Papers by Matteo Silvestrini
This article analyzes the first section of the ethiopian version of 1 Enoch, called Book of Watch... more This article analyzes the first section of the ethiopian version of 1 Enoch, called Book of Watchers (BW). After a brief overview of the history of scholarship and textual criticism, it presents, through key quotations and a particular subdividing of the work, the existence of a « retributional » process, which evolves according to successive versions of BW. The present article considers the question, which is important for the intellectual environement referred to as « enochic », of the human or supernatural origin of evil. The article highlights its cosmic origin, caused by the disobedience of certain angels, and the later ethical responsibility of the « sinners ». The article emphasizes the desire of the last editor to comfort the « victims » of the devil, and to support the « righteous » and the « chosen » in their way, through the apocalyptic announcement, by the patriarch Enoch of the condemnation and punishment’s which is prepared for the rebel angels and for the « sinners ».
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Papers by Matteo Silvestrini