ḤANOḴ 106

THE FRAGMENT OF THE BOOK OF NOAḤ

1 And after some days my son Methushelaḥ took a wife for his son Lemeḵ, and she became pregnant by him and bore a son.

2 And his body was white as snow and red as the blooming of a rose, and the hair of his head and his long locks were white as wool, and his eyes, pleasant.

3 And when he opened his eyes, he lit up the whole house like the sun, and the whole house was very bright. And after that he rose in the hands of the midwife, opened his mouth, and conversed with 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 of righteousness.

4 And his father Lemeḵ was afraid of him and fled, and came to his father Methushelaḥ.

5 And he said to him, “I have begotten a strange son, different from and unlike man, and resembling the sons of the Eloah of the shamayim; and his nature is different and he is not like us, and his eyes are as the rays of the sun, and his face is magnificent.

6 “And it seems to me that he is not brought forth from me but from the messengers, and I fear that in his days a wonder may be wrought on the earth.

7 “And now, my father, I am here to petition you and implore you that you may go to Ḥanoḵ, our father, and learn from him the truth, for his dwelling-place is amongst the messengers.”

8 And when Methushelaḥ heard the words of his son, he came to me to the ends of the earth; for he had heard that I was there, and he cried aloud, and I heard his voice and I came to him. And I said to him, “See, here I am, my son, why have you come to me?”

9 And he answered and said, “Because of a great cause of anxiety I have come to you, and because of a disturbing vision I have approached.

10 “And now, my father, hear me, “Unto Lemeḵ my son there has been born a son, the like of whom there is none, and his nature is not like man’s nature, and the colour of his body is whiter than snow and redder than the bloom of a rose, and the hair of his head is whiter than white wool, and his eyes are like the rays of the sun, and he opened his eyes and after that lit up the whole house.

11 “And he rose in the hands of the midwife, and opened his mouth and baraḵ 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 of the shamayim.

12 “And his father Lemeḵ became afraid and fled to me, and did not believe that he was brought forth from him, but that he was in the likeness of the messengers of the shamayim; and see, I have come to you that you may make known to me the truth.”

13 And I, Ḥanoḵ, answered and said to him, “𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 will do a new matter on the earth, and this I have already seen in a vision, and make known to you that in the generation of my father Yereḏ some of the messengers of the shamayim transgressed the Word of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.

14 “And see, they commit sin and transgress the Law, and have united themselves with women and commit sin with them, and have married some of them, and have brought forth children by them.

15 “And they shall produce on the earth giants, not according to the spirit, but according to the flesh, and there shall be a great punishment on the earth, and the earth shall be cleansed from all impurity.

16 “Therefore, there shall come a great destruction over the whole earth, and there shall be a flood and a great destruction for one year.

17 “And this son who has been born unto you shall be left on the earth, and his three children shall be saved with him. When all mankind that are on the earth shall die he and his sons shall be saved.

18 “And now make known to your son Lemeḵ that he who has been born, is in truth his son, and call his name Noaḥ for he shall be left to you, and he and his sons shall be saved from the destruction which shall come upon the earth on account of all the sin, and all the unrighteousness which shall be consummated on the earth in his days.

19 “And after that there shall be still more unrighteousness than that which was first consummated on the earth; for I know the mysteries of the qodeshim; for He, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, has showed me and informed me, and I have read in the tablets of the shamayim.