Angels at the Dead Sea

My recent posts concerned angels, and specifically when and why they acquired names and individual identities. Angels are fully developed characters in 1 Enoch, probably from the third century BC, and that text was well known in the community that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. That group had a special interest in angels and their doings, and their role in cosmic warfare.

Time and again, we find linkages between the Dead Sea sect, the Essenes, and the world of 1 Enoch. One economical explanation is that the Essenes produced the Enochic literature, and the Dead Sea community then spun off from that mainstream. (See especially the work of Gabriele Boccaccini).

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