The Book Of Nathan The Prophet

Synopsis
Mentioned in the Bible, this partially lost work was seemingly preserved along with other works, by the Cochin Jews of India. Part of the lost five books of the prophets, with The Book Of Gad The Seer, The Book Of Nathan The Prophet is one of two of the unique books from the Cochin Jews broader canon published in English. Sadly, only three fragments are known, with vague origins.

The fragments were uncovered by Ken Johnson Th.D., and have not been published. However, he did read from them, and the following fragments are the ones he presented from verbatim. As well, Johnson did give details on the rest of the text:


 * 1) The book was divided into five sections: Prophecy, Doctrine, History, Psalms, and a part dedicated to the Temple of Solomon.
 * 2) It had Psalms 51, and 120-134 along with it.
 * 3) It contained sermons attributed to David
 * 4) It contained a story of the restoration of the Ark Of The Covenant, after being stolen by the Philistines, an account of Nathan’s family being killed by King Saul, and an expanded narrative on the sin of King David with Bathsheba.

Aside from this, a Medieval Romance dubbed the Revelation Of Stephen, quotes from “Nathan The Prophet.” This quote is nearly identical to the first fragment discovered by Johnson. Also, there is evidence that the second was also discovered by another, and the details told of it having been a fragment written in French. Finally, there is a legend in an ancient document called the Lives Of The Prophets, which told a legend, identical to the final detail mentioned Ken Johnson.

Canonicity
While it is likely the ancient Jewish people used this work often as scripture, it became lost to the scattered nation. Currently, only the Cochin Jews of India own this text, and according to Johnson, view these works as taboo, because of Christian-like themes.

Fragment 1: Vision Of The Messiah
I saw one, a maiden without the touch of a  man, with a child in her arms. And that child was the Lord of the Earth, to the ends of the Earth.

Variant (The Revelation Of Stephen)
I saw one, a maiden and without touch of man, and a man child in her arms, and that was the Lord of the earth unto the end of the earth.

Fragment 2: The Last Words Of David
Keep the commandments of God, O my son Solomon. Study the law of the Lord, walk before him in a perfect heart. God has chosen you, and established you over all the children of Israel. Execute the justice did not do all these forty years. I admonish you, O my son Solomon, carry out my will, and remember the mystery of YHWH that I saw in a vision of wonders from the Lord of the universe, about his virgin mother, who will emerge from our tribe. I pray that he gives mercy to me and all his creatures in the world.

And David told all this to his son Solomon. He stopped talking, and died a good old age. Solomon gave him a dignified burial, near his fathers, and rendered thanks to God, to whom we give thanksgiving and praise unceasingly and eternally.

Fragment 3: Origin of The Ascent Psalms
When I realized that they had debated to long, I told them this is unsatisfactory. So we will all go together to the Tabernacle of the Lord, we will assemble the degrees of the alter, and on whom the spirit of God descends, will tell us the order of the Book of Psalms. Everyone accepted this condition, so we went to the Tabernacle of the Lord. The son of Korah climbed the first degrees to the alter and spoke. But they did not say a word, and he stepped down. Asaph went in turn, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, convicting him, not the son of Korah should complete this task. Then I went, and the spirit of God descended upon me, and never left me. Until the point that I had the ends, and the recitation formulas for each of the fifteen degrees. The crowd cried with one voice, This prophecy must be attributed to David, and it is for him to write it. And I said No, each one should write each of his Psalms in his own name. And he (the son of Korah) fled to his own house because of what I said. Then I got up, and went to the mountain. I fasted and I spoke to God with humble prayers. And He came to me and gave me all the prophecies which the coming of Messiah. I wrote them down in this volume, and placed it in my library which is in the Capitol.