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4th Enoch: Dream Visions
4th Enoch: Dream Visions
4th Enoch: Dream Visions
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4th Enoch: Dream Visions

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The book of Dream Vision appears to been compiled from an older Canaanite text in the early Persian era and was likely attached to the Astronomical Book from the beginning. The book of Dreams and Visions is likely the first attempt to retell the history of the world from the point of view of sheep. In this case Israeli sheep, who had to contend with Egyptian wolves, Philistine dogs, Babylonian lions, and Persian eagles. The Astronomical Book was written from the view of Methuselah, Enoch's son, which Dream Visions continues, however, the majority of the text could not date to before the early Persian era. The first six chapters of the book seem like it was attached to the Astronomical Book, along with the beginning of chapter 7, which includes the vision of the sky collapsing and the earth being flooded. This vision of Noah's flood matches the description of the world found in the Astronomical Book, which includes a solid sky above the world, with water above it.

After Noah and his three bull sons survived the flood, the species switched from bulls to sheep, indicating the likely point where the original text was extended. These sheep then live out the general history of the Israelites found in the Torah, and some other early Hebrew texts found in the Tanakh (Old Testament). There are a few points where the book of Dream Visions deviates from the other Hebrew texts, such as claiming that the Israelites were descendants of Japheth instead of Shem. Chapters 7 and 8 are both very long in comparison to the first six chapters, supporting the idea that they were an extension to the original work, however, they end with the Persian eagles being destroyed by a God, referred to as the Lord of Sheep, coming down from the sky and slaughtering the Persians and their allies, and then rebuilding a better temple than the temple that was being worshiped at. The author’s view of the temple and the priests that were sent out from it show that he (or she) was not associated with the temple, and viewed the priests as corrupt, a common sentiment expressed in Second Temple era texts.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 23, 2020
ISBN9781989852194
4th Enoch: Dream Visions

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    4th Enoch - Scriptural Research Institute

    Copyright

    WHILE EVERY PRECAUTION has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

    4TH ENOCH: DREAM VISIONS

    First edition. April 23, 2020.

    Copyright © 2020 Scriptural Research Institute.

    ISBN: 978-1-989852-19-4

    The original text of Dream Visions was likely written in Hebrew around 525 BC.

    Dream Visions was translated into Greek by 200 BC, and Ge’ez before 1500 AD.

    This English translation was created by the Scriptural Research Institute in 2020.

    The image used for the cover is ‘The Fall of the Rebel Angels’ by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, painted in 1562.

    Forward

    THE FIVE BOOKS OF ENOCH are a collection of books written in Semitic languages, and often grouped together as the ‘Book of Enoch,’ or ‘1st Enoch.’ The books were likely written at different points in time and different Semitic languages. The first book was the Book of the Watchers, which is generally considered to be the oldest book in the collection, however, the age of the book is debated. The book is now known to have originated long before Christianity since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, however, was lost for well over a thousand years to Europeans, and assumed to be a Christian-era work when the Europeans rediscovered it in Ethiopia. The five books of Enoch only survive in Ge’ez, the classical language of Ethiopia, however, do not survive intact, and some sections of text do not survive.

    The Ge’ez texts are believed to be translations from a Greek source, which was itself a translation of an Aramaic source. Many fragments of the Aramaic texts were discovered among the Dead Sea scrolls, as well as Hebrew and Greek fragments. The Aramaic texts are mostly the same as the Ge’ez texts, however, scroll 4Q209 also includes a section of text from 3rd Book of Enoch, the Astronomical Book, which is lost from the Ge’ez copies, unfortunately, it is too fragmented to include in this translation. A few fragments of Greek translations have been found in Egypt in the past two centuries, which generally match the Ge’ez translation. A small fragment of a Latin translation was also preserved by the Vatican through the centuries, which also matches the Ge’ez copies of a small fragment of 4th Book of Enoch, Dream Visions.

    Other books attributed to Enoch, include the Secrets of Enoch, which is also called the 2nd Book of Enoch, however, is not the same text as the Semitic 2nd Book of Enoch. The Secrets of Enoch has only survived in the Old Slavonic language in the Balkan Peninsula and may be a partial paraphrase of the Book of the Watchers. Another text attributed to Enoch is the Revelation of Metatron, also called the Revelation of Metatron, Book of the Palaces, Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest, or the 3rd Book of Enoch, however, is not the same text as the Semitic 3rd Book of Enoch, or any section of the Semitic books of Enoch. The Revelation of Metatron is written as a sequel to the first five books of Enoch and is written from the perspective of Enoch in the sky, where his angelic name was Metatron. The Revelation of Metatron appears to have been written in Hebrew but includes several Greek and Latin words that have led scholars to assume the text is a Jewish text written in the Christian era.

    The book of Dream Visions, also called the Animal Apocalypse, appears to been compiled from an older Canaanite text in the early Persian era and was likely attached to the Astronomical Book from the beginning. The Astronomical Book was written from the view of Methuselah, Enoch’s son, which Dream Visions continues, however, the majority of the text could not date to before the early Persian era. The book of Dreams and Visions is likely the first attempt to retell the history of the world from the point of view of sheep. In this case Israeli sheep, who had to contend with Egyptian wolves, Philistine dogs, Babylonian lions, and Persian eagles. The first six chapters of the book seem like it was attached to the Astronomical Book, along with the beginning of chapter 7, which includes the vision of the sky

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