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8/11/2019 An Early Example of Jewish Exegesis 1 Enoch 10-11
1/12
Lars Hartman: An early example
of
Jewish
exegesis: 1 Enoch 10:16-11:2.
BSTR CT
The purpose
of
the article
is
to scrutinize how the author
of
1
Enoch
10:
16 - 11: 2 u
f
the Genesis story ofNoah s salvation,
thereby silently interpreting it. The investigation points to the
usage ofseveral interpretative devices that are also encountered in
later Jewish
and
Christian texts, such as 'typology: finding more
than one meaning in a text, adducing other Biblical passages.
'allegory'. The interpretation reflects the social
and theological
crisis o f he authorand his readers. In an additional note the com
position
of 1
En
1-36
is discussed. not least taking into regard the
interests of the implied readers.
In the first Psalm
we
learn
of
the righteous man: 'his delight
is
in the law
of
Yahweh and
on
his
law he meditates day and night'. This passage and others
of
similar contents
e
g
Dt
6:
Iff)
describe an essential feature of Jewish religion in ancient times as well as later on. 'Delight' and
'meditation' meant applying the text to the faithful and 'applying' the faithful to the text, n
other words, some kind of interpretation that was relevant to the community. In this paper I
will deal with one result of such scriptural meditation, and a very old one at that;
it
may even be
the oldest such text that
we
know of outside the Bible, namely 1 Enoch
10:
16-11
:2.1
The passage
is
included in the Enochic Book
of
the watchers
l
En 1-36). The Qumran finds
make it probable that this book came into existence
at the latest
towards the end
of
the third
century BeE
2
Our
passage is preserved
in
Greek, Ethiopic, and
in
some Aramaic fragments
from Qumran.
3
The
few
lines that I am going to discuss, describe eschatological salvation. The description
consists of a kind of
dOUble
exposure of the escape ofNoah and his family from the deluge. It
is the second out of three sections in which the book deals with final salvation, and with the
punishment
of
the evil, that is,
of
the fallen angels and, to some extent,
of
wicked men. The
first instance
is in
the introduction (l-5), in which a denouncement speech is directed against
wicked people -
no
angels are in sight
4
:
they will receive
no
mercy, whereas mercy, peace and
prosperity are going to be the lot
of
the righteous.
s
The third instance,
n
which the fates
of
the
righteous and the evil are envisaged, is in the body
of
the book, namely in Enoch's dream
vi
sion, the second part ofwhich consists of the descriptions of his journeys. These take him,
in-
ter
alia,
to
places
of
punishment and
of
reward, such as the accursed valley
(27:2f),
the blessed
land (26f). and the garden
of
righteousness (32).
1. This paper is an enlarged
and
revised version of an anicle in SEA 41-2
(l976-7), 87-96. Cf also Hartman 1979:1421
2. MiJik (1976:28) thinks that
the
author lived around the middle o he third
century BCE. He even suggests that 1 En 6-19 is an older work that the
author
ha< adopled
and
included in his book (l976:28-35). Nickelsburg
(1977:391) dates 'the Shemihilzit tradilion' 10 which our text belongs) to a
time around the end
o
he
jourth
century BCE.
3. See for the textualtradilion Knibb 1978:2. 6-46; Milik 1976:70fl
4.
'He will convict allflesh with regard
to
aI/their works
o
wickedness
(1:9). 4QE c1 i. 16 a
8/11/2019 An Early Example of Jewish Exegesis 1 Enoch 10-11
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NEOTEST MENTIC 17
(1983)
17
One of these three sections on eschatological judgement and salvation appears in each of
the three main parts of the book: fIrst comes an introductory milshiJl (1-5); then,
on
the basis of
the Noah story, an intermediate section regards things on earth from a heavenly perspective
(6-11); and fInally the body of the book (12-36), via the Book of the words of righteousness
(14:1), reports what Enoch learns and experiences after having been brought to the heavenly
throne room.
I mentioned that our passage belongs to the section of the Book of the watchers that is ba
sed on the Noah story.
To
be more exact, the section (6-11) presupposes and uses Genesis 6-9,
beginning with the notice
of
the fall
of
the angels and ending with the feature
of
the covenant
making after the flood. This is to say that the text represents some kind of interpretation of
that passage of Scripture.
Before entering upon a discussion of our text, it might be worthwhile to dwell for a moment
upon some possible references of the term 'interpretation of Scripture' which are relevant for
our specifIc theme.
Of
course, a translation of a biblical text already means an interpretation. This is so with
the Septuagint and even more so with the targums; they not only render the Hebrew text in
Aramaic but also add interpretative elements, words, sentences and whole paragraphs. The
aim, both
of
the translation and
of
the interpretative additions (or changes ), is to bridge the
gap between the text and its new audience. Some of these interpretative elements have grown
out
of techniques
or
represent interpretations which are encountered in the fullblown
midrashim. Thus there might be an interplay between targum and midrash, although they
represent different literary genres. 1
There
is
also the interpretation
of
Scripture that
lies
behind the more
or less
allusive usage
of biblical passages in many intertestamental texts.
2
They are by no means explicitly presented
as scriptural interpretation, but they certainly represent such. One has differentiated between
an anthological and a structural use of the Bible in these texts
3
: an anthological use means that
biblical passages are brought together because of the topic dealt with, whereas the structural
use means that a biblical text forms the thread - which binds echoes from other texts together.
In neither of these cases is there any explicit reference to or quotation ofthe Bible, only a larger
or
lesser number of semiquotations from, allusions to, or echoes of biblical passages.
Our text may be regarded as belonging to that sort of interpretation of Scripture which
retells a biblical text. Jubilees, the Genesis Apocryphon, and the pseudo-Philonic Biblical An
tiquities are whole books belonging to the same category. 'This type of text contains elements
similar to a targum and to a midrash,' says Prof Fitzmyer concerning the Genesis Apo
cryphon,
4
and that holds true also
of
our
1 Enoch passage. As
we will
see, this does not exclude
other biblical passages being unobtrusively brought in in a manner that reminds of the antho
logical and the structural methods mentioned above.
t may be instructive to compare briefly the ways in which these texts, which restate
or
retell
the Bible, use the Noah story. As this section of the Genesis Apocryphon manuscript
is
almost
totally destroyed,
we
have to restrict ourselves to the other three, namely Jubilees, the Biblical
Antiquities, and 1 Enoch.
1 See
Wright 1967: passim;
Le Deaut 1969:411
2
See further
Vennes
1961: passim; Neusner 1981:301ff
3
Patte
1975:184f Here
Patte systematizes some
of the
material
in Hart
man 1966,
part 1
4 Fitzmyer
1971:10
Lehmann 1958-59:251) suggests that the On Apocr is
the
oldest
prototype
of
both
available to
us .
s
a matter
of
act, think, 1
En
6-11
is older
8/11/2019 An Early Example of Jewish Exegesis 1 Enoch 10-11
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The Biblical Antiquities is, in this case, rather strict and follows the Genesis text in
an
almost targum-like manner, although the narrative is abbreviated. The fall of the sons of God
receives no extra attention, nor does the sinfulness of man. There is one noteworthy addition,
however, namely after the divine promise that seedtime and harvest, summer and winter will
never cease (Gn 8:210. There the author adds,
but
when the years
of
the world are fulfIlled
; and there follows a passage dealing with the resurrection, the judgement, and the escha
tological bliss: 'then
will
the earth not be without fruit nor barren for its inhabitants. Nobody
will
be polluted who
is
justified by me, and there
will
be another earth and another heaven,
an
eternal habitation' 3:
10).
Jubilees displays more interest than the Biblical Antiquities
in
the watchers and he evildeeds
on earth. The main features of the Genesis narrative are retold, except for the one where the
animals are brought into the ark. An addition reports a judgement on the watchers and their
offspring, and this
is
followed by a digression dealing with the general eschatological judge
ment 5: 13-16)
and with the possibility of conversion given to Israel (5:17-19). In addition, the
passage that relates the Noachian covenant is embellished with special regard to the author's
cui tic interests, namely the celebration
of
the Feast
of
Weeks.
When one puts I Enoch
6-11
alongside these sections
of
the Biblical Antiquities and
of
Jubilees, both similarities and dissimilarities leap
to
the eye. Thus, that which the latter book
has to say about Enoch and the watchers (4:17-23) gives the impression of being a brief sum
mary of the corresponding parts of the Book of the watchers, and such might also very well be
the case. Furthermore, all
of
the three books add passages that open an eschatological per
spective.
The three texts follow the Genesis text more or less closely. There is no doubt that, of the
three, the Enoch section keeps the widest distance from the Genesis narrative. This is due, on
the one hand, to the large space taken up by the myth of the watchers, on the other,
to
the fact
that the book reports
less
details of the flood and of Noah's salvation. As a matter of fact, only
the following details from Genesis are explicitly retold: men mUltiply and get daughters, whom
God s sons see and take as wives; the giants are born, and much evil
is
brought about (Gn
6:1-5,
II);
Noah is told ofthe coming deluge and of his escape 6: 13,17).
By
this the text, so
to
speak, takes
off
from the Genesis narrative: a proclamation
of
the judgement
of
the watchers
and a divine command that all wrong be destroyed from the earth, are directly followed by our
passage on eschatological salvation. The flood and Noah seem to be out of sight, and instead
the fate
of
the righteous people - the audience
of
the
bookF
- comes into the focus. Never
theless, there can be no doubt that the Genesis text serves as a basis also for this passage.
3
With these observations in mind
we
must now take a closer look
at
our text. Its beginning
(10:16) does not represent any special incision
in
the running text but is directly connected
to
God s
commands to various angels
to
punish apostate angels and men. Thus, Michael receives
four commands: two concerning the
evil
in
Noah s
time (to bind Shemil].aza and his angels and
to
destroy the spirits of the giants) and two which deal with what appears
to
be the
eschaton
namely
our
text.
4
Thus,
our
passage naturally falls into two parts, each introduced by a divine command to
I. Milik 1976:24j.
2.
See I En
1:1.
3. Nickelsburg 1977:388) notes a connection between I En
JO:I6c-19
and
Gn 8:17, 21b,
22;
9:1.8-20.
4.
See further Nickelsburg
1977:388.
8/11/2019 An Early Example of Jewish Exegesis 1 Enoch 10-11
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NEOTESTAMENTICA 17(1983)
19
Michael. The first one says, destroy iniquity from the face
of
the earth, and let every deed
of
wickedness disappear
(10:
16),
and
the second begins in this way:
and
you, cleanse the earth
from all impurity
and
from all wrong . (10:20).
2
After each of these commands follows a
description
of
what we may call a new world. The first one depicts the coming bliss
and
pros
perity of the righteous people. Apparently Noah, whose righteousness
is
already emphasized
in Genesis (6:9; 7:
1),
is
regarded as a type
of
the righteous
oflater
generations,3
and
his escape
s
taken as prefigurative
of
their salvation. When the
author
paints his picture
of
that salvation,
he borrows and reshapes some of the motifs from the latter part of the Noah story. (Which
ones he uses
and
how he uses them I will discuss a little later on). The first section runs like this:
Destroy iniquity from the face
of
the earth and let every deed
of
wickedness disappear. And
let the plant of righteousness appear;
and
it shall become a blessing,
and
deeds of righteousness
shall be planted forever with
joy (10: 16).
And
now all the righteous shall escape
and
they shall be alive until they beget thousands;
and
all the days of theif4 youth and of their old age shall
be
completed in peace
(10:17).
Then
all the earth shall be tilled in righteousness,
and
it shall all be planted with trees and be
filled with blessing (10:18).
And all the trees of the earth which they desire shall be planted
on
it;
and
they shall plant
vines
5
on it,
and
the vine which will be planted on it shall produce a thousand jars ofwine,
and
of
every seed which will be sown on it every single measure shall produce a thousand measures,
and each measure
of
olives shall produce ten baths
of
oil
(10:19).6
The second command to Michael
and
the ensuing description
of
the
eschaton
is, in my opi
nion, remarkable in several respects. First, it seems that the
author
finds a second meaning in
the motif
of
the flood in the Genesis narrative. Its waters are not only such
that
destroy the evil
and
serve as a judgement (10: 16), but they are also waters that cleanse.
Of
course the step
is
not
a long one from destroying all evil from the earth
to
cleansing it from all
evil.
Nevertheless,
there
is
a step, and, as far as I know,
that
step has seldom been taken in ancient Judaism. The
only example I have found
is
in Philo
(Quod det
170).
He
presents
an
allegory concerning the
purging
of
the soul s defilements
and
begins it by referring
to
the flood as a means through
which the Creator purged the earth by water.
7
Another remarkable thing in this second half
of our
passage
is that
it deals with all mankind
and
all nations rather
than
with righteous Jews only. After the cleansing, namely, all the sons
of
men are said
to
be righteous
and
to
worship God, and he will never again send a castigation
1
The three first words
are
retained in 4QEn
c
The translation is that
o
Milik
(1976:
19 )).
Note
that in
1
En
Michael
is
to
destroy, whereas in
Gn
God himself acts (but
cf
10:22).
2
Thus the Greek.
3.
Noah s
righteousness is a common topic: see, e g, EzIc
14:14;
Sir 44:17;
Or
Sib
1:1481.
317; 1
En
67:1; 89:1f1: Philo, Praem 22f, Further Vander
Kam 1980
4
The Aramaic
(4
Q Enc) has the second person plural. If original
-
as
Milik 1976:191) seems
to
believe
- it
means that the real audience o the
text,
ie,
the righteous elect (1:1) suddenly appear in
the
text, although the
passage otherwise is presented as God s command to Michael.
5.
So the Greek
and the
Ethiopic. Milik (1976:191) suggests an Aramaic
reconstruction meaning gardens instead. ie, because
ofthefeminineform
o the verb behind the ensuing will
be
planted . But judging from the
photography (plate
xi
the reading is extremely uncertain.
6
The translation is largely that in Milik 1976:19 ).
7
A couple o Christian examples: Hom Clem 8:12; Tertull. de bapt 8 (PL
1209 B); Didym Alex, de trin ii (PO 39,
697
AB). The cleansing imagery
recurs a couple o times in the following text: see 10:20, 22.
8/11/2019 An Early Example of Jewish Exegesis 1 Enoch 10-11
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but instead bless men s labour. This vision of worldwide righteousness and harmony in con
junction with a common worship of the only God is, 1 believe, inspired by
or
makes use of
chapters 8 and 9 of the Noah narrative: after the flood Noah offers burnt offerings (8:20) and
is blessed by God together with his sons
9:
I) - by whom the world was populated 9: 19) - and
God promises never again to destroy the living creatures as in the deluge (8:21; 9:11f) .
So
our
text continues:
And
you, cleanse the earth from all impurity and from all wrong and from all sin and impiety;
and remove all the uncleanness which is brought about on the earth (10:20).
And all the sons of men shall become righteous, and all the nations shall serve and bless and
worship me (10:21).
And the whole earth shall be cleansed from all deftlement and from all impurity. And I
will
not send upon them any wrath nor castigation for all generations for ever (10:22).
And then 1will open the storehouses
of
blessing which are in heaven,
so
as to send them down
upon the earth, upon the work and upon the toil
of
the sons
of
men (11: 1)
.
And then truth and peace
will
be associated together for all the days of eternity and for all the
generations
of
men
11
:2).1
Per se it
is
nothing exceptional to have some place for the nations in a picture
of
the
eschaton,
but it seems to me that this author s non-negative way of dealing with the matter is
worthy
of
notice.
It
has a certain parallel in the Book
of
dreams l En 90:33)2: all the beasts
of
the field, and all the birds
of
the heaven
i
e, the nations) assembled in that house
i
e, the new
Jerusalem), and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced with great joy because they were all good
The writer presupposes, however, a subjection of the gentiles under the Jews, for a couple of
lines earlier he says
(90:30),
I
saw.
all the beasts on the earth and all the birds of the
heaven, falling down and doing homage to those sheep and making petition to and obeying
them in everything . Nothing
of
this sort - which
is
rather common in various Jewish texts
3
-
appears in
our
portion of text.
f
his detail in the text is due to an attitude actually held, two remarks may be appropriate:
1.
Certain passages in the Old Testament may point to a similar optimism - or, rather, could
be understood in that manner,4 and 2. this kind of openness towards the Gentiles is even more
remarkable, as the preceding description of the evils which the fallen angels taught men
so
clearly reflects the horror that faithful Jews felt towards certain features ofHellenistic culture.S
1 have now dwelt on some aspects of the general contents of our passage. One more such
aspect should be mentioned, which 1 have only touched upon in passing, namely that the
author s attitude as over against the Genesis story indicates that he reads it in a typological
way.6
Noah
is
regarded as the type
of
all the righteous, the flood
is
seen as prefiguring the
judgement, and Noah s escape and behaviour after the flood stand for the eschatological
salvation and bliss of the righteous people. As is well known, much of this typology reap-
I. The translation is largely based on the Greek. The Aramaic gives lillie
help,
as
the identification 0/ he fragments 0/4QEn
D
) is rather uncertain
(Milik 1976:163 .
2.
Milik (/976:44) dates it to 164 BeE.
3.
Tab 13:11//; Or Sib 3:716/J.
772//; c/
Bil/erbeck
1922-28
lll:150// and
Vol. 1934:3581
4.
See
Jeremias
1958:571/.
5. I En 7 8.
See
Hartman 1979:138J.
170 Also
Nickelsburg
1977:389.
6.
I ~ r i n from a discussion
0/
typology
vs
allegory etc; c/ Goppe/t
1969:251/ (and references); further Eichrodt 1956 and Lampe
1957,
especially 31//.
8/11/2019 An Early Example of Jewish Exegesis 1 Enoch 10-11
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NEOTESTAMENTICA 17 1983)
21
pears later in both Jewish and Christian texts.
1
Our passage may, however, be the earliest
extra-biblical example
of
it. On the other hand, the writer stands in a biblical tradition, since
his way
of
re-reading the Genesis story
is
similar to the way in which biblical authors, for exam
ple, make David the type of a coming saviour 2 Sm
7;
Am 9:11; Mi 5:1 ff; etc), or present the
salvation and return from the exile
as
a new exodus (Is 40).
I now turn
to
some details in terms
of
the writer s interpretative techniques. My delibera
tions above have already laid bare one such, namely that a text can be understood in several
ways at the same time. In our case the two halves of the text represent two ways of interpreting.
the waters of the flood, namely as waters both of destruction and of cleansing. (It is, by the
way, noteworthy that these two halves mostly run p a r a l l e l ~ Everyone who has entered into
any contact with Jewish scriptural exposition knows that this phenomenon appears constantly
in texts such as those produced in Qumran, or by Philo or by the Rabbis.
3
The practice has
received a classical expression in the statement of b Sanhedrin 34a: a Scripture passage has
several meanings .
A further detail worthy of observation is the fact that our passage contains some allusions
to
or echoes from other Old Testament texts. The author certainly bases his description
of
the
eschaton on the Noah story, but he also draws on other Old Testament passages. The principle
behind this is the same as that in later times when one could formulate the rule Scripture is to
be explained by Scripture .
4
t is at work in the anthological and the structural uses of the Bible
referred to above, and also, for instance, in Hillel s Binyan-ab rule, according to which details
from one Bible text can shed light on one or several other texts with which it has an expression
or some contents in common.
S
This
is
precisely what
we
come across in I Enoch 1Of.
t is
not
difficult
to
detect which common details connect the Noah story and the auxiliary texts that
are visible in the lines of I Enoch. Thus, there is an echo in II: I from Deuteronomy
28: 12,
which says: Yahweh will open
to
you his good treasury, the heavens,
to
give the rain
of
your
land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands . The linkage is made up by the
following motifs: seasonable climate is promised both in Genesis 8:22 and the verse of
Deuteronomy; in the Deuteronomic context Yahweh announces that prosperity and blessing
will be given to the people if they keep the covenant. This corresponds to the covenant-making
ofGenesis 9:9ff, to God s blessing ofNoah and his sons (9:1) and to the command that they be
fruitful and multiply (9:7).
When, in II :2, it is said that truth and peace will be associated, this is probably inspired by
Psalm
85:
I Iff: steadfast love and faithfulness Cmt
will
meet, righteousness and peace
will
kiss
each other. Faithfulness Cmt
will
spring up from the ground Yea, Yahweh will
give
what
is
good, and your land
will
yield its increase . The Psalm also seems
to
resound in
10: 16:
the plant
of
righteousness (and truth: so the Greek) appears. The common motifs are these:
crops - and virtues - shoot forth, and heaven bestows its gifts. Furthermore, in the first half
of our passage it sounds as if the writer has taken up some details from Isaiah 65:20f6: No
1.
E
g
Jub 6f;
Mt 24:3744; 1
Pt3:2Oj.
CfLundberg
1942:para 5f; Donielou
1950:59ff; Jaubert 1963:105j. Further Lewis
1968.
2. Note
the two parallel sequences destroy evil
-
righteousness
-
escape -
blessed work / cleanse from evil righteousness
-
no more castigation -
blessed work .
3. Cf
Wright
1967:63.
The phenomenon is also traceable in the
LXX;
see
Seeligmann 1948.
4. Cf
Patte
1967:63.
5.
See Strack Stemberger
1982:29.
6. The Noah portion of he Biblical Antiquities also makes useof s 65 (v 17)
- see the quotation ofBiblical Antiquities above.
8/11/2019 An Early Example of Jewish Exegesis 1 Enoch 10-11
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more shall there be in it (i e, the land) an old man who does not fill out his days, for the
child shall die a hundred years old they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit they
shall be the offspring of the blessed of Yahweh
.
Again, the bridge is easy to detect: the
Noah narrative and the Isaiah text have several motifs in common, that
is
those of planting, of
blessing and of great age (9:280.
1
Let us now consider what the writer has done with some details in the Noah narrative.
Some of these fall naturally into place within the overall typological understanding of the nar
rative. Thus, the blessing
of
Noah (Gn
9:
1)
is
transferred to the
eschaton
(10: 16; 18; l l 1),
and so is the promise that there will be no more destruction (Gn 8:21-1 En 10:22); that Noah
(and his family) were left
(ysh r,
7:23)
and
kept alive lhlJywt, 6:190 becomes the
eschatological salvation of the righteous and their life (10:17). Furthermore, the notice that
Noah was the first tiller of the earth
( ysh
h dmh)
and
planted a vineyard (9:20)
is
most pro
bably one reason why the fruitfulness
of
the
eschaton is
depicted,
inter alia,
in terms of plan
ting vines (10:19).
We
may also note the following items, some of which I have touched upon
already: the information concerning the length
of
Noah s life (9:280 may lie behind the motif
of
the long life
of
the righteous (10: 17),
God s
ruling that Noah s family should mUltiply
on
earth (9:1,7) has inspired the notice
on
prolificacy in the eschaton (10:17); Noah s sacrificing
together with his sons - the fathers of all men (8:20; 9:19) - may lie behind the lines on the
worship
of
the nations (10:21).
Some of these details smack somewhat of spiritualizing or even of allegorizing. This is even
more so when Noah s being a tiller of the soil
and
a vine-planter seem to lie behind the follow
ing sentences: all the earth shall be tilled in righteousness (10:18), let the plant of
righteousness appear l
0:
16), and deeds of righteousness shall be planted for ever with
joy
(10:16).2
So much for the interpretative methods. I
will,
however, not leave this portion
of
hidden
scriptural interpretation without touching upon its contents, although that has to be done in
extreme brevity.
The titulus of the book mentions its addressees, their situation, and their prospect: the
elect righteous who will be (living)
on
the day of tribulation to remove
all
the enemies, and the
righteous
will
be saved (1:1).3 In the interpretative retelling
of
the Noah narrative we can sur
mise what their troublesome time was like: warfare, people around them being idolatrous, the
pressure of an un-Jewish culture felt
as
a threat by those who wanted to stay faithful to the
religion of the fathers.4 These evils had a transcendent origin, that is the watchers, and they
meant a rebellion against God. When the archangels plead the cause
of
suffering men (1
En
9),
they ask how God can allow such things (9: 11). Actually the classical problem
of
theodicy
is
stated.
5
Our text is a
p rt
of the divine answer that the evil transcendent powers will be bound
and in due course eliminated by stronger transcendent powers, in the last resort by God. Thus,
the righteous can hope for a better world that God has already decided to establish - it is ap
proaching.
I. Cf also for 10:18: Am 9:14f; Jr 31:5; Ez.k 28:26; 34:26ff.
2.
Cf
Philo, de agr, which, from
9
onwards, deals with soulhusbandry .
The author makes useo magery already established in the Old Testament,
e
g,
n Is 45:8
and
61:lJ.
Cf
also how Israel
is
planted according to x
15:17; 2
Sm
7:
10;
Jr 32:41;
Am
9:15; etc. The imagery appears also in
IQS
VIII.
5;
IQH
VI.
15 etc.
3.
Cf
the introduction to the Apocalypse o weeks, I En 93:2.
4.
I
En
7f. See Nickelsburg 1977:387f1: Hartman 1979:137f.
5. Charles 1963:213; Nickelsburg 1977:387.
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7 1983) 23
Seen in this way, our text is an integral part of an answer - in a haggadic form - to a
theological and moral problem. As a consequence
we
may surmise that one should beware of
taking it as a self-contained, conclusive description of the
eschaton
When I Enoch
IOf
is cited as a typical example of gross, this-worldly expectations in
eschatology, 1 this is, in a sense, justified. The promised, radically new conditions
of
life are
certainly meant
to
prevail
on
earth
That
is valid also for the two other descriptions of the
eschatological bliss contained in the book. But,
on
the
other
hand, the different styles
of
the
three passages already indicate that
one
misunderstands their messages
if
one understands
them literally. We who, at least some times, prefer abstract terms, should perhaps try to
understand the book in the light
of
its introduction in chapters 1-5. There the writer speaks
of
the coming bliss in general
and
abstract terms such as mercy, peace, blessing, etc. In a study,
published some years ago, I argued that these chapters are like a key to the rest of the book,
and
I concluded an attempt at an exegesis of them in this way:
'Thus,
the tenor
of
I Enoch 1-5 could be regarded as an answer to an
asking
for a
meaning of the righteous life: in a troubled situation the elect are blessed for what they
are,
viz,
righteous and faithful
to
the covenant, for what they are not,
viz,
renegades,
and
for
what they, because of God's graceful covenant promises, can expect, something of which they
already are the possessors but which
God
Himself
w ll
bring about, a time of full peace and
blessing. 2
t seems to
me that
the two other descriptions of the new, blessed situation, our text includ
ed, paint a similar picture with different dyes, using a more haggadic and mythological
language, which has
to
be understood as such.
With this I come to the end of my discussion of this early example of Jewish exegesis.
What
we
have seen in terms of interpretation and modes of interpretation may raise the question:
How
and why did this way
of
using the Bible arise? Such a question becomes all the more ex
citing when it is motivated by such an ancient witness of Jewish Bible interpretation as the text
from the Book of the watchers which has been at the center of our interest in this paper. Of
course I cannot go into any discussion of the origins of midrash here.
3
But
we
can surmise
one
reason why it arose and why it continued to be a decisive factor in Jewish religion, namely that
one was convinced that, in
and
through the Scriptures, God communicated himself to his peo
ple.
The
moment the receiver of this communication took it as applying to himself, a process
of
interpretation began.
What
we have done in this paper is to look beneath the surface
of
a
text
that
is the result of such an attentive approach
to
God's word. We can surmise anguish
behind it,
but
also trust and hope -
and
creative fantasy.
ADDITIONAL NOTE:
A
few
suggestions as to the construction
of
the
ook of
the watchers
The
Boo k of the watchers is probably edited
on
the basis of older sources
and
traditions.
4
This
does not mean
that
- as a means of communication - it must be an unorganized patchwork.
1 Thus e g Volz
1934:387f;
Scharer 1979:534
2
Hartman
1979:138.
3 See e g Seeligmann 1953; MQQS 1955; Sionimsky 1956; Vermes 1970;
Porton 1979
4 Milik 1976:25; NickeLsburg 1981:48ff
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24 AN EARLY EXAMPLE OF JEWISH EXEGESIS
Therefore, a grasp
of
the construction
of
the book is important to understand it.
I
t
may be suitable to start a discussion of the book's construction at 14:
1,
where the Book
of
the words
of
righteousness is introduced. This is prepared in the following way: Enoch, be
ing with the angels, is sent to reprimand the fallen watchers (12:3-6). He performs this task
(13:1-2), with the result that the latter ask him to write down a petition to God for them (13:4f).
He does so, reads it out, and falls asleep (13:6f). Then
we
read: ' behold, dreams came
down upon me, and visions fell upon me until
[
lifted up] my eyelids to the gates of the palace
[of Heaven ; and I saw a vision of the wrath of chastisement, [and a voice came and said:
Speak to the sons
of
heaven to reprimand them. And when I awoke I went] unto them
And I spoke before them all 'the visions which I had seen in dreams, and I began to speak] in
words of truth and vision and reprimand to the heavenJy Watchers [ (13:8-10).2
The cited introduction summarizes that which follows: 14:8-16:4 brings Enoch to the divine
throne - this is a 'vision' of the 'palace
of
heaven', in which he is also ordered to 'reprimand
the sons of heaven'. Without any incision such as changes of persons
or
of situation, 17:1 in
troduces Enoch's journeys, which bring him to,
inter
alia, 'the prison for the stars which
have transgressed the commandment
of
the
Lord'
(18:15). This
is
the frrst 'vision
of
the wrath
of
chastisement', and the rest of the book (21-36) contains more such visions.
3
Chapters 13-36 are joined to the preceding text by 12:lf: 'Before these things Enoch was
hidden and his activities had to do with the watchers and his days were with the holy ones' .
The lines take account of Genesis 5:24 and, with Genesis, let Enoch's translation occur
'before' Noah and the flood, the topic
of
chapters 6-11. The effect is that Enoch is available to
implement the heavenly watcher'S order to reprimand the fallen angels and their offspring
(12:3ff), the fall of whom has been reported in 6 ff, and, furthermore, to present the Book of
the words of righteousness.
Chapters 6-11,
5
or, rather, 6-8, give the necessary background for 12-36: the crime
of
the
watchers - and its consequences - must be described before
6
their denouncement and punish
ment. But what about chapters 9-11, which deal with the angels' bringing the afflicted men's
1. The problem
o
the construction is intensely connected to that
o
the
geflTr . At a symposium on apocalYPticism in
1977,
I discussed the problem
o
apocalyptic genre in a paper, now published (Hartman 1983). The ques
tion has been thoroughly investigated and essential advancements have been
made
by my
colleague
Dr
Hellholm (He/lholm 1980
and 1982).
In the
se
cond volume o Hellholm 1980, which is in preparation, he is going, I am
told, to analyse the structure o En 1-36.
2. Translation Milik 1976:195.
3.
As
a rule commentators separate chapters 17-36from chapters 12-16.
See, e g, Charles 1913:199; Nickelsburg 1981a:576. Seen from a point o
view
o
iterary composition, 13:8-10 speaks inft lllOurof
my
understanding.
4. It is
only
one, see Milik
1976:192, and cf
the Greek and Ethiopic.
5. One
may
wonder: does this before also concems Enoch s acc:usation in
13:3ff
in relation
to
that which is said in chapters 9
and
10? I am
not
sure
that one should try
to
order the reported actions against the watchers
in
a
temporal sequence
-
the author does not seem to
be
too interested in such a
thing.
6. Seen
from
a literary point
o
view the relationship between
6-11 and
its
context is a bit puzzling. Chapter
6
starts abruptly, without any transitions
or explicit indicatioM o what is to fol low
or
who is talking: And it happen
ed, when the children o men had multiplied that in those days were
born
.
Two expressions signal a new beginning, and it happened ,
and
'in those days . The sentence
may
be said
to
quote
Gn 6:1, and
that
may
possibly also be a signal
to
the allentive reader.
oes
it, namely. in
dicate
to
him that here beginsa retelling
of
he story
o
Noah
and theflood?
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17 (1983)
25
trouble before the ears ofGod 9) and with the divine commands to the angels with the ensuing
description ofthe salvation (lOt)? 1 would suggest that the
raison d etre
of chapters 9-11 has to
do with the function
of
the book
vis
d
vis of
its readers, visible in its very beginning
1: 1):
it
is
addressed to the righteous, and
t
concerns their situation. Thus, chapters 9-11 are brought in
- they concern the righteous addressees.
Something similar. holds true for the Book of the words of righteousness (14-36). Within the
framework of the reported story, it
is
directed to the fallen watchers, but the real communica
tion
is
to the righteous; the punishment and destruction of the powers which are the origin of
evil are in their interest. Thus, chapters 14-36 not only deal with reprimands and (places of)
chastisements of the watchers, but also with the blessed land, the garden of righteousness, and
soon
Finally, in a similar way, the denouncement speech of the introduction (2-5)
is
directed
against the wicked, but it concerns the righteous and therefore tells
about
their coming hap
piness. (I have already, in the body of this paper, presented my view of chapters 1-5: they are a
solemn introduction, giving a definite clue to the book as a whole).
There are many large and small problems which a serious investigation
of
the construction
of 1 Enoch 1-36 must assess, but this
is
certainly not the place for such an undertaking. So,
these
few
remarks must suffice for the time being.
I. Cf
Hellholm
1982:189
on supplemelllory
visions
which have a similar
communicative function in Revelation.
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