2 Enoch 33
2 Enoch 33
Section: Heavenly Journey (Ten Heavens)
Translated by W.R. Morfill, ed. R.H. Charles (1896)
God shows Enoch the Duration of this World, 7000 Years, and
the eighth Thousand is the End. (There wilt be) no Years, no Months, no Weeks, no Days.|
XXXITI. 1. Then also I established the eighth day. Let
1 Though he was changed from the angels, he did not change his nature, but he had thought, as is the mind of just men and sinners, Sok. 2 Sok. adds into Paradise. 3 Sok. om. 4 Sok. adds and those whom before I had not blessed, them also I did not curse. ;
XXXII. * Aadds (against B Sok.) And Adam was five and a half hours in Paradise. B OMITS ENTIRE CHAPTER. § Sok. om.
and pépa Say woews in the Book of Wisdon, iii. 7,18. It is referred to again in xlii. 5 of our text. God’s first coming to the earth was for the
- See xxx. 18, note; Weber, 211, 244.
- Cursed him for (his) ignorance. This ought to refer to the Serpent or to Satan. |
XXXII. 1. My second coming. God’s coming to judge the earth, to bless His people, and to punish their ‘enemies. Thisiscalled xa:pés émaxon7ys
sake of Adam and to bless all that He had made, I viii. 1.
XXXIII. 1, 2. From the fact that Adam did not live to be 1000 years
46 The Book of the Secrets of Enoch.
the eighth be the first * after My work?, and let * the days? be after the fashion of seven thousand. 2. * Let there be at the beginning of the eighth thousand a time when there is no computation, and no end; neither years, nor months,
nor weeks, nor days, nor hours °. 3. And now Enoch, what
XXXIII. ’ Of my rest, Sok, Bomits vERSESI,2. * Aom. ° And let the eighth day be for a heginning in the likeness of eight thousand. So concerning the first day of My rest, and also the eighth day of My rest, let them return continually, Sok. Margin of Sok.’s MS. reads: the beginning of unrighteousness, the time without end, neither years, nor
months, nor weeks, nor days, nor hours.
old, the author of the Book of Jubilees, iv. 30, concludes that the words of Gen. i1,17 ‘In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die’ were actually fulfilled. Itis hence obvious that already before the Christian era 1oco years had come to be regarded as one world-day. To arrive at the conception of a world-week of 7000 years—6oco years from the creation to the judgement, followed by 1000 years, or a millennium of blessedness and rest—it was necessary to proceed but one step further, and this step we find was taken hy the author of our text. In Irenaeus, moreover, Contra Haer. v. 28. 3 this reasoning is given explicitly: doas .. . huépats éyévero 6 Kogpos, ToTavTals XihovTdat ouvredcirat, Kat da rodré gnow ypagy. Kat ouverédecey 6 Oeds TH Huepa Ss’ 7a epya airod & éwoince, al karénavcey ev Ty Huepa ty CO do ndvtwy Tav épyey abrod. roiTo & éo7t Tay mpoyeyovdrwr Sinynots Kal TOY éco- pévay mpopyreia: yap }uépa Kuplou ws a ern. ev ef oby HpepasouvTeTéheoTa Ta, yeyovdra, avepdry oty ori} ouvrédea aitav 7o 9 éros éori, Clemens Alex. Strom. iv. 25 refers to this conception— possibly to our text. It is not impro- bable that the stafements of Cedrenus on this head are drawn from our text. Thus on p. 9 he writes: rovrou xdpw
nidoynon Kat atrn (} hyépa) dnd rod Seo Kal Hyido On xal cdBBarov ws raTa- mavotpos mpoonyopevOn, wai ws Turos THs éBSdpns xedkoernpibos Kai Tw dpaprwrav ovwreAcias, ws “Iwonnnes paprupel ral h Aexry Téveots hy tal Mwoéws elvai pact res dwoxddvyy. It is, we repeat, not improbable that our text is the original source of Cedrenus’ statements, inasmuch as nothing of the kind is found either in Josephus or the Book of Jubilees, from which he professes to derive them. Syncellus, on whom Cedrenus is largely dependent, is frequently wrong in his references in the case of Apocalyptic literature. A most in- teresting expansion and an adapta- tion of the text to Christian concep- tions are to be found in Augustin, De Civ. xxii. 30. 5 ‘Ipse etiam numerus aetatum, veluti dierum, si secundum eos articulus temporis com- putetur qui in Seripturis videntur expressi, iste Sabbatismus evidentius apparebit, quoniam septimus inveni- tur: ué prima aetas tanquam dies primus sit ab Adam usqne ad dilu- vium, secunda inde usque ad Abra- ham. ..ab Abraham usque ad David una, altera inde usque ad transmi- grationem in Babyloniam, tertia inde usque ad Christi carnalem nativitatem. Fiunt itaque omnes quinque. Sexta
Chapter XXXIII, 2-6. 47
things I have told thee, *and what thou hast understood, and what heavenly things thou hast seen!, and what thou hast seen upon the earth, and what * thou hast? written in books, by My wisdom all these things I devised *so as to create them *, and I made them from the highest foundation to the lowest, * and to the end?. 4. And there is no counsellor 4 *nor inheritor of My works!. Iam the eternal One, and the One not made with hands: * My thought is without change, My wisdom is My counsellor and My word is reality ; and My eyes see all things, * if I look to all things * they * stand fast®. If I turn away My face, all are in need of Me. 5. And now pay attention, Enoch, and know thou who is speaking to thee, and do thou take the books which thou thyself hast written. 6. And I give thee *Samuil and Raguil’ who brought thee * to Me® And go * with them® upon the earth, and tell thy sons what things I have said to
1 Bom. 4 TI have, A. 3 A om. * Lamp, B. 5 My thought is a lamp, B. ° Stand and tremble with fear, A Sok. 7 Semil and Rasuil, B; B adds and him. ®- B Sok. om.
nunc agitur… post hanc tanquam in die septimo requiescet Deus, cum eundem septimum diem, quod nos erimus, in se ipso Deo faciet requies- cere. … Haec tamen septima erit Sabbatum nostrum, cuius finis non erit vespera, sed dominicus dies velut octavus acternus. … Ecce quod erit in fine sine fine.’ For other specula- tions in reference to the world-week see Evang. Nicodemi, ii. 12; Book of Adam and Eve, I. iii. A time when there is no computation… neither years nor months, &c. Sibyll. Or. vili. 424-427 may have been influenced by our text where it speaks of the eternity of blessed- ness:
Ox &7: Aovrdv épeis Avmovpevos ‘‘ai-
prov éorat,” Ove “ éxOes yéyover’” ode Fuata TOA- Ad pepipyys, !
Ob« Eap, od xeipmy, odt’ Ap Gépos, od perdmapoy, Od Bvats dyroAin: Hyap. 38. I made them from the highest foundation to the lowest: cf. Ecclus. xviii. 1 6 (@y eis rdv aidva ExTi€ Ta MavTa KoA, where xo.v7 is a rendering of 1°”, 4. My thought is without change. Num. xxii. 19; I Sam. xv. 29; Ezek. xxiv. 14. My wisdom is My coun- sellor. See xxx. 8 (note). Cf. Ecclus. xlii. 22 «at od mpocedenOy ovdevds aupBotAov. My word is reality. So Eth. En. xiv. 22 (Gk.) was Adyos abrav épyov. Cf. Ps. xxxiii. 9; Ecclus. xlii. 15 év Ad-yous xupiov 7a épyaavrov. My eyes see all things: ef. Ecclus. xxxix. 19. If I turn away My face, &. Ps. civ. 29 ‘Thou hidest Thy face, they are
moinow yap waxpov
48 The Book of the Secrets of Enoch.
thee, and what thou hast seen from the lowest heaven up to My throne. 47. For I have created all the hosts, and all the powers, and there is none that opposes Me, or is disobedient to Me. For all are obedient to My sole power, and labour for My rule alone. 8. Give! them the works written ont by thee, *and they shall read them, and know Me to he the Creator of all; and shall understand that there is no other God beside Me 2%. g. * They shall distribute the books of thy writing to their children’s children®, and from generation to generation, and from nation to nation. Io. * And I will give thee, Enoch, My messenger, the great captain Michael, for thy writings and for the writings of thy fathers, Adam, Seth, Enos, Kainan, Malaleel, and Jared, thy father *. ie @
- And I shall not require them till the last age, for I have instructed My two angels, Arinkh and Pariukh, whom I have put upon the earth as their guardians. 12, And J have ordered them in time to guard them that the account of what I shall do in thy family may not be lost in the deluge to come ®.
1 I will give, A. 2 Bom. 5 Let the children give them to
the children, B. * As being the messenger Enoch of my captain Michael. Because that thy writings and the writings of thy fathers, Adam and Sit, B. 5 (Because these) will not be required till
the last age, I have ordered my angels, Oriokh and Mariokh, to give orders to guard in season the writings which I have placed upon the earth, and that they should guard the writings of thy fathers, so that what I have wrought in thy family may not be lost, B; A om. In the text I have followed Sok., but that for to punish them I havé read to guard them with B.
troubled.’ 6. Cf. Eth. En. lxxxi. committed to the keeping of men, 5,6. Samuil. This is either from they are under the guardianship of Sx yiny = heard of God, 1 Sam. i, special angels until the time for their 20, or from WY and PN = nawe of complete disclosure and understand- God. Raguil is a transliteration of ing has come. See verses 11, 12. Say = friend of God. 9. Cf. 10. Michael was the guardian angel xlvii. 2, 3; xlviii. 7-9; liv; lxv. 5; of Israel: Dan. x. 13, 21; xii. 1. Eth. En. lxxxii. 1, 2, where, exactly See Eth. En. ix. 1; x. 103 xx. 5 as here, the hooks are to be trans- (note); xl. 4, &c.; Weber, 165. = 11. mitted straightway to the generations Till the last age. At last the time of the world, whereas in i. 2; xciii. for the due comprehension of these 10; civ. 12 the method and times books will arrive: see ver. 9, note; of the disclosure of the hooks are xxxv. 2, 3; (liv); Eth. En. xciii. different. Though the writings are 10; civ.12. Ariukh. This proper
Chapters XXXII, 7-~XXXV. +. 49
[God accuses the Idolators ; the Workers of Inigquity, such as