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

1 08 The Book of Enoch. [Sect. 11.
and the mighty so often denounced in the Similitudes are the later
Maccabean princes and their Sadducean supporters—the later
Maccabean princes, on the one hand, and not the earlier ; for the
blood of the righteous was not shed as the writer complains (xlvii.
1, 2, 4) before 95 B.C.: the later Maccabean princes, on the other
hand, and not the Herodians; for (1) the Sadducees were not
supporters of the latter, and (2) Eome was not as yet known to
the writer as one of the great world-powers—a fact which neces-
sitates an earlier date than 64 B.C., when Rome interposed
authoritatively in the affairs of Judaea. Thus the date of the
Similitudes could not have been earlier than 94 b. c. or later than
64 b. c. But it is possible to define the date more precisely.
As the Pharisees enjoyed unbroken power and prosperity under
Alexandra 79-70 b. c, the Similitudes must be assigned either
to the years 94-79 or 70-64. Finally, if we consider that lvi. 5-
lvii. 3 a is an interpolation, and that this passage must have been
written and interpolated before 64 B.C., the Similitudes might reason-
ably be referred to the years 94-79. See also Gen. Introd., p. 30.
D. The Problem and its Solution. Seeing that God is a
just God, how comes it that wickedness is throned in high places
and that righteousness is oppressed? Is there no end to the
prosperity and power of unbelieving rulers, and no recompense
of reward for the suffering righteous 1 The author (in the genuine
portions) finds the answer in a comprehensive view of the world's
history : only by tracing evil to its source can the present wrong-
ness of things be understood, and only by pursuing the world's
history to its final issues can its present inequalities be justified.
The author has no interest save for the moral and spiritual worlds,
and this is manifest even in the divine names ' Lord of Spirits,'
' Head of Days/ ' Most High.' Whole hierarchies of angelic beings
appear in lxi. 10-12. His view is strongly apocalyptic, and
follows closely in the wake of Daniel. The origin of Sin is traced
one stage further back than in i-xxxvi. The first authors of sin
were the Satans, the adversaries of man, xl. 7. The Watchers fell
through becoming subject to these, and leading mankind astray,
liv. 6. Punishment was at once meted out to the Watchers, and
they were confined in a deep abyss, liv. 5, to await the final judg-
ment, liv. 6 ; lv. 4 ; lxiv. In the meantime sin flourishes in the
world : sinners deny the name of the Lord of Spirits, xxxviii. 2 ;
xli. 2, and of His Anointed, xlviii. 10; the kings and the mighty
of the earth trust in their sceptre and glory, lxiii. 7, and