ONLY the briefest account of these can be given in this place; barely more than an

I. The Book of Enoch. - As the contents and the literatur e of this remarkable book, which

is quoted by St. Jude (vv. 14, 15), have been fully described in Dr. Smith's and Wace's

Dictionary of Christian Biography (vol. ii. pp. 124-128), we may here refer to it the more

It comes to us from Palestine, but has only been preserved in an Ethiopic translation

(published by Archbishop Laurence [Oxford, 1838; in English transl. 3rd ed. 1821-1838;

German transl. by A. G. Hoffmann], then from five different MSS. by Professor Dillmann

[Leipzig, 1851; in German transl. Leipzig, 1853]). But even the Ethiopic translation is not

from the original Hebrew or Aramaic, but from a Greek version, of which a small

fragment has been discovered (ch. lxxxix. 42-49; published by Cardinal Mai. Comp. also

Gildemeister, Zeitschr. d. D. Morg. Ges. for 1855, pp. 621-624, and Gebhardt , Merx'

Arch. ii. 1872, p. 243).

As regards the contents of the work: An Introduction of five brief chapters, and the book

(which, however, contains not a few spurious passages) consists of five parts, followed

by a suitable Epilogue. The most interesting portions are those which tell of the Fall of

the Angels and its consequences, of Enoch's rapt journeys through heaven and earth, and

of what he saw and heard (ch. vi.-xxxvi.); the Apocalyptic portions about the Kingdom of

Heaven and the Advent of the Messiah (lxxxiii- xci.); and, lastly, the hortatory discourses

(xci.-cv.). When we add, that it is pervaded by a tone of intense faith and earnestness

about the Messiah, 'the last things,' and other doctrines specially brought out in the New

Testament, its importance will be understood. Altogether the Book of Enoch contains 108

From a literary point of view, it has been arranged (by Schürer and others) into three

parts: - 1. The Original Work (Grundschrift), ch. i.- xxxvi.; lxxii.-cv. This portion is

supposed to date from about 175 b.c. 2. The Parables, ch. xxxvii.- liv. 6; lv. 3-lix.; lxi.-

lxiv.; lxix. 26- lxxi. This part also dates previous to the Birth of Christ - perhaps from the

time of Herod the Great. 3. The so-called Noachian Sections, ch. liv. 7- lv. 2; lx.; lxv.-

lxix. 25. To these must be added ch. cvi., and the later conclusion in ch. cviii. On the

dates of all these portions it is impossible to speak definitely.