Replies

Your input to this research project is much appreciated! Thank you!

As promised, here is a consolidation of the research so far on the project initiated within the previous thread.

Your "digs" will be most appreciated!

I am half way thru your post and entranced. Fascinated. And bummed at my lack of knowledge.

I will help keep this bumped. I'm not a researcher....but would love to read this book that was cursed and left out of our current Bible. The mistranslation of the Kind James version of the Bible (my version), leaving out the words, 'the Elect One', ( God's words regarding his beloved Son, Jesus the Christ ), is unsettling, somehow. To think that the authors of the King James version were seeking agreement between the books of the New Testament (Mark and Matthew with Luke) seems so wrongful. Especially when you consider their letter to King James explaining their efforts and dedication to true transcription.

This is going to be fascinating Alamo-girl. I look forward to following this thread.<p.Ah well-back to devouring your post.... :^)

Wow....Enoch...!!

Hebrews chapter 11-13......and the epistle of Jude........Revelation 22,.......Deuteronomy 32 and 33...!!!

'Rapture' time!!!........Psalm 71

Amen,......Maranatha!!

(Romans 10:17)

:-)

bump

bump.

Enoch is quoted directly in the book of Jude and about 100 passages in the New Testament are rooted in the 1 Enoch phrasing.

Can you provide "chapter and verse" on some of these references? I am afraid, after 30 years of studying the Bible, I have yet to find such references. But, if you can point me to some, I would appreciate it.

Thanks

BTW - similarity in phrasing is not the same thing as a quote - for the record.

The other thing of course is that over a hundred phrases in the New Testament find precedence in Enoch and Enoch is quoted directly in Jude. So, to the New Testament - Enoch is authentic.

No, this does not mean that Enoch (the book) is authentic. It does indicate that many first century Jews were familiar with the book. It could also mean that Jude considers the one quote authentic. But, this is not even close to saying that the whole book (even in first century form) should be considered canonical.

I say this, though, because these words concern me:

Why is the authenticity of Enoch relevant to Christians today?

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. - Daniel 12:4

Obviously we are in a time of unprecedented knowledge and travel, thus many have been curious whether the hidden text mentioned in Daniel has already been revealed to any extent.

Some have proposed that the Bible Code (Equidistant Letter Sequence) is the hidden text mentioned in Daniel. So far I believe the search has been limited to a simple matrix but there was some talk of looking for any patterns in a holographic. As I recall, Newton suspected there was a code in the Pentateuch.

Still others have mentioned the book of Enoch which was rediscovered in 1773 in Ethopia and further authenticated by copies found at Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls).

I am concerned that you're chasing after a brand of gnosticism instead of true christianity. The Bible certainly has many details which create curiousity in our minds (e.g., What does Paul mean by "baptism for the dead"? What exactly happened between Michael and the Devil, as touched on in Jude? Who were the "sons of God" in Genesis 6? What was Enoch's life like?), and many of the pseudopigraphal books dwell upon these obscurities.

The point of the Bible, however, is to testify of Jesus Christ and our salvation in him:

John 5:39 "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;"

Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

Acts 10:43 "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."

So, I suggest that you stop running after secret knowledge and Bible codes, instead sticking with the plain message of the Bible about Jesus and salvation.

Fascinating thread, thanks for posting.

Graham Hancock has been delving into this type of archaeoastronomy for years. You might find some leads there (amongst some pretty interesting, though wild speculation, it must be admitted).

Another point in regard to your discussion of the anti-Hellenistic Essenes, and the inclusion in Enoch of astronomical theories attributed to the Greeks...

There are two frequent and very easily made errors in textual analyses of ancient manuscripts.

1. The confusion of the earliest known example of a manuscript or concept with the earliest possible example. In fact, the earliest known is the latest possible example, as earlier examples may have been (and quite likely, actually have been) lost to us, as that is how it usually goes with old things.

2. The idea that if manuscript A and manuscript B describe similar events, and A was produced prior to B, then B is therefore derived from A, and any differences are due to a corruption of A by B. This is an unfounded presumption against the possiblity of lost manuscripts C, D, E, etc., which might have been the sources for both A and B. Bad textual alanyses frequently ignore the possibility of literary missing links. Once such presumptions are disallowed, we see that questions as to the relative corruption of A and/or B from the original source remain unanswered.

... the Essenes at Qumran were evidently piously anti-Hellenistic, which is to say they strongly resisted the influence of Greece – so much so they went into the wilderness. The other two main sects of Jews after they returned from Babylon were Pharisees and Sadducees. So, in terms of influence on the 1 Enoch book of astronomy – if it were a fabrication – the possible influences would include Babylonia and to a lesser extent Greece.

It may be possible that although the Essenes resisted Hellenistic culture in general, which was far too worldly for many pious people, they may nevertheless have accepted Hellenistic science, including astronomy, geometry, etc. These would be unlikely to conflict with their scriptures or their way of life. So the Enoch text might have been no problem for them, even if Enoch actually did get his astronomy from the Greeks.

Interesting! I will have to refer my dad to this post over the weekend.

I’ll post my thoughts once I am sure what they are.

Any references to the Book of Gad the Seerer? Always wanted to read that one.

-

Heavy duty. I'll need time to read through all this.

bump for later

Yohanan's Revelation has many astronomical notations.

Revelation 12

1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time."

***

The founding of America

Book review of: The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital

Compare the information with the first three verses, the birth of a nation, woman (Virgo), Dragon's head, etc...

***

In his book, The Secret Architecture of our Nation's Capital, David Ovason describes in great detail the astrological underpinnings of Washington, D.C. and its connection to the sign of Virgo and the ancient Goddess mysteries. Ovason stresses that the Masons, who were among the city's architects and planners and who were present at the groundbreaking foundation ceremonies, were knowledgeable about astrology. In the tradition of ancient astrologers, they would have recognized the link between the stars and the destiny of cities. The most recent New Moon that occurred on Monday, September 17th was at 24 degrees of Virgo. Ovason cites 24 degrees of Virgo as a "critical degree" that repeatedly recurs in the city's most important horoscopes. In the federal city's founding horoscope of April 21, 1791, the day the city foundation stone was laid, Virgo was on the ascendant, with Jupiter rising at 23 degrees Virgo. On October 13, 1792, the day the foundation stone for the White House was laid, both the moon and the North node were conjunct at 23 degrees Virgo. "On September 18th, 1793, when President George Washington in his role as Grand Master laid the foundation stone for the Capitol," writes Ovason, "the Sun was in 24 degrees of Virgo, and thus reflected the Virgoan nature of the new city. When the cornerstone for the Washington Monument was laid July 4th, 1848, the moon went into Virgo; more importantly, the north node was at 25 Virgo."
"According to medieval Arab astrologers," writes Ovason, "this degree had a particular importance: it marked that point in the zodiac where the Moon was thought to promote the greatest happiness and well-being. We must presume, then, that the intention behind the choice of moment was that this beneficial influence would be transmitted into Washington, D.C."

Aligned with the Stars

Ovason suggests that Washington's planners followed the teachings of the ancient Greek and Egyptian mysteries by aligning the city with a constellation's fixed stars. His well-researched book explores the mystery of the 1791 planning of the city's Federal Triangle, consisting of the Washington Monument, White House and Capitol building and their alignment with the three main stars of the constellation Virgo. On August 10, 1791, the three fixed stars Arcturus, Regulus and Spica rose at sunset, forming a celestial triangle, and the city's Federal Triangle was engineered to mirror the constellation's pattern. Why fixed stars? They appeared to be permanent, therefore suggesting stability and spiritual benevolence, desirable traits when constructing a powerful institutional setting. "A sunset leading to the rise of three stars is rare," Ovason writes, "And a city's alignment with it is unique."
Virgo Symbols in the Nation's Capital The designers' choice to link Virgo with the capital indicates that they may have had a mystical intention to establish balance between the masculine and feminine. Ovason cites the numerous images of a beautiful woman holding a sheaf of grain, the symbol for Virgo, appearing on the nation's architectural decorations. This woman, the virgin, is the only female character in the entire zodiac. Therefore, the most feminine archetypal energy offering healing, purity and wisdom is permanently linked with what appears to be a highly masculine world.
Virgo also appears with a cornucopia, symbolizing the fulfillment of time, prosperity and agriculture. This sign associates with traits of redemption and organization, desirable in a post-war society.
The signs Gemini and Virgo are associated with the planet of communication, Mercury. As the female Mercury (Virgo is considered a "feminine" sign in astrology, while Gemini is considered "masculine"), she represents analysis and critical thinking, qualities that the forward-looking planners knew would play an important role in the nation's future.

Virgo Prevalent in the Charts of Washington, D.C. Buildings

Astrological charts cast for the laying of important building marker stones involve Virgo in a significant way, and point to the sure knowledge of planetary movement. Jupiter was ascending in Virgo when the city's first marker stone was laid on April 15, 1791. On October 13, 1792, the marker stone for the White House was laid with the Moon ascending in Virgo. The Capitol was founded with Mercury conjunct the Sun in Virgo on September 18, 1793, and the cornerstone for the Washington Monument was laid when the Moon was in Virgo.
http://www.stariq.com/pagetemplate/article.asp?PageID=2943

***

More info from the book

Two charts were shown for the cornerstone ceremonies, one for the White House and the other for the Federal city.
The two figures will not reveal much to those unacquainted with astrology, but there is no need to be perplexed by them. My purpose in reproducing these charts is to show the remarkable correspondence between them -- a correspondence which can be grasped even by the non-astrologer.

Let us consider the second chart first. In the arch of skies on the day the foundation stone for the White House was laid, there was a most interesting conjunction. Shortly before noon, the Moon had entered the same degree as the Dragon's Head (a node of the Moon). Both planet and node were in 23 degrees of Virgo. This close relationship is shown in the top of the central panel of the figure to the right:

[figure] means: Virgo in: Dragon's Head 22.48, Moon 23.56

Now, incredible as it may appear, 23 degrees of Virgo was precisely the same as that occupied by Jupiter on the day the federal city foundation stone was laid.
This fact is recorded in the tip of the central panel of the first figure:

[figure] means: Virgo in: Jupiter 22.38 retrograde

What the charts demonstrate is that a chart cast for 1791, and one for 1792, are related by a single degree, in Virgo. The chances of the correspondence being mere coincidence are so remote that we must assume that whoever was directing the planning of Washington, D.C. not only had a considerable knowledge oof astrology, but had a vested interest in emphasizing the role of the sign Virgo.

End.

Revelation 12, the birth of a nation...and...

Revelation 12

13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

14. Wings of a great eagle

August is the month of the sky spectacle of the millennia—the brightest Mars for perhaps 50,000 years. Mars is extraordinarily bright now, but as August moves on, we can see a 75% increase in brightness. Mars becomes even brighter than bright Jupiter.

Watch Mars all month, and see it brighten. At the beginning of the month, Mars will rise at 10 p.m., and reach its pinnacle at 3 a.m. By the end of August, the red planet will rise at nightfall, and reach its highest point at 12:30 a.m.—very convenient viewing hours. Mars is now so bright, that when the sky is dark, we may be able to see faint shadows by its light. Mars is closest to earth on August 27, opposes Sun on August 28, and is closest to Sun on August 30. The rare juxtaposition of these events gives us our brilliant Mars.

Get your spectacular views in now. Earth pulls away from Mars just as quickly as it has pulled up to it. Although it will still be bright in September, during September it loses all the extra August light. It will continue to dim rapidly through autumn.

The great summer triangle is at its best. While you're noticing Mars, look for three bright stars in the form of a big triangle high in the sky. They are all flying high, associated with birds. Although they belong to three different constellations, together they make a landmark in the summer sky.

Vega is the bluest of these stars, and you can see it overhead after it gets dark. Vega travels exactly at the latitude of Washington DC and San Francisco, so it is more or less overhead for observers in the United States. Vega is part of Lyre, a small constellation which looks like the letter "V." Vega is an Arabian word for "swooping eagle."

Just to the east of Vega, also high in the sky, is Deneb, in the tail of the swan, Cygnus. We can see the bright stars of the swan's wings spread wide across the sky. The two stars of the swan's long neck lead out from the center body star, opposite from the tail. This constellation is sometimes called the Northern Cross.

Lower in the sky, towards the south, is Altair, who reminds me of a brilliant diamond. Altair is in the constellation Aquila, the eagle. Learn these three stars, and use the triangle for a landmark in the summer sky.

Saturn, and possibly Uranus, are also visible. Saturn is now an early morning planet, rising around 3 a.m. Note the morning of August 23. Look for the waning crescent moon hanging out near Saturn. The big winter constellations, such as Orion and Gemini, are rising then.

With binoculars, you may be able to see Uranus just above Mars. It looks like a faint green star. They float near each other for several weeks, coming closest at the end of September, when Mars turns direct.
The other visible planets are too close to the sun now for viewing.

http://www.daykeeperjournal.com/skywatch.shtml

The Witness of the Stars
E. W. Bullinger
1893

http://philologos.org/__eb-tws/default.htm

Lyra, The Harp
http://philologos.org/__eb-tws/chap14.htm The books are open!

Daniel 12:4

I'll get to work on Enoch, now where's that copy???

fyi

Thanks so much Alamo-Girl. I'm looking forward to everyone's thoughts on this thread. :)

Bump.

This is a link to a site that has a translation of the books of Enoch as well as other texts.

apocalyptic

Enoch contains various statements about astronomy which are strangely accurate considering the known age of the manuscript and the language.

When interpreting writings from the past, it is often too easy to read into it one's own knowledge instead of the writer's actual meaning. As any student bluffing his way through a humanities test knows, for any arbitrary novel one can find plausible-sounding textual "matches" for just about any concept imaginable without much difficulty. (The classic example is "The Wizard of Oz" as a metaphor for the debate over monetary policy)

This is also a problem for the "Bible Codes" you mention earlier -- even in the random text formed by the "matrix" methods of the Bible Codes, one can "find" passages that seem to parallel known events. That this is mere "you can find whatever you look for" is demonstrated by the ability to do the same with the book Moby Dick (2) or the Hebrew translation of "War and Peace". More...

So care must be taken not to read spurious "matches" of modern astronomy in the symbology of various passages in ancient writings, unless the writings are unambiguous enough that the "prescient" interpretation seems more likely than a more prosaic and era-appropriate one.

It's also easy to call something "strangely accurate" if we underestimate how much would have been pretty obvious to an astute observer living at the time.

That the light of the moon is a reflection from the sun: "Then Uriel showed me another order (concerning) when light is beamed into the moon, from which direction of the bright sun it is beamed." 1 Enoch 78:10

I'm not sure if it's safe to interpret this as a statement that the light from the Moon is entirely *reflected* light. Even reading it literally as translated above, it sounds more like light that is transferred *into* the Moon, like a charging battery, to be released out later. Furthermore, it's not clear that even if some ancient peoples realized that the amount of light the Moon "shines" *could* be produced by reflected light. The Moon produces a *huge* illumination on a dark night, enough to read by and cast shadows. Nothing in ancient man's experiences would acquaint them with "reflections" of such magnitude. Even a brightly lit mountainside does not produce noticeable "rays" of light like the Moon does. Nor would they think that the Sun's light *could* reflect from the moon at night, since they had mistaken ideas about how close the Moon and Sun were, and they would have believed that the bulk of the Earth would block the Moon from the Sun's light when the Moon was up and the Sun was down.

Other passages in Enoch give the distinct impression that the Moon is powered independently by God in the same manner as the Sun and stars, and not through light "bounced" from the Sun:

has Uriel shown and revealed to me, to whom the Lord of the whole creation of the world hath subjected the host of heaven. And he has power over night and day in the heaven to cause the light to give light to men -sun, moon, and stars, (Enoch 82:7-8)
And after this law I saw another law dealing with the smaller luminary, which is named the Moon. And her circumference is like the circumference of the heaven, and her chariot in which she rides is driven by the wind, and light is given to her in (definite) measure. (Enoch 73:1)
And the chambers of the winds, and how the winds are divided, and how they are weighed, and (how) the portals of the winds are reckoned, each according to the power of the wind, and the power of the lights of the moon (Enoch 60:12)

Much more likely, I think the above passage from Enoch is a bit of a mistranslation of the original meaning. (Speaking of which, where did you get the above translation? A Google search for the phrase "when light is beamed into the moon" turns up no hits at all except an earlier FreeRepublic thread.)

Looking to this translation, the same passage is rendered as: "And Uriel showed me another law: when light is transferred to the moon, and on which side it is transferred to her by the sun." Similar, but with significant differences.

But in light of (no pun intended) what immediately follows in Enoch, I think that both of the above are poor translations of the actual meaning. Instead of "when light is transferred to the moon, and on which side it is transferred to her by the sun", I think that what best fits the passages which follow would be, "when light grows in the Moon, and on which side of the sun it is grown in her", or in more modern language perhaps even "when the Moon grows in brightness, and when brightness goes from her, depending on which side of the Sun."

Why do I think this? Because the Enoch passages which immediately follow concern the observation that when the Moon is waxing (i.e., growing brighter from the New Moon to the Full Moon), it is always *behind* the Sun in the sky (i.e., rises last), but when it is waning (i.e. growing dimmer from the Full Moon back to the New Moon) it is always *ahead* of the Sun in the sky (i.e., rises first).

This well-known (and to ancient man, obvious) fact is described at the bottom of Moon Phases, in the section entitled "Moon Phase Comparison".

Here's the whole passage from Enoch, along with my annotations in [brackets]:

And Uriel showed me another law: when light is transferred to the moon, and on which side it is transferred to her by the sun. [i.e., which side of the sun the Moon is on when its light grows, and when its light fades] During all the period during which the moon is growing in her light [waxing from the new moon to the full moon], she is transferring it to herself [growing in brightness] when opposite to the sun [*following* the sun through the sky -- "opposite" isn't even correct, the moon is only "opposite" the sun when it's a full moon, which is correctly described below] during fourteen days her light is accomplished in the heaven [i.e. it takes 14 days to grow from the dark new moon to the bright full moon], and when she is illumined throughout, her light is accomplished full in the heaven [the moon is as bright as it can be at the time of the full moon]. And on the first day she is called the new moon, for on that day the light rises upon her [either: the new moon rises *with* the sun (correct), or: the moon's light begins to grow the day after it has become the new moon]. She becomes full moon exactly on the day when the sun sets in the west, and from the east she rises at night [i.e., the sun and moon are exactly opposite at the time of the full moon, the full moon is rising just as the sun sets], and the moon shines the whole night through till the sun rises over against her and the moon is seen over against the sun ["against" the sun being on opposite sides still, but this time the full moon setting as the sun again rises -- this may also be stressing that the moon has now become "ahead" of the sun in the sky]. On the side [of the sun] whence the light of the moon comes forth [now *ahead* of the sun in the sky], there again she wanes till all the light vanishes and all the days of the month are at an end, and her circumference is empty, void of light [until she fades back to the new moon and the cycle repeats].

I'd like to know what original-language words were translated into "opposite" the sun and "against" the sun -- if translated respectively into "behind/following/eastward" relative to the sun and "ahead/leading/westward" relative to the sun, the above passage perfectly describes the positions of the moon in relation to the sun as it waxes and then wanes in its lunar cycle. A shorter description of this same observation occurs in Enoch 74:

In single seventh parts she [the Moon] accomplishes [gains] all her light in the east [of the Sun, following it through the sky], and in single seventh parts accomplishes all her darkness in the west [of the Sun].

This is further bolstered by the fact that the (Chapter 78) passage immediately *before* the one under discussion describes in boring detail the manner in which the moon's light waxes and wanes through each day of its 28/29 day cycle. All of chapter 78 is a close examination of behavior of the Moon's phase changes.

Orbits. We know that the moon orbits the sun and the sun orbits the Milky Way. It is very strange (to me) that Enoch would say: "They [sun and moon] do not depart from their orbit, neither increase or decrease it; but they keep faith one with another; in accordance with an oath they set and they rise." – 1 Enoch 41:5

I see nothing in this passage that warrants such a reading. Several times in Enoch he describes in great detail the exact motions and positions, and the mechanical predictability of the paths of the Sun and Moon, with respect to the days, the seasons, the years, and each other's movements. Chapter 72, for example, is a startlingly detailed account of how the point of sunrise/sunset on the horizon changes across the course of a year, and how the length of the day relative to the length of the night varies throughout the year. It's so detailed that one could use it to calculate with a fair degree of precision which latitude the observations were made from. And in Chapter 74, he apparently attempts to calculate what is today called the Saros Cycle, but gets the wrong answer because he's working with faulty measurements (given to him by the "Angel", *cough*). Nonetheless, it shows a good observational knowledge of the manner in which the cycles of the sun and moon come inevitably and eternally in and out of phase, and it is this fixed relationship which the author of Enoch seems to be pointing out when he speaks of their cycles being "not departed" (i.e. unchanging) and "keep faith with one another" (i.e. consistent in their relative timings).

That the sun and moon generate energy: "they do not economize (on energy), for their very essence generates new power." – 1 Enoch 41:7

My source translates that quite differently: "And they give thanks and praise and rest not; For unto them is their thanksgiving rest." Without going back to the original language it's hard to tell which, if either, of these renderings is more accurate -- they have quite different meanings.

In any case, the Moon hardly "generates new power". It's a pretty dead world, and the amount of residual heat from nuclear decay is quite small and has no effect on the Earth. As you point out earlier, it only shines by reflected light from the Sun.

That the sun shines even when it is not seen: "And neither does it diminish (in respect to its brightness) not take rest but continue to run day and night. – 1 Enoch 72: 36

My source translates that as:

As he [the Sun] rises, so he sets and decreases not, and rests not, but runs day and night, and his light is sevenfold brighter than that of the moon; but as regards size they are both equal.

I think it's safe to interpret the "decreases not" passage as saying that the Sun doesn't change in brightness as it traverses the sky (unlike the example of the Moon, which unmistakably varies), but I'm not sure if the "rests not but runs night and day" can be read to be a statement about its light continuing during the night.

Instead, I think it's being pretty literal -- the sun keeps "running" (i.e., moving) during the times we can no longer see it. That fits with the "rests" part: Ancient man would think that continued movement took energy, because they got tired when they themselves ran, but wouldn't necessarily think that continuing to shine was tiresome or would require "rest".

This is further supported by the amount of time Enoch spends talking about the movement of the Sun, and even claims to know the path it takes in order to return from the place in the West where it sets back around to the place in the East where it needs to rise again the next morning. The above passage seems to be a reference to this perpetual motion of the Sun. Nowhere can I find any place where he unambiguously mentions whether or not he thinks the Sun continues to shine while it's out of sight. In fact, that issue seems not to interest him. He may well presume that it continues to shine -- it's a reasonable assumption given the way the Sun is known to shine constantly across many lifetimes (at least in the day) -- but he doesn't really make a clear declaration about that one way or the other.

That stars come into existence and die by becoming lightening – a possible reference to stellar evolution or supernovae: "And I saw another thing regarding lightening: how some stars arise and become lightening and cannot dwell with the rest." 1 Enoch 44

My source translates that as: "Also another phenomenon I saw in regard to the lightnings: how some of the stars arise and become lightnings and cannot part with their new form."

In either case, I think this is meant to "explain" meteorite trails. "Arise" is probably meant in the sense of "get up" from the star's resting place in the sky, not "arise" as in "to originate". So this is speaking of a star which decides to leave its spot in the sky to streak across the night sky ("become lightning"), never to return to its original resting place.

I see nothing in this passage or elsewhere in Enoch which seems to accord with any notion of new stars forming in any manner, nor even dying as such.

Singularity? And then there is a reference to the end of all that there is (and beginning) which sounds like a singularity: in chapter 18 a place with no measure and no content, a pit "where the heavens come together." He records that the angel explained [v. 14] "this is the ultimate end of heaven and earth; it is the prison house for the stars and the powers of heaven…"

It's pretty vague... My source renders this as:

And beyond these mountains Is a region the end of the great earth: there the heavens were completed. And I saw a deep abyss, with columns of heavenly fire, and among them I saw columns of fire fall, which were beyond measure alike towards the height and towards the depth. And beyond that abyss I saw a place which had no firmament of the heaven above, and no firmly founded earth beneath it: there was no water upon it, and no birds, but it was a waste and horrible place. I saw there seven stars like great burning mountains, and to me, when I inquired regarding them, The angel said: 'This place is the end of heaven and earth: this has become a prison for the stars and the host of heaven. And the stars which roll over the fire are they which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord in the beginning of their rising, because they did not come forth at their appointed times. And He was wroth with them, and bound them till the time when their guilt should be consummated (even) for ten thousand years.'

Hmm, a hell for stars which didn't rise punctually, where they are tortured with fire... Must be pretty hot to torture a star, since stars are awfully hot normally...

In any case, the "no sky and no earth" passage just seems to indicate that this was beyond the edge of the outer rims of the "Earth", and thus the comment about "This place is the end of heaven and earth" seems less like a promise of universal annihilation than a simple observation about it being past "city limits" (i.e., beyond the edge of the earth and sky).

So in summation, I'm not sure if any of these passages from Enoch represent any real premonitions of modern cosmology. Most seem like pretty typical observations and presumptions for a person of that period (although clearly someone spent a lot of time making careful daily notes over the course of at least a year, and deserves much credit for that).

But there are a number of other passages that make it pretty clear that the author was working from his own human observations and surmises instead of any Special Knowledge From On High...

The first problem is that any complete reading of the book of Enoch makes totally inescapable the conclusion that the author is describing a "flat Earth with a hard bowl-shaped sky dome over it" scenario. Unlike similar passages which can be found in the books actually incorporated into the Bible which can be argued away as possibly metaphorical, in Enoch it's described in way too much careful detail for it to be read as anything other than a literal claim of a flat Earth covered by a sky dome in which the Sun and Moon and stars run their paces. The author even describes exactly how many doors and windows are in the sky dome, and where, to let the Sun/Moon/stars/winds/waters in and out, and which doors the Sun uses on which days of the year, etc. His cosmology is this:

(The above picture is from this web page, which also has a good list of the ways in which Enoch clearly influenced the writers of parts of the Bible.)

Needless to say, I don't think that counts as "statements about astronomy which are strangely accurate".

Other passages that probably seemed like good ideas at the time but which turned out not to be the case:

1. "And they took me to the living waters, and to the fire of the west, which receives every setting of the sun." (Chapter 17). No, the Sun does not set upon a place of fire. The Earth just keeps rotating and the Sun doesn't land anywhere.

2. "I saw the treasuries of all the winds." (Chapter 18). Wind isn't kept in treasuries.

3. "And I saw the corner-stone of the earth." (Ch. 18). The Earth doesn't have a cornerstone. It might if it were flat, but...

4. "I saw the winds of heaven which turn and bring the circumference of the sun and all the stars to their setting." (Ch. 18). Wind doesn't move the Sun and stars around, they appear to move because the Earth rotates.

5. "From thence I went to another place to the west of the ends of the earth." (Ch. 23). The Earth doesn't have "ends", and if you keep going West you only circle the Earth.

6. "And to the east of those beasts I saw the ends of the earth whereon the heaven rests, and the portals of the heaven open. And I saw how the stars of heaven come forth, and I counted the portals out of which they proceed, and wrote down all their outlets, of each individual star by itself, according to their number and their names, their courses and their positions, and their times and their months, as Uriel the holy angel who was with me showed me." (Ch. 33). The sky/heaven does not rest upon the Earth, especially not at the "ends", there are no portals in the sky dome, and the stars do not come out of them in order to rise above the horizon.

7. "And from thence I went towards the north to the ends of the earth, and there I saw a great and glorious device at the ends of the whole earth. And here I saw three portals of heaven open in the heaven: through each of them proceed north winds: when they blow there is cold, hail, frost, snow, dew, and rain. And out of one portal they blow for good: but when they blow through the other two portals, it is with violence and affliction on the earth, and they blow with violence." (Ch. 34). Northern winds do not issue from three holes in the sky dome.

8. "And from thence I went to the east to the ends of the heaven, and saw here the three eastern portals of heaven open and small portals above them. Through each of these small portals pass the stars of heaven and run their course to the west on the path which is shown to them. And as often as I saw I blessed always the Lord of Glory" (Ch. 36). Again, there are no holes in the sky dome and the stars do not come out of them to travel across the sky each night.

9. "And there I saw closed chambers out of which the winds are divided, the chamber of the hail and winds, the chamber of the mist, and of the clouds, and the cloud thereof hovers over the earth from the beginning of the world." (Ch. 41). Wind, hail, clouds, etc. do not originate in warehouses.

10. "And I saw the chambers of the sun and moon, whence they proceed and whither they come again" (Ch. 41). The Sun and Moon do not spend their time in storehouses when they are not visible.

11. "And this is the first law of the luminaries: the luminary the Sun has its rising in the eastern portals of the heaven, and its setting in the western portals of the heaven. And I saw six portals in which the sun rises, and six portals in which the sun sets and the moon rises and sets in these portals, and the leaders of the stars and those whom they lead: six in the east and six in the west, and all following each other in accurately corresponding order: also many windows to the right and left of these portals." (Ch. 72). The Sun, Moon, and stars do not come out of doorways in the sky dome when they rise, nor duck out of doorways when they set.

12. "The chariot on which he [the Sun] ascends, the wind drives, and the sun goes down from the heaven and returns through the north in order to reach the east, and is so guided that he comes to the appropriate portal and 6 shines in the face of the heaven." (Ch. 72). The Sun does not ride a chariot, and does not get blown across the sky. Nor does it travel in a northern path outside the sky dome in order to get from its place of setting back to the place it must rise again in the morning.

13. "And the sun goes forth from that sixth portal in the west, and goes to the east and rises in the fifth portal for thirty mornings, and sets in the west again in the fifth western portal. On that day the day decreases by two parts, and amounts to ten parts and the night to eight parts." (Ch. 72). While the author does an admirable job attempting to describe the manner in which the Sun's path varies with the seasons and so do the lengths of the days, it doesn't do so by switching entry/exit "portals" on given days, nor does the length of the day stay constant for thirty days and then suddenly shift its length, it's a continuous progression.

14. "...and his [the Sun's] light is sevenfold brighter than that of the moon; but as regards size they are both equal." (Ch. 72). Clearly not divine information. The sun isn't "sevenfold" brighter than the Moon, it's 436,800 times brighter (as viewed from the surface of the Earth -- in absolute terms the disparity is even greater). And the Sun may *look* the same size as the Moon, but in reality it's almost 400 times as large in diameter. Enoch apparently figured they were the same size since they had the same apparent diameter and "must" have been at the same distance (since they both rode on the "sky dome").

15. "And the sun and the stars bring in all the years exactly, so that they do not advance or delay their position by a single day unto eternity; but complete the years with perfect justice in 364 days." (Ch. 74). Well, 365.2422 days, but who's counting? I don't so much mind him missing the fraction, but somehow there's still an entire day missing from the year.

16. "In like manner twelve doors Uriel showed me, open in the circumference of the sun's chariot in the heaven, through which the rays of the sun break forth: and from them is warmth diffused over the earth, when they are opened at their appointed seasons." (Ch. 75). The Sun does not ride in a chariot, but if it did that would certainly be an ingenious way to vary its warmth in Summer versus Winter, instead of the current method of whereby the tilt of the Earth's axis affects the angle at which sunlight strikes a given spot on the Earth...

17. "And I saw chariots in the heaven, running in the world, above those portals in which revolve the stars that never set." (Ch. 75). Last time I checked, the North Star and other northerly stars that don't dip below the horizon don't ride in chariots either, nor do they rest above the three northern portals in the sky dome.

18. "And one [of the "stars that never set"] is larger than all the rest, and it is that that makes its course through the entire world." (Ch. 75). Since the Earth isnt' flat after all, Polaris can not be used to "make courses" for the "entire world", just for most of the northern hemisphere.

19. "And at the ends of the earth I saw twelve portals open to all the quarters (of the heaven), from which the winds go forth and blow over the earth." (Ch. 76). No he didn't.

20. "...and her [the Moon's] chariot in which she rides is driven by the wind, and light is given to her in (definite) measure". (Ch. 73). The Moon's movement is not driven by wind.

A-G, lovely article... I am going to devote time this week to dissecting some parts of the book of Enoch and to relate them to the New Testament. I agree with you, though--whoever wrote the book of Enoch was most likely way ahead of his peers. God bless!