Book of Enoch (Part 1): Background and The Astronomical Book
posted by Krista | 4/4/2004 12:00:26 AM | Permalink | 
Stumble It!
- Background of the Book of Enoch
- Findings at Qumran
- The Astronomical Book
- The Book of the Watchers
- Sin of the Angels
- Cause of Sin Entering the World
- Enoch as Intermediary
- Angels' Punishment
Background of the Book of Enoch
[back to top]
Findings at Qumran
Four copies of the Astronomical Book were found (4Q208-211). Seven manuscripts contain fragments of the other sections of the Book of Enoch. 4QEna and 4QEnb (4Q201, 202) only contain fragments of the Book of the Watchers. 4QEnd and 4QEne (4Q205, 206) combine fragments of the Book of the Watchers, the Book of Dreams, and the end of the Epistle and the Book of Noah (104-107), 4QEnf (4Q207) contains a fragment of the Book of Dreams, and 4QEng (4Q212) consists of fragments of the Epistle. There were also two fragmentary copies of the Book of Giants found in cave 1 (1Q23-24), one from cave 2 (2Q26), and five from cave 4 (4Q203, 530-33).
[back to top]
The book presents Uriel, whose name means 'light of God' or 'flame of God' as the teacher of the true calendar. He also is the leader of the angels who control the heavenly bodies in relation to the calendar. 1 En 82:1 mentions that all of the stars have their angelic guides and then continues with descriptions of each angel's appointed role over the stars and the seasons. Finally, Uriel allows Enoch to read "the book of the heavenly tablets," which contains "all the deeds of humanity and all the children of the flesh upon the earth for all the generations of the world." (1 En 81:1-3)
This verse indicates that the course of human existence has been predetermined and recorded, thus showing a strong deterministic outlook. The chapter is distinct from the rest of the book because of its lack of cosmological interest and the way it presents itself as an early apocalypse. Several scholars have proposed that this chapter is a later work that has been incorporated into the book after the Book of Dreams was composed. Martinez points out that copies of these chapters were not found at Qumran, admitting that this could easily be explained by the accidents of transmission and by the poor condition in which the fragments are now known, but he suggests that this supports the belief that the original work did not contain this chapter and was later inserted.
[back to top]
Read more: Part 2
Reference
- Article: The Book of Enoch and the Pseudepigrapha
- Book: The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (2nd ed.)
- Book: Collins, J.J. (1997) Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls
