Abstract
Predominantly, the Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum (LAB) is not a theological text but a narrative rewriting of the biblical books from Genesis to 1 Samuel. Much of its literary, historical and theological characteristics have been discussed by scholars, but its concept of time never gained much prominence. This paper analyses the role of different aspects of time in the LAB and points out that the author’s notion of time determines the hermeneutical concepts he applies and his theological reasoning. The tensions in the plots and the emphasis on their theological message are created and intensified by using anteriority and posteriority in time. An example of this is creation which is reflected only in the story of the flood in 13:8 and explains theological consequences in the context of the flood. Concerning human existence, the LAB poses the question if it is time that governs life (39:4), but the answer is that God rules time (39:5). Concrete eschatological ideas are also offered in relation to the fulfillment of set times (3:10), to God’s revelation of the end of the world (19:4), to the time of God’s visitation of the earth (19:12), and to the immortal dwelling place that is not subject to time (3:10). In this respect, the LAB’s notion of time is similar to that of its contemporaries 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch.
