The Book of Enoch - Introduction
Editorial
Preface:
The Book of Enoch was rediscovered in Ethiopia by an Irish clergyman
around 1773, and translated in the 1840's. An Aramaic version of the book
was discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
(More accurate details of the rediscovery and translation will follow later)
The
Book of Enoch's importance (whether actually written by Enoch and passed through
the flood in the Ark, or written by an inspired
writer many years prior to Christ's advent) is that passages and concepts from
the book were quoted by the New Testament authors, esp. Jude, Peter and others.
And if it predates the authors of the Old Testament, then it is possible, it was
drawn on by some of those writers. Let's look at some familiar references:
"And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute
judgement upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of
all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all
the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." (Enoch 1:9)
This was quoted
by Jude in his book.
The term
"Son of Man" is used 18 times in the Book of Enoch (see the following
examples). The Pharisees and disciples were familiar with this terminology
and knew it referred to the Anointed One of God. When Jesus called himself
the Son of Man, the Pharisees understood exactly what it meant.
1
"And there I saw One who had a head of days, And His head was white like
wool, And with Him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a
man, And his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.
2 And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all
the hidden things, concerning that 3 Son of Man, who he was,
and whence he was, (and) why he went with the Ancient of Days? And he answered
and said unto me: This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, With
whom dwelleth righteousness, And who revealeth all the treasures of that which
is hidden, Because the Lord of Hosts hath chosen him, And whose lot hath the
pre-eminence before the Lord of Hosts in uprightness for ever." (Part 8
Chapter 46:1-3)
And how about
this forward looking view of the Redeemed and of Jesus receiving a new name?
1
And in that place I saw the fountain of righteousness Which was inexhaustible:
And around it were many fountains of wisdom: And all the thirsty drank of
them, And were filled with wisdom, And their dwellings were with the righteous
and holy and elect.
2
And at that hour that Son of Man was named In the presence of the Lord
of Hosts, And his name before the Ancient of Days.
3 Yea, before the sun and the signs were created, Before the stars
of the heaven were made, His name was named before the Lord of Hosts.
4 He shall be a staff to the righteous whereon to stay
themselves and not fall, And he shall be the light of the Gentiles, And
the hope of those who are troubled of heart.
5
All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship before him, And will praise
and bless and celebrate with song the Lord of Hosts. 6 And for this
reason hath he been chosen and hidden before Him, Before the creation of
the world and for evermore.
7
And the wisdom of the Lord of Hosts hath revealed him to the holy and
righteous; For he hath preserved the lot of the righteous, Because they have
hated and despised this world of unrighteousness, And have hated all its works
and ways in the name of the Lord of Hosts: For in his name they are saved,
And according to his good pleasure hath it been in regard to their life. (Part
8 Chapter 48:1-7)
Other evidence of the books antiquity is the names of the fallen angels used in
the book.
Azazel,
according to Enoch in an earlier section and mentioned in later sections was one
of the leaders of the fallen "sons of God" that cohabitated with the
"daughters of men" and produced the giants of old and who's violence
caused God to destroy the world with the flood.
The
name of the fallen angel "Azazel" referred to in the Book of Enoch, was also
the Hebrew name for the scapegoat of Day of Atonement service.
A
number of passages in this section and the others, cast additional light on
sections in Revelation, Daniel, Hebrews and Peter.
As time permits, I hope to produce cross references to these with notes of
explanation.
A
couple of other notes:
Since
the original of this version was downloaded off the Internet, I cannot verify the accuracy of
every word, or the consistency between the Ethioptic version and the Aramaic
version.
Certain
words were re-translated to be more readily understood within the King James
version of the Bible. These changes
are listed at the end of this document.
As
with any prophecy, many of the visions or dreams are allegorical and highly
symbolic. This is consistent with the symbolic class of Old and New
Testament prophecy and thus it is the POINT of the story or symbol that one is
look for, rather than drawing conclusions of fact from the details.
My
comments are listed between { }. The
translator's comments, alternate translation phrases, or filling in where the
fragments are illegible or damaged are listed between
[ ]. For ease of reading, a few minor word associations were made.
See the end of the book of Enoch for the short list of these.
Ed
Meelhuysen
Test
all things by the Scriptures!
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