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ENOCH, BOOKS OF

Three books have come down to us under the name of Enoch: 1 (or Ethiopic) Enoch, 2 (or Slavonic) Enoch, and 3 (or Hebrew) Enoch. Much of the content of these books depends on the idea that Enoch had learned cosmological and other heavenly secrets from the angels. This is derived from the biblical account of Gen. 5:2-24 (cf. esp. vv. 21-24). Due to the Enochic tradition’s distinction between hā-ʾĕlōhîm (“the angels”; NRSV “God” in Gen. 5:22) and ʾĕlōhîm (“God”), this pericope was understood to mean that after the birth of Methuselah Enoch spent the next 300 years with the angels and then, after a brief return to earth, was taken up to remain in heaven.

1 (Ethiopic) Enoch

1 Enoch is a collection of five books plus a few additions dating from the 3rd century b.c.e. to the 1st century c.e. (or b.c.e.). They were originally written in Aramaic, translated into Greek, and from Greek into other languages. Fragments of the Aramaic of all but Book 2 were found at Qumran. A related, fragmentary Book of the Giants, which survives in a revised form among the Manicheans, was also found at Qumran. 1 Enoch had a great deal of influence in late antiquity. It is cited explicitly in Jude 14–15, the Epistle of Barnabas, and by Tertullian and is reflected in the Synoptic Gospels, the Apocalypse of John, and other early Christian and Jewish texts. It subsequently fell out of favor and survives only in ancient Ethiopic, the version upon which all modern translations are based. A diachronic account of the separate books follows.

Book 3, the Astronomical Book (chs. 72–82), was composed in the 3rd century b.c.e. or possibly earlier. The present Ethiopic version is an abbreviated and disordered version of the Aramaic original. It consists of Enoch’s tour of the heavens conducted by the angel Uriel; Enoch is shown the motions of the sun and moon, the “gates” from which they rise and into which they set, the winds, prominent geographic features, and calendrical information. A solar year of 364 days is synchronized with a lunar year of 354 days. 1 En. 80:2–82:3 (a probable later interpolation) contains a criticism of the angelic chiefs of the stars because of their failure to correspond exactly to the prescribed calendar, criticism of human sinners, and an account of Enoch’s return to earth for his 365th year (suggestive of calendrical concerns) to teach wisdom to his son Methuselah and his descendants.

Book 1, the Book of the Watchers (chs. 1-36), was composed during the 3rd century. The core (chs. 6–11), based on the account of the union of the “sons of God” with the “daughters of men” in Gen. 6:1-4, is the story of the conspiracy of 200 angelic Watchers under the leadership of Shemihazah to take human wives. The giant offspring (which may function as a metaphor for the successors of Alexander the Great) of these illicit unions began to consume all of the earth’s resources until God sent (an) archangel(s) to destroy the giants, imprison the Watchers, and restore the earth to a state of fruitfulness and righteousness. This core was expanded by the addition of chs. 12–16, which introduce Enoch to the narrative and describe his visionary ascent to heaven and his intercession for the Watchers. Their petition was rejected because they had defiled themselves by violating the distinction between heaven and earth (possibly a metaphor for the presumed defilement of the Jerusalem priesthood). The third stage consists of the introduction of Asael and the theme of illicit teachings of heavenly secrets throughout chs. 6–16 and one or more avenging archangels in ch. 10. Chs. 17–36 are a narrative of two of Enoch’s journeys to the various places of everlasting punishment, the accursed valley of Hinnom in Jerusalem, the garden of righteousness, the mountain of God, and the four corners of the earth where the gates of the stars, winds, and various forms of precipitation are situated. Finally, chs. 1–5 were added as an introduction to the whole on the theme of final judgment and the need to do the commandments of the Lord.

Book 4, the Book of Dreams (chs. 83–90), consists of two dream visions. The first dream, of uncertain date, concerns the judgment of the wicked in the Deluge and by implication also refers to the final judgment. The second, written in 165 or 164, is an allegorical account of the history of humanity, in which animals represent human beings, humans represent angels, and stars represent the Watchers. The patriarchs from Adam to Isaac are represented by bulls, Israel by sheep, and the gentile nations by various nonkosher (usually predatory) animals. God is depicted as the sheep’s owner. In response to various failures of the sheep, their owner abandons them into the hands of 70 unfaithful shepherds (angels). History culminates with God’s intervention in a final battle between the sheep led by a ram (Judas Maccabeus) and the other animals. This is followed by the judgment of the stars, shepherds, and wicked sheep; the leveling and rebuilding of the sheep’s house (Jerusalem, probably without a new temple); and the assembling of all the righteous animals (Jews and Gentiles) in the new house in the presence of the owner. Finally, a new white bull appears (a new Adam) and all animals are transformed into white bulls, representing the eschatological transformation of all humanity into a single Adamic race.

Book 5, the so-called Epistle of Enoch (chs. 91–105), was composed in the 2nd century b.c.e. It contains a testamentary introduction and the Apocalypse of Weeks (93:3-10 and 91:11-17). Both the apocalypse and the subsequent prophetic woes, admonitions, and predictions express a fundamental opposition of violence and deceit against righteousness and truth. The apocalypse provides the temporal framework for the subsequent prophetic judgments on the rich and powerful, who will be punished for their oppression of the righteous and deception of the many. Two brief accounts are appended at the end. The first is an account of Noah’s miraculous birth and Enoch’s assurance that Noah and his sons will be saved when the rest of the world is destroyed by a flood (chs. 106–107). The second is a final book of Enoch detailing the future punishment of the wicked and reward of the righteous (ch. 108).

Book 2, the Similitudes, or the Book of the Parables (chs. 37–71), consists of three “parables” and was composed in the 1st century b.c.e. or the 1st century c.e. The parables are an expansion and interpretation of earlier accounts of Enoch’s visionary travels to heaven and throughout the cosmos. The first parable contains information about the fate of the righteous and sinners and astronomical secrets. The second and third parables develop the theme of eschatological judgment primarily in terms of the eschatological judge who is called “the Righteous one,” “the Elect one,” and “the Son of Man.” Following the third parable is a final vision in which Enoch learns that he is the Son of Man.

Each of the books of 1 Enoch is an apocalypse in its present form. The Astronomical Book, the Book of the Watchers, and the Book of Parables consist largely of cosmic journeys and angelic interpretations. The oldest layers of the Book of the Watchers, however, are not apocalyptic in either form or content, and the original form of the Astronomical Book is uninterested in eschatology. The Book of Dreams and the Apocalypse of Weeks are symbolic surveys of history leading up to the eschaton. The Epistle of Enoch contains testamentary, wisdom, prophetic, and apocalyptic forms. From the point of view of their authors, the books are the heavenly wisdom revealed in Enoch’s visions and travels and in the heavenly tablets.

2 (Slavonic) Enoch

2 Enoch was translated from Greek into Slavonic, the only ancient version in which it survives, having been composed probably in Hebrew (or Aramaic). The date of composition may be near the turn of the era. There are no specifically Christian ideas in it (apart from a few interpolations), nor is there very much that is specifically Jewish. Its fundamental teachings seem to be limited to monotheism and general ethics. The second half consists of Enoch’s final address to his sons and subsequent ascension to heaven in his 365th year. It is reminiscent of 1 Enoch in its content and theology, with descriptions of Enoch’s journey to heaven, heaven itself, cosmology, eschatology, calendar, angelology, and the secret wisdom granted to Enoch.

3 (Hebrew) Enoch

3 Enoch is a pseudepigraph written in Hebrew probably in the 5th or 6th century c.e. As a representative of Merkabah mysticism, it purports to be an account by Rabbi Ishmael (early 2nd century c.e.) of his ascension to God’s throne. There he received revelations concerning angelic hierarchy and liturgy, cosmology, eschatology, and the exaltation and transformation of Enoch into God’s vice-regent Meṭaṭron.

Bibliography. P. S. Alexander, “3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch,” OTP 1 (Garden City, 1983): 223-315; F. I. Andersen, “2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch,” OTP 1:91-221; M. Black, The Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch. SVTP 7 (Leiden, 1985); M. A. Knibb, The Ethiopic Book of Enoch, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1978); J. T. Milik, The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumrân Cave 4 (Oxford, 1976); D. W. Suter, Tradition and Composition in the Parables of Enoch. SBLDS 47 (Missoula, 1979); P. A. Tiller, A Commentary on the Animal Apocalypse of 1 Enoch. Early Judaism and Its Literature 4 (Atlanta, 1993); J. C. VanderKam, Enoch, a Man for All Generations (Columbia, S.C., 1995); Enoch and the Growth of an Apocalyptic Tradition. CBQMS 16 (Washington, 1984).

Patrick A. Tiller

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ENOCH, BOOKS OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)