The Books of Enoch, Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

90 INTRODUCTION
Nor is it correct to speak only of the Tarables of Enoch*. Actually the
author ascribes his ideas to three people, of whom two are men and the third
is an angel. After an introduction (En. 37: 1-4) come the three discourses of
the Second Vision of Enoch: 'First Parable' (En. 38-44), 'Second Parable'
(45-57), and 'Third Parable', which occupies only two chapters (58-9). From
60 to 64 we have the Parable or, more precisely, the Vision of Noah, followed
by 'historical' accounts of Noah's visit to Enoch in Paradise (65-6) and of the
Word of the Lord to Noah (67). Verse 68: i concludes this main part of the
work with a reference to the delivery of the books of Enoch to Noah, in
which the writer makes a clear distinction between 'the Book of the Word'
(Aoyos of En. 1:1) and 'the book of Parables'.^ The same distinction appears
in the preceding phrase: 'my grandfather Enoch gave me a copy {te^emSrty
"signum, documentum, typus"; translation of the Greek avTiypaov and
the Aramaic ]W1Si ''copy, exemplar") of all the secrets in a book (i.e. of
the book of secrets) and in the parables (i.e. and of the book of parables)'.
An angelological and magical section, which should be entitled the Words
of Michael (68: 2, anticipated in 67: 12) extends from 68: 2 to 69: 29. The
subscription, 'Such is the third parable of Enoch' (69: 29), is a later addition;
or else it characterizes the work by its major part and is thus to be understood
as 'Such are the three parables of Enoch'. The epilogue (70-1) takes
up the 'historical' framework of the work with the description of the removal
of Enoch into the Paradise situated in the North-West of the universe and
his visit to the heavenly Palace of God.
The three discourses of Enoch claim universal scope for their appeal:
in space ('to those who inhabit the dry land', 37: 2) and in time (from the
first right up to the last generations, 37: 2-3).^ The First Parable imitates
fairly closely the series of passages in the Book of Watchers: En. 38 paraphrases
En. I; 39: I corresponds to 6: i, and 39: 2 to 14: i; the four archangels
of 40 can be compared to the four archangels in 9-10; the journeys
of the patriarch described in 41-4, and anticipated in 39: 3-14, resume the
astronomical and apocalyptic journeys of Enoch in 17-36. The Second
Parable discourses 'on the renegades', the sinners (45: i), and the Third 'on
the just and the elect' (58: i); there too the author often returns to the
themes of the Book of Watchers (see, e.g., 54, 55, and 59). Like Enoch, Noah
journeys widely; he is accompanied by angels and arrives at the Garden
' I choose, with a slight correction, the * Cf. A. Caquot and P. Geoltrain, Semitica,
reading of E«: *in the book of the word (and) xiii (1963), 39 ffof
the parables'.