Q. It seems clear that the Parables of Enoch are related to and draw on the Book of the Watchers, which as you suggest, is part of the earlier corpus of Enochian literature, perhaps even dating to the 2nd century B.C. Does this imply anything about the dating of the Parables themselves, and why dependance on this particular piece of Enochian literature? A. The Book of Watchers was foundational for the whole Enoch tradition. It developed from Genesis 5-6... Read more
Q. In your first major chapter, you have argued that 1 Enoch 70-71, where the Son of Man is identified as Enoch himself, is likely not a secondary portion of the book added later, but rather part of the original document, and that the identification had been hinted at along the way since the beginning of the document. What led you to this conclusion? If correct, would this not suggest that there was early Jewish messianic speculation about a specific... Read more
Q. As is widely known, the so-called Parables of Enoch are only extant in Ethiopic as a translation, presumably from Aramaic (as the fragments at Qumran attest in regard to other Enochian literature), and if, as you suggest, the Parables likely date to the late first or early second century of the Christian era, why in the world has there been so much speculation about that tradition being extant before the time of Jesus, and of influencing both Jesus and... Read more
Q. The frequent use of the phrase ‘Son of Man’ in the Gospels, without any direct explanation of its meaning has led to the supposition that there was a ‘Son of Man’ tradition in early Judaism developed out of reflection on Dan. 7, among other things, and that the tradition included speculation about a messianic Son of Man figure, perhaps witnessed to in 1 Enoch. One of the things that has bothered me about that sort of explanation is that... Read more
Q. One thing that has struck me is how different the discussion in Dan. 7 is from the discussion in 2 Sam. 7. In the latter, there is talk about dynastic succession— after King David, then his son and so on. Here, in Dan. 7 we seem to hear about a particular person ruling the nations forever and superceding the four beastly empires—no dynastic succession at all. And yet you seem to associate Dan. 7, if I’m reading you right,... Read more
Q. You have concluded that the phrase ‘that Son of Man’ in the Parables of Enoch is neither a title nor a technical phrase, but is simply a way of saying a human being. What led you to this conclusion and why in that context would it be important to insist that the Son of Man even as some sort a messianic figure who will judge all the nations in due course is merely human? A. To say that... Read more
Q. Along the way as you researched and wrote these two volumes, you made some interesting, and perhaps surprising discoveries, and perhaps the most surprising is that you do not see the ‘one like a Son of Man’ figure, at least in Jewish literature, as a quasi-divine figure, but rather as simply a human being (not some sort cipher for a collective group of people) who is being invested by the Almighty to be the judge of the world and... Read more
Q. Here is a question I’m quite sure my students would want me to ask you. It seems clear that Josephus, and for that matter other early Jews including probably Jesus, take Daniel to be a real historical prophet of the Babylonian exile, correctly prophesying things about the future, including even the future empires finishing with the Roman one to be replaced by God’s everlasting kingdom. And yet many modern scholars take what is going on in Daniel as history... Read more
Q. One of your major methodological commitments is to let each of the texts you are dealing with be treated on its own basis and in its own context, without reading back into it later ideas, or even modern scholarly notions that have in fact involved over-reading or misreading the material. This is all the more important, if as you argue, texts like the Parables of Enoch and 4 Ezra come from the late first or early second century which... Read more
Q. I see that throughout you make reference to the NETS translation of various texts. What is your overall assessment of this translation? Would you recommend it for my seminary level and doctoral students, or for pastors and educated laity in the church? A. NETS is the New English Translation of the Septuagint. After having to manage for so long with no satisfactory translation of the Greek version of the Old Testament, we now have two. The other is... Read more
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