1 Enoch

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Chapter 31

1 And I saw other mountains, and among them were groves of trees, from which flowed nectar, named sarara and galbanum.⁠ 2 Beyond these mountains, I saw another mountain to the east of the ends of the earth, where there were aloe trees, and all the trees were full of stacte, similar to almond trees. 3 And when burned, it smelled sweeter than any fragrant odor.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 31:1 and Sirach 24:15

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Deuterocanon

Summary

1 Enoch 31 describes fragrant spices like galbanum and stacte growing on trees in paradise. Sirach 24 uses the same spices to describe Wisdom, and both are the spices burned as incense in the Temple.

Passages

1 Enoch 31:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

1 And I saw other mountains, and among them were groves of trees, from which flowed nectar, named sarara and galbanum. 2 Beyond these mountains, I saw another mountain to the east of the ends of the earth, where there were aloe trees, and all the trees were full of stacte, similar to almond trees. 3 And when burned, it smelled sweeter than any fragrant odor.

300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Sirach 24:15

Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus

14 I was exalted like a palm tree on the sea shore, like rose bushes in Jericho, and like a fair olive tree in the plain. I was exalted like a plane tree. 15 Like cinnamon and aspalathus, I have given a scent to perfumes. Like choice myrrh, I spread abroad a pleasant fragrance, like galbanum, onycha, stacte, and as the smell of frankincense in the tabernacle. 16 Like the terebinth, I stretched out my branches. My branches are glorious and graceful.

195–180 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sirach

References

... Ben Sira's description of wisdom in 24:13-17 is also similar to depictions of flora associated with Eden in other Second Temple Jewish literature. 1 Enoch, for example, portrays the trees located just outside of the Garden of Righteousness (Eden) in a similar manner (1 Enoch 29-32). In both Ben Sira (24:15) and 1 Enoch, the trees are described as aromatic (ἀρωμάτων; 1 Enoch 29:2; 30:2-3; 31:1, 3; 32:1) and associated with specific fragrances including cinnamon (κιννάμωμον; 1 Enoch 30:3; 32:1; קונם בשמא 4QEnc 1 12:25; compare Exodus 30:32), myrrh (σμύρνας; 1 Enoch 29:2; מורא), onyx (שהלת), and galbanum (χαλβάνη; 1 Enoch 31:1; חלבנה). ...

Eric Raymond Naizer, “Adam, Humanity, and Angels: Early Jewish Conceptions of the Elect and Humankind Based on Genesis 1–3” (diss., Florida State University, 2013), 81.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

1 Enoch108 chapters

Compare 1 Enoch 31:1 and Sirach 24:15

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 31:1

Sirach 24:15

References

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