2 Baruch 72

These days, I've been reading 2 Baruch in Syriac to keep up with the ancient language (using this text here), and so far, it's been a very interesting book to read. I've really enjoyed taking Syriac for the past year now (great professor [Dr. Lucas Van Rompay] as well as a bunch of interesting texts [Ephrem's commentary, Aphrahat's Demonstrations, NT/OT Peshitta, Odes of Solomon to name just a few]). This morning I was reading 2 Baruch 71-73, and if I'm not mistaken, this critical text contains a translation error (his transl.):

72.1 "Hear, now, also concerning the bright waters which are to come at the end, after these black (waters): this is the word. 72.2 After the signs have come, of which I have spoken to you before, when the nations become confused and the time of my Messiah comes, he will call all the nations; and some of them he will spare, and some of them he will kill. 72.3 These things, therefore, will come upon the nations which are not spared by him. 72.4 Every nation which does not know Israel and has trodden down the seed of Jacob, will live. And this because some from all the nations will be subjected to your people. But all those who have ruled over you or have known you will be given over to the sword."

My question concerns 72.3, which the critical text reads (I'm using a font called Estrangelo Edessa, so if you don't have Syriac fonts installed, it might not show correctly):

ܗܠܝܢ ܗܟܝܠ ܐܬܝܢ ܥܠ ܥܡܡܐ ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܥܬܝܕܝܢ ܕܢܚܘܢ ܡܢܗ

Gurtner translates this as, "These things, therefore, will come upon the nations which are not spared by him". But the difficulty for me concerns the second to last word in the sentence which is from the root ḥy’, which is of course in this form means to give life, save, or spare. If my reading is right, it should be read: "These things, therefore, will come upon the nations which are spared/saved by him."

A reading program for the new year?

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend with family and friends, as we kick off another new year. I recently came across a blog that has created a chart for reading these two volumes in one year!

The two volumes of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. The first volume contains apocalyptic literature (e.g. 1 Enoch) and various testaments (e.g. Testament of Moses) and the second volume contains expansions of OT and legends (e.g., Letter of Aristeas, Joseph and Asenath, etc.), wisdom/philosophical literature, prayer/psalms/odes, and fragments of lost Judeo-Hellenistic works (e.g. Ezekiel the Tragedian). Today and tomorrow is only the introduction in the first volume and the intro to 1 Enoch, so why not go here, and get started on a new reading program for 2011?

Happy New Year!

The Animal Apocalypse

I've been reading through 1 Enoch these days for a possible research paper, and I have to say the section known as the Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 83-90) is the weirdest (and kind of the funniest) so far. I would like to quote you something from this very interesting section (I think you will have a knowing smirk by the time you're through reading it):

"But thenceforth I saw how the wolves even intensified their pressure upon the sheep. They, the sheep, cried aloud--they cried aloud with all their strength. Then their Lord came to the rescue of the sheep, whereupon they began to whip those wolves. So the wolves began to make lamentations, but the sheep thereafter became quiet and stopped crying aloud. I continued to see the sheep until they departed from the presence of the wolves, and the wolves until their eyes were dazzled; yet the wolves went out to pursue those sheep, with all their might. But the Lord of the sheep went with them as their leader, while all his sheep were following him; his face was glorious, adorable, and marvelous to behold. As for the wolves, they continued to pursue those sheep until they found them at a certain pool of water. Then the pool of water was rent asunder, and the water stood apart on this and on that side before their very eyes, and their Lord, their leader, stood between them and the wolves. Those wolves were still not able to see the sheep, and the sheep walked through the pool of water; then the wolves followed the sheep and ran after them into that pool of water. Then when they saw the Lord of the sheep, they turned in order to flee from before his face. But that pool of water gathered itself together and immediately returned to its normal state, the water became full and rose high until it covered completely those wolves. Thus I saw till the wolves which pursued those sheep perished and were drowned."
-- 1 Enoch 89:19-27

Does the story sound familiar? Oh, and do you remember Animal Farm from George Orwell? I kind of got reminded of that allegory as I was reading through this section. Maybe Orwell read 1 Enoch.

Apocalypse now

I'm getting very interested in the 'genre' of apocalyptic literature... Does anyone have any particular advice on who is the "go-to" guy to get to know this topic? Right now I'm reading Aune's Apocalypticism, Prophecy, and Magic in Early Christianity and picked up John J. Collins' The Apocalyptic Imagination and VanderKam and Adler's Jewish Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity.