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{en} Elekosi F. Lafitaga. Apocalyptic sheep and goats in Matthew and 1 Enoch. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2022.

Abstract

Based on his 2017 dissertation

"Matthew's eschatological imageries of judgment are often identified as apocalyptic and referred to as Matthew's apocalyptic discourses. In this volume Elekosi F. Lafitaga reexamines Matthew's vision of the sheep and goats in the judgment of the nations, which are often interpreted as metaphors for the saved and the condemned. Lafitaga views these images in the wider context of the rhetoric of apocalyptic communication stretching back to Matthew 3. This broader context reveals that the vision of Matthew 25 serves to exhort Israel in the here and now according to the Torah, with salvation for Israel involving an indispensable responsibility to love and serve humanity. Central to Lafitaga's analysis is the highly probable scenario that the material in Matthew is dependent on the Book of Dreams (1 Enoch 83-90)."--

Contents

1. Approaching Matthew's apocalyptic discourse. 1.1. Introduction ; 1.2. Apocalyptic literature and apocalyptic ; 1.3. Matthew and apocalyptic ; 1.4. The scope, thesis, and significance -- 2. Metaphor and rhetoric. 2.1. Introduction: Apocalyptic discourse ; 2.2. Metaphor theory ; 2.3. Sociorhetorical interpretation ; 2.4. Plan of study -- 3. Animal Apocalypse: a metaphorical reading. 3.1. Introduction ; 3.2. Animal Apocalypse ; 3.3. The Animal Apocalypse as allegory ; 3.4. A reading ; 3.5. Sheep and the Lord of the sheep ; 3.6. Torah: path of the sheep ; 3.7. Apocalyptic communication ; 3.8. Wisdom ; 3.9. A possible social and historical scenario? ; 3.10. Animal Apocalypse as scripture -- 4. The inner textures of Matthew 25:31-46. 4.1. Introduction ; 4.2. The text of Matthew 25:31-46 ; 4.3. The broader narrative context ; 4.4. The immediate literary context -- 5. The apocalyptic discourse of Matthew 25:31-46. 5.1. Introduction ; 5.2. A metaphorical reading ; 5.3. Conclusion -- Appendix A: Aristotle and topos -- Appendix B: Cicero and Quintilian on metaphors.