(b) Chs. 39-56. Enoch now begins his admoni- tions and instructions to his children (39) ; he tells of the manner in which he was given his visions, and of how he wrote them down (40) ; of howr lie wept for the sins of Adam (41) ; of his visit to the gates of hell, and the impression produced upon him (42) ; of the judgment of the Lord (43) ; of the duty of cliarity (44) ; of the superiority of a contrite and broken heart to sacrifice as a means of pleas- ing God (45) ; of God's love of purity in heart and His rejection of the sacrifices of the impure (46) ; and commends his writing to them as a permanent means of knowing God's will (47. 48). He further instructs them not to swear by heaven or the earth, and deprecates ven''eance (49. 50) ; he urges them til be generous to the jioor, not Ut hoard up treasures on earth (51), to praise (iod, and to be at peace with men (52). He enjoins them not to
• Bousset quotes these two works as 1 and II Enoch respec- tively (Vic Ttdiijwn dcs Judenthinns, 1903).
APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE
APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE 83
trust in liis own intercession witli Ood, but to sive heed to liis writings and he wise (53) ; aird closes his address with an exhortation to circulate his writings, announcing at the same time that the hour for his ascension to heaven has come (54. 55).
(r) Chs. 56-67. The second series of Exhorta- tions opens with a request by Methosalera for a blessing over the houses and children of Enoch (56) ; Enoch asks Methosalera to call his brothers together (57), and gives them his instructions (5S), especially that they should not eat the Uesh of cattle (59), nor kill any man through 'net,' 'weapon,' or 'tongue' (60); but practise right- eousness, and trust in repentance fur tlif fnlniv (61. 62), and not despise the lininlil'' :<uA thus incur God's curse (6.3). At this ii.ijut Cud i.ills Enoch with a loud voice, and 'iUDU persons cuiiic together to give him their greetings (64) ; he delivers his final exhortations to them, ■which are to the effect that they should fear and serve the Jyord (65. 66). A thick darkness covers the earth, and while it lasts Enoch is taken up, but no one knows how (67). The book concludes with a summary of Enoch's life and work, and an account of Methosalem's building an altar .upon the spot where his father was last seen before his ascension.
TAfcrary questions. — The author of the work was .th Alex- andrian Jew. This is raade clear by the attinities of liis style and thought with those of Philo, his use of the LXX, his por- traiture of phoenixes and chalkadris (chalk.vdries), and his eyncretistic rosmofjony. The date of composition cannot he later than a.d. 70. The temple was evidently still standinjc, and sacrifice was offered (592>. But the Ethiopia Enoch was also in existence (405 9, cf. also 435. 3 628 612 i).
The original language was undoubtedly Greek. Tliia is proved by the explanation of the name Adam, which is made upon
VPKTOS, ME:SHMBI'I.\). The I Barnabas, bv the author of tlic author of the 7Vste»ir „(.< „/ ih, T the many Sibyls, and hv IreiKtus,
Editimu.—TIhe Sla\onio text has manuscripts, \'arying more or less yet fully collated (Popoff, 1880).
rraiwiati'oiis.— English : Charles and Morflll, The Book of the Secrets of Enoch, 1896.— German : Bonwetsch, ' Das Slavische Henochbuoh' in Ahhandl. d. Gult. Ges. d. Wiss. (Phil. -hist. Klasse, Neue Folg. 1-3, 1896).
LiTEKATCTRE.— Harnaok, Gesch. d. Altchrist. Litt. ii. 1, 1897, p. 564; Charles in Hastings' DB, 1S98 ; Volz, JM. Euehato- iogrte, 1903, pp. 29, 30.
3. The Sibylline Oracles The name ' sibyl ' is
of uncertain derivation. Even the spelling of the word varies in the earliest period. It is, however, a very ancient one, and occurs as early as in the works of Heraclitus. By the Romans a number (ten) of sibyls were disting\iished. The one of Erythrae in Ionia is reckoned the oldest. The sibyl of Curaoe (Kyrae) became the most famous. Large collections of verses were circulated under her name during the latter j^ears of the common- wealth and the early empire. Sibylline verses became common in Egypt, and there arose a so- called Jewish sibyl simultaneously with the ap- pearance of the spirit of proselytism among the Jews. Finally, a Christian sibyl came into ex- istence in succession to and imitation o£ the Jewish one. The productions of the Jewish and Christian sibyls are for the most jiart blended into one body. They constitute a compilation of hexameters m twelve Books, besides some fragments. Each of these is evidently independent of the others, and may have circulated separately.
Contents.— Book I. opens with an account of the Creation, based upon Geno<;is. This i^; followed by the story of the Fall, tln' iiiul(i|ili( ;ii ioji of man- kind, the appearance of fom ii'rr-i\ .. races down to the days of tlie giaiil>, iIm- s|ui\ uf Noah and the Flood, a sixth race and the Titaiis, from whom the transition is made to Christ, and the dispersion of the Jews.— Book II. predicts a time of plagues and wickedness, which is succeeded by the tenth