Most translations of the Book of Enoch available today are taken
from the ancient Ethiopic version of the text, which is the only
language in which the book was passed down in its complete form.

However in more recent years seven fragmentary Aramaic copies of the Book of Enoch have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. In
addition several fragments of the ancient Greek version of the Book
of Enoch have also come to light.

This new edition of the Book of Enoch is the first Messianic, Sacred
Name version of the Book of Enoch.

Unlike most versions of the Book of Enoch this edition is translated,
wherever possible, from the remains of the ancient Aramaic version
of the book. Wherever the Aramaic is lacking I have consulted the
Greek fragments of Enoch and I have followed the Ethiopic wherever
the Aramaic and Greek fragments are both lacking any witnesses to
the text. Unlike many other versions of 1Enoch I have always sought
to reach behind the Aramaic, Greek and Ethiopic to the original
Hebrew of 1Enoch.

This edition ALSO INCLUDES a new and fresh version of 2Enoch, also
known as “The Secrets of Enoch” as well. Although 2Enoch has only
survived in Old Slavonic manuscripts, this new version reaches
behind the Slavonic to the original Hebrew of 2Enoch.

Why is this Book of Enoch different?

Because I have sought to restore the original text by reaching to the
original Hebrew behind the Aramaic, Greek and Ethiopic texts while
making as much use as possible of the Aramaic (which is a language
very closely related to Hebrew).

For example in 1Enoch 20:7:

Richard Laurence:
Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who presides over Ikisat, over
paradise, and over the cherubim.

R. H. Charles:
Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the
serpents and the Cherubim.

E. Isaac (Old Test. Pseud. vol. 1)
Gabriel, one of the holy angels who oversee the Garden of Eden, and
the serpents, and the Cherubim.

Now none of Chapter 20 has survived in the Aramaic, but it has
survived in Ethiopic and in Greek. Now the word I want to look at
here is this word “serpents” which does not seem to belong. The
word for “Serpents” in the Ethiopic is IKISAT which Laurance has
transliterated. The Greek version has DRAKONTON which also
means “serpents”. Now these Greek and Ethipic words clearly point
to an underlying Hebrew word of SEFARIM or SEPHARIM (Strong’s 8314) which can mean “serpents” but can also mean “Seraphim” (a class of angelic beings as found in Is. 6).

Clearly the Greek translator misunderstood the Hebrew word SERAPHIM and translated it DRAKONTON (serpents) and the Ethiopic translator, therefore, probably worked from the Greek translating the word in Ethiopic as IKISAT (serpents).

This new version of 1st Enoch has:

Gavri’el, one of the set-apart angels, who is over Pardes and the
Seraphim and the Cherubim.

You will also note that in the Laurance, Charles and Isaac
translations this is the last verse in Chapter 20, with the chapter
only having listed six angels. In fact the Ethiopic text is lacking
verse 8 and one of our Greek manuscripts also lacks verse 8, but one
Greek fragment has survived which includes the 8th verse which lists
the name of the seventh of the seven angels listed in this Chapter.
This new edition on the Book of Enoch includes the previously lost
8th verse with the name and function of the seventh angel.

In addition the Book of Enoch gives a list of names of twenty
leaders of the fallen angels (1En. 6 & 69). But the list of these
angels as given in most editions follows the couurpt list of names
given in the Ethiopic.

For example the leader is called:

Laurance: Samyaza
Charles: Semjaza
Isaac: Semyaz

The correct name is preserved in the Aramaic fragments found among
the Dead Sea Scrolls so that this new edition has this name as
SHEMIKHAZAH (which means “my name has seen”). This is just one of the many corrupted angelic names in most other editions of the Books of Enoch.

There are also many improvements to 2Enoch. For example the Morphil version most are familiar with has in 2Eno. 12:1:

“And I looked and saw other flying elements of the sun, whose names
are Phoenixes and Chalkydri…”

Now CHALKYDRI are “Serpents” and the PHOENIX was a Greek-Egyptian pagan mythical creature never found elsewher in the plural.

Now from context it appears that these are two names for the same
class of beings. Since the word CHALKYDRI means “serpents” and
since there are many parallels (beyond the scope of this post)
between the SERAPHIM and the pagan concept of the PHOENIX, it
appears that the SLAVONIC translator (or perhaps an earlier Greek
translator) attempted to translate the Hebrew word SERAPHIM with two words, one meaning “Serpent” and the other offerring a Parallel in the Greek mind to the SERAPHIM.

Thus this new edition of 2Enoch restores the reading to SERAPHIM and then has a detailed footnote explaining the reason for the revision and correction:

“And I looked and saw other flying elements of the sun, whose names
are Seraphim…”

The above are just a sample of the improvements made in this new and better edition of both 1st and 2nd Enoch.

The Books of Enoch
It is now available at:
http://nazarenespace.com/page/books-dvds

 

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