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

210 The Book of Enoch [Sect. IV
j- shepherds andf eagles and
those vultures and kites came,
a ditto jraphy in the Helirew. 'Shepherds'
= D'VT corrupt fur D'3"lV =
' ravens ', which occurs later in the
text. Next, it is absurd for the text
to state that the eagles, vultures, and
kites ' cried to the ravens ' to help to
break the horn of that ram, seeing that
the ravens, i. e. the Syrians, had begun
the fighting with the sheep, and the
eagles, &c., only came to assist them.
Now if we look at ver. 16 we see that
' the ravens ' are enumerated along
with the eagles, vultures, and kites,
and no doubt this is the right text.
How then are we to explain ' they cried
to ' ? These words = enpa^ov = IpyP,
but the word )pW should have been
punctuated ^pVI) = ' were gathered
together'; cf. Judg. 6". '« IS^a Jos. 8^^
1 Sam. 14'"', in all which passages
the LXX (like the Greek translator of
our text) mistranslates ^pW as if it
were ^pVt^-
Or the confusion may have
arisen similarly from a mistranslation of
^pysfi which is rendered in the LXX as
if it were IpSJV! except in Judg. 12'.
Hence ver. 13 is to be read as follows
' And I saw till the ravens and eagles
and vultures and kites were gathered
together,' &c. Now if we compare
ver. 16 we find that we have here
recovered the original ; for thus far
the verses agree word for word.
The above facts have a farther value.
They prove that the double f existed
already in Greek, and not only so but
in the Hebrew. In ver. 19 there is no
diflSiculty. The sword is given to
Israel to resist the hosts of Gog and to
avenge itself on its heathen oppressors.
In ver. 14 the text is corrupt. The
original is undoubtedly preserved with
more faithfulness in ver. 17. Ver. 17
comes at the close of the ^'ictory of
:
tures and ravens and kites
were gathered together, and
Israel over Gog and his hosts. It tells
how the angel gives an account of the
doings of ttie twelve last shepherds,
just as in SQ!" he had given an
account of the first two divisions of them.
There is no real occasion here for his
intervention in behalf of Israel. Israel
is already victorious in ver. 19, which
precedes ver. 14. Hence I bracket the
words ' came and helped it and showed
it everything : he had come down for
the help of that ram'. But these
words are full of interest. Before we
deal further with them we must return
to the first part of ver. 14. It is
evidently imperfect. There is no
object for the verb ' carried up '.
This should evidently be ' the book
mentioned in ver. 17 ; cf. 89'". '"• '«. ".
Corresponding to ' carried up ' in ver.
14 we find 'opened' in ver. 17. It
is probable that ' opened ' was pre-
ceded by ' carried up ' which we find
in ver. 14. The usage of our author
seems to require the presence of this
phrase ; cf. 89 ' carried up . . . and
showed ' and similarly in 89'*. Yet
the opening of the books is not men-
tioned specifically till 90'"'. This
opening follows on the breaking of the
seals. Hence there is just a bare
possibility that cojj toC avotiai is corrupt
for ecus Tov avoiam (a form found in
Philo i. 64). Hence ver. 14 so far as
it survives would run :
' And I saw
till that man, who wrote down the
names of the shepherds, carried up (the
book) into the presence of the Lord of the
sheep.' And in ver. 17 we should read
'(carried up) and opened ' or only
' carried up ' for ' opened '. Now we
return to the addition in ver. 14
' Came and helped it and showed it
everything : he had come down for the
help of that ram.' We have seen
' ;