Lars Hartman: An early example of Jewish

exegesis: 1 Enoch 10:16-11:2.

ABSTRACT
The purpose of the article is to scrutinize how the author of 1
Enoch 10: 16 - 11: 2 u tfS the Genesis story of Noah 's salvation,
thereby silently interpreting it. The investigation points to the
usage of several 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 of the author and 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, in
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 of Noah 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, in 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 of which 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 of the 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 of the 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 of wickedness ...
(1:9). 4QE"c 1 i. 16 a<;cenains the 'flesh' flblshr).
5. 1 have i s ~ 1 En 1-5 at length in Hartman 1979.
02S4-S3S6/S3 $3.00 Copyright by NTSSA
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NEOTESTAMENTICA 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.
It 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'. As a matter of fact, 1 think, 1
En 6-11 is older.
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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.
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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), I 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
is 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 of wine, 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 4QEnc. The translation is that of
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 of 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
of 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 of 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 of times in the following text: see 10:20, 22.
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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 1 will 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.
If this 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 of Hellenistic 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/ the 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//.
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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
It 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. It 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
of Genesis 9:9ff, to God's blessing of Noah 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 the Biblical Antiquities also makes use of Is 65 (v 17)
- see the quotation of Biblical Antiquities above.
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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; ll: 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 part 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 use of imagery already established in the Old Testament,
e g, in Is 45:8 and 61:lJ. Cf also how Israel is 'planted' according to Ex
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 of 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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NEOTESTAMENTICA 17 (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 will bring about, a time of full peace and
blessing. '2
It 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 Book 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
It 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 [I 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 [ ... J' (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 of the construction is intensely connected to that of the
geflTr!. At a symposium on apocalYPticism in 1977, I discussed the problem
of 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 of Hellholm 1980, which is in preparation, he is going, I am
told, to analyse the structure of 1 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 of
view of literary composition, 13:8-10 speaks inftlllOurof 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 of view the relationship between 6-11 and its
context is a bit puzzling. Chapter 6 starts abruptly, without any transitions
or explicit indicatioM of what is to follow or who is talking: 'And it happen-
ed, when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were
born ... '. Two expressions signal a new beginning, v ~ '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. Does it, namely. in-
dicate to him that here beginsa retelling of the story of Noah and theflood?
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NEOTESfAMENTICA 17 (1983) 25
trouble before the ears of God (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 it 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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