The Sociological Settings Of The Components Of 1 Enoch

Abstract

To ask about the sociological settings of the components of 1 Enoch, some pre-understanding about the social landscape of Hellenistic Judea is required. The chapter analyzes some of the available theological evidence, and attempts a synthetic description of the political, religious, economic, and social realities. It sees whether it is possible to place the producers of the various texts of 1 Enoch somewhere within that structure. All of the Enochic books reflect a scribal origin. The simple fact that only professional scribes would have had the skill to write these books give us a pretty clear indication that the compilers of enochic traditions belonged to the scribal class. The Epistle of Enoch, written probably in the first third of the second century BCE also reflects a scribal ethos that formally agrees with Ben Sira, but probably does so in opposition to the leaders that Ben Sira supports. Keywords: 1 Enoch; Ben Sira; Epistle of Enoch; scribal ethos; social realities; theological evidence