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2013 Adam, Humanity, and Angels: Early Jewish Conceptions of the Elect and Humankind Based on Genesis 1-3 Eric Raymond Naizer
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
ADAM, HUMANITY, AND ANGELS: EARLY JEWISH CONCEPTIONS OF THE ELECT
AND HUMANKIND BASED ON GENESIS 1-3
By
ERIC RAYMOND NAIZER
A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2013
Eric Raymond Naizer defended this dissertation on June 4, 2013.
The members of the supervisory committee were:
Matthew Goff Professor Directing Dissertation
Jennifer Koslow University Representative
Nicole Kelley Committee Member
Trevor Luke Committee Member
David Levenson Committee Member
The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements.
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To my dad, who taught me the value of discipline and hard work. ׃ Proverbs 22:6
And most of all, to my incredible bride, Kristi, who taught me what it means to love. ׃ Proverbs 31:29
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are many people whom I wish to thank for making this dissertation possible. I offer my deepest gratitude to Prof. Matthew Goff for his guidance and encouragement. His critical, thorough, and prompt feedback throughout the numerous stages of research and writing consistently challenged me to bring greater depth and clarity to the dissertation. I am grateful for all that he did to help make this project possible. I am also tremendously indebted to Profs.
David Levenson and Nicole Kelley. I benefited greatly from Prof. Levἷὀὅὁὀ’ὅ ἶἷὅiὄἷ fὁὄ
students to not only learn, but to think. Prof. Kelley continually encouraged, inspired, and
challenged me to become a better researcher and writer. I am grateful for the time she invested
in me. I am also thankful for her willingness to listen, to share, and to simply be human. I am
grateful to Prof. Trevor Luke for his encouragement and guidance, particularly as I shaped my
prospectus and his willingness to be a part of my dissertation committee. I am also thoroughly
appreciative of Prof. Jennifer Koslow, who graciously stepped in as a late addition to my
committee.
I would also like to express my thanks to Profs. Eibert Tigchelaar, John Marincola, L.
Michael White, David Mathewson, Colin Nicholl, and Ed Keazirian, who have each helped me
during my journey. I appreciate the numerous discussions that I had with other graduate students
who roamed the corridors of Dodd Hall along with me, especially Kirk Essary, Barton Price,
Shem Miller, Jessica Buser, Keith Coward, Jenny and Stephen Collins-Elliott, LaBron Chance,
Colin Womack, Seth Bledsoe, Rob De La Noval, Tara Baldrick-Morrone, and Harold Short. I
also wish to thank Susan Minnerly, Jon Bridges, and Drew Watson for their administrative
assistance, especially during the writing phase of this project.
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I am grateful to my family, particularly my parents, Greg and Marilyn, for all their continual support and encouragement. Without them I would not have been able to finish this endeavor. I am thankful to my children, Jackson and Caleb, who always managed to make me laugh, even during the most challenging parts of the process. The person to whom I am most grateful is my bride, the love of my life, my best friend, Kristi. She has pursued my dreams with me and made them her own. My appreciation for her and all that she has done to support me through this journey is beyond words. Kristi: with all my love and affection, thank you.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT vii
CHAPTER ONE 1
INTRODUCTION: OH, THE HUMANITY!
CHAPTER TWO 20
ADAM, THE ANGELS, DIVINE REVELATION, AND THE ELECT: THE
INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS 1-3 IN 4QINSTRUCTION
CHAPTER THREE 67
ἥἡεE ἔἡἤ χδδ χἠϊ εἡἤE ἔἡἤ ἥἡεEμ ἕἡϊ’ἥ χἢἢἡἤἦIἡἠεEἠἦ
ἡἔ WIἥϊἡε χἠϊ ἐEἠ ἥIἤχ’ἥ IἠἦEἤἢἤEἦχἦIἡἠ ἡἔ ἦHE ἐIἐδIἑχδ
ADAM
CHAPTER FOUR 131
INTERPRETING ADAM IN ALEXANDRIA: PHILO, THE WISDOM OF
SOLOMON, AND GENESIS 1-3
CHAPTER FIVE 190
GAINING WHAT ADAM LOST: 4 EZRA AND THE ADAMS OF
GENESIS 1-3
CHAPTER SIX 255
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY 266
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 294
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ABSTRACT
4QInstruction has enriched our understanding of the way Second Temple Jewish authors
interpreted Genesis 1-3. The Qumran text provides a fuller sense of the ways the figure of Adam
was read during that period by adding a sectarian and primarily positive take on the biblical
portrayals of the first human. Further, with 4QInstruction we are able to identify traditions that
may have influenced other Early Jewish authors, such as Philo and the author of 4 Ezra. ἢhilὁ’ὅ
double creation accounts in Leg. 1.31-32 and Opif. 134-35 suggest that, although significantly influenced by Hellenistic thought, his interpretation of Genesis 1-3 may have also been shaped by Palestinian Jewish traditions. The author of 4 Ezra, although colored by the apocalyptic tradition in light of the destruction of the temple, may have used the Genesis 1-3 exegetical traditions found in 4QInstruction to articulate the future rewards of righteous Israelites who obey the Torah. Philo and 4 Ezra appears to have appropriated and reworked exegetical traditions regarding Genesis 1-3 attested in wisdom literature composed in Palestine in the second century
B.C.E.
With 4QInstruction it is also possible to observe a larger shift from the second century
B.C.E. to the first century C.E. in which Adam is increasingly used to account for human sinfulness, as exemplified most clearly in 4 Ezra. 4QInstruction not only provides a better understanding of the traditions used by individual Second Temple authors, the more complete picture of how Adam was interpreted during this period more clearly reveals a larger trend that was not available before the publication of this sapiential Qumran text.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION: OH, THE HUMANITY!
1.1 The Problem
In this study, I will attempt to demonstrate how 4QInstruction has enriched our understanding of the way Second Temple Jewish authors interpreted Genesis 1-3. In particular, I will examine how authors used the figure of Adam when reflecting on the human condition.
Early Jewish exegetes regularly focused on specific elements of the creation of Adam in Genesis
1-3. They paid particular attention to the claim that he was created “in the image of God” in Gen
1:26-27, and the description of Adam as formed from dust in the garden of Eden in Gen 2:7. The
publication of 4QInstruction in 1999 and subsequent scholarship on its contents provide a more
complete picture of how Early Jewish authors developed conceptions of humankind based on the
biblical portrayals of Adam.1 A key contribution of this study is to demonstrate how
4QInstruction helps us establish a sort of “typology” of the way Second Temple period authors
interpreted the biblical portrayals of Adam. The main conceptions of Adam that are dominant in
Early Jewish literature include Ben Sira’s use of the portrayals of Adam to understand the human
condition in general; Philo’s association of Adam with humanity in a general sense while also
using him to distinguish between the wicked and the virtuous; and 4 Ezra’s use of Adam to
depict the current state of sinful humanity and the rewards enjoyed by the righteous in the
eschatological garden of Eden. By incorporating the interpretation of the biblical portrayals of
1 John Strugnell and Daniel J. Harrington, Qumran Cave 4.XXIVμ Sapiential Texts, Part 2. 4QInstruction (Mûsār Lĕ Mēbîn)μ 4Q41ηff. With a re-edition of 1Q26 (DJD 34; Oxford: Clarendon, 1999); Matthew J. Goff, The Worldly and Heavenly Wisdom of 4QInstruction (STDJ 50; Leiden: Brill, 2003); Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar, To Increase Learning for the Understanding Ones: Reading and Reconstructing the Fragmentary Early Jewish Sapiential Text 4QInstruction (STDJ 44; Leiden: Brill, 2001).
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Adam in 4QInstruction—primarily his association with the angels and the elect—into our
knowledge of the major interpretative traditions during the period, it is possible to better
understand them. One of the key issues is whether Adam is employed to understand the nature
of a small segment of humankind—the elect—or humanity in general.
I will also explore the possibility that Genesis 1-3 traditions attested in 4QInstruction
were appropriated and reworked by other Second Temple Jewish authors. I argue that Philo and
4 Ezra were both influenced by Genesis 1-3 traditions found in 4QInstruction. This Qumran composition further helps us identify a trend from the second century B.C.E. to the first century
C.E. in which Adam was increasingly interpreted to account for human sinfulness.
1.1.1 The Anthropology of 4QInstruction Rooted in Genesis 1-3
Since 4QInstruction is central in this study, some review of its discussion of the nature of the human condition and exegesis of Genesis 1-3 is merited before the layout and structure of the dissertation can be explained. 4QInstruction contends that there are two contrasting kinds of humans—the (“ὅὂiὄitual ὂἷὁὂlἷ”) and the (“flἷὅhly ὅὂiὄit”). (This topic is discussed at length in Chapter Two.) This dichotomy is rooted in Genesis 1-3, primarily the portrayal of Adam. The signifies the elect, who are like the angels and possess access to supernatural revelation. The represents the non-elect. They do not have access to revelation. While the can be understood as possessing the hope of a blissful eternal life, like the angels, the expression denotes human mortality and the finitude of physical existence. The main lesson of the passage is for the to learn that he is like the . This group should be understood as a model for the to follow. The addressee is distinguished from the , as are the (4Q418 81 1-2). He has access to the ; the have the vision of Hagu. The are fashioned “according to the likeness of the holy ones”
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(4Q417 1 i 17). The is in “the lot of the angels” (4Q418 81 4-5). The are associated
with Adam ( ); the addressee has authority over the garden of Eden (4Q423 1). The vision of
Hagu passage as a whole constitutes a lesson from which, after much reflection and study, the