The Apocalyptic Imagination Part 5: Enoch (cont'd) - The Similitudes/Parables

The Similitudes of Enoch (Book of the Parables) – 1 Enoch 37-71

The Similitudes form the longest section of the work that has come down to us a 1 Enoch and is probably one of the later compositions included in the enochic corpus.  No copies or fragments from this section of the work have been found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls. D.S. Russell (Method and Message, 52) has noted that “the Similitudes or Parables of Enoch are of considerable importance by reason of their references to the Son of Man.”  He also notes that some scholars (e.g., Milik) consider the work to be a Christian composition from the third century AD. However, while this view is no longer widely held, suspicion of later Christian interpolations continues. Russell notes that E. Sjoeerg and M. Black agree that the text comes from the time of the first Roman procurators (c. 40-38 BC).  Nickelsburg suggests the more generic “turn of the era”.  This brings the text into closer proximity to the events described in the New Testament. 

One of the issues that leads to interpretive problems with this text is that it is only extant in the Ethiopic version.  This means that the Ethiopic is likely a translation of a translation.  It is very difficult then to pick up the Hebrew or Aramaic cadences of the text as it was originally composed. Furthermore, parables are a form of “oral literature”.  They are often composed, transmitted, and adapted orally before they are written down.  There is a greater sense that this material comes out of an oral culture. Note for example that there is less emphasis on Enoch as scribe, or on writing down his visions. He is told rather to speak about his visions.

The text seems to presuppose a knowledge of the Book of the Watchers and the visions recapitulate a good deal of what we read in the first part of 1 Enoch.  The themes of the Watchers and fallen angels are part of the narrative world of this text. Once again, we are introduced to the archangels who have specific cosmological functions.

Genre/Form

The work consists of three parables which are found in chapters 38-44, 45-57, and 58-69).  While aspects of the Similitudes are certainly apocalyptic, there are several interruptions  in which wisdom is personified that make the text seem more akin to Jewish “sapiential” or “wisdom literature”.  These “wisdom poems” have an eschatological flavour and reminds us that we must not so readily assume that different literary genres automatically indicate different or opposing theological mindsets.

Key Figures

Note that the text contains several key figures such as “the Son of Man”, the “Ancient (head) of Days”, the “Chosen ones”, the “Righteous”.  In this way, the author seems to be drawing heavily on the latter part of the book of Daniel.  The parable, however, are not exact and some scholars have wondered if rather than drawing on Daniel, the author of the Similitudes is drawing on a shared tradition.  

The messianic figure of the Son of Man is of considerable importance for the study of Christian origins.  Collins (Apocalyptic Imagination, 183) notes that “The Similitudes, then, are exceptional among the Jewish apocalypses in focusing attention on a single figure, who is designated as the “Chosen One” or “that Son of Man”, or even “messiah” (48:10; 52:4).”  The phrase, “Son of Man” is simply a way of saying “a human being” or “having the appearance of a man”.  For example, in Ezekiel 37, when he is told to prophesy to the bones, the Spirit of God addresses him as a “son of man”.  In Daniel 7, the figure is widely considered to be the Archangel Michael, appearing in human form.  In this text, however, as in early Christian tradition, the term begins to take on the sense of a specific title for a specific apocalyptic and messianic figure.

Questions for Consideration:

1.For what purpose do you think the Similitudes of Enoch was composed?

2.What similarities/differences to you find with the Book of Daniel?

3.What similarities/differences do you find with the New Testament?

4.What is being “revealed” in this text?