Compressed Notes on 1 Enoch And The Watchers
*Notes are working from this version of 1 Enoch published by Lexham Press.
Disobedient Angels Procreate with Human Women
· 1 Enoch 6-16 expands on Genesis 6:1-4.
· John C. Collins describes the flow of the story this way:
o Chapters 6–16 tell the story of the Watchers, in which two stories seem to be woven together. In one, the leader of the fallen angels is named Asael (Azazel in the Ethiopic text), and the primary sin is improper revelation; in the other the leader is Shemihazah, and the primary sin is marriage with humans and procreation of giants.… The Watchers beget giants on earth by their union with human women. Out of these giants come evil spirits that lead humanity astray (1 Enoch 15:11–12; this motif is elaborated further in Jubilees). In the short term, the crisis of the Watchers is resolved when God sends the flood to cleanse the earth.[1]
The Flood Was the Consequence
· Four archangels (Michael and Sariel and Raphael and Gabriel) see the terrible events unfolding on earth and approach God for a solution. The souls of humankind demand: “Bring in our judgment to the Most High, and our destruction before the glory of the majesty, before the Lord of all lords in majesty” (1 Enoch 9:3). The four archangels say to God (1 Enoch 9:11):
o “You know all things before they happen, and you see these things and you permit them and you do not tell us what we ought to do to them with regard to these things.”
· God responds (1 Enoch 10:1-3)
o Then the Most High, the Great Holy One, spoke about these things; and he sent Istrael to the son of Lemech and said: 2 “Say to him on behalf of my name, ‘Hide yourself,’ and reveal to him the end that is coming, that the whole earth is destroyed, and a flood is about to happen among all the earth and utterly destroy everything that is in it. 3 And teach him that he should flee, and his seed will remain in all the generation of eternity.”
Enoch Was Sent to Deliver A Message to the Disobedient Angels (Watchers)
· Enoch was taken up to heaven (12:1)
o Enoch was spoken to by God to go to the Watchers (the fallen or disobedient angels) and proclaim a message. (12:3)
§ Enoch, scribe of righteousness, go and speak to the watchmen of heaven—any who abandoned the high heaven, the holy eternal place, who were defiled with the women and just as the sons of the earth did, they did the same also, and took for themselves women. You have brought great destruction on the earth. 5 And there will be no peace for you, nor remission of sins. And though they rejoice in their children, 6 they will see the murder of their beloved ones, and they will groan over the destruction of their children. They will be bound for eternity, and there will be for them no mercy and peace.”[2]
o The Watchers were terrified of their looming judgement. (13:3)
o The Watchers requested to Enoch that he go back to the Lord and ask if they may be forgiven of their sins. (13:4-5)
o Enoch reported to the Watchers a vision of destruction and judgement (13:8-14:23)
o The Lord called out to Enoch from his great fiery and glorious throne (14:24-25)
§ The Lord told Enoch to pass on this message to the Watchers, “It was necessary for you to ask about the humans, and not the humans about you. 3 On what account did you abandon the high, holy heavens of eternity, and sleep with the women and be defiled with the daughters of humans, and take women for yourselves? You acted just like the sons of the earth, and you fathered children for yourselves, giant sons. 4 And you were holy, living, eternal spirits. But then you were defiled with the blood of the women, and with the blood of the flesh you brought forth children and you desired the blood of humans, just as any of those of flesh and blood do, those who die and are destroyed.’ (15:2-4)
The Lord’s final words to the Watchers
· “During the days of slaughter, destruction, and death, when the spirits are proceeding from the life of their flesh, there will be destruction without judgment. Thus they will be destructive until the last day of the great judgments, in which the great eternity will be completed. 2“And now to the watchmen whom you sent to ask about those who were in heaven: 3 ‘You were in heaven and you knew every mystery that is not uncovered for you and the mystery that is coming from God. Now you reveal this to the women in your hardness of heart, and by this mystery the women and men increase evil upon the earth.’ 4 Say therefore to them, ‘There is no peace.’ ” (16:1-4)
Early Church
· Irenaeus famously describes these “wicked deeds” in terms that have clear counterparts to the Watcher story:
o “The virtues of roots and herbs, and dyeing and cosmetics, and discoveries of precious materials, love philtres, hatreds, amours, passions, constraints of love, the bonds of witchcraft, every sorcery and idolatry, hateful to God.”[3]
· Furthermore, one may consider Tertullian’s Apology 22, a passage deserving more detailed analysis, in which the offspring of the fallen angels are called a “demon-brood” who “inflict … upon our bodies diseases and other grievous calamities.…”
Footnotes:
[1] Heiser, Michael S. 2017. Reversing Hermon: Enoch, The Watchers & The Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Brannan, Rick, Ken M. Penner, Michael Aubrey, Israel Loken, and Isaiah Hoogendyk. 2020. The Lexham English Septuagint. Second Edition. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Irenaeus, Proof of the Apostolic Preaching, 18.
