Post by Yona Maro on Sept 4, 2005 2:51:32 GMT -5
A. LAMECH The Birth of Noah
Cp. Enoch 106.1-2 ii, 1-26
In the Bible, the story of Noah is preceded immediately by that of the dalliance of the 'sons of God' with the daughters of men and the consequent peopling of the earth with a race of giants(Gen. 6.1-8). This gave rise to the legend that when the hero of the Flood was born, the house was filled with a sudden and wondrous light; whereupon his father Lamech suspected that the child was of supernatural origin and sought to discover the truth from his grandfather Enoch who, in reward for his piety, had been translated to heaven (or to the ends of the earth) and made privy to celestial lore (cp. Gen. 5.24).
The legend has hitherto been known to us only from the Ethiopic Book of Enoch (ch. 106), written in the second or first century B.C., from a Latin fragment now in the British Museum, and from a partial allusion in the medieval Samaritan Legends (Asãtir) of Moses (ii.6).
A fragment discovered at Qumran describes, albeit obscurely, how Lamech saw 'in the chambers of his house a light like the rays of the sun'. Our present text takes up the narrative from that point.
Suspecting then that the child had been conceived of one of the (Heavenly) WatchersÇ or Holy Beings and (that really belonged) to the giants, I, Lamech, was disturbed at heart. In my confusion I went to my wife Bath-Enosh.
'(I want you,' I said,) 'to take an oath by the Most High, the Lord Supreme,* the Sovereign of all worlds, (the Ruler of all ) the heavenly beings, to the end that you will disclose everything to me in truth. For if (you swear by the Most High, the Lord Supreme), the Sovereign of all worlds to speak with me in truth and not with lies, this too will you have to disclose to me in truth and not with lies.' At this my wife Bath-Enosh spoke to me with considerable vehemence and (heat).
'Sir cousin,' said she, '(I will ignore) my delicate feelings, and swear to you by the Holy (and ) Great One, the Sovereign of heaven and earth that this seed came from you, this conception was by you, and this fruit was planted by you and not by some stranger or by any of the Watchers or heavenly beings. Why, then, this troubled and marred expression and this gloomy mood? I am telling you the truth.'
Thereupon I, Lamech, rushed to my father Methuselah and (told) him the whole story, (begging him go in turn) to his father and find out definitely what the whole matter portended, since he (i.e, his father) was the favorite (of God) and (the gossip of the angels) to whom this role had been assigned and to whom they communicated all things.
When Methuselah heard (my words, he in turn rushed) to his father Enoch to learn the whole truth from him and (to bespeak ) his goodwill. He set out...for Parvaim and came upon him there.
'Sir and sire', said he to his father Enoch, '(Pray explain) to (me) what I am going to (tell you). I would ask you, however, not to be angry at my coming hither....The fact is that I have been alarmed by( )'.
Enoch 6.6, Jubilees 4.15, Cf.Gen.6.1-3
(Then answered Enoch:) 'To be sure, in the days of my father Jared (heavenly beings did indeed come down to earth and seduce mortal women).
Cf.Enoch 106.3
'(Howbeit,) I, Enoch, (have words of reassurance for you. This child does not come from any of ) the heavenly beings but from (your)son, Lamech.
Enoch 106.18
'(Moreover,) I have on this occasion (something else) to tell and disclose to you ( ). Depart and inform your son Lamech'.
Enoch 107.3
When Methuselah heard (these words....he rushed home) and spoke with his son Lamech. And when I, Lamech, (learned that God) had caused (the child) to issue from me, (I was indeed reassured).
Jewish folklore, deriving its inspiration from the famous visions of Isaiah (6.2-3) and Ezekiel (ch.10), has insisted throughout the ages that when Israel offers public worship to God, its devotions are accompanied by a corresponding act of divine service performed by the angels. This poetic fancy, which finds expression also in the Sanctus of the Christian Communion service, forms the background of what is here designated the LITANY of the ANGELS. This document, only two short extracts from which have thus far been published, describes elements of the celestial liturgy. The first extract is based squarely on the vision of Ezekiel (chapters 1 and 10) and depicts the angels rising in their several classes and contingents to give praise to God seated aloft on His Chariot-throne.
THE LITANY OF THE ANGELS
The angels that minister to the Presence of God's Glory in that compartment of heaven where abide (the beings who possess (true) knowledge. They fall before the cherubim and intone their blessings.
While they are soaring aloft, there sounds a murmur of angel voices, and the lifting of their wings is accompanied by a clamor of joyous song. It is the murmur of angels blessing the Chariot-like Throne above the firmament of the cherubim, while they themselves, from below the place where the Glory dwells, go acclaiming in joyous song the splendor of that radiant expanse.
Whenever the wheels (of that Chariot) are in motion, angels of sanctification dart to and fro all around it, between its glorious wheels. Like fiery apparitions are they, spirits most holy, looking like streams of fire, in the likeness of burnished metal or of lustrous ware; clothed in garments opalescent, a riot of wondrous hues, a diffusion of brightness; live angelic spirits, constantly coming and going beside the glorious wonderful Chariot. Amid all the noise of their progress sounds also that murmured intonation of blessings, and whenever they come round, they shout their holy hallelujahs.
When (the angels) soar aloft, they soar in wondrous wise; and when they alight, they stay standing.
Then the sound of the paean is hushed, and the murmur of angelic benedictions pervades all the camps of those godly beings. Anon, from the midst of their every contingent, they (give forth) a sound of praise, as, in holy worship, each of their several stations.
Next, with seven words of nobility the fourth of the arch-princes blesses in the name of His kingly nobility all who have walked uprightly; and with seven words of ( ) he blesses all who have laid foundations for (nobility); and with seven words of vindication he blesses all those godly beings who have upreared the structure of true knowledge that they may be blessed with His glorious mercy.
Excerpted from the book written by Theodor H. Gaster - Hebraist, Emeritus Prof. of Religion
Barnard College-Columbia University, Chairman of the Ancient Near Eastern Study
Program at Dropsie Univ. in Philadelphia.
Copyright © 1956, 1964, 1976 by Theodor H. Gaster
Cp. Enoch 106.1-2 ii, 1-26
In the Bible, the story of Noah is preceded immediately by that of the dalliance of the 'sons of God' with the daughters of men and the consequent peopling of the earth with a race of giants(Gen. 6.1-8). This gave rise to the legend that when the hero of the Flood was born, the house was filled with a sudden and wondrous light; whereupon his father Lamech suspected that the child was of supernatural origin and sought to discover the truth from his grandfather Enoch who, in reward for his piety, had been translated to heaven (or to the ends of the earth) and made privy to celestial lore (cp. Gen. 5.24).
The legend has hitherto been known to us only from the Ethiopic Book of Enoch (ch. 106), written in the second or first century B.C., from a Latin fragment now in the British Museum, and from a partial allusion in the medieval Samaritan Legends (Asãtir) of Moses (ii.6).
A fragment discovered at Qumran describes, albeit obscurely, how Lamech saw 'in the chambers of his house a light like the rays of the sun'. Our present text takes up the narrative from that point.
Suspecting then that the child had been conceived of one of the (Heavenly) WatchersÇ or Holy Beings and (that really belonged) to the giants, I, Lamech, was disturbed at heart. In my confusion I went to my wife Bath-Enosh.
'(I want you,' I said,) 'to take an oath by the Most High, the Lord Supreme,* the Sovereign of all worlds, (the Ruler of all ) the heavenly beings, to the end that you will disclose everything to me in truth. For if (you swear by the Most High, the Lord Supreme), the Sovereign of all worlds to speak with me in truth and not with lies, this too will you have to disclose to me in truth and not with lies.' At this my wife Bath-Enosh spoke to me with considerable vehemence and (heat).
'Sir cousin,' said she, '(I will ignore) my delicate feelings, and swear to you by the Holy (and ) Great One, the Sovereign of heaven and earth that this seed came from you, this conception was by you, and this fruit was planted by you and not by some stranger or by any of the Watchers or heavenly beings. Why, then, this troubled and marred expression and this gloomy mood? I am telling you the truth.'
Thereupon I, Lamech, rushed to my father Methuselah and (told) him the whole story, (begging him go in turn) to his father and find out definitely what the whole matter portended, since he (i.e, his father) was the favorite (of God) and (the gossip of the angels) to whom this role had been assigned and to whom they communicated all things.
When Methuselah heard (my words, he in turn rushed) to his father Enoch to learn the whole truth from him and (to bespeak ) his goodwill. He set out...for Parvaim and came upon him there.
'Sir and sire', said he to his father Enoch, '(Pray explain) to (me) what I am going to (tell you). I would ask you, however, not to be angry at my coming hither....The fact is that I have been alarmed by( )'.
Enoch 6.6, Jubilees 4.15, Cf.Gen.6.1-3
(Then answered Enoch:) 'To be sure, in the days of my father Jared (heavenly beings did indeed come down to earth and seduce mortal women).
Cf.Enoch 106.3
'(Howbeit,) I, Enoch, (have words of reassurance for you. This child does not come from any of ) the heavenly beings but from (your)son, Lamech.
Enoch 106.18
'(Moreover,) I have on this occasion (something else) to tell and disclose to you ( ). Depart and inform your son Lamech'.
Enoch 107.3
When Methuselah heard (these words....he rushed home) and spoke with his son Lamech. And when I, Lamech, (learned that God) had caused (the child) to issue from me, (I was indeed reassured).
Jewish folklore, deriving its inspiration from the famous visions of Isaiah (6.2-3) and Ezekiel (ch.10), has insisted throughout the ages that when Israel offers public worship to God, its devotions are accompanied by a corresponding act of divine service performed by the angels. This poetic fancy, which finds expression also in the Sanctus of the Christian Communion service, forms the background of what is here designated the LITANY of the ANGELS. This document, only two short extracts from which have thus far been published, describes elements of the celestial liturgy. The first extract is based squarely on the vision of Ezekiel (chapters 1 and 10) and depicts the angels rising in their several classes and contingents to give praise to God seated aloft on His Chariot-throne.
THE LITANY OF THE ANGELS
The angels that minister to the Presence of God's Glory in that compartment of heaven where abide (the beings who possess (true) knowledge. They fall before the cherubim and intone their blessings.
While they are soaring aloft, there sounds a murmur of angel voices, and the lifting of their wings is accompanied by a clamor of joyous song. It is the murmur of angels blessing the Chariot-like Throne above the firmament of the cherubim, while they themselves, from below the place where the Glory dwells, go acclaiming in joyous song the splendor of that radiant expanse.
Whenever the wheels (of that Chariot) are in motion, angels of sanctification dart to and fro all around it, between its glorious wheels. Like fiery apparitions are they, spirits most holy, looking like streams of fire, in the likeness of burnished metal or of lustrous ware; clothed in garments opalescent, a riot of wondrous hues, a diffusion of brightness; live angelic spirits, constantly coming and going beside the glorious wonderful Chariot. Amid all the noise of their progress sounds also that murmured intonation of blessings, and whenever they come round, they shout their holy hallelujahs.
When (the angels) soar aloft, they soar in wondrous wise; and when they alight, they stay standing.
Then the sound of the paean is hushed, and the murmur of angelic benedictions pervades all the camps of those godly beings. Anon, from the midst of their every contingent, they (give forth) a sound of praise, as, in holy worship, each of their several stations.
Next, with seven words of nobility the fourth of the arch-princes blesses in the name of His kingly nobility all who have walked uprightly; and with seven words of ( ) he blesses all who have laid foundations for (nobility); and with seven words of vindication he blesses all those godly beings who have upreared the structure of true knowledge that they may be blessed with His glorious mercy.
Excerpted from the book written by Theodor H. Gaster - Hebraist, Emeritus Prof. of Religion
Barnard College-Columbia University, Chairman of the Ancient Near Eastern Study
Program at Dropsie Univ. in Philadelphia.
Copyright © 1956, 1964, 1976 by Theodor H. Gaster