An Early Example of Jewish Exegesis 1 Enoch 10-11

8/11/2019 An Early Example of Jewish Exegesis 1 Enoch 10-11

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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


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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


3/12

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.


4/12

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.


5/12

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//.


6/12

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.


7/12

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.


8/12

NEOTESTAMENTICA

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


9/12

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?


10/12

NEOTESfAMENTICA

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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26 AN EARLY EXAMPLE OF JEWISH EXEGESIS

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27

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An Early Example of Jewish Exegesis 1 Enoch 10-11

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