The Rich in the "Epistle of Enoch" and the Epistle of James: A Comparative Analysis
Dorota Muszytowska
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5873-382X
Abstract
The article deals with the problem of critical assessment of the negative behaviour of wealthy people, taken up in two different works: the Epistle of Enoch (1 En. 92–105) and the Epistle of James. Due to the incomplete surviving Aramaic and Greek versions of the Epistle of Enoch, which could be a potential source for the author of the Epistle of James, diachronic research would not be fruitful. A comparative analysis in a synchronic approach was used to examine whether one can talk about the dependence or identity of the approach represented in the Epistle of James on the concept of wealth and the rich from the Epistle of Enoch. The conducted analyses indicate far-reaching analogies between these texts. The authors judge the rich by looking at their actions, considering the purpose of human life and the eschatological purpose. The authors are united by the concept of understanding man and his relationship with God and other people. Despite the different persuasive goals of their works, both stigmatise attitudes that oppose God’s will, and their substantively rich sins catalogues can be considered convergent. Both authors point to the irrevocable judgement of God, which includes the punishment of destruction for the rich criticized in those works.
Keywords:
James 4:13–5:6, 1 Enoch, Epistle of Enoch, criticism of the rich, final judgement, punishment and rewardReferences
Aeschylus, Persians. Seven against Thebes. Suppliants. Prometheus Bound (ed. and trans. A.H. Sommerstain)
(Loeb Classical Library 145; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 2009).
Argall, R.A., “Competing Wisdoms: 1 Enoch and Sirach,” Henoch 24/1–2 (2002) 169–178.
Black, M. (ed.), Apocalypsis Henochi Graece (Pseudepigrapha Veteris Testamenti Graece 4; Leiden: Brill 1970). (Crossref)
Black, M., The Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch: A New English Edition with Commentary and Textual Notes in Consultation with James C. VanderKam (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigraha 7; Leiden: Brill 1985). (Crossref)
Boccacini, G. (ed.), The Origins of Enochic Judaism: Proceedings of the First Enoch Seminar, University Michigan, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy (June 19–23, 2001) (Torino: Zamorani 2002).
Boccaccini, G., “Enoch, Qumran, and the Essenes: The Rediscovery of a Forgotten Connection: A Response to ‘The Epistle of Enoch and the Qumran Literature’,” George W.E. Nickelsburg in Perspective: An Ongoing Dialogue of Learning (eds. J. Neusner – A.J. Avery-Peck) ( Journal for the Study of Judaism Supplement Series 80; Leiden: Brill 2003) 123–132.
Boccaccini, G., “Qumran and the Enoch Groups: Revisiting the Enochic-Essene Hypothesis,” The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Princeton Symposium on the Dead Sea Scrolls. I . Scripture and the Scrolls (ed. J.H. Charlesworth) (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press 2006) 27–66.
Boccaccini, G., “Enochians, Urban Essenes, Qumranites: Three Social Groups, One Intellectual Movement,” The Early Enoch Literature (eds. G. Boccaccini – J.J. Collins) (Leiden: Brill 2007) 301–328. (Crossref)
Boccaccini, G., Paul’s Three Paths to Salvation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 2020).
Bonner, C., The Last Chapters of Enoch in Greek (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftlische Buchgesellschaft 1968).
Charlesworth, J.H. (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. I. Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments (New York – London – Toronto: Doubleday 1983).
Charlesworth, J.H., “A Rare Consensus among Enoch Specialists: The Date of the Earliest Enoch Books,” The Origins of Enochic Judaism: Proceedings of the First Enoch Seminar, University Michigan, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy (June 19–23, 2001) (ed. G. Boccaccini) (Torino: Zamorani 2002) 225–234.
Charles, R.H., “The Book of Enoch,” The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English. II. Pseudepigrapha (ed. R.H. Charles) (Oxford: Clarendon 1913) 163–281.
Collins, J.C., “An Enochic Testament? Comments on George Nickelsburg’s Hermeneia Commentary,” George W.E. Nickelsburg in Perspective: An Ongoing Dialogue of Learning (eds. J. Neusner – A.J. Avery-Peck) ( Journal for the Study of Judaism Supplement Series 80; Leiden: Brill 2003) 373–378.
Craig, A.E., Non-Canonical Writings and the New Testament Interpretation (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson 1992).
Davids, P.H., “Tradition and Citation in the Epistle of James,” Scripture, Tradition, and Interpretation (eds. W.W. Gasque – W.S. LaSor) (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 1978) 113–126.
Davids, P.H., The Epistle of James. A Commentary on the Greek Text ( New International Greek Testament Commentary; Exeter: Paternoster 1982).
Dewayne, M.M., Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (Ph.D. Diss. Durham University; Durham 2010).
Doering, L., Ancient Jewish Letters and the Beginnings of Christian Epistolography (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament I/298; T übingen: Mohr Siebeck 2012). (Crossref)
Epictetus, Dissertationes. Epicteti Dissertationes ab Arriano digestae (ed. H. Schenkl – J. Schweighauser) (Lipsiae: Teubner 1916).
Fitzmyer, J.A., “Some Notes on Aramaic Epistolography,” Journal of Biblical Literature 93/2 (1974) 201–225. (Crossref)
Homer, Iliad, I. Books 1-12 (trans. A.T. Murray; revised by W.F. Wyatt) (Loeb Classical Library 170; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1924). (Crossref)
Iwański, D., “Księga Henocha – starożytny apokryf w świetle współczesnej wiedzy,” Teologia i Człowiek 21/1 (2013) 123–139. (Crossref)
Johnson, L.T., The Letter of James. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Bible 37a; New Haven, CT: Doubleday 1995). (Crossref)
Kamell Kovalishyn, M.J., “James and Apocalyptic Wisdom,” The Jewish Apocaliptic Tradition and the Shaping of New Testament Thought (eds. B.E. Reynolds – L.T. Stuckenbruck) (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress 2017) 293–306. (Crossref)
Kenyon, F.G., The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri. Descriptions and Texts of Twelve Manuscript on Papyrus of the Greek Bible. VIII. Enoch and Melito (London: Walker 1949) http://enoksbok.se/cgi-bin/interlinear_greek.cgi?bkv++int [dostęp: 30.06.2023] (= CB 185).
Knibb, M.A., “Enoch Literature and Wisdom Literature,” Henoch 24/1–2 (2002) 197–203.
Knibb, M.A., “Christian Adoption and Transmission of Jewish Pseudepigrapha: The Case of 1 Enoch,” Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Periods 32 (2001) 396–415. (Crossref)
Knibb, M.A., “The Book of Enoch in the Light of the Qumran Wisdom Literature,” Wisdom and Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Biblical Tradition (ed. F. García Martínez) (Leuven: Peeters 2003) 193–210.
Latifaga, E.F., Apocalyptic Sheep and Goats in Matthew and 1 Enoch (Atlanta, GA: SBL 2022). (Crossref)
Laws, S., A Commentary on the Epistle of James (London: Black 1980).
Lockett, D., “The Spectrum of Wisdom and Eschatology in the Epistle of James and 4QInstruction,” Tyndale Bulletin 56/2 (2005) 131–148. (Crossref)
McCartney, D.G., James (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic 2009).
Maynard-Reid, P.U., Poverty and Wealth in James (Maryknoll: Orbis Books 1987).
Martin, R.P., James (Word Biblical Commentary 48; Waco, TX: Word Books 1988).
Milik, J.T., with collaboration of M. Black, The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4 (Oxford: Clarendon 1976) , https://archive.org/details/MILIKEnochInAramaicQumranCave4/page/n1/mode/2up.
Moo, D.J., The Letter of James (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 2000).
Muszytowska, D., “Relacje międzytekstowe Listu Jakuba i qumrańskich 4QPouczeń,” Studia Bobolanum 2 (2015) 59–70.
Nickelsburg, G.W.E., “Riches, the Rich, and God’s Judgment in 1 Enoch 92–105 and the Gospel according to Luke,” New Testament Studies 25 (1978–79) 324–344. (Crossref)
Nickelsburg, G.W.E., “The Epistle of Enoch and the Qumran Literature,” Journal of Jewish Studies 33/1–2 (1982) 333–348. (Crossref)
Nickelsburg, G.W.E., 1 Enoch 1. A Commentary on the Book of Enoch, Chapters 1–36, 81–108 (Minneapolis,
MN: Fortress 2001).
Nickelsburg, G.W.E., “Revisiting the Rich and the Poor in 1 Enoch 92–105 and the Gospel According to Luke,” George W.E. Nickelsburg in Perspective: An Ongoing Dialogue of Learning (eds. J. Neusner – A.J. Avery- Peck) ( Journal for the Study of Judaism Supplement Series 80; Leiden: Brill 2003) 547–571. (Crossref)
Penner, T.C., The Epistle of James and Eschatology. Re-Reading an Ancient Christian Letter (Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 121; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press 1996).
Perdue, L.G., “Paraenesis and the Epistle of James,” Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 72 (1981) 3–4, 241–256, https://doi.org/10.1515/zntw.1981.72.3–4.241. (Crossref)
Pseudo Demetrius, Demetrii et Libanii qui feruntur Typoi epistolikoi et Epistolomaioi charakteres (ed. V. Weichert) (Leipzig: Teubner 1910).
Reynolds, B.E. – Stuckenbruck L.T., The Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition and the Shaping of New Testament Thought (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress 2017). (Crossref)
Richter, A.E., Enoch and the Gospel of Matthew (Princeton Theological Monograph Series 183; Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications 2012).
Rubinkiewicz, R. (ed.), “Księga Henocha Etiopska,” Apokryfy Starego Testamentu (Prymasowska Seria Biblijna; Warszawa: Vocatio 1999) 141–189.
Schökel, L.A., “James 5,2 and 4,6,” Biblica 54/1 (1973) 73–76.
Sleeper, C.F., James (Abingdon New Testament Series; Nashville, TN: Abingdon 1998).
Starr, J. – Engberg-Pedersen T. (eds.), Early Christian Paraenesis in Context (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 125; Berlin – New York: de Gruyter 2004). (Crossref)
Stowers, S.K., Letter Writing in Greco-Roman Antiquity (Library of Early Christianity; Philadelphia, PA: Westminster 1986).
Strong, D., Greek and Roman Gold and Silver Plate (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press 1960) 90–120.
Stuckenbruck, L.T., 1 Enoch 91–108 (Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature; Berlin – New York: de Gruyter 2007). (Crossref)
Stuckenbruck, L.T., “The ‘Epistle of Enoch’: Genre and Authorial Presentation,” Dead Sea Discoveries. Rethinking
Genre: Essays in Honor of John J. Collins 17/3 (2010) 358–388.
Stuckenbruck, L.T., “The Book of Enoch: Its Reception in Second Temple Jewish and Christian Tradition,” Early Christianity 4/1 (2013) 7–40. (Crossref)
VanderKam, J.C., Enoch and the Growth of Apocalyptic Tradition (Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 16; Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America 1984).
VanderKam, J.C. – Adler, W. (eds.), The Jewish Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity (Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum 4; Assen – Minneapolis, MN: Van Gorcum – Fortress 1996).
Wall, R.W., “James as Apocalyptic Paraenesis,” Restoration Quarterly 32 (1990) 11–22.
Wold, B., “James in the Context of Jewish Wisdom Literature,” Reading the Epistle of James. A R esource for Students ( eds. E.F. Mason – D.R. Locket) (Resources for Biblical Study; Atlanta, GA: SBL 2019) 73–86. (Crossref)
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5873-382X
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- Pursuant to the Act on Copyright and Related Rights of February 4, 1994, the Author of the publication grants to the Publisher of the journal „The Biblical Annals” e a non-exclusive and royalty-free license to use the Work submitted for publication, without time and territorial restrictions in the following fields of use:
a) record the Work and copy it by means of any technique (including printing and electronic recording) on all known data carriers (including IT, electronic and polygraphic), and in all IT systems (in particular those available online);
b) enter the Work into computer memory, disseminate the Work and its copies, as well as market the Work and its copies;
c) publicly perform, replay, display and screen the Work, as well as lend, rent and lease the Work and its copies;
d) make available, market and disseminate the Work and its copies via IT networks, and in particular via the Internet, including the promotion or advertising of the Work, the journal or the Publisher. - The Author shall further grant his/her consent for the Publisher to use and dispose of derivative works.
- The Publisher may sublicense the work.
- Third parties may use the articles and other materials containing the Works, or developed on the basis of the Works in line with the model Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (also referred to as CC BY 4.0).
