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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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THE LATIN, COPTIC, AND SYRIAC TRANSLATIONS 79<br />

Methuselah in De cultu fem. i. 3 (ed. cit., p. 63), see above, p. 20. An<br />

obscure reference is to be found in De idol. 15 (ed. cit., p. 48): 'Haec (the<br />

idolatrous cult <strong>of</strong> the doorways) 'igitur ab initio praevidens spiritus sanctus<br />

etiam ostia in superstitionem ventura praececinit per antiquissimum propheten<br />

<strong>Enoch</strong>'. We are dealing here, in my opinion, with En. 9: 2 and 9: 10,<br />

where the complaints <strong>of</strong> men, which rise as far as the 'doorways <strong>of</strong> heaven',<br />

are mentioned.^ Obviously this is a very forced interpretation in which the<br />

Christian apologist does not take any account <strong>of</strong> the context.<br />

<strong>The</strong> passage in De idol. 4 (ed. cit., p. 33) is very important. After the<br />

quotation <strong>of</strong> the decalogue: 'ne feceris idolum . . . neque similitudinem<br />

eorum quae in caelo sunt et quae in terra et quae in mari' (Exod. 20: 3 and<br />

Deut. 5: 8), TertuUian continues: 'antecesserat <strong>Enoch</strong> praedicens omnia<br />

elementa, omnem mundi censum, quae caelo, quae mari, quae terra continentur,<br />

in idololatrian versuros daemonas et spiritus desertorum angelorum,<br />

ut pro deo adversus deum consecrarentur.' <strong>The</strong> Christian author is certainly<br />

referring to En. 19: i (as the editors <strong>of</strong> the Ethiopic <strong>Enoch</strong> have indeed<br />

remarked), but the first part <strong>of</strong> his phrase: 'omnia elementa, omnem mundi<br />

censum... continentur' refers, in my opinion, to the description <strong>of</strong> the world<br />

in the account <strong>of</strong> the journeyings <strong>of</strong> <strong>Enoch</strong> (En. 17-36). I do not think that<br />

the expression 'quae in caelo sunt' alludes to En. 80: 7, 'they will look at the<br />

(stars) as gods', but rather to En. 33-6. TertuUian continues with an explicit<br />

and very faithful quotation <strong>of</strong> En. 99: 6-7 which can be compared in large<br />

part to the Greek text <strong>of</strong> CM:<br />

*denique idem <strong>Enoch</strong> simul et cultores idoli et fabricatores in comminatione praedamnat:<br />

"Et rursus iuro vobis peccatores, quod in diem sanguinis perditionis tristitia<br />

(MS; A; paenitentia MS. B) parata est. Qui servitis lapidibus<br />

et qui imagines facitis aureas et argenteas [,caJ] ol y\v(j>ovT€s €lK6va\s dpyvjpdg KOL<br />

et ligneas et lapideas et fictiles et servitis xP^crfe, ^vXlvas re [/caJ Xidlvag] /cat oarpaphantasmatibus<br />

et daemoniis et spiritibus Kivasy KOL Xarp€v\ovT€s (f>av\Tdaiiaai KOL<br />

infamis2 et omnibus erroribus non haipxyvloils Kal jSScAuyJjLtaort KOL TTvevfiaat<br />

secundum scientiam, nullum ab iis inve- Trovrjl^poLS Kai] Trdoais rais TrXdvais ov KOJT<br />

nietis auxilium."* l7na\Tf]pfr\v\ KOX TTOV ^o-qOrjfjLa ov fjurj evprjrai<br />

(1. -re) [aTT*] avrcov.<br />

' See En* i iv 9-10 and En^ i iii 9-10 TRVCU/xaat {jrovrjpots?} Kai ^SeXvyfJuaai seems<br />

(En 9: 2).<br />

better than that <strong>of</strong> CM; the text <strong>of</strong> E is certainly<br />

^ Emendation et infamiisy Bonner, loc. cit., inferior, in this passage, to those <strong>of</strong> TertuUian<br />

p. 44. TertuUian's order KOX Bai/JLovLois /cat and CM.

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