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The Ethiopic Enoch • • • 21 given to man as a great blessing.14 Here we have the same sort of thinking that appears in the story of the Tree of Knowledge and the Greek myth of Prometheus. Quite possibly there was some Hellenistic influence on this and other versions of our myth. There must have been constant interchange of folk-beliefs and ideas in ancient as in modern times. Persian and Babylonian influences, though more problematical, cannot be ruled out.15 But we can be quite sure that the chief sources of the myth are Canaanite, and that its present form is distinctively Jewish. For it was called forth by the tension between the existence of vast and seemingly triumphant evil in the world and the Jewish belief in one righteous God. CHAPTER FOUR The Ethiopic Enoch (Continued) Somewhat later than the chapters just consideredaccording to Dr. Charles—are those which now follow immediately the first account of the fallen angels. Here we find the ancient seer Enoch in direct contact with the rebellious spirits. He has already ceased to be a mortal, and appears in his character of heavenly scribe. These chapters are somewhat muddled and, instead of following them in their present disorder, it will be easier to summarize the new ideas that appear in them. First, Enoch's association with the reprobate angels. He is summoned by the loyal Watchers to rebuke the fallen members of their order, who shall never know peace and forgiveness and shall witness the slaughter of their children. Enoch tells Azazel of the sentence imposed on him for teaching men unrighteousness . But the other fallen angels beg him to draw up a petition for their pardon and present it before the heavenly Throne. To this he accedes and, going to a place near Dan and Hermon (again the North Palestinian locale), he reads the petition aloud till he falls asleep. In a vision Enoch beholds the heavenly assize and is given the verdict. On awakening he transmits the decision to the fallen Watchers, who receive it with faces covered. 22 • • • Fallen Angels Their plea is utterly rejected. They shall never return to heaven. After beholding the massacre of their children, they shall be fettered to the earth as long as the world lasts. "You should intercede for men," Enoch must tell them, "not men for you." The nature of their sin is made clear: they, who should have been holy and spiritual, had defiled themselves by lusting for flesh and blood. "You were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life and immortal for all the generations of the world; and therefore I have not appointed wives for you." Moreover, they had committed a great wrong in revealing heavenly mysteries, for through these secrets men and women do much evil. Yet these secrets are trivial—for the truly important arcana had not been revealed even to the angels.1 This episode serves to underscore the greatness of their crime, which can never be expiated. At the same time it reveals the high rank to which Enoch had attained. Though his pleading was unsuccessful, he at least undertook it—whereas we read in an earlier fragment that even Michael, the greatest of the archangels, dared not intercede for his fallen colleagues.2 Enoch has already become a favorite in the celestial halls: we shall see him attaining even greater honors later on. A second and very important element in this section is the account of how evil spirits came into the world. Everyone believed in the reality of demons: but what was their origin? Above all, how did they originate in the world created by a good God? Our chapters explain that these dark powers are the result of the miscegenation of angels and mortals; but the details are contradictory . One passage states that the giants became evil spirits; another , that the fallen angels became evil spirits, leading men astray to sacrifice to demons, while the women they married became sirens. But the usual view is that when the giants were slaughtered, in accordance with the punishment decreed for them, the evil spirits emerged from their bodies. In any event, the demons, once they made their appearance, remain at large until the final judgment. "They take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst and cause offences." 3 This story not only accounts for the existence of evil spirits, but makes more logical the belief that evil in the world is due to the fall of the...

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