Enoch, Book of

Enoch Book Of

Introductory.-The Ethiopic Book of Enoch (or 1 Enoch, as it is now more conveniently denominated) is the largest, and, after the canonical Book of Daniel, the most important of the Jewish apocalyptic works which have so recently come to be recognized as supplying most important data for the critical study of NT ideas and phraseology. The Book-or rather the Books-of Enoch the reader will find to be a work of curious complexity and unevenness. It is a wonderful mass of heterogeneous elements; in fact, it is quite a cycle of works in itself-geographical, astronomical, prophetic, moral, and historical. In this medley we find certain recurring notes. The temporary success and triumph of the wicked, idolaters, luxurious, rich, oppressors, rulers, kings, and mighty ones, and the present sufferings of the righteous, are continually contrasted with their future destiny-after death or after judgment, according to the views of the particular author as to the moment at which moral discrimination will begin. Another recurring note is the subservience of natural phenomena to spiritual and quasi-personal forces, which in turn are responsible and as a rule obedient to God. Repeatedly and with dramatic force the unfailing order of Nature is contrasted with the disobedience of man. Yet another recurring feature, and one common to this apocalyptic literature, is the reserving of the visions and the books of Enoch for the last days, for the elect to read and understand. On the other hand, there is ever and anon a baffling change in the presentation of ideas about the Kingdom, the Messiah, the form of the future judgment and life after death. The pictures of the Messianic Kingdom take on a shifting, ever-changing form, in accordance with the views of the author and the particular tribulations under which each individual writer was labouring. Judgment is mediated now by angels of punishment, now by the archangels, or the sword of the righteous or internecine strife, or by the Son of Man, or exercised immediately by God Himself. Darkness and chains and burning fire, valleys and the abyss, loom large in all descriptions of the place and mode of punishment. There is a highly developed angelology, in keeping with the general conception of Gods transcendence, and an equally developed demonology, which is connected with the interest of the various authors in the problem of the seat and origin of evil. The power of prayer-whether that of the angels, the departed holy ones, or the righteous on earth-is recognized, especially in the bringing in of judgment. The space devoted to the calendar, however, and the movements of the heavenly bodies, and the secrets of natural forces, stands in sheer contrast to the NT silence on those subjects.

We cannot close without quoting Charless words in his introduction (Book of Enoch, 1912, p. x):

In the age to which the Enoch literature belongs there is movement everywhere, and nowhere dogmatic fixity and finality. And though at times the movement may be reactionary, yet the general trend is onward and upward. This work is the most important historical memorial of the religious development of Judaism from 200 b.c. to 100 a.d., and particularly of the development of that side or Judaism, to which historically Christendom in large measure owes its existence.

We have only to take the single example of the unique portrait of the Son of Man in the Parables-eternally pre-existent with God, recognized now by the righteous, and hereafter to be owned and adored by all, even His foes-to be assured of the truth of this verdict.

1. Contents.

Section i.: chs. i.-xxxvi.

i-v.-Enoch takes up his parable: Gods coming to judgment to help and bless the righteous and destroy the ungodly (i. 1-9); Natures unfailing order (ii. 1-v. 3) contrasted with sinners disobedience; a curse on them, but forgiveness, peace, and joy for the elect (v. 4-9).

vi.-xi. (Noachic fragment).-Fall of certain angels, through union with women (vi. 1-vii. 1); birth of giants who devour mankind and drink blood (vii. 2-6). Knowledge of arts, magic, and astronomy imparted by fallen angels (viii. 1-4). Cry of souls of dead for vengeance (viii. 4, ix. 3, 10) heard by the four archangels, who bring their cause before God (ix. 1-11). God sends Uriel to Noah to warn him of approaching Deluge (x. 1-3). Raphael is to bind Azazel in desert in Dudael till judgment day, and heal the earth (x. 4-7); Gabriel to destroy giants by internecine strife (x. 9-10, 15), Michael to bind Semjaza and his associates for seventy generations in valleys of the earth (x. 11-14). All evil is to cease, and the plant of righteousness (i.e. Israel) to appear (x. 16). All the righteous are to escape and live till they beget thousands of children (x. 17), the earth is to yield a thousandfold, all men are to become righteous and adore God (x. 21). Sin and punishment will cease for ever (x. 22), Store-chambers of blessing in heaven will be opened (xi.).

xii-xvi.

A Dream Vision of Enoch.-Enoch is hidden from men (xii. 1) and is sent to the fallen angels (Watchers) with the message: no peace nor forgiveness (xii. 4-6), which he delivers to Azazel (xiii. 1, 2) and the others (xiii. 3); they beseech Enoch to write a petition for them (xiii. 4-6); as he reads it he falls asleep and sees visions of chastisement, which he recounts to them (xiii. 7-10). The message of the vision is given in xiv. 1-7; the manner of it in xiv. 8-xvi. 4. He ascends in the vision to heaven, post crystal walls into a crystal house and a greater house beyond, to the blazing throne of the Great Glory (xiv. 20), whom no angel can behold. He entrusts Enoch with the message to the Watchers; they had sinned in taking wives (xv. 3-7); from the dead giants bodies proceed evil spirits which, remaining on earth, do all harm with impunity till the Great Judgment (xv. 8-xvi. 1); the Watchers doom is repeated (xvi. 2-4).

xvii-xxxvi.

Enochs two journeys: through the earth and to Sheol.

(a) xvii.-xix.-Enoch is brought to the ends of the earth and views treasuries of stars, and the winds that uphold heaven (xvii. 1-xviii. 3), and seven mountains of precious stones (xviii. 6), and beyond, a deep abyss of fire (xviii. 11), and further, an utter waste (xviii. 12) with seven stars like burning mountains, bound for ten thousand years for not observing their appointed times (xviii. 13-16). Here stand the fallen angels, whose spirits seduce men to idolatry (xix. 1) and their wives, turned into sirens (xix. 2).-(b) xx-xxxvi.-The seven archangels-Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel, Remiel-and their functions (xx.). Enoch proceeds to chaos and the seven stars and the abyss of xviii. 12-16 (xxi. 1-7), which is the final prison of the fallen angels (xxi. 8-10). Elsewhere in the west he sees a great mountain with three (four in text) hollow places (=Sheol), to contain mens souls till the Great Judgment-one for martyrs like Abel and other righteous men, with a bright spring of water (xxii. 5-9), one for unpunished sinners (xxii. 10, 11), one for sinners (who suffered in life), who never rise (xxii. 12-13). Thereafter, still in the west, he sees the fire of the heavenly luminaries (xxiii.), and elsewhere again, beyond a mountain range of fire, seven mountains of precious stones, the central one to be Gods throne on earth, with the tree of life (xxiv. 1-xxv. 3) to be transplanted after the judgment to the holy place, where the righteous shall eat of it and live a long life on earth (xxv. 4-6). In the middle of the earth Enoch sees a holy mountain (Zion) with its surrounding summits and ravines (xxvi.), and the accursed valley (of Hinnom) which is to be the scene of the Last Judgment (xxvii.). Thence he goes east (xxviii-xxxiii.), past fragrant trees and mountains, over the Erythraean Sea and the angel Zotiel (xxxii. 2), to the garden of the righteous, and the Tree of Wisdom, which is fully described (xxxii. 3-6). Thence to the earths ends whereon heaven rests, with three portals for the stars in east and west (xxxiii. 3, xxxvi. 2, 3) and three in north and south for the winds (xxxiv. 1-3, xxxvi. 1).

Section ii.: chs. xxxvii.-lxxi.

-The Parables.

xxxvii. 1 commences the second vision of wisdom; till the present day such wisdom has never been given as is embodied in these three Parables recounted to those that dwell on the earth (xxxvii. 4, 5).

xxxviii-xliv.

The First Parable.-When the Righteous One appears, where will the sinners dwelling be? Then shall the kings and mighty perish and be given into the hands of the righteous and holy (xxxviii.). [Descent of the Watchers-an interpolation (xxxix. 1, 2).] A whirlwind carries off Enoch to the end of the heavens; he views the dwelling-places of the holy who pray for mankind, and the Righteous Ones abode under the wings of the Lord of Spirits (xxxix. 3-14); an innumerable multitude, and four presences (=archangels)-Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Phanuel-and their functions (xl.); heavens secrets and weighing of mens actions (xli. 1, 2); secrets of natural phenomena and sun and moon; their chambers and weighing of the stars (xli. 3-9, xliii. 1, 2, xliv.); the stars stand for the holy who dwell on the earth (xliii. 4). A fragment.-Wisdom goes forth, and finds no dwelling-place among men, so returns to heaven; while unrighteousness is welcomed and remains with men (xlii.).

xlv.-lvii.

-The Second Parable.-The lot of the apostates: the new heaven and earth. Those who deny the name of Lord of Spirits are preserved for judgment (xlv. 1, 2). Mine Elect One on throne of glory shall try mens works; heaven and earth transformed (xlv. 3-6). The Head of Days and Son of Man (xlvi. 1-4) shall put down the kings and the mighty; they have no hope of rising from their graves (xlvi. 5-8). In those days the prayer of the righteous united with angelic intercession was heard (xlvii. 1, 2); the Head of Days on the throne of His glory, books of the living opened, vengeance of righteous at hand (xlvii. 3, 4). Enoch sees the inexhaustible fountain of righteousness: at that hour the Son of Man was named in the presence of the Lord of Spirits; he is a staff to the righteous, the light of the Gentiles: in His name the righteous are saved; kings and mighty are to bum like straw (xlviii.); infinite wisdom and power of the Elect One (xlix.). [1.-An interpolation?-In those days the holy became victorious; the others (i.e. Gentiles) witness this and repent-they have no honour, but are saved in the name of the Lord of Spirits.] In those days earth, Sheol, and Abaddon give up what they hold. The Elect One arises, sits on Gods throne, and chooses out the righteous amid universal rejoicing (li.). Enoch sees seven metal mountains (symbols of world-powers): they will serve the Anointeds dominion (lii. 4), and melt before the Elect One (lii. 6). Next he sees a deep valley with open months, and angels of punishment preparing instruments of Satan to destroy the kings and the mighty (liii. 1-5); after this the Righteous and Elect One shall cause the house of His congregation to appear (liii. 6). In another part he sees a deep valley with burning fire; here the kings and the mighty are cast in (liv. 1, 2), and iron chains made for Azazels hosts, whom four archangels will cast into the burning furnace on that great day (liv. 3-6), after judgment by the Elect One (Leviticus 3, 4); angels of punishment with scourged are seen proceeding to cast the Watchers children into the abyss (lvi. 1-4). [Fragments.-(a) liv. 7-Leviticus 2 (Noachic).-Punishment by waters impending, promise of non-recurrence. (b) lvi. 5-8.-The angels are to stir up the Parthians and Medes to tread upon the land of Gods elect, but the city of my righteous shall hinder their horses; they shall slay one another, and Sheol shall devour them in presence of the elect. (c) lvii. 1-3.-A host of wagons is seen, earths pillars are shaken by the noise (return of Dispersion).]

lviii.-lxxi.

-The Third Parable.-Endless light and life for righteous (lviii.). [Secrets of lightnings, an intrusion (lix.).] [Noachic fragment (for Enoch read Noah in lx. 1).-The Head of Days on the throne of glory announces the judgment (lx.1-6, 25); Leviathan a female monster, and Behemoth a male, parted, one in the abysses of the ocean, the other in the wilderness to the east of the garden (Eden) where Enoch was taken up; they shall feed (presumably till given as food to the elect as in 2 Bar. xxix. 4; 4 Ezr. 6:52) (lx. 7-10, 24); chambers of winds, secrets of thunder, spirits of the sea, hoarfrost, snow, mist and rain (lx. 11-23).]

Third Parable resumed.-The angels are seen with long cords; they go to measure Paradise (lxx. 3) and recover all the righteous dead from sea or desert (lxi. 1-5); the Lord of Spirits places the Elect One on the throne of glory to judge (lxi 6-9); all the heavenly hosts, Cherubim, Seraphim, and Ophannim, angels of power and of principalities, the Elect One, the powers on earth and over water, the elect who dwell in the garden of life, and all flesh shall join in praising God (lxi. 10-13). The kings and the mighty are called upon to recognize the Elect One, now seated on the throne; pained and terrified, they glorify God (lxii. 1-6) and adore the Son of Man; but are delivered to the angels for punishment (lxii. 9-12); the righteous had previously known the Son of Man, though hidden from the beginning, and shall eat and lie down and rise up for ever with Him, and be clothed with garments of glory and of life (lxii. 7, 8, 13-16); unavailing repentance and confession of the kings and the mighty (lxiii.); vision of fallen angels in Prison (lxiv.). [Noachic fragment (lxv.-lxix. 25).-Noah calls on Enoch at the ends of the earth; he is told judgment is imminent because of sorcery and idolatry, and the violence of the Satans; Noah is to be preserved: from him shall proceed a fountain of righteous and holy (= Israel) for ever (lxv.); the angels of punishment hold the Flood in check (lxvi.); Noah is told that the angels are making an ark for him (lxvii. 1-3); God will imprison the angels, who had taught men how to sin, in the burning valley, which Enoch had shown Noah; thence proceed waters which now heal the bodies of the kings and the mighty (lxvii. 8), but it will one day become a fire ever-burning (lxvii. 13). Enoch gives Noah these secrets in the book of Parables (lxviii. 1). Michael and Raphael are astonished at the sternness of the judgment upon the fallen angels (lxviii. 2-5); the names of the fallen angels and Satans who led them astray and taught men knowledge and writing (lxix. 1-13); the hidden name and oath which preserve all things in due order (lxix. 14-25).]

Close of Third Parable.-Universal joy at the revealing of the Son of Man, who receives the sum of judgment (lxix. 26-29). [Two fragments belonging to Parables: (a) lxx.-Enoch finally translated on the chariots of the spirit, and set between the north and the south (i.e. in Paradise). (b) lxxi.-After this he is translated in spirit; he sees the sons of God, the secrets of heaven, the crystal house, and countless angels and the four archangels, the Head of Days, the Son of Man, who brings in endless peace for the righteous.]

Section iii.: chs. lxxii.-lxxxii.-The Book of the Courses of the Heavenly Luminaries.

The sun (lxxii.), the moon and its phases (lxxiii.), the lunar year (lxxiv.), the stars, the twelve winds and their portals (lxxvi.), the four quarters of the world, the seven great mountains, rivers, islands (lxxvii.), the moons waxing and waning (lxxviii.), recapitulation (lxxix., lxxx. 1), perversion of Nature and the heavenly bodies owing to mans sin (lxxx. 2-8). Enoch sees the heavenly tablets containing mens deeds to all eternity, and is given one year to teach them to Methuselah (lxxxi.); his charge to Methuselah to hand on the books to the generations of the world; blessing on the observers of the true system of reckoning-year of 364 days (lxxxii. 1-9); stars which lead the seasons and the months (lxxxii. 10-20).

Section iv.: chs. lxxxiii.-xc.-Two Dream Visions: (a) lxxxiii., lxxxiv.; (b) lxxxv.-xc.

(a) Vision of earths destruction: Mahalalel bids Enoch pray that a remnant may remain (lxxxiii. 1-9); prayer of Enoch for survival of plant of eternal seed (= Israel) (lxxxiii. 10-lxxxiv. 6). (b) Second dream, in which Enoch sees Adam and other patriarchs under symbolism of bulls, etc. (lxxxv.); stars (= angels) fall from heaven, and unite with cattle (lxxxvi., lxxxvii.); the first star is cast into the abyss; evil beasts slay one another (lxxxviii.). In symbolism Enoch sees the history of Noah and the Deluge; Israel at the Exodus, crossing the Jordan, under the Judges; the building of the Temple; the two kingdoms; the Fall of Jerusalem (lxxxix. 1-67). Israel is entrusted to the Seventy Shepherds (=angelic rulers) from the Captivity to the Maccabaean revolt (lxxxix. 68-xc. 12); the enlightened lambs (= Chasids) and the great horn (= Judas Maccabaeus) (xc. 6-12). The final assault of the heathen; a great sword is given to the sheep (= Jews); the Lord of the sheep intervenes (xc. 13-19); a throne is erected in the pleasant land for Him; the sealed books are opened; the sinning stars are cast into the abyss of fire, also the Seventy Shepherds; the blinded sheep into the abyss in the midst of the earth (= Gehenna) (xc. 20-27); the old house (= Temple) is removed; the Lord of the sheep brings a new house, greater and loftier; the sword is sealed up; all the sheep see (i.e. are enlightened); a white bull (= Messiah) is born, and is adored by all; the others are all transformed into white bulls, and the Lord of the sheep rejoices over them all alike; Enoch awakes and weeps [xc. 28-42).

Section v.: chs. xci.-civ.

(a) Enochs Book for his Children, (xcii. 1).-God has appointed days for all things; the righteous are to arise from sleep and walk in eternal light, and sin is to disappear (xcii.). Methuselah and his family are summoned and exhorted to love righteousness; violence must increase, but judgment will follow; idols will fail, and the heathen be judged in fire for ever; the righteous are to rise again (xci. 1-11).

(b) Apocalypse of Weeks.-1st week: Enoch born. 2nd: the first end; Noah saved. 3rd: Abraham elected as the plant of righteous judgment. 4th: the law for all generations made. 5th: house of glory built. 6th: all Israel blinded; Elijah ascends to heaven; the Dispersion. 7th: general apostasy; the elect righteous elected to receive seven-fold instruction concerning all creation (= Enochs revelations). 8th: week of righteousness and of sword; Temple rebuilt for ever; all mankind converted. 9th: righteous judgment revealed to the whole world; sin abolished. 10th: great eternal judgment on angels; new heaven; thereafter weeks without number for ever (xciii., xci. 12-17).

(c) Warnings and woes.-Warnings against paths of unrighteousness (xciv. 1-5); woes against oppressors and rich (xciv. 6-11) and sinners (xcv. 2-7); hope for righteous (xcvi. 1-3); their prayer heard (xcvii. 5); woes against the luxurious and the rich (xcvi. 4-8, xcvii. 1-10). Warnings against indulgence; sin is of mans own devising, and every sin is every day recorded in heaven (xcviii. 1-8); sinners are prepared for the day of destruction; they will be given into hands of righteous (xcviii. 9-16). Woes on godless and law-breakers (xcix.); the righteous are to raise prayers and place them before the angels, who are to place the sin of sinners for a memorial before the Most High (xcix. 3). Sinners are to destroy one another (c. 1-3); angels descend into secret places and gather all who brought down sin (i.e. fallen angels); the righteous and holy receive guardians till an end is made of sin; though the righteous sleep long, they have nothing to fear; angels, sun, moon, and stars will witness to the sins of sinners (c. 4-13); God is obeyed by all Nature, therefore His law should be observed by men (ci.). Terrors of the judgment-day; the righteous who died in misery are not to grieve but await judgment (cii. 1-5). Taunts of sinners-after death we and the righteous are equal (cii. 6-11). Enoch knows a mystery from the heavenly tablets-the spirits of the righteous dead shall live and rejoice (ciii. 1-4); woes of sinners who died in honour-their spirits descend into darkness, chains, and burning flame (ciii. 5-8); woes of the righteous (ciii. 9-15); yet in heaven the angels remember them for good, and their names are written; they shall shine as lights of heaven (civ. 1, 2); cry for judgment, and it shall appear (civ. 3). The writings of Enoch are to be given to the righteous-they give joy, uprightness, and wisdom (civ. 9-13).

[Messianic fragment (cv.).-God and the Messiah to dwell with men.] [Noachic fragment (cvi.-cvii.).-Lamech has a wondrous son; Methuselah inquires of Enoch at the ends of the earth about him; Enoch replies that a Deluge is to come because of sin introduced by the fallen angels; this son shall alone be saved-sin will arise again after him till the final annihilation of evil.] An independent addition (cviii.).-Another book written by Enoch for his son and those who keep the law in the last days; the righteous are to wait for the destruction of the ungodly, whose spirits suffer in fire (cviii. 1-6); the spirits of the humble who lived ascetic lives and belonged to the generation of light shall God bring forth in shining light and seat each on the throne of his honour in never-ending splendour (cviii. 7-15).

2. Title.-The work is referred to under several titles. Of these the oldest are (a) the Books of Enoch (Test. Jud. xviii. 1, Test. Lev. x. 5 [A]; Origen, c. Celsum, v. 54, in Num. Hom. 28:2-this title is implied in the division of the work into books; 1 En xiv. 1, lxxii. 1, lxxxii. 1, xcii. 1, cviii. 1; Syncellus, Chronographia [ed. Dind., 1829, i. 20, etc.]); (b) the Words of Enoch (Jub. xxi. 10; Test. Benj. ix. 1; cf. 1 En. i. 1, xiv. 1). Other titles are (c) the Book of Enoch (Test. Lev. x. 5 [a]; Origen, de Princ. i. iii. 3, etc.); (d) the Writing of Enoch (Test. Lev. xiv. 1; Tertullian, de Cultu Fem. i. 3); (e) Enoch (Jud 1:14; Ep. Barn. iv. 3; Clem. Alex., Eclog. Proph. [ed. Dind., 1869, iii. 456, 474]; Origen, in Ioannem, vi. 25, c. Celsum, v. 54; Tertullian, de Cultu Fem. ii. 10, de Idol. iv., xv.).

3. Canonicity.-That the work was recognized as inspired in certain Jewish circles appears from the above references in Jubilees and the Test. XII. Patriarchs. St. Jude quotes a passage from it as an authentic prophecy of Enoch. The Epistle of Barnabas (xvi. 5) refers to it in the words ; Athenagoras (Leg. pro Christianis, 24) as ; Tert. (de Idol. xv.), Spiritus prececinit per Enoch; (de Cultu Fem. i. 3), scio seripturam Enoch non recipi a quibusdam, quia nec in armarium Judaicum admittitur cum Enoch eadem scriptura etiam de Domino praedicarit, a nobis quidem nihil omnino rejiciendum est, quod pertineat ad nos. A Judaeis potest jam videri propterea reiecta, sicut et cetera quae Christum sonant. Origen, however, in c. Celsum, v. 54, says: . Chrysostom (Hom. in Gen 6:1), Jerome (Com. in Psa 132:3), and Augustine (de Civ. Dei, XV. xxiii. 4) denounce the work as apocryphal, and this opinion henceforward prevails.

4. Critical structure and dates.-That the work was composite might be inferred from the external evidence of the titles, Books or Words of Enoch, under which the work is quoted in other writings. But internal evidence is more decisive. The frequent headings, such as the book written by Enoch (xcii. 1), another book which Enoch wrote (cviii. 1), and the divergence of historical outlook, of method of treatment, of ideas and phrases, in the various parts, point even more clearly to the fact that the work in its present form is a redaction of several of the more prominent writings belonging to a diffuse and varied cycle of literature passing under the name of Enoch. The work as we have it falls naturally into five quite distinct main sections as shown in 1 above:

Section i.: Visions and journeys (for contents see above).

-xii.-xxxvi. belong to the earliest Enochic portion of this section; they are pre-Maccabaean, as, unlike lxxxiii-xc, they make no reference to Antiochus persecution. They fall into subsections: xii-xvi. (out of their original order), xvii-xix., xx-xxxvi. Chs. vi-xi. belong to the earlier Book of Noah (see below). Chs. i-v. appear to be an introduction written by the final editor of the entire work. The problem in this section is the origin of evil, which is traced to the fall of the Watchers. There is no Messiah; God Himself is to abide with men (xxv. 3); all the Gentiles will become righteous and worship God (x. 21); the righteous are admitted to the tree of life and live patriarchal lives with very material joys and blessings.

Section ii.: The Parables (formerly known as the Similitudes)

There are three Parables (xxxviii.-xliv., xlv.-lvii., lviii.-lxix.), while xxxvii. forms an introduction, and lxx. a conclusion to them. Ch. lxxi. belongs to the Third Parable. There are many interpolations. Some are from the Book of Noah-lx., lxv-lxix. 25 confessedly, and probably xxxix. 1-2, liv. 7-Leviticus 2 as well. Behind the Parables proper lie two sources, as Beer (Kautzschs Apok. and Pseud. ii. 227) has shown: one deals with the Son of Man-xl. 3-7, xlvi-xlviii. 7, lii. 3-4, lxi. 3-4, lxii. 2-lxiii., lxix. 26-29, lxx-lxxi., and has the angel who went with me as Enochs interpreter; the other deals with the Elect One-xxxviii-xxxix., xl. 1-2, 8-10, xli. 1-2, 9, xlv., xlviii. 8-10, l-lii. 1-2, 5-9, liii-liv. 6, Leviticus 3 -lvii., lxi. 1-2, 5-13, lxii. l, and has the angel of peace as interpreter of the vision (so Charles, Enoch, p. 65). Only the former source attributes pre-existence to the Son of Man (xlviii. 2). This section is full of peculiar features, e.g. Lord of Spirits as a Divine title; Phanuel replaces Uriel as the fourth archangel. The angelology is more developed: besides Cherubim, we have Seraphim, Ophannim, angels of power and of principalities. And so is the demonology: the origin of evil is traced back to the Satans and an original evil spirit-world. The Messiah is eternally pre-existent, and all judgment is committed to Him. The date of this section appears to lie between 95 and 64 b.c. and probably between 95 and 79. The kings and the mighty are evidently the later Maccabaean princes and their Sadducaean supporters. The mighty cannot refer to the Romans; it must refer to the Sadducaean nobles, who did not support the Herods. The problem is the oppression of the righteous by the kings and mighty, and the solution consists in a vision of the coming liberator and vindicator, the Messiah of supernatural power and privilege.

Section iii.: The Book of the Heavenly Luminaries

Chs. lxxii-lxxviii., lxxxii., lxxxix. are original to this section; lxxx. and lxxxi. are interpolations. The conceptions at times approach those of i-xxxvi., but the points of divergence are very numerous. The date is not ascertainable. The object is to establish the solar year of 364 days as a Divine law revealed as early as the time of Enoch (lxxiv. 12 as emended. Cf. Jub. vi, 32-36).

Section iv.: The Dream Visions

There is only one interpolation-xc. 14b, xc. 13-15 and xc. 16-18 are doublets. There is close agreement with and evident knowledge of vi-xi., but no dependence on them. The conceptions are more spiritual and developed. The date would be before 161 b.c., as Judas Maccabaeus is still warring (xc. 13); the end is expected to be about 140 b.c., as the fourth period of twelve shepherds would end then. The problem is the continued depression of Israel after the Return, which is attributed to the neglect of its seventy angelic guardians.

Section v.-This section really commences with xcii. 1 (see heading), and the original order of the first four chapters was xcii., xci. 1-10, 18-19, xciii. 1-10, xci. 12-17, xciv.; of these xciii. 1-10, xci. 12-17 form the short Apocalypse of Weeks. There is a close resemblance throughout xci-civ. to i-xxxvi., in phrases, references, and ideas, but the divergences are not less numerous (see Charles, p. 219ff.). The righteous alone rise, and in spirit only, not in body, to walk in eternal light in heaven. Contrast the crude materialism of i-xxxvi. The date is determined by the interpretation we put on ciii. 14, 15-the rulers did not remove from us the yoke of those that devonred us and dispersed us and murdered us. If the massacre of the Pharisees by John Hyrcanus is meant, the date must be later than that year-94 b.c., (cf. Parables). Otherwise, 104-95 b.c. (so Charles). The problem is ethical (the seeming impunity of the prosperous wicked-who, however, at death descend to Sheol and the name for ever), not national, as in lxxxiii-xc.

cv.-An independent Messianic fragment; cvi-cvii.-part of the earlier Book of Noah; cviii. presupposes i-xxxvi. and xci-civ., and is later in date, and strongly ascetic, if not Essene, in tone.

Book of Noah.-Scattered through the work we find a series of more or less fragmentary passages-vi-xi., liv. 7-Leviticus 2, lx., lxv-lxix. 25, cvi-cvii., and probably xxix. 1, 2a)-which generally refer to Noah and the Deluge. Their inclusion appears to be due to the final editor, who forced into what are often awkward contexts fragments of this earlier work, or series of works, which we also know from Jub. vii. 20-39, x. 1-15, xxi, 10.

5. The text.-The text is not extant in the original Semitic form, but we possess a Greek translation of a part, and an Ethiopic version of the whole.

(1) The Greek version exists in duplicate to some extent. (a) The superior in point of text is to be found in Syncellus (Chronographia, ed. Dind. i. 20-23, etc.), who quotes vi-x. 14, xv. 8-xvi. 1, and also gives viii. 4-ix. 4 in variant form. He also gives a quotation from the first book of Enoch concerning the watchers (ed. Dind. i.-47) which does not occur in our present text. (b) The longer but less accurate text for i-xxxii. (and xix. 3-xxi. 9 in duplicate) was discovered in 1886-7 at Akhmm, and published by Bouriant in 1892. Another fragment, in tachygraphic characters, exists in a Vatican Greek manuscript -no. 1809 (see at end of this article ).

(2) The Ethiopic version, which is a translation from the Greek, is known in 29 Manuscripts , of which 15 are in England. The best are numbered gg1 mqtu in Charless Ethiopic text (q.v. [Note: quod vide, which see.] ). This text is inferior to that of the Syncellus Greek and is much nearer to that of the Akhmm Fragment (known generally as the Gizeh Greek).

(3) The Latin version is a mere fragment, cvi. 1-18, discovered in 1893 by M. R. James in the British Museum. and published by him in that year in Texts and Studies ii. 3.

(4) The quotations, both Greek and Latin, except for those in Syncellus, add little to the restoration of the true text. See Lawlor, article in Journal of Philology, xxv. [1897] 164-225, and Charless Introductions under Influence on Patristic Literature in his two recent editions.

6. Original language.-The original language is now admitted to be Semitic-either Hebrew or Aramaic. Chs. vi-xxxvi. were almost certainly in Aramaic. The transliterations (xviii.8), (xxviii. 1), and (xxix. 1), all show the Aramaic termination; while in vi. 7 and viii. 3 the proper names are only appropriate in Aramaic. To the rest of the book (except lxxxiii-xc, which was possibly in Aramaic) Charles unhesitatingly assigns a Hebrew original, In xxxvii-lxxi. Schmidt (OT and Semitic Studies, 1908, ii. 336-343) argues for Aramaic, but is answered by Charles.

7. Poetical element.-This bulks largely in 1 Enoch, but was first recognized by Charles, who Prints it in verse form in his two recent editions. Its recognition is of use in helping at times to restore the true order, and at times to excise dittographs.

8. Influence on NT

(1) Diction and ideas.-(a) The Epistle of St. Jude is remarkable for containing, with the possible exception of 2Ti 3:8, the only two direct citations from pseudepigraphs in the NT. And of those two citations the only one made by name is from the Book of Enoch, which is quoted as though it possessed much the same authority as a canonical book of prophecy. It may be instructive to compare the words in Jude with the text of Enoch as restored by Charles:

Jud 1:14-15 – , , 1 En. i. 9- , , .

.

For the cf. 1 En. v. 4, xxvii. 2. Further, St. Judes description of Enoch as the seventh from Adam is identical with that in the Noachic interpolation in the Parables (lx. 8).

The Epistle is full of reminiscences of Enoch. Cf. Jud 1:4, denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ, with 1 En. xlviii. 10, they have denied the Lord of Spirits and His Anointed; Jud 1:6, angels which left their proper habitation, with 1 En. xii. 4, the Watchers who have left the high heaven, and xv. 7, as for the spiritual ones or the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling; Jud 1:6, kept in everlasting hands under darkness unto the judgment of the great day, with 1 En. x. 4-6, Bind Azazel and cast him into the darkness and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever and on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire, and x. 11, 12, Bind Semjaza bind them fast for seventy generations till the judgment that is for ever and ever is consummated; Jud 1:13, wandering stars, with 1.En. xviii. 15, xxi. 2, 3, 6.

(b) 2 Peter is closely related to Jude, and 2Pe 2:4 is more than an echo of Jud 1:6. The fuller details, indeed, may be due to 1 Enoch, while the juxtaposition of the first judgment on the angels in 2Pe 2:4 with the Deluge in 2Pe 2:5 is characteristic of 1 Enoch as it stands, especially in its Noachic interpolations, e.g. x. 1-16, lxv. 1-lxvii. 4. As Noah is called a preacher of righteousness in 2Pe 2:5, we might venture to assume that this title implies that he, and not Christ, was taken to be the preacher to the spirits in prison in 1Pe 3:19 by the author of 2 Peter. If this be admitted, 1Pe 3:19-20 might possibly be claimed as witnessing to the original form of the Noah Apocalypse in which it was not Enoch but Noah who was sent to reprimand the Watchers (see 1 En. xii. 1-4, Enoch was hidden and his activities had to do with the Watchers. Enoch, thou scribe of righteousness, go declare to the Watchers ). In support of this view we may note () that the references to the sin of the angels are all (except lxxxvi. 1) in Noachic passages; () that in defiance of chronology and the context the name Noah has been altered to Enoch in lx. 1; that the longsuffering of God waited in 1Pe 3:20 seems to echo 1 En. lx. 5, until this day lasted His mercy; and He hath been merciful and longsuffering. Cf. too lxvi. 2 and lxvii. 2, where angels hold the waters in check and other angels are constructing the ark, with 1Pe 3:20, while the ark was a-preparing. On the other hand, of course, there are great exegetical difficulties in 1Pe 3:19-20 in the way of this view, though the spirits which aforetime were disobedient suggests angelic and not human offenders, and the prison of the angels is a commonplace in 1 En. (x. 4, 12, xix. 1, xxi. 10, lxvii. 4, etc.).

(c) In St. Johns First Epistle we have the frequent contrast between light and darkness so characteristic of 1 Enoch: e.g. 1Jn 1:7 walk in the light || 1 En. xcii. 4; 1Jn 2:8 the darkness is passing away || 1 En. lviii. 5. The warning in 1Jn 2:15 love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, has a close parallel in 1 En. cviii. 8, loved not any of the good things which are in the world, and in xlviii. 7.

(d) For St. Jamess woes against the rich (5:1-6), only paralleled in the NT by our Lords words on the danger of trusting to wealth, cf. 1 En. xlvi. 7, lxiii. 10, xciv. 8-11, xcvi. 4-8, xcvii. 8-10.

(e) The Book of Revelation is naturally full of Jewish apocalyptic phraseology and imagery, and parallels are abundant with 1 Enoch. () Angelology.-Seven (arch) angels (Rev 8:2; ?Rev 1:4; Rev 4:5) || 1 En. xx. 1-8, xc. 21; four living creatures (Rev 4:6) || four presences (1 En. xl. 2-9); have no rest day and night (Rev 4:8) || 1 En. xxxix. 13; angels offer mens prayers to God (Rev 8:3-4; cf. Rev 5:8) || 1 En. ix. 1-3, xlvii. 2, xcix. 3; angels of winds (Rev 7:1) and of waters (Rev 16:5) || 1 En. lxix. 22. () Demonology.-A star from heaven fallen unto the earth (Rev 9:1)-for phrase cf. 1 En. lxxxvi. 1; Satan accuser of our brethren before our God (Rev 12:9-10) || Satans before the Lord of Spirits to accuse them who dwell on the earth (1 En. xl. 7); the false prophet deceiveth them that dwell on the earth (Rev 13:14) || the hosts of Azazel leading astray those who dwell on the earth (1 En. liv. 56); idolatry as demon worship (Rev 9:20) || 1 En. xix. 1, xcix. 7. () Boasting of rich.-I am rich and have gotten riches (Rev 3:17) || we have become rich with riches and have possessions (1 En. xcvii. 8). () Stages of judgment.-Prayer of saints for vengeance (Rev 6:10) || 1 En. xlvii. 2, etc.; terror of the kings and the great at the sight of him that sitteth on the throne and at the wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6:16) || when they see that Son of Man sitting on the throne of His glory (1 En. lxii. 5); the sinners blood rises to the horses bridles (Rev 14:20) || to the horses breasts (1 En. c. 3); books opened (Rev 20:12) || 1 En. xc. 20; book of life (Rev 20:12) || books of the living (1 En. xlvii. 3); Satan bound for a thousand years (Rev 20:2) and then cast into lake of fire (Rev 20:10) || Semjaza and his associates bound for seventy generations (1 En. x. 12) and then led off to the abyss of fire (x. 13). () Resurrection.-The sea, death, and Hades give up their dead (Rev 20:13) || the earth, Sheol, and hell (1 En. li. 1), the desert and the sea (lxi. 5) restore their dead. () The future rewards of the righteous.-Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord (Rev 14:13) || Blessed is the man who dies in righteousness (1 En. lxxxi. 4); saints in white raiment (Rev 3:5) || angels clothed in white (1 En. xc. 31) and saints (clad) in shining light (cviii. 12); fountains of waters of life (Rev 7:17) || a bright spring of water (1 En. xxii. 9; cf. xlviii. 1); eat with Christ (Rev 3:20) || with that Son of Man shall they eat and lie down and rise up for ever (1 En. lxii. 14); sit on throne with Christ (Rev 3:21; cf. Rev 20:4) || I will seat each on the throne of his honour (cviii. 12); Christ will spread His tabernacle over them (Rev 7:15) || I will cause my Elect One to dwell among them (1 En. xlv. 4); no curse any more (Rev 22:3) || no sorrow or plague, etc. (1 En. xxv. 6).

(f) In Acts we have a parallel with 1 Enoch: Act 10:4 thy prayers are gone up for a memorial before God || 1 En. xcix. 3 raise your prayers as a memorial before the Most High.

(g) Hebrews.-With Heb 4:13; Hebrews cf.1 En. ix. 5 all things are naked and open in thy sight, and thou seest all things and nothing can hide itself from thee; cf. also Heb 11:10; Heb 12:22 (the heavenly Jerusalem built by God Himself) with 1 En. xc. 29; 11:5 refers to the translation of Enoch and understands walked with God in Gen 5:24 as pleased God. Cf. 1 En. xv. 1.

(h) St. Pauls Epistles.-1Th 5:3 || 1 En. lxii. 4 then shall pain come upon them as on a woman in travail; Rom 8:38 (cf. 2Th 1:7, Eph 1:21, Col 1:16) || 1 En. lxi. 10 angels of power and of principalities. With 2Co 4:6; 2 Corinthians cf.1 En. xxxviii. 4 the Lord of Spirits has caused his light to appear (so Charles) on the face of the holy, righteous, and elect; 2Co 11:31 || 1 En. lxxvii. 1 He who is blessed for ever; Gal 1:4 || 1 En. xlviii. 7 this world of unrighteousness; Php 2:10 || 1 En. xlviii. 5 shall fall down and worship before him (= Son of Man); Col 2:3 || 1 En. xlvi. 3 the Son of Man who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden; 1Ti 1:9 || 1 En. xciii. 4 a law shall be made for the sinners; 1Ti 1:15 || 1 En. xciv. 1 worthy of acceptation: 1Ti 5:21 || 1 En. xxxix. 1; 1Ti 6:16 || 1 En. xiv. 21 none of the angels could enter and could behold his face by reason of the magnificence and glory, and no flesh could behold him.

(i) NT in general.-Phrases which recur in the NT are Lord of lords and King of kings (1 En. ix. 4, Rev 17:14; cf. 1Ti 6:15); holy angels (1 En. lxxi. 1, etc., Rev 14:10, etc.; cf. Act 10:22); the generation of light (1 En. cviii. 11): cf. Eph 5:8 children of light, 1Th 5:5 sons of light (so Luk 16:8, Joh 12:36).

(2) Theology

(a) The Messiah.-The Son of Man in the Parables is pre-existent: before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of the heaven were made, his name was named before the Lord of Spirits (xlviii. 3), for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before him, before the creation of the world and for evermore (xlviii. 6), for from the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, and the Most High preserved him in the presence of his might, and revealed him to the elect (lxii. 7; cf. xxxix. 6, 7, xlvi. 1-3). For before the creation cf. Col 1:17, and for from the beginning cf. Joh 1:1, 1Jn 1:1, Rev 1:17; Rev 21:6; Rev 22:13, and for revealed cf. 1Ti 3:16, 1Jn 3:5; 1Jn 3:8, and esp. 1Pe 1:20. He is a supernatural being. In Dan 7:13 the one like unto a son of man is brought before God and dominion is bestowed on him. In 1 En. xxxix. 6, 7, xlvi. 1, 2, lxii. 7 the Son of Man is with God (cf. Joh 1:1) and will sit on His throne (li. 3). He is the ideally Righteous One (xxxviii. 2)-the Righteous and Elect One (liii. 6; cf. xlvi. 3); cf. Act 3:14; Act 7:52; Act 22:14; 1Jn 2:1. He is the Elect (xl. 5, xlv. 3, 4, xlix. 2, 4, etc.); cf. Luk 9:35; Luk 23:35; the Anointed or Christ (xlviii. 10, lii. 4). He has all knowledge (xlvi. 3, xlix. 2, 4), all wisdom (xlix. 1, 3, li. 3), all dominion (lxii. 6; cf. Mat 28:18). The sum of judgment is given unto the Son of Man (lxix. 27; cf. Joh 5:22; Joh 5:27). God appoints a judge for them all and he judges them all before Him (xli. 9; cf. Act 17:31). He judges both men and angels (li. 2, Leviticus 4, lxi. 8, lxii. 2, 3). He is Vindicator of the righteous (but not redeemer of mankind). He has preserved the lot of the righteous (xlviii. 7) and will be the hope of those who are troubled of heart (xlviii. 4). He has been revealed to the righteous (lxii. 7) and in due time will cause the house of his congregation to appear (liii. 6). Outside the Parables God Himself is the Judge (cf. 1Pe 1:17, Rev 20:12); in the Parables it is the Son of Man (cf. 1Pe 4:5, Rev 6:16-17; Rev 22:12, etc.). It is an unforgivable sin to deny the Anointed One (xlviii. 10). The words in his name they are saved in xlviii. 7 must refer to the Lord of Spirits, not to the Son of Man, as Charles takes it. For the phrase, however, cf. Act 4:12, 1Co 6:11.

(b) Messianic Kingdom.-Whereas in i-xxxvi. there is a very sensuous conception of Messianic bliss, and the scene of the Kingdom is the existing Jerusalem and Holy Land purified from sin, in lxxxiii-xc. we find a more advanced conception. The centre of the Kingdom is now to be a new Jerusalem brought to earth by God Himself (cf. Heb 12:22, Rev 3:12; Rev 21:2), and the citizens of it are to be transformed after the likeness of the Messiah, whose origin is, however, natural and human. In xci-civ. we have a Kingdom of limited duration, followed by the last judgment (cf. Rev 20:4-5; Rev 20:11-15). In the Parables we have a new heaven and a new earth, under a supernatural head, the fount of wisdom, righteousness, and power.

(c) The Resurrection in i-xxxvi. is of soul and body to a limited, life in an eternal Messianic Kingdom on earth. In the Parables the resurrection is to a spiritual Kingdom, in which the holy are clothed with a spiritual body, garments of life of glory (lxii. 16; cf. 1Co 15:53-54, 2Co 5:1-4). In xci-civ. there is a resurrection of the spirit only.

(d) The Judgment in 1 Enoch precedes the Kingdom, except, in xci-civ. (for which cf. Rev 21:11-15). See under 8 (2) (a) above.

(e) Sheol or Hades in 1 En. xxii. is a place of souls, good and bad, in the intermediate state, in 1 En. lxiii. 10, xcix. 11, ciii. 7 of wicked souls in their final state of woe; cf. Rev 20:13-14 (of wicked only (?) in intermediate state).

(f) Retribution and salvation.-In xci-civ. the tone is extremely other-worldly, and the contrast between the present prosperity of the wicked and the sufferings of the righteous and their future destinies is emphasized throughout. Judgment will be according to works, which the Son of Man will try (xlv. 3) and judge, and in the balance shall (mens) deeds be weighed (lxi. 8; cf. xli. 1). These works, however, are the outcome of faith on the part of the righteous whose elect works, as also they themselves, hang upon the Lord of Spirits (xxxviii. 2; cf. xl. 5, xlvi. 8). The elect is a frequent title of the righteous, and implies dependence upon Gods grace.

(g) Sin and repentance.-Mans will is free, and the two ways of righteousness and violence lie before him for his choice (xci. 18, xciv. 3). Though sin goes back in origin to the fallen angels and the Satans, man of himself has created it (xcviii. 4; cf. Jam 1:13-15). 1 En. xl. 9 assigns to Phanuel the oversight of repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life. On the other hand, repentance will be unavailing for men after the manifestation of the Son of Man on the throne of glory (lxiii. 1-11), and at all times for fallen angels (xii. 6, xiv. 4, lxv. 11).

(h) Angels.-Marriage is forbidden to them (xv. 7; cf. Mat 22:23-33); 1Co 11:10 possibly refers to the seduction of angels by women, which, however, agrees with the narrative of the angels fall in Jubilees rather than in 1 Enoch.

(i) The conversion of the Gentiles is expected generally in 1 Enoch, e.g. x. 21, l. 2, xc. 30, 33, xci. 14.

Literature.-I. Chief editions of the text.-(i) In the Greek versions.-U. Bouriant, Fragments du texte grec du Livre dHnoch (= Mmoires publis par les membres de la mission archologique franaise au Caire, Paris, 1892-99, tom. ix. fasc. i.), pp. 91-136; A. Lods, Lvangile et lApocalypse de Pierre avec le texte grec du Livre dHnoch. Fac-simil du manuscrit reproduit en 34 planches doubles, en hliogravure (= Mmoires publis par les membres de la mission archologique franaise au Caire, tom. ix. fasc. iii.), also Le Livre dHnoch; Fragments grecs dcouverts Akhmm, publis avec les variantes du texte thiopien, traduits et annots, Paris 1892; A. Dillmann, ber den neugefundenen griechischen Text des Henochbuches in Sitzungsberichte der kgl. preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, li.-liii. [Berlin, 1892], pp. 1039-1054, 1079-1092; R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch, Oxford, 1893, pp. 318-370,21912, pp. 273-305; H. B. Swete, OT in Greek, vol. iii. [Cambridge, 1905], pp. 789-809; J. Flemming and L. Radermacher, Das Buch Henoch, Leipzig, 1901, pp. 18-60, 113-114. For the Vatican Fragment, see A. Mai, Patrum Nova Bibliotheca, Rome, 1844-71; J. Gildemeister, in Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlndischen Gesellschaft ix. [1855] pp. 621-4, and O. von Gebhardt in Merx Archiv fr wissenschaftl. Erforschungen des AT [Note: T Altes Testament.] , Halle, 1872, ii. 243.

(ii.) In the Latin version.,-M. R. James, in Texts and Studies ii. 3: Apocrypha Anecdota, Cambridge, 1893, pp. 146-150; R. H. Charles, Book of Enoch1, pp. 372-375, 2pp. 264-268; Anecdota Oxoniensia. The Ethiopic Version of the Book of Enoch, Oxford, 1906, p. 2ff.; Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, Oxford, 1913, pp. 278, 279.

(iii.) In the Ethiopic version-R. Laurence, Libri Enoch Versio Aethiopica, Oxford, 1838; A. Dillmann, Liber Henoch, Aethiopice, ad quinque codicum fidem editus, eum variis lectionibus, Leipzig, 1851; R. H. Charles, Anecdota Oxoniensia. The Ethiopic Version of the Book of Enoch; J. Flemming, Das Buch Henoch: Aethiopischer Text (= Texte and Untersuchungen , new ser., vii. 1) Leipzig, 1902.

(iv.) In translations.-R. Laurence, The Book of Enoch now first translated from an Ethiopic manuscript in the Bodleian Library, Oxford 1821; A. Dillmann, Das Buch Henoch bersetzt und erklrt, Leipzig, 1853; G. H. Schodde, The Book of Enoch translated with Introduction and Notes, Andover, 1882; R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch translated from Dillmanns Ethiopic Text emended and revised , Oxford, 1893, translated anew from the Editors Ethiopic Text , Oxford, 1912; G. Beer, in Kautzschs Apok. und Pseud., Tbingen, 1900, ii. 236-310; J. Flemming and L. Radermacher, Das Buch Henoch; F. Martin, Le Livre dHnoch traduit sur le texte thiopien, Paris, 1906; R. H. Charles, Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, ii. 188-281.

II. Chief critical inquiries.-G. C. F. Lcke, Einleitung in die Offenbarung des Johannes2, Bonn, 1852, pp. 89-144, 1071-3; A. Dillmann, Das Buch Henoch bersetzt und erklrt, also in Realencyklopdie fr protestantische Theologie und Kirche 1 xii. [1860] 308-310, Realencyklopdie fr protestantische Theologie und Kirche 2. xii. [1883] 350-352; G. H. A. Ewald, Abhandlung ber des thiopischen Buches Henkh Entstehung, Sinn und Zusammensetzung, Gttingen, 1854; History of Israel2, London, 1869-80, v. 345-9; A. Hilgenfeld, Die jdische Apokalyptik, Jena, 1857, pp. 91-184; J. Halevy, Recherches sur la langue de la rdaction primitive du livre dnoch, in JA [Note: A Journal Asiatique.] , 1867, pp. 352-395; O. von Gebhardt, Die 70 Hirten des Buches Henoch in Merx Archiv fr wissenschaftl. Erforschung des AT [Note: T Altes Testament.] , vol. ii. pp. 163-246; Tideman, De Apokalypse van Henoch en het Essenisme, in Theol. Tijdschrift, 1875, pp. 261-296; J. Drummond, The Jewish Messiah, London, 1877, pp. 17-73; E. Schrer, History of the Jewish People (Eng. tr. of GJV).] ii. iii. (Edinburgh, 1886) pp. 54-73; W. Baldensperger, Das Selbstbeuusstsein Jesu, Strassburg, 1888, pp. 7-16; R. H. Charles, Book of Enoch; Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, ii. 163-185; C. Clemen, Die Zusammensetzung des Buches Henoch, in Theologische Studien und Kritiken, lxxi. [1898], pp. 211-227; G. Beer, in Kautzschs Apok. und Pseud. des AT [Note: T Altes Testament.] ii. 224-230; J. Flemming and L. Radermacher, Das Buch Henoch; F. Martin, Le Livre dHnoch.

A. Ll. Davies.

Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church

Enoch, Book of

The antediluvian patriarch Henoch according to Genesis “walked with God and was seen no more, because God took him”. This walking with God was naturally understood to refer to special revelations made to the patriarch, and this, together with the mystery surrounding his departure from the world, made Henoch’s name an apt one for the purposes of apocalyptic writers. In consequence there arose a literature attributed to him.

It influenced not only later Jewish apocrypha, but has left its imprint on the New Testament and the works of the early Fathers. The canonical Epistle of St. Jude, in verses 14, 15, explicitly quotes from the Book of Henoch; the citation is found in the Ethiopic version in verses 9 and 4 of the first chapter. There are probable traces of the Henoch literature in other portions of the New Testament.

Passing to the patristic writers, the Book of Henoch enjoyed a high esteem among them, mainly owing to the quotation in Jude. The so-called Epistle of Barnabas twice cites Henoch as Scripture. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, and even St. Augustine suppose the work to be a genuine one of the patriarch. But in the fourth century the Henoch writings lost credit and ceased to be quoted. After an allusion by an author of the beginning of the ninth century, they disappear from view.

So great was the oblivion into which they fell that only scanty fragments of Greek and Latin versions were preserved in the West. The complete text was thought to have perished when it was discovered in two Ethiopic manuscripts in Abyssinia, by the traveler Bruce in 1773. Since, several more copies in the same language have been brought to light. Recently a large Greek fragment comprising chapters i-xxxii was unearthed at Akhmîn in Egypt.

Scholars agree that the Book of Henoch was originally composed either in Hebrew or Aramaic, and that the Ethiopic version was derived from a Greek one. A comparison of the Ethiopic text with the Akhmîn Greek fragment proves that the former is in general a trustworthy translation. The work is a compilation, and its component parts were written in Palestine by Jews of the orthodox Hasidic or Pharisaic schools. Its composite character appears clearly from the palpable differences in eschatology, in the views of the origin of sin and of the character and importance of the Messias found in portions otherwise marked off from each other by diversities of subject. Critics agree that the oldest portions are those included in chapters i-xxxvi and (broadly speaking) lxxi-civ.

It will be seen that the work is a voluminous one. But the most recent research, led by the Rev. R.H. Charles, an English specialist, breaks up this part into at least two distinct constituents. Charles’s analysis and dating are: i-xxxvi, the oldest part, composed before 170 B.C.; xxxvii-lxx, lxxxiii-xc, written between 166-161 B.C.; chapters xci-civ between the years 134-95 B.C.; the Book of Parables between 94-64 B.C.; the Book of Celestial Physics, lxxii-lxxviii, lxxxii, lxxix, date undetermined. Criticism recognizes, scattered here and there, interpolations from a lost apocalypse, the Book of Noah. Expert opinion is not united on the date of the composite older portion, i.e. i-xxxvi, lxxi-civ. The preponderant authority represented by Charles and Schürer assigns it to the latter part of the second century before Christ, but Baldensperger would bring it down to a half century before our Era.

CONTENTS

In the following outline of contents, Charles’s analysis, which is supported by cogent reasons, has been adopted. The various elements are taken up in their chronological sequence.

Book I, chapters i-xxxvi

Its body contains an account of the fall of the angelic “Watchers”, their punishment, and the patriarch’s intervention in their history. It is based upon Gen., vi, 2: “The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all they chose.” The narrative is intended to explain the origin of sin and evil in the world and in this connection lays very little stress on the disobedience of our First Parents. This portion is remarkable for the entire absence of a Messias.

Book II, lxxxiii-xc

This book contains two visions. In the first, lxxxiii-lxxxiv, is portrayed the dreadful visitation of the flood, about to fall upon the earth. Henoch supplicates God not to annihilate the human race. The remaining section, under the symbolism of cattle, beasts, and birds, sketches the entire history of Israel down to the Messianic reign.

Book III, xci-civ, cviii

It professes to give a prophetic vision of the events of the world-weeks, centering about Israel. This part is distinguished by insistence upon a sharp conflict between the righteous of the nation and their wicked opponents both within and without Israel. They triumph and slay their oppressors in a Messianic kingdom without a personal Messias. At its close occurs the final judgment, which inaugurates a blessed immortality in heaven for the righteous. For this purpose all the departed just will rise from a mysterious abode, though apparently not in the body (ciii, 3, 4). The wicked will go into the Sheol of darkness and fire and dwell there forever. This is one of the earliest mentions of Sheol as a hell of torment, preceding portions of the book having described the place of retribution for the wicked as Tartarus and Geennom.

Book IV, xxxvii-lxx

This book consists of three “Parables”. The first describes the secrets of heaven, giving prominence to the angelic hosts and their princes. The second parable (xliv-lvii) deals with the Messias, and is the most striking of this remarkable book. The influence of Daniel is easily traceable here, but the figure of the Messias is sketched much more fully, and the idea developed to a degree unparalleled in pre-Christian literature. The Elect One, or Son of Man, existed before the sun and stars were created, and is to execute justice upon all sinners who oppress the good. For this end there will be a resurrection of all Israel and a judgment in which the Son of Man will render to everyone according to his deeds. Iniquity will be banished from the earth and the reign of the Messias will be everlasting. The third parable (lviii-lxx) describes again the happiness reserved for the just, the great Judgment and the secrets of nature. Here and there throughout the Book of Parables the author gives piecemeal his theory of the origin of sin. Going a step further back than the fault of the Watchers of the first book, he attributes their fall to certain mysterious Satans.

Book V, lxxii-lxxviii, lxxxix, lxxix (transposed)

This book may be called the Book of Celestial Physics, or Astronomy. It presents a bewildering mass of revelations concerning the movements of the heavenly bodies, given to Henoch by the angel Uriel. The final chapters of the entire work, cv-cvii, are drawn from the lost Book of Noah.

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Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume ICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia

Enoch, Book Of

one of the most important remains of early apocalyptic literature. The interest that once attached to it has now partly subsided; yet a document quoted, as is generally believed, by an inspired apostle (Jud 1:14-15), can never be wholly devoid of importance or utility in sacred literature. From its vigorous style and wide range of speculation, the book is well worthy of the attention which it’ received in the first ages, and recent investigations have still left many points for further inquiry.

I. History of the Book. The first trace of its existence is generally found in the epistle of Jud 1:14-15; (comp. Enoch, 1:9), but the words of the apostle leave it uncertain whether he derived his quotation from tradition (Hoffmann, Schriftbeweis, 1:420) or from writing ( … . ), though the wide spread of the book in the 2d century seems almost decisive in favor of the latter supposition. In several of the fathers mention is made of Enoch as the author, not only of a prophetic writing, but of various productions. Some such work appears to have been known to Justin (Apol. 2:5), Irenaeus (adv. Haer. 4:16, 2), and Anatolius (Eusel. H.E. 7:32). Clement of Alexandria (Eclog. page 801) and Origen (yet comp. c, Cels. 5, page 267, ed. Spenc.) both make. use of it, and nu. merous references occulr to the “writing,” books, and “words” of Enoch in the Testament of the XII Patriarchs (q.v.) a document which Nitzsch has shown to belong to the latter part of the 1st century or the beginning of the second, and which presents more or less resemblance to passages in the present book (Fabricii Cod. Pseudep. V.T. 1:161 sq.; Gfrorer, Proph. Pseudep. 273 sq.). Tertullian (De cultu faem. 1:3; compare De Idol. 4) expressly quotes the book as one which was “not received by some, nor admitted into the Jewish canon” (in armarium Judaicum), but defends it on account of its reference to Christ (“legimus omnem scripturam sedificationi habilem divinitus inspirari”). Augustine (De Civ. 15:23, 4) and an anonymous writer, whose work is printed with Jerome’s (Brev. in Psa 132:2; compare Hil. ad Psa 1:1-6.c.), were both acquainted with it; but from their time till the revival of letters it was known in the Western Church only by the quotation in Jude (Dillmann, Einl. 46). In the Eastern Church it was known some centuries later. In the 8th century, Georgius Syncellus, in a work entitled Chronographia, that reaches from Adam to Diocletian, made various extracts from “the first book of Enoch.” In the 9th century, Nicephorus, patriarch of Constantinople, at the conclusion of his Chronographice Compendium, in his list of canonical and uncanonical books, refers to the book of Enoch, and assigns 4800 as the extent of it. After this time little or no mention appears to have been made of the production until Scaliger printed the fragments of Syncellus regarding it, which he inserted in his notes to the Chronicus Canon of Eusebius. In consequence of such extracts, the book of Enoch excited much attention and awakened great curiosity. At the beginning of the 17th century an idea prevailed that it existed in an Ethiopic translation. A Capuchin monk from Egypt assured Peiresc that he had seen the book in Ethiopic, a circumstance which excited the ardor of the scholar of Pisa so much that he never rested until he obtained the tract. But when Job Ludolph went afterwards to Paris to the Royal Library, he found it to be a fabulous and silly production. In consequence of this disappointment, the idea of recovering it in Ethiopic was abandoned. At length, in 1773, Bruce brought home three copies of the book of Enoch from Abyssinia in MSS., containing the Ethiopic translation complete. “Amongst the articles,” he states, “I consigned to the library at Paris was a very beautiful and magnificent copy of the prophecies of Enoch in large quarto. Another is amongst the books of Scripture which I brought home, standing immediately before the book of Job, which is its proper place in the Abyssinian Canon; and a third copy I have presented to the Bodleian Library at Oxford by the hands of Dr. Douglas, bishop of Carlisle.” As soon as it was known in England that such a present had been made to the Royal Library at Paris, Dr.Woide, librarian of the British Museum, set out for France with letters from the secretary of state to the ambassador at that court, desiring him to assist the learned bearer in procuring access to the work. Dr. Woide accordingly transcribed it, and brought back with him the copy to England. The Parisian MS. was first publicly noticed by the eminent Orientalist De Sacy in 1800, who translated into Latin chapters 1, 2, 3, 4-15; also 22 and 31. These he also published in the Magasin Encyclopedique (VI, 1:382 sq.). Mr. Murray, editor of Bruce’s Travels, gave some account of the book from the traveler’s own MS. The Ethiopic text, however, was not published till the edition of archbishop Laurence from the Bodleian MS. in 1838 (Libri Enoch versio Ethiopica … Oxon.). But in the interval Laurence published an English translation, with an introduction and notes, which passed through three editions (The Book of Enoch, etc., by R. Laurence; Oxford, 1821, 1833, 1838). The translation of Laurence formed the basis of the German edition of Hoffmann (Das Buch Henoch … A. E. Hoffmann, Jena, 1833-38); and Gfrorer, in 1840, gave a Latin translation constructed from the translations of Laurence and Hoffmann (Prophetae veteres Pseudepigraphi … ed. A. F. Gfrorer, Stuttgartiae, 1840). According to Angelo Mai, there is a MS. copy of the book of Enoch among the Ethiopic codices of the Vatican, which must have been brought into Europe earlier than Bruce’s MSS. In 1834 Dr. Riippell procured another MS. of Enoch from Abyssinia, from which Hoffmann made the second part of his German version. All these editions were superseded by those of Dillmann, who edited the AEthiopic text from five MSS. (Liber Henoch, LEthiopice, Lipsiae, 1851), and afterwards gave a German translation of the book with a good introduction and commentary (Das Buch Henoch … von Dr. A. Dillmann, Leipzig, 1853). The work of Dillmann gave a fresh impulse to the study of the book. Among the essays which were called out by it, the most important were those of Ewald (Ueber des Ethiopischen Buches Henoch Entstehung, etc., Gottingen, 1856) and Hilgenfeld (D. Juidische Apokalyptik, Jena, 1857). The older literature on the subject is reviewed by Fabricius (Cod. Pseudep. V.T. 1:199 sq.). The Greek translation, in which it was known to the fathers, appears to be irrecoverably lost. There is no trace of it after the 8th century. The last remnant of it is preserved by Syncellus.

II. Identity of the extant Forms. There can be no doubt that the Ethiopic translation exhibits the identical book which, as most believe, Jude quoted, and which is also mentioned or cited by many of the fathers. The fragment preserved by Syncellus (reprinted by Laurence and Hoffmann) is obviously the same as chapter 7, etc., the deviations being of little importance (though one considerable passage quoted by George Syncellus is wanting in the present book, Dillm. page 85), and probably accidental. It is manifest, also, to any one who will compare the quotations made by the fathers with the Ethiopic version, that both point to the same original. The extracts in question could not have been interpolations, as they are essential to the connections in which they are found. The mention of books of Enoch in the Testament of Judah, in the Testament of Benjamin, in Origen (c. Cels. and Homil. in Num.), and of the “first book” of Enoch in the fragments preserved by Syncellus, consist with the idea that the whole was then, as now, divided into different books. Tertullian leads us to believe that it was of the same extent in the Greek text then existing as it is in the present Ethiopic.

III. Canonicity. Notwithstanding the quotation in Jude, and the wide circulation of the book itself, the apocalypse of Enoch was uniformly and distinctly separated from the canonical Scriptures. Tertullian alone maintained its authority, while he admitted that it was not received by the Jews: his arguments, however, are exceedingly puerile (De cultu foeminarum, 1:3). Origen, on the other hand (c. Cels. 5:267, ed. Spenc.), and Augustine (De Civ. 15:23, 4), definitively mark it as apocryphal, and it is reckoned among the apocryphal books in the Apostolic Constitutions (6:16), and in the catalogues of the Synops. S. Scripturce, Nicephorus (Credner, Zur Gesch. d. Kan. page 145), and Montfaucon (Bibl. Coislin. page 193).

IV. Original Language. The book of Zohar, in which are various allusions to Enoch, seems to speak of it as an important Hebrew production which, have been handed down from generation to generation. The Cabbalists, whose opinions are embodied in Zobar, thought that Enoch was really the author, a sentiment quite at variance with any other hypothesis’ than that of a Hebrew original. At all events, a Hebrew book of Enoch was known and used by Jewish writers till the 13th century (Dillmann, Einl. 47). One of the earliest references to the book occurs in the Hebrew Book of Jubilees (Dillmann, in Ewald’s Jahrb. 1850, page 90). The careful reader soon sees that the work was composed at first in Hebrew, or rather Hebrew-Aramaan. This was long ago perceived by Joseph Scaliger, though he had before him nothing but the Greek fragments preserved by Syncellus. Hottinger, however, observed, in opposition to Scaliger, that a Hebraizing style is no sure proof of a Hebrew original. Hoffmann adduces the Hebrew-Aramaean etymology of names, especially the names of angels, as an evidence of the Aramsean original an argument which is more pertinent; and Laurence infers from the book of Zohar that Hebrew was its primitive language. The writer’s thorough acquaintance with the canonical Scriptures of the Jews in the tongue in which they were composed; their use of them in the original, not the Greek translation of the Septuagint; their Hebrew etymologies of names, especially the appellations of angels and archangels; the fact that all words and phrases can easily be rendered back into Hebrew and Aramaean, and the many Hebrew idioms and terms that occur, prove that neither Greek nor Ethiopic was the original language, but the later Palestinian Hebrew. Thus Tamiel (8:7) is compounded of and , the upright of God; Samyaza of and , the name of the strong. The same conclusion follows from the term Ophanin (60:13), which is evidently identical with the Hebrew . It is remarkable; also, that as Ophanin occurs in connection with, the Cherubim, so the Hebrew term is found in the same association (1Ki 7:30; Eze 1:15-16; Eze 1:19-21; Eze 10:2; Eze 10:6; Eze 10:9; Eze 10:1, etc.; Murray’s Enoch Restitutus, page 33 sq.). The names of the sun are Oryares: and Tomas (77:1), from and . In 77:1, 2, we read that “the first wind is called the eastern, because it is the first,” which can only be explained by the Hebrew , ; “the second is called the south, because the Most High there descends,” i.e., , from (Dillmann, Das Buch Henoch, pages 235, 236). The names of the conductors of the month are also Hebrew (82:13), as Murray (page 46) and Hoffmann (page 690) remark. See Joseph hal-Lewi, in the Journal Asiatique, 1867, page 352 sq.

At what time the Greek version was made from the original can only be conjectured. It could not have been long after the final redaction of the whole, probably about the time of Philo. Having appeared in Greek, it soon became widely circulated. The Ethiopic version was made from the Greek probably about the same time as the Ethiopic translation of the other parts of the Bible with which it was afterwards conrnected, or, in other words, towards the middle or close of the 4th century. SEE ETHIOPIC VERSIONS.

V. Contents. The book of Enoch is divided in the Ethiopic MSS. into twenty sections, which are subdivided into 108 chapters; but copies differ in their specification of chapters. Dillmann has properly departed from the MSS., and endeavored to make divisions of sections, chapters, and verses which may represent the text pretty nearly as it is preserved among the Abyssinians.

In its present shape the book consists of a series of revelations supposed to have been given to Enoch and Noah, which extend to the most varied aspects of nature and life, and are designed to offer a comprehensive vindication of the action of Providence. SEE ENOCH. It is divided into five parts. The first part (chapters 1-36, Dillm.), after a general introduction (characterizing the book to which it belongs as a revelation of Enoch the seer respecting the future judgment of the world, and its results both towards the righteous and rebellious sinners, written to console the pious in the times of final tribulation), contains an account of the fall of the angels (Gen 6:1), and of the judgment to come upon them and upon the giants, their offspring (6-16); and this is followed by the description of the journey of Enoch through the earth and lower heaven in company with an angel, who showed to him many of the great mysteries of nature, the treasure-houses of the storms, and winds, and fires of heaven, the prison of the fallen, and the land of the blessed (17-26). The second part (37-71) is styled “a vision of wisdom,” and consists of three “parables,” in which Enoch relates the revelations of the higher secrets of heaven and of the spiritual world which were given to him. The first parable (38-44) gives chiefly a picture of the future blessings and manifestation of the righteous, with further details as to the heavenly bodies; the second (45-57) describes in splendid imagery the coming of Messiah, and the results which it should work among “the elect” and the gainsayers; the third (58-69) draws out at further length the blessedness of “the elect and holy,” and the confusion and wretchedness of the sinful rulers of the world. The third part (72-82) is styled “the book of the course of the lights of heaven,” and deals with the motions of the sun and moon, and the changes of the seasons; and with this the narrative of the journey of Enoch closes. The fourth part (83-91) is not distinguished by any special name, but contains the record of a dream which was granted to Enoch in his youth, in which he saw the history of the kingdoms of God and of the world up to the final establishment of the throne of Messiah. The fifth part (92-110) contains the last addresses of Enoch to his children, in which the teaching of the former chapters is made the groundwork of earnest exhortation. ‘The signs which attended the birth of Noah are next noticed (111-112); and another short “writing of Enoch” (113) forms the close to the whole book (comp. Dillmann, Einl. 1 sq.; Licke, Versuch einer vollstand. Einl. 1:93 sq.).

VI. Design. The leading object of the writer, who was manifestly imbued with deep piety, was to comfort and strengthen his contemporaries. He lived in times of distress and persecution, when the enemies of religion oppressed the righteous. The outward circumstances of the godly were such as to excite doubts of the divine equity in their minds, or, at least, to prevent it from having that hold on their faith which was necessary to sustain them in the hour of trial. In accordance with this, the writer exhibits the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked. To give greater authority to his affirmations, he puts them into the mouths of Enoch and Noah. Thus they have all the weight belonging to the character of an eminent prophet and saint. Various digressions are not without their bearing on the author’s main purpose. The narrative of the fallen angels and their punishment, as also of the flood, exemplifies the retributive justice of Jehovah; while the Jewish history, continued down to a late period, exhibits the final triumph of His people, notwithstanding all their vicissitudes. Doubtless the author lived amid a season of fiery trial. and, looking abroad over the desolation, sought to cheer the sufferers by the consideration that they should be recompensed in the Messianic kingdom. As for their wicked oppressors, they were to experience terrible judgments. The writer occasionally delights in uttering dire anathemas against the wicked. It is plain that the book grew out of the times and circumstances by which he was surrounded. It gives us a glimpse not only of the religious opinions, but also of the general features which characterized the whole period. The book belongs to the apocalyptic literature of the period between the close of the O.T. canon and the advent of Messiah. It is therefore of the same class of composition as the fourth book of Esdras and the Jewish Sibyllines. The principal interest attaching to it arises from its contributing to our knowledge of the development of Jewish Messianic ideas subsequently to the writings of inspired prophets. In tracing the gradual unfolding and growth of those ideas among the Jewish people, we are the better prepared for the revelation of the N.T.

VII. Doctrines. In doctrine the Book of Enoch exhibits a great advance of thought within the limits of revelation in each of the great divisions of knowledge. The teaching on nature is a curious attempt to reduce the scattered images of the O.T. to a physical system. The view of society and man, of the temporary triumph and final discomfiture of the oppressors of God’s people, carries out into elaborate detail the pregnant images of Daniel. The figure of the Messiah is invested with majestic dignity as “the Son of God” (105:2 only), “whose name was named before the sun was made” (48:3), and who existed “aforetime in the presence of God” (62:6; comp. Laurence, Prel. Diss. 51 sq.). At the same time, his human attributes as “the son of man,” “the son of woman” (62:5 only), “the elect one,” “the righteous one,” “the anointed,” are brought into conspicuous notice. The mysteries of the spiritual world, the connection of angels and men, the classes and ministries of the hosts of heaven, the power of Satan (40:7; 65:6), and the legions of darkness, the doctrines of resurrection, retribution, and eternal punishment (22; comp. Dillm. page 19), are dwelt upon with growing earnestness as the horizon of speculation was extended by intercourse with Greece. But the message of the book is emphatically one of “faith and truth” (comp. Dillm. page 32), and while the writer combines and repeats the thoughts of Scripture, he adds no new element to the teaching of the prophets. His errors spring from an undisciplined attempt to explain their words, and from a proud exultation in present success. For the great characteristic by which the book is distinguished from the later apocalypse of Ezra, SEE Ezra , 2D BOOK, is the tone of triumphant expectation by which it is pervaded. It seems to repeat in every form the great principle that the world, natural, moral, and spiritual, is under the immediate government of God. Hence it follows that there is a terrible retribution reserved for sinners, and a glorious kingdom prepared for the righteous, and Messiah is regarded as the divine mediator of this double issue (90, 91). Nor is it without a striking fitness that a patriarch translated from earth, and admitted to look upon the divine majesty, is chosen as “the herald of wisdom, righteousness, and judgment to a people who, even in suffering, saw in their tyrants only the victims of a coming vengeance.”

As in the canonical prophecies of the O.T., so here, the final establishment of the Messianic kingdom is preceded by wars and desolations. In the eighth ofthe ten weeks into which the world’s history is divided, the sword executes judgment upon the wicked, at the end of which God’s people have built a new temple, in which they are gathered together. The tenth week closes with the eternal judgment upon angels (90, 91).

With respect to the doctrine of a general resurrection, it is certainly implied in the work. But the mode of the resurrection of the wicked and the righteous is differently presented. The spirits of the former are taken out of Shed and thrown into the place of torment (98:3; 103:8; 108:2-5); whereas the spirits of the righteous raised again will be reunited to their bodies, and share the blessedness of Messiah’s kingdom on earth (61:5; 91:10; 92:3; 100:5). The reunion of their bodies with their spirits appears a thing reserved for the righteous.

As various sects in Jerusalem were tolerably developed at the time of some of the writers, it has been a subject of inquiry whether the peculiar doctrines of any appear in the work. According to Jellinek (Zeitschrift der deutsch. morgenlind Gesellschaft, 7:249), the work originated in the sphere of Essenism. We learn from Josephus that the Essenes preserved as sacred the names of the angels; and put up certain prayers before sunrise, as if they made supplication for that phenomenon (War, 2:8). Now there is a very developed angel-doctrine in the work before us, and we also find the following passage: “When I went out from below and saw the heaven, and the sun rise in the east, and the moon go down in the west, a few stars, and everything as he has known it from the beginning, I praised the Lord of judgment and magnified him, because he has made the sun go forth from the windows of the east,” etc., 83:11). This certainly reminds one of Essenism showing its influence on the mind of the writer. The 108th chapter is more plainly Essenic. The pious, whom God rewards with blessings, are described as having lived a life of purity, self-denial, and asceticism like to that of the Essenes. Yet Dillmann appears disinclined to find any reflection of Essenism in 83:11, or elsewhere (Das Buch Henoch, Allgemeine Einleitung, page 53). We admit that the other parts of the bookare free from it. It is obvious that the writer did not belong to the school of the Pharisees. He was tolerably free from the sects of his people; rising above the narrow confines of their distinctive peculiarities, which were not then fully developed.

VIII. Style. It is obvious that the author was a poet of no mean order. His inspiration was high, his ideas elevated and pure. He had a creative fancy which could body forth new forms and shapes. Speaking out of the midst of his own time, he could throw himself back into the past, and mould it suitably to his purpose. His language, too, has the living freshaess of a master. He was well acquainted with the book of Daniel, as is obvious from the spirit of his production. Not that he was an imitator of that bookfar from it; his mind was too powerful and independent. It is characteristic of him that he calls Jehovah Lord of Spirits, that he specifies as the seven spiritual beings that stand before God the four highest angels, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Phanuel; and the three highest hosts, the Cherubim, Seraphim, and Ophanim; that he speaks of the Elect by way of eminence, the Son of Man, i.e., the Messiah. The charm of the writer’s descriptions is irresistible, transporting the reader into the highest regions of the spiritual world. With a genuine glow of feeling, and the elevation of purest hope, he carries us away, till we are lost in wonder at the poetic inspiration of one living at a period comparatively so late. His work must have crested a new branch of writing at the time, leading to numerous imitations.

IX. Authorship. The general unity which the book possesses in its present form marks it, in the main, as the work of one man. The several parts, while they are complete in themselves, are still connected by the development of a common purpose. But internal coincidence shows with equal clearness that different fragments were incorporated by the author into his work, and some additions have been probably made afterwards. Different “books” are mentioned in early times, and variations in style and language are discernible in the present book. To distinguish the original elements and later interpolations is the great problem which still remains to be solved, for the different theories which have been proposed are barely plausible. In each case the critic seems to start with preconceived notions as to what was to be expected at a particular time, and forms his conclusions to suit his prejudices. Hoffmann and Weisse place the composition of the whole work after the Christian aera, because the one thinks that Jude could not have quoted an apocryphal book (Hoffmann, Schriftbeweis, 1:420 sq.), and the other seeks to detach Christianity altogether from a Jewish foundation (Weisse, Evangelienfrage, page 214 sq.). Stuart (Am. Bibl. Repos. 1840) so far anticipated the argument of Weisse as to regard the Christology of the book as a clear sign of its post- Christian origin. Ewald, according to his usual custom, picks out the different elements with a daring confidence, and leaves a result so complicated that no one can accept it in its details, while it is characterized in its great features by masterly judgment and sagacity. He places the composition of the groundwork of the book at various intervals between B.C. 144 and B.C. cir. 120, and supposes that the whole assumed its present form in the first half of the century before Christ. Licke (2d ed.) distinguishes two great parts, an older part including chapteres 1-36, and 72-105, which he dates from the beginning of the Maccabaean struggle, and a later, chapters 37-71, which he assigns to the period of the rise of Herod the Great (B.C. 141, etc.). He supposes, however, that later interpolations were made without attempting to ascertain their date. Dillmann at first (ut sup.) upheld more decidedly the unity of the book, and assigned the chief part of it to an Aramean writer of the time of John Hyrcanus (B.C. cir. 110). To this, according to him, “historical” and “Noachian additions” were made, probably in the Greek translation (Einl. 52). Latterly, however (in Herzog’s Encyklop. 12:309), he has greatly modified this opinion. Kostlin (in Zeller’s Jahrb. 1856, page 240 sq., 370 sq.) assigns chapters 1-16, 21-36, 72-05 to about B.C. 110; chapters 37-71 to B.C. cir. 100-64; and the “Noachian additions” and chapter 108 to the time of Herod the Great. Hilgenfeld himself places the original book (chapters 1-16, 20-36, 72-90, 91:1-19; 93:105) about the beginning of the first century before Christ (vt sup. page 145 n.). This book he supposes to have passed through the hands of a Christian writer who lived between the times “of Saturninus and Marcion” (page 181), who added the chief remaining portions, including the great Messianic section, chapters 37, 71. In the face of these conflicting theories it is evidently impossible to dogmatize, and the evidence is insufficient for conclusive reasoning. The interpretation of the Apocalyptic histories (chapters 76, 77, 85-90), on which the chief stress is laid for fixing the date of the book, involves necessarily minute criticism of details, which belongs rather to a commentary than to a general Introduction; but, notwithstanding the arguments of Hilgenfeld and Jost (Gesch. Jud. 2:218 n.), the whole book appears to be distinctly of Jewish origin. Some inconsiderable interpolations may have been made in successive translations, and large fragments of a much earlier date were undoubtedly incorporated into the work, but, as a whole, it may be regarded as describing an important phase of Jewish opinion shortly before the coming of Christ. That the entire production appeared before the Christian aera is clearly deducible from the fact that the Roman empire never appears as a power dangerous to Israel. Volkmar, however,-contends (in the Zeitschr. der morg. Gesellsch. 1860, page 87 sq.) that it was written by a disciple of Akiba to encourage the Jewish revolt under Bar-Cocheba; a view which is ably controverted by Hilgenfeld (Ib. page 111 sq.).

Stuart has laid considerable stress on the Christology of the book as indicative of an acquaintance on the authors’ part with the N.T., especially the Apocalypse. But the Christological portions do not possess sufficient distinctness to imply a knowledge of the N.T. The name JESUS never occurs. Neither are the appellations Lord, Lord Jesus, Jesus Christ, or even Christ employed. The words faith, lelievers, God and his anointed, deny, etc., can hardly be claimed as Christian terms, because they occur in the Ethiopic O.T. as the representatives of Hebrew-Greek ones. All that can be truly deduced from the Christology is that it is highly developed, and very elevated in tone, yet fairly derivable from the O.T. in all its essential and individual features. Nor is there anything in the eschatology or angelology to necessitate a Christian origin. We allow that the Messiah is spoken of in very exalted terms. His dignity, character, and acts surpass the descriptions presented in other Jewish books. But they are alike in the main, colored by the highly poetical imagination of the writers, in conformity with the sublimity and animation of their creations. We must therefore reject Stuart’s opinion of a JewishChristian origin. All the arguments adduced on its behalf are easily dissipated, since Dillman’s edition and Ewald’s criticisms have led to a better acquaintance with the text of the work itself. Nor is Hilgenfeld’s attempt to show that the so- called first Enoch book (37-71) proceeded from Christian Gnostics more successful, as Dillmann has remarked (Pseudepigraphen des A.T. in Herzog’s EEncyklopaidie, 12:309, 310). Equally futile is Hoffmann’s endeavor to show that the work did not appear till after the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century, when both Jude’s epistle and the Apocalypse had been written (Zeitschr. d. morgenl. Gesellschaft, 6:87 sq.). Not very dissimilar is Bdttcher’s view, that the book, like the Sybilline oracles, was made up in the first and second centuries after Christ of pieces belonging to different times (De Inferis, 1, 505). Nothing is more certain than that the work belongs to an ante-Christian world; and therefore the only problem is how to distribute the different books incorporated, and when to date them separately and collectively. After Laurence, Hoffmann and Gfrorer had erred in placing the whole under Herod the Great; Krieger and Lucke assigned different portions to different times, putting chaps. ixxxvi and lxxii-cviii to the early years of the Maccabaean struggle, and xxxvii-lxxi to B.C. 38-34. How far this apportionment is correct will be seen from the preceding statements (see Krieger’s Beitrage z. Kritik und Exegese, 1845, and Licke’s Versuch einer vollstandigen Einleitung in die Ojfenbarung des Johannes, 11).

X. The Place where it was written. The place where the author lived and wrote is Palestine. This alone seems to suit the circumstances implied in the work, which is largely pervaded by the spirit of persons whose power, religion, and independence had been overborne by foreign interference. Laurence, however, endeavors to show from the 72d chapter (71st Laurence), where the length of the days at various periods of the year is given, that the locality must have been between the 45th and 49th degrees of north latitude, in the northern districts of the Caspian and Euxine seas. Hence he conjectures that the writer was one of the Jews who had been carried away by Shalmaneser and did not return. Krieger supposes (Beitrage, page 53) that Enoch, the imaginary writer, drew from the astronomical traditions or writings of northern Asia, regardless of the difference of Palestine’s geographical position. Murray has shown (page 63 sq.) that one passage favors the idea that the author lived in Abyssinia; whence he infers that the production proceeded from various persons belonging to countries removed from one another. But De Sacy has remarked that as the authors’ astronomical system is partly imaginary, their geography may also be visionary. Neither Egypt, nor Chaldaea, nor Palestine, suits the astronomy of the book. The scientific knowledge of the Israelites was imperfect. It is therefore idle to look for accuracy in geography or astronomy. The writer or writers systematized such knowledge as they had of natural phenomena after their own fashion, as appears from the fact that to every third month thirty-one days are assigned. The allusions to the Oriental theosophy and the opinions of Zoroaster do not necessarily commend a Chaldaean origin, at least of the astronomical part, since the images of fire, radiance, light, and other Oriental symbols may be satisfactorily accounted for by the Jews’ intercourse with other nations, and their residence there for a time. The Oriental philosophy of Middle Asia was evidently not unknown to the authors. Zoroastrian doctrines are embodied in the work because Persian influences had been felt by the Israelites since the Babylonian captivity.

XI. Did Jude really quote the Book of Enoch? A simple comparison of the language of the apostle and that found in the corresponding passage of the extant book seems to settle this question conclusively in the affirmative, especially as the Scripture citation is prefaced with the direct acknowledgment of quotation: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying,” etc. The following are the words respectively:

EPISTLE OF JUDE, verses Jud 1:14-15; Authorized Version.

“Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

BOOK OF ENOCH, chapter 2;

Laurence’s Version.

Behold, he comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon them, and destroy the wicked, and reprove all the carnal for everything which the sinful and ungodly have done, and committed against him.

Some, however, are most unwilling to believe that an inspired writer could cite an apocryphal production. Such an opinion destroys, in their view, the character of his writing, and reduces it to the level of an ordinary composition. But this is preposterous. The apostle Paul quotes several of the heathen poets, yet who ever supposed that by such references he sanctions the productions from which his citations are made, or renders them of greater value? All that can be reasonably inferred from such a fact is, that if the inspired writer cites a particular sentiment with approbation, it must be regarded as just and right, irrespective of the remainder of the book in which it is found. The apostle’s sanction extends no farther than the passage to which he alludes. Other portions of the original document may exhibit the most absurd and superstitious notions. It has always been the current opinion that Jude quoted the book of Enoch, and there is nothing to disprove it. It is true that there is some variation between the quotation and its original, but this is usual even with the N.T. writers in citing the Old.

Others, as Cave, Simon, Witsius, etc., suppose that Jude quoted a traditional prophecy or saying of Enoch, and we see no improbability in the assumption. Others, again, believe that the words apparently cited by Jude were suggested to him by the Holy Spirit. But surely this hypothesis is unnecessary. Until it can be shown that the book of Enoch did not exist in the time of Jude, or that his quoting it is unworthy of him, or that such knowledge was not handed down traditionally so as to be within his reach, we abide by the opinion that Jude really quoted the book. While there are probable grounds for believing that he might have become acquainted with the circumstance independently of inspiration, we ought not to have recourse to the hypothesis of immediate suggestion. On the whole, it is most likely that the book of Enoch existed before the time of Jude, and that the latter really quoted it in accordance with the current tradition. Whether the prophecy ascribed to Enoch was truly ascribed to him is a question of no importance in this connection. SEE JUDE.

XII. Literature. Bange, De libro Henochi (in his Caelum Orientis, Hafn. 1657, 4to, pages 16-19; and Exercitationes, Cracow, 1691, 4to); Bruce, Travels, 2, 8vo; Butt, Genuineness of Enoch (Lond. 1827, 8vo); Dillmann, Liber Henoch AEthiopiae (Lpz. 1851, 8vo); Id., Das Buch Henoch ubersetzt und erklart (Leipz. 1853, 8vo); Id., Pseudepigraphen des A.T. (in Herzog’s Encyklopadie, 12:308 sq.); Dorsche, De prophetia Henochi (in his Auctarium Pentadecadis, diss. 1, page 555 sq.); Drusius, De propheta Henoch (Franec. 1615, 4to; also in the Critici Sacri, 1:373); Ewald, Abh. uib. d. Ethiopishen Buches Henoch (Gotting. 1854, 4to); Fabricius, Cod. Pseudepigraphus V.T. 1:160-224; Firnhabir, De Henocho quaestiones (Wittemberg, 1716, 4to); Gfrorer, in the Tuib. Zeitschr. f. Theologie, 1837, 4:120 sq.; Id. Das Jahrhundert des Heils, 1:93 sq.; Hilgenfeld, Die Jiidische Apokalyptik (Jen. 1857, 8vo); Hoffmann, Das Buch Henoch (Jen. 1833, 1838, 8vo); Hottinger, De prophetia Henochi (in his Ennead. Diss. Heidelb. 16…, 4to); Kostlin, in Baur and Zeller’s Jahrbuch, 1856, 2, 3; Laurence, The Book of Enoch (3d edit. Oxford, 1838, 8vo); Lucke, Einleitung in die Offenbarung Johannis (Bonn, 1848, 8vo, 11, 2d ed.); Von Meyer, in the Theol. Stud. u. Krit. 1841, 3:63 sq.; Murray, Enoch Restitutus (London, 1836, 8vo); Pfeiffer, De Henocho (Wittemb. 1670, 8vo; also in his Opera Philol. Tr. ad Rh. 1704, 8vo, page 519); De Sacy, in the Magasin Encyclopedique (VI, 1:382; transl. into Germ. by Rink, Konigsb. 1801, 8vo); and in the Journal des Savans, October 1822; Stuart, in the Am. Bibl. Repository, January and July 1840; Volkmar, in Zeitschr. d. deutschen morgenl. Gesellschaft, 1860, 1; and in the Zeitschr. f. wissensch. Theologie, 1862, 2; Wieseler, Apokalypt. Litteratur des A. u. N.T. 1:162 sq.; Id., Die 70 Wochen des Daniel (Gott. 1839); Philippi, D.B. Henoch, sein Zeitalter u. Verhaltnisse zum Judasbriefe (Stuttg. 1868).

Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Enoch, Book of

The interest that once attached to the apocryphal book of Enoch has now partly subsided. Yet a document quoted, as is generally believed, by an inspired apostle, can never be wholly devoid of importance or utility in sacred literature.

With regard to the author of the book and the time when it was written, various conflicting opinions have been promulgated. Without entering into the controversy, we may state that it seems to us to have been composed a little before Christ’s appearance, by a Jew who had studied well the book of Daniel. Several circumstances render it apparent that it was originally composed in the Hebrew or Chaldee language.

The Greek translation, in which it was known to the fathers, appears to be irrecoverably lost. There is no trace of it after the eighth century.

The leading object of the writer, who was manifestly imbued with deep piety, was to comfort and strengthen his contemporaries. He lived in times of distress and persecution, when the enemies of religion oppressed the righteous. The outward circumstances of the godly were such as to excite doubts of the divine equity in their minds, or at least to prevent it from having that hold on their faith which was necessary to sustain them in the hour of trial. In accordance with this, the writer exhibits the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked. To give greater authority to his affirmations, he puts them into the mouth of Enoch. Thus they have all the weight belonging to the character of an eminent prophet and saint. Various digressions are not without their bearing on the author’s main purpose. The narrative of the fallen angels and their punishment, as also of the flood, exemplifies the retributive justice of Jehovah; while the Jewish history, continued down to the Maccabees, exhibits the final triumph of His people, notwithstanding all their vicissitudes. Doubtless the author lived amid fiery trial: and, looking abroad over the desolation, sought to cheer the sufferers by the consideration that they should be recompensed in another life. As for their wicked oppressors, they were to experience terrible judgments. The writer seems to delight in uttering dire anathemas against the wicked. It is plain that the book grew out of the time when the author lived, and the circumstances by which he was surrounded. It gives us a glimpse not only of the religious opinions, but also of the general features that characterized the period.

The question, Did Jude really quote the book of Enoch? has given rise to a good deal of discussion. Some are most unwilling to believe that an inspired writer could cite an Apocryphal production. Such an opinion destroys, in their view, the character of the writing said to be inspired, and reduces it to the level of an ordinary composition. But this is preposterous. The Apostle Paul quotes several of the heathen poets; yet who ever supposed that by such references he sanctions the productions from which his citations are made, or renders them of greater value? All that can be reasonably inferred from such a fact is, that if the inspired writer cites a particular sentiment with approbation, it must be regarded as just and right, irrespective of the remainder of the book in which it is found. The Apostle’s sanction extends no farther than the passage to which he alludes. Other portions of the original document may exhibit the most absurd and superstitious notions.

Others suppose that Jude quoted a traditional prophecy or saying of Enoch, and we see no improbability in the assumption. Others, again, believe that the words apparently cited by Jude were suggested to him by the Holy Spirit. But surely this hypothesis is unnecessary. Until it can be shown that the book of Enoch did not exist in the time of Jude, or that his quoting it is unworthy of an Apostle, or that such knowledge was not handed down traditionally within the Apostle’s reach, we abide by the opinion that Jude really quoted the book of Enoch. While there are probable grounds for believing that Jude might have become acquainted with the circumstance independently of inspiration, we ought not to have recourse to the hypothesis of immediate suggestion. On the whole, it is most likely that the book of Enoch existed before the time of Jude, and that the latter really quoted it in accordance with the current tradition. If so, the prophecy ascribed to Enoch was truly ascribed to him, because it is scarcely credible that Jude writing by inspiration would have sanctioned a false statement.

Presuming that it was written by a Jew, the book before us is an important document in the history of Jewish opinions. It indicates an essential portion of the Jewish creed before the appearance of Christ; and assists us in comparing the theological views of the later with those of the earlier Jews. It also serves to establish the fact that some doctrines of great importance in the eyes of evangelical Christians ought not to be regarded as the growth of an age in which Christianity had been corrupted by the inventions of men. We would not appeal to it as possessing authority. The place of authority can be assigned to the Bible alone. But apart from all ideas of authority, it may be fairly regarded as an index of the state of opinion at the time when it was written. Hence it subserves the confirmation of certain opinions, provided they can be shown to have a good foundation in the word of God. If it be conceded that certain doctrines are contained by express declaration or fair inference in the volume of inspiration, it is surely some attestation of their truth that they lie on the surface of this ancient book. Let us briefly allude to several representations which occur in its pages:

1. Respecting the nature of the Deity.There are distinct allusions to a plurality in the Godhead. The doctrine of the Trinity seems to have been received by the writer and his contemporaries. In accordance with this view Christ is represented as existing from eternity: as the object of invocation and worship; and as the supreme Judge of men and angels.

2. The doctrine of a future state of retribution is implied in many passages, and the eternity of future punishment is also distinctly contained in it.

Whatever value may be attached to the theological opinions expressed in the book of Enoch, it is apparent from these statements that certain sentiments to which evangelical Christians assign a high importance, because, in their view, they are contained in Scripture, appear to have prevailed at the commencement of the Christian era. To the serious inquirer they can never be of trifling interest.

Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature