The Book of
Giants
4Q203,
1Q23, 2Q26, 4Q530-532, 6Q8
Introduction and
Commentary
It is fair to say that the
patriarch Enoch was as well known to the ancients as he is
obscure to modern Bible readers. Besides giving his age (365
years), the book of Genesis says of him only that he "walked
with God," and afterward "he was not, because God had taken him"
(Gen. 5:24). This exalted way of life and mysterious demise made
Enoch into a figure of considerable fascination...
Enoch lived before the Flood,
during a time when the world, in ancient imagination, was very
different. Human beings lived much longer, for one thing;
Enoch's son Methuselah, for instance, attained the age of 969
years. Another difference was that angels and humans interacted
freely -- so freely, in fact, that some of the angels begot
children with human females. This fact is neutrally reported in
Genesis (6:1-4), but other stories view this episode as the
source of the corruption that made the punishing flood
necessary. According to The Book of Enoch, the mingling of angel
and human was actually the idea of Shemyaza, the leader of the
evil angels, who lured 200 others to cohabit with women. The
offspring of these unnatural unions were giants 450 feet high.
The wicked angels and the giants began to oppress the human
population and to teach them to do evil. For this reason God
determined to imprison the angels until the final judgment and
to destroy the earth with a flood. Enoch's efforts to intercede
with heaven for the fallen angels were unsuccessful (1 Enoch
6-16).
The Book of Giants retells
part of this story and elaborates on the exploits of the giants,
especially the two children of Shemihaza, Ohya and Hahya. Since
no complete manuscript exists of Giants, its exact contents and
their order remain a matter of guesswork. Most of the content of
the present fragments concerns the giants' ominous dreams and
Enoch's efforts to interpret them and to intercede with God on
the giants' behalf.
-- Michael Wise, Martin Abegg Jr.,
and Edward Cook, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New
Translation, (HarperSanFrancisco, 1996) p246-250.
Book of
Giants -- Reconstructed Texts
A summary statement of the
descent of the wicked angels, bringing both knowledge and havoc.
Compare Genesis 6:1-2, 4.
1Q23 Frag. 9 + 14 + 15 2[
. . . ] they knew the secrets of [ . . . ] 3[ . . . si]n was
great in the earth [ . . . ] 4[ . . . ] and they killed manY
[ . . ] 5[ . . . they begat] giants [ . . . ]
The angels exploit the
fruifulness of the earth.
4Q531 Frag. 3 2[
. . . everything that the] earth produced [ . . . ] [ . . .
] the great fish [ . . . ] 14[ . . . ] the sky with all that
grew [ . . . ] 15[ . . . fruit of] the earth and all kinds
of grain and al1 the trees [ . . . ] 16[ . . . ] beasts and
reptiles . . . [al]l creeping things of the earth and they
observed all [ . . . ] |8[ . . . eve]ry harsh deed and [ . .
. ] utterance [ . . . ] l9[ . . . ] male and female, and
among humans [ . . . ]
The two hundred angels choose
animals on which to perform unnatural acts, including,
presumably, humans.
1Q23 Frag. 1 + 6 [
. . . two hundred] 2donkeys, two hundred asses, two hundred
. . . rams of the] 3flock, two hundred goats, two hundred [
. . . beast of the] 4field from every animal, from every
[bird . . . ] 5[ . . . ] for miscegenation [ . . . ]
The outcome of the demonic
corruption was violence, perversion, and a brood of monstrous
beings. Compare Genesis 6:4.
4Q531 Frag. 2 [
. . . ] they defiled [ . . . ] 2[ . . . they begot] giants
and monsters [ . . . ] 3[ . . . ] they begot, and, behold,
all [the earth was corrupted . . . ] 4[ . . . ] with its
blood and by the hand of [ . . . ] 5[giant's] which did not
suffice for them and [ . . . ] 6[ . . . ] and they were
seeking to devour many [ . . . ] 7[ . . . ] 8[ . . . ] the
monsters attacked it.
4Q532 Col. 2 Frags. 1 - 6 2[
. . . ] flesh [ . . . ] 3al[l . . . ] monsters [ . . . ]
will be [ . . . ] 4[ . . . ] they would arise [ . . . ]
lacking in true knowledge [ . . . ] because [ . . . ] 5[ . .
. ] the earth [grew corrupt . . . ] mighty [ . . . ] 6[ . .
. ] they were considering [ . . . ] 7[ . . . ] from the
angels upon [ . . . ] 8[ . . . ] in the end it will perish
and die [ . . . ] 9[ . . . ] they caused great corruption in
the [earth . . . ] [ . . . this did not] suffice to [ . . .
] "they will be [ . . . ]
The giants begin to be
troubled by a series of dreams and visions. Mahway, the titan
son of the angel Barakel, reports the first of these dreams to
his fellow giants. He sees a tablet being immersed in water.
When it emerges, all but three names have been washed away. The
dream evidently symbolizes the destruction of all but Noah and
his sons by the Flood.
2Q26 [ .
. . ] they drenched the tablet in the wa[ter . . . ] 2[ . .
. ] the waters went up over the [tablet . . . ] 3[ . . . ]
they lifted out the tablet from the water of [ . . . ]
The giant goes to the others
and they discuss the dream.
4Q530 Frag.7 [
. . . this vision] is for cursing and sorrow. I am the one
who confessed 2[ . . . ] the whole group of the castaways
that I shall go to [ . . . ] 3[ . . . the spirits of the
sl]ain complaining about their killers and crying out 4[ . .
. ] that we shall die together and be made an end of [ . . .
] much and I will be sleeping, and bread 6[ . . . ] for my
dwelling; the vision and also [ . . . ] entered into the
gathering of the giants 8[ . . . ]
6Q8 [ .
. . ] Ohya and he said to Mahway [ . . . ] 2[ . . . ]
without trembling. Who showed you all this vision, [my]
brother? 3[ . . . ] Barakel, my father, was with me. 4[ . .
. ] Before Mahway had finished telling what [he had seen . .
. ] 5[ . . . said] to him, Now I have heard wonders! If a
barren woman gives birth [ . . . ]
4Q530 Frag. 4 3[There]upon
Ohya said to Ha[hya . . . ] 4[ . . . to be destroyed] from
upon the earth and [ . . . ] 5[ . . . the ea]rth. When 6[ .
. . ] they wept before [the giants . . . ]
4Q530 Frag. 7 3[
. . . ] your strength [ . . . ] 4[ . . . ] 5Thereupon Ohya
[said] to Hahya [ . . . ] Then he answered, It is not for
6us, but for Azaiel, for he did [ . . . the children of]
angels 7are the giants, and they would not let all their
poved ones] be neglected [. . . we have] not been cast down;
you have strength [ . . . ]
The giants realize the
futility of fighting against the forces of heaven. The first
speaker may be Gilgamesh.
4Q531 Frag. 1 3[
. . . I am a] giant, and by the mighty strength of my arm
and my own great strength 4[ . . . any]one mortal, and I
have made war against them; but I am not [ . . . ] able to
stand against them, for my opponents 6[ . . . ] reside in
[Heav]en, and they dwell in the holy places. And not 7[ . .
. they] are stronger than I. 8[ . . . ] of the wild beast
has come, and the wild man they call [me].
9[ . . . ] Then Ohya said to
him, I have been forced to have a dream [ . . . ] the sleep
of my eyes [vanished], to let me see a vision. Now I know
that on [ . . . ] 11-12[ . . . ] Gilgamesh [ . . . ]
Ohya's dream vision is of a
tree that is uprooted except for three of its roots; the
vision's import is the same as that of the first dream.
6Q8 Frag. 2 1three
of its roots [ . . . ] [while] I was [watching,] there came
[ . . . they moved the roots into] 3this garden, all of
them, and not [ . . . ]
Ohya tries to avoid the
implications of the visions. Above he stated that it referred
only to the demon Azazel; here he suggests that the destruction
isfor the earthly rulers alone.
4Q530 Col. 2 1concerns the
death of our souls [ . . . ] and all his comrades, [and
Oh]ya told them what Gilgamesh said to him 2[ . . . ] and it
was said [ . . . ] "concerning [ . . . ] the leader has
cursed the potentates" 3and the giants were glad at his
words. Then he turned and left [ . . . ]
More dreams afflict the
giants. The details of this vision are obscure, but it bodes ill
for the giants. The dreamers speak first to the monsters, then
to the giants.
Thereupon two of them had
dreams 4and the sleep of their eye, fled from them, and they
arose and came to [ . . . and told] their dreams, and said
in the assembly of [their comrades] the monsters 6[ . . .
In] my dream I was watching this very night 7[and there was
a garden . . . ] gardeners and they were watering 8[ . . .
two hundred trees and] large shoots came out of their root
9[ . . . ] all the water, and the fire burned all 10[the
garden . . . ] They found the giants to tell them 11[the
dream . . . ]
Someone suggests that Enoch
be found to interpret the vision.
[ . . . to Enoch] the noted
scribe, and he will interpret for us 12the dream. Thereupon
his fellow Ohya declared and said to the giants, 13I too had
a dream this night, O giants, and, behold, the Ruler of
Heaven came down to earth 14[ . . . ] and such is the end of
the dream. [Thereupon] all th e giants [and monsters! grew
afraid 15and called Mahway. He came to them and the giants
pleaded with him and sent him to Enoch 16[the noted scribe].
They said to him, Go [ . . . ] to you that 17[ . . . ] you
have heard his voice. And he said to him, He wil1 [ . . .
and] interpret the dreams [ . . . ] Col. 3 3[
. . . ] how long the giants have to live. [ . . . ]
After a cosmic journey Mahway
comes to Enoch and makes his request.
[ . . . he mounted up in the
air] 41ike strong winds, and flew with his hands like ea[gles
. . . he left behind] 5the inhabited world and passed over
Desolation, the great desert [ . . . ] 6and Enoch saw him
and hailed him, and Mahway said to him [ . . . ] 7hither and
thither a second time to Mahway [ . . . The giants awaig
8your words, and all the monsters of the earth. If [ . . . ]
has been carried [ . . . ] 9from the days of [ . . . ] their
[ . . . ] and they will be added [ . . . ] 10[ . . . ] we
would know from you their meaning [ . . . ] 11[ . . . two
hundred tr]ees that from heaven [came down . . . ]
Enoch sends back a tablet
with its grim message of judgment, but with hope for repentance.
4Q530 Frag. 2 The
scribe [Enoch . . . ] 2[ . . . ] 3a copy of the second
tablet that [Epoch] se[nt . . . ] 4in the very handwriting
of Enoch the noted scribe [ . . . In the name of God the
great] 5and holy one, to Shemihaza and all [his companions .
. . ] 61et it be known to you that not [ . . . ] 7and the
things you have done, and that your wives [ . . . ] 8they
and their sons and the wives of [their sons . . . ] 9by your
licentiousness on the earth, and there has been upon you [ .
. . and the land is crying out] 10and complaining about you
and the deeds of your children [ . . . ] 11the harm that you
have done to it. [ . . . ] 12until Raphael arrives, behold,
destruction [is coming, a great flood, and it will destroy
all living things] 13and whatever is in the deserts and the
seas. And the meaning of the matter [ . . . ] 14upon you for
evil. But now, loosen the bonds bi[nding you to evil . . . ]
l5and pray.
A fragment apparently
detailing a vision that Enoch saw.
4Q531 Frag. 7 3[
. . . great fear] seized me and I fell on my face; I heard
his voice [ . . . ] 4[ . . . ] he dwelt among human beings
but he did not learn from them [ . . . ]