Book of Enoch

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The Book of Enoch (Ge'ez: መጽሐፈ ሄኖክ mäts'hafä henok) is an ancient Jewish religious work, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, although modern scholars estimate the older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) to date from about 300 BC, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to the end of the first century BC. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel. Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest or significance, but they generally regard the Books of Enoch as non-canonical or non-inspired. It is regarded as canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, but not by any other Christian group. It is wholly extant only in the Ge'ez language, with Aramaic fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls and a few Greek andLatin fragments. For this and other reasons, the traditional Ethiopian belief is that the original language of the work was Ge'ez. By the 4th century, the Book of Enoch was mostly excluded from Christian canons, and it is now regarded as scripture by only the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Church.[1]

Fallen Azazael

Some of the fallen angels that are given in 1 Enoch have other names such as Rameel ('morning of God'), who becomes Azazel and is also called Gadriel ('wall of God') in Chapter 68. Another example is that Araqiel ('Earth of God') becomes Aretstikapha ('world of distortion') in Chapter 68."Azaz" as in Azazel means strength, so the name Azazel can refer to strength of God. But the sense in which it is used most probably means impudent (showing strength towards) which comes out as arrogant to God. This is also a key point to his being Satan in modern thought.Nathaniel Schmidt states "the names of the angels apparently refer to their condition and functions before the fall," and lists the likely meaning of the angels names in the book of Enoch, noting that "the great majority of them are Aramaic. [2]


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