Enoch and Qumran Origins: New Light on a Forgotten Connection

by Gabriele Boccaccini

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2005

Overview

The rediscovery of Enochic Judaism as an ancient movement of dissent within Second Temple Judaism, a movement centered on neither temple nor torah, is a major achievement of contemporary research. After being marginalized, ancient Enoch texts have reemerged as a significant component of the Dead Sea Scrolls library unearthed at Qumran.

Enoch and Qumran Origins is the first comprehensive treatment of the complex and forgotten relations between the Qumran community and the Jewish group behind the pseudepigraphal literature of Enoch. The contributors demonstrate that the roots of the Qumran community are to be found in the tradition of the Enoch group rather than that of the Jerusalem priesthood.

Framed by Gabriele Boccaccini’s introduction and James Charlesworth’s conclusion, this book examines the hypotheses of five particularly eminent scholars, resulting in an engaging and substantive discussion among forty-seven specialists from nine countries. The exceptional array of essays from leading international scholars in Second Temple Judaism and Christian origins makes Enoch and Qumran Origins a sine qua non for serious students of this period.

Key Features

• Examines the hypotheses of five particularly eminent scholars
• Demonstrates that the roots of the Qumran community are to be found in the tradition of the Enoch group
• Offers an engaging and substantive discussion among forty-seven specialists from nine countries

Contents

• Introduction: From the Enoch Literature to Enochic Judaism 1 Gabriele Boccaccini

Part I: Dream Visions and Daniel

• Enoch’s Dream Visions and the Visions of Daniel Reexamined - Matthias Henze
• The Sociological Context of the Dream Visions of Daniel and 1 Enoch - Patrick Tiller
• Dream Visions and Apocalyptic Milieus - Armin Lange
• The Animal Apocalypse and Daniel - James R. Davila
• The Covenantal Theology of the Apocalyptic Book of Daniel - Gabriele Boccaccini
• Comparing the Groups Behind Dream Visions and Daniel: A Brief Note - Florentino García Martínez
• The “One Like a Son of Man” (Dan 7:13) and the Royal Ideology - Matthias Albani
• “One Like a Son of Man”: Innuendoes of a Heavenly Individual - Stefan Beyerle
• Response: The Apocalyptic Worldview of Daniel - John J. Collins
• References to Part I

Part II: Enoch and Jubilees

• Jubilees—Read as a Narrative - Helge S. Kvanvig
• The LXX and Enoch: Influence and Interpretation in Early Jewish Literature - Erik W. Larson
• A Literary Dependency of Jubilees on 1 Enoch? - Jacques van Ruiten
• “Revealed Literature” in the Second Century b.c.e.: Jubilees, 1 Enoch, Qumran, and the Prehistory of the Biblical Canon - Annette Yoshiko Reed
• Jubilees and 1 Enoch and the Issue of Transmission of Knowledge - Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar
• 4Q390, the 490-Year Prophecy, and the Calendrical History of the Second Temple Period - Hanan Eshel
• Synchronizing Worship: Jubilees as a Tradition for the Qumran Community - Henry W. Morisada Rietz
• “The Days of Sukkot of the Month of Kislev”: The Festival of Dedication and the Delay of Feasts in 1QS 1:13-15 - Michael A. Daise
• Jubilees and Sectarianism - Martha Himmelfarb
• Denouncement Speech in Jubilees and Other Enochic Literature - Jeff S. Anderson
• The Historical-Cultural Background of the Book of Jubilees - Liliana Rosso Ubigli
• Enoch and Jubilees - Ida Fröhlich
• Apocalypticism and the Religion and Ritual of the “Pre-Sinaitic” Narratives - Ithamar Gruenwald
• 3 Enoch and the Enoch Tradition - Lawrence H. Schiffman
• Response: Jubilees and Enoch - James C. VanderKam
• References to Part II

Part III: The Apocalypse of Weeks

• History as a Battlefield of Two Antagonistic Powers in the Apocalypse of Weeks and in the Rule of the Community - Klaus Koch
• Reflection on Ideology and Date of the Apocalypse of Weeks - Andreas Bedenbender
• The Enochic Circles, the Hasidim, and the Qumran Community - Timothy H. Lim
• The Apocalypse of Weeks and the Architecture of the End Time - Matthias Henze
• The Plant Metaphor in Its Inner-Enochic and Early Jewish Context - Loren T. Stuckenbruck
• The Apocalypse of Weeks and the Epistle of Enoch - Michael A. Knibb
• Evaluating the Discussions concerning the Original Order of Chapters 91–93 and Codicological Data Pertaining to 4Q212 and Chester Beatty XII Enoch - Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar
• The Greek Fragments of Enoch from Qumran Cave 7 - Peter W. Flint
• Response: Context, Text, and Social Setting of the Apocalypse of Weeks - George W. E. Nickelsburg
• References to Part III

Part IV: The Groningen Hypothesis Revisited

• The Groningen Hypothesis: Strengths and Weaknesses - Charlotte Hempel
• Reflections on the Groningen Hypothesis - Albert I. Baumgarten
• Sealing Some Cracks in the Groningen Foundation - Mark A. Elliott
• The YaFad Is More Than Qumran - Torleif Elgvin
• Digging among the Roots of the Groningen Hypothesis - Lester L. Grabbe
• One “Methodological Assumption” of the Groningen Hypothesis of Qumran Origins - Benjamin G. Wright III
• The Translation of NDMW and Its Significance for the Groningen Hypothesis - Timothy H. Lim
• Comments concerning the “Qumran-Essenes” Hypothesis - Shemaryahu Talmon
• The Essenes and Qumran, the Teacher and the Wicked Priest, the Origins - Émile Puech
• Qumran: The Headquarters of the Essenes or a Marginal Splinter Group? - Gabriele Boccaccini
• Response: The Groningen Hypothesis Revisited - Florentino García Martínez
• References to Part IV

Part V: The Enochic-essene Hypothesis Revised

• Theodicy and the Problem of the “Intimate Enemy” - David W. Suter
• Interrogating “Enochic Judaism”: 1 Enoch as Evidence for Intellectual History, Social Realities, and Literary Tradition - Annette Yoshiko Reed
• Enoch, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Essenes: Groups and Movements in Judaism in the Early Second Century b.c.e. - John J. Collins
• From “Communities of Texts” to Religious Communities: Problems and Pitfalls - Jeff S. Anderson
• Enochians, Essenes, and Qumran Essenes - James R. Davila
• Beyond Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: Some Observations on the Qumran Zadokite Priesthood - Corrado Martone
• Some Archaeological, Sociological, and Cross-Cultural Afterthoughts on the “Groningen” and the “Enochic-Essene” Hypotheses - Pierluigi Piovanelli
• Complicating the Notion of an “Enochic Judaism” - John C. Reeves
• Enoch, Moses, and the Essenes - William Adler
• Too Far Beyond the Essene Hypothesis? - James C. VanderKam
• Some Remarks on the Parting of the Ways - Benjamin G. Wright III
• History of the Earliest Enochic Texts - Paolo Sacchi
• Different Bibles for Different Groups? - Torleif Elgvin
• Essenes, Qumran, and Christian Origins - Claudio Gianotto
• Response: Texts, Intellectual Movements, and Social Groups - Gabriele Boccaccini
• References to Part V


• Summary and Conclusions: The Books of Enoch or 1 Enoch Matters: New Paradigms for Understanding Pre-70 Judaism - James H. Charlesworth

Praise for Enoch and Qumran Origins

I commend most highly this important and exciting volume to all scholars and students to Second Temple Jewish literature and early Christianity. . . Essential reading for scholars and research students working on any aspect of Second Temple Judaism and the Jewish framework for the origins of Christianity.

—Journal of Biblical Literature

Enoch and Qumran Origins is a significant and rewarding volume. . . Makes a substantial contribution to the study of the late Second Temple period.

—Catholic Biblical Quarterly

This volume is of highest quality and a pleasure to read. This is state-of-the-art and at the same time first-class research at its best. . . Whoever wants an introduction into the fascinating area of Enoch studies will find here the best scholars available offering a vivid, gripping, and sometimes even thrilling debate on various aspects.

—Review of Biblical Literature

Product Details

• Title: Enoch and Qumran Origins: New Light on a Forgotten Connection
• Author: Gabriele Boccaccini
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2005
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Pages: 454
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Ethiopic book of Enoch › Criticism, interpretation, etc.--Congresses; Bible. O.T. Daniel › Criticism, interpretation, etc.--Congresses; Book of Jubilees › Criticism, interpretation, etc.--Congresses; Qumran community › Congresses; Essenes › Congresses; Judaism › History--Post-exilic period, 586 B.C.-210 A.D.--Congresses
• ISBNs: 9780802828781, 0802828787
• Resource ID: LLS:NCHQMRNFRCNNCTN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-11T23:40:06Z

About Gabriele Boccaccini

Gabriele Boccaccini is professor of Second Temple Judaism and early rabbinic literature at the University of Michigan. He is also the founding director of the Enoch Seminar, a forum of international specialists in early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam affiliated with the Society of Biblical Literature. In 2019, he was awarded knighthood by the president of Italy in recognition of his contributions to Italian culture in the world.