The Book of Enoch (also 1 Enoch; ; ) is an ancient Jewish apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to the patriarch Enoch who was the father of Methuselah and the great-grandfather of Noah..Barker, Margaret. (2005) . The Lost Prophet: The Book of Enoch and Its Influence on Christianity. London: SPCK; Sheffield Phoenix Press. The Book of Enoch contains unique material on the origins of demons and Nephilim, why some angels fell from heaven, an explanation of why the Genesis flood was morally necessary, and a prophetic exposition of the thousand-year reign of the Messiah. Three books are traditionally attributed to Enoch, including the distinct works 2 Enoch and 3 Enoch.
1 Enoch is not considered to be canonical scripture by most movements of Judaism or branches of Christianity, although it is part of the biblical canon used by the Ethiopian Jewish community Beta Israel, as well as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
The older sections of 1 Enoch are estimated to date to , and the latest part (Book of Parables) is probably from .Fahlbusch, E.; Bromiley, G.W. The Encyclopedia of Christianity: P–Sh page 411, (2004) Scholars believe Enoch was originally written in either Aramaic or Hebrew, the languages first used for Jewish texts. Ephraim Isaac suggests that the Book of Enoch, like the Book of Daniel, was composed partially in Aramaic and partially in Hebrew. No Hebrew version is known to have survived. Copies of the earlier sections of 1 Enoch were preserved in Aramaic among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Qumran Caves.
Authors of the New Testament were also familiar with some content of the book.Cheyne and Black, Encyclopaedia Biblica (1899), "Apocalyptic Literature" (column 220). "The Book of Enoch as translated into Ethiopic belongs to the last two centuries BC. All of the writers of the NT were familiar with it and were more or less influenced by it in thought" A short section of 1 Enoch is cited in the Epistle of Jude, being attributed to "Enoch, the Seventh from Adam" (1 Enoch 60:8). The full Book of Enoch survives in its entirety only in the Geʽez translation.
Synopsis The first part of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angels who fathered the angel-human hybrids called Nephilim. The remainder of the book describes Enoch's revelations and his visits to heaven in the form of travels, visions, and dreams.
The book consists of five major sections (see each section for details): The Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1–36) The Book of Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 37–71) (also called the Similitudes of Enoch) The Astronomical Book (1 Enoch 72–82) (also called the Book of the Heavenly Luminaries or Book of Luminaries) The Book of Dream Visions (1 Enoch 83–90) (also called the Book of Dreams) The Epistle of Enoch (1 Enoch 91–108)
Most scholars believe that these five sections were originally independent works (with different dates of composition),; themselves a product of much editorial arrangement, and were only later redacted into what is now called 1 Enoch. Because the Book of Parables is unattested in all except the Ethiopic manuscripts, and because a copy of The Book of Giants appears to be written on the same manuscript as a portion of Enoch, it seems likely that the former may have replaced the latter from the original Enochic pentateuch.Ephraim Isaac, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. Charlesworth, Doubleday, 1983
The Book of the Watchers This first section of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angelic beings who fathered the Nephilim, the Sons of God (), and narrates the travels of Enoch in the heavens. This section is said to have been composed in the 4th or 3rd century BCE according to Western scholars.The Origins of Enochic Judaism (ed. Gabriele Boccaccini; Turin: Zamorani, 2002)
Contents 1–5: Parable of Enoch on the Future Lot of the Wicked and the Righteous. 6–11: The Fall of the Angels: the Demoralization of Mankind: the Intercession of the Angels on behalf of Mankind. The Dooms pronounced by God on the Angels of the Messianic Kingdom. 12–16: Dream-Vision of Enoch: his Intercession for Azazel and the fallen angels: and his Announcement of their first and final Doom. 17–36: Enoch's Journeys from the Earth and Sheol: Enoch also traveled through a portal shaped as a triangle to heaven. 17–19: The First Journey. 20: Names and Functions of the Seven Archangels. 21: Preliminary and final Place of Punishment of the fallen Angels (stars). 22: Sheol or the Underworld. 23: The fire that deals with the Luminaries of Heaven. 24–25: The Seven Mountains in the North-West and the Tree of Life. 26: Jerusalem and the Mountains, Ravines, and Streams. 27: The Purpose of the Accursed Valley. 28–33: Further Journey to the East. 34–35: Enoch's Journey to the North. 36: The Journey to the South.
Description The introduction to the book of Enoch reflects that Enoch was "a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come".
It discusses God coming to Earth on Mount Sinai with his hosts to pass judgment on humankind. It also recalls the luminaries rising and setting in the order and in their own time and never change:
The book also discusses how all things are ordained by God and take place in his time. The sinners shall perish and the great and the good shall live on in light, joy and peace.
The first section of the book depicts the interaction of the fallen angels with mankind; Sêmîazâz compels the other 199 fallen angels to take human wives to "beget us children": The names of the leaders are given as "Samyaza (Shemyazaz), their leader, Araqiel, Râmêêl, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Dânêl, Chazaqiel, Baraqiel, Asael, Armaros, Batariel, Bezaliel, Ananiel, Zaqiel, Shamsiel, Satariel, Turiel, Yomiel, Sariel."
This results in the creation of the Nephilim (Genesis) or Anakim ('giants') as they are described in the book:
It also discusses the teaching of humans by the fallen angels, chiefly Azazel:
Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel appeal to God to judge the inhabitants of the world and the fallen angels. Uriel is then sent by God to tell Noah of the coming cataclysm and what he needs to do.
God commands Raphael to imprison Azâzêl:
God gave Gabriel instructions concerning the Nephilim and the imprisonment of the fallen angels:
The Lord commands Michael to bind the fallen angels.
Book of Parables
Chapters 37–71 of the Book of Enoch are referred to as the Book of Parables. The scholarly debate centers on these chapters. The Book of Parables appears to be based on the Book of the Watchers, but presents a later development of the idea of final judgment and of eschatology, concerned not only with the destiny of the fallen angels but also that of the evil kings of the earth. The Book of Parables uses the expression "son of man" for the eschatological protagonist, who is also called "Righteous One", "Chosen One", and "Messiah", and sits on the throne of glory in the final judgment. The first known use of "Son of Man" as a definite title in Jewish writings is in 1 Enoch, and its use may have played a role in the early Christian understanding and use of the title.
It has been suggested that the Book of Parables, in its entirety, is a later addition. Pointing to similarities with the Sibylline Oracles and other earlier works, in 1976, Józef Milik dated the Book of Parables to the third century. He believed that the events in the parables were linked to historic events dating from . According to this theory, these chapters were written in later Christian times by a Jewish Christian to enhance Christian beliefs with Enoch's authoritative name. Knibb followed Milik's reasoning, and suggested that because no fragments of chapter 37–71 were found at Qumran, a later date was likely. Knibb would continue this line of reasoning in later works.p. 367: ... Ethiopian scholars who produced the targumic Amharic version of 1 Enoch printed in the great bilingual Bible of Emperor Haile Selassi. In addition to being missing from Qumran, chapters 37–71 are also missing from the Greek translation. Currently no firm consensus has been reached among scholars as to the date of the writing of the Book of Parables. Milik's date of as late as AD 270, however, has been rejected by most scholars. David W. Suter suggests that there is a tendency to date the Book of Parables to between 50 BC – 117 AD.
In 1893, Robert Charles judged chapter 71 to be a later addition. He later changed his opinion and gave an early date for the work between 94 and 64 BC.
The 1906 article by Emil G. Hirsch in The Jewish Encyclopedia states that Son of Man is found in the Book of Enoch, but never in the original material. It occurs in the "Noachian interpolations" (lx. 10, lxxi. 14), wherein it has clearly no other meaning than "man". The author of the work misuses or corrupts the titles of the angels.
Charles views the title Son of Man, as found in the Book of Parables, as referring to a supernatural person: a messiah who is not of human descent. In that part of the Book of Enoch, known as the Similitudes, it has the technical sense of a supernatural Messiah and judge of the world (xlvi. 2, xlviii. 2, lxx. 27); universal dominion and preexistence are predicated of him (xlviii. 2, lxvii. 6). He sits on God's throne (xlv. 3, li. 3), which is his own throne. Charles's translation of 1 Enoch 71:14, however, renders the passage "This is the Son of Man," thereby distinguishing Enoch from the figure. The surviving Ethiopic text uses the second-person pronoun, yielding "You are that Son of Man." According to Emil G. Hirsch these passages betray Christian redaction and emendation.
A number of scholars have suggested that passages in the Book of Parables are Noachian interpolations. These passages seem to interrupt the flow of the narrative. Darrell D. Hannah suggests that these passages are not, in total, novel interpolations, but rather derived from an earlier Noah apocryphon. He believes that some interpolations refer to Herod the Great and should be dated to around 4 BC.
In addition to the theory of Noachian interpolations, which perhaps a majority of scholars support, most scholars currently believe that chapters 70–71 are a later addition in part or in whole. Chapter 69 ends with, "This is the third parable of Enoch." Like Elijah, Enoch is generally thought to have been brought up to Heaven by God while still alive, but some have suggested that the text refers to Enoch as having died a natural death and ascending to Heaven. The "Son of Man" is identified with Enoch. This identification is explicit in the Ethiopic text of 1 Enoch 71:14, which addresses Enoch in the second person as “that son of man.” David Wilber writing in The Christian Post, notes that R. H. Charles's influential English translation instead rendered the passage "This is the Son of Man". He claims Charles acknowledged that the Ethiopic reads "Thou art", but adopted a conjectural emendation to the third person. The text implies that Enoch had previously been enthroned in Heaven. Chapters 70–71 seem to contradict passages earlier in the parable where the Son of Man is a separate entity. James C. VanderKam has proposed that the apparent tension can be resolved by understanding Enoch's earlier visions as revelations of his own future exalted state rather than encounters with a separate contemporaneously existing being. The parable also switches from third person singular to first person singular. James H. Charlesworth rejects the theory that chapters 70–71 are later additions. He believes that no additions were made to the Book of Parables. In his earlier work, the implication is that a majority of scholars agreed with him.