1 enoch and jude

8/8/2019 1 Enoch and Jude

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7 Enoch 80:2-8 (67:5-7)and Jude 12-13

CARROLL D. OSBURN

Pepperdine University

Malibu, CA 90265

BY WAYOF COMMENTARY upon the ascription of doom in ll,1

Jude

appends several brief statements, of which the last four are metaphorical.

Jude's complaint is that the intruders, in spite of their mistaken thinking and

aberrant life-style, still participate in gatherings ofthe Christian community,

where their insidiousness undermines the faith and behavior ofsincere Chris

tians. Following the descriptive assertions in 12a, Jude posits in rapid

succession four metaphors, which drive in the wedge concerning the fate

ascribed to these intruders in vv 11-12. The background ofthe symbolism in

Jude 12-13, however, has never been satisfactorily clarified. Magass,2

in his

treatment of these two verses, unfortunately examines only the semiotic

construction of the text, neglecting the origin of the symbolism. Noting theunified cosmic symbolism in the four metaphorical denunciations, Reicke

3

posits the construction ofthese vehement castigations by Jude from various

texts. Yet the question remains as to precisely whattexts, if any, influenced

Jude's formulation ofthese verses.

1See G. H. Boobyer, "The Verbs in Jude 11," NTS 5 (1958) 45-47. Cf. . Turner,

Grammar of New TestamentGreek (Edinburgh: Clark, 1976) 4. 140. See also T. Y. Mullins,"Ascription as a Literary Form," NTS 19 (1973) 194-205, esp. p. 197.2

W. Magass, "Semiotik einer Ketzerpolemik am Beispiel von Judas 12f.," Linguistica


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1 ENOCH80:2-8 (67:5-7) AND JUDE 12-13 297

As long ago as Spitta,4it has been noted that Jude 12-13 bears a close

resemblance to 1 Enoch 2-5, an observation that must be taken seriously,

since those paragraphs follow immediately upon the text Jude quotes in

vv 14-155 and treat the contrast between the regular order of nature and the

disorder of the ungodly. However, it must be noted that such cosmic sym

bolism occurs elsewhere in the Enochic literature (e.g., 17-18; 69:16-21),

raising the question whether it was actually / Enoch 2-5 which provides the

basis for Jude's metaphors.

It seems to me that 1 Enoch 80:2-8 actually provides the essential frame

work for Jude's metaphorical construction. Two principal reasons may be

adduced in this regard. First, I Enoch 80:2-8 occurs in a section that treats

the impending punishment of the ungodly. Secondly, Jude'sfirst(waterlessclouds), second (unfruitful trees), and fourth (wandering stars) metaphors

occur in precisely that order in this Enochic text. However, whereas in

chaps. 2-5 the cosmic symbolism denotes the proper functioning ofcreation

according to God's order, in 80:2-8 the symbolism is comparable to Jude's in

that the order of nature is more conspicuous in its breach than in its obser

vance.6

Enoch specifies (1) "the rain shall be kept back and the heaven shall

withhold it" (v2); (2) "the fruits ofthe earth shall be backward and shall not

grow in their time and the fruits of the trees shall be withheld in their time";(3) "many chiefs of the stars shall transgress the prescribed order and these

shall alter their orbits and tasks" (v 6). This depiction of the perversion

ofnature and the heavenly bodies owing to the sinfulness of men concludes

in 8 with the warning that "punishment shall come upon them so as to

destroyall."

Jude's third metaphor is not apparent in the extant text of1 Enoch 80.

Charles7

notes the obvious discrepancy in Ethiopie Enoch at 80:4-5, in which

the reference to the sun is intrusive and breaks the tristich pattern. Knibb8

notes the attempt of Halvy to explain the difficulty on the basis of anassumed Hebrew Vorlage in which myn wn^n was misread as *

njnn D^u/n.9

Alternatively it is in the realm of possibility that Jude's

4

F. Spitta, Der zweite BriefdesPetrus undder BriefdesJudas(Halle: Waisenhaus, 1885)

396.5

See C. D. Osburn, "The Christological Use of I Enoch 1.9 in Jude 14,15,** NTS 23

(1977)334-41.6

F. C. Burkitt, Jewish and Christian Apocalypses (London: British Academy, 1914)70-71.

7

R H Charles The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Oxford:


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298 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY | 47, 1985

third metaphor reflects an independent text-form no longer traceable in the

Enochic tradition other than in the mention by Lactantius, 10 viz., in his ref-

erence to 1 Enoch 80:2-8 that the sea will be rendered unnavigable. Ultimately,however, whatever the resolution of the textual problem at 1 Enoch 80:4-5,

it seems that the metaphor of the foam on the violent sea in Jude must be

accounted for on some basis other than 1 Enoch 80.

Bigg11 noted terminological parallels in Moschus, Idyll V. 5, , and Euripides, Here. Fur. 851,

. But he concludes that the imagery, rather than being

reliant upon Greek poetic expression, was probably suggested by Isa 57:20,

"But the wicked are like the violent sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters toss

up mire and dirt." Not infrequently, Bigg's successors have suggested that the derive from Wis 14:1, "One . . . about to voyage over ragingwaves calls upon a piece of wood more fragile than the ship which carrieshim." It is important, however, to note that the imagery of the violent sea in

Isa 57:20 and Wis 14:1, like that in Jer 49:23 and James 1:16, has to do with

tumult rather than with licentiousness. Accordingly it may be questioned

whether Jude's third metaphor does, in fact, rest upon Isa 57:20 or Wis 14:1.

A divergent understanding of the origin of Jude's third metaphor has

been proposed by J. P. Oleson,12 who has suggested that Jude was consciously alluding to a pagan account of the birth of Aphrodite in Hesiod's

Theogony13

According to the legend, Kronos cut off his father's testicles

with a sickle and threw them into the sea, where they gathered foam ().

Aphrodite was said to have been born from that foam (hence hername), and

the foam was supposedly washed up on the south shore of Cyprus. Pseudo-

Nonnos notes, "Because of this he says that she is born and honored shamefully, for thus both the honors and festivals connected with her are performed

with shameful deeds and sensuousness and harlotry."14

Although the onlydirect verbal echo between Theogony 190-92 and Jude 13 is , Oleson

nevertheless postulates (1) that the heretics are the waves that buoy up thelusty organs of Uranos in explicit licentious imagery, (2) that Jude was con

sciously alluding to this grotesque pagan myth in Hellenizing fashion for the

1 0

Lactantius, Divine Institutions 7.16 (CSEL 19. 636).1 1

C. Bigg, The Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude (ICC; 2d ed.; Edinburgh: Clark, 1902)

335. See also K. Schelkle, Die Petrusbriefe. Der Judasbrief (HTKNT 12. 2,3; 3d ed.; Freiburg:Herder, 1970) 163.

1 2

J P Ol "A E h f H i d' Th 190 92 i J d 13 " NTS 25 (1979)


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1 ENOCH80:2-8 (67:5-7) AND JUDE 12-13 299

purposes of evangelism and pastoral discipline, and (3) that the specific

motivation for the use ofthe legend of Aphrodite's birth lies in the proposal

that Jude's epistle was directed to the Cypriot community of Nea Paphos,which was quite near the legendary location of Aphrodite's birth.

Now Oleson's proposal has in its favor the unmistakable reference to the

evident licentiousness among the intruders of Jude's concern (vv4,8,23). In

view of Acts 17:28, 1 Cor 15:33, Titus 1:12, and the Talmudic reference in

Sota 49b, it is not permissible to argue that Jude could not have had reference

to Hesiod's Theogony. However, the presence of such a disgusting Hellenistic

legend in the midst ofa section dominated by quotations of and allusions to

intertestamental Jewish apocalyptic literature (vv 5-16) is decidedly strange

and requires more than an apparent verbal echo in order to establish itselfas

the textual basis for Jude's metaphor.

It is important to remember that in vv 12-13 Jude is creating his own live

metaphors, relying upon the apocalyptic imagery of 1 Enoch 80:2-8. The

literary focus of these metaphors is to underscore the rebelliousness and

inevitable fate ofthe intruders ofJude's concern, providing a decisive denoue

ment to the ascription of doom, which begins in 12. Accordingly, any

assessment of the precise intent of Jude's third metaphor and of its origin

must accord with that literary thrust.It may be suggested that the more appropriate question to be asked just

here is why Jude did not use the moon metaphor in 1 Enoch 80:4-5, which

reads, "And the moon shall alter her order, and not appear at her time, . . .

and shall shine more brightly than accords with the order of light." Obviously,

the first, second, and fourth references required no alteration, but the singu

lar reference to the moon was not immediately applicable to Jude's castiga-

tion ofthe intruders. Reasoning that a reference to the sea would round out a

cosmic symbolism, Jude had only to turn back his Enochic scroll a few turns

to chap. 67, where 10 had provided the point d'appui for his epistle (v 4),

and observe the "convulsion ofthe waters" connected with hot lava, resulting

in an offensive effusion of sulphuric fumes (67:5-6).

Nowthe enigmatic intruders of Jude 4 are said to have been marked out

and are termed , raising the question of which

written source Jude has in mind with . Spitta15

rightly under

stands the with reference to the judgment Jude is about to declare, viz.,

1 5

E Spitta, Der zweite BriefdesPetrus und der BriefdesJudas, 310-15. T. Zahn, Intro


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the condemnation inherent in in some ancient writer. In this vein,

Bigg16 notes that the nature of the doom is not specified, but is hardly correctin supposing Jude to have been hastily quoting 2 Peter. While in 4

could refer to a recent past, as in Mark 15:44, M. R. James17

and J. N. D.

Kelly18 are more convincing in suggesting that 1 Enoch 1:9 is already in mindas Jude anticipates the verystern penalties that God has reserved for sinnerssuch as those in vv 5-16, who already preoccupy his mind. Now the eschato-

logical judgment, which is so prominent in 1 Enoch, literally pervades Jude's

epistle and surely provides the essential understanding of here.

However, reference to 1 Enoch 1:9 is oblique in this instance, for the

Enochic text to which Jude refers in is rather 67:10, "For

the judgment shall come upon them because they believe in the lust of their body and deny the spirit of the Lord."

19Functioning as the concluding

portion of the formula in 4,20 the historical aspects of this

apocalyptic reference provide the aforementioned point d'appui for Jude's

castigation of the opponents, against which the exhortation to faithfulness in

vv 20-23 stands in bold relief.

The reference to 67:10 in Jude 4 is neither an explicit quotation nor a

mere allusion, but an adaptation in which the ancient message is retained

while the wording is adjusted in view of Jude's historical concern and theological understanding.21 Jude's embellishment of the two items in 67:10 is noteasily attributed to lapsus memoriae or to carelessness. (1) In lieu of Enoch's

simple statement of lust, Jude adduces that the intruders have rationalized

the doctrine of the grace of God so as to permit a life-style of licentiousness.This particular characteristic is referred to again at vv 8 and 23 with refer

ence to Jude's opponents; and his accusation here, that they have altered

1 6

C Bigg, The Epistles of St Peter and St Jude, 3261 7

M R James, The Second Epistle Generalof Peter and the GeneralEpistle of Jude

(Cambridge Cambridge University, 1912) 371 8

J. N. D Kelly, The Epistles of Peter and of Jude (Black's NT Commentaries, London

Black, 1969) 2491 9

J W C Wand, The GeneralEpistles of St. Peter and St Jude (London Methuen,

1934) 199, mentioned this text without comment Mihk's earlier proposal of a first or second

century AD date for the "parables" ("Towards a Date for the Similitudes of Enoch," NTS 14

[1968] 551-65) was revised to A D 270 in his The Books ofEnoch (Oxford Clarendon, 1976) 96

Jude's use of 67 10, however, argues in favor of M Black's date of "the early Roman period,probablypre-70 A D ", see his "The Composition, Character, and Date of the 'Second Vision of

Enoch '" Text Wort Glaube Kurt Aland gewidmet {ta M Brecht Berlin de Gruyter 1980)


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1 ENOCH80:2-8 (67:5-7) AND JUDE 12-13 301

basic Christian teaching to accommodate their practices, is coherent with the

general picture emerging in the epistle of their character. (2) Whereas 67:10

notes a simple denial of the spirit of the Lord, Jude reads, "deny our onlyMaster and Lord Jesus Christ." Taking with reference to

God, Mayor22

observes that in the NT and early Christian litera

ture is used predominantly of the Father and that the phrase might refer to

the heresy attributed to Cerinthus in Hippolytus, Adv. haer. 7.23 and Ire-

naeus, Adv. haer. 1.26. Kelly23

adds (1) that "only Master" here expresses

distinctive monotheism as opposed to polytheism or Caesar-worship (citing

John 5:44; Rom 16:27; 1 Tim 1:17; Josephus, J.W. 7.8.6 323; Philo, Mut.

nom. 22), and (2) that Jude may well have drawn from the remarkably

similar passage in I Enoch 48:10, "They deny the Lord of Spirits and hisAnointed." Kelly also notes that the depiction of Christ as both Master and

Lord is both pleonastic and unprecedented.

On the other hand, certain considerations substantiate the traditional

understanding of Christ as Master. The use of with refer

ence to Christ in 2 Pet 2:1 is certainly sufficient to preclude viewing Jude's

usage as an impossible anomaly. Moreover, the postulation that Jude alludes

here to an incipient Gnosticism in which the aeon Christ descended upon

Jesus at baptism and withdrew prior to the crucifixion is incapable ofproof.Also, the reading after in the Byzantine manuscripts has no

claim to authenticity since transcriptional probability is decidedly in favor of

its addition rather than its omission.24

Further, the point under considera

tion in the epistle is not polytheism, but whether Christ will be followed as

Lord. In this respect, Jude's description ofJesus as both Lord and Master can

hardly be called pleonastic. Ofcourse, it is always hazardous to venture an

opinion upon a text, the meaning of which hinges upon the presence or

absence of the article. However, in biblical Greek one article is usually

sufficient when two substantives occur together when complementary and

comprising parts of a whole, but a separate article is expected when the

2 2

J. B. Mayor, The Epistle ofSt. Jude and the Second Epistle ofSt. Peter, 26-27.2 3

J. N. D. Kelly, The Epistles of Peter and of Jude, 252.2 4

See C. A. Albin, Judasbrevit(Lund: Hakan Ohlssons, 1962) 596, for the textual sup

port. For brief discussions see R. Knopf, Die Briefe Petri undJud (MeyerK 12; Gttingen:

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1912) 305, and H. Windisch, Die katholischen Briefe (HNT 15; 3ded. by H. Preisker: Tbingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1951) 39-40. The omission of in

7 8, an


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substantives denote separate or independent entities. In this connection,

Robertson25 notes that one article suffices when more than one epithet isapplied to the same person and that the genitive can occur with either

substantive, yet apply to both.

It seems clear enough that Jude 4 is based, not upon 1 Enoch 48:10, but

upon 67:10. In adapting 67:10, Jude both specifies the character of the

opponents26 and provides the reason for his vigorous exhortation. With this

principal text very much in mind, it seems most probable that Jude's thirdmetaphor in vv 12-13 derives from 1 Enoch 67:5-7:

And I saw in that valleyin which there was a great convulsion and a convulsionof the waters. And when all this took place, from that fiery molten metal andfrom the convulsion thereof in that place, there was produced a smell of sulphur, and it was connected with those waters, and that valleyofthe angels whohad led astray (mankind) burned beneath that land. And through its valleysproceed streams of fire, where these angels are punished who had led astraythose who dwell upon the earth.

This suggestion of the origin of Jude's third metaphor has the advantages of

(1) maintaining the metaphorical imagery of the violent sea in a context of

eschatological judgment upon the imprisoned angels who are sexually aber

rant, and (2) originating from an Enochic context to which Jude had alreadymade reference in 4. Moreover, (3) it avoids the perplexing dilemma of how

to account for the presence of a grotesque pagan legend in a section domi

nated by Jewish apocalyptic. The suggestion of Oleson that its use by Jude

was occasioned by the destination of the epistle to Nea Paphos must be

judged tenuous at best.

Rather than consciously Hellenizing for evangelistic and pastoral pur

poses by alluding to a revulsive pagan myth, Jude has continued his utiliza

tion of Jewish apocalyptical imagery from the text of 1 Enoch, which wasundoubtedly open before him. Relying upon the strong imagery of / Enoch

80:2-8, Jude underscores the rebelliousness and inevitable fate of the

( 4) with metaphors designed to drive home the ascription of fate

which began in 12. To the waterless clouds, unfruitful trees, and shooting

stars of 80:2-8, Jude added the vital element from 67:1-10. Finding in the

"convulsion of waters," which Enoch so poignantly specified as the "waters

of judgment" upon the imprisoned angels, the imagery for his castigation-

continuum, Jude formulated his expression that the intruders were "tumul

tuous waves of the sea, splashing up like foam their shame."


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1 ENOCH80:2-8 (67:5-7) AND JUDE 12-13 303

With 67:10 before him, calling attention to the aforementioned eschato-

logical judgment upon the , it was only natural for Jude, then, to

return the scroll to 1:9 and set out in vv 14-15 that the veryJesus whom these

reject is precisely the one who (like the "waters of convulsion") will ulti

mately destroy them. / Enoch 80:2-8 itself, with its astronomical meaning

reinterpreted in apocalyptical significance, enjoyed a certain popularity, sur

facing not only in Jude 12-13 but also in Mark13:20 and Matt 24:22, as well

as in Lactantius and the later medieval apocalypses.27

2 7

J. T. Milik, The Books of Enoch, 74.


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