1 Enoch

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Chapter 7

1 And all the others together with them took wives for themselves, each choosing one for himself, and they began to unite with them and defiled themselves with them.⁠ They taught them sorcery, spells, and the art of extracting medicinal substances from plants.⁠ 2 The women became pregnant and gave birth to enormous giants,⁠ whose height was three thousand ells.⁠ 3 These giants consumed everything humans produced. 4 And when humans could no longer support them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind.⁠ 5 They began to sin against birds, beasts, reptiles, and fish, eating each other’s flesh and drinking the blood.⁠ 6 Then the earth brought charges against these lawbreakers.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Atrahasis II and 1 Enoch 7:1

Ancient Near East, Babylonian · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

Summary

In Atrahasis, humanity grows so numerous and noisy that the gods resolve to destroy them. 1 Enoch 7 echoes this, depicting giants whose devouring violence and cannibalism fill the earth with bloodshed until it cries out against them.

Passages

Atrahasis II

Ancient Near East, Babylonian

600 years, less than 600, passed And the country became too wide, the people too numerous. The country was as noisy as a bellowing bull. The God grew restless at their clamour, Ellil had to listen to their noise. He addressed the great gods, The noise of mankind has become too much. I am losing sleep over their racket. Cut off food supplies to the people!

1800–1701 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Atrahasis

1 Enoch 7:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

1 And all the others together with them took wives for themselves, each choosing one for himself, and they began to unite with them and defiled themselves with them. They taught them sorcery, spells, and the art of extracting medicinal substances from plants. 2 The women became pregnant and gave birth to enormous giants, whose height was three thousand ells. 3 These giants consumed everything humans produced. 4 And when humans could no longer support them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. 5 They began to sin against birds, beasts, reptiles, and fish, eating each other’s flesh and drinking the blood. 6 Then the earth brought charges against these lawbreakers.

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

References

“… The plot in the Watcher Story is constructed differently, but many of the elements used to create the plot have similarities with Atrahasis. This is so above all in the basic theme of the two narratives, the mixture of the human and divine. In both places this is expressed in highly mythical terms: in Atrahasis through the creation of humans from a divine substance mixed with earthly substance and through a divine conception and birth; in the Watcher Story through the impregnation of earthly women by divinities. The result is in both places the same: the creation of a race of antediluvians that disturbed the cosmic order. The motif of rebellion in the divine world is also present in both stories. In Atrahasis the rebellion of the lower gods against the higher gods led to the creation of humans so that they could toil for the gods. In the Watcher Story the rebellion led to the birth of giants so that humans had to toil for them. …”

Helge S. Kvanvig, Primeval History: Babylonian, Biblical, and Enochic: An Intertextual Reading, JSJSup 149 (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 414–415.

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 Atrahasis II and 1 Enoch 7:1

Summary

Passages

Atrahasis II

1 Enoch 7:1

References

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