8. The Book of Giants
The main components of the Ethiopian anthology were transferred to parchments. These ancient texts detail how giants lived on Earth and created chaos and destruction. There's very little remains of the writings of the adventures of the giants because the complete manuscript no longer exists. Unfortunately, the entire exact content and the order of the writings are still guesswork. The fragments are a complement of chapters 13, 14, 15 and 16 of the book of Enoch concerning the disturbing dreams of the giants and his the efforts to interpret them and intercede with God on their behalf.
Enoch the Patriarch lived before the Flood, when the world was very different. According to the Bible and the Book of Enoch, forbidden sexual relations took place between the watchers (angels) and humans.
Genesis 6:2 "the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.."
It was the idea of Azazel who later signed a pact with Shemyaza, the leader of the evil angels, They prompted 200 others to cohabit and mate with women. From these unions were born giant cannibals (Nephilim) up to 3000 feet high. These evil angels and their offspring began to oppress humankind and taught them to do evil. At one point, the giants started having prophetic dreams of Armageddon, and they got very afraid. According to the texts, Mahway, the Titan son of the fallen angel Barakel, was the first Nephilim to have prophetic dreams. In his dream, Mahway saw a huge tablet submerged under water, and on the surface of the tablet, three names only were left. This was symbolizing the great flood and the demise of humankind except the sons of Noah. The Nephilim spent some time debating Mahway's dream, but they weren't able to find an interpretation of its meaning. Shortly after, two other giants, Ohya and Hahya, the sons of the fallen angel Shemyaza also began to have similar dreams, about a tree entirely uprooted except for three of its roots. When the Giants became aware of the prophetic nature of their dreams, they sought Enoch's help, but he was no longer on Earth because ELOHIM had taken him away.
Genesis 5:24 "Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away.."
In a cosmic journey, the Nephilim sent Mahway to Enoch to help them obtain mercy from ELOHIM. Mahwah presented himself before Enoch and made his request, Enoch listened to him and promised to plead for the Nephilim before ELOHIM. But, his efforts to intercede with heaven on behalf of the fallen angels were unsuccessful. ELOHIM imprisoned some fallen angels until the final judgment. He then got rid of their giants offspring and purified the earth, by the flood.
Jude 1:6 "And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling— these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day."
2 Peter 2:4 "For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment"
1Q23 Frag. 9 + 14 + 15 - A summary statement of the descent of the wicked angels, bringing both knowledge and havoc. Compare Genesis 6:1-2, 4
1:1 [...]
1:2 [...] they knew the secrets of [...]
1:3 [... si]n was great in the earth [...]
1:4 [...] and they killed man [... ]
1:5 [... they begat] giants [...]
4Q531 Frag. 3 - The angels exploit the fruifulness of the earth
2:1 [...]
2:2 [... everything that the] earth produced [...]
2:3 [...] the great fish [...]
2:4 [...]
2:5 [...]
2:6 [...]
2:7 [...]
2:8 [...]
2:9 [...]
2:10 [...]
2:11 [...]
2:12 [...]
2:13 [...]
2:14 [...] the sky with all that grew [...]
2:15 [... fruit of] the earth and all kinds of grain and al1 the trees [...]
2:16 [...] beasts and reptiles ... [al]l creeping things of the earth and they observed all [...]
2:18 [... eve]ry harsh deed and [...] utterance [...]
2:19 [...] male and female, and among humans [...]
1Q23 Frag. 1 et 6 - The two hundred angels choose animals on which to perform unnatural acts, including, presumably, humans
3:1 [... two hundred]
3:2 donkeys, two hundred asses, two hundred [... rams of the]
3:3 flock, two hundred goats, two hundred [... beast of the]
3:4 Field from every animal, from every [bird ...]
3:5 [...] for miscegenation [...]
4Q531 Frag. 2 - The outcome of the demonic corruption was violence, perversion, and a brood of monstrous beings. Compare Genesis 6:4
4:1 [...] they defiled [...]
4:2 [... they begot] giants and monsters [...]
4:3 [...] they begot, and, behold, all [the earth was corrupted ...]
4:4 [...] with its blood and by the hand of [...]
4:5 [giant's]] which did not suffice for them and [...]
4:6 [...] and they were seeking to devour many [...]
4:7 [...]
4:8 [...] the monsters attacked it.
4Q532 Col. 2 Frags. 1 a 6
5:1 [...]
5:2 [...] flesh [...]
5:3 al[l ...] monsters [...] will be [...]
5:4 [...] they would arise [...] lacking in true knowledge [...] because [...]
5:5 [...] the earth [grew corrupt ...] mighty [...]
5:6 [...] they were considering [...]
5:7 [...] from the angels upon [...]
5:8 [...] in the end it will perish and die [...]
5:9 [...] they caused great corruption in the [earth ...] [... this did not] suffice to [...] they will be [...]
2Q26 - 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
6:1 [...]they drenched the tablet in the wa[ter ...]
6:2 [...] the waters went up over the [tablet ...]
6:3 [...] they lifted out the tablet from the water of [...]
4Q530 Frag.7 - The giant goes to the others and they discuss the dream
7:1 [... this vision] is for cursing and sorrow. I am the one who confessed
7:2 [...] the whole group of the castaways that I shall go to [...]
7:3 [...the spirits of the sl]ain complaining about their killers and crying out
7:4 [...] that we shall die together and be made an end of
7:5 [...]much and I will be sleeping, and bread
7:6 [...] for my dwelling; the vision and also
7:7 [...] entered into the gathering of the giants
7:8 [...]
6Q8
8:1 [...] Ohya and he said to Mahway [...]
8:2 [...] without trembling. Who showed you all this vision, [my] brother ?
8:3 [...] Barakel, my father, was with me.
8:4 [...] Before Mahway had finished telling what [[he had seen ...]
8:5 [...] [said] to him, Now I have heard wonders! If a barren woman gives birth [...]
4Q530 Frag. 4
9:1 [...]
9:2 [...]
9:3 [[There]upon Ohya said to Ha[hya...]
9:4 [... to be destroyed] from upon the earth and [...]
9:5 [... the ea]rth. When...
9:6 [...] they wept before [the giants...]
4Q530 Frag. 7
10:1 [...]
10:2 [...]
10:3 [...] your strength [...]
10:4 [...]
10:5 Thereupon Ohya [said] to Hahya [...] Then he answered, It is not for
10:6 us, but for Azazel, for he did [... the children of] angels
10:7 are the giants, and they would not let all their [loved ones] be neglected
10:8 [... we have] not been cast down; you have strength[...]
4Q531 Frag. 1 - The giants realize the futility of fighting against the forces of heaven. The first speaker may be Gilgamesh
11:1 [...]
11:2 [...]
11:3 [... I am a] giant, and by the mighty strength of my arm and my own great strength
11:4 [... any] one mortal, and I have made war against them; but I am not
11:5 [...] able to stand against them, for my opponents11:6 [...] reside in [Heav]en, and they dwell in the holy places. And not
11:7 [... they] are stronger than I
11:8 [...] of the wild beast has come, and the wild man they call [me].
11:9 [...] Then Ohya said to him, I have been forced to have a dream
11:10 [...] the sleep of my eyes [vanished], to let me see a vision. Now I know that on [...]
11:11 [...]
11:12 Gilgamesh [...]
6Q8 Frag. 2 - 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
12:1 three of its roots [...] [while] I was [watching,] there came
12:2 [... they moved the roots into]
12:3 this garden, all of them, and not [...]
4Q530 Col. 2 - 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
13:1 concerns the death of our soul [...] and all his comrades, [and Oh] told them what Gilgamesh said to him
13:2 [...] and it was said [...] « concerning [...] the leader has cursed the potentates »
13:3 and 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
14.3
14:1 [...]
14:2 [...]
14:3 Thereupon two of them had dreams
14:4 and the sleep of their eye, fled from them, and they arose and came to
14:5 [... and told] their dreams, and said in the assembly of [their comrades] the monsters
14:6 [... in] my dream I was watching this very night
14:7 [and there was a garden...] gardeners and they were watering
14:8 [... two hundred trees and] large shoots came out of their root
14:9 [...] all the water, and the fire burned all
14:10 [the garden...] They found the giants to tell them
14:11 [the dream...]
Someone suggests that Enoch be found to interpret the vision
15-1
15:1 [... to Enoch] the noted scribe, and he will interpret for us
15:2 [...]
15:3 [...]
15:4 [...]
15:5 [...]
15:6 [...]15:7 [...]
15:8 [...]15:9 [...]15:10 [...]
15:11 [...]15:12 the dream. Thereupon his fellow Ohya declared and said to the giants,
15:13 I too had a dream this night, O giants, and, behold, the Ruler of Heaven came down to earth
15:14 [...] and such is the end of the dream. [Thereupon] all the giants [and monsters! grew afraid]
15:15 and called Mahway. He came to them and the giants pleaded with him and sent him to Enoch
15:16 [the noted scribe]. They said to him, Go [...] to you that
15:17 [...] you have heard his voice. And he said to him, He will [... and] interpret the dreams [...]
4Q530 Col.3
16:1 [...]
16:2 [...]
16:3 [...] how long the giants have to live. [...]
After a cosmic journey Mahway comes to Enoch and makes his request
13
17:1 [...]
17:2 [...]
17:3 [... he mounted up in the air]
17:4 like strong winds, and flew with his hands like ea[gles... he left behind]
17:5 the inhabited world and passed over Desolation, the great desert [...]
17:6 and Enoch saw him and hailed him, and Mahway said to him [...]
17:7 hither and thither a second time to Mahway [... The giants await]
17:8 your words, and all the monsters of the earth. If [...] has been carried [...]
17:9 from the days of [...] their [...] and they will be added [...]
17:10 [...] we would know from you their meaning [...]
17:11 [... two hundred tr]ees that from heaven [came downs...]
4Q530 Frag. 2 - Enoch sends back a tablet with its grim message of judgment, but with hope for repentance
18:1 The scribe [Enoch...]
18:2 [...]
18:3 a copy of the second tablet that[Enoch] se[nt...]
18::4 in the very handwriting of Enoch the noted scribe [... In the name of God the great]
18:5 and holy one, to Shemihaza and all [his companions...]
18:6 Let it be known to you that not [...]
18:7 and the things you have done, and that your wives [...]
18:8 They and their sons and the wives of [their sons...]
18:9 by your licentiousness on the earth, and there has been upon you [... and the land is crying out]
18:10 and complaining about you and the deeds of your children [...]
18:11 the harm that you have done to it. [...]
18:12 until Raphael arrives, behold, destruction [is coming, a great flood, and it will destroy all living things]
18:13 and whatever is in the deserts and the seas. And the meaning of the matter[...]
18:14 upon you for evil. But now, loosen the bonds bi[nding you to evil ...]
18:15 and pray.
4Q531 Frag. 7 - A fragment apparently detailing a vision that Enoch saw
19:1 [...]
19:2 [...]
19:3 [... great fear]seized me and I fell on my face; I heard his voice [...]
19:4 [...] he dwelt among human beings but he did not learn from them [...]
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