The Book of Enoch is an apocryphal Jewish religious text probably written in the 2nd century BCE and discovered as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It claims to record the experience of Enoch, who lived seven generations on from Adam and was the father of Methuselah and the great-grandfather of Noah (of flood fame).
According to the text, God sent a group of 200 angels, known as Watchers, to watch over mankind. But instead, they were overcome with lust for mortal women whom they took as wives, giving birth to the Nephilim, also sometimes called giants and described as powerful and violent. The Watchers also taught mankind forbidden sciences, which led them towards sin.
God sent his archangels to punish the Watchers, imprisoning them in Tartarus to await judgment day. The good man Enoch initially tries to defend the Watchers, unaware of the full extent of their crimes. This is revealed to him by Archangel Uriel, who also instructs him about the heavenly bodies and their movements, and Archangel Raphael, who shows him where the souls of men go after death.
With the Watchers punished, God still had to deal with the Nephilim and the men who had adopted sinful behavior as a result of the teaching of the Watchers. First, many of the Nephilim turn against one another, killing one another and eating their flesh. Then, God sends a flood, Noah’s flood, to deal with the rest. Uriel was sent to warn Noah.
This article takes a closer look at the story of the Watchers, who they were, the knowledge they shared, and what happened to them.
200 Fallen Angels
According to the Book of Enoch, there were 200 fallen angels who entered into unnatural unions with mortal women and shared forbidden knowledge with mankind.
The book suggests that Samyaza was their leader and that he compelled the other 199 to take human wives and beget children. He knew it was a sin and had the others swear an oath that they would do it together. They began to do this in the days of Jared, Enoch’s father.
The names of his fellow leaders are given as Araqel, Rameel, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Daniel, Chazaqiel, Baraqiel, Asael, Armaros, Batariel, Bezaliel, Ananiel, Zaqiel, Shamsiel, Satariel, Turiel, Yomiel, and Sariel.
Nephilim or Anakim
As a result of this mating, the women are described as giving birth to Anakim, who are equated to the Nephilim of the Bible and often called giants. They are described as 300 feet tall and consuming all that was produced by men. When men could no longer sustain them through their produce, they started to devour the men themselves. They also began to sin against birds, beasts, reptiles, and fish, devouring their flesh and drinking their blood.
Forbidden Knowledge
Not satisfied with this abomination, the Watchers start to teach mankind new forbidden arts, or arts that they are supposed to learn over generations, but revealing them all at once (like the Federation sharing its technology with less advanced species – if you know, you know).
The text focuses principally on Azazel, who was said to teach mankind metallurgy and blacksmithing to make swords, knives, shields, and breastplates from metals obtained from the earth. As an extension of this, he also taught them to make bracelets and ornaments and to beautify themselves with both jewelry and cosmetics. This is said specifically to have resulted in sinful behavior, such as fornication.
The Watcher Semjaza is said to have taught mankind enchantments and root cutting, so probably herbal medicine. Armaros taught them how to resolve enchantments, Baraqijal astrology, Kokabel constellations, Ezeqiel knowledge of clouds, Araqiel the signs of the earth, Sjamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon.
Punishment of the Watchers
God is described as descending to earth with his archangels Michael, Urial, Raphael, and Gabriel, to Mount Sinai, from where he passed judgment. God instructs them to imprison the Watchers in Tartarus, which was the Greek description of the darkest depths of hell, where the wicked were tortured. This parallels Zeus throwing the Titans into Tartarus.
Raphael is specifically instructed to bind Azazel hand and foot and cast him into a dark opening in the desert on top of rough and jagged rocks. There he is to be covered in darkness and light obscured from his face until judgment day, when he will be thrown into the fire.
In doing this, they are ascribing Azazel all sin, much like would later happen to Christ. In this way, God says that the earth will be able to heal from this plague, and mankind will not perish as a result of the secrets revealed to them.
God also tells Gabriel to turn the giants against one another so that they kill one another.
He commands Michael to bind Semjaza and his associates so that they can see their sons slaying one another as they are bound under the earth for 70 generations until judgment day. At that time, they will also be condemned to the abyss of fire and eternal torment.
The Later Books of Enoch
This story of the Watchers appears in the First Book of Enoch, sometimes just called Enoch. While other books are linked to the figure, they are believed to have been written later by other authors.
The section of Enoch covering the Watchers is called the Book of Watchers. Next comes the Book of Parables, in which the author further explores the end of days, looking at the fates of the fallen angels, but also wicked kings. There is a reference to a Messiah, which is sometimes interpreted as being Enoch himself within this context.
Throughout the text, the final judgment and end of days are linked with astronomical secrets, which are further explored in the Astronomical Book, which is knowledge that Enoch learned from Uriel. It shows a solar calendar of 364 days divided into four equal seasons of 91 days, each of which has three months of 31 days plus one extra day at the end of the third month. It is unclear how the year was reconciled to 365.24 days.
The Book of Dreams and Visions recounts the history of Israel down to what is assumed to be the Maccabees, though it is not specifically described in this way in the text.
The text ends with the Epistle of Enoch, which revisits information explored elsewhere in the text, particularly around what happens to the righteous versus sinners at the end of days.
Collectively, the Books of Enoch provide information that is either not in or is inconsistent with it. Enoch provides an origin for demons, as the children of fallen angels, tying in with other stories of demonic births, such as the birth of Merlin.
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