Is it Possible to Trace a Link between the Parables of Enoch and John the Baptist?

If it is true that the preaching of John the Baptist was characterized by strongly apocalyptic features such as the idea of an impending end and the advent of an eschatological judgment, it remains to be understood where to place him among the various Jewish apocalyptic tendencies of the Second Temple period. My paper will try to link John`s preaching with the last phase of the Enochic literature. In particular I will try to highlight how: a) The date of composition of the Parable of Enoch during the Herodian period no longer allows us to label our text as an irrelevant source for tracing the apocalyptic trends of Second Temple Judaism; b) John the Baptist awaited the coming of the enochic Son of Man as described in this text; c) John the Baptist`s preaching was characterized by the same call to repentance that characterized this late Enochic text