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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 Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 6:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Targum

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Summary

The Aramaic translation of Genesis 6 in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan describes the daughters of men wearing makeup and dressing provocatively, imagery that resembles 1 Enoch, where Azazel teaches the forbidden arts of how to wear makeup and jewelry.

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

Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 6:2

Targum
1 When the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and beautiful daughters were born to them. 2 The sons of the great ones saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, that they painted their eyes and put on rouge, and walked about with naked flesh. They conceived lustful thoughts, and they took wives to themselves from among all who pleased them. 3 The Lord said in his Memra, 'None of the evil generations that are to arise (in the future) will be judged according to the order of judgment applied to the generation of the Flood, (that is) to be destroyed and wiped out from the world. Did I not put my holy spirit in them that they might perform good deeds? But behold, their deeds are evil. Behold, I gave them an extension of a hundred and twenty years that they might repent, but they have not done so.'
300–1200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Pseudo Jonathan Genesis

References

"... The third text is Targum Pseudo-Jonathan of Genesis 6:2: the daughters of men 'were beautiful with their eyes painted, and their hair combed and walking in the nakedness of flesh'. Thus, the sin of the nobles, as they are identified in this text, is caused by the seductive conduct of the women, here described in imagery reminiscent of 1 Enoch 8:1 (eye paint and, instead of fine garments, nakedness). The tradition preserved in this Targum appears to be reflected in Testament of Reuben 5, a text of uncertain date and provenance ..."
George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 195.

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 Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 6:2

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