The Enochic Watchers' Template and the Gospel of Matthew
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Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects The noE chic Watchers' Template and the Gospel of Matthew Amy Elizabeth Richter Marquette University Recommended Citation Richter, Amy Elizabeth, "The nochicE Watchers' Template and the Gospel of Matthew" (2010). Dissertations (2009 -). Paper 45. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/45 THE ENOCHIC WATCHERS’ TEMPLATE AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW by Amy E. Richter, B.A., M.T.S., M.Div. A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2010 ABSTRACT THE ENOCHIC WATCHERS’ TEMPLATE AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW Amy E. Richter, B.A., M.T.S., M.Div. Marquette University, 2010 The writer of the Gospel according to Matthew was familiar with themes and traditions about the antediluvian patriarch Enoch, including the story of the fall of the watchers, and shows that Jesus brings about the eschatological repair of the consequences of the watchers’ fall. In Matthew’s Gospel, the foreshadowing of repair and then the repair itself are seen in the evangelist’s genealogy and infancy narrative, the focus of this dissertation. According to the Enochic watchers’ template, evil came into the world when the watchers transgressed their heavenly boundary to engage in illicit sexual contact with women and teach them illicit arts. The consequences of the watchers’ transgression are violence, unrighteousness, evil, idolatry, and disease. Some of these consequences come from human use of the skills taught by the watchers, skills for seduction, war-making, sorcery, and astrology. The women of the Hebrew Bible named by Matthew in his genealogy of Jesus foreshadow the reversal of the watchers’ transgression. All four of them are connected with the Enochic watchers’ template. They use the illicit arts, but the use of these skills leads to righteousness rather than evil. The women are also connected with other aspects of the Enochic watchers’ template, including sexual interaction which connects the earthly and heavenly realms, interaction with angels, unusual aspects of their offspring, and connections with giants. In Matthew’s infancy narrative, he shows that the birth of Jesus repairs the effects of the watchers’ template by using the very elements of that template. Joseph’s suspicion of Mary’s pregnancy; the child as the product of a woman and the Holy Spirit, who may have been regarded as angelomorphic; dreams that direct human agents in divine plans; and the magi who are connected with, and make use of illicit arts to find the child all reflect elements of the Enochic watchers’ template. The repair begun by Jesus’ birth is completed by the adult Jesus and shows in the chapters following Matthew’s genealogy and infancy narrative. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Amy E. Richter, B.A., M.T.S., M.Div. I would like to express my gratitude to those who have helped and supported me during my graduate studies and during the writing of this dissertation. I would like to thank my dissertation directors, Dr. Deirdre Dempsey and Dr. Andrei Orlov, for their guidance and encouragement, the members of my dissertation committee, and the members of the faculty of Marquette with whom I was fortunate to study. I would like to thank the people of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Milwaukee, the bishops and staff of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, and the people of St. Anne’s Church in Annapolis, Maryland for their encouragement and interest in my studies. I want to thank my family, especially my parents, the Rev. George Richter and Patricia Richter; my parents-in-law, Stephen Pagano and Mary Pagano; June Richter, Andrew Richter, Jennifer Prough, and Joel Richter for their support and encouragement. Finally, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the Rev. Dr. Joseph Pagano, my husband, to whom this dissertation is lovingly dedicated. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………………………………………………i LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………..iv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………….……………. 1 The Gospel of Matthew and Apocalyptic Literature………….…………..8 II. TRANSGRESSION…………………………………………….…………….24 The Enochic Story of the Watchers – Illicit Pedagogy and Willing (?) Women……………………………………………….…27 III. TRANSGRESSION REASSESSED………………………………………...47 Questionable Means, Suspicious Motherhood, Righteous Results: Jesus’ Great-Grandmothers in Matthew, Foreshadowing Redemption……………………………………………..47 Why These Women?..................................................................................50 Tamar: Always Save Your Receipts……………………….……………58 Rahab: Transgression as Faithfulness………………………….………..86 Ruth: Under Cover of Night…………………………………………...114 The Wife of Uriah………………………………………….…………...129 The Four Women and the Enochic Template…………………….…….143 IV. TRANSGRESSION REDRESSED………………………………….……..148 The Fifth Woman………………………………………………….……149 Whose Child is This?...............................................................................151 The Child is from the (Angelomorphic) Holy Spirit……………….…..163 iii I Had a Dream: Dreams as Revelatory in Matthew 1-2 and 1 Enoch……………………………………………………….…….169 Magi…………………………………………………………………….207 V. THE LEGACY OF THE WATCHERS’ TRANSGRESSION VERSUS THE LEGACY OF “GOD WITH US”………………………….……...231 The Watchers’ Illicit Pedagogy Versus Jesus’ Righteous Pedagogy…...233 The Watchers’ Illicit Sexual Relationships Versus Jesus’ Rejection of Illicit Sexual Relationships…….…………………..238 The “Family” of the Watchers Versus the Family of Jesus…………….240 The Watchers’ Violence Versus Jesus’ Peace………………………….242 The Watchers’ Legacy of Disease Versus Jesus’ Healing……….…….245 The Watchers’ Legacy of Idolatry Versus Jesus’ True Worship............249 VI. CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………….252 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………..…255 iv LIST OF TABLES Table I. Summary of Illicit Pedagogy in 1 Enoch………………………………..…..42 II. Connections between the Four Women and the Enochic Template…….144-46 III. Comparison of the Birth Stories of Noah and Jesus………………………..162 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION This dissertation shows that the writer of the Gospel according to Matthew1 was familiar with themes and traditions about the antediluvian patriarch Enoch, including the story of the fall of the watchers, which is recorded in the apocalyptic and pseudepigraphical work known as 1 Enoch.2 Matthew was familiar with the 1 For the sake of convenience, I will use the name Matthew to refer to the writer of the Gospel according to Matthew. I will also use it as the title of the Gospel. I will also name Matthew as the “writer” of the Gospel, as opposed to the “redactor” of the Gospel, largely for convenience’s sake, even though it will be clear that, in agreement with the majority scholarly opinion that Matthew made use of various sources in the composition of his Gospel. The redaction history of Matthew is the subject of a rich scholarly discourse and is largely beyond the scope of this dissertation. However, this dissertation will elucidate some aspects of materials used by Matthew in the composition of the Gospel and some of the theological concerns of the evangelist. For more on the authorship, sources, and redaction of Matthew’s Gospel, see Ernest L. Abel, “Who Wrote Matthew?” New Testament Studies 17 (1970/71):138-52; Francis Wright Beare, The Gospel According to Matthew: Translation, Introduction and Commentary (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981), 5-49; Stephenson H. Brooks, Matthew’s Community: The Evidence of His Special Sayings Material (Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 16; Sheffield: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 1987); William D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew, vol. 1, Introduction and Commentary on Matthew I-VII (International Critical Commentary; London: T&T Clark, 1988), 7-148; Donald Alfred Hagner, Matthew 1- 13 (Word Biblical Commentary 33a; Dallas: Thomas Nelson, 1993), xliii-lxxvii; Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew (Sacra Pagina 1; Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical, 1991), 1-19; Ulrich Luz, “Matthew and Q,” in Studies in Matthew (trans. Rosemary Selle; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 39-53; Luz, Matthew 1- 7 (ed. Helmut Koester; trans. James E. Crouch; Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007), 1-60; J. Andrew Overman, Church and Community in Crisis: the Gospel According to Matthew (The New Testament in Context; Valley Forge, Pa.: Trinity, 1996), 1-26; Graham N. Stanton, “Literary Criticism: Ancient and Modern,” in A Gospel for a New People: Studies in Matthew (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1993), 54-84. 2 1 Enoch is a collection of traditions, the earliest of which date from about the fourth century B.C.E. The earliest evidence for the collection as a whole comes from a fifth – sixth century C.E. Ethiopic translation of a Greek translation of Aramaic texts. George W. E. Nickelsburg, 1 Enoch 1: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 1-36; 81-108, (ed. Klaus Baltzer; Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 1. The textual history of 1 Enoch is beyond the scope of this dissertation. I rely on the text and translation of 1 Enoch by George W. E. Nickelsburg and James C. VanderKam, 1 Enoch: A New Translation (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004) and use this translation unless otherwise noted. 2 Enochic watchers’ template and Enoch’s role in responding to the watchers’ transgression. My use of the word “template”