Book of Enoch
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For other writings attributed to Enoch, see Book of Enoch (disambiguation).
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The Book of Enoch (also 1 Enoch;[1] Ge'ez: መጽሐፈ ሄኖክ maṣḥafa hēnok) is an ancient Jewish apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah.[2][3] Enoch contains unique material on the origins of demons and giants, why some angels fell from heaven, an explanation of why the Great Flood was morally necessary, and prophetic exposition of the thousand-year reign of the Messiah.
The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) of the text are estimated to date from about 300–200 BCE, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to the 100 BCE.[4]
Various Aramaic fragments found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Koine Greek and Latin fragments was proof that The Book of Enoch was known by early Jews and Christians. This book was also quoted by some 1st and 2nd century authors as in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. Authors of the New Testament were also familiar with some content of the story.[5] A short section of 1 Enoch (1:9) is cited in the New Testament, Epistle of Jude, Jude 1:14–15, and is attributed there to "Enoch the Seventh from Adam" (1 En 60:8), although this section of 1 Enoch is a midrash on Deuteronomy 33:2. Several copies of the earlier sections of 1 Enoch were preserved among the Dead Sea Scrolls.[3]
It is not part of the biblical canon used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews). Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest and while the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church consider the Books of Enoch as canonical, other Christian groups regard them as non-canonical or non-inspired.[citation needed]
It is wholly extant only in the Ge'ez language, with Aramaic fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls and a few Greek and Latin fragments. For this and other reasons, the traditional Ethiopian belief is that the original language of the work was Ge'ez, whereas modern scholars argue that it was first written in either Aramaic or Hebrew; Ephraim Isaac suggests that the Book of Enoch, like the Book of Daniel, was composed partially in Aramaic and partially in Hebrew.[6]:6 No Hebrew version is known to have survived. It is asserted in the book itself that its author was Enoch, before the Biblical Flood.[citation needed]
The most complete Book of Enoch comes from Ethiopic manuscripts, maṣḥafa hēnok, written in Ge'ez; which was brought to Europe by James Bruce in the late 18th century and was translated into English in the 19th century.
Contents
1 Content
2 Canonicity
2.1 Judaism
2.2 Christianity
2.2.1 References in the New Testament
2.2.2 Reception
2.2.3 Ethiopian Orthodox Church
2.2.4 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
3 Manuscript tradition
3.1 Ethiopic
3.2 Aramaic
3.3 Greek and Latin
4 History
4.1 Second Temple period
4.2 Early influence
4.3 Rediscovery
5 The Book of the Watchers
5.1 Content
5.2 Description
6 Book of Parables
6.1 Content
7 The Astronomical Book
7.1 Content
8 The Dream Visions
8.1 Content
8.2 Animals in the second dream vision
8.3 Description
9 The Epistle of Enoch
9.1 Content
10 Names of the fallen angels
11 See also
12 References
13 Bibliography
14 External links
Content
The first part of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angels who fathered the Nephilim.[2] The remainder of the book describes Enoch's visits to heaven in the form of travels, visions and dreams, and his revelations.[3]
The book consists of five quite distinct major sections (see each section for details):[2]
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[7] (with different dates of composition), themselves a product of much editorial arrangement, and were only later redacted into what is now called 1 Enoch.[3]
Canonicity
Main article: Reception of Enoch in antiquity
Judaism
Although evidently widely known during the development of the Hebrew Bible canon, 1 Enoch was excluded from both the formal canon of the Tanakh and the typical canon of the Septuagint and therefore, also from the writings known today as the Deuterocanon.[8][9] One possible reason for Jewish rejection of the book might be the textual nature of several early sections of the book that make use of material from the Torah; for example, 1 En 1 is a midrash of Deuteronomy 33.[10][11] The content, particularly detailed descriptions of fallen angels, would also be a reason for rejection from the Hebrew canon at this period – as illustrated by the comments of Trypho the Jew when debating with Justin Martyr on this subject: "The utterances of God are holy, but your expositions are mere contrivances, as is plain from what has been explained by you; nay, even blasphemies, for you assert that angels sinned and revolted from God."[12] Today, the Ethiopic Beta Israel community of Jews is the only Jewish group that accepts the Book of Enoch as canonical and still preserves it in its liturgical language of Ge'ez where it plays a central role in worship and the liturgy.[13]
Christianity
By the 4th century, the Book of Enoch was mostly excluded from Christian canons, and it is now regarded as scripture by only the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.[citation needed]
References in the New Testament
"Enoch, the seventh from Adam" is quoted, in Jude 1:14–15:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convict 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.
Compare this with Enoch 1:9, translated from the Ethiopic (found also in Qumran scroll 4Q204=4QEnochc ar, col I 16–18):[14]
And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His Saints To execute judgment upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
Compare this also with what may be the original source of 1 En 1:9 in Deuteronomy 33:2:[15][16][17]
The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of Saints, with flaming fire at his right hand.
Under the heading of canonicity, it is not enough to merely demonstrate that something is quoted. Instead, it is necessary to demonstrate the nature of the quotation.[18] In the case of the Jude 1:14 quotation of 1 Enoch 1:9, it would be difficult to argue that Jude does not quote Enoch as a historical prophet since he cites Enoch by name. However, there remains a question as to whether the author of Jude attributed the quotation believing the source to be the historical Enoch before the flood or a midrash of Deut 33:2–3.[19][20][21] The Greek text might seem unusual in stating that "Enoch the Seventh from Adam" prophesied "to" (dative case) not "of" (genitive case) the men, however, this might indicate the Greek meaning “against them” – the dative τούτοις as a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).[22][improper synthesis?]
Peter H. Davids points to Dead Sea Scrolls evidence but leaves it open as to whether Jude viewed 1 Enoch as canon, deuterocanon, or otherwise: "Did Jude, then, consider this scripture to be like Genesis or Isaiah? Certainly he did consider it authoritative, a true word from God. We cannot tell whether he ranked it alongside other prophetic books such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. What we do know is, first, that other Jewish groups, most notably those living in Qumran near the Dead Sea, also used and valued 1 Enoch, but we do not find it grouped with the scriptural scrolls."[23]
The attribution "Enoch the Seventh from Adam" is apparently itself a section heading taken from 1 Enoch (1 En 60:8, Jude 1:14a) and not from Genesis.[24]
Also, it has been alleged that 1 Peter (in 1Peter 3:19–20) and 2 Peter (in 2Peter 2:4–5) make reference to some Enochian material.[25]
In Epistle to the Hebrews (in Hebrews 11:5) is mentioned Enoch and that he received testimony which maybe alludes to his book.
Reception
Main article: Reception of Enoch in antiquity
The Book of Enoch was considered as scripture in the Epistle of Barnabas (16:4)[26] and by many of the early Church Fathers, such as Athenagoras,[27] Clement of Alexandria,[28] Irenaeus[29] and Tertullian,[30] who wrote c. 200 that the Book of Enoch had been rejected by the Jews because it contained prophecies pertaining to Christ.[31] However, later Fathers denied the canonicity of the book, and some even considered the Epistle of Jude uncanonical because it refers to an "apocryphal" work.[3][32]
Ethiopian Orthodox Church
This subsection contains Ethiopic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Ethiopic characters.
The traditional belief of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which sees 1 Enoch as an inspired document, is that the Ethiopic text is the original one, written by Enoch himself. They believe that the following opening sentence of Enoch is the first and oldest sentence written in any human language, since Enoch was the first to write letters:
"ቃለ፡ በረከት፡ ዘሄኖክ፡ ዘከመ፡ ባረከ፡ ኅሩያነ፡ ወጻድቃነ፡ እለ፡ ሀለዉ፡ ይኩኑ"
"በዕለተ፡ ምንዳቤ፡ ለአሰስሎ፡ ኵሉ፡ እኩያን፡ ወረሲዓን።"
"Qāla barakat za-Hēnōk za-kama bāraka ḫərūyāna wa-ṣādəqāna 'əlla hallawu yəkūnū ba-ʿəlata məndābē la-'asassəlō kʷəllū 'əkūyān wa-rasīʿān"
"Word of blessing of Henok, wherewith he blessed the chosen and righteous who would be alive in the day of tribulation for the removal of all wrongdoers and backsliders."
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