There are many curious particulars regarding angels and demons in the Book of Enoch.' This work, which is quoted by the author of the Epistle of Jude, and by some of the Fathers, as inspired Scripture,3 was supposed by Tertullian to have survived the universal deluge, or to have been afterwards transmitted by means of Noah, the great-grandson of the author Enoch.* It may be assigned to about a century before Christ, but additions were made to the text, and more especially to its angelology, extending probably to after the commencement of our era. It undoubtedly represents views popularly prevailing about the epoch in which we are interested. The author not only relates the fall of the angels through love for the daughters of men, but gives the names of twenty-one of them and of their leaders; of whom Jequn was he who seduced the holy angels, and Ashbeêl it was who gave them evil counsel and corrupted them.6 A third, Gadreêl,7 was he who seduced Eve. He also taught to the children of men the use and manufacture of all murderous weapons, of coats of mail, shields,

sents the prayers of the saints to God. Hom. xiv. in Num., Opp. ii. p. 323.

1 Dillmann, Das Buch Henoch; Fabricius, Cod. Vet. Test., i. p. 179 ff.

↳ Dillmann, Das Buch Henoch, 1853, p. x. ff., xliii. ff.; Ewald, Ueber d. àth. Buch Henoch, 1854, Gesch. d. Volkes Isr., iv. p. 451 ff.; Gfrörer, Das Jahrh. des Heils, 1838, i. p. 93 ff.; Hilgenfeld, Die jüd. Apokalyptik, 1857, p. 93 ff.; Hoffmann, Zeitschr. deutsch. Morgenländ. Gesellsch. 1852, vi. p. 87; Köstlin, Theol. Jahrb. 1856, pp. 240–279, 370—386; Lücke, Einl. Offenb. Johannes, 2te Aufl. p. 142f.; Weisse, Die Evangelienfrage, 1856, p. 215 ff.

6 Cap. lxix. i. ff., cf. vi.

7 In the extract preserved by George Syncellus in his Chronography (p. 11), the angel who taught the use of weapons of war, &c., is called Azal or Azalzel.

swords, and of all the implements of death. Another evil angel, named Pênêmuê, taught them many mysteries of wisdom. He instructed men in the art of writing with paper (xápτηs) and ink, by means of which, the author remarks, many fall into sin even to the present day. Kaodejâ, another evil angel, taught the human race all the wicked practices of spirits and demons,' and also magic and exorcism.2 The offspring of the fallen angels and of the daughters of men were giants, whose height was 3000 ells;3 of these are the demons working evil upon earth. Azazel taught men various arts: the making of bracelets and ornaments; the use of cosmetics, the way to beautify the eyebrows; precious stones, and all dye-stuffs and metals; whilst other wicked angels instructed them in all kinds of pernicious knowledge.5 The elements and all the phenomena of nature are controlled and produced by the agency of angels. Uriel is the angel of thunder and earthquakes; Raphael, of the spirits of men; Raguel is the angel who executes vengeance on the world and the stars; Michael is set over the best of mankind, i.e., over the people of Israel; Saraqâel, over the souls of the children of men, who are misled by the spirits of sin; and Gabriel is over serpents and over Paradise, and over the Cherubim." Enoch is shown the mystery of all the operations of nature, and the action of the elements, and he describes the spirits which guide them, and control the thunder and lightning and the winds; the spirit of the seas, who curbs them with his might, or tosses them forth and scatters them through the mountains of the earth; the

spirit of hoar frost, and the spirit of hail, and the spirit of snow. There are, in fact, special spirits set over every phenomenon of nature-frost, thaw, mist, rain, light, and so on. The heavens and the earth are filled with spirits. Raphael is the angel set over all the diseases and wounds of mankind, Gabriel over all powers, and Fanuel over the penitence and the hope of those who inherit eternal life. The decree for the destruction of the human race goes forth from the presence of the Lord, because men know all the mysteries of the angels, all the evil works of Satan, and all the secret might and power of those who practise the art of magic, and the power of conjuring, and such arts. The stars are represented as animated beings. Enoch sees seven stars bound together in space like great mountains, and flaming as with fire; and he inquires of the angel who leads him, on account of what sin they are so bound? Uriel informs him that they are stars which have transgressed the commands of the Highest God, and they are thus bound until ten thousand worlds, the number of the days of their transgression, shall be accomplished. The belief that sun, moon, and stars were living entities possessed of souls was generally held by the Jews at the beginning of our era, along with Greek philosophers, and we shall presently see it expressed by the Fathers. Philo Judæus considers the stars spiritual beings full of virtue and perfection, and that to them is granted lordship over other heavenly bodies, not absolute, but as viceroys under the Supreme Enoch, c. lx. 12 ff., cf. xli. xxxiv.

2

c. xl., 9 f., cf. xxxix.

3

C. lxv. 6 ff.

Cf. Hilgenfeld, Die jüd. Apok., p. 108, Anm. 2; Gfrörer, Das Jahrh. des Heils, i. p. 362 f., cf. p. 391 f., p. 406.

5 c. xxi., cf. xviii. 13 f.

De Mundo opificio, § 48; De Gigantibus, § 2, cf. De Somniis, i. § 4 f., § 22.

Being.

We find a similar view regarding the nature of the stars expressed in the Apocalypse,2 and it constantly appears in the Talmud and Targums.3 An angel of the sun and moon is described in the Ascensio Isaiæ.*

5

We are able to obtain a full and minute conception of the belief regarding angels and demons and their influence over cosmical phenomena, as well as of other superstitions current amongst the Jews at the time of Jesus, from the Talmud, Targums, and other Rabbinical sources. We cannot, however, do more, here, than merely glance at these voluminous materials. The angels are perfectly pure spirits, without sin, and not visible to mortal eyes. When they come down to earth on any mission, they are clad in light and veiled in air. If, however, they remain longer than seven days on earth, they become so clogged with the earthly matter in which they have been immersed that they cannot again ascend to the upper heavens. Their multitude is innumerable, and new angels are every day created, who in succession praise

6

1 De Monarchia, i. § 1.

2 Rev. i. 20, iii. 1, iv. 5, ix. 1, &c. 3 Targum Hieros. Deut. ii. 25, Gen. i. 16; Tract. Beracoth, 32, 1; Chollin, 60, 2; Schefuoth, 9, 1. Pirke Elieser, vi., cf. Eisenmenger, Entdecktes Judenthum, 1700, i. p. 811 f.; ii. p. 384 f. Gfrörer, Das Jahrh. d. Heils, i. p. 362 f., p. 394 ff.

c. iv. 18. This work referred to by Origen (Ep. ad Africanum), Epiphanius (Hær. xl. 2, lxvii. 3), Jerome (in Esaiæ, lxiv. 4), and others (cf. Fabricius, Cod. Vet. Test., i. p. 1086 ff.), as 'Avaßatikóv 'Hoatov, is dated variously from the middle of the 1st to the beginning of the 3rd century. The work, long lost, was discovered and published by Lawrence, in 1819.

Lightfoot, Hora Heb. et. Talm., Works, xi., Dedication; Schoettgen, Hora Hebr. et Talm. Præfatio; Gfrörer, Das Jahrh. d. Heils, i. p. 5 ff.; Bretschneider, Hist. Dogm. Ausl. des N. T., 1806, p. 110 ff., 141 ff.

Sohar, Genesis, p. 124, p. 266; Pirke Elieser, xlvi.; Eisenmenger Entd. Jud. ii. p. 387 f.; Gfrörer, Das Jahrh. d. Heils, i. p. 356.

7 Hieros. Targ. Exod., xii. 12, xxxiii. 23; Deut. xxxiv. 5, &c., &c.

God and make way for others.' The expression, "host of heaven," is a common one in the Old Testament, and the idea was developed into a heavenly army. The first Gospel represents Jesus as speaking of "more than twelve legions of angels."2 Every angel has one particular duty to perform, and no more; thus of the three angels who appeared to Abraham, one was sent to announce that Sarah should have a son, the second to rescue Lot, and the third to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.3 The angels serve God in the administration of the universe, and to special angels are assigned the different parts of nature. "There is not a thing in the world, not even a little herb, over which there is not an angel set, and everything happens according to the command of these appointed angels." It will be remembered that the agency of angels is frequently introduced in the Old Testament, and still more so in the Septuagint version, by alterations of the text. One notable case of such agency may be referred to, where the pestilence which is sent to punish David for numbering the people is said to be caused by an angel, whom David even sees. The Lord is represented as repenting of the evil, when the angel was stretching forth his hand against Jerusalem, and bidding him stay his hand after the angel had destroyed seventy thousand men by the pestilence. This theory of disease has prevailed until comparatively recent times. The names of many of the superintending angels are given, as, for instance: Jehuel

4

1 Chagigah Bab., p. 14, 1, 2; Eisenmenger, ib. ii. p. 371 ff.

2 Matt. xxvi. 53.

3 Hieros. Targ. Genes. xvii. 2; Gfrörer, ib. i. p. 363 f.

4 Jalkut Chadasch, p. 147, 3; Eisenmenger, ib. ii. p. 376 ff.; Afrörer ib. i. p. 369.

52 Sam. xxiv. 15 f.