A Study of the Geography of 1 Enoch 17-19: "No One Has Seen What I Have Seen"

Abstract

Study of the Geography of 1 Enoch 17-19: No One Has seen What I Have seen, by Kelley Coblentz Bauteil. JSJSup 81. Leiden: Brill, 2003. Pp. xvii + 332. euro79 (hardcover). ISBN 9004131035. In order to comprehend the development of Judaism in the second Temple period, it is necessary to understand the large and complex Enochic corpus, which many have suggested represents a distinct form of Judaism (Enochic Judaism). Yet, because the Enochic corpus consists of five separate writings, each stemming from a different period of time and composed by a different author for a specific community, we cannot treat the corpus as a single, unified entity; instead, we must endeavor to understand each book in its own right and within its own historical and literary context. Bauteil does just that for the of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1-36 [henceforth BW]), which is quite possibly the earliest Jewish apocalypse and, together with the Astronomical Book (1 En. 72-82), also the earliest part of the Enochic corpus, dating to the latter half of the third century B.C.E. (see now James H. Charlesworth, A Rare Consensus Among Enoch Specialists: Date of the Earliest Enoch Books, Henoch 24 [2002]: 225-34). Arguing that the BW itself is a composite writing, Bautch limits the scope of her study to 1 En. which she argues existed as an independent literary unit before being incorporated into the BW. Hence, insofar as it takes us back to the time of the initial formation of the Enochic corpus itself and of apocalyptic literature in general, this study deals with crucial matters about which all biblical scholars and historians of early Judaism must be vitally concerned. fact that Bautch further narrows the focus of her study to the geography of 1 En. 17-19 is not surprising. For not only does 1 En. 17-19 consist of Enoch's first-person account of the various geographical features and cosmological phenomena that he saw during a journey around the world, but Bautch's doctoral supervisor, James C. VanderKam, has contributed significantly to the study of geographical aspects of Jewish literature of the period, including the geography of the Enochic books. present monograph is a welcome addition to the burgeoning scholarly literature that is giving serious and sustained attention to the question of ancient geographical conceptions and mental maps, which provide significant clues about the author's worldview, sources, and agenda. geography and the journeys in the BW have been a particularly vexing question, which has been addressed by only a few studies dedicated solely to their explication (in addition to the four studies listed on p. 7 n. 26, see now Pieter M. Venter, Spatiality in Enoch's Journeys [1 Enoch 12-36], in Wisdom and Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Biblical Tradition [ed. F. Garcia Martinez; BETL 168; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2003], 211-30). Bautch's helpful focus on 1 En. 17-19 provides us with a multifaceted study that considers the text's geography and journeys in far greater depth and with more sensitivity than has previously been attempted (see also now Michael A. Knibb, The Use of Scripture in 1 Enoch 17-19, in Jerusalem, Alexandria, Home: Studies in Ancient Cultural Interaction in Honour of A.. Hilhorst [ed. F. Garcia Martinez and G. P. Luttikhuizen; JSJSup 82; Leiden: Brill, 2003], 165-78). This book is likely to remain a standard treatment of the subject for years to come and a great boon to scholarship on the Enochic corpus as a whole. book consists of three main sections, an extensive conclusion (including an excursus on Law and the Enochic Community), an appendix on text-critical issues, a bibliography, and indices of modern authors and ancient sources. In the following, I will provide an overview of the major findings of the book, along with an evaluation of some of the author's most important arguments. In section 1 (Preliminary Determinations, pp. …