The Humbling of the Arrogant and the “Wild Man” and “Tree Stump” Traditions in the Book of Giants and Daniel 4 .

Abstract

There is no question that the Qumran Book of Giants, with its focus on the violence perpetrated by the progeny of the watchers and the elevated role of the patriarch Enoch in the revelation of divine judgment, belongs to the early Enochic tradition. There is, in fact, increasing agreement among scholars that the work depends upon the Book of Watchers as a main source.1 One can point to significant thematic and ideological links between Giants and other early Enochic writings, such as the Book of Dreams and the Apocalypse of Weeks.2 Moreover, if J. T. Milik’s suggestion that 4Q203 and 4Q204 belong to the same manuscript is correct, then Giants was copied together with parts of the Watchers, Dreams, and the Epistle as early as the late first century BCE.3 At the same time, intriguing points of contact between the Book of Giants and a diverse array of ancient sources, including, for example, the Epic of Gilgamesh and Pseudo-Eupolemus, encourage us to broaden the scope and consider this composition within its wider literary and historical settings.