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Moses Versus Enoch? on the Reception of the Mosaic Torah In Michael Langlois Mosesversus Enoch?On the Receptionof the MosaicTorah in the Book of Enoch Onemay be surprised to find a contrib ution dealing with the Book of Enoch in a wlwne on "the Reception of the Torah in Deuterocanonical Literature. " Is Enoch alsoamong the deuterocanonicals? As a matter of fact, the Book of Enoch is part or both the shorter and longer lists of 81 biblical books recognized by the Church or Ethiopia. As such, it is naturally included in modem, printed Ethiopic bibles. It thus qualifies as "canonical" or, more specifically, "deuterocanonical" - even though such terms are foreign to the vocabulary of the Church of Ethiopia . What, then, can be said about the reception of the Torah in the Book of Enoch? The following essay will assess various theories , ranging from frontal op · position to wholehearted acceptance, and explore a solution that takes into ac­ count the redaction history of both the Book of Enoch and the Mosaic Torah. Mosesversus Enoch The Bookof Enoch may be perceived as strongly opposing the Mosaic Torah. An· dreas Bedenbender, for instance, talks about a rivalry between two "sides, 'Moses'and 'Enoch'."' Each side gathers around a centra l character , to the exten t that one may speak of a "Mosaic Judai sm" versus an "Enochic Judaism." These twocompeting trends within ancient Judaism did not converge before the second century BCE,when there may have been a "beginning rapprochement between Enochicand Mosaic Judaism. "2 Accordingto this view, such diametrical opposition was , in fact, due to po­ litical tensions between competing priestly families: Mosaic Judaism was the productof the Zadokite dynasty, whereas Enochic Judaism was, in Gabriele Boc­ caccini's words, "a nonconformist, anti-Zadokite, priestly moveme nt of dis- 1 ~ Bedenbender,1"he Place or the Torah in the EarlyEnoch Literature,"In The Early ~h Literature,ed. Gabriele Boccaccinl and John J. Collins, JSJSup 121 (Leiden : Brill, 2007), . -~ .77.See also AndreasBedenbender, "Traces of Enochic Judaismwithin the Hebrew ::.• m The 01igins"! Enochic Judaism : Proceedingsof the First EnochSeminar, Universityof wan,Sesto Fi orentino,Italy, June 1 9-23, 2001, ed. GabrieleBoccaccinl and RandalA. Argall, ~och 24 (Torino: l.amorani, 2002), 39-48, 44. Bedenbender,"Place of the Torah,.. 78. https:J/dol.or1/t0.1515/9783t t069t80 1·012 tn - Mlchatl langtols Mosesversus Enoch? - 173 sent "' Boe · · · . c~~ IS ramous for popularizing the concept of Enochic Judaism and fifth booklets." Milli<noted that the second of these bookie~, ins1S1S that special credit for the rediscovery of Enochic Juda ·, but tbird,ro~ Parables, was absent from the Dead Sea scrolls, but he replaced ti f . · · masanq 800 m_ous onn oOuda1sm goes to Paolo Sacchi and George Nickelsburg."' lndono- the k or Giants and thus concluded that in "the first century B.C. 800 12 N,ckelsburg views Enochic wisdom as an "alternative" to the Mosaic Torah~• with thexis ed in ali probability the Pentateuch o f En oc h •" the Book or Enoch, It 1s not Moses who is the agent or divine rev . m there e t with two champions on the ring, Moses versus Enoch, each En h S ch · e 1auon, but oc • u a preeminence cannot be accidental: the authors or the Bo k -~~-with his own Pentateuch, his own followers, fighting against each other.. ~ · Enoch are "ac quainted with the Pentateuch," ' yet on oc=Ion the edo or one . this view, the reception of the Mosaic Torah in the Book of Enoch ,s a "tr f r actor ans ers the role of mediator, recipient of revelation, and lawgiver fr co~& tone In fact rather than spealcing of a "reception," one could talk of a 7 negauve o . , . fall ·ts Moses to Enoch. " John Collins likewise states that "in the early Enoch literat om . · " of the Mosaic Torah in the Book of Enoch . Yet, m spite o 1 per- •re1ecuon . Enoch, not Moses , is the mediator of revelation. ( ...) This Is not to say that';;:• suasive arguments , this theory IS not without its Daws. Torah _was unknown or unheeded in Enochlc circles; the entire Animal Apoca~ lypse 1s a paraphrase of biblical history. •• The choice of Enoch as a central figure, able to champion the authority of Mosesw ith Enoch Moses and to serve as a superior mediator , is due to his unique position: unlike other antediluvian patriarchs , who simply "lived" and "died," Enoch "walked A dualistic view or Judaism, in which Moses and Enoch would be two diametri· with God" and suddenly disappeared (Gen 5:21-24).9 He is thus the perfect can­ callyopposed figures , is probably too simplistic. As pointed out by James Van­ didate to receive and mediate divine revelation. And, according to Collins, "the derKam, "the separation into different types or Judaism, the highlighting of op­ revelation to Enoch is anterior to that of Moses and in no way subordinated to positions, is too rigid if it does not allow space for the many examples of cross­ it. " 10 The competition between Moses and Enoch might even be reflected in fertilization a nested in the sources ."" Loren Stuckenbruck likewise disagrees the structure of their respective corpuses: both the Mosaic Torah and the Book with Boccaccini's dualistic view of Enochic versus Mosaic Judaism. Not that he of Enoch are literally pentateuchs, that is, composed of five books. This five­ does not see any form of polemic in the Book of Enoch against other Jewish book structure is attested by one of the oldest Ethiopic manuscripts or the groups, but he questions the identity of these opponents. They do seem to Book of Enoch in which marginal numerals indicate the beginning of the second, have "competing written traditions," but "is this a matter of one adhering to Eno­ chic tradition in contrast to others {the opponenlS) who perhaps adhere to Mo· saic tradition, as Boccaccini would have us believe? Hardly so."" 3 Gabriele Boccacdnl, "Introduction:From the EnochLiterature to EnochlcJudaism," in Enoch If Enoch and Moses are not against each other, then, what is the nature of and Qumran Origins:New Light on a ForgottenConnection, ed. GabrieleBoccaccinl (Grand Rap · Do Ids, Ml: Eerdmans, 2005), 1- 16, 6. their relationship? ls there really no latent rivalry between them? they simply 4 Boccaccini, ..From the Enoch Literatureto EnochlcJudaism," 4 . Ignore each other perhaps? Not at all, according to Paul Heger , who appeals to s GeorgeW.E . Nickelsburg," EnochicWisdom: An Alternativeto the MosaicTorah? ," in Hesed Ve-Emet:Studies in Honor of Ernest S. Frerichs,ed. JodiMagness and SeymourGitln, BJS310 (At· lanta, Scholars Press, 1998), 123-32. 11 f.t. I "r' In 1 En. 37:1,t "3" In 1 En. 72:1,0 "4" In 1 En. 83:1,and~ "S" In 1 En. 92:1:d. Ephraim 6 Georgew.E. Nickelsbwg, "Enochlcwtsdom and Its Relationshipto the MosaicTorah," In The Isaac,"The OldestEthloplc Manuscript (K-9) of the Book of Enoch and Recent Studies of the Ara · Early Enoch Literature, ed..Gabriele Boccacclniand JohnJ. Collins, 1st ed., JSJSup121 (Leiden: maleFragments or QumranCave 4, .. In Worldngwith No Data: Stmiric and Egyptian Studies Pre­ Brill, 2007), 81-94. Sfflttd to Thomas0. Lambdin,ed. David M. Golomband SusanT . Hollis (Winona Lake, IN: E· 7 Nickelsburg,"Enochic Wisdom and Its Relationshipto the Mosaic Torah,'" 89. h senbrauns, 1987), 195-207, 202. s John J. Collins, "'Enochic Judaism' and the Sect of the Dead Sea Scrolls,"In The Early Elloc 12 l6zefTadeusz Mlllk, TIit Booksof Enoch.Animate f'ragmmts of Qumnln Cave 4 (Oxford: □ar• werature, ed. Gabriele Boccacciniand John J. Collins, JSJSup121 (Lei den: Brill, 2007),283-300, endonPress, 19 76), 4. 13 J~es C. VanderKam,·Mapping SecondTemple Judaism,• In The Early Enoch Uterature, ed. 2!17. h" etphl· 9 See e.g. Michael Langlois,Le premier manu.scritdu Lfvred'Htnoch: t tude ep,grap· ,que ~bnele Boccacdnl and John J. Collins.JSJSup 121 (Leldtn: Brill. 2007). 1- 20, 20. 1 lologique des fragmentsarameens de 4Q20J d Qumrdn,Lectio Divina (Paris: _Ce~, 2008), !~ LorenT . Stuckenbruck, "Pentateuchand Biblical Interpretation,• In The QumranLegal Texts 10 JohnJ. Collins, "Howdistinctive was EnochJcJudaism ?,"Meghillot - Studies in the Dea bttwttnthe Hebrew Bible and Its Interpretation, ed. KristinDe Troyerand Armin Lange,CBET 61 (leuven, Peeters, 2011),43- 58, 52. Scrolls 5- 6 (2008): 17-34, 31. 174 - Mlcha•I Langlols Mosesversus Enoch? - 17S rabbinical authorities and a,gues that "the later rabbis would not ha al Daws too. It is based on arguments ex silentio combined with later tradl · that Enoch entered Paradise alive, together with Elijah and oth ve assetted . er prominent sever that may or may not reflect the historicai realities behind the compos ition sonalmes. lf they had understood the text of I Enoch as opposing th M per. - 1 · that dif •» H th e osalc tra or the Enochic and the Mosaic corpuses. Before jumping to the cone ~s1on ion . eger agrees at there aren't many references to the Torah ln the Boo· the reception of the Torah in the Book of Enoch is perfect, complete, without any of Enoch, but does It mean that Moses or his Torah are re"Jected • k , O r even 1gnorec11 1ssueor reservation, let us have a closer look at tbe textual evidence. Ab solutely not . On the contrary, knowledge and acceptance of the Mo • T · sa1c orah are presupposed by the Book of Enoch. In line with Richard Bauckham H states that "the Torah is assumed as a basic standard and that the ' eger re was,there­ Mosesin Enoch(and vice versa) '.ore, no need to mention it.••• The alleged opposition between Moses and Enoch IS thus nowhere to be found. It is solely based on argumenlS ex silentioand To prepare for this essay, I read (once more) the whole Book of Enoch, paying Heger, appealing once again to the authority of the rabb is, reminds us tha attention to elements which might be compared to the Mosaic Torah, whether ref• they "do not accept ex silentio evidence.
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