dream-visions in the aramaic dead sea scrolls

304 Pages·2013·2.1 MB·English

DREAM-VISIONS IN THE ARAMAIC DEAD SEA SCROLLS
DREAM-VISIONS IN THE ARAMAIC DEAD SEA SCROLLS:
SHARED COMPOSITIONAL PATTERNS AND CONCERNS

By ANDREW B. PERRIN, B.A., M.A.

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy

McMaster University © Copyright by Andrew B. Perrin, September 2013
McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2013) Hamilton, Ontario (Religious
Studies)

TITLE: Dream-Visions in the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls: Shared Compositional Patterns
and Concerns

AUTHOR: Andrew B. Perrin, B.A. (Rocky Mountain College), M.A. (Trinity Western
University)

SUPERVISOR: Professor Daniel A. Machiela

NUMBER OF PAGES: xii + 291

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Abstract

Twenty-nine of the some 900 fragmentary Scrolls recovered from the caves off
the northwest shores of the Dead Sea were penned in the Aramaic language. It is
generally agreed that this cross-section of Aramaic literature among the predominantly
Hebrew collection derives from before and beyond the scribal community that lived at
Qumran. Whether or not the Aramaic texts constitute a cohesive collection, however, is
an ongoing debate. While their compositional origins are unknown, this dissertation avers
that enough common traits exist among the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls to indicate an
inherent unity in the group. Paramount among these traits is the pervasive usage of the
dream-vision in a constellation of at least nineteen Aramaic writings.
This study advances our understanding of the Aramaic texts by exploring the
dream-vision as a literary convention from two interrelated perspectives. Part One maps
out the major compositional patterns of dream-vision episodes across the collection.
Special attention is paid to recurring literary-philological features (e.g., motifs, images,
phrases, idioms, etc.), which suggest that pairs or clusters of texts are affiliated
intertextually, tradition-historically, or originated in scribal circles in close proximity.
Part Two articulates three predominant concerns advanced or addressed by dream-vision
revelation. It is argued that the authors of these materials utilized the dream-vision (i) for
scriptural exegesis of the patriarchal traditions, (ii) to endorse particular understandings of
the origins and functions of the priesthood, and (iii) for historiography by creating ex
eventu revelations of aspects or all of world history. In tandem these two components
affirm the centrality of the dream-vision to the thought world of the Aramaic texts as well
as demonstrate that this revelatory topos was deployed using a shared stock of language
in order to introduce a closely defined set of concerns.

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Acknowledgements

I was first introduced to the Aramaic language and invited into the world of the
Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls in a doctoral seminar facilitated by Prof. Daniel Machiela in
2010. Since then I have had the great pleasure of researching and writing this project
under his guidance. I was also fortunate to have Prof. Eileen Schuller and Prof. Stephen
Westerholm serve on my advisory committee. I cannot imagine a more genuine,
accomplished, and insightful trio of teachers to oversee this dissertation. Their work and
wisdom challenged my thinking and shaped me as a young scholar. Special thanks also
go to Prof. Loren Stuckenbruck, who critiqued and commented on the project as an
external reader, and to Prof. Anders Runesson, who stepped in at the eleventh hour to
serve as the internal-external reader for the defence.
My studies at McMaster were made possible through the generous financial
support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Harry Lyman
Hooker Senior Fellowship. My dissertation research was enhanced by my time as the
George A. Barton Fellow at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in
Jerusalem in the fall of 2012. This trip was also supported by a doctoral travel scholarship
from the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion. Much of chapters two through
four were crafted in the libraries of the Albright Institute and École biblique et
archéologique française de Jérusalem. I am grateful to both Dr. Adolfo Roitman of the
Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum and Pnina Shor of the Israel Antiquities
Authority for granting me the invaluable experience of working with the Aramaic Scrolls
in their care. Joseph Angel and John Collins graciously shared unpublished articles that
served as welcome sparring partners when finalizing chapters six and seven. Esther Eshel,
Peter Flint, Dorothy Peters, Eugene Ulrich, and the participants in the 2012 Graduate
Enoch Seminar at the University of Notre Dame reflected on the topic at hand in various
ways. Closer to home, I should thank Ian Koiter, Andrew Krause, Anthony Meyer, John
Screnock, and Matthew Walsh for regularly pointing out the best and worst of my ideas.
My academic life would not be as enriching were it not for the family members
who have journeyed with me throughout my post-secondary years. From my enrollment
as an undergraduate to dissertation defence, my parents Daryl and Rosanne Perrin have
supported me in more ways than I care to admit. To my young children Emma and Jude, I
am grateful for the energy and warmth with which you fill our home each day. To my
wife Tanya, I cannot offer enough thanks. You are the truest of friends, a faithful
companion on this adventure, and make every place we find ourselves feel like home.

Andrew B. Perrin
September 17, 2013
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE: ENTERING THE WORLD OF THE ARAMAIC DEAD SEA SCROLLS
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
2 A corpus or collection? Dream-visions and the (dis)unity of the Aramaic Scrolls .... 8
3 Plan of this study ...................................................................................................... 16

PART ONE: SHARED COMPOSITIONAL PATTERNS
CHAPTER TWO: A PROSPECTUS OF DREAMS AND DREAMERS IN THE ARAMAIC SCROLLS
1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 19
2 Compositions featuring dream-visions ..................................................................... 20
2.1 1 Enoch ................................................................................................................ 20
2.1.1 The Book of Watchers (1 En. 1-36) ..................................................................... 21
2.1.2 The Book of the Luminaries (1 En. 72-82) .......................................................... 23
2.1.3 The Book of Dreams (1 En. 83-91) ...................................................................... 25
2.1.4 The Epistle of Enoch (1 En. 92-105) ................................................................... 26
2.1.5 The Birth of Noah (1 En. 106-107) ...................................................................... 27
2.2 The Book of Giants .............................................................................................. 28
2.3 4QWords of Michael ............................................................................................ 31
2.4 The Genesis Apocryphon ..................................................................................... 33
2.5 4QTestament of Jacob? ....................................................................................... 40
2.6 The New Jerusalem text ....................................................................................... 41
2.7 The Aramaic Levi Document ............................................................................... 44
2.8 4Qapocryphon of Levib? ...................................................................................... 49
2.9 4QVisions of Amram ............................................................................................ 51
2.10 Daniel 2-7 ............................................................................................................ 54
2.11 4QAramaic Apocalypse ....................................................................................... 57
2.12 4QFour Kingdoms ............................................................................................... 59
3 Fragmentary texts exhibiting dream-vision features ................................................ 60
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3.1 4QVisiona ............................................................................................................. 60
3.2 4QpapVisionb ....................................................................................................... 61
3.3 4QVisiond ............................................................................................................. 62
3.4 4QpapApocalypse ................................................................................................ 63
4 Texts not directly associated with dream-vision revelation ..................................... 63
4.1 Tobit ..................................................................................................................... 64
4.2 4QPseudo Daniela-c ............................................................................................. 65
4.3 4QExorcism ......................................................................................................... 66
4.4 4QJews in the Persian Court ............................................................................... 67
4.5 4QVisionc? ........................................................................................................... 68
5 Summary of findings ................................................................................................ 69

CHAPTER THREE: THE LANGUAGE OF DREAM-VISIONS: FORMS,
STRUCTURES, IDIOMS, AND PHRASES
1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 73
2 Overlapping terminology for ‘dreams’ and ‘visions’ ............................................... 74
3 Formulae introducing dream-visions ........................................................................ 77
4 Phrases and idioms marking narrative movement .................................................... 79
5 Oneirocritical terminology and methods .................................................................. 85
6 Awakening formulae and responses elicited by dream-visions ............................... 88
7 Summary of findings ................................................................................................ 94

PART TWO: SHARED COMPOSITIONAL CONCERNS
CHAPTER FOUR: THE EXEGETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF SOME PATRIARCHAL DREAMERS
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 101
2 The Genesis Apocryphon: uncovering scripture’s intimations of dream-visions ... 103
1.2 A threefold combination of verbs alluding to revelation in Gen 9:21 and 24 ... 104
1.1 Informing Abram of the plan behind the ‘brother-husband’ ruse in
Gen 12:11……………………………………………………………………...109
2.3 From theophany to dream-vision: harmonizing Gen 12:7, 13:14, and 15:1 ...... 112
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2.4 An underlying interest in casting the patriarchs as prophetic dreamers? .......... 117
3 The exegetical root of 1 Enoch’s expansive dream-vision tradition ...................... 123
3.1 Hints at an angleic association: philological flexibility in Gen 5:22 and 24 ..... 124
3.2 Did Noah, Abram, Levi, and Jacob also ‘walk about with the angels?’ ............ 127
4 Levi’s visionary installment as a priest in the Aramaic Levi Document ................ 129
1.2 The suggestivness of Mal 2:5-6: Levi ‘descended’ after ‘walking with’ God .. 133
4.2 A complementary clue in 1 Sam 2:27: the Lord ‘revealed’ himself to Levi ..... 136
5 Summary of findings .............................................................................................. 139

CHAPTER FIVE: DREAMING OF THE TEMPLE AND PRIESTHOOD IN THIS WORLD,
THE HEAVENS, AND THE ESCHATON
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 142
2 4QVisions of Amram on the genetics of the priesthood ......................................... 144
2.1 Incorporating Amram and Aaron into (Aramaic) Levi’s priestly family tree ... 144
2.2 An otherworldly endorsement from celestial Melchizedek ............................... 149
3 Interpreting the cult: sacerdotal halakhah in the New Jerusalem text .................... 155
4 Further glimpses of priestly dreams and dreamers ................................................. 164
4.1 4QTestament of Jacob?: a view of priestly precincts, praxis, and promises ..... 165
4.2 4Qapocryphon of Levib?: envisioning an eschatological priest-savior .............. 168
5 Summary of findings .............................................................................................. 173

CHAPTER SIX: DISCLOSING THE COURSE AND CONFIGURATION OF HISTORY
THROUGH DREAM-VISION REVELATION
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 175
2 The scope and structure of human history in the ‘Apocalypse of Weeks’ ............. 178
3 The flood in historical retrospect and prospect ...................................................... 183
3.1 Urzeit und Endzeit as a historiographical principle in the Book of Giants ........ 184
3.2 The deluge, the lay of the land, and eschatology in 1QapGen XII 19-XV 21 .. 189
4 The eras of empires: four kingdom chronologies from the exile to the eschaton .. 199
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4.1 Daniel 2 and 7: the God of Israel’s direction of pagan dominions .................... 199
1.1 Updating history: retrofitting Rome into the scheme in 4QFour Kingdoms ..... 202
5 Other views of geopolitical upheaval or succession .............................................. 209
5.1 The culmination of Israelite history in the New Jerusalem text ........................ 209
5.2 4QAramaic Apocalypse: another monarch learns his place in world history .... 213
6 Summary of findings .............................................................................................. 219

CHAPTER SEVEN: OVERVIEW AND OUTCOMES
1 Toward a description of the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls corpus ............................. 222
2 Pseudepigraphy, epistemology, and dream-vision discourses ............................... 227
3 The quest for the ancient Jewish apocalypse .......................................................... 233
4 Closing remarks ...................................................................................................... 242

Biblography……………………………………….……...…….……………………….244

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List of Tables

Table I: The Dream-Visions of the Aramaic Scrolls at a Glance I: Prominent Literary
Themes, Images, and Motifs………………...……………………………….……71-72
Table II: The Dream-Visions of the Aramaic Scrolls at a Glance II: Prominent Formal and
Philological Features…………………………………...………………………….98-99
Table III: Priestly Terminology for Levitical and Aaronide Priesthoods in the Aramaic
Levi Document and 4QVisions of Amram…………………………………..………..148
Table IV: Proposed Referents Underlying the Historical Schema of 4QFour
Kingdoms………………………………...…………………………………………..204
Table V: Lists of Apocalypses and Apocalyptically Oriented Texts among the Aramaic
Corpus……………………………………...…………………………...………..236-37

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