The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumrân Cave 4

487 Pages·2009·47.19 MB·English

by  J. T. Milik

THE BOOKS OF ENOCH
A R A M A IC F R A G M E N TS OF
Q U M R AN C A VE 4
EDITED BY
J. T. M I L IK
WITH THE COLLABORATION OF
MATTHEW BLACK
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1976
Oxford University Press^ Ely House, London W. I
GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON
CAPE TOWN IBADAN NAIROBI DAR ES SALAAM LUSAKA ADDIS ABABA
DELHI BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI DACCA
KUALA LUMPUR SINGAPORE HONG KONG TOKYO
ISBN O 19 826161 6
© Oxford University Press 1976
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior permission of
Oxford University Press
Printed in Great Britain
at the University Press, Oxford
by Vivian Ridler
Printer to the University
PREFACE
THE year 1971 was the 150th anniversary of the first complete translation of
the Ethiopia Enoch into a European language: Mashafa Henok Nabiy^ The
Book of Enoch the prophet. An Apocryphal productiony supposed to have been
lost for ages; hut discovered at the close of the last century in Abyssinia; and
now first translated from an Ethiopia MS. in the Bodleian Library y by Richard
Laurence, LL.D., Oxford, at the University Press for the Author, 1821.^
It was followed in 1838 by the publication of the Ethiopic text by the same
author: Mashafa Henok Nabiy^ Libri Enoch prophetae versio Aethiopica.
Laurence's manuscript was Oxford, Bodleian MS. 4, one of the three
codices which the English traveller J. Bruce brought back from Abyssinia
to Europe in 1773.^
The existence of a book of Enoch kept by the Abyssinian Church among
the sacred books of their Bible had been known in Europe, in a vague way,
since the end of the fifteenth century. But of the work itself only portions
had been available, and at second hand. There were substantial extracts
quoted in Greek in the Chronography of George Syncellus, written in the
years 808-10 and accessible from the beginning of the seventeenth century
in the edition by J. J. Scaliger.3 Several quotations, allusions, and reminis­
cences in the works of Greek and Latin writers of the first four centuries
were carefully gathered together by J. A. Fabricius, beginning in 1703.^
In 1800 S. de Sacy pubUshed in a Latin translation large extracts from
En. i: 1-32: 6.5
In the course of the last one and a half centuries, however, new editions
of the Ethiopic text have appeared (A. Dillmann 1851, J. Flemming 1902,
R. H. Charles 1906), several translations into European languages, and a
* Reprinted 1832, 1838, 1878, 1883, 1909, Canonum omnimodae Histortae libri duo, Lug-
1912: translation of En. 1: 1-108: 15 on pp. i~ duni Batavorum, 1606, *Animadversiones in
162, En. 65: 1-68: I on pp. 163-8. Chronologica Eusebii*, pp. 244^1-2456.
* Eighteenth century, 105 chapters (= 108 * A more complete edition was published
chapters of Dillmann's edition), siglvim A or later: Codexpseudepigraphus Veteris Testamenti,
a in Dillmann's, Flemming*s, and Charles's collectus, castigatus, testimoniisque, censuris et
editions. animadversionibus tllustratus, Hamburg 1722.
^ Thesaurus temporum. Eusebii Pamphili, * Magasin encyclopidique, vi, 1800, tome i,
Caesareae Palaestinae episcopi Chronicorum pp. 382^8.
vi PREFACE
very great number of critical studies. In the same period the textual founda­
tion of Enochic literature was broadened by the finding at Akhmim (Pano-
polis) in 1886/7 of ^ Greek parchment codex of the sixth, if not the end of
the fifth century, which contains almost in full the first section of the Ethiopic
book (preceded by a fragment of a second copy); by the edition of a large
part of the fifth section in Greek, from a papyrus codex of the fourth century
acquired around 1930 by the Chester Beatty and Michigan University collec­
tions of papyri; and by the publication of various pieces of early versions
of the books of Enoch: Greek, Latin, Coptic, Syriac.
At the beginning of September 1952 I was thrilled to identify the first
Aramaic fragment of Enoch, which was found among a heterogeneous mass
of tiny fragments unearthed by the Ta'amre Bedouins in a cave hollowed
out of the marl bank above which rise the ruins of Hirbet Qumran. Towards
the end of the same month I had the satisfaction of recognizing other frag­
ments, while I was personally digging them out of the earth which filled
Cave 4 and before they had been properly cleaned and unrolled. In the course
of the years which followed, successive purchases progressively enriched this
precious Enochic material, with the result that I was able to recognize in it
seven manuscripts identifiable with the first, fourth, and fifth sections of the
Ethiopic text, and four other manuscripts corresponding approximately to
the third, astronomical, section. Towards the end of the month of April
1970 I succeeded in identifying various ^pseudo-Enochic' manuscripts of
4Q (one entrusted to me for editing, the remainder to J. Starcky), as also
several fragments published previously among the manuscripts of Caves i,
2, and 6 of Qumran, as forming part of an important Enochic work, the
Book of Giants. In an Eastern Aramaic adaptation, made by Mani himself,
this book was admitted to the Manichaean canon of sacred books and
translated into numerous languages of Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The Aramaic fragments of the Enochic books were assigned to me for
editing, together with other material from Qumran Cave 4 which will be
published in a volume of the series Discoveries in the Judaean Desert. The
purpose of the present work is to provide a comparative textual and literary
study of the Aramaic Enoch with its early versions, on a scale that would be
incompatible with the editorial principles laid down for DJD. Moreover, I
decided to restore the Aramaic text of the passages known in ancient transla­
tions with which the fragments of 4Q overlap in varying degrees, ranging
from a few words to an almost continuous text. These restorations are
enclosed within brackets, so that the reader will see at a glance what is
PREFACE vii
effectively preserved of the actual fragments of the Qumran manuscripts.
The commentary supports the choice of text from among divergent readings,
if there are any, and poses problems of detail which the fresh information
provided by 4QEnoch raises or allows to be resolved. Similarly I have tried
to restore the position of the fragments of 4QEn in the columns and on the
lines of the original scrolls; such a numeration obviously has only an approxi­
mate value.
The reader can check my decipherment on the Plates, which contain all
fragments published here, and on the diplomatic transcriptions appended
to this volume.
This monograph could not have come into being without the constant
encouragement of the late Pere R. de Vaux, O.P., and the friendly collabora­
tion of Professor Matthew Black of the University of St. Andrews. The
latter arranged to have an English translation made of my French manuscript.
He also prepared the first draft of the English version of the Aramaic
sections, and I owe to him several corrections, observations, and valuable
suggestions. I am grateful, too, for his help in checking the proofs.
I should also like to thank Professor Joseph Trinquet of the Catholic
Institute, Paris, for his continuous help in the reading of the Ge*ez text of the
Ethiopic Enoch; Professor Gerard Garitte of the University of Louvain,
who undertook on my behalf the Latin translation of the Coptic fragments
relating to Enoch; M. Jean Starcky and Mr. John Strugnell, my co-editors
of the manuscripts from Qumran Cave 4 for the loan of photographs and for
their transcriptions of the texts of 4Q which are directly or indirectly linked
with the subjects of this work; Professor G. Vajda for information on Jewish
medieval literature; and the late Professor Nougayrol for references to the
Babylonian cosmology. I thank most especially my wife, Yolanta Zaluska,
for day-to-day encouragement, for help in the preparation of the typescript,
and for information on the person of Enoch in iconography and in medi­
eval Latin literature; and I should like finally to acknowledge the assist­
ance given by the staffs of the publishing and printing divisions of the
Oxford University Press.
JOZEF T. MILIK
PariSy September igy4

C O N T E N TS
LIST OF FIGURES xi
ABBREVIATIONS xiii
INTRODUCTION i
I. ARAMAIC BOOKS OF ENOCH IN PERSIAN AND HELLENISTIC
TIMES 4
The Astronomical Book (En. 72-82) 7
The Book of Watchers (En. 1-36) 22
The Book of Dreams (En. 83-90), the Epistle of Enoch
(En. 91-108), and the Book of Giants 41
Enochic Writings and Essene Texts from Qumran 59
II. EARLY VERSIONS OF THE BOOKS OF ENOCH 70
The Greek Version 70
The Latin, Coptic, and Syriac Translations 78
The Ethiopic Book of Enoch 83
in. VVrORKS ATTRIBUTED TO ENOCH IN ROMANO-BYZANTINE AND
MEDIEVAL TIMES , 89
The Book of Parables and other Enochic Writings in the Roman
and Byzantine Periods 89
The Slavonic Enoch and other Enochic Writings in the Middle
Ages 107
Enoch in Cabbalistic Literature 125
TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, AND NOTES
THE BOOKS OF ENOCH
First copy (4QEn% Pis. I-V) 139
Second copy (4QEnb, Pis. VI-IX) 164
Third copy (4QEns Pis. IX-XV) 178
Fourth copy (4QEn^ Pis. XVI-XVII) 217
Fifth copy (4QEn% Pis. XVIII-XXI) 225
Sixth copy (4QEnf, PI. XXI) 244
Seventh copy (4QEns Pis. XXI-XXIV 245
X CONTENTS
THE ASTRONOMICAL BOOK OF ENOCH, four copies(4QEnastr^» ^»
Pis. XXV-XXX) 273
The Synchronistic Calendar 274
Fragments Corresponding to En. 76-9 and 82 284
THE BOOK OF GIANTS 298
Partial Reconstruction from Various Sources 298
First Copy (4QEnGiants% Pis. XXX~XXXII) 310
Later History 317
APPENDIX: Diplomatic Transcription of 4QEn^"g 340
ADDENDUM TO P. Io6 363
INDEXES
Passages of Enoch preserved in Aramaic 365
Aramaic-Greek-Ethiopic Glossary 367
Quotations 408
General 427
PLATES at end
LIST OF F I G U R ES
1. Table of identified fragments of 4QEnoch 6
2. The Babylonian map of the world 17
3. The map of the world of Enoch 77 18
4. The environs of Jerusalem according to Enoch 26 37
5. The map of the world of Enoch 1-36 40
6. Table of the sexennial priestly cycle 63
7. Table of the cycle of the seven jubilees 65