which Enoch saw.' This larger section, however, easily falls into three subdivisions.

The first section (vi.-xi., pp. 3-6) contains the history of the fall of the angels, with its immediate consequences. Two hundred angels resolved to take wives from among the daughters of men; and as a conscquence of this purpose, they became the parents of giants, whose height was 3,000 yards. These giants having consumed all the substance of mankind, proceeded to devour men themselves. Several of the bad angels taught men the arts of war, luxury, and magic, and it was a time of great corruption. The cry of perishing men, however, attracted the attention of Michael, Gabriel, Surjân, and Urjân, and they laid the case before God. An angel was accordingly despatched to the son of Lamech to warn him of the flood. Another was sent to bind Azâzel in a dark opening in the desert till the day of judgment. Gabriel was to set the giants to destroy one another. Michael was to bury the fallen angels under the hills of the earth for seventy generations, till the day of judgment, when they should be sent into the fiery abyss for ever. This should take place at the end of all generations.' Every evil work should come to an end, and 'the plant of righteousness' should appear. Then all the righteous should live till they begat a thousand children, and should complete all the days of their youth and their sabbath in peace.' The earth should be very fruitful, so that of every seed one measure should yield ten thousand and one measure of olives should produce ten presses of oil. And all the children of men should become righteous, and all peoples give honour and praise to God. The account in this section, we should observe, appears

1 One MS. has 300. In the Greek fragment the measure is omitted, so that this extravagance may be an interpolation. See Dillmann in loco.

throughout to be related by the editor, and is not put into the mouth of Enoch.

In the next section (xii.-xvi., 6-10) Enoch is again introduced. Before all this happened Enoch was concealed, and none of the children of men knew where he was concealed and where he dwelt, and what had become of him. And all his doing was with the holy ones, and with the watchers during his life.' After this prefatory notice, Enoch proceeds to tell how the good angels sent him to those that had fallen, to announce to them the impending judgment. Terrified, they asked him to prepare for them a petition. He did so; but as he read it, he fell asleep, and had a vision of judgment. He informed the sinning angels that their petition was refused. He then relates how he had seen a vision of God Himself, and had heard from Him the answer which he was to bear to the watchers.

The next section (xvii.-xxxvi., 10-18) describes the journeys of Enoch under the guidance of angels, and his initiation into various wonders of nature. These stand in relation to the moral government of the universe, and the future judgment is not forgotten. The stars are regarded as living beings; and in a desolate place he saw seven stars bound on account of their sin. Uriel informed him that they had transgressed the command of God, and should be bound there for 10,000 worlds, the number of the days of their guilt (xxi.). In the course of his wanderings, he went to the middle of the earth, and saw a blessed and fruitful place, where there were branches which struck root and sprouted out of a tree that had been hewn down.' 1 A geographical description

1 The fallen tree must denote the Israelites. Another reading, however, gives the sense of 'planted trees,' so that the description would refer merely to the fruitfulness of the place. See Dillmann in loco.

follows, by which Jerusalem is unmistakeably identified; and he is told by Uriel, in answer to his inquiry about one of the valleys, that this accursed valley' is destined for those who shall be cursed for ever, and that for the punishment of the wicked those who find pity shall praise the Lord, the eternal king (xxvi.-xxvii.). Towards the end of this section, he relates how he saw in the east the ends of the earth, whereon the heaven rests, and the gates of heaven; and he then proceeds in these words (which are important for the criticism of the book): 'I saw how the stars of heaven come forth, and counted the gates out of which they come, and wrote down all their exits, of each one separately, according to their number, their names, their connection, their position, their time. and their months, as the angel Uriel who was with me showed me. He showed me everything, and wrote it down for me; also he wrote down their names for me, and their laws, and their functions' (xxxiii.). In the three short chapters that remain, he tells how he saw in the north the three gates of the north wind, in the west three gates answering to those in the east, in the south the three gates of the south wind; and returning to the east, he praised the Lord of glory.

The second part, formally introduced as above stated, includes chapters xxxvii.-lxxi. (pp. 18-41). The characteristic contents of this part may be described generally, as relating to the ideal future. The writer himself divides it into three similitudes,' or figurative addresses. The first extends from xxxviii. to xliv. inclusive (18-22). In this Enoch describes the heavenly abodes of the righteous, speaks of the four angels of the highest God, and refers to all the secrets of heaven,' thunder and lightning, winds, clouds and dew, hail and mist, sun and moon. With his notice of these things he interweaves moral

reflections; and he finds in the stars, so faithful in their relations to one another, an image of the righteous who dwell on earth, and believe on the name of the Lord of the spirits to all eternity.

6

The second figurative address (xlv.-lvii. 22–28) relates to the future judgment, with its consequences to righteous and unrighteous, and treats particularly of the person and office of the Son of man.' The details of this portion, as they will be the subject of special criticism, may be reserved for future consideration. It should be noticed, however, that chapters liv. and lv. refer to the flood as the penal judgment of the Lord of the spirits,' and as destined to take place in those days.'

The third address (lviii.-lxix. 28-40) professes to be about the righteous and the elect; but various matters are spoken of, and the connection is not very carefully observed. We must notice particularly that in ch. lxv. Noah is introduced and becomes the narrator; and this Noachic section extends into ch. lxix. (35-40). In ch. lx. also, Noah is evidently the speaker (see v. 8), though his name does not occur.

The two following chapters (lxx., lxxi. 40, 41) form a conclusion for the whole Book of Similitudes. Enoch is declared to be the son of man who has been born to righteousness,' on whom righteousness dwells,' and whom the righteousness of the Head of days does not forsake;' and he is assured that in the future world the righteous shall dwell with him for ever and ever.

With lxxii. (p. 42) another division of the work clearly begins, for it is marked by its own separate title, which runs thus: The book about the revolution of the lights of heaven, how each is circumstanced, according to their classes, according to their dominion and their time, according to their names and places of nativity, and accord

ing to their months, which their leader, the holy angel Uriel who was with me, showed me; and their whole description, how they are circumstanced, he showed me, and how all the years of the world are circumstanced for ever, until the new creation which endures for ever is created.' The range of this title seems to me to extend to the close of xci., for the latter part of it may fairly be applied to the historical visions, and there is nothing like a fresh title till we reach xcii. We may, however, conveniently follow Dillmann's arrangement, according to which lxxii.-lxxxii. (42-53) constitute a third division, which again distributes itself into three sections.

The first of these, lxxii.-lxxv. (42-47) treats of the sun and moon. We need not dwell on the details of this portion, which are to a great extent founded on observation. Some of the inferences, however, are not very sound. The author clearly regards the earth as a disk, over which rises the solid hemisphere of the sky, with its gates and windows. The wind drives the chariots of the sun, which at night returns by the north from west to east. We should observe that the longest day is represented as being exactly twice the length of the night (lxxii. 14).

The mention of the apertures for the winds and the spirit of the dew,' prepares us for the second section. (lxxvi., lxxvii. 47, 48), which relates to the winds, and brings in an allusion to seven mountains, rivers, and islands.

The third section (lxxviii.-lxxxii., 49-53) returns to the sun and moon, and gives their names and their relation to one another. After Uriel had shown all the heavenly secrets to Enoch, he told him that 'in the days of the sinners' everything on earth should be changed, and the moon no longer appear at its proper times; and