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1 Enoch 19:2 σειρῆνας

Posted: January 12th, 2013, 12:35 pm
by Scott Lawson
καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν τῶν παραβάντων ἀγγέλων εἰς σειρῆνας
γενήσονται.

Would the plural rather than the dual form of σειρῆνας exclude Homer as an influence for the word? If so, what influence would be likely?

Re: 1 Enoch 19:2 σειρῆνας

Posted: January 12th, 2013, 1:10 pm
by Ken M. Penner
Scott Lawson wrote:καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν τῶν παραβάντων ἀγγέλων εἰς σειρῆνας
γενήσονται.

Would the plural rather than the dual form of σειρῆνας exclude Homer as an influence for the word? If so, what influence would be likely?
The influence would likely be from the Septuagint, Jb.30.29, Mi.1.8, Is.13.21, 34.13, 43.20, Je.27(50).39.
See "‘Sirenen’ in der Septuaginta," Biblische Zeitschrift 23 (1935–36): 158–165.

Re: 1 Enoch 19:2 σειρῆνας

Posted: January 12th, 2013, 1:34 pm
by Scott Lawson
Ken M. Penner wrote:The influence would likely be from the Septuagint, Jb.30.29, Mi.1.8, Is.13.21, 34.13, 43.20, Je.27(50).39.
See "‘Sirenen’ in der Septuaginta," Biblische Zeitschrift 23 (1935–36): 158–165.
Ken,

I thought that the use of σειρὴν at Je.27(50).39 and Is. 13:21 came from Jerome and would have been after the earliest copies of 1 Enoch. Is that accurate? If it is, would that also be true of the other occurrences you sited?

It seems to me that the use of σειρὴν is more likely influenced by Greek mythology or am I off target?

Re: 1 Enoch 19:2 σειρῆνας

Posted: January 12th, 2013, 1:41 pm
by Ken M. Penner
Scott, are you perhaps confusing the vulgate (Jerome, Latin) with the Septuagint (Greek)?

Re: 1 Enoch 19:2 σειρῆνας

Posted: January 12th, 2013, 2:08 pm
by Ken M. Penner
Scott Lawson wrote: I thought that the use of σειρὴν at Je.27(50).39 and Is. 13:21 came from Jerome and would have been after the earliest copies of 1 Enoch. Is that accurate? If it is, would that also be true of the other occurrences you sited?
It seems to me that the use of σειρὴν is more likely influenced by Greek mythology or am I off target?
Eusebius says on Isaiah 13:21:
Eusebius' Commentary on Isaiah 1.67 wrote:Therefore he prophesies that Babylon will be absolutely empty and no longer inhabited by the domestic and useful animals that had dwelt among her. And when he says wild animals, we read this as a prediction that there will be certain obscure and unknown creatures, certain wild and savage demons and spirits in her. Therefore, instead of wild animals, the other Greek translations have rendered this word sieim. Instead of sirens, they have ostriches, and instead of Donkey-centaurs, they simply transliterated the word iim from the Hebrew on account of the obscurity of the meaning. And in the same way, instead of hedgehogs, the three translations render this word sirens, perhaps on account of the deception of such demons, since the Greeks say that these sirens are sweet-voiced and deceptive spirits (trans. Jonathan J. Armstrong).

Re: 1 Enoch 19:2 σειρῆνας

Posted: January 12th, 2013, 2:10 pm
by Scott Lawson
Ken M. Penner wrote:Scott, are you perhaps confusing the vulgate (Jerome, Latin) with the Septuagint (Greek)?
Ken I got the wrong impression from the Wikipedia article on "siren". I took it that Jerome (who produced the Latin Vulgate) used the Greek word σειρὴν in some other work. Oops! Well, that's what comes from not having a proper education and knowing what Jerome did and did not produce.

Wikipedia:
"By the fourth century, when pagan beliefs were vanquished by Christianity, belief in literal sirens was discouraged. Although Jerome, who produced the Latin Vulgate version of the Scriptures, used the word "sirens" to translate Hebrew tenim (jackals) in Isaiah 13:22, and also to translate a word for "owls" in Jeremiah 50:39, this was explained by Ambrose to be a mere symbol or allegory for worldly temptations, and not an endorsement of the Greek myth.[25]"

Yet, isn't it still more likely that the use of the word in 1 Enoch comes more from mythology than the real owls and jackals?

Re: 1 Enoch 19:2 σειρῆνας

Posted: January 12th, 2013, 2:14 pm
by Scott Lawson
Ken! You answered my question right before I reformulated it! Thanks!

Re: 1 Enoch 19:2 σειρῆνας

Posted: January 12th, 2013, 2:20 pm
by Ken M. Penner
Nickelsburg wrote:Greek mythology appears also to have left its imprint at a number of points in 1 Enoch. None of the examples cited here in itself demonstrates such influence; however, taken together, they strongly suggest contact with material at home in the Greek world. The precise nature of that contact is uncertain, and dependence on material common to Greek and ancient Near Eastern myth is not to be excluded. ... The sirens mentioned in 96:2 are a staple in Greek mythology.
George W. E. Nickelsburg, 1 Enoch: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch ( ed. Klaus Baltzer;, Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2001), 62.
Nickelsburg wrote:Like their angel husbands, the daughters of men continue to have an evil influence. This is one of the few pejorative comments about these women in this book. Their function as seducing “sirens” appears to presume the long reading in 8:1 and the idea that the watchers were seduced by the daughters of men. According to Greek mythology, the sirens were half-women, half-birds, who lured men to their destruction. In the latter respect, they are fitting companions for the spirits of the angels. Cf. also 96:2.
ibid, 288.
Nickelsburg wrote:The meaning of the final lines of the verse is uncertain. The translation follows the best MSS. More appropriate, however, would be the idea that the sirens, the mythical mourners of antiquity, will weep over the death of the sinners. The text may be corrupt. In either case the reference to figures from Greek myth is noteworthy. Mention of the lament parallels Enoch’s lament in 95:1.
ibid, 465.