The “Book of the Secrets of Enoch” (2 En): Between Jewish Origin and Christian Transmission. An Overview

Abstract

This stratum of Jewish mystical interpolations which obviously depends on Hebrew sources by inserting the additions in Greek into a Greek text transmitted by Christian contemporaries. The phenomenon does not fit into any plausible model of transmission history. Nor can the so-called Judaizers in Russia during the 14th/15th century, who often have been the last hope for some scholars, offer a useful clue. Since this Russian heresy is discovered to be mainly a phantom, we should not use it as a way out of the problem. Finally, little effort has been invested up to now to describe the specific Christian interest in 2 Enoch. But it is not enough to distinguish between Jewish and Christian elements or to postulate a Jewish origin (whether by good reason or not). To sum up, 2 Enoch deserves much more attention among scholars who deal with Early Judaism. Keywords:2 Enoch; century; Christian; Greek; Jewish origin; Judaism