The Rebellion of the Watchers

Chapter 6

1 And 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.' 5 Then they all took an oath together and bound themselves with a solemn promise to do so. 6 And there were in total two hundred who descended on the summit of Mount Hermon⁠ in the days of Jared, and they named it Mount Hermon because they had taken an oath and bound themselves with solemn promises there. 7 And these are the names of their leaders:⁠ Samîazâz, their leader,⁠ Arâkîba, Râmêêl, Kôkabîêl, Tâmîêl, Râmîêl, Dânêl, Êzêqêêl, Barâqîjâl, Asâêl, Armârôs, Batârêl, Anânêl, Zaqîêl, Samsâpêêl, Satarêl, Tûrêl, Jômjâêl, Sariêl.⁠ 8 These are their chiefs of tens.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 6:2 and Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel 5.6

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Early Christian

Summary

The Christian historian Eusebius refers to the narrative from 1 Enoch in which angels come down from heaven to take human wives along with sharing forbidden knowledge, using this tradition as an authoritative source of history and theology.

Passages

1 Enoch 6:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

1 And 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.'

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

Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel 5.6

Early Christian

For nine men were found dead; and when those who lived in the countryside asked the cause, the god gave this oracle: 'Pan, golden-horned servant of grim Dionysus, going over the wooded mountains, held a staff in his strong hand, and in the other grasped a hollow pipe sounding clear, and charmed the hearts of the Nymphs. Piping a shrill tune he terrified all the woodcutters, and amazement seized them as they saw the chilling form of the raging demon rushing on. And the end of chilling death would have seized them all, had not Artemis the huntress, holding dread anger in her breast, checked his mighty fury; to her you must pray, that she may be your helper.'" You have heard what the Apollo at Branchidae says of the form and deeds of the demon whom he calls good. Look now at the noble achievements of the rest, for whose sake they left their heavenly abode and exchanged it for life among men. They surely ought to have led the way in self-control and suggested to men what is profitable and useful. But they did none of these things. Listen to what he reveals who has searched out the secrets more secret than secrets and been counted worthy of the knowledge of hidden things. He says that some of these good demons minister to erotic pleasures, others delight in drums and flutes and the clatter of women, others again exult in battles and wars; Artemis in hunting and Deo in the fruits of the earth; Isis still mourns Osiris, and Apollo gives oracles. Such are the benefits to men of those they call good demons. Receive the proofs of these things too.

313–324 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel Book 5

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 ..."

David W. Suter, “Why Galilee? Galilean Regionalism in the Interpretation of 1 Enoch 6–16,” Hen 25.2 (2003): 167–212.

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

The Rebellion of the Watchers

1 Enoch108 chapters

Compare 1 Enoch 6:2 and Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel 5.6

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 6:2

Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel 5.6

References

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