2 Baruch – 4 Ezra: 1st Century Jewish Apocalypticism

Gazzada (Milan), 26 – 1 July 2011
Villa Cagnola

Chair: Matthias Henze, Rice University, USA

Co-Chair: Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan, USA

The Sixth Enoch Seminar was organized by the Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies and the University of Michigan (Department of Near Eastern Studies), with the sponsorship of the Alessandro Nangeroni International Endowment.
The Seminar focused on the Jewish Apocalypses of the 1st century, with particular reference to 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra. 12 papers circulated in advance and were discussed at the conference, at the introduction of 12 respondents.
A session was held at the Ambrosiana Library where the only extant manuscript of 2 Baruch is preserved. Among the newcomers: Giovanni Bazzana, Randall D. Chestnutt, Lorenzo DiTommaso, Karina M. Hogan, Liv Ingeborg Lied, Paul Mandel, Carol A. Newsom, Michael Satlow.

Public session at the Catholic University of Milan: End of Times: Fear or Hope

James H. Charlesworth – From Early Judaism to Today: Does the Concept of the End Elicit Fear or Hope?
Lawrence H. Schiffman – Catastrophe or Utopia: the End of Days in Rabbinic Literature

Session 1: 2Baruch/4Ezra and Apocalyptic Literature

Devorah Dimant – Qumran and Its Sequel: Jewish Apocalypses Composed in Hebrew
Gabriele Boccaccini – Who’s Afraid of Enochic Judaism? A Reading of 4 Ezra in Light of 1 Enoch and Paul

Session 2: 2Baruch/4Ezra and Apocalyptic Literature

John J. Collins – Enoch and Ezra
Pierluigi Piovanelli – Why Ezra and not Enoch? A Response to John J. Collins
Hindy Najman – Con-figuring 4Ezra

Session 3: A Close Reading of 2Baruch/4Ezra

Lutz Doering – The Letter of Baruch and its Role in 2 Baruch
Ezra’s Vision of the Lady: Form and Function of a Turning Point

Session 4: 2Baruch/4Ezra and Early Christian Literature

George W.E. Nickelsburg – A New Testament Reader’s Guide to 2 Baruch or a 2 Baruch Reader’s Guide to the New Testament
Adela Yarbro Collins – The Uses of Apocalyptic Eschatology

Session 5: 2Baruch/4Ezra and Rabbinic Literature

Daniel Boyarin – Judaism, the Director‘s Cut: Enoch, Ezra, and the Jewishness of ‘High Christology’
Steven D. Fraade – 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch with the (Dis-) Advantage of Rabbinic Hindsight

Session 6: The Nachleben of 2Baruch/4Ezra

Liv Ingeborg Lied – Nachleben and Textual Identity: Variants and Variance in the Reception History of 2 Baruch
Karina Martin Hogan – The Preservation of 4 Ezra in the Vulgate: Thanks to Ambrose, not Jerome

Special Session: Short Papers

Rivka Nir – What did the Christians find in the Letter of Baruch that attracted them?
Bilhah Nitzan – Apocalyptic Ideas in Fourth Ezra in Comparison with the Dead Sea Scrolls
Gerbern S. Oegema – 2 Baruch, the Messiah, and the Bar Kochba Revolt
Eugen Pentiuc – The Nature of the Resurrected Bodies in 2 Baruch and New Testament
Benjamin E. Reynolds – The Otherworldly Mediators in 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch
Carlos Segovia – Which Theologies in Conflict?
Balazs Tamási – Baruch as a Prophet in 2 Baruch
Alexander Toepel – On a possible baptismal background of 4 Ezra 13:3-6
Mark Whitters – Ezra according to Second Baruch
Megan Williams – Parcere subiectis: Rome’s Universal Empire and Jewish Apocalyptic Theodicy in Romans, Revelation, and 4 Ezra
The Fate of Jerusalem in 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra: From Earth to Heaven and Back?
Daniel K. Falk – Penitence and Supplication in 4 Ezra
Jason M. Zurawski – The Two Worlds and Adam’s Sin: The Problem of 4 Ezra 7:10-14
Stephen Pfann – The Use of Cryptographic and Esoteric Scripts In Second Temple Judaism and the Surrounding Cultures
James H. Charlesworth – 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch Archaeology and Elusive Answers to Our Perennial Questions
Lorenzo DiTommaso – Who Is the ‘I’ of 4 Ezra?
Paul Mandel – Apocalypse and Scribe: Enoch, Baruch and Ezra and the Second-Temple „scribal‟ Tradition
Veronika Bachmann – Good Times, Bad Times and Their Imperatives – A Comparison Between 4 Ezra and the Book of the Watchers
Andreas Bedenbender – The Woman Who Anoints Jesus for his Burial (Mark 14) and the Woman Who Laments her Dead Son (4 Ezra 9–10) – Twice the Same Person?
Laura Bizzarro – The “meaning of history” in the 5th vision of the Book of 4Ezra
Calum Carmichael – Days of Creation in 2 Esdras 6:38-54 and John 1-5
Kindalee Pfremmer De Long – “Ask a Woman”: The Literary Motif of Childbearing in 4 Ezra
J. Harold Ellens – 4 Ezra: Apocalyptic as Delusion
Frances Flannery – Birthing Cities and Birthing Bodies
Eschatological Rewards for the Righteous in Second Baruch
William Loader – Sexual Issues in 2 Baruch
Jared Ludlow – Death and the Afterlife in 2 Baruch
Eric F. Mason – 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra, and the Epistle to the Hebrews: Three Approaches to Interpretation of Ps 104:4
  • Jeff S. Anderson, Wayland Baptist University, USA
  • Daniel Assefa, Capuchin Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Ethiopia
  • Veronika Bachmann, University of Zurich, Switzerland
  • Kelley Coblentz Bautch, St. Edward’s University, USA
  • Giovanni Bazzana, Harvard University, USA
  • Andreas Bedenbender, Dortmund,
  • Laura Bizzarro, Universidad Catolica, Argentina
  • Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan, USA
  • Christfried Böttrich, Greifswald University, Germany
  • Daniel Boyarin, University of California at Berkeley, USA
  • Silviu Bunta, University of Dayton, USA
  • Calum M. Carmichael, Cornell University, USA
  • James H. Charlesworth, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA
  • Esther G. Chazon, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
  • Randall D. Chesnutt, Pepperdine University, USA
  • John J. Collins, Yale University, USA
  • Adela Yarbro Collins, Yale University, USA
  • Marianne Dacy, University of Sydney, Australia
  • James R. Davila, St. Andrews University, Scotland
  • Kindalee Pfremmer De Long, Pepperdine University, USA
  • Marcello Del Verme, University of Naples, Italy
  • Devorah Dimant, University of Haifa, Israel
  • Lorenzo DiTommaso, Concordia University Montreal, Canada
  • Lutz Doering, Durham University, England
  • Henryk Drawnel, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland
  • J. Harold Ellens, University of Michigan, USA
  • Daniel K. Falk, University of Oregon, USA
  • Frances Flannery, James Madison University, USA
  • Steven D. Fraade, Yale University, USA
  • Sandra Gambetti, College of Staten Island – CUNY, USA
  • Gabriella Gelardini, University of Basel, Switzerland
  • Lester L. Grabbe, University of Hull, England
  • Daniel M. Gurtner, Bethel Seminary, USA
  • Joost L. Hagen, Leiden University, Netherlands
  • Todd Hanneken, St. Mary’s University, USA
  • Matthias Henze, Rice University, USA
  • Karina M. Hogan, Fordham University, USA
  • David R. Jackson, University of Sydney, Australia
  • Robert A. Kraft, University of Pennsylvania, USA
  • Helge S. Kvanvig, University of Oslo, Norway
  • John R. Levison, Seattle Pacific University, USA
  • Liv Ingeborg Lied, University of Oslo, Norway
  • William Loader, Murdoch University, Australia
  • Basil Lourié, St Petersburg,
  • Jared Ludlow, Brigham Young University, USA
  • Paul Mandel, Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, Israel
  • Eric F. Mason, Judson University, USA
  • Hindy Najman, University of Toronto, Canada
  • Carol A. Newsom, Emory University,
  • George W.E. Nickelsburg, emeritus, University of Iowa, USA
  • Rivka Nir, Open University of Israel, Israel
  • Bilhah Nitzan, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
  • Juan C. Ossandón, Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, Italy
  • Laura C. Paladino, Italy
  • Eugen Pentiuc, Holy Cross, USA
  • Mauro Perani, University of Bologna, Italy
  • Anders Klostergaard Petersen, University of Aarhus, Denmark
  • Pierluigi Piovanelli, University of Ottawa, Canada
  • Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa, Canada
  • Benjamin E. Reynolds, Tyndale University College, Canada
  • Martin Rösel, Universität Rostock, Germany
  • Jacques van Ruiten, University of Groningen, Netherlands
  • Michael Satlow, Brown University, USA
  • Lawrence H. Schiffman, New York University, USA
  • Shayna Sheinfeld, McGill University, Canada
  • Carla Sulzbach, McGill University, Canada
  • David W. Suter, St Martin’s University, USA
  • Balazs Tamási, Pazmany Peter Catholic University, Hungary
  • Johannes Tromp, Leiden University, Netherlands
  • Mark Whitters, Eastern Michigan University, USA
  • Megan Williams, University of Michigan, USA
  • Benjamin G. Wright, Lehigh University, USA
  • Azzan Yadin, Rutgers University, USA
  • Ziony Zevit, American Jewish University, USA