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| ISBN-13: | 9780802866660 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company |
| Publication date: | 03/09/2011 |
| Series: | Attitudes Towards Sexuality in Judaism and Christianity in t |
| Pages: | 579 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.40(d) |
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THE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA on SEXUALITY
Attitudes towards Sexuality in Apocalypses, Testaments, Legends, Wisdom, and Related LiteratureBy William Loader Ibolya Balla
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Copyright © 2011 William LoaderAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8028-6666-0
Chapter One
Attitudes towards Sexuality in Apocalypses, Testaments, and Related Writings1.1 Later Enoch Literature
1.1.1 The Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 37 – 71)
The Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 37 – 71) form part of the collection known to us as 1 Enoch. Some parts of the collection had been associated together very early and that association is evident in the surviving Aramaic fragments found at Qumran. Thus 4Q205 and 4Q206 contain parts of both the Book of the Watchers and the Dream Visions and 4Q203 + 204 contains parts of the Book of the Watchers, the Book of Giants, the Dream Visions, and the Epistle of Enoch. The chapters known as the Parables or Similitudes of Enoch have left no trace there. They survive only in the Ethiopic translation. There they are the second of five main parts, mirroring the Pentateuch, with two appendices. While the five-fold pattern may explain the present form of the collection, there is insufficient evidence to support that it had an earlier five-fold form or even that the component works were always configured into the sequence in which we now find them. It makes better sense to see in the Parables a work composed in Aramaic, under the influence of especially the Book of the Watchers and possibly early Noachic traditions, but having had an independent existence and then later been incorporated into the 1 Enoch collection.
Its absence from among the fragments at Qumran may, but need not, indicate that it was not then in existence. It was indeed most likely to have been in existence before the settlement at Qumran was destroyed by the Romans in 69 C.E. Its probable influence on the Gospel according to Matthew and the Book of Revelation excludes a date after around 85 C.E. One of the few internal indicators (56:7) suggests that the author is unaware of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Another may allude to the threat of the Parthians in the mid first century B.C.E. (56:5-8). There may also be a reference to Herod's seeking healing in the hot pools of Callirhoe (67:8-13; cf. Josephus A.J. 17.169-172; B.J. 1.656-58). Charlesworth suggests that the focus on evil landowners reflects confiscations in the reign of Herod. It is difficult to be more precise. It does, however, enable us to see how an author worked with the Enoch tradition, probably some time around the turn of the era, and, in particular, to observe what the document preserves of attitudes towards sexuality.
After the title given in the words of the author in 37:1, "The second vision which he saw" (cf. the title, "The Book of Parables", is based on the designation in 82:1), we immediately hear the words of Enoch, who, following a common pattern in the document of sudden switches of speaking voices, introduces himself as imparting wisdom given him by God to give to dwellers on earth. This is in itself interesting, since it connects with wisdom literature and uses a common expression, "beginning of wisdom" (37:3; cf. 37:2), but like 1/4QInstruction lays claim to wisdom which also includes information about a final judgement.
The document stands above all under the influence of the Book of the Watchers, whose sequence it follows, especially in the first parable, as Nickelsburg demonstrates. This Enoch then provides a structural overview of the work, as he reports: "Three parables were (imparted) to me" (37:5). These are then marked in 38:1 as "the First Parable", reaching to 44:1; "the second parable", 45:1, reaching to 57:3; and "the third parable", 58:1, reaching to 69:29. In the final section, 70 – 71, we then hear the author directly reporting Enoch's ascension to heaven. This seemingly neat structure is disturbed however by what appear to be extraneous traditions woven into the document. Thus, for instance, 65:1 – 68:4 present words of Noah which are only loosely integrated into the document. There are other such unevennesses, possibly reflecting the author's use of sources or his combining different materials loosely and sometimes without providing any transition. We shall take the detailed discussion of these into account where they have significance for our investigation.
The First Parable (38:1 – 44:1)
The theme of all three parables is the coming judgement, in which the figure variously designated as the Righteous One, the Chosen, and Son of Man, acts as God's agent. The work has for this reason received much attention from scholars seeking a background for christology. Already the opening account, 38:1-5, which envisages a time when "the congregation of the righteous appears" (38:1) and "the Righteous One appears in the presence of the righteous" (38:2), enables us to see a vision of judgement which entails the righteous and their leader engaged in annihilating the wicked and their leaders (cf. 1:3c-9). The wicked will be driven off from the righteous and chosen (38:3) and cease to exist (38:6). It gives particular attention to the kings and the mighty who now control the land, and who will be given into the hands of the righteous (38:5; cf. 1:8-9). The author will doubtless identify himself as belonging to the congregation of the righteous. They appear regularly as a group and at one point are joined by others who see their success over against the kings (50:2). We are probably dealing with hearers who understand themselves to be a group within Israel, hopeful that the rest of Israel will ultimately join them.
Somewhat unmediated, the author then interrupts Enoch's account in 39:1 to address the hearers, giving a brief account of the Watcher myth based on 6 – 16: "in those days, sons of the chosen and holy were descending from the highest heaven and their seed was becoming one with the sons of men". "Those days" (39:1, 2, 3) refer to Enoch's time. While the verb yewarredu could be read with Black as a future, "will descend", and so refer to "fresh assaults of angelic 'watchers' on mankind", the context, which reports events of Enoch's time, repeating "in those days" and including his ascent (39:3), suggests that reading it as past imperfect is preferable. The words, "and there will be no mercy for them" (omitted by NV), refer to future judgement of the Watchers for their deed before the flood, a firm element in the tradition (10:12-14).
The summary of the myth in 39:1 describes the Watchers as "sons of the chosen and holy". "Sons of" will reflect semitic usage of speaking of members belonging to a group, here, the angels, as in the common expression "sons of Israel", rather than to literal sonship. Behind it is the expression "sons of heaven" in 6:2 and "sons of God" in Gen 6:2. VanderKam notes that "many manuscripts, including those of the b family, read daqiq rather than daqiqa, yielding the meaning 'chosen and holy children'".
To speak of "their seed" as "becoming one with the sons of man" is also somewhat ambiguous. "Their seed" will refer here not to their offspring, nor to their semen, but to themselves as a kind or category, namely, holy angels. It refers to their having engaged in sexual relations with "sons of men", meaning not males, but humankind, and in particular, women. This brief statement focuses solely on the act of illicit intercourse. It says nothing of their progeny, the giants and the evil spirits, an element also not taken up elsewhere in the work, nor does it mention impartation of forbidden knowledge, an aspect which is, however, the main focus of attention in other allusions to the Watchers' deed in the work.
The summary in 39:1 could be heard as almost as neutral as the Genesis account. The author does not pause to dwell on the nature of the deed as sexual wrongdoing, but his next comments, in 39:2, clearly show that this is far from neutral. For he reminds the hearers of the earlier writings: "In those days Enoch received books of jealous wrath and rage", revealing what he sees as their main concern and reaction to the angels' deed, and implicitly invites comparison between their own day and the times of Enoch, but without further elucidation. He then moves to describe Enoch's ascent (cf. 12:1) as being taken up in a whirlwind, reminiscent of Elijah: "In those days a whirlwind snatched me up from the face of the earth" (39:3).
Enoch then reports what he sees in the heavenly world, including the resting places of the holy ones and of the righteous (39:4-8). They are with the angels in God's presence. Enoch goes on to speak of "that place" (39:10) (though some MSS have "in those days"). It is in effect the heavenly temple, full of worshipping angels, and including the four different figures, reminiscent of Rev 4:6-11, but identified as Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Phanuel (40:1-10). It is important to see that this describes the situation before the judgement, since thereafter the document envisages everlasting life for the righteous and chosen ones on a renewed earth. Had the document indicated that the temple was to be their permanent abode, then one certain implication would be that there would be no room for sexual relations, for marrying or being given in marriage, in such a context.
He then reports seeing the "secrets of heaven", explained as referring to the judgement and the driving off of the wicked and their destruction, 41:1-2, matching the account in 38:1-5. This passage speaks of "the dwelling places of the chosen and the dwelling places of the holy ones", from which the wicked are expelled. This is probably not the same as their resting places in the heavenly temple, as in 39:4, but presumably refers to dwelling places on earth, though this is not made explicit. The penultimate verse of the parable speaks of "the holy ones who dwell on the earth and believe in the name of the Lord of Spirit forever and ever" (43:4), probably suggesting permanent dwelling on (a renewed) earth.
Between 41:1-2 and the conclusion of the parable, we find at first an extensive section about other secrets which Enoch saw, relating, in particular to lightning and thunder, meteorological phenomena, the sun and moon (41:3-8), and concluding in 41:9 with a statement about the judge seeing all and judging them. In the preserved sequence this merges together the divine order of creation with the divine order of judgement, which underlies the sense of order in much apocalyptic literature. As in 1 Enoch 1 – 5, the passage emphasises that the heavenly bodies "do not leave the course and they neither extend nor diminish their course", but keep to the oath they have sworn (41:5), an image developed extensively in 69:13-25. Both the sense of fixed order and the contrast between light and darkness (41:8) serve to reinforce the distinction between sinners and the righteous, as those who flout God's order and those who follow it. The word, Law, does not appear in the document, but it clearly assumes a divine order.
We find the same juxtaposition of heavenly bodies (lightning and stars) and their order and judgement continuing in 43:1-3, but preceded in 42:1-3, somewhat unmediated, by accounts of Wisdom and its opposite, here, Iniquity. Both are pictured as women seeking a dwelling place, the former finding none among "the sons of men", echoing a tradition found already in the Epistle of Enoch, "I know that sinners will tempt people to do harm to wisdom; and no place will be found for her, and none of the temptation will diminish" (94:5). The latter, Iniquity, finds "those whom she did not seek" and dwells among them as "rain in a desert and dew in a thirsty land". While both are pictured as women, the focus is not on sexual relations nor on seductiveness on the part of either, as in Proverbs and elsewhere, but is more generic in emphasis and depiction. At most one might observe that the story of the descents of the women stand in parallel to the reference to the descent of the Watchers in 39:1. The imagery for Iniquity derives from another aspect of reality altogether, speaking of rain for the dry land and water for the thirsty. The passage has, therefore, little to say in relation to attitudes to sexuality. The nature of Iniquity will be informed by the sense of divine order reflected in the context and so represent its transgression.
The role of the passage may be polemical against the temple establishment and its interpreters, especially if written in contrast to the claims of Sirach 24 and Baruch 4 about wisdom finding its dwelling in Israel and its temple (cf. also John 1:9-11), and perhaps even employing the image of water subversively, normally used of the positive offering of wisdom and Law (e.g. Sir 24:25-31). In its present context it appears to supplement the reference in 41:1-9 to the wicked "who deny the name of the Lord of Spirits" and their judgement, explaining how their wickedness was nourished. The passage seems sharply polemical against such people (who may also be the sinners in the presence of the righteous who must be expelled according to 38:3). Nothing, however, suggests particular disputes, for instance, over interpretation of the Law with another group, if, for instance, one is the butt here of irony.
The Second Parable (45:1 – 57:3)
The second parable also focuses on judgement. It begins with the author declaring that "those who deny the name of the dwelling of the holy ones and of the Lord of Spirits" (similarly 45:2, "who have denied the name of the Lord of Spirits"; cf. 45:3 "appeal to my glorious name") will have no dwelling place in heaven or earth, but will be kept "for the day of affliction and tribulation" (45:1-2). This may simply refer generically to all sinners. It may refer specifically to enemies close to the author's community. From 45:3 we find God speaking directly. 45:3 introduces the figure of "the Chosen One" (see already 39:6; 40:5), to be identified with "the Righteous One" of 38:2. He "will sit on the throne of glory" and test their works (45:3). In this context we read that both heaven and earth will be transformed (reflecting Isa 65:17) and more importantly that the chosen ones will dwell on earth in God's presence (45:5) and sinners will be annihilated (45:5-6). Assuming some coherence with the first parable, this suggests that the heavenly dwelling places in the first vision (39:4-8; 41:2) refer to the time before the judgement and that subsequent to the judgement the righteous will dwell again on earth (perhaps already 43:4), elsewhere described as resurrected life. We hear nothing about the nature of that life, for instance, whether it includes family life, marriage, and sexual relations.
The second parable also expands our understanding of the way the author sees the exercise of judgement. The human-like figure, identified as the Chosen and Righteous One, will be God's agent in tipping the mighty from their couches (a probable allusion to their indulgent feasts) and dethroning them (46:4-5). Hearers who are aware of the content of 67:8-13, which speaks of the lust of the flesh among the kings, might also associate this with sexual wrongdoing. We then hear that their offences include failure to acknowledge God as the source of their kingdom (46:5) and to "exalt the name of the Lord of Spirits" (46:6). They practice idolatry and rest on their wealth and "persecute the houses of his congregation and the faithful who depend on the name of the Lord of Spirits" (46:8). Again nothing suggests a sexual theme, although it might be envisaged as belonging to the depiction of the mighty on their couches.
Thus focus turns in 47:1-4 to the righteous, including the prayers of the righteous in heaven for those on earth. In an echo of the imagery used negatively of Iniquity and her recipients in 42:3, 48:1 speaks of abounding springs of wisdom for the righteous (similarly 49:1-4 which identifies the Chosen One as the bearer of wisdom). In what follows, the persecution of the righteous receives elaboration, the cry of "the blood of the righteous" appealing for divine action (47:1-4), recalling 9:2-3. In 48:1-10 Enoch then hails the hidden pre-existent Son of Man (similarly 62:7), who is to overcome the kings. As in 38:1-5, we read again that they will fall into the hands of the chosen ones, and face annihilation (48:9). The theme of wisdom returns in 49:1-4 where it is hailed as an attribute of the Chosen One.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from THE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA on SEXUALITY by William Loader Ibolya Balla Copyright © 2011 by William Loader. Excerpted by permission of William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments....................xIntroduction....................1
PART ONE ATTITUDES TOWARDS SEXUALITY IN APOCALYPSES, TESTAMENTS, AND RELATED WRITINGS....................4
1.1 Later Enoch Literature....................4
1.2 The Sibylline Oracles....................56
1.3 Jeremiah, Baruch, and Ezra Literature....................79
1.4 Other Apocalypses and Testaments....................106
PART TWO ATTITUDES TOWARDS SEXUALITY IN HISTORIES, LEGENDS, AND RELATED WRITINGS....................142
2.1 Septuagintal Literature....................142
2.2 Beyond the Septuagint....................258
2.3 Later Works of Disputed Provenance....................334
PART THREE ATTITUDES TOWARDS SEXUALITY IN PSALMS, WISDOM WRITINGS, AND FRAGMENTARY WORKS....................342
3.1 Psalms....................342
3.2 Wisdom Writings....................362
3.3 Fragmentary Judeo-Hellenistic Works....................476
Conclusion....................490
Bibliography....................514
Index of Modern Authors....................552
Index of Ancient Sources....................559