1 Enoch

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Chapter 9

1 Then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven⁠ and saw much blood being shed on the earth, and all the lawlessness being committed on the earth.⁠ 2 They said to one another: 'The earth, left without inhabitants, cries out, and the voice of their crying reaches the gates of heaven.'⁠ 3 'And now to you, the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men plead, saying, "Present our case before the Most High."'⁠ 4 They said to the Lord of the ages:⁠ 'Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings,⁠ and God of the ages,⁠ the throne of Your glory stands through all generations,⁠ and Your name is holy and glorious and blessed through all ages!⁠ 5 You have created all things, and over all things You have power. All things are open and visible in Your sight, and You see everything, and nothing can hide from You.⁠ 6 You see what Azâzêl has done, who has taught all unrighteousness on the earth and revealed the eternal secrets that were kept in heaven,⁠ which men were eager to learn.⁠ 7 And Semjâzâ, to whom You gave the authority to rule over his companions. 8 They have gone to the daughters of men on the earth, have lain with the women, have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins. 9 The women have borne giants, and as a result the whole earth has been filled with blood and unrighteousness. 10 And now the souls of those who have died are crying out and pleading at the gates of heaven, and their laments have risen up; they cannot stop because of the lawless acts committed on the earth.⁠ 11 You know all things before they happen, and You see these things and allow them, and You do not tell us what we should do about them.'⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 9:6 and Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.15

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Early Christian

Summary

The Christian theologian Irenaeus follows the story of the Watchers found in 1 Enoch, where Azazel and his companions share divine secrets and corrupt humanity, using it as an authoritative source to explain the origins of evil and forbidden practices.

Passages

1 Enoch 9:6

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

5 You have created all things, and over all things You have power. All things are open and visible in Your sight, and You see everything, and nothing can hide from You. 6 You see what Azâzêl has done, who has taught all unrighteousness on the earth and revealed the eternal secrets that were kept in heaven, which men were eager to learn. 7 And Semjâzâ, to whom You gave the authority to rule over his companions. 8 They have gone to the daughters of men on the earth, have lain with the women, have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins. 9 The women have borne giants, and as a result the whole earth has been filled with blood and unrighteousness. 10 And now the souls of those who have died are crying out and pleading at the gates of heaven, and their laments have risen up; they cannot stop because of the lawless acts committed on the earth.

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

Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.15

Early Christian

6 With good reason, therefore, and very fittingly, in reference to your rash attempt, has that divine elder and preacher of the truth burst forth in verse against you as follows: Marcus, you former of idols, inspector of portents, Skill'd in consulting the stars, and deep in the black arts of magic, Ever by tricks such as these confirming the doctrines of error, Furnishing signs unto those involved by you in deception, Wonders of power that is utterly severed from God and apostate, Which Satan, your true father, enables you still to accomplish, By means of Azazel, that fallen and yet mighty angel — Thus making you the precursor of his own impious actions. Such are the words of the saintly elder. And I shall endeavour to state the remainder of their mystical system, which runs out to great length, in brief compass, and to bring to the light what has for a long time been concealed. For in this way such things will become easily susceptible of exposure by all.

175–190 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book 1

References

"... Irenaeus exhibits his familiarity with the angel story in several passages of his Against Heresies. The following were cited above in the first part of the chapter: 1.10.1; 1.15.6; 4.16.2; and 4.36.4. He also mentions it in 'In Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching 18' ..."

James C. VanderKam and William Adler, eds., The Jewish Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity, CRINT 3.4 (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1993), 66.

"... In the second century CE, a number of Christians were re-reading the Book of the Watchers’ traditions about the fallen angels through the lens of Hellenistic and Roman ideas about magoi and mageia. One is hard-pressed, however, to find any explicit appeals to this association in relation to women. Where we find “magical writings” associated with the fallen angels, for instance, it is in connection to “pagan” polytheism, idolatry, and animal sacrifice, with no concern to specify the gender of the worshipers (so, e.g., Justin, 2 Apology 5.4), and when fallen angels are placed at the origins of “magical arts,” it is with reference to male “heretics” (so, e.g., Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.15.6), consistent with what Stratton has shown for the early Christian gendering of “magic” as male. In the third century, Julius Africanus mentions traditions about the fallen angels as teaching their wives “concerning magic and sorcery, as well as the numbers of the motion of astronomical phenomena,” but he does so only in passing and in the context of dismissing these traditions as unbelievable; in fact, the implausibility of the whole complex of traditions is pivotal for the logic of the passage in question, which is the first known Christian source to promote the euhemeristic interpretation of the “sons of God” as human Sethians ..."

Annette Yoshiko Reed, "Gendering Heavenly Secrets? Women, Angels, and the Problem of Misogyny and Magic" in Stratton, Kimberly B.and ‎Dayna S. Kalleres (eds.) Daughters of Hecate: Women and Magic in Antiquity (Oxford University Press, 2014), 108–151.

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 9:6 and Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.15

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 9:6

Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.15

References

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