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7/25/2019 Rescuing the Fallen Angels The Case of the Disappearing Angels at Qumran.pdf
1/20
RESCUING
THE FALLEN
ANGELS:
THE CASE
OF
THE DISAPPEARING
ANGELS
AT QUMRAN*
ANDY
M. REIMER
Canadian
Bible
College
I.
Introduction
The Dead Sea
Scrolls
after
Fifty
Years,
a two-volume
ollectionof es-
says
to celebrate
the
jubilee
of the discovery
of the
Dead
Sea
Scrolls,
promises
the
readera combination
of comprehensive
urveys
of
where
the
last
fifty years
of
scholarship
on the Scrolls
of Qumran
have
brought
us
and
cutting
edge
articles
that indicate
directions
for
future study. '
Within that
context,
P. Alexander's
contribution
n
the
demonology
of the
Dead Sea Scrolls
clearly
fits
the latter
category.2
One will search in vain to find any sort of summaryof the present
state of
affairs
in
scholarship
on
Qumran
demonology.
Perhaps
his is
just
a byproduct
of his
opening
statementon how
little attentionhas
been
paid
specifically
to
their
demonology. 3
At
any rate,
what
is
offered
in
place
of
a
summary
or extensive interaction
with
predeces-
sors is rather
a
straightforward
ew vision for the
demonology
and
implicitly
the
angelology
of the Dead Sea Scrolls.4
t is a vision
fully
deserving
of both
careful consideration nd
preliminary
ritique.
*
I would like to
thankW. John Lyons
for
gettingme
started n Qumran
tudies
n
the
first place
and for extensive
discussion
and
critique
on the
content
of thisarticle-
any flaws,
however, remain
in my possession
alone.
I also need
to thank
Philip
Alexander
or his willingness
to assist
two
graduate
tudents
rom
Sheffield
University
to get started
n the whole
area of exorcism,demonology,
and
the DSS.
I
TheDead
SeaScrolls
afterFifty
Years:
A
Comprehensive
ssessment
eds
P. Flint
and
J.C. VanderKam;
eiden/Boston/Ko6n:
rill, 1998-99).
Direct
quotationsare
taken
rom
the dustjacket,but
the
expectation
s
also
raised by the introductions
f both volumes.
2
P.S.
Alexander,
The
Demonology
of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
The Dead Sea Scrolls
after Fifty
Years,
2.331-53. Some
of the content
in
this articlealso
appears
n
more
abbreviated
orm in P.S.
Alexander,
'WrestlingAgainst
Wickedness
n High
Places':
Magic in the Worldviewof the QumranCommunity,
he Scrolls
and
the
Scriptures:
Qumran
Fifty
YearsAfter (eds
S.E.
Porter and C.A.
Evans;
JSPSup 26;
Sheffield:
Sheffield
Academic
Press, 1997)
319-30.
Alexander,
Demonology, 31.
The most
comprehensive
iscussion f
angelology
includingn
that erm
demonology)
?
Koninklijke
Brill
NV,
Leiden,
2000
Dead
Sea Discoveries 7,
3
7/25/2019 Rescuing the Fallen Angels The Case of the Disappearing Angels at Qumran.pdf
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RESCUING
THE FALLEN ANGELS
335
Alexanderopens by statingthat theScrolls presenta coherentand
sophisticateddemonology
which should
be taken with the utmostseri-
ousness
in
understanding
he
outlook
of the
Qumran
sect. 5
There
can
be
no doubt
that
Alexander's
reconstruction
f
Qumnran
emonology
portrays
not
just
a coherent and sophisticated(at
least theologically
speaking)
demonology,
but a wholly consistent
one as well. At the
core
of this
consistency
s a
thoroughgoing
istinction
between
demons
and angels. Alexander
claims that while
according
o some
authorities emonsare to be identifiedwith
fallen
angels[,J
..
the demonology of the Scrolls seems to envisage a clear distinction drawn
between demons
and
angels,
whetherfallen or otherwise. In
Qumran hought
a
demon
is
a
non-corporeal eing
which is neitherhuman
nor
angelic,
but which
causes harm and mischief to humans n a
variety
of
ways.6
Stated simply,
there
are no evil
or fallen
angels
in the Scrolls. In
Alexander's
reconstruction
hey
have
strangelydisappeared,
r
should
we say,
almost disappeared?
II. An Enochic
Demonology
To makesense
of this
disappearance,
t is
necessary o see themethod-
ological path
that takes one to this
intriguingconclusion. Alexander
begins
with what he
defines
as
a
standard,ormulaic nventory
of the
at Qumranremains M.J.
Davidson's
Angels
at
Qumran:
A
ComparativeStudy of
1
Enoch 1-36, 72-108 and the Sectarian
Writings rom Qumran JSPSup 11;
Sheffield:
Sheffield Academic Press, 1992).
Another
significant monograph-lengthreatmentof
at least some aspects of Qumran angelology and demonology is P.J. Kobelski,
Mechizedek
and Melchirela'
(CBQMS 10; Washington,
DC: Catholic
Biblical Asso-
ciation of
America, 1981).
Other articles
that tackle the
matterof
demonology
either
directly
r
indirectly
ncludeAlexander's wn
Wrestling ;
.
Lange,
The
EssenePosition
on Magic and Divination,
Legal
Texts and
Legal
Issues:
Proceedings of
the
Second
Meeting of
the International
Organizationor QumranStudies, Cambridge,1995 (eds
M. Bernstein,
F.
Garcia
Martinezand J.
Kampen;
STDJ
23;
Leiden
and New York:
Brill, 1997) 377-435;
B.
Nitzan, Hymns
from
Qumran-4Q5104Q51 1,
The Dead
Sea Scrolls:
Forty
Years
of
Research
(eds
D. Dimant and
U.
Rappaport;
TDJ
10;
Leiden: Brill, 1992)
53-63;
and D.L.
Penney
and
M.O.
Wise, By
the Power
of
Beelzebub:An AramaicIncantation
ormula
rom
Qumran 4Q560], JBL 113 (1994)
627-50.
Frequently angelology
and
demonology
are treated in
passing by
scholars
interested
n the
largerapocalyptic
or
eschatological
rameworkof the
DSS (e.g., F.
Garcia
Martinez, Apocalypticism
n theDeadSea
Scrolls,
The
Encyclopedia f Apocalyp-
ticism,vol. 1, The Origins
of Apocalypticism
n Judaism nd
Christianityed.
J.J.
Collins;
New York:
Continuum,
1999]
166-72).
Alexander,
Demonology,
31.
6
Alexander, Demonology,
31-32.
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336
ANDY M. REIMER
demonic world, namely 4Q510 1 5. In this exorcistichymn, the Sage
declares the grandeur
of God
to
frighten a host of beings, including
[...
C -3J
C'MR
k
-lo
-1
nrrDr:mnnnl ,n Denl
'Mri
( all the
spirits
of the
angels
of destruction and the
spirits
of the bastards,
demons
[or
'fearsome
demon'], Lilith, howlers,
and [yelpers..
J ).1
The expression
bastard
pirits -nton mm)
here and elsewhere in
the Scrolls suggests
to Alexanderan Enochic
aetiology
of
demons.9
n
both
1
Enoch 1-36
and
Jubilees,
the
demons that still
haunt the earth
are
the
ghosts
of the
gigantic offspring
of
heavenly Watchers
who
have intercourse
with
human
women.'
n
the
case
of
the
latter,
tech-
nically only
a tenth of
these
remainas
demons
(Jub. 10:7-14).
In both
texts the fallenangels are
the
Watchers
and in
both they
are
safely
imprisoned
in
a
subterraneanprison awaiting
final
judgment.
Of
course,
the
discovery
of
numerous
copies
of both
1
Enoch (or
at least
the
critical
portionsthereof)
and
Jubilees
in
several different
caves is
taken by Alexander
as
evidence
of
the
sect's familiarity
with Enochic
demonology.'2
To
this
base of
evidence
one
could
legitimately
add the
I
As transcribedby M. Baillet, QumrdnGrotte 4.111 DJD 7; Oxford:Clarendon
Press, 1982)
216.
*
Baillet suggests
readingthe
two
words DI
n7
as
one
word-namely the plural
formof iS
( demon )
s
found in Deut.32:17 and
Ps. 145:11
(Baillet,
DJD
7.216-17).
In a footnote, Alexander
rightly draws attention to
the
possibility put forward
by
Baillet
of reading his as 0itt
IT or
fearsomedemon
Baillet,
DJD
7.217; Alexander,
Demonology,
333
n.
7). Alexander ( Demonology,
333-35)
follows B. Nitzan's
translation
of 0' Y
DTtrk
as howlersand yelpers
(QumranPrayer and Religious
Poetry [STDJ 12; Leiden:
Brill, 1994] 240).
F.
Garcfa
Martinez
opts for translating
these as animalterms (as per typical English
translations f Isa. 13:21) choosing
the
terms owls
and jackals (The Dead
Sea Scrolls
Translated:
The
QumranTexts
in
English [trans.
W.G.E. Watson;
Leiden: Brill, 19962] 371). Even
if the
terms
are
applicable o these creatures, urely Nitzan's termscapture he sense in whichtheyare
being
used here for demoniccreatures f some
sort.
Baillet's statement
on
O^9
applies
equally
to
both- le
sens est
impr6cis 217).
9
4Q511 35 7, 4Q511
48
2-3, 4Q511
182 i
I and 4Q444
2
4
where F.
Garcia
Martinez
and E.J.C.
Tigchelaar
reconstruct he
text
as i-rniM
rm-
int-[a
nnn1 1:z
(The Dead Sea Scrolls Study
Edition
[Leiden:
Brill, 1998] 2.924).
The
term
DnrrYDlso
can
be
found
in
IQH'
24:12
(frag. 9)
and also col.
24
frag.
6
line
3
where
it
may
well
be modifying
inri. And in a linked notion, 4Q51
1 2 ii
3 speaks
of the congregation
of
bastards
(0flt1n mlhi).
Alexander
( Demonology )
offers his reading
of
the Eno-
chic
aetiology
of
demons
on
pp. 337-41.
Nitzanalso suggests
this expression s an ex-
plicit
link
to
the
aetiology
of demons
in I Enoch
and Jubilees(QumranPrayer,
237).
1
I Enoch 6-16, esp. 15:8-16:1;
Jubilees5:1-11;
7:21-27; 10:1-14.
I Enoch 10:12, Jub.5:6-7. On this two stage judgmentsee also J.1. Collins,
Methodological ssues
in
the
Study
of I
Enoch: Reflections
on the
Articles
of
P.D.
Hanson and G.W. Nickelsburg,
SBLSP
1978
(ed. P.J.
Achtemeier;Missoula,
MT:
ScholarsPress, 1978)
317-19.
12
Alexander. Demonology,
37. Among the fragmentsof
an Aramaicversion of
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RESCUING
THE
FALLEN
ANGELS
337
fragmentsof an Aramaicversion of The Book of Giants,references o
the angelsproducing
igantic
children
nd
especially
he
Watcher Azaz'el
in 4Q180
1
7-10,
a tale
of
a
suspectpregnancy
n
lQapGen
2, and a
passing
reference
to the
story
of the fall of the
Watchers and their
giant offspring
n CD-A 2:17-19.'3
The
notion
that
the
demonology
of the Scrolls
as
a
corpus is
founded
exclusively
on this Enochic
story
is what
gives
Alexander's
demonological
reconstruction
ts
unique
flavor.'4
One need
only
look
at M.J. Davidson's Angels
at
Qumran:
A
Comparative
Study of
I
Enoch 1-36, 72-108 and the Sectarian Writingswhere the apparent
differences
between
the
angelology
and
demonology
of the
Enoch lit-
erature
and
the sectarianscrolls
are
emphasized
to realize
how much
rests
on this startingpoint.
It
ought
to be
stressed urther
hat it is not
just a
case of
Alexander
using
1
Enoch
as the
key
to
Qumrandemon-
ological aetiology,
but
a
particular
eading
of 1
Enoch
and Jubilees.
Alexander
has
effectively
banishedthe fallen
angels
of I
Enoch
into
subterranean
rrelevance
in terms
of direct
ongoing oppression
of
humanity.
The sect's
members
according
o
Alexander
would
have no
reason to fear these fallen angels.This supposition s reasonable,but
other opinions
on
the
matter
exist.
M.
Black
in his translation
nd
commentary
n 1
Enoch
follows
the
Greek
of
the Gizeh
text
for
19:1
and
translatesUriel's
statement
o
Enoch
on
the
judgment
of
the Watchersas
follows:
the Books
of
Enoch
are
4Q201-2,
4Q204-12. lQ17-18, 2Q19-20,
3Q5, 4Q176
frags
19-21, 4Q216, 4Q219-24,
and
1lQ12
have
all
been identifiedas
containingbits and
pieces
of the Book of
Jubilees.
1
IQ23-24, 4Q203, 4Q206 frags 2-3, 4Q530-533and 6Q8 have all been identified
as belonging
to
a
Book of Giants. On
the
Book
of
Giants and
4Q180
and
its
rela-
tionship to
the Enoch corpus see J.T.
Milik, The Books of Enoch:
AramaicFragments
of Qumran
Cave
4
(Oxford:Clarendon
Press, 1976) 249-56,
298-317. A
convenient
summary
of
both
4Q180
and the Book of Giantsand theirconnection
o the
Enoch
lit-
erature
can
also be
found in J.C. VanderKam'sEnoch:
A
Man for All Generations
(Columbia,
SC:
University
of South
Carolina
Press, 1995)
123-28.On the
correlation
of 'Asa'el/'Azaz'el,
see
M. Black
(ed.),
in
consultationwith
J.C. VanderKam,
ppen-
dix by
0. Neugebauer,
The
Book of
Enoch
or
I Enoch:
A New English Translation
with Commentary
and Textual Notes.
With an
Appendix
on
the
Astronomical
Chapters
(72-82) (SVTP7;
Leiden:
Brill, 1985)
121. On
lQapGen
2
and its
relation-
ship
to
the
Enochic
literature
ee J.A.
Fitzmyer,
The
Genesis Apocryphon f Qumran
Cave 1: A CommentaryRome:Biblical InstitutePress,
19712)
16-17, 78-80.
14
The
contentionthat
the
writers
of
the Scrolls
were
familiar with and used
the
Book
of
Watchers
s
in itself
not
a
particularly
ontroversial
point
and
one
generally
conceded
by
writers
describing
the
apocalypticism
f the
Scrolls, e.g.
F. Garcia
Martinez Apocalypticism,
67-68)
and
J.J.
Collins
(Apocalypticismn
the Dead
Sea
Scrolls
[London:
Routledge,
1997]
18-26).
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338 ANDY M.
REIMER
Here the
angels
who had
intercoursewith women will
abide,
and
their
spirits,
taking on many forms, will harm men and lead them astray, to sacrifice to
demons as to
gods,
until the
great
judgement,
in
which they will be
finally
judged. And the
wives of the
angels
who
transgressed hall become
sirens.
Black then claims that
the
spirits of the
watchers are
evidently to
roam the
earth
as
the
tormentors
and
corrupters
f
[hulmankind
ill
the
judgement, he r6le at 15.8-16 of the evil
spirits of the
giants,
the bastard
offspring
of the
watchers.
Presumably
heir
bodies abide n the
great
abyss, while their
spiritsare free to haunt
[hu]man-
kind,just as it is
the spirits f the
giants which
corrupt
hu]mankind
ftertheir
bodies have been slain
(cf. 10.
12,
15.8f).'5
Black's reading
of
1
Enoch and the
present status of
the
fallen
Watchers
stands
in rather
sharpcontrast o that offered
by
Alexander.
However, it
is
the
very
ambiguity
of
the text and
the
uncertainty f
the
referent
mpliedby their
spirits which
allows for
such
divergent
interpretations.
urthermore,
f
one
were
to follow
the Ethiopic ren-
dering
of
19:1,
with
its
simplified The
spiritsof the
angelswho were
promiscuous
with the
women will
stand
here;
and
they,
assuming
many
forms,
made men
unclean . , ''
the
ambiguity
only grows.
Both the Gizeh and especially the Ethiopicreadingallow for Alex-
ander's
supposition
hat it
is
only
the
ghosts of the
Giants,here
spo-
ken of
as the spiritsof the
angels, who
oppress
humanity.'7
But
given
these
multiple
possibilities,
uncertainty
will
persist
in how
1
Enoch
understands the
present role of the
Watchers,
quite
apart from its
appropriation
y
the
Qumran ectarians.
And the difficultiesof
Enochic
demonology
are further
ompounded
by
the
reference
to
the
wives of the
Watchers n the next
sentence as
sirens. What
makes
this
even more
significant
s
the fact that the LXX
Black,
TheBook
of
Enoch, 161.
Black is clearly
following
R.H.
Charles n this
interpretation
f
chap. 19. Charles
claims
that
this
chapter
disagrees
with
xv.l2-xvi,
as here the
spirits
of
the fallen
angels
are
free to seduce
men to
sacrifice to
demons.
In fact the fallen
angels
here have
the function
of
tempting
men which is
elsewhere
assigned
to the
demons
APOT
2.200).
16
Translation
rom
Black,
The
Book
of
Enoch, 161. This is the text of
choice for
E. Isaac
as
well
who
translated19:1 as
And Uriel said to
me,
'Here shall stand in
many
different
appearanceshe
spiritsof
the angels
which
have united
hemselveswith
women.They
have
defiled the
people and will
lead them
into
errorso that
they will
offer
sacrifices
to
the demons as unto
gods, until the
great
day
of
judgment n which
they
shall
be
judged till
they
are
finished '
(OTP 1.23).
Charlessuggests thatgiven the apparent iscrepancybetweenchap. 19 andchaps
10-16 on
the identityof the
demons, the
translation f
chap. 19 is
possibly defective.
In this case 'Their
spirits'
should be
followed
by
'of the
giants,'
which
would be an
Aramaic idiom
likely to be
misunderstood
by
a
Greek
translator
APOT
2.200).
Unfortunately,
Enoch 19:1 has
not turned
up
in
the extant Aramaic
ragments
rom
Qumran.
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RESCUING
THE
FALLEN ANGELS
339
offers us
a
a&tpiv
in Isa. 13:21 for rnw
nin.18
This verse is also
the
likely sourceof v'nm nd
he
reconstructed
n;
of
4Q510
1 5.
Alexander's
observation
hat it is
puzzling
the
Qumran
ist borrows
only
these two
from the list
of
possible
terms for demonic
beings
in
13:21 becomes
even more pointed.9
Is
1
Enoch
presenting
another class of demons
here, and
if
so,
are these or are these
not
picked
up by
the
Qumran
sectarians?
Here too one encounters
he vexation of textual
variants
that threaten
any attempt
to make concrete statements on Enochic
demonology.20
Alexander's
reading
of 1 Enoch is
possible, perhaps
even plausible,but may
in the end
prove
to be less than
assured.
If one grantsAlexander'sreading
of the
Enochic iterature, he most
obvious obstacle to Alexander's particularreading of the Scrolls
demonology is the ongoing
references
to
angels as evil beings
within the sectarian Scrolls. One
need
only look
at the demon list
of
4Q510
1
5,
which
provided
he reference o
the bastard pirits o
find a reference to
evil
angels: tzn
Dxrn 'm
iv.
Alexander
argues
that
the
most
likely
sense
of %:n
:&tn mm
is
to take Dri :)tW as
standing
n
apposition
o
nim-
and takes the whole
as the
spirits
who
are the angels of destruction. ' his is a particularlynterestingmove
18 Both Charles
(APOT2.201)
and Black
(The
Book
of Enoch)
adopt
a
reading
of
19:2 that has the wives of the
transgressing
ngels
becoming
sirens. Black
suggests
that the LXX
oetpiv typically
is used to translate he Hebrew
12.7
( desert-owl ;Mic.
1:8,
Jer. 27:39
[50:39
MT],
and
Isa.
13:21).
This deserves urther
nvestigation.
n
par-
ticular the
expression
in the Hebrew Bible is
always
some
form of rur nz
(Lev.
11:16;
Deut.
14:15;
Isa.
13:21; 34:13; 43:20;
Jer.
50:39;
Mic.
1:8;
Job
30:29).
In list-
ings
of uncleanbirds the LXX uses the term
copaE
raven ;
ev.
11:16)
and
atpov00o;
( ostrich ?;Deut.
14:15, copaE,
as
already
been utilized n 14:14
to translate
Zw).
In
Isa. 34:13
and
43:20
it
appears
t
is
O'371
jackal )
hat
is
being
translated
y
the term
actpIive;while 7l11V't:b and nmr
nmi2:
are being translatedby atpozBGvand cdl
9tryacrnpeq
rpouOCdv
espectively.
Job
30:29
follows
the
Isa.
34:13
pattern.
Jer. 27:29
(MT 50:29)
and Mic. 1:8 translate
using
the
expression
Ouya-rpov a?tp'vWv.
No doubt
the connectionbetweenthese
daughters
nd the
daughters f
humans of
Gen. 6:2
ought
to be further
explored.
Clearly
the
presence
of
afetpivE
in
Isa.
13:21 and other
desolation
passages
like Isa.
34:13;
43:20;
Jer
50:39,
and
Mic. 1:8 where
other desert
creatures/demons
re listed
suggests
the
possibility
hat
I
Enoch
19:2
views the wives
of the Watchers
among
the
demonic
beings
listed in
passages
like Isa. 13:21. The use
of Isa. 13:21 then in
4Q510
1 5 becomes even more
fascinating
and
perhaps
prob-
lematic
given
that a 7i1 i: is not to be found
among
the
fragments
of
4Q510
or
4Q511.
As Charles
suggests
if the women too
become female
demons here, this
stands
in contrast to
15:12-16
where
demons
are
the
ghosts
of the
giants
(APOT
2.200).
19
Alexander,
Demonology,
34
n.
10.
20
Isaac in
translating
19:2
opts
for theirwomen...
will be
peaceful
ones, again
following
the
Ethiopic
ratherthan the
Greek
text
(OTP
1.23;
see
especially the ex-
planatory
ootnote;
see
also
Charles,
APOT
2.201).
21
Alexander, Demonology,
33-34.
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340 ANDY M.
REIMER
because reading it in
a
strictly genitival sense, that is, as the spirits
of the angels of destruction,
would allow him to rule out this inclu-
sion of angels in a demon list
immediately.The angels would simply
be
a reference
to
the long imprisonedWatchersof
1
Enoch and the
spirits heir bastard
offspring till runningabout the earth.22 his
could be matched
to a
reading of
1
Enoch 19:1 in which the spirits
of
the angels
there
are
simply the ghosts of
the
giganticoffspringand
the
argument
would
be
rather
tidy.
But
as Alexander rightly notes,
there
are
other
Qumran
texts in which
apparently
demonic
figures
have
the
labelb-l
n
attached
o them
(IQM 13:10-12; IQS 4:12).
Hence,
when the
Qumran
exts
refer
to
demons using the
term
jxzn,
Alexander suggests reverting
to
the basic lexical sense of 'messen-
ger' or 'agent'. 23
ow
one
might
well
quibble
over
the
potential
con-
fusion
that could
occur
with
Alexander's
choice
of
terms.
After
all,
if
the
Qumran
ectariansused both
the
term
spirit
nd
angel
n
inter-
changeable sorts of ways
for both
good
and evil
supernatural eings,
creatinga dichotomy using the
terms
angel
and
demon
s
prob-
lematic. However,
Alexanderdoes
carefully qualify
his
terms,
and the
argumentproceeds
without this
becoming any
obstacle to
clarity.24
III. A Coherent
Demonology
Alexander's
reconstruction
f
the
demonology
of
the
Qumran
exts
does
underscore
his
contention
hat the
Scrolls
present
a
coherent
and
sophisticateddemonology. 25
he
explanatorypower
of
his model
is
apparent
on several fronts.
Fundamentally
t
answers
the
question
of
22
Alexander, Demonology, 33.
23 Alexander, Demonology, 34,
so
also 344.
The use
of
&yyeXo;
n Acts
12:15
where it may well be referring o Peter's ghost
might also open
the
possibility
hat
a
spiritof
the dead
may
be
referred o
as
an
angel, although
most commentators
ug-
gest thatthis ought
to
be read
as a
guardian
ngel
which bears
uncanny
resemblance
to
its earthlycounterparte.g.,
C.K.
Barrett.The
Acts
of
the
Apostles ICC;Edinburgh:
T. & T. Clark, 1994] 1.585; F.F. Bruce,
The
Acts of
the
Apostles:
Greek
Text with
IntroductionndCommentaryGrandRapids,
MI:
Eerdmans,
99Q1]
86;
and
E.
Haenchen,
The
Acts
of
the
Apostles [trans.
B.
Noble and G.
Shinn;
rev.
trans. R.McL.
Wilson;
Oxford:Blackwell, 1971] 385).
24
See for
example Alexander,
Demonology, 31-32,
334. Alexander's
distinction
is actually one broadly n line with post-BiblicalHebrew
usage generally.
S.A.
Meier
claims that in Semitictexts, the wordmal'dk... tends to becomethe word of choice
to
designate
all
supernatural eings
who
do God's
work ..
[and]
f it
applies
to
super-
natural reatures pposed
to
God,
it
usually
is
qualifiedby
an
adjective
such
as 'evil '
( Angel II,
DDD
89).
25
Alexander, Demonology,
31.
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RESCUING THE
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ANGELS
341
how Qumrandemonologyfindsitself situatedsomewherebetweenthe
apparently muted
interest in
matters
demonological
in the
Hebrew
Scriptures
and
the more elaborateand extensive
demonologies
of
later
Jewish and Christian
writings.26
ndeed,
the
fixation
with
discovering
the
names and
natures of various
angels
and
demons that
one
finds
in
texts such as
Sepher
ha-Razim
or the
Testament of
Solomon
is
certainly
not evident in extant
Qumran
texts.27
On
the
other
hand,
Qumran
sectarian
heology,
with its deterministic
bent,
is well
served
by
the carefully
constructed
implicity
of the
demonology
offered
by
the Enoch literature.
Alexander
suggests
that books
such as
1
Enoch
actually
served
to
limit
demonological
speculation
and
development.
Faced
almost
certainly
with a
multiplicity
nd
diversity
of evil
spirits
n the
reli-
gion
of the
day,
the authoror authors
of this
[Enochic
Watcher's]myth
triedto
bring
order nto the anarchicand chaoticdemonic
realm,
and
to
integratedemons
into their
theological
worldview. The
first
thing they
did
was to assert
that all
demons
belong
to
only
one
species
of
being:
all
are the
spirits of the
Nephilim.
In other
words,
the
different
pithets
and nomenclature
sed
for demons
indicates
not differentorders
of
being,
but
rather he
different
activities or
behaviourof
beings which belong to the same species. This already involves a significant
rationalization
f
the demonic world.28
It is
a rationalization
that
sees
the demonic
hybrid as
originating
from
a
perversion
of
the natural
order. 29
s
such, they
represent
he
eruption
nto this
world
of the
forces
of
chaos
which
God
subduedby
his
creative
fiat;
their ultimate
punishment
will
involve being
cast
back into the
abyss
and sealed
there forever. 30
his
Enochic myth
lends
sensibility
to
the exorcistic
hymns
found
in
4Q510-11 and
26
Alexander, Demonology, 36. The demonologyof the HebrewBible remainsa
vexing problem n
that,
on the basis of
contemporary
eligious
practiceselsewhere in
the
ANE,
one would
expect
popular
belief
in demonic
forces
and
means of
protecting
or
ridding
oneself
of
this
threat,
but the
surviving
Hebrew
texts shed
very
little
light
on
the
subject.
For a
survey
of the Hebrew
Bible terrain
on
the
subject
of demons
see
C.
Fontinoy,
Les
anges
et les
demons
de
l'ancien
testament,
nges
et demons:
Actes
du
Colloque
de
Liege
et de
Louvain-la-neuve,
5-26
novembre
987
(eds
H. Limet
and
1.
Ries;
Louvain-la-neuve:Centred'histoire
des
religions,
1989)
117-34.
27
On
these texts
see
particularly
P.S.
Alexander,
Incantations and
Books of
Magic, in E.
Schurer,
The
History
of
the
Jewish
People
in
the
Age
of
Jesus
Christ
(175 B.C.-A.D.
135) (rev.
ed.;
eds G.
Vermes,
F.
Millarand
M.
Goodman;
Edinburgh:
T. &
T.
Clark,
1973)
3.347-49,
372-75. See
also D.C.
Duling's
translation
nd
intro-
duction to Testamentof Solomon (OTP 1.935-87) and M.A. Morgan'sSepherHa-
Razim:
The
Book
of Mysteries
SBLIT
25;
Chico,
CA:
Scholars
Press,
1983).
28
Alexander, Demonology,
39.
29
Alexander,
Demonology,
40.
30
Alexander,
Demonology,
41. It is
worth
noting
that
IQM
17:4,
in
describing
the enemies
of the
sons
of
light,
says
of
this collection of a
chief evil
supernatural
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342 ANDY M. REIMER
1
1Q1
1. Here one finds
both
declarations
of God's
creative
power
and
final
judgment
as threatsagainst
demonic
forces.3'
Indeed,
B.
Nitzan
notes
this
as
a unique
feature
of
4Q510-11
and suggests
this points
to
an
Enochic
demonology
in particular.32
he
claims
thatthe
apocalyp-
tic
tradition
as found
in I Enoch
16:1 and Jub.
10:1-11 in which
the
activity
of evil
spirits
is
permitted
and
legitimate
till the 'Day
of
Judgment '
its well
with
the
eschatological
ramework
f
the
Qumran
sectarians generally.33
More specifically,
this notion
of demonic
activ-
ity
as
legitimate
until
the
final
judgment
clarifies
why
the
exorcistic
Sage
banished
the
demonic beings
not
for
an
everlasting
destruction
[but
ra]ther
for the
era
of
the humiliation
of sin
(4Q510
1
7-8).34
Other
sectarian
texts
such
as 1QM 13:1-16,
1QH
11:18
and IIQ-
Melch
2:12-13
also appear
to share a theology
of
demonic
activity
until
the
final
judgment
n which
thesebeings
are
forever
entrapped
r
destroyed.
The
judgment
of the
Watchers
and the
partial
destruction
of
the
Giants
(their
bodies even
if not their
ghosts
destroyed)
unction
as a symbol
of
future and final judgment
on the forces
of
evil
that
remain.35
The
notion of
present
demonic
activity
and future udgment
s
not
the
only
bit
of
Enochic demonology
that is
picked
up
by the
sectarian
Scrolls.
Alexander
also explores
the
Belial/Satan/Mastema
haracter
and
the relationship
this individual
has to the hoard
of
demonic
hybrids.
Here too
Jubilees
in
particular
ppears
o provide
the
neces-
saryclues
for
integrating
his
characternto
a
largerQumran
emonology.
According
o
Jubilees
10,
after
God orders
heround-up
f the
demons
in
response
to
Noah's
prayer,
Mastemarequests
hat a
tenth
of
these
be
left to him
as
assistants
n his task
of
corrupting
ndleading
astray
humanity esp.
10:8).
Mastema/Belial
s neither allen
Watcher,
or
Giant
ghost,
but
another
entity
entirely,
one
with a
divinely appointed
ask.36
Alexander
claims that
texts such as IQS
3:15-26,
1QM
13:10-12,
and
being,
his
demonic
cohorts,
and
evil humans
hat
theirdesire
goes
towards
chaos
and
emptiness
1lZm1
171Wt
lrr)--a
clearallusion
to
the
7:1 i*nn
of Gen.
1:2.
31
4Q510
1 3-4;
2 4;
4Q511
2 ii 3; 10
12; 28/29;
30; 35
1-2;
IIQlI
2:9-12;
3:1-
12;
4:3-12. Alexander,
Demonology,
41.
32
Nitzan,
Hymns,
3-63.
Nitzan,
Hymns,
56, 58,
60.
PO
fn
nnIsn
rpb
O[h
ID] OtIP
nt%5
I1?
(Baillet,
DJD
7.216).
See also
4Q51
1
8 5; 10 5; 35 7-9. Translationrom GarciaMartinezand Tigchelaar,The Dead Sea
Scrolls
StudyEdition,
2.1031.
3
CD 2:17-19,
for
example,
uses the
story
of the fall
of the
Watchers
and
the
destruction
f the
Giants
as an object
lesson
in the necessity
for
obedience.
.36Alexander,
Demonology,
42-43.
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RESCUING THE FALLEN
ANGELS
343
one may add lQHS 9:7-9, suggest that this adversarialfigure ulti-
matelyoperates
underdivine
authority
and the demons
are subservient
to
him.
This allows
the
Qumran community
a dualistic
angelology/
demonology
while remaining
within the
bounds of
theism,
and...
avoid[s]
falling
into an absolute dualism. 3
The
demons,
while
a
chaoticdisruption
within
the created
order,
are
placed
undera
divinely
ordained
figure
who ultimately serves
God's purposes even
as
an
opponent.
In the end, both chief adversary
and his
minionsmeet
with
divinely appointed
udgment
and
destruction.
Alexanderstates rather
succinctly that the author of the myth of the Watchers with his
Genesis
6 aetiology
of
demons
founda
place
for them in the
narra-
tive
of
sacred history,
and...
related
them
to his
theology
of cre-
ation...
[and]
these
ideas
were
taken
up by
the
Qumran
sect and
totally integrated
nto their dualistic
view of the
world. 38Alexander
has certainlyput
forward
a
strong
case
in favor
of
a
coherentdemo-
nology
in the
Scrolls.
IV. Outstanding
Questions
The
relative
ease with which Alexander
uses the
Enochicliterature
to
create
a seamless
demonology
for
the
DSS
does
make for
a con-
vincing
case.
This
same
ease,
however,
masks
several issues,
and
certainoutstandingquestions
must
be
raised
before
Alexander's
recon-
struction
stands
as the new orthodoxy
or
Qumran
demonology.
What
counts
as
a
demonologyof
the
Dead
Sea
Scrolls?
First,
what counts as
a
demonology
of
the
Dead
Sea
Scrolls ?
Alexander
offers
us
a
largelysynchronic
eading
with
primary mpha-
sis falling
on
the
Enochic literature.Davidson's
methodology,
which
we
mentionedabove,
offers
a
somewhat
divided synchronic
reading
with the
Enochic
corpus
offering
one
sort
of
angelology
and dem-
onology,
the sectarian
exts another.P.R.
Davies,
long
a
champion
of
redaction
criticism as
a
means
of
stratifying
exts
and creating
a more
nuanceddevelopmental
history
of the
Qumran ectarians,
would have
us follow
a
much
more
diachronic
approach.
Using a quite restricted
definition
of
dualism Davies
claims that
3'
Alexander,
Demonology,
343.
38
Alexander,
Demonology,
351.
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344
ANDY M.
REIMER
the theology of the liturgy
in
4QMa is not dualistic;the notion of a period of
Belial's dominantactivityis perfectlyconsistentwith a nondualisticunderstand-
ing of
humanity
and
history,
as
exemplified n CD 4:12b-13 or Jubilees, whose
mgtmh
s not to be equatedwith the dualistic angel of darkness, lthoughthe
noun mgtmh
s
his attribute
n
IQM 13:4, 11-a fully dualisticpassage.The mere
mention
of the
name
of a
satanic figure is not by itself indicative
of
a dualistic
theology.
If
his activity is not opposed to an equally powerfulangelic counter-
part in
a
divinely orderedstruggle,
the
essential componentof dualism is lack-
ing.39
Clearly
what
Davies
would
envision
as
a
properScrolls demonology
would be one in which various developmental ayers would be peeled
apart and not confused. This may well be an admirable ask, and no
doubt
a
useful one,
but
if
the last
hundred
ears
of
biblical
studies
has
taught us anything,
t
is that there is a value both
in
diachronicand
synchronic readings
of a
supposedly fragmented
text
or
group
of
texts.40
In many ways, Alexander's choice
of
approach
s what
makes
it
such
a
useful exercise.
It
is surely the
case
that
whenever
a
commu-
nity gathers
a
set
of
religious
texts
that
come
to define
them in some
way, these
are
read
with a
heavy dose of uncritical
ntertextuality.4'
That is to say, technically later exts are read in light of assump-
tions createdby
earlier
exts.
Likewise, earlier
exts are
read
with
the
spectacles
of later
texts
and
concepts
from
those
later
texts
transported
back
into
the
earlier
ones.
It
seems
highly likely,
for
instance,
that
the
Qumran
ectarianswould
read
the
HebrewBible ex-
pression
1Yfl
:
not
as
contemporary
translators
and historical
critics
do,
but
as a reference to
human forces
aligned
with
an
evil
19P.R. Davies, Eschatology t Qumran, BL 104 (1985) 50-51.
I
Collins' plea
for a holistic
reading
of
1
Enoch 1-39 alongsidesource-criticalnes
is an
excellent
and
relevant
case
in
point
in
terms
of our
argument Methodological
Issues, 315-16).
41 Davies claims that
[tJo
nterpret he scrollsas if they
offereda
synchronic
ross-
section of an isolated community
is to imply an
entity slumberingin a historical
cocoon... nor
can
the
literarycorpus
be treatedas if it were a Qumran
canon, the
definitive statement of what the
community 'always
and everywhere believed '
( Eschatology,
1).
Thatstatement s no doubttrue.However,given any
reading trat-
egy applied
to the DSS is ultimatelypremisedon
some hypothesisof
text
production
and
preservation,
urely
there
s room
for a sort of canonical ritical
approachwhich
asks the question
of how
they
might be read as a definingcorpus
of
religious
texts
without mplyingnecessarily hatthis is a definitivestatement f what the community
always and everywhere
believed. Rather t is a speculative
tatementof what the final
communitypreserving
hese Scrollsmight have believed
at the time of storage.And
it
must
be stated
given
our
present
nterest
hat
in this readingstrategy
I
Enochpoten-
tially
has
as much
of a voice
as
any so-called sectarian ocument.
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ANGELS
345
angelic figure.42f one assumesthat the religioustexts of the Qumran
caves were all somehow owned
or at the
very
least
respectfully
read
by the sectarians,
t is strained
o
suggest
that
an Enochic
aetiology of
demonsis not implied
when the
Qumran
ectarians
peak
of evil
spir-
itS.43
Even conceding
Davidson's
argument
hat
there are
not
a lot
of
direct
references
to
the Watchers
myth,
this
is still the
case.44
Space
must be created for the sort
of integrated synthetic reading
of the
finalcorpus suggested by
Alexander
as a
critical element in
describ-
ing
the
demonology
of
the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Whyallow only
one
fallen angel?
Above
all
else, however,
standsone
troubling
eature-a
loose end as
it
were that threatens
his
finely
knit
fabric
of
coherentdemonology.
Mastema, Belial, Satan,
Melchiresha,
or whatever
name
one
chooses
for
this figure
is
by
Alexander's admission
an
angel and, furthermore,
an evil
angel.45
It would
be
advantageous
to
his
argument
for
a
strict
distinction
between
angels
and demons
f
one
could reclassify this
entity.
Again,
the
issue
of
how
one
is
to
read 1
Enoch
and
Jubilees
comes
to the fore. Thereis no
explicit requirement
o
read
Mastema/
Satan
n Jub. 10:7-12
as
an
angel.
He is
simply described
as
the
chief
of the
spirits (10:8).
G.L.
Davenport,
or
example,
appearsto
42
Deut.
13:14; Judg.
19:22; 20:13;
1
Sam.
1:16
Y
n
l);
2:12; 10:27; 25:17;
1
Kgs 21:10, 13;
2 Chron.
13:7; 4QBera
7 ii 6. One
may
observethe
same
phenomenon
when
Christian
readers
read
Job,
for
instance,
and
have a
great
deal
of difficultynot
importing
a
NT
construct
of Satan nto
1=71
in
Job.
Likewise,
I have
observed
Christianreaders attemptto
bring
the role and
description
of
lpi-n
in Job back
into
play in their interpretationf the NT. The LXX translators f Sir. 21:27 have also
appeared
o have altered he
original
sense of the verse in
choosing
to
transliterate
he
original
adversary
as
IOv OaTavav.
43
Davidson certainlyappears
o
ignore
intentionally
r
otherwise
he possibility of
an Enochic
aetiology
for
the
origins
of evil
supernatural eings
(see
for
example,
Angels
at Qumran,156 esp.
n.
2, 157-58,
178, 219-20).
44
Angels
at
Qumran,
179-80. Davidson will
concede
only
CD
2:17-21
and
4Q180
I
1-10
as
the
only
two certainreferences
o the
fallen
angels
in the
sectarian
writing
found
at Qumran 179). Surely
Alexander
s
correct
n
reading
he
reference o
bas-
tard
spirits
as
a
reference
back
to the
gigantic offspring
of
the
Watchers
and
these
mayrightfully
e added
o
the
certain eference o the
Enoch
myth
of
the fallenWatchers.
4S
Alexander,
Demonology,
41.
Alexander
s
somewhat
more
hesitant
n assign-
ing this figureto the class of angels in Wrestling, uteventuallydoes so by default
since
Belial
does
not fit his definitionof a demon
327-28).
46 It
appears,
or
instance,
hat Collins
(Apocalypticism,5)
is
readingMastema im-
ply
as the leader of the unclean
spirits
of the
giants.
So too Nitzan
(QumranPrayer,
232
n.
20) although
ater she
speaks
of
the
demons as
messengers
f
Mastemah,
he
angel of
the
spirits
251).
Garcia
Martinez
on
the
other hand
seems
to
be
suggesting
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346
ANDY
M.
REIMER
read Mastemaas chief among the spirits.However,this is done at the
expense of distinguishingbetween Mastemaand Satan and so does lit-
tle to solve our problem
of
eliminatingall angelic
beings.4'
Given an
equation between the two figures, surely the more naturalreading of
the passage, perhaps
one
couldargue Mastema/Satans presentedhere
simply as the leading demonic figure. It is not beyond the bounds of
reason that
references
to
this
creatureas
a
ljrn
as we
find in
CD-A
16:5
(iintr3i-
jm5n),
lQS
3:20-21
(vic
jmbn),
and IQM 13:11
(jmtn
nvon) could
be
read
as messengers' r agent as Alexander pro-
poses for
the
plural form
when
applied
to
demons.
When
all the
evidence
is
considered,however, Alexander'sadmis-
sion
of at least this one evil
angel
does
the most
justice
to the
texts
underconsideration.
n the texts with a
thoroughgoing
ewish mono-
theistic
dualism
(as
defined
by Davies),48 here
is
a certain
ration-
ality
in
viewing
the
leading heavenly figures
of
good
and evil
as
ontologically
balanced.
In
other
words,
this is
a
battle
between
two
angelic figures
under
the
auspices
of
the
one
God until
the final
judgment.
In the
case
of
IQS
3:20 and
CD-A
5:17-19
this
takes
on
the
language
of a
Prince
of
Light
versus
an
Angel
of
Darkness
or
Belial. 49
One could
further
uggest
that the
Qumran
habit of
speak-
ing of a leading
evil
supernaturaligure
and his
underlingsmight be
that
Jubilees presents
Mastema as the
leader
of an army
of fallen
angels
who
obtains rom
God that
a tenth
of the
fallen
spirits
will
not
be
directly destroyed
but
will be left under his command
in order
to
harass,
mislead, and destroy humanity
( Apocalypticism,
67). It is not entirely clear
whetherGarcia Martinez s implying
two groups (i.e.,
armyof fallen angels and fallen
spirits ) r whether
he is employ-
ing
two terms
for
stylistic
reasons.
Later he
uses
the
language
of
angelic
forces as
organized
armies underan
angelic
leader
o describe
Jubilees,
suggesting
the former
is the case (168).
47 Davenport
does
not
elaborate
but
simply
states, Satan
s the overseer
of
the evil
spirits-the
spirits of
the children
of the
Watchers-who remain on
earth. A distinc-
tion
is
implied
between
Satan
and
Mastema,
he
chief of the
evil
spirits (x, 7-8) (The
Eschatology f
the Book
of
Jubilees
[SPB 20;
Leiden:
Brill, 1971]
39
n.
1).
J.C.
Vander-
Kam
offers a more
interesting
and nuanced reading
of mastema
suggesting
the
dis-
tinct possibilitythat
Jubilees used
the term
as a descriptiveabstract
noun rather
han
a proper
name
(Textual
and
Historical
Studies
in
the Book
of
Jubilees
[HSM
14;
Missoula, MT:
Scholars
Press, 1977] 257-58).
4
Davies
defines
dualistic
s two
equal
and
opposing nfluences,
conceived
cos-
mologically
and/orethically, and,
in a
Jewish
context, subordinated
o the sovereignty
of
one
God ( Eschatology,
0). Collins takes exception
to
the
restrictive
nature
of
this definition,but it does have a heuristicvalue for our present argument Apoc-
alypticism,44).
49
Davidson
commenting
on
the CD
5:18-19 passagesuggests
that
herethe
Prince
of
Lights corresponds
o Belial
and it is
logical
to
regardboth
as
angels (Angels
at
Qumran,164).
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RESCUING
THE FALLEN ANGELS
347
a productof a demonologyconstruedas Alexandersuggests-that is,
a divinely appointed
but
evil
angel
with
the
ghosts
of
the Giants
as
his assistants.
In
the
sectarian texts
some
form
of the
expression
Belial
and
the spirits
of his
lot
is found
in
1QM
13:2,
4, 11-12,
as
well as llQMelch
2:13 and 4QBera
7 ii
1-3, while IQS 3:21-24
effects a similar
dichotomy
with
its
Angel
of
Darkness. . .
and
all the
spirits
of his
lot. 50
o
too
the
psalmist'srequest
n
1
IQPsa
19:15
that
neitherSatan
nor an evil spirit
be allowed to
rule
over them (m'=n
LR
iin
r7rin ':) certainly
would
lend
some
credenceto Alexander's
ontologicaldistinction etween hisevil leaderand hesupernaturalorces
underhis
direction.5'
t does
certainly
seem to be the
case
that the
roots
of
this
character re in the Satan
figure
of
the
Hebrew
Bible and
certainly
there it
is
an
angelic heavenly
court
figure
even if a
good
deal of transformation
as
taken
place by
the
writing
of
the
Scrolls.52
It
seems
that
there
s
little
room to maneuver
Belial
by
whatevername
out of
the
class of
angel.
But
this
raises
a
very
serious
question
about
the
inconsistencyof
Alexander's
construct
n which demons cannot
be
angels
but
the
chief
of the demons is. Given that Alexanderhas put togethera solid case
for
understanding
he
bastard
pirits -iron
nrnmr)
f
4Q510
1
5
as
the ghosts
of
the
Giants,
does it
necessarily
follow
that
the
spirits
who arethe angelsof destruction
annot efer o another lass of demonic
opponents?
f there
is one fallen
angel,
is
it
not
possible
there are
oth-
ers
in
this
category
as well? This is
not
to
suggest
that we
must
return
to a state
of affairs
n
which
the
spirits
n
subjection
o
Belial
are rou-
tinely
and uncritically
read
as fallen
angels. 53
Rather,
one
must
con-
sider
the
possibility
that
several
aetiologies
co-exist
simultaneously
without all the potentiallyconflictingtensions between them worked
50 Translationdrawn
from
Garcia
Martinezand
Tigchelaar,The Dead Sea Scrolls
StudyEdition, 133, 135, 1207, 1209, 75, 77, respectively.
s'
One
of the distinctions
hat Alexander
uggests
is more
dubious-specifically
his
insistence that angels cannot possess
a human
being
while a
demon
or evil
spirit can
(Alexander, Wrestling, 27-28; Demonology, 39).
This
assumptionplays
into
a
numberof questions
and assertionshe makes in both articles.It
is, however,
an
argu-
ment rom ilence,
and
urthermore
n
argument
hat ails to
take
account f
laterdemonolo-
gies
in
which
demons
are
fallen
angels
and as such
do
possess
human
beings.
So
too
arguments
on the
non-reproductive
atureof
angels
and demons fail to do
justice
to
the ease withwhichthisapparent rule s regularlybreachedn demonologicalmyths,
not least
the fall of the Watchers
story
in
1
Enoch
(Alexander, Demonology, 36).
52
See C. Breytenbach, Satan,
DDD
1369-78.
S3 This
habit of
assuming
rather
han
arguing
or an
aetiology
of
demon as fallen
angels occurs in otherwiseresponsible scholarlyworks (e.g., Davidson,Angels at
Qumran;Kobelski,Melchizedek,17-18;
Garcia
Martinez, Apocalypticism,
67-68).
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348 ANDY M. REIMER
out. This
paper began
with an
observation
I
made while
teaching
a
New Testament
religious
backgrounds ourse to
undergraduate
ible
and
Theology
students.After
having these studentsread
and
discuss
the fall
of the Watchersstory from 1
Enoch and
Jubilees, I asked
if
any
recognized
a tension
between
this accountof the fall
of the
angels
and the
story
of
the
fall
of the
angels they
were familiarwith, which
I
knew to be some
hazy
Miltonianaccount
of
a heavenly
rebellionby
Satan and his
angels.
In
fact, they failed to see
any tension
until
I
sketched out both accounts on
one
timeline drawn from
the narra-
tive of Genesis 1-6. Only once it was visualized in this mannerdid
the
discrepancies
become
apparent
o them. If
the
sociology
of knowl-
edge
has
taught
us
anything
it
is
to
be
aware of these
unrecognized
gaps
and unresolved
tensions
in
the constructionof
worldviews.54
The very
fact that
so
many scholarscan speakto the issue of
demons
and final
judgment
on Belial and his minions
without
ever
addressing
the issue of
aetiology
is
perhaps
indicative of how the
sectarians
themselves functioned.
As we noted
above,
Alexander
makes
the
plausiblesuggestion
that
theEnoch iteratures asignificant ationalizationf the demonicworld-
bringing
an ordered
simplicity
to the
otherwise
anarchicand chaotic
demonic realm. 55Other scholars
too
have
noted the various streams
that are forced
together
within the
telling
of the
myth
of the Watchers
in
1
Enoch 1-36 and Jubilees.56
However,
this
implies
a ratherbroad
stream of
existing
ideas about the
origins
of
supernatural
vil
beings.
This is reallyone of
the
most
significant
advancesof the
sociology
of
knowledge,
and
one not
taken
up nearly often
enough. M. Douglas, summarizing he effect
E.E.
Evans-Pritchard's
Witchcraft, Oracles, and
Magic among the Azande has had on schol-
arship regardingwitchcraftsince its originalpublicationn 1937, states that Evans-
Pritchard'swork as first and foremost... a
book about
the sociology of knowl-
edge... [showing]
how the
Azande,
clever and
sceptical
as
they were,
could
tolerate
discrepancies
n their beliefs and could
limit the kinds of questions
they
asked
about
the universe
( Introduction:Thirty
Years after
Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Witch-
craft Confessions
and Accusations
[ed.
M.
Douglas;
London: Tavistock
Publications,
1970] xiv).
This is echoed
by
E. Gillies' introduction
to an
abridged
version of
Witchcraft, Oracles
and
Magic among
the Azande (E.E. Evans-Pritchard,
Witch-
craft,
Oracles and
Magic
among
the Azande
[abridged and intro.
by
E.
Gillies;
Oxford:
Clarendon
Press, 1976]
xxvii-xxviii).
In a
delightfulbit of
irony, Douglas
laments he
fact that subsequent
anthropologists
who
actuallyuse Evans-Pritchard's ork have
ex-
hibited a similar social restraint
upon perception
nd
natural
uriosity(xiv).
Demonology, 39.
S6 See
particularly
the
following
oft-cited works: P.D. Hanson, Rebellion
in
Heaven, Azazel,
and Euhemeristic
Heroes
in I Enoch 6-1 1 JBL 96 (1977)
195-233;
G.W.E.
Nickelsburg,
Apocalyptic
nd
Myth
in
I
Enoch 6-1
1, JBL 96
(1977)
383-405
and Collins's response
( Methodological
Issues );
D.
Dimant,
I
Enoch 6-11: A
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RESCUING THE FALLEN ANGELS 349
While 1 Enoch may have synthesizeda new simplicity,it may well
be that this new constructsimply rejoined the existing
broad
stream
of
ideas rather than
authoritatively redefining
demonic
aetiology.
Certainly, ater Christian
writers such as Lactantiusdemonstrate
hat
one can hold an Enochic aetiology for demons alongside
a
myth of
angels
who
fell
from
heavenly glory
and
who also
enter
the
class of
demonic beings.57
The difficulty s finding
a clear
fallen angels myth that is quite
separate rom the Enochic interpretation
f Genesis 6.
A
story of the
fall of Satan and the angels prior to humanity's fall, the account
largely embraced
as orthodox
after the
fourth
century
in
Christian
circles,58
s not
clearly
attestedbeforethe first
centuryCE.59Wis. 2:23-
24,
with its statement hat it is
through
he devil's
envy
death entered
the
world
(NRSV),
hints at
the sort
of
story
one
finds
in
The Life of
Adam
and
Eve,
but
in itself is a
vague
reference
and the
book at any
rate
is likely
a
first
century
CE
document.'
The
Life
of Adam and
Eve
offers
an
account
of the
fall of Satan and a
host of
angels under
his command
on
the
basis of
his failure
to
worshiphumanity but here
only in the Latin, Armenian and Georgian, not in the Greek and
Slavonic
versions).61
2
Enoch
29:4-5
offers
a
more
complete descrip-
MethodologicalPerspective,
BLSP
1978, 323-39; and C.A. Newsom, TheDevelop-
ment
of
I
Enoch 6-19:
Cosmology
and
Judgment, CBQ
42
(1980)
310-29.
57 E.g.,
Lactantius,
The
Divine
Institutes
2.15. It
was
Alexander's
article
that first
suggested the Lactantiusparallel
( Demonology,
339 n.
24).
An excellent
summary
of Lactantius'
demonology
can be found in E.
Schneweis, Angels
and
Demons
According to
Lactantius
(CUASCA
3;
Washington,
DC: Catholic
University
of
America
Press, 1944)
92-109.
For a
thoroughsurvey
of
early Christian
appropriation
of the Enoch literaturencludinga descriptionof the shift from an Enochic demon-
ology basedon Genesis
6 to a
demonology
of
angels
involved
in
a
heavenly
rebellion
and
a rejection
of the Enochic
interpretation
f
Genesis
6, see J.C. VanderKam,
1
Enoch,
Enochic
Motifs,
and Enoch
in
Early
Christian
Literature,
The
Jewish
Apocalyptic
Heritage
n
Early Christianity eds
J.C. VanderKam nd
W.
Adler;
CRINT
3.4; Minneapolis:
Fortress
Press, 1996)
62-88.
S8
See VanderKam,
1
Enoch, 84-87.
59
Alexandermentions
1 Enoch
54:6 in
passing
as
an
example
of
Satan
leading a
group
of
fallen
Watchers
and
roaming
the
world.
As he
rightly
notes,
this
passage
comes
from
the Similitudes
and
is
notoriously
difficult o
date
with
any
definiteness.
Its
absence
from
Qumran
s
particularly elling
in
terms of its
later
status.
I
J.
Geyer
suggests
this
s
the earliest
known
reference o
the devil
as the
tempter
(The Wisdomof Solomon [TBC; London: SCM Press, 1963] 67). On the date see
D.
Winston, Solomon,
Wisdom
of,
ABD
6.122-23,
and E.G.
Clarke,The
Wisdomof
Solomon(Cambridge:Cambridge
UniversityPress,
1973)
1-3.
61
See
M.D. Johnson's ntroduction
nd
translation
n
OTP
2.249-95
esp. 262. See
also
G.A.
Anderson
and
M.E.
Stone's,
A
Synopsis of
the
Books
of Adam
and Eve
(SBLEJL5;
Atlanta:
Scholars
Press, 1994)
10-13.
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350
ANDY M.
REIMER
tion of a creation
week
fall by
Satanailand
his angelic
underlings,
but
this is only
in
the
longer
recensionand is
perhapsa
Christian
nter-
polation.62
Later Jewish
possibilities
are
also brought
forward by
Nitzan in her
investigationsof
4Q510-1
.63 These
include
stories of
demons
originatingwith a
primaeval
connectionbetween
Adam
and
Lillith or demons as restrained
ince the
days of
Moses but break-
ing out of their subterranean
iding place
duringtimes of
supernatural
tension. Nitzan herself
appears
to remain
convinced of an
Enochic
demonology
based on
Genesis 6 for the
Scrolls.' Gen. Rab.
24:6
which
Nitzan cites as an
early
form of the
Lilith legend
actuallyhas
both Adam and Eve
producingdemonic childrenwhile
this same text
offers the
possibility
that
demons are
spirits
who had the
misfortune
of not
having
a
body
made
before the arrival
of the creation week
Sabbath
(7:5).65
Also
problematic
because
of its later date is a
Mishnaic account of evil
spirits
as entities
creatednear
the
end of the
sixth
day (m.
Avot
5:6).'1
Given
the
first
century
CE
or later
date for
all of this evidence
obviously
one
must tread
ightly
in
suggesting
any
of these accounts were in
circulationat the time of
the
writing
of the
Scrolls.
However,
the
very
fact of later
variety
along
with the refer-
ences
to
demonic creaturesas
angels
on a
numberof occasions in
the
sectarian
texts of
Qumran
ought
to
keep alive the
possibility
of
another demonic
aetiology existing
alongside of the
ghosts
of the
Giants version
given by
I
Enoch.
62
See F.I.
Anderson's
ranslation nd footnoteson the
matter n OTP 1.148.
63
A convenient
summary
of Jewish
demonology
and
especially aetiology can be
found in E.
Ferguson,
Demonology of the Early
ChristianWorld
(Lewiston, NY:
EdwinMellen Press, 1984)69-104.
i Qumran
Prayer, 231-32;
Hymns, 56. A
possible
early account of Adam
and
Lilith can be found in Gen. Rab.
24:6.
The
latteraccountcan be found in
Num. Rab.
12:3.
65
In
commenting
on the
descendantsof Adam the
following
is
stated: Another
interpretation:
hese
are
descendants,but
earlierones were
not
[human]descendants.
What then
were they? Demons. For
R. Simon said:
Throughout he
entire one
hundred
and
thirtyyears
duringwhich Adam held
aloof
from Eve the male demons
weremade
ardent
by
her and she
bore,
while
the female demons
were inflamedby Adam and
they
bore.. .
(Gen.
Rab.
24:6 as translated in
Midrash
Rabbah [trans. H.
Freedman;
London and
New York:
Soncino
Press,
1983] 1.203). See also Gen. Rab. 20:11. It is
noteworthy
hat the sons
of God of Genesis 6 are
not read as angels
Gen.
Rab.
26:5). Given the reference to Lilith in 4Q510 1 5 and possibly male and female
demons in texts such as
4Q510 and 4Q560 (see
below), perhaps hese do
deservefur-
ther
investigation
as to the
possibility
of these
being
aroundat the time of
the
writing
of these
Qumran
exts.
I
So also b. Pes. 54a.
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RESCUING THE
FALLEN ANGELS
351
Mustconsistencylie in aetiology?
It might
also be the case
that the
Qumran
ectarians
ad
little
interest
in
a
clearly
articulated
aetiology
of demons-that
quite frankly
they
were
fuzzy on the
issue
because pragmatically
the
origins
of the
demon,
and indeed
the
type
of
demon,
were relatively
unimportant
n
their
coping strategies.
Contemporary arallels
to a phenomenon
uch
as this
can certainly
be
found.67 Q510
and 511 deal with
the
varieties
of demonic creatures
hey list in
an identical
fashion-all are
terrified
in the apotropaichymn throughthe declarationof the grandeurand
power
of
God.68 ndeed,
declaring
the creative
power
of YHWH as a
means
of exorcising
demons is
the
pattemof 1IQl1
as well.69Here
too
one finds
a
variety
of
terms
used
to
describe
demonic
opponents
but
one basic formula
which is effective
for
all,
a
pattem
one finds
especially in
Psalm 91
which
is
included n
this
collection
of exorcis-
tic
psalms.70
4Q560
likewise
gives
a
series
of
evil
supematural
crea-
tures listed on
the basis of their activity
and genderand
appears
to
67
L.G. McClung Jr, describing
Pentecostal
and
Charismatic
Christian
exorcistic
practices, states
that no clarified doctrinal
statementon
demonology and
exorcism
exists among
the
major
Pentecostal bodies....
Like
many
themes in
Pentecostal/
charismaticbelief
and
practice,
exorcism
has
been
practiced
but
not
formally
theolo-
gized ( Exorcism,
Dictionaryof Pentecostal and CharismaticMovements
eds
S.M.
Burgess
and
G.B. McGee;
GrandRapids,
MI:
Zondervan,
1988]
290-91).
68
4Q510 1 4-5. The
term
apotropaic
o
describe
these
hymns
was suggested by
Alexander, Wrestling,
20. For an excellent
analysis
of the meansby which
the
Sage
banished
demonic
beings,
see
Nitzan, Hymns.
69
Lange, The Essene Position, 379-82.
The
specific importance
f retainingthe
name
YHWH in
this
text is
taken
up by
t.
Puech
( Les
deux
derniers
Psaumes
davidiquesdu ritueld'exorcisme,IIQPs' IV 4 - V 14, The Dead Sea Scrolls: Forty
Yearsof Research,82-89).
While Puech believes the
use of the
divine
name excludes
this from being
a
sectarian
ocument
proper,
Nitzan
remains
open to other
alterna-
tives (QumranPrayer, 235-36)
while Alexander
argues
it
is indeed
a
sectariandocu-
ment ( Wrestling, 28).
70
Though fragmentary, IQ11
2:3-4
(11Q11 1:4-5
in
Puech's numbering cheme)
offers
the
following:
Garcla
Martinez and
Tigchelaar
offer
[...
the
spirlits
and
the
demons,
[...]/[...1
These
are
[the delmons,
and the
Pri[nce
of
Animosi]ty
as
a reconstruction nd trans-
lation (The
Dead
Sea Scrolls
StudyEdition, 2.1200-1). t. Puechspeculates athermore
boldlyandoffers pourqu'ildelivrede tout ldaudesesp]rits tdesdemons, lesliliths,]/[les
hiboux
et les
chats
sauvages (?)],
ceux-ci
[sont
les
demons,
et
le
pr[ince d'hostili]t6
( I QPsApa: Un
rituel d'exorcismes. Essai
de
reconstruction, evQ
14 [1990] 386-
88).
Psalm
91 within the context
of
these
other
exorcistic
psalms offers
a
classic ex-
ample
of
a
list of
various demonic
oppressors
all
dealt
with simultaneouslywith a
blanket
protection
rom YHWH.
7/25/2019 Rescuing the Fallen Angels The Case of the Disappearing Angels at Qumran.pdf
19/20
352
ANDY
M.
REIMER
offer a blanket olution to all of these.7'4Q444 is somewhatmore
fragmentarybut
appears
to list
demons
without
being
clear on
what
exactly
each
might
specifically
be, and
thiswould
fit the
patternof an
all-encompassing
ure
as well.72
Perhaps
he
key to
this
lack
of
inter-
est in
fleshing out
specific
demonological
aetiologies is
linked
to M.
Kister's
hypothesisthat
entry into the
community
mplied
a
degree of
freedom from
demonic control.73
he exorcistic
hymnodythen
serves
to
reinforce
his blanket
protection-a
mode of
operation hat
does not
require
extensive
investigationof
varioustypes of
demons and
cures
applicable o each in particular.The consistencyof the demonologyof
the DSS is
perhaps
better
found in their
communitypractices
ounded
on a
particular
heology
of their
community
and a
specific
belief about
the
ultimate
end
of the
demons
plaguingpresentexistence.
Asking
the
sectarians also to have a
carefully
fleshed out
aetiology
of demons
may be
asking
too much.
V.
Conclusion
It remainsto be seen whetherAlexander'sbanishment f the fallen
angels from the DSS will
be an eternal
imprisonment
n
terms of
'M
he list here is rather
dramatic
4Q560
I
i
2-5):
[-j
r1
n
9
pD
li;'
ni-i-n
mnn-*n
[
...]
kkmpz
n, Mnl
mD-wnn~ s tnt-i
1m@:
V
X [..j
1-b
roRl rr-wl rtum MUVD
n
jmw
1q
n Mro
ttnrp) r
l
-7-
I-D
^
-i[...]
] the
midwife,
the
chastisement f
girls.
Evil
visitor,de[mon...
.... .1
entersthe
flesh,
the male
penetrator
nd the female
penetrator/[...]...
iniquity and
guilt; fever and
chills, and heat of
the heart
J...
1
in
sleep, he
who crushes the
male
and she who
passes
through
he
female,
those who
dig
(transcription nd
translation
drawn from
Garcia
Martfnezand
Tigchelaar,The
Dead Sea
Scrolls Study
Edition,
2.1116-17,
with
the
exception
of the final
dalet on line 2 which
is
suggestedby
Penney and
Wise, By
the Powersof
Beelzebub, 631, 637.
Penneyand
Wise take the
beginningof line 4 as
the
completionof
a
quotation rom Exod.
34:7
or Num. 14:18 and
carry on translat-
ing 4-5
as, O Fever and Chills and
Chest
Pain... [and
forbidden
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