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The Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria refers to angels teaching humans astronomy, divination, and other skills, a narrative based on 1 Enoch, used as an authoritative source and quoted similarly with other texts from the Hebrew Bible.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Enoch 8:1
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 And Azâzêl taught men to make swords, knives, shields, and breastplates, and revealed to them the metals of the earth and how to work with them, as well as how to make bracelets, ornaments, and the use antimony, beautifying the eyelids, along with all kinds of precious stones and various dyes. 2 Widespread wickedness arose, and they engaged in fornication, were led astray, and corrupted all their ways. 3 Semjâzâ taught spells and the cutting of roots, Armârôs taught how to break spells, Barâqîjâl taught astrology, Kôkabêl taught about the constellations, Êzêqêêl taught about the clouds, Araqiêl taught the signs of the earth, Shamsiêl taught the signs of the sun, and Sariêl taught the course of the moon. 4 And as men died, they cried out, and their cries ascended to heaven.
Date: 300 BCE – 100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Clement of Alexandria, Selections from the Prophets 53:4
Eclogae Propheticae
Early Christian
"... Day to day pours forth speech and night to night declares knowledge." ... "Night to Night": All the demons knew that it was the Lord who arose after the passion, for Enoch already said that the angels who transgressed taught humanity astronomy, divination, and the other arts.
Date: 200–215 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In Selections from the Prophets 53.4 one encounters another early Christian reference to the angel myth. and again it is attributed to Enoch. The passage is set in a context in which Ps 19:2 is under discussion ... In explanation, Clement notes that the demons have special knowledge ... It is undoubted that Clement has in mind the various arts, enumerated in 1 Enoch 7:1-8:3, which the fallen angels taught to humans. The three categories that he mentions - astronomy, manticism, and the other arts - are not named in those very words and in that precise order in 1 Enoch 7: 1-8:3, but all appear to be there ... So, in this instance, too, an early Christian writer alludes to rather than quotes 1 Enoch, but he gives sufficient information so that the object of the allusion can be identified. The Book of Enoch could, therefore, be used to explain a phrase in a psalm. Also, Clement's use indicates that he regarded the book not as a recent forgery, but as an ancient work. This ancient work was, on this point, a reliable source of information ..."
James C. VanderKam and William Adler, eds., The Jewish Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity, CRINT 3.4 (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1993), 45–46.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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