The Heavenly Book Motif in Judeo-Christian Apocalypses 200 B.C.E.-200 C.E.

247 Pages·2011·1.44 MB·English

by  Leslie Baynes

The Heavenly Book Motif in
Judeo-Christian Apocalypses
200 B.C.E.–200 C.E.
Supplements
to the
Journal for the Study
of Judaism
Editor
Benjamin G. Wright, III
Department of Religion Studies, Lehigh University
Associate Editors
Florentino García Martínez
Qumran Institute, University of Groningen
Hindy Najman
Department and Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto
Advisory Board
g. bohak – j.j. collins – j. duhaime – p.w. van der horst –
a.k. petersen – m. popoviĆ – j.t.a.g.m. van ruiten –
j. sievers – g. stemberger – e.j.c. tigchelaar –
j. magliano-tromp
VOLUME 152
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/jsjs

The Heavenly Book Motif
in Judeo-Christian Apocalypses
200 B.C.E.–200 C.E.
By
Leslie Baynes
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2012
Frontispiece: William Blake, “The Recording Angel” © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baynes, Leslie.
 The heavenly book motif in Judeo-Christian apocalypses, 200 B.C.E.–200 C.E. / by Leslie Baynes.
  p. cm. — ( Journal for the study of Judaism ; v. 152)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-20726-4 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Apocalyptic literature—History
and criticism. 2. Judaism—History—Post-exilic period, 586 B.C.–210 A.D. 3. Bible—
Criticism, interpretation, etc. 4. Dead Sea scrolls. 5. Eschatology. 6. Eschatology, Jewish. 
7. Catastrophical, The. I. Title.
 BS1705.B39 2011
 220’.046—dc23
2011038428
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ISSN 1384-2161
ISBN 978 90 04 20726 4 (hardback)
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CONTENTS
Preface  ................................................................................................................. vii
One: Introduction  ............................................................................................ 3
State of the Question  ................................................................................. 8
Questions of Defijinition: The Heavenly Book as Metaphor and
Motif ........................................................................................................... 13
Intertextuality  .............................................................................................. 19
Conclusion  .................................................................................................... 22
Two: “But if Not, Blot Me Out of the Book:” Earthly and Heavenly
Books in the Hebrew Scriptures up to Daniel  ................................... 27
The Vocabulary of “Book” in the Hebrew Scriptures  ....................... 28
Functions of Books and Writing in the Hebrew Scriptures ........... 30
Divine Writing: Authority and the Tablets of the Law  .............. 30
Lists and the Book of Life .................................................................... 32
Exodus 32:32–33  ................................................................................ 34
Remembrance  ......................................................................................... 36
Witness, the Book of Fate, and the Tablet of Destinies  ............. 42
The Tablet of Destiny in Mesopotamia  ..................................... 46
Letters and the Heavenly Letter  ........................................................ 52
Prophetic Speech-Acts and the Book of Action  ........................... 54
Histories, Records, and the Book of Deeds  .................................... 58
Conclusion  .................................................................................................... 59
Three: “Everyone Who Is Found Written in the Book:” The
Heavenly Book of Life in Daniel, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and
other Second Temple Literature ………… .............................................. 65
The Emergence of Belief in Life after Death  ...................................... 65
The Genre Apocalypse  .............................................................................. 67
The Book of Life in Daniel and the Dead Sea Scrolls  ...................... 70
The Book of Life in Jubilees  ..................................................................... 74
The Book of Life in Joseph and Aseneth  ............................................... 75
Conclusion  .................................................................................................... 81
vi contents
Four: “And Books Were Opened:” The Heavenly Book of Deeds in
Daniel and other Second Temple Literature  ...................................... 85
The Book of Deeds in Daniel 7  ............................................................... 85
The Book of Deeds in 1 Enoch’s Animal Apocalypse  ........................ 87
The Book of Deeds in Jubilees  ................................................................. 92
Enoch as Scribe  ........................................................................................... 93
The Book of Deeds in 2 Enoch  ................................................................ 96
The Book of Deeds and Remembrance in the Testament of
Abraham  ................................................................................................... 98
Conclusion  .................................................................................................... 104
Five: “It Has Been Written and Ordained:” Heavenly Tablets and
the Book of Fate in Jubilees, the Dead Sea Scrolls,
and other Second Temple Literature  .................................................... 109
The Book of Fate in Other Second Temple Literature  .................... 124
Conclusion  .................................................................................................... 131
Six: “Who Is Worthy to Open the Scroll?” The Adaptation of the
Motif in the New Testament  ................................................................... 137
Luke 10:20  ...................................................................................................... 138
Philippians 4:3  .............................................................................................. 139
Hebrews 12:23  ............................................................................................... 140
Revelation  ...................................................................................................... 143
Rev 3:5  ....................................................................................................... 145
The βιβλίον of Revelation 5 and the βιβλαρίδιον of
Revelation 10 ....................................................................................... 149
Rev 13:8 and 17:8  ..................................................................................... 162
Rev 20:12–15 and 21:27  ........................................................................... 164
Seven: “But Not Like the Books of This World:” The Heavenly Book
in Christian Literature of the Second Century  .................................. 171
The Shepherd of Hermas  ........................................................................... 171
The Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah  .............................................. 180
The Odes of Solomon 23  ............................................................................. 185
Conclusion to Chapters 6 and 7  ............................................................. 197
Eight: Conclusion  ............................................................................................. 203
Bibliography  ...................................................................................................... 209
Index of Modern Authors  .............................................................................. 221
Subject Index  ..................................................................................................... 224
Index of Primary Texts  ................................................................................... 226
PREFACE
This book aims to fijill a lacuna in apocalyptic studies: an accounting of the
signifijicance of the heavenly book motif in early Judaism and Christianity.
Chapter 1 introduces one of its main themes: books and writing are always
involved in questions of life and death. The assertion is Jacques Derrida’s,
but even though his work is vital for mine, readers should understand
from the outset that I do not engage in deconstruction of any text under
consideration here.1 Rather, I borrow Derrida’s insights and put them into
the service of my own. Surely Derrida, as tricksy an author himself as ever
was with Plato’s texts, would not mind. Chapter 1 also defijines the four sub-
types of the motif: the book of life, the book of deeds, the book of fate, and
the book of action. While the fijirst three have been discussed previously
under these or very similar names, the last is my own coinage. I believe
that it offfers a convincing account the type of heavenly book it purports
to explain. Chapter 2 analyzes examples of the motif from the ancient
Near East and in the Hebrew Bible and compares and contrasts them to
other, non-heavenly forms of writing so that the metaphorical connections
between the two sorts of writing, heavenly and earthly, emerge. Chapters
3, 4, and 5 look at the motif as it is taken up (mainly but not solely) in the
earliest Jewish apocalypses and the Dead Sea Scrolls. In these texts most
heavenly books clearly have to do with everlasting life. Who holds, reads,
or writes in heavenly books diversifijies in this time period (200 B.C.E.–200
C.E.); the books no longer belong strictly to God, but more often are in the
charge of angels or exalted scribal fijigures, with Enoch as the most impor-
tant example of the latter by far. Chapters 6 and 7 examine early Christian
texts that employ the heavenly book motif. Here it continues to regulate
entrance into eternal life, but, unsurprisingly, Christ gradually takes over
as the one who has charge of the books. As the heavenly book moves
through time, from the ancient Near East to Judaism and into Christianity,
I pay particular attention to how it operates intertextually.
1 For example, I am not doing here anything resembling what Derrida does to the Apoc-
alypse of John in his essay “On a Newly Arisen Apocalyptic Tone in Philosophy,” in Raising
the Tone of Philosophy (ed. Peter Fenves; Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1993, 117–71).