Literary genre of eschatological works about the mysteries of a transcendent world where secret knowledge is revealed through supernatural figures. These mysteries include insights into the nature of God, the celestial beings, and the end of days. Although the term "apocalypse" derives from the Greek, meaning "revelation" or "disclosure" and is first used in Christian writings (Apocalypse of John or Book of Revelation), its forms are well attested in Jewish literature from the third century BCE. These include the biblical Book of Daniel and other Second Temple period works such as
Ii Esdras, II Baruch
, and some sections of
I Enoch (second cent. BCE), known in full only in Ge'ez (Ethiopic) but mentioned in fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls
. Apocalypticism is Steeped in the Hope of a Radically New Social Order, Reflective of the Historic Realities During Which These Works Were Written. the Book of Daniel and Sections of I Enoch Were Consciously Responding to Jewish Persecutions At the Hands of the Syrian Ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes, Which Led to the Hasmonean Revolt of 168. Bce Just As II Esdras and II Baruch Appeared in the Aftermath of the War Against Rome and the Destruction of Jerusalem.all Jewish Apocalypses Are Pseudonymous; I.E., They Do Not Give the Names of Their Real Authors But Claim to Report the Revelations of Ancient Prophetic Personalities, Such As enoch (Gen. 5:24), Abraham, or MOSES
, and so are classified as part of the Pseudepigrapha ("falsely ascribed writings"; see
apocrypha and pseudepigrapha). Since the voice of biblical prophecy had fallen silent and would resume only at the end of days, the apocalyptics believed they were "the last generation" between this world (or, "the rule of wickedness") and the next, when righteousness would reign. The "end of days" is conceived as a cosmic process accompanied by upheavals in nature, when earthly events will be a mere echo of the final war between the forces of good and evil, when "the heavenly host will give forth in great voice, the foundations of the world will be shaken, and a war of the mighty ones of the heavens will spread throughout the world" (Dead Sea Scrolls, Thanksgiving Song). The vision of Israel's redemption, therefore, in contrast with the biblical prophets, is metahistorical, and the
messiah often portrayed as a superhuman being. The inevitability of "the end" leaves little time for normal historical development and so disallows the possibility of changing the course of history through repentance. The ultimate victory of good over evil finds full expression only in the culmination of the process and not at any stage along the way, often manifesting a fatalistic mood.
Although the origins of Jewish apocalypse can be found in biblical prophecy, the two are distinctly different in form and content. Whereas the prophets spoke out with the conviction of Divine inspiration when they interpreted the significant events of their day and aimed at an immediate and active response, the apocalyptics relied upon the authority of venerated biblical personalities for their visions of the past or of the ultimate future. Unlike the prophets, the apocalyptics challenged contemporary reality with the hope of a sudden, miraculous Divine intervention which was to redeem and restore Israel. However, the apocalyptic concepts of the Day of the Lord and a new creation, together with allegorical visions interpreted by an angel, are clearly rooted in the prophetic tradition (Zech. 9-14; Isa. 65:17; Amos 5:18).
The apocalypses were generally learned works composed by the inner circles of the wise, but at least some, e.g., the Book of Daniel, were intended for a wider audience though they did not arise as folk literature. Some scholars argue that apocalypticism bears a closer resemblance to the so-called WISDOM LITERATURE in Scripture than to the prophets, even though the supernatural wisdom of the apocalypses, dependent upon divine revelation, is clearly not the empirical wisdom of the books of PROVERBS, JOB, and ECCLESIASTES.
Jewish apocalypticism of the pre-talmudic period is characterized by a number of themes which distinguish it from other literary genres: (1) the periodization of history, an idea which defines the world's chronology in divinely set eras or epochs at the consummation of which the messianic era is expected to dawn upon those selected for redemption and Israel will witness a political restoration (cf., the Apocalypse of Abraham and the Similitudes of Enoch, both of the first century CE); (2) angelology, which explores the several important positions that ANGELS occupy as intermediaries between the heavenly and earthly realms, as guides in apocalyptic journeys and visions, as an active presence in the temptation of humankind to transgress Divine decrees, and in the celestial courtroom; (3) secret knowledge, or the kind of ultimate knowledge that is not accessible through Scriptural prophecy nor inspired wisdom; (4) other-worldly journeys and heavenly ascents, including a vision of the throne of God and revelations about a personal AFTERLIFE and ultimate judgment (cf. the Testament of Levi and III Baruch); (5) a DUALISM which, in contrast to the monistic biblical view of morality defining evil as a mortal choice, posits SATAN as a metaphysical entity who leads a band of angels in rebellion against the supremacy of God and thus originates sin and wickedness.
These major features of apocalypticism having already been shaped in the intertestamental period before 100 CE, they were appropriated by talmudic and midrashic rabbis in an unsystematic and fragmentary fashion. Apocalyptic themes competed for attention amid a wide range of contrasting views on eschatological matters in rabbinic literature. The tannaim were wary, however, of the influence of Christian and Gnostic apocalyptic texts, and so warned the people: "These writings and the books of the heretics are not to be saved from a fire but are to be burnt wherever found, they and the Divine Names occurring in them" (Shab. 116a).
From the early decades of the seventh century through the tenth century in the Land of Israel and the Near East, apocalyptic literature became recognizable by its messianic speculations and literary themes. In addition to the classical subjects, medieval apocalypses are characterized by a preoccupation with the messianic significance of the upheavals of world empires and with the tribulations and final vindication of the people of Israel. Redemption, instead of being an abstract theory, is understood as an inevitable process that has already begun and, although not completely in Man's control, is divinely scheduled for a future, predictable time.
In subsequent centuries, the influence of such extremely popular works as Sefer Zerubbavel (Book of Zerubbabel) is evident in Midrashim, the poetry of Eleazar KALLIR, the philosophy of SAADIAH GAON and MERKABAH MYSTICISM. In the 16th century, particularly as a response to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal, messianic apocalypticism sprang up throughout the Mediterranean region. Its authors included, among others, Isaac ABRAVANEL (1437-1508), whose interpretation of the Book of Daniel led him to calculate the year 1503 as the beginning of the messianic age; the anonymous composer of Kaf ha-Ketoret (cf. 1500), which interprets the Psalms as battle hymns for the final apocalyptic wars; the treatises of a Jerusalem rabbi and kabbalist, Abraham ben Eliezer ha-Levi (1460-1528); and the work of Solomon Molcho (c. 1501-1532), which laid the foundations in the 17th century for the most significant messianic movement in Judaism since the birth of Christianity, Shabbateanism (see SHABBETAI TSEVI). The Book of Enoch is mentioned several times in the ZOHAR thus extending the importance of apocalypticism to an understanding of kabbalah and ḥasidism as well.
