the-book-of-enoch-r-h-charles - Fallen Angels

Sect. 11 Clmpter XXX VII 1-4 69
The Parables,
XXXVII. 1. The second vision which he saw, the vision o£
wisdom—which Enoch the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,
the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of
Adam, saw. 2. And this is the beginning of the words
of wisdom which I lifted up my voice to speak and say to those
which dwell on earth : Hear, ye men of old time, and see, ye
that come after, the words of the Holy One which I will speak
before the Lord of Spirits. 3. It were better to declare (them
only) to the^ men of old time, but even from those that come
after we will not withhold the beginning of wisdom. 4. Till
the present day such wisdom has never been given by the Lord
of Spirits as I have received according to my insight, according
to the good pleasure of the Lord of Spirits by whom the lot of
XXXVII. 1. The genealogy with
which this Section begins agrees with
many other characteristics of the
Parables in marking it out as an in-
dependent work. The second vision.
Apparently the first vision is that re-
ferred to in 1' ' the vision of the Holy
One in the heavens'. 2. Begin-
ning. The Ethiopic word here and in
tlie next verse could be rendered ' sum '.
The phrase may = DMnn CNI. But
inProv. 9"itisnK)3n n^nn. And
say {m,0-dijin), a-m, dt/^a read 'say'.
Men of old time. These would em-
brace Cainan, Mahalalel, and Jared,
according to the LXX chronology,
wliich is followed in the Similitudes.
See 54'' (note) 70* (note). "Words
of the Holy One {gmt,fvj)). Other
MSS. ' holy words '. Lord of Spirits.
This expression occurs in 2 Maco. 3^*
o Twv TTvfViiaToiv . . . dwaoTT)^ and
nowhere else in contemporary or earlier
writings that I am aware of. The way
is prepared for it in Num. 16^^ 27^'
' the G-od of the Spirits of all flesh '.
Of. also Heb. 12" the Father of Spirits '-
The phrase ' Lord of Spirits ' is found
in 37* (twice) 38^ (twice),
*. « 39'. '
(twice), '. 9 (twice), ^'^ ''• W, *. 5, e, 7, lo
il'' (twice), «. '' 43* (twice) 45'. " 46'
(twice), «. '. ''
« 47'> 2 (twice), * 48^ '. «.
(twice), " (twice) 492. 4 502, s (twice), ^
51' 52". 9 538 54B. ' 55'.* 575 58*. « (twice)
5Sh'' QOe,',^^,'^ (twice) 61=. ^«.» (thrice),
". " (twice) 622. 10, 12, 14, le (twice) 63'.
(twice), '. 12 (twice) 65»." 66^ 67'. ' 68*
(twice) 692< (twice), '" 70' 71'. ". We
find it in all 104 times, and 28 of these
at least in the Interpolations. In the
genuine portions it stands in the closest
connexion with tlie character of its con-
text ; cf. 39" 401-1" 46'-', &c.; but in the
Interpolations this appropriateness is
wanting; cf. 41^. '' 59'. ' where only things
of the natural world are in question.
This leads to the conjecture that this title
was introduced into these Interpolations
when they were incorporated in the
Parables, with a view of adapting them
to their new contexts. 3. To the
men of old time. Here for 'SUft I have
read la'gUa. For construction cf. 95'.
4. Cf. 2 Enoch 47^ ' There have been
many books from the beginning of Crea-
tion , . . but none shall make things
known to you like my writings '. See also,
our text 93i