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The Books of Enoch, Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

The Books of Enoch, Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

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LATER HISTORY 333<br />

<strong>The</strong> narrative <strong>of</strong> our midrash is recounted on two occasions, ad Gen. 6: z<br />

and 28: 12, in Sefer Hadar Zeqenim (Leghorn edition 1840), but there the<br />

virgin is transformed into the sign <strong>of</strong> the zodiac Virgo. Here is the second<br />

text from JelUnek's edition, Bet ha-Midraschy v (1873), P- ^5^ no. 4 (his<br />

erroneous reference to Yalqut has been corrected by Ginzberg, <strong>The</strong> LegendSy<br />

V, p. 169):<br />

^rsm 7\b nax nnx n'pina ixsa nTU^D •'D nny<br />

Hb niD\n mxn<br />

na'?*'v»mDan ^la^jn II^PK? Q^'SID nax.**"? nnn nai ]r\b maxoi*?<br />

xin ^na u^npn n^ nax • n^au^a nmo ra • D*'D3D n^ nn^i »niDan no nb<br />

D^Dx'pani • n^inn "pta ir\ni • ni^ptaa no ^b S73i?x m^asn ]a nmni 'p^'xin<br />

.D^b^b D'jio ixsaB? nns7 is; ni^y^<br />

I'7D'' X"? D^DJD n"? nnitz?<br />

* "<strong>The</strong> angels <strong>of</strong> God ascending and descending on it*' (Gen. 28: 12).<br />

Those are the angels who descended: as they beheld the beautiful daughters<br />

<strong>of</strong> men, they did not ascend until now; for, when they descended, they found<br />

a maiden. <strong>The</strong>y said to her, "Hear us!'* She said to them, "And what will<br />

you give me?" <strong>The</strong>y said to her, "Wings like ours, and we shall teach you<br />

the Ineffable Name.'' And they taught her the Ineffable Name, and gave her<br />

wings. Forthwith she flew to heaven. <strong>The</strong> Holy One—blessed be He—said<br />

to her, "Since you have fled from sin, I shall place you (as) a name among the<br />

constellations. This is the (Zodiac) constellation Virgo. And the angels who<br />

gave her wings were not able to ascend (to heaven) until now that they have<br />

found a ladder to ascend.'<br />

In other texts the legend <strong>of</strong> 'Uzzi and 'Aza'el is linked to the woman<br />

Na'amah {Yalqut § 161; Gen. R. 24; Rashi, Yoma 67).<br />

On the other hand, there does not seem to exist any study <strong>of</strong> the second<br />

part <strong>of</strong> our midrash, which recounts the mission <strong>of</strong> <strong>Enoch</strong> to Semhazai,<br />

and in particular the dreams <strong>of</strong> his two sons. We must reject as totally unsuccessful<br />

the attempt <strong>of</strong> Spiegel {Ginzberg Jubilee Volumey English Sectiony<br />

pp. 341 ff.) to link their names, Hiwa and Hiya, with that <strong>of</strong> a Ugaritic god,<br />

Hyn. Now, it seems beyond question to me that these narratives are derived<br />

directly from the Book <strong>of</strong> Giants in its Manichaean form. Although greatly<br />

corrupted (x^^nxi x^^n B ; x^\ni xim ,x^\ni xrn S; x^\n ,x^\ni xn\n M ;<br />

X*'''ni; X''*'ni X*'*'n R), the names <strong>of</strong> the two sons <strong>of</strong> Semhazai are certainly<br />

n^'niX and n*'nn, which we find in QEnGiants, 'why' (occasionally 'hy') and

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