The origins of jewish apocalyptic literature: Prophecy, babylon

66 Pages·2015·0.72 MB·English

by  Sarah Robinson

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USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations USF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
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Sarah Robinson
University of South Florida
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Robinson, Sarah, "The Origins of Jewish Apocalyptic Literature: Prophecy, Babylon, and 1 Enoch" (2005).
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
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The Origins of Jewish Apocalyptic Literature:
Prophecy, Babylon, and 1 Enoch

by

Sarah Robinson

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
Department of Religious Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
University of South Florida

Major Professor: James F. Strange, Ph.D.
Paul G. Schneider, Ph.D.

Date of Approval:
February 4, 2005

Keywords: enoch, apocalypse, apocalyptic origins, bible, judaism

© Copyright 2005 , Sarah Robinson
Dedication

This is dedicated to the people who have sacrificed for me over the last five years: my
family. Kailey, who heard too many times, “Mommy can’t right now because I’m
working on my thesis.” Now, Boo, Mommy can. Benjamin, for hearing the same words
and for all those bike rides home with your sister in tow. Your sense of responsibility
and cooperation make a mother proud. And to my Douglas: Your everlasting patience
and support has been amazing. More powerful than any supernatural revelation is the
devotion and loyalty of your love. C’est finis.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the countless number of people who have offered kind words of
support and encouragement to me in this particular endeavor and over the course of the
last five years. Specifically, I would also like to thank the following: Lillian, for taking
me to the library. All the fine teachers and professors I’ve had, and all the cool people in
the Religious Studies Department at USF. Dr. Strange, for accepting this education major
into the program, and who, like Enoch, revealed much knowledge and wisdom for me
(and also made me laugh and think and challenged me like no other teacher ever has). Dr.
Schneider for his divine humor and help in revising this paper. My brother Chris for
being my technology savior. Everyone at Leto who has covered classes for me, and
Deborah and Kris for their assistance with technical matters. Gabriel, for his genuine
interest, and for being an angel by carrying my books. Dan at the Tech Café and the kind
servers at the Border’s Café, where I drank many a cup and wrote many a paragraph. The
Reverend John Burciaga for demonstrating that Reason and Religion are not antithetical,
and for inspiring in me a spiritual need to pursue Truth in religious matters. Finally, I
want to acknowledge all courageous humans, past, present and future who dare to put
question marks where others so confidently put periods. Thanks for everything. Without
you this would not have been possible.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES.....................................................................................................................................ii
LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................................................iii
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................................iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................1
History.......................................................................................................................................................1
Twentieth Century....................................................................................................................................2
Research Problem.....................................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER TWO: OUT OF PROPHECY................................................................................................6
Ezekiel.......................................................................................................................................................9
Isaiah......................................................................................................................................................15
Zechariah................................................................................................................................................18
Joel..........................................................................................................................................................21
CHAPTER THREE- ENOCH: CHILD OF A MIXED MARRIAGE................................................25
Book of Watchers...................................................................................................................................26
Priestly Authors......................................................................................................................................28
Origin of Evil..........................................................................................................................................30
Dating Enoch..........................................................................................................................................32
CHAPTER FOUR: BABYLONIAN FOOTPRINT...............................................................................37
Enmeduranki..........................................................................................................................................37
Divination...............................................................................................................................................45
Iconography............................................................................................................................................48
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................54

i
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. The Apkulla’s and the Watchers........................................................................40

ii
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. The Babylonian Map of the World..................................................................43
Figure 2. The Map of the World of Enoch.......................................................................44

iii
THE ORIGINS OF JEWISH APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE:
PROPHECY, BABYLON, AND 1 ENOCH

Sarah Robinson

ABSTRACT
From what wells did the apocalyptic writers draw? What motivated them to write
such bizarre and fantastic stories about the future end of history and battles between the
forces of good and the forces of evil? The Book of Daniel is considered the first and only
apocalypse of the Hebrew Bible, and it was the primary inspiration for much of the Book
of Revelation, Apocalypse of John in the Christian New Testament. But well before
Daniel, apocalyptic passages appeared in Jewish literature. With the discovery of the
Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 came also the discovery of the oldest Jewish apocalypse,
written in ancient Aramaic, and well-known in both ancient Judaism and early
Christianity: a collection of books known as 1 Enoch. It was in these texts, especially the
first and oldest one, the Book of Watchers, that apocalyptic imagery, including the Son of
Man figure, first appeared in Jewish writing. Though scholars note developments from
the Hebrew Prophets, particularly the Latter ones, a significant evolution took place. The
question is why and when? My thesis is that the earliest Jewish apocalyptic writing, the
Book of Watchers, 1 Enoch 1-36, was written as a result of the Babylonian Exile and its
authors syncretized the Hebrew prophetic books with Babylonian elements. With the
help of scholars specializing in Jewish apocalyptic origins, I hope to show how the roots
of this fascinating aspect of religion, which captivates and often frightens twenty-first
century humans, took hold twenty-five hundred years ago in Mesopotamia.
iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Few books of the Bible have captured the imagination of believers and
nonbelievers alike as well as the apocalyptic ones. Their visions of other worlds and
eschatological judgments have inspired countless interpretations and predictions of the
end of history for over two millennia. And while many ancient cultures, including
Egyptian, Greek and Persian, produced apocalyptic texts, it is the Jewish authors,
canonized in the Bible that have been the basis for most of Western civilization’s
apocalyptic notions, inspiring writers from Dante to Le Haye. So, from what wells did
the Jewish apocalyptic writers draw? What motivated them to write such bizarre and
fantastic stories about the future end of history and battles between the forces of good
and the forces of evil? What social position did they occupy? Were they, as E.P. Sanders
says, written by “the oppressed within Israel or from “Israel” conceived of as
oppressed”1? Or were they written by “power holding priestly groups,”2 as Stephen Cook
proposes? What inspired the new themes and imagery in their writing? These types of
questions have intrigued religious scholars for centuries.
History
According to Kvanvig, early scholars used the canonical writings, the Old Testament
Book of Daniel and the New Testament Apocalypse of John, or Revelation, as a starting
point for apocalyptic studies.3 Employing an historical-critical methodology, it was

1E.P. Sanders. “The Genre of Palestinian Jewish Apocalypses.” In Apocalypticism in the
Mediterranean World and the Near East (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1983) 457.
2S. Cook. Prophecy and Apocalypticism: The Postexilic Social Setting. (Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 1995) 3.
3H. Kvanvig. Roots of Apocalyptic: The Mesopotamian Background of the Enoch figure
and of the Son of Man. (Neurkirchen-Vluyn, 1988) 3.
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initially presumed the apocalyptic writings developed out of prophecy.4 Kvanvig credits
the foundation of apocalyptical studies to F. Lücke and A. Hilgenfeld, respectively, in the
1830's. During this time, due, in large part, to the publication of the Persian Zend-Avesta
in 1774,5 there was great interest in Persian religion’s influence on Judaism, with some
scholars arguing it was the source of apocalyptic thought, which was considered too
strange to have originated within Judaism.6 Lücke’s hermeneutical considerations
emphasized “the Jews not only as adopters but also as transformers of the materials” of
Persian religion.7 So scholars concluded the source of angels and demons, and dualism in
Daniel was Persia. Then, new sources became influential in the mid-nineteenth century,
including the Book of Jubilees and Syriac Baruch Apocalypse.8 These were followed by
the publication of the Babylonian Enuma Elish, prompting Lenormant and Gunkel to
argue for Babylonian influence on Daniel. And by the turn of the century, Boussett was
considering the importance of folk traditions on apocalyptic literature.9
Twentieth Century
Two major archeological discoveries in the twentieth century were no less than
revolutionary to the field of apocalyptic studies. The first was the Ugarit tablets
discovered in 1929 at Ras Shamra, containing ancient Canaanite myths understood to be

4Cook, 3.
5Kvanvig, 5.
6Ibid.
7Ibid, 7.See also N. Cohen of Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come: The Ancient Roots
Apocalyptic Faith (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1993) 166-67.
8Ibid. With these discoveries, in 1850 for Jubilees and 1866 for Syriac Baruch, came a
growing understanding of the importance of non-canonical and non-Jewish influences on
Jewish apocalypses..
9J.J. Collins. “Genre, Ideology and Social Movements in Jewish Apocalypticism.”
Mysteries and Revelations: Apocalytpic Studies since the Uppsala Colloquium.
(Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991) 8.
2