Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 2069 and the Compositional History of 1 Enoch (Essay‪)‬

Among the ancient Greek papyri preserved in the Sackler Library at Oxford University is a small cluster of fragments that has not received due attention for its bearing on the compositional history of I Enoch. Recovered from an Oxyrhynchus rubbish dump and published by Arthur S. Hunt in 1927, the five fragments, all inscribed recto and verso, were designated P.Oxy. 2069 and dated to the late fourth century C.E. (1) Based on the opening of heaven and the descent of an angel or other emissary envisioned in frg. 1, the largest of the five, Hunt labeled the manuscript an "apocalyptic fragment" but ventured no further identification. In support of this general characterization he cited apparent references to the day of judgment and seventh heaven in frg. 3r and two allusions in frg. 3v to the Red Sea--a scene of destruction perhaps intended as a type of the judgment. More than four decades elapsed before a direct connection between the "apocalyptic fragment" and any known apocalyptic work was perceived. As late as 1970 the two reference works by Albert-Marie Denis on Jewish pseudepigrapha extant in Greek could do no better than classify P.Oxy. 2069 among "fragmenta anonyma" (2) or "fragments erratiques" under the general heading "les fragments grecs de pseudepigraphes anonyms." (3) Finally, in 1971 Jozef T. Milik recognized in these fragments the Greek counterpart of lines known in Ethiopic from 1 Enoch 77-78 and 85-87 and in Aramaic from [4QEnastr.sup.c] (4Q210) and [4QEn.sup.f] (4Q207). (4) Having thus identified the text, Milik could draw upon the Ethiopic and Aramaic parallels as well as related materials in these languages and in Greek to fill in the lacunae. Without recounting the details of his reconstruction and copious comparison with related texts, we may summarize his three most significant conclusions as follows: