{Graduate Studies; originally written for Humanities 520 Fall 2014}
The supernatural elements of God, angels, and demons are represented as unsurpassable entities capable of wiping out existence on a whim. Humanity is viewed as subject to God and must suffer his wrath. For his select chosen few he will grant everything – with the proper amount of praise and strict maintaining of diet and cleanliness.
Anthropologically, the concept of eating clean food ensured that people consumed safe food, as the body was a temple for God. God’s chosen people were to mimic the actions and desires of God, this would apply to their bodies: “The ‘body’ of God has been an overwhelming concern of Jewish exegesis since its very beginnings. And it is important to grasp that the philosophical pain that it caused was sharp and real, because it appeared to defy the notion of a single transcendent God, which was the foundation of the Jewish revolution in religion” (Wieseltier 440-41). When the body is considered a temple of God the person must preserve it accordingly. Religiously, the eating of pure and clean foods ensured that the body was made holy for the grace of God to be able to be housed inside. Realistically, pure and clean food ensured the person did not get food poisoning and become ill. Methods for handling foodstuffs in the Medieval period was not sanitary and led to rampant disease. Symbolically, unclean food let evil or perversity enter the body: “{…} a temple for Israel, and – mystery! – a Holy of Holies for Aaron; true witnesses to justice, chosen by God’s will to atone for the land and to recompense the wicked their due” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, Charter 7 p 129).
The Watchers or Nephilim are guilty of copulating with human women, which in turn produced a generation of half human-half divine creatures. These are the people which caused God’s wrath of the Flood. The Nephilim revealed mysteries which God did not want humans to be aware of, gifts of knowledge which left man less dependent on deity. Noah receives a message from a mighty Watcher that all the earth must be destroyed due to the interbreeding: “{…} holy ones who [mated] with hum[an] women” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, Tales of the Patriarchs p 94). Common Christian notions imply that the Great Flood was brought on because of idolatry with no mention of demigod giants.
Belial is the leading force on the side of the forces of darkness in opposition to the forces of light. The fallen angel is the master of all perverse and evil things. Demons tempt and mock humanity, the following incantation attributed to David reduces the authority of the demons in the presence of the righteous God: “Who are you? [Withdraw from] humanity and from the ho[ly] race! For your face is a face of [nothing], and your horns are horns of a dre[am]. You are darkness, not light, [wicked]ness not righteousness {…}” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, Songs to Disperse Demons p 590). The evil forces may be related to flowers only when death has seized them, removing humanity from the Others: “Every creature of destruction shall wither quickly away [like a flow]er at ha[rvest time …” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, The War Scroll p 163). Flowers are a symbol of beauty and life, yet they also invoke melancholy notions of a funeral. The reference implies that while darkness appears so mighty that God alone can remove any threat. The comparison to a flower, however, offers a smidge of empathy for the lost souls who are not among God’s chosen people.
Michael is noted as a divine messenger who will relay God’s will to the people. Certain mysteries as to the existence of humanity are meant to be kept secret; the Watchers are only to disclose information God approves for humanity to understand. Angelic authority was placed on Michael: “By eternal light He shall joyfully light up the covenant of Israel; peace and blessing for the lot of God, to exalt the authority of Michael among the gods and the dominion of Israel among all flesh” (The Dead Sea Scrolls, The War Scroll p 163). The sons of light, or angels, are in support of God and work out his will. Placing Michael among the gods, however, leads to question if this was an area of Judaism where such acknowledgement of other deities still existed. The quote changes the concept of the Nephilim, that the angels were in fact gods in their own right who chose to worship and obey God. Yet, the purity of the angels must be somewhat lesser than God as they are able to communicate and enact with humanity while God is an ambiguous specter.
Works Cited
Wieseltier, Leon. “Jewish Bodies, Jewish Minds.” The Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol.
95, No. 3 (2005). University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 435-442. JSTOR. Web.
18 Sep 2014.
The Dead Sea Scrolls. Trans. Michael Wise, Martin Abegg Jr., and Edward Cook. New
York: Harper One, 2005.
Picture c/o: http://41.media.tumblr.com/40da0f989cd3ac6b0cd73f5f5aded955/tumblr_nm39duUyxL1ur0eh9o1_540.jpg
curiouser contemplations 
