1 Enoch 106: Fragment of the Book Noah

Greco-Roman Period
Lawrence H. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions, Ktav, Hoboken 1998, p.341-342 and Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Apocrypha, copyright 1957 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This section is an account of the miraculous birth of Noah which probably stems from a full book of Noah, which is no longer preserved. It has parallels to the Genesis Apocryphon from Qumran and other early “aggadic” literature.

106-1 And after some days my son, Methuselah, took a wife for his son Lamech, and
she became pregnant by him and bore him a son. 2 And his body was white as snow and
red as a rose, the hair of his head as white as wool and his demdema 29 beautiful; and as
for his eyes, when he opened them the whole house glowed like the sun—(rather) the
whole house glowed even more exceedingly. 3 And when he arose from the hands of the
midwife, he opened his mouth and spoke to the Lord with righteousness. 4 And his
father, Lamech, was afraid of him and fled and went to Methuselah his father; 5 and he
said to him, “I have begotten a strange son- He is not like an (ordinary) human being, but
he looks like the children of the angels of heaven to me; his form is different, and he is
not like us. His eyes are like the rays of the sun, and his face glorious. 6 It does not seem
to me that he is of me, but of angels; and I fear that a wondrous phenomenon may take
place upon the earth in his days. 7 So I am beseeching you now, begging you in order that
you may go to his (grand)father Enoch, our father, and learn from him the truth, for his
dwelling place is among the angels.”

8 When Methuselah heard the words of his son, he came to us at the ends of the earth;
for he had heard that I was there. He cried aloud, and I heard his voice and came to him;
and I said to him, “Behold, my son, here I am, why have you come here?” 9 Then he
answered me and said, “On account of a great distress have I come to you, on account of
a grievous vision have I come near here. 10 Now, my father, hear me- For unto my son
Lamech a son has been born, one whose image and form are not like unto the
characteristics of human beings…. 12 Then his father, Lamech, became afraid and fled,
and he did not believe that he (the child) was of him but of the image of the angels of
heaven. And behold, I have come to you in order that you may make me know the real
truth.”

13 Then I, Enoch, answered, saying to him, “The Lord will surely make new things upon
the earth; and I have already seen this matter in a vision and made it known to you. For in
the generation of Jared, my father, they transgressed the word of the Lord, (that is) the
law of heaven. 14 And behold, they commit sin and transgress the commandment; they
have united themselves with women and commit sin together with them; and they have
married (wives) from among them, and begotten children by them. 15 There shall be a
great destruction upon the earth; and there shall be a deluge and a great destruction for
one year. 16 And this son 30 who has been born unto you shall be left upon the earth; and
his three sons 31 shall be saved when they who are upon the earth are dead. 17 And upon
the earth they shall give birth to giants, not of the spirit but of the flesh. There shall be a
great plague upon the earth, and the earth shall he washed clean from all the corruption. 32
18 Now, make known to your son Lamech that the son who has been born is indeed
righteous; and call his name Noah, for he shall be the remnant for you; and he and his
sons shall be saved from the corruption which shall come upon the earth on account of all
the sin and oppression that existed, and it will be fulfilled upon the earth, in his days. 19
After that there shall occur still greater oppression than that which was fulfilled upon the
earth the first time; for I do know the mysteries of the holy ones; for he, the Lord, has
revealed (them) to me and made me know—and I have read (them) in the heavenly
tablets.”

29, Ethiopic word for “long locks.”

30. Noah.

31. Shem, Ham, and Japhet.

32. A reference to the famous Flood in the time of Noah.