1 Enoch 6:2

Pseudepigrapha

1 And it came to pass when the population of humans had increased during those times, beautiful and attractive daughters were born to them. 2 And the angels, the children of heaven, saw them and desired them, and said to each other: 'Come, let us choose wives from among the humans and father children.' 3 And Semjâzâ, their leader, said to them: 'I fear that you will not actually agree to do this, and I alone will have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' 4 And they all replied to him and said: 'Let us all take an oath, and all bind ourselves with a solemn promise not to abandon this plan but to carry out this act.'

Eusebius Preparation for the Gospel 5.6

Patristic

For nine persons were found dead; and when the inhabitants of the country district inquired the cause, the god made answer: "Lo! where the golden-horned Pan In sturdy Dionysos' train Leaps o'er the mountains' wooded slopes! His right hand holds a shepherd's staff, His left a smooth shrill-breathing pipe, That charms the gentle wood-nymph's soul. But at the sound of that strange song Each startled woodsman dropp'd his axe, And all in frozen terror gaz'd Upon the Daemon's frantic course. Death's icy hand had seiz'd them all, Had not the huntress Artemis In anger stay'd his furious might. To her address thy prayer for aid." ' Hast thou now heard how Apollo of Branchidae described both the figure and the deeds of the daemon whom Porphyry calls good? See then also the noble achievements of the rest, for the sake of which forsooth they abandoned their life in heaven, and chose the company of men instead. Surely it was their duty at any rate to set an example of temperance, and to suggest what was profitable and beneficial to mankind: but they did nothing of the kind. Hear what things are brought to light by him, who had searched out the most unutterable secrets, and was favoured with the knowledge of things forbidden. At one time he says that some of these good daemons are the slaves of amorous pleasures, and then that others delight in drums and flutes, and women's clatter; and that others again take pleasure in wars and battles, and Artemis in hunting, and Deo in the fruits of the ground; that Isis is still mourning for Osiris, and Apollo uttering oracles. Such are the benefits conferred on mankind by those whom they call good daemons! Now listen to the proofs of this.

 Notes and References

"... While there are significant differences between the story in 1 Enoch and the myth of Asclepius, the theme of the marriage of gods and mortals, the link between divine fathers and mortal offspring, and the threat posed by the illegitimate practice of the art of healing suggest that the two may be in some way related. While the Phoenician History of Philo noted above presents a broader set of parallel characteristics to the story of the Watchers in the Book of the Watchers with the inclusion of the giant and mountain motifs, it also concludes with the mention of unnamed culture heroes who introduces the arts of healing (charms and spells). A recent study by Youssef Hajjar provides additional information about the cult of Ba‘al Hermon of relevance to evaluating the regional significance of the story of the fall of the Watchers. He argues that this deity was worshipped throughout the Hermon region, based upon observations by Eusebius and Jerome, the latter of whom notes the existence of the sanctuary at the summit of Mount Hermon. Hajjar identifies as Ba‘al Hermon the god addressed in an inscription at Qal‘at Gendal (the same epithet as the one used in the inscription from the summit of Mount Hermon), and at ‘Aïn Heršé he notes a well-preserved temple with a dedication “to the ancestral god which he identifies with Ba‘al Hermon ..."

Suter, David W. Why Galilee? Galilean Regionalism in the Interpretation of 1 Enoch 6-16 (pp. 167-212) Henoch 25/2, 2003

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