The Enochic Son of Man, Psalm 45, and the Book of the Watchers

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the discussion around the nature of the Son of Man in the Parables of Enoch. This character was constructed on the base of various texts from the scriptural tradition, among which Ps 45 definitely played a central role, interpreted as prophecies of the coming of a superhuman eschatological protagonist. These texts were combined on the background of the typical elements of the Enochic ideology and of its mythical representation, as they can be inferred especially from the Book of Watchers. The result is an hybrid figure who shares the nature of the archangels and of men. He is therefore represented as a positive counterpart of the Giants, the monstrous offspring of the sinful intercourse between the watchers and the daughters of men and, as a legitimate revealer of the heavenly wisdom, he also appears as a specular opposite of the watchers themselves.