Kelley Coblentz Bautch

Concealment, Pseudepigraphy and the Study of Esotericism in Antiquity

Historians of antiquity and of the modern and postmodern world have made advances in defining esotericism and mysticism and ought to be in conversation with one another. Collaborative work among scholars of esotericism of diverse periods is at a beginning stage, despite shared methodologies and commitment to undergirding studies in cultural and historical contexts. Contemporary study of esoteric rhetoric aids our understanding of hiddenness, secrecy and revelation in ancient Jewish and Christian texts. The practice of pseudepigraphy in antiquity, which obscures a text’s author, may be related, though, to religious experience or to a traditionary process. Scholars who are aware of misrepresentations of esotericism have a responsibility to consider manifold reasons for the practice of pseudepigraphy, in contrast to the scholars who associate use of pseudonyms with duplicity and malfeasance.

Patriarch, Prophet, Author, Angelic Rival: Exploring the Relationship of 1 Enoch to 2 Enoch in Light of the Figure of Enoch

In The Enoch-Metatron Tradition , Andrei Orlov takes up the titles attributed to and the roles played by the main recipient of revelation, Enoch. An overarching goal of Orlovs study is to clarify the connection between Enoch and Metatron though examination of titles and the roles of these figures in respective traditions. Roles illumine further the emerging portraits of Enoch and the relationship of early Enochic lore to 2 Enoch includes patriarch, prophet, author, and rival to angels. While scholars might disagree as to how interested early Enochic literature and 2 Enoch are in history, Enoch emerges in these writings as a patriarch. Enoch is presented as a prophet in Jude. 2 Enoch more clearly preserves the image of Enoch as author. Works such as the Book of the Watchers play with the notion that Enoch assumes the role naturally accorded to angels by interceding for disobedient watchers. Keywords:Andrei Orlov; angelic rival; author; Book of the Watchers; Enoch; Enochic literature; Jude; patriarch; prophet; The Enoch-Metatron Tradition

The Heavenly Temple, The Prison In The Void And The Uninhabited Paradise: Otherworldly Sites In The Book Of The Watchers

This chapter concerns specifically on the representations of otherworldly realities in the Book of the Watchers . That is to say, many of the sites one might associate with the sacred from the perspective of the ancients were inaccessible and available to only the divine, celestial or liminal beings or certain elect few. There are aspects to Enochs visionary experience and to the heavenly temple that are unique. The chapter examines three very different sites associated with the otherworld in the Book of the Watchers : the heavenly temple, the prison of the stars and the Pardes of Righteousness or Truth. One of these otherworldly sites functions as the eternal home for the divine, one serves as the temporary holding cell for disobedient celestial beings, and one relates to traditions concerning ancestors, the first couple and an unusual tree. Keywords: book of the watchers ; Enoch; heavenly temple; otherworldly sites