2 Enoch 1 - Enoch’s Two Great Men
2 Enoch 1
Section: Introduction
Translated by W.R. Morfill, ed. R.H. Charles (1896)
Concerning the Life and the Dream of Enoch
THERE was a very ° wise man and a worker of great things : God loved him, and received him, so that he should see the heavenly abodes, the kingdoms of the wise, great, incon- celvable and never-changing God, the Lord of all, the wonderful and glorious, and bright and all-beholding station of the servants of the Lord, and the unapproachable throne of the Lord, and the degrees and manifestations of the in- corporeal hosts, and should be an eye-witness of the unspeak- able ministrations of the multitude of creatures, and of the varying appearance, and indescribable singing of the host of Cherubim, and of the immeasurable world.
I. 1. At that time he said: ‘Hardly had I aecomplished 165 years, when I begat my son Methusal: after that I lived 200 years and accomplished all the years of my life, 365
1 This general title appears in B as These are the secret books of God which were shown to Enoch.
Introduction. THIS 18 ENTIRELY WANTING IN B. 2 Sok. om. I have retained the headings of the Sections which are given in A, as they are valuable for critical purposes; but as they do not belong to the original text I have enclosed them in brackets. 3 Sok. om.
I. * Bom.; Sok. supports text.
B
2 The Book of the Secrets of Enoch.
years. 2. *On the first day of the first month! I was aloue in my house, *and I rested on my bed and slept. 3. And as I slept a great grief came upon my heart, and I wept with mine eyes? *in my dream, and I could not understand what this grief meant, or what would happen to me 3. 4. And there appeared to me two men very tall, such as I have never seen on earth. 5. And their faces * shone like the sun 4, and their eyes * were like burning lamps®; and fire came forth from their lips. *Their dress had the appearance of feathers : their feet were purple °, *their wings were brighter than gold’;
- their hands whiter than snow*%. They stood at the head of my bed and called me by my name. 6. I awoke from my sleep and *saw clearly these men standing in front of me®.
- 1 * hastened and® made obeisance to them and * was terrified, and the appearance of my countenance was changed !° from fear. 8. And these! men said to me: “ Be of good cheer, Enoch, be not afraid; the everlasting God hath sent us to thee, and lo! to-day thou shalt ascend with us into heaven.
1 In the second month on an appointed day, B; Sok. is conflate. 7 I had made myself melancholy weeping with my eyes, and I lay down on my bed to sleep, B. 8 Bom.; Sok. supports text. ‘ Were like the shining sun, Sok. °* Burnt likelamps, A. ‘SoSok. A reads there was a conspicuousness in their raiment and singing, in ap- pearance purple; B, their dress and singing were wonderful. 7 And on their shoulders as it were golden wings, B. 8 So Sok.; standing up quickly (?),B; Aom. *® A Bom. *™ Veiled my face, B, u The two, Sok. 2 Almighty, B.
I, With verses 2, 3, cf. Eth. En. Ixxxill. 3,5. 5. Faces shone like the sun: cf. xix. 1; Rev. i. 16; 4 Ezra [vi. 71]. Byes were like burning lamps, from Dan. x. 6 WN “PBDD VY: of. Ezek. i. 13; Rev. i. 14; xix. 12. Fire came forth from their lips: cf. for lan- guage Rev. ix. 17; xi. 5. Their dress… purple: the text is corrupt. Their hands whiter than snow; ef, Eth. En. evi. z, 10 ‘his body was
whiter than snow’: Apoc. Petri 7a pev yap copara abriv Fv devadrepa naons xtévos, 7. Countenance was changed : Dan. v. 6, 9, Io. 8. Be of good cheer: Matt, ix. 2 @dpce; xiv. 27; Mark vi. 50; x. 29; Acts xxlil, IL; xxvii. 22, 25. In LXX Gen. xxxv. 17; Exod. xiv. 13, &c. @dpoe is a rendering of NTRn ON Be not afraid: cf. z Kings i, 15; Ezek. ii. 6, &c.; Eth. En.xv.1. The conjunction of Be of good cheer and
Chapters I, 2—IT. 2. 3
g. And tell thy sons and thy servants, all} *who work? *in thy house °, and let no one seek thee, till the Lord bring thee back to them.” 10. And I *hastened to obey * them, and went out *of my house®. And I called my sons Methusal, Regim [*and Gaidal °], and told them what wonderful’ things *the two men ® had said to me.’