99778811440055111133446655__66__IInnddeexx..iinndddd 118822 1100//66//22000099 1100::3300::4488 AAMM The Apocalypse 99778811440055111133446655__11__pprreettoocc..iinndddd ii 1100//77//22000099 44::1166::1100 PPMM BLACKWELL BRIEF HISTORIES OF RELIGION SERIES This series offers brief, accessible, and lively accounts of key topics within theology and religion. Each volume presents both aca- demic and general readers with a selected history of topics which have had a profound effect on religious and cultural life. The word “history” is, therefore, understood in its broadest cultural and social sense. The volumes are based on serious scholarship but they are written engagingly and in terms readily understood by general readers. Other topics in the series; Published Heaven Alister E. McGrath Heresy G. R. Evans Islam Tamara Sonn Death Douglas J. Davies Saints Lawrence S. Cunningham Christianity Carter Lindberg Dante Peter S. Hawkins Spirituality Philip Sheldrake Cults and New Religions Douglas E. Cowan and David G. Bromley Love Carter Lindberg Christian Mission Dana L. Robert Christian Ethics Michael Banner Jesus W. Barnes Tatum Shinto John Breen and Mark Teeuwen Paul Robert Paul Seesengood Islam 2nd Edition Tamara Sonn Apocalypse Martha Himmelfarb Forthcoming The Reformation Kenneth Appold Monasticism Dennis D. Martin Sufism Nile Green 99778811440055111133446655__11__pprreettoocc..iinndddd iiii 1100//77//22000099 44::1166::1100 PPMM The Apocalypse A Brief History Martha Himmelfarb A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication 99778811440055111133446655__11__pprreettoocc..iinndddd iiiiii 1100//77//22000099 44::1166::1100 PPMM This edition first published 2010 © 2010 Martha Himmelfarb Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007. Blackwell’s publishing program has been merged with Wiley’s global Scient ific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for informa- tion about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. The right of Martha Himmelfarb to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechan- ical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Himmelfarb, Martha, 1952– The apocalypse : a brief history / Martha Himmelfarb. P. cm. – (Blackwell brief histories of religion series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4051-1346-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-1-4051-1347-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Apocalyptic literature–History and criticism. I. Title. BL501.H55 2010 220¢.046–dc22 2009030164 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Set in 10/12.5pt Meridien by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed in Singapore 01 2010 99778811440055111133446655__11__pprreettoocc..iinndddd iivv 1100//77//22000099 44::1166::1111 PPMM For Steve, Asher, Margaret and Ben-Aviv, Ruth, and Abigail blessing doubled and redoubled 99778811440055111133446655__11__pprreettoocc..iinndddd vv 1100//77//22000099 44::1166::1111 PPMM 99778811440055111133446655__11__pprreettoocc..iinndddd vvii 1100//77//22000099 44::1166::1111 PPMM Contents Acknowledgments viii Chronology ix 1 Revelation in the Age of the Torah 1 2 The Book of the Watchers and Ascent to Heaven 15 3 The Book of Daniel and the Kingdom of the Holy Ones 31 4 The Heavenly Messiah 49 5 The Heavenly Temple, the Fate of Souls after Death, and Cosmology 75 6 Tours of Paradise and Hell and the Hekhalot Texts 97 7 Eschatology in the Byzantine Empire 117 8 Apocalyptic Movements in the Modern Era 137 Further Reading 161 Index 167 99778811440055111133446655__22__ttoocc..iinndddd vviiii 1100//77//22000099 55::1166::4466 PPMM Acknowledgments Quotations of biblical books and 4 Ezra, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Revised Standard Version Translation, Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 (2nd edition, 1971) by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Quotations of all portions of 1 Enoch are taken from George W. E. Nickelsburg and James C. VanderKam, 1 Enoch: A New Translation (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004). © 2004 by Augsburg Fortress. Reprinted with permission from the publisher. Quotations of 2 Enoch, the Apocalypse of Abraham, the Apo- calypse of Zephaniah (the Anonymous Apocalypse), and the Ascen- sion of Isaiah are taken from H. F. D Sparks, ed., The Apocryphal Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984). The quotation of the Apocalypse of Peter is taken from Wilhelm Schneemelcher, ed., New Testament Apocrypha, Revised Edition of the Collection Initiated by Edgar Hennecke, vol. 2, trans. R. McL. Wilson (Cambridge: James C. Clarke; Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1992). Citations of the hekhalot texts refer to Peter Schäfer with Margarete Schlüter and Hans Georg von Mutius, Synopse zur Hekhalot-Literatur (Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1981). The texts in this source are in Hebrew; translations are my own. 99778811440055111133446655__33__ppoossttttoocc..iinndddd vviiiiii 1100//88//22000099 22::5511::1166 PPMM