02.07.2013 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

324<br />

<strong>The</strong> Book <strong>of</strong> <strong>Enoch</strong>.<br />

5, 6, 8 ; vi. 8 ; viii. 3 \ ix. 4, 6 ; x. 7, 9 (ixaCqpeovs a much less<br />

correct transliteration than that given by Eth.), 10, 11, 14, 19,<br />

20; xi. I ; xii. », 6 ; xiii. 1, 10 ; xiv. 2, 6, 8, 13, 15, 18, 19, 23 ;<br />

xv. 8, 9, 2 ; xvi. 3 ; xvii. 3, 6, 7 ; xviii. 3, 4, 5, 1 1 ; xx. 4, 5 (?)<br />

xxi. 3, 7 (?); xxii. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 14; xxiii. 2 ; xxiv. 3, 4(?);<br />

xxv. 3, 5; xxvi. 2 ;<br />

xxvii. 3; xxviii. 2, 3; xxxi. 2, 3; xxxii. 2, 3.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is another interesting class <strong>of</strong> corruptions character-<br />

istic <strong>of</strong> the Giz. Gk. <strong>from</strong> which the Eth. is comparatively-<br />

free : i. e. transpositions <strong>of</strong> the text. <strong>The</strong>se are found in i. 2<br />

vi. 8; x. 19; xii. 4; xiii. 1, 10; xiv. 15; xv. 12 ; xxv. 3, 5;<br />

xxxii. 2. In the Eth. in ix. 8 ; xvii. 4 ; xix. 1 ; xxi. 9<br />

xxviii. 3 ;<br />

xxxi. 2.<br />

I have remarked above that the corruptions in the Giz.<br />

Gk. are very deep-seated. In fact, without the help <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Eth. it would be impossible to retrieve the original text in<br />

such passages as x. 19; xiv. 15; xvii. 3; xxviii. 2, 3 and<br />

others. <strong>The</strong> Eth., on the other hand, is by no means in such<br />

an evil strait. Hence the conclusion to which all the pre-<br />

ceding facts point is that the Eth. preserves a more ancient and<br />

trustworthy form <strong>of</strong><br />

text than the Giz. Gk. : that it has fewer<br />

additions, fewer omissions, and fewer and less serious corruptions<br />

than that text.<br />

<strong>The</strong> results at which we have thus arrived are in perfect<br />

harmony with the external history <strong>of</strong> the Giz. Gk. text and<br />

the Eth. version. <strong>The</strong> former cannot be earlier than the<br />

eighth century, and may be as late as the twelfth: It is<br />

possible, therefore, that it is a descendant <strong>of</strong> the second<br />

or third degree <strong>from</strong> x. This <strong>of</strong> itself would account for<br />

some <strong>of</strong> the corruptions; but the real explanation <strong>of</strong> its<br />

vicious orthography and syntax and <strong>of</strong> its very numerous<br />

and serious corruptions is that the Book <strong>of</strong> <strong>Enoch</strong> was <strong>from</strong><br />

the fifth century onward practically a proscribed <strong>book</strong> and<br />

under the ban <strong>of</strong> the Greek and Latin Churches. Accord-<br />

ingly, it was copied without care, and the way was opened<br />

for every kind <strong>of</strong> depravation <strong>of</strong> the text. <strong>The</strong> Eth. version<br />

(circ. 500 A. d.), on the other hand, was, so far as we know,

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!