Description
Salt Lake City, UT: Eborn Books. 2014. Softbound.
Textual and Comparative Explorations in 1 and 2 Enoch breathes fresh air into the scholarly field of Enoch studies. Samuel Zinner emphasizes the textual and theological dimensions of the feminine divine Lady Wisdom in 1 Enoch and how she resembles aspects of earlier indigenous conceptions of Mother Earth. The study presents evidence that 1 Enoch’s and Daniel 7’s Ancient of Days and Son of Man originated in Noah stories that predate both texts. Daniel 7 and the Parables of Enoch each reflects a combination of early and late traditions, which calls into question the standard consensus of simple Danielic dependence on the part of 1 Enoch. Zinner brings to light previously undocumented influences of 1 Enoch on texts such as the Book of Wisdom, the Gospel of the Hebrews, and the Shepherd of Hermas, and demonstrates the application of Enochic traits to the Qur’anic portraits of the prophet Ezra and the Virgin Mary. The study culminates in a literary journey through ancient Jewish and Judaic-Christian literary parallels to various Mormon texts dealing with the prophet Enoch.