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1 ENOCH 80 WITHIN the BOOK of the LUMINARIES James C

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1 ENOCH 80 WITHIN the BOOK of the LUMINARIES James C 1 ENOCH 80 WITHIN THE BOOK OF THE LUMINARIES James C. VanderKam University of Notre Dame 1 En. 80 is an unusual section in the Book of the Luminaries (1 En. 72–82). Chapters 72–79 are filled with Uriel’s revelations to Enoch about the sun and moon and related phenomena. This section reaches its conclusion in ch. 79 where Enoch tells his son that he has shown him the entire law of the stars (v. 1) and, after summarizing those teachings, adds: “This is the appearance and the likeness of each luminary that Uriel, the great angel who is their leader, showed me.”1 The passage could serve as the end of the composition, but chs. 80–82 follow. Of these remaining chapters, only 82 is astro- nomical in nature. 1 En. 81:1–82:3 provides framework information in that it deals with the transmission of Enoch’s revealed knowledge to his offspring,2 and only in 82:4–20 does the text revert to specifically astronomical topics. 1 En. 80 stands apart from the chapters that precede and follow it through its emphasis on eschatological themes related to the luminaries. The unique character of ch. 80 comes to expression not only through its focus on the future but also through the tone of its teach- ing. As the writer addresses eschatological themes he appears to con- tradict the introductory verse of the book and the consistent teachings found elsewhere in it. In 1 En. 72:1 the writer opened the work by describing its contents: “The book about the motion of the heavenly luminaries, all as they are in their kinds, their jurisdiction, their time, their name, their origins, and their months, which Uriel, the holy angel who was with me (and) who is their leader, showed me. The entire book about them, as it is, he showed me and how every year of the world will be forever, until a new creation lasting forever is 1 Translations of 1 Enoch are from G. Nickelsburg and J. VanderKam, 1 Enoch: A New Translation (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004). 2 On this section, see Nickelsburg, 1 Enoch 1 (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 22–24, 333–37. He does not consider it a part of the Book of the Luminaries. 334 james c. vanderkam made.” The latter part of this programmatic statement creates the strong impression that the patterns for the movements of the lumi- naries set forth in the book will remain in force until the new cre- ation arrives (“how every year of the world will be forever, until a new creation . .”). The point is also made early in the statement where the author twice says that Uriel’s revelations depict the way things really are. The contents of chs. 72–79; 82:4–20 bear out the description in 1 En. 72:1. They explain the law of the sun, moon, and stars and several related phenomena. All the sections presuppose unchanging patterns in nature.3 1 En. 80 contradicts all of this or so it seems. Like the rest of the Book of the Luminaries, it does present itself as a disclosure from Uriel to Enoch and the angel does mention the standard astronomical topics in v. 1 (“this sun and this moon and those who lead the stars of the sky and all those who turn them—their work, their times, and their emergences”); but with v. 2 a new subject arises: “in the days of the sinners the years will grow shorter...everything on the earth will change...the moon will change its order and will not appear at its (normal) time...many heads of the stars will stray from the command and will change their ways and actions and will not appear at the times prescribed for them” (vv. 2, 4, 6). How do these fundamental changes in nature during “the days of the sinners” comport with a supposedly unchanging set of laws for the luminaries? The treatment of the question has two major parts leading to a conclusion. The first part is a survey of the history of scholarship on the passage, and the second offers a reading of the passage to discern its meaning and nuances. The conclusion to which the analy- sis leads is that ch. 80 probably did not belong to the original form of the Book of the Luminaries. 3 In 74:12, 17 the word 'àlam is used in connection with the correct length of the year as determined by the positions of the luminaries when they move through the gates. It may mean eternal and thus indicate that these positions are unchang- ing although another possible translation is world. See also 72:1..
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