The dating the Similitudes of Enoch
Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 5:37 pm
As far as I can tell there are two main dates put forward for the Similitudes of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71) the first or third century CE.
As far as I can tell there are two arguments for it being third century CE. Firstly that in the text there are many parallels to Christianity – Wisdom figure, the Son of Man, a heavenly judgement, a Messiah. Secondly that it has not be found at Qumran, while all the other parts of 1 Enoch have been.
The arguments for it being first century CE are:
That in 56:5-57:2 Parthians and Medes appear. This is seen as referring to the Parthian invasion of Palestine in 40 BCE when they setup Antigonus II Mattathias as King of Judea (40-37).
That there is reference to hot springs in 67:5-13. It is thought these verse are inspired by Herod’s attempt to be cured in the hot springs at Callirhoe during his last illness (before 4 CE).
It has been suggested that it is earlier than the expansion of Christianity because it uses the term son of man, while 4 Ezra instead of son of man has “man from the sea”. It is suggested that “man from the sea” is used instead of son of man because after 70 CE when 1 Ezra was written the term son of man was being applied to Jesus Christ.
It is often suggested that Mt 19:28 and 25:31 have been influenced by 1 Enoch 62:4ff and 69:27 and 29. If this is the case and we date the gospel of Matthew to c 85 then the Similitudes of Enoch must have been written by then.
1 Enoch 56:7 “But the city of my righteous shall be a hindrance to their horses” clearly implies that the author of the Similitudes of Enoch still sees Jerusalem as existing. This seems to be evidence that this text was written before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
If the Similitudes of Enoch were written around 10-20 CE should we expect to find them at Qumran? I think the answer is no. If we assume that the Qumran community was setup as a reaction against the Hasmonean rulers in the second century BCE and that it expected the eschatological event sometime around 70 BCE. Then it is possible that in the first century CE it was no longer interested in any new Jewish writings that were being produced.
As far as I can tell there are two arguments for it being third century CE. Firstly that in the text there are many parallels to Christianity – Wisdom figure, the Son of Man, a heavenly judgement, a Messiah. Secondly that it has not be found at Qumran, while all the other parts of 1 Enoch have been.
The arguments for it being first century CE are:
That in 56:5-57:2 Parthians and Medes appear. This is seen as referring to the Parthian invasion of Palestine in 40 BCE when they setup Antigonus II Mattathias as King of Judea (40-37).
That there is reference to hot springs in 67:5-13. It is thought these verse are inspired by Herod’s attempt to be cured in the hot springs at Callirhoe during his last illness (before 4 CE).
It has been suggested that it is earlier than the expansion of Christianity because it uses the term son of man, while 4 Ezra instead of son of man has “man from the sea”. It is suggested that “man from the sea” is used instead of son of man because after 70 CE when 1 Ezra was written the term son of man was being applied to Jesus Christ.
It is often suggested that Mt 19:28 and 25:31 have been influenced by 1 Enoch 62:4ff and 69:27 and 29. If this is the case and we date the gospel of Matthew to c 85 then the Similitudes of Enoch must have been written by then.
1 Enoch 56:7 “But the city of my righteous shall be a hindrance to their horses” clearly implies that the author of the Similitudes of Enoch still sees Jerusalem as existing. This seems to be evidence that this text was written before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
If the Similitudes of Enoch were written around 10-20 CE should we expect to find them at Qumran? I think the answer is no. If we assume that the Qumran community was setup as a reaction against the Hasmonean rulers in the second century BCE and that it expected the eschatological event sometime around 70 BCE. Then it is possible that in the first century CE it was no longer interested in any new Jewish writings that were being produced.