Random Notes on the Enochic Tradition

Dr. Andrei Orlov suggests that 1 Enoch should be seen as being in the transitional stage of a tradition, not the original penning of it. It likely comes from an older tradition.  Just as 2 Enoch, and especially 3 Enoch come much later along the trajectory of this tradition, 1 Enoch was certainly not the first Book of Enoch–although we do not have any earlier examples. 1 Enoch itself is a collection of different Enochic texts (Book of Watchers, Astronomical writings, Parables, Similitudes, Book of Dreams, etc.) that were written at different times.

The Enochic tradition was very influential among early Christians. It fell into disfavor with Augustine, Hilary, and Jerome, although it was quoted from by earlier Fathers.

It contains many beliefs/doctrines important to Christianity. For example, the immortality of the soul is prominent in Enoch, but not so much in canonical OT literature. Also, the concept of the existence of a Mediator between worlds, interacting/interceding both ways–between earth and heaven–is central to the Enochic literature.

Orlov asks: Is this Enochic tradition determining the content of prophets–are they using same tradition? Many of the prophets seem to use the same imagery as the Enoch texts–more so than the later priestly writings. My note: On this subject, Margaret Barker once told me the following:

The Enoch tradition was known to Isaiah before 700BCE. I argued in my litttle Isaiah commentary in the Eerdmans’ Bible Commentary that Enoch was the best explanation of the imagery and allusions in Isaiah. Maybe not Enoch as we know it now- but something in that tradition from 7 centuries earlier.

So the Enochic tradition is likely a very ancient trend in Israelite religious belief.  Some have concluded that the Jews must have picked it up in Babylon, due to its similarities with Mesopotamian traditions. However, if we take Barker’s theory seriously, we need not look outside Israel itself for the origins of the tradition.  However, as Barker noted, and as I suggested in my last post on 1 Enoch, the stories found in 1 Enoch have probably been redacted to serve as a polemic against the exclusionary Zadokite priests of the Second Temple.  Dr. Orlov clearly stated this idea in class, explaining: This is polemical against the Jerusalem priesthood because of their exogamy (marriage outside the covenant).

YOM KIPPUR and the Legend of Azazel

Going back to the text of 1 Enoch, we looked at ch. 10, starting with vs. 4:

And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening 5 in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may 6,7 not see light. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish…And the whole earth has been corrupted 9 through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.’

Dr. Orlov argued that this was the myth behind the sacrificial ritual performed on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. We compared the Enochic story with the directions found for the atonement ritual in Leviticus 16:

10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

20 ¶ And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

Now these verses are speaking of the scapegoat, upon which the high priest would lay his hands, transferring the sins/guilt to it, and then send it out into the wilderness.  However, there were actually two goats used in the ritual, which were supposed to be identical.  The first goat was sacrificed (before the part with the second, the scapegoat) and its blood was carried into the Holy of Holies by the high priest. With the blood of the goat, the high priest symbolically ”bore” the sins of the people. When the high priest emerged from the holy place, he carried new life for Israel (and all of creation). He then put his hands on the scapegoat and transferred the sins, for which he had made atonement, to it. 

According to several ancient texts, it is the LORD (Jehovah) himself who performs the Atonement. In the Israelite ritual, the high priest wears the name of the LORD on his forehead, thus representing Jehovah.

The tradition was that of the two goats, one was “for Azazel” and the other was “for the LORD”. However, as Margaret Barker notes in The Great Angel (p. 45), the preposition l’ in Hebrew can mean both “for” and also “as”. So she interprets the two goats as representing Azazel and Jehovah, respectively.  

So, looking at the ritual this way, the goat representing the LORD is killed, and then the high priest (also representing the LORD) takes what would symbolize his own blood into the Holy of Holies (which represent the presence of God), and makes atonement by sprinkling/smearing the blood before the throne of God. The LORD (high priest) then emerges and places the burden upon the goat representing Azazel (the leader of the rebellious angels) and then casts it out into a certain place in the desert. In the Targums, this place is called Hororo or Haduda (probably from the same root as 1 Enoch’s “Dudael”).

The “myth” of Azazel being bound and thrown into a pit in the desert, and that all sin should be ascribed to him, appears to be the background story behind the ritual of atonement performed on Yom Kippur. Also enlightening is the idea that after being bound in the pit, Azazel would later be thrown into the fire at the last judgment. This is very important for Christians as well, as they believed that Christ the High Priest, who was Jehovah, was slain as a sacrifice for our sins and that he himself presented his holy blood in the heavenly Holy of Holies (see Heb 9:11-15). Christ, having conquered Satan, will cast him, bound, into the pit, where he will remain until he is cast into the fires of Hell at Judgment Day.   

For more on this most interesting topic, have a look at Margaret Barker’s article here.

More Interesting Passages from The Book of the Watchers

I just wanted to share with you a few more passages from the first section of 1 Enoch, called The Book of the Watchers.

On the Son of Man, the Anointed One:

[Chapter 48]

1 And in that place I saw the fountain of righteousness
Which was inexhaustible:
And around it were many fountains of wisdom:
And all the thirsty drank of them,
And were filled with wisdom,
And their dwellings were with the righteous and holy and elect.
2 And at that hour that Son of Man was named In the presence of the Lord of Spirits,
And his name before the Head of Days.

3 Yea, before the sun and the signs were created,
Before the stars of the heaven were made,
His name was named before the Lord of Spirits.

4 He shall be a staff to the righteous whereon to stay themselves and not fall,
And he shall be the light of the Gentiles,
And the hope of those who are troubled of heart.

5 All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship before him,
And will praise and bless and celebrate with song the Lord of Spirits.

6 And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before Him,
Before the creation of the world and for evermore.

7 And the wisdom of the Lord of Spirits hath revealed him to the holy and righteous;
For he hath preserved the lot of the righteous,
Because they have hated and despised this world of unrighteousness,
And have hated all its works and ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits:
For in his name they are saved,
And according to his good pleasure hath it been in regard to their life.

8 In these days downcast in countenance shall the kings of the earth have become,
And the strong who possess the land because of the works of their hands,
For on the day of their anguish and affliction they shall not (be able to) save themselves.
And I will give them over into the hands of Mine elect:
As straw in the fire so shall they burn before the face of the holy:
As lead in the water shall they sink before the face of the righteous,
And no trace of them shall any more be found.

10 And on the day of their affliction there shall be rest on the earth,
And before them they shall fall and not rise again:
And there shall be no one to take them with his hands and raise them:
For they have denied the Lord of Spirits and His Anointed.
The name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed.

The Elect One and the Millenial Day:

[Chapter 51]

1 And in those days shall the earth also give back that which has been entrusted to it,
And Sheol also shall give back that which it has received,
And hell shall give back that which it owes.

5a For in those days the Elect One shall arise,
2 And he shall choose the righteous and holy from among them:
For the day has drawn nigh that they should be saved.

3 And the Elect One shall in those days sit on My throne,
And his mouth shall pour forth all the secrets of wisdom and counsel:
For the Lord of Spirits hath given (them) to him and hath glorified him.

4 And in those days shall the mountains leap like rams,
And the hills also shall skip like lambs satisfied with milk,
And the faces of [all] the angels in heaven shall be lighted up with joy.

5b And the earth shall rejoice,
c And the righteous shall dwell upon it,
d And the elect shall walk thereon.

Noah and Enoch:

[Chapter 65]

1, 2 And in those days Noah saw the earth that it had sunk down and its destruction was nigh. And he arose from thence and went to the ends of the earth, and cried aloud to his grandfather Enoch: 3 and Noah said three times with an embittered voice: Hear me, hear me, hear me.’ And I said unto him: ‘ Tell me what it is that is falling out on the earth that the earth is in such evil plight 4 and shaken, lest perchance I shall perish with it ? ‘ And thereupon there was a great commotion , on the earth, and a voice was heard from heaven, and I fell on my face. And Enoch my grandfather came and stood by me, and said unto me: ‘ Why hast thou cried unto me with a bitter cry and weeping 6 And a command has gone forth from the presence of the Lord concerning those who dwell on the earth that their ruin is accomplished because they have learnt all the secrets of the angels, and all the violence of the Satans, and all their powers -the most secret ones- and all the power of those who practice sorcery, and the power of witchcraft, and the power of those who make molten images 7 for the whole earth: And how silver is produced from the dust of the earth, and how soft metal 8 originates in the earth. For lead and tin are not produced from the earth like the first: it is a fountain 9 that produces them, and an angel stands therein, and that angel is pre-eminent.’ And after that my grandfather Enoch took hold of me by my hand and raised me up, and said unto me: ‘ Go, for I have 10 asked the Lord of Spirits as touching this commotion on the earth. And He said unto me: ” Because of their unrighteousness their judgement has been determined upon and shall not be withheld by Me for ever. Because of the sorceries which they have searched out and learnt, the earth and those 11 who dwell upon it shall be destroyed.” And these-they have no place of repentance for ever, because they have shown them what was hidden, and they are the damned: but as for thee, my son, the Lord of Spirits knows that thou art pure, and guiltless of this reproach concerning the secrets.

12 And He has destined thy name to be among the holy,
And will preserve thee amongst those who dwell on the earth,
And has destined thy righteous seed both for kingship and for great honours,
And from thy seed shall proceed a fountain of the righteous and holy without number for ever.

Another Vision of Heaven:

1 Enoch 71

5 And he translated my spirit into the heaven of heavens,
And I saw there as it were a structure built of crystals,
And between those crystals tongues of living fire.

6 And my spirit saw the girdle which girt that house of fire,
And on its four sides were streams full of living fire,
And they girt that house.

7 And round about were Seraphim, Cherubim, and Ophannim:
And these are they who sleep not
And guard the throne of His glory.

8 And I saw angels who could not be counted,
A thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand,
Encircling that house.

TEXT: 1 Enoch 1-36 = Book of the Watchers. Esp. chs. 14-15 – Enoch’s vision of the Heavenly Temple• Genesis 5-6 (in Hebrew). (You should probably look at these passages first for this post to make sense.)

Readings:
• Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Charlesworth, 1 Enoch 1:5-89.
• The Apocalyptic Imagination, John J. Collins, ch. 2
• M. Himmelfarb, “From Ezekiel to the Book of the Watchers,” in: Ascent to Heaven, 9-28

Additional Readings: A. Orlov, The Enoch-Metatron Tradition, chapters 1-2.

Paradise Lost by Gustave Dore

Comparing 1 Enoch 6-7 to Genesis 5-6

In class, Dr. Orlov had us look at the similarities between 1 (Ethiopic) Enoch 6-7 and Genesis 5-6 (see links above–the Enoch link uses R.H. Charles’ translation, which I don’t think is as good as the translation in Charlesworth).  They are presenting the same basic story, but Enoch has many more details. Gabriele Boccaccini (of Univ. of Michigan) believes Gen 6 is an abbreviated version of the more ancient Enoch/Watchers tradition–the author/compiler of Genesis is acknowledging the known story for his audience.

Gen 5-6 is quite faithful to the Enochic story. Did Genesis provoke this tradition, or was it borrowing from an older tradition? Perhaps both Gen and Enoch are based on an older tradition (I favor this theory).

We looked at Gen 5-6 in Hebrew. Where our English translation has God, the Hebrew text alternates between the term elohim and ha-elohim (the definite article). So what we should have is God and the God–or, more likely–God and the gods (or divine beings or angels).  In the Dead Sea Scrolls, ha-elohim seems to refer to angels.

When it says “elohim” without the article “ha”, it is referring to God (according to James VanderKam–Enoch: A Man for All Generations)  We see ha-elohim (angels) and Elohim in the same verse (5:24). This is not a mistake–this is a deliberate differentiation.  This alternating between the two terms goes on throughout the whole story.

Gen 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. 

p `~yhi(l{a/ Atßao xq:ïl’-yKi( WNn<¨yaew> ~yhi_l{a/h’*-ta, %Anàx] %Leîh;t.YIw:

In the first instance of “God” in this verse, the Hebrew has “ha-elohim”. The second instance, it is simply “elohim”. Why the difference? According to VanderKam, the verse should say: 

And Enoch walked with the angels (watchers); and he was not, for God took him.

This is what we see in 1 Enoch. Before Enoch is taken up into heaven, he is already in frequent contact with the angels. Going back to Gen 5:22–Enoch walked with the ha-elohim (angels, not God).  In verses 22 and 24–Enoch walked–the Hebrew verb is halach.  Dr. Orlov suggested that this can be translated as “he went to and fro, back and forth”. He was making repeated trips. Going back and forth on behalf of the angels. 

 So verse 24 is appears to be summarizing the story in 1 Enoch where Enoch is going back and forth on behalf of angels– God took him up into heaven and he intercedes on behalf of the Watchers.

Gen 6:11–Instead of stating that the Earth was corrupt in the face of God (liphnei ha-elohim), it makes more sense to say: the Earth was corrupt in the presence of the angels. This fits the Enochic story that the angels came to the Earth and it was corrupted by their presence.

A personal note: I believe that the preceding points are good evidence that if Genesis is not paraphrasing from an older Enochic tradition, then at least both of them are borrowing from a related older tradition. Does that mean, then, that we should incorporate the story of Semihaza, Azazel, and the other Watchers coming down to Earth and marrying human women–giving birth to giants–into our belief system? Should we accept it as reality or as “gospel truth”? Not necessarily.

It is interesting to note that some early Christians (as can be seen by early texts such as The Cave of Treasures and the Armenian Adam and Eve accounts) believed that the “sons of God” referred to in Genesis were the sons of Seth, the righteous son of Adam. The sons of Seth are referred to as the sons of God and even “angels.” So, when the story speaks of the sons of God coming down to marry the daughters of men, some Christians believed that it was the sons of Seth coming down from their land (which was on the mountain of God just below Eden), breaking their covenants, and mingling with the daughters of Cain. Could this be the correct understanding of what is happening in Gen. 5-6? Or were the early Christians just mixing the Genesis and Enochic accounts? It is hard to know. However, I tend to like this version of the story.

Furthermore, Dr. Orlov suggested that the Enoch story that we have may have been a Second Temple embellishment of an older tradition, aimed at creating polemics against the Zadokite priests of the second temple, whom the Enochic writers saw as corrupt. When the story speaks of angels descending from heaven to marry the daughters of men, it may simply be a metaphor for the corrupt temple priests marrying foreign women outside the covenant. This is a theory put forward by some scholars, including David W. Suter in Tradition and Composition in the Parables of Enoch.  So, while the Enochic tradition and the story of the Watchers is something to take seriously and something we must deal with, it is possible that the story that we have in 1 (Ethiopic) Enoch is not the original tradition.

Further Items of Interest in 1 Enoch 1-36 (The Book of the Watchers)

While you can read the whole story on your own (following the link above), I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to post here one of the most exciting parts of the Enoch story–his ascension into heaven and vision of God on His throne in the heavenly temple. This takes place beginning in ch. 14:8:

And the vision was shown to me thus: Behold, in the vision clouds invited me and a mist summoned me, and the course of the stars and the lightnings sped and hastened me, and the winds in the vision caused me to fly and lifted me upward, and bore me into heaven. And I went in till I drew nigh to a wall which is built of crystals and surrounded by tongues of fire: and it began to affright me. And I went into the tongues of fire and drew nigh to a large house which was built of crystals: and the walls of the house were like a tesselated floor (made) of crystals, and its groundwork was of crystal. Its ceiling was like the path of the stars and the lightnings, and between them were fiery cherubim, and their heaven was (clear as) water. A flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its portals blazed with fire. And I entered into that house, and it was hot as fire and cold as ice: there were no delights of life therein: fear covered me, and trembling got hold upon me. And as I quaked and trembled, I fell upon my face. And I beheld a vision, And lo! there was a second house, greater than the former, and the entire portal stood open before me, and it was built of flames of fire. And in every respect it so excelled in splendour and magnificence and extent that I cannot describe to you its splendour and its extent. And its floor was of fire, and above it were lightnings and the path of the stars, and its ceiling also was flaming fire. And I looked and saw therein a lofty throne: its appearance was as crystal, and the wheels thereof as the shining sun, and there was the vision of cherubim. And from underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire so that I could not look thereon. And the Great Glory sat thereon, and His raiment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any snow. None of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason of the magnificence and glory and no flesh could behold Him. The flaming fire was round about Him, and a great fire stood before Him, and none around could draw nigh Him: ten thousand times ten thousand (stood) before Him, yet He needed no counselor. And the most holy ones who were nigh to Him did not leave by night nor depart from Him. And until then I had been prostrate on my face, trembling: and the Lord called me with His own mouth, and said to me: ‘ Come hither, Enoch, and hear my word (the translation in Charlesworth has “Come near to me, Enoch, and to my holy Word”).’ And one of the holy ones came to me and waked me (Charlesworth: “lifted me up”), and He made me rise up and approach the door: and I bowed my face downwards.

This chapter is great in that it presents to us a vision of heaven, and the heavenly temple in particular. The heavenly temple is divided into three sections–a courtyard, delineated by a wall of crystal and tongues of fire; a more glorious first house, or hall, with crystal and fire, and the heavens and cherubim depicted on the ceiling; and an inner house, more glorious than Enoch can describe, with fire on both floor and ceiling. In this inner sanctuary, Enoch sees the throne of God (which is described with expressions similar to the merkavah chariot throne in Ezekiel) and an anthropomorphic God sitting on the throne. He is granted the great privilege, despite his fear, of remaining in God’s presence and speaking with Him.

Also, there is a neat explanation of the Tree of Life in chapters 24 and 25:

…And fragrant trees encircled the throne. And amongst them was a tree such as I had never yet smelt, neither was any amongst them nor were others like it: it had a fragrance beyond all fragrance, and its leaves and blooms and wood wither not for ever: 5 and its fruit is beautiful, and its fruit n resembles the dates of a palm. Then I said: ‘How beautiful is this tree, and fragrant, and its leaves are fair, and its blooms very delightful in appearance.’ 6 Then answered Michael, one of the holy and honoured angels who was with me, and was their leader. 25:1 And he said unto me: ‘Enoch, why dost thou ask me regarding the fragrance of the tree, 2 and why dost thou wish to learn the truth?’ Then I answered him saying: ‘I wish to 3 know about everything, but especially about this tree.’ And he answered saying: ‘This high mountain which thou hast seen, whose summit is like the throne of God, is His throne, where the Holy Great One, the Lord of Glory, the Eternal King, will sit, when He shall come down to visit 4 the earth with goodness. And as for this fragrant tree no mortal is permitted to touch it till the great judgement, when He shall take vengeance on all and bring (everything) to its consummation 5 for ever. It shall then be given to the righteous and holy. Its fruit shall be for food to the elect: it shall be transplanted to the holy place, to the temple of the Lord, the Eternal King.

 Another interesting line is in ch. 17:

And they took and brought me to a place in which those who were there were like flaming fire, and, when they wished, they appeared as men.

This is indicating that the glorious, luminous angels can sometimes hide their glory and appear as normal human beings. Joseph Smith had similar things to say about divine beings being able to, or having to, hide the fullness of their brilliant glory so that mortals could look at them. Another interesting observation here is the belief, in the Enochic literature, in the capacity that both angels and humans have to traverse between the heavenly and earthly realms. This is a motif that does not generally appear in the Old Testament. Angels come down from heaven, but mortals do not ascend there. 

Other Random Notes:

Sacred Time

Enochic time is reckoned according to the solar calendar–Judah (after the Exile) went to the lunar calendar. Enochic literature advocated solar calendar as more authentic–Qumran calendar was also solar. This is important to them for the dating of sacred time. One of the reasons that the Enochic Jews saw the Zadokite priests as corrupt was because they changed the times and the seasons and sacred feasts. The lunar calendar was adopted by the rabbis–this serves to screw up the calendars/histories we have of the Jews.

Hell (and what we know of ancient traditions)

How much of our Christian idea of Hell comes from 1 Enoch (particularly ch. 21)? Hell is a place of separation, particularly for the Devil and/or rebellious angels. The discussion came up: Does the OT teach that there is no immortality of spirit, as many scholars suggest? Is Sheol/Hades not the place of awaiting for spirits? This is a difficult question. The OT does not speak much of spirits or the state of spirits in the afterlife. However, the Egyptians certainly believed in an afterlife. Isn’t there a cult of ancestors/afterlife in ancient Israel? Is it possible that a cult of the afterlife was suppressed by the rising trend of monotheism? A monotheistic God does not have room for the veneration of dead ancestors.  There are likely many traditions/beliefs that were suppressed by biased editors.

Dr. Orlov suggested that we cannot know all that the ancients believed. He mentioned the Jewish tradition that Moses received two Torahs–the white and the black.  What we have in our Torah is the Black Torah, but Moses also received the White Torah–which is only read in the spaces around the words in the Torah–this is the Oral Torah. It was not allowed to be fixed/written–only passed down by word of mouth. There were many traditions that were not written down. Mishnah was supposed to be oral Torah written down (many oral traditions most certainly lost).

4 Ezra–God says give 22 books to everyone, worthy and unworthy, but give 70 books to the wise and understanding. The 70 books are the oral Torah (what we call pseudepigrapha–Orlov’s comment). The 70 books are the higher knowledge. We need to read Bible with the spectacles of the hidden books.

“Let there be light” is a reference to the creation of the luminous anthropos–spiritual man of light–the word in Genesis (LXX, I think) could be translated as light or man.

Often in these traditions, the hero inherits attributes of anti-hero–In apocalyptic literature, the Son of Man often wears a golden sash– which can be an allusion to the golden serpent that was defeated in beginning.  When Satan is expulsed from heaven, Adam gains the luminous glory/position previously held by Satan. The Watchers fall from heaven, so Enoch is invited to heaven to take their place in the heavenly priesthood. There are always positive and negative protagonists–Cain and Abel, Lucifer and Son of Man, Michael and the Dragon. While the angels have a heavenly priesthood, Satan has an evil priesthood (this last note paraphrased from a personal comment to me from Orlov).

I hope you have been able to gain something of interest from these notes. Again, I apologize for their sketchy and abbreviated nature. I am being presented with so much information in these classes that I struggle to pass the notes into something readable for this blog. Please bear with me as we continue on this quest for light and understanding–through the happy medium of the Department of Theology at Marquette University.