earticle

영어

Two streams have dominated the recent study of apocalypticism: one is Daniel-oriented and the other is 1 Enoch-oriented. Daniel-oriented study presupposes that the book of Daniel is the earliest apocalypse, as well as a good example of its genre. Daniel-oriented study emphasizes that the main feature of apocalypticism is imminent eschatology and its historical situation is that of persecution. Daniel-oriented study was challenged by the discovery of the Aramaic document of 1 Enoch in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which shows that the Book of Watchers (BW, hereafter), 1 Enoch 1 - 36, was earlier than Daniel. Scholarly interest in BW focused on how it differs from Daniel: in BW there is no emphasis on imminent eschatology while more interest in cosmology, stemming from the priestly and wisdom traditions, is found. 1 Enoch-oriented research attempted to supplant Daniel-oriented scholarship; however, the study about apocalypticism should not focus on 1 Enoch exclusively, but should be balanced with Daniel-oriented study.
My concern in this study is to explore where the tradition in BW comes from. Many scholars argue that the tradition in BW is totally different from the priestly tradition in the Torah. However, my argument in this study is that BW is influenced by the priestly tradition in the Torah. In order to prove it, I observe how BW reinterprets the flood story in Gen 6 - 9 under the influence of the Torah. In conclusion, BW tries to criticize the sins of the priests who held both the political and the religious power. Using the priestly tradition from the Torah, BW criticizes the injustice and the impurity of the priests through the Semichazah story and the Azasel story. Semichaza signifies the priests who committed injustice and impurity. Moreover, the story about Azazel as an origin of evil criticizes the legitimacy of the contemporary priests.