1 Enoch 90

XC. 1-5. Third Period—from Alexander the Great to the Graeco-Syrian Domination.

1And I saw till that in this manner thirty-five shepherds undertook the pasturing (of the sheep), and they severally completed their periods as did the first; and others received them into their hands, to pasture them for their period, each shepherd in his own period.*As the twelve had fulfilled their times, so did the rest of the thirty-five.*All the MSS. are corrupt, qt, β-ky read 'thirty-seven' (corrupted further in qu). In xc. 5 at the close of the third period the three periods are summed up as (12+)23+23=58.*Here we have the transition to the Greek period, i.e. from Alexander to the establishment (expected) of the Messianic kingdom. This period has two divisions: (1) twenty-three shepherds of the Graeco-Egyptian rule of Palestine, 330-200; (2) twelve shepherds of Graeco-Syrian rule from 200 till about 140 or 130. 2And after that I saw in my vision all the birds of heaven coming, the eagles, the vultures, the kites, the ravens; but the eagles led all the birds; and they began to devour those sheep, and to pick out their eyes and to devour their flesh.*The new world power – of the Greeks, is represented by a new order–birds of prey. The 'eagles' are the Greeks or Macedonians. The 'ravens' are the Syrians under the Seleucidae (vv. 8, 9, 12). The 'vultures' and 'kites' must be the Egyptians under the Ptolemies.*2-4. The Graeco-Egyptian domination. 3And the sheep cried out because their flesh was being devoured by the birds, and as for me I looked and lamented in my sleep over that shepherd who pastured the sheep. 4And I saw until those sheep were devoured by the dogs and eagles and kites, and they left neither flesh nor skin nor sinew remaining on them till only their bones stood there: and their bones too fell to the earth and the sheep became few. 5And I saw until that twenty-three had undertaken the pasturing and completed in their several periods fifty-eight times. XC. 6-12. Fourth Period—from the Graeco-Syrian Domination to the Maccabean Revolt.*6-17. The fourth and last period of heathen supremacy, the Graeco-Syrian domination over Israel, from 200 to 140 or 130 B.C. See Commentary in loc. 6But behold lambs were borne by those white sheep, and they began to open their eyes and to see, and to cry to the sheep.*rise of the Chasids, who existed previous to the Maccabean outbreak. See 1 Macc. ii. 42, iii. 13, and 1 En. xc. 9. They possessed all the enthusiasm and religious doctrine of the nation. While champions of the law against the Hellenizing Sadducees they held advanced views on the Messianic kingdom and the Resurrection. The writer of these Dream-visions was evidently a Chasid. He teaches the Resurrection, the final judgement, and the kingdom of the Messiah, and above all he criticizes severely the moral and ceremonial irregularities in the services of the second temple (lxxxix. 73). For this writer the Chasid aims–the re-establishment of the Theocracy and the preparation for the Messianic kingdom– are bound up with the success of the Maccabean leader. This could not be the case after Jonathan's assumption of the high- priesthood in 153 B.C., which not merely alienated the Chasids from the Maccabean family, but made them its deadly enemies. Thus we date lxxxiii-xc before 153 B.C.*6-7. The Chasids or 'lambs' appeal in vain to the nation, owing to foreign oppression. 7Yea, they cried to them, but they did not hearken to what they said to them, but were exceedingly deaf, and their eyes were very exceedingly blinded. 8And I saw in the vision how the ravens flew upon those lambs and took one of those lambs, and dashed the sheep in pieces and devoured them.*Onias III, put to death by the Syrians in 171 B.C. See 2 Macc. iv. 33-35. 9And I saw till horns grew upon those lambs, and the ravens cast down their horns; and I saw till there sprouted a great horn of one of those sheep, and their eyes were opened.*The horned lambs must be the Maccabees, and the great horn must be Judas Maccabaeus. This section is thus earlier than Judas' death in 160 B.C. See my Commentary for further notes.*Unlike the Chasids, the Maccabees do not appeal in vain. 10And it †looked at† them [and their eyes opened], and it cried to the sheep, and the rams saw it and all ran to it. 11And notwithstanding all this those eagles and vultures and ravens and kites still kept tearing the sheep and swooping down upon them and devouring them: still the sheep remained silent, but the rams lamented and cried out.*11, 12. Syria uses every effort against Judas but in vain. 12And those ravens fought and battled with it and sought to lay low its horn, but they had no power over it. XC. 13-19. The last Assault of the Gentiles on the Jews (where vv. 13-15 and 16-18 are doublets). 13And I saw till the †shepherds and† eagles and those vultures and kites came, and †they cried to the ravens† that they should break the horn of that ram, and they battled and fought with it, and it battled with them and cried that its help might come.*i.e. יִזְעֲקוּ (or יצעקו) for יִזְעֲקוּ (or יצעקו) 'were gathered together'. See v. 16 again. The LXX thus mistranslates יזעקו in Judges vi. 34, 35, xviii. 22, Jos. viii. 16, 1 Sam. xiv. 20. So I read 'and I saw till the ravens and eagles and vultures and kites were gathered together,' etc.*The symbolism becomes looser here, and the 'vultures' and 'kites' are no longer restricted to the Graeco-Egyptians as in v. 2. See v. 16, and compare the varying reference of boars in lxxxix. 66 and 72. So perhaps here the vultures and kites are Ammon and Moab. 14And I saw till that man, who wrote down the names of the shepherds [and] carried up into the presence of the Lord of the sheep [came and helped it and showed it everything: he had come down for the help of that ram].*An intrusion. There is no intervention needed to save Israel which triumphs over Gog in v. 19. This clause, whether added in the Hebrew or the Greek, has a clear reference to the help which Michael gave to Judas Maccabaeus. See 2 Mace. xi. 6, 8. Michael is Israel's patron, as well as the heavenly scribe in these chapters. 15And I saw till the Lord of the sheep came unto them in wrath, and all who saw Him fled, and they all fell †into His shadow† from before His face.*15, 18. God himself destroys Israel's last foes like Korah and his followers. Num. xvi. 31 seqq. This is the first act of the final judgement; the remaining acts are quite forensic. 16All the eagles and vultures and ravens and kites were gathered together, and there came with them all the sheep of the field, yea, they all came together, and helped each other to break that horn of the ram. 17And I saw that man, who wrote the book according to the command of the Lord, till he opened that book concerning the destruction which those twelve last shepherds had wrought, and showed that they had destroyed much more than their predecessors, before the Lord of the sheep. 18And I saw till the Lord of the sheep came unto them and took in His hand the staff of His wrath, and smote the earth, and the earth clave asunder, and all the beasts and all the birds of the heaven fell from among those sheep, and were swallowed up in the earth and it covered them.*recall Num. xx. 11, while the earth clave asunder recalls Num. xvi. 31-33. 19And I saw till a great sword was given to the sheep, and the sheep proceeded against all the beasts of the field to slay them, and all the beasts and the birds of the heaven fled before their face. XC. 20-27. Judgement of the Fallen Angels, the Shepherds, and the Apostates.*The sword is given to Israel to oppose the hosts of Gog and to avenge itself on its heathen oppressors; in xci. 12 the sword has a higher ethical significance, the judgement of oppression and sin. 20And I saw till a throne was erected in the pleasant land, and the Lord of the sheep sat Himself thereon, and the other took the sealed books and opened those books before the Lord of the sheep.*i.e. Palestine, cf. lxxxix. 40 and Dan. xi. 16, 41, 45. God's throne is set up in Jerusalem (vv. 28, 29). The books are opened as in Dan. vii. 10. See xlvii. 3 (note). The Messiah does not appear till after the judgement in lxxxiii-xc. 21And the Lord called those men the seven first white ones, and commanded that they should bring before Him, beginning with the first star which led the way, all the stars whose privy members were like those of horses, and they brought them all before Him.*For these seven archangels cf. the Zoroastrian Amshaspands, and Tobit xii. 15; Rev. i. 4; iv. 5; viii. 2. See Cheyne, Origin of the Psalter pp. 281, 282, etc.; Jewish Encycl. i. 590. 22And He said to that man who wrote before Him, being one of those seven white ones, and said unto him: ‘Take those seventy shepherds to whom I delivered the sheep, and who taking them on their own authority slew more than I commanded them.’*22-25. The shepherds are judged along with the fallen Watchers. 23And behold they were all bound, I saw, and they all stood before Him. 24And the judgement was held first over the stars, and they were judged and found guilty, and went to the place of condemnation, and they were cast into an abyss, full of fire and flaming, and full of pillars of fire.*Their final prison, as in x. 6, xviii. 11, xxi. 7-10, liv. 6. Contrast xviii. 12. 25And those seventy shepherds were judged and found guilty, and they were cast into that fiery abyss. 26And I saw at that time how a like abyss was opened in the midst of the earth, full of fire, and they brought those blinded sheep, and they were all judged and found guilty and cast into this fiery abyss, and they burned; now this abyss was to the right of that house.*The Apostates are cast into Gehenna, south of Jerusalem ('to the right', etc.). 27And I saw those sheep burning †and their bones burning†. XC. 28-42. The New Jerusalem, the Conversion of the surviving Gentiles, the Resurrection of the Righteous, the Messiah. Enoch awakes and weeps.*The Apostates suffer in view of the blessed Jerusalem. Cf. Isa. lxvi. 24, 1 En. xlviii. 9 (note). 28And I stood up to see till they folded up that old house; and carried off all the pillars, and all the beams and ornaments of the house were at the same time folded up with it, and they carried it off and laid it in a place in the south of the land.*28, 29. The old Jerusalem removed and the new set up. Cf. O.T. prophecy: Ezek. xl-xlviii; Isa. liv. 11, 12; lx; Hag. ii. 7-9; Zech. ii. 6-13. A New Jerusalem descending from heaven is a familiar idea in Jewish Apocalypses. Cf. 4 Ezra vii. 26; xiii. 36; 2 Bar. xxxii. 2; Rev. xxi. 2, 10. 29And I saw till the Lord of the sheep brought a new house greater and loftier than that first, and set it up in the place of the first which had been folded up: all its pillars were new, and its ornaments were new and larger than those of the first, the old one which He had taken away, and all the sheep were within it. 30And I saw all the sheep which had been left, and all the beasts on the earth, and all the birds of the heaven, falling down and doing homage to those sheep and making petition to and obeying them in every thing.*lit. 'in every word'.*Conversion of the surviving Gentiles and their spontaneous submission to Israel. Cf. Isa. xiv. 2; lxvi. 12, 19-21, etc. Contrast the later Jewish view, Weber Jüd. Theol. 384-387, 395. 31And thereafter those three who were clothed in white and had seized me by my hand [who had taken me up before], and the hand of that ram also seizing hold of me, they took me up and set me down in the midst of those sheep †before the judgement took place†.*seemingly Elijah, lxxxix. 52.*These words are awkward here. 32And those sheep were all white, and their wool was abundant and clean.*=righteous; abundant and clean wool=righteousness in large measure. Cf. Isa. i. 26; iv. 3; lx. 21. 33And all that had been destroyed and dispersed, and all the beasts of the field, and all the birds of the heaven, assembled in that house, and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced with great joy because they were all good and had returned to His house.*The righteous dead will rise to share in the kingdom. Cf. li. 1. Also the dispersion are gathered into it. Cf. Mic. iv. 6, 7. 34And I saw till they laid down that sword, which had been given to the sheep, and they brought it back into the house, and it was sealed before the presence of the Lord, and all the sheep were invited into that house, but it held them not.*Israel's sword sealed and preserved as a memorial. 35And the eyes of them all were opened, and they saw the good, and there was not one among them that did not see. 36And I saw that that house was large and broad and very full. 37And I saw that a white bull was born, with large horns, and all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air feared him and made petition to him all the time.*The Messiah emerges from the bosom of the community. He is not angelic, but human, yet superior to the righteous symbolized by sheep. As human he corresponds to the Messiah of the prophets, not that of the Parables (apocalyptic). He has, however, no function and comes after the judgement. The Messiah-hope was practically dead while such a leader as Judas lived. Later some revived the O.T. Messiah, the Son of David as in Pss. Solomon (70-40 B.C.), others followed the idea of the supernatural Son of Man given us in the Parables (94-70 B.C.). 38And I saw till all their generations were transformed, and they all became white bulls; and the first among them became a lamb, and that lamb became a great animal and had great black horns on its head; and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced over it and over all the oxen.*All the members of the kingdom are transformed, and the Messiah becomes a lamb. Their life is now apparently unending, and there is a return to the primitive righteousness of Eden, i.e. Adam was a white bull. 39And I slept in their midst: and I awoke and saw everything. 40This is the vision which I saw while I slept, and I awoke and blessed the Lord of righteousness and gave Him glory. 41Then I wept with a great weeping and my tears stayed not till I could no longer endure it: when I saw, they flowed on account of what I had seen; for everything shall come and be fulfilled, and all the deeds of men in their order were shown to me. 42On that night I remembered the first dream, and because of it I wept and was troubled—because I had seen that vision.