The Books of Enoch, Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

ENOCHIC W R I T I N G S A N D E S S E N E T E X T S F R O M Q U M R A N 67
all the patriarchs came, from Adam down to Methuselah: hywm mt hnwk
Hw kl hny 'dm Isprh msm' 'dm mbky Ih hd myt hnwk whstbl Isprh wbkwth 'dm
wst w'nws wqynn wmhill'V) wyrd wbrh mtwslh dhwh d'r bb'dn: 'On the day
when Enoch died came all the children of Adam to Sifrah. Adam was heard
weeping, because Enoch died. And he was carried to Sifrah. And they wept
over him, Adam and Seth and Enosh and Qainan and Mahalal'el and Jared
and his son Methuselah who was living in Beddan' (f. 3^ 10-15 = 32~4)-
Adam came from the place called 'House of the Book of the Signs' (cf.
Qiryat-sepher, Josh. 15: 15-16, Judg. i: 11-12), where he taught 'Ahidan
the son of Tubalqain, the latter residing at Hebron {Qiryat-'arba'): 'hydn
br twblqyn dhwh dW bhbrwn rys hyl qyn'h whwh tmn 'Ip %yspr h'wtt qmy 'dm:
'Ahidan the son of Tubal-Qain who was living in Hebron, and he was the
head of the army of Qainites, and he had learned there, in Be(t)-Sefer of the
Signs, before Adam' (f. 3"" 16-19 = ii 35-6). The tomb of Enoch could be
seen in the necropolis of Sychar (John 4: 5),^ at the foot of Mount Ebal;
the author of 'Asatir identifies Sychar with Sichem (there is a similar connection
in John 4): wqbyr hnwk bw bkbwn (read bgbwn ?) hr gryzym bbt' (Aleph
above the Heth) dy mtqryh yskr w'tqry twrh (Waw above the Beth) hr 'ybl
dhbhlw hnwk bh whbnh bh qbryn sgy hk d'mr {hn'} 'dm dw skm 'llmh wVl
mnh trh swmyh dlyt 'sth qrbh lyd shrt hr gryzym b' 'Ipym d'myn dw qry mqlt
Vrwq swr ysw'h: 'And Enoch was buried in the neighbourhood of Mount
Gerizim in the place (?) which is called Yiskar; and the mountain is called
Mount 'Ebal where they hid (?) Enoch. And there are built in it many tombs.
As {Enoch} Adam had said: "this is the 'place of worship (Shekem)' for the
God of the world and above it is the Gate of Heaven." For the fire does not
approach the vicinity of Mount Gerizim at two thousand cubits; this is
called the Shelter for the Fugitive, the Rock of Salvation' (f. 3^ 21-4"^ i =
ii 38-41).^
In spite of so much allusiveness and unintelligibility the Samaritan tradition
concerning the personage of Enoch is thus seen to be fairly rich. It is
to Enoch, rather than to Adam, that—according to the information provided
by the Kitab al-*Asatir—^we should ascribe the authorship of the three antediluvian
works transmitted to posterity by Noah: the Books of the Signs,
of the Heavenly Bodies, and of the Wars. We can recognize in these without
^ Cf, I. Ben-Zvi, Sepherha-Shomronim, igyo, zur samaritanischen Religion der aramdischen
pp. 66-7.
Periode^ 1972; he does not, however, use this
^ See H. G. Kippenberg, Garizin und Syn- important text concerning the theological
agoge, Traditionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen role of Mount Gerizim.