Divine Mysteries in the Enochic Tradition

Divine Mysteries in the Enochic Tradition PDF Author: Andrei A. Orlov
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3111202968
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
The book represents an in-depth investigation of acquisition, cultivation, and transmission of divine mysteries in Jewish apocalyptic and mystical accounts by focusing on the developments found in early Enochic writings. These accounts deal both with revelations unveiled by God and angels to the patriarch Enoch and with illicit transmission of divine knowledge by the rogue group of the fallen angels, known as the Watchers. Orlov argues that the map of otherworldly knowledge revealed to Enoch inversely mirrors the map of illicit revelations given by the fallen Watchers to humankind. The study suggests that one of the possible objectives for the parallelism is that, by revealing to Enoch the same divine mysteries that were earlier transmitted by the Watchers, God attempts to mitigate the corruption caused by the fallen angels’ illicit instructions. This book will be of interest not only for scholars specializing in historical and religious areas, but also for experts in the fields of anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and gender theory; it discusses several aspects of early and late Jewish religious epistemologies that elucidate the ideological context for the construction and affirmation of social roles and identities in various Jewish milieus.

Divine Scapegoats

Divine Scapegoats PDF Author: Andrei A. Orlov
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438455836
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
Explores the paradoxical symmetry between the divine and demonic in early Jewish mystical texts. Divine Scapegoats is a wide-ranging exploration of the parallels between the heavenly and the demonic in early Jewish apocalyptical accounts. In these materials, antagonists often mirror features of angelic figures, and even those of the Deity himself, an inverse correspondence that implies a belief that the demonic realm is maintained by imitating divine reality. Andrei A. Orlov examines the sacerdotal, messianic, and creational aspects of this mimetic imagery, focusing primarily on two texts from the Slavonic pseudepigrapha: 2 Enoch and the Apocalypse of Abraham. These two works are part of a very special cluster of Jewish apocalyptic texts that exhibit features not only of the apocalyptic worldview but also of the symbolic universe of early Jewish mysticism. The Yom Kippur ritual in the Apocalypse of Abraham, the divine light and darkness of 2 Enoch, and the similarity of mimetic motifs to later developments in the Zohar are of particular importance in Orlov’s consideration.

Beholders of Divine Secrets

Beholders of Divine Secrets PDF Author: Vita Daphna Arbel
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791457238
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
A wide-ranging exploration of the Hekhalot and Merkavah literature, a mystical Jewish tradition from late antiquity, including a discussion of the possible cultural context of this material's creators.

The Enoch-Metatron Tradition

The Enoch-Metatron Tradition PDF Author: Andrei A. Orlov
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161485442
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Andrei A. Orlov examines the tradition about the seventh antediluvian patriarch Enoch, tracing its development from its roots in the Mesopotamian lore to the Second Temple apocalyptic texts and later rabbinic and Hekhalot materials where Enoch is often identified as the supreme angel Metatron. The first part of the book explores the imagery of the celestial roles and titles of the seventh antediluvian hero in Mesopotamian, Enochic and Hekhalot materials. The analysis of the celestial roles and titles shows that the transition from the figure of patriarch Enoch to the figure of angel Metatron occurred already in the Second Temple Enochic materials, namely, in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch, a Jewish work, traditionally dated to the first century CE. The second part of the book demonstrates that mediatorial polemics with the traditions of the exalted patriarchs and prophets played an important role in facilitating the transition from Enoch to Metatron in the Second Temple period.

Second Enoch: A Samaritan Apocalypse

Second Enoch: A Samaritan Apocalypse PDF Author: Daniel C. Olson
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004714510
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
This study marks a bold new departure in 2 Enoch studies. The book has long been regarded as one of the most baffling apocalypses to come down to us from antiquity. The present work argues that 2 Enoch was written by a 1st c. CE Samaritan author whose purpose was to incorporate the Enochic tradition into Samaritanism. By identifying Enoch as the “prophet like Moses” (Deut. 18:15, 18), both during his earthly past and in the eschatological future, the author of 2 Enoch hoped to combat the Dosithean heresy and also to persuade co-religionists to resume a full sacrificial cultus in the shadow of Mt. Gerizim.

The Book of the Secrets of Enoch

The Book of the Secrets of Enoch PDF Author: William Richard Morfill
Publisher: Legare Street Press
ISBN: 9781015543928
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

From Creation to Abraham

From Creation to Abraham PDF Author: John Day
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567703118
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
John Day investigates disputed points of interpretation within Genesis 1-11, expanding on his earlier book From Creation to Babel with 11 stimulating essays. Day considers the texts within their Near Eastern contexts, and pays particular attention to the later history of interpretation and reception history. Topics covered include the meaning of the Bible's first verse and what immediately follows, as well as what it means that humanity is made in the image of God. Further chapters examine the Garden of Eden, the background and role of the serpent and the ambiguous role of Wisdom; the many problems of interpretation in the Cain and Abel story, as well as what gave rise to this story; how the Covenant with Noah and the Noachic commandments, though originally separate, became conflated in some later Jewish thought; and the location of 'Ur of the Chaldaeans', Abraham's alleged place of origin, and how this was later misinterpreted by Jewish, Christian and Islamic sources as referring to a 'fiery furnace of the Chaldaeans'. These chapters, which illuminate the meaning, background and subsequent interpretation of the Book of Genesis, pave the way for Day's forthcoming ICC commentary on Genesis 1-11.

Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls

Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls PDF Author: Joel Baden
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004324747
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1538

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Book Description
This volume, a tribute to John J. Collins by his friends, colleagues, and students, includes essays on the wide range of interests that have occupied John Collins’s distinguished career. Topics range from the ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Second Temple Judaism and beyond into early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. The contributions deal with issues of text and interpretation, history and historiography, philology and archaeology, and more. The breadth of the volume is matched only by the breadth of John Collins’s own work.

The Mystery of God

The Mystery of God PDF Author: C. C. Rowland
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004175326
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 717

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Book Description
This book brings together the perspectives of apocalypticism and early Jewish mysticism to illuminate aspects of New Testament theology. The first part begins with a consideration of the mystical character of apocalypticism and then uses the Book of Revelation and the development of views about the heavenly mediator figure of Enoch to explore the importance of apocalypticism in the Gospels and Acts, the Pauline Letters and finally the key theological themes in the later books of the New Testament. The second and third parts explore the character of early Jewish mysticism by taking important themes in the early Jewish mystical texts such as the Temple and the Divine Body to demonstrate the relevance of this material to New Testament interpretation.

Heavenly Priesthood in the Apocalypse of Abraham

Heavenly Priesthood in the Apocalypse of Abraham PDF Author: Andrei A. Orlov
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107470994
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
The Apocalypse of Abraham is a vital source for understanding both Jewish apocalypticism and mysticism. Written anonymously soon after the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple, the text envisions heaven as the true place of worship and depicts Abraham as an initiate of celestial priesthood. Andrei A. Orlov focuses on the central rite of the Abraham story – the scapegoat ritual that receives a striking eschatological reinterpretation in the text. He demonstrates that the development of the sacerdotal traditions in the Apocalypse of Abraham, along with a cluster of Jewish mystical motifs, represents an important transition from Jewish apocalypticism to the symbols of early Jewish mysticism. In this way, Orlov offers unique insight into the complex world of the Jewish sacerdotal debates in the early centuries of the Common Era. The book will be of interest to scholars of early Judaism and Christianity, Old Testament studies, and Jewish mysticism and magic.