Credible Theories
Enoch, Jubilees and others · 1 Enoch 8:1–3

What Azazel taught

Reference1 Enoch 8:1–3
Writtenc. 300–200 BCE
SetBefore the Flood
And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them… Baraqijal taught astrology, Kokabel the constellations… and Sariel the course of the moon.

Translation: R. H. Charles, 1917

Read it literally

A tech-transfer list: metallurgy, weapons, cosmetics, dyes, drugs and root-cutting (Semjaza), astronomy. Each named Watcher had a specialty.

What scholars say

Reflects Greek-era worries about foreign knowledge; compare Prometheus.

Looks like technology From the sky

Quick answers about 1 Enoch 8:1–3

Where is 1 Enoch 8:1–3 found?

1 Enoch 8:1–3 (Enoch, Jubilees and others). Translation quoted: R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch (SPCK, 1917; first ed. 1912).

When was 1 Enoch 8:1–3 written?

c. 300–200 BCE.

What do scholars say about 1 Enoch 8:1–3?

Reflects Greek-era worries about foreign knowledge; compare Prometheus.

Rabbit holes in this passage

BeingAzazelA name from the Day of Atonement ritual that became the Watcher who taught humanity weapons, metalwork and makeup.BeingSemjaza (Shemihazah)The leader of the two hundred Watchers, who made his followers swear an oath so none could back out of the descent.

Sources

  1. R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch (SPCK, 1917; first ed. 1912)Primary text
  2. 1 Enoch 8:1–3; 10:4–8, trans. R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch (1917)Primary text
  3. 1 Enoch 6:3–5; 8:3; 10:11–12, trans. R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch (1917)Primary text

Scholarly dates are rounded. The wording follows the named public-domain translation.

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