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The Ethiopic Enoch • • • 23 then could the old sin have had an enduring effect? The answer is now given that the fall of the angels led to the generation of demons, who could not be drowned by the Flood and who transmitted to subsequent ages the baneful influence of their sires. A third new item is a brief story telling how Enoch journeyed through the remote parts of the universe. In a spot which is neither heaven above nor firm earth beneath, he beheld seven great stars like burning mountains. His angel-guide explained to him that these stars were being punished for failing to rise at their appointed time. Their punishment was to last ten thousand years.4 This really has nothing to do with our theme. We note it only because from time to time, in ancient and medieval thought, angels and stars have been closely identified. Several scholars have suggested that the myth of the fallen angels was inspired by the phenomenon of shooting stars.5 This may be true of the pagan sources of our myth—not the myth itself. But in the present section, wicked stars and wicked angels are not the same. The punishment of the stars is appropriate to them; it will last a long time, but not forever. CHAPTER FIVE The Ethiopic Enoch (Concluded) Iow we come to a kind of vision, or apocalypse, Iquite common in the Outside Books. In it an ancient seer beholds the panorama of world history, from Creation to the coming of the Messiah. This final redemption is to be preceded by a period of great suffering. Such revelations were written to give hope and courage to the people in times of persecution . Their basic message is: Stand fast a little longer, then goodness will triumph. We can fix the date of such writings with some assurance: the point at which the review of history issues into predictions of trouble followed by the appearance of the Messiah is the point of time when the author was actually writing . Thus the vision in I Enoch 85-90 was composed during the years when the pious patriots of Judea were fighting for religious 24 • • • Fallen Angels liberty against the tyranny of the Syrian, Antiochus IV. The persecution began in 168 B.C.E., and our work must have been disseminated not long thereafter.1 As frequently in such writings, the story of mankind is presented in cryptic form—and the symbolism here is particularly grotesque. We read that a star (Semjaza or Azazel) fell from heaven, and began to pasture among the oxen (mankind). Then a number of stars fell, were transformed into bulls, and began to cover the cows (the angels married mortal women), who in turn brought forth elephants, camels, and asses (the giants). As a result , the oxen became restless and began to bite and gore, but themselves fell prey to the wild beasts. The archangels now appear in the guise of men, and one of them stations the seer on a point of vantage where he can see what is to follow. An archangel seizes the first of the fallen stars, binds it and casts it into a horrible abyss. A second gives a sword to the elephants, camels and asses, which thereupon slay one another. A third stones the other fallen stars, binds them hand and foot and casts them into the gulf.2 The course of biblical history is then outlined by means of similar imagery, Israel being symbolized by sheep. Nothing new is added to the biblical story till we reach the period of the later kings. Now we read that God, the "Lord of the Sheep," becomes so disgusted with the sinfulness of his flock that He will no longer care for them Himself. He summons seventy shepherds to guard the sheep and directs them to destroy a specified and limited number of them. These shepherds are to serve singly, each in turn. But the Lord of the Sheep knows in advance that the shepherds are not trustworthy: they will surely kill more of the sheep than they were bidden. So He appoints "another" to record their actions, but not to interfere with them. These shepherds take an active part in the destruction of the Temple and the slaughter of Israel. Thereafter, too, they kill the sheep wantonly and irresponsibly. The recorder renders a report of their wicked deeds on three occasions.3 The account of the Maccabean revolt leads to...

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