The Books of Enoch, Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

THE BOOK OF DREAMS 45
angels and the sinners will be hurled is situated 'to the right of this house'
(w. 26 and 28) and hence in the valley of Gehenna, just as the Judaean
author of the Book of Watchers believed (En. 27). The author of the Book
of Dreams firmly believes in the close imminence of eschatological events,
and even that they will occur during the lifetime of Judas Maccabaeus, for
'this ram' who, along with the three angels, accompanies Enoch to the
place of the Last Judgement (v, 31), is, without a doubt, the hero of Emmaus
and Bethsur.
In his description of the eschatological era the author insists on the dynamic
and progressive character of events, an idea which will be exploited in the
Apocalypse of Weeks (En. 93 and 91). On the other hand, according to our
writer, the final era will merely be a repetition, completely perfect this time,
of the primordial era. The 'white bull' of 90: 37 is obviously the new Adam
(Adam 'white bull', 85: 3), but more glorious than the first, for 'his horns
are large'. Just as the descendants of Adam were 'white bulls' (85: 8-10), so
the contemporaries of the second Adam will become 'all white bulls' (90:38).
The successor to the eschatological white Bull will be 'a wild ox which
has large black horns on its head' (90: 38).^ Our apocalyptic writer wishes
merely to express the increased power of this eschatological patriarch. He
implies that the eschatological history will pursue, in this upward direction,
the succeeding generations of more and more glorious and perfect men,
in distinct contrast to the first history, with its descending sequence: bulls—
calves—sheep, surrounded by injurious animals and birds.
The Book of Dreams was well known to the author of the book of Jubilees:
'He saw in a dream-vision the past and the future, what will happen to the
children of men until the day of judgement; he saw and understood everything,
he put his witness down in writing . . .' (4: 19).
Translated into Greek, the Book of Dreams was occasionally furnished
with notes explaining the identity of the animals. It is from such a commentary
to our work (possibly repeated, in extracts, by some Byzantine
chronicler) that the fragment of the Greek Vatican MS. 1809 comes, in
which the passage of En. 89: 42-9 is followed by this text (fines 7-16) :2
JajStS yap rovs Xavavaiovs Kal rovg AfjLaXrjK Kal rovs vlovs AfjLfjiOJv TTOAC/ZQJaas
iv rats rjiiepais rrjs PaGiXelas avrov rrepieyevero avroiv.
' The Aramaic K^KT was transcribed into the meaning from the Hebrew DX*1, /ar^ft).
Greek p^y/Lta, understood as *speech*, nagar, by ^ M. Gitlbauer, Die Ueberreste griechischer
the Ethiopic translator (an excellent conjee- Tachygraphie im Codex Vaticanus Graecus
ture made by Dillmann, who however derived i8og, pp. 94-5.