t12papocrypha
Testament of Zebulun 10
Zebulun closes his testament with a dual declaration: a promise of personal resurrection among his tribe and a warning of everlasting fire upon the ungodly. The resurrection promise is not generic immortality but a patriarchal return — the father arising as ruler in the midst of his sons, echoing the covenant headship pattern that runs through the whole house of Israel. He urges total fear of Jehovah as the governing posture for all days of life, then dies in peace and is carried to Hebron, the burial ground of the covenant fathers, completing the patriarchal lineage arc.
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And now, my children, grieve not that I am dying, nor be troubled in that I am passing away from you. For I shall arise once more in the midst of you, as a ruler in the midst of his sons; and I will rejoice in the midst of my tribe, as many as have kept the law of the Lord, and the commandments of Zebulun their father. But upon the ungodly shall the Lord bring everlasting fire, and will destroy them throughout all generations. I am hastening away unto my rest, as did my fathers; but do ye fear the Lord your God with all your strength all the days of your life. And when he had said these things he fell calmly asleep, and his sons laid him in a coffin; and afterwards they carried him up to Hebron, and buried him with his fathers.
