Book Description

The five books of Enoch are a collection of books written in Semitic languages, and often grouped together as the 'Book of Enoch,' or '1st Enoch.' The books were likely written at different points in time and different Semitic languages. The first book was the Book of the Watchers, which is generally considered to be the oldest book in the collection, however, the age of the book is debated. The book is now known to have originated long before Christianity since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, however, was lost for well over a thousand years to Europeans, and assumed to be a Christian-era work when the Europeans rediscovered it in Ethiopia. The five books of Enoch only survive in Ge'ez, the classical language of Ethiopia, however, do not survive intact, and some sections of text do not survive. Other books attributed to Enoch, including the Secrets of Enoch, which is also called the 2nd Book of Enoch, however, is not the same text as the Semitic 2nd Book of Enoch. The Secrets of Enoch has only survived in the Old Slavonic language in the Balkan Peninsula and may be a partial paraphrase of the Book of the Watchers. Another text attributed to Enoch is the Revelation of Metatron, also called the Revelation of Metatron, Book of the Palaces, Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest, or the 3rd Book of Enoch, however, is not the same text as the Ethiopian 3rd Book of Enoch, or any section of the Semitic books of Enoch. The Revelation of Metatron is written as a sequel to the first five books of Enoch and is written from the perspective of Enoch in the sky, where his angelic name was Metatron. The Revelation of Metatron appears to have been written in Hebrew but includes several Greek and Latin words that have led scholars to assume the text is a Jewish text written in the Christian era. The Revelation of Metatron is a medieval Jewish work, that claims to have been written in the late-2nd century AD by Rabbi Ishmael 'the High Priest.' It is known by various names, including the Sepher Hekhalot (Book of the Palaces), the 3rd Book of Enoch, and the Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest, although its most common name, is the Revelation of Metatron. The earliest name for the work was likely the Sepher Hekhalot (Book of the Palaces), however, all copies have been so reworked that it cannot be known for sure. It is clear that Rabbi Ishmael did not write it, and his name, which is in almost every verse, was inserted to replace another name that the medieval publisher did not want associated with the book. Rabbi Ishmael was the author of the book called Hekhalot Rabbati (Greater Palaces) sometime between 100 and 130 AD, and his name was late used as a pseudonym by many authors of Merkabah literature between 200 and 1000 AD.