The social setting of the syriac apocalypse of baruch

Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha

Volumn 8, Issue 16, 1997, Pages 81-96

  Wright, J Edward ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 60950364738     PISSN: 09518207     EISSN: 17455286     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/095182079700001605     Document Type: Article

References (52)

1. See M.E. Stone, 'Apocalyptic Literature', in idem (ed.), Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period (CRIANT 2.2; Assen: Van Gorcum; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), pp. 433-35
2. Fourth Ezra: A Commentary on the Book of Fourth Ezra (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990), pp. 40-42
3. G.W.E. Nickelsburg, 'Social Aspects of Palestinian Jewish Apocalypticism', in David Hellholm (ed.), Apocalypticism in the Mediterranean World and the Near East: Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Apocalypticism, Uppsala, August 12-17, 1979 (Tübingen: Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 2nd edn, 1989), pp. 641-50
4. W. Speyer, Die literarische Fälschung im heidnischen und christlichen Alterum: Ein Versuch ihrer Deutung (HAW 1.2; Munich: Beck, 1971)
5. and B. Metzger, 'Literary Forgeries and Canonical Pseudepigrapha', JBL 91 (1972), pp. 3-23
6. J.J. Collins, 'The Apocalyptic Technique: Setting and Function in the Book of Watchers', CBQ 44(1982), pp. 91-111
7. 'The Social Setting of Early Jewish Apocalypticism', JSP 4 (1989), pp. 27-47
8. 'The Social Setting of Ancient Apocalypticism: A Question of Method', JSP 13 (1995), pp. 5-16
9. G. Sayler (Have the Promises Failed? A Literary Analysis of 2 Baruch [SBLDS, 72: Chico, CA; Scholars Press, 1984], pp. 115-18), describes the author as a 'scribal/prophetic figure'
10. On the role of charismatic leadership in religious groups, see M. Weber, On Charisma and Institution Building (ed. S.N. Eisenstadt; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968)
11. idem, Channels of Prophecy: The Social Dynamics of Prophetic Activity (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), pp. 17-25
12. See J.E. Wright, 'The Evolution of Baruch from Loyal Scribe to Apocalyptic Seer', in M.E. Stone and T. Bergren (eds.), Biblical Figures Outside of the Bible (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, forthcoming)
13. On this approach to the issue of pseudepigraphy, see the works cited in n. 2 above
14. On the possible psychological dynamics behind these 'apocalyptic experiences', see D. Merkur, 'Visionary Practices of the Jewish Apocalypticists', in L. Bryce Boyer and S.A. Grolnick (eds.), The Psychoanalytic Study of Society 14 (Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press, 1989), pp. 118-48
15. M. Himmelfarb (Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses [New York: Oxford University Press, 1993], pp. 95-113), maintains that for the most part the apocalypses are simply literary fictions
16. See also D.J. Halperin, 'Heavenly Ascension in Ancient Judaism: The Nature of the Experience', in K.H. Richards (ed.), SBLSP (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987), pp. 218-32
17. The Merkabah in Rabbinic Literature (New Haven, CT: American Oriental Society, 1980)
18. Faces of the Chariot: Early Jewish Responses to Ezekiel's Vision (Tübingen: Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1988)
19. and P. Schäfer, 'New Testament and Hekhalot Literature: The Journey into Heaven in Paul and in Merkabah Mysticism', JJS 35 (1984), pp. 19-35
20. others doubt that there was a real mystical practice among early rabbis, following in essence the initial criticisms of Scholem's approach by E.E. Urbach in 'The Traditions about Merkabah Mysticism in the Tannaitic Period', in Studies in Mysticism and Religion Presented to Gershom G. Scholem (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1967), pp. 1-28 (Hebrew)
21. Fourth Ezra, 32-33 and passim
22. 'Apocalyptic, Vision or Hallucination?' Milla va-Milla 14 (1974), pp. 47-56
23. and 'On Reading an Apocalypse', in J.J. Collins and J.H. Charlesworth (eds.), Mysteries and Revelations: Apocalyptic Studies since the Uppsala Colloquium (JSPSup, 9; Sheffield: Academic Press, 1991), pp. 65-78
24. J.D. Tabor, Things Unutterable: Paul's Ascent to Paradise in its Greco-Roman, Judaic, and Early Christian Contexts (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1986)
25. and C.R.A. Morray-Jones, 'Transformational Mysticism in the Apocalyptic-Merkabah Tradition', JJS 43 (1992), pp. 1-31
26. 'Paradise Revisited (2 Cor. 12.1-12): The Jewish Mystical Background of Paul's Apostolate, Part 1: The Jewish Sources', HTR 86 (1993), pp. 177-217
27. See, for example, D.S. Russell, The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic 200 BC-AD 100 (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1964), pp. 15-35
28. and W. Schmithals, The Apocalyptic Movement: Introduction and Interpretation (trans. J.E. Steeley; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1975)
29. Recent work on the social settings of apocalypses recognizes that the political oppression theme has been applied too broadly. For a review of trends in scholarship on this issue as it relates to the Book of Revelation see F.J. Murphy, 'The Book of Revelation', Currents in Research: Biblical Studies 2 (1994), pp. 187-90
30. F.J. Murphy, The Structure and Meaning of Second Baruch (SBLDS, 78; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985), p. 140, argues that 2 Baruch does not support the struggle to overthrow Rome and so is 'an anti-apocalyptic' apocalypse
31. J.J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to the Jewish Matrix of Christianity (New York: Crossroad, 1984), pp. 29-30
32. Grabbe, 'Social Setting'
33. For critiques of these approaches, see Stone, Fourth Ezra, pp. 11-21
34. So E. Brandenburger, Die Verborgenheit Gottes in Weltgeschehen (ATANT, 68; Zurich: Theologischer Verlag, 1981)
35. On this see Murphy, Structure and Meaning, chapters 4-5
36. Stone, 'Reading and Apocalypse', pp. 76-77, observes that in 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch there are three players in these texts: the seer, an inner circle of close associates, and the people in general. These reflect part of the social setting of the author who received revelations from God, imparted the esoteric parts to the inner circle and the more mundane matters to the people
37. The responses of the people to the words or actions of the seer may be the key to understanding the social setting of works like 2 Baruch. They may indicate how some people responded to the actual author, or they may indicate how the author wished people to respond to him. For an attempt to locate the social setting of 1 Enoch 1-36, 'The Book of the Watchers', see M. Himmelfarb, 'From Prophecy to Apocalypse: The Book of Watchers and Tours of Heaven', in Jewish Spirituality: From the Bible Through the Middle Ages (New York: Crossroad, 1986), pp. 154-62
38. R.G. Hall ('The Ascension of Isaiah: Community Situation, Date and Place in Early Christianity', JBL 109.2 [1990], pp. 289-306) proposes that the final form of this text issues from an early Christian prophetic school centered around an inspired prophet
39. cf. Hall, 'Isaiah's Ascent to See the Beloved: An Ancient Jewish Source for the Ascension of Isaiah', JBL 113.3 (1994), pp. 471-75
40. J.D. Tabor, '"Returning to the Divinity": Josephus' Portrayal of the Disappearances of Enoch, Elijah, and Moses', JBL 108.2 (1989), pp. 225-38, points out that in the Greco-Roman world when a holy person 'returned to the divinity' those who followed him or her wept
41. Since he is concerned with the travails of Jerusalem and the righteous in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem, it is natural that Baruch would go to sit on the ruins of the Temple in Jerusalem to receive his next revelation from God. This may suggest that Baruch (that is, the author) went to the Temple area to induce his visions, much like Samuel has his vision (audition) in the Temple precincts in Shiloh. On induction techniques, see D. Merkur, 'Visionary Practices', and 'Prophetic Initiation in Israel and Judah', in L.B. Boyer and S.A. Grolnick (eds.), The Psychoanalytic Study of Society 12 (Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press, 1988), pp. 36-77
42. Later Jewish mystics also developed techniques to induce visions; see M. Idel, Kabbalah: New Perspectives (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988), pp. 74-111
43. Sayler, Have the Promises Failed?, pp. 115-17, touches on this theme
44. On the rationale for the rabbinic opposition to prophets and prophecy, see F.E. Greenspahn, 'Why Prophecy Ceased', JBL 108.1 (1989), pp. 37-49
45. On the continuing vitality of intermediation in early Judaism, see D.E. Aune, Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient Mediterranean World (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983), pp. 103-52
46. and Overholt, Channels of Prophecy, pp. 149-61
47. The inspired interpreter is an element of the persona of the wise sage described by M. Stone in 'Ideal Figures and Social Context: Priest and Sage in the Early Second Temple Age', in P.D. Miller, P.D. Hanson, and S.D. McBride (eds.), Ancient Israelite Religion: Essays in Honor of Frank Moore Cross (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987), pp. 575-86. Professor Dimant suggested to me that this may refer simply to the emergence of the rabbis to lead the post-70 CE Jewish communities. This suggestion comports with the approaches of Murphy, Structure and Meaning, and Sayler, Have the Promises Failed?
48. So M.E. Stone, 'Three Transformations in Judaism: Scripture, History, and Redemption', Numen 32.2 (1985), pp. 219-23
49. M. Fishbane, 'From Scribalism to Rabbinism: Perspectives on the Emergence of Classical Judaism', in J.G. Gammie and L. Perdue (eds.), The Sage in Israel and the Ancient Near East (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990), p. 440
50. Quoted from G. Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English (New York: Penguin Books, 4th edn, 1983), pp. 193-94
51. For reconstructed text see Nitzan, Pesher Habakkuk, p. 152
52. On the place of the Miqra and the interpretations of it by the Legitimate Teacher, see M. Fishbane, 'Use, Authority and Interpretation of Mikra at Qumran', in M.J. Mulder (ed.), Miqra (CRIANT I:2; Assen: Van Gorcum; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989), pp. 341-79