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DANIEL C. OLSON in consultation with MELKESEDEK WORKENEH, Enoch: A New Translation: The Ethiopic Book of Enoch, or 1 Enoch, Translated with Annotations and Cross-References (North Richland Hills, TX: BIBAL, 2004). Pp. xii + 320. Paper $29.95.
In 2004, two new English translations of Enoch were published. Fortress Press issued George W. E. Nickelsburg and James C. VanderKam's 1 Enoch: A New Translation, which reproduces in a single paperback volume the translation the authors created for the Hermeneia commentary series. Olson's book offers yet another fresh translation of 1 Enoch, which also draws on the evidence of the Aramaic fragments from Qumran as well as all available Greek and Ethiopian manuscripts. For his translation, O. has three aims: "(1) a translation of Enoch into fluent English; (2) full cross-references between Enoch and the Bible and within Enoch itself; and (3) a running commentary accessible to the general reader rather than aimed solely at scholars" (p. 19).
In the introduction, O. surveys the importance of 1 Enoch with a stress on its connections with the Hebrew Bible and the NT. When dealing with its relationship with the Hebrew Bible, O. stresses the possibility that some Enochic traditions may ultimately be as ancient as biblical traditions, including those found in Genesis itself. O. offers a maximalist reading of 1 Enoch's influence on the NT and early Christianity, suggesting, for instance, that Enochic demonology is "taken for granted" in the NT (p. 1). By contrast, he offers a minimalist...