Dating the Book of Job (PDF) - Ancient Hebrew Research Center

Dating the Book of Job 33
names, and that they heard. In a righteous balance I saw that he weighed out with their light the amplitude of
their places, and the day of their appearance, and their conversion. Splendour produced splendour; and their
conversion was into the number of the angels, and of the faithful. Then I inquired of the angel, who proceeded
with me, and he explained to me secret things, What their names were. He answered, “A similitude of those has
the Lord of spirits shown you. They are names of the righteous who dwell upon earth, and who believe in the
name of the Lord of spirits for ever and for ever.” (I Enoch 43:1-2)
This previous excerpt appears to be referenced by king David in Psalms 147:4.
– He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. (Psalms 147:4 NKJV)
The book of I Enoch is highly symbolic; just as are the books of Revelation and Daniel (there
are also many parallels between I Enoch and these books). Highly symbolic content is no reason
to regard a text as being ingenuine however.
The book of I Enoch was extremely popular among first-century Christians, but the Catholic
church went to great lengths to abolish it because they objected to the idea of angels marrying
the daughters of men. Such an idea is not at all outrageous though; mankind and angels are both
the offspring of םיהלֹ ִ אֱ and, in that sense, related. Angels refer to themselves as the “brethren” of
mankind (Revelation 12:10, 19:10, 22:9). Also, Adam is called “the son of God” (Luke 3:38).
Christ Himself, was begotten by the combination of spirit and flesh (Matthew 1:18-20). It is not
unreasonable to believe that angels who are also spirit and who manifest themselves in all manner
of physical forms could do likewise. We really do not know much about the angelic realm. We do
know that their history predates this physical universe (Job 38:4-7).
Note that the “-el” suffix on the names of the angels is םיהלֹ ִ א’s ֱ name. The phrasing of II Enoch
31:3 even suggests that this is not the first time that םיהלֹ ִ אֱ has created a world of physical beings.
It may be that the angels are a previous iteration of ourselves. The Catholic objection to the notion
of angels and mankind intermarrying would seem to stem from the gnostic notion that the “pure”
spirit cannot interact with the “impure” flesh; such a notion is wholly external to the inspired scriptures
however. The Gnostics believe in seven layers/heavens that separate םיהלֹ ִ אֱ from the physical
realm but the inspired scriptures make it clear that םיהלֹ ִ אֱ is an omnipresent being. Also, all the
physical realm was made from םיהלֹ ִ א’s ֱ invisible spirit (Job 26:13, Psalms 33:6, Colossians 1:16,
Hebrews 11:3), so the two, spirit and flesh, are closely related. The flesh is merely a limited form
of the spirit as is evident in that spiritual beings can take on physical forms and create physical
things – this existence is just a shadow of a much greater one.
– … the devil understood that I wanted to create another world, because Adam was lord on earth, to rule and
control it … (II Enoch 31:3)
– By His Spirit He adorned the heavens … (Job 26:13 NKJV)
– By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
(Psalms 33:6 NKJV)
– For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. (Colossians
1:16 NKJV)
– By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were
not made of things which are visible. (Hebrews 11:3 NKJV)