Fragment A: 17.5 x 17.5 centimeters; Fragment B: 6.4 x 6.9 centimeters
One of the most important apocryphic works of the Second Temple period is Enoch. The figure of Enoch (in Hebrew, Hanokh) captured the imagination of the ancients. According to the Biblical narrative (Gen. 5:21-24), Enoch lived only 365 years (far less than the other antediluvian patriarchs), and "walked with God; then he was no more for God took him."
Rabbinic sources and pseudepigraphic literature attach many tales and legends to this figure. He is all wise, knowing the secrets of the universe and being the source of information for natural and supernatural occurrences.
The fullest portrait of Enoch emerges in 1 Enoch, a work preserved in its entirety only in Ge`ez (Old Ethiopic). It portrays Enoch in the role of prophet and priest, scribe and lawgiver, sage and judge.
The Book of Enoch is known to have been influential, and is the earliest of the pseudepigraphic books. It is quoted in Jubilees and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, is referred to in the New Testament (Jude 1:14) and was used by the author of the Damascus Covenant.
The Ethiopic Enoch is divided into five parts: (1) Chaps. 1-36: An introduction (1-5) describes the future great Judgment, and provides a homily on the order of nature. This is followed by the Story of the Watchers (6-16), and by Enoch's journeys (7-36) through the elements of creation, the hills of darkness, the rivers of fire, the abode of the spirit, Eden and the netherworld, and the seat of glory. (2) Chaps. 37-71: The Similitudes or Parables of Enoch. (3) Chaps. 72-82: The Book of the Course of the Heavenly Luminaries. These astronomical chapters elaborate on aspects of the 364-day solar calendar. (4) Chaps. 83-80: The Dream Visions. The Deluge and the History of Israel are presented in a zoomorphic manner. (5) Chaps.91-108: The `Epistle' of Enoch, which contains the `Apocalypse of Weeks' and the `Book of Noah' (106-107).
The original language of most of this work was, in all likelihood, Aramaic, although the Similitudes, or parables of Enoch (Chaps. 37-71), a later work, may have been written in Hebrew. The Aramaic text of Enoch was lost in Antiquity, but portions of a Greek translation were discovered in Egypt and quotations are known from the Church fathers. The discovery of the texts from Qumran Cave 4 has finally provided us
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