The Books of Enoch, Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

THE BOOK OF PARABLES 93
Titans, Giants, and those who perished in the Flood (Sib. ii. 233-7; Geffcken,
p. 39):
Kal 6* as iv ireXdyeaaiv dncoXcae KVfia daXdaGrjs
rjB* ondaas drjpes Kal ifmerd Kal 7T€T€r]vd
235 OoLvqaavTo, oXas ravras eirl ^rjixa KaXeaacr
Kal TToXtVy as €Xoyl aapKodyov irvpy
Kal ravras eirl jS^jLta deov arrjaet^ev dyeipas*
*and those whom the wave of the sea destroyed on the high seas;
and those whom the beasts and the serpents and the birds
feasted upon, all those he summoned to the judgement-seat;
and also those whom the fire which eats flesh destroyed by flames,
and having gathered them together, he led them before the judgement-seat of
God.'
This passage is clearly analogous to that of En. 61: 6: 'These measures
[the cords carried by the angels who fly away to the North, 61: i] will reveal
all the secrets of the abyss of the earth, and those who have been destroyed
by the desert and those who have been swallowed up by the reservoirs and
those who have been swallowed up by the fish of the sea and by the beasts,
in order that they may return and that they may rely on the day of the Elect;
for there is nothing which may perish before the Lord of spirits, and there is
nothing which can perish.' As is well known. Sib. ii. 190-338 is a poetical
paraphrase of a good part of the Apocalypse of Peter. ^ It seems to me,
however, that the passage just quoted from the Parables of Enoch is more
directly dependent on the Sibyllines than on the Apocalypse, the composition
of which goes back to the beginning of the second century.^
The universal resurrection of souls and bodies and the judgement by the
Elect One are affirmed equally clearly in En. 51: 1-3: Tn these days the earth
will give up its store [instead of "its store" E^ gives "those who have been
hidden in it"], and Sheol will give up what [several manuscripts give "the
store"] it has received, and Abaddon will give up what it must. He (the
Elect one) will choose among the just and the saints, for the day is nigh when
they will be saved. The Elect one, in these days, will sit on my throne . . .'
The literary influence of 4 Esd. 7: 32-3 is easily recognizable in this: 'Et
terra reddet qui in eam dormiunt, et pulvis qui in eo silentio habitant, et
promptuaria reddent quae eis commendatae sunt animae. Et revelabitur
Altissimus super sedem iudicii . . .' Closer, however, to the formulation of
^ Cf., e.g., M. R. James, The Apocryphal ^ See also Comt. AposL, de Lagarde's
New Testament, pp. 505, 512-14, 521-4. edition, p. 131.