183. I dealt in the same way with a bear on which I took vengeance. Let the enemy be thought as one of those beasts, since for so long he has been insulting our army and blaspheming our God, who will make him subject to me.\u201d
\n184. Saul, praying that there might indeed be a commensurate reward from God for the boy\u2019s eagerness and daring, said: \u201cGo off to battle.\u201d He put his own breastplate upon him and girded his sword around him; placing his helmet on his head, he sent him off.
\n185. But David was weighted down by the weapons, for he was not familiar with them, nor had he learned how to bear weapons. \u201cLet these things, O king,\u201d he said, \u201cbe for your own adornment, for you are able to carry them. Please, however, permit your servant to fight as I wish.\u201d At that, he put off the weapons, took up his staff, and put five stones from the brook into his shepherd\u2019s bag; bearing a sling in his right hand, he went toward Goliath.
\n186. The enemy despised him when he saw him coming in this way, and ridiculed him for not having the weapons with which it is customary to fight against humans, but rather those with which we drive away and guard against dogs. Did he indeed think him a dog, rather than a human? [David] answered that he thought of him, not as this, but as worse than a dog. He thus roused Goliath to wrath\u2014whereupon Goliath cursed him in the name of his god and threatened to give his flesh to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air to devour.
\n187. But David replied to him: \u201cYou come against me with sword, spear, and breastplate, but I proceed against you with God as my weapon, who will utterly destroy you and your entire army by our hands.For I will behead you today and will cast off the rest of your body to the dogs, your compatriots, so that all may learn that the Deity protects the Hebrews and that his concern for us is our weapon and strength, and that where God is not present, other equipment and force is useless.\u201d
\n188. Now the Philistine was hindered from running quickly by the weight of his weapons. He came slowly toward David, contemptuous and confident that he would easily do away with him, who was both defenseless and still a boy in age.
\n189. The youth met him, however, with an ally invisible to the enemy, namely God. He lifted out of his bag one of the stones from the brook that he had put in it and placed it in the sling. Then he hurled it against Goliath\u2019s forehead. The shot passed through to his brain so that Goliath, stunned, immediately fell on his face.
\n190. Running forward, he stood over the prostrate enemy, and with the latter\u2019s sword, for he did not have one of his own, he cut off his head.<\/p>\n
David and Bathsheba<\/p>\n
Silvia Castelli<\/p>\n
According to the Babylonian Talmud (Meg. 25a), the incident between David and Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11:2\u201312:14) is one of the five passages that are read in the synagogue but not translated, presumably because of their embarrassing nature. Although Josephus parallels the Talmud\u2019s directive by omitting the first three such passages (Gen. 35:22, Exod. 32:21\u201325; Num. 6:24\u201327) in his Jewish Antiquities (7.147\u201353), he includes the two connected with David, that is, the incident with Bathsheba and the beginning of the incident involving David\u2019s son Amnon and Tamar. Apparently, contrary to Chronicles and to most of Rabbinic tradition, the historian was not concerned about harming the king\u2019s reputation by mentioning his \u201cgreat and terrible act\u201d (7.150). Yet, Josephus maintains that the incident with Bathsheba was the only sin committed by David, that the king was a God-fearing man and deferent to the law, and that he was truly repentant after listening to Nathan\u2019s words (7.153).
\nMoreover, in his version Josephus enhances the character of Nathan, the prophet who reproached David, by emphasizing that he was a tactful and understanding man and by specifying his predictions. Even in the prefatory remark to the story of David and Bathsheba, Josephus speaks of a terrible disaster befalling David, though he was a God-fearing man by nature who strictly kept the ancestral laws (7.130). Josephus takes a middle ground in the debate on David\u2019s sin, distancing himself from views that exonerate David from his guilt, yet clearly stating that the sin with Bathsheba was the only sin ever committed by David.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Begg, C. T. \u201cDavid\u2019s Sin according to Josephus.\u201d Ancient Near Eastern Studies 43 (2006): 45\u201367.
\nFeldman, Louis H. Josephus\u2019s Interpretation of the Bible. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
\nValler, S. \u201cKing David and \u2018His\u2019 Women: Biblical Stories and Talmudic Discussions.\u201d In A Feminist Companion to Samuel and Kings, edited by A. Brenner, 129\u201342. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
147. God did not look favorably upon this marriage [of David and Bathsheba]; rather, in his wrath against David, he appeared in a dream to the prophet Nathan and denounced the king. Nathan, who was a tactful and clever man, reasoning that when kings fall into passion, they are more affected by this than by justice, resolved to keep silent about the threats made by God, and, instead, he addressed him [David] in mild words. 148. In a roundabout way he asked him to express his opinion about a somewhat similar case: \u201cThere were,\u201d he said, \u201ctwo men living in the same city. The one was rich and had many herds of beasts of burden, sheep and cattle, while the poor man possessed only a single ewe lamb. 149. He raised it with his children, shared his food with it and showed it the tender love one would give one\u2019s daughter. Now when a guest dropped in on the rich man, he was unwilling to slaughter any of his own beasts in order to provide for his friend, but he sent and took away the poor man\u2019s lamb, which he prepared and used to entertain his friend.\u201d
\n150. This story greatly grieved the king, who asserted to Nathan that the man who had dared to do this deed was vile and that it was just that he make fourfold restitution for the lamb, and, in addition, be punished with death. Nathan, in reply, said that he [David] himself was the one who deserved to suffer this punishment, being condemned by himself of daring to commit a great and terrible act.
\n151. He further revealed and manifested to him the wrath of God, who had made him king over the whole host of the Hebrews and lord of all the many great nations round about, and who had previously delivered him from the hands of Saul and given him wives, whom he had justly and lawfully married. However, he [God] had been despised and treated impiously by him [David], who married the wife of another man and killed her husband, giving him over to the enemy.
\n152. He would, therefore, pay the penalty to God for that: his wives would be violated by one of his sons; he would also be conspired against by that son, and suffer public judgment for his outrageous secret offense. \u201cIn addition, the son that she [Bathsheba] will bear to you will die shortly after his birth.\u201d
\n153. The king, troubled and duly tormented by these words, said, with tears and grief, that he had acted impiously (for it is generally acknowledged that he was a God-fearing man and in his whole life never sinned, except in the matter of Uriah\u2019s wife). God then had pity and was reconciled to him, and announced the good news that he would preserve his life and kingship; for, since he [David] had repented, he [God] was no longer resentful about what had happened. Once he had prophesied these things to the king, Nathan returned home.<\/p>\n
The Death of Absalom<\/p>\n
Silvia Castelli<\/p>\n
In his retelling of Absalom\u2019s death (2 Sam. 18:1\u201318)\u2014the climax of Absalom\u2019s revolt\u2014Josephus, in Jewish Antiquities (7.234\u201344) emphasizes the military aspect, providing details on strategy, stressing the people\u2019s bravery, and giving psychological insights into the opposing parties. In this context he builds up David\u2019s character; he is depicted as a good general and a loving father. Absalom, meanwhile, despite his outstanding physical attractiveness, is portrayed as a rebel against the established authority and a rebellious son; moreover, even though of aristocratic birth and of heroic behavior, he is depicted as afraid of being caught by the enemy.
\nLike the Rabbis, Josephus highlights the connection between Absalom\u2019s beauty\u2014his hair in particular\u2014and his death. But unlike the Rabbis, Josephus casts Joab as Absalom\u2019s killer, despite the king\u2019s prohibition. Josephus thus turns Joab into an insensitive murderer in spite of his renowned deeds and concern for his people, which are not neglected by the historian. In stressing Joab\u2019s envy and disobedience up to the point of becoming a murderer, Josephus recalls some of his contemporaries, such as John of Gischala (J.W. 2.614), who led the nation to civil strife and destruction (J.W. 2.620, 627).
\nThe motif is remarked by the historian later on: the question of the woman in 2 Sam. 20:19 becomes a patent accusation of Joab as the one who, going against his God-given task, is \u201csolicitous to overthrow and devastate a mother-city of the Israelites that had committed no offense\u201d (Ant. 7.289). Moreover, in Josephus, the dying king David explicitly ascribes the murder of Abner and Amasa, \u201ctwo just and good generals,\u201d to Joab\u2019s envy (Ant. 7.386; see 1 Kings 2:5).<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Feldman, L. H. Studies in Josephus\u2019 Rewritten Bible, 203\u201314 (Joab), and 215\u201329 (Absalom). Leiden: Brill, 1998.
\nBegg, C. T. \u201cThe Demise of Absalom according to Josephus.\u201d OTE 18, no. 3 (2005): 482\u2013502.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
234. Although David wished to accompany them into battle, his friends did not permit him, and restrained him according to a very wise plan; they said that, if they were overthrown with him on hand, they would lose every good hope, whereas if one part of the force were defeated, they would flee to him with the remainder, and he would provide them with renewed strength; moreover, the enemy was likely to conjecture that there was another army with him.
\n235. By this advice, David decided to remain in the camps. Sending his friends and generals out against the enemy, he appealed to them to manifest their eagerness and faithfulness, and, if they had ever obtained a fair treatment from him, to remember it. He also implored them to spare his son Absalom, in case they would prevail, so that he would not do himself some harm, because of his [Absalom\u2019s] death. Then, after praying for their victory, he sent out the army.
\n236. When Joab had drawn up his force opposite the enemy in a great plain hemmed in at the rear by an oak forest, Absalom too led out his army against him. When battle was joined, great deeds of might and daring were performed by both sides. The one side exposed itself to danger and employed the utmost eagerness in order that David might recover his kingship, the other side did not hesitate either to do or endure anything so that Absalom would not be deprived of the kingship and pay the penalty to his father, being punished for what he had dared to do; 237. moreover, being in the majority, they acted in order not to be overcome by the few men who were with Joab and with his generals\u2014for that would be a great shame for them. David\u2019s soldiers, on the other hand, were ambitious to defeat so many tens of thousands. The conflict was fierce, and David\u2019s men were victorious, being superior both in vigor and military expertise.
\n238. Following those who fled through the oak forests and ravines, they took and did away with many, so that more fell fleeing than they did fighting, for about 20,000 fell on that day. All of David\u2019s men made a rush against Absalom, who was evident to them, given his beauty and height.
\n239. Fearing that the enemy might capture him, he mounted the royal mule and fled. He was carried along speedily and, being lifted up as a result of the animal\u2019s jerking motions, became entangled by his hair in a gnarled tree that extended far out with its great branches, and so was left unexpectedly suspended. His animal, speeding along as though it were still bearing the master it had carried, proceeded further, while Absalom, who was suspended from the branches, was captured.
\n240. Seeing this, one of David\u2019s soldiers disclosed it to Joab. When the general said that he would have given him fifty shekels had he struck and killed Absalom, he replied: \u201cNot even if you were willing to bestow a thousand on me, would I have done this to my master\u2019s son, particularly since all of us heard him asking us to spare the young man.\u201d
\n241. Joab then directed him to show him where he had seen Absalom hanging; at that, he killed him, shooting him in the heart. Joab\u2019s weapon-bearers, who stood in a circle around the tree, then cut the corpse down.
\n242. They tossed this into a deep, gaping chasm and covered it with stones, so that it was filled in and took on the appearance and dimensions of a tomb. Sounding the signal for retreat, Joab restrained his own soldiers from pursuing the enemy force, thus sparing his compatriots.
\n243. Absalom had erected a pillar of marble stone in the Royal Valley, two stadia distant from Jerusalem. He called it his own \u201chand,\u201d saying that even if his children should be destroyed, his name would remain on the pillar. For he had three sons, as well as one daughter, named Tamar, as we have said before.
\n244. Once she was married to Solomon\u2019s son Rehoboam, a son was born, Abijah, who succeeded to the kingship. About these matters we shall speak later, at the appropriate point in our history. Now after Absalom\u2019s death, the people were dispersed to their homes.<\/p>\n
Solomon\u2019s Wisdom in the Case of the Two Harlots<\/p>\n
Pablo Torijano<\/p>\n
With his Jewish Antiquities, Josephus tries to show the greatness of Jewish history to the entire Greek-speaking world; he focuses on the models provided by great men and women, comparing them with and ranking them among their Greek counterparts. In Ant. 8.26\u201334, Josephus recasts the biblical folktale of the judgment of the two prostitutes (1 Kings 3:16\u201328), which illustrates Solomon\u2019s extraordinary wisdom. Josephus\u2019s main source is the biblical text in its Greek translation (Septuagint). In this part of the Antiquities, he takes great liberty with the biblical material, and likely makes use of midrashic-like traditions that already were popular in his time. He adapts the biblical narrative for his Greek-speaking audience and adds several details, following the usual literary conventions of Hellenistic popular literature: striking situations, suspense, happy endings. In this way, Josephus elaborates on the basic folktale plot and adds some details to highlight the godlike wisdom of Solomon, making clear that Solomon\u2019s wisdom is superior to that of the Greek wise men. The story has parallels in other world literatures.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Feldman, L. H. \u201cJosephus as Apologist to the Greco-Roman World: His Portrait of Solomon.\u201d In Aspects of Religious Propaganda in Judaism and Early Christianity, edited by E. Sch\u00fcssler-Fiorenza, 69\u201398. Notre Dame IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1970.
\nThackeray, H. St. J. Josephus: With an English Translation. Jewish Antiquities 5\u20138. Vol. 5, Loeb Classical Library, 65, 584\u201388. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1926.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
26Now in these days a difficult case was brought before him, for which it was troublesome to find a solution. I have thought it necessary to explain the matter about which the suit happened to be, in order that my readers may have an idea of the difficulty of the case and that those who are involved in such matters may take example from the king\u2019s sagacity so as to be able to give a ready opinion on questions at issue.27Two women who lived as harlots came before him, and she who seemed to be the injured one first began to speak, saying, \u201cI, O King, live with this woman in the same room, and it so happened that we both gave birth on the same day and at the same hour to male children. 28But on the third day this woman by sleeping on her child caused its death, and she took my child from my lap and carried it over to her side and then laid the dead child in my arms as I slept. 29And in the morning when I wished to give the breast to the child, I did not find my son but I saw this woman\u2019s dead child lying beside me, for I looked at it carefully and recognized whose it was. I therefore demanded my son back, and, as I have not obtained him, I have come to appeal to you, my lord, for help; for, contemptuously relying on the fact that we were alone and that she has no one to fear who can convict her, she stubbornly persists in her denial.\u201d 30After she had spoken the king asked the other woman what she had to say in contradiction to these statements. And she denied having done this thing, saying that it was her child that was alive, while her adversary\u2019s was the dead one. And when no one could see what judgment to give, but all were mentally blinded, as by a riddle, in finding a solution, the king alone devised the following plan: 31he ordered both the dead and the living child to be brought, and then sent for one of the bodyguard and ordered him to draw his sword and cut both children in half, in order that either woman might take half of the dead child and half of the living child. 32Thereupon all the people secretly made fun of the king as of a boy. But meanwhile the woman who had demanded the child and was its true mother cried out that they should not do this but should give the child over to the other woman as if it were hers, for she would be content to have it alive and only look at it, even if it should seem to be another\u2019s, while the other woman was prepared to see it divided and even asked that she herself be put to torture. 33Thereupon the king, recognizing that the words of either were prompted by her true sentiments, adjudged the child to the one who cried out, holding that she was really its mother, and condemned the other for her wickedness both in having killed her own son and in being anxious to see her friend\u2019s child destroyed. 34This the multitude considered a great sign and proof of the king\u2019s prudence and wisdom, and from that day on hearkened to him as to one possessed of a godlike understanding.<\/p>\n
Phoenician Writings on Solomon\u2019s Wisdom<\/p>\n
Pablo Torijano<\/p>\n
From the 3rd century BCE onward we find in the Near East an awakening awareness of a national history among the different peoples who lived under Greek rule. Non-Greek historians compiled national histories in an effort to show the Greek-speaking world the achievements and glorious past of their peoples. Here, in Phoenician Writings on Solomon\u2019s Wisdom (Ant. 8.144\u201349), Josephus uses some of those historians as sources to increase the credibility of his own work. Most likely he is directly quoting the authors he employs, because some of the details he includes are not relevant to the account of Solomon\u2019s reign. In some cases they reveal a different view of Solomon\u2019s wisdom.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
In this work Josephus quotes two authors who fit into the nationalistic historical movement: Menander of Ephesus (2nd century BCE), who used Phoenician history in his writings about the general history of the Near Eastern world; and Dios (2nd century BCE), who wrote a Phoenician history for Greek audiences. In Josephus\u2019s account, both historians supplement the biblical history of the relationship between Hiram and Solomon in a surprising way: they show both kings, at least, on an equal footing. Clearly, each of their accounts had a polemical purpose because they describe the same facts but from a Phoenician point of view. Both narratives are best understood as examples of the so-called creative history genre that was common in the Hellenistic period and that was characterized by a penchant for details and dramatic effects. In fact, the whole collection of Josephus\u2019s writings could also be classified under that label.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Mendels, D. \u201cHellenistic Writers of the Second Century BCE on the Hiram-Solomon Relationship.\u201d Studia Phoenicia 5 (1987): 429\u201341.
\nThackeray, H. St. J. Josephus: With an English Translation. Jewish Antiquities 5\u20138. Vol. 5, Loeb Classical Library, 65, 648\u201352. Cambridge mA: Harvard University Press, 1926.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
144These two kings are also mentioned by Menander, who translated the Tyrian records from the Phoenician language into Greek speech, in these words: \u201cAnd on the death of Abibalos, his son Eiromos succeeded to his kingdom, who lived to the age of fifty-three and reigned thirty-four years. 145He it was who made the Eurychoros (Broad Place) embankment and set up the golden column in the temple of Zeus. Moreover he went off and cut timber from the mountain called Libanos for the roofs of the temples, and pulled down the ancient temples and erected new ones to Heracles and Astarte; 146and he was the first to celebrate the awakening of Heracles in the month of Peritius. And he undertook a campaign against the Itykaians (Uticans), who had not paid their tribute, and, when he had again made them subject to him, returned home. In his reign lived Abdemonos, a young lad who always successfully solved the problems which were submitted to him by Solomon, the king of Jerusalem.\u201d 147They are also mentioned by Dios in these words: \u201cOn the death of Abibalos, his son Eiromos became king. He it was who added embankments to the eastern parts of the city and made the town larger; and the temple of Zeus Olympios, which stood apart by itself, he joined to the city by filling up the space between them, and adorned it with dedicatory offerings of gold. 148He also went up to Libanos and cut timber for the building of temples. And they say that Solomon, who was tyrant of Jerusalem, sent riddles to Eiromos and asked to receive others from him as well, proposing that he who was unable to interpret them should pay a fine to the one who did solve them. 149But Eiromos, having agreed to this, was unable to solve the riddles and paid out large sums of money as a fine. Afterward through a certain Abdemon, a Tyrian citizen, he solved the riddles proposed and himself offered others, which Solomon was unable to solve and paid large sums to Eiromos in return.\u201d Such are the words of Dios.<\/p>\n
Solomon\u2019s Magical Powers<\/p>\n
Pablo Torijano<\/p>\n
In Jewish Antiquities 8.44\u201349, Josephus develops the traditional theme of Solomon\u2019s wisdom and expands the biblical material by three procedures. First, he exaggerates the number of the writings of Solomon, making it even larger than in the biblical text. Second, he shifts away from the traditional Semitic concept of royal wisdom as consisting mainly in administration of justice, portraying it instead as the philosophical knowledge of natural phenomena and empirical data: Solomon is reinterpreted in Hellenistic tones. Finally, Josephus goes even further and uses nonbiblical traditions that link Solomon with esoteric knowledge and, above all, with exorcisms. These traditions were already present in some apocryphal psalms of Qumran (11QapocPs) in the 1st century CE.
\nThe inclusion of this esoteric material is strange, for it would have cast suspicion on Solomon, given the negative bias of Greek audiences toward the supernatural. This bias is reflected in Josephus\u2019s works as well. However, it gives Josephus\u2019s portrait of Solomon an edge over the typical Hellenistic king. What the inclusion of such material reveals is that the links between Solomon and esoteric power\/knowledge were already well established by the 1st century C.E. His characterization as an exorcist became very popular among both Jews and Christians from then on. Thus, different texts found in the Cairo Genizah and several church fathers link Solomon with dominion over demons. This tradition was also cherished in several Rabbinic works, where it appears in conjunction with the literary motif of the solution of riddles. Muslims transmitted these kinds of stories as well, in which the Queen of Sheba is depicted as a jinn or demon that is discovered by the wise King Solomon.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Bar-Ilan, M. \u201cBetween Magic and Religion: Sympathetic Magic in the World of the Sages of the Mishnah and Talmud.\u201d Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5, no. 3 (2002): 385\u201389.
\nDuling, D. C. \u201cThe Eleazar Miracle and Solomon\u2019s Magical Wisdom in Flavius Josephus\u2019s Antiquitates Judaicae 8.42\u201349.\u201d Harvard Theological Review 78 (1985): 1\u201325.
\nSchaefer, P. \u201cJewish Magic Literature in Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages.\u201d Journal of Jewish Studies 41 (1990): 75\u201391.
\nThackeray, H. St. J. Josephus: With an English Translation. Jewish Antiquities 5\u20138. Vol. 5, Loeb Classical Library, 65, 594\u201397. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1926.
\nTorijano, P. A. Solomon the Esoteric King: From King to Magus, Development of a Tradition. Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods Supplement 73. Leiden: Brill, 2002.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
44He also composed a thousand and five books of odes and songs, and three thousand books of parables and similitudes, for he spoke a parable about every kind of tree from the hyssop to the cedar, and in like manner about birds and all kinds of terrestrial creatures and those that swim and those that fly. There was no form of nature with which he was not acquainted or which he passed over without examining, but he studied them all philosophically and revealed the most complete knowledge of their several properties. 45And God granted him knowledge of the art used against demons for the benefit and healing of men. He also composed incantations by which illnesses are relieved, and left behind forms of exorcisms with which those possessed by demons drive them out, never to return. 46And this kind of cure is of very great power among us to this day, for I have seen a certain Eleazar, a countryman of mine, in the presence of Vespasian, his sons, tribunes and a number of other soldiers, free men possessed by demons, and this was the manner of the cure: 47he put to the nose of the possessed man a ring which had under its seal one of the roots prescribed by Solomon, and then, as the man smelled it, drew out the demon through his nostrils, and, when the man at once fell down, adjured the demon never to come back into him, speaking Solomon\u2019s name and reciting the incantations which he had composed. 48Then, wishing to convince the bystanders and prove to them that he had this power, Eleazar placed a cup or footbasin full of water a little way off and commanded the demon, as it went out of the man, to overturn it and make known to the spectators that he had left the man. 49And when this was done, the understanding and wisdom of Solomon were clearly revealed, on account of which we have been induced to speak of these things, in order that all men may know the greatness of his nature and how God favored him, and that no one under the sun may be ignorant of the king\u2019s surpassing virtue of every kind.<\/p>\n
Solomon\u2019s Prayer at the Temple Dedication<\/p>\n
Pablo Torijano<\/p>\n
In Jewish Antiquities 8.111\u201317, Josephus reworks Solomon\u2019s prayer at the dedication of the Temple (1 Kings 8:22\u201353) by expanding the biblical account at the beginning and cutting it down afterward. In this way, Josephus underlines the aspects that would be easily understandable by his Greek audience and plays down those that were not that important outside of a Jewish context. The prayer is thereby transformed into a religious description of the main traits of the Divinity; it highlights the special relationship that God maintained with both the king and his house and the whole people of Israel. However, bearing in mind his audience, Josephus carefully rewords the biblical text so that the statements about the God of Israel could be applied to any divinity. In this way, Josephus caters to a pagan audience, dressing God in Greek garb so as to make the God of the Jews acceptable to the Greeks and demonstrate again, as he does through his whole work, the value of a religion that addresses God in such terms.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Thackeray, H. St. J. Josephus: With an English Translation. Jewish Antiquities 5\u20138. Vol. 5, Loeb Classical Library, 65, 630\u201335. Cambridge mA: Harvard University Press, 1926.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
111When the king had thus spoken to the crowd, he looked again toward the temple and, raising his right hand up to heaven, said, \u201cNot by deeds is it possible for men to return thanks to God for the benefits they have received, for the Deity stands in need of nothing and is above any such recompense. But with that (gift of speech), O LORD, through which we have been made by Thee superior to other creatures, we cannot but praise Thy greatness and give thanks for Thy kindnesses to our house and the Hebrew people, 112for with what other thing is it more fitting for us to appease Thee when wrathful, and, when ill disposed, to make Thee gracious than with our voice, which we have from the air, and know to ascend again through this element? And so, with my voice I render thanks to Thee, first for my father\u2019s sake, 113whom Thou didst raise from obscurity to such great glory, and next on my own behalf, for whom unto the present day Thou has done all that Thou didst foretell. And I beseech Thee henceforth to grant whatever God has power to bestow on men esteemed by Thee, and to increase our house forever, as Thou didst promise David, my father, both in his lifetime and when he was near death, saying that the kingship should remain among us and that his descendants should transmit it to numberless successors. These things, therefore, do Thou grant us, and to my sons give that virtue in which Thou delightest. 114Beside these things I entreat Thee also to send some portion of Thy spirit to dwell in the temple, that Thou mayest seem to us to be on earth as well. For to Thee even the whole vault of heaven and all its host is but a small habitation\u2014how much less this poor temple! Nonetheless I pray Thee to guard it forever from sacking by our enemies, as Thine own temple, and to watch over it as Thine own possession. 115And if ever the people sin and then because of their sin are smitten by some evil from Thee, by unfruitfulness of the soil or a destructive pestilence or any such affliction with which Thou visitest those who transgress any of the sacred laws, and if they all gather to take refuge in the temple, entreating Thee and praying to be saved, then do Thou hearken to them as though Thou wert within, and pity them and deliver them from their misfortunes. 116And this help I ask of Thee not alone for the Hebrews who may fall into error, but also if any come even from the ends of the earth or from wherever it may be and turn to Thee, imploring to receive some kindness, do Thou hearken and give it them. 117For so would all men know that Thou Thyself didst desire that this house should be built for Thee in our land, and also that we are not inhumane by nature nor unfriendly to those who are not of our country, but wish that all men equally should receive aid from Thee and enjoy Thy blessings.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Return from Exile<\/p>\n
Paul Spilsbury<\/p>\n
The events related in this part of the biblical story are of great historical and national importance because they tell of the refounding of the Judean state after the time of Babylonian exile. Josephus\u2019s version of the return from exile in Jewish Antiquities 11 is based on the narrative found in the biblical book of Ezra (1:1\u20134) and its Greek translation in 1 Esdras (2:1\u20134). Josephus supplements the narrative with material drawn from the prophets and from his own interpretation of the biblical records.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
The excerpt given here shows Josephus\u2019s attempt to piece together a highly complicated (and sometimes confused) set of traditions about the events of the first few years after the exiles\u2019 return. Josephus emphasizes the goodwill of the Persian overlords, the hostility of local enemies, and the relentless progress of the returnees despite the many hardships and setbacks they faced.
\nSee also \u201cJosephus and His Writings,\u201d elsewhere in these volumes.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Feldman, Louis H. \u201cJosephus\u2019 Portrait of Ezra.\u201d VT 43 (1993): 190\u2013214.
\nSpilsbury, Paul. The Image of the Jew in Flavius Josephus\u2019 Paraphrase of the Bible. TSAJ 69. T\u00fcbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1998.
\nSpilsbury, Paul, and Gaia Lembi. Judean Antiquities 11\u201313: Translation and Commentary. Vol. 6 of Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary, edited by S. Mason. Leiden: Brill (forthcoming).<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
1In the first year of Cyrus\u2019s reign\u2014this was the seventieth year from the day it came about that our people migrated out of their own country into Babylon\u2014God took pity on the captivity and the misfortune of those who were suffering and, just as he had told them beforehand through Jeremiah the prophet before the city was utterly destroyed, 2that after they had served Nebuchadnezzar and his descendants and survived this servitude for seventy years he would restore them again to their ancestral land and that they would build the sanctuary and would enjoy their original prosperity, so he granted these things to them. 3For having aroused Cyrus\u2019s soul he caused him to write to all Asia, \u201cKing Cyrus says: since the greatest God appointed me king of the inhabited world, I am persuaded that he is the one whom the Israelite people worship. 4For he predicted even my name through the prophets, and that I should build his sanctuary in Jerusalem in the region of Judea.\u201d 5Cyrus learned these things while reading the book of prophecy that Isaiah left behind 210 years earlier; for [Isaiah] said that God spoke these things in secret: \u201cI myself desire [that] Cyrus\u2014when\u2014I have appointed [him] king of many great nations\u2014should send my people into their own land and build my sanctuary.\u201d 6Isaiah prophesied these things 140 years before the temple was utterly destroyed. And so, having read these things and marveled at the deity, an eager desire seized Cyrus and an ambition to do what had been written, and having summoned the most distinguished of the Judeans in Babylon, he declared to them that he was giving them permission to travel to their native place and to raise up both the city of Jerusalem and the sanctuary of God; 7for even God would be an ally to them and he himself would write to his own governors and satraps in the areas neighboring that region in order that they should contribute to them gold and silver for the building of the sanctuary, and in addition, animals for the sacrifices.
\n79In the second year of the Judeans\u2019 return to Jerusalem, having come to the second month, the construction of the sanctuary was resumed; and after raising the foundations on the new moon of the second month of the second year they began building on them, having chosen as leaders of the work Levites who had already attained their twentieth year and Jesus and his sons and his kindred and Zodmoel the brother of Judah the son of Aminadab and his sons. 80And the sanctuary was completed quicker than one might have expected because those who were entrusted with it applied their attention with all zeal. And when the temple had been completed the priests, getting up with trumpets, dressed in their customary robes, and the Levites and the sons of Asaph began to sing of God just as David first introduced praise for him.81But the priests and Levites and the elders of the families, when they brought back to their memories the former greater and more lavish sanctuary, and when they saw the one having [now] come into being, constructed in a way far inferior to the old one because of [their] poverty, [and] when they considered how far short they had fallen of their ancient good fortune and of the dignity of the sanctuary, they were downcast; and, not being able to master their sorrow at this they were moved even so far as laments and tears. 82But the [ordinary] people were contented with the present and with building only the temple, neither making mention of the one that existed formerly, nor [recalling] a memory nor tormenting themselves by the comparison of that one as if this one were less than what they were expecting. 83But the wailing of the elders and the priests at what seemed to them the inferiority of their sanctuary to the one that had been destroyed was outdoing the sound of the trumpets and the joy of the crowd.
\n84Now when the Samaritans heard the sounding of the trumpets they assembled wishing to learn the cause of the commotion, for it so happened that they hated the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. And when they learned that the Judeans who had been taken captive to Babylon were rebuilding the temple, they approached Zorobabel [Zerubbabel] and Jesus [Jeshua] and the leaders of the families thinking among themselves that they should be allowed to help in constructing the sanctuary and to take part in the building; 85for they were asserting, \u201cWe worship God no less than they, and we pray fervently to him, and we have been devotees of his religion since the time when Salmanassar [Shalmaneser] the king of the Assyrians brought us here from Chuthia and Media. 86After they made this speech Zerubbabel and Jesus [Jeshua] the high priest and the leaders of the families of the Israelites said it was impossible for them to participate in the building, because [only] they themselves had been ordered to build the sanctuary, first by Cyrus and now by Darius; 87but they would allow them to worship and to have this alone in common, if they were willing, to be allowed along with all people to revere God in the temple. 88When the Chutheans\u2014for the Samaritans have this name\u2014heard these things, they were vexed and persuaded the nations in Syria to beg the satraps to hinder the construction of the sanctuary in the same way they had done first under Cyrus and then under Cambyses after him, and, while the Judeans were making haste with it, to work hard at an obstacle and a delay. 89And at this time Sisines the governor of Syria and Phoenicia and Sarabasanes along with certain others, after going up to Jerusalem and inquiring of the Judeans who had given them permission to build the sanctuary in such a way as to be more like a garrisoned fort than a temple, and why they had now surrounded the city with colonnades and very strong walls, 90Zerubbabel and the high priest Jeshua declared that they were servants of the greatest God and that this sanctuary, which had been built for him by a king of theirs, a blessed man exceeding all in virtue, had stood for a long time. 91But when their fathers had been impious toward God, Nabouchodonosor [Nebuchadnezzar] the king of Babylonia and Chaldea took the city by force and razed it to the ground, and after plundering the sanctuary he set it on fire and deported the captive people, transferring them to Babylon. 92[Then] Cyrus, who was the king of Babylonia and Persia after him, wrote that they should build the sanctuary, and he ordered that whatever votive offerings and vessels Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of it, after being been handed over to Zerubbabel and Mithridates [Mithredath] the treasurer, were to be carried to Jerusalem and put back into their own sanctuary when it had been built. 93For he sent written orders that this should happen quickly after directing Sabaser [Sheshbazzar] to go up to Jerusalem and to give oversight to the building of the sanctuary. He, after receiving the letter arriving from Cyrus, immediately laid the foundations; and from that time until the present it has been under construction and still is unfinished because of the malevolence of our enemies. 94If therefore you so wish and choose, write these things to Darius, so that when he has consulted the records of the kings he may find that nothing of what we are saying is untrue.
\n109And when the festival of unleavened bread had arrived in the first month, which is called Xanthicos by the Macedonians and Nisan by us, all the people streamed from the villages to the city and celebrated the feast in a state of purity along with their wives and children according to the ancestral law, 110and after performing the sacrifice called Pascha in the 14th day of the same month they feasted for seven days, sparing no extravagance but bringing the burnt offering sacrifices to God and performing the thanksgiving sacrifices because the Deity had brought them back to their ancestral land and to its laws and had rendered the mind of the Persian king favorable toward them. 111And so, being lavish with sacrifices and in their munificence concerning God because of these things, they lived in Jerusalem subject to a constitution that was both aristocratic and oligarchic; for the high priests directed affairs until it came about that the descendants of Asamonai ruled as kings. 112For before the captivity and the deportation they were ruled by kings, beginning first from Saul and David, for 532 years, 6 months and 10 days; and before these kings, rulers governed them who were called judges and monarchs, and they lived under this form of government for more than 500 years after Moses and Joshua the general died. 113And the affairs of the Judeans who returned safe from captivity in the times of Cyrus and Darius, were in this state.<\/p>\n
Esther<\/p>\n
Paul Spilsbury<\/p>\n
The story of Esther has long been popular among Jews, for whom it claims to provide the factual basis for the annual feast of Purim. The story comes to us from antiquity in at least three forms: the Hebrew original and two Greek translations or expansions. The first of these Greek versions may be referred to simply as the Septuagint (LXX) and the second, which is different from the first in a number of ways, may be referred to as the Alpha-Text of Esther. Josephus\u2019s retelling of the story in his Jewish Antiquities (11.184\u2013204, 209\u201343) seems to rely mostly on a Greek translation, in that his version includes much of the additional material found in the Greek versions but not in the Hebrew. As is typical in Josephus\u2019s retelling of such stories, though, he provides many colourful and dramatic additions of his own, some of which are closely related to Jewish traditions found in much later Rabbinic literature.
\nJosephus relates the story in sober historical tones, downplaying the comic elements in the biblical tale and emphasizing both the danger avoided by the Jews and the personal virtues of the main protagonists. In this way Josephus makes the story of Esther contribute to his overall project of presenting the Jews as a heroic people for whom the rest of society ought to be deeply grateful.
\nSee also \u201cJosephus and His Writings,\u201d elsewhere in these volumes.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
In Josephus\u2019s retelling, the story of Esther interrupts his account of the postexilic reestablishment of Jewish life and society in the land of Judea\u2014a story with many difficulties and hardships of its own. As in the book of Daniel, the action takes place in the court of a foreign king. In both the Daniel and the Esther stories, the main characters overcome the undeserved hostility of various malicious persons and secure the heartfelt gratitude of the monarch. The translation given here renders Josephus\u2019s text almost in its entirety with only one brief passage (Ant. 11.205\u20138) omitted for reasons of space.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Feldman, Louis H. \u201cHellenizations in Josephus\u2019 Version of Esther.\u201d Transactions of the American Philological Association 101 (1970): 143\u201370.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cJosephus\u2019 Portrait of Ahasuerus.\u201d Australian Biblical Review 42 (1994): 17\u201339.
\nGinzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews, trans. H. Szold. 7 vols. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1909\u20131938.
\nSpilsbury, Paul. The Image of the Jew in Flavius Josephus\u2019 Paraphrase of the Bible. Texte und Studien zum antiken Judentum 69. T\u00fcbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1998.
\nSpilsbury, Paul, and Gaia Lembi. Judean Antiquities 11\u201313: Translation and Commentary. Vol. 6 of Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary, edited by S. Mason. Leiden: Brill, forthcoming.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
184When Xerxes died the kingdom passed to his son Cyrus, whom the Greeks call Artaxerxes. During the time that he ruled Persia the whole Judean nation along with their women and children was in danger of being utterly destroyed. The reason for this we will relate shortly, 185but it is fitting first to describe in full the affairs of the king including how he married a Judean woman of royal descent who is said to have saved our nation. 186For after Artaxerxes received the kingdom and appointed rulers over the 127 satrapies from India to Ethiopia, in the third year of his reign, after welcoming his friends and the Persian nations and their leaders, he entertained them richly for 180 days in the manner of a king determined to show off his wealth. 187After that he feasted the nations and their ambassadors in Susa for seven days, and the banquet took place as follows: he pitched tents by hanging linen and purple cloth from gold and silver pillars so that many thousands could recline at table. 188And they were served out of golden cups and those made with precious stones both for enjoyment and for looking at. And he ordered his servants not to force any to drink the wine by bringing it to them continually, as is the custom among the Persians, but to defer to what each guest wished to indulge. 189And sending a message throughout the country he announced that all were allowed to rest from their work and to celebrate for many days in honor of his kingdom.190And in the same way Queen Aste held a banquet in her palaces for the women; and the king, wishing to display to his guests how she surpassed all women in beauty, sent for her and directed her to come to his banquet. 191But she, in keeping with the laws of the Persians that forbid women to be seen by strangers, did not go to the king and although he sent the eunuchs to her many times she persisted none the less in declining the summons 192with the result that the king was provoked to anger; and he, breaking up the banquet and standing up, summoned the Seven Persians who hold among themselves the interpretation of the laws, to accuse his wife and to say that he had been insulted by her, 193for even though she had been called by him many times to the banquet she had not obeyed even once. Therefore he ordered them to indicate what law they would lay down against her. And one of them, named Mouchaios, saying that this was an insult not to him alone but to all Persian men, who were in danger of having to lead a most shameful life because of being looked down upon by their wives, 194\u201cFor not even one woman will show respect for her husband when she has the example of the queen\u2019s disdain toward you, who have power over all.\u201d And while he was advising him to punish severely the woman who had insulted him in this way, and afterward to send a messenger announcing to the nations what had been determined concerning the queen, the king decided to cast Aste out and to give her position of honor to another woman.
\n195But even though he was in love with her and could not bear the separation he could not be reconciled to her because of the law, and so he continued to grieve at not being able to get what he wanted. And when his friends saw him so miserable they began to advise him to cast out the memory of the woman and his unprofitable love 196and to seek beautiful virgins by sending a message throughout the whole inhabitable world, and to take the one he liked best as a wife; for his affection for his former wife would be quenched by replacing her with another, and his favor for her would be diverted little by little toward the one who was with him. 197And when he was persuaded by this counsel he ordered certain men to select and bring to him those virgins in his kingdom esteemed for their beauty. 198And when many were gathered together, there was found in Babylon a certain girl orphaned of both parents and being brought up in the home of her uncle, named Mardochaios [Mordecai], who was from the tribe of Benjamin and one of the leaders of the Judeans. 199Now it so happened that Esther\u2014for this was her name\u2014surpassed all in beauty, and the grace of her countenance attracted the stares of all who saw her. 200And she, when she was given over to one of the eunuchs for care, received every possible attention, being anointed unstintingly and extravagantly with the aromatic oils that bodies need. And they, who were 400 in number, enjoyed these things for six months. 201And when he thought that the virgins had had sufficient care during the aforementioned period and so to have become worthy to go into the king\u2019s bed he sent one each day to be with the king. 202And after sleeping with her he immediately sent her back to the eunuch. But when Esther came to him he was pleased with her and, having fallen in love with the girl, took her lawfully as his wife and held a wedding for her in the 12th month (called Aderos) in the 7th year of his reign. 203And he sent off in all directions messengers called angaroi commanding every nation to celebrate the wedding, while he himself would entertain the Persians and the Medes and the leading men of the nations for a whole month in honor of his marriage. And when she entered the palace he gave to Esther the diadem, and so in this way she married without making known to him the nation from which she came. 204And her uncle, who had moved from Babylon to Susa in Persia, lived there lingering each day near the palace and enquiring about the girl and how she was doing; for he loved her as his own daughter.
\n209Now whenever Amanes [Haman] son of Amadathos, an Amalekite by birth, went in to the king both foreigners and Persians used to bow down to him, for Artaxerxes had directed them to give this honor to him. 210But Mordecai would not bow down to a man, both because of his wisdom and his native law, and Haman who had watched closely began to enquire where he came from. And when he learned that he was a Judean, he was furious and said to himself that even though the free-born Persians were bowing down to him, this man, who was a slave, did not see fit to do so. 211And although he wished to take revenge on Mordecai, he considered it too small to ask that he alone receive punishment from the king, but decided instead to do away with his whole nation; for by nature he hated the Judeans because the race of the Amalekites, from which he himself came, had been utterly destroyed by them. 212Therefore, going in to the king, he began to lay an accusation saying that scattered throughout the inhabitable world ruled by him there was an evil nation, unsociable and different, having neither the same religion as others nor using the same laws, \u201cbut hostile both by its customs and its practices to your people and to all humanity. 213If you wish to grant a benefaction to your subjects, you will command that this nation be utterly destroyed leaving behind no remnant of it either in slavery or in captivity.\u201d 214However, lest the king should suffer the loss of the tribute due from them, he offered to give out of his own possessions 40,000 silver talents whenever he directed, and he would provide these monies with pleasure, he said, in order that the kingdom might have peace from these wicked people.
\n215When Haman requested these things the king granted to him both the money and the men to do that which he pleased. And so, having gained what he had set his heart on Haman immediately sent an edict, as if from the king, to all the nations reading as follows: 216\u201cThe great king Artaxerxes to the rulers of the 127 satrapies from India to Ethiopia writes:.\u2026 217Since Haman\u2014who received from me the first portion of esteem and honor because of prudence and justice, and who is second after me because of his faithfulness and steadfast goodwill\u2014has carefully brought to my attention a hostile nation mixed in with all humanity, with strange laws and not subject to kings and having different customs and hating monarchy and disaffected by our government, 218I command that all those being indicated by my second father Haman along with their wives and children be destroyed.\u2026 219And I desire this to happen on the 14th day of the 12th month of the current year so that, with our enemies everywhere destroyed in a single day, it may be granted to us to lead the rest of our lives in peace.\u201d 220When this ordinance was brought to the cities and the countryside all began preparing for the destruction of the Judeans on the aforementioned day. And this was going on in Susa as well, so that while the king and Haman were busy with feasting and drinking the city was in an uproar.
\n221When Mordecai learned what was happening, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and, after sprinkling ashes on his head, began to go through the city crying out that a nation that had done no wrong was about to be destroyed. And while saying this he went as far as the palaces and stopped there for no one is allowed to enter dressed in such clothing. 222And all the Judeans in the cities where the letters concerning these things were published did the same thing, wailing and lamenting the calamity that had been announced to them. And when certain men reported to the queen how Mordecai was standing before the courtyard in such pitiable clothing she was troubled by the report and dispatched men to change his dress. 223But when Mordecai could not be persuaded to take off the sackcloth\u2014because his reason for putting it on had not yet ended\u2014Esther summoned the eunuch Achratheos, who happened to be present with her, and sent him to Mordecai to find out what sad thing had happened for him to be mourning and refusing to take off the clothes he was wearing despite her demand. 224And so Mordecai explained the reason to the eunuch.\u2026 225And after also giving to him a copy of the statements that had been published in Susa to take to Esther, he pleaded with her to beg the king concerning these things for the sake of the well-being of their nation, and not to disdain to wear humble clothing in which she might intercede for the Judeans who were in danger of being destroyed.\u2026 226When she learned these things she sent back a message to Mordecai explaining that she had not been summoned to the king, and that anyone going in to him unbidden would die unless he, being willing to save them, should stretch out his golden rod.\u2026 227And when the eunuch brought this message to him Mordecai directed him to tell her not to look out in this way for her own safety alone, but rather for the common safety of their nation, for if she neglected them now there would undoubtedly be help for them from God, but she and her father\u2019s house would be destroyed by those who had been neglected. 228And so Esther sent to Mordecai the same servant she had sent before telling him to go to Susa and, after gathering all the Judeans together in an assembly, to fast on her behalf abstaining from all food for three days, and, after doing the same with her attendants, she promised to approach the king despite the law, and if it was necessary for her to die she would endure it. 229And so Mordecai following Esther\u2019s instructions made the people fast, and he himself pleaded with God not to overlook his nation which was about to be destroyed but rather, just as in former times he had provided for them and forgiven them when they had sinned, so now also to rescue them from the threatened destruction; 230for it was not because of any sin they had committed that they were now in danger of dying ignominiously, but he was himself the cause of Haman\u2019s anger, because, he said, \u201cI did not bow down, nor could I abide that the honor that I habitually give to you should be given to this man, who, having been enraged has contrived these things against those who do not transgress your laws.\u201d 231And the people sent up the same cry begging God to provide for their salvation and to remove the Israelites in all the land from the path of the approaching calamity; for they were already holding it before their eyes as they awaited it. And Esther too was pleading with God in keeping with the ancestral law, dressing in mourners\u2019 clothing and throwing herself to the ground; 232and after renouncing food and drink and pleasures for three days she began to ask God to have pity on her so that when the king saw her pleading, her speech might seem persuasive to him and her appearance more beautiful than ever before, 233 \u2026 and that the king might have hatred for the enemies of the Judeans who were preparing the destruction that was about to befall them, should they be held in contempt by him.
\n234After pleading with God for these things for three days she took off those clothes and changed her appearance, and, dressing in a manner befitting the queen, along with two attendants of whom one was supporting her lightly as she leaned against her, and the other was following behind carrying the train of her dress that cascaded down to the ground with the tips of her fingers, she approached the king with her face, though full of blushes, surrounded by a soft and reverent beauty. 235But she went in to him with fear. And as she came before him, sitting as he was on his throne and dressed royally in a garment interwoven with gold and precious stones, 236he seemed much more fearsome because of these, and when he looked at her fiercely, his face burning with anger, she was immediately overcome by paralysis and fell senseless before those standing beside her. 237But the king, by the will of God I think, changed his mind, and, concerned for her life lest she should suffer something worse because of her fear, 238leaped up from his throne, and taking her up in his arms he began to revive her by embracing her and speaking sweetly and encouraging her to take courage and to anticipate nothing sad because she had come to him unbidden; for this law, he said, had been laid down for his subjects, but she who ruled equally with him had no need to fear. 239As he was saying these things he put his scepter into her hand and stretched out his rod over her neck in the manner prescribed by the law, thus relieving her of nervousness. 240And having been revived by these actions, she said, \u201cLORD, it is not easy for me to tell you the shock that came over me; for as I saw you great and handsome and fearful, my spirit immediately recoiled and life abandoned me. 241And as she was uttering these words painfully and weakly, anguish and panic seized him so that he encouraged Esther to be of good courage and to expect better things, for if she wanted as much as half of his kingdom he would give it to her. 242And so Esther asked him to come to her for entertainment along with his friend Haman; for she said that she had prepared a banquet. And as he consented, and they came, in the middle of drinking he directed Esther to reveal to him what she wanted; 243for no request would fail, not even for a share of the kingdom should she want to receive it. But she put off telling her wish to him till the next day, if only he would come back to her again with Haman for feasting.
\n244When the king promised, Haman went out very happy that he alone had been thought worthy to dine with the king at Esther\u2019s banquet and that no one else had ever received such an honor from the kings. But when he saw Mordecai in the courtyard he became exceedingly angry, for he showed him no honor at all when he saw him. 245And going to his own wife, Gazasa, he called also his friends, and when they arrived be began to describe to them the honor that he was to enjoy not only from the king but also from the queen; for just he had dined privately with her and the king today, so too he was invited again on the next day. 246But he said that he had not been pleased when he had seen Mordecai the Judean in the courtyard. And when his wife urged him to cut down a tree of sixty cubits and in the morning after asking the king, to crucify Mordecai, he approved of the idea and instructed his servants to obtain a tree and to erect it in the courtyard for the punishment of Mordecai. 247And this was prepared; but God was mocking Haman\u2019s wicked hopes and, knowing what would happen, he was delighted by what would come about; for during that very night he took away the king\u2019s sleep. 248And he, not wanting to waste his wakefulness idly, but rather to spend it on something pertaining to the kingdom, he commanded his secretary to bring the records both of the kings before him and of his own deeds, and to read them to him. 249And so, when he had brought them and was reading them it was discovered that a certain man on one occasion had received land as a reward for his excellence, and his name was also recorded. And after the record of another who had received a gift for his faithfulness he came across Gabataios and Theodestes, the eunuchs who had plotted against the king and against whom Mordecai had been the informer. 250And when the secretary stated only this much and was passing on to another deed the king stopped him and asked whether it was not recorded that he had been rewarded. And when he said that there was nothing the king ordered him to be silent and enquired what hour of the night it was from those who had been appointed for this. 251And when he learned that it was already daybreak he ordered them to tell him whichever of his friends they should find already present before the courtyard, and it so happened that Haman was found for he had come earlier than his usual hour to ask the king concerning the death of Mordecai. 252And so, when the attendants said that Haman was before the courtyard he directed them to call him in. And when he had entered, he said, \u201cSince I know you to be the only friend who is well-disposed toward me, I appeal to you to advise me on how I might honor someone who is loved by me very much in a manner worthy of my generosity of spirit. 253And since Haman reckoned that whatever advice he might give would in fact benefit himself, for he alone was loved by the king, he made known to the king what he thought would be the best thing. 254For he said, \u201cIf you wish to surround the man whom you say you love with glory, let him ride upon a horse wearing the same dress as you and wearing a gold necklace, and make one of your close friends lead, proclaiming through the whole city that this is the honor that comes to the one whom the king honors.\u201d 255Haman advised these things imagining that this reward would come to him. But the king, being pleased with the advice said, \u201cGo, for you have the horse and the robe and the necklace. Look for Mordecai the Judean and when you have given him these things, walk before his horse; for since you yourself are my close friend,\u201d he said, \u201cyou shall be the servant of the good advice you gave. And these things shall be our reward to the one who saved my life.\u201d 256When he heard these things contrary to what he had hoped for, his mind was confused and, being struck by helplessness, he went out with the horse and the purple and the golden necklace, and when he found Mordecai before the courtyard wearing sackcloth he told him to take it off and to put on the purple robe. 257But Mordecai, not knowing the truth but thinking that he was being mocked said, \u201cYou worst of all men, is this your way of laughing at our misfortunes?\u201d But when he was persuaded that the king was indeed giving this to him as a reward for the salvation he provided when he exposed the eunuch conspirators, he put on the purple that the king was always wearing and put on the necklace, 258and after mounting the horse was going throughout the city, with Haman leading and proclaiming that this would be the reward from the king to whomever he loves and regards as worthy of honor. 259And after going out around the city, Mordecai went in to the king, while Haman went in disgrace to his own home and began to describe with tears to his wife and to his friends what had happened. And they said that he would no longer be able to get revenge on Mordecai, for God was with him.
\n260And while they were still talking about these things to one another Esther\u2019s eunuchs arrived to hasten Haman to dinner. 261And when Sabouchadas, one of the eunuchs, saw the cross that had been set up in Haman\u2019s house in preparation for Mordecai, he enquired from some of the servants concerning the one they had prepared this for, and when he learned that it was for the queen\u2019s uncle, and that Haman was about to ask the king for his punishment, he kept quiet for the time being. 262Meanwhile, as the king was being entertained along with Haman he asked the queen to tell him what gift she wanted for she could take whatever she desired, and she began lamenting the danger her people were in and said that she too had been given over to destruction along with her nation, which was her reason for speaking on these matters; 263for she would not have troubled him if he had directed that they be sold into bitter slavery, for this would be a tolerable evil; and she begged to be delivered from these things. 264And the king asked by whom these things had been done, after which she began to accuse Haman openly and to expose this man who, being evil, had formed the plot against them. 265And when the king was provoked by this and leapt up storming out of the banquet into the gardens Haman began to plead with Esther and to beg her pardon for his wrongdoings, for he realized that he was in a bad situation; and falling upon her couch he was pleading with the queen when the king entered and was enraged even more at the sight of it, and said, \u201cYou worst of all men, do you even attempt to violate my wife?\u201d 266And Haman, who was struck dumb with this, was still unable to utter a word; and when Sabouchadas the eunuch passed by he began to accuse Haman by saying that he had found a cross prepared at his house for Mordecai\u2014for this is what his servant had told him when he had asked when he had gone to summon Haman to the dinner. And he said that the cross was sixty cubits in height. 267And when the king heard this he decided to inflict Haman with no other punishment than the very one that had been devised for Mordecai, and he directed that he should be hanged from that cross immediately, and so to die. 268Which gives me reason to marvel at the Deity and his wisdom, and to observe his justice, for he not only checked the evil of Haman, but by having the punishment that was prepared for another rebound on that man himself, he provided thereby for others to learn that whatsoever a person prepares against another he is unwittingly preparing first against himself.
\n269And so, Haman, who had made immoderate use of the honor he had received from the king, was destroyed in this manner and his possessions the king gave to the queen. And summoning Mordecai\u2014for Esther had also revealed to the king her kinship with him\u2014he gave to Mordecai the ring that he had previously given to Haman. 270And the queen, for her part, presented to Mordecai Haman\u2019s possessions and begged the king to deliver those of the Judean nation from fear for their lives, showing the letter sent to all the country by Haman, son of Amadathos; for, she said, if her native land was destroyed and her compatriots killed she would not be able to bear life. 271So the king promised that nothing would happen that was grievous to her or contrary to what she pursued; and he instructed her to write whatever she wished concerning the Judeans in the king\u2019s name and, having sealed it with his seal, to send it to all his kingdom; for those who would read the letters that had been secured with the royal signet would oppose nothing of what had been written. 272 \u2026 And the letter read as follows: 273\u201cThe great king Artaxerxes to the rulers and those concerned with our affairs, greeting. Many persons, because of the greatness of benefaction and honor they were enjoying out of the abundance of kindness of those who provided them, are insolent not only to their inferiors, 274but do not shrink even from doing wrong to their benefactors, thus removing gratitude from humanity, \u2026 thinking by these means to escape the notice of the Deity and to escape punishment from him. 275And some of them\u2014who had been entrusted with the oversight of affairs by their friends, but who had personal hatred against certain people\u2014after misleading by false accusations and slanders those who ruled, they persuaded them to be angry against those who had done no wrong, because of which they were in danger of being utterly destroyed. 276And we are able to see this in this way not from antiquity nor from well known reports but from acts that have been dared right before our eyes, so that from now on we must not pay attention to slanders and accusations or to the things of which others try to persuade us, but must judge by whatsoever one knows to have been done, and must punish if it should be so, and reward what may be otherwise, focusing on the deeds themselves rather than on things being said. 277As for Haman son of Amadathos, an Amalekite by race and a stranger to Persian blood, although having been entertained by us and having enjoyed the kindness we extend to all people to such a degree as to be addressed as my father from that time, and to be continually bowed down to, and after us to have received the second royal honor from all, he did not bear his good fortune well, nor did he manage the greatness of his prosperity with sound reason, 278but he plotted to take my kingdom and my life from me\u2014the one responsible for his authority\u2014by asking mischievously and with guile for the destruction of my benefactor and savior Mordecai and Esther our partner in life and rule; for in this way he wished, having stripped me of my allies to transfer my rule to others. 279But I have observed that the Judeans, even though they were given over to destruction by the guilty one, are not wicked, but live as citizens of the best kind of government and trust in God who guarded the kingdom for me and our ancestors. And so, not only do I release them from the punishment that was previously sent out\u2014which you do well not to hold to, 280but I also wish them to be shown every honor; and I have crucified before the gates of Susa the one who devised these things against them along with his family, for the all-seeing God has cast this penalty on him. 281I also direct you, after displaying a copy of the letter throughout all my kingdom, to allow the Judeans to live in peace according to their own laws and to aid them in such a way that they may repay those who did them harm in the times when they were unfortunate, on the 13th day of the 12th month, which is Adar\u2014on the same day; 282for God has made this a day of salvation to them instead of destruction. And it is a good day for those who are well inclined toward us, but a memorial of punishment to those who conspire. 283Moreover, I wish every city and nation to know that if it disobeys what has been written it will be destroyed with fire and iron. Furthermore, the letter shall be published throughout the whole land subject to us, and they shall prepare themselves in all ways for the aforementioned day, in order to attack their enemies.\u201d 284And so the riders carrying the letters immediately set out traveling the prescribed road. Meanwhile, Mordecai, after taking up the royal robe and the golden crown and having put on the necklace went forth, and when the Judeans living in Susa saw how he had been honored by the king they took his good fortune as common to themselves. 285And when the king\u2019s letter was published joy and a saving light came upon the Judeans both in the city and in the county, so that many even of other nations, out of fear of the Judeans, circumcised their private part to get themselves out of danger by this means. 286For the bearers of the king\u2019s letter were announcing that on the 13th day of the 12th month, which is called Adar by Hebrews and Dystros by Macedonians, on the same day that the Judeans were going to be in danger, on that very day they should destroy their enemies. 287And the rulers of the satrapies and the tyrants and the kings and the scribes began holding the Judeans in honor, for their fear of Mordecai compelled them to be moderate. 288Thus it came about, at the same time as the king\u2019s letter was going through all the lands under him, that the Judeans in Susa killed about 500 of their enemies. 289And when the king made known to Esther the number of those who had been killed, but was in doubt as to what may have happened to those in the provinces, he asked what more she wanted from him to happen to them, for it would be done. Then she appealed to him to allow the Judeans to treat the rest of their enemies this way the next day also, and to crucify the ten sons of Haman. 290And, being unable to contradict Esther, the king ordered the Judeans to do this; and they, having rallied together again on the 14th of the month of Dystros, killed about 300 of their opponents, but they touched none of their possessions. 291And there were put to death by the Judeans both in the country and in the other cities 75,000 of their enemies. And they killed them on the 13th of the month, and the next day they held a festival. 292Similarly the Judeans in Susa also, having assembled, feasted on the 14th and the following day of the same month, which is why even now all Judeans in the habitable world keep a festival on these days by sending parcels to one another. 293And Mordecai wrote to the Judeans living in the kingdom of Artaxerxes to observe these days and to keep them as a festival and to hand them on to their descendants, for the feast was to remain for all time so that it may not perish through neglect; 294for since they had been about to be destroyed by Haman in those days they would do right if, having escaped danger then, and having avenged their enemies, they should observe those days by giving thanks to God. 295Because of these things the Judeans keep the aforementioned days as a feast, calling them Phrouraioi. And Mordecai was great and illustrious in the eyes of the king and shared his rule with him, enjoying at the same time fellowship of life with the queen; 296and because of them also the affairs of the Judeans were better than all hope?\u2026<\/p>\n
Interpretive Texts Centering on Biblical Figures<\/p>\n
Life of Adam and Eve<\/p>\n
Gary A. Anderson<\/p>\n
The Life of Adam and Eve may be divided into three basic units, the first beginning with the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and continuing until Adam\u2019s moment of impending death, when he gathers his children to his bedside in order to relate to them his account of the fall. The second section picks up with Eve\u2019s account of the fall, which is considerably longer than Adam\u2019s. Much of her account agrees with that of Adam, but significant differences also exist. These two narrative sections must have had separate origins and were later combined by a final redactor. The third section documents the death and burial of Adam and Eve and their pardon and promise of a resurrection. As Adam makes clear at the beginning of his speech, the reason for going over all of this ancient history is to make subsequent generations aware of the nature of the fall so that they might better understand why human beings suffer from illness and eventually die. The closing account of Adam\u2019s remorse, pardon, and resurrection reveals that the fall of Adam and Eve will not remain unhealed. It is within God\u2019s merciful nature to redeem those beings he formed with his own hands.<\/p>\n
Textual Evidence<\/p>\n
The Life of Adam and Eve has long been known to Western European readers in Latin. For some time study of the text meant study of its Latin textual form. This changed in the late 19th century when Tischendorf published an edition of the tale in Greek. Shortly thereafter, a Slavonic version\u2014which was composed long after the Greek and Latin\u2014appeared.
\nFor the last 100 years or so, scholars have tried to understand the relationship of the Greek and Latin forms of the text (see table below). This has not been an easy task, for the Latin has several literary units that are absent in the Greek, the most important being the rather long narrative at the beginning concerning Adam and Eve\u2019s penitence. The Greek also has a long independent narrative in which Eve recounts her story of the fall, an apparent doublet of a far briefer account given earlier by Adam. Because of a general scholarly tendency to consider Greek materials as prior to the Latin, a consensus gradually emerged that the Latin additions were secondary.<\/p>\n
Narrative Unit
\nGreek
\nLatin
\nAdam\u2019s penitence
\n\u2014
\n1\u201321
\nCain and Abel
\n1\u20134
\n22\u201324
\nAdam\u2019s vision
\n\u2014
\n25\u201329
\nAdam\u2019s story of the fall
\n5\u201314
\n30\u201344
\nEve\u2019s story of the fall
\n15\u201330
\n\u2014
\nDeath and burial of Adam and Eve
\n31\u201342
\n45\u201348<\/p>\n
The entire picture changed, however, in 1981 when M. Stone published the Armenian and J.-P. Mah\u00e9 the Georgian version of the tale. Each of these oriental versions contained the major additions that were unique to the Latin and Greek (a Latin manuscript has recently been found that contains Eve\u2019s account of the fall). Though one could argue that these versions were later conflations of the shorter and more pristine Greek and Latin texts, there are grounds for suspecting just the opposite. It is not impossible that the Greek and Latin versions derived from an original that looked closer to the present form of the Georgian and Armenian. In support of this, one can point to the recently discovered Latin manuscript of the text that is very similar to the composite account of the Georgian\/Armenian versions. In addition, the Old Irish biblical poem, Saltair Na Rann (10th century), contains material from both the Greek and Latin versions. Given that the source for this Irish text was likely to have been a Greek version of the Life of Adam and Eve, it also provides evidence for an ancient form of the text that resembles the Armenian and Georgian versions. But many scholars still prefer to see the form of the book preserved in Greek (\u201cThe Apocalypse of Moses\u201d) as the oldest form of the work.
\nThe text printed below is the Georgian version. Although most scholarly editions continue to print the Greek and the Latin, it seems preferable to present the reader with the full wealth of all the Adam traditions contained in this document from the perspective of a single text type. The Georgian version\u2019s one advantage over the Armenian is that the Armenian version lost a sizeable piece of text in the section concerning Adam\u2019s burial (45(33):1\u201347(38):2). The reader should not infer from my choice that the Georgian version in its present form is the earliest form of the text. Many scholars still prefer to see the short form of the Greek text as the earliest, even though significant problems remain.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
A generation ago it was common to place considerable weight on the question of origin. This has been unfortunate for the study of the Adam books because their history of transmission has been marked by ongoing redaction. One reason for the careful attention to the problem of the origin of the text among an earlier generation of scholars was the claim that it was of ancient Jewish origin. If it could be shown to stem from the Second Temple period, then the text would become a possible source for the Apostle Paul\u2019s famous speculations about the nature of Adam\u2019s sin (esp. Rom. 5 and 1 Cor. 15). One way of demonstrating this was to show that the present Greek text was riddled with Semitisms that betrayed a Hebrew original. But nearly all of these so-called Semitisms have not stood the test of time. All scholars agree that the original form of the text was written in Greek.
\nThere can be no question that the Life of Adam and Eve borrowed a number of exegetical traditions that derive from various Jewish sources. But this cannot, in and of itself, prove that the entire narrative derived from a Jewish author. Many Christian texts, for example, claim that the angels who cohabited with humans in Gen. 6:1\u20134 descended to earth during the days of Jared (5:18\u201320). Since the wordplay in this idea only works in the Hebrew (Jared derives from the root y-r-d, \u201cto go down\u201d), it is surely of Jewish origin, but its occurrence in patently Christian materials means that the presence of Jewish traditions does not prove Jewish authorship. More evidence of Jewish authorship is the very few explicit Christian references (indeed, in the shortest form of the Greek tradition there are none). In sum, the question of the Jewish or Christian origin of the text must be left open. This is itself striking because it indicates how closely intertwined the two traditions were at this early date.
\nIt is also very difficult to determine when the Life of Adam and Eve was written. There are several references to some form of an Adam book in various early Christian texts, but it is not clear in any of these cases that the book in question is the Life of Adam and Eve. If we begin with the hardest evidence, the manuscripts themselves, we can point to our earliest Latin exemplar, from the early 8th century. Since this Latin version is quite different from its earlier Greek form, this would put us at least within the 7th century. A number of early Christian works, however, seem to be clearly dependent on the Life of Adam and Eve (e.g., the Cave of Treasures), and these texts range from the 2nd to the 6th century. A reasonable guess, then, for the date of original composition would be somewhere between 100 and 400 CE.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
This text is one of the most widely read and influential pseudepigraphic documents in Western civilization. The influence of the Life of Adam and Eve stretches all the way to Milton\u2019s Paradise Lost and Spencer\u2019s Fairie Queene. No doubt one reason for this was the role this text played in transmitting apocryphal lore about the origins of the wood of the cross (the \u201choly rood\u201d). None of this lore is present in the earliest version of the tale, but it achieved considerable prominence in later Latin versions of the text.
\nAmong the culturally significant motifs found in the Life of Adam and Eve are several elements that have no parallel in the biblical tradition. A striking feature of the opening narrative is the predicament in which Adam and Eve find themselves once they are evicted from the Garden. No human food is to be found, and Eve is pregnant and about to experience the terrible pains of giving birth. Both of these motifs follow from the punishments that God decreed over Adam and Eve just prior to their expulsion (Gen. 3:16\u201319). What is striking about the Life of Adam and Eve is that Adam and Eve \u201cdiscover\u201d crises they have to face in their postlapsarian state. One would have thought from the simple sense of the Genesis narrative that they would have anticipated this state of affairs.
\nThis alteration in the biblical account is due to the way this text understands the fall. It was a commonplace in early Jewish and Christian texts to imagine that Adam and Eve were vested in \u201cgarments of glory\u201d\u2014vestments that rendered them near angelic\u2014prior to their fall. Once they had eaten from the forbidden fruit they were instantly transformed and were clothed with \u201cgarments of skin\u201d (see Gen. 3:21), that is, the same mortal flesh that human beings presently \u201cwear.\u201d In some exegetical traditions it was thought that the very moment in which Adam and Eve found themselves appareled in skin, they also found themselves evicted from the Garden (3:7). If one follows this chain of reasoning, the punishments that God decreed over the snake, Eve, and then Adam (3:14\u201319) are difficult to place. Some texts simply dropped them from their retold narrative. The striking move of the Life of Adam and Eve is to transform these punishments into specific moments of crisis that Adam and Eve will \u201cdiscover\u201d after leaving Eden. Their surprise at each one of these confirms that they were expelled from the Garden before God could declare their punishment.
\nEve\u2019s subsequent account of the fall does not reconstruct the events in the Garden in this fashion. Rather, Adam and Eve remain in the Garden after their sin, hear the punishments decreed by God, and then are expelled, all in basic conformity to the order of the biblical story. The account of Adam\u2019s death has no precedent in the biblical text, and so there are few exegetical traditions in this material that can be traced back to Genesis. What we see in this section are traditional Judeo-Christian ideas about repentance, burial, and resurrection.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
It is extremely difficult to number the chapters and verses of this text due to the manner of its prior publication. Because the Greek and Latin texts were originally seen as two separate texts, each was given its own unique system of numeration. Because the Armenian and Georgian versions present the reader with a unified text, a numbering system had to be developed that reflected the established Greek and Latin models, but was also true to the Armenian and Georgian. Hence, there are two conventions in the text printed below. In the opening 21 chapters, where there is no corresponding Greek, the chapter and verse numeration follows what had existed for the Latin and should be clear. At chapter 22, however, there is parallel Greek material, and so numeration is as follows: the first number is the Latin chapter number, the second is the Greek chapter number, and the third is the verse number. For instance, 32(7):1 means chapter 32 in the Latin, chapter 7 in the Greek, verse 1 in all the versions. Similar numeration can be found in the synoptic edition of the text prepared by Anderson and Stone in 1999.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Anderson, Gary. \u201cThe Figure of Adam in Early Judaism and Christianity.\u201d In Biblical Figures Outside the Bible, ed. M. Stone and T. Bergren, 7\u201332. Harrisburg pa: Trinity, 1998.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cThe Penitence Narrative in the Life of Adam and Eve.\u201d Hebrew Union College Annual 63 (1992): 1\u201338.
\nAnderson, Gary, and Michael Stone. A Synopsis of the Life of Adam and Eve. Revised edition. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1999.
\nDochhorn, Jan. Die Apokalypse des Mose. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 106. T\u00fcbingen: Mohr, 2005.
\nDe Jonge, Marinus, and Tromp, Johannes. The Life of Adam and Eve and Related Literature. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997.
\nKnittel, Thomas. Das griechische \u201cLeben Adams und Evas.\u201d Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 88. T\u00fcbingen: Mohr, 2002.
\nLevison, John. Texts in Transition: The Greek Life of Adam and Eve. SBL Early Judaism and Its Literature 16. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 2000.
\nMurdoch, Brian. The Apocryphal Adam and Eve in Medieval Europe: Vernacular Translations and Adaptations of the Vita Adae et Evae. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
\nStone, Michael. A History of the Literature of Adam and Eve. SBL Early Judaism and Its Literature 3. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992.
\nTromp, Johannes. The Life of Adam and Eve in Greek: A Critical Edition. Brill: Leiden, 2005.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
Expulsion from Paradise and Discovery of Animal Food<\/p>\n
1:1It came to pass, when Adam went out from the Garden with his wife Eve, they went out at the eastern part of the Garden. And Adam made a hut to live in. They both entered (it) and resided there for seven days. They both wept with abundant tears, for they regretted the residences of the kingdom from which they had been expelled. 2:1And after seven days, they were hungry and looked for something to eat. 2Eve told Adam: \u201cAdam, my lord, arise and (go) search for food for me that we may eat, until we find out\u2014who knows\u2014(perhaps) the LORD will accept us and take us back to the same place in the Garden.\u201d
\n3:1And Adam arose after seven days and went about upon the face of the earth and he did not find any food like that which they used to eat in the Garden. Adam replied to Eve and told her, \u201cWe are going to die a death.\u201d 2aEve told Adam, \u201cOh, if only I were dead then God would have accepted you in the Garden!\u201d 2bAdam replied to Eve and said to her, \u201cBecause of us a great anger lies upon all creatures. (However) I do not know this: whether it is because of me or because of you.\u201d 2cEve replied to Adam, \u201cMy lord, if you think it wise, kill me so that I will be exterminated from the sight of God and his angels, so that God\u2019s anger against you may cease, which came about because of me: and he will bring you back into the Garden.\u201d 3Adam replied and told her, \u201cNo, no! Do not mention this matter, lest God send another judgment upon us because of (this) killing. How could I raise my hand and cause my own flesh to suffer?\u201d 4Then Eve told him, \u201cArise, let us both seek vegetables.\u201d
\n4:1And they did not find (anything) tasting like the fruit of the tree that was in the Garden. 2And Eve told him, \u201cGod created that for the beasts to get (as) their food; but our food was that by which the angels live. 3Now, come and let us do penance for 40 days, so that God may pity us and then give us better food than that of the animals, lest we should become like them.\u201d
\n5:1Adam replied to Eve and told her, \u201cExplain to me now by what penitence you (wish to) repent, or for how many days will you be able to repent in your penitence, lest, perchance, we make a promise to God, 2and be unable to fulfill the promise that we will have made to him.\u201d 3Eve replied to Adam and she told him, \u201cTell me about the number of days, then; for what period of time will you consider doing penitence? Who knows, (perhaps) I will add more to that\u2014for it is I who have brought these tribulations upon you.\u201d
\n6:1aAdam replied and said to Eve, \u201cYou will not be able to add (anything to it). On the contrary, as many (days) as I will tell you, that many (days, you should) stay and do. And I will do penitence for 40 days, and you, do penitence for 34 days. Leave me these six days, since were you not created upon the sixth day, when God completed the creation of all creatures. 1bNow, you, arise and go to the river Tigris; and put a stone under your feet and stay in the water and clothe yourself (with it) up to your neck. While you pray, let no sound come from your mouth, for we are not worthy to open our mouths, for our lips are impure because we transgressed the commandments, so as to eat from (the tree) of the Garden that God had forbidden us. 2Rather, be silent, only do penitence in the water for 34 days with all your heart and I will do the same in the Jordan River, until God hearkens and gives us food.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam and Eve Repent in the Tigris and Jordan Rivers<\/p>\n
7:1Eve went off to the Tigris River and she did as Adam had ordered her. 2But, as for Adam, he remained in the Jordan River and the hair of his head spread out.
\n8:1And Adam said, \u201cI tell you, O Jordan, suffer with me and assemble all the animals that are around you, so that they (may come) to surround you and bewail me, 2not for their own sakes, but for me. Because God did not withhold their fodder from them, which God gave them from the beginning, but I have been withheld from my means of life and from my food.\u201d 3When Adam had said that with bitter tears, all the cattle gathered close to him and stood around him like walls. At the moment when the water (of) the Jordan had restrained its flow, then Adam raised his voice toward God and he varied his tone of voice six times, like the voices of all the angels in all times.<\/p>\n
Second Temptation of Eve<\/p>\n
9:1When the 12 days of his weeping were completed, the Devil trembled and changed his shape and his clothes by his artful deceit. He drew close to Eve, on the Tigris River, and stood beside the bank. 2He was weeping and had his false tears dripping down on his garment and from his garment down to the ground. Then he told Eve, \u201cCome out of that water (where you are) and stop your tribulations, for God has hearkened to your penitence, to you and to Adam, your husband. 3Moreover, we too have prayed because of your misfortunes that we have seen. 4Thus God sent me to have you (pl.) come forth and to give you the food on account of which you repented. 5Now, come up from there, for I have gone to Adam and he sent me and told me, \u2018Go and speak with Eve, my spouse; bring her back to me.\u2019 Come, now, and I will lead you to Adam, to the place where he is and where your food also is.\u201d
\n10:1And Eve came up out of the water and her flesh was withered like rotten vegetables because of the coldness of the water. All the form of her beauty had been destroyed. 2And when she had come up out of the water, she fell on the face of the earth in great weakness and remained lying (on the ground) without moving for two days. And after two days she arose and the Devil led her to where Adam was. 3And as soon as Adam saw Eve (and) how she was following the Devil, he started to weep with burning tears and called out with a great voice and told her, \u201cWhere are the commands of repentance that I gave you? How have you been deceived again by him, because of whom we are aliens to our dwellings?\u201d<\/p>\n
Satan\u2019s Account of His Fall<\/p>\n
11:1When Eve heard that it was the Devil who had deceived her, she fell down before him and Adam\u2019s distress for Eve increased twofold for he saw her lying on the earth like one dead. 2He was sad and called out with great groaning, \u201cWoe to you who fight against us! What evil have we done to you? For it is because of your calumnies that we went out from the Garden. Is it because we have caused you to be expelled that you are angry against us? 3Or is it because of us that you were despoiled of your glory? Or is it, in some way, by our action that you are in such deficiency? Or are we the only creatures of God that you fight against us alone?
\n12:1The Devil began to cry with forced tears and the Devil told Adam, \u201cO Adam, all the greed and the anger and all the grief of my heart are directed against you because (it was) through you that I fell from my dwellings; (it was) by you that I was alienated from my own throne. My wings were more numerous than those of the cherubim, and I concealed myself under them. Because of you, now my feet walk on the earth, which I would never have believed.\u201d 2Adam replied to the Devil and told him, 3\u201cWhat is my fault, by which I have done all that to you?\u201d
\n13:1The Devil replied to him and told him, \u201cYou did nothing to me, but it is because of you that I have fallen upon the earth. 2The very day when you were created, on that day I fell from before the face of God, because when God breathed a spirit onto your face, you had the image and likeness of Divinity. And Michael came; he presented you and made you bow down before God. And God told Michael, \u2018I have created Adam according to (my) image and my Divinity.\u2019
\n14:1Then Michael came; he summoned all the troops of angels and told them, \u2018Bow down before the likeness and the image of the Divinity.\u2019 2And then, when Michael summoned them and all had bowed down to you, he summoned me also. 3And I told him, \u2018Go away from me, for I shall not bow down to him who is younger than I; indeed, I was master before him and it is proper for him to bow down to me.\u2019
\n15:1When the six classes of other angels heard that, then my speech pleased them and they did not bow down to you.
\n16:1Then God became angry with us and ordered us, them and me, to be cast down from our dwellings to the earth. As for you, he ordered you to dwell in the Garden. 2When I had realized that I had fallen by your power, that I was in distress and you were in rest, 3then I aimed at hunting you so that I might alienate you from the garden of delights, just as I had been alienated because of you.\u201d
\n17:1When Adam heard that, he cried in a loud voice and said, \u201cLORD, my life is in your hands. Make this enemy distant from me, who desires to lead me astray and seeks to destroy my race. It is by him that Eve has been lost.\u201d 2At that moment, Beliar became invisible. 3As for Adam, he remained in the water and did penitence. But Eve had fallen upon the ground like one dead. Then she stood up from the ground 18:1and told Adam, \u201cBe saved, Adam, for you did not join me in the transgression of the commandments, neither in the first (instance) nor in the second. (But) the word of God will prevail against me.\u201d And Eve told him, \u201cBehold, I shall go in the direction of the setting sun and I will eat grass like an animal until I die, for by no means am I worthy of (having a part in) the food of the living.\u201d 2Then Eve went away in the direction of the setting sun and she remained there in mourning and moaning. 3And after these days, she made for herself a hut in the direction of the setting sun. She had conceived three months before, and Cain was in her womb.<\/p>\n
Eve\u2019s Birth Pains and the Gift of Grain to Adam<\/p>\n
19:1And when the days of her parturition arrived, then she started to tremble; she wailed toward God in a loud voice and said: 2\u201cWhere is Adam so that he can console me in my present pain, or who will tell him about my sufferings? Is there none among the birds, who would go to him and tell him, \u2018Come, help Eve, your spouse\u2019? I beg of you, all you races of heaven, when you go to the east, tell my lord about my present sufferings.\u201d
\n20:1aThen Adam, in the river Jordan, heard her tearful crying and misfortunes. 1bThen God hearkened to Adam\u2019s prayer and sent him the angel Michael who brought him seeds, sealed with the divine seal, destined to be brought to Adam. Then he taught him sowing and the work related to it, so that thus they might be saved, (they) and all their descendants. 1cAnd when Adam (had) heard the prayer of Eve and the wailing of her tears from the west, Adam recognized her voice and said in his heart, \u201cThis is the voice of my rib, the voice of my lamb; I will arise and I will see why she cries. Perhaps the serpent is attacking her once more?\u201d 2aAdam arose and followed her footsteps. When he had come close to her, in the part of the west where Eve was, and when Eve saw Adam, she was crying with abundant tears and said, \u201cMy lord, Adam, did you not hear the sound of my tears? For, today, it is nine days, day and night, that there has been this crying of mine toward you. Is it that the [luminaries] of the east have not informed you when they arose? And have not the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth informed you, for I begged them all that they tell you about it. 2bArise, entreat your Creator to have pity, so that God may answer your prayer and deliver me from my sufferings or, if it seems fitting to him, send death to me or, by your prayers, liberate me from my torments.\u201d 3Adam prayed and spoke a plea to God on her behalf and the LORD hearkened to him.
\n21:1And behold, 12 angels and two powers came from heaven. And they came to the place (where) Eve (was). 2One of the powers came, touched Eve\u2019s face and her breast, and told Eve, \u201cBlessed are you, Eve, because of Adam, the elect one and servant of God, for his prayers are great before God and, because of him, God will deliver you. If you had not been brought help because of him, you are sure to have conceived such a thorn (i.e., Cain the killer) that you could not have rescued yourself from your sufferings. Rise up now and prepare yourself to give birth to a child.\u201d 3aEve arose as the angel had instructed her: she gave birth to an infant and his color was like that of the stars. 3bHe fell into the hands of the midwife and (at once) he began to pluck up the grass, for in his mother\u2019s hut grass was planted. 3cThe midwife replied to him and told him, \u201cGod is just that he did not at all leave you in my hands. For, you are Cain, the perverse one, killer of the good, for you are the one who plucks up the fruit-bearing tree, and not he who plants it. You are the bearer of bitterness and not of sweetness.\u201d 3dAnd the power told Adam, \u201cRemain by Eve until she has done with the infant what I have taught her.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Story of Cain and Abel<\/p>\n
22(1):2As for Adam, he took Eve and the child and he brought them into the eastern parts and he stayed there. And when the eighth year and the second month were completed 22(1):3Eve became pregnant and bore another son whom the power of God called by the name Abel, and they remained there together.
\n23(2):1At that time Eve told Adam, 2\u201cMy lord, Adam, in my sleep I saw that the blood of my son Abel was pouring into the mouth of Cain his brother and he drank it without mercy. And Abel beseeched him to leave him (a little) of his blood, 3and he did not agree to hearken to him but he drank it completely and (it) did not remain in his stomach but it went forth and all his limbs were smeared with it and it could not at all be removed from his body.\u201d 4aAdam replied to Eve and told her, \u201cLest Cain plan to kill him, let us separate them from one another, and let us be with them, so as to provide no room for anger.\u201d 4bAnd they acted as Adam had said, and he told them, \u201cMy sons, come and let us disperse, each to his own place.\u201d
\n23(3):2aThen God told the angel Gabriel, \u201c[Tell Adam] \u2018Do not reveal to Cain the secret plan that you know, for he is a son of wrath, because his brother will be killed by him!\u2019 2bHowever, let Adam not be sad, for I will raise up Seth for him instead of Abel, and he will resemble my image and [he] will teach you everything of which I have a memory. But do not reveal this to anyone but Adam!\u201d 3aThat is what God told the angel, and the angel spoke this word to Adam. Then Adam kept the word in his heart. And they both were sad, Adam and his spouse. 3bAnd the time arrived when Abel was killed by Cain his brother and he (i.e., Adam) told her, \u201cGod has established an end for all human beings. Was death anything else but the killing by which Abel has been killed by Cain and Cain\u2019s jealousy delivered him to death because (Cain) was of a perverse race?\u201d 3cAnd the time arrived when Cain and Abel had gone up toward their fields. Two demons resembling Cain and Abel came. Now, one demon reproached the other demon. He became angry with him and took a stone sword, which was of a transparent stone. He cut his throat and killed him. 3dAnd when Cain saw the blood, he went quickly and took the stone in his hand (s). But when Abel saw him coming upon him, he begged him, \u201cDo not make me die, O my brother Cain!\u201d He, however, did not accept his prayer and he spilled Abel\u2019s blood in front of him. And Adam and Eve afflicted themselves all that time with great sadness.
\n24(4):1And after this, Adam entered his spouse and Eve became pregnant and bore Seth, who resembled Adam. 2Adam told Eve, \u201cBehold, I have born a son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed before me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam\u2019s Account of the Fall<\/p>\n
30(5):1And again, after that, Adam had 30 sons and 30 daughters. For all the years of Adam were 930 years. And (those who were descended) from him multiplied over the earth and settled it. And when the 930 years were completed, 2Adam fell ill and cried out in a loud voice and said, \u201cGather to me all my descendants and I will see them before my death.\u201d 3And all his progeny gathered to him who had settled, and he divided the three parts of the earth among his descendants. And all Adam\u2019s descendants assembled by him, for they had taken a position before his doors, in the place that Adam had made, and into which he would enter and address his prayers to God. 4And his sons told him, \u201cWhat is this, Father Adam?\u201d 5[He told them, \u201cI am sick, my sons.\u201d And they told him, \u201cWhat is your illness] and how does a human being fall ill?\u201d
\n31(6):1Seth, his son, replied to him and told him, \u201cFather Adam, what is with you? Have (you) remembered, perchance, the fruit of the Garden, and you longed for it and have you become sad because of it? 2If it is thus, tell me and I will go before the Garden and I will cast dust upon my head and I will weep. And, if only God hears me, he will send his angel and he (the angel) will bring me the fruit of the Garden and I will bring it to you so that you may calm your distress.\u201d 3And Adam told him, \u201cMy son Seth, it is not so, rather I am sick and I have pain.\u201d 4Seth replied to him, \u201cFather, what is pain and how do you have pain?\u201d
\n32(7):1Adam told Seth, \u201cSon, when God made us, your mother and me, he set us in the garden of delights [to eat its fruit.] But there was one plant in the middle of the Garden, (very) beautiful, concerning which God ordered us, \u2018Eat not of it.\u2019 2And the serpent deceived your mother and caused her to eat of it, because of which, now, we are going to die. When it was the hour for the guardian angels [to ascend] to worship God, the enemy deceived her and she ate of it 3aand she deceived me, my children, for I did not know. 3bAnd God had divided the [Garden] between us\u2014me and your mother Eve\u2014so that we might guard it. As for me, he had given me the eastern and northern portion; to your mother Eve he had entrusted the southern and the western portion.
\n33:1And there were 12 angels with each of us to guard us until the time of the dawn, 2but each day, they ascended (there). And at the moment of their ascent, the serpent deceived your mother and caused her to eat of the tree, for he had seen that I was not with her any more than the angels. 3She also made me eat of it and I did not understand.
\n34(8):1When we had eaten, God became angry with us 2and he told us, \u2018You have, therefore, scorned my commandment; I too will scorn you.\u2019 And he sent 70 evils upon us, to our eyes, and to our ears and as far as our feet, plagues and portents laid up in (his) treasuries. This God did to me to cause me to die a death.\u201d
\n35(9):1When Adam said this to his son Seth, he cried out and said, \u201cWhat shall I do? I am in great pain.\u201d 2Eve said, weeping, \u201cMy lord, Adam, give me half of your sufferings and I will bear your present pain, for your suffering is due to me and it is I who caused these pains to come upon you.\u201d
\n36(9):3And Adam told Eve, \u201cArise and go with Seth, my son, to the Garden; cast soil on your head and weep before God so that he might give us grace. 4And (God) will send his angel to the Garden where the Tree of Life is, from which the oil flows out, so that he may give you a little of that oil. And you will bring it here to me and I will anoint myself and I will be healed of my sufferings. 5Then I will let you know the whole way in which we were tried.\u201d
\n37(10):1When they heard that, Seth and Eve went (to the place) where the Garden of Adam was. As she went she saw one of her descendants who was being attacked by a beast and (the beast) was biting the child. 2Then Eve began to weep and said, \u201cWoe is me, for when I arrive at the day of judgment, all my sins will burn me and (people) will tell me, \u2018In the first instance, it was you who did not observe God\u2019s orders.\u2019 \u201d 3Eve called out and told the wicked beast, \u201cO evil beast, have you no fear? [Did you dare] to fight with the image of God? How did you take it upon yourself to open your mouth and how have you (thought to) sink your teeth? Or how have you not recalled the first order of God and have opened your mouth against the image of God?\u201d
\n38(11):1Then the beast replied to her and told Eve, \u201cIt is not from our greed that your discontent and your weeping come, but your discontent and your weeping come from your own greed, for at the beginning of creation, it was you who hearkened to the beast, the serpent. 2How did you dare to open your mouth and eat of the tree of which God had ordered you not to eat? You, [on account] of whom the aspect of everything has changed, 3now, you will not be able to endure, if I start speaking and rebuking you.\u201d
\n39(12):1Seth replied to him and told the beast, \u201cLet your mouth be closed and be silent, beast, and get away from us, the image of the Divinity, until the day when God will have you standing (before him).\u201d 2Then also the beast told Seth, \u201cBehold, then, I get away from you, image of God, dazzling (splendor) of God.\u201d 3And when the beast had left them, the beast fled (far) from Seth and the wounded man went to the hut of Adam his father.
\n40(13):1As for Seth, he went with Eve to the Garden. And they were weeping close to the wall of the Garden, and there they supplicated God to send them his angel.
\n41(13):2a[And God sent to them the archangel Michael, ] who is in charge of the souls, and he told Seth, 2b\u201cMan of God, do not labor to supplicate thus concerning the olive tree, in order to anoint your father Adam.
\n42(13):3aThis is not to be right now but in the future times, when 5,000 years have been completed. Then, at the 5,500th year 3bthe beloved son of God, Christ, will come upon the earth to re[surrect] Adam\u2019s body from his fall, because of the transgression of the commands. 3cHe will come and he will be baptized in the river Jordan. And as soon as he will have come forth from the water, with the (anointing) of oil, he will anoint him, him 43(13):4and all his descendants, so that they will rise at the time of the resurrection. The LORD said, \u2018I will admit them into the Garden and I will anoint them with that unction.\u2019 6But now, go to your father Adam, because the days of his times are completed. (In) three days his soul will go out of his body and numerous wonders will be seen in the heavens.\u201d 43(14):1aWhen the angel had told that to him, (immediately) he was hidden underneath the plant of the Garden.
\n[44](14):1bNow, Seth and Eve departed for Adam\u2019s hut. And Adam wept because of the wound of the beast 2and he told Eve, \u201cWhat has been done with us? For an evil has come upon us and upon all our descendants. 3aIndeed, tell your children what your sins are: 3bfor we will die, you and I, and misfortunes will spread over the earth. All the descendants who have come forth from us will curse us saying, 4\u2018It was our father and mother who brought this misfortune upon us.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Eve\u2019s Account of the Fall<\/p>\n
[44](15):1Then Eve began to cry and she said, \u201cNow hearken to me, my children, and I will tell you how we were tricked. 2It happened, (then), that your father was guarding his portion of the Garden, the east and the north, while I was guarding my own portion, the west and the south. 3And the Devil came to Adam\u2019s portion. And there were beasts there, 4for the LORD had also divided the beasts between us. All (that were) male he had given to Adam, and all (that were) female, he had given to me. And we each fed our own ones.
\n[44](16):1When the Devil came to your father\u2019s portion the Devil summoned the serpent and told him, \u2018Arise and come to me, and I will teach you a useful word.\u2019 2aThen, the serpent came and the Devil told the serpent, \u2018I [hear] that you are wiser than all the animals and I have come to test your knowledge, for Adam gives food to all the animals, thus also to you. 2bWhen then all the animals come to bow down before Adam from day to day and from morning to morning, every day, you also come to bow down. You were created before him, as old (as you) are, and you bow down before this younger one! 3And why do you eat (food) inferior [to Adam\u2019s and his spouse\u2019s] and not the good fruit of Garden? But come and hearken to me so that we may have Adam expelled from the wall of the Garden just as we are outside. Perhaps we can reenter somehow the Garden.\u2019 4aAnd the serpent told him, \u2018How can we have them excluded?\u2019 4bThe Devil replied and told the serpent, \u2018Be a sheath for me and I will speak to the woman through your mouth a word by which we will trick them.\u2019
\n[44](17):1And the two of them came together and they allowed their heads to hang on the wall of the Garden at the time when the angels had ascended to prostrate before God. Then the Devil changed himself into the image of an angel; he sang the praises of the angels. And I was gazing in the direction of the wall to hear the praises. 2aI stared, and I saw him like an angel and at once he became invisible 2bfor he had gone forth to bring the serpent. And he told him, \u2018Arise and come and I will be with you and I will speak through your mouth that which is proper for you to say.\u2019] 2cHe took on the form of the serpent (to go) close to the wall of the Garden and the Devil slipped inside the serpent and he allowed his head to hang on the wall of the Garden. He cried out and said, \u2018Shame on you, woman, you who are in the garden of delight (and) who are blind! Come to me and I will tell you a certain secret word.\u2019 2dAnd when I had come, he said to me, \u2018Eve!\u2019 and I said to him, \u2018Here I am.\u2019 He replied to me and told me, \u2018What do you do in the Garden?\u2019 3I replied to him and told him, \u2018God has set me to guard the Garden and eat (of it).\u2019 4The Devil replied to me and told me through the mouth of the serpent, \u2018Well (done!) Do you eat the fruit of every tree that is in the Garden?\u2019 5I replied to him and told him, \u2018Yes, [we] eat all the fruit except for only one tree that is here in the middle of the Garden, for God ordered us, \u201cDo not eat of it, so that you will not die a death.\u201d \u2019
\n[44](18):1Then the serpent told me, \u2018I am distressed for you, for you are like the animals. God was jealous of you and he has not permitted you, but as for me, I do not desire your ignorance. Rather come, eat and you will see the glory that is to be with you.\u2019 2However, I told him, \u2018I am afraid of dying, perhaps, as God said.\u2019 3The serpent replied to me and told me, \u2018What is death and how does one die? Death is life!\u2019 I replied to him and told him, \u2018I do not know.\u2019 He replied to me and told me, \u2018God is living, just thus you (pl.) will not die, but at the moment when you (pl.) eat, your eyes will be opened and you will be instructed, like God, about good and evil. 4God knew that you would become like him and God was jealous of you. Because of that God told you, \u201cDo not eat of it!\u201d 5[Look at] the tree and see the glory around it.\u2019 As for me, when I had gone and I had seen its glory around it then I said, 6\u2018This tree is good and its fruit is worthy of notice in my eyes. However, I am afraid to stretch out my hand and take (it). But you, if you are not afraid, bring it to me and I will eat (of it) and I will know whether your (present) words are true or not.\u2019 The serpent replied and told me, \u2018Come, open the gate and I will give you of it.\u2019
\n[44](19):1aAnd when I had gone to open the gate for him and he had entered the Garden, he went forth, and then he stopped a little. 1bI replied to him and said, \u2018Why have you stopped?\u2019 1cBut he, my children, began to use trickery with me. He replied to me and told me, \u2018If I have stopped it is because I changed my mind for fear that, perhaps if I should give you of it and you eat it, and your eyes will be opened and you will become like God, and you will know good and evil, and you will become prideful and become jealous of Adam and you will not make him eat of it, and he will be like an animal before you, as you were before God, because God was jealous of you. 1dIf you want it, swear to me truly that, if I make you eat it, you will not be jealous of Adam, your husband, but will make him eat of it and give of it also to him.\u2019 2I replied to him and told him, \u2018I do not know any oath, how could I swear to you?\u2019 And he told me, \u2018Say: I swear by the plants of the Garden and by the cherubs upon which the Father sits and (upon which) he descends to the Garden, that if I eat and know all, I will not be jealous but will give of it also to Adam.\u2019 3And when he had made me take the oath, he bound me (to it), gave me of the tree and I ate it.
\n[44](20):4[\u2026 (I was searching for leaves to cover?\u2026] my nakedness and found none on all the trees, for at the moment at which I had eaten, the leaves from all the trees of the Garden, in my portion, fell down. 5aI took some and made a covering for myself and stood by the tree of which I had eaten, my children. 5bI was afraid because of the oath that I had sworn by the Garden and in which I had said, \u2018I will make Adam eat of it as well.\u2019
\n[44](21):2aThen your father Adam came. 2bHe had thought thus: that a beast had entered the Garden and he said to me, \u2018What are you shouting for and why do you have this fig leaf on yourself?\u2019 2cI replied to him and I told him, \u2018Don\u2019t you wish me to tell you something or do you wish me to? Until today we were like animals. 3When I understood [that of which] the LORD had said to us, \u201cDo not eat of this\u201d and when I saw its splendor, I took of it and ate of it and I learned good and evil. Now, eat also of it and you will become like God.\u2019 4aAdam replied to me and told me, \u2018I fear lest God be angry with me and tell me, \u201cYou did not keep my commandment that I gave to you!\u201d \u2019 4bBut I told the father, \u2018This blame shall be on me. If he asks you, say thus: \u201cThis woman whom you have given me said she is to blame for that; [she told me]: See the flavor of this glory!\u201d \u2019 5Then I gave [him of it and he ate of it and became like me, and he also took a leaf of the fig tree and covered his nakedness with it].
\n[44](22):1After which we heard from an angel that (God) blew the trumpet. He (had) summoned the angels and told them, 2\u2018Thus says the LORD, \u201cCome to the Garden and hear the sentence by which we are going to judge (them).\u201d \u2019 Adam [told me], \u2018We have sinned, for God is going to come to judge us.\u2019 We were afraid and we hid. 3And God came to the Garden sitting upon the cherubim and the angels were singing hymns before him. When he had arrived at the Garden, at once all (the) tree (s) cast off their (its) foliage, 4and thrones were set up near the Tree of Life.
\n[44](23):1And God summoned Adam [and told him, ] \u2018Adam, Adam, where are you? [Are you hiding from me? Or how will a house hide from its builder? Or why have you hidden near the tree of the Garden?\u2019 2Then your father replied and told the LORD, \u2018I have hidden because I am afraid: I am naked and I am ashamed.\u2019] 3God replied to him and told him, \u2018Who told you that you are naked? Have you scorned the commandment that I gave you?\u2019 4Then Adam remembered my word (s) that I had said, \u2018Do not be concerned for (the blame) for it will lie upon me.\u2019 And Adam said, \u2018LORD, it is this woman whom you gave to me who deceived me.\u2019 Then he turned toward me and told me, \u2018What have you done?\u2019 5And I remembered the serpent\u2019s word and I said, \u2018It is the serpent who deceived me!\u2019
\n[44](24):1God replied to Adam and told him, \u2018[Because] you hearkened to your wife and scorned my commandment, let the earth be cursed in your deeds. 2May you work it and it will give you no fruit; it will sprout only thorns and thistles for you. By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread. 3May you be with many sighs, toil in labors and have [no] rest. You shall hunger and you shall [not] be sated. You shall be affected by bitterness and you shall [not] taste sweetness; you shall be tormented by heat and will undergo cold; you (pl.) shall be pauperized and you shall [not] be enriched; you shall eat and shall [not] grow fat; you shall warm yourselves with fire, and you shall not be heated. You will fle[e (to soak yourselves)] with water and it will draw back. 4And the beasts over whom you (sing.) used to rule shall rise up against you. You shall be weakened because you have not kept my commandments.\u2019
\n[44](25):1God turned to me and told me, \u2018Why did you hearken to the serpent and abandon my commandments that I commanded you? (May you) be in toils and pains; 2(may you) give birth to many fruits and when you give birth to them you will despair of your life because of the torments and pains. 3(You shall promise yourself) that if you are ever delivered from the agonies, you will never go back to [your husband] and you will harden your heart in view of the great combat that the serpent instituted with you. 4(But may you) return at once to the same point, may you bear your offspring in hurt and return in pity (lit., begging for alms) to your husband, and he will rule over you.\u2019
\n[44](26):1[When he had said all this to me, he became very angry with the serpent, ] and God told the serpent, \u2018You, too, perish and be cursed among all the animals. 2(May you) be withheld from your food that you used to eat and (may) the soil be to you as food all the days of your life; you shall go on your breast and on your stomach; your hands and your feet will be taken from you. 3And (may you) have neither ears nor nails and may not even one limb remain for you. Let the precious cross that my Son will take upon the earth condemn you because of the deceit by which you deceived [Adam]. But may you again [be exhausted and broken] because of the evil of your heart. 4And I will set enmity between you and the offspring of the woman: she will lie in wait for your head and you will lie in wait for her heel until the day of judgment.\u2019
\n[44](27):1Thus God said, and he ordered both of us to be expelled from the Garden. 2Adam beseeched the angels and told them, \u2018Wait for me to beseech the LORD; who knows, perhaps the LORD will grant me a penance for that which I have done and I will not go out of the Garden.\u2019 3Then the angels waited for us to ask. Adam beseeched the LORD and said, \u2018I beseech you, LORD, pardon me for what I have done.\u2019 4Then the LORD told the angels, \u2018Why have you been waiting (before) separating Adam from the Garden? Is the blame mine (am I to blame), or have I not judged justly?\u2019 5Then the angels fell to the ground and told him, bowing before the LORD, \u2018You are just, LORD, and your sentence is upright.\u2019
\n[44](28):1The LORD turned and told Adam, \u2018You are not to remain in the Garden.\u2019 2Adam replied to the LORD and told him, \u2018I beseech you, LORD, give me of the Tree of Life so that I may eat before I shall have gone forth.\u2019 3Then the LORD addressed a speech to Adam and told him, \u2018You will not take of it anymore in your lifetime. I have posted burning cherubim and a turning sword to keep it from you, lest you should taste it and become immortal and boast saying, \u201cI shall not die ever\u201d; and you should conduct the fight that the enemy has conducted against you. 4If you go out of the Garden and guard yourself from every evil, [you will die and after death you will arise in the future resurrection. Then, indeed,] I will give you of the Tree of Life and you will be undying forever.\u2019
\n[44](29):1When the LORD had said that [he ordered us to be chased out of the Garden.] 2And your father wept before the angels, but they told him, \u2018What is this or what shall we do for you?\u2019 3Then your father replied to them and told them, \u2018Behold, I am going out. Now I beseech you that at the very moment of my leaving the Garden I may take incense from the Garden so that, when I go out, I may offer a sweet-odored incense and God will be willing to hearken to me.\u2019 6And the angels let him and he took four sweet-odored kinds of incense: nard, saffron, reed, cinnamon; that is what Adam brought from the Garden onto the earth.
\n[44](30):1Now, therefore, my children I have taught you the whole way in which we were tricked and I beseech you to watch yourselves and not to stop doing good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Death and Pardoning of Adam and Eve<\/p>\n
45(31):1That, then, is what Eve said in the midst of her children when Adam was lying ill. And on the second day his soul was about to go out of his body. Eve said to Adam, 2\u201cWhy do you alone die and I live? Or, how long shall I exist? Or, what will become of me after your death? Let me know about that.\u201d 3Then Adam told Eve, \u201cBe not concerned, whatever you have done. If we must both die, you too will be set near me. And if I [alone] am to die, [do not move] me from my place until God gives you a command about me, 4for the LORD will not [forget] me, but rather he will seek out the vessel that he has made. Arise and pray a prayer to God that my soul be commended into the hands of my Creator. For I do not know how I am going to reach the Creator of all, or whether he is angry with me or whether he will accept me.\u201d
\n45(32):1Then Eve arose and went out from Adam(\u2018s place). She did penitence and said, 2\u201cI have sinned against you, God; I have sinned against you and I have sinned before you. I have sinned before your elect angels. I have sinned before the cherubim. I have sinned before the altar of your holiness. I have sinned before the generations of the heavens. I have sinned before the birds of heavens. I have sinned before the beasts of the earth. I have sinned against you, God, by all my greed, among all your creatures. I beseech you all, you creatures of heaven and earth, beseech the LORD of all for me.\u201d 3While Eve was praying on her [knees], suddenly Michael came, the angel of mankind, he stood Eve up, and told her, 4\u201cArise from that penitence, for Adam your spouse has gone forth from the body. Arise and see his soul, how his Creator has already (gotten) it.\u201d
\n45(33):1Eve arose and put her hand on her face and the angel went up again, and he told Eve, \u201cRaise you eyes and abandon earthly concerns.\u201d 2As for Eve, when she had raised her eyes toward the heavens, she saw chariots of fire and a light that went up, (borne) by four [winds]: they were so resplendent that no word could express it, and it was impossible to sound them out, neither from the front nor from the back. And angels were proceeding before these chariots. 3And when they had arrived (at the place) where the father was, the chariot stopped and the seraphs stood between him and the chariots. 4And I, Eve, saw three gold censers, and (three) [cups] and three angels come quickly upon the altar. These angels took a burning coal and put it in the censer and set the censer upon the (altar). And while they blew, the smoke went up and veiled the firmaments of the heavens. 5The angels were praising (God), they were bowing before him, crying out and saying, \u201cGod, forgive Adam for he is your image and the work of your hands: he is your creature.\u201d
\n46(34):1And I, Eve, saw two great lights prostrated in fear before [God] and I wept and told my son Seth, 2\u201cRise up from beside your father\u2019s body, come toward me and see that which your eyes have not seen, concerning Adam your father.\u201d
\n46(35):1Then Seth arose and went close to his mother Eve and told her, \u201cWhy are you weeping? 2Raise your eyes and see the seven firmaments open and see the likeness of father Adam, as he lies before God and all the angels are beseeching him and saying, \u2018God, forgive Adam, for he is your image and your likeness, because it is you who have created him.\u2019 \u201d 3\u201cWhat is this, then, my son Seth? 4aDo they deliver [the blood of my spouse] to these Indians, for they were before God?\u201d 4bSeth replied to Eve and told her, \u201cNo, mother, [did you not recognize those whom you called Indians in these colors of blood]?\u201d 4cEve replied to him and told him, \u201cI do not know them, my son.\u201d
\n46(36):1Seth replied to her and told her, \u201cThese are the sun and the moon: they are prostrated and they are beseeching for Adam, my father. 2Where is the light of the sun, for it is no more with it, or why is it darkened thus?\u201d 3Seth replied to her and told Eve, \u201cBecause its light has been eclipsed before the God of all and its light had become darkened by fear of God.\u201d
\n47(37):1As Seth was telling that to Eve, at once a great angel blew the trumpet and all the angels who were prostrated on their faces stood up again. They prayed for Adam and cried out in a loud voice, and said, 2\u201cBlessed [is God, by all blessing. You] pardoned the protoplast.\u201d 3And when the angels had said these words, one of the six-winged seraphim was sent toward him (Adam). He took Adam to the lake of (A)cheron, 4and he dipped him in it three times. Then he led him back before God and (Adam) remained (prostrate) on his face for three hours. And after that, God stretched out his hand from his throne, raised Adam up and gave him to Michael, and he told him, 5\u201cTake him to the third heaven, to the Garden, and leave him before the altar until the day of the oikonomia that I contemplate concerning all the fleshly (beings) with my well-beloved Son.\u201d 6Then Michael took Adam to the place that God had ordered and all the angels were chanting angelic psalms. They were praising this wonder: the forgiveness of Adam and the promise of a future (life).
\n47(38):1After which Michael cried out toward God, 2and God ordered that the trumpet be sounded and that all the angels assemble before God, each one in his rank: those who held a censer; those who held a psaltery; and those who sounded the trumpet. 3And behold, the LORD of Sabaoth rose upon the winds of the cherubim, and from the seven heavens angels were proceeding before him, and they came to the earth to the place where the fleshly (remains) of Adam had been put, and all the angels were singing his (praises). 4And (God) first reached his Garden, and the flowers of the Garden, with their sweet odors, were moved at the sweet odor of the glorious God. All the children of Adam grew numb, except only for Seth, for he was son of the greatness of God.
\n47(39):1And when the LORD had come to the body of Adam, which had fallen (on the earth), the LORD was sorrowful for him and told him in a sad voice, \u201cIf you had kept my commandments, you would not have fallen in that place and your enemy would not have been able to see that he had caused you to be expelled in that place. 2But I will change his joy into sorrow and I will lead you back toward this realm and I will set you upon your enemy\u2019s throne, where he was seated, close (by the place) where his rebellion was discovered. 3He will fall in the place (where) you (are) and he will see you in that (other) place sitting upon a throne.\u201d
\n48(40):1And after that, God gave an order to Michael, who took (Adam) back to the Garden, which is in the third heaven. 2They seized three folded shrouds of [cloth] and God told Michael and Gabriel, \u201cUnfold these shrouds and envelop Adam\u2019s body and take the ointment from the olive tree and pour it upon him.\u201d And three angels dressed him (in it) and when they had dressed Adam\u2019s body (in it), 3God told them, \u201cTake Abel\u2019s body as well, seize other shrouds and dress him in them also 4for he had remained lying naked since the day when wicked Cain killed him.\u201d And he wished to bury him in the earth and he was unable (to do so), because his body came back out of the earth. For a voice made itself heard from heaven and said to him, 5a\u201cHe will not be able to be buried in the earth before he who was created first has returned to the earth from which he was created.\u201d 5bThen he took it to a rock and it remained spread out there until the death of Adam. Thus (the angels) took him and dressed him like his father. 6God ordered that both of them should be taken up to the Garden, on the eastern part, in the place from which God had taken some soil and created Adam. And God ordered Michael to dig. 7And God sent seven angels to the Garden: they gathered many kinds of incense from the Garden and they brought it to them. Then they took both bodies, put them into the grave and covered them (with earth).
\n48(41):1Then God turned and called Adam. Adam\u2019s body answered him from the soil and said, \u201cHere I am, [LORD].\u201d 2And the LORD told him, \u201cBehold, as I told you, you are soil and you have returned to the soil, 3but I will raise you up in the resurrection that I have promised you, at the time of resurrection.\u201d
\n48(42):1Then, after that, God took the triangular seal and sealed the tomb of Adam and he said, \u201cLet no person touch it during these six days, until your rib returns to you.\u201d 2Then God ascended to the upper heaven and each of the angels to his office. 3But Eve grew numb [when] she saw all [that]. Eve wept and wished to see where they had put Adam, for she did not know. When the LORD had descended upon the earth, the sweet odor of all the trees of the Garden did not [\u2026] because of his sweet odor all had grown numb. Until the wrapping and the burial of Adam, nobody understood anything except Seth. 4Then Eve begged (and) wept so that (God) might lead her off, show her the place where they had put Adam. And when she had completed her prayer, she said, 5\u201cLORD, do not alienate me from Adam\u2019s place, 6but command me, me also, (to be) with him, 7as we both were in the Garden, inseparable from one another. 8Do not separate us in our death, but place me where you have placed him.\u201d And after this prayer she gave up her soul.
\n51(43):1And the angel Michael came and taught Seth how to dress Eve. Three angels came and took Eve\u2019s body and placed it where they had placed Adam\u2019s body. 2And after that, the angel Michael told him, \u201cThus dress every dead person who dies, until the death of all human beings.\u201d 3When he had taught Seth all that, he ascended to the uppermost heaven, far from Seth, and he told him, \u201cDo not mourn for the dead more than five days and on the seventh day rejoice, for on that day God rested from all his (works) that the LORD had made.\u201d 4To him is glory and honor and adoration, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen.<\/p>\n
1 Enoch<\/p>\n
Miryam T. Brand<\/p>\n
The Book of Enoch, also called 1 Enoch, is actually a collection of works centered on the character of Enoch and the mysteries that are revealed to him in heaven. These writings take as their common starting point the unusual description of Enoch within the genealogical list from Adam to Noah in Gen. 5:1\u201331:<\/p>\n
When Jared had lived 162 years, he begot Enoch.\u2026 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he begot Methuselah. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God (ha-elohim) 300 years; and he begot sons and daughters. All the days of Enoch came to 365 years. Enoch walked with God (ha-elohim); then he was no more, for God (elohim) took him.\u201d (Gen. 5:18\u201324)<\/p>\n
This passage was evocative for the Second Temple reader, for then elohim was understood to denote not God, but angels. This is especially the case for Gen. 5:24, as a Second Temple audience would not believe that a human being could walk with God himself. In addition, Enoch\u2019s total age of 365 years was reminiscent of the solar calendar, a calendar that was considered superior by some of the authors of Enochic texts. The combination of a reference to angels, calendrical concepts, and walking in heaven led Second Temple writers to speculate regarding what heavenly mysteries Enoch had witnessed. The various works included in 1 Enoch attempt to answer the question of what Enoch saw when he \u201cwalked with the angels.\u201d
\n1 Enoch comprises several works of varying length, subject, and date of composition. The Book of the Watchers chapters 1\u201336 is the earliest extant account of the story of the \u201cWatchers,\u201d angels who sin with human women and produce giants. This story is based on an interpretation of Gen. 6:1\u20134, which tells of bene elohim (literally, sons of God) who mate with the \u201cdaughters of man.\u201d The proximity of the account of the bene elohim to the story of the Flood, combined with the implication that the mating between the bene elohim and human women produced mortal beings of unusual ability, perhaps giants, inspired a tradition whereby the bene elohim, understood to be angels designated \u201cthe Watchers,\u201d caused the sin and violence that led to the Flood. After the story of the Watchers\u2019 sin is related, Enoch is called upon to rebuke the Watchers. He is then asked by the Watchers to plead their case, but is divinely directed to deny the Watchers their request. They and their descendants are duly punished. After he has fulfilled this duty, Enoch receives an angelic tour of the heavens, including the realms that lie outside the mortal universe.
\nThe Parables of Enoch, also called the Similitudes of Enoch, chapters 37\u201371, is an independent work consisting mainly of three \u201cparables\u201d that describe the mysteries Enoch sees and his predictions regarding the future. The Parables uses different terminology from that found in other compositions in 1 Enoch and in much of Second Temple literature. The Parables describes the ascent of Enoch to heaven, his visions of cosmological and heavenly phenomena, and the punishment of the Watchers, and in particular his revelation of the Final Judgment and the Messianic Age. While other works in 1 Enoch rarely mention a messianic figure when describing the final era (the exception being the Book of Dream Visions), the Parables emphasizes the role that the messiah, the \u201cSon of Man\u201d or \u201cChosen One,\u201d will play in the Final Judgment and the age that follows. At the end of the Parables, the \u201cSon of Man\u201d is revealed to be Enoch himself, who will lead people on the path of righteousness in the Messianic Age. The Parables\u2019 unique terminology, its focus on a messianic figure, and the fact that this is the only section of 1 Enoch that did not survive at Qumran has led some scholars to maintain that the Parables is Christian in origin. Nevertheless, this work appears to be Jewish, especially in its lack of explicit Christological statements, although it remains unusual compared to the other works included in 1 Enoch.
\nThe Astronomical Book, chapters 72\u201382, is focused on astronomical and calendrical calculations that support the use of a solar calendar. It has little in common with the other works of 1 Enoch, apart from the fact that its knowledge is attributed to Enoch. The Astronomical Book also contains little explicitly Jewish content and draws deeply from Babylonian astronomy. While the author of the Astronomical Book does attempt to solve the apparent contradiction found in Gen. 1:16 regarding the relative size of the sun and the moon, the author neglects to establish or even mention the dates of the Jewish festivals in his description of their movements and the resulting calendrical calculations. Nevertheless, the Astronomical Book includes a rebuke against those who do not follow its solar calendar, indicating an ongoing argument regarding the dating of the festivals between those who supported a solar calendar and those who followed the lunisolar calendar (as in ancient Near Eastern practice and Jewish tradition). The long numerical descriptions and calculations included in the Astronomical Book led to significant corruption in its transmission, and the Aramaic fragments found at Qumran testify to a very different original form.
\nThe Book of Dream Visions, chapters 83\u201390, includes Enoch\u2019s description of two dream visions relayed to his son Methuselah. The first, chapters 83\u201384, describes a cataclysmic destruction of the earth in deliberately vague language that can be applied both to the Flood and to a final apocalypse. The second, chapters 85\u201390, referred to as the Animal Apocalypse, describes the history of humanity from Adam until the final era, depicting people as animals, whose species differ according to their nationality: Israelites are sheep, Egyptians are wolves, and so on. Unique to the Animal Apocalypse is the nature of the final era, described in multiple stages, whereby the \u201csheep\u201d are restored to a new Jerusalem and Temple, peace is established, all of Israel becomes righteous, and the other nations of the earth are united into a single righteous species.
\nThe Epistle of Enoch, chapters 91\u2013107, includes an introduction noting the Judgment Day that is coming, followed by a series of discourses on ethical behavior. These begin with the Apocalypse of Weeks, a broad recounting of history in ten \u201cweeks\u201d or periods that are unequal in length. The focus is on the final era, which lasts from the conclusion of the seventh week through the tenth week. Following the Apocalypse of Weeks, Enoch holds forth in a series of speeches that predict disaster for the wicked wealthy and a final reward for the righteous.
\nThe Epistle of Enoch includes a short section (chapters 106\u2013107) based on an independent narrative regarding Noah\u2019s birth. Noah is described as a messianic figure whose glowing countenance fills his home with light at his birth. Noah\u2019s father Lamech is consequently concerned that Noah was fathered by angels and goes to his grandfather Enoch for \u201cinside information\u201d regarding Noah\u2019s nature. Enoch describes Noah\u2019s role in the survival of humanity and the initial end of wickedness following the Flood. Enoch also takes this opportunity to mention the final end of evil in the eschatological era.
\n1 Enoch ends with \u201canother book which Enoch wrote\u201d (chapter 108) that reiterates the eventual punishment of the wicked and the reward of the righteous. God\u2019s justice is proclaimed.
\nThe works included in 1 Enoch are themselves composed of shorter, independently composed passages. The original source of certain passages is frequently a matter of scholarly debate. In the commentary that follows, the possibility that a passage within a work was inserted from an independent composition is noted when an independent source would affect the overall meaning.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
The manuscript evidence of 1 Enoch is complex. The works included in 1 Enoch were composed in Aramaic, translated into Greek, and from Greek into ancient Ethiopic (Ge\u2019ez). The book as a whole has survived only in Ethiopic, but nearly a third of it (mostly included in the Book of the Watchers) has survived in Greek. The discovery of the Aramaic fragments of 1 Enoch at Qumran settled the long-ranging debate regarding whether the majority of 1 Enoch was composed in Aramaic or in Hebrew. Nearly all the works included in 1 Enoch are represented in Aramaic fragments found at Qumran, the notable exceptions being the Parables of Enoch and the \u201cadditional book\u201d in chapter 108.
\nAs noted, each composition in 1 Enoch has a separate origin, and each has a different history and focus of concern. On the whole, these works were authored in Judea at different periods between the 4th century BCE and the turn of the era. The dating of the original texts of these various compositions is still debated. This introduction generally relies on the dating proposed by George Nickelsburg and James VanderKam in their two-volume commentary on 1 Enoch.
\nThe Book of the Watchers is dated to 250\u2013200 BCE, based on its dependence on the book of Jubilees (dated to approximately 160 BCE). The account of the Watchers in Jubilees draws from the Book of the Watchers in its current textual form, even mirroring certain repetitions within the account. The latest possible date for this work is based on the paleographic dating of the Enoch fragments found in Cave 4 at Qumran to the first half of the 2nd century BCE.
\nThe fact that the Parables of Enoch is the only section of 1 Enoch not found at Qumran, and the prominent role it gives to a messiah who is called the \u201cSon of Man,\u201d have led some to consider it a Christian work. However, there is nothing in the work that reflects exclusively Christian theology or terminology, and the declaration in the final chapter that Enoch himself is the \u201cSon of Man\u201d also speaks against a Christian provenance. Based on its content, the Parables of Enoch can be dated to the turn of the Common Era. The description of the invasion of Palestine by the \u201cParthians and Medes\u201d in 1 En. 56:5\u20137 indicates that this work was composed following the Parthian invasion in 40 BCE, but before 70 CE, as the Romans are not mentioned.
\nThe Astronomical Book is thought by some scholars to be the earliest of the compositions in 1 Enoch, based on the paleographic dating of a fragment of this book found at Qumran to the end of the 3rd century BCE. At the latest, this book was composed in the late 3rd to early 2nd century BCE, as is evident from the reference to it found in Jub. 4:17.
\nThe Book of Dream Visions in its present form can be dated between 163 and 160 BCE, shortly after Judah Maccabee\u2019s battle at Beth Zur, assuming that 90:13\u201315 refers to that battle. However, the allegorical nature of this book makes dating based on its content speculative at best.
\nMost of the Epistle of Enoch can be dated to the early 2nd century BCE. The Epistle draws from the Book of the Watchers, but seems to have been composed before the Antiochian decrees in 167 BCE, as these decrees are not mentioned in the Apocalypse of Weeks (93:1\u201310, 91:11\u201317). The \u201cadditional book\u201d in chapter 108, which is the latest text in 1 Enoch, is dated to the 1st century CE.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
1 Enoch holds special importance for understanding Jewish thought in the Second Temple period. The significance of the character Enoch in wider Second Temple Judaism is reflected in Enoch\u2019s inclusion in Ben Sira\u2019s list of heroes (Sir. 44:16; 49:14) and the reference to Enoch as the first astrologer in the book of Pseudo-Eupolemus, a possibly Samaritan author of the 2nd century BCE. In the Wisdom of Solomon, Enoch is described as an example of someone who maintained his righteousness by not remaining among the wicked (Wis. 4:10\u201314). Enoch and 1 Enoch are particularly important to the book of Jubilees, which draws from 1 Enoch in its description of Enoch\u2019s experiences and his continuing role until the Day of Judgment (Jub. 4:17\u201326; 10:17). In addition, the account of the Watchers in Jub. 5 is based on the Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1\u201336).
\nThe fact that fragments of 1 Enoch were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls is evidence that this book influenced the Qumran community. Based on the Qumran finds, Gabriele Boccaccini posited the existence of an \u201cEnochic Judaism\u201d out of which the Essene movement emerged, accounting for the prominence of Enochic works at Qumran. However, the compositions of 1 Enoch found at Qumran reflect theological differences that belie the existence of a single \u201cEnochic\u201d movement. The emphasis on heavenly mysteries and the apocalyptic final age in 1 Enoch were reason enough for these works to resonate with the Qumran community.
\nWhile 1 Enoch had no direct influence on Rabbinic thought, the various works found in 1 Enoch reflect approaches that developed in the Second Temple period and can be found later in certain Rabbinic texts. The influence of 1 Enoch on Christian thought is clearer. The centrality of the messianic figure in the Parables of Enoch and his epithet, \u201cthe Son of Man,\u201d bears similarities to the Gospels and later Christology. In addition, the Greek translation of 1 Enoch was known to some church fathers and even considered authoritative by them.
\nEnoch continued to be a central figure for later writers. He is the subject of 2 Enoch (of uncertain provenance), which reflects the influence of 1 Enoch, and of 3 Enoch, a Jewish work dating from the 5th or 6th century CE that shows only vague knowledge of Enochic traditions.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
1 Enoch as a whole reflects an intense interest in mysteries and wisdom, including knowledge of cosmic phenomena, heavenly realms, and oracular knowledge of the final era. It is this interest that lies behind the elaboration on the character of Enoch, whose sojourn in heaven, noted cryptically in Genesis, was particularly intriguing for some Jews of this period.
\nAny description of the beliefs reflected in 1 Enoch must acknowledge the different interests and theological stances suggested in its different compositions. There is no need to assume that views expressed in one composition within 1 Enoch were shared by authors of other compositions in the same book. At the most superficial level, these include different areas of focus regarding knowledge, from the purely astronomical descriptions of the Astronomical Book to the \u201canimalistic\u201d account of history and the final era found in the Book of Dream Visions. However, the different parts of 1 Enoch also contradict each other in their approaches to the issues they address. For example, the nature of the final era differs in each work that describes it. While in some cases it consists of a naturally functioning world suffused with peace and plenty (as in the Book of the Watchers, 10:16\u201311:2), in others it brings a period of divine battle (as in the Epistle of Enoch, 91:12\u201313), or even the resurrection of the righteous and the end not only of evil, but of death (as in the Parables of Enoch, 51:1\u20132; 61:5; 62:15\u201316). The central role of a messiah in the final era appears only in the Book of Dream Visions and the Parables, but the expanded nature of this role in the Parables of Enoch is evidence of the increased interest in a messianic figure found in specific groups during this period. 1 Enoch is also notable for its explicit use of the afterlife to solve the problem of apparent divine injustice typified by the existence of the prosperous wicked and the suffering righteous; this solution is prominent in the Epistle of Enoch.
\nOther repeating themes throughout 1 Enoch include the acts of the Watchers and their punishment, the Flood and Noah\u2019s role in humanity\u2019s survival, and the destruction of wickedness in the final era. The origin of contemporary evil is sometimes explicitly attributed to the Watchers, but not always; in some retellings of the narrative in 1 Enoch, the Watchers are simply exemplars of those who sin against the divine order and no longer affect the world. The Flood itself functions as a prototype of the apocalyptic Judgment Day in the final era, and it is possible that Noah\u2019s importance hints at an anticipated messiah figure in the final age.
\nEach work included in 1 Enoch is made up of shorter sections that are themselves the work of different hands. Abrupt shifts in topic or narrative style indicate that verses have been inserted from a different text or result from a separate tradition, creating contradictory or repetitious passages within the same composition. While these repetitions can prove frustrating for the reader, they also provide the opportunity to note different approaches to similar themes found within the circles that produced Enochic literature.
\nAnother challenge for the reader is 1 Enoch\u2018s complex textual history. The difficulty of certain passages and the book\u2019s multiple stages of transmission have led to significant textual corruption. One example of this is the reproduction of certain passages out of their original order within the book. The translation included presents the correct order, but the \u201cmistaken\u201d numbering of these verses has been maintained for consistency with the manuscripts. Thus, the passage at 91:11\u201317 has been moved to its original location following 93:1\u201310.
\nThe Parables of Enoch is included in excerpted form. The sections of the Parables that have been selected are representative of the unique nature of this composition and convey its approach, as well as the manner in which it was read in its finished form.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Dimant, Devorah. \u201c1 Enoch 6\u201311: A Fragment of a Parabiblical Work.\u201d JJS 53 (2002): 223\u201337.
\nKnibb, Michael A. The Ethiopic Book of Enoch: A New Edition in the Light of the Aramaic Dead Sea Fragments. 2 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.
\nMilik, J. T. The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments from Qumr\u00e2n Cave 4. Oxford: Clarendon, 1976.
\nNickelsburg, George W. E. 1 Enoch 1: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 1\u201336; 81\u2013108. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cApocalyptic and Myth in 1 Enoch 6\u201311.\u201d JBL 96 (1977): 383\u2013405.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cEnoch, First Book of.\u201d In The Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by D. N. Freedman, 2:508\u201316. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
\nNickelsburg, George W. E., and VanderKam, James C. 1 Enoch 2: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 37\u201382. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001.
\nVanderKam, James C. Enoch, a Man for All Generations. Studies on Personalities of the Old Testament. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
1:1. The words of the blessing of Enoch according to which he blessed the chosen and righteous who must be present on the day of distress [which is appointed] for the removal of all the wicked and impious. 2. And Enoch answered and said: [there was] a righteous man whose eyes were opened by the LORD, and he saw a holy vision in the heavens which the angels showed to me. And I heard everything from them, and I understood what I saw, but not for this generation, but for a distant generation which will come. 3. Concerning the chosen I spoke, and I uttered a parable concerning them: The Holy and Great One will come out from his dwelling, 4. and the Eternal God will tread from there upon Mount Sinai, and he will appear with his host, and will appear in the strength of his power from heaven. 5. And all will be afraid, and the Watchers will shake, and fear and great trembling will seize them unto the ends of the earth. 6. And the high mountains will be shaken, and the high hills will be made low, and will melt like wax before the flame. 7. And the earth will sink and everything that is on the earth will be destroyed, and there will be judgment upon all, and upon all the righteous. 8. But for the righteous he will make peace, and he will keep safe the chosen, and mercy will be upon them. They will all belong to God, and will prosper and be blessed, and the light of God will shine upon them. 9. And behold! He comes with ten thousand holy ones to execute judgment upon them, and to destroy the impious, and to contend with all flesh concerning everything which the sinners and the impious have done and wrought against him.
\n2:1. Contemplate all the events in heaven, how the lights in heaven do not change their courses, how each rises and sets in order, each at its proper time, and they do not transgress their law. 2. Consider the earth, and understand from the work which is done upon it, from the beginning to the end, that no work of God changes as it becomes manifest. 3. Consider the summer and the winter, how the whole earth is full of water, and clouds and dew and rain rest upon it.
\n3:1. Contemplate and see how all the trees appear withered, and [how] all their leaves are stripped, with the exception of fourteen trees which are not stripped, which remain with the old [foliage] until the new comes after two or three years.
\n4:1. And again, contemplate the days of summer, how at its beginning the sun is above it [the earth]. You seek shelter and shade because of the heat of the sun, and the earth burns with a scorching heat, and you cannot tread upon the earth, or upon a rock, because of its heat.
\n5:1. Contemplate how the trees are covered with green leaves, and bear fruit. And understand in respect of everything and perceive how He who lives forever made all these things for you; 2. and [how] his works [are] before him in each succeeding year, and all his works serve him and do not change, but as God has decreed, so everything is done. 3. And consider how the seas and rivers together complete their tasks. 4. But you have not persevered, nor observed the law of the LORD. But you have transgressed, and have spoken proud and hard words with your unclean mouth against his majesty. You hard of heart! You will not have peace! 5. And because of this you will curse your days, and the years of your life you will destroy. And the eternal curse will increase, and you will not receive mercy. 6. In those days you will transform your name into an eternal curse to all the righteous, and they will curse you sinners forever\u2014you together with the sinners. 7. For the chosen there will be light and joy and peace, and they will inherit the earth. But for you, the impious, there will be a curse. 8. When wisdom is given to the chosen, they will all live, and will not again do wrong, either through forgetfulness, or through pride. But those who possess wisdom will be humble. 9. They will not again do wrong, and they will not be judged all the days of their life, and they will not die of [the divine] wrath or anger. But they will complete the number of the days of their life, and their life will grow in peace, and the years of their joy will increase in gladness and in eternal peace all the days of their life.
\n6:1. And it came to pass, when the sons of men had increased, that in those days there were born to them fair and beautiful daughters. 2. And the angels, the sons of heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another: \u2018Come, let us choose for ourselves wives from the children of men, and let us beget for ourselves children.\u2019 3. And Semyaza, who was their leader, said to them: \u2018I fear that you may not wish this deed to be done, and [that] I alone will pay for this great sin.\u2019 4. And they all answered him and said: \u2018Let us all swear an oath, and bind one another with curses not to alter this plan, but to carry out this plan effectively.\u2019 5. Then they all swore together and all bound one another with curses to it. 6. And they were in all two hundred, and they came down on Ardis which is the summit of Mount Hermon. And they called the mountain Hermon, because on it they swore and bound one another with curses. 7. And these [are] the names of their leaders: Semyaza, who was their leader, Urakiba, Ramiel, Kokahiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Daniel, Ezeqiel, Baraqiel, Asael, Armaros, Batriel, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsiel, Sartael \u2026 Turiel, Yomiel, Araziel. 8. These are the leaders of the two hundred angels, and of all the others with them.
\n7:1. And they took wives for themselves, and everyone chose for himself one each. And they began to go in to them and were promiscuous with them. And they taught them charms and spells, and showed to them the cutting of roots and trees. 2. And they became pregnant and bore large giants, and their height [was] three thousand cubits. 3. These devoured all the toil of men, until men were unable to sustain them. 4. And the giants turned against them in order to devour men. 5. And they began to sin against birds, and against animals, and against reptiles and against fish, and they devoured one anoth-er\u2019s flesh and drank the blood from it. 6. Then the earth complained about the lawless ones.
\n8:1. And Azazel taught men to make swords, and daggers, and shields and breastplates. And he showed them the things after these, and the art of making them: bracelets, and ornaments, and the art of making up the eyes and of beautifying the eyelids, and the most precious and choice stones, and all [kinds of] coloured dyes. And the world was changed. 2. And there was great impiety and much fornication, and they went astray, and all their ways became corrupt. 3. Amezarak taught all those who cast spells and cut roots, Armaros the release of spells, and Baraqiel astrologers, and Kokabel portents, and Tamiel taught astrology, and Asradel taught the path of the moon. 4. And at the destruction of men they cried out, and their voice reached heaven.
\n9:1. And then Michael, Gabriel, Suriel, and Uriel looked down from heaven and saw the mass of blood that was being shed on the earth and all the iniquity that was being done on the earth. 2. And they said to one another: \u2018Let the devastated earth cry out with the sound of their cries unto the gate of heaven. 3. And now, to you O holy ones of heaven, the souls of men complain, saying: \u201cBring our suit before the Most High.\u2019 \u201d 4. And they said to their LORD, the King: \u2018LORD of LORDs, God of Gods, King of Kings! Your glorious throne [endures] for all the generations of the world, and your name (is) holy and praised for all the generations of the world, and blessed and praised! 5. You have made everything, and power over everything is yours. And everything is uncovered and open before you, and you see everything, and there is nothing which can be hidden from you. 6. See then what Azazel has done, how he has taught all iniquity on the earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were made in heaven. 7. And Semyaza has made known spells, [he] to whom you gave authority to rule over those who are with him. 8. And they went in to the daughters of men together, and lay with those women, and became unclean, and revealed to them these sins. 9. And the women bore giants, and thereby the whole earth has been filled with blood and iniquity. 10. And now behold the souls which have died cry out and complain unto the gate of heaven, and their lament has ascended, and they cannot go out in the face of the iniquity which is being committed on the earth. 11. And you know everything before it happens, and you know this and what concerns each of them. But you say nothing to us. What ought we to do with them about this?\u2019
\n10:1 And then the Most High, the Great and Holy One, spoke and sent Arsyalalyur to the son of Lamech, and said to him: 2. \u2018Say to him in my name \u201cHide yourself\u201d, and reveal to him the end which is coming, for the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come on all the earth, and what is in it will be destroyed. 3. And now teach him that he may escape, and [that] his offspring may survive for the whole earth.\u2019 4. And further the LORD said to Raphael: \u2018Bind Azazel by his hands and his feet, and throw him into the darkness. And split open the desert which is in Dudael, and throw him there. 5. And throw on him jagged and sharp stones, and cover him with darkness; and let him stay there forever, and cover his face, that he may not see light, 6. and that on the great day of judgment he may be hurled into the fire. 7. And restore the earth which the angels have ruined, and announce the restoration of the earth, for I shall restore the earth, so that not all the sons of men shall be destroyed through the mystery of everything which the Watchers made known and taught to their sons. 8. And the whole earth has been ruined by the teaching of the works of Azazel, and against him write down all sin.\u2019 9. And the LORD said to Gabriel: \u2018Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates and against the sons of the fornicators, and destroy the sons of the fornicators and the sons of the Watchers from amongst men. And send them out, and send them against one another, and let them destroy themselves in battle, for they will not have length of days. 10. And they will all petition you, but their fathers will gain nothing in respect of them, for they hope for eternal life, and that each of them will live life for five hundred years.\u2019 11. And the LORD said to Michael: \u2018Go, inform Semyaza and the others with him who have associated with the women to corrupt themselves with them in all their uncleanness. 12. When all their sons kill each other, and when they see the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them for seventy generations under the hills of the earth until the day of their judgment and of their consummation, until the judgment which is for all eternity is accomplished. 13. And in those days they will lead them to the abyss of fire; in torment and in prison they will be shut up for all eternity. 14. And then he [Semyaza] will be burnt and from then on destroyed with them; together they will be bound until the end of all generations. 15. And destroy all the souls of lust and the sons of the Watchers, for they have wronged men. 16. Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth, and every evil work will cease. And let the plant of righteousness and truth appear, and the deed will become a blessing; righteousness and truth will they plant in joy forever. 17. And now all the righteous will be humble, and will live until they beget thousands; and all the days of their youth and their Sabbaths they will fulfill in peace. 18. And in those days the whole earth will be tilled in righteousness, and all of it will be planted with trees, and it will be filled with blessing. 19. And all pleasant trees they will plant on it, and they will plant on it vines, and the vine which is planted on it will produce fruit in abundance; and every seed which is sown on it, each measure will produce a thousand, and each measure of olives will produce ten baths of oil. 20. And you, cleanse the earth from all wrong, and from all iniquity, and from all sin, and from all impiety, and from all the uncleanness which is brought about on the earth; remove them from the earth. 21. And all the sons of men shall be righteous, and all the nations shall serve and bless me, and all shall worship me. 22. And the earth will be cleansed from all corruption, and from all sin, and from all wrath, and from all torment; and I will not again send a flood upon it for all generations forever.
\n11:1. And in those days I will open the storehouses of blessing which [are] in heaven that I may send them down upon the earth, upon the work and upon the toil of the sons of men. 2. Peace and truth will be united for all the days of eternity and for all the generations of eternity.\u2019
\n12:1. And before everything Enoch had been hidden, and none of the sons of men knew where he was hidden, or where he was, or what had happened. 2. And all his doings [were] with the Holy Ones and with the Watchers in his days. 3. And I Enoch was blessing the Great LORD and the King of Eternity, and behold the Watchers called to me, Enoch the scribe, and said to me: 4. \u2018Enoch, scribe of righteousness, go, inform the Watchers of heaven who have left the high heaven and the holy eternal place, and have corrupted themselves with the women, and have done as the sons of men do, and have taken wives for themselves, and have become completely corrupt on the earth. 5. They will have on earth neither peace nor forgiveness of sin 6. for they will not rejoice in their sons. The slaughter of their beloved ones they will see, and over the destruction of their sons they will lament and petition forever. But they will have neither mercy nor peace.\u2019
\n13:1. And Enoch went and said to Azazel: \u2018You will not have peace. A severe sentence has come out against you that you should be bound. 2. And you will have neither rest, nor mercy, nor [the granting of any] petition, because of the wrong which you have taught, and because of all the works of blasphemy and wrong and sin which you have shown to the sons of men.\u2019 3. Then I went and spoke to them all together, and they were all afraid; fear and trembling seized them. 4. And they asked me to write out for them the record of a petition that they might receive forgiveness, and to take the record of their petition up to the LORD in heaven. 5. For they [themselves] were not able from then on to speak, and they did not raise their eyes to heaven out of shame for the sins for which they had been condemned. 6. And then I wrote out the record of their petition and their supplication in regard to their spirits and the deeds of each one of them, and in regard to what they asked, [namely] that they should obtain absolution and forbearance. 7. And I went and sat down by the waters of Dan in Dan which is southwest of Hermon; and I read out the record of their petition until I fell asleep. 8. And behold a dream came to me, and visions fell upon me, and I saw a vision of wrath, [namely] that I should speak to the sons of heaven and reprove them. 9. And I woke up and went to them, and they were all sitting gathered together as they mourned in Ubelseyael, which is between Lebanon and Senir, with their faces covered. 10. And I spoke before them all the visions which I had seen in my sleep, and I began to speak these words of righteousness and to reprove the Watchers of heaven.
\n14:1. This book [is] the word of righteousness and of reproof for the Watchers who [are] from eternity, as the Holy and Great One commanded in that vision. 2. I saw in my sleep what I will now tell with the tongue of flesh and with my breath which the Great One has given to men in the mouth, that they might speak with it and understand with the heart. 3. As he has created and appointed men to understand the word of knowledge, so he created and appointed me to reprove the Watchers, the sons of heaven. 4. And I wrote out your petition, but in my vision thus it appeared, that your petition will not be [granted] to you for all the days of eternity; and complete judgment [has been decreed] against you, and you will not have peace. 5. And from now on you will not ascend into heaven for all eternity, and it has been decreed that you are to be bound in the earth for all the days of eternity. 6. And before this you will have seen the destruction of your beloved sons, and you will not be able to enjoy them, but they will fall before you by the sword. 7. And your petition will not be [granted] in respect of them, nor in respect of yourselves. And while you weep and supplicate, you do not speak a single word from the writing which I have written. 8. And the vision appeared to me as follows: Behold clouds called me in the vision, and mist called me, and the path of the stars and flashes of lightning hastened me and drove me, and in the vision winds caused me to fly and hastened me and lifted me up into heaven. 9. And I proceeded until I came near to a wall which was built of hailstones, and a tongue of fire surrounded it, and it began to make me afraid. 10. And I went into the tongue of fire and came near to a large house which was built of hailstones, and the wall of that house [was] like a mosaic [made] of hailstones, and its floor [was] snow. 11. Its roof [was] like the path of the stars and flashes of lightning, and among them [were] fiery Cherubim, and their heaven [was like] water. 12. And [there was] a fire burning around its wall, and its door was ablaze with fire. 13. And I went into that house, and [it was] hot as fire and cold as snow, and there was neither pleasure nor life in it. Fear covered me and trembling took hold of me. 14. And as I was shaking and trembling, I fell on my face. And I saw in the vision, 15. and behold, another house, which was larger than the former, and all its doors [were] open before me, and [it was] built of a tongue of fire. 16. And in everything it so excelled in glory and splendour and size that I am unable to describe to you its glory and its size. 17. And its floor [was] fire, and above [were] lightning and the path of the stars, and its roof also [was] a burning fire. 18. And I looked and I saw in it a high throne, and its appearance [was] like ice and its surrounds like the shining sun and the sound of Cherubim. 19. And from underneath the high throne there flowed out rivers of burning fire so that it was impossible to look at it. 20. And He who is great in glory sat on it, and his raiment was brighter than the sun, and whiter than any snow. 21. And no angel could enter, and at the appearance of the face of him who is honored and praised no [creature of] flesh could look. 22. A sea of fire burnt around him, and a great fire stood before him, and none of those around him came near to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand [stood] before him, but he needed no holy counsel. 23. And the Holy Ones who were near to him did not leave by night or day, and did not depart from him. 24. And until then I had a covering on my face, as I trembled. And the LORD called me with his own mouth and said to me: \u2018Come hither, Enoch, to my holy word.\u2019 25. And he lifted me up and brought me near to the door. And I looked, with my face down.
\n15:1. And he answered me and said to me with his voice: \u2018Hear! Do not be afraid, Enoch, [you] righteous man and scribe of righteousness. Come hither and hear my voice. 2. And go, say to the Watchers of heaven who sent you to petition on their behalf: \u201cYou ought to petition on behalf of men, not men on behalf of you. 3. Why have you left the high, holy and eternal heaven, and lain with the women and become unclean with the daughters of men, and taken wives for yourselves, and done as the sons of the earth and begotten giant sons? 4. And you [were] spiritual, holy, living an eternal life, [but] you became unclean upon the women, and begat [children] through the blood of flesh, and lusted after the blood of men, and produced flesh and blood as they do who die and are destroyed. 5. And for this reason I gave them wives, [namely] that they might sow seed in them and [that] children might be born by them, that thus deeds might be done on the earth. 6. But you formerly were spiritual, living an eternal, immortal life for all the generations of the world. 7. For this reason I did not arrange wives for you because the dwelling of the spiritual ones [is] in heaven. 8. And now the giants who were born from spirits and flesh will be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth will be their dwelling. 9. And evil spirits came out from their flesh because from above they were created; from the holy Watchers was their origin and first foundation. Evil spirits they will be on the earth, and spirits of the evil ones they will be called. 10. And the dwelling of the spirits of heaven is in heaven, but the dwelling of the spirits of earth, who were born on the earth, [is] on earth. 11. And the spirits of the giants \u2026 which do wrong and are corrupt, and attack and fight and break on the earth, and cause sorrow; and they eat no food and do not thirst, and are not observed. 12. And these spirits will rise against the sons of men and against the women because they came out [from them]. In the days of slaughter and destruction
\n16:1. and the death of the giants, wherever the spirits have gone out from [their] bodies, their flesh shall be destroyed before the judgment; thus they will be destroyed until the day of the great consummation is accomplished upon the great age, upon the Watchers and the impious ones.\u201d 2. And now to the Watchers who sent you to petition on their behalf, who were formerly in heaven 3.\u2014and now [say]: \u201cYou were in heaven, but [its] secrets had not yet been revealed to you and a worthless mystery you knew. This you made known to the women in the hardness of your hearts, and through this mystery the women and the men cause evil to increase on the earth.\u201d 4. Say to them therefore: \u201cYou will not have peace.\u201d \u2019
\n17:1. And they took me to a place where they were like burning fire, and, when they wished, they made themselves look like men. 2. And they led me to a place of storm, and to a mountain the tip of whose summit reached to heaven. 3. And I saw lighted places and thunder in the outermost ends, in its depths, a bow of fire and arrows and their quivers, and a sword of fire, and all the flashes of lightning. 4. And they took me to the water of life, as it is called, and to the fire of the west which receives every setting of the sun. 5. And I came to a river of fire whose fire flows like water and pours out into the great sea which [is] toward the west. 6. And I saw all the great rivers, and I reached the great darkness and went where all flesh walks. 7. And I saw the mountains of the darkness of winter and the place where the water of all the deep pours out. 8. And I saw the mouths of all the rivers of the earth and the mouth of the deep.
\n18:1. And I saw the storehouses of all the winds, and I saw how with them he has adorned all creation, and [I saw] the foundations of the earth. 2. And I saw the cornerstone of the earth, and I saw the four winds which support the earth and the firmament of heaven. 3. And I saw how the winds stretch out the height of heaven and [how] they position themselves between heaven and earth; they are the pillars of heaven. 4. And I saw the winds which turn heaven and cause the disk of the sun and all the stars to set. 5. And I saw the winds on the earth which support the clouds, and I saw the paths of the angels. I saw at the end of the earth the firmament of heaven above. 6. And I went toward the south\u2014and it was burning day and night\u2014where [there were] seven mountains of precious stones, three toward the east and three toward the south. 7. And those toward the east [were] of coloured stone, and one [was] of pearl and one of healing stone; and those toward the south [were] of red stone. 8. And the middle one reached to heaven, like the throne of the LORD, of stibium, and the top of the throne [was] of sapphire. 9. And I saw a burning fire and what was in all the mountains. 10. And I saw there a place beyond the great earth; there the waters were gathered together. 11. And I saw a deep chasm of the earth with pillars of heavenly fire, and I saw among them fiery pillars of heaven which were falling, and as regards both height and depth they were immeasurable. 12. And beyond this chasm I saw a place and [it had] neither the firmament of heaven above it, nor the foundation of earth below it; there was no water on it, and no birds, but it was a desert place. 13. And a terrible thing I saw there\u2014seven stars like great burning mountains. And like a spirit questioning me 14. the angel said: \u2018This is the place of the end of heaven and earth; this is the prison for the stars of heaven and the host of heaven. 15. And the stars which roll over the fire, these are the ones which transgressed the command of the LORD from the beginning of their rising because they did not come out at their proper times. 16. And he was angry with them and bound them until the time of the consummation of their sin in the year of mystery.\u2019
\n19:1. And Uriel said to me: \u2018The spirits of the angels who were promiscuous with the women will stand here; and they, assuming many forms, made men unclean and will lead men astray so that they sacrifice to demons as gods\u2014[that is, ] until the great judgment day on which they will be judged so that an end will be made of them. 2. And their wives, having led astray the angels of heaven, will become peaceful.\u2019 3. And I, Enoch, alone saw the sight, the ends of everything; and no man has seen what I have seen.
\n20:1. And these are the names of the holy angels who keep watch. 2. Uriel, one of the holy angels, namely [the angel] of thunder and of tremors. 3. Raphael, one of the holy angels, [the angel] of the spirits of men. 4. Raguel, one of the holy angels, who takes vengeance on the world and on the lights. 5. Michael, one of the holy angels, namely the one put in charge of the best part of mankind, in charge of the nation. 6. Saraqael, one of the holy angels, who [is] in charge of the spirits of men who cause the spirits to sin. 7. Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who [is] in charge of the serpents and the Garden and the Cherubim.
\n21:1 And I went round to a place where there was nothing made. 2. And I saw there a terrible thing\u2014neither the high heaven, nor the [firmly] founded earth, but a desert place, prepared and terrible. 3. And there I saw seven stars of heaven bound on it together, like great mountains, and burning like fire. 4. Then I said: \u2018For what sin have they been bound, and why have they been thrown here?\u2019 5. and Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me and led me, spoke to me and said: \u2018Enoch, about whom do you ask? About whom do you inquire and ask and care? 6. These are [some] of the stars which transgressed the command of the LORD Most High, and they have been bound here until ten thousand ages are completed, the number of the days of their sin.\u2019 7. And from there I went to another place, more terrible than this, and I saw a terrible thing: [there was] a great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place had a cleft [reaching] to the abyss, full of great pillars of fire which were made to fall; neither its extent nor its size could I see, nor could I see its source. 8. Then I said: \u2018How terrible this place [is], and [how] painful to look at!\u2019 9. Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered me. He answered me and said to me: \u2018Enoch, why do you have such fear and terror because of this terrible place, and before this pain?\u2019 10. And he said to me: \u2018This place [is] the prison of the angels, and there they will be held forever.\u2019
\n22:1. And from there I went to another place, and he showed me in the west a large and high mountain, and a hard rock and four beautiful places, 2. and inside it was deep and wide and very smooth. How smooth [is] that which rolls, and deep and dark to look at! 3. Then Raphael, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered me and said to me: \u2018These beautiful places [are intended for this], that the spirits, the souls of the dead, might be gathered into them; for them they were created, [that] here they might gather all the souls of the sons of men. 4. And these places they made where they will keep them until the day of their judgment and until their appointed time\u2014and that appointed time [will be] long\u2014until the great judgment [comes] upon them.\u2019 5. And I saw the spirits of the sons of men who were dead, and their voice reached heaven and complained. 6. Then I asked Raphael, the angel who was with me, and said to him: \u2018Whose is this spirit whose voice thus reaches heaven and complains?\u2019 7. And he answered me and said to me, saying: \u2018This spirit is the one which came out of Abel whom Cain, his brother, killed. And he will complain about him until his offspring is destroyed from the face of the earth, and from amongst the offspring of men his offspring perishes.\u2019 8. Then I asked about him and about the judgment on all and I said: \u2018Why is one separated from another?\u2019 9. And he answered me and said to me: \u2018These three [places] were made in order that they might separate the spirits of the dead. And thus the souls of the righteous have been separated; this is the spring of water [and] on it [is] the light. 10. Likewise [a place] has been created for sinners when they die and are buried in the earth and judgment has not come upon them during their life. 11. And here their souls will be separated for this great torment, until the great day of judgment and punishment and torment for those who curse forever, and of vengeance on their souls, and there he will bind them forever. Verily he is from the beginning of the world. 12. And thus [a place] has been separated for the souls of those who complain and give information about [their] destruction, when they were killed in the days of the sinners. 13. Thus [a place] has been created for the souls of men who are not righteous, but sinners, accomplished in wrongdoing, and with the wrongdoers will be their lot. But their souls will not be killed on the day of judgment, nor will they rise from here.\u2019 14. Then I blessed the LORD of Glory, and said: \u2018Blessed be my LORD, the LORD of Glory and Righteousness, who rules everything forever.\u2019
\n23:1. And from there I went to another place toward the west, to the ends of the earth. 2. And I saw a fire which burnt and ran without resting or ceasing from running by day or night, but [continued] in exactly the same way. 3. And I asked saying: \u2018What is this which has no rest?\u2019 4. Then Raguel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered me and said to me: \u2018This burning fire whose course you saw, toward the west, is [the fire of] all the lights of heaven.\u2019
\n24:1. And from there I went to another place of the earth, and he showed me a mountain of fire which blazed day and night. 2. And I went toward it and saw seven magnificent mountains, and all were different from one another, and precious and beautiful stones, and all [were] precious and their appearance glorious and their form beautiful; three [of the mountains] toward the east, one fixed firmly on another, and three toward the south, one on another, and deep and rugged valleys, no one [of which] was near another. 3. And [there was] a seventh mountain in the middle of these, and in their height they were all like the seat of a throne, and fragrant trees surrounded it. 4. And there was among them a tree such as I have never smelt, and none of them nor any others were like it: it smells more fragrant than any fragrance, and its leaves and its flowers and its wood never wither; its fruit [is] good, and its fruit [is] like the bunches of dates on a palm. 5. And then I said: \u2018Behold, this beautiful tree! Beautiful to look at and pleasant [are] its leaves, and its fruit very delightful in appearance.\u2019 6. And then Michael, one of the holy and honored angels who was with me and [was] in charge of them, answered me
\n25:1. and said to me: \u2018Enoch why do you ask me about the fragrance of this tree, and [why] do you inquire to learn?\u2019 2. Then I, Enoch, answered him, saying: I wish to learn about everything, but especially about this tree.\u2019 3. And he answered me, saying: \u2018This high mountain which you saw, whose summit is like the throne of the LORD, is the throne where the Holy and Great One, the LORD of Glory, the Eternal King, will sit when he comes down to visit the earth for good. 4. And this beautiful fragrant tree\u2014and no [creature of] flesh has authority to touch it until the great judgment when he will take vengeance on all and will bring [everything] to a consummation forever\u2014this will be given to the righteous and humble. 5. From its fruit life will be given to the chosen; toward the north it will be planted, in a holy place, by the house of the LORD, the Eternal King. 6. Then they will rejoice with joy and be glad in the holy [place]; they will each draw the fragrance of it into their bones, and they will live a long life on earth, as your fathers lived, and in their days sorrow and pain and toil and punishment will not touch them.\u2019 7. Then I blessed the LORD of Glory, the Eternal King, because he has prepared such things for righteous men, and has created such things and said that they are to be given to them.
\n26:1. And from there I went to the middle of the earth and saw a blessed, [well-]watered place which had branches which remained [alive] and sprouted from a tree which had been cut down. 2. And there I saw a holy mountain, and under the mountain, to the east of it, [there was] water, and it flowed toward the south. 3. And I saw toward the east another mountain which was of the same height, and between them [there was] a deep and narrow valley; and in it a stream ran by the mountain. 4. And to the west of this one [was] another mountain which was lower than it, and not high; and under it [there was] a valley between them, and [there were] other deep and dry valleys at the end of the three [mountains].5. And all the valleys [were] deep and narrow, of hard rock, and trees were planted on them. 6. And I was amazed at the rock and I was amazed at the valley; I was very much amazed.
\n27:1. Then I said: \u2018What [is] the purpose of this blessed land which is completely full of trees and of this accursed valley in the middle of them?\u2019 2. Then Raphael, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered me and said to me: \u2018This accursed valley is for those who are cursed forever; here will be gathered together all who speak with their mouths against the LORD words that are not fitting and say hard things about his glory. Here they will gather them together, and here [will be] their place of judgment. 3. And in the last days there will be the spectacle of the righteous judgment upon them before the righteous forever, forevermore; here the merciful will bless the LORD of Glory, the Eternal King. 4. And in the days of the judgment on them they will bless him on account of [his] mercy, according as he has assigned to them [their lot].\u2019 5. Then I myself blessed the LORD of Glory and I addressed him, and I remembered his majesty, as was fitting.
\n28:1. And from there I went toward the east to the middle of the mountain of the wilderness, and I saw only desert. 2. But [it was] full of trees from this seed, and water gushed out over it from above. 3. The torrent, which flowed toward the north-west, seemed copious, and from all sides there went up \u2026 water and dew.
\n29:1. And I went to another place [away] from the wilderness; I came near to the east of this mountain. 2. And there I saw trees of judgment, especially vessels of the fragrance of incense and myrrh, and the trees were not alike.
\n30:1. And above it, above these, above the mountains of the east, and not far away, I saw another place, valleys of water like that which does not fail. 2. And I saw a beautiful tree and its fragrance [was] like that of the mastic. 3. And by the banks of these valleys I saw fragrant cinnamon. And beyond those [valleys] I came near toward the east.
\n31:1. And I saw another mountain on which there were trees, and there flowed out water, and there flowed out from it as it were a nectar whose name is styrax and galbanum. 2. And beyond this mountain I saw another mountain, and on it [there were] aloe trees, and those trees [were] full of [a fruit] which [is] like an almond and [is] hard. 3. And when they take this fruit, it is better than any fragrance.
\n32:1. And after these fragrances, to the north, as I looked over the mountains, I saw seven mountains full of fine nard and fragrant trees and cinnamon and pepper. 2. And from there I went over the summits of those mountains, far away to the east, and I went over the Red Sea and I was far from it, and I went over the angel Zotiel. 3. And I came to the Garden of Righteousness, and I saw beyond those trees many large trees growing there, sweet smelling, large, very beautiful and glorious, and the tree of wisdom from which they eat and know great wisdom. 4. And it is like the carob tree, and its fruit [is] like the bunches of grapes on a vine, very beautiful, and the smell of this tree spreads and penetrates afar. 5. And I said: \u2018This tree [is] beautiful! How beautiful and pleasing [is] its appearance!\u2019 6. And the holy angel Raphael, who was with me, answered me and said to me: \u2018This is the tree of wisdom from which your old father and your aged mother, who were before you, ate and learnt wisdom; and their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they were driven from the Garden.\u2019
\n33:1. And from there I went to the ends of the earth and I saw there large animals, each different from the other, and also birds [which] differed in form, beauty, and call\u2014each different from the other. 2. And to the east of these animals I saw the ends of the earth on which heaven rests, and the open gates of heaven. 3. And I saw how the stars of heaven come out, and counted the gates out of which they come, and wrote down all their outlets, for each one individually according to their number and their names, according to their constellations, their positions, their times, and their months, as the angel Uriel, who was with me, showed me. 4. And he showed me everything and wrote it down, and also their names he wrote down for me, and their laws and their functions.
\n34:1. And from there I went toward the north to the ends of the earth, and there I saw a great and glorious wonder at the ends of the whole earth. 2. And there I saw three gates of heaven open in heaven; through each of them north winds go out; when they blow, [there is] cold, hail, hoar-frost, snow, dew, and rain. 3. And from one gate it blows for good; but when they blow through the other two gates, it is with force and it brings torment over the earth, and they blow with force.
\n35:1. And from there I went toward the west to the ends of the earth, and I saw there, as I saw in the east, three open gates\u2014as many gates and as many outlets.
\n36:1. And from there I went toward the south to the ends of the earth, and there I saw three gates of heaven open; and the south wind and dew and rain and wind come out from there. 2. And from there I went toward the east of the ends of heaven, and there I saw the three eastern gates of heaven open, and above them [there were] smaller gates. 3. Through each of those smaller gates the stars of heaven pass and go toward the west on the path which has been shown to them. 4. And when I saw, I blessed, and I will always bless the LORD of Glory who has made great and glorious wonders that he might show the greatness of his work to his angels and to the souls of men, that they might praise his work, and that all his creatures might see the work of his power and praise the great work of his hands and bless him forever.<\/p>\n
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\n45:1. And this [is] the second parable about those who deny the name of the dwelling of the holy ones and of the LORD of Spirits. 2. They will not ascend into heaven, nor will they come upon earth: such will be the lot of the sinners who deny the name of the LORD of Spirits, who will thus be kept for the day of affliction and distress. 3. On that day the Chosen One will sit on the throne of glory, and will choose their works, and their resting places will be without number; and their spirits within them will grow strong when they see my Chosen One and those who appeal to my holy and glorious name. 4. And on that day I will cause my Chosen One to dwell among them, and I will transform heaven and make it an eternal blessing and light. 5. And I will transform the dry ground and make it a blessing, and I will cause my chosen ones to dwell upon it; but those who commit sin and evil will not tread upon it. 6. For I have seen, and have satisfied with peace, my righteous ones, and have placed them before me; but for the sinners my judgment draws near before me, that I may destroy them from the face of the earth.
\n46:1. And there I saw one who had a head of days, and his head [was] white like wool; and with him [there was] another, whose face had the appearance of a man, and his face [was] full of grace, like one of the holy angels. 2. And I asked one of the holy angels who went with me, and showed me all the secrets, about that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, [and] why he went with the Head of Days. 3. And he answered me and said to me: \u2018This is the Son of Man who has righteousness, and with whom righteousness dwells; he will reveal all the treasures of that which is secret, for the LORD of Spirits has chosen him, and through uprightness his lot has surpassed all before the LORD of Spirits forever. 4. And this Son of Man whom you have seen will rouse the kings and the powerful from their resting-places, and the strong from their thrones, and will loose the reins of the strong, and will break the teeth of the sinners. 5. And he will cast down the kings from their thrones and from their kingdoms, for they do not exalt him, and do not praise him, and do not humbly acknowledge whence [their] kingdom was given to them. 6. And he will cast down the faces of the strong, and shame will fill them, and darkness will be their dwelling, and worms will be their resting-place; and they will have no hope of rising from their resting-places, for they do not exalt the name of the LORD of Spirits. 7. And these are they who judge the stars of heaven, and raise their hands against the Most High, and trample upon the dry ground, and dwell upon it; and all their deeds show iniquity \u2026 and their power [rests] on their riches, and their faith is in the gods which they have made with their hands, and they deny the name of the LORD of Spirits. 8. And they will be driven from the houses of his congregation, and of the faithful who depend on the name of the LORD of Spirits.
\n47:1. And in those days the prayer of the righteous and the blood of the righteous will have ascended from the earth before the LORD of Spirits. 2. In these days the holy ones who dwell in the heavens above will unite with one voice, and supplicate, and pray, and praise, and give thanks, and bless in the name of the LORD of Spirits, because of the blood of the righteous which has been poured out, and [because of] the prayer of the righteous, that it may not cease before the LORD of Spirits, that justice may be done to them, and [that] their patience may not have to last forever.\u2019 3. And in those days I saw the Head of Days sit down on the throne of his glory, and the books of the living were opened before him, and all his host, which [dwells] in the heavens above, and his council were standing before him. 4. And the hearts of the holy ones were full of joy that the number of righteousness had been reached, and the prayer of the righteous had been heard, and the blood of the righteous had been required before the LORD of Spirits.
\n48:1. And in that place I saw an inexhaustible spring of righteousness, and many springs of wisdom surrounded it, and all the thirsty drank from them and were filled with wisdom, and their dwelling [was] with the righteous and the holy and the chosen. 2. And at that hour that Son of Man was named in the presence of the LORD of Spirits, and his name [was named] before the Head of Days. 3. Even before the sun and the constellations were created, before the stars of heaven were made, his name was named before the LORD of Spirits. 4. He will be a staff to the righteous and the holy, that they may lean on him and not fall, and he [will be] the light of the nations, and he will be the hope of those who grieve in their hearts. 5. All those who dwell upon the dry ground will fall down and worship before him, and they will bless, and praise, and celebrate with psalms the name of the LORD of Spirits. 6. And because of this he was chosen and hidden before him before the world was created, and forever. 7. But the wisdom of the LORD of Spirits has revealed him to the holy and the righteous, for he has kept safe the lot of the righteous, for they have hated and rejected this world of iniquity, and all its works and its ways they have hated in the name of the LORD of Spirits; for in his name they are saved, and he is the one who will require their lives. 8. And in those days the kings of the earth and the strong who possess the dry ground will have downcast faces because of the works of their hands, for on the day of their distress and trouble they will not save themselves. 9. And I will give them into the hands of my chosen ones; like straw in the fire, and like lead in water, so they will burn before the righteous, and sink before the holy, and no trace will be found of them. 10. And on the day of their trouble there will be rest on the earth, and they will fall down before him and will not rise; and there will be no one who will take them with his hands and raise them, for they denied the LORD of Spirits and his messiah. May the name of the LORD of Spirits be blessed!
\n49:1. For wisdom has been poured out like water, and glory will not fail before him forever and ever. 2. For he [is] powerful in all the secrets of righteousness, and iniquity will pass away like a shadow and will have no existence; for the Chosen One stands before the LORD of Spirits, and his glory [is] forever and ever, and his power for all generations. 3. And in him dwells the spirit of wisdom, and the spirit which gives understanding, and the spirit of knowledge and of power, and the spirit of those who sleep in righteousness. 4. And he will judge the things that are secret, and no one will be able to say an idle word before him, for he [has been] chosen before the LORD of Spirits, in accordance with his wish.
\n50:1. And in those days a change will occur for the holy and the chosen; the light of days will rest upon them, and glory and honor will return to the holy. 2. And on the day of trouble calamity will be heaped up over the sinners, but the righteous will conquer in the name of the LORD of Spirits; and he will show [this] to others that they may repent and abandon the works of their hands. 3. And they will have no honor before the LORD of Spirits, but in his name they will be saved; and the LORD of Spirits will have mercy on them, for his mercy [is] great. 4. And he [is] righteous in his judgment, and before his glory iniquity will not [be able to] stand at his judgment: he who does not repent before him will be destroyed. 5. \u2018And from then on I will not have mercy on them\u2019, says the LORD of Spirits.
\n51:1. And in those days the earth will return that which has been entrusted to it, and Sheol will return that which has been entrusted to it, that which it has received, and destruction will return what it owes. 2. And he will choose the righteous and holy from among them, for the day has come near that they must be saved. 3. And in those days the Chosen One will sit on his throne, and all the secrets of wisdom will flow out from the counsel of his mouth, for the LORD of Spirits has appointed him and glorified him. 4. And in those days the mountains will leap like rams, and the hills will skip like lambs satisfied with milk, and all will become angels in heaven. 5. Their faces will shine with joy, for in those days the Chosen One will have risen; and the earth will rejoice, and the righteous will dwell upon it, and the chosen will go and walk upon it.<\/p>\n
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\n56:5. And in those days the angels will gather together, and will throw themselves toward the east upon the Parthians and Medes; they will stir up the kings, so that a disturbing spirit will come upon them, and they will drive them from their thrones; and they will come out like lions from their lairs, and like hungry wolves in the middle of their flocks. 6. And they will go up and trample upon the land of my chosen ones, and the land of my chosen ones will become before them a tramping-ground and a beaten track. 7. But the city of my righteous ones will be a hindrance to their horses, and they will stir up slaughter amongst themselves, and their [own] right hand will be strong against them; and a man will not admit to knowing his neighbor or his brother, nor a son his father or his mother, until through their death there are corpses enough, and their punishment\u2014it will not be in vain. 8. And in those days Sheol will open its mouth, and they will sink into it; and their destruction\u2014Sheol will swallow up the sinners before the face of the chosen.\u2019
\n57:1. And it came to pass after this that I saw another host of chariots, with men riding on them, and they came upon the wind from the east and from the west to the south. 2. And the sound of the noise of their chariots was heard, and when this commotion occurred, the holy ones observed [it] from heaven, and the pillars of the earth were shaken from their foundations, and [the sound] was heard from the ends of earth to the ends of heaven throughout one day. 3. And all will fall down and worship the LORD of Spirits. And this is the end of the second parable.
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\n60:7. And on that day two monsters will be separated from one another: a female monster, whose name [is] Leviathan, to dwell in the depths of the sea above the springs of the waters; 8. and the name of the male [is] Behemoth, who occupies with his breast an immense desert, named Dendayn, on the east of the Garden where the chosen and righteous dwell, where my great-grandfather was received, who was the seventh from Adam, the first man whom the LORD of Spirits made, 9. And I asked that other angel to show me the power of those monsters, how they were separated on one day and thrown, one into the depths of the sea, and the other on to the dry ground of the desert. 10. And he said to me: \u2018Son of Man, you here wish to know what is secret.\u2019
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60:24. And the angel of peace who was with me said to me: \u2018These two monsters, prepared in accordance with the greatness of the LORD, will be fed that the punishment of the LORD \u2026 in vain. And children will be killed with their mothers, and sons with their fathers. 25. When the punishment of the LORD of Spirits rests upon them, it will remain resting that the punishment of the LORD of Spirits may not come in vain upon these. Afterward the judgment will be according to his mercy and his patience.\u2019
\n61:1. And in those days I saw long cords given to those angels, and they acquired wings for themselves, and flew, and went toward the north. 2. And I asked the angel, saying: \u2018Why did these take the long cords and go?\u2019 And he said to me: \u2018They went that they may measure.\u2019 3. And the angel who went with me said to me: \u2018These will bring the measurements of the righteous and the ropes of the righteous to the righteous, that they may rely on the name of the LORD of Spirits forever and ever. 4. The chosen will begin to dwell with the chosen, and these measurements will be given to faith, and will strengthen righteousness. 5. And these measurements will reveal all the secrets of the depths of the earth, and those who were destroyed by the desert, and those who were devoured by the fish of the sea and by animals, that they may return and rely on the day of the Chosen One; for no one will be destroyed before the LORD of Spirits, and no one can be destroyed.\u2019
\n61:6. And all those in the heavens above received a command, and power and one voice and one light like fire were given to them. 7. And him, before everything, they blessed and exalted and praised in wisdom; and they showed themselves wise in speech and in the spirit of life. 8. And the LORD of Spirits set the Chosen One on the throne of his glory, and he will judge all the works of the holy ones in heaven above, and in the balance he will weigh their deeds. 9. And when he lifts his face to judge their secret ways according to the word of the name of the LORD of Spirits, and their path according to the way of the righteous judgment of the LORD Most High, they will all speak with one voice, and bless, and praise, and exalt, and glorify the name of the LORD of Spirits. 10. And he will call all the host of the heavens, and all the holy ones above, and the host of the LORD, the Cherubim, and the Seraphim and the Ophannim, and all the angels of power, and all the angels of the principalities, and the Chosen One, and the other host which [is] upon the dry ground and over the water, on that day, 11. and they will raise one voice, and will bless, and praise, and glorify, and exalt [him], in the spirit of faith, and in the spirit of wisdom and of patience, and in the spirit of mercy, and in the spirit of justice and of peace, and in the spirit of goodness; and they will all say with one voice: \u2018Blessed is he, and blessed be the name of the LORD of Spirits forever and ever.\u2019 12. All those who do not sleep in heaven above will bless him; all his holy ones who [are] in heaven will bless him, and all the chosen ones who dwell in the Garden of Life, and every spirit which is able to bless, and praise, and exalt, and hallow your holy name, and all flesh which beyond [its] power will praise and bless your name forever and ever. 13. For great [is] the mercy of the LORD of Spirits, and [he is] long-suffering; and all his works and all his forces, as many as he has made, he has revealed to the righteous and the chosen in the name of the LORD of Spirits.
\n62:1. And thus the LORD commanded the kings and the mighty and the exalted, and those who dwell upon the earth, and said: \u2018Open your eyes, and raise your horns, if you are able to acknowledge the Chosen One.\u2019 2. And the LORD of Spirits sat on the throne of his glory, and the spirit of righteousness was poured out on him, and the word of his mouth kills all the sinners and all the lawless, and they are destroyed before him. 3. And on that day all the kings and the mighty and the exalted, and those who possess the earth, will stand up; and they will see and recognize how he sits on the throne of his glory, and the righteous are judged in righteousness before him, and no idle word is spoken before him.4. And pain will come upon them as [upon] a woman in labor for whom giving birth is difficult, when her child enters the mouth of the womb, and she has difficulty in giving birth. 5. And one half of them will look at the other, and they will be terrified, and will cast down their faces, and pain will take hold of them, when they see that Son of a Woman sitting on the throne of his glory. 6. And the mighty kings, and all those who possess the earth, will praise and bless and exalt him who rules everything which is hidden. 7. For from the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, and the Most High kept him in the presence of his power, and revealed him [only] to the chosen; 8. and the community of the holy and the chosen will be sown, and all the chosen will stand before him on that day. 9. And all the mighty kings, and the exalted, and those who rule the dry ground, will fall down before him on their faces and worship; and they will set their hope upon that Son of Man, and will entreat him, and will petition for mercy from him. 10. But that LORD of Spirits will then so press them that they will hasten to go out from before him, and their faces will be filled with shame, and the darkness will grow deeper on their faces. 11. And the angels of punishment will take them, that they may repay them for the wrong which they did to his children and to his chosen ones. 12. And they will become a spectacle to the righteous and to his chosen ones; they will rejoice over them, for the anger of the LORD of Spirits will rest upon them, and the sword of the LORD of Spirits will be drunk with them. 13. And the righteous and the chosen will be saved on that day, and they will never see the face of the sinners and the lawless from then on. 14. And the LORD of Spirits will remain over them, and with that Son of Man they will dwell, and eat, and lie down, and rise up forever and ever. 15. And the righteous and chosen will have risen from the earth, and will have ceased to cast down their faces, and will have put on the garment of life. 16. And this will be a garment of life from the LORD of Spirits; and your garments will not wear out, and your glory will not fail before the LORD of Spirits.<\/p>\n
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\n70:1. And it came to pass after this [that], while he was living, his name was lifted from those who dwell upon the dry ground to the presence of that Son of Man and to the presence of the LORD of Spirits. 2. And he was lifted on the chariots of the spirit, and his name vanished among them. 3. And from that day I was not counted among them, and he placed me between two winds, between the north and the west, where the angels took the cords to measure for me the place for the chosen and the righteous. 4. And there I saw the first fathers and the righteous who from [the beginning of] the world dwelt in that place.
\n71:1. And it came to pass after this that my spirit was carried off, and it went up into the heavens. I saw the sons of the holy angels treading upon flames of fire, and their garments [were] white, and their clothing, and the light of their face [was] like snow. 2. And I saw two rivers of fire, and the light of that fire shone like hyacinth, and I fell upon my face before the LORD of Spirits. 3. And the angel Michael, one of the archangels, took hold of me by my right hand, and raised me, and led me out to all the secrets of mercy and the secrets of righteousness. 4. And he showed me all the secrets of the ends of heaven and all the storehouses of all the stars and the lights, from where they come out before the holy ones.5. And the spirit carried Enoch off to the highest heaven, and I saw there in the middle of that light something built of crystal stones, and in the middle of those stones tongues of living fire. 6. And my spirit saw a circle of fire which surrounded that house; from its four sides [came] rivers full of living fire, and they surrounded that house. 7. And round about [were] the Seraphim, and the Cherubim, and the Ophannim; these are they who do not sleep, but keep watch over the throne of his glory. 8. And I saw angels who could not be counted, a thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, surrounding that house; and Michael and Raphael and Gabriel and Phanuel, and the holy angels who [are] in the heavens above, went in and out of that house, 9. and Michael and Raphael and Gabriel and Phanuel, and many holy angels without number, came out from that house; 10. and with them the Head of Days, his head white and pure like wool, and his garments indescribable. 11. And I fell upon my face, and my whole body melted, and my spirit was transformed; and I cried out in a loud voice in the spirit of power, and I blessed and praised and exalted. 12. And these blessings which came out from my mouth were pleasing before that Head of Days. 13. And that Head of Days came with Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, and thousands and tens of thousands of angels without number. 14. And that angel came to me, and greeted me with his voice, and said to me: \u2018You are the Son of Man who was born to righteousness, and righteousness remains over you, and the righteousness of the Head of Days will not leave you.\u2019 15. And he said to me: \u2018He proclaims peace to you in the name of the world which is to come, for from there peace has come out from the creation of the world; and so you will have it forever and forever and ever. 16. And all \u2026 will walk according to your way, inasmuch as righteousness will never leave you; with you will be their dwelling, and with you their lot, and they will not be separated from you, forever and forever and ever. 17. And so there will be length of days with that Son of Man, and the righteous will have peace, and the righteous will have an upright way, in the name of the LORD of Spirits forever and ever.\u2019
\n72:1. The book of the revolutions of the lights of heaven, each as it is, according to their classes, according to their [period of] rule and their times, according to their names and their places of origin, and according to their months, which Uriel, the holy angel who was with me and is their leader, showed to me; and he showed me all their regulations exactly as they are, for each year of the world and forever, until the new creation shall be made which will last forever. 2. And this is the first law of the lights. The light the sun, its rising [is] in the gates of heaven which [are] toward the east, and its setting [is] in the western gates of heaven. 3. And I saw six gates from which the sun rises, and six gates in which the sun sets, and the moon [also] rises and sets in those gates, and the leaders of the stars together with those whom they lead; [there are] six in the east and six in the west, all exactly in place, one next to the other; and [there are] many windows to the south and north of those gates. 4. And first there rises the greater light, named the sun, and its disc [is] like the disc of heaven, and the whole of it [is] full of a fire which gives light and warmth. 5. The wind blows the chariots on which it ascends, and the sun goes down from heaven and returns through the north in order to reach the east, and is led so that it comes to the appropriate gate, and shines [again] in heaven. 6. In this way it rises in the first month in the large gate, namely it rises through the fourth of those six gates which [are] toward the east. 7. And in that fourth gate, from which the sun rises in the first month, there are twelve window openings from which, whenever they are opened, flames come out. 8. When the sun rises in heaven, it goes out through that fourth gate for thirty days, and exactly in the fourth gate in the west of heaven it goes down. 9. And in those days the day grows daily longer, and the night grows nightly shorter, until the thirtieth morning. 10. And on that day the day becomes longer than the night by a double [part], and the day amounts to exactly ten parts, and the night amounts to eight parts. 11. And the sun rises from that fourth gate, and sets in the fourth gate, and returns to the fifth gate in the east for thirty mornings; and it rises from it, and sets in the fifth gate. 12. And then the day becomes longer by two parts, and the day amounts to eleven parts, and the night becomes shorter and amounts to seven parts. 13. And the sun returns to the east, and comes to the sixth gate, and rises and sets in the sixth gate for thirty-one mornings because of its sign. 14. And on that day the day becomes longer than the night, and the day becomes double the night; and the day amounts to twelve parts, and the night becomes shorter and amounts to six parts. 15. And the sun rises up that the day may grow shorter, and the night longer; and the sun returns to the east, and comes to the sixth gate, and rises from it and sets for thirty mornings. 16. And when thirty mornings have been completed, the day becomes shorter by exactly one part; and the day amounts to eleven parts, and the night to seven parts. 17. And the sun goes out from the west through that sixth gate, and goes to the east, and rises in the fifth gate for thirty mornings; and it sets in the west again, in the fifth gate in the west. 18. On that day the day becomes shorter by two parts, and the day amounts to ten parts, and the night to eight parts. 19. And the sun rises from that fifth gate, and sets in the fifth gate in the west, and rises in the fourth gate for thirty-one mornings because of its sign, and sets in the west. 20. On that day the day becomes equal with the night, and is [of] equal [length]; and the night amounts to nine parts, and the day to nine parts. 21. And the sun rises from that gate, and sets in the west, and returns to the east, and rises in the third gate for thirty mornings, and sets in the west in the third gate. 22. And on that day the night becomes longer than the day, and the night grows nightly longer, and the day grows daily shorter until the thirtieth morning; and the night amounts to exactly ten parts, and the day to eight parts. 23. And the sun rises from that third gate, and sets in the third gate in the west, and returns to the east; and the sun rises in the second gate in the east for thirty mornings, and likewise it sets in the second gate in the west of heaven. 24. And on that day the night amounts to eleven parts, and the day to seven parts. 25. And the sun rises on that day from that second gate, and sets in the west in the second gate, and returns to the east, to the first gate, for thirty-one mornings, and sets in the west in the first gate. 26. And on that day the night becomes longer, and becomes double the day; and the night amounts to exactly twelve parts, and the day to six parts. 27. And [with this] the sun has completed the divisions of its journey, and it turns back again along these divisions of its journey; and it comes through that [first] gate for thirty mornings, and sets in the west opposite it. 28. And on that day the night becomes shorter in length by one part \u2026 and amounts to eleven parts, and the day to seven parts. 29. And the sun returns, and comes to the second gate in the east, and it returns along those divisions of its journey for thirty mornings, rising and setting. 30. And on that day the night becomes shorter in length, and the night amounts to ten parts, and the day to eight parts. 31. And on that day the sun rises from that second gate, and sets in the west, and returns to the east, and rises in the third gate for thirty-one mornings, and sets in the west of heaven. 32. And on that day the night becomes shorter, and amounts to nine parts, and the day amounts to nine parts, and the night becomes equal with the day. And the year amounts to exactly three hundred and sixty-four days. 33. And the length of the day and the night, and the shortness of the day and the night\u2014they are different because of the journey of that sun. 34. Because of it, its journey becomes daily longer, and nightly shorter. 35. And this is the law and the journey of the sun, and its return, as often as it returns; sixty times it returns and rises, that is the great eternal light which forever and ever is named the sun. 36. And this which rises is the great light, which is [so] named after its appearance, as the LORD commanded. 37. And thus it rises and sets; it neither decreases, nor rests, but runs day and night in [its] chariot. And its light is seven times brighter than that of the moon, but in size the two are equal.
\n73:1. And after this law I saw another law, for the smaller light named the moon. 2. And its disc [is] like the disc of the sun, and the wind blows its chariot on which it rides, and in fixed measure light is given to it. 3. And every month its rising and its setting change, and its days [are] as the days of the sun, and when its light is uniformly [full], it is a seventh part of the light of the sun. 4. And thus it rises, and its first phase [is] toward the east; it rises on the thirtieth morning, and on that day it appears and becomes for you the first phase of the moon, on the thirtieth morning, together with the sun in the gate through which the sun rises. 5. And a half \u2026 with a seventh part, and its entire disc [is] empty, without fight, except for a seventh part, a fourteenth part of its [total] light. 6. And on the day it receives a seventh part and a half of its light, its light amounts to a seventh-and-seventh part and a half. 7. It sets with the sun, and when the sun rises, the moon rises with it, and receives a half of one part of light; and on that night at the beginning of its morning, at the beginning of the moon\u2019s day, the moon sets with the sun, and is dark on that night in six and seven parts and a half. 8. And it rises on that day with exactly a seventh part, and goes out, and recedes from the rising of the sun, and becomes bright on the remainder of its days in [the other] six and seven parts.
\n74:1. And another journey and [another] law I saw for it, in that according to this law it makes its monthly journey. 2. And Uriel, the holy angel who is the leader of them all, showed me everything, and I wrote down their positions as he showed [them] to me; and I wrote down their months, as they are, and the appearance of their light until fifteen days have been completed. 3. In seventh parts it makes all its darkness full, and in seventh parts it makes all its light full, in the east and in the west. 4. And in certain months it changes [its] setting, and in certain months it follows its own individual course.5. In two months it sets with the sun in those two gates which [are] in the middle, in the third and in the fourth gate. 6. It goes out for seven days, and turns back, and returns again to the gate from which the sun rises; and in that [gate] it makes all its light full, and it recedes from the sun, and comes in eight days to the sixth gate from which the sun rises. 7. And when the sun rises from the fourth gate, [the moon] goes out for seven days until it rises from the fifth [gate]; and in returns in seven days to the fourth gate, and makes all its light full, and recedes, and comes to the first gate in eight days. 8. And again it returns in seven days to the fourth gate from which the sun rises. 9. Thus I saw their positions, how the moons rose and the sun set in those days. 10. And [if] five years are added together, the sun has an excess of thirty days; but all the days [which] accrue to it for one year of those five years, when they are complete, amount to three hundred and sixty-four days. 11. And the excess of the sun and the stars comes to six days; in five years, six [days] each [year], they have an excess of thirty days, and the moon falls behind the sun and the stars by thirty days. 12. And the moon conducts the years exactly, all of them according to their eternal positions; they are neither early nor late even by one day, but change the year \u2026 in exactly three hundred and sixty four days. 13. In three years [there are] one thousand and ninety-two days, and in five years one thousand eight hundred and twenty days, so that in eight years there are two thousand nine hundred and twelve days. 14. For the moon alone the days in three years come to one thousand and sixty-two days, and in five years it is fifty days behind.\u2026 15. And there are one thousand seven hundred and seventy days in five years, so that for the moon the days in eight years amount to two thousand eight hundred and thirty-two days. 16. For the difference in eight years [is] eighty days, and all the days which [the moon] is behind in eight years [are] eighty days. 17. And the year is completed exactly in accordance with their positions and the positions of the sun, in that [sun and moon] rise from the gates from which [the sun] rises and sets for thirty days.
\n75:1. And the leaders of the heads of thousands who [are] in charge of the whole creation and in charge of all the stars [have to do] also with the four [days] which are added, and are not separated from their position, according to the whole reckoning of the year. And these serve on the four days which are not counted in the reckoning of the year. 2. And because of them men go wrong in them, for these lights really serve in the stations of the world, one in the first gate, and one in the third gate, and one in the fourth gate, and one in the sixth gate; and the exact harmony of the [course of the] world is completed in the separate three hundred and sixty-four stations of the world. 3. For the signs and the times and the years and the days the angel Uriel showed to me, whom the LORD of eternal glory has placed in charge of all the lights of heaven, in heaven and in the world, that they might rule on the face of heaven, and appear over the earth, and be the leaders of day and night, [namely] the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all the serving creatures who revolve in all the chariots of heaven. 4. Likewise Uriel showed to me twelve gate openings in the disc of the chariot of the sun in heaven from which the rays of the sun come out; and from them heat comes out over the earth, when they are opened at the times which are appointed for them. 5. And [there are such] for the winds and for the spirit of the dew, when they are opened at the [appointed] times, open in heaven at the ends. 6. I saw twelve gates in heaven, at the ends of the earth, from which the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all the works of heaven go out in the east and in the west. 7. And [there are] many window openings to the north and to the south\u2014and each window at its [appointed] time sends out heat\u2014corresponding to those gates from which the stars go out in accordance with his command to them, and in which they set according to their number. 8. And I saw chariots in heaven, running through the world above and below those gates, in which the stars which never set rotate. 9. And one is bigger than all [the others], and it goes round through the whole world.
\n76:1. And at the ends of the earth I saw twelve gates open to all the winds, from which the winds come out and blow over the earth. 2. Three of them [are] open in the front of heaven, and three in the west, and three on the right of heaven, and three on the left. 3. And the three first [are] those which [are] toward the east, and three [are] toward the north, and the three after these on the left [are] toward the south, and three [are] in the west. 4. Through four of them come winds of blessing and peace, and from those eight come winds of punishment; when they are sent, they bring devastation to the whole earth, and to the water which [is] on it, and to all those who dwell upon it, and to everything which is in the water and on the dry ground. 5. And the first wind from those gates, called the east [wind], comes out through the first gate which [is] toward the east, [the one] which inclines to the south; from it come devastation, drought, and heat, and destruction. 6. And through the second gate in the middle comes what is right, and from it come rain, and fruitfulness, and prosperity, and dew; and through the third gate, which [is] toward the north, come cold and drought. 7. And after these the winds toward the south come out through three gates. First, through the first of the gates, [the one] which inches toward the east, comes a hot wind. 8. And through the middle gate, which [is] next to it, come pleasant fragrances, and dew, and rain, and prosperity, and life. 9. And through the third gate, which [is] toward the west, come dew, and rain, and locusts, and devastation. 10. And after these the winds toward the north.\u2026 From the seventh gate, which [is] toward the east, \u2026 come dew and rain, locusts and devastation. 11. And through the middle gate exactly come rain, and dew, and life, and prosperity. And through the third gate, which [is] toward the west, \u2026 come mist, and hoar-frost, and snow, and rain, and dew, and locusts. 12. And after these \u2026 the winds toward the west. Through the first gate, which inclines toward the north, come dew, and rain, and hoar-frost, and cold, and snow, and frost. 13. And from the middle gate come dew and rain, prosperity and blessing. And through the last gate, which [is] toward the south, come drought and devastation, burning and destruction. 14. And [thus] the twelve gates of the four quarters of heaven are complete. And all their laws, and all their punishments, and all their benefits I have shown to you, my son Methuselah.
\n77:1. They call the first quarter eastern, because it is the first; and they call the second the south, because there the Most High descends, and there especially the one who is blessed forever descends. 2. And the western quarter is called waning, because there all the lights of heaven wane and go down. 3. And the fourth quarter, named the north, is divided into three parts. And the first of them [is] the dwelling-place for men; and the second [contains] seas of water, and the deeps, and forests, and rivers, and darkness, and mist; and the third part [contains] the garden of righteousness. 4. I saw seven high mountains which were higher than all the mountains which [are] on the earth, and from them snow comes. And days and times and years pass away and go by. 5. I saw seven rivers on the earth larger than all the [other] rivers; one of them comes from the east [and] pours out its water into the Great Sea. 6. And two of them come from the north to the sea and pour out their water into the Erythraean Sea in the east. 7. And the remaining four flow out on the side of the north to their sea, [two to] the Erythraean Sea, and two into the Great Sea, and they discharge themselves there, but some say: into the wilderness. 8. I saw seven large islands in the sea and on the land: two on the land, and five in the Great Sea.
\n78:1. The names of the sun [are] as follows: the first Oryares, and the second Tomases. 2. The moon has four names: the first name [is] Asonya, and the second Ebla, and the third Benase, and the fourth Era\u2019e. 3. These are the two great lights; their disc [is] like the disc of heaven, and in size the two [are] equal. 4. In the disc of the sun [are] seven parts of light which are added to it more than to the moon, and in fixed measure [light] is transferred [to the moon] until a seventh part of the sun is exhausted. 5. And they set, and go into the gates of the west, and go round through the north, and rise through the gates of the east on the face of heaven. 6. And when the moon rises, it appears in heaven and has a half of a seventh part of light; and on the fourteenth day it makes all its light full. 7. And fifteen parts of light are transferred to it, until on the fifteenth day its light is full, according to the sign of the year, and amounts to fifteen parts. And the moon comes into being by halves of a seventh part. 8. And in its waning on the first day it decreases to fourteen parts of its light, and on the second to thirteen parts, and on the third to twelve parts, and on the fourth to eleven parts, and on the fifth to ten parts, and on the sixth to nine parts, and on the seventh to eight parts, and on the eighth to seven parts, and on the ninth to six parts, and on the tenth to five parts, and on the eleventh to four parts, and on the twelfth to three, and on the thirteenth to two, and on the fourteenth to half of a seventh part, and all the light that remains from the total disappears on the fifteenth day. 9. And in certain months the moon has twenty-nine days in each [month], and once twenty-eight. 10. And Uriel showed me another law, [namely] when light is transferred to the moon, and on which side it is transferred from the sun. 11. All the time that the moon is increasing in its light, it transfers [light to itself] opposite the sun until, in fourteen days, its light is full in heaven; and when it is all ablaze, its light is full in heaven. 12. And on the first day it is called the new moon, for on that day light rises on it. 13. And [its light] becomes full exactly on the day the sun goes down into the west, and it rises from the east at night. And the moon shines through the whole night, until the sun rises opposite it, and the moon is seen opposite the sun. 14. And on the side on which the light of the moon appears, there again it wanes until all its light disappears, and the days of the moon come to an end, and its disc remains empty, without light. 15. And for three months, at its proper time, it achieves thirty days, and for three months it achieves in each [month] twenty-nine days, during which it completes its waning, in the first [period of] time and in the first gate, in one hundred and seventy-seven days. 16. And in the time of its rising for three months it appears in each [month] for thirty days, and for three months it appears in each [month] for twenty-nine days. 17. By night, for twenty [days] each time, it looks like a man, and by day like heaven, for there is nothing else in it except its light.
\n79:1. And now, my son Methuselah, I have shown you everything, and the whole law of the stars of heaven is complete. 2. And he showed me the whole law for these, for every day, and for every time, and for every [period of] rule, and for every year, and for the end thereof, according to its command for every month and every week; 3. and the waning of the moon which occurs in the sixth gate, for in that sixth gate its light becomes full, and after that it is the beginning of the month; 4. and the waning which occurs in the first gate, at its proper time, until one hundred and seventy-seven days are complete [reckoned according to weeks: twenty-five [weeks] and two days]; 5. and how it falls behind the sun, according to the law of the stars, by exactly five days in one [period of] time, and when this place which you see has been traversed. 6. Such [is] the appearance and the likeness of every light which Uriel, the great angel who is their leader, showed to me.
\n80:1. And in those days Uriel answered me and said to me: \u2018Behold I have shown you everything, O Enoch, and have revealed everything to you, that you may see this sun, and this moon, and those who lead the stars of heaven, and all those who turn them, their tasks, and their times, and their rising. 2. But in the days of the sinners the years will become shorter, and their seed will be late on their land and on their fields, and all things on the earth will change, and will not appear at their proper time. And the rain will be withheld, and heaven will retain [it]. 3. And in those times the fruits of the earth will be late and will not grow at their proper time, and the fruits of the trees will be withheld at their proper time. 4. And the moon will change its customary practice, and will not appear at its proper time. 5. But in those days it will appear in heaven, and come \u2026 on top of a large chariot in the west, and shine with more than normal brightness. 6. And many heads of the stars in command will go astray, and these will change their courses and their activities, and will not appear at the times which have been prescribed for them. 7. And the entire law of the stars will be closed to the sinners, and the thoughts of those who dwell upon the earth will go astray over them, and they will turn from all their ways, and will go astray, and will think them gods. 8. And many evils will overtake them, and punishment will come upon them to destroy them all.\u2019
\n81:1. And he said to me: \u2018O Enoch, look at the book of the tablets of heaven, and read what is written upon them, and note every individual fact.\u2019 2. And I looked at everything in the tablets of heaven, and I read everything which was written, and I noted everything. And I read the book and everything which was written in it, all the deeds of men, and all who will be born of flesh on the earth for the generations of eternity. 3. And then I immediately blessed the LORD, the eternal king of glory, in that he has made all the works of the world, and I praised the LORD because of his patience, and I blessed [him] on account of the sons of Adam. 4. And at that time I said: \u2018Blessed is the man who dies righteous and good, concerning whom no book of iniquity has been written, and against whom no guilt has been found.\u2019 5. And these three holy ones brought me, and set me on the earth before the door of my house, and said to me: \u2018Tell everything to your son Methuselah, and show all your children that no flesh is righteous before the LORD, for he created them. 6. For one year we will leave you with your children, until you have regained your strength, that you may teach your children, and write [these things] down for them, and testify to all your children. And in the second year they will take you from among them. 7. Let your heart be strong, for the good will proclaim righteousness to the good, the righteous will rejoice with the righteous, and they will wish each other well. 8. But the sinner will die with the sinner, and the apostate will sink with the apostate. 9. And those who practice righteousness will die because of the deeds of men, and will be gathered in because of the deeds of the impious.\u2019 10. And in those days they finished speaking to me, and I went to my family, as I blessed the LORD of the ages.
\n82:1. And now, my son Methuselah, all these things I recount to you and write down for you; I have revealed everything to you and have given you books about all these things. Keep, my son Methuselah, the books from the hand of your father, that you may pass [them] on to the generations of eternity. 2. I have given wisdom to you and to your children, and to those who will be your children, that they may give [it] to their children for all the generations forever\u2014this wisdom [which is] beyond their thoughts. 3. And those who understand it will not sleep, but will incline their ears that they may learn this wisdom, and it will be better for those who eat [from it] than good food. 4. Blessed are all the righteous, blessed are all those who walk in the way of righteousness, and do not sin like the sinners in the numbering of all their days in which the sun journeys in heaven, coming in and out through the gates for thirty days with the heads over thousands of this order of stars, [and] with the four which are added and divide between the four parts of the year, which lead them and appear with them on four days. 5. Because of them men go wrong, and they do not reckon them in the reckoning of the whole [course of the] world; for men go wrong in respect of them, and do not know them exactly. 6. For they belong in the reckoning of the year, and are truly recorded [therein] forever, one in the first gate, and one in the third, and one in the fourth and one in the sixth. And the year is completed in three hundred and sixty-four days. 7. And the account of it [is] true, and the recorded reckoning of it [is] exact, for the lights, and the months, and the feasts, and the years, and the days Uriel showed me, and he inspired me\u2014he to whom the LORD of the whole created world gave commands about the host of heaven for me. 8. And he has power in heaven over night and day to cause light to shine on men: the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all the powers of heaven which rotate in their orbits. 9. And this is the law of the stars which set in their places, at their times, and at their feasts, and in their months. 10. And these [are] the names of those who lead them, who keep watch that they appear at their times, and in their orders, and at their proper times, and in their months, and in their periods of rule, and in their positions. 11. Their four leaders who divide the four parts of the year appear first; and after them the twelve leaders of the orders who divide the months and the years into three hundred and sixty-four [days], with the heads over thousands who separate the days; and for the four [days] which are added to them there are the leaders who separate the four parts of the year. 12. And as for these heads over thousands, one is added between the leader and the led behind a position, but their leaders make the separation. 13. And these [are] the names of the leaders who separate the four appointed parts of the year: Melkiel, Helemmelek, Meleyal, and Narel. 14. And the names of those whom they lead [are] Adnarel, Iyasusael, and Iylumiel; these three follow behind the leaders of the orders, and [each] one follows behind the three leaders of the orders who follow behind those leaders of positions who separate the four parts of the year. 15. In the beginning of the year Melkiel rises first and rules, [the one] who is called the southern sun; and all the days of his period of rule during which he rules [are] ninety-one. 16. And these [are] the signs of the days which are to be seen on earth in the days of his period of rule: sweat, and heat, and calm; and all the trees bear fruit, and leaves appear on all the trees, and the wheat harvest, and rose flowers, and all the flowers bloom in the field, but the trees of winter are withered. 17. And these [are] the names of the leaders who [are] under them: Berkeel, Zelebsael, and another one who is added, a head over a thousand named Heloyaseph. And the days of the period of rule of this one are complete. 18. The second leader after him [is] Helemmelek whom they call the shining sun; and all the days of his light [are] ninety-one. 19. And these are the signs of the days on earth: heat, and drought; and the trees bring their fruit to ripeness and maturity, and make their fruit dry; and the sheep mate, and become pregnant; and men gather all the fruits of the earth, and everything which is in the fields, and the vats of wine. And [these things] occur in the days of his period of rule. 20. And these are the names and the orders and the leaders \u2026 of these heads over thousands: Gedaeyal, Keel, and Heel; and the name of the head over a thousand who is added to them [is] Asfael. And the days of his period of rule are complete.
\n83:1. And now, my son Methuselah, I will show you all the visions which I saw, recounting [them] before you. 2. Two visions I saw before I took a wife, and neither one was like the other. For the first time when I learnt the art of writing, and for the second time before I took your mother, I saw a terrible vision; and concerning them I made supplication to the LORD. 3. I had lain down in the house of my grandfather Malalel, [when] I saw in a vision [how] heaven was thrown down and removed, and it fell upon the earth. 4. And when it fell upon the earth, I saw how the earth was swallowed up in a great abyss, and mountains were suspended on mountains, and hills sank down upon hills, and tall trees were torn up by their roots, and were thrown down, and sank into the abyss. 5. And then speech fell into my mouth, and I raised [my voice] to cry out and said: \u2018The earth is destroyed!\u2019 6. And my grandfather Malalel roused me, while I lay near him, and said to me: \u2018Why do you cry out so, my son, and why do you moan so?\u2019 7. And I recounted to him the whole vision which I had seen, and he said to me: \u2018A terrible thing you have seen, my son! Your dream-vision concerns the secrets of all the sin of the earth; it is about to sink into the abyss, and be utterly destroyed. 8. And now, my son, rise, and make supplication to the LORD of Glory\u2014for you are faithful\u2014that a remnant may be left on the earth, and that he may not wipe out the whole earth. 9. My son, from heaven all this will come upon the earth, and upon the earth there will be great destruction.\u2019 10. And then I rose, and prayed, and made supplication, and wrote my prayer down for the generations of eternity, and I will show everything to you, my son Methuselah. 11. And when I went out below, and saw heaven, and the sun rising in the east, and the moon setting in the west, and some stars, and the whole earth, and everything as he knew it at the beginning, then I blessed the LORD of Judgment, and ascribed majesty to him, for he makes the sun come out from the windows of the east, so that it ascends and rises on the face of heaven, and sets out and goes in the path which has been shown to it.
\n84:1. And I raised my hands in righteousness, and I blessed the Holy and Great One, and I spoke with the breath of my mouth, and with the tongue of flesh which God has made for men born of flesh, that they might speak with it; and he has given them breath, and a tongue and a mouth, that they might speak with them. 2. \u2018Blessed [are] you, O LORD King, and great and powerful in your majesty. LORD of the whole creation of heaven, King of Kings, and God of the whole world! And your kingly authority, and your sovereignty and your majesty will last forever, and forever and ever, and your power for all generations. And all the heavens [are] your throne forever, and the whole earth your footstool forever, and forever and ever. 3. For you made, and you rule, everything, and nothing is too hard for you, and no wisdom escapes you; it does not turn away from your throne, nor from your presence. And you know and see and hear everything, and nothing is hidden from you, for you see everything. 4. And now the angels of your heaven are doing wrong, and your anger rests upon the flesh of men until the day of the great judgment. 5. And now, O God and LORD and Great King, I entreat and ask that you will fulfil my prayer to leave me a posterity on earth, and not to wipe out all the flesh of men and make the earth empty, so that there is destruction forever. 6. And now, my LORD, wipe out from the earth the flesh which has provoked you to anger, but the flesh of righteousness and uprightness establish as a seed-bearing plant forever. And do not hide your face from the prayer of your servant, O LORD.\u2019
\n85:1. And after this I saw another dream, and I will show it all to you, my son. 2. And Enoch raised [his voice] and said to his son Methuselah: \u2018To you I speak, my son. Hear my words, and incline your ear to the dream-vision of your father. 3. Before I took your mother Edna, I saw in a vision on my bed, and behold, a bull came out of the earth, and that bull was white; and after it a heifer came out and with the heifer came two bullocks, and one of them was black, and the other red. 4. And that black bullock struck the red one, and pursued it over the earth, and from then on I could not see that red bullock. 5. But that black bullock grew, and a heifer went with it; and I saw that many bulls come out from it which were like it and followed behind it. 6. And that cow, that first one, came from the presence of that first bull, seeking that red bullock, but did not find it; and thereupon it moaned bitterly, and continued to seek it. 7. And I looked until that first bull came to it and calmed it, and from that time it did not cry out. 8. And after this she bore another white bull, and after it she bore many black bulls and cows. 9. And I saw in my sleep that white bull, how it likewise grew and became a large white bull, and from it came many white bulls, and they were like it. 10. And they began to beget many white bulls which were like them, one following another.
\n86:1. And again I looked with my eyes as I was sleeping, and I saw heaven above, and behold, a star fell from heaven, and it arose and ate and pastured amongst those bulls. 2. And after this I saw the large and the black bulls, and behold, all of them changed their pens and their pastures and their heifers, and they began to moan, one after another. 3. And again I saw in the vision and looked at heaven, and behold, I saw many stars, how they came down and were thrown down from heaven to that first star, and amongst those heifers and bulls; they were with them, pasturing amongst them. 4. And I looked at them and saw, and behold, all of them let out their private parts like horses and began to mount the cows of the bulls, and they all became pregnant and bore elephants and camels and asses. 5. And all the bulls were afraid of them and were terrified before them, and they began to bite with their teeth, and to devour, and to gore with their horns. 6. And so they began to devour those bulls, and behold, all the sons of the earth began to tremble and shake before them, and to flee.
\n87:1. And again I saw them, how they began to gore one another and to devour one another, and the earth began to cry out. 2. And I raised my eyes again to heaven and saw in the vision, and behold, there came from heaven beings who were like white men; and four came from that place, and three [others] with them. 3. And those three who came out last took hold of me by my hand, and raised me from the generations of the earth, and lifted me on to a high place, and showed me a tower high above the earth,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
183. I dealt in the same way with a bear on which I took vengeance. Let the enemy be thought as one of those beasts, since for so long he has been insulting our army and blaspheming our God, who will make him subject to me.\u201d 184. Saul, praying that there might indeed be a … <\/p>\n