Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/728

672 ;

Tin:

Apocalypse

—

.11;

WISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

righteous Israelites already fonmilated in Isa. xxvi. 19 (as the context shows), xxv. 8 which assumed such importance in the hands of the Doctrine apocalyptic writers, bejrinnini; with of Restir- Dan. xii. 2 and Knoch, xxii. In both of these latter passjijres, the resurrecrection. tion of at least a part of llic wicked amonj; the Jews is also predicted; and the fact well illustrates the growing proniincnce of the individual, as contrasted with the nation, in the type of theology which these writings represent. So, too, the ])icture of a hell of tire, in which tho.se who have done wickedly shall burn, begins now to take

—

a prominent place; <.,(/., Enoch. Ixiii. 10. xcix. 11, c. Here, also, the Apocalypse was ani». ciii. 7 tt seq. ticipated by the prophet, Isa. Ixvi. 24 (compare Isa.

XXX.

3;l).

On

the literary side also, as well as on the side of theology, the Apocalypse was in the main a new adaptation and elaboration of recognized Jewish models. Hebrew literature had its "'visions" and "dreams." and the popular beliefs as to their importance were like those commonly held among other ancient peoples. The influence of (Jen. xl. et siq. on the author of the Hook of Daniel is easily recognizable. The mysterious visions of Zechariuh and Ezekiel contributed much to the traditional pattern of the later group of writings, with which they have so many allinities. The interesting passage Gen. XV. 9-18 (compare ver.se 1) might almost be called a miniature Apocalypse; notice the way in which it is spoken of in II Esd. iii. Ifi; Apoc. Bar. iv. 4. Numerous other passages might be mentioned which in some respects mark the transition to the genuine Apocalypse, and may have served to some extent as models. Among these are the Balaam prophecies, Num. xxiv,, and the many predictive passages in the Prophets in which the future course of history, the "day of the Lord," or the Messianic age, arc pictured in highly poetical and often mystifying language. With these, Vergil. " Kcloga." iv. 4—17, deserves to be compared. Some of the writings commonly classed as apocalyptic, on the other hand, really behmg to this Sitme "transition" stage. for example, the principal part of the Sibyllines. and the As.suinption of iloses, which are hardly more than specimens of supernatural predictive power, or clairvoyance. Even the .second chapter of Daniel may be included here, for it has more affinities with the older literature (for example, the allegories of Ezekiel) than with chapter vii., in spite of its very similar contents. The marvelous "beasts" of the apocalypses (see § II. 0) also have their prototypes in the earlier literature (compare the very simple representation in Isa. vi. 2

Mytholog-

with Ezek,

i.

5 ft mri.).

The

employment of mythological creatures and conceptions already fatures. miliar in the Old Testament has received notice above (^ II. T)). It is to be observed also that the incorporation of this mythology into Jewish eschatology had already taken jilace; see especially Isa. xx vii. 1 "In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword siiall pimish Leviathan the piercing serpent, and Leviathan the crooked serpent: and he shall slay the dra.i^on that is in the sea." Foreign mythological material not foiuid in the Old Testament is also occasionally inInulueed. Thus, the " dragon with the seven heads " (Hev. xii.) seems to have been derived from the frcrpient

ical Crea-



Babylonian mythology (Giinkel. "Schopfung und Chaos." p. 3(il,"note 2;"Bousset,"Offenbarung johannis," pp. 394, 898). The idea of the creation of the universe in the form of an egg, and the description of

673

the proccs.s, in Slavonic Enoch, xxv., are plainly borrowed. Very close parallels are found in both the Hindu and the Egyptian co.smogonies. The (piestion whether the origin of the Jewish Apocalypse was to any considerable extent due to foreign litemry models is one that can not at ])resent be answered with certainty. The second centiuy n.C. was a time when considerable gains were made for the Jewish rcli.iiion and literatur<' through the inlluence of the surrounding nati<ins. The possibility naturally suggests itself that this new adaptation of existing materials, and the fusion of them into so well dctincd a i)roduct, was due to an impuls<' rcc<'iveil from without. Persian inlluence has generally been looked for first of all. both lu'cause what is known of its contrihutions to Jewish theof ology at aliout this time, and also because of the distinctly Babylonian charactirof most of the mythological elements incorooraled in this literature. But the.se

Babylonian niwhs had imdoubtedly been more

or less widely current among the Jews for a long time; with nearly all of them we know this to have been the case. Such mysterious ami fantastic elements as these are sure to be taken up. by a natural jjrocess, into the literatiue of the "hidden wisdom." Furthermore, among the ideas which make their apliearance in the earlier apocalypses there is hardly anything distinctively Persian; nor, finally, do we know of any Persian writings of this Origin of nature which could have furnished the Jewish model. So far as litcniry iiarallelsare Apocalypse, concerned, the liypollirsis of a Greek or Egyptian source would have more in its favor. Some of the Greek (especially Oridiie) eschatological compositions that were current at this time have much in common with the Jewish" Enoch" writings; see Dieterich," Nekyia." 1S93, ^i.'i~ ct seq. In the oldest strata of the Sibylline oracles pa.ssages of immistakably heathen origin have been preserved, which present the exact counleri)art of such writings as the Assumption of Moses. Another interesting parallel is all'orded by a certain Egyptian demotic "chronicle." written in the time of the Ptolemies, which is in fact a "prophecy after the event" of distinctly theological character, eoucheil in mysterious language (Wachsmuth, "Eiideitung in das Studiiun dcr AltenGcschichtc," p. 357). But in regard to these parallels, it must be said again that the evidence of any direct borrowing from Greek or Egyptian sources is wanting. The most probable theory of the origin of the Jewish Ajiocalypsc wodd seem to be this, that it was a characteristic jiroduct of the national religious literature, directly produced and given shape by external conditions; namely, the terrible

distress

under Antiochus Epiphancs.

Like

other branches of Jewish literature in the Greek and Human periods, it certainly assimilateil, from the begiiuiing. more or less foreign material; but in its essential features it seems to have been tndy Jewish in its origin, as it continued to be in its subsequent history.

§ IV. Development and Influence. One of the most noticeable features in the history of this literature is the constancy with which its own traditions Phraseology, imagery, and modes are maintained. of thought or interpretation aie jias.sed on from hand to hand. Numerous illustrations of this fact have already been given; see above, tj II. o. Among other characteristic exainples the following may be mentioned: the "seven heavens." Testaments of the Patriarchs. Levi, iii. Ascension of Isiuah. vii.-x. Slavonic Bookof Enoch, iii. -xx. Greek Apoc. Bar. ii.xi. (in its original form, probably); the "seven angels," Enoch, XX. (see Greek MSS.; Testament Patriarchs,

still