The book represents an in-depth investigation of acquisition, cultivation, and transmission of divine mysteries in Jewish apocalyptic and mystical accounts by focusing on the developments found in early Enochic writings. These accounts deal both with revelations unveiled by God and angels to the patriarch Enoch and with illicit transmission of divine knowledge by the rogue group of the fallen angels, known as the Watchers. Orlov argues that the map of otherworldly knowledge revealed to Enoch inversely mirrors the map of illicit revelations given by the fallen Watchers to humankind. The study suggests that one of the possible objectives for the parallelism is that, by revealing to Enoch the same divine mysteries that were earlier transmitted by the Watchers, God attempts to mitigate the corruption caused by the fallen angels’ illicit instructions. This book will be of interest not only for scholars specializing in historical and religious areas, but also for experts in the fields of anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and gender theory; it discusses several aspects of early and late Jewish religious epistemologies that elucidate the ideological context for the construction and affirmation of social roles and identities in various Jewish milieus.

A wide-ranging exploration of the Hekhalot and Merkavah literature, a mystical Jewish tradition from late antiquity, including a discussion of the possible cultural context of this material's creators.

Andrei A. Orlov examines the tradition about the seventh antediluvian patriarch Enoch, tracing its development from its roots in the Mesopotamian lore to the Second Temple apocalyptic texts and later rabbinic and Hekhalot materials where Enoch is often identified as the supreme angel Metatron. The first part of the book explores the imagery of the celestial roles and titles of the seventh antediluvian hero in Mesopotamian, Enochic and Hekhalot materials. The analysis of the celestial roles and titles shows that the transition from the figure of patriarch Enoch to the figure of angel Metatron occurred already in the Second Temple Enochic materials, namely, in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch, a Jewish work, traditionally dated to the first century CE. The second part of the book demonstrates that mediatorial polemics with the traditions of the exalted patriarchs and prophets played an important role in facilitating the transition from Enoch to Metatron in the Second Temple period.

This study marks a bold new departure in 2 Enoch studies. The book has long been regarded as one of the most baffling apocalypses to come down to us from antiquity. The present work argues that 2 Enoch was written by a 1st c. CE Samaritan author whose purpose was to incorporate the Enochic tradition into Samaritanism. By identifying Enoch as the “prophet like Moses” (Deut. 18:15, 18), both during his earthly past and in the eschatological future, the author of 2 Enoch hoped to combat the Dosithean heresy and also to persuade co-religionists to resume a full sacrificial cultus in the shadow of Mt. Gerizim.

This book brings together the perspectives of apocalypticism and early Jewish mysticism to illuminate aspects of New Testament theology. The first part begins with a consideration of the mystical character of apocalypticism and then uses the Book of Revelation and the development of views about the heavenly mediator figure of Enoch to explore the importance of apocalypticism in the Gospels and Acts, the Pauline Letters and finally the key theological themes in the later books of the New Testament. The second and third parts explore the character of early Jewish mysticism by taking important themes in the early Jewish mystical texts such as the Temple and the Divine Body to demonstrate the relevance of this material to New Testament interpretation.

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John Day investigates disputed points of interpretation within Genesis 1-11, expanding on his earlier book From Creation to Babel with 11 stimulating essays. Day considers the texts within their Near Eastern contexts, and pays particular attention to the later history of interpretation and reception history. Topics covered include the meaning of the Bible's first verse and what immediately follows, as well as what it means that humanity is made in the image of God. Further chapters examine the Garden of Eden, the background and role of the serpent and the ambiguous role of Wisdom; the many problems of interpretation in the Cain and Abel story, as well as what gave rise to this story; how the Covenant with Noah and the Noachic commandments, though originally separate, became conflated in some later Jewish thought; and the location of 'Ur of the Chaldaeans', Abraham's alleged place of origin, and how this was later misinterpreted by Jewish, Christian and Islamic sources as referring to a 'fiery furnace of the Chaldaeans'. These chapters, which illuminate the meaning, background and subsequent interpretation of the Book of Genesis, pave the way for Day's forthcoming ICC commentary on Genesis 1-11.