From a Movement of Dissent to a Distinct Form of JudaismIn Dream Visions the Mosaic Torah simply offers the historical frame
work that supports the Enochic principles of degeneration. Israel is affected
by evil as much as anyone else. There is no alternative halakah. There is only
the repeated message that being righteous, or doing any good, is a difficult if
not impossible task because of the corruption of the universe. Evil is a sort
of genetic disease that spreads generation after generation, and there is no
medicine. The righteousness of the chosen people may make them better off
than the rest of humankind (they are "sheep" instead of "camels" or "ele
phants"), but it does not absolutely spare them from evil (they have lost their
original nature of "bulls" and are ruled by demonic forces).
Daniel does not present his "wisdom" as a new revelation but as a post-
Sinaitic "interpretation." This interpretation includes even the full under
standing of the true meaning of ancient Scriptures (in Dan 9 the seer under
stands Jeremiah in light of Lev 26). Daniel is in no way the recipient of an oral
or written tradition that parallels Scripture. Daniel is a post-Sinaitic prophet,
who lived long after Moses and the Torah. Its wisdom challenges neither the
legitimacy of the Zadokite priesthood nor the centrality of the Torah. It nei
ther replaces nor downplays the Torah; it interprets the Torah. Some key prin
ciples of Enochic Judaism (degeneration of history, demonic forces, end of
times, etc.) are introduced as if they were inherent to Scripture.
4. A Sectarian-Born Movement, Eager to Become Normative
While Dream Visions and Daniel provide evidence of a merging of Enochic
and Mosaic traditions, neither offers a real synthesis in which both Enoch
and Moses maintain their autonomy and legitimacy. In the name of Moses
only, Daniel reaffirmed the validity of the Mosaic halakah and defended the
Zadokite priesthood but could only offer a perspective of suffering and mar
tyrdom in this world. In the name of Enoch only, Dream Visions reiterated
the criticism toward the Zadokite priesthood and its skepticism on the effec
tiveness of the Mosaic halakah but offered no alternative halakah if not the
hope for God's eschatological intervention.
Not everybody was persuaded. In the aftermath of the Maccabean re
volt a group of priests (influenced or inspired by Enochic principles) saw in
the demise of the House of Zadok not only the confirmation of their anti-
Zadokite attitudes but for the first time the concrete possibility of building a
positive alternative in this world. In their understanding, the Maccabean ex
perience proved that the world was as evil as the earlier Enochic tradition