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RICHARD BAUCKHAM
1. Introduction
The Irrisio Gentilium Philosophorum (Atlaupi6os Toiviw gptXoa6opov)
of
Hermias "the philosopher"' has long been an enigma for patristic
scholars, not least because neither the author nor his work is mentioned
anywhere in ancient literature, while the work itself provides little in the
way of internal evidence for dating it. While a majority of scholars have
placed it in the second or third century2and associated it with the Christian apologetic literature of that period, others have argued for a
fourth, fifth or even sixth-century date.3
One clue to the date of the Irrisio may be found in ch. 1, where Hermias explains the worthlessness of Greek philosophy, shown in the fact
that the philosophers contradict each other on every topic, by claiming
that 'it took its beginning from the apostasy of the angels' (WIv&apXlv
&Co6
'rqSTr(va&fY.Xckv
&aoaMa(a0S).
Already in his 1742 edition of
,X71npvaLt
the Irrisio, Maran suggested that such a view was only possible at a
relatively early date,4 and some other scholars have agreed with this suggestion.5 The purpose of this article is to develop and refine this suggestion by means of a thorough investigation of the background and
parallels to Hermias' idea that philosophy derives from the fallen
angels, in order to show that it provides a very strong and fairly precise
indication of date. It will also become clear that the Irrisio provides an
interesting insight into the context of Clement of Alexandria's discussion of the origins of Greek philosophy.
2. The Teaching of the Fallen Angels in the Book of Watchers
In the background to Hermias' statement lies the ancient Jewish
tradition of the fall of the Watchers, an interpretation of Gen. 6:1-4
314
RICHARD BAUCKHAM
which is first found in the Book of Watchers (1 Enoch 1-36). Since one
of the Qumran manuscripts of this part of 1 Enoch is dated, on
palaeographical grounds, to the early second century B.C., the Book of
Watchers must have been written c. 200 B.C. at the latest.6 The section
of the Book which concerns us (chs. 6-19) some hold to be an earlier
source incorporated in the Book of Watchers, though few would follow
Milik in dating it as early as the fifth century.7 At any rate the story of
the Watchers is a very old part of the Enoch tradition, and its sources
are probably to be found in ancient Near Eastern mythology rather than
in Greek mythology.8
The story in the Book of Watchers interprets the "sons of God"
(Gen. 6:2, 4) as angels. It tells how in the days of Jared, the father of
Enoch, two hundred angels (of the class of angels called "Watchers"),
under the leadership of CAsa'el and Semihazah, were attracted by the
daughters of men and descended from heaven on Mount Hermon. They
took human wives, who bore them children, the giants (Gen. 6:4). The
fallen angels and the giants were responsible for the corruption of the
world in the period before the Flood. Enoch had the task of conveying
God's sentence on the Watchers, which was that they themselves were to
be imprisoned until the Day of Judgment, while their sons the giants
were condemned to destroy each other in battle. The Flood was sent to
cleanse the earth of the corruption caused by the Watchers, but the
spirits of the dead giants remained on earth as the demons who are the
cause of evil in the world until the Day of Judgment. Thus the Book of
Watchers uses the story of the fall of the Watchers as a myth of the
origin of evil (cf. especially 10:8).
The aspect of the story which most concerns us is the teaching of the
Watchers. They brought with them from heaven knowledge of
"secrets" which were hitherto unknown to humanity (8:3 Aramaic and
Syncellus; 9:6; 10:7; 16:13), and revealed these to their wives and
children. It was this teaching which caused the increase in human
wickedness in the period before the Flood (cf. 10:8). The content of the
teaching is described in 7:1; 8:1-3,9 and can be divided into three
categories: (a) the magic arts, including magical medicine (7:1: "charms
and spells and the cutting of roots ... plants"; 8:3"... the loosing of
spells, magic, sorcery and skill"); (b) the technical knowledge of finding
and using metals and minerals, both for the making of weapons of war
and for the adornment of women-bracelets, eye makeup, precious
stones and dyes (8:1);10 and (c) the knowledge of astronomy or
315
316
RICHARD BAUCKHAM
317
318
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319
320
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321
322
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323
324
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325
7. Conclusions
The evidence in section 5 shows that the period in which the general
notion of the fallen angels' teaching was most popular in Christianity
was the second and third centuries.67Hermias is therefore most likely to
date from that period. On that evidence, a fourth-century date is still
possible, but a fifth-century date unlikely.
However, a still closer determination of the date of Hermias is possible, since the particular idea of the fallen angels as the source of Greek
philosophy was very much rarer than the derivation of other aspects of
pagan culture from them. The only evidence for it apart from Hermias
is in Clement of Alexandria, whose references to it show that in his day
it was held by certain Christians who were opposed to Greek
philosophy. There is therefore considerable probability that Hermias
was a predecessor or contemporary of Clement. He may well have been
actually one of those Christian opponents against whom Clement
argued his case for the value of Greek philosophy.68
NOTES
326
RICHARD BAUCKHAM
327
'2 The
correspondence between the teaching of the Watchers and the wisdom of Enoch is
emphasized by C. A. Newsom, The Development of 1 Enoch 6-19: Cosmology and Judgment, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 42 (1980) 310-29.
13
Hanson, art. cit., 226; he gives (227-29) a useful sketch of the culture-hero traditions,
with references to the literature.
14 See Grelot,
Legende; R. Borger, Die Beschworungsserie bet meseri und die Himmelfahrt Henochs, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 33 (1974) 183-96; H. L. Jansen, Die
Henochgestalt. Skrifter utgitt av det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo, 1939, II.
Historisk-Filosofisk Klasse 1 (Oslo 1939).
5 See 1 Enoch
86:1-88:3; 106; Jub. 4:15, 22; 5:1; Sir. 16:7; Wisd. 14:6; 4Q180 1:7-8;
1QpApGen 2:1; CD 2:17-19; Test. Reuben 5:6-7; Test. Naphtali 3:5; 2 Baruch 56:10-14; 2
Enoch 18:3-8; 7:3; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Gen. 6:1; Philo, Gig. 6.
16 On this see especially P. S. Alexander, The Targumim and Early Exegesis of "Sons of
God" in Genesis 6, Journal of Jewish Studies 23 (1972) 60-71.
'7
Besides the texts discussed in section 5, which refer to the fallen angels' teaching, the
following texts refer to the story of the fall of the Watchers without reference to their
teaching: 1 Pet. 3:19-20; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Papias, ap. Andr. Caes., In Apoc. 34, 12;
Justin, Dial. I, 79, 1; Bardaisan, The Book of the Laws of Countries (ed. Drijvers, p. 14);
Tatian, Oratio 20; Irenaeus, Adv. haer. I, 10, 1; IV, 16, 2; IV, 36, 4; Athenagoras, Apol.
24-25; Tertullian, Adv. Marc. 5, 18; De orat. 22, 5; De virg. vel. 7-8; Methodius, De
resurr. 7 (PG 18, 294); Acts of Thomas 32; Clement of Alexandria, Paed. III, 2, 14; Str.
III, vii, 59; Origen, C. Cels. 5, 52-55; In Joh. 6, 25; Heracleon, ap. Origen, In Joh. 13, 60;
A Valentinian Exposition (CG XI, 2) 38:34-37; Hegemonius, Acta disputationis Archelai
et Manetis 32; Epiphanius, Haer. XXXIX, 3, 1 (on the Sethians). See also F. Dexinger,
Sturz der Gttters6hne oder Engel vor der Sintflut? Wiener Beitrage zur Theologie 13
(Vienna 1966) 97-101; V. Zangara, Interpretazioni Origeniane di Gen 6,2, Augustinianum
22 (1982) 239-50.
'8 See especially H. J. Lawlor, Early Citations from the Book of Enoch, Journal of
Philology 25 (1897) 164-225; W. Adler, Enoch in Early Christian Literature, in SBL 1978
Seminar Papers, ed. P. J. Achtemeier (Missoula 1978) I, 271-75; R. H. Charles, The Book
of Enoch (Oxford 21912) lxxxi-xcv; J. Ruwet, Les "Antilegomena" dans les ceuvres
d'Origene, Biblica 23 (1943) 48-50; idem, Clement d'Alexandrie: Canon des Ecritures et
Apocryphes, Biblica 29 (1948) 242-43; D. R. Schultz, The Origin of Sin in Irenaeus and
Jewish Pseudepigraphal Literature, Vig. Christ. 32 (1978) 161-90; A.-M. Denis, Introduction aux pseudepigraphes grecs d'Ancien Testament. Studia in Veteris Testamenti
Pseudepigrapha 1 (Leiden 1970) 20-24.
'9 Hilary, Tract. super Ps. 132:3 (PL 9, 748-49) cautiously refused to commit himself to
believing the story of the fall of the Watchers, since it rested only on the authority of the
book of Enoch.
20
See the discussion of several texts of Cyril in L. R. Wickham, The Sons of God and the
Daughters of Men: Genesis vi 2 in Early Christian Exegesis, Oudtestamentische Studien 19
(1974) 135-38. See also Diodore, Fragmenta in Gen. (PG 33, 1570); Theodoret, Quaestiones in Gen. 6 (PG 80, 148 ff.).
21
For the development of this interpretation in the Fathers, see also Dexinger, op. cit.,
106-22; A. F. J. Klijn, Seth in Jewish, Christian and Gnostic Literature, Supplements to
Novum Testamentum XLVI (Leiden 1977) 60-79.
22
For this difference from the Book of Watchers, see J. C. VanderKam, Enoch Traditions in Jubilees and Other Second-Century Sources, in SBL 1978 Seminar Papers, ed. P.
328
RICHARD BAUCKHAM
J. Achtemeier (Missoula 1978) 232, 242-45. VanderKam explains why Jubilees prefers this
reason for the angels' descent to that found in 1 Enoch 6:2, but does not thereby account
for the origin of the theme, which I think must antedate Jubilees. VanderKam fully admits
(241) that the author of Jubilees used no longer extant Enochic sources as well as 1 Enoch.
Cf. Hanson, art. cit., 229.
23
On 4:17, see VanderKam, art. cit., 232-34. Cf. also Jub. 10:10-14, where the (good)
angels teach Noah the use of medicinal herbs: this is the genuine counterpart to the
Watchers' revelation of the magic use of roots and plants (1 Enoch 7:1): on this passage
see M. E. Stone, Scriptures, Sects and Visions (Oxford 1982) 83-84.
24
Hengel,op. cit., I, 242.
25
Most recently: J. C. Greenfield and M. E. Stone, The Enochic Pentateuch and the
Date of the Similitudes, Harvard Theol. Review 70 (1977) 51-65; J. H. Charlesworth, The
SNTS Pseudepigrapha Seminar at Tiibingen and Paris on the Books of Enoch, New Testament Studies 25 (1979) 315-23; M. A. Knibb, The Date of the Parables of Enoch: A
Critical Review, New Testament Studies 25 (1979) 345-59; D. W. Suter, Tradition and
Composition in the Parables of Enoch (Missoula 1979) 23-32. For dissenting views, see C.
L. Mearns, The Parables of Enoch-Origin and Date, Expository Times 89 (1977-78)
119-20; idem, Dating the Similitudes of Enoch, New Testament Studies 25 (1979) 360-69;
Milik, op. cit., 89-98.
26
Many scholars have regarded these passages as belonging to an older "Book of
Noah," parts of which have been incorporated in the Parables; but against this view, see
Suter, op. cit., 32-33, 102, 154-55.
27
Suter, op. cit., especially ch. 4.
28
Translation by Knibb (op. cit.). Cf. Enoch as the inventor of writing in Jub. 4:17.
29
3 Enoch 5:9, and other references in Milik, op. cit., 327-28, 332; L. Ginzberg, The
Legends of the Jews (Philadelphia 1909-38) V, 169-71; B. J. Bamberger, Fallen Angels
(Philadelphia 1952) 129-31. The story also survived in the Islamic form of the two fallen
angels Harut and Marut who taught sorcery: Quran 2:102-3; and for later Islamic tradition, see Bamberger, op. cit., 114-17.
30 I
reject the view of M. Barker, Some Reflections upon the Enoch Myth, Journal for
the Study of the Old Testament 15 (1980) 7-29, that these two forms derive from two
groups with positive and negative attitudes to knowledge respectively. It is a question not
of attitudes to knowledge as such, but of differentiating valid and invalid knowledge.
Enoch discovered astrology (Pseudo-Eupolemus, ap. Eusebius, Praep. Evang. IX, 17,
3'
8-9). Abraham rediscovered astrology and "the Chaldean art" and taught the Phoenicians
and Egyptians (Pseudo-Eupolemus, ap. Eusebius, Praep. Evang. IX, 17, 3-4 + 8); he
taught Pharach astrology (Artapanus, ap. Eusebius, Praep. Evang. IX, 18, 1); he instructed the Egyptian philosophers in philosophy, arithmetic and astrology (Josephus,
Ant. 1, 167-68). Moses invented ships, war machines, artificial irrigation and philosophy,
and was the teacher of Orpheus (Artapanus, ap. Eusebius, Praep. Evang. IX, 27, 4); he invented alphabetic writing, which passed via the Phoenicians to the Greeks (Eupolemus,
ap. Eusebius, Praep. Evang. IX, 26, 1; ap. Clement Alex., Str. I, xxiii, 153, 4); the Greek
philosophers derived their views on the nature of God and creation from Moses
(Josephus, C. Apion. 2, 168; Aristobulus, ap. Eusebius, Praep. Evang. XIII, 11, 4).
32
Probably the early Christian passages closest to passages in the Parables of Enoch are
Matt. 25:31-46 (see D. R. Catchpole, The Poor on Earth and the Son of Man in Heaven: a
Re-Appraisal of Matthew xxv. 31-46, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 61 (1979)
329
378-83); Apocalypse of Peter 4 (see G. W. E. Nickelsburg, Enoch, Levi, and Peter: Recipients of Revelation in Upper Galilee, Journal of Biblical Literature 100 (1981) 600 n. 113;
cf. also Tertullian De res. 32); and Origen, C. Cels. 5, 52 + 54-55. But in none of these
cases can we be sure that the dependence is on the text of, rather than the tradition behind,
the Parables of Enoch.
"
For Justin's association of magic with demons, see also Dial. LXXVIII, 9-10.
34
Translation by M. Dods in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library.
3
Translation by J. A. Robinson, St Irenaeus: The Demonstration of the Apostolic
Preaching (London 1920).
36 For Tertullian's use of 1
Enoch, see Milik, op. cit., 78-80.
37
See, generally, Y. Janssens, La theme de la fornication des anges, in U. Bianchi ed.,
Le Origini dello Gnosticismo. Studies in the History of Religions 12 (Leiden 1967) 488-95.
38 Ed. C.
Schmidt, p. 16, ch. 18; p. 17, ch. 20.
39
Translation by F. Wisse in J. M. Robinson ed. The Nag Hammadi Library in English
(Leiden 1977). This passage is studied by M. Scopello, Le mythe de la "chute" des anges
dans l'Apocryphon de Jean (II.I) de Nag Hammadi, Revue des Sciences Religieuses 54
(1980) 220-30.
40
For the interpretation of Gen. 6:1-4 in the Pseudo-Clementines, see Dexinger, op. cit.,
116-19.
4' S. C. Malan ed., The Book of Adam and Eve; also called The Conflict of Adam and
Eve with Satan (London & Edinburgh 1882) v.
42
Quoted in Malan, op. cit., 230. For the musical instruments, see Gen. 4:21.
4See S. P. Brock, A Fragment of Enoch in Syriac, Journal of Theol. Studies 19 (1968)
626-31.
" Ch. 25 of the Latin text = CG VI, 8, 73:5-11. On this text, see M. Philonenko, Une
allusion de l'Asclepius au livre d'Henoch, in J. Neusner, Christianity, Judaism and other
Greco-Roman Cults. Festschrift M. Smith, Part II (Leiden 1975) 161-63.
45
R. P. Festugiere, Le Revelation d'Hermes Trismegiste I (Paris 21950) 253-60.
46
Extract in George Syncellus, quoted in Lawlor, art. cit., 205.
47
Only in the Book of Adam and Eve, Cedrenus, and implictly in Justin and the Pistis
Sophia.
Nor does the account in Sib. Or. 1:87-103 seem to have had any influence on patristic
writers.
49 S. R. C. Lilla, Clement ofAlexandria: A Study in Christian Platonism and Gnosticism
(Oxford 1971) 13-16.
50 On this theme in Clement, see Lilla, op. cit., 16-18; J. Danielou, Gospel Message and
Hellenistic Culture (London & Philadelphia 1973) 52-62 (and, for its link with (c), 65). E.
Molland, Clement of Alexandria on the Origin of Greek Philosophy, Symbolae Osloenses
15-16 (1936) 57-85, reprinted in E. Molland, Opuscula Patristica. Bibliotheca Theologica
Norvegica 2 (Oslo, Bergen &Tromso 1970) 117-40, discusses material related to (a) and (b)
in Clement, but analyzed rather differently, following Str. I, 94, 1-7.
5' On this theme in Clement, see Danielou, op. cit., 65-67; Molland, art. cit., 122-23; R.
Mortley, The Past in Clement of Alexandria, in E. P. Sanders, Jewish and Christian SelfDefinition I (London 1980) 186-200; Lilla, op. cit., 31-41.
52 For Clement's views on fallen
angels and demons in general, see W. E. G. Floyd,
Clement of Alexandria's Treatment of the Problem of Evil (Oxford 1971) ch. 4.
53
Lilla, op. cit., 18-21.
48
330
RICHARD BAUCKHAM
See Lilla, op. cit., 21-27;Danielou,op. cit., 40-45, and for (b) in Justin,47-48.
ap. Eusebius,Praep.Evang.XIII, ii, 4.
56
ap. Eusebius,Praep.Evang. IX, 27, 4.
57
C. Apion. 2, 168.
58
Lilla, op. cit., 28.
59
Lilla, op. cit., 28-29;Danielou,op. cit., 45.
60
Dani6lou,op. cit., 46.
61
Danielou,op. cit., 45-46;cf. also Tertullian,Apol. 47, 2.
62
The last sentencemay, as Danielou,op. cit., 49, thinks,referto inspirationby good
angels.
63
Cf. Tertullian'sexplanation(inApol. 22) of the fact thatthe paganoraclessometimes
makecorrectpredictions:the demonswho inspirethemhavestolenthesepropheciesfrom
Scripture.
64
Followingthe Ethiopicversionof 16:3. The Ethiopicmakes bettersense than the
Greekand is probablymore original, but it is interestingthat the Greek(C) ("every
mysterywhich had not been revealedto you and a mysterywhich was from God you
knew") could be taken to teach Clement'sview of the matter. Is our Greek text a
of the storyof
deliberatealterationof the text in the interestsof Clement'sinterpretation
the Watchers?
65
Nickelsburg,art. cit. (n.8), 399-401,is so struckby the parallelsbetweenthe storyof
Prometheusand that of CAsa)elin 1 Enochthat he postulatesthe latter'sderivationfrom
the former(cf. also Hengel, op. cit., I, 190). Commonderivationfrom ancientNear
Easternmyth is moreplausible.
66
Lilla, op. cit., 29, gives Str. VII, ii, 6, 4, as a referenceto the same theme,but this
passagerefersratherto the (unfallen)angelsas the instrumentsby meansof whichGodinspiredthe mindsof the paganphilosophers:cf. VI, xvii, 157, 4-5.
67
Hermias'use of the terma&oorcaCia
for the revoltof the angelsis easilyparalleledfrom
writersof the secondandthirdcenturies:e.g. Irenaeus,Adv. haer.I, 10, 1;Tatian,Oratio
8; A ValentinianExposition(CG XI, 2) 38:28-29.
68
That Hermiaswas one of those Christianopponentsof Greekphilosophyagainst
whom Clementof Alexandriaarguedwas suggestedby A. Neander,GeneralHistoryof
the Christian Religion and Church II (London21851)429; G. Bareille, Hermias,
philosophechr6tien,Dictionnairede ThdologieCatholiqueVI (Paris 1947)2304.
54
55