The Call of Abraham: Essays on the Election of Israel in Honor of Jon D. Levenson

Chapter 8: The Chosenness of Israel in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

170 c H a P T e r 8 R The Chosenness of Israel in the apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha m a t t h i a s h e n z e The chosenness of Israel, God’s inscrutable and mysterious election of Israel as the chosen people with whom God entered into a covenant, is a recurring theme in the work of Jon D. levenson. In a number of publications levenson has probed this central and seemingly obvious topic of biblical theology to uncover its complexities and to argue for its continuing relevance today. he has shown that the origins of the idea of chosenness reach back all the way to the book of Genesis.1 he has followed the topic throughout the hebrew bible and into the New Testament to discuss its implications for Jewish-Christian relations.2 and he has written eloquently against the modern detractors of this ancient biblical doctrine.3 This essay is intended as a supplement to this discussion. rather than turning my attention to the biblical or rabbinic literature,as leven- The Choseneness of Israel in the apocrypha and Pseudoepigrapha 171 son has already done with characteristic acumen,my task will be to trace the idea of chosenness through the apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha— those Jewish texts that were composed as the biblical period was coming to an end and before rabbinic authority became widely accepted.4 The texts I have selected cover a period of about three centuries, from the apocalypse of weeks of the second century b.c.e. to 2 Baruch of the late first century c.e. our brief survey shows that the election of Israel continued to be a topic of considerable interest at the time. It also shows that the idea of chosenness is a complex one and that it could be employed in a variety of contexts and used to different ends. In the midst of this variety of understandings we can detect three general interrelated themes, all linked to the chosenness of Israel, that tend to recur in the apocryphal and pseudepigraphic writings. First, several authors trace the election of Israel back to abraham: God chose the patriarch out of love and entered into a covenant with him. abraham’s faithfulness, in return, is seen as a merit to which his descendants are eager to lay claim. Second, God freely determined that Israel should be the chosen people, the people whom God loves. we are frequently reminded that the initiative to elect Israel was God’s.over time, dissident groups claimed the title “the chosen” as a self-designation and assumed a new identity as God’s chosen Israel. and third, chosenness does not imply that Israel has been blameless. Israel’s unlawful acts, which in some texts are compared to those of her oppressors, are the reason why God delivered Israel into the hands of the enemy in the first place. Several authors express their longing for the eschatological reversal of fortunes , when Israel will be elevated and her enemies condemned. 1 ENOCH The first text to be considered, the apocalypse of weeks, is part of the Epistle of Enoch (1 En. 91–105), the last of the five works included in the ethiopic Apocalypse of Enoch, or 1 Enoch.The apocalypse of weeks (1 En. 93:1–10; 91:11–17) offers a good point of entry into our discussion because of its early date of composition, the second century b.c.e., and because of its conspicuous use of language of chosenness.5 172 Matthias Henze Following a brief introduction (1 En. 93:1–2), enoch, the seventh antediluvian patriarch, gives his sons an overview of Israel’s history from his own time to the eschaton (1 En. 93:3–10, 91:11–17).The overview takes the form of a “prophecy,” in which Israel’s history is structured in ten weeks. Chosenness is mentioned no fewer than four times and at crucial junctures in the apocalypse: first in the introduction (1 En. 93:2), and then in week three (1 En. 93:5, the time of abraham), week six (1 En. 93:8, the preexilic period), and week seven (1 En. 93:10, from the exile to the second century b.c.e.). enoch opens with a brief preview of what he is about to announce. he will speak concerning the sons of righteousness, and concerning the chosen of eternity...