Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature

336 Pages·2005·4.25 MB·english

by  Annette Yoshiko Reed

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fallenangelsandthehistoryofjudaismandchristianity
ThisbookconsiderstheearlyhistoryofJewish–Christianrelationsthroughafocus
on traditions about the fallen angels. In the Book of the Watchers, an Enochic
apocalypse from the third century bce, the “sons of God” of Gen 6:1–4 are
accusedofcorruptinghumankindthroughtheirteachingsofmetalworking,cos-
metology,magic,anddivination.Bytracingthetransformationsofthismotifin
SecondTemple,Rabbinic,andearlymedievalJudaismandearly,lateantique,and
ByzantineChristianity,thisbookshedslightonthehistoryofinterpretationof
Genesis, the changing status of Enochic literature, and the place of parabibli-
caltextsandtraditionsintheinterchangebetweenJewsandChristiansinLate
Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. In the process, it explores issues such as
the role of text-selection in the delineation of community boundaries and the
developmentofearlyJewishandChristianideasabouttheoriginsofevilonthe
earth.
Annette Yoshiko Reed is presently an Assistant Professor in the Department of
ReligiousStudiesatMcMasterUniversity,wheresheteachescoursesontheHebrew
Bible, early Judaism, and early Christianity. Her publications span the fields of
Biblical Studies, Jewish Studies, and Patristics, and include articles in Journal
of Biblical Literature, Jewish Studies Quarterly, Journal for the Study of Judaism,
VigiliaeChristianae,andJournalofEarlyChristianStudies.Shehascoeditedtwo
volumes,TheWaysthatNeverParted:JewsandChristiansinLateAntiquityandthe
EarlyMiddleAges(withAdamH.Becker,2003)andHeavenlyRealmsandEarthly
RealitiesinLateAntiqueReligions(withRa’ananS.Boustan;CambridgeUniversity
Press,2004).Sheispresentlyworkingonabookabout“Jewish-Christianity”and
thediversityoflateantiqueJudaism.
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Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism
and Christianity
The Reception of Enochic Literature
annette yoshiko reed
McMasterUniversity
iii
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521853781
© Annette Yoshiko Reed 2005
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format
ISBN-13 978-0-511-34522-7 eBook (NetLibrary)
ISBN-10 0-511-34522-4 eBook (NetLibrary)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-85378-1 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-85378-8 hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
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T
omyfather,Dr.StevenR.Reed,
whotaughtmehow(andwhy)tothink.
(cid:1)
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Contents
Preface pageviii
ListofAbbreviations x
Introduction 1
1 AngelicDescentandApocalypticEpistemology:TheTeachingsof
EnochandtheFallenAngelsintheBookoftheWatchers 24
2 FromScribalismtoSectarianism:TheAngelicDescentMythand
theSocialSettingsofEnochicPseudepigraphy 58
3 PrimevalHistoryandtheProblemofEvil:Genesis,theBookofthe
Watchers,andtheFallenAngelsinPre-RabbinicJudaism 84
4 ThePartingoftheWays?EnochandtheFallenAngelsinRabbinic
JudaismandEarlyChristianity 122
5 DemonologyandtheConstructionofChristianIdentity:
ApproachestoIllicitAngelicInstructionamongProto-Orthodox
Christians 160
6 TheInterpenetrationofJewishandChristianTraditions:The
ExegesisofGenesisandtheMarginalizationofEnochicLiterature 190
7 TheApocalypticRootsofMerkabahMysticism?TheReemergence
ofEnochicTraditionsinRabbinicJudaism 233
Epilogue 273
Bibliography 278
IndexofModernAuthors 297
IndexofPrimarySources 300
SubjectIndex 310
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Preface
Thisbookisarevisionofmydissertation,whichwaswrittenintheDepart-
ment of Religion at Princeton University under the supervision of Martha
Himmelfarb,PeterScha¨fer,andJohnG.Gager.Icannotimagineamorestim-
ulating intellectual environment in which to study, nor kinder people with
whomtowork.Iofferthemmywarmestthanksfortheirsupportandinspi-
ration, academic and otherwise. The dissertation and book also benefited
muchfromfeedbackfrom,andconversationswith,AdamH.Becker,Ra’anan
Boustan,PeterBrown,PatriciaCrone,FritzGraf,ElainePagels,JohnC.Reeves,
and Burt Visotzky. For their comments and advice, I am grateful to Kirsti
Copeland, David Frankfurter, Paula Fredriksen, Bob Kraft, Eileen Schuller,
Michael E. Stone, and Peter Widdicombe. Funding for the dissertation on
whichthisbookisbasedwasprovidedbytheCenterfortheStudyofReligion
atPrincetonUniversity.Earlierversionsofseveralchapterswerepresentedat
the Center’s Religion and Culture workshop as well as at the conference In
HeavenasItIsonEarth:ImaginedRealmsandEarthlyRealitiesinLateAntique
ReligionsandintheEarlyJewish–ChristianRelationsandPseudepigraphasec-
tionsoftheSocietyofBiblicalLiterature’sannualmeetings.Extendedversions
ofsomeoftheargumentsinChapters1,2,5,and7havebeenpublishedindiffer-
entformsinearlierarticles:“FromAsaelandSˇemih.azahtoUzzah,Azzah,and
Azael:3Enoch5(§§7–8)andtheJewishReception-Historyof1Enoch”(Jewish
Studies Quarterly 8 [2001]: 1–32); “The Textual Identity, Literary History,
and Social Setting of 1 Enoch: Reflections on George Nickelsburg’s Com-
mentaryon1 Enoch1–36;81–108.”(Archivfu¨rReligionsgeschichte 5 [2003]:
279–96); “The Trickery of the Fallen Angels and the Demonic Mimesis of
the Divine: Etiology, Demonology, and Polemics in the Writings of Justin
Martyr”(JournalofEarlyChristianStudies12[2004]:141–71);and“Heavenly
Ascent,AngelicDescent,andtheTransmissionofKnowledgein1 Enoch6–16”
viii