Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of the Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism

254 Pages·1998·8.5 MB·English

by  Gabriele Boccaccini

"Gabriele Boccaccios book is a fascinating, incisively
reasoned contribution to Qumran research."
—ELAINE PAGELS
Princeton University

Beyond the
Essene Hypothesis
• ·
The Parting of the Ways between
Qumran and Enochic Judaism
GABRIELE BOCCACCINI
WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN / CAMBRIDGE, U.K.
© 1998 Wm. Β. Ee1dmans Publishing Co.
255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503 /
P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
03 02 01 00 99 98 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Catalogi11g-in-Publication Data
Boccaccini, Gabriele, 1958-
Beyond the Essene hypothesis: the parting of the ways
between Qumran and Enochic Judaism / Gabriele Boccaccini.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8028-4360-3 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Qumran community.
2. Essenes.
3. Dead Sea scrolls — Criticism, interpretation, etc.
4. Ethiopie book of Enoch —· Criticism, interpretation, etc.
I. Title.
BM175.Q6B63 1998
296.8Ί4 — dc21 97-41870
CIP
For Paolo and Cherubina

Contents
Preface χ
Abbreviations and Sigla xvii
1. Introduction: Beyond the Essene Hypothesis 1
The Calm after the Storm 1
Historiographical Analysis and Systemic Analysis 8
Moving Forward: From the Essene Hypothesis to the
Enochic/Essene Hypothesis 11
PART I
fflSTORIOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS 19
2. The Essenes in Ancient Historiography 21
First-Century Jewish and Ν on-Jewish Sources 21
Location, Extent, and Antiquity of the Essenes 22
Communal Ownership 31
Marriage and Celibacy 38
Summary: The Palestinian Communities
and the Community of the Dead Sea 46
PARI II
SYSTEMIC ANALYSIS 51
3. The Prehistory of the Sect 53
The "Qumran Library" 53
The Sectarian Texts of the Community
of the Dead Sea Scrolls 59
Pre-Maccabean Texts in the Qumran Library:
Enochic and Zadokite Documents 68
4. The Formative Age 81
Daniel and the Book of Dream Visions 81
The Book of Jubilees 86
The Temple Scroll (1JQT) 98
The Proto-Epistle of Enoch, Including
the Apocalypse of Weeks 104
The Halakhic Letter (4QMMT) 113
5. The Schism between Qumran and Enochic Judaism 119
The Damascus Document (CD) 119
Missing Texts (I): Sectarian Censorship 129
Enochic Documents Unknown at Qumran;
or, Enoch vs. Qumran 131
Sectarian Documents in Context;
or, Qumran vs. Enoch 150
Missing Texts (II): Sectarian Documents
outside Qumran 156
Summary: A Bifurcation in the Chain
of Enochic Documents 160
PART III
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 163
6. Conclusion: The Enochic/Essene Hypothesis 165
Enochic Judaism and Essene Judaism 165
Common Roots: Both Moses and Enoch 166
Common Ideology: Rejection of Individual Predestination 170
Common Sociology: Diverse People, Yet Not Set Apart 178
A Composite Picture of the Enochic/Essene Movement 185
Summary: The Enochic/Essene Hypothesis
and Its Implications 191
Bibliography: The Dead Sea Scrolls
and Second Temple Judaism 197
From Late Judaism to Middle Judaisms 197
General Introductions to the History
and Religion of Second Temple Judaism 199
Studies on the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 204
Studies on the Dead Sea Scrolls 208
Indexes 219
Main Subjects 219
Ancient Sources 223
Modem Interpreters 226