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Cuap. 39. The contrast with the children of men compels us to believe the children of heaven to be the angels; cf. note on 6:1. Although the angels are not called chosen by the Old Testament or by Enoch elsewhere, but first by 1 Tim. v. 21, the name could easily be applied to them, partly from the GTR of Tob. viii. 15, partly from the fact that it is the general appellation of those with whom their fate is to be united. A parallel statement is that even the Messiah shall dwell with men during his reign, 45:4; 62:14, and thus “heaven shall be on earth,” cf. Jonath, ad Zach. iii. 7. Their seed will be one, of course not in the sinful manner of the fallen angels and the women, but rather as in 62:14.—2. The sudden change of subjects is somewhat surprising, but as the writer has announced in general terms the wonderful changes introduced by the Messiah he mist explain how these are to be effected, viz. by a judgment. Books, ie. books containing an account of the judgment, but to specify further as to what books he refers is impossible. It is even possible that the word books is chosen simply on account of Enoch’s literary character, but cf. 93:1-3.—3. Cf. note on 14:8.—4. The sudden change again to the subject of the first verse almost forces the belief that something is wrong with verse 2, unless it is an adverbial clause specifying the time of his vision concerning the home of the just—5. The vision is entirely prophetic, for the writer has as little to say concerning the happiness of saints in heaven as the Old Testament has; the Messianic kingdom is, as it were, now yet in heaven. In view of this, that it is not yet determined who shall belong to that kingdom, the angels petition (cf. note on 15:1, 2) for mankind, and in view of chap. 50; 90:29-38; 91:14 (cf. notes) that many may take part. With these angels are justice and mercy, with the side idea that these shall be brought down with them when they descend, vs. 1. Water and dew are symbols of plenty, cf. Isa. xi. 9; Micah v. 6.—6. Faith (cf. note on 58:5), certainly not in a Christian sense; the word haimanoth means also fidelity, i.e. to God. Then it is very easily possible that the Christian translator uses a word here that may not exactly express the original, cf. Herzog R. E. xii. p. 310 (ed. 1)—7. Under the wings, a symbol of protection, Ex. xix. 4; Deut. xxxii. 11, 12; xxxiii. 12; Matt. xxiii. 37; cf note on 38:2.—8. Cf. 71:14-17; 90:31.—9. Cf. 37:4.—11. The eternity and foreknowledge of God is extolled because they have been exemplified in vs. 8—12, 13. Who do not sleep, cf. note on 12:2. The change of the Trisagion (Isa. vi. 3) in this passage is according to the contents of the Parables, and especially because God is here the Lord of the spirits —14. Could not see, i.e. was blinded by the glory he saw; cf. 14:24, 25; Ascensio Isaiae ix. 38. Cuap. 40. Cf. note on 1:9. The transition from the description of the Messianic kingdom to the glories of heaven is easily explained by the connection between the two as laid down in the previous chapter.—2. Distinct from the multitude before the Lord are the four special angels, whose special name being HTR, a name taken from Isa. lxiii.9, are here accordingly represented as faces. The same distinction is observed 71:1, and rigidly by rabbinical writers, cf. Buxtorf, Lex. (ed. Fischer), p. 27, and Herzog R. E. iv. p. 20 sqq. (ed. 1). This verse is used in Pirke Elieser c. 4. The angel who came with me is the angel of peace in verse 8; cf. 52:5; 53:4; 54:4; 56:2, where he receives this name, and 43:3; 46:2; 52:3, 4; 61:2, 3; 64:2. Who he is, is not mentioned, but Hoffmann’s conjecture of Uriel is not improbable, especially as the Parables, unlike the almost unanimous verdict of later Judaism (cf. Buxtorf, 1. c.), do not make him one of the four chief angels, but put Fanuel in his place; cf. vs. 9 and 71:8. His name is taken from his functions as the opposite of the satans, or possibly as the well known angel of death, cf. Jonath. on Hab. iii. 54. The first one praises the Lord, an idea probably taken from Isa. vi. 3, and according to verse 9 this is Michael. His name is take from his work, for his cry is HTR (cf. Buxtorf, |. c.). He is here already, like in later works (cf. Herzog, R. E., |. c. p. 27), the HTR, or the Metatron, and as such he has attributes which are generally assigned to God alone.—5. The second praises the Chosen One, i.e. the Messiah, the most frequent name for him, found also 45:3-5; 49:2; 51:3, 5; 52:6-9; 53:6; 55:4; 61:5, 8; 62:1. He is so called because he has been chosen by the Lord of the spirits, 46:3. The name taken from Isa. xlii. 1 is peculiar to the Parables, and is found in no other apocryphal book. The estimate put on the Messiah here in making him the object of praise by one of the highest angels is seriously diminished by having the chosen ones put into the same category, and further by the fact that nothing more is meant here than that they are both objects of the special concern of this angel; and as 61:10 the Chosen One is included in the host of those that praise the Lord, the idea of a Christian origin cannot be entertained