Henoch und der Tempel des Todes

The study on the Book of Watchers (1 Enoch 1–36), an ancient Jewish text of the third century B.C.E., presented here focuses on Enoch’s vision of the two houses (1 Enoch 14:8–25), which is usually interpreted as a vision of the heavenly temple and throne of God. This vision is investigated in the context of the dream account (1 Enoch 14–16) in its different versions (Aramaic, Greek and Old Ethiopic) and in particular with regard to the question of the relationship between scriptural interpretation and use of traditions. A close examination of the source material illustrates the complexity and the difficulties of the transmission process of this text and suggests in general a synoptic approach to the various textual witnesses. A detailed textual analysis of the vision and an in-depth comparison with ancient Jewish and Mesopotamian sources suggests that the two houses in 1 Enoch 14:8–25 should not be interpreted in accordance with the previous research opinion as distinct parts of a big temple complex, but rather as a contrast of the inferior earthly temple with the ideal heavenly sanctuary. Enoch’s vision of the two houses reflects in many ways ideas and traditions found in other works of its intellectual environment, but it also introduces with the evolution beyond the idea, that the earthly and heavenly sanctuary correspond, an essential temple theological innovation and articulates in this way one of the most radical temple critiques of ancient Judaism.

Dissertation: http://hdl.handle.net/11370/5a950052-7b48-4f8a-95f6-6b35a607c7cf