The book of Enoch : translated from Professor Dillmann's Ethiopic ...

Sect. I.] Chapters XX. 5 — XXII. 1. 93
said : \ Wherefore dost thou ask, and why dost thou enquire
and art curious ? 6. These are the stars which have trans-
gressed the commandment of God, and are bound here till ten
thousand ages, the number of the days of their guilt, are con-
summated/ 7. And from thence I went to another place,
which was still more horrible than the former, and I saw
a horrible thing : a great fire was there which flamed and
blazed, and the place was cleft as far as the abyss, being
full of great descending columns of fire : its extent and
size I could not see, nor was I able to see its origin.
8. Then I spake c How horrible is this place and how hideous
to look upon !
' 9. Then Uriel answered me, one of the holy
angels who was with me : he answered and spake to me c Why
do you entertain such fear and alarm at this horrible place
and in the presence of this pain?'' 10. And he spake to
me ' This place is the prison of the angels, and here they will
be imprisoned for ever/
XXII. 1. And then I went to another place, and he showed
phrase, xxiv. 6. Ethiopic MSS. wrongly 'and was my chief ' or
' guide/ Why dost thou enquire and art curious ? So G M.
Din. and FHLNO insert 'why dost thou ask?' after why dost
thou enquire ? 6. God. So G and the Giz. Gk. Din. gives
'Most High God.' 7. The place was cleft. So G, reading
tn>*iJ« instead of Dln/s corrupt w(\k, and the Giz. Gk. dLaKonrju
ei^ei/ 6 tokos. 8. Hideous to look upon. So G thlP'F .
Other MSS. toPHF* 'painful to look upon.'
6. God. Late MSS. read ' Most High detailed description of Sheol or Hades.
God,' but wrongly—see Crit. Note. According to this writer Sheol is
This title is not found in Enoch situated in the far west according to
though ' Most High ' is found in Greek and Egyptian ideas, and in
all the sections : see xcix. 3 (note). this respect the writer runs counter
7-10. In these verses we have a full to the views of the Hebrews who
description of the final place of punish- placed Sheol in the underworld. In
ment for the angels. See xviii. 11 all the other sections of the book the
xix. Hebrew conception prevails. This is
XXII. This chapter contains a very the most ancient account of the