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The Dream Visions in the Noah Story of the Genesis Apocryphon and Related Texts

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The Dream Visions in the Noah Story of the Genesis Apocryphon and Related Texts THE DREAM VISIONS IN THE NOAH STORY OF THE GENESIS APOCRYPHON AND RELATED TEXTS Esther Eshel Long before Freud attributed dreams to the human subconscious, dreams were seen as a vehicle of divine-human communication. If the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream by Joseph seems relatively straightforward—we ask ourselves, how is it that Pharaoh and his advisors could not figure it out. The dreams I will discuss here bear greater similarity to the fragmented nature of real dreams. That is due less to their original structure and more to the fragmentary preserva- tion of the texts in which they are found. But, like Freud’s dreamers, the ancient dreamers needed interpreters. My attempt to understand their symbolism and meaning is aided by the fact that many of these dreams are accompanied by a heavenly interpretation. Dreams and dream visions as a form of heavenly-human communi- cation play a significant role in more than one Second Temple work.1 Among the types well attested in ancient Near Eastern, Egyptian, and biblical sources are symbolic dreams, which comprise the focus of this article (Bergman 1980, 4:421–32). Most symbolic biblical dreams are found in Genesis and Daniel (Collins 1974). These dreams, sent by the God of Israel mainly to non-Israelites, often predict future events to the players, of which the audience is already aware, or constitute a warning. Interpretation is an integral part of these dream episodes. In this paper I look at one motif in various symbolic dreams, that of tree and plant imagery, tracing its appearance and transformations in a variety of Jewish and non-Jewish texts. In my attempt to understand this motif the Genesis Apocryphon is of particular significance. The tree imagery found in its well-developed dream visions sheds light on 1 Thanks are due to Professor M.E. Stone for his helpful remarks. For a detailed survey of dreams in the Ancient Near East, Greece and Rome, see Gnuse 1996, 34–128. For a study of the biblical symbolic dream, see Niditch 1983. In her study, Niditch looked at twelve Biblical visions, suggesting three stages of diachronic devel- opment. Nevertheless, her brief study of the apocryphal sources focused only on two post-biblical compositions, 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra. 42 esther eshel the employment of this motif in other works and on their possible interrelationship. This article is divided into two parts: Taking the dream sequence in the Genesis Apocryphon as my starting point, I first examine how tree imagery is used to symbolize the righteous, Noah in particular but also Shem and Abraham. The second half of this article is devoted mainly to the tree motif in dreams in the Book of Giants, where this motif ’s predictive function symbolizes the coming of a catastrophe but where images of new growth symbolize the survivors. The tree imagery is used in a variety of ancient Jewish texts. Bib- lical references comparing the righteous to trees appear in Psalms 1:1–3 and 92:13–16, Jer 17:7–8 and Prov 11:30. Destruction of trees or plants in predictions of an adverse fate is found in Isa 5:1–7 (song of the vineyard); Jer 2:21 (alien vine); Ezek 19:10–14 (vine), and Dan 4:7–14.16–19 (great tree vision). Among the non-biblical texts using tree imagery, I note the tree parable in 4Q302, a non-sectarian text whose image of a fine fruit tree is based on Ps 80:9–20 (vine imagery; Nitzan 1996). A more developed postbiblical parable comes from 1QH XVI 4–11, which portrays the sect as “trees of life” watered by God that will flourish in the future, whereas the “trees by the water” will dry up (Parry and Tov 2004–2005, V:40–43). This parable is grounded in the biblical metaphor of the righteous person from Psalms 1 and 92, as well as in Ezekiel 17’s allegory of the eagles, the vine, and the cedar, Ezekiel 31’s parable of Assyria as a beautiful cedar, and Daniel 4’s great tree vision. 2 Baruch, like Ezekiel 19 and Daniel 4, uses a tree image in a dream to describe the enemy. In this dream (35:1–36:1) Baruch sees a forest with trees and vines. Under the forest is a fountain, which inundates the forest until only one cedar is left standing. That cedar, too, is then uprooted. Finally, the cedar burns up, and the vine, and all around the vine, becomes “a valley full of unfading flowers”. As interpreted in the text, the forest of wickedness stands for the fourth power, namely, Rome; and the fountain and the vine symbolize the messianic kingdom. The cedar left standing, is the last hostile ruler of the fourth power. He will be taken to Mount Zion, judged, and executed by the Messiah (39:2–40:2).2 2 Bogaert 1969, 1:84–86; 2:70–75. Hobbins argues that “the details provided in the explanation seems to constitute a deliberate reversal of what happened after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE”; see Hobbins 1998, 61, note 38..
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