David,
Having written a dissertation and several articles on the Parables, as well as
several items on the Book of
the Watchers in 1 Enoch, I have several "comments" to make to your question below.
The first is that the
Parables of Enoch is a wisdom text that establishes a rather elaborate comparison (and
contrast) between the
order of nature and the human order -- which is probably why it is a mashal, generally
translated "parable" or
"similitude" here (see my article, "Mashal in the Similitudes of Enoch," Journal of
Biblical Literature 100 [1981]:
193-212, in this regard). You're quite right to see a parallel between the heavenly
order and the human order here.
The Parables of Enoch as a whole plays both with a positive comparison between the
righteous and the
astronomical order and a contrast between the wicked (the kings and mighty of the
earth) and that order. While
the Parables of Enoch is not among the Qumran manuscripts, it is probably not that far
removed from them. One
of its names of the Deity is "Lord of Spirits," and it probably can be set alongside
of the Songs of the Sabbath
Sacrifice as a text that flows into the Hekhaloth tradition (see my Tradition and
Composition in the Parables of
Enoch, published by Scholar's Press, for comments on that relationship, which has both
cosmological and
celestial elements).
As second observation is that the whole of the Book of Enoch is infused with
astrological lore that in one
degree or another operates with the same kind of parallelism. The astronomical book
(which follows the Parables
in the Ethiopic version but which may be the earliest of the sections of First Enoch)
relates the heavenly order to
the calendar and comments that the progression of the seasons is out of adjustment
because of human
wickedness. The Book of the Watchers establishes not only an elaborate comparison
between priests and
Watchers or angels (see my "Fallen Angel, Fallen Priest: The Problem of Family Purity
in 1 Enoch 6-16," Hebrew
Union College Annual 50 [1979]: 115-35), but one also notes that the Watchers names
indicate that they
represent astronomical and meteorological phenomena, and that as one works through the
journeys of Enoch in
the latter part of the Book of the Watchers, the text slips back and forth between
fallen Watchers and fallen stars
being punished because they did not follow the Torah and come forth at their appointed
times (in some sense,
there is probably a retention of an older idea in the Hebrew Bible of the stars as
ensouled and therefore capable of
exercising dominion over the seasons or of praising God). For that matter, chapters
2-5 also establish an
elaborate contrast between the orderliness of nature and human wickedness. It is my
argument that what one
finds in the Book of the Watchers is similar to what one encounters in the cult of
Ba'al Shamin (as described by
Teixidor in The Pagan God) in the early Hellenistic period, including an emphasis on
the subordination of the
celestial order to the supreme deity.
I haven't been following this thread that closely, so I'm not sure how it fits
into the entire discussion, but I
am trying to respond to a question about the Parables. It seems fairly clear to me
that the Book of Enoch as a
whole opens an unexpected window on a wealth of cosmological and astronomical or
astrological lore in
Hellenistic era Judaism, using that lore in a way consistent with the wisdom tradition
to establish comparisons
between the natural and human orders, and it's my guess that there are similarities in
the Scrolls, particularly in a
text like the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice.
David Suter
Saint Martin's College
From: "David C. Hindley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [orion-list] RE: stars and names
Date sent: Sat, 26 Jan 2002 11:38:48 -0500
Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> List,
>
> Aside from the "star" terminology so far discussed, would
> anyone care to comment about the use of "star" as found in
> the Parables of Enoch?
>
> 1 Enoch, Chapter 43: 1 And I saw other lightnings and the
> stars of heaven, and I saw how He called them all by their 2
> names and they hearkened unto Him. And I saw how they are
> weighed in a righteous balance according to their
> proportions of light: (I saw) the width of their spaces and
> the day of their appearing, and how their revolution
> produces lightning: and (I saw) their revolution according
> to the 3 number of the angels, and (how) they keep faith
> with each other. And I asked the angel who went 4 with me
> who showed me what was hidden: 'What are these?' And he said
> to me: 'The Lord of Spirits hath showed thee their parabolic
> meaning (lit. 'their parable'): these are the names of the
> holy who dwell on the earth and believe in the name of the
> Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.' Chapter 44: Also another
> phenomenon I saw in regard to the lightnings: how some of
> the stars arise and become lightnings and cannot part with
> their new form.
>
> {this is a scan of Charles' APOT translation, so ignore the
> verse markers that were picked up at the beginning of the
> printed line rather than at the beginning of the verse]
>
> Here this author is suggesting that there is a direct
> correlation between the organization of the luminaries
> (lightnings and stars) in heaven and the organization of
> "the holy who dwell on the earth and believe in the name of
> the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever." I do not know if he
> means the luminaries can be figuratively understood in this
> fashion or whether the human faithful have intentionally
> organized themselves after the manner of the heavenly
> luminaries. In any event, "stars" and "lightnings" appear to
> be classes within the organization to which the author
> belonged, and I would imagine that just as stars vary in
> brightness and activity (planets on the plane of the
> ecliptic vs fixed stars rotating along the celestial
> equator) so do the functions and activities of the classes
> within his group.
>
> I do realize that the parables of Enoch is not attested
> among the Qumran finds, but I do think this passage refers
> to a group along similar organizational lines with the
> sectarian practices described in the DSS. Comparison between
> this symbolism with similar symbolic representations of
> group structure along astronomical lines, such as that
> attributed to John the Baptist's/Simon Magus' group in the
> PseudoClementine literature or among Gnostic Aeons, perhaps
> it might be possible to trace the influence of such groups
> (Essene of not) on later thought.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Dave Hindley
> Cleveland, Ohio, USA
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