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01 - The Book of Enoch · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Section one editor's preface. The object of this series of
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Speaker 1: translations is primarily to furnish students with short, cheap and
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Speaker 1: handy textbooks, which it is hoped will facilitate the study
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Speaker 1: of the particular texts in class under competent teachers. But
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Speaker 1: it is also hoped that the volumes will be acceptable
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Speaker 1: to the general reader, who may be interested in the
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Speaker 1: subjects with which they deal. It has been thought advisable
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Speaker 1: as a general rule to restrict the notes and comments
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Speaker 1: to a small compass, more especially as in most cases
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Speaker 1: excellent works of a more elaborate character are available. Indeed,
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Speaker 1: it is much to be desired that these translations may
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Speaker 1: have the effect of inducing readers to study the larger works.
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Speaker 1: Our principal aim, in a word, is to make some
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Speaker 1: difficult texts important for the study of Christian origins more
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Speaker 1: generally accessible in faithful and scholarly translations. In most cases,
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Speaker 1: these texts are not available in a cheap and handy form.
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Speaker 1: In one or two cases, texts have been included of
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Speaker 1: books which are available in the official Apocrypha, But in
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Speaker 1: every such case reasons exist for putting forth these texts
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Speaker 1: in a new translation with an introduction in this series
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Speaker 1: Woe Oasterly gh Box introduction the apocalyptic literature. As the
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Speaker 1: Book of Enoch is, in some respects the most notable
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Speaker 1: extant apocalyptic work outside the canonical scriptures, it will not
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Speaker 1: be inappropriate to offer a few remarks here on the
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Speaker 1: apocalyptic literature generally. In writing about the books which belong
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Speaker 1: to this literature, Professor Burkett says very pointedly that they
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Speaker 1: are the most characteristic survival of what I will venture
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Speaker 1: to call, with all its narrowness and its incoherence, the
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Speaker 1: Heroic Age of Jewish history, the age when the nation
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Speaker 1: attempted to realize in action the part of the peculiar
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Speaker 1: people of God. It ended in catastrophe, but the nation
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Speaker 1: left two successors, the Christian Church and the Rabbinical schools,
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Speaker 1: each of which carried on some of the old national aims.
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Speaker 1: And of the two, it was the Christian Church that
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Speaker 1: was most faithful to the ideas enshrined in the apocalypses,
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Speaker 1: and it did consider itself, not without some reason, the
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Speaker 1: fulfillment of those ideas. What is wanted. Therefore, in studying
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Speaker 1: the apocalypses is above all sympathy with the ideas that
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Speaker 1: underlie them, and especially with the belief in the New Age,
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Speaker 1: and those who believe that in Christianity a new era
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Speaker 1: really did dawn for us, ought, I think, to have
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Speaker 1: that sympathy, we study the Apocalypses to learn how our
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Speaker 1: spiritual ancestors hoped again that God would make all right
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Speaker 1: in the end, and that we their children are here today.
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Speaker 1: Studying them is an indication that their hope was not
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Speaker 1: wholly unfounded. Hope is indeed the main underlying motive power
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Speaker 1: which the writers of the apocalypses, and this hope is
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Speaker 1: the more intensive and ardent in that it shines forth
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Speaker 1: from a background which is dark with despair. For the
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Speaker 1: apocalyptists despaired of the world in which they lived, a
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Speaker 1: world in which the godly were of no account, while
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Speaker 1: the wicked seem too often triumphant and prosperous, with evil
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Speaker 1: everywhere around. The Apocalyptus saw no hope for the world
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Speaker 1: as it was. For such a world, there was no remedy,
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Speaker 1: only destruction. If the good were ever to triumph, it
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Speaker 1: must be in a new world. Despairing therefore of the
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Speaker 1: world around them, the Apocalyptus centered their hope upon a
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Speaker 1: world to come where the righteous would come to their
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Speaker 1: own and evil would find no place. It is this
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Speaker 1: thought which underlies the opening words of the Book of Enoch,
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Speaker 1: the words of the Blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed
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Speaker 1: the elect and righteous, who will be living in the
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Speaker 1: day of Tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are
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Speaker 1: to be removed. Nowhere in this book is the essence
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Speaker 1: of this hope more beautifully expressed than in a short
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Speaker 1: metrical peace in the first chapter. But with the righteous,
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Speaker 1: he will make peace and will protect the elect, and
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Speaker 1: mercy shall be upon them, and they shall all belong
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Speaker 1: to God, and they shall all be prospered, and they
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Speaker 1: shall all be blessed, and He will help them all,
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Speaker 1: and light shall appear unto them, and He will make
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Speaker 1: peace with them first Enoch one eight. In all the
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Speaker 1: books belonging to this literature which have come down to us,
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Speaker 1: this hope is expressed more or less vividly. Nor is
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Speaker 1: the dark background wanting with prophecies of coming wrath. It
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Speaker 1: will therefore be realized that the apocalyptic literature is almost
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Speaker 1: wholly concerned with the future. It is true that again
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Speaker 1: and again the apocalyptist glances at the contemporary history of
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Speaker 1: the world around him, to which many a cryptic reference
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Speaker 1: is made, a fact which necessitates some knowledge of the
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Speaker 1: history of this period circa. Two hundred b c. Through
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Speaker 1: a d. One hundred for a full understanding of the
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Speaker 1: books in question. But these references are only made with
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Speaker 1: a view to comforting the oppressed and afflicted, with the
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Speaker 1: thought that even the most mighty of earthly powers are
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Speaker 1: shortly to be overthrown by the advent of the new
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Speaker 1: and glorious era, when every injustice and all the incongruities
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Speaker 1: of life will be done away with, so that every
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Speaker 1: reference to the present is merely a position taken up
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Speaker 1: from which to point to the future. Now, since, as
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Speaker 1: we have seen, the apocalyptusts despair of any bettering of
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Speaker 1: the present world, and therefore contemplate its destruction as the
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Speaker 1: preliminary of the new order things, they look away from
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Speaker 1: this world. In their visions of the future, they conceive
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Speaker 1: of other worldly forces coming into play in the reconstitution
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Speaker 1: of things and of society generally. And since these are
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Speaker 1: other worldly forces, the supernatural plays a great part in
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Speaker 1: the apocalyptic literature. This supernatural coloring will often strike the
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Speaker 1: reader of this literature as fantastic and at times bizarre,
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Speaker 1: but this should not be permitted to obscure the reality
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Speaker 1: which often lies behind these weird shadows. Mental visions are
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Speaker 1: not always easily expressed in words. The seer, who in
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Speaker 1: a vision has received a message in some fantastic guise,
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Speaker 1: necessarily has the impress upon his mind of what he
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Speaker 1: has seen when giving his message, and when he describes
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Speaker 1: his vision, the picture he presents is, in the nature
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Speaker 1: of the case, more fantastic to the ear of the
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Speaker 1: hearer than to the eye of him who saw it.
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Speaker 1: Allowance should be made for this, especially by US Westerns,
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Speaker 1: who are so lacking in the rich imaginativeness of the Oriental.
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Speaker 1: Our love of literalness hinders the play of the imagination
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Speaker 1: because we are so apt to materialize a mental picture
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Speaker 1: presented by another. The apocalypses were written by and for Orientals,
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Speaker 1: and we cannot do justice to them unless we remember this.
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Speaker 1: But it would be best if we could get into
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Speaker 1: the Oriental mind and look at things from that point
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Speaker 1: of view. Another thing which the reader of the apocalyptic
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Speaker 1: literature must be prepared for is the frequent inconsistency of
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Speaker 1: thought to be found there together with variableness of teaching,
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Speaker 1: often involving contradiction. The reason of this is not to
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Speaker 1: be sought simply in the fact that in the apocalypses
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Speaker 1: the hand of more than one author is frequently to
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Speaker 1: be discerned, a fact which would easily account for divergence
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Speaker 1: of views in one and the same book. No, the
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Speaker 1: chief reason is that, on the one hand, the minds
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Speaker 1: of the apocalyptus were saturated with the traditional thoughts and
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Speaker 1: ideas of the Old Testament, and on the other they
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Speaker 1: were eagerly absorbing the newer conceptions which the spirit of
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Speaker 1: the Age had brought into being. This occasioned a continual
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Speaker 1: conflict of thought in their minds. The endeavor to harmonize
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Speaker 1: the old and the new would not always succeed, and
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Speaker 1: in consequence there often resulted a compromise which was illogical
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Speaker 1: and which presented contradictions. Inconsistency of teaching on certain points
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Speaker 1: is therefore not surprising under the circumstances. Again, to realize
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Speaker 1: the significance of much that is found in these apocalypses,
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Speaker 1: one has to reckon with a rigid predestinarianism, which was
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Speaker 1: characteristic of the Apocalyptus as a whole. They started with
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Speaker 1: the absolute conviction that the whole course of the world,
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Speaker 1: from beginning to end, both as regards to its physical changes,
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Speaker 1: and also in all that concerns the history of nations,
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Speaker 1: their growth and decline, and of every single individual, was
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Speaker 1: in every respect predetermined by God Almighty before all time.
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Speaker 1: This belief of the Apocalyptus is well illustrated in one
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Speaker 1: of the later Apocalypses by these words. For he hath
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Speaker 1: weighed the age and the balance, and by number hath
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Speaker 1: he numbered the seasons. Neither will he move nor stir
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Speaker 1: things till the measure appointed be fulfilled Second Ezras four
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Speaker 1: thirty six and thirty seven. Thus the times and periods
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Speaker 1: of the course of the world's history have been predetermined
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Speaker 1: by God. The numbers of the years have been exactly fixed.
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Speaker 1: This was a fundamental postulate of the Apocalyptists, who devoted
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Speaker 1: much of their energy to calculations based upon a close
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Speaker 1: study of prophecy as to the exact period when history
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Speaker 1: should reach its consummation. The underlying idea is predestinarian. But
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Speaker 1: all these things, according to the Apocalyptus, were divine secrets
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Speaker 1: hidden from the beginning of the world, but revealed to
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Speaker 1: God fearing men, to whom was accorded the faculty of
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Speaker 1: peering into the hidden things of God and of understanding them.
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Speaker 1: Upon these men was laid the privilege and duty of
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Speaker 1: revealing the divine secrets to others. Hence their name of
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Speaker 1: apocalyptus or revealers. It was because the Apocalyptusts believe so
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Speaker 1: firmly in this power which they possessed of looking int
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Speaker 1: to the deep things of God, that they claimed to
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Speaker 1: be able to measure the significance of what had happened
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Speaker 1: in the past and of what was happening in the present.
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Speaker 1: And upon the basis of this knowledge, they believed that
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Speaker 1: they also had the power given them by God of
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Speaker 1: foreseeing the march of future events, above all, of knowing
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Speaker 1: when the end of the world would come, a consummation
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Speaker 1: towards which the whole history of the world had been
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Speaker 1: tending from the beginning. In spite of all the mysticism,
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Speaker 1: sometimes of a rather fantastic kind, and of frequently super
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Speaker 1: mundane vision, with which the apocalyptic literature abounds, the apocalyptists
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Speaker 1: fully realized the need of practical religion. They were upholders
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Speaker 1: of the law, the loyal observance of which they regard
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Speaker 1: as a necessity for all god vearing men. In this
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Speaker 1: the Apocalyptus were one in principle with Parisism, but their
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Speaker 1: conception of what constituted loyal observance of the law differed
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Speaker 1: from that of the Pharisees. For unlike that these, the
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Speaker 1: Apocalyptus laid all stress on the spirit of its observance,
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Speaker 1: rather than upon the letter, characteristic of their attitude. Here
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Speaker 1: are the words in Firstynik, chapter five, verse four. But
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Speaker 1: ye ye have not been steadfast, nor done the commandments
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Speaker 1: of the Lord. But ye have turned away and have
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Speaker 1: spoken proud and hard words with your impure mouths against
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Speaker 1: his greatness. Oh ye hard hearted, ye shall find no peace.
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Speaker 1: And again in ninety nine two, woe to them that
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Speaker 1: pervert the words of uprightness and transgress the eternal law.
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Speaker 1: We do not find in this literature that insistence on
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Speaker 1: the literal carrying out of the minutest precepts of the law,
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Speaker 1: which was characteristic of Phariseeism. Veneration. For the law is wholehearted.
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Speaker 1: It is the real guide of life. Punishment awaits those
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Speaker 1: who ignore its guidance, But the Pharisaic interpretation of the
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Speaker 1: law and its requirements is alien to the spirit of
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Speaker 1: the apocalyptists as a whole. The apocalyptic literature presents an
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Speaker 1: universalistic attitude, very different from the nationalistic narrowness of the Pharisees.
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Speaker 1: It is true the apocalyptists are not always consistent in this,
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Speaker 1: but normally they embrace the gentiles equally with the men
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Speaker 1: of their own nation in the divine scheme of salvation,
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Speaker 1: and in the same way the wicked, who are excluded
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Speaker 1: are not restricted to the gentiles, but the Jews equally
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Speaker 1: with them, shall suffer torment hereafter according to their deserts.
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Speaker 1: The apocalyptic literature, as distinct from the apocalyptic movement owing
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Speaker 1: to which it took its rise, began to come into
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Speaker 1: existence about the period of two hundred to one hundred
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Speaker 1: and fifty BC. At any rate, the earliest extant example
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Speaker 1: of this literature, the earliest portions of the Book of Enoch,
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Speaker 1: belongs to this period. Works of an apocalyptic characture continued
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Speaker 1: to be written for about three centuries. The second fourth
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Speaker 1: Book of Estras, one of the most remarkable apocalypses, belongs
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Speaker 1: to the end of the first Christian century, approximately. There
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Speaker 1: are apocalypses of later date. Some of subordinate interests are
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Speaker 1: of much later date, but the real period of the
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Speaker 1: apocalyptic literature is from about two hundred BC to about
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Speaker 1: a d one hundred. Its beginnings date therefore from a
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Speaker 1: time prior to that great landmark in Jewish history, the
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Speaker 1: Maccabean Era. The Book of Enoch, its component parts, and
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Speaker 1: their dates. The Book of Enoch is now usually designated
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Speaker 1: First Enoch to distinguish it from the later Apocalypse the
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Speaker 1: Secrets of Enoch, known as Second Enuch. The former is
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Speaker 1: also called the Ethiopic Enuch, the latter the Slavonic Enoch.
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Speaker 1: After the languages of the earliest versions extant of each, respectively.
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Speaker 1: No manuscript of the original language of either is known
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Speaker 1: to be in existence. According to Canon Charles, the various
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Speaker 1: elements of which our book in its present form is
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Speaker 1: made up belong to different dates. The following table will
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Speaker 1: show the dates of the different parts of the book.
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Speaker 1: Canon Charles believes that these are approximately correct, without committing
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Speaker 1: himself to the certainty of this. In each case, chapters
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Speaker 1: twelve through thirty six, forty two, and ninety one twelve
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Speaker 1: through seventeen, The Apocalypse of Weeks, the oldest pre Maccabean
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Speaker 1: portions chapters six through eleven, fifty four, seven through fifty five,
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Speaker 1: two sixty, sixty five through sixty nine, twenty five, one
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Speaker 1: O six through one O seven. Fragments of the Book
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Speaker 1: of Noah pre Maccabean at the latest chapters eighty three
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Speaker 1: to ninety The dream dush Visions one sixty five to
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Speaker 1: one sixty one BC, seventy two to eighty two. The
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Speaker 1: Book of the Heavenly Luminaries before one hundred and ten BC,
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Speaker 1: chapters thirty seven to seventy one, ninety one one to eleven,
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Speaker 1: eighteen nineteen through one hundred and four, The Parables or
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Speaker 1: Similitudes circle one hundred and five to sixty four BC,
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Speaker 1: chapters one through five the latest portion but pre Christian
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Speaker 1: chapter one hundred and five, which consists of only two verses,
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Speaker 1: cannot be dated, while chapter one hundred and eight is
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Speaker 1: in the nature of an appendix, probably added subsequently to
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Speaker 1: the whole work. While these dates may be regarded as
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Speaker 1: approximately correct, it should be pointed out that differences of
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Speaker 1: opinion exist among scholars on the subject. Surer holds for example, that,
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Speaker 1: with the exception of chapters thirty seven through seventy one
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Speaker 1: the Parables or Similitudes, the entire book belongs to the
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Speaker 1: period of one hundred thirty to one hundred BC. The
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Speaker 1: Parables he assigns to a time not earlier than Herod
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Speaker 1: the Great. Bier thinks that the dream visions chapters eighty
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Speaker 1: three through ninety belonged to the time of John Hercanus
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Speaker 1: one thirty five to one hundred and five BC, and
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Speaker 1: he includes under the pre Macabean portions only ninety one
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Speaker 1: twelve through seventeen, ninety two, ninety three one through fourteen,
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Speaker 1: and holds that the rest of the book was written
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Speaker 1: before sixty four BC. Delman maintains that it cannot be
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Speaker 1: proved that the important sections thirty seven through seventy one
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Speaker 1: the Similitudes is the product of the pre Christian period,
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Speaker 1: though he fully recognizes its Jewish character. Burkett regards the
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Speaker 1: writer as almost contemporary with the philosopher Posidonius one thirty
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Speaker 1: five to fifty one BC. There is thus some diversity
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Speaker 1: of opinion as to the date of the book, among
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Speaker 1: leading a thord that it is as a whole pre
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Speaker 1: Christian may be regarded as definitely established. More difficult is
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Speaker 1: the question whether any portions of it are pre Maccabean.
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Speaker 1: Charles gives various reasons for his belief that considerable parts
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Speaker 1: are pre Maccabean. We are inclined to agree with him,
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Speaker 1: though it may be questioned whether the last word on
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Speaker 1: the subject has been spoken authorship, as the various parts
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Speaker 1: of the book clearly belong to different dates, diversity of
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Speaker 1: authorship is what one is naturally led to expect, and
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Speaker 1: of this there can indeed be no shadow of doubt.
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Speaker 1: The author of the earliest portions was a Jew who lived,
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Speaker 1: as burkettis shown in northern Palestine, in the land of Dan,
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Speaker 1: southwest of the Herman Range, near the headwaters of the Jordan.
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Speaker 1: This is important as it tends to show that the
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Speaker 1: book or books is really Palestinian and one which therefore
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Speaker 1: circulated among Jews in Palestine. If moreover the author came
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Speaker 1: from the North, that helps to explain the influence the
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Speaker 1: book had upon the religion that was cradled in Galilee.
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Speaker 1: Of the authors of the other three books of which
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Speaker 1: Enoch is made up viz. The Dream Dush Visions, the
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Speaker 1: Book of the heavenly luminaries and the Similitudes. We know
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Speaker 1: nothing save what can be gathered from their writings. As
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Speaker 1: to their religious standpoint, Charles holds that though there is
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Speaker 1: not unity of authorship, there is nonetheless uniformity, for according
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Speaker 1: to him, all the books were written by Chasdam or
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Speaker 1: by their successors, the Pharisees. This contention has been strongly
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Speaker 1: assailed and much weakened by Lozinski in a recent work
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Speaker 1: on the Sadducees. While frankly recognizing the composite character of
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Speaker 1: the book, Lozinsky holds that the original portions of it
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Speaker 1: emanate from sadduce in circles, and that the special object
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Speaker 1: of the book originally was the bringing about of a
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Speaker 1: reform of the calendar. He points to the description of
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Speaker 1: the book to Enoch as supporting his contention. For Enoch
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Speaker 1: lived three hundred and sixty five years i e. Is
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Speaker 1: years correspond to the number of days in the solar year.
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Speaker 1: The basis of reckoning time was one of the fundamental
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Speaker 1: points of difference between the Pharisees and Sadducees. For whereas
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Speaker 1: the former reckoned time by the lunar year, three hundred
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Speaker 1: and sixty days, the latter did so by the solar year.
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Speaker 1: Here a significant remark of Burkett's is worth recalling. In
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Speaker 1: writing about the false titles given to all the apocalyptic books,
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Speaker 1: he says, there is another aspect of pseudonymous authorship to
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Speaker 1: which I venture to think sufficient attention has not been given.
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Speaker 1: It is this that the names were not chosen out
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Speaker 1: of mere caprice. They indicated, to a certain extent what
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Speaker 1: subjects would be treated and the point of view of
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Speaker 1: the writer. Further, the fact that Enoch walked with God,
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Speaker 1: and he was not for God took him, i e.
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Speaker 1: That he ascended into the heavens is also significant, for
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Speaker 1: he would thereby I be just the one to know
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Speaker 1: all about the heavenly luminaries. He was just the most
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Speaker 1: appropriate author of a book which was to deal with
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Speaker 1: astronomical questions. The satistated character of the original work, says Lizinski,
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Speaker 1: is seen most clearly in the discussion regarding the calendar.
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Speaker 1: Chapter seventy two through eighty two are rightly called the
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Speaker 1: Book of Astronomy, the Book of the courses of the
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Speaker 1: luminaries of the heaven, the relations of each according to
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Speaker 1: their classes, their dominion, and their seasons according to their
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Speaker 1: names and places of origin, and according to their months,
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Speaker 1: with regard to all the years of the world, and
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Speaker 1: unto eternity, till the new creation is accomplished, which endureth
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Speaker 1: till all eternity seventy two. One. That sounds almost as
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Speaker 1: though the author of the Book of Jubilees had written it.
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Speaker 1: That it is not a merely scientific interest which impels
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Speaker 1: the writer to give expression to his astronomical theories, may
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Speaker 1: be seen from the words of the God inclusion of
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Speaker 1: the section Blessed are all the righteous. Blessed are all
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Speaker 1: those who walk in the way of righteousness, and sin
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Speaker 1: not as the sinners in the reckoning of all their days,
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Speaker 1: in which the sun traverseth the heaven, entering into and
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Speaker 1: departing from the portals for thirty days eighty two, Verses
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Speaker 1: four through seven. Herein one can discern quite clearly the
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Speaker 1: tendency of the writer. He desires the adoption of the
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Speaker 1: solar year, while his contemporary strongly followed a different reckoning
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Speaker 1: and therefore celebrated the feasts at the wrong time. The
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Speaker 1: sinners who sin in the reckoning of the year are
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Speaker 1: the Pharisees, and the righteous ones who are blessed, the
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Speaker 1: zedikam who walk upon the paths of righteousness zedek, as
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Speaker 1: the name is made to imply, are the Sadducees. The
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Speaker 1: point may appear small to us, but we may compare
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Speaker 1: it with the Quarterdescimine controversy in the Church during the
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Speaker 1: second century. It is, at any rate, a strong point
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Speaker 1: in favor of the Saddace and authorship of the Book
22:04
Speaker 1: of the Heavenly Luminaries. The pre Maccabean portions, assuming that
22:09
Speaker 1: some portions of it are pre Maccabean of the Book
22:12
Speaker 1: of Enoch, must certainly be ascribed to the chastadem, but
22:16
Speaker 1: it is not on that account necessary to ascribe all
22:19
Speaker 1: the later portions to the Pharisees. Three points especially militate
22:25
Speaker 1: against this some of the teaching concerning the Messiah, the
22:28
Speaker 1: generally speaking universalistic spirit, which is quite unparsaic, and the
22:34
Speaker 1: attitude towards the Law, which is not that of the Pharisees.
22:38
Speaker 1: It is not to be denied that some portions e g.
22:42
Speaker 1: One hundred and two, six and following are from the
22:45
Speaker 1: hands of Pharisees, nor can it be doubted that the
22:48
Speaker 1: whole collection in its present form has been worked over
22:51
Speaker 1: by a Pharisee or Pharisees, but that all the post
22:55
Speaker 1: Maccabean portions in their original form emanated from Phariseics Circles
23:00
Speaker 1: does not appear to have been proved. It seems more
23:03
Speaker 1: likely that, with the exceptions already referred to, the various
23:07
Speaker 1: component parts of the book were written by Apocalyptus, who
23:10
Speaker 1: belonged neither to Fariseic nor yet to Sadducean Circles language.
23:17
Speaker 1: The Book of Enoch exists only in the Ethiopic version.
23:21
Speaker 1: This was translated from the Greek version, of which only
23:24
Speaker 1: a few portions are extant. The Latin version, which was
23:28
Speaker 1: also made from the Greek, is not extant, with the
23:31
Speaker 1: exception of one nine and one hundred and six one
23:35
Speaker 1: through eighteen. The fragment containing these two passages was discovered
23:41
Speaker 1: by the Reverend Al R. James of King's College, Cambridge
23:45
Speaker 1: in the British Museum. The book was originally written either
23:49
Speaker 1: in Hebrew or Aramaic. Charles thinks that chapters six through
23:54
Speaker 1: thirty six fifty eight through ninety were Aramaic, the rest Hebrew.
23:59
Speaker 1: It is, however, very difficult to say for certain which
24:02
Speaker 1: of these two languages was really the original, because, as
24:06
Speaker 1: Burget says, most of the most convincing proofs that the
24:10
Speaker 1: Greek text of Enoch is a translation from a Semitic
24:13
Speaker 1: language fit equally well with a Hebrew or an Aramaic original.
24:18
Speaker 1: His opinion is that Aramaic was the original language, but
24:22
Speaker 1: that a few passages do seem to suggest a Hebrew origin,
24:26
Speaker 1: yet not decisively general contents. The reader who comes to
24:31
Speaker 1: peruse the Book of Enoch for the first time will
24:34
Speaker 1: find much that appears to him strange and unattractive. He
24:38
Speaker 1: must not, however, be repelled by this, for in due
24:42
Speaker 1: time he will come to the other arts of the book,
24:45
Speaker 1: which he will soon see to be of real value
24:48
Speaker 1: from many points of view. But even regarding the less
24:51
Speaker 1: attractive parts, he will find that when these are carefully studied,
24:55
Speaker 1: they contain more that is of interest than appears upon
24:58
Speaker 1: the surface. Unfortunately, the opening portion one through thirty six,
25:04
Speaker 1: which is naturally read first, contains a good deal of
25:07
Speaker 1: the least important parts of the whole book. Some passages
25:11
Speaker 1: are even repellent. It is well to remember the point
25:15
Speaker 1: already referred to that there are at least four quite
25:18
Speaker 1: independent books included in the Book of Enoch, exclusive of
25:22
Speaker 1: certain Noah fragments and other pieces see below. The student
25:27
Speaker 1: is therefore advised to treat these as separate works, and
25:31
Speaker 1: to read them as such. There is no reason to
25:33
Speaker 1: begin with the book which happens to come first, especially
25:37
Speaker 1: as the first thirty six chapters do not all belong together.
25:41
Speaker 1: But in any case, it will be found most useful
25:44
Speaker 1: to have some general idea of the contents of each
25:47
Speaker 1: of the different books before beginning to read them. For
25:50
Speaker 1: this purpose, a brief resume of each is given here.
25:55
Speaker 1: One the Book of Enoch, chapters twelve through thirty six.
25:59
Speaker 1: The book begins with a dream dash vision of Enoch.
26:02
Speaker 1: In this dream, Enoch is asked to intercede for the
26:05
Speaker 1: watchers of Heaven i e. The angels who had left
26:09
Speaker 1: their heavenly home to commit iniquity with the daughters of men.
26:13
Speaker 1: He writes out the petition c P, the title Enuch
26:16
Speaker 1: the scribe the fallen angels make, and then retires to
26:20
Speaker 1: await the answer, which comes to him in a series
26:23
Speaker 1: of visions. These visions are not quite easy to follow.
26:27
Speaker 1: They are evidently incomplete and somewhat confused. In all probability,
26:32
Speaker 1: the text has suffered in transmission. At any rate, the
26:35
Speaker 1: petition is refused. Enoch declares to the fallen angels the
26:39
Speaker 1: doom which, as he has been taught in the visions,
26:43
Speaker 1: is to be their lot. The final words of the
26:45
Speaker 1: message which he is bidden to give them are you
26:48
Speaker 1: have no peace. Twelve through sixteen. There follow then accounts
26:54
Speaker 1: of the different journeys which Enoch makes, being conducted by
26:57
Speaker 1: angels of light, through certain parts of the earth and
27:00
Speaker 1: through Shiel. After the account of the first journey seventeen
27:04
Speaker 1: through nineteen, a short enumeration is made of the archangels,
27:09
Speaker 1: seven in number, and their functions. Twenty In the second
27:13
Speaker 1: journey is described the place of final punishment of the
27:16
Speaker 1: fallen angels. This place is the prison of the angels,
27:20
Speaker 1: and here they will be imprisoned forever. From thence, Enoch
27:24
Speaker 1: is taken to Schiol, then to the west, where he
27:27
Speaker 1: sees the luminaries of Heaven. After that the angels show
27:31
Speaker 1: him seven magnificent mountains, upon one of which is the
27:35
Speaker 1: Throne of God. He sees also the Tree of life,
27:38
Speaker 1: which is to be given to the Holy and Righteous
27:40
Speaker 1: after the Great Judgment. From thence he comes back to
27:44
Speaker 1: the center of the earth, and sees the blessed Place, Jerusalem,
27:48
Speaker 1: and the Accursed Valley twenty one through twenty seven. The
27:52
Speaker 1: book concludes with what appear to be fragments of other
27:55
Speaker 1: journeys to the east, to the north, and to the south.
27:59
Speaker 1: Of special interest here is the mention of the Garden
28:01
Speaker 1: of Righteousness and the Tree of Wisdom, chapters twenty eight
28:05
Speaker 1: through thirty six. Much that is written in these chapters
28:09
Speaker 1: may appear pointless and uninspiring, but we must bear in
28:12
Speaker 1: mind the purpose that lies behind it. All the fallen
28:15
Speaker 1: angels were believed to have brought sin onto the earth.
28:19
Speaker 1: All the wickedness of the world the Apocalyptis traces back
28:22
Speaker 1: to them. This cause of sin must be wholly destroyed
28:25
Speaker 1: before righteousness can come truly to its own. Therefore, the
28:30
Speaker 1: Apocalyptist has a practical aim in view when describing in
28:34
Speaker 1: much detail the final place of punishment of the fallen angels,
28:38
Speaker 1: For here too are to come all those who by
28:41
Speaker 1: sin are the offspring of this race. No less does
28:45
Speaker 1: he delight in telling of the abode of joy prepared
28:48
Speaker 1: for the righteous. That all these descriptions were constructed out
28:52
Speaker 1: of the imagination of the apocalyptist, based largely no doubt
28:56
Speaker 1: upon popular tradition, did not detract from their practical vs
29:00
Speaker 1: value for the people of his day. He was a
29:02
Speaker 1: preacher of righteousness who looked forward in absolute conviction to
29:06
Speaker 1: the final overthrow of sin, and all his visions have
29:09
Speaker 1: as their motive power the yearning for and belief in
29:13
Speaker 1: the triumph of righteousness over sin. One of the like
29:17
Speaker 1: mind wrote later on, in a kind of preface to
29:19
Speaker 1: his book, these significant words which sum up the essence
29:23
Speaker 1: of the teaching of this book. And destroy all the
29:27
Speaker 1: spirits of the reprobate and the children of the watchers,
29:30
Speaker 1: because they have wronged mankind. Destroy all wrong from the
29:34
Speaker 1: face of the earth. And let every evil work come
29:36
Speaker 1: to an end, And let the plant of righteousness and
29:39
Speaker 1: truth appear, and it shall prove a blessing. The works
29:43
Speaker 1: of righteousness and truth shall be planted in truth and
29:46
Speaker 1: joy forevermore. Two the Parables, Chapters thirty seven through seventy one.
29:54
Speaker 1: There are three parables or similitudes, and they all have
29:57
Speaker 1: as their underlying thought the destruction of evil and the
30:00
Speaker 1: triumph of righteousness, as in the preceding book, but here
30:05
Speaker 1: some new and important elements are introduced which give special
30:09
Speaker 1: value to this book. The first parable thirty eight through
30:13
Speaker 1: ninety four is a prophecy of coming judgment upon the wicked,
30:17
Speaker 1: and especially the kings and mighty ones on the earth.
30:20
Speaker 1: On the other hand, the apocalyptist sees in his vision
30:24
Speaker 1: the abode and resting places of the righteous, who are
30:27
Speaker 1: continually praising the Lord of Spirits. This is the usual
30:31
Speaker 1: title given to God in this book. Here occurs the
30:34
Speaker 1: first mention of the elect one Luke twenty three, verse
30:38
Speaker 1: thirty five. In the presence of the Lord of Spirits.
30:41
Speaker 1: There are also the four archangels and innumerable companies of
30:45
Speaker 1: other angels. Here he learns many secrets of the heavens.
30:50
Speaker 1: A fragment on wisdom forty two, which recalls some passages
30:54
Speaker 1: in Ecclose twenty four, comes in the middle of the
30:57
Speaker 1: secrets and is clearly out of place. The second parable
31:01
Speaker 1: forty five through fifty seven continues the same theme and
31:06
Speaker 1: further develops it. Of special importance is the sitting of
31:10
Speaker 1: the elect One on the throne of Glory as judge
31:14
Speaker 1: chapter forty five, verse three, and the mention of his
31:17
Speaker 1: title son of Man chapter forty six. Verse two. The
31:21
Speaker 1: thought of the vindication of the righteous is marred by
31:24
Speaker 1: their joy at vengeance upon the wicked. A particularly striking
31:29
Speaker 1: passage is chapter forty eight one through seven, which speaks
31:33
Speaker 1: of the inexhaustible fountain of righteousness reserved for the holy
31:37
Speaker 1: inelect in the presence of the Son of Man and
31:39
Speaker 1: of the Lord of spirits. The apocalyptist prophesies further of
31:44
Speaker 1: the repentance of the gentiles chapter one and universalistic note
31:49
Speaker 1: of significance, and speaks of the resurrection of the dead
31:52
Speaker 1: in a notable passage. And in those days shall the
31:55
Speaker 1: earth also give back that which has been entrusted to it,
31:58
Speaker 1: and Shiole shall also give back that which it has received,
32:02
Speaker 1: and Hell shall give back that which it owes. The
32:06
Speaker 1: Parable ends with an account of the Judgment, followed by
32:09
Speaker 1: two short passages on the last struggle of the Heathen
32:12
Speaker 1: powers against Israel fifty six five through eight and the
32:16
Speaker 1: Return from the Dispersion fifty seven, which do not appear
32:21
Speaker 1: to be in their original place. The third parable fifty
32:24
Speaker 1: eight through seventy one, has clearly suffered largely from the
32:29
Speaker 1: intrusion of alien matter, and is probably incomplete. Its main
32:34
Speaker 1: theme is the final judgment upon all flesh, and especially
32:37
Speaker 1: upon the great ones of the earth. The judge is
32:39
Speaker 1: the son of Man. Some of the passages which speak
32:43
Speaker 1: of the future reward of the righteous are full of beauty.
32:46
Speaker 1: The following is well worth quoting. And the righteous and
32:50
Speaker 1: elect shall have risen from the earth and ceased to
32:52
Speaker 1: be of downcast countenance, and they shall have been clothed
32:56
Speaker 1: with garments of glory, and they shall be garments of
32:59
Speaker 1: life the Lord of Spirits, And your garments shall not
33:02
Speaker 1: grow old, nor your glory pass away Before the Lord
33:06
Speaker 1: of Spirits. A large Noah fragment comes in the middle
33:10
Speaker 1: of the parable see page twenty six below. The close
33:14
Speaker 1: of this parable is contained in sixty nine twenty six
33:18
Speaker 1: through twenty nine the Account of Enux Final Translation. Seventy
33:22
Speaker 1: and two of Enox's visions seventy one are out of
33:25
Speaker 1: place three the Book of the Courses of the Heavenly Luminaries,
33:30
Speaker 1: chapters seventy two through eighty two. In seventy four to twelve,
33:36
Speaker 1: it says, and the Sun and the stars bring in
33:39
Speaker 1: all the years exactly so that they do not advance
33:42
Speaker 1: or delay their position by a single day, unto eternity,
33:45
Speaker 1: but complete the years with perfect justice in three hundred
33:49
Speaker 1: and sixty four days. This gives the keynote of this book, viz.
33:53
Speaker 1: That time is to be reckoned by the sun, not
33:56
Speaker 1: by the moon. See further on this section on authorship above.
34:01
Speaker 1: Until we come to chapter eighty, this book is uninteresting
34:04
Speaker 1: in the extreme. It purports to tell in detail of
34:08
Speaker 1: the laws by which the sun, moon, stars, and the
34:11
Speaker 1: winds are governed. They are described by Uriel, the Holy
34:14
Speaker 1: Angel to the apocalyptist. The four quarters of the world,
34:19
Speaker 1: the seven mountains, and the seven rivers are also dealt with.
34:23
Speaker 1: The author has no other interests save a scientific one
34:26
Speaker 1: colored by Jewish conceptions and beliefs. It is, however, different
34:30
Speaker 1: when we come to chapter eighty, verse two through eight.
34:33
Speaker 1: The whole tone alters in these verses, in which it
34:37
Speaker 1: is said that, owing to the sin of men, the
34:40
Speaker 1: moon and the Sun will mislead them. An ethical thought
34:44
Speaker 1: is thus brought in, which is wholly lacking in the
34:46
Speaker 1: previous chapters of this book. This is also true of
34:50
Speaker 1: chapter eighty one. It is probable that neither of these
34:53
Speaker 1: chapters stood here originally. Regarding the point of three hundred
34:58
Speaker 1: and sixty four days to the year, which the writer
35:00
Speaker 1: of this book makes. Charles says that he did this
35:03
Speaker 1: only through sheer incapacity for appreciating and thing better, for
35:08
Speaker 1: he must have been acquainted with the solar year of
35:10
Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty five and a fourth days. His
35:13
Speaker 1: acquaintance with the Greek cycles shows this. The author's reckoning
35:17
Speaker 1: of the year at three hundred and sixty four days
35:20
Speaker 1: may be partly due to his opposition to Heathen systems,
35:23
Speaker 1: and partly to the fact that three hundred and sixty
35:26
Speaker 1: four is divisible by seven and amounts to fifty two
35:29
Speaker 1: weeks exactly. In any case, he is opposed to the
35:33
Speaker 1: lunar year the Pharisaic way of reckoning time, and this
35:37
Speaker 1: is an important point in favor of Saddace and authorship.
35:41
Speaker 1: It will be noted that this book was written in
35:43
Speaker 1: post Maccabean times. It was after the Maccabean Struggle that
35:47
Speaker 1: the Sadducees and Pharisees appeared as parties definitely opposed to
35:51
Speaker 1: one another. Four The Dream slash Vision Chapters eighty three
35:57
Speaker 1: through ninety. This book consists of two dreams slash visions.
36:02
Speaker 1: The first deals with the judgment brought upon the world
36:05
Speaker 1: by the deluge on account of sin. The origin of
36:08
Speaker 1: sin is again traced to the angels who fell. It
36:11
Speaker 1: concludes with a hymn of praise to God, in which
36:14
Speaker 1: a prayer is offered that all flesh may not be
36:16
Speaker 1: destroyed eighty three through eighty four. The second dream slash
36:22
Speaker 1: vision is much longer. It gives in brief outline the
36:26
Speaker 1: history of the world to the founding of the Messianic Kingdom,
36:29
Speaker 1: first the patriarchs, symbolized by bulls et cetera. Eighty five,
36:35
Speaker 1: then the fallen angels, also described in symbolic language, and
36:39
Speaker 1: their punishment eighty six through eighty eight. The history then
36:44
Speaker 1: proceeds to deal more specifically with Israel, from the time
36:47
Speaker 1: of Noah to the Maccabeian revolt eighty nine through ninety
36:52
Speaker 1: verse nineteen. Throughout the dream dash vision, symbolic language is used.
36:58
Speaker 1: The faithful in Israel are spoken Genovis sheep, while the
37:01
Speaker 1: gentiles are symbolized by wild beasts and birds of prey.
37:06
Speaker 1: The dream slash vision concludes with some familiar eschatological notes,
37:11
Speaker 1: the judgment and condemnation of the wicked, the establishment of
37:15
Speaker 1: the New Jerusalem, the conversion of the Gentiles who become
37:19
Speaker 1: subject to Israel, the gathering in of the dispersed Israelites,
37:23
Speaker 1: the resurrection of the righteous dead, and the setting up
37:26
Speaker 1: of the Messianic Kingdom on the appearance of the Messiah
37:30
Speaker 1: ninety twenty through thirty eight five the concluding section of
37:35
Speaker 1: the book ninety two through one hundred and five ninety one,
37:40
Speaker 1: Verses ten, eighteen, and nineteen also belong Here is a complete,
37:45
Speaker 1: though short work, but there are some obvious interpolations, and
37:50
Speaker 1: it is quite possible that some parts of the text
37:53
Speaker 1: are dislocated. This makes the understanding of the book difficult,
37:57
Speaker 1: but if we follow Charles's guidance here, the difficult culties
38:00
Speaker 1: will disappear. He says that this concluding piece has in
38:04
Speaker 1: some degree suffered at the hands of the final editor
38:07
Speaker 1: of the book, both in the way of direct interpolation
38:10
Speaker 1: and of severe dislocations of the text. The interpolations are
38:15
Speaker 1: ninety one, verse eleven, ninety three, verses eleven to fourteen,
38:20
Speaker 1: ninety four, seventy ninety six, verse two. The dislocations of
38:25
Speaker 1: the text are a more important feature of the book.
38:28
Speaker 1: They are confined, with the exception of ninety three verses
38:32
Speaker 1: thirteen to fourteen, and of one hundred and six verse
38:37
Speaker 1: seventeen a, which should be read immediately after one hundred
38:41
Speaker 1: and six verse fourteen to ninety one through ninety three.
38:47
Speaker 1: All critics are agreed as to the chief of these,
38:50
Speaker 1: ninety one, twelve through seventeen should undoubtedly be read directly
38:54
Speaker 1: after ninety three. Taken together, ninety three verse one through ten,
39:00
Speaker 1: ninety one, twelve through seventeen form an independent whole, the
39:05
Speaker 1: Apocalypse of Weeks, which has been incorporated in ninety one
39:10
Speaker 1: through one hundred and four. The remaining dislocations need only
39:14
Speaker 1: to be pointed out in order to be acknowledged. On
39:17
Speaker 1: other grounds, we find that ninety one through one hundred
39:21
Speaker 1: and four is a book of different authorship from that
39:24
Speaker 1: of the rest of the sections. Now this being so,
39:27
Speaker 1: this section obviously begins with ninety two, written by Enoch
39:31
Speaker 1: the Scribe et cetera. On ninety two follows ninety one
39:36
Speaker 1: one through ten, eighteen and nineteen as a natural sequel,
39:40
Speaker 1: where Enix summons his children to receive his parting words.
39:44
Speaker 1: Then comes the Apocalypse of Weeks ninety three one through ten,
39:50
Speaker 1: ninety one, twelve through seventeen. The original order of the
39:54
Speaker 1: text therefore was ninety two ninety one one through ten,
39:59
Speaker 1: eighteen teen, nineteen ninety three, one through ten, ninety one,
40:04
Speaker 1: twelve through seventeen ninety four. These dislocations were the work
40:09
Speaker 1: of the editor, who put the different books of Enux
40:12
Speaker 1: together and added eighty and eighty one. The book is
40:17
Speaker 1: concerned with the questions of the final reward of the
40:20
Speaker 1: righteous and the final punishment of the wicked. But a
40:23
Speaker 1: new teaching of great importance is put forth here. Hitherto
40:27
Speaker 1: it had been taught that although much incongruity and apparent
40:30
Speaker 1: injustice were to be found on this earth, owing to
40:33
Speaker 1: the suffering of the righteous and the prosperity of the wicked,
40:36
Speaker 1: nevertheless all things would be righted in the world to come,
40:39
Speaker 1: where the wicked would receive their deserts and the righteous
40:42
Speaker 1: would come to their own. In this book it is
40:45
Speaker 1: taught that retribution will overtake the wicked, and the righteous
40:49
Speaker 1: will have peace and prosperity even on this earth, with
40:52
Speaker 1: the setting up of the Messianic Kingdom, and that at
40:55
Speaker 1: least there will come, with the final judgment, the destruction
40:58
Speaker 1: of the former heaven and earth Earth, and the creation
41:01
Speaker 1: of a New Heaven, then will follow the resurrection of
41:04
Speaker 1: the spirits of the righteous dead, who will live forever
41:07
Speaker 1: in peace and joy, while the wicked will perish everlastingly.
41:11
Speaker 1: The important point, which is a development is the idea
41:14
Speaker 1: of the punishment of the wicked taking place on this earth,
41:18
Speaker 1: the very scene of their unrighteous triumphs six the Noah
41:22
Speaker 1: fragments six through eleven, fifty seven, seven through fifty five,
41:28
Speaker 1: two nine, sixty five through sixty nine, verse twenty five,
41:33
Speaker 1: one hundred and six through one hundred and seven. These
41:37
Speaker 1: fragments are not of much importance. The main topics touched
41:41
Speaker 1: upon are the fall of the angels and sin among men,
41:44
Speaker 1: in consequence, judgments on mankind i e. The Deluge, and
41:49
Speaker 1: the preservation of Noah. The first five chapters are generally
41:53
Speaker 1: felt to be as late as any part of the
41:55
Speaker 1: whole collection. They deal with the punishment hereafter of the
41:58
Speaker 1: wicked and the blood of the righteous. Chapter one hundred
42:02
Speaker 1: and eight, which reads like a final word to the
42:04
Speaker 1: whole collection, touches upon the same theme the importance of
42:08
Speaker 1: the book for the study of Christian origins. This is
42:12
Speaker 1: a subject which cannot be thoroughly appreciated without studying the
42:15
Speaker 1: book in detail, especially from its doctrinal standpoint, and seeing
42:20
Speaker 1: in how many aspects it represents the doctrine and the
42:22
Speaker 1: popular conceptions of the Jews during the two last pre
42:26
Speaker 1: Christian centuries. To do this here would evolve a far
42:30
Speaker 1: too extended investigation. It must suffice to indicate a few
42:34
Speaker 1: of the many points which should be studied. From these,
42:38
Speaker 1: it will be seen how important the book is for
42:40
Speaker 1: study of Christian origins. Charles says that the influence of
42:44
Speaker 1: First Denik on the New Testament has been greater than
42:47
Speaker 1: that of all the other apocryphal and pseudopographical books put together,
42:52
Speaker 1: and he gives a formidable list of passages in the
42:55
Speaker 1: New Testament which, either in phraseology or idea, directly depend
43:01
Speaker 1: on or are illustrative of passages in First Enoch, as
43:06
Speaker 1: well as a further list showing that various doctrines in
43:09
Speaker 1: First Enuch had an undoubted share in molding the corresponding
43:13
Speaker 1: New Testament doctrines. These passages should be studied, and they
43:18
Speaker 1: will be found to be a most interesting study in
43:21
Speaker 1: Charles's work, already referred to several times, pages ninety five
43:26
Speaker 1: to one hundred and three, and with these should be
43:28
Speaker 1: read the section on the theology of the Book of Enoch,
43:31
Speaker 1: pages one hundred and three to one hundred and ten.
43:35
Speaker 1: Another book of great value and interest already quoted is
43:39
Speaker 1: Burquette's Jewish and Christian Apocalypses. In dealing with the subject
43:44
Speaker 1: of First Ench and the Gospels, this writer points out
43:47
Speaker 1: that the former contains a serious attempt to account for
43:50
Speaker 1: the presence of evil in human history, and this attempt
43:53
Speaker 1: claims our attention because it is, in essentials the view
43:57
Speaker 1: presupposed in the Gospels, especially in the Synoptic Gospels. It
44:02
Speaker 1: is when you study Matthew, Mark and Luke against the
44:05
Speaker 1: background of the Books of Enoch that you see them
44:08
Speaker 1: in their true perspective. In saying this, I have no
44:11
Speaker 1: intention of detracting from the importance of what the Gospels
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Speaker 1: report to us. On the contrary, it puts familiar words
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Speaker 1: into their proper setting. Indeed, it seems to me that
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Speaker 1: some of the best known sayings of Jesus only appear
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Speaker 1: in their true light if regarded as midrash upon words
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Speaker 1: and concepts that were familiar to those who heard the
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Speaker 1: prophet of Galilee, though now they have been forgotten by
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Speaker 1: jew and Christian Alike, page twenty one. He then gives
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Speaker 1: an illustration of this from Matthew twelve forty three through
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Speaker 1: forty five Luke eleven twenty four through twenty six. Of
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Speaker 1: still greater interest are his remarks upon the relationship between
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Speaker 1: First Enoch sixty two and Matthew twenty five, verse thirty
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Speaker 1: one through forty six. He believes that the similitud of
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Speaker 1: Enoch are presupposed in this scene from Matthew. The whole
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Speaker 1: of the discussion which follows should be read. The special
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Speaker 1: points of interest that should be studied in seeking to
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Speaker 1: realize the importance of these books of Enoch for the
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Speaker 1: study of Christian origins are the problems of evil, including
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Speaker 1: of course the subjects of demonology and future judgment, the
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Speaker 1: Messiah and the Messianic kingdom. The title Son of Man
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Speaker 1: is of special importance, and the Resurrection. There are, of
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Speaker 1: course other subjects which will suggest themselves in studying the
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Speaker 1: book and of section one