Heralds of that Good Realm: Syro-Mesopotamian Gnosis and Jewish Traditions.

• Author: VanderKam, James C.
• Position: Review

By JOHN C. REEVES. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, vol. 41. Leiden: E. J. BRILL, 1996. Pp. xii + 251. HF1 145, $93.75.

According to Reeves, his monograph "offers a systematic examination, from a comparative perspective, of the extant Manichaean (as well as non-Manichaean) rosters of authentic predecessors who purportedly proclaimed the Religion of Light prior to the advent of Mani, 'seal of the prophets', and examines the implications of this particular doctrine for the origins of Manichaeism" (p. ix). He divides his presentation into two principal sections. In the first, "From Forefathers to Heralds: The Transformation of Biblical and Primeval History," are two chapters. One is a survey of the texts that speak about Mani's predecessors and an evaluation of their credentials (revelation through ascent or angelophany, instruction of a chosen community, preparation of a written testimony). The second is an overview of the non-Manichean evidence for works purportedly authored by the five primeval biblical patriarchs (see below) who, according to the Cologne Mani Codex (CMC), received revelations or apocalypses. After dealing with the surprising use of characters from the Hebrew Bible in Manichean literature, Reeves suggests how Jewish pseudepigraphic material from the Second Temple period could have reached Mani. The Jewish-Christian Elchasaites, whose roots go back to the first century C.E. and among whom Mani was raised, seem a likely group of transmitters; the Elchasaites in turn may have had historical connections with Essenes who survived the destruction of 70 C.E.

The second and largest part of the book, "The CMC Apocalypse Fragments and Jewish Pseudepigrapha," consists of a thorough examination of the five passages which describe the revelations given to Adam, Sethel, Enosh, Shem, and Enoch. In the chapters devoted to each, Reeves presents the Greek text of the section, translates it, and then gives detailed notes (with many learned footnotes) on the words and phrases and points to parallels to the CMC material. For each apocalypse he pursues parallels in other texts but ranges far beyond these confines. While all of these apocalyptic paragraphs have a gnostic flavor, he finds that the descriptions of the apocalypses of Adam, Sethel, and Enoch draw extensively on earlier Jewish pseudepigraphic texts, with only minor modifications for their new Manichean contexts. The paragraphs about Enosh and Shem, who lacked the traditional...