276 Book Reviews Matthew Goff, Loren T. Stuckenbruck, and Enrico Morano (eds.) Ancient Tales of Giants from Qumran and Turfan: Contexts, Traditions, and Influences. WUNT 360. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016. Cloth. Pp. xii + 257. €119. ISBN 9783161545313. This volume features the proceedings from a June 2014 conference held in Munich and devoted to the giants of the Enochic tradition. The main focus here is the Qumran Book of Giants (five papers), but these essays are preceded by general discussions of giant traditions in ancient Judaism (three papers) and followed by extensive attention to the later reformulation of these traditions in Manichaeism (five papers). Part One begins with Brian R. Doak’s “The Giant in a Thousand Years: Tracing Narratives of Gigantism in the Hebrew Bible and Beyond.” Doak articulates the various ways that giants function in the biblical materials and then demonstrates how the giants in the Enochic tradition draw on these biblical trends. Next, Samantha Newington, in “Greek Titans and Biblical Titans,” encourages scholars interested in possible influence from Greek traditions on the biblical and Enochic giants to look past Hesiod and pay more attention to the Orphic literature, where the Titans serve a religious function, being connected with themes of violence, punishment and original sin, as are the Enochic giants. The section concludes with Michael Tuval’s “ ‘Συναγωγή γιγάντωη’ (Prov 21:16): The Giants in the Jewish Literature in Greek,” a round-up of all the references to giants in Greek literature of Jewish origin, from the LXX to Josephus. Tuval stresses the wide variety to be found in this material. Part Two opens with Joseph L. Angel’s “The Humbling of the Arrogant and the ‘Wild Man’ and ‘Tree Stump’ Traditions in the Book of Giants and Daniel 4.” Angel shows that elements and themes found in the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness (Daniel 4) have significant parallels in 4Q530 2 ii (from Giants). Angel’s study shows that the interplay of Danielic and Enochic traditions is wider than scholars have supposed. Amanda M. Davis Bledsoe’s “Throne Theophanies, Dream Visions, and Righteous(?) Seers: Daniel, the Book of Giants, and 1 Enoch Reconsidered” takes up the familiar topic of the similarity of the throne theophanies in these three works, focusing on the function of the theophany in each and arguing that lines of literary dependence between the three works are uncertain. Next, Ida Fröhlich’s “Giants and Demons” argues that the demonology in the Enochic literature (including Giants) is heavily indebted to Mesopotamian demonology as found in cuneiform sources. Matthew Goff, in “The Sons of the Watchers in the Book of Watchers and the Qumran Book of Giants: Contexts and Prospects,” makes use of Manichaean sources to find a © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/15685179-12341475 Book Reviews 277 theme of remorse and repentance in the book, suggesting that the giants in the Book of Giants may be more morally complex than the giants elsewhere in biblical and Enochic literature. Next, Loren Stuckenbruck, in “The Book of Giants among the Dead Sea Scrolls: Considerations of Method and a New Proposal on the Reconstruction of 4Q530,” fine tunes and adjusts some of the text-critical work he has done elsewhere, all the while emphasizing the importance of letting the physical textual evidence guide our reconstructions. Part Three features essays devoted to the reception and transformation of Enochic giant traditions in Manichaean sources. Gábor Kósa, in “The Book of Giants Tradition in the Chinese Manichaica,” discusses Chinese versions of Manichaean visual and written texts, showing how elements known from the oldest Aramaic versions of Giants sometimes survive intact in this late material. Of particular interest is a medieval silk Chinese painting depicting the Manichaean cosmos, complete with Enochic figures such as the giants. Many full color plates are included. Next, Enrico Morano publishes and translates for the first time some Turfan fragments of Giants (“Some New Sogdian Fragments Related to Mani’s Book of Giants and the Problem of the Influence of Jewish Enochic Literature”). The new material, however, is so fragmentary that little new information about the book can be gleaned from it. John C. Reeves, in his “Jacob of Edessa and the Manichaean Book of Giants?” spotlights a littleknown scholian by the Syrian churchman on Gen 6:1–4, which suggests that he was not only familiar with the Enochic Book of Giants in some form but also was aware of (mis)use of the book by what were most likely Manichaean “heretics.” The volume ends with an essay by Jens Wilkens arguing that an account of the giant Mahaway’s first visit to Enoch, alluded to in the Aramaic version of Giants (4Q530 7 ii), may in fact be narrated in Mainz 317, a fragmentary Uyghur text of Mani’s Book of Giants (“Remarks on the Manichaean Book of Giants: Once Again on Mahaway’s Mission to Enoch”). The articles are generally good. Doak’s article is erudite and informative, Stuckenbruck’s article is indispensable for anyone doing text-critical work with the relevant Aramaic fragments, and several others present plausible arguments for hitherto unconsidered theses (Newington, Angel, Reeves, Wilkens). A few articles disappoint. Tuval’s paper is a handy collection of texts but never explains what is to be gained in focusing on traditions found in one language only. Fröhlich’s paper lacks focus, with no introduction or conclusion. The reviewer was struck by numerous anachronistic references to Enoch as a “Jewish sage” (95–96) in Bledsoe’s otherwise commendable paper. Goff’s suggestion that Giants may have countenanced genuine repentance by and possibly forgiveness for some of the giants (124–27) runs into the insuperable objection Dead Sea Discoveries 25 (2018) 255–287 278 Book Reviews that this would have made the book unusable and even repugnant to Mani, who interpreted the giants as demons and would have viewed such conversion as “complete nonsense” (so correctly Kósa, 175). It may also be noted that the photographic plates on page 140 are so dark as to be virtually useless. Despite such occasional shortcomings, students of the Book of Giants will welcome this addition to the scholarly literature devoted to the book. It is unfortunate that the lack of any complete version of Giants in any language leaves open even basic questions about narrative and plot, with the result that such studies as we find in this volume will inevitably raise more questions than they can answer. Daniel C. Olson Live Oak Academy, Santa Clara, California, USA Dead Sea Discoveries 25 (2018) 255–287