1 Enoch 106

1And after some days my son Methuselah took a wife for his son Lamech, and she became pregnant by him and bore a son. (Latin Fragment: Factum est autem [cum esset Lamech annorum tricentorum quinquagenta] natus est ei filiu(s) | And it came to pass [when Lamech was three hundred and fifty years old] that a son(s) was born to him.)L*CVI—CVII. A fragment of a Noah Apocalypse. Part of this section has been preserved in a Latin Version which I print side by side with the text. 2And his body was white as snow and red as the blooming of a rose, and the hair of his head †and his long locks were white as wool, and his eyes beautiful†. And when he opened his eyes, he lighted up the whole house like the sun, and the whole house was very bright. (cui oculi sunt sicut radi solis capilli autem eius candi di ores in septies niue corpori autem eius nemo hominum potest intueri. | Whose eyes are like the rays of the sun, but his white lips are seven times snow-white, but no man can look upon his body.)L*The Latin does not mention these 'long locks', and the Lth. is easily emended into ’was white . . . and his eyes were like the rays of the sun’. Cf. the Eth. version in v. 5, and v. 10. In the Latin (v. 2) septies seems corrupt for capitis. Cf. v. 10. 3And thereupon he arose in the hands of the midwife, opened his mouth, and †conversed with† the Lord of righteousness. (et surexit inter manus obstetricis suae et adorauit dominutn uiuentem in secula [laudauit]. | And he arose between the hands of his midwife and worshipped the Lord who lives forever.)L 4And his father Lamech was afraid of him and fled, and came to his father Methuselah. (et timuit Lamech. | And Lamech was afraid.)L 5And he said unto him: ‘I have begotten a strange son, diverse from and unlike man, and resembling the sons of the God of heaven; and his nature is different and he is not like us, and his eyes are as the rays of the sun, and his countenance is glorious. (et uenit ad patrem suum Mathusalem et narrauit illi omnia. | And he came to his father Methuselah and told him everything.)L 6And it seems to me that he is not sprung from me but from the angels, and I fear that in his days a wonder may be wrought on the earth. (ne non ex co natus esset nisi nontius dei. | lest he should be born out of cohabitation except by the messenger of God.)L*The Lat. gives a different idea. Nontius = ἄγγελος. The Lat. of 6 follows 'Lamech' in v. 4. 7And now, my father, I am here to petition thee and implore thee that thou mayst go to Enoch, our father, and learn from him the truth, for his dwelling-place is amongst the angels.’ (dixit Mathusalem: Ego autem non possum seire nisi eamus ad patrem nostrum Enoc. | said Methuselah: 'But I cannot sow unless we go to our father Enoch.')L*i.e. at the ends of the earth, as in lxv. 2. 8And when Methuselah heard the words of his son, he came to me to the ends of the earth; for he had heard that I was there, and he cried aloud, and I heard his voice and I came to him. And I said unto him: ‘Behold, here am I, my son, wherefore hast thou come to me?’ (quum autem uidit Enoc filium suum Mathusalem uenientem ad se [et] ait. quid est quod uenisti ad me nate? | And when Enoch saw his son Methuselah coming to him [and] he said: ‘What is it that you have come to me?†’)L 9And he answered and said: ‘Because of a great cause of anxiety have I come to thee, and because of a disturbing vision have I approached. (dixit | he said)L 10And now, my father, hear me: unto Lamech my son there hath been born a son, the like of whom there is none, and his nature is not like man’s nature, and the colour of his body is whiter than snow and redder than the bloom of a rose, and the hair of his head is whiter than white wool, and his eyes are like the rays of the sun, and he opened his eyes and thereupon lighted up the whole house. (quod natus est filio suo [nomine] Lamech cui oculi sunt sicut radi solis capilli[s] eiuscandidiores septies niue, corpori autem eius nemo hominum potest intueri | that he gave birth to his son [name] Lamech, whose eyes are like the rays of the sun’s hair [seven times] brighter than his snow, but no man can look at his body)L*Borrowed by Apoc. Petri. 11And he arose in the hands of the midwife, and opened his mouth and blessed the Lord of heaven. (et surexit inter manus obstetricis suae eadem hora, qua procidit de utero matris suae, orauit dominum uiuentem in secula et laudauit. | And he rose up in the hands of his midwife at the same hour that he came out of his mother's womb, prayed and praised the Lord who lives forever.)L*Here only in Enoch. But note Lat. = 'dominum viventem in saecula.' Also cf. v. 1. 12And his father Lamech became afraid and fled to me, and did not believe that he was sprung from him, but that he was in the likeness of the angels of heaven; and behold I have come to thee that thou mayst make known to me the truth.’ (et timuit Lamech. | And Lamech was afraid.)L 13And I, Enoch, answered and said unto him: ‘The Lord will do a new thing on the earth, and this I have already seen in a vision, and make known to thee that in the generation of my father Jared some of the angels of heaven transgressed the word of the Lord. (et dixit Enoc: nontiatum esi mihi fili quia post quingentos annos | And Enoch said: 'You have been informed my son that after five hundred years)L 14And behold they commit sin and transgress the law, and have united themselves with women and commit sin with them, and have married some of them, and have begot children by them. 15Yea, there shall come a great destruction over the whole earth, and there shall be a deluge and a great destruction for one year. (mittel deus cataclismum aquae ut deleat omnem creaturam [xl.] ostendit oculis nostris. | God shows the cataclysm of water to destroy all creation [xl.] before our eyes.)L 16And this son who has been born unto you shall be left on the earth, and his three children shall be saved with him: when all mankind that are on the earth shall die [he and his sons shall be saved]. (et erunt illi • III • filii [et erunt nomina filiorum cius • Sem • Cham • Iafeth] | and they will be • 3 • sons [and the names of the sons will be Cius • Shem • Ham • Japheth])L 17And they shall produce on the earth giants not according to the spirit, but according to the flesh, and there shall be a great punishment on the earth, and the earth shall be cleansed from all impurity. 18And now make known to thy son Lamech that he who has been born is in truth his son, and call his name Noah; for he shall be left to you, and he and his sons shall be saved from the destruction, which shall come upon the earth on account of all the sin and all the unrighteousness, which shall be consummated on the earth in his days. (et ipse uocabitur Noe qui interpretatur requies quia requiem prestabit in archam. | and he himself will be called Noah, which is interpreted as rest, because he will provide rest in the ark.)L 19And after that there shall be still more unrighteousness than that which was first consummated on the earth; for I know the mysteries of the holy ones; for He, the Lord, has showed me and informed me, and I have read (them) in the heavenly tablets.*Either the secrets known to the angels, or the secrets relating to the righteous in the future.