Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of the Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism
Overview
In Beyond the Essene Hypothesis, respected scholar Gabriele Boccaccini offers readers a new and challenging view of the ideology of the Qumran sect—the community closely related to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Boccaccini moves beyond the Essene hypothesis and posits a unique relationship between what he terms “Enochic Judaism” and the group traditionally known as the Essenes.
Building his case on what the ancient records tell us about the Essenes and a systematic analysis of the documents found at Qumran, Boccaccini argues that the literature reveals the core of an ancient and distinct variety of Second Temple Judaism. Tracing the development of this tradition, Boccaccini shows that the Essene community at Qumran was really the offspring of the Enochic party, which in turn contributed to the birth of parties led by John the Baptist and Jesus. Convincingly argued, this work will surely spark fresh debate in the discussion on the Qumran community and their famous writings.
Get more resources with Eerdmans Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls (7 vols.).
- Offers readers a new and challenging view of the ideology of the Qumran sect
- Discusses the Essene community at Qumran as the offspring of the Enochic party
- Presents a unique relationship between what he terms “Enochic Judaism” and the Essenes
- The Essenes in Ancient Historiography
- The Prehistory of the Sect
- The Formative Age
- The Schism between Qumran and Enochic Judaism
- Conclusion: The Enochic/Essene Hypothesis
Top Highlights
“Jubilees stems from the same priestly party that produced the books of Enoch” (Page 87)
“Enochic Judaism explores a different path that, while confirming the superhuman origin of evil, preserves the freedom of Satan to rebel, the freedom of human beings to choose, and the freedom of God to bring deliverance. Evil is against God’s will and is the unfortunate result of an act of rebellion, which only the joint efforts of God, humans, and the heavenly messiah can successfully defeat.” (Page 149)
“Not only is no individual totally good or totally evil, but there is no balance between the two forces. The uneven number of spirits (‘nine’) makes a tie impossible.” (Page 63)
“shares the generative idea of Enochic Judaism, the idea that evil is superhuman and is caused by the sin of the Watchers” (Page 87)
“the transgression of the Mosaic torah as part of the process of degeneration of history that began with angelic sin.” (Page 92)
Along with the recent revival of interest in the DSS have come renewed questions and theories about the community that owned them. Boccaccini’s Beyond the Essene Hypothesis is a model attempt to advance beyond previous hypotheses by combining strong methodology with clear reasoning. . . . Though the nature of the evidence prevents his conclusions from being certain, Boccaccini does an admirable job of sifting and sorting historical descriptions and manuscript evidence to construct a persuasive theory of the development of an Enochic/Essene mainstream religious group from which the community at Qumran may have derived. His book will repay careful consideration.
—Dead Sea Discoveries
Penetrating and lucidly presented analysis.
—The Jerusalem Post
- Title: Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of the Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism
- Author: Gabriele Boccaccini
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Publication Date: 1998
- Pages: 252
- Resource Type: Topical
- Topic: Dead Sea Scrolls