《《The second book of Enoch》(以诺二书)》狱蛇

6、Geographical Provenance 以诺二书地

　　Since the pioneering work of R. H. Charles the hypothesis about the Alexandrian provenance of the apocalypse has dominated the landscape of scholarly discussion. Charles proposed that the apocalypse was written by a Hellenized Jew in Alexandria. The text appears to attest to some themes that were distinctive of the Alexandrian environment. One such cluster of motifs deals with the Adamic tradition that is salient in the Sl/a/v/onic apocalypse. Thus in 2 Enoch 30:13 the Lord tells Enoch that he created Adam out of the seven components and assigned to Adam a name from the four components: from East – (A), from West – (D), from North – (A), and from South – (M). The early testimony to this tradition about the anagram of Adam’s name can be found in the third book of Sibylline Oracles, a composition probably written in Egypt around 160–50 B.C.E. Another reference also comes from the Egyptian milieu and is found in the writings of the Hermetic author Zosimos of Panopolis who lived in Alexandria in the late third or early fourth century C.E. (Bttrich, 1995).

　　Some other Adamic motifs found in 2 Enoch, such as the tradition about Adam’s role as the governor of the earth, also seems to stem from Alexandrian milieu, exhibiting similarities to the developments found in Philo (Opif. 88; 148).

　　The description of phoenixes and chalkydras, the mythical creatures whom Enoch encounters during his celestial tour, might also point to Egypt. Already Charles was arguing about the Egyptian provenance of this imagery (Charles/Morfill, 1896). Van den Broek’s study of the phoenix traditions confirms Charles’ hypothesis, proposing that the symbolism found in the Sl/a/v/onic apocalypse stems from the Egyptian syncretism of Roman times (Van den Broek, 1972).