Eschatological Viticulture in 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and the Presbyters of Papias
[Article]
Stephen C. Carlson
Leiden
Brill
This study looks at three of the most prominent instances of eschatological viticulture in early Judaism and Christianity, namely 1 En. 10.19, 2 Bar. 29.5, and the presbyters of Papias in Irenaeus, Adv. haer. 5.33.3, paying particular attention to their tradition histories and intertextual relationships. All three of these texts imagine that the grape vine will be fantastically productive in God's renewed creation, but they develop this image in different ways based on different biblical texts. First Enoch uses the trope in conjunction with its use of the account of Noah's renewal of the earth after the Flood in Gen 9. Second Baruch uses it to complement an eschatological banquet feasting upon the primordial beasts of Leviathan and Behemoth, followed by a return to the fragrant fruits of paradise of Gen 2. Papias, by contrast, applies the trope to the Blessing of Isaac in Gen 27:28. This study looks at three of the most prominent instances of eschatological viticulture in early Judaism and Christianity, namely 1 En. 10.19, 2 Bar. 29.5, and the presbyters of Papias in Irenaeus, Adv. haer. 5.33.3, paying particular attention to their tradition histories and intertextual relationships. All three of these texts imagine that the grape vine will be fantastically productive in God's renewed creation, but they develop this image in different ways based on different biblical texts. First Enoch uses the trope in conjunction with its use of the account of Noah's renewal of the earth after the Flood in Gen 9. Second Baruch uses it to complement an eschatological banquet feasting upon the primordial beasts of Leviathan and Behemoth, followed by a return to the fragrant fruits of paradise of Gen 2. Papias, by contrast, applies the trope to the Blessing of Isaac in Gen 27:28.