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7 The Watchers Traditions in 1 Enoch 1 Enoch 6–16: The Fall of Angels and the Rise of Demons Kevin Sullivan Introduction The Watchers are a type of intermediary being, apparently a distinctive class.1 There may well be Near Eastern precedents for this type of being that were adopted by Second Temple Jews. While the Watchers may have been associated with a type of angelic being at some point, they come to be associated with demons in later Jewish and Christian traditions. In this essay, we explore how the changing status of the Watchers mirrors the emergence in Second Temple Judaism of supernatural or otherworldly beings associated with evil; such beings stand in opposition to God and become especially prevalent in New Testament demonology. It is clear from texts like 1 Enoch 6–16 that the Watchers are not considered equivalent with God, and yet it is also clear that they are much more than human—they initially reside in heaven and are privy to knowledge that humans do not have. The Watchers are in a liminal space between the divine and the 1. For overviews of the Watchers, see John J. Collins, “Watchers,” in the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 1681–85; Michael Mach, Entwicklungsstadien des jüdischen Engelglaubens in vorrabbinischer Zeit (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1992), 34; R. Murray, “The Origin of Aramaic ‘ir, Angel,” Or 53 (1984): 303–17; and R.M. Tuschling, Angels and Orthodoxy: A Study in their Development in Syria and Palestine from the Qumran Texts to Ephrem the Syrian (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007), 89–91; see also, Siam Bhayro, The Shemihazah and Asael Narrative of 1 Enoch 6–11: Introduction, Text, Translation and Commentary with Reference to Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Antecedents (Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2005). 91 human where angels and other intermediary beings often reside. The Book of Watchers indicates that the Watchers are angels, who, because of their conduct, become a separate class of angels (i.e., “fallen” angels). The idea of the “fall of the angels” appears to be part of a significant shift in the conceptualization of the spiritual world in the late Second Temple period. It seems that the fall of the Watchers from heaven corresponded chronologically with (and is directly related to) the development of the idea that a single, evil entity (e.g., Satan) stood in opposition to God on earth. The spirits of the offspring of the fallen angels who remained on earth (even after the Flood) helped give rise to the New Testament concept of the demons as Satan’s minions, so the very concept of the “fall of the angels” gave rise to the idea of demons as they are envisioned in some late Second Temple writings and especially in the New Testament. The meaning of the term “Watcher” (‫)עיר‬ is not entirely clear.2 It likely relates to its Hebrew root, which means “to rouse oneself / be awake.”3 The term is used in the Book of the Watchers to refer not only to angels who ultimately fell, but also to angels who remain in heaven (e.g., 1 En. 12:3). The first biblical reference to the “Watchers” that appears to refer to them as heavenly beings is found in Daniel 4 (vv. 13, 17, and 23). In Daniel, the Watchers are also referred to as “holy ones.” As John Collins says of the Watchers, “Their function overlaps with that of the mal’ak in so far as they can convey a divine message to earth, but they were apparently conceived as a distinct class of angelic beings.”4 Beyond these references, the Watchers appear more commonly in the non-canonical literature: Jub. 4:15, 7:21f, 10:4, T. Reu. 5:6-7, T. Naph. 3:5, CD 2:18, the Genesis Apocryphon, and importantly in the Book of Watchers (1 En. 1–36).5 So, 1 Enoch 6–16 fits into a broader Second Temple Jewish context concerning the fall of the angels. Author and Audience Given the composite nature of this booklet within 1 Enoch, it is difficult to be certain about the author and audience of the Book of the Watchers. Presumably 2. For a discussion of its origins, see Amar Annus, “On the Origin of Watchers: A Comparative Study of the Antediluvian Wisdom in Mesopotamian and Jewish Traditions,” JSP 19 (2010): 277–320, esp. 294 and 314. 3. The root for “Watchers” is a hollow one...

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