We have already briefly covered the main passages describing the fall of the Watchers in First Enoch chapters 6 through 8.\u00a0 As we shall see, a careful study of these passages and others will conclude that Azazel was not an angel or a Watcher, but that rather he was the firstborn seed of the Watchers.\u00a0 We shall also see that there are some intriguing hints that his mother was not a daughter of man, but Lilith.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first clue to Azazel\u2019s identity comes from his sudden prominent appearance only after the Watcher\u2019s had committed their fornications with women.\u00a0 When the Watchers gave their oaths upon Hermon in First Enoch 6, a list of all their major leaders is given.\u00a0 As many scholars have noted, Azazel is pointedly not on the list.\u00a0 However, after the Watchers had sexual relations with women and raised giants upon the earth, Azazel suddenly appears in chapter 8 as a major leader.\u00a0 First Enoch 8:1-2 condemns Azazel for teaching men the art of war and women the ways of harlotry.\u00a0 Because of him there arose much ungodliness.\u00a0 Azazel\u2019s corruption of man apparently greatly exceeded that of every Watcher, even that of Semjaza, who is listed after Azazel.\u00a0 Two entire verses are dedicated to describing Azazel\u2019s dastardly acts.\u00a0 This is in contrast to Semjaza, who has only three words used to describe his feats in corrupting man.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From where did Azazel suddenly appear?\u00a0 He is not even listed as a top twenty leader at the time of Mount Hermon before the fornication with women.\u00a0 However, after his sudden appearance in chapter 8, Azazel is preeminent over all the Watchers throughout the rest of First Enoch.\u00a0 The next example of this comes in First Enoch 9:6-8, where the angels Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel witness the bloodshed of man upon the earth, and testify to God.\u00a0 They testify foremost against Azazel, more so than any Watcher.\u00a0 Azazel\u2019s sins are mentioned first, even over Semjaza\u2019s.\u00a0 Perhaps most importantly, the angel\u2019s accusations against Azazel do not include fornication with women.\u00a0 This is the primary accusation against Semjaza and his associates in the next two verses.\u00a0 Thus, Azazel does not appear to have had sexual relations with the daughters of man, something which all Watchers pledged to do by solemn oath upon Mount Hermon.\u00a0 In addition, Azazel is judged separately in verse 6 from Semjaza and his associates, indicating that Azazel is not under the authority of Semjaza, whom is the leader of all Watchers.\u00a0 In verse 7 Semjaza is declared the leader of all the Watchers, and he is lumped with them in the condemnation of defiling themselves with women.\u00a0 Azazel being judged separately in verse 6 is consistent with him not being under the authority of Semjaza, and thus not a Watcher at all.<\/p>\n
\nFirst Enoch 9:6-8\u00a0 (translated by R. H. Charles)<\/strong><\/div>\n6 Thou seest what Azazel hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in heaven, which men were striving to learn:<\/div>\n7 And Semjaza, to whom Thou hast given authority to bear rule over his associates.<\/div>\n8 And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the earth, and have slept with the women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The prominence of Azazel continues in First Enoch 10:8, where God ascribes all the sins of the Watchers unto Azazel (Richard Laurence\u2019s translation states, \u201cTo him therefore ascribe the whole crime\u201d).\u00a0 Only Azazel is called out for special punishment.\u00a0 In First Enoch 10, God commands the angel Raphael to bound Azazel hand and foot, cast a mountain of rocks upon him, and cover him in darkness in a place called Dudael.\u00a0 God then instructs a second angel, Gabriel, to slay the Watcher\u2019s Nephilim seed of fornication with women.\u00a0 Gabriel is not to listen to the pleas of the Watchers to save their children.\u00a0 After this God sends a third angel, Michael, to punish Semjaza and his Watcher associates.\u00a0 God instructs Michael to bind Semjaza and his associates as they witness the death of their seed at the hands of the second angel Gabriel.\u00a0 Then Michael was to bind them in the valleys of the earth until the Day of Judgment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nFirst Enoch 10:4-12\u00a0 (translated by R. H. Charles)<\/strong><\/div>\n4 And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein.<\/div>\n5 And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light.<\/div>\n6 And on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire.<\/div>\n7 And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague,<\/div>\nand that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons.<\/div>\n8 And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.’<\/div>\n9 And to Gabriel said the Lord: ‘Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have.<\/div>\n10 And no request that they (i.e. their fathers) make of thee shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and that each one of them will live five hundred years.’<\/div>\n11 And the Lord said unto Michael: ‘Go, bind Semjaza and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness.<\/div>\n12 And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgment and of their consummation, till the judgment that is for ever and ever is consummated.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe entire sequence of events suggests Azazel is a seed of the Watchers.\u00a0 First, Azazel is punished at the beginning with the rest of the Watcher\u2019s seed.\u00a0 This is consistent with Azazel being a seed of the Watchers.\u00a0 The Watchers would have to witness Azazel\u2019s punishment just like the rest of their seed.\u00a0 Azazel being punished first is inconsistent with him being a Watcher.\u00a0 If Azazel were a Watcher, then his early punishment would have given him a measure of mercy from the other Watchers, in that Azazel would not have had to witness the demise of his seed.\u00a0 Such mercy is not consistent with the severe punishment to Azazel, upon whom is ascribed the entire sin.\u00a0 Another fascinating clue pointing to Azazel being a seed of the Watchers comes in verses 6 and 7.\u00a0 They indicate that when Azazel is cast into the lake of fire, this will heal the earth of the angel\u2019s corruption upon it.\u00a0 What is the manifestation of their corruption upon the earth?\u00a0 It is their Nephilim seed.\u00a0 This thus again indicates Azazel is a seed of the Watchers.\u00a0 This identification is consistent with verse 8, which states that the accusation against Azazel is that he taught man sin.\u00a0 Mating with women is not listed as a crime of his, but it is for Semjaza and his associates in verse 11.\u00a0 This is all consistent with Azazel being a seed of the Watchers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fact that Azazel is punished before the Watchers\u2019 other seed and by a separate angel indicates his prominent role.\u00a0 It is also suggestive of something else.\u00a0 The seed of the Watchers to be slain by Gabriel are specifically called out in verse 9 to be \u201cthe children of fornication.\u201d [1]<\/a>\u00a0 This fornication refers to the illicit sex between the angels and the daughters of Adam.\u00a0 Azazel not being punished in this group implies he is not the seed of the angels\u2019 illicit fornication with the daughters of Adam.\u00a0 However, his early punishment does indicate he is a seed of the Watchers.\u00a0 These two apparently contradictory ideas can best be rectified if Azazel is identified as a seed of the Watchers, but not as a result of their relations with the daughters of man.\u00a0 But who else then could have mothered Azazel?\u00a0 There is no other possibility than Lilith.\u00a0 She alone is outside the linage of Adam and the daughters of man.\u00a0 With Lilith as his mother, Azazel would then be a seed of the Watchers which God intends to destroys, but he would not be a seed from the fornications of the angels with the daughters of Adam, which was directly polluting Adam\u2019s linage.\u00a0 Being a seed of Lilith could also explain Azazel\u2019s extraordinary powers.\u00a0 He was none other than the long foretold mythical seed of the Serpent of Eden, Lilith.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are a final two chapters from First Enoch which re-enforce the notion that Azazel is the seed of the Watchers. \u00a0They are chapters 12 and 13.\u00a0 Chapter 12 opens with Enoch worshipping God in heaven with the angels.\u00a0 He receivers a command to go down to the fallen Watchers on the earth and to announce their upcoming punishments.\u00a0 They were going to witness the murder of their children.\u00a0 In chapter 13 Enoch goes down, and meets first with Azazel alone.\u00a0 Enoch tells Azazel that a great punishment is heaped upon him to be put in bonds.\u00a0 The charge against him is that he taught unrighteousness, godlessness, and sin to man.\u00a0 Once again, Azazel is not charged with having sex with the daughters of man.\u00a0 This is the charge which God instructed Enoch to lay against the Watchers in First Enoch 12:4.\u00a0 In First Enoch 13:3, Enoch departs from Azazel.\u00a0 He then goes unto all the Watchers who were gathered together, and he tells them of their punishment.\u00a0 Azazel is not present at this meeting, as the verse is clear that Enoch departed from Azazel to go unto the gathering of all<\/u> the Watchers.[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Since all the Watchers were gathered together there, and Azazel was not present, Azazel was not considered one of the Watchers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nFirst Enoch 12:1 \u2013 13:10\u00a0 (translated by R. H. Charles)<\/div>\n12:1. Before these things Enoch was hidden, and no one of the children of men knew where he was hidden, and where he abode, and what had become of him.<\/div>\n2 And his activities had to do with the Watchers, and his days were with the holy ones.<\/div>\n3 And I Enoch was blessing the Lord of majesty and the King of the ages, and lo! the Watchers called me -Enoch the scribe-<\/div>\nand said to me:<\/div>\n4 ‘Enoch, thou scribe of righteousness, go, declare to the Watchers of the heaven who have left the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have done as the children of earth do, and have taken unto themselves wives: “Ye have wrought great destruction on the earth:<\/div>\n5 And ye shall have no peace nor forgiveness of sin: and inasmuch as they delight themselves in their children,<\/div>\n6 The murder of their beloved ones shall they see, and over the destruction of their children shall they lament, and shall make supplication unto eternity, but mercy and peace shall ye not attain.”‘<\/div>\n13:1. And Enoch went and said: ‘Azazel, thou shalt have no peace: a severe sentence has gone forth against thee to put thee in bonds:<\/div>\n2 And thou shalt not have toleration nor request[3]<\/a> granted to thee, because of the unrighteousness which thou hast taught, and because of all the works of godlessness and unrighteousness and sin which thou hast shown to men.’<\/div>\n3 Then I went and spoke to them all together, and they were all afraid, and fear and trembling seized them.<\/div>\n4 And they besought me to draw up a petition for them that they might find forgiveness, and to read their petition in the presence of the Lord of heaven.<\/div>\n5 For from thenceforward they could not speak (with Him) nor lift up their eyes to heaven for shame of their sins for which they had been condemned.<\/div>\n6 Then I wrote out their petition, and the prayer in regard to their spirits and their deeds individually and in regard to their requests that they should have forgiveness and length.<\/div>\n7 And I went off and sat down at the waters of Dan, in the land of Dan, to the south of the west of Hermon: I read their petition till I fell asleep.<\/div>\n8 And behold a dream came to me, and visions fell down upon me, and I saw visions of chastisement, and a voice came bidding I to tell it to the sons of heaven, and reprimand them.<\/div>\n9 And when I awaked, I came unto them, and they were all sitting gathered together, weeping in ‘Abelsjail, which is between Lebanon and Seneser, with their faces covered.<\/div>\n10 And I recounted before them all the visions which I had seen in sleep, and I began to speak the words of righteousness, and to reprimand the heavenly Watchers.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n6.2.1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Mysterious Oath Atop Mount Hermon<\/h3>\n
Identifying Azazel as the seed of Semjaza with Lilith also provides a possible explanation for the strange events atop Mount Hermon in First Enoch 6:3.\u00a0 Recall that Semjaza was very concerned that the other angels may back out of their intentions to mate with women, and that he alone would be guilty of a great sin.\u00a0 Therefore, Semjaza gathered all the angels together atop a Mount Hermon so that they may swear an oath to one another.[4]<\/a>\u00a0 The passages imply that before the other angels could mate with women, there was some great sin that Semjaza had to commit.\u00a0 This sin goes unspecified, but it must have been required to allow the angels to mate with the women, or otherwise Semjaza would have had no fear about being required to perform this deed before the others mated and sinned.\u00a0 However, Semjaza obviously fears that after committing this great sin, the other angels may back out and leave him alone in a disgraced state.\u00a0 What could this great sin have been?\u00a0 One cannot say for sure, but there are several hints in ancient literature that suggests the sages thought the great sin involved Semjaza acquiring the holy name of Jehovah through mating with Lilith, and thereby using the name to mate and bear seed with the daughters of Adam.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first hint comes in the Book of Parables, which is attached to the modern compilation of the First Book of Enoch.\u00a0 Parables is now generally acknowledged to be a separate work that was written in the Christian era.\u00a0 It was not originally a part of the much older and original work in the first book of Enoch, the Book of the Watchers.\u00a0 Parables also suffers some considerable corruption through the editing of later writers (we will discuss that later).\u00a0 Nonetheless, Parables serves as a window of insight into what many early Christian scholars thought about the reasons for the mysterious oath atop Mount Hermon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nChapter 69:12-17 (translated by R. H. Charles)<\/strong><\/div>\n12 And the fifth was named Kasdeja: this is he who showed the children of men all the wicked smitings of spirits and demons, and the smitings of the embryo in the womb, that it may pass away, and [the smitings of the soul] the bites of the serpent, and the smitings which befall through the noontide heat, the son of the serpent named Taba’et.<\/div>\n13 And this is the task of Kasbeel, the chief of the oath which he showed to the holy ones when he dwelt high above in glory, and its name is Biqa.<\/div>\n14 This (angel) requested Michael to show him the hidden name, that he might enunciate it in the oath, so that those might quake before that name and oath who revealed all that was in secret to the children of men.<\/div>\n15 And this is the power of this oath, for it is powerful and strong, and he placed this oath Akae in the hand of Michael.<\/div>\n16 And these are the secrets of this oath {. . .} And they are strong through his oath: And the heaven was suspended before the world was created, And for ever.<\/div>\n17 And through it the earth was founded upon the water, And from the secret recesses of the mountains come beautiful waters, From the creation of the world and unto eternity.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nParables chapter 69 discusses a list of Satans (angels who fell with Satan).\u00a0 Verse 13 discusses an angel named Kasbeel, who is the chief architect of an oath which he showed the holy ones.\u00a0 The holy ones are unfallen angels, whom are the Watchers before the fall.\u00a0 Kasbeel is also apparently a Watcher, for he showed the oath to the angels while he still yet dwelled in glory in heaven.\u00a0 The key to the oath is the holy name of Jehovah, which Kasbeel somehow acquired from the arch-angel Michael.\u00a0 When this name was recited in the oath, it envoked great power.\u00a0 It was through such an oath that the heavens and the earth were created.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is certain that the oath of Parables chapter 69 is the same as the oath enunciated by the Watchers atop mount Hermon, for verse 14 states that the oath was for those \u201cwho revealed all that was in secret to the children of men.\u201d \u00a0It is also certain that the key to the oath was the holy and secret name of Jehovah.\u00a0 It is also fascinating to note that Kasbeel is somehow associated or synomous with the 5th<\/sup> Satan, Kasdeja.\u00a0 Kasdeja is responsible for \u201cthe bites of the serpent, and the smitings which befall through the noontide heat, the son of the serpent named Taba’et.\u201d\u00a0 Now the bites of the serpent are the bites of the serpent Lilith.\u00a0 The terminology of the bites of the serpent is also reminiscent of the Serpent Lilith\u2019s role in the bitter water trial according to the Zohar (see section 5.3).\u00a0 Kasdeja is also responsible for the \u201cson of the Serpent\u201d, which is named Taba\u2019et.\u00a0 The name Taba\u2019et is unknown elsewhere, and the linkage between Kasdeja and Kasbeel is unclear.\u00a0 R.H. Charles notes how the Ethiopic verses are dubious and corrupt, and how a better source manuscript from the original Greek and\/or Aramaic was needed.\u00a0 However, the passages somehow link or associate God\u2019s holy secret name to the Watcher\u2019s oath atop Mount Hermon, to the serpent, and to her son.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The notion that God\u2019s name was needed by the Watchers is also taught in other ancient sources.\u00a0 Consider the following story concerning Semjaza (spelled \u201cShemhaza\u201d here) from Legends of the Jews<\/strong>.\u00a0 In it Louis Ginzberg sites ancient Midrashes.\u00a0 The story relates that when Semjaza first descended to earth, he was ensnared by a maiden named Istehar.\u00a0 She tricked in him into teaching her the Ineffable Name of God, by which means she ascended into heaven<\/p>\n
\nLegends of the Jews (by Louis Ginzberg)<\/strong><\/div>\nWhen the angels came to earth, and beheld the daughters of men in all their grace and beauty, they could not restrain their passion. Shemhazai saw a maiden named Istehar, and he lost his heart to her. She promised to surrender herself to him, if first he taught her the Ineffable Name, by means of which he raised himself to heaven. He assented to her condition. But once she knew it, she pronounced the Name, and herself ascended to heaven, without fulfilling her promise to the angel. God said, “Because she kept herself aloof from sin, we will place her among the seven stars, that men may never forget her,” and she was put in the constellation of the Pleiades.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
There is a very similar story in the Midrash Beresheet Rabbati. \u00a0Here the maiden\u2019s name is Asterah.\u00a0 Margi B. and others assert that Istehar and Asterah are clearly linked to the Ishtar, and hence Lilith.[5]<\/a>\u00a0 Indeed, the use of the Ineffable Name and wings are certainly suggestive of the Lilith legend.\u00a0 However, it appears the sages tell the story in exact opposite.\u00a0 At the time of the Watchers descent, Lilith already possessed the name of God.\u00a0 A key part of her legend is that she shouted this name when she underwent the sudden transformation into a winged serpent that fled the garden.\u00a0 It was the angels who knew not the secret name of God.\u00a0 Lilith was certainly no pure saint.\u00a0 God would not reward her with a place as a constellation in the heavens.\u00a0 Margi asserts that these Midrashes on Istehar and Asterah are mirror images to those of the darker Lilith and Ishtar.\u00a0 Indeed, if the story is exactly flipped, we have the right story for Lilith.\u00a0 Semjaza and his angels descended to earth, and Lilith ensnared them.\u00a0 She promised to give the secret name of Jehovah to Semjaza if he would mate with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midrash Beresheet Rabbati (ed. H. Albeck; Jerusalem: Mekitze Nirdamim, 1940) 29-31<\/a><\/div>\n\nImmediately they descended (to earth), and the evil impulse gained control of them. When they beheld the beauty of mortal women, they went astray after them, and were unable to suppress their lust, as Scripture attests: ‘and the sons of God saw, etc.’ (Gen 6:2). Shemhazai beheld a maiden whose name was ‘Asterah. He fixed his gaze upon her (and) said to her: ‘Obey me!’ She answered him: ‘I will not obey you until you teach me the Inexpressible Name, the one which when you pronounce it you ascend to Heaven.’ He immediately taught her, she pronounced it, and she ascended to Heaven. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: ‘Since she has kept herself pure from sin, I will make her an example so that she might be remembered in the world.’ Immediately he fixed her (in the heavens) among the seven stars of the Pleiades.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Why was the Ineffable Name of God so important in the angel\u2019s mating with the daughters of Adam?\u00a0 In order for the angels to conceive children with women with them, they needed the secret name of Jehovah.\u00a0 Angels were creatures of spirit, and not intended by God to procreate.\u00a0 In order to reproduce like Adam, they needed the secret name of God.\u00a0 This secret name is required to animate life, the highest creative act of God, just as it was needed to create the heavens and the earth according to Parables.\u00a0 We have already seen this notion in the creation of golems.\u00a0 The written name of God placed in the golem\u2019s mouth was an essential ingredient to animating the creature.\u00a0 Likewise, the dissolved name of Jehovah in the bitter waters given to the Sotah was an essential ingredient in animating the dust in her belly into the mystical seeds of adultery and promise.\u00a0 The angels likewise needed the secret name of Jehovah to conceive seed.\u00a0 Lilith was in possession of this name, and she was in search of a rival seed to Eve\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In order for Lilith to raise seed with Semjaza, she would have to give the secret name to Semjaza during their mating.\u00a0 This is true because the male spirit must speak the name of Jehovah for conception to take place.\u00a0 This may partly explain why the Watcher\u2019s power of speech was stripped from then in First Enoch shortly before their imprisonment, and why the pre-flood Nephilim were called Enowsh Hashem (\u201cMen of the Name\u201d).\u00a0 They were literally men conceived by the angels speaking the Hashem (\u201cThe Name\u201d) of Jehovah.\u00a0 The need for Semjaza\u2019s deal with Lilith also explains his great sin and odd oath atop Mount Hermon.\u00a0 Semjaza agreed to mate with Lilith, such that when she revealed the name of Jehovah during the act, he would utter the name and conceive seed with her.\u00a0 He would then be in possession of the secret name and be able to impart it to his fellow Watchers, who he had constrained by an oath not to back out of the deal he had made with them prior to mating with Lilith.\u00a0 Thus equipped with Jehovah\u2019s secret name, the Watchers were ready to mate with the daughters of man.\u00a0 Note that having Azazel being the resulting seed of Semjaza\u2019s \u201cdeal\u201d with Lilith, explains why the entire sin of the Watchers is ascribed to him.\u00a0 Through this deal of Semjaza\u2019s to conceive Azazel, the entire episode of the Nephilim upon the Earth was initiated.\u00a0 Thus, the entire sin of the event is manifest in Azazel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let me make the record clear.\u00a0 Practically every ancient Midrash implies Azazel is a fellow Watcher with Semjaza.\u00a0 However, all these Midrashes are just commentary from ancient sages.\u00a0 They do not pretend to be divine scriptures.\u00a0 The only written work purported to have the weight of divine scripture, First Enoch, teaches that Azazel is not a Watcher.\u00a0 In addition, the most important Midrash of all, the Zohar of Kabbalah, implies Azazel is no fallen angel, but rather the seed of Satan and Lilith.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let me also clarify another point.\u00a0 The many ancient Midrashes which suggest Azazel is a demon are still consistent with him being a seed of the Watchers.\u00a0 This is because the Midrashes teach that slain Nephilim became disembodied spirits.\u00a0 On this side of the flood, they are demons that can possess people.\u00a0 Azazel would certainly fall into this pseudo-angelic category.\u00a0 Albeit, it appears that of all the Nephilim, he alone might be strictly imprisoned such that he cannot wander about and possess people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
6.2.2\u00a0 Explaining the Book of Parables within First Enoch<\/h3>\n
All these evidences I have listed so far for Azazel being the seed of the Watchers comes from the first book of First Enoch, the Book of the Watchers.\u00a0 There is a second book to First Enoch called the Book of Parables.\u00a0 It makes three more references to Azazel.\u00a0 Two of these passages are supportive of Azazel being the pre-eminant Nephilim, and not a Watcher (they will be discussed in Azazel\u2019s role in the end times in section 8.6.1). However, in one reference, in Chapter 69 verse 2, Azazel is included in a list of angels and thus appears to be an angel.\u00a0 However, Parables is now generally acknowledged to be a separate work that was written in the Christian era.\u00a0 It was not originally a part of the much older and original work in the Book of the Watchers.\u00a0 Furthermore, Parables was later corrupted by a clumsy editor.\u00a0 R.H. Charles identifies the Parables text mentioning Azazel (in grey below) as a corrupt insert from an unknown editor using material from the Book of Noah.\u00a0 The text includes Azazel in a list of angels.\u00a0 As can be seen, the list mentioning Azazel is clearly corrupt.\u00a0 It interrupts an original list of Satans (angels who fell with Lucifer) in the Parables text with a list of Watchers.[6]<\/a>\u00a0 The result is the mixing of Satans with Watchers into a combined list, something the original text did not intend to do.\u00a0 In addition, because of this clumsy insert, there are also two \u201cfirst angels\u201d (Semjaza and Jeqon) specified in the text, along with two \u201csecond angels\u201d (Artaqifa and Asbeel), etc.\u00a0 The insert of 21 Watchers in verse 2 is a corrupted relist of the 19 leaders first given in Chapter 6.\u00a0 The biggest corruptions are that Turel is erroneously listed twice (in the 15th<\/sup> and 19th<\/sup> positions), as is Azazel (in the 10th<\/sup> and 21st<\/sup> positions).\u00a0 Azazel\u2019s listing in the 10th<\/sup> position is apparently a corruption of Asasel in the 10th<\/sup> position of chapter 6.\u00a0 Recall that Azazel was not mentioned at all in the original chapter 6 list of Watchers. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\nFirst Enoch 69:1-8 (The Book of Parables), translated by R.H. Charles<\/strong><\/div>\n1 And after this judgment they shall terrify and make them to tremble because they have shown this to those who dwell on the earth.<\/div>\n2 And behold the names of those angels the first of them is Semjaza, the second Artaqifa, and the third Armen, the fourth Kokabel, the fifth Turael, the sixth Rumjal, the seventh Danjal, the eighth Neqael, the ninth Baraqel, the tenth Azazel, the eleventh Armaros, the twelfth Batarjal, the thirteenth Busasejal, the fourteenth Hananel, the fifteenth Turel, and the sixteenth Simapesiel, the seventeenth Jetrel, the eighteenth Tumael, the nineteenth Turel, the twentieth Rumael, the twenty-first Azazel.<\/div>\n3 And these are the chiefs of their angels and their names, and their chief ones over hundreds and over fifties and over tens.<\/div>\n4 The name of the first Jeqon: that is, the one who led astray [all] the sons of God, and brought them down to the earth, and led them astray through the daughters of men.<\/div>\n5 And the second was named Asbeel: he imparted to the holy sons of God evil counsel, and led them astray so that they defiled their bodies with the daughters of men.<\/div>\n6 And the third was named Gadreel: he it is who showed the children of men all the blows of death, and he led astray Eve, and showed [the weapons of death to the sons of men] the shield and the coat of mail, and the sword for battle, and all the weapons of death to the children of men.<\/div>\n7 And from his hand they have proceeded against those who dwell on the earth from that day and for evermore.<\/div>\n8 And the fourth was named Penemue: …<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I hold that the contradictions and problems in the Book of Parables concerning Azazel stem from the fact that Parables is not part of the original Book of Enoch (the Book of the Watchers), and that furthermore, the added Parables suffered considerable corruption from later editors in the Christian era.\u00a0 Thus, the portions of verse 2 mentioning Azazel are not authentic, as is clearly seen by the clumsy editing performed, and should not be trusted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[1]<\/a> This is maybe better seen by Richard Laurence\u2019s translation, \u201cGo to the biters, to the reprobates, to the children of fornication; and destroy the children of fornication, the offspring of the Watchers, from among men.\u201d<\/p>\n
[2]<\/a> Richard Laurence\u2019s translation of verse 3 is perhaps most clear on this; it states, \u201cThen departing from him I spoke to them all together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
[3]<\/a> As R.H Charles notes, \u201crequest\u201d in verse 2 is almost surely a corruption of \u201crest.\u201d\u00a0 The Greek translators most likely mistook the Hebrew awls<\/span>, which means \u2018rest\u2019, for alas<\/span>, which means \u2018request\u2019.<\/p>\n
[4]<\/a> This event, recorded only in First\u00a0 Enoch, is the apparent source of the Biblical name for the mount.\u00a0 Hermon means \u2018utterly devoted one\u2019.\u00a0 Hermon is Chermown (Nwmrx<\/span>\u00a0 – Strongs 2768).\u00a0 It comes from the root charam (Mrx<\/span>\u00a0 – Strongs 2763), which means \u2018utterly\u2019, \u2018devoted, or \u2018dedicate for destruction\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[5]<\/a> http:\/\/www.geocities.com\/mabcosmic\/index.html<\/a>, Margi B<\/p>\n
[6]<\/a> It is readily apparent from the supplied text of First Enoch 69 that the original list of angels beginning in verse 4 do not refer to Watcher, but angels who fell with Satan long before the time of the Watchers.\u00a0 The first two, Jeqon and Asbeel, are credited with bringing about the seduction of the Watchers by the daughters of man.\u00a0 The third, Gadreel led astray Eve, and was thus fallen long before the advent of the Watchers.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have already briefly covered the main passages describing the fall of the Watchers in First Enoch chapters 6 through 8.\u00a0 As we shall see, a careful study of these passages and others will conclude that Azazel was not an angel or a Watcher, but that rather he was the firstborn seed of the Watchers.\u00a0 … Continue reading “6.2) Azazel in First Enoch as a Nephilim”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":16,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-352","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":416,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/352\/revisions\/416"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterwaters.com\/bw_12_21_2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}