New Testament Relevence of 2 Enoch
It is worthwhile to ask about the relevance of 2 Enoch for the New Testament student. The relevance is somewhat variable. In other words, there are many smaller details and comments the author makes that have parallels to the New Testament, that, while interesting to compare, they are not necessarily helpful in the task of New Testament exegesis.1 There are, however, at least three significant observations that may be of considerable significance for New Testament studies as it relates to the text of 2 Enoch. First, the author of 2 Enoch speaks much of the Creator and final judgment, but he speaks very little, if any, of redemption. Redemption is absent from the matrix of thought in 2 Enoch. Andersen is even more dogmatic when he concludes that there "is a total lack of a Christian Savior or scheme of salvation."2 There is a severity to 2 Enoch that is offensive to Christian doctrine. Consider 60:1-5 as an example:
He who does harm to a human soul creates harm for his own soul, and there is for him no healing of his flesh, nor any forgiveness for eternity...He who carries out the murder of a human soul causes the death of his own soul, and murders his own body; and there is no healing for him for eternity. He who lies in wait for a person with any kind of trap, he himself will be entangled in it; and there is no healing for him for eternity. He who lies in wait for a person in judgment, his retribution will not be slackened in the great judgment for eternity. He who acts perversely, or says anything against any soul, righteousness will not be created for him for eternity. [emphasis added]
There seems to be no redemption in the message of 2 Enoch. Bauckham's comment on this observation is notable: "What is truly remarkable is that 2 Enoch (a work of 72 chapters) has no reference to the mercy of God."3 Bauckham has compared this work to 4 Ezra, which E. P. Sanders has judged to posit a "works-based" soteriology with no mention of God's mercy. While Bauckham does not agree with Sanders' evaluation of 4 Ezra, he does acknowledge that such an evaluation is more suitable for 2 Enoch.4 But Bauckham gives a little room to the author of 2 Enoch by observing his statement in 2:3, "And may God make your hearts true in reverence for him." The importance of such a determination is particular helpful in Pauline exegesis. If this truly is a valid observation, then it may reflect upon the Jewish understanding of the role of keeping Torah in the Judaistic soteriological paradigm. This, then, would be important for wrestling with the "new perspective on Paul" and the Law.
A second significant observation from 2 Enoch that has relevance for New Testament exegesis is the strong paranesis throughout the work. This occurs mostly in the second section of the work (viz. chapters 36-67) when Enoch returns from his heavenly tour and declares to his children both the content and the significance of what was revealed to him. A few examples will suffice:
39:5: Give heed, my children, to the admonition of your father, to whatever is in accordance with the will of the Lord. I have been sent to you today from the lips of the Lord, to speak to you whatever has been and whatever is now and whatever will be until the day of judgment.
46:1-2: Listen, my people, and give heed to the utterance of my lips! If to an earthly king someone should bring some kinds of gifts, if he is thinking treachery in his heart, and the king perceives it, will he not be angry with him? And will he not spurn his gifts? And will he not hand him over for judgment? If any person seduces another person into untruth by fair speech, but his heart is evil, will he not be conscious of the treachery of his heart, and (will he not) judge himself in himself, whether or not his judgment be true how his untruthfulness is obvious to everyone?
50:2-4: Now therefore, my children, in patience and meekness abide for the number of your days, so that you may inherit the final endless age that is coming. Every assault and every persecution and every evil word endure for the sake of the Lord. If the injury and persecution happen to you on account of the Lord, then endure them all for the sake of the Lord. And if you are able to take vengeance with a hundredfold revenge, do not take vengeance, neither on one who is close to you nor on one who is distant from you. For the Lord is the one who takes vengeance, and he will be the avenger for you on the day of the great judgment, so that there may be no acts of retribution here from human beings, but only from the Lord.
51:-2: Stretch out your hands to the needy in accordance with your strength. Do not hide your silver in the earth. Help a believer in affliction, and then affliction will not find you.
53:4: So now, my children, pay close attention to all your father's sayings, whatever I say to you, so that you will not be sorry, saying, "Our father warned us."
The form of Enoch's utterances resemble what one would expect to find in Wisdom literature. Indeed, some would argue that apocalyptic literature has its roots in the wisdom tradition.5 While the author of 2 Enoch may have been borrowing from the Wisdom tradition extant at the time of the Second Temple period,6 the overall tenor of the book is better categorized as apocalyptic rather than Wisdom literature. Nevertheless, the above citations demonstrate the weighty paranesis that pervades the book. This may be helpful to New Testament studies by comparing such ethical exhortations to the paranetic sections of the New Testament found in most of Paul's letters, as well as in most of the General Epistles.
A third area of relevance for the New Testament and 2 Enoch is the person of Melchizedek. This occupies a significant portion of the latter section of 2 Enoch. Though a comparison with the Melchizedek in the book of Hebrews will reveal significant differences, it nevertheless demonstrates a Melchizedkian tradition. In the tradition that the author of 2 Enoch follows, Melchizedek was miraculously conceived without human intervention by an aged mother who had never given birth before. Before she was able to give birth to the baby she died. The baby then emerged from the corpse cleaning himself and able to talk and possessing the physical maturity and stature of a three-year old boy. This is quite a different picture than is given in the New Testament (cf. Hebrews 6-8). The point to notice, however, is that the Melchizedekian priesthood will be perpetuated throughout the generations until "another Melchizedek" appears. According to 2 Enoch, this priesthood is everlasting and consequently this final Melchizedek will serve as the arch-priest as the head of the last generation. The fact that he will serve as the arch-priest allows one to conclude that the author of 2 Enoch believed there would yet be a restoration of the Temple.7 This is a stimulating thought for the New Testament exegete as he tries to understand the mind of the Jew during the Second Temple period--a time frame overlapping with the time period wherein the New Testament was written.
A study of the book of 2 Enoch offers some value for the student of the New Testament. Newsome's words make a fitting conclusion to its value:
There are many parallels between the thought of 2 Enoch and that of the New Testament, the strongly eschatological hope, the ethical view of obedience to God (cf. Matt. 25:31-46) and the special place accorded Melchizedek (Heb. 5) being among the more obvious. But all of these elements were present elsewhere in Jewish and Christian thought, so it is impossible to draw direct lines of contact between 2 Enoch and the New Testament.8
Notes
1For a list of such ideas cf. Larry R. Helyer, Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002): 382-84. He lists the visions of the various heavens as comparable to the throne room scene in Revelation 4; he compares 2 Enoch 5:16-17 to Matthew 25:41-44; 2 Enoch 11:2 with Hebrews 11:3; 2 Enoch 11:37-38 with John 14:2-3; et. al.
2F. I. Andersen, "2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch," in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Apocalyptic Literature & Testaments, Vol. 1, ed. James H. Charlesworth (New York: Doubleday, 1983): 96.
3Richard Bauckham, "Apocalypses," in Justification and Variegated Nomism: Volume 1-The Complexities of Second Temple Judaism, eds. D. A. Carson, Peter T. O'Brien, and Mark A. Seifrid, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001): 155.
4Ibid., 156.
5One author who has done much work in tracing the roots of apocalyptic is Paul Hanson. He argues against the idea of the roots of apocalyptic being from the wisdom tradition or from foreign heritage. He argues rather that it has its roots in pre-exilic Jewish prophecy. Cf. Paul Hanson, The Dawn of Apocalyptic: The Historical and Sociological Roots of Jewish Apocalyptic Eschatology, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975, revised edition), 1979.
6Kampen makes a notable point regarding Wisdom literature of the Second Temple period: "The literature that has become available since 1990 provides evidence of a new wisdom tradition that is not an imitation of biblical material or an expansion of the sectarian use of wisdom vocabulary noted early in the history of the study of Qumran materials. These texts are evidence of another significant wisdom tradition in Second Temple Judaism, the study of which is only in its infancy." Cf. J. I. Kampen, "Wisdom Literature at Qumran," in Dictionary of New Testament Backgrounds, eds. Craig A. Evans and Stanley Porter (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000): 1266-67. For a fuller discussion of Wisdom literature consult the full article: 1263-68.
7Larry R. Helyer, Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002): 384.
8 James D. Newsome, Greeks, Romans, Jews: Currents of Culture and Belief in the New Testament World (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1992): 349.
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