CHAPTER 38
First Parable. When the congregation of the just shall appear, and the sinners are condemned because of their sins, and expelled from the face of the earth,
2. and when the Just One shall appear in the presence of the just who are chosen, whose deeds hang on the Lord of the spirits, and the light shall appear to the just and to the chosen, who dwell on the earth,—where will be the habitation of the sinners, and where the resting-places of those who have denied the Lord of the spirits? It were better had they not been born.
3. And when the secrets of the just shall be revealed, then the sinners will be judged, and the impious will be expelled from the presence of the just and chosen. 4. And from that time those who hold the earth will not be powerful and exalted, nor will they be able to behold the face of the just, for the light of the Lord of the spirits is seen on the face of the holy and just and chosen.
5. And the mighty kings will perish at that time, and will be given over into the hands of the just and holy.
6. And from that time on no one can ask for mercy from the Lord of the spirits, for their lives have ended.
CHAPTER 39
And it will come to pass in these days that the chosen and holy children will descend from the high heavens, and their seed will become one with the children of men.
2. In those days Enoch received books of zeal and of anger, and books of disturbance and of expulsion, and “mercy will not be upon them,” said the Lord of the spirits.
3. And at that time, a cloud and a whirlwind seized me from the face of the earth, and carried me to the end of the heavens.
4. And here I saw another vision, the dwellings of the just and the resting-places of the holy.
5. Here my eyes saw their dwellings with the angels, and their resting-places with the holy, and they asked and petitioned and prayed in behalf of the children of men, and justice like water flowed before them, and mercy like dew on the earth; thus it is among them to all eternity.
6. And in those days my eyes saw the place of the chosen of justice and of faith [fidelity], and how justice will be in their days, and the just and chosen without number before him to all eternity.
7. And I saw their dwelling under the wings of the Lord of the spirits; and all the just and chosen before him are ornamented as with the light of fire, and their mouths are full of blessings, and their lips praise the name of the Lord of the spirits, and justice before him will not cease.
8. Here I desired to dwell, and my soul longed for this place; here my portion has been before, for such is established concerning me before the Lord of the spirits.
9. And in those days I blessed and exalted the name of the Lord of the spirits with blessings and praise, for he has strengthened me in blessing and praise according to the will of the Lord of the spirits.
10. For a long time my eyes looked at this place, and I blessed him, saying: “Bless him, and let him be blessed from the beginning and to eternity!
11. Before him there is no ceasing; he knows, before the world was created, what the world is, and will be from generation to generation.
12. Thee they praise who do not sleep; they stand before thy glory, and bless and glorify and exalt thee, saying: ‘Holy! Holy! Holy! the Lord of the spirits fills the earth with spirits.’”
13. And here my eyes saw all those who do not sleep, standing before him and blessing him, and they say: “Blessed art thou, and blessed the name of the Lord to all eternity.”
14. And my face was changed until I could see no more.
CHAPTER 40
And after that I saw a thousand times thousand, and ten thousand times ten thousand beings, an innumerable and immense multitude, who stood before the glory of the Lord of the spirits.
2. I looked, and on the four sides of the Lord of the spirits I saw four faces, different from those standing, and I learned their names, which the angel who came with me announced as their names to me, and showed me all the secrets.
3. And I heard the voices of those four faces as they blessed before the Lord of glory.
4. The first voice blessed the Lord of the spirits to all eternity.
5. And I heard the second voice praising the Chosen One and the chosen ones, who hang on the Lord of the spirits.
6. And I heard the third voice asking and praying for those who dwell on the earth, and petitioning in the name of the Lord of the spirits.
7. And I heard the fourth voice keeping off the satans, and not allowing them to come before the Lord of the spirits to accuse those who dwell on the earth.
8. After that I asked the angel of peace who went with me, who showed me all things that were hidden, and said to him: “Who are these four faces that I see, and whose voices I hear and have written them down?”
9. And he said to me: “The first is the holy Michael, merciful, slow to anger; and the second, who is over all sicknesses and over all the wounds of the children of men, is Rufael; and the third, who is over all the powers, is the holy Gabriel; and the fourth, who is over penitence and the hope of those who inherit everlasting life, if Fanuel.”
10. And these
are the four angels of God, the Most High, and the four voices I heard in those days.
CHAPTER 41
And after this I saw all the secrets of heaven, and the kingdom as it is divided, and how the deeds of men are weighed upon scales.
2. There I saw the dwellings of the chosen, and the dwellings of the holy, and my eyes saw there how all the sinners were cast from there, they who had denied the name of the Lord of the spirits, and they are dragged away, and there is no rest for them because of the punishments which proceed from the Lord of the spirits.
3. And there my eyes saw the secrets of the lightning and of the thunder, and the secrets of the winds, how they are divided to blow over the earth, and the secrets of the clouds and of the dew, and there I saw also from what place they proceed, and from whence they satisfy the dust of the earth.
4. And there I saw the closed repositories, and from them the winds are divided out, and the repository of hail and the repository of fog and of the clouds; and his cloud hovers over the earth from the beginning of the world.
5. And I saw
the repositories of the sun and of the moon, from whence they come and to which they return, and their glorious return, and how one is more glorious than the other, and their fixed course, and how they do not leave their course, and how they add nothing to their course and take nothing from it, and preserve their fidelity one with the other, remaining steadfast in their oath.
6. And first the sun goes out, and makes his way according to the command of the Lord of the spirits, and strong is his name to all eternity;
7. and after this the hidden and the revealed course of the moon, completing the course of her way in that place by day and by night, one looking at the other [i.e. opposite each other] before the Lord of the spirits; and they give thanks and praise and do not rest, for their thanksgiving is rest for them.
8. For the shining sun makes many changes for a blessing and for a curse, and the course of the path of the moon is light to the just, and darkness to the sinners in the name of the Lord who created a separation between light and darkness, and divided the spirits of men, and strengthened the spirits of the just, in the name of his own justice.
9 For neither does an angel hinder, nor is any power able to hinder, for the Judge sees them all, and judges them all before him.
CHAPTER 42
Wisdom did not find a place where she might live, and a dwelling-place was given to her in the heavens.
2. Wisdom came to dwell among the children of men, and found no dwelling-place; wisdom returned to her place and took her seat among the angels.
3. And injustice came forth from its repository; whom it did not seek, them it found, and dwelt with them, like the rain in the desert, and like dew in the thirsty land.
CHAPTER 43
And again I saw lightning, and the stars of heaven, and I saw how he called them all by their names, and they heard him.
2. And I saw that they were weighed on the scales of justice, according to their light, according to the width of their places, and the day of their appearance, and their course; one flash of lightning produces another, and their course according to the number of angels, and their fidelity they preserved among themselves.
3. And I asked the angel, who went with me, who showed me what was secret: “What are these?”
4. And he said to me: “The Lord of the spirits has showed thee a picture of them: these are the names of the just, who dwell on the earth and believe on the name of the Lord
of the spirits to all eternity.”
CHAPTER 44
Also other things I saw in reference to the flashes of lightning; how they arise from the stars, and become lightning, and can leave nothing behind with them.
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CHAP. 38, 1. The writer, who shows himself as much more systematic in everything than the author of the first book, states that what now follows is the first parable; and this continues to chap. 44. He immediately enters in medias res, showing both how important he considers his revelation and making it certain that at the author’s time the hope for the Messianic times must have been especially prominent, else he would certainly have needed some explanatory words as introduction. Congregation of the just is explained in verse 3, 39:6; 53:6; 62:8, and is an expression entirely peculiar to the Parables; shall appear, i.e. when the Messianic rule shall be inaugurated. Expelled: the Parables teach that the sinners shall be destroyed, 53:5, in some unknown valley, 56:3, 4, for it is neither in heaven nor on earth, 45:2, 5, 6; 53:2, but the first book teaches emphatically that the place of eternal punishment is in the valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, cf. notes on chap. 27.—2. Contemporaneous with this is the appearance of the Messiah, the Just one, a name applied to him because he is a just judge, and is found also 53:6. Just and chosen, one of the many names for the inhabitants of the Messianic kingdom; others are simply just, or chosen, or chosen just, holy and chosen, just and holy, just and good, children of God, children of heaven. It has been claimed that the expression it were better had they not been born was based on Matt. xxvi. 24, and that the Parables consequently were written after that Gospel, but this is without any foundation whatever, as the Old Testament presents sufficient premises for this statement in Job iii. 3; Jer. xx. 14; Psalt. Salom. iii. 11; cf. the HTR in Pirke Aboth, Perek HTR, and in Kiddushim, Perek HTR, and the classical writers have any amount of similar expressions; cf. Spiess, l. c. pp. 38, 39, and Delitzsch in Zeitschrift für Luth. Theol., 1876, p. 405, Hermae Pastor iv. 2, 6.—3. The secrets of the just, i.e. the Messiah and his kingdom, for even in the days of the sinners he had been revealed to the just, 48:7; 62:7.—4. The important role that the mighty of the earth play in the Parables will soon appear. Light, in a moral and physical sense, cf. Num. vi. 25; Ps. civ. 2; cxxxix. 11, 12; Isa. ix. 1, 2; lx.; Zech. xiv. 6 sqq.; Dan. xii. 3 and often in Enoch.—5. Mighty kings are the object of the writer’s threats, instead of the sinners in general, as is the case in the first part, cf. 46:4-8; 48:8-10; 53:5; 62:1-12, 63, while they are only casually mentioned as one kind of sinners 96:8; 104:3.—6. The judgment is irrevocable.
CHAP. 39. The contrast with the children of men compels us to believe the children of heaven to be the angels; cf. note on 6:1. Although the angels are not called chosen by the Old Testament or by Enoch elsewhere, but first by 1 Tim. v. 21, the name could easily be applied to them, partly from the GTR of Tob. viii. 15, partly from the fact that it is the general appellation of those with whom their fate is to be united. A parallel statement is that even the Messiah shall dwell with men during his reign, 45:4; 62:14, and thus “heaven shall be on earth,” cf. Jonath, ad Zach. iii. 7. Their seed will be one, of course not in the sinful manner of the fallen angels and the women, but rather as in 62:14.—2. The sudden change of subjects is somewhat surprising, but as the writer has announced in general terms the wonderful changes introduced by the Messiah he mist explain how these are to be effected, viz. by a judgment. Books, i.e. books containing an account of the judgment, but to specify further as to what books he refers is impossible. It is even possible that the word books is chosen simply on account of Enoch’s literary character, but cf. 93:1-3.—3. Cf. note on 14:8.—4. The sudden change again to the subject of the first verse almost forces the belief that something is wrong with verse 2, unless it is an adverbial clause specifying the time of his vision concerning the home of the just.—5. The vision is entirely prophetic, for the writer has as little to say concerning the happiness of saints in heaven as the Old Testament has; the Messianic kingdom is, as it were, now yet in heaven. In view of this, that it is not yet determined who shall belong to that kingdom, the angels petition (cf. note on 15:1, 2) for mankind, and in view of chap. 50; 90:29-38; 91:14 (cf. notes) that many may take part. With these angels are justice and mercy, with the side idea that these shall be brought down with them when they descend, vs. 1. Water and dew are symbols of plenty, cf. Isa. xi. 9; Micah v. 6.—6. Faith (cf. note on 58:5), certainly not in a Christian sense; the word haimanoth means also fidelity, i.e. to God. Then it is very easily possible that the Christian translator uses a word here that may not exactly express the original, cf. Herzog R. E. xii. p. 310 (ed. 1).—7. Under the wings, a symbol of protection, Ex. xix. 4; Deut. xxxii. 11, 12; xxxiii. 12; Matt. xxiii. 37; cf. note on 38:2.—8. Cf. 71:14-17; 90:31.—9. Cf. 37:4.—11. The eternity and foreknowledge of God is extolled because they have been exemplified in vs. 8.—12, 13. Who do not sleep, cf. note on 12:2. The change of the Trisagion (Isa. vi. 3) in this passage is according to the contents of the Parables, and especially because God is here the Lord of the spirits.—14. Could not see, i.e. was blinded by the glory he saw; cf. 14:24, 25; Ascensio Isaiae ix. 38.
CHAP. 40. Cf. note on 1:9. The transition from the description of the Messianic kingdom to the glories of heaven is easily explained by the connection between the two as laid down in the previous chapter.—2. Distinct from the multitude before the Lord are the four special angels, whose special name being HTR, a name taken from Isa. lxiii. 9, are here accordingly represented as faces. The same distinction is observed 71:1, and rigidly by rabbinical writers, cf. Buxtorf, Lex. (ed. Fischer), p. 27, and Herzog R. E. iv. p. 20 sqq. (ed. 1). This verse is used in Pirke Elieser c. 4. The angel who came with me is the angel of peace in verse 8; cf. 52:5; 53:4; 54:4; 56:2, where he receives this name, and 43:3; 46:2; 52:3, 4; 61:2, 3; 64:2. Who he is, is not mentioned, but Hoffmann’s conjecture of Uriel is not improbable, especially as the Parables, unlike the almost unanimous verdict of later Judaism (cf. Buxtorf, l. c.), do not make him one of the four chief angels, but put Fanuel in his place; cf. vs. 9 and 71:8. His name is taken from his functions as the opposite of the satans, or possibly as the well known angel of death, cf. Jonath. on Hab. iii. 5.—4. The first one praises the Lord, an idea probably taken from Isa. vi. 3, and according to verse 9 this is Michael. His name is take from his work, for his cry is HTR (cf. Buxtorf, l. c.). He is here already, like in later works (cf. Herzog, R. E., l. c. p. 27), the HTR, or the Metatron, and as such he has attributes which are generally assigned to God alone.—5. The second praises the Chosen One, i.e. the Messiah, the most frequent name for him, found also 45:3-5; 49:2; 51:3, 5; 52:6-9; 53:6; 55:4; 61:5, 8; 62:1. He is so called because he has been chosen by the Lord of the spirits, 46:3. The name taken from Isa. xlii. 1 is peculiar to the Parables, and is found in no other apocryphal book. The estimate put on the Messiah here in making him the object of praise by one of the highest angels is seriously diminished by having the chosen ones put into the same category, and further by the fact that nothing more is meant here than that they are both objects of the special concern of this angel; and as 61:10 the Chosen One is included in the host of those that praise the Lord, the idea of a Christian origin cannot be entertained for a second. This angel is, vs. 9, Rufael; cf. notes on 10:7; 20:3, and the healing by Rafael in Tob. iii. 17.—6. The third is Gabriel, over all the powers, his name being from HTR and HTR.—7. The fourth wards off the satans. These beings, altogether unknown to the writer of the first part, and entirely distinct from the fallen angels or their children, are conceived by the writer of the Parables as the powers of an anti-divine kingdom under the leadership of a prince, who is Satan, GTR, 53:3. These satans existed before the fall of the angels, for these sinned by becoming subjects of Satan, 54:6, and they, unlike the watchers, 13:5; 14:5, have access to heaven, on the basis of Job ii. 1; Zech. iii. To this kingdom of Satan belong also the angels of punishment, cf. notes on 53:3. Satans are mentioned in the Noachic additions, 65:6; cf. Ascensio Isaiae ii. 2. The fourth angel is Fanuel, and as he keeps off the satans he thereby protects those who inherit everlasting life, cf. note on 37:4.— 8. Angel of peace, cf. vs. 2.
CHAP. 41, 1. As the writer of the first part was initiated into the secrets of the physical world as well as the spiritual, the author here also gives a treatise on natural philosophy, but not without first again having spoken of his favorite topic, of the dwellings of the just. The kingdom is scarcely the Messianic (Dillmann), but rather the kingdom of this world, which is to be divided, i.e. the faithful separated from the sinners, when the deeds of all are weighed in the final judgment. Interpreting thus it is easily seen why he mentions the fate of both the just and the sinners in the next verse. Weighed, cf. 61:8; Prov. xvi. 2; xxi. 2; xxiv. 12; Job xxxi. 6; Ps. lxii. 9; Dan. v. 27; 4 Ezra I. 35 (ed. Laurence), and Homer, Il. 8, 69 sqq.; 22, 209 sqq.—2. Expulsion of the sinners, cf. note ch. 27. Deny, a sin often mentioned in the Parables, cf. 38:2; 45:1, 2; 46:7; 48:10, (denying the just judgment, 60:6, or the heavenly sphere, 45:1, or the Messiah, 48:10, or the spirit of God, 67:10). It is pictured as the chief and principal sin.—3. The introducing clause is different from the one employed in the first part, where the writer always says: “And I went and saw.” How they are divided, cf. Job xxxviii. 24, 25, 35.—4. The repositories of the wind are closed as the winds are allowed to escape only at certain times; cf. Job xxxviii. 22, 25-28, 34, 37, 38; xxxvii. 11, 12. His cloud; Dillmann thinks of the Shechinah, Langen, p. 293, of “the spirit hovering over the deep,” but the statement is so vague that no conclusion can be attempted.—5. These repositories must, then, be near the portals of 33:3 sqq.; cf. Ps. xix. 6. Glorious return, i.e. their secret return from west to east. More glorious, i.e. the sun than the moon; cf. chap. 72 sqq. Oath; the luminaries have taken oaths among themselves to be true to each other, 43:2, a figure probably taken from the marriage vow; cf. 69:20, 25.—6. Strong, for even the mighty sun obeys him; cf. Ps. lxxiv. 16; civ. 19; Eccles. I. 5.—7. Hidden course of the moon, the time when she is not seen in the heavens; cf. chap. 73 and 74. Praise, cf. Ps. xix. 2 sqq.; cxlviii. 3 sqq.; Job xxxviii. 3.— 8. The writer plays on the biblical expression, children of light and of darkness; cf. Job xxiv. 13-17; xxxviii. 15; En. 59.
CHAP. 42, 1. Drummond (p. 62) is certainly right in calling this “a detached fragment,” for it apparently interrupts the sense. The only possible connection it could have would be that wisdom was in the hands of God his means of strengthening the just, 41:8, or that wisdom and injustice have repositories like the powers of nature of which he is here speaking; cf. vs. 3. Wisdom found no place to dwell, i.e. on earth, and returns to heaven; cf. Job xxviii. 12-14, 20-24; Baruch iii. 31. Wisdom is here personified as in Prov. viii. and ix.—2. Cf. Prov. I. 20 sqq.; viii. 1 sqq.; ix. 1 sqq.; Son of Sirach xxiv. 7. In the Messianic times, however, she will return, 48:1 sqq.; 49:1 sqq.; 91:10.—3. As wisdom in the author’s mind is the biblical wisdom, its opposite here is injustice; cf. Zech. v. 8. The contrast here is a success. Although the expression here sounds somewhat like John’s prologue to his Gospel, the connection goes no further, and does not betray a Christian source; cf. Langen, p. 44 sq. Dew and rain are symbols of plenty, cf. on 39:5; Job xxxviii. 26, 27; Isa. xxxv. 6; xli. 18; xliii. 20.
CHAP. 43. 1, 2. He continues the topic of chapter 41 with the stars. Called, cf. Isa. xl. 26; Ps. cxlvii. 4; Baruch iii. 34. Weighed, as the context shows, means simply that their mass, course, etc. is assigned to them in a manner pleasing to a higher power. They are guided by angels. Neither here nor above is any personality or moral accountability attributed to them, although their conduct is to be an example for men, cf. in general Dan. viii. 10 with En. 46:7, and Dan. xii. 3 with En. 104:2, and thus the stars can represent the names of the just. With this we can understand the strange answer of the angel in verse 4. Believe, the opposite of denying, cf. note on 41:2, believing being the great characteristic of the faithful; cf. 58:5. Name, for the being or person it represents, as often in the Parables.
CHAP. 44. Here he certainly means nothing but the shooting stars.
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