Acknowledgements
My previous work with the Enochic literature has all been in 1 Enoch. The present study marks my first foray into 2 Enoch. It grew out of marginal notes I made almost 40 years ago in my brand new copy of The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Volume 1: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments.1 Throughout the process I have benefited greatly from consultations with Andrei Orlov, a scholar who needs no introduction to students of 2 Enoch. Although my friend Orlov does not by any means agree with all of the findings of this study, his generous help has been invaluable. On the Samaritan side, I must acknowledge a great debt to Iain Ruairidh Mac Mhanainn Bóid, a Samaritan specialist with considerable linguistic expertise. Dr. Bóid was helpful in directing my researches in Samaritanism, and he has saved me from innumerable errors. I wish to make it clear, however, that I do not share the opinions Bóid has expressed on a number of subjects, both in online postings and in his book, A Samaritan Plan of Religious History (currently unpublished but available via ResearchGate).
I wish to thank also Grant Macaskill, who kindly sent me a proof of his new book, The Entangled Enoch: 2 Enoch and the Cultures of Late Antiquity (SVTP 28; Leiden: Brill, 2024), which reached me just days before I submitted a corrected draft of this book. I have included a response to Macaskill’s study as an Appendix.
All translations in this book are my own unless otherwise indicated, and I am solely responsible for any errors found there.
Edited by James H. Charlesworth (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983).