Text-critical Edition and Translation of 1 Enoch

• Applicant: Professor Loren Stuckenbruck, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology ; Religious Studies and Jewish Studies
• Term: from 2015 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 270668285

The main objective of the project is to produce a text-critical edition and translation of 1 (or Ethiopic) Enoch, one of the most important Jewish writings composed over a period of 400 years during the Second Temple period. The last critical edition, published in 1906 by Charles, was based on readings taken from 26 manuscripts, 6 of which belonged to an earlier recension significant for establishing the text. The present project goes well beyond the edition of Charles in several ways: (1) It shall draw on at least 100 Geez manuscripts, of which at least 25 belong to the earlier recension. (2) It takes readings into account from one large Greek papyrus published from the Chester-Beatty collection. (3) It also negotiates the critical text by sustaining comparisons with fragments from 13 Aramaic manuscripts from the Dead Sea Scrolls. While (2) and (3) have been at least partially known to scholars since 1941 and 1976, respectively, the additional Geez materials (1), many of which have only been identified or recovered during the last several years, mark a real advance in the textual study of the book.The early phase of funding for the edition of 1 Enoch shall be devoted to (a) completion of computer entry of the available Geez manuscripts, (b) an initial synoptic study and analysis of their text-critical value, (c) the recovery of further selected and strategically significant Geez manuscripts, and (d) the identification and recording of formal citations of 1 Enoch found in Ethiopic literature from the 15th to the 17th centuries.The second year shall consist of establishing a draft of the critical text, while incorporating the results of work noted under (c) and (d) above. The text will present the earlier recension and the later, more standardizing recension in synopsis, so that differences between them and their importance for translation can be made clear. At the conclusion of the second year, a workshop shall be convened with a small group of specialists to focus on one of the most difficult parts of 1 Enoch, the Astronomical Book (chapters 72-82). The workshop shall provide a forum in which to test the value of the critical text produced, especially in light of the sometimes very different textual content of the Aramaic Dead Sea materials. In addition to this workshop, the project team will participate and offer lectures throughout the funding period at professional conferences to ensure wider scholarly interaction with colleagues in biblical, Jewish, and Ethiopian studies.The third year will involve a fine-tuning of the critical text, while taking into account any forthcoming results from emerging additional materials. During this time, the text will be prepared for publication, and alongside this both English and German translations of 1 Enoch shall be completed.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Ted Erho
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Reinhard Gregor Kratz