2 Enoch 43
2 Enoch 43
Section: Instructions to Sons
Translated by W.R. Morfill, ed. R.H. Charles (1896)
How Enoch saw those who keep the Keys, and the Guardians of the Gates of Hades standing by
XLIL 1. I saw * those who keep the keys, and are the guardians of the gates of hell, standing *, like great serpents,
XLI.! Bom. 7? The destruction of the unholy, B. heart, B.
XLIi. ‘ The guardians of hell holding the keys, standing oppo- site to the gates, B. B blends xli and xlii, 1-2 together in this order,
xlii. 1; xli; xlii. 2. It will be seen that it omits reference to Adam and Eve.
$ I said in my
From being the scribe of God’s works, as he is universally in the Eth. and the Slav. Enoch, the transition was easy to the conception of Enoch as a scribe of the deeds of men. Cf. for later tradition Test. Abraham (ed. James), p. 115 sad efmey ‘ABpudp mpds Mixand’ Kupie,… tis éoriv 6 ddAos 6 éAdyxov Tas dyaprias; «ai A€yet Mixand mpds ‘ABpady.. . 6 dmo- Seavipevos ourds éorty 6 5daoKxadrvs Tov ovpavod Kai Tis yhs Kai ypapparets Tihs Sixarocuvys “Evwx: dwéaredrev yap Kuptos auTots évTaida, iva dmoypa- gwow tds duaprias kal ras d:xococdvas Exao7ov.
XL. 1. It seems to be implied here that the forefathers of Enoch, including Adam and Eve, are in the place of punishment, and that they are to remain there till God comes to judge the world (xlii. 5, note). That
Adam and the patriarchs were in Hades was a prevalent early Christian belief. Cf. Descensus ad Inferos, viii-ix, 2. Cf. 4 Ezra iv. 12 ‘ Melius erat nos non adesse quam advenientes
.. pati” Eth. En, xxxviii. 2; Apoe. Bar. x. 6.
XLII. 1. Who keep the keys. In Sibyll. Or. viii. 121-2 we have a strange application of this idea :
alay kowds Gnacw
KAadopudat elpxrijs peydAns ént
Bipa Oeoto.
Keys. Cf. Rev. ix.1; xx. 1. Guar- dians of the gates of hell. <Ac- cording to Emek hammelech, fol. 144, col. 2, each division of hell is under the control of a certain angel (Eisen- menger, ii, 332). The Greek word here may have heen 7ypeAovyot, In the singular number it has become @ proper name in Apoc. Pauli. Like
and their faces were like quenched Jamps, and their eyes were fiery’, and their teeth were sharp”. *And they were stripped to the waist®. 2, And I said * before their faces 4, ‘Would that I had not seen you, * nor heard of your doings 5,
- and that those of my race had never come to you®! *Now they have only sinned a little in this life, and always suffer in the eternal life 7.’ 3. * I went out to the East, to the paradise of Eden, where rest bas been prepared for the just, and it is open to the third heaven, and shut from this world °.
-
- And guards are placed at the very great gates of the east of the sun, ie. fiery angels, singing triumphant songs, that never cease rejoicing in the presence of the just.
- At the last coming they will lead forth Adam with our forefathers, and conduct them there, that they may rejoice, as a man calls those whom he loves to feast with him ; and they having come with joy hold converse, before the dwelling of that man’, * with joy awaiting his feast, the enjoyment and the immeasurable wealth, and joy and merriment in the light, and eternal life?. 6. * Then
1 Like a darkened flame, B. 2 B Sok. om, 3 A om. * To the persons (there), B. > Bom. A oOMITS VERSES 2-14%. © Nor brought my family to you, Sok. 7 Bom. 8 B seems to recall this verse in the words: And I saw there a blessed place and every created thing blessed. B introduces this section with the words: Entry of Enoch unto the Paradise ofthe Just. ° And all living there in joy and in boundless happiness and eternal life, B.
quenched lamps. Contrast the faces xli. 1 (mote). The idea that the
and eyes of the heavenly angels, i. 5. 2.Cf. xli.z. 3. The expression ‘open to the third heaven’ is strange; it would seem to imply that this is not the heavenly Paradise in the third heaven, but the original Garden of Eden. On the other hand, as this Paradise is prepared for the right- eous, we are obliged to identify it with the Paradise of this third heaven described in viii-ix. 5. The last coming. See xxxii.1 (note) ; lviii, 1. Adam with our forefathers. See
patriarchs were in hell or hades is at variance with what is stated or implied in some parts of the Eth. En. Cf. Ix. 8, 233; Ixi. 125; 1xx. 3, 4, where we find Paradise already peopled with the righteous; but it is not incom- patible with Ixxxix. 52; xciii. 8, where apparently Enoch and Elijah are its only inhabitants. According to xxii the patriarchs were to remain in hades till the final judgement. This would, in some degree, harmen- ize with our text, 6-14. Nine
58 The Book of the Secrets of Enoch.
I said}, ‘I tell you, my children: blessed is he who fears
- the name of the Lord, and serves continually before His face, and brings his gifts with fear continually in this life”, *and lives all his life justly, and dies °. 7. Blessed is he who executes a just judgement, * not for the sake of recom- pense, but for the sake of righteousness, expecting nothing in return: a sincere judgement shall afterwards come to him 3. 8. * Blessed is he who clothes the naked with a garment, and gives his bread to the hungry. g. Blessed is he who gives a just judgement for the orphan and the widow, aud assists every one who is wronged *.
- Blessed is he who turns from the * unstable path of this vain world®, and walks by the righteous path * which leads
to eternal life *. 11. Blessed is he who sows just seed,
1 Sok. om. * And serves the Lord; and do you, my children, learn to bring gifts to the Lord that you may have life, B. $ Bom.
- Blessed is he who has given a just judgement, and assists the orphan and the widow, and every one who is oppressed: clothes the naked,
and gives bread to the hungry, B.
beatitudes. These are very colour- less. 7. Executes a just judge- ment, Cf. ix; Ezek. xviii. 8. This verse recalls in some measure the words of Antigonus of Socho: ‘Be not like servants who ¢erve their master for the sake of reward, but be like those who do service without respect to recouipense, and live al- waysinthe fear ofGod. Expecting nothing in return. Cf. Luke vi. 35. Sincere. Corrupt. With the entire verse we have a good parallel in Orac. Sibyll. ii. 61, 63
navrta Sinaia vépew, pnd eis dbixov
Kpiow é€dOis. fv ob naxa@s GiKdons, o& Peds peré- metta Stndooe.
- These words are found in ix,
- Cf. ix; Ps. x. 18; Is. i. 17; Jer. xxii. 3, 16; Zech. vii. 9, 10. 10.
Path of deceit, B.
Walks by the righteous path. Cf. Prov. iv, 11; Or Sibyll. iii, g-10 rinte . .. aux evOeiay arapnoy Baivere GOavdrav KrioTad pepynpévat alei: also Fragm. i. 23 sq. 112. Is the blessing for those who sow seed that is justly their own? In Orac, Sibyll. ii, 71-72, ‘he who steals seed is accursed for ever’: Onéppara pr) KA€wrew* éemapacipas ds Tis EAnTat és yeveds yevedy, és oxapmopdv Bidr ato. On the other hand, the reference may be metaphorical and the sense as fol- lows: ‘From your righteous deeda ye willreap sevenfold’ This is probably an adaptation of Ecclus. vii. 3 47 oetpe én’ avAanas dbutias, Kai ad pi Oepions
Cf. Job iv. 8;
auras énrandacls.
Chapters XLH, 7—XLITTI, 2. 59
he shall reap sevenfold. 12. Blessed is he in whom is the truth, that he may speak the truth to his neighbour?. 13. Blessed is he * who has love upon his lips, and tenderness in his heart ?. 14. Blessed is he who understands every work of the Lord, * and glorifies the Lord God; *for the works of the Lord are just, and of the works of man some are good, and others evil, and by their works those who have wrought them are known +.
[ Enoch shows his Children how he measured and wrote out