Year: 2000
Type: article
Abstract: Contemporary scholarship does not furnish a consensus concerning the possible provenance of 2 (Slavonic) Enoch. 1 In the context of the ambiguity and uncertainty about the cultural and theological origins of 2 Enoch, even distant voices of certain theological themes in the text become very important.One of these important theological reminiscences of 2 Enoch is the theme of Melchizedek-the legendary priest of God Most High. 2 Before giving an exposition of the content of the story it is worth mentioning that for a long time the legend was considered to be an interpolation in the text of 2 Enoch.Charles, Morfill, and Bonwetsch 3 thought that the theme of Melchizedek was a sort of appendix and did not belong to the main body of the text.For this reason, the legend was not investigated for a long time.Even Fred Horton in his fundamental work dedicated to the Melchizedek tradition ignores the material of 2 Enoch on the basis that it is found only in one recension. 4 On the contrary to these opinions, A. Vaillant successfully demonstrates that Melchizedek's legend is an integral part of 2 Enoch.F. Andersen supports this position.His new collation of manuscripts shows that the Melchizedek tradition is found in both recensions, in six manuscripts which represent four text families.His final conclusion is that "there is no evidence that the second part ever existed separately."
Source: Journal for the Study of Judaism
Author: Andrei Orlov
Institution: Marquette University
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2031514974