Qumran and Apocalyptic: Studies on the Aramaic Texts from Qumran (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah)

STUDIES ON THE TEXTS OF THE DESERT OF JUDAH F. GARCIA MARTINEZ A. S. VAN DER WOUDE

1

QUMRAN AND APOCALYPTIC STUDIES O N THE ARAMAIC TEXTS FROM QUMRAN

FLORENTINO GARCIA MARTINEZ

LEIDEN

EJ. BRILL NEW YORK 1992

KOLN

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Garcia Martinez, Florentine. Qumran and Apocalyptic: studies on the Aramaic texts from Qumran / by F. Garcia Martinez. p. cm.-(Studies on the texts of the desert of Judah, ISSN 0169-9962; v . 9) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 9004095861 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Dead Sea scrolls-Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Apocalyptic literature-History and criticism. I. Title. 11. Series. BM487.C325 1992 296.1 '55-dc20 91 -46425 CIP

ISSN 0 169-9962 ISBN 90 04 09586 1

0 Copyright 1 9 9 2 by E.]. Brill, Lndcn, 7hc Netherlands AN ngho rtsmcd. .No part of this book may bc rcproduccd or hamIalcd in any fonn, by pnnt, photoprint, microfilm, minofiche or any other means hut wn'ttm pmnisswnfrom the publisher Authoriratwn to photocopy ifemfor infernal or personal we is granted by E.]. Brill provided that the appropriateJccs arc paid direct& b Copyright CLorance C w , 2 7 Congress Shrcl, SALEM U4 01970, USA. Fccs arc subject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

Pour Annie

CONTENTS Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l.4QMess Ar and the Book of Noah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4QMess Aramaic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TheBookofNoah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noachic materials in 1 Enoch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noachic materials in Jubilees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noachic materials in Qumran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outline of the lost Book of Noah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Contribution of the Aramaic Enoch Fragments to our understanding of the Books of Enoch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The AstronomicaI Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Book of Watchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TheBookofDreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Epistle of Enoch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. The Book of Giants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copies of the Book of Giants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Manichean Book of Giants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other elements of the Book of Giants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Order of the elements of the Book of Giants . . . . . . . . . Origin and Date of the Book of Giants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . The Prayer of Nabonidus: A New Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . 4QPrayer of Nabonidus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reconstructed Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relation with other texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relation with Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relation with Nab H . 2A/B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relation with 4QpsDan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relation with Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Literary genre and Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . 4QPseudo Daniel Aramaic and the Pseudo-Danielic Literature

...

Vlll

CONTENTS

4QPseudo Daniel Aramaic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aramaic Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pseudo Danielic Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arabic Pseudo-Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Armenian Pseudo-Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coptic Pseudo-Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slavonic Pseudo-Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greek Pseudo-Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Apocalypsis of the Profet Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The monk Daniel on the 'Seven Hills' . . . . . . . . . . . . Visions of Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel Diegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hebrew Pseudo-Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Persian Pseudo-Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Syriac Pseudo-Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. The eschatological figure of 4Q246 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Q246 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transcription of the text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Milik's Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fitzmyer's Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Flusser's Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Eschatological Saviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4QpsDan Ar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4QTestimonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1QH 111.7.18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11QMefcllisedek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Q'Amram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. The i 1 3 a n n 3 i n i K w J K v i y l y l l K -n K l a n K71W K " i l 713 n l D 0 1 1!JlD7 ' a l > Y ~1;1'313Wn >1[31] ?ainw:7 n i l 1 a i ' 7 i n K i a K ~ > K 171-13'13 'a 1313w[n ] v m t [ j T'n>Y> i l i a > 'ai113w[n 1 I?'>[ I...[ 1s '1 K [ 1 11i 3 w n n[ 1

I

'a 11

5 6 7

8

9 10 11 12

13

I 14 1 15 I 16 1 17

7.1

.I ";i .I

Col. ii

a i n3 7 I [ p I..? Knrli 17U W'K3 Kn..[

1

]an a[ K l p 1 3 ... 1 181

1-l 1

1 2

I...[ 1 3 I 4 1 5 110 6

'ainyu] n i i i

I. '1 .3n7 ?>.3.[ ? i ] ~ a I' > K 5 1 3 1 3 i n ' I n 2 lo[

p[

7

]7'13>Y3 8 (lost 9.10.11) I..]131131 12 1.n 7 1 3 7 n ' i 13 1 7 1 9 1 ~ 7'0~ 14

The date of the original cannot be ascertained. The composition is certainly prior to Jub. it is even possible that it predates nte Book of Watchers because it presents a previous stage in the development of the legend of the fallen angels and because I h m h 10.1-3 seems to incorporate a reference to it (on the level of the Aramaic original, or on the level of thc later Greek Version?).

@MESS AR AND THE BOOK OF NOAH

B. Translation CoL i 1 of the hand, two[...]...[...I a mark; is red 2 his hair [and he has] moles on... [...I Vacat 3 And small marks on his thigh [...I different one from another. He will know ... [...I 4 In his youth he will be ... [... like a m]an who does not know anything, [until] the moment in which 5 he will know the three books. Vacar 6 Then he will acquire wisdom and will know [.. I ... of visions, in order to come to the sphere[ ..I 7 And with his father and with his forefathers [.. I life and old age. Counsel and prudence will be with him, 8 and he will know the secrets of man. And his wisdom will reach all the peoples. And he will know the secrets of all living things. 9 And all their plans against him will come to nothing, although the opposition of all living things will be great, 10 [.. I his plans. Because he is the elect of God, his birth and the spirit of his breath 11 [:..I his plans shall be forever. Vacut 12 [...I which [...I ... 13 [...I the plan 14 [...I... 15 [...I... 16 [...I... 17 [...I...

1 [...]which[..] fell in old times. The sons of the pit.

4QMESS AR AND THE BOOK OF NOAH

2 [...]evil. The mole[ ..I 3 4 5 6 7 8

[...I...[...] [...I to go[. .I [...]fle[sh...] ...[...I and the spirit of his bre[ath . .I forever[. .I (9.10.1 1 lost) 12 and cities[. .I 13 and they will destroy [...I... [...I 14 waters will cease [...I will destroy [...I from the high places; all of them will come[...I 15 [...I Vacat. 16 [...I and all of them will be rebuilt. His deed will be as the one of the Watchers. 17 Instead of his voice[ . .I will base upon him its foundation. Its sin and its guilt 18 [.. ]. .[. .I Holy One and the Watchers[ . .I saying 19 [... they have sploken against him. 20 [...]...[...I...[..] 21 [...]...[...I

C. Notes Col. i

Line 1 r)l7 '1. These words undoubtedly form part of a sentence begun in a previous column. We surmise, together with the editor, that lwn? refers to a substantive that has been lost, perhaps 70 lw,which reappears at the end of the line. Something like .>]in the same line, but he does not succeed in making this reading fit the context. His best argument is a parallel text taken from the Elephantine papyri (COWLEY 2.4.5; the other text quoted by FITZMYERis nothing but a reconstruction based on this one). But, apart from the contextual difference, the link between ~ T Y Wand lnriyu in the Elephantine text is secured by the structure of the sentence. Such is not the case in our text. Another weighty interpretation is the continual presence argument against FITZMYER'S of s&u/scirut >follows the main lines of the Old Testament, though phrased in expressions like ccthe chosen of Goodwill* (lQS VIII,6), ccthe chosen of the time* (lQS IX, 14), athe chosen of men* (lQS XI,16), ccthe chosen of Thy holy people), (lQM XII,l), athe chosen of the heavens>>(IQM XII,S), athe chosen of justices (lQH I1,13; 4Q184 i 14), ccthe chosen of Israeb (CD IV,3; 1Q37 i 3; 4Q165 6,l; 4Q171 ii 2; 4Q174 i 19). A title similar to ours occurs once again in Qumran, although in Hebrew and in the plural: >ti ' l ' n 3 (IQpHah x, 13). In this case, it applies to the members of the Community. This confirms the impression that 1 7 n 3 may be better interpreted as a substantive than as a participle, but, just as with the expression *chosen of God>>of Rom 8,33; Col 3,12; Titus 1,l etc., its use in the plural does not help greatly in clarifying our text, in which it certainly refers to an individual. The use of 17.n3 in singular, in expressions such as i i ' n 3 nly (4Q164 i 3; 4Q171 ii S), or even the use of l l 7 i l r : (so ~ the > editor). There is sufficient space for a o. ? I Q Y is not found as an absolute term in the Qumran texts, but always in the expression

Il7?Y >K.

Line 14 : m l o ? . With RTZMYER, we read the word as a form of 710. STARCKY prefers to derive it from YD ', jr I > 1. This

61

See the detailed dlrcussion in ch. 2, pp. 61-67.

* Le L.ivre

d%ltnoch, W I X - W 0 0 ( .

30

4QMESS AR AND THE BOOK OF NOAH

offers too small a basis for identification of this fragment, so that nothing can be concluded with certainty, the more so because the correspondence of ; l ? Y l ? with the verb used by Syncellus cannot be dem~nstrated~~. Therefore, from the interpolations of the Book of Wcztchers allegedly derived from the lost Book of Nouh only the reference to the angelic communication, following God's command, that Noah should find a shelter and be preserved from the disaster caused by the deluge, can be considered as stemming from this writing. The wording of this element as preserved by Syncellus, which is more complete than the Ethiopic version, runs as follows: Then the Almighty spoke. and the Great Holy spoke, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamcch, saying: Go to Noah and tell him in my name: 'hide!', and revcal to him the end that is approaching, bccausc the whole carth is about to perish. Tell him that a catadysm will come down upon the earth and that all its surface will disappear. Tell the just what he must do, to the son of Lamech, and he will protect his soul for the life and will escape for centuries to come; a branch shall be brought forth from him, that will stand for all generations forever.

c) 7Xe Book of Parubla

The problem of the insertions that were allegedly incorporated into the Book of Parables is more complex. Without going into the difficult problem of the Anal composition of the Parables and their dating, I think it can be substantiated that the fragments that have been uniformly considered as interpolations are indeed pericopes that were reused and incorporated, in a more or less felicitous way, by the final redactor. All of them are in contradiction to the context in which they appear, follow a different chronology from the rest of the work,

The readings and restorations of MlLlK here present other additional problems: in the second line only il-is certain, and the space bctwecn the 4 and the 17- is too large to be filled with a simple -'(photograph PAM 42.228); the expression, as reconstructed by MIUK on line 4, does not match the parallel which closes ch. 10 on 4QEng 1 iv 18; cvcn so, MIUK is forced to invcrt the order of the text of Syncellus. The only base for the localisation of the fragment is the assumed wrrespondcncc of i l ? Y I? with a u v r q p ~ o e t .But auvrqpdo, which is a very common vcrb in the Greek version of Ben Sirah, translates there the Hebrew vcrb TOW, or even 1U 3. The other occunrnccs of the vcrb in I Enoch (for example 1,8) have not been prcscrvcd.

%MESS AR AND THE BOOK OF NOAH

31

e t ~ Whether . ~ ~ these insertions derive from the Book of Noah is, of course, quite another question. I Enoch 39,l-2 does not mention Noah at all. CHARLEScorrectly identifies these verses as an interpolation coming from the Book of Watchers. In fact, 39,l depends on 1 Enoch 6,l-2 and 39,2 on I Enoch 13,6-14.3. It is striking that the interpolator placed the verbs of 39,l in the future tense to make them fit into the context, but forget to do the same in 39,2, keeping the verb in a past form, despite the fact that the contents of the books received by Enoch refer to the punishment of a fault that will supposedly be committed in the future. I Enoch 54,7-55,2 deals with the deluge and the Noachic covenant, topics that do not appear in the Book of Watchers (except in the interpolated passage 10.1-3). One could think that these verses are simply an elaboration of the biblical text, since they show the same conception of a deluge caused by the overflowing of the waters in the heavens above, and the fountains of water which are on earth (I Enoch 54,7). But the characterisation of the waters from heaven as masculine and of the waters from the earth a! feminine6', induces me to assume that the text must be considered as an independent witness of an old narrative of the deluge, in other words as an imponant element of the lost Book of Noah. I Enoclt 60. In the case of this chapter, things are quite different. It contains three clearly distinct elements. According to 641-6.25 Noah (the Ethiopic text speaks about Enoch, although the date in the year 500 taken from Gen $32 shows that the character is clearly Noah; Enoch spent only 365 years on earth) sees a vision of judgement which recalls I Enoch 1,6; 14.14, etc. in 60,7-10.24 Behemoth and Leviathan, the two great monsters, male and female, are taken apart and respectively placed in the desert and in the ocean to serve as food for the just of the messianic era. In 60,ll-23 an unnamed angel shows Noah the secrets of heaven and earth, just as in I Enoch 17-18, though here most of the natural phenomena have their own angel: the rain, the hail, the frost, the dew, etc. This summary of the contents of the chapter clearly shows that its ascription to the Book of Nodl is far from self-evident.

64 See 7l1c Book of Enoch, 106-107, where ~ ( A R L E Sgives a series of reasons why these passages can be considered as interpolated. *That which is from the heavens above is masculine water, (whereas) that which is underneath the earth k feminine*, I Enoch 54,s.

32

&MESS AR AND THE BOOK OF NOAH

The first element (60.16.25) contains a series of details which suggest a later interpolation. It is not clear, as suggested by CHARLES, that it was incorporated in order to compensate for the lack of references to the first judgement in the Book of Parables, because no allusions to it can be traced. It seems impossible to identify the celestial earthquake of the text with the deluge. According to Gen 7,11 Noah was at the time of the deluge 600 years old, whereas the 500 years at which the vision is dated correspond to the period when he, according to Gen 5,32, begot his progeny. The way in which the vision is introduced with a precise date [aIn the year five hundred, in the seventh month, on the fourteenth day of the month*] is quite unique in the whole book of I Enoch and indicative of a later origin66 (and the possible influence of Jub), as is the presence, together with the Ancient of Days, of the angels and the just. We cannot, therefore, consider these verses as belonging to the Book of Noah. The same goes for 60,ll-23. Their contents agree with those of chapters 41.3-8; 43; 44 and 59. In fact, they may be read as the logical continuation of 59,3. Not even the mention of athe angel who was going with me,, disturbs the sequence, since it frequently appears in contexts in which the main character sees or hears6'. As for the angels who are presiding over natural phenomena or are identified with them, we also come across them in other sections of the Book of Patables: angels of the water (61,10), angels of the lead and the tin (65,8), of the celestial luminaries (43,2), of the winds (69,22), etc. Nothing, thus, in these verses demands that we ascribe them to the Book of Noah. The case of 60,7-10.24 is more complex. These verses are an meteorite of old days. Later tradition, 4 Ezra 6,49-52, 2 Bar 29,4, has connected the tradition of the two monsters with the story of the creation. Both monsters would have been created on the fifth day. But, in spite of this (the expression aon that day* of 60,7 could allude to this 5th day), I think the tradition of the two monsters is connected with the story of the fallen angels and the deluge and it can be considered as a profitable element when it comes to recovering the Leaving aside the interpretation of C H A W (7hc Book of Enoch, 113, note I), who sees here an allusion to the feast of the Tabernacles, or that of MIUK, who prefers to see here an allusion to the Christian feast of Easter, The B& of Enoch, 97. 67 See 40.2; 43.3; 46.2; 52.3; 62.3. In 40.8; 52,S; 53.4; 54.4 and 56,2 an Angel of peace- fulfii the same function of interpreter and guide.

&MESS AR AND THE

BOOK OF NOAH

33

lost Book of ~ o a h Several ~ . arguments may be put forward in favour of their provenance in Noachic literature. 1) The identity between the place where Asa'el is cast, Daduel [ = The breasts of El in I Enoch 1 0 . 4 ~ .and Dundayin, the place where Behemoth dwells6 This identity has been proved by MILIK~' on the basis of the Aramaic term underlying both toponyms: K l l , *the breasts*. This toponym links together the myth of Leviathan and Behemoth with that of the fallen angels. 2) The relation between the story of the fallen angels and the deluge is also secured by the very name of Leviathan, whose fight against Raphael has left some echoes in the Manichaean Book of the Giants: ~Ohya, Leviathan and Raphael wounded each other and disappeared*. From this text, which has been preserved in two copiesn, we learn, according to HENNING'Sinterpretation, that *Ohya killed Leviathan but was, in turn, killed by Raphael*. The same connection appears in the title of the work condemned by the Gelasian Decree: Liber de @a nomine gigante qui post diluvium cum dracone ab haereticis pugnasse perhibetur, apoctyphus. 3) Also suggestive of its Noachic origin is the allusion to Enoch's residence in the paradise of the just, and his designation ccthe seventh from Adam, the first man,,. We thus consider these verses as an insertion coming from the Book of Noah. I Enoch 65.1-69,25. This block is not a homogeneous composition, although it is presented as a vision of Noah included in Enoch's third parable. As a matter of fact, it is composed of three distinct units: - 65,l-67,3, which deals with the deluge and Noah's salvation.

68 Mlt.i& 7he Bwks of Enoch, 91, assumes that the fragment has been taken from the Book of Giants, but his hypothesis does not seem to bc well grounded. *Bind Azaz'el hand and foot (and) throw him into the darkness! And he ma& a hole in the de.scrt which was in Duda'el and cast him there*. See 60,s .who holds hi chest in an invisible dcsen whose name i s Dundayin, cast of the garden of Eden, wherein the elect and the righteous ones dwell, wherein my grandfather was taken, the seventh from Adam, the first man whom the Lord of the S irits created* ~ ~ 7 7 Bwks te of E n a h . 30.The identity was already suggested by L GINZEERG, 73e Legendr of the Jews, Vol. V, 127, and has been accepted by A. CsOUoT, uleviathan et Bthemoth dans la troisitme parabole d'Htnoch-, Semitica 25 (1979, 111-122. , Book of Giants+, BSOAS 11 (1943-46). 71Published by W.B. H E ~ N G *The

*

R

4QMESS AR AND THE BOOK OF NOAH

34

- 67,4-13, which treats of the punishment of the angels and their relationship with the kings and the mighty ones. - 68,l-69.25, an angelological and magical text. J.T. M I U K ~suggests that the third unit (1 Enoch 68.1-69.25) should be entitled T H E BOOKS O F ENOCH

tiomchn'fi, recently published, devoted to the eschatology of one of the documents incorporated in the block (chs. 9-11)~'. Still more interesting in my opinion are the works devoted to showing how the elements of chs. 6-11 are reused, duly transformed and incorporated into the following chapters (12-16)~,into the rest of the Book of watchersn, into the complete Enochic corpus74, or into the overall apocalyptic literature7'. Precisely these studies have enabled us to go beyond the stage of the analyses of the sources and to concentrate on the comprehension of the work as transmitted to us. It appears certain that there existed in the old Jewish literature an autonomous genre of narrative on the fallen angels, and it would seem probable that such a narrative (devoid of the complexities of the themes dealt with by 1 Enoclr) had already been incorporated into the lost .This identity of the name of the angelic hero considerably weakens the significance of HANSON'S remarks about Azazel's influence (Lev 16) on the forming of 'Asa'el tradition, and shows that this constitutes a late development that appears clearly in the Ethiopic version. In the Aramaic version, 'Asa'el is nothing but a particularly important angel within the Shemihaza cycle. d) The most significant element brought to light by the new manuscripts is the antiquity of this independent Enochic work. The quotation found in Jubilees would, in itself, compel us to postulate an earlier date of composition, towards the middle of the 2nd century B.C. The paleographic dating of 4QEna leads us to identify the early years of that 2nd century as the latest possible limit. Nevertheless, the orthography peculiar to this manuscript would strongly suggest tracing the composition of the original work on which this copy depends back to at least the 3rd century B.C. The endings of the pronominal and verbal forms of the second and the third person of the masculine plural, always written defectively (with no other parallel within the Aramaic dialects than the Hermopolis papyri), is a particularly determinant point in this respectm. The dating of the work in the 3rd century B.C. is of decisive importance for the study of apocalyptic8', as it demonstrates that its origins are previous to and independent of the Antiochean crisis, and underlines the priority of the cosmic apocalypses over the historical ones. But it also implies that the text of the ideological elements reflected in the work must be

79 The Greek version of Syncellus read azolz&I in 6.7 and azatl in 8.1; the version of Codex Panopolitanus read aseal in 6,7 and orall in 8.1; the Ethiopic version o f i r s 'drc9Vl in 6.7 and '6zdzeVI in 8,:. On the orthography of this ms.. see the indications of MIIJK, 77re Boob 4 Enoclr, 22-23 and 140-141. MILIK underlines the archaism in the use of the mafnrs lecrimis and the dependence of an older original. This aspect appears clearly in the examples uscd by K. B~YERin the grammatical section of his Die amnraisclren T a e

vom T ~ e Meer. n

'

As 1 have shown in -Encore I'Apacalyptique*, JSJ 17 (19%). 224-232 and in *Les Traditions Apocalyptiques A Qumrin*, in: C. KAPPLEH (ed.), Apoca&pses el Voyoges dans I'cnc-deld (Paris 1987), 201-235. See also M. Srolrl~"Enoch and Apocalyptic Origins* in Scriptures, Sects and Ksions. A Profile of Judacsnr /nun Ezra to the Jewish Revolts (London 1980), 37-47.

72

ARAMAIC ENOCH AND THE BOOKS OF ENOCH

placed in a period prior to the hellenisation of Palestine. The eschatology of ch. 22 appears, in that light, as a development detached from the body of problems typical of the 2nd century B.c.'* The vision of the heavenly throne in ch. 14, which serves to reinforce Enoch's authority and to validate his message to the Watchers, equally shows that the roots of the mystical current that will thrive in subsequent rabbinic Judaism, the Merkavah mystic, can somehow be connected with speculations already attested in the 3rd century B . c . , ~while ~ the parallelism between this Enochic text and Dan 7 is a proof that these mystical speculations are not completely absent from the historical apocalypsesM. The task of analysing the Book of Watchers in the Palestinian context of the 3rd century B.C., to which we are bound by the new dating of the text, is still far from completed. Nevertheless, the results of this new perspective are already considerable8'. The covert controversy between Qohelet and the Book of Watchers that ROSS0 UBlGLl has uncovereds6, and the use made by M. STONE'^ of the new evidence to ascertain the origins of sectarianism are excellent examples.

The Book of Dreams derives its title from its contents. Chs. 83-90 were already recognised in antiquity as an autonomous unit within I ~ n o c h ' ~Its . author relates two dreams / visions of Enoch: the first

Cfr. the study of M.T. W A ~ RWel~ordnung , und Gerichl. Shcdien zu I Henoch 22 (Forschung zur Bibcl 45) (Wiirzburg 1982). See C. ROWLAND,-The Visions of God in Apocalyptic Literature*, JSI 10 Apocalyptic (1979). 137-154; although the direct link postulated by I. CRUEMVAIB, and Merkavah Mysricism (AGAJUC 14) (Leiden 1979) seems to be off the mark. See H.S. KVANVIG, nHenoch und der Mcnschensohn. Das Vcrhsltnis von Hen 14 und Dan 7. Srudia 7 7 1 e o l ~ c a38 (19M), 101-133, and his Roofs of Apocafyptic. The Mcsoporarttio~tBackgmund of the E~rocltFigure and rite Son of Man (Neukirchen 1988k And best exemplified by thc works of P. SAC^^ collected in his L'opocalinicn giudaica e la sua storio. L. ROsX) UBIGLI,*Qohclet di fronte all'apocalittiur~,Henoch 5 (1983), 209-

''

mb7 M %ONE, *Enah, Aramaic Levi and Sectarian Origins*. JSI 19 (1988). lS9-

170. 88 There is no difiiculty about the critical structure of this Scction. It is the most complete and sclf-consistent of all Sections, and has suffered least from the hand of the interpolator", R.H. CFhRIES, The Book of Enoch, 179. M R L E S acknowledged

ARAMAIC ENOCH AND THE BOOKS OF ENOCH

73

(chs. 83-84) refers to the deluge, the second, the famous >in a premaccabean epoch is correct, and if it is taken for granted that both the apocalypse of Weeks, and the rest of the Epistle are the work of one and the same author - as we consider sufficiently proved -, the unavoidable conclusion must be that the whole work has a premaccabean dating. As to the dating of the -Apocalypse of Weeks., the traditional opinion seems the only correct one, once it has been admitted that the transition from the past to the future, from the ex eventu prophecy to the prediction, or in other words, the time when the author composed his work, takes place in the seventh week. This is the dating method used for all historical apocalypses, from Daniel's to the later apocalyptic compositions. The last concrete and recognisable historical facts presented as a prophecy provide the description of the time contemporary with the author, which is the point of departure for the vague and indeterminate prediction of the future. In the n l ' ? l on 4QEntiianrsC. The same name appears, written D " l l ' l 1 , in 4 ~ ~ n t i i a n l s *see , 77te Bwks of Dtoch, 313. On the appearance of O l 7 n h : in 4QEntiimrsc, see 77te Books of E~toclt,29. The Books of Enoch, 309. Tlte Bwks of Enoclz, 235-23.

''

T H E BOOK O F GIANTS

Since the identification of the Qumranic texts as copies of the Book of Giants is based on the traces this work left in the Manichean composition on the giants, a brief description of the contents of the fragments recovered from the k w & seems necessary. The material published by HENMNGconsists of remnants of seven copies and two abstracts of the work. Two of the manuscri ts had been previously published, although not identified as suchg. The other five were first made known to the public in the article referred to by H E N N I N G ~ . They are written in Middle-Persian and in Sogdian, as translations from the original composed by Mani in an Aramaic dialect quite similar to Syriac. One of the Sogdian abstracts says, at the end of a chapter entitled ' 3 1 . For the same reason he prefers 1 3 - 1 1 - - in line 5, although Dan 5,8 suggests reconstructing 1 1 i l I 1 3 1 I --?''. The same shortening of the lines forces CROSSto leave unexplained the traces after 1'0 in line 1 :K ' 7

1[JV n ' l i l ]

'7

]lo KrlVn K 33K KYK 8

1 Words of the prayer which Nabonidus, king of the la[nd of Babyjlon, [the great] king, pralyed when he was afflicted] 2 by an evil inflammation, by the decree of God the All-Highest, in Teiman. [I, Nabonidus] was afflicted [with an evil inflammation] 3 for seven years and was banished far from [men until I prayed to God the All-Highest] 4 and an exorcist pardoned my sin. He was a Jewish [man] of the [exiles, and he said to me:] 5 Proclaim and write to the glory, exal[tation and honour] of the name of Go[d the All-Highest. And I wrote as follows: When] 6 I was afflicted with an evil inflammation and I stayed in Teiman p y the decree of the All-Highest God, I] 7 prayed for seven years [to all] Gods of silver and gold, [of bronze, of iron], 8 of wood, of stone, of clay, for [I thought] they were Gods[

C.

Notes

Line 1 The '7 of K n > s has disappeared although the editor claims to be able to see traces of it. In any case the reading may be considered reliable. The noun Kn>r is not known in Biblical Aramaic but it is frequent in Targumic Aramaic in the full form Ki?1'1r. The same may be said of the form Pa'el "is, although this may already be found attested in Elephantine Aramaic, see COWLEY, 30, 5.26. -312. Nabunuy. The identification with the Babylonian king Nabonidus was proposed with every reason by the editor. The Akkadian form of the name is Nabd-na'id. The abbreviated form preserved by

PRAYER OF NABONIDUS: A NEW SYNTHESIS

121

our text may be explained as an assimilation to the final -ai typical of Aramaic names, especially when abbreviating names which were originally longer (see DAW, Grammatik, 178), or, as CARMIGNAC proposes, as an error in reading NABND, read as NABNI'~. 7313 '3 ~ l y (l > R . The editor and the majority of commentators reconstruct 7313 1 1lny( 1719, but in none of the surviving documents on Nabonidus is he given the title of King of Assyria and Babylon. The normal title is that of King of Babylon, a-na-ku i'na-bi-um-na-did sar babilll", see S. LANGDON, O.C. 219; 2225, 227, 231, 234, 245, 246, 251, 253, 263, 295, 297. Identical in Nab H 1 I, 2.7; 11, 27.35; 111, 8; Nab H 2 I, 2. The union of the two countries in the royal title and the preeminence of Assyria seem out of place. The reconstruction we propose was already suggested by DUPONT-SOMMER in GLECS, 48. ti330. Editor's reconstruction. The title .The Great King,, in Akkadian s h m rabli, is one of the royal titles most commonly usedI9. ti311

Line 2 K W 'K3 ti 3flW 3. The expression is the Aramaic equivalent of 7 'n~dt'll Y 3 of Job 2,7 and Deut 29,35. I7flw is the term used to designate the boils of the sixth plague of Egypt in Exod 9,8-11, and Deut 28,27 speaks of o'irn ?'nwJ, the botch of Egypt. Given that the term derives from a root I ~ W ,to be hot, the translation ccinflammationn seems to me more appropriate than *ulcer*. In the rabbinic tradition 17flW indicates a skin condition of which the rabbis managed to distinguish 24 varieties. ti["?t' t i i l > ] ~K 1n133. mitor's reconstruction. The last letter seems to be a medial and not a final mem, as shown by the final mem partially preserved in W2J'l. The expression occurs in Dan 3,26.32; 5,18.21. It could also be reconstructed ti17nw ~il'lyc,as proposed by J.D. AMUSIN, since the formula occurs frequently in Dan and in Ezra, although the argument he adduces that this title would better express

On the personality and life of this King in the light of the latest discoveries, see P. GARELU,DBSup VI, 268-286. See MJ. SEUX, EpitI~tfttesRoyoies Akkodie~esel Surndticnnes (Paris 1%7), 298-300.

PRAYER OF NABONIDUS: A NEW SYNTHESIS

122

Nabonidus' religious conceptions is invalid, given the polemic character of the work, precisely against these religious conceptions. Less likely still in my view is GEVARYAHU'S reconstruction: ?[iK jl ilj]Et. I prefer that of MILIK on the basis of the frequency of that title in the Aramaic writings from Qumran. P. GRELOT introduces a new element in his reconstruction of the lacuna. For him the text should indicate whether the king was attacked in Teiman by the malady or was there because of the malady itself. H e reconstructs: x[?W K i l ' l ] ~ n l n 9 3 . This element, which I reconstruct in the body of the text (line 6), seems to me unnecessary in the actual title of the work, where the collocation of the divine title seems more appropriate. l n 7 n 3 . The Akkadian form of the name of the city in the Nabonidus documents is "'te-ma-'a or "te-ma-a indifferently. In the Old Testament it appears in the form xnn in Job 9,19 and K n 7 n Gen 25,15 and 1 Chr 1,30; Isa 21,14; Jer 25,23. Its identity with Teima in Arabia is certain, though the commentators differ in their explanations of the distinct forms: ln7n/Knn. For MILIK it could be a contamination from ]n7n of Edom or a confusion of the two towns. For MEYER it is a question of a local variant adding -an to the root. I am more inclined to see in ]i?'n the oldest form because the Septuagint always translates xnn as 6atpav, and because the I has been preserved in the gentilicious x71n7n,where it is protected by the ending2'. At the end of the line the editor and the majority of the cornmentators propose the reconstruction Etn 1>1n] l o 7 n ] , in the city of Teiman, or ;un1733] 107n3, in the fortress of Teiman. But as GRELOT indicates, it would be odd to begin the account immediately after the title, without any introductory formula and without specifying the subject. On the basis of the parallel with Dan 4,1, which begins with an autobiographical account of the same kind, he proposes to reconstruct the name of the king: '13 1 2 3Et.

Line 3 Y ~ W y 7 ~ wOur . text speaks clearly of a period of seven years. Dan 4, 39 too alludes to the same duration while Nab H specifies that the absence from Babylon lasted ten years. This discrepancy presents no

See the extensive note on K n n / l n ? n in J.

Cult of the Moons, HUG1 19 (1945-46), 443-445.

LEW, ~ 1 3 1 ] 0 1, X J x l n W 3 . In Job 2,7, Job's illness is referred to as 1 WWJ Y 1,an expression which the Targum translates with precisely the same term as in our text KW 'K 3 x l l n w J&. Another point of similarity is the common origin of the two personages. Job comes from Ur, one of the traditional centres of the lunar cult, together with Harran. Nabonidus, also a native of Babylon, seems to be of Assyrian and Aramaic origin47. Undoubtedly one of his most characteristic features is his dedication to extending the cult of Sin, the Moon God of Harran and Ur. This common Aramaic origin is also indicated by the mention of Job's friends Eliphaz, from Teiman, and Bildad, from Dedana. Both cities are mentioned in the list in Nab H. 2 A\B 1,24 and Teiman plays an important role in 4QPrNab. These similarities have led F O H R E R ~ and ~ D E L C ~ R " to affirm that 4QPrNab preserves the same legend as the book of Job in an older form than that known to the writer of the canonical book. This conclusion seems to me exaggerated. For one thing it forgets the fundamental differences between the two texts: whereas Job is presented as just so that the illness is a trial sent by God (Job 1.21). Nabonidus is seen adoring false gods and for him the illness is a call to conversion, to adore the true God. So while his story may be used as apologetic literature and propaganda directed at non-Jews, the character of the book of Job is different; all its exhortations are directed at the adorers of the true God. For another, while Job remains a figure in the world of legend (and the text quoted in Ezek 14 is a good proof of this), 4QPrNab tells us of a definite known person. Comparison with Nab H 2 shows us that there is no need to bring in any other element to understand our God himself. 46 On 4Qrdob and IlQ~globthe tea in question has not k e n preserved. Tg On elos Dcut 28.38 also translates the MT expression as X W 'K 3 K 3 n W 3. j7On the origin of Nabonidus w e H LEW, 71-TI. and the article by P. G ~ v r u in the DBSup. VI, 268-286, specially 111, 4 x 5 origines de Nabonidem. R. MEYERsees in them diaspora Jews from Arabia, Dm Geber, 99-100, note 2 49 G . FOHRER,95: -So bleibt wohl nur die SchluOfolgerung, daO die auf die Formung von 4Q Or Nab cingcwirkt hat.. So M. DELCOR, 63. *La tradition rapport& par la priere de Nabonide montre, en tout cas, qu'il existait dans le nord de I'Arabie une legende de Job sous une forme plus andenne que celle du livre canonique*.

"

PRAYER OF NABONIDUS: A NEW SYNTHESIS

135

manuscript. On the basis of a real but puzzling event, such as the sojourn of Nabonidus in Teiman, it is easy to construct a story at the same time edifying and apologetic, which accounts for the facts and simultaneously serves the purposes of the author.

3. LITERARY GENREAND ORIGIN The same helps us to appreciate the literary genre of the account. 4QPrNab is a wisdom and apologetic story stemming from the historical fact of the years spent by Nabonidus in Teiman and giving an explanation of this fact with the aim of establishing the efficacy of the action of the true God and the inefficacy of the false gods. R. MEYER" sees its origin in the Jewish community of Teiman. According to him it is a local tradition developed to explain the content of the inscriptions, once the people, who spoke Aramaic, could no longer understand the cuneiform inscriptions on the stelae. Hence he places its origin in the 5th century B.C. on the basis of certain signs of universalism he claims to see in the work. But, even if the relation of the contents with Nab H 2 A\B is undoubted, literary dependence need not necessarily be assumed. The possible connection has been lost and we have no knowledge of the intermediate stages. What is certain is the difference in intention between the two documents, and in the underlying theology. Moreover, the combination of the sojourn in Teiman with a sickness of the king need have nothing to do with the Jewish worlds2. Besides, even if the incomplete nature of the text prohibits the drawing of definite linguistic conclusions, the most ancient features of the language found in 4QPrNab still do not suggest an origin in the 5th century B.C. For example, the use of the pronouns .'i~;land ; I n X and the relative '1, the typically Aramaic plural - > ; iare '~ fully attested in Biblical Aramaic and continue to be used sporadically right up to the Palestinian Targum. Nor is the 5th century suggested by the alternation of forms with full or with defective orthography, nor yet by the use of X - for the determinate state.

R. MEYER, Dos Geber, 101-104. This is one of the objections to MEYER's conclusions raised by P. GREU).~in RQ 4 (1%3), 120. In Nab H 2 A/B 1, 27-31, according to ~ R M I G N A c , can even be deteded an allusion to this illness, Les Tcnes de Qiot~rdinIt, 289. " 52

136

PRAYER OF NABONIDUS: A NEW SYNTHESIS

The copy preserved may paleographically be dated between 50 and 25 B.C., written as it is with a hand transitional between Hasmonean and Herodian, a characteristic Jewish Semicursivev. The original may have been written about the third century B.C., before the composition of Dan 4. Even if no direct dependence is admitted and we postulate that the two accounts derive from a common source, the priority of 4QPrNab seems to me clear. This gives us the limit for the composition of the work. As for the background from which it originated, it must be placed in oriental Jewry. More specifically: the idea that a 1il should relieve Nabonidus of his sickness and of its cause, that is his sins, brings us to the tradition which attributes this kind of power to the ~ s s e n e s ~ ~ . This would account for its presentation among the works of the library of Qumran.

''

See G. VERMES, -The Efymology of the Esscnew, RQ 2 (1960), 427-443 and -Essenes and Therapeutaia, RQ 3 (1%2), 495-504.

4QPSEUDO DANIEL ARAMAIC AND THE PSEUDO-DANIELIC LITERATURE

In 1956 J.T. MIUK published a few fragments of three Aramaic mss. of the Herodian period pertaining to a cycle of Daniel, which he provisionally designated as 4QpsDana, 4 ~ s ~ and a n 4~Q p s h c 1 . Unfortunately, instead of publishing the photographs of the manuscripts in their entirety, MILIK confined himself to transcribing some isolated fragments from the three mss. arranged according to the sequence of events of the sacred history. That is perhaps the reason why the texts have not aroused much attention among researchers2. Nevertheless, despite their fragmentary and incomplete character, the texts do contain elements of interest. A detailed discussion would, obviously, be out of place, owing to the absence of all the texts preserved. Therefore we had better limit ourselves to some marginal notes on the fragments published by MILIK,placing them within a Qumranic perspective and following the thread of the pseudo-Danielic literature of a later period. We reproduce the texts published by MILIK, indicating in the margin the manuscripts from which each fragment comes, while giving them a continuous numbering to facilitate the references. In order to make it quite clear that we are not dealing with a continuous text, we are separating each fragment in the translation by a dotted line.

'

J.T. MILK, -'Pric?re de Nabonide' et autres h i t s d'un cycle dc Daniel. Fraynents aramkns de Qumrfn 4-, RB 63 (1956), 407-415. To my knowledge, the only commentators to concern themselves with it are A. MERTENS,Dm Buch Daniel im Lichte der Tu?e wm Toten Meer (SBM 12) (Stuttgart 1971), 42-50, and R. MNER, Dar Gebet des Nabonid, 85-94.

138

PSEUDO DANIEL ARAMAIC

Ms b

I?..[ 1 y i > i 3 n ?nJ ?a[ 2 K T i u ] 1 3 1'7 ?O n i[3 3 ] l [ 4 i l n ] l ? ~ ? l l 0 ~5[

Ms b

I.. [

Ms a

Mss a + b

IW Ms b MS a

Ms a

Msa ?

Ms a

'l'n

6

J>W 1 K ?120 >[Y 7 ] '333 i l l [ 8 1.0.1 9 [ I.. ilKO Y3[1X 1'3W 1 10 K la 10 1 i n ' i 112>13[ ].'I ? [ l a ].n7 11 [K]>3l 7 K 111' 1 lill3Y0 l a > 1 1.1'3 ?>l!ii'I 12 [ 1. ] l a ' 3 3 1 [ 1 13 I 1.n '.[ I 14 [?'ill>K '93K] 10 1 lil"3lX > K l W ' '33 11n3[ ] 15 ~ i i l ' >i l~l 1 K n w u ? i > w > ? l a 3 3 3 17[n37 i i a ? ] 16 1n1n? [ w y i i 1'3 i > ~ 111130 ?lit[ 1. ?nK>l >3[3 3% lY313313 1'3 113K 17 ] . x n i h 'xi.[ I 18 11 13K 113 1[ 19 1. 7'1W 1'PJlJW Y7K[ 20 7 1 1 3 ~~ ~ 1~ 'n 13 ill 1 [ K ~ I J ?21~ K ~ ~ n Oi 3Y3 n i 173wn[ n ~ n ' n ] l pxn 1330 K" [ 23 1. 7'3v 1% [ 24 ]013>3 ..[ 25 ]an.[ 26 1.. 7 ' 3 p 27 113 0 lill[ 28 in 7 ' 1 ~UI[ 29 ];l??0 '[ 30 1. 1YUK [ K p p 1 31 1. ' K 7 l I 7 11W33n7ill7 [KJlY3 32 P l ' 112 illil>l K'IIOY ('370 33 w7anv 73?n 1 ?'W[77p 41 11311 KOl' 7Y 7'13[Y 35 1.1 36 KYw]l q05[> 37 1YU' 1lY3 ]?K[ 38 l I [ K 39 113 i n 7 i K [ ~ '107 W 40 [ yiYWl.[ 41

PSEUDO DANIEL ARAMAIC

B. Translation

1 I...[ 2 ]after the flood[ 3 Nolah from [mount] Lubar[ 4 I.. a city[

5 ]a tower, its hei[ght 6 7 8 9

I...[ albove the tower and...[ to] view the sons of [ I...[

10 folur hundred [years]...[ 11 he ... them and [...]them all and brought them out of the midst of 12 Egypt by the hand of ... [...I and led them to cross the river Jordan 13 ]and his sons[ 14 I...[ 15 ]the sons of Israel preferred his presence to that [of God] 16 [and sacrifilced their sons to the demons of error. And God's anger was kindled against them and he delivered them 17 into the hands of Nelbuchadnezzar King of Balbylon and ... [...I from among them, from the hands of ...[ 18 [...I... the exiled...[ 19 ]and scattered them[ 20 ]oppressed seventy years...[ 21 ]this great [kingdom, and will save them] 22 ]strong, and a kingdom of peoples[ 23 ]This is the first kingdom[

140

PSEUW DAMEL ARAMAIC

27 yelars...[ 28 IRHWS, son of[ 29 ]ws, ... years [ 30 I.. speak[ --------------------------*------------------------------------

31 32 33 34 35

of inliquity, made to err[ in] that [time] the called shall be reunited[ the kings of] the peoples and it shall be from that day[ the holly ones and the kings of the peoples[ sllaves until the day[

---------------*---**---*--------------------------------------

36 I...[ 37 to] put an end to iniquity 38 ]those who shall err in their blindness 39 thlose who shall arise 40 the holly ones and shall return 41 ... iniquity [.. I ----*-------**--------------------------------------------------

C. Notes Lines 1-4 The narrative of which this fragment formed part certainly dealt with the deluge, mentioned in line 2. The reference to Mount Lubar in line 3 directs us not to the biblical text but to Jubilees 5, just as does the mention of "a city" in line 4. Jub 7.14-17 records, in fact, the building of three cities in the vicinity of Mount Lubar by the three sons of Noah. In the Old Testament there is no identification of the exact location where the ark came to rest. Ar'arat is the geographical name of a region: "the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ar'arat" (Gen 8,4). Although among the Jub texts found in Qumran there is none corresponding to the four mentions of Lubar in the Ethiopic text3, its mention here and in the narrative of the deluge in IQupGn XII, 10-

'

Jub 5,B; 7J.17; 10,15. For a complete list of the Jub materials found at Qumran, see J.C. VAWERKAM, -The Jubilees Fragments from Qumran Cave 4-, forthcoming in the Proceedings of the MaMd Congrss on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

PSEUDO DANIEL ARAMAIC

141

13, gives the impression that it constitutes a Qumranic tradition4. Outside the locations mentioned5, this tradition is attested only in Epiphanius, Adv. Haer. I i 4.

Lines 5-9 The mention of the "tower" in rnss. a and b sets the two fragments in a mutual relationship and justifies placing them, as MILIKdoes, in the context of the narrative of the tower of Babel. Quite unaccountably, the editor translates i11,73> by rpunirn6. I see no reason why it should not be given its normal meaning, cfr. 4QEne 3 i 1. The Hebrew text of Gen 11.5 uses DKl?: the Lord comes down to : *he ordered to deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon and to destroy their ...n. The reconstruction of line 17 is based on CD 1.6. Lines 20-23 ?'l\u ?'yI\li. The number is taken, no doubt, from Jer 25,ll-12 and 29,lO. These 70 years of Jeremiah are related to the sabbatical years of Lev 26,33-35 in 2 Chr 36.21, and transformed into the famous 70 weeks of Daniel, who also cites the 70 years of Jeremiah (Dan 9,2). As in Jeremiah, the figure serves here to indicate the whole period of exile. It becomes even more obvious that the period alluded to is that stretching from the time of the destruction of Jerusalem to the return from exile, if we consider the expression used in line 23: K 7 11 i n K [ X ' IT[ 313[1.Pointed out by FITZMYER'. Despite the fact that it is presented as a modification of ? ' ~ \ u ,reconstructed by MILIK[numerous yean], we give it the normal meaning it has in Aramaic; cfr. 1QapGn XIX,24; IlQtglob XIV,3; XXV,l.

Lines 516 The exact distribution of the text in the correspondin lines is not known. The name of Assyria appears in its late form! It is worth mentioning that both the Kittim of Assyria and the Kittim of Egypt appear at the beginning of lQM I,2-4. Lines 7-8 FITZMYER holds the view that the king to whom the text is addressed is Jewish, a Hasmonean, and that this would mark the beginning of the change in the situation as promised to the king. Consequently, he proceeds to fill the gap in line 8: p>'i! t i > 3 h';>n 11111.He translates as follows: *[But your son] shall be great upon the earth. [0 king! All (men) shall] make [peace], and shall serve [him]*. FLUSSERconsiders 7 1 7 3 ~ 1 as ' a hebraism and prefers the translation *[all] will worshipn9. But this interpretation, essential for his hypothesis, seems impossible, since the same verb is used in column II,6 with the typical Aramaic meaning in a sentence which raises no doubt.

Line 9 The subject of the sentence has unfortunately got lost. That is why the identity of the person to whom the text refers and to which the titles preserved in the following line apply must necessarily be hypothetical and dependent on the general idea drawn out from the meaning of the text. Cfr. posten as regards the three basic hypotheses advanced and the subsequent reconstructions of the gap.

'-The Contributionm 111, note 41.

Compare IQopCn XVII 8 which uses the older form 11DK. *The Hubris of the Antichrist-, 32, note 2.

166

THE ESCHATOLOGICAL FIGURE OF 40246

Col. ii Line 1 The most striking features of the line are, no doubt, the two titles chosen. As FITZMYERpoints outlo, quite apart from the hypothesis that may eventually be adopted, the fact that they are used in a Palestinian text of the 1st century B.C., probably applied to a human being, is of capital importance for discussing the titles of Jesus in the New Testament. This has been duly dealt with by FITZMYER~~, who underlined their parallelism with the expressions used by Luke 1,3235, thus doing away with the need for any new treatment. Suffice it only to add that the form of the divine name is >K (col. ii,1.4.6), identical to the form used in 11QNJ 14,112, as distinct from the usual Aramaic form ~ I ? Kor K i1'7ti. Lines 1-2 The expression dike a spark of a vision,, is quite unique. It is extremely expressive and is used to indicate the fleeting character of the hostile kingdoms. That reign, that only lasts a few years, does not refer to the mysterious person's but to K is

I'

also used.

THE ESCHATOLOGICAL FIGURE OF 40246

167

Line 4 A Vacar at the beginning of the line divides the following text from what is written before. Although the phrase shows a grammatically coherent continuation, we have already reached quite a different plane. The expression f l (Ezekiel 40,16 and 41,16), translated by Tg Pdon as 7fl'nU 7 ' 13, and by the LXX 0upfbec rcpvxser\. The expression comes, of course, from the description of the Solomonic temple (1 Kgs 6,4), although nobody knows exactly what sort of windows are referred to (see KRAUSS, op.cif. 42-43 and 346-351 for the different sorts of windows, and G. MOLIN, uHalonoth 'atumoth bei Ezekieb, BZ 15 (1971), 250-2.53, for the windows of Ezekiel). Jerome understood them as a sort of lattice windows, ufenestrae quoque erant factae in modum retis instar cancellorumr~.Our text has not preserved the measurements, but seems to record two measures, for the inside and the outside, which give us ground for imagining them as a sort of loophole. In IlQTer?rpIe XXXIII, 11 appears a similar sort of windows, the windows of the house for altar utensils, but they seem to be blind windows: 0 '0 1UX 1113 '3Cl C] '3 1>a, cfr. YADIN,op. cit., vol. I, 174175. As against the preceding expressions: uhe showed men ahe brought me intor, etc., which punctuate the change of the object and the movements of the protagonists. 59 The only possible allusion: rand all the houses that are in the insiden (SQIS 2,2), is not conclusive because of the lack of context and the different possible interpretations. Nevertheless, this small fragment is quite interesting because of its mention of the vestibule (of the houses ?) and, especially, of the columns. The measurements given, 12 cubits, can correspond to the height of the columns of to the distance between the columns: 1 1 0 Y 1 1 0 Y 7[0 (lin. 5). This reference, together with the ones in lQ31 1,l.Z; 5,2, and the indication of JONGELING that columns are equally present in the unpublished fragments of IIQNJ, lead us to think that these columns or pillars are important architectural elements in the city, and their function is not restricted to the staircases.

>

THE NEW JERUSALEM AND THE FUTURE TEMPLE

199

would rather suggest that the block is conceived as a large courtyard in the middle, surrounded by the aligned houses, looking like an oriental caravanserai. Owing to their patchy character, nothing, except isolated measures, can be elucidated from the rest of the fragments of 1Q32, 2Q24 and 5Q15, which continue the description of the city. But according to STARCKY, 4QNJ returns, after a gap, to the description of the outer wall of the city. Its height reaches 7 reeds, the same as the wall at the outer court of the temple, according to 1lQTernple XL, 9-10. The wall is built of precious stones, among which sapphires and rubies stand out, just like the wall of the Apocalypse, following the ancient Old Testament tradition of the Hymns to Zion (Isa 54,ll-12; Tob 13,17), and is protected by ccone thousand four hundred and thirty two towers,, that is, ccthree towers for each small stretch,, of wall formed by the distance separating the 480 posterns from each other6'. As with the large entrance gates, two towers flank each postern, and the third one soars up in the middle of the stretch between the adjoining towers. This significant detail about the number of the towers validates our conclusion concerning the number of posterns, the rectangular shape of the city and its inner structure. STARCKYhimself provided another exceptional piece of information drawn from fragments still unpublished: ccLe bas de la colonne suivante mentionne la grande guerre finale oii interviennent les KittCens et Babel, mais aussi les voisins: Edom, Moab et les fils d'~mmonn~l. If the only manuscript preserved had been 5Ql5, we might think that the author's interest was confined to the city and that it offered the precedent of the celestial city of the Apocalypse in which there is no temple. But that is not the case. The fragments of 2Q24 and 1lQN.I are evidence that the city description was followed by that of the temple within, and that even the seer witnesses and describes the cult performed in that temple. As a matter of fact, more elements of the description of the cult than of the temple itself have been safely kept until our days. Gleaning from the different fragments, we may

60 The author has been precise enough in his calculation not to indude the towers of the four corners, nor the 28 towers that flanked the 12 main gates of the town previously mentioned. 61 J. STARCKY, ddrusalem et les manuscrits de la mer Mortem, art. cil., 39.

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mention the following ones as making a direct reference to the temple: nmn and 7 3 ' 2 which, according to JONGELING, repeatedly appear in the fragments of 11QNJ together with T71]7and 1' O K . - 2Q24 3: ccand measured up to the sapphire gate>>...ccwhich is beforen ...ccthe walb ( ' l n 13). Since the other gates mentioned are made of stone, one may reckon that this sapphire gate does not belong, like the others, to the city but to the temple. - 2Q24 7 : (w

A. A ~ W T Z E R ,d i 3 > l'nY> il>yn O Y > W ~ w17n;l ~ T ~ n73., 2 (1931-32), 137-153; 257-272. 'O The vitality of the conception of God's abode as a heavenly temple within the Qumran community is evident in works such as the Shim OIat ha-Shabbat ( 4 Q W 406, IlQShirShab and Mas.ShirShab). There we find many references to the heavens as a temple or temples expressed within the typical vocabulary of the cult. There are plenty of allusions to the 73 '9, 73]DD,W ll'D, 7'31, mixed with references to the architectural elements of this heavenly temple: gates, pillars, walls, vestibule, ete. Not only are the seven heavens described as seven temples, but also the titles of the angels are expressed as priestly titles (31 1;' 'Jil 13,0'33 132 WK?, etc.) and their service in each one of the seven sanctuaries is structured according to the priady senice in the temple. Although some of the elements of this "Angelic Liturgy. are paralleled only in later mystic literature, the conception of God's abode as temple is not characteristic of the Qumran literature, but can already be found in the literature of the same epoch, such as Tesl. Levi 3,6, which develops the biblical theme of the praise of the angels under the influence of Isaiah 6. The locus classicus within the rabbinic literatuDie himmlische Welt im Umhrisrentum und re is b. Hag'go 12b, see H. BIEIENHARD, Spiirjudent~rn~ (WUZNT 2) (Tiibingen 1951). 123-142. But this idea of the heavenly temple does not seem to have any influence on the temple of NJ and does not explain the origins of the composition. Originally published by J.M. AiUXiRO, *Further Messianic References in Qumran Literature*, JBL 75 (195tr), 174-178, and *Fragments of a Qumran Scroll of Eschatological Midrashim*, JBL 77 (1958), 350-354, included in DJD V, 53-57, PI. XIX-XX as number 4Q174. It has elicited numerous studies; the most characteristic are: W.R. LANE,*A New Commentary Structure in 4Q Florilegium*, JBL 78 (1959), 343-346, Y. YADIN,uA Midrash on 2 Sam vii and Ps. i-ii ( 4 0 Florilegium)*, IEJ 9 (1959), 95-98; D. FLUSSER, *Two Notes on the Midrash on 2 Sam vii-, IEJ 9 (1959), 96-109 [reprint in his Judaist?~and the Origitrr of Christianity (Jerusalem 1988). 88-98]; B. GARTNER,The Temple and The Community in Qumran cmd in the New Testament, ~ , Exclusion of Netinim and Proselytes in 4Q op. cit., 30-42; J.M. B A U M G A R*The Florilegium*, RQ 8 (1972-75), 87-% [reprint in his Studies in Qummn Lmu (Lciden l g , 75-87]; A. MCNICOL, *The Eschatological Temple in the Qumran Pesher 4QFlorilegium 1:l-7., Ohio Journal of Religious Studies 5 ( l g , 133-141; D.R. SCHWAR-~, *The Three Temples of 4 0 Florilegiums, RQ 10 (1979-81), 83-91; G J . BROOKE,Exegesis at Qummn. 4Q Florilegium in its Jewish Conrexi (JSOT Supplement Series 29), (Sheffield 1985); D. DIMANT,-4QRorilegium and the Idea of the Community as Temples, in: A. CAOUOTer. al. (eds.), Hellenica et Judaica. Hommage d Valentin Nikiprowetzky (Paris I%), 165-189, M.O. WISE, ~QOFlorilegiurnand the Temple of Adam-, Mhnorial Jean Stazky (Paris 1991), 103-132. '9

T&u

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of the community as a temple8*, the commonest opinion sees in it a clash between the present defiled temple, (line 5-6: .as they previously83 defiled the temple of Israel with their sins,,) and the final temple (line 2-5: aThis is the house that will be raised at the end of times, as it is written in the book of the Torah: 'The sanctuary, Adonay, that your hands founded. Yahweh will reign for ever and ever' (Exod 15,17). This is the house whose threshold the uncircumcised shall never trespass on nor the Ammonite, the Moabite, the bastard, the foreigner or the proselyte, because their saints are there for ever and ever,,)84. In the more questionable expression, c l x 'Yl-3 of line 6, SCHWARTZ is inclined to see a reference to the Solomonic temple. which would imply that three temples - the Solomonic temple, the present temple, now defiled, and the final temple, to be built by God Himself at the end of times - are represented in 40174. In the light of what we have pointed out about the Qumranic conceptions expressed in IIQTemple, the first of these temples should rather be the normative one so that, in our view, the only aspect that makes this conception different from that of 1lQTentple is that this does not allude at all - due to its particular perspective - to the existing temple which is considered as defiled. Be that as it may, it is quite obvious that the idea of the definitive and final temple, built directly by God, as taken up by the apocalyptic literature, was already known and used in Qumran. Is this the temple that was revealed to the author of NJ ? I believe that the interpretation of NJ offered permits us confidently to give a positive answer. But before expounding the reasons that lead us to identify the temple of NJ with the temple that God shall erect aat the end of times,,, it would be necessary to present the Qumranic text which, in my view, reflects an identical conception and constitutes the bond between the NJ and the temple of 40174 and IlQTetnple. We are referring to IQM 11.1-6, an extremely important text and the only one

82 SO, for example, by GARTNERand B A U H C ~ A R but ~ ~ Nsee , the criticism of this idea by MCKUVEY, KLINZJNG and, specially, SCI1WAR1Z and Wlse. ill 1W >ti 13. It is a clear allusion to 2 Sam 7,10. All thc commentaries recognise that 4Q174 has preserved part of a "commentary* to the prophecy of Nathan, 2 Sam 7,s-16,and the beginning of another -commentary* to Psalms 1-2. Our translation follows some of the reconstructions of YADIN,but in general follows the readings of J. STUUGNELL,-Notes en marge du volume V dcs 'Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan'., RQ 7 (1969-71),220-221.

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which describes the temple and the cult in which the sectaries will ~ . this is the same participate during the War of ~ i b e r a t i o n ~That temple and the same cult as described in NJ is proved by the allusion in NJ to the final War with the participation of the ccKittim, Edom, Moab and the sons of Ammons, a perfect parallel to the expressions used in lQM 1,l-2. And to my mind there is no doubt that the temple alluded to in lQM I1,l-6 is the same eschatological temple that should be erected by God, as mentioned in IlQTempIe and 4QFIonIegium. The usual interpretation of lQM II,1-6, simply suggests that, at the beginning of the War, the sectaries will gain control over Jerusalem and the temple, which will enable them to perform the cult in accord with their particular conception of it. In the light of IlQTemple, it would be theoretically possible to view the temple and the cult of IQM II,l-6 (and, thus, of NJ) as a purely human achievement, an implementation by the sectaries of the normative temple and cult propounded in lIQTemple, which would differentiate this temple from the definitive one, an exclusively divine work. That this theoretical possibility is not something purely speculative is demonstrated by 2 Bar 32,2-4: For after a short time, the building of Zion will be. shaken in order that it will be rebuilt. That building will not remain; but it will again be uprooted after some time and will remain desolate for a time. And after that it is necessas that it will be renewed in glory and that it will be perfected into etermty.

According to BOGAERT,the first destruction and the subsequent ruin refer to the destruction of 70 A.D., which the author, as in the rest of

85 See Y. YADIN,Tire Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light against &he Sons of Darkrress (Oxford 1%2), 198-208. Both YADINand KLINZING,op. cit., 34-35 see in this text a description of the situation during the war, when the sectarians will participate in the cult of the Jerusalem temple according to t h e t own norms and consequently discard R O S S opinion (TLZ 80 (1955), 205-208), which uses this text as an ar ment to prove the non-sectarian character of IQM. #Translation by A . F J KLUN '2 (Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch-, in J.H. CHARLESWORTH(ed.), Tile Old Testart~entPseudepipplta Vol. I, 631. This idea comes forth more clearly in the French translation by P. BOGAERT:uCar, aprbs un court moment, I'Cdifice de Sion sera ebranlC pour &tre ensuite reconstruit. Ce (nouvel) Edifice n'en sera pas moins provisoire. Lui aussi, aprbs un temps, il sera rasC jusqu'au sol, et il demeurera en ruine jusqu'au temps (prkw). Ensuite, il faudra qu'on le restaure dans la gloire, et il sera acheve pour toujoursa. Cf. Apocalypse de Bamch. Infroduction. Traduction er Conrnrentaire (Sources Chrttiennes 144) (Paris 1969). Tome I, p. 484

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the work, does not distinguish from that of 586 B.C. The first reconstruction, a provisional one, would be that of the Messianic age. From the Qumranic perspective, this reconstruction would possibly be the same as the one referred to in NJ and IQM, because it is mentioned against the background of the final War. The second destruction would indicate the end of the Messianic age and correspond to the death of Jesus and of all human beings in 4 Ezra. The second reconstruction or full renewal would be related to the building of the celestial Jerusalem of the future world87, which, within the Qumranic context, would correspond to the final temple erected by God, as mentioned in 11QTemple and 4QFlonlegium. But this theoretical possibility of interpreting the texts is discounted by the accurate contribution made by 4QFlonIegium in the sense that this temple that God Himself will build, which meither Moabites nor Ammonites), will enter, shall exist *c7a7a n ? - n K h (40174 i,2)s8. Although the phrase does raise problems89 and is not found in lQM, the identity of the period so named in 4QFlorilegiwn with the period of war of lQM has been testified to in numberless textsg0 and is unanimously admitted. This, in my opinion, is a sufficient proof of the identity of the temple and the cult alluded to in lQM 11.1-6 (and consequently in NJ) with the final temple quoted in 4QFlon1egregrum. At the same time this characterisation of the temple revealed to the author of NJ as the final temple which God himself should build at the end of times (a conclusion that was gradually taking shape through the analysis of the superhuman measures and the description of the building materials of the city) allows us to conclude that NJ, though it does not reflect the most peculiar and exclusive conceptions of the temple of Qumranic thought, is perfectly compatible with the sectarian writings where it has some good parallels. It could, there-

P. BOGAERT,op. cir., 424 and Tome 11, 67-68. According to JIQTentpk *in the day of the creation-, but the phrase involves too many problems (of reading and of interpretation) to help us precisely to T i the meaning of *the end of times*. 89 See the contrasting interpretations of J . CARMIGNAC, -La notion d'Cschatalagie dans la Bible et Oumrtn., RQ 7 (1969-71), 17-31, -darts la suite des joursn, and F. DU T. LAUBSCI~ER, 'Aharil Itajjariiil in die QtoitrB~t-Geskriijrc(Diss. Univ. Stellenboxi~,1972) *die laaste dae*. The following texts expressly connect the War of Liberation with the End of times: 4Q174 ii.18; 4Q161 6-8,17; 4Q162 ii.1; IQpHab k,6 and 11QMelch ii,4. gl

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fore, have been perfectly possible for NJ to have been composed by the Qumran community. The presence of NJ in the library of Qumran and the abundance of the copies discovered are a guarantee, at least, that the community understood the ideas reflected in the text and deemed them to be compatible with its own ideology. This would be tantamount to saying that, should the work not come directly from the sect, it must have had its origins either in the Essenic movement from which the Qumranic community derives, or in the apocalyptic tradition in which that movement has its roots. These three categories (Qumranic, Essenic and apocalyptic) indeed allow us to classify the whole of the nonbiblical works found at Qumran. The Old Testament roots of the conception reflected by NJ and the parallels found in the apocalyptic literature would allow us to classify the work as an apocalypse written within the apocalyptic tradition before the foundation of the Qumran community, as a preQumranic apocalypse91, if the date of composition of the original could certainly be placed before the second half of the 2nd century B.C. But they would equally allow us to classify this apocalypse as an original creation of the Qumran community in spite of STEGEMANN'S opinion denying the apocalyptic character of the Qumran community92 if the composition of the original is later than the founding of the community. After all, we cannot forget that the manuscripts of Qumran have also bequeathed to us Apocalypses of their own crea t i ~ n As ~ ~ we . have already stated, although the multiplicity of the copies, the absence of older copies and the late paleographical dating of all the copies preserved would favour a Qumranic origin of the work, the only criterion that can help us in establishing the date of

91 B.Z. WACHOLDER, op. cit., % and 255, n. 394 refers to a private communicaasserting the pre-Qumranic origins of the NJ. STRUGNELL tion of J. STRUGNELL states, although not categorically, this position in the letter quoted arpra, n. 2, but without giving any reasons. 92 Forcefully stated in his contribution to the Uppsala Congress on Apocalypticism. See H. STEGEMANN, uDie Bedeutung der Qumranfunde fiir die Erforschung der Apokalyptikn, in D. HELLHOLM (ed.), Apocalypicisr71 irt tlte Medite~+mteanWorld and in tlte Near Eust (Tubingen 1983), 495-530. But see my criticism of this position in F. GARCIA MARTINEZ,uLes Traditions Apocalyptiques 21 Qumrln,>, in: C. KAPPLER(ed.), Apocalypses ef tFo)'agesdarls I'au-deld (Paris 1987), MI-235, and *La Apocaliptica y Qumran,, in: V. COLLADO- V. VlLLAR (eds.), II Siritposio Biblico Espariol (Valenci$C6rdoba 1987), 603-613. 93 Such as 4QArttrant and 4QpsDan Ar.

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composition of the original is to ascertain what line of thought the data of NJ may more easily fit. As our analysis has demonstrated, the contents of NJ perfectly fit within the thought of the Qumran community. The relatively late date of composition of the extra-Qumranic Apocalypses which introduce the idea of the eschatological Jerusalem and temple as a substitute for the existing temple, and the minor importance of this matter within the