Ancient Tales of Giants from Qumran and Turfan :Contexts, Traditions, and Influences

Publication subTitle :Contexts, Traditions, and Influences

Author: Matthew Goff   Loren T. Stuckenbruck   Enrico Morano  

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck‎

Publication year: 2016

E-ISBN: 9783161545320

P-ISBN(Paperback): 9783161545313

Subject: B971.1 Old Testament

Language: ENG

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Description

While there has been much scholarly attention devoted to the Enochic Book of the Watchers , much less has been paid to the Book of Giants from Qumran. This volume is the proceedings of a conference that convened in Munich, Germany, in June 2014, which was devoted to the giants of Enochic tradition and in particular the Qumran Book of Giants . It engages the topic of the giants in relation to various ancient contexts, including the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and ancient Mesopotamia. The authors of this volume give particular attention to Manichaeism, especially the Manichaean Book of Giants , fragments of which were found in Turfan (western China). They contribute to our understanding of the range of stories Jews told in antiquity about the sons of the watchers who descended to earth and their vibrant Nachleben in Manichaeism.

Chapter

Part One: Gibborim and Gigantes. Antecedents, Reception, and Comparative Contextsfrom the Hebrew Bible and Greek Literature

Brian R. Doak: The Giant in a Thousand Years: Tracing Narratives of Gigantism in the Hebrew Bible and Beyond

I. The Embarrassing and Alluring Giant

II. Five Categories of Giant Thinking in the Hebrew Bible

1. The giant as divine or semi-divine figure

2. The giant as anti-law and anti-king

3. The giant as elite adversary and elite animal

4. The giant as unruly or overgrown vegetation

5. The giant as the defeated past

III. A Transition to the Early Jewish Giant

IV. Conclusion

Samantha Newington: Greek Titans and Biblical Giants

Michael Tuval: “Συναγωγὴ γιγάντων” (Prov 21:16): The Giants in the Jewish Literature in Greek

I. The Giants in the LXX

II. The Wisdom of Solomon, 3 Maccabees, Baruch, 3 Baruch, Ben Sira, and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

III. Pseudo-Eupolemus

IV. The Sibylline Oracles

V. Philo of Alexandria

VI. Flavius Josephus

VII. Summary and Conclusions

Part Two:Tales of Giants in their Ancient Jewish Context. The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Book of Watchers, and Daniel

Joseph L. Angel: The Humbling of the Arrogant and the “Wild Man” and “Tree Stump” Traditions in the Book of Giants and Daniel 4

I. Introduction

II. Parallels in Daniel 4 and the Book of Giants

III. Explanations and Implications

Amanda M. Davis Bledsoe: Throne Theophanies, Dream Visions, and Righteous(?) Seers: Daniel, the Book of Giants, and 1 Enoch Reconsidered

I. Introduction

II. The Throne Theophanies of Daniel 7, 4Q530, and 1 Enoch 14

1. The Deity

2. The Throne(s)

3. The Attendants

III. The Relationship between the Visions of Daniel 7, 4Q530, and 1 Enoch 14

IV. Dream Visions and the Role of the Seer in Daniel 7, 4Q530, and 1 Enoch 14

V. Conclusion

Ida Fröhlich: Giants and Demons

I. Demonic Traits of the Watchers

II. Demonic Traits of the Giants

III. Naming the Sons of the Watchers: Gibbōrîm

IV. Genesis 6:1–4 and the Book of Watchers

Matthew Goff: The Sons of the Watchers in the Book of Watchers and the Qumran Book of Giants: Contexts and Prospects

I. Introduction: Questions, Contexts and Prospects

II. The Giants in the Book of Watchers

III. The Giants in the Qumran Book of Giants

IV. The Fate of the Giants

V. Conclusion

Loren T. Stuckenbruck: The Book of Giants among the Dead Sea Scrolls: Considerations of Method and a New Proposal on the Reconstruction of 4Q530

I. Introduction

II. Methodological Considerations in Reconstructing the Qumran Book of Giants

III. A Sequenced Outline Derived from Extant Dead Sea Fragments

IV. A Proposal for Reconstructing the Remaining Length of 4Q530

V. Conclusion

Part Three: Enochic Traditions in Central Asia and China. Exploring Connections and Affinities betweenGiants in Ancient Judaism and Manichaeism

Gábor Kósa: The Book of Giants Tradition in the Chinese Manichaica

I. The Major Figure of Interface between the Book of Giants and Manichaeism

1. The Motif of Rex Honoris and the Rebelling Angels in a Xiapu Text

a) Rebellions in the Manichaean Universe

b) The Names of the Four Punishing Angels

2. Rex Honoris and the Imprisoned Demons in the Chinese Manichaean Cosmology Painting

a) Rex Honoris in the CP

aa) Rex Honoris as Surveyor of the Evil Forces and the Magical Mirror

bb) The Two Groups of Four Angels on Either Side of Rex Honoris

b) Imprisoned and Rebelling Demons in the Firmaments

c) Four Angels at Mount Sumeru

d) Imprisoned Demons in the Earths

II. Thirty-Two Palaces on Mount Sumeru

III. Different Fates for Different Kinds of Giants?

1. A Watcher Placed Upon a Demon

2. Repenting Demons at Mount Sumeru

3. Imprisoned Giants?

IV. Conclusion

Enrico Morano: Some New Sogdian Fragments Related to Mani’s Book of Giants and the Problem of the Influence of Jewish Enochic Literature

I. New Texts from the Sogdian Version of Mani’s Book of Giants (?)

1. “Res Gestae Gigantis Sāhm”: So10701a (T I D) + So20193b (TM363) and So10700a (T I D) + So20193a (TM363)

a) So10701a [T I D] + So20193b (Fig. 1)

b) So10700a [T I D] + So20193a [TM363] (Fig. 2)

2. The Fall of the Demons’ Abortions: So14255 and So14256

II. New Sogdian Texts related to Enochic Literature

a) “Lament of the Bound Rebel Stars” (So20220/II/) (Figs. 3–4)

III. Conclusion

John C. Reeves: Jacob of Edessa and the Manichaean Book of Giants?

Jens Wilkens: Remarks on the Manichaean Book of Giants: Once Again on Mahaway’s Mission to Enoch

I. Introduction

II. The Old Uyghur Fragment Mainz 317

III. Preliminary Textual Remarks

1. The verb ašr(u)l‑ ~ ašr(ı)l‑

2. The Gates and the Window Openings

3. The Movement of the Sun

4. Parallels to the Book of Giants in a Cosmological Text

5. The Giant Mahaway and His Mission

IV. Translation of Mainz 317

V. The Old Uyghur Original Text in Transcription102

Index of Citations of Ancient Texts

1. Hebrew Bible / Old Testament

2. New Testament

3. Apocrypha

4. Pseudepigrapha

5. The Dead Sea Scrolls

6. Philo And Josephus

7. Classical Greek And Latin Sources

8. Rabbinic Literature

9. Christian Literature

10. Other Ancient Near Eastern Sources

11. Manichaean Texts

12. Other Asian Sources

Modern Author Index

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