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The Enoch Seminar is an academic group of international specialists in Second Temple Judaism and the origins of Christianity who share information about their work in the field and biennially meet to discuss topics of common interest.^[1] The group is supported by the Department of Near Eastern Studies of the University of Michigan^[2] and the Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies,^[3] the group gathers about 200 university professors from more than fifteen countries.

Overview

The Enoch Seminar focuses on the period of Jewish history, culture and literature from the Babylonian Exile (6th century BC) to the Bar-Kochba revolt (2nd century AD) —the period in which both Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism have their roots. It is a neutral forum where scholars who are specialized in different sub-fields (OT Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, Philo, New Testament) and are committed to different methodologies, have the opportunity to meet, talk and listen to one another without being bound to adhere to any sort of preliminary agreement or reach any sort of preordained consensus.

Participation at the meetings of the Enoch Seminar is by invitation only and is restricted to University professors and specialists in Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins who have completed their PhD. Papers circulate in advance among the participants and the entire time at the meetings is devoted to discussion in plenary sessions or small groups. Since 2006, to graduate students, PhD candidates and post-doctorate fellows, the Enoch Seminar has offered a separate biennial conference (the Enoch Graduate Seminar).

Meetings

First Enoch Seminar (Florence 2001)

The First Enoch Seminar was held in Florence, Italy (19–23 June 2001) at the Villa Corsi-Salviati of the University of Michigan at Sesto Fiorentino.^[4]

The conference was organized by Gabriele Boccaccini (University of Michigan, USA) in consultation with the other founding members of the Enoch Seminar. It explored the role of the early Enoch literature in the time prior to the Maccabean revolt and probed the hypothesis of the existence of “Enochic Judaism” as a distinctive form of Judaism in the early Second Temple period.^[5]

The Proceeding were published in 2002 by Zamorani.^[6]

Second Enoch Seminar (Venice 2003)

The second Enoch Seminar was held in Venice, Italy (1–4 July 2003) at Palazzo Sullam.^[7]

The conference was organized by Gabriele Boccaccini (University of Michigan, USA), in consultation with the other senior members of the Enoch Seminar. It focused on the role played by the Enoch literature in shaping the ideology and the practice of the Essene movement and the Qumran community.^[8]

The Proceeding were published in 2005 by Eerdmans.^[9] An additional volume on the early Enoch literature was planned and published in 2007 by Brill Publishers.^[10]
The second Enoch Seminar at Venice was followed by a conference on Jewish and Christian messianism, Il Messia tra memoria e attesa, jointly organized with the Italian biblical association BIBLIA.^[11] The proceedings of the meeting were published in 2005 by Morcelliana.^[12]

Third Enoch Seminar (Camaldoli 2005)

The Third Enoch Seminar was held at Camaldoli, Italy (6–10 June 2005) at the Foresteria of the Camaldoli Monastery.^[13]

The conference was organized by Gabriele Boccaccini (University of Michigan, USA) in consultation with the other senior members of the Enoch Seminar. It focused on the ideology and date of the Parables of Enoch as a Second Jewish document and on its message about the coming of the heavenly messiah "Son of Man."^[14]

The Proceeding were published in 2007 by Eerdmans.^[15]

Fourth Enoch Seminar (Camaldoli-Ravenna 2007)

The Proceedings were published in 2009 by Eerdmans^[16] and by the Journal Henoch.^[17]

Fifth Enoch Seminar (Naples 2009)

The Proceedings were published in 2012 by Brill^[18] and by the Journal Henoch.

References

^ See G. Boccaccini, "The Contemporary Renaissance of Enoch Studies, and the Enoch Seminar," in The Early Enoch Literature, ed. G. Boccaccini and J.J. Collins (Leiden: Brill, 2007), pp. vii-x. ISBN 90-04-16154-6
^ The Enoch Seminar is part of the activities of the "Judaism and Christianity in the Greco-Roman World (JCGRW)]" Program of the Department of Near Eastern Studies of the University of Michigan; see the JCGRW website.
^ The Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies (MCECS) is a registered non-profit corporation of the State of Michigan, which promotes the advancement and diffusion of knowledge in the academic field of Early Christian Studies at the University of Michigan and throughout the state and specifically lists among its goals, "to support the international activities of the Enoch Seminar..., which brings scholars from around the world to discuss topics relative to Early Christianity;" see MCECS website.
^ See G. Boccaccini, "The Rediscovery of Enochic Judaism and the Enoch Seminar," in The Origins of Enochic Judaism, ed. G. Boccaccini (Turin: Zamorani, 2002), pp. 9-13. ISBN 88-7158-107-5
^ See J.J. Collins, "How Distinctive Was Enochic Judaism?," in Meghillot: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls V-VI. A Festschrift for Devorah Dimant, ed. M. Bar Asher and E. Tov. (Haifa/Jerusalem: University of Haifa/Bialik Institute, 2007), pp. 17-34; G. Macaskill, "Priestly Purity, Mosaic Torah and the Emergence of Enochic Judaism," Henoch 29.1 (2007), pp. 67-89; and J.H. Charlesworth, "A Rare Consensus Among Enoch Specialists: The Date of the Earliest Enoch Book," in The Origins of Enochic Judaism, ed. G. Boccaccini (Turin: Zamorani, 2002), pp. 225-234 ISBN 88-7158-107-5.
^ G. Boccaccini (ed.), The Origins of Enochic Judaism (Turin: Zamorani, 2002 = Henoch 24.1-2, 2002), with articles by Randal A. Argall, Andreas Bedenbender, Gabriele Boccaccini, James H. Charlesworth, John J. Collins, J. Harold Ellens, Mark Elliott, Esther Eshel, Hanan Eshel, Florentino García Martínez, Ithamar Gruenwald, Martha Himmelfarb, Michael A. Knibb, Helge S. Kvanvig, Luca Mazzinghi, Pierluigi Piovanelli, Paolo Sacchi, Brian Schmidt, Loren T, Stuckenbruck, David W. Suter, Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar, Benjamin G. Wright, and Adela Yarbro Collins. ISBN 88-7158-107-5
^ G. Boccaccini, "From the Enoch Literature to Enochic Judaism," in Enoch and Qumran Origins, ed. G. Boccaccini (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), pp. 1-14. ISBN 0-8028-2878-7
^ See J.H. Charlesworth, "The Books of Enoch or 1 Enoch Matters: New Paradigms for Understanding Pre-Seventy Judaism," in Enoch and Qumran Origins, ed. G. Boccaccini (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), pp. 436-454; J.J. Collins, "Enochic Judaism and the Sect of the Dead Sea Scrolls," in The Early Enoch Literature, ed. G. Boccaccini and J.J. Collins (Leiden: Brill, 2007), pp. 283-299; G. Boccaccini, "Enochians, Urban Essenes, Qumranites: Tree Social Groups, One Intellectual Movement," ibidem, pp. 301-327; D.R. Jackson, Enochic Judaism: Three Defining Paradigm Exemplars (London: T&T Clark International, 2004); P. Sacchi, Regola della Comunità (Brescia: Paideia, 2006); and E. Regev, Sectarianism in Qumran: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2007)
^ G. Boccaccini (ed.), Enoch and Qumran Origins: New Light on a Forgotten Connection (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), with articles by William Adler, Matthias Albani, Jeff S. Anderson, Andreas Bedenbender, Stefan Beyerle, Gabriele Boccaccini, James H. Charlesworth, John J. Collins, Michael A. Daise, James R. Davila, Torleif Elgvin, Mark A. Elliott, Hanan Eshel, Peter W. Flint, Ida Fröhlich, Florentino García Martínez, Claudio Gianotto, Lester L. Grabbe, Ithamar Gruenwald, Charlotte Hempel, Matthias Henze, Martha Himmelfarb, Michael A. Knibb, Klaus Koch, Helge S. Kvanvig, Armin Lange, Erik W. Larson, Timothy H. Lim, Corrado Martone, George W.E. Nickelsburg, Pierluigi Piovanelli, Emile Puech, Annette Yoshiko Reed, John C. Reeves, Henry W. Morisada Rietz, Paolo Sacchi, Lawrence H. Schiffman, Loren T., Stuckenbruck, David W. Suter, Shemaryahu Talmon, Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar, Patrick Tiller, Liliana Rosso Ubigli, James C. VanderKam, Jacques van Ruiten, and Benjamin G. Wright. ISBN 0-8028-2878-7
^ G. Boccaccini and J.J. Collins (eds.), The Early Enoch Literature (Leiden: Brill 2007), with articles by Andreas Bedenbender, Gabriele Boccaccini, John J.Collins, Florentino García Martínez, Martha Himmelfarb, Michael A. Knibb, Klaus Koch, Helge S. Kvanvig, George W.E. Nickelsburg, Pierluigi Piovanelli, Paolo Sacchi, Loren T. Stuckenbruck, David W. Suter, Eibert Tigchelaar, Patrick Tiller, James Waddell, and Benjamin G. Wright. ISBN 978-90-04-16154-2
^ See G. Boccaccini, "Biblia e l'Enoch Seminar a Venezia: un felice connubio," in Il Messia tra memoria e attesa, ed. G. Boccaccini (Brescia: Morcelliana, 2005), pp. 7-11.
^ See G. Boccaccini (ed.), Il messia tra memoria e attesa (Brescia: Morcelliana, 2005), with articles by Gabriele Boccaccini, Sergio Caruso, John J. Collins, James H. Charlesworth, Paolo De Benedetti, Rinaldo Fabris, Florentino Garcia Martinez, Ithamas Gruenwald, Amos Luzzatto, Bruno Maggioni, Corrado Martone, Paolo Sacchi, Lawrence Schiffman, and James VanderKam.
^ G. Boccaccini, "The Enoch Seminar at Camaldoli: Re-Entering the Parables of Enoch in the Study of Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins," in Enoch and the Messiah Son of Man: Rivisiting the Parables of Enoch, ed. G. Boccaccini (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), pp. 3-16.
^ P. Sacchi, "The 2005 Camaldoli Seminar on the Parables of Enoch: Summary and Prospect for Furutre Research," in Enoch and the Messiah Son of Man: Revisiting the Parables of Enoch, ed. G. Boccaccini (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), pp. 499-512.
^ G. Boccaccini (ed.), Enoch and the Messiah Son of Man: Revisiting the Book of Parables (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), with articles by William Adler, Luca Arcari, Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Jonathan Ben-Dov, Gabriele Boccaccini, Daniel Boyarin, James H. Charlesworth, Sabino Chialà, John J. Collins, Jason von Ehrenkrook, Hanan Eshel, Ida Fröhlich, Charles A. Gieschen, Lester L. Grabbe, Darrell D. Hannah, Matthias Henze, Michael A. Knibb, Klaus Koch, Helge S. Kvanvig, George W.E. Nickelsburg, Gerbern Oegema, Daniel C. Olson, Andrei A. Orlov, Pierluigi Piovanelli, Paolo Sacchi, Loren T, Stuckenbruck, David W. Suter, Michael E. Stone, Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar, James C. VanderKam, Pieter M. Venter, Leslie W. Walck, Benjamin G. Wright, and Adela Yarbro Collins. ISBN 978-0-8028-0377-1
^ G. Boccaccini and G. Ibba (eds.), Enoch and the Mosaic Torah: The Evidence of Jubilees (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), with articles by Betsy Halpern Amaru, Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Jonathan Ben-Dov, John Bergsma, Lutz Doering, John Endres, Esther Eshel, William Gilders, Lester L. Grabbe, Matthias Henze, Martha Himmelfarb, David Jackson, Helge Kvanvig, Erik Larson, Hindy Najman, Andrei A. Orlov, Annette Yoshiko Reed, Eyal Regev, Jacques van Ruiten, Lawrence H. Schiffman, James Scott, Michael Segal, Aharon Shemesh, Loren T. Stuckenbruck, David Suter, James C. VanderKam, and Benjamin Wright.
^ See P. Bertalotto and T. Hanneken (eds.), "Short Papers on Enoch and Jubilees presented at the Fourth Enoch Seminar," Henoch 31.1 (2009), with articles by Christoph Berner, Siam Bhayro, Gianantonio Borgonvo, Daniel K. Falk, William Loader, Bilhah Nitzan, Stephane Saulnier, Daniel Thomas, and Cristiana Tretti, Andreas Bedenbender, Calum Carmichael, Karoly Dobos, Henryk Drwanel, Maxine Grossman, Jamal Hopkins, Giovanni Ibba, Dorothy Peteres, and Stephen Pfann
^ Andrei A. Orlov, G. Boccaccini and J. Zurawski (eds.), New Perspectives on 2 Enoch: No Longer Slavonic Only (Leiden: Brill, 2012)