William R. G. Loader

Enoch, Levi, and Jubilees on Sexuality: Attitudes Towards Sexuality in the Early Enoch Literature, the Aramaic Levi Document, and the Book of Jubilees William R. G. Loader

"Enoch, Levi, and Jubilees on Sexuality" marks a first stage in William Loader's research on attitudes toward sexuality in Judaism and Christianity of the Hellenistic Greco-Roman era. Loader first discusses the early Enoch literature relevant to the theme, focusing on the impact of an ancient myth on the writings and examining how sexual deeds are not here concerned with sexual wrongdoing. He then examines the weight of such wrongdoing in the priestly instruction of the fragmentary Aramaic Levi Document as a whole. He finally considers "Jubilees" as a cumulative work, building on both the Enoch tradition and the instruction of Levi, and reveals a range of devices warning against sexual depravity. Loader's aim throughout is to interpret the works from within, examining literary form, context, sequence, and tradition and redaction, reflecting engagement with current research in this area.