Eldad and Medad prophetic book behind Hermas quotation
A short prophetic book of Eldad and Medad inferred from patristic-list and Hermas quotation traces.
L4 Draft articles and reviews
Eldad and Medad prophetic book behind Hermas quotation v1 ยท Draft
A lost prophetic book visible through a named Hermas citation.
This article describes an entity that is not directly attested as a surviving complete book; it is inferred from source-citation traces and should not be read as ordinary documentation of an extant Eldad and Medad text.
Epistemic status
Draft article. The existence of a named lost book is source-backed; almost all content beyond the cited fragment remains unreconstructed.
Summary
M. R. James describes Eldad and Medad as a short book of 400 lines and says one certain fragment survives through a named quotation in Hermas. Inferpedia treats the lost prophetic book behind that citation as a draft lost-text entity.
What is being inferred
The inferred entity is a lost prophetic book of Eldad and Medad behind the Hermas quotation.
What is attested
The sourcebook attests a line-count notice, one certain fragment, and a named Hermas citation.
Why infer this entity
A named quotation from a book treated as a bounded apocryphal work is stronger than a loose legendary motif.
Evidence ledger
- E1, James: supporting trace for a short 400-line book.
- E2, James: supporting trace for one certain fragment.
- E3, James/Hermas: supporting trace for named citation.
Counterarguments
The source gives little of the book beyond a quotation; later Eldad and Medad traditions may not belong to the same textual object.
Confidence scores
Direct attestation: 58. Existence warrant: 84. Specificity: 76. Reconstruction dependence: 86. Counterevidence: 18.
What would change the score
A specialist comparison of Hermas, stichometric lists, and later Eldad-Medad traditions would change the score.
Why this candidate exists
Codex-native Judaism category traversal selected an explicitly named lost apocryphal book with a surviving quotation surface.
L3 Evidence packet
M. R. James, The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament, Eldad and Medad - Indirect reference
Warrant role: Supporting evidence
Source authority: Sourcebook 74
Access level: Full text
Locator: James, Eldad and Medad
Quote: "short book of 400 lines"
Paraphrase: The sourcebook treats Eldad and Medad as a bounded short book rather than only a free-floating saying.
Reliability: 74 - Relevance: 90
Cluster: eldad-medad
M. R. James, The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament, Eldad and Medad - Indirect reference
Warrant role: Supporting evidence
Source authority: Sourcebook 74
Access level: Full text
Locator: James, Eldad and Medad
Quote: "one certain fragment"
Paraphrase: The sourcebook identifies a surviving fragmentary trace.
Reliability: 74 - Relevance: 92
Cluster: eldad-medad
M. R. James, The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament, Eldad and Medad - Indirect reference
Warrant role: Supporting evidence
Source authority: Sourcebook 74
Access level: Full text
Locator: James, Eldad and Medad
Quote: "as it is written in Eldad and Medad"
Paraphrase: Hermas is reported as citing the book by name.
Reliability: 74 - Relevance: 94
Cluster: eldad-medad
Offline existing-inferon judge ledger control source - Network gap
Warrant role: Noetic interpretation
Source authority: Noetic model prior 50
Access level: No external text
Locator: existing_inferon_judge_promote:inferon:379
Paraphrase: Offline judge treated existing inferon 379 (source_dependence) as support for Eldad and Medad prophetic book behind Hermas quotation. Evidence strength: source-backed prior reading already isolated a bounded missing or reconstructed entity; suitable for L2 only. The accountable path is EvidencePath 1596.
Reliability: 84 - Relevance: 66
Cluster: existing_inferon_judge_promote:a951a9221811ba6f8789b56e08bee507
Arguments
Existing inferon 379 supports an L2 inferred candidate for Eldad and Medad prophetic book behind Hermas quotation; this remains below publication and is not direct attestation.
AI-assessed L2 Quotient triage: AI judge warrant assessment for L2 Quotient triage; existing AI-created evidence remains below publication.
An Eldad and Medad prophetic book behind the Hermas quotation is warranted as a source-backed draft lost-text entity.
The named-book and named-fragment traces are strong; reconstruction beyond the quoted fragment remains highly dependent.