list:

For a complete list of texts included in volume 1, see here.

Work Cited

Charlesworth, James H. 2013. “Foreword: The Fundamental Importance of an Expansive Collection of ‘Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.’” Pages xi–xvi in vol. 1 of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Richard Bauckham, James R. Davila, and Alexander Panayotov. 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013–.