1 Enoch
Second Century B.C. - First Century A.D.
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Emil Schürer writes: "
Enoch (in common with Elijah) occupies
this singular position among the Old Testament men of God, that when removed
from the earth he was carried directly to heaven. A man of this stamp could
not but appear peculiarly well fitted to serve as a medium through which to
communicate to the world revelations regarding the divine mysteries, seeing
that he had even been deemed worthy of immediate intercourse with God. Accordingly
at a somewhat early period, probably as far back as the second century before
Christ, an apocalyptic writing appeared purporting to have been composed by
Enoch, which work was subsequently issued in an enlarged and revised form. This
Book of Enoch was already known to the author of the Book of 'Jubilees' and
of the 'Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs,' and was afterwards a great favourite
in the Christian Church. As is well known, it is quoted in the Epistle of Jude
(14, 15), while many of the Fathers use it without hesitation as the genuine
production of Enoch, and as containing authentic divine revelations, although
it has never been officially recognized by the Church as canonical. We still
find the Byzantine chronicler, George Syncellus (about 800 A.D.), quoting two
long passages from it (Syncell.
Chron. ed. Dindorf, i. 20-23 and 42-47).
But after that the book disappeared, and was looked upon as lost till, in the
course of the last century, the discovery was made that an
Ethiopic version
of it was still extant in the Abyssinian Church. In the year 1773, Bruce
the English traveller brought three manuscripts of it to Europe. But it was
not till the year 1821 that the whole work was given to the world through the
English translation of Laurence. A German translation was issued by Hoffmann
which, from chap. i. to lv. (1833), was based upon the English version of Laurence,
and from chap. lvi. to the end (1838) on the Ethiopic version collated with
a new manuscript. The Ethiopic text was published first by Laurence in 1838,
and subsequently by Dillmann in 1851, after having collated it with five manuscripts.
Dillmann likewise issued (1853) a new German translation, in which there were
material emendations, and on which all disquisitions connected with this book
have been based ever since. It seemed as though there were reason to hope that
more light would be thrown upon this book when a small fragment of it in Greek
(extending from ver. 42 to ver. 49 of chap. lxxxix.), taken from a
Codex
Vaticanus (
cod. gr. 1809), written in tachygraphic characters, was
published in facsimile by Mai (
Patrum Nova Biblioth. vol. ii), and deciphered
by Gildmeister (
Zeitschr. der DMG. 1855, pp. 621-624). For, from what
was stated by Mai, one was led to suppose that there was still far more in the
codex than had yet been published. But, alas! a fresh examination by Gebhardt
revealed the fact that the deciphered fragment was all of the Book of Enoch
that it contained (Merx
Archiv, vol. ii p. 243)." (
The Literature
of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus, pp. 55-56)
James Charlesworth writes: "This pseudepigraph has evoked divergent opinions;
but today there is a consensus that the book is a composite, portions of which
are clearly pre-Christian as demonstrated by the discovery of Aramaic and Hebrew
fragments from four of the five sections of the book among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
One of these fragments, moreover, Hen
a, was
copied in the second half of the second century B.C. The main question concerns
the date of the second section, chapters 37-71, which contains the Son of Man
sayings. J. T. Milik (esp. no. 755) has shown that this section, which is not
represented among the early fragments, is probably a later addition to 1 Enoch;
but his contention that it was composed around A.D. 270 (no. 755, p. 377) is
very speculative. If, as most specialists concur, the early portions of 1 Enoch
date from the first half of the second century B.C., chapters 37-71 could have
been added in the first century B.C. or first century A.D. The original language
of 1 Enoch appears to be Aramaic, except for the Noah traditions, which were
probably composed in Hebrew. The earliest portions display impressive parallels
with the nascent thoughts of the Jewish sect which eventually settled at Qumran."
(
The Pseudepigrapha and Modern Research, p. 98)
Raymond F. Surburg writes (
Introduction to the Intertestamental Period,
pp. 142-143):
The book was arranged by its last editor in five sections, as in the Psalms
and other Jewish Books.
Section I (1-36) is mainly concerned with pronouncing God's judgment by Enoch
on the angels, or watchers who fell through their love for the daughters of
men (Gen. 6:1-4), and Enoch's intercession for them. A weird description of
Hades is found in this portion of 1 Enoch.
Section II (37-71) has three "parables," or apocalyptic revelations,
together with the story of Enoch's translation into heaven.
Section III (72-87) is primarily concerned with furnishing a treatise on
astronomy, the secrets of the movement of the stars as revealed to Enoch,
who sees with his own eyes their very course, even the portals through which
they enter and issue forth, for the purpose of transmitting the information
to future generations.
Section IV runs along lines laid down in the first two portions dealing with
the problem of sin and suffering of Israel. Enoch relates to Methuselah his
visions of the deluge, the fall of the angels, and their punishment in the
underworld, the deliverance of Noah, the Exodus, the giving of the Law, the
conquest of Canaan, the time of the judges, the establishment of the united
kingdom, the building of the temple, the story of the two kingdoms, the fall
of the Northern Kingdom, and the Exile. This is followed by four periods of
angelic rule up to the time of the Maccabean Revolt, the last assault of the
Gentiles, and the great Judgment. The last part of Section IV contains the
prediction of the foundation of the new Jerusalem, the conversion of the Gentiles,
the resurrection of the righteous, and the coming of the Messiah.
Section V is without any account of the origin of sin but seems to be mainly
devoted to the problem of suffering of the righteous and the prosperity of
the oppressing sinners. It denounces evil and utters woes on sinners and promises
blessings to the righteous. Within Section V is an older work "The Apocalypse
of Weeks" (93:1-10; 91:12-19). It concludes (105): "In those days
the Lord bade to summon and testify to the children of the earth concerning
their wisdom: show (it) unto them; for ye are their guides, and a recompense
over the world. For I and My Son will be united with them forever in the paths
of uprightness and in their lives; and ye shall have peace; rejoice, ye children
of uprightness. Amen."
Michael A. Knibb writes: "The pentateuchal (five-part) structure outlined
above refers to the book in its present (Ethiopic) form; the Qumran discoveries
have made it clear that these traditions originally had a different shape. Fragments
of eleven manuscripts of Enoch in Aramaic were discovered amongst the Qumran
scrolls, and these fragments confirmed the view that 1 Enoch was composed in
Aramaic. The manuscripts fall into two distinct groups. On the one hand, fragments
from seven manuscripts correspond to parts of the first, fourth and fifth sections
of the Ethiopic book (chapters 1-36; 83-90; 91-107). The indications are that
these parts of 1 Enoch, together with a work known as the book of Giants, circulated
at Qumran as separate writings and were also copied out in combination—with
the book of Giants apparently as the second of the four elements—to form
a four-part corpus of Enochic writings, a tetrateuch. On the other hand, the
fragments from the other four manuscripts belong to a book of Astronomy which
at Qumran circulated separately from the other Enochic writings; the third section
of the Ethiopic book (chapters 72-82) is based on the Qumran book of Astronomy,
but is much shorter and differs quite substantially. No fragments were discovered
corresponding to the second section of the Ethiopic book (chapters 37-71), the
Parables." (
Outside the Old Testament, p. 27)
James C. VanderKam writes of 1 Enoch 72-82: "The Astronomical Book (AB)
was written in the Aramaic language, as we now know from the four copies of
it found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q208-11). From Aramaic it was translated
into Greek (there are only a few small remnants that have survived) and from
Greek into Ethiopic. Judging from the script, the oldest of the Aramaic copies
(4Q208) dates from a time not far from 200 BCE; consequently, the book itself
was composed no later than that and probably earlier, although we do not know
how much earlier. The Aramaic copies that have survived indicate that the Ethiopic
version of the booklet, the only complete one that exists, is a condensed form
of the AB in that its text lacks some of the long, table-like sections attested
for the beginning of the book in two of the Aramaic copies." (
An Introduction
to Early Judaism, p. 89)
Leonhard Rost writes: "Chapters 72-82 constitute an astronomical treatise
probably written around the end of the second century B.C. Chapters 94-105 contain
exhortations of Enoch in the style of the farewell discourses of the twelve
patriarchs. These discourses date from the first century B.C. The beginning
of the book (chapters 1-5) and the conclusion (chapter 108) are among the redactional
additions to this complex book. They date from the first century B.C. Nothing
in the book makes any allusion to the coming of the Romans in 63 B.C."
(
Judaism Outside the Hebrew Canon, p. 139)
Martin McNamara writes: "This astronomical work is presupposed by
Jubilees
4:17, 21 which may have been composed about the mid-second century B.C. This
would indicate a date of composition for
The Astronomical Book in the
first quarter of the second century at the latest. J. T. Milik thinks it is
alluded to by the Hellenistic Jewish historian Eupolemus in a work completed
158 B.C. The
Book of Jubilees, however, may have been composed later
in the second century B.C., but this need not affect the date to be assigned
to Enoch 72-82. Four copies of an Aramaic Astronomical work attributed to Enoch
have been found at Qumran, the earliest in Milik's opinion dating from the late
third or the beginning of the second century B.C., the latest from the first
years of teh first century A.D. These Qumran manuscripts have a longer text
than the Ethiopic, especially the section on calendrical reckoning. Milik believes
that the original Aramaic text is older than Gen 5:23, which presupposes it
and that it was connected with the calendrical reckoning of a highly theoretical
nature in the Persian period, but was later introduced by the Essenes into their
liturgical lfie. Milik also thinks that archaic features of the literary and
scientific content of the
Astronomical Book of Enoch link it with ancient
Babylonian (and indeed Sumerian) literature, and that the description of the
terrestrial orb in Enoch 77 leads us, with complete certainty, to the Mesopotamian
centres of scholarship." (
Intertestamental Literature, pp. 60-61)
James C. VanderKam writes of 1 Enoch 1-36: "The second early booklet connected
with the name Enoch was also written in Aramaic. It too has been identified
in several copies from Qumran cave 4 (4Q201-202, 204-206), the oldest of which
(4Q201) dates from between 200 and 150 BCE. As a result, it may be another third-century
text. The Book of the Watchers (BW) is best known for introducing the strange
story (or stories) about the angels who sinned by marrying women and fathering
giants. The story in various forms became a major theme in the Enoch tradition
and in a surprisingly large number of other works both Jewish and Christian."
(
An Introduction to Early Judaism, p. 91)
Martin McNamara writes of the Book of the Watchers: "This section of 1
Enoch is itself a composite work. It begins with a Parable of Enoch on the lot
of the wicked and of the righteous (1-5). Next comes
The Book of the Watchers
(i.e. the Angels) proper. This recounts the sin of the angels through their
sexual union with earthly women, on which follows the demoralization of humankind.
We are then told of the doom pronounced by God on the angels and of the joys
in store for the just (6-11), e.g., 'And . . . the Lord said to Raphael: "Bind
Azazel by his hands and his feet, and throw him into the darkness . . . and
let him stay there for ever . . . that on the great day of judgment he may be
hurled into the fire"' (10:4-6). 'Bind them for seventy generations under
the hills of the earth until the day of their judgment and of their consummation,
until the judgment which is for all eternity is accomplished. And in those days
they will lead them to the abyss of fire; in torment and in prison they will
be shut up for all eternity' (10:12-13)." (
Intertestamental Literature,
p. 55)
Leonhard Rost writes: "Chapters 12-16 provide more details about Enoch's
role of mediator in the punishment of the fallen angels. Since they constitute
an expansion and correction of the corresponding material from the Book of Noah,
they must have come later, but they probably still date from the first half
of he second century B.C. Chapters 17-19 and 20-36 contain the first and second
journeys of Enoch through the various regions of the earth, the heavens, and
the underworld, with special emphasis on the dwelling places of the blessed
and the places where sinners and fallen angels are punished. These chapters
probably belong to the second century B.C. also." (
Judaism Outside the
Hebrew Canon, p. 138)
Martin McNamara writes: "In the words of J. T. Milik, the Qumran evidence
indicates 'that from the first half of the second century B.C. onwards the Book
of Watchers had essentially the same form as that in which it is known through
the Greek and Ethiopic versions.' It can be presumed that it circulated in this
form already by 200 B.C. Certain sections of it can be presumed to be older
still, e.g., the section on the fall of the angels (chs. 6-11, or even 6-19).
G. W. Nickelsburg believes that chapters 6-11 date from the fourth century,
while J. T. Milik (somewhat improbably) is of the opinion that 6-19 are older
than Genesis 6, which he believes is dependent on them." (
Intertestamental
Literature, pp. 58-59)
Michael A. Knibb writes: "The book of Watchers is, with the exception
of the book of Astronomy, the oldest part of 1 Enoch and the basis upon which
the other sections have been built; there are allusions to it and echoes of
it in the Parables, the book of Dreams and the Epistle. It is not all of one
piece, but acquired its present form by a process of accretion. After an introductory
section (chapters 1-5) the nucleus is formed by the story of the fall from heaven
of the Watchers, i.e. angels (chapters 6-16; cp. Dan. 4:13, 17, 23). To this
has been appended an account of Enoch's journey to the edge of the world where
he sees the places of punishment of the fallen angels and the disobedient stars,
as well as the range of seven mountains in the north-west, on the middle one
of which is situated the throne of God (chapters 17-19). Chapter 20, a list
of the seven archangels and their functions, forms the introduction to the account
of a second journey (chapters 21-36). In the first part of this journey Enoch
visits places already described in chapters 17-19, and thus chapters 21-5 may
be regarded as another version of the earlier journey in which the material
has been reordered and expanded. Thereafter Enoch goes to Jerusalem (chapters
26-27), and then far away to the east to the Garden of Righteousness (chapters
28-32). In the last part of the journey Enoch circles the earth and observes
certain astronomical and meteorological phenomena (chapters 33-6); this material
is related to the material in the book of Astronomy. For the accounts of these
two journeys the author made use of a wide range of biblical and extrabiblical
traditions. In particular he drew together in chapters 21-32 a number of different
biblical traditions relating to the mountain of God (cp. Ps. 48:2; Isa. 14:12-15;
Ezek. 28:11-19; Exod. 24:10) and to the garden of Eden with its tree of knowledge
and tree of life (Gen. 2-3). The underlying theme, announced already in the
introduction (chapters 1-5), is that of judgment. The places which Enoch is
above all concerned to describe are the mountain on which God will sit when
he visits the earth as judge, the place where the dead will wait until the day
of judgement, and the places where the wicked (both angels and men) and the
righteous will either be punished or enjoy a life of bliss." (
Outside
the Old Testament, pp. 29-30)
James C. VanderKam writes of 1 Enoch 93:1-10 and 91:11-17: "The oldest
surviving historical apocalypse in Jewish literature is probably the short composition
known as the Apocalypse of Weeks. The fact that it does not mention the persecution
of Jews and the ban on Judaism by Antiochus IV in 167 BCE implies that it was
written before these events, that is, perhaps in approximately 170 BCE. It has
accidentally been divided into two parts in the Ethiopian version of
1 Enoch
and the order of the two parts reversed; an Aramaic manuscript from Qumran preserves
much of the apocalypse and has the parts in the correct order (4Q212). The apocalypse
takes the form of Enoch's report to Methuselah regarding a vision he had seen;
the text also mentions words of the angels and the contents of the heavenly
tablets as the sources of the revelation disclosed to him. In the report he
quickly sketches history from beginning to end, with almost all of it packaged
as a prediction. History and the different stages of the judgment are divided
into ten units called 'weeks.' These seven-part units are suggestive for several
reasons: they are one of a number of references and allusions to 'sevens' in
the apocalypse (e.g., Enoch is the seventh patriarch); the ten 'weeks' total
seventy units, itself a highly significant number in light of Jeremiah's prediction
that Jerusalem would be desolate for the seventy years of Babylonian control
(see Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10; Dan. 9:2, 24-27); and the decisive 'week,' that is,
the one in which the actual author lives and when the great turning point in
history will begin is the seventh. As 7 x 7 = 49, the total brings to mind associations
with the biblical jubilee (which the author of
Jubilees and others understood
as a forty-nine-year unit)." (
An Introduction to Early Judaism,
pp. 103-104)
Leonhard Rost writes: "The Apocalypse of Ten Weeks in chapters 93 and
91:12-17 is at least as early as the Book of Noah [second century B.C.?] and
possibly even earlier. It may originally have been limited to seven weeks and
later expanded. J. P. Thronton has suggested that it is a secret history of
the Qumran sect. If so, the conclusion, at least, would be somewhat later. The
commonly accepted view, however, finds no mention of the Maccabean period; rather,
it concludes that the number of apostates imply that only a certain righteous
individuals are elected to enjoy the age of salvation that follows directly.
This theory would date the Apocalypse of Ten Weeks prior to the Maccabean period,
in other words around 170 B.C. The Apocalypse of the Animals (85-90) contains
an account of history from Adam to the Hasmoneans and concludes with a vision
of the messianic age. The figures belonging to the primal history, like the
figure of the Messiah, are symbolized by bulls; the figures of the patriarchs
and their descendants down to the Hasmonean period are represented by sheep;
their opponents are symbolized by wolves and other wild beasts. The section
is the second earliest. Depending on whether it concludes with Judas Maccabeus
or ends with John Hyrcanus or even Alexander Jannaeus, it belongs to the middle
or end of the second century, or to the first quarter of the first century B.C."
(
Judaism Outside the Hebrew Canon, pp. 137-138)
James C. VanderKam writes of 1 Enoch 83-90, the Book of Dreams: "Here
too Enoch tells his son Methuselah about his predictive dream visions. In this
section he reports two such experiences. In the first and shorter one (83-84)
he sees the heavens thrown down on earth, the earth swallowed up, and everything
sinking into the abyss. His grandfather Mahalalel explains to him that the vision
concerns the wickedness of the earth and its approaching destruction (the flood).
He urges Enoch to pray that a remnant be left to him on the earth. He does pray
for the remnant, and, after seeing the sun rise on a new day, blesses and praises
the Lord. The second and longer section is called the Animal Apocalypse (chaps.
85-90). Interpretation of the last historical allusions in teh vision, especially
the character who appears to be Judas Maccabeus (the ram with a horn in 90:9,
etc.), has led scholars to date it to the late 160s BCE. The apocalypse has
received its name from the fact that in it biblical characters are described
symbolically as animals. Colors and types of animals express character evaluations.
In the text Enoch surveys all of scriptural history and moves beyond it to the
time of the actual author and the end. The symbols and the language are usually
clear enough so that the biblically literate reader can follow the course of
the story." (
An Introduction to Early Judaism, p. 105)
Martin McNamara writes: "In the
Book of Jubilees 4:19 mention is
made of Enoch's dream visions of the course of history, by which the second
vision of this section may be intended. No fragment of the first vision (83-84)
has been found in Qumran. The second vision seems to have been composed in Maccabean
times, and possibly before Jonathan's assumption of the high priesthood in 153
B.C. The author seems to have belonged to the Hasidic movement." (
Intertestamental
Literature, p. 62)
James C. VanderKam writes of 1 Enoch 37-71: "Tucked between the two oldest
parts of
1 Enoch is an apocalypse that goes under the name the
Similitudes
or
Parables of Enoch. In it Enoch receives a series of revelations that
are called
parables; the first is in chaps. 38-44, the second in 45-47,
and the third in 58-69. Around these three units the author/editor has placed
introductory and concluding chapters (38 and 70-71). The focus in the
Similitudes
is on the eschatological punishment of sinners and the blessing of the righteous;
a strong element of reversal is also involved. The downtrodden righteous do
not realize that their salvation is already prepared, while the oppressive sinners
at present fail to understand what awaits them. The text discloses that at the
end the rightous will enjoy bliss while the mighty sinners will be punished
and destroyed. In this work Enoch is termed a 'son of man,' and he is deeply
involved in the final judgment of the wicked and reward of the righteous."
(
An Introduction to Early Judaism, p. 110)
Leonhard Rost writes: "Chapters 37-71, following an introduction in chapter
37, comprise three discourses made up of similitudes or parables (38-44; 45-47;
and 58-69), together with appendices and supplements, into which the fragments
of the Book of Noah mentioned above have been incorporated. The similitudes
furnish information about the hierarchy of the angels and reveal atmospheric,
meteorological, and astronomical secrets; they culminate in the appointment
of Enoch as the Son of Man. They contain various traditions dating from earlier
ages but in their present recension cannot be designated earlier than the first
century B.C. J.T. Milik dates them as late as the second century C.E., above
all because there is no trace of them at Qumran." (
Judaism Outside the
Hebrew Canon, pp. 138-139)
Martin McNamara writes: "No fragment of any part of
Parables has
been found in Qumran. For this, and for other reasons besides, some scholars
doubt its pre-Christian and Jewish character. J. T. Milik maintains that it
was composed in the second or third century of our era. However, contemporary
scholarship tends to reckon the parables Jewish, and to assign their composition
to the first century of the Christian era." (
Intertestamental Literature,
p. 71)
Michael A. Knibb writes: "The concern with the Son of Man has led to the
Parables being considered in relation to the traditions in the gospels about
the Son of Man. Some scholars have thought that the Parables are Christian,
but this is very unlikely because the Parables lack any reference to the life,
death and resurrection of Jesus; here the difference from the Testaments of
the Twelve Patriarchs, a work Jewish in origin but clearly Christian in its
present form, is particularly significant. In fact the Parables are a Jewish
work and are rooted firmly in traditions stemming from the Old Testament; they
build upon what is said about the 'one like a man' of Dan. 7, but also draw
upon traditions relating to the Davidic Messiah (cp. Isa. 11) and to God's servant
(cp. Isa. 49). It is a matter of debate whether the Parables, a Jewish work,
might have exercised some limited influence on the gospel traditions; but their
real importance—in the writer's opinion from towards the end of that century.
It should be noted that for this section of Enoch we have available only an
Ethiopic text." (
Outside the Old Testament, p. 44)
James C. VanderKam writes of 1 Enoch 91-107: "The fifth and last booklet
in
1 Enoch is called the Epistle of Enoch. It is the literary home of
the Apocalypse of Weeks (93:1-10; 91:11-17) and of several other types of literary
units. As a result of this variety it is difficult to classify chapters 91-107
under any single rubric, but they do share several features with the wisdom
tradition and thus can be studied here. The Epistle may date to roughly the
same time as the Apocalypse of Weeks, that is, not far from 170 BCE. At least
there is no convincing reason for putting it at a later time. Parts of the Epistle,
like most other booklets in
1 Enoch, have been preserved in the Aramaic
fragments from Qumran cave 4." (
An Introduction to Early Judaism,
pp. 119-120)
Martin McNamara writes: "Material of a variety of kinds follows on
The
Apocalypse of Weeks: Enoch's admonitions to the righteous (94:1-5) and woes
on sinners (94:6-11; 95); reasons why the righteous should have hope (96:1-3),
and why sinners should fear (96:4-8). There are woes on those who acquire unrighteous
gain (97), and once more on sinners in general (98-104). The central motif of
this section is the economic differentiation between rich and poor, the classes
being practically identified with the sinners and righteous respectively. The
rich are accused of idolatry in certain texts (99:6-9; cf. 91:9 and 104:9).
The rich sinners are presented as oppressing the righteous poor (95:7; 96:5,
8; 103:9-15; 104:3). The statement that sin originated with man ('Sin has not
been sent upon the earth, but man himself has created it', 98:4) may be intended
to stress human responsibility but may also be directed against other sections
of the Enochic corpus which present the Watchers as having introduced it at
the Flood (e.g. 1 Enoch 6-11)." (
Intertestamental Literature, p.
67)
The
State Department broke with normal procedures last week when it ordered
the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) not to conduct a secondary
inspection on members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and
Justice Party (FJP) on their way to visit government officials and think
tanks in the United States.
They
represent the new political power in Cairo, and given their
performances in public events in Washington last week, the Muslim
Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party has the art of doublespeak
nailed.