The first part of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the
Watchers, the
angels who fathered the angel-human hybrids called
Nephilim. themselves a product of much editorial arrangement, and were only later
redacted into what is now called 1 Enoch.
The Book of the Watchers This first section of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angels who fathered the Nephilim, the , and narrates the travels of Enoch in the heavens. This section is said to have been composed in the 4th or 3rd century BCE according to Western scholars.
Contents • 1–5: Parable of Enoch on the Future Lot of the Wicked and the Righteous. • 6–11: The Fall of the Angels: the Demoralization of Mankind: the Intercession of the Angels on behalf of Mankind. The Dooms pronounced by God on the Angels of the Messianic Kingdom. • 12–16: Dream-Vision of Enoch: his Intercession for
Azazel and the fallen angels: and his Announcement of their first and final Doom. • 17–36: Enoch's Journeys from the Earth and
Sheol: Enoch also traveled through a portal shaped as a triangle to heaven. • 17–19: The First Journey. • 20: Names and Functions of the
Seven Archangels. • 21: Preliminary and final Place of Punishment of the fallen Angels (stars). • 22:
Sheol or the Underworld. • 23: The fire that deals with the Luminaries of Heaven. • 24–25: The Seven Mountains in the North-West and the
Tree of Life. • 26:
Jerusalem and the Mountains, Ravines, and Streams. • 27: The Purpose of the Accursed Valley. • 28–33: Further Journey to the East. • 34–35: Enoch's Journey to the North. • 36: The Journey to the South.
Description The introduction to the book of Enoch reflects that Enoch was "a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come". It discusses
God coming to
Earth on
Mount Sinai with his hosts to pass judgment on humankind. It also recalls the luminaries rising and setting in the order and in their own time and never change: The book also discusses how all things are ordained by God and take place in his time. The sinners shall perish and the great and the good shall live on in light, joy and peace. The first section of the book depicts the interaction of the fallen angels (messengers) with mankind;
Sêmîazâz compels the other 199 fallen angels to take human wives to "beget us children": The names of the leaders are given as "
Samyaza (Shemyazaz), their leader,
Araqiel, Râmêêl,
Kokabiel,
Tamiel,
Ramiel,
Dânêl,
Chazaqiel,
Baraqiel,
Asael,
Armaros,
Batariel,
Bezaliel,
Ananiel,
Zaqiel,
Shamsiel,
Satariel,
Turiel,
Yomiel,
Sariel." This results in the creation of the
Nephilim (
Genesis) or Anakim ('giants') as they are described in the book: It also discusses the teaching of humans by the fallen angels, chiefly
Azazel:
Michael,
Uriel,
Raphael, and
Gabriel appeal to God to judge the inhabitants of the world and the fallen angels. Uriel is then sent by God to tell Noah of the coming
cataclysm and what he needs to do. The first known use of "Son of Man" as a definite title in Jewish writings is in 1 Enoch, and its use may have played a role in the
early Christian understanding and use of the title. It has been suggested that the Book of Parables, in its entirety, is a later addition. Pointing to similarities with the
Sibylline Oracles and other earlier works, in 1976,
Józef Milik dated the Book of Parables to the third century. He believed that the events in the parables were linked to historic events dating from . According to this theory, these chapters were written in later Christian times by a
Jewish Christian to enhance Christian beliefs with Enoch's authoritative name. followed Milik's reasoning, and suggested that because no fragments of chapter 37–71 were found at Qumran, a later date was likely. Knibb would continue this line of reasoning in later works. In addition to being missing from Qumran, chapters 37–71 are also missing from the Greek translation. and gave an early date for the work between 94 and 64 BC. The 1906 article by
Emil G. Hirsch in
The Jewish Encyclopedia states that
Son of Man is found in the Book of Enoch, but never in the original material. It occurs in the "Noachian interpolations" (lx. 10, lxxi. 14), wherein it has clearly no other meaning than "man". The author of the work misuses or corrupts the titles of the angels. Chapter 69 ends with, "This is the third parable of Enoch." Like Elijah, Enoch is generally thought to have been brought up to Heaven by God while still alive, but some have suggested that the text refers to Enoch as having died a natural death and ascending to Heaven. The "Son of Man" is identified with Enoch. The text implies that Enoch had previously been enthroned in Heaven. Chapters 70–71 seem to contradict passages earlier in the parable where the Son of Man is a separate entity. The parable also switches from third person singular to first person singular. When J.T. Milik first proposed the late date of the Book of Parables, he proposed that the section had replaced an earlier work,
the Book of Giants. The Book of Giants follows the giants, the children of the Watchers, who dream of the coming devastation and ask Enoch to interpret the dreams and to intercede for them. One of the recovered fragments of the Book of the Giants from Qumran was written by the same scribe who transcribed a portion of the Book of Enoch, and it is thought that they could belong to the same manuscript (4QEnGiantsaar and 4QEncar). Although it is not certain, this would make the Book of Giants the missing piece of Qumran's Enochic pentateuch, later replaced by the Book of Parables in the version of 1 Enoch that was translated into Ge’ez. 4Q208 and 4Q209 have been dated to the beginning of the 2nd century BC, providing a
terminus ante quem for the Astronomical Book of the 3rd century BC. The fragments found in Qumran also include material not contained in the later versions of the Book of Enoch. This book contains descriptions of the movement of heavenly bodies and of the
firmament, as a knowledge revealed to Enoch in his trips to Heaven guided by
Uriel, and it describes a
Solar calendar that was later described also in the
Book of Jubilees which was used by the Dead Sea sect. The use of this calendar made it impossible to celebrate the festivals simultaneously with the
Temple of Jerusalem. It is not known how they used to reconcile this calendar with the
tropical year of 365.24 days (at least seven suggestions have been made), and it is not even certain that they felt the need to adjust it. mixed by the final redactor: • Apocalypse of Weeks (93:1–10, 91:11–17): this subsection, usually dated to the first half of the 2nd century BC, narrates the history of the world using a structure of ten periods (said "weeks"), of which seven regard the past and three regard future events (the final judgment). The climax is in the seventh part of the tenth week where "new heaven shall appear" and "there will be many weeks without number for ever, and all shall be in goodness and righteousness". • Exhortation (91:1–10, 91:18–19): this short list of exhortations to follow righteousness, said by Enoch to his son
Methuselah, looks to be a bridge to next subsection. • Epistle (92:1–5, 93:11–105:2): the first part of the epistle describes the wisdom of the Lord, the final reward of the just and the punishment of the evil, and the two separate paths of righteousness and unrighteousness. Then there are six oracles against the sinners, the witness of the whole creation against them, and the assurance of the fate after death. According to Boccaccini the epistle is composed of two layers: a "proto-epistle", with a theology near the deterministic doctrine of the Qumran group, and a slightly later part (94:4–104:6) that points out the personal responsibility of the individual, often describing the sinners as the wealthy and the just as the oppressed (a theme found also in the Book of Parables). • Birth of Noah (106–107): this part appears in Qumran fragments separated from the previous text by a blank line, thus appearing to be an appendix. It tells of the deluge and of
Noah, who is born already with the appearance of an angel. This text probably derives, as do other small portions of 1 Enoch, from an originally separate book (see
Book of Noah), but was arranged by the redactor as direct speech of Enoch himself. • Conclusion (108): this second appendix was not found in Qumran and is considered to be the work of the final redactor. It highlights the "generation of light" in opposition to the sinners destined to the darkness.
Contents • 92, 91.1–10, 18–19. Enoch's Book of Admonition for his Children. • 91.1–10, 18–19. Enoch's Admonition to his Children. • 93, 91.12–17. The Apocalypse of Weeks. • 91.12–17. The Last Three Weeks. • 94.1–5. Admonitions to the Righteous. • 94.6–11. Woes for the Sinners. • 95. Enoch's Grief: fresh Woes against the Sinners. • 96. Grounds of Hopefulness for the Righteous: Woes for the Wicked. • 97. The Evils in Store for Sinners and the Possessors of Unrighteous Wealth. • 98. Self-indulgence of Sinners: Sin originated by Man: all Sin recorded in Heaven: Woes for the Sinners. • 99. Woes pronounced on the Godless, the Lawbreakers: evil Plight of Sinners in The Last Days: further Woes. • 100. The Sinners destroy each other: Judgment of the Fallen Angels: the Safety of the Righteous: further Woes for the Sinners. • 101. Exhortation to the fear of God: all Nature fears Him but not the Sinners. • 102. Terrors of the Day of Judgment: the adverse Fortunes of the Righteous on the Earth. • 103. Different Destinies of the Righteous and the Sinners: fresh Objections of the Sinners. • 104. Assurances given to the Righteous: Admonitions to Sinners and the Falsifiers of the Words of Uprightness. • 105. God and the Messiah to dwell with Man. • 106–107. (first appendix) Birth of Noah. • 108. (second appendix) Conclusion. ==Manuscript tradition==