4Q208: A New Reconstruction and its Implications on the Evolution of the Astronomical Book

This paper proposes a new reconstruction of 4Q208, a copy of the Aramaic Astronomical Book of Enoch (AAB) that was preserved in 36 small fragments. The new reconstructed text demonstrates that alongside the textual continuity between 4Q208 and its later and fuller copy 4Q209, these two manuscripts also reveal textual plurality. The difference in their schemes is not merely an outcome of scribal error but seems to derive from an ongoing scientific creativity. Later Jewish astronomers adapted the spatial astronomical theory present in 4Q208 to the more accurate, and probably already sanctified, 364-day year. They also attempted to suit 4Q208’s lunar visibility scheme to reality by reversing the order of full and hollow months.