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1 Then I thought in my heart that the conception was from the Watchers, and the seed from the holy ones, and that it belonged to the [Nephilim], 2 and my heart was changed within me because of this child. 3 Then I, Lamech, was alarmed, and I went to Bitenosh my wife [and said,] 4 [“Behold,] I adjure you by the Most High, by the Lord of greatness, by the King of all [ages …] 5 […] … the sons of heaven, that you tell me everything in truth, whether […] 6 [in truth] you must tell me, and not with lies. This … […] 7 by the King of all ages, that you speak with me in truth and not with lies […] 8 Then Bitenosh my wife spoke with me with great force, and she [wept …] 9 and said, “O my brother and my lord, remember my pleasure … […] 10 in the heat of the moment, and my breath within its sheath. And I, in truth, will tell you everything […] 11 […] … greatly my heart was then changed within me. 12 And when Bitenosh my wife saw that my face had changed upon me … […] 13 then she controlled her spirit and spoke with me and said to me, “O my lord and my brother, [remember] 14 my pleasure. I swear to you by the Great Holy One, by the King of heaven … […] 15 that this seed is from you, and from you is this conception, and from you is the planting of [this] fruit […] 16 and not from any stranger, and not from any of the Watchers, and not from any of the sons of heaven. [Why is the look of] 17 your face so changed and spoiled upon you, and your spirit so troubled? … [… For I] 18 am speaking with you in truth.” […] 19 Then I, Lamech, ran to Methuselah my father and told him everything [… Enoch] 20 his father, and he would know everything from him for certain, because he is beloved and favored [by God, and with the holy ones] 21 his lot is apportioned, and they tell him everything. And when Methuselah heard [these words,]⁠ 22 he ran to Enoch his father to learn everything from him in truth … […] 23 his will. And he went to the length of the land, to Parvaim, and there he found Enoch [his father …] 24 and he said to Enoch his father, “O my father and my lord, to whom I have [come …] 25 […] and I say to you, do not be angry with me because I have come here to … you […] 26 fearful before you … […] 27 … […]

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 106:8 and 1Q20 2:21

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings

Summary

1 Enoch and the Genesis Apocryphon show Lamech asking Methuselah to seek Enoch’s interpretation of Noah’s unusual birth, as Enoch can explain it because he lives with angels. The pattern points to a common tradition shaped for each story.

Passages

1 Enoch 106:8

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

7 Now, my father, I am asking you to go to Enoch, our father, and learn the truth from him, for he lives among the angels.” 8 When Methuselah heard his son’s words, he came to me at the ends of the earth, for he had heard I was there. He cried out, and I heard his voice and came to him. And I said to him: “Here I am, my son. Why have you come to me?” 9 He said: “I have come to you because of great anxiety, and because a troubling vision has driven me here.

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

1Q20 2:21

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings · Genesis Apocryphon

19 Then I, Lamech, ran to Methuselah my father and told him everything [… Enoch] 20 his father, and he would know everything from him for certain, because he is beloved and favored [by God, and with the holy ones] 21 his lot is apportioned, and they tell him everything. And when Methuselah heard [these words,] 22 he ran to Enoch his father to learn everything from him in truth … […] 23 his will. And he went to the length of the land, to Parvaim, and there he found Enoch [his father …] 24 and he said to Enoch his father, “O my father and my lord, to whom I have [come …] 25 […] and I say to you, do not be angry with me because I have come here to … you […]

160–60 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1Q20

References

"... The opening of 1Q20 ii 19 is reminiscent of 1 Enoch 106:4 cited in section C.1 above. In addition, both texts have Lamech petition Methuselah to ask Enoch for a true interpretation of the matter. As 106:4–7 shows, in the Birth of Noah the conversation between Lamech and Methuselah is more developed; in addition, unlike the Genesis Apocryphon, Lamech relays a description of Noah’s appearance to Methuselah. As this repetition forms part of the strategy of the author of the Birth of Noah, and since the absence of it in 1Q20 is hard to explain as an omission of such material, it is likely that this part of the Genesis Apocryphon account retains the tradition in an earlier form. More elaborate in Genesis Apocryphon, however, are the credentials ascribed to Enoch. 1 Enoch 106:7 has Lamech petition and declare to his father ... The text says nothing more about Enoch other than that his abode is with the angels, leaving readers to infer that for this reason he would be ideally positioned to know something (from them) about the significance of the child. This inference is spelt out more fully in 1Q20, which has Lamech declare, in indirect speech, that the angels act as Enoch’s informants ..."

Loren T. Stuckenbruck, The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 70.

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

Column 2

1Q2021 chapters

Compare 1 Enoch 106:8 and 1Q20 2:21

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 106:8

1Q20 2:21

References

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