Abstract With his book “The Books of Enoch,” Józef T. Milik paved the way for a perception of 1 Enoch as a collection of originally independent compositions, which were only compiled later. This title was based on his theory of an Enochic Pentateuch, which was hardly adopted in the further course of research. Nevertheless, this designation did not arise in a vacuous space and has led to controversies that continue to this day. Therefore, Milik’s thesis of an Enochic Pentateuch will be contextualized in terms of research history and examined in terms of its historical impact. It will become obvious that the question of an Enochic Pentateuch goes beyond the mere fact that the work is divided into five parts and is ultimately inadequate from a formal perspective for the Ethiopic Book of Enoch.
Abstract This article will explore the manner and method by which J.T. Milik created Enoch manuscripts from discrete fragments, identifying and contextualizing his editorial decisions made in the earliest decades of research on the Dead Sea Scrolls. I will bring together archival material from Milik’s personal archives (accessed at the Bibliothèque du Saulchoir in Paris), data from early PAM photographs, and Milik’s comments in his own published work to draw a portrait of Milik’s commitments and tendencies as an editor of texts. I will also contextualize Milik’s decisions against the backdrop of new advances in scholarship on the provenance of the Scrolls, the paleography of texts found at Qumran, and the literary and transmission history of Enoch works. Finally, I will offer reflections on how to appreciate and develop Milik’s prodigious accomplishments within the framework of material philology.
Abstract The essay first surveys some charges made by reviewers against Milik’s procedures and conclusions as found in his The Books of Enoch before documenting the enduring influence of his book in four areas: the eleven manuscripts of Aramaic Enoch that he identified; the fragments that he assigned to each of these manuscripts; the paleographic dates that he attributed to the scribal hands of the eleven manuscript; and his readings of the fragmentary texts.
