Apocalyptic Imagination - Part 4: Enoch, continued

Transitions, the Apocalypse of Weeks, the Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 81-93) 

Transitions  

1 Enoch 81-84 

As discussed, 1 Enoch is a composite text which has complicated literary and textual history.  Scholars are divided on how the sections of the book are to be demarcated.  We have skipped over 1 Enoch 37-80 (“The Similitudes of Enoch” and the “Book of the Luminaries” or “Astronomical Book”) to which we will return in our next session.  Nickelsburg sees 81-82 as a natural conclusion of 6-36, in that Enoch receives a final vision, written on tablets, which he is to share with his offspring.  Other scholars (Collins, VanderKam) think that 81 and 82 form the conclusion of the “Book of the Luminaries”. In chapter 82, we are told that Enoch has also written down the content of his revelation and is passing it on to his son Methuselah. Thus, it is difficult to know if 81-82 really belonged to the earlier “Book of Watchers” as a conclusion, as a conclusion to the “Book of Luminaries” or is a later editorial addition meant to serve as transitional between older and later material, weaving together strands of the tradition.  Chapters 83-84 can be seen either as a kind of “summing up” of Enoch’s earlier vision and underscores the importance of the Flood narrative as the apocalyptic interpretive key to understanding creation/destruction/re-creation, or as a unique vision in and of itself, or as a preface to the “Animal Apocalypse.”  There is much debate about how to sort out these redactional issues.  The final section of the book of Enoch 91-105 (“The Epistle of Enoch”) is concerned with the handing on of his visions. 

The Animal Apocalypse 

1 Enoch 85-90 

Unlike the “Book of the Watchers” and some of the other visions, although Enoch has an angelic guide, he is not taken on a heavenly journey.  This section is an allegorical reading of Biblical and post-Biblical history using animals to represent key biblical and historical figures.  Like the apocalypse in the book of Daniel, this history is largely traceable to a certain point at which future speculation ensues.  Internal evidence suggests that this section comes from the Maccabean period. 

The Apocalypse of Weeks 

1 Enoch 93:1-10 + 91:10-17 

Again, the textual history is complicated, but this short apocalypse seems to be a unique apocalypse in its own right; although the question is open as to whether it ever circulated independently.  A fragmentary Aramaic manuscript survives amongst the Qumran (Dead Sea Scroll) fragments, suggesting that the Ethiopic edition which has come down to us has broken up and confused the order of this apocalypse in its Ethiopic form.  As we have it, the Apocalypse of Weeks has been broken up, reordered, and inserted into a text known as the Epistle of Enoch, which forms the final part of 1 Enoch.  The text should properly be read as follows: 93:1-10 + 91:10-17.   

 

The so-called "Apocalypse of Weeks" divides history into ten periods of weeks.  The supposed author, Enoch, is situated in the second week, while the actual author lives in the seventh week.  The eighth through tenth weeks are in the future of the author and have yet to come to pass, much as we saw in Daniel 12 and in the “Animal Apocalypse.” John Collins has suggested that the use of the Enoch pseudonym permits the actual author a “vaticanium ex eventu”, that is, a review of past history as if it  were prophesying future events.  This is true of most apocalypses.  Collins has also recognized that there is a pattern of “sin and salvation” through the “weeks”.  He offers a brief description of the ages, filling in the blanks as to whom the unnamed figures are.  The first week is the week of creation and an age of justice and righteousness.  The second week is the time when wickedness will arise, but deliverance and recreation will occur through the flood. Enoch lives in the second week.  The third week refers to the time of Abraham, described as “a plant of righteousness.” The fourth week describes the gift of the Law for all generations. The fifth week describes the building of the house of glory (the Temple), while the sixth week describes the destruction of the Temple, the exile, and Elijah’s ascent.  The seventh week, in which the actual author lives is an apostate generation but ends with the election of the righteous remnant.  The eight through tenth weeks are what Collins describes as “the eschatological finale.” 

Collins has also noted that the use of the “weeks” schema, gives the impression of an ordered universe, and allows the reader to situate her/himself within the scope of world history. 

The final section of the book of Enoch 91-105 (“The Epistle of Enoch”) is concerned with the handing on of his visions. 106 and 107 are appendices. 

Questions for Reflection:

1. How do you see chapters 81-82 as fitting into the rest of the book? 

2. Which biblical and historical figures can you identify in the “Animal Apocalypse” 

3. Why do you think the author of the “Animal Apocalypse” encoded history and prophecy in an animal allegory?  What is the author trying to “reveal”? 

4. In the “Apocalypse of Weeks,” what does the future age look like? What is the author trying to “reveal”? 

5. Why do you think the redactor included the “Apocalypse of Weeks” in the text, and what do you think might led to its fragmentation and disordering in the final text?