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

Sect. V.] Chapter XCIII. 3-1 1. 273
of glory and dominion be built for ever. 8. And after that
in the sixth week, all those who live in it will be blinded,
and the hearts of all of them will be given over to a wicked
forgetfulness of wisdom, and in it a man will ascend; and at
its close the house of dominion will be burnt with fire, and
the whole race of the elect root will be dispersed. 9. And
after that in the seventh week will a generation arise and
many will be its deeds, and all its deeds will be apostate.
10. And at its close will the elect of righteousness of the
eternal plant of righteousness be elected to receive sevenfold
instruction concerning His whole creation. [u. For who
and righteousness will appear.' 9. Generation. So G M.
Other MSS. 'apostate generation.' 10. The elect of righteousness.
So D G L O. G reads J&t^fr ^fii 8\£fr. ABCFHI
give 'the elect, the righteous.' EN 'the elect and righteous.'
Be elected. So A(C)EFGHIMN fl^tf. Din. with
B D gives ' be recompensed.' Concerning His whole
ever,' though one form of it may give
place to another. If this Apocalypse
of Weeks was originally an integral
part of xci-civ, this ' for ever ' means
only an indefinitely long time ; for
though there is an eternal law, there
appears to be no Temple after the
final judgment, and the risen right-
eous enjoy a purely spiritual existence
like the angels, as in the Book of
Jubilees, and possibly in the Pss. of
Solomon. 8. The time of the
divided kingdom in Israel, of growing
degeneracy and darkness. A man,
i.e. Elijah: cf. lxxxix. 52. At the
close of this week the Temple is
destroyed and the nation carried into
captivity. 9. This week embraces
the period from the Captivity to the
time of the author. It is an apostate
period. The same judgment is passed
upon it in lxxxix. 73-75. 10. The
writer here refers to his own dis-
closures which will be made known
at the end of the seventh week. It
might seem that it would be im-
possible for any writer to make such
extravagant claims for his productions.
We find some slight approach to these
in Ecclus. xxiv. 28-32, and a perfect
parallel in the case of'Walking' Stewart
of the early part of this century.
This writer, who was also the greatest
traveller of his age, styles one of his
productions, ' this unparalleled work
of human energy,' and describes him-
self as possessing a ' unique mind,'
and ' unparalleled energies of genius.'
Nay, more, he makes the era of
1 Intellectual Life or Moral World '
to date from the publication of his
chief work, and, believing that only
future ages would appreciate him, pre-
vailed on his personal friends to bury
his books in secure places ; see De
Quincey's Essays, vol. vii. The elect
of righteousness. The revelations
are designed for these, for only these