The Aramaic Books Of Enoch And Related Literature From Qumran

The volume examines the Qumran manuscripts of the Aramaic Books of Enoch and the Book of Giants, focusing on their grammar, meaning, and connection to the Mesopotamian astronomical tradition. It also explores the apocalyptic traditions about fallen angels and humanity.

This volume contains studies that explore the content and meaning of the Qumran manuscripts of the Aramaic Books of Enoch, the Book of Giants, and related literature. The essays shed new light on the lexicon, orthography and grammar of the Aramaic scrolls, as well as their relationship to schematic astronomy in ancient Mesopotamia. Contributors examine the origin of the angelic tradition of the Watchers, the textual and literary relationship of the Aramaic scrolls to the Book of the Watchers, and the culpability of humanity in the spread of evil on earth according to the myth of the fallen angels.

The Aramaic texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls are among the most important discoveries for the history of Aramaic and for the background of early Judaism and Christianity. They constitute a “missing link” between Biblical Aramaic and the later Aramaic of the targums and midrashic literature. Among them are the oldest texts we have of the Book of Enoch and Tobit, as well as the earliest Aramaic translation of a portion of Scripture, the Targum of Job. Other previously unknown texts such as the Genesis Apocryphon and the Aramaic Levi Document have opened up many new avenues of research on the literature of early Judaism, and the dialect itself is chronologically the one nearest to the origins of Christianity. Now, for the first time, there is a comprehensive dictionary of all the Aramaic texts from the 11 Qumran caves, from a noted specialist in Qumran Aramaic. It is the first dictionary in any language devoted solely to this important Aramaic corpus and contains a wealth of detail, including definitions, extensive citations of the sources, discussions of difficult passages, revised readings, and a bibliography. It will be an indispensable resource to anyone interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the literature of early Judaism and Christianity, and the Aramaic language.

This volume contains seven Aramaic manuscripts of a Jewish pseudepigraphic tradition from the Second Temple period that ascribes to Enoch, the biblical antediluvian patriarch, a series of heavenly revelations and visions. 4Q201, 4Q202, 4Q204, 4Q205, 4Q206, 4Q207, and 4Q212 published here partially overlap with the Book of the Watchers, the Book of Dreams, and Letter of Enoch and constitute the earliest textual witness to these pseudepigrapha. The fragmentary Aramaic text is accompanied by a paleographic description, grammatical and textual notes, reconstructions, and synoptic comparison with versional evidence. The Aramaic, Aramaic-Greek, and Greek-Aramaic concordances are based on the Aramaic text collated anew for the present edition. The book also comprises an edition of two Greek excerpts, together with a Latin and Syriac fragment of 1 Enoch.

Publisher's description: The volume assembles twenty previously published studies by Devorah Dimant, which have been re-edited, updated, and furnished with an introductory essay written especially for this collection. The studies survey and analyze Jewish works composed in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek during the Second Temple period, and discuss their contents, ideas, and connections to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Particular attention is paid to central issues, such as the apocalyptic worldview and literature and its relationship to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among others, specific themes related to the Aramaic Tobit and 1 Enoch are analyzed as well as the links detected between the Hebrew Qumran writings Pseudo-Ezekiel and the Apocryphon of Jeremiah and the later apocalyptic works 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch. The introductory essay provides a general framework and pertinent terminology for discussing the literature in question. Together these essays offer a broad and fresh perspective of the Jewish literary scene in antiquity, with special attention to the one nurtured in the land of Israel.

A collection of detailed studies of some Aramaic texts from Qumran ("Book of Noah, Books of Enoch, Book of Giants, Prayer of Nabonidus, Pseudo-Daniel Aramaic, 4Q246" and "New Jerusalem") which provides new insights on the relationship of Qumran and the Apocalyptic Tradition.

This volume brings together twenty-one essays by Michael Knibb on the Book of Enoch and on other Early Jewish texts and traditions, which were originally published in a wide range of journals, Festschriften, conference proceedings and thematic collections. A number of the essays are concerned with the issues raised by the complex textual history and literary genesis of 1 Enoch, but the majority are concerned with the interpretation of specific texts or with themes such as messianism. The essays illustrate some of the dominant concerns of Michael Knibb's work, particularly the importance of the idea of exile; the way in which older texts regarded as authoritative were reinterpreted in later writings; and the connections between the apocalyptic writings and the sapiential literature.

(Peeters 1992)