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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 8

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.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 8:1 and Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 5.1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Early Christian

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Summary

The Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria draws on the story of 1 Enoch where fallen angels taught humans war, makeup, and magic arts, as well as taking human wives, showing how it influenced early Christian theology and tradition.

Passages

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

Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 5.1

Early Christian
To which also we shall add, that the angels who had obtained the superior rank, having sunk into pleasures, told to the women the secrets which had come to their knowledge; while the rest of the angels concealed them, or rather, kept them against the coming of the Lord. Thence emanated the doctrine of providence, and the revelation of high things; and prophecy having already been imparted to the philosophers of the Greeks, the treatment of dogma arose among the philosophers, sometimes true when they hit the mark, and sometimes erroneous, when they comprehended not the secret of the prophetic allegory.

References

"... There is then the evidence from patristic literature. The Epistle of Barnabas, likely an early second century document, directly quotes 1 Enoch 89:56 as Scripture in the 16th chapter, and refers to Enoch as a prophet in the 4th chapter. Justin Martyr (Second Apology 5), Athenagoras (Plea for the Christians 24), Irenaeus (Against Heresies 1.15.6, 4.16.2, 4.36.4), and Clement of Alexandria (Stromata 5.1.10.1-2, Selections from the Prophets 2.1, 53.4), all mid-to-late second century authors, talk about Enoch in terms of information revealed not only in Genesis but also 1 Enoch, and at times refer to characters within 1 Enoch. Yet perhaps the most interesting witness comes from Tertullian in the early third century (On the Apparel of Women, 3.1-3) ..."
Ethan R. Longhenry, The 1 Enoch Conundrum (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2016), 1–5.

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

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1 Enoch 8:1 and Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 5.1

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