after Aristobulus II.; for he not only contended many years to obtain the sovereignty of Judea, but he had the whole country, at two different times, in his power and under his sway. The number 12 is thus made out, by this mode of reckoning; and as to Agrippa, he was the last Jewish king, who had possession of the country of Palestine.

Dr. Laurence objects, that if we go beyond the reign of Herod, we must make out 15 princes instead of 12, even if we begin to reckon with Judas Maccabæus. But to make out this, he includes all three of Herod's Sons, viz. Archelaus, Philip, and Herod Antipas; whereas the two latter had no dominion over Judea. It seems to me, therefore, not only that his mode of reckoning is unnecessary, but that it is far from being the most probable. Still, which ever method of reckoning is adopted, it brings the composition of the book of Enoch within quite restricted limits. It must have been written subsequent to the commencement of Herod's reign, and before the epistle of Jude was written.

There is one thing said in the book of Enoch (chap. 89: 25), respecting the last twelve shepherds, i. e. kings, which has not a little perplexed the commentators on this production, viz. that "the last twelve... destroyed more than those who preceded them," that is, more than the other 58 kings. How can this be said, with any probability of the Hasmonæan race of kings, or even of some of their successors?

Of Mattathias, Judas Maccabæus, and Jonathan his brother and successor, all of them successful vindicators of Jewish liberty, this is obviously untrue; and therefore Dr. L.'s mode of reckoning which includes these leaders, becomes the more improbable. But, commencing with Alexander Jannæus (B. C. 104), we find almost every sovereign, from that time downward, involved in bitter and bloody domestic wars, either against rivals or against factions in the state. I can scarcely doubt, that the writer of the book of Enoch had Herod most of all in his eye, when he penned the above general characteristic of the last dynasty of kings. The Jews as a body had a strong hatred of this tyrannical and bloody prince.

The writer, moreover, seems to have had a very low opinion of kings in general; for in chap. 89: 33, he represents the whole of the seventy shepherds or kings as brought

to judgment, and consigned to punishment. It is thus evident, that with him a potiori nomen fit; he gives the general character of the whole from his view of the predominating characteristics among them. This will do better for a book of visions like his-a work which consists of a kind of symbolical poetry-than for plain and sober history.

Another circumstance in the book of Enoch serves to

mark its chronology, in some measure. In chap. liv. 9, 10, the Parthians are introduced as invading Judea, and overrunning it: "The chiefs of the East, among the Parthians and Medes, shall remove kings in whom a spirit of pertur bation shall enter. They shall hurl them from their thrones, springing as lions from their dens, and like famished wolves in the midst of a flock. They shall go up and tread upon the land of their elect... The threshing-floor, the path, and the city of my righteous people shall impede the progress of their horses."

The Parthians, as such, were unknown in history until about 250 B. C. Their first king began his reign about 230 B. C. By degrees their power grew up, so as to become the most formidable rival power which the Roman empire ever had to contend with in ancient times. About 41 B. C. they overran Syria, in combating against the Romans. Thence, in the following year, they went to Palestine, where they drove out Herod, and placed Antigonus, the last of the Hasmonæan race of kings, upon the throne in his stead. Herod it was, in whom (as Enoch says) was "the spirit of perturbation," and who was put down by them. They were soon compelled to retreat, however, by the interposing aid of the Romans in behalf of Herod. And this seems to be what the writer means, in the last part of the quotation made above.

Here then we come down at least to 40 years B. C., as a period before which the book of Enoch could not be written. Later still we must place it, as I believe; although Dr. Laurence and Hoffmann agree upon a period not long after 40 B. C.

In chap. lv., the seer represents himself as beholding "another army of chariots, with men riding in them... coming from the east, the west, and the south. The whole earth trembles with them, and "their noise is heard from the extremities of the earth to the extremities of heaven." Dr.

Laurence and Hoffmann refer this to the military interpositions, on the part of the Romans, in behalf of Herod, in order to restore him to the throne. But these seem to be too brief, and on too small a scale, to give rise to such glowing terms of description as are here employed. It will be remembered, that the Roman dominion existed on all sides of Palestine; hence the phraseology of the writer, which represents attacks as coming from different quarters. It is certainly a natural interpretation of this passage, which construes it as having respect to the invasion of Judea under Vespasian and Titus. And if this interpretation be well founded, then the composition of the book must have been subsequent to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

Another circumstance serves to confirm this interpretation. In chap. lxxxix. 29, the seventy shepherds and the blind sheep, i. e. the wicked kings and obdurate Jews, are represented as being brought to judgment, condemned and "thrust into an abyss of fire on the earth, and burnt." That abyss is said to be "on the right side of the house,” i. e. on the south of the temple; and therefore the writer doubtless. means Gehenna or the valley of Hinnom. The author then goes on to represent the ancient house [the temple] as being immerged [in fire], save its "pillars and ivory," [comp. Rev. xi. 1, 2], and then "the Lord of the sheep produces a new house, great and loftier than the former, which he bounded by the former circular spot." This cannot mean the second temple built after the return from the Babylonish exile; because what is described here all takes place after all the seventy kings have completed their reign. It must mean the new spiritual temple then to be built in the place of that which was destroyed by the Romans. So the context, too, would seem to persuade us. All worshippers from all parts of the earth, are to come to this new temple, and the Lord of the sheep rejoices over them all.' Is not this an expression of the writer's views, in regard to the universal spread of the Christian religion? Of this we shall be better able to judge, when we have examined the nature of his Christology.

We have already seen (p.103) that the author divides the duration of the world into ten periods, or weeks, as he calls them. The eighth period is that in which the Syrian kings are worst

ed, and the house of God refitted and restored to its sacred rites. The ninth period is the one, during which “the judgment of righteousness shall be revealed to the whole world... and all men shall be on the look out for the path of integrity." Chap. xcii. 14, 15. What is this but the diffusion of gospel light among the Gentiles? For after all this, and in the tenth week, comes the general judgment, and a new heaven will then be created. It seems probable, then, that the writer lived and wrote during the ninth week which he has described, i. e. after the gospel was propagated to the Gentiles.

On grounds such as these, Prof. Lücke of Göttingen, inclines to the opinion, that the Book of Enoch was composed after the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem by the Romans, p. 60 seq. of his Einleitung. Dr. Nitzsch of Bonn, one of the most competent judges of apocryphal writings now living, has expressed the like opinion in his De Test. xii. Patriarcharum, p. 17 seq. On p. 31 of this volume he remarks, that the Book of Enoch, "both in respect to its age and the tenor of the work, is not much remote from the Testament of the twelve Patriarchs." This last work, he has shown, I believe to the satisfaction of all, to be a production of the latter part of the first century, or of the beginning of the second.

In repeated and careful perusals of the Book of Enoch, I have lighted upon and noted other passages besides those to which I have already adverted, that would seem to indicate an acquaintance of its author with some of the books of the New Testament. I will produce them, in order that the reader may judge for himself.

Chap. xxxviii: 2. "It would have been better for them, that they had never been born;" comp. Matt. xxvi. 24, Mark xiv. 21, where the same expression is to be found, as used by the Saviour.

Chap. xlvi: 3, 4, "The Son of Man... shall raise up kings and the mighty from their couches, and the powerful from their thrones... He shall hurl kings from their thrones and their dominions; the countenance of the mighty shall he cast down, filling them with confusion;" comp. Luke i: 51, 52, where Mary says almost the same things of the Son of Man. Chap. 48 b: 3. "With him dwells..... the spirit of those who sleep in righteousness;" comp. the New Testament

idiom, where sleep is so often used as the image of death, and sleeping in Jesus, designates dying in the Christian faith.

Chap. xxiv. Enoch sees a tree among the mountains of judgment, "goodly in aspect. . . its leaf, flower, and bark, never wither... the sight of its fruit is delightful . . . the fruit of it shall be for the elect [after the judgment] . . . the sweet odour shall enter into their bones, and they shall live a long life;" comp. Rev. xxii: 2, 14. ii: 7.

In chap. xl. Enoch is represented as seeing countless myriads before the throne of God; and, in particular, four archangels standing on the four sides of his throne, and severally and successively addressing themselves to him who sat upon it. In Rev. iv-vi. the four wa are represented as occupying the same position; and are presented as rational and intelligent beings, and as successively speaking, in like manner as the archangels in the book of Enoch.

In chap. xlvii. the blood of the righteous is said to " ascend from the earth, before the Lord of spirits, that he would execute judgment, and that his patience [with persecutors] may not endure for ever;" comp. Rev. vi: 9 seq. xi: 16-18. But perhaps the passage in Gen. iv: 10, is the basis of this.

Chap. xlvii: 3. The book of the living is opened, in the presence of God;' comp. Rev. xx: 12.

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Chap. xlviii: 9. They [the persecuting wicked] shall burn in the presence of the righteous, and sink [into the great abyss] in the presence of the holy;' comp. Rev. xiv. 10.

Chap. xlv: 4, 5. 'A new heavens and a new earth are to be made for the dwelling place of the righteous;' comp. Rev. xxi: 1.

Chap. 1: 1. The earth shall deliver up [for judgment] from her womb, and Hades shall deliver up from hers, that which it hath received; and destruction (7) shall restore that which it owes; comp. Rev. xx : 13.

Add to these, now, the passage in ciii: 10; "Another mystery I also point out. To the righteous and the wise shall he given books of joy, of integrity, and of great wisdom. To them shall books be given in which they shall believe, and in which they shall rejoice." What books of such a nature, in addition to the Old Testament Scriptures, did the Jews expect, about the time when the Saviour made his appearance? And even if they expected that something might