Consider the following passage in conjuction with Genesis 6:1-8:
1 Enoch 15 (Charles translation)
1 And He answered and said to me, and I heard His voice: 'Fear not, Enoch, thou righteous 2 man and scribe of righteousness: approach hither and hear my voice. And go, say to the Watchers of heaven, who have sent thee to intercede for them: "You should intercede" for men, and not men 3 for you: Wherefore have ye left the high, holy, and eternal heaven, and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done like the children 4 of earth, and begotten giants (as your) sons? And though ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women, and have begotten (children) with the blood of flesh, and, as the children of men, have lusted after flesh and blood as those also do who die 5 and perish. Therefore have I given them wives also that they might impregnate them, and beget 6 children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on earth. But you were formerly 7 spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world. And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling. 8 And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon 9 the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; 10 they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. [As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling.] And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, but nevertheless 12 hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them.
James 4:5 -- A Quote From a Lost Apocryphal Scripture
by Leolaia 64 Replies latest watchtower bible
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rick_here
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Narkissos
Leolaia: interesting additional parallel; I wonder what "double-mindedness" stands for in Hermas Mand. 9:11; whatever the case it is at least another conceptual parallel to James.
Rick: Genesis 6:3 is certainly one of the closest canonical parallels to James 4:5, although it fails to meet any verbal correspondence (which would be necessary for a quotation of "Scripture"). It's interesting though that this limitation of "God's Spirit in man" immediately precedes the text (v. 4) in which pseudegraphical literature will read the origin of the evil spirits (not the fallen angels themselves à la WT, but their earthly offspring according to 1 Enoch).
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Leolaia
It also might fit with the concept of demon possession as a source of vice and sin. Cf. Ps.-Clementine, Hom. 8.22: "Wherefore you are polluted in body and soul, and in the present life you are tyrannized over by sufferings and demons, but in that which is to come you shall have your souls to be punished," which follows a story of the fall of the angels and the Flood drawing specifically on Enochian lore (cf. Hom. 8.12-17). In 8.18-19, the demons are identified as the "souls of the deceased giants".
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rick_here
Narkissos, have I mentioned, "I'm pleased to meet you"? (Well, I am, though I do recall seeing some of your posts when I was here (@ jwdf) briefly earlier this year with a different user-name). I understand & agree with your last post (above), btw. I didn't offer any possibilites re: the etiology of the (James 4:5) quotation's source. We could probably say with some sense of accuracy that Genesis 6 might provide some kind of "paradigm" in relation to James 4:5; we're dealing with Jewish and/or Hebrew thought.
Leolaia:It also might fit with the concept of demon possession as a source of vice and sin....
Right. Alternate translations of Ge 6:3; is it "My Spirit will not abide with man"? or "My Spirit will not contend with man"? Here we have two possible meanings or exegetical possibilites. "Spirit" here is ruach (Hebrew). Does this text merely say that the life-giving "breath" (ruach) is about to leave humanity? In other words, the world is about to be destroyed and no one will be "breathing" or alive any more? (of course, save Noah and his family). Or could this text be speaking about God's personal spirit (or Spirit?) The word that is alternately translated as either "abide with" or "contend with" (here indicative of judgments or of disagreements between God and ppl)...may show that God was simply done with (finished & personally frustrated by) humanity. These are intricate exegetical points that I'm still looking into!
Here's an article by Margaret Barker, author of: The Great Angel: A Study of Israel's Second God. It somehow seems appropriate to this discussion.
The Book of Enoch and Cosmic Sin
Till next time....
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Just thought I'd bttt some "spiritual food at the proper time". And bookmark for later.