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A Separate Tradition
"...The
ONLY...geographical landmarks in 'Original Enoch' refer to Galilee!
In I En.6, the 'angels, the children of heaven...descended into Ardos,
which is the summit of Hermon.'
"In 13.7, Enoch has been sent to deliver imprecations against the
fallen angels and offer their prayers for forgiveness. 'And I went
and sat down upon the waters of Dan - in Dan which is on the
southwest of Hermon - and I read their memorial prayers until I fell
asleep.' (Peter's Confession in Mk.8.27-30 is delivered in the
environs of Caesarea Philippi, on the southwest approach to Hermon.)
"In 13.8-9 Enoch's story continues, 'I came unto them while they were
conferring together in Leya'el, which is between Lebanon and
Sanzer...' Though 'Sanzer' is uncertain, apparently 'Leya'el'
represented the Valley of Jezreel in Galilee."
- Philip B. Lewis
(CrossTalk)
The similitudes of Enoch do not contain geographical markers and
"could have been added to I Enoch virtually anywhere except Qumran
(where they are absent)."
- Mahlon Smith (CrossTalk)
"In the Book of Enoch the arcane wisdom is said to have been betrayed
to mankind by fallen angels, but a Talmudic tradition claims that
God whispered it to Moses on Mount Sinai. According to this
tradition its secrets were then imparted to seventy elders who
thereafter transmitted them orally to their successors."
- David Conway, Ritual
Magic
"One of the most remarkable features of 1 Enoch is that the law
revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai plays almost no part in it at all. It
could be objected that it would be more surprising if it did have a
role, since 1 Enoch is, of course, about Enoch who lived before the
flood (see Gen 5:21-24) and thus long before the law was revealed.
The argument would be that the authors of 1 Enoch were consistent
about their pseudepigraphic attribution of the material to Enoch and
therefore did not commit the anachronism of having him teach and
obey the law of Moses.
"But there is a flaw in that argument because at least two places in
the book should mention the law revealed on Mt. Sinai. The two
places are in the two principal apocalypses, the Apocalypse of Weeks
and the Animal Apocalypse. Both of these revelations cover the
period when Israel was in the wilderness and, according to the
Pentateuch, received the covenantal law."
- James C. Vanderkam
While the Apocalypse of
Weeks mentions the law of Moses, there is "nothing added to suggest
its importance or character". In the Animal Apocalypse the law of
Moses is even less evident:
"And that sheep (= Moses)
went up to the summit of a high rock, and the Lord of the sheep sent
it to them. And after this I saw the Lord of the sheep standing
before them, and his appearance (was) terrible and majestic, and all
those sheep saw him and were afraid of him. And all of them were
afraid and trembled before him; and they cried out after that sheep
with them which was in their midst: 'We cannot stand before our
Lord, nor look at him.' And that sheep which led them again went up
to the summit of that rock; and the sheep began to be blinded and to
go astray from the path which it had shown to them, but that sheep
did not know."
- 1 Enoch 89:29-32
"Nothing is said here about God's giving the law to Moses; the only
hint of it comes as the writer describes the straying of the sheep:
they departed from the path Moses had shown them (see also v. 33).
The aspects of the Sinai event that were more interesting than the
law itself were the frightening appearance of the Lord and the fact
that the people, right at that spot, made and worshiped the golden
calf."
"The law is mentioned elsewhere in 1 Enoch (e.g., 5:4; 63:12 seems to
be referring to a different law; law is used several times for the
course of luminaries in chaps. 72-82 [e.g. 79:1-2]; 99:2 speaks of
sinners who 'distort the eternal law' but it is not clear what this
law is [cf. 104:10]; 108:1 mentions those who 'keep the law in the
last days'). But the law is never identified as the law of Moses (or
something of the sort); a more common usage of the term is for the
laws of nature. This is astounding when one considers how important
the judgment is in 1 Enoch and how often the writers speak of
righteous, doing what is upright, etc. The Torah is also never
mentioned in 2 Enoch."
- James C. Vanderkam
"And I saw there something horrible: I saw neither a heaven above nor
a firmly founded earth, but a place chaotic and horrible. And there
I saw seven stars of the heaven bound together in it, like great
mountains and burning with fire. Then I said: 'For what sin are they
bound, and on what account have they been cast in hither?' Then said
Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and was chief over
them, and said: 'Enoch, why dost thou ask, and why art thou eager
for the truth? These are of the number of the stars of heaven, which
have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and are bound here
till ten thousand years, the time entailed by their sins, are
consummated.' And from thence I went to another place, which was
still more horrible than the former, and I saw a horrible thing: a
great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place was cleft as
far as the abyss, being full of great descending columns of fire:
neither its extent or magnitude could I see, nor could I conjecture.
Then I said: 'How fearful is the place and how terrible to look
upon!' Then Uriel answered me, one of the holy angels who was with
me, and said unto me: 'Enoch, why hast thou such fear and affright?'
And I answered: 'Because of this fearful place, and because of the
spectacle of the pain.' And he said unto me: 'This place is the
prison of the angels, and here they will be imprisoned for ever.'"
- 1 Enoch 21:1-10
"The continuity between the fall of the angels, the first destruction
of the world, their imprisonment, and the final judgement and end is
explicit here and in other passages:"
- Colin Low, Liber Logaeth
"From the days of the
slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the souls of
whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without
incurring judgement -thus shall they destroy until the day of the
consummation, the great judgement in which the age shall be 2
consummated, over the Watchers and the godless, yea, shall be wholly
consummated."
- 1 Enoch 16:1-2a
"There is a strong probability that the seven stars 'burning like
great mountains' are identical with the seven evil demons of
Assyrio-Babylonian sorcery:"
- Colin Low, Liber Logaeth
"Destructive storms (and) evil winds are they,
An evil blast that heraldeth the baneful storm,
An evil blast, forerunner of the baneful storm,
They are mighty children, mighty sons,
Heralds of the Pestilence,
Throne-bearers of Ninkigal,
They are the flood which rushesth through the land.
Seven gods of the broad heaven,
Seven gods of the broad earth,
Seven robber gods are they.
Seven gods of might,
Seven evil gods,
Seven evil demons,
Seven evil demons of oppression,
Seven in heaven and seven on earth."
"There are many incantations and exorcisms against the terrible
seven:"
- Colin Low, Liber Logaeth
"Spirits that minish the land, Of giant strength,
Of giant strength and giant tread,
Demons (like) raging bulls, great ghosts,
Ghosts that break through all houses,
Demons that have no shame,
Seven are they!
Knowing no care,
They grind the land like corn;
Knowing no mercy,
They rage against mankind;
They spill their blood like rain
Devouring their flesh (and) sucking their veins,
Where the images of the gods are, there they quake (?)
In the Temple of Nabu, who fertilizeth the shoots of wheat.
They are demons full of violence,
Ceaselessly devouring blood."
"The evil giant offspring of the Nephilim in Jewish legend were also
noted for their vast appetites, eating thousands of animals a day,
and even human flesh (obviously a memory of large sacrificial
offerings). The 'seven evil sons of Ea' described on ancient clay
tablets are enumerated as the South Wind, a dragon with mouth agape,
a grim leopard that carries off young, a terrible serpent, a furious
beast, an evil windstorm and one that cannot be identified because
of damage to the clay tablet. It is possible that these seven evil
sons of Ea reappear in the Apocalypse, firstly as the seven angels
with seven trumpets whose sounding progressively causes terrible
events to occur that mark the end of the world, and also the 'seven
angels with seven plagues' carrying bowls containing the wrath of
God."
- Colin Low, Liber Logaeth
The Enochian
Tradition in Literature
There was a substantial Zoroastrian Influence on Judaism when Jewish
exiles were exposed to the Persian religion during the Babylonian
captivity.
"Some Jews adopted
Enochian tradition in Babylon during the Exile and brought it back
to Canaan when Cyrus gave them leave to Return. The Enochian Jews
were detested by the priesthood in Jerusalem, and they were forced
to 'flee' into the desert before 300 BCE. Naturally, they supported
the Maccabees during the uprising of 165 BCE. The Enochians at
Qumran 'updated' the text to include Judah the Hammer in the big
story."
"The last of the Essene stragglers buried it [the secret book] in Cave
IV at Qumran c.70 CE. The urban Christians and Jews of the Near East
rejected it. The authors of the Apocalypse rewrote and retitled it,
but they didn't understand the heptadic structure of the original
lines, the arrangement of sevens. (The Revelation of St John is pure
gibberish, a sloppy rehash of Babylonian myths and legends.) Only
the students of the merkavah (in Babylonia) possessed the key to the
Enochian mystery."
- Brian , "ENOCH The
Greatest Story Never Told"
"In the Qumran literature, God and the archangel Michael are arrayed
against Belial in a struggle between good and evil that will
culminate in a great eschatological battle involving both angelic
and human forces, to be followed, at least according to one source,
by a messianic age. D. [Maxwell J. Davidson, "Angels at Qumran: A
Comparative Study of 1 Enoch 1-36, 72-108 and Sectarian Writings
from Qumran", Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement
Series 11; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992] finds the classification of
cosmic dualism inappropriate for the Enochic literature, however.
The fall of the angels is dealt with promptly by the imprisonment of
the offenders, who are to be judged at the end of time. While both
groups relate the presence of evil in the world to angels, in the
Enochic literature it is the disobedience of
the Watchers that is
the cause. In the Qumran literature, however, Belial is responsible
for evil and seems to have been created for that role by God. The
Qumran literature also reflects an 'inaugurated eschatology' in
which the members of the community are already in association with
the angels, while in 1 Enoch the seer alone comes into contact with
angels. In the latter case, revelation is mediated by angels through
Enoch, a function replaced by the authoritative interpretation of
scripture in the distinctive Qumran pesharim.
"'Angels at Qumran' finds common elements between the two bodies of
literature that suggest that the Qumran community was interested in
1 Enoch for its grounding in Jewish monotheism as well as the ideas
and literature of the Hebrew Scriptures, for the 'sect mentality'
evident in both groups of literature, for the eschatological
anticipation of God's judgment and blessing, and for the solar
calendar found in the Astronomical Book of Enoch and used in the
Qumran community."
"It is difficult to imagine how the members of the Qumran sect could
have read of the sins of the angels in 1 Enoch without making the
connection with their own polemic against the priesthood."
- David W. Suter, Ioudaios
Review, Vol. 3.019, July 1993
Enoch's description of the
punishment prepared for the fallen angels has clear parallels with
the chaotic void in the Necronomicon.
"...The Book of Enoch has
always been of great significance to Freemasons, and...certain
rituals dating back to long before Bruce's time [1730-1794]
identified Enoch himself with Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom."
- Graham Hancock, The Sign
and the Seal
Enoch's Journey to Heaven
"Written both as a
personal testament and as a historic review, the Ethiopic Book of
Enoch, whose earliest title was probably The Words of Enoch,
describes his journey to Heaven as well as to the four corners of
Earth."
-
Zecharia Sitchin,
The
Stairway to Heaven
The Venerable Bede, an eighth-century English theologian and
historian, wrote that "the seven heavens are (1) the Air, (2) the
Ether, (3) Olympus, (4) the Element of Fire, (5) the Firmament, (6)
the Angelical Region, and (7) the Realm of the Trinity.""
- Richard L. Thompson,
Alien Identities - Ancient Insights into Modern UFO Phenomena
The First Heaven
As recounted in 2 Enoch (The Book of the Secrets of Enoch), "this
quite extraordinary tale begins with the unexpected arrival of the
two 'very tall' men, with radiant faces and raiments that have 'the
appearance of feathers', who enter Enoch's home and demand that he
go with them. Having made his departure, the righteous patriarch is
then taken up on to the wings of these two 'men' who carry him off
to heaven."
- Andrew Collins, From the
Ashes of Angels - The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race (1996) pp.
152-153
"It seems that when the prophet Enoch was 'taken up', he saw the air
and then the ether. Then he reached the first heaven, where 'two
hundred angels rule the stars'..."
- Richard L. Thompson,
Alien Identities - Ancient Insights into Modern UFO Phenomena
"On approaching the paradisical realm, Enoch is allowed to rest
temporarily on a moving cloud, and here he gazes out over 'the
treasures of the snow and ice' and espies 'the angels who guard
their terrible store-places'. Also set out before him is 'a very
great sea, greater than the earthly sea'."
- Andrew Collins, From
the Ashes of Angels - The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race (1996)
pp. 152-153
The Second Heaven
"Moving on to the Second
Heaven, Enoch is abhorred to find angelic prisoners 'suspended',
awaiting some form of eternal punishment. This made me recall the
inhumane manner in which Shemyaza, the leader of the two hundred
rebel Watchers, had been suspended upside down for his crimes
against humanity. Those angels who guarded these poor, wretched
souls are themselves 'gloomy in appearance, more than the darkness
of the earth'. Seeing the mortal, the shackled prisoners cry out for
the patriarch to pray for them, to which he responds: 'Who am I, a
mortal man, that I should pray for angels?'"
- Andrew Collins, From the
Ashes of Angels - The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race (1996) p.
153
The Third Heaven
"In the third heaven, he
saw the Tree of Life, with four streams, of honey, milk, oil, and
wine, flowing from its roots. The Place of the Righteous is in this
heaven and the Terrible Place where the wicked are tortured. There
was also the 'place on which God rests when he comes into
Paradise'."
- Richard L. Thompson,
Alien Identities - Ancient Insights into Modern UFO Phenomena
It was "a place such as has never been known for the goodliness of its
appearance. And I saw all the trees of beautiful colors and their
fruits ripe and fragrant, and all kinds of food which they produced,
springing up with delightful fragrance. And in the midst (there is)
the tree of life, in that place, on which God rests, when He comes
into Paradise. And this tree cannot be described for its excellence
and sweet odor. And it is beautiful more than any created thing."
- 2 Enoch
"The Garden of Eden appears to have more in common with an Israeli
kibbutz, or with the gardens of a Christian monastery, than with an
ethereal kingdom peopled by angelic hosts. Moreover, the reference
to the Tree of Life on which God 'rests, when He comes into
paradise' is strangely reminiscent of the Tree of All Remedies, or
the Tree of All Seeds, on which the Simurgh bird rests in Persian
tradition. This heavenly tree is said to have been placed in the
center of the Vourukasha Sea, which is itself located in the Airyana
Vaejah, the Iranian domain of the immortals. Curiously enough, like
the Garden of Eden, the Vourukasha Sea is seen as the gathering
point of all water, fed by a mighty river named Harahvaiti. From
this waterway come two separate rivers that flow out towards the
east and west and spread throughout the whole of the land. They then
return to the sea, their waters cleansed of any impurities."
- Andrew Collins, From the
Ashes of Angels - The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race (1996) p.
154
"Enoch's third heaven...seems very similar to the region known as
Ilavrta-varsa, which is described in the Fifth Canto of the
Bhagavata Purana. Thus, in Ilavrta-varsa there are four gigantic
trees, and four rivers flow from their roots, including a river of
honey. There is also a city called Brahmapuri, which is visited by
Lord Brahma and which may correspond to the 'place on which God
rests when he comes into Paradise'."
"According to the Fifth Canto of the Bhagavata Purana, Brahmapuri and
the residences of eight prominent Devas [administrators of the
Universe] are situated on the top of a mountain in Ilavrta-varsa
called Meru, and therefore Mount Meru corresponds to the Greek
Olympus. Thus, if Ilavrta-varsa corresponds to Enoch's third heaven,
then it is also reasonable to say that this third heaven corresponds
to the Greek Olympus."
- Richard L. Thompson,
Alien Identities - Ancient Insights into Modern UFO Phenomena
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the
third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not
know - God knows. And I know that this man - whether in the body or
apart from the body I do not know, but God knows - was caught up to
Paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not
permitted to tell."
- 2 Corinthians 12:2-4
(the apostle Paul describing his own experience)
2 Cor 12:1ff "while it does seem to point to a heavenly ascent
tradition, its connection is only very superficial as it contains no
angel guide, no divine throne, no revelation {unless one counts v9),
no vision of God, etc."
- Paula Gooder (Mediators)
The Fourth Heaven
"In the fourth heaven, he
saw luminaries, wondrous creatures, and the Host of the Lord."
- Richard L. Thompson,
Alien Identities - Ancient Insights into Modern UFO Phenomena
"In the Fourth Heaven Enoch enters what appears to have been another
observatory, where he is able to study the 'comings and goings forth
and all the rays of the light of the sun and moon'. Here he is able
to measure the descent of the celestial bodies and compute their
light, for he says that the sun 'has a light seven times greater
than the moon'. He also realizes that there are 'four great stars'
with another 8,000 stars in their charge. Here, once again, the
angels' apparent interest in astronomy is reaffirmed. The study of
the stars is, of course, listed among the forbidden sciences
revealed to mortal kind by the rebel Watchers."
- Andrew Collins, From the
Ashes of Angels - The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race (1996) pp.
154-155
The Fifth Heaven
"...Enoch finds the two
hundred Watchers who have transgressed the laws of heaven by
revealing the forbidden arts and taking wives from among the
Daughters of Men. For their misconduct, they have been incarcerated
like lowly prisoners. As the mortal passes by they, too, call out
for him to help their claim of innocence. These fallen angels are
described as grigori - the Greek for Watchers. They are said to have
looked 'like men', and to have borne a height 'greater than that of
the giants (i.e. their Nephilim offspring)'. Enoch also recalls how
'their countenances were withered', bringing to mind the way in
which the mythical Iranian kings would lose the royal farr ['glory']
if they turned their backs on the path of truth."
- Andrew Collins, From the
Ashes of Angels - The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race (1996) pp.
154-155
The Sixth Heaven
"In the Sixth Heaven Enoch
encounters seven bands of angels whose faces, he says, were 'shining
more than the rays of the sun. They were resplendent, and there is
no difference in their countenance, or their manner, or the style of
their clothing'. Like the angels in the First Heaven, these shining
beings watch 'the revolution of the stars, and the changes of the
moon, and the revolutions of the sun', even further evidence that
the term 'Watchers' relates not to their observation of mortal kind,
but to their observation of the movement of stars and their study of
the cycles of time. Here the angels 'superintend the good or evil
condition of the world', a reference perhaps to the study of
climatology and seismology, and the way in which it affects the
earth. These Watchers also 'arrange teachings, and instructions, and
sweet speaking, and singing, and all kinds of glorious praise', for
'these are the archangels who are appointed over the angels'."
- Andrew Collins, From the
Ashes of Angels - The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race (1996) pp.
154-155
The Seventh Heaven
"In the seventh and final
heaven Enoch witnesses whole hosts of great archangels, Cherubim,
Seraphim, and all sorts of incorporeal powers that attend the throne
of God. In a separate rendition of this story, the patriarch finds
himself alongside a wall built of 'crystals' that is surrounded by
mysterious 'tongues of fire'. Its 'groundwork' appears to be made of
the same crystal-like stone, while of the building's interior, he
recalls: 'Its ceiling was like the path of the stars and the
lightnings ... A flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its portals
blazed with fire. The temperature here also seemed contradictory,
for it appeared to him 'as hot as fire and [as] cold as ice', all at
the same time. There were apparently 'no delights of life therein',
in other words he found no furniture or decoration, showing the
apparent spareness and emptiness of this 'house'. Yet then fear
overcame Enoch, who suddenly found himself trembling and quaking at
the awesomeness of the strange sights around him."
"Moving quickly on to a second 'house' with a similar appearance,
which 'excelled in splendor and magnificence and extent', Enoch now
perceived a 'lofty throne' of crystal. Upon this were moving wheels
as bright as the 'shining sun', and from beneath it appeared to come
'streams of flaming fire', so bright that he could not look upon
them. And 'sat thereon' the throne was the Great Glory, whose
'raiment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any
snow'."
- Andrew Collins, From the
Ashes of Angels - The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race (1996) pp.
155-156
"None of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason
of, the magnificence and glory, and no flesh could behold Him. The
flaming fire was round about Him, and a great fire stood before Him,
and none around could draw nigh Him."
- 2 Enoch
Note that in
Zoroastrianism, fire was associated with the divine light of God
(Ahura Mazda).
"There is even mention of
the patriarch visiting an eighth, ninth and tenth heaven, yet this
section has the look of a later interpolation hoping to emphasize to
the reader that Enoch ends his life in paradise, in accord with the
statements in the Book of Genesis concerning his translation to
heaven."
- Andrew Collins, From the
Ashes of Angels - The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race (1996) pp.
156-157
The Eighth Heaven, called Muzaloth [signs of the
zodiac/planets] was a place of the changing of the Season.
The Ninth Heaven, called Kuvachim, contained the Houses
of the Signs of the Zodiac.
The last,
Tenth
Heaven is called Aravoth from which Enoch recognized the
constellation whence came our first ancestors, the star Altair (in
Aquila,) or as seen in The Book of Enoch and his translation into
Heaven in a later chapter.
Heavenly Tablets
"And after that I saw all
the secrets of the heavens, and how the kingdom is divided, and how
the actions of men are weighed in the balance. And there I saw the
mansions of the elect and the mansions of the holy, and mine eyes
saw there all the sinners being driven from thence which deny the
name of the Lord of Spirits, and being dragged off: and they could
not abide because of the punishment which proceeds from the Lord of
Spirits.
And I saw the chambers of the sun and moon, whence they proceed and
whither they come again, and their glorious return, and how one is
superior to the other, and their stately orbit, and how they do not
leave their orbit, and they add nothing to their orbit and they take
nothing from it, and they keep faith with each other, in accordance
with the oath by which they are bound together."
- 1 Enoch 41:1-2, 5b -6a
"In the Book of Enoch it was the archangel Uriel ('God is my light')
who showed Enoch the secrets of the Sun (solstices and equinoxes,
'six portals' in all) and the 'laws of the Moon' (including
intercalation), and the twelve constellations of the stars, 'all the
workings of heaven'. And in the end of the schooling, Uriel gave
Enoch - as Shamash and Adad had given Enmeduranki - 'heavenly
tablets', instructing him to study them carefully and note 'every
individual fact' therein. Returning to Earth, Enoch passed this
knowledge to his old son, Methuselah."
-
Zecharia Sitchin,
When Time Began
The knowledge granted
Enoch included:
"All the workings of
heaven, earth and the seas, and all the elements, their passages and
goings and the thunderings of the thunder, and of the Sun and the
Moon; the goings and changings of the stars; the seasons, years,
days, and hours."
- The Book of the Secrets
of Enoch
"The visions obtained by the heaven journey etc. have in their
contents the structure of heavens (or the throne/abode of God etc.)
-- almost necessarily. But the same structure is underlying many
cultic practices; first of all, the temple (tabernacle) structures
and calendar (for the calendar is always based on the presupposed
structure of the Universe). So, there is a basic unity between all
the three -- visions' content, temple structure, and calendar. They
are always parts of the same tradition, that is, the reality they
are referring to is always intermediated by this tradition."
- Basil Lourie (CrossTalk)
"The Book of Enoch, like so many canonical books of Christians and
Jews, is an allegorical and metaphorical document about the
calendrical battles fought for so many years between those who
insisted that holy days be calculated according to the ancient
astronomy and those who insisted that holy days be calculated
according to the improved mathematical understandings of
solar-lunar-astral periodicities. The 'Watchers,' 'Archers,' or
'Tetramorphs,' whom Ezekiel and the early Christian astronomers
expressed as Lion, Ox, Man, and Eagle, are the four 'Guardian Stars'
(Regulus, Aldebaran, Fomalhaut, and Antares) which fixed the two
solstices and the two equinoxes to the wheel of time, the Zodiac or
Ecliptic, back when archaic astronomy first was learning (the hard
way) about precession of the equinoxes."
- Lee Perry, Jesus
Silenced (private correspondence)
Star Constellation Magnitude Description
-
Regulus Leo 1.36 Latin
meaning "The Little King"' reflecting a common belief that the star
ruled the affairs of heaven
-
Aldebaran Taurus 0.87
Arabic Al Dabaran meaning "The Follower" - the brightest member of
the Hyades which follows the Pleiades across the heavens
-
Fomalhaut Piscis Austrinus
1.17 Arabic Fum al Hut meaning "The Fish's Mouth"
-
Antares Scorpius 1.06
Greek anti ares meaning "The Rival of Mars" due to its red color or
association of Scorpius with Mars in astrology
The Astronomical Book in 1 Enoch
"explains the structure of
the universe by describing the course of the sun in a 364-day year
and of the moon in a 354-day year. The same two years (solar and
lunar) with the same numbers of days are combined and correlated in
a number of the calendrical documents found among the Dead Sea
Scrolls. The sun and moon pass through gates at the eastern and
western sides of the heavens. Other sections of the booklet speak
about the stars and winds and other related topics. All of the
created order is under angelic and ultimately under divine
control.".
- James C. Vanderkam
"...When the righteous dead are mentioned in 1 Enoch or Jubilees, they
seem to be destined for a blissful existence as disembodied souls, a
notion so un-Jewish that it is presumed to be a Greek idea. No
particular sect is identified in these works although they were used
extensively at Qumran."
- Chris King, "The
Apocalyptic Tradition"
Angelic Transformation
"...The chapters of 'l
Enoch'...show us that the angelic forms of dead heroes, martyrs, and
patriarchs were viewed as fulfillments of the prophecies in Daniel,
since Enoch quotes that terminology in describing them. The Parables
of Enoch contains several references to angelic transformation. In
chapter, Enoch ascends to heaven while reciting hymns and blessings
as do the Merkabah mystics, where he is overcome with the splendor
and glory of the throne rooms. His face changes on account of the
vision, which evidently reflects the experience of the prophecy that
'those who are wise shall shine as the stars' (Dan 11:2), because 1
Enoch 62:15 states that the elect shall shine as stars and be
clothed with garments of glory. The Parables of Enoch thus describes
the righteous as dwelling with the angels after death: 'So there my
eyes saw their dwelling places with the holy angels, and their
resting places with the holy ones' (lEn 39:5). So too in the parts
of 1 Enoch attested at Qumran, Enoch promises the righteous that
they 'will shine like the lights of heaven' (lEn 104:2) and 'make a
great joy like the angels of heaven' (104:4). Thus, it seems safe to
assume that when Enoch is transformed into a 'son of man' in 1 Enoch
71 he is being rewarded with angelic status, as Daniel 12 predicts.
It might also be that much later Jesus 'Christ' was viewed as
similarly rewarded on account of his martyr's death."
- Alan F. Segal, "The
Risen Christ and the Angelic Mediator Figures in Light of Qumran" in
Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992),
p. 306
"And it happened after this that his living name was raised up before
that Son of Man and to the Lord from among those who dwell upon the
earth."
- 1 Enoch 70:1
"The journey is taken by Enoch's name, not precisely his soul, again
reflecting a level of mystical speculation that predates the
importation of the Platonic notion of a soul."
- Alan F. Segal, "The
Risen Christ and the Angelic Mediator Figures in Light of Qumran" in
Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992),
p. 306
Metatron
"This Enoch, whose flesh
was turned to flame, his veins to fire, his eye-lashes to flashes of
lightning, his eye-balls to flaming torches, and whom God placed on
a throne next to the throne of glory, received after this heavenly
transformation the name Metatron."
- Gershom G. Scholem,
Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941/1961) p. 67
(This description was
taken from 3 Enoch 15:1b-2; para. 19.)
"...After the series of
transformations Enoch undergoes, both physical and spiritual, the
status accorded to him and the knowledge granted him, as well and
the name, the garb and the crown, the image of Metatron becomes like
that of God Himself."
- Joseph Dan, The Ancient
Jewish Mysticism (1993), p. 119
In 2 Enoch, the patriarch
is made "like one of His glorious ones" (i.e., like an archangel,
not YHWEH), although Metatron is never mentioned this book.
"Metatron is a Hebrew
corruption of either the Greek 'metadromos,' 'he who pursues with a
vengeance,' or of 'meta ton thronon', 'nearest to the Divine
Throne.'"
- Robert Graves and
Raphael Patai, Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis
Sanhedrin 38b refers to
Metatron "which his name is like the name of his Lord".
"The rabbis often call
God's principal angel Metatron. The term 'Metatron' in rabbinic
literature and Jewish mysticism is probably not a proper name but a
title adapted from the Greek word metathronos, meaning 'one who
stands after or behind the throne'. If so, it represents a rabbinic
softening of the more normal Hellenistic term synthronos, meaning
'one who is with the throne,' sharing enthronement or acting for the
properly throned authority. The rabbis would have changed the
preposition from one connoting equality (syn-, 'with') to one
connoting inferiority (meta-, 'after or behind') in order to reduce
the heretical implications of calling God's principal helping angel
his synthronos."
- Alan F. Segal, "The
Risen Christ and the Angelic Mediator Figures in Light of Qumran" in
Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992),
pp. 310-311
"It is quite possible that the word Metatron was chosen on strictly
symbolical grounds and represents one of the innumerable secret
names which abound in the Hekhaloth texts no less than in the
gnostical writings or in the magical papyri. Originally formed
apparently in order to replace the name Yahoel as a vox mystica, it
gradually usurped its place. It is interesting, by the way, that the
spelling in the oldest quotations and manuscripts is - a fact which
is usually overlooked; this would seem to suggest that the word was
pronounced Meetatron rather than Metatron. As a transcription of the
Greek epsilon in the word Meta, the yod in the name would appear to
be quite superfluous."
- Gershom G. Scholem,
Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941/1961) p. 70
Like Lights in the Heaven
"A feature of chaps. 37-71
[the Similitudes of 1 Enoch] is the frequent reference to a person
who is called 'the righteous one', 'the chosen one', 'the messiah',
and 'the son of man' (for this last title three different
formulations are used); at the end of the section (chap. 71) Enoch
is identified as that son of man who functions as the eschatological
judge, a judge who reverses the fortunes of his oppressed people and
of their oppressors who are termed 'the kings and the mighty'".
- James C. Vanderkam
"At the end of the Parables of Enoch (lEn 70-71), Enoch is mystically
transformed into the figure of the 'son of man' on the throne: 'My
whole body mollified and my spirit transformed' (lEn 71:1). This is
an extraordinarily important event, as it underlines the importance
of mystic transformation between the adept and the angelic
vice-regent of God, giving a plausible explanation of how the
sectarians that produced the visions in Daniel expected to be
transformed into stars. Indeed, it is possible to say that 1 Enoch
71 gives us the experience of an adept undergoing the astral
transformation prophesied in Daniel 12:2, albeit in the name of a
pseudepigraphical hero."
"Unfortunately, 1 Enoch 71 is not evidenced at Qumran and may not have
been known by the Qumran covenanters, since they appear to have
substituted another group of chapters in place of the Parables of
Enoch, of which 1 Enoch 71 is the climax."
- Alan F. Segal, "The
Risen Christ and the Angelic Mediator Figures in Light of Qumran" in
Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (James H. Charlesworth, Ed. - 1992),
pp. 305, 306
"Among the most important objects which Metatron describes to Rabbi
Ishmael ['Midrash to Solomon's Proverbs'] is the cosmic veil or
curtain before the throne, which conceals the glory of God from the
host of angels. The idea of such a veil appears to be very old;
references to it are to be found already in Aggadic passages from
the second century. The existence of veils in the resplendent sphere
of the aeons is also mentioned in a Coptic writing belonging to the
gnostic school, the Pistis Sophia.' Now this cosmic curtain, as it
is described in the Book of Enoch, contains the images of all things
which since the day of creation have their pre-existing reality, as
it were, in the heavenly sphere. All generations and all their lives
and actions are woven into this curtain; he who sees it penetrates
at the same time into the secret of Messianic redemption, for like
the course of history, the final struggle and the deeds of the
Messiah are already pre-existently real and visible."
- Gershom G. Scholem,
Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941/1961) p. 72
The Elect One and the Lord of Spirits
""And thus the Lord
commanded the kings and the mighty and the exalted, and those who
dwell on the earth, and said:
'Open your eyes and lift up your horns if ye are able to recognize the
Elect One.'
And the Lord of Spirits seated him on the throne of His glory,
And the spirit of righteousness was poured out upon him,
And the word of his mouth slays all the sinners,
And all the unrighteous are destroyed from before his face.
And there shall stand up in that day all the kings and the mighty,
And the exalted and those who hold the earth,
And they shall see and recognize How he sits on the throne of his
glory,
And righteousness is judged before him,
And no lying word is spoken before him."
- 1 Enoch 62:1-3
The Similitudes fall into
four parts
"- 'a' speaks
of 'the Elect One' who is seen by Enoch (39.6), blessed by Raphael
(40.5), who sits on the seat of glory, judging (45.3) and who dwells
among the righteous in a transformed earth (45.4-5.
- 'b' describes a Son of man to whom righteousness
belongs, who will open hidden store-rooms being destined to be
victorious (46.3) and who removes kings and mighty ones (46.4). He
is given a name by the Lord of the Spirits - 'staff for the
righteous,' light of the gentiles,' and 'hope of the heartsick'
(48.2-10) he 'became the Chosen One' (5), 'revealed wisdom to the
righteous' (7) and appears to be the equivalent of the Messiah.
- 'c' describes The Elect One (again) who sits on the
throne of the Lord of the Spirits (51.3) he is a risen one (5).
Mountains melt before him and peace reigns when he appears (52.6,9)
and judges Azaz'el (55.4). [56.5 refers to Parthians and Medes,
apparently referring to the invasions of 115-117 C.E.] In 61.5 the
Elect One is 'the First Word' who has been set on the throne of
judgment by the Lord of the Spirits. He is blessed by the vigilant
ones (i.e. the Watchers), the holy ones in heaven, and 'all the
elect ones who dwell in the garden of life' (a return to Eden?)
- 'd' in 62.6ff the Son of man who was concealed from the
beginning sits on a throne, is the object of pleas for mercy. The
righteous and elect ones shall 'eat and rest and rise with that Son
of man for ever and ever.' Sinners are shamed before him (63.11). In
69.27-29 he has been revealed to the righteous, has seated himself
on his throne of glory and confessions are heard by him. In 70.1
Enoch is translated before the Son of man and Lord of the Spirits,
and in 71.17 the Similitudes end with 'there shall be length of days
with that Son of Man and and peace to the righteous ones.'"
"IMO the distinctions between a-c and b-d are clear. They indicate two
stages of interpolation, b-d with its Son of Man imagery being
inserted in an a-c complex which had already been developed around
the figure of The Elect One. The Son of Man (b-d) passages reflect
Christian development, while both echo imagery from enthronement
rites associated with the Feast of Booths in Judaism."
- Philip B. Lewis
(CrossTalk)
Future Ideal Figures
When promoted to the status of Son of Man, Enoch embodies three Future
Ideal Figures:
(1) "The one like a son of
man in Daniel 7:13-14. He is called Son of Man, or that Son of Man
(three different Ethiopic phrases are involved). A nice example is
in 1 Enoch 46:1-3, where the echoes of the heavenly scene in Daniel
are clear. Whatever we make of the original meaning of Daniel 7,
that Son of Man in the Similitudes is clearly an eschatological
redeemer. (Other references to the Son of Man in the Similitudes
are: 48:2; 62:5, 7, 9, 14; 63:11; 69:26, 27, 29; 70:1; 71:14, 17).
- James Davila, "Enoch as
a Divine Mediator"
"...4Q491 frag. 11...shows that the Qumran community entertained the
idea of the enthronement, exaltation, and even divinization of a
human being. Likewise, the enthroned Son of Man in the Similitudes
of Enoch 'participates in God's unique sovereignty' rather than
sharing in God's 'identity.' He, like Jesus, is worshiped as God's
agent, not God per se.".
- Adela Yarbro Collins
(2) "The (Davidic) Messiah. The title Messiah (i.e., Anointed One) is
applied to the eschatological redeemer twice in the Similitudes
(48:10 and 52:4). The language of the first passage echoes Psalm 2:2
and thus evokes the messianic traditions drawn in the Second
Temple period out of the
royal psalms.
(3) "The Servant of God in Deutero-Isaiah. This mysterious figure
appears in the four servant songs in Isaiah 40-55 (roughly, Isa
42:1-7; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12) and two titles of the
echatological redeemer in the Similitudes allude to him: the
Righteous One (1 Enoch 38:2?; 47:1, 4; 53:6), and the Elect/Chosen
One (39:6; 40:5; 45:3, 4; 48:6; 49:2, 4; 51:3, 5; 52:6, 9; 53:6;
55:4; 61:5, 8, 10; 62:1). The Servant is called the Righteous One in
Isa 53:11 and is called chosen in Isa 42:1. He is also a light to
the nations in Isa 42:6 and 49:6 (cf. 1 Enoch 48:4) and the shame of
the kings of the world before the Servant (Isa 52:15) is echoed in 1
Enoch 62:9-10. It's interesting to note that, although the grievous
suffering of the Servant is central to the figure in Isaiah, these
sufferings are ignored in the Similitudes."
- James Davila, "Enoch as
a Divine Mediator"
"At that hour, that Son of Man was given a name, in the presence of
the Lord of the Spirits, the Before-Time, even before the creation
of the sun and the moon, before the creation of the stars, he was
given a name in the presence of the Lord of the Spirits."
- 1 Enoch 48:4
The Messiah/Son of Man "first appears as preexistent in the apocryphal
First Book of Enoch, which was originally written in Hebrew or
Aramaic about 150 BC. From that period on, the concept of the
Messiah who was created in the six days of Creation, or even prior
to them or who was born at variously stated subsequent dates and was
then hidden to await his time, became a standard feature of Jewish
Messianic eschatology."
- Raphael Patai, The
Messiah Texts
"From the beginning the Son of Man was hidden,
And the Most High has preserved him
In the presence of His might,
And revealed him to the elect."
- 1 Enoch 62:7
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