The Five Satans in the Book of Enoch
The Five Satans in the Book of Enoch
By
James Scott Trimm
We read in the Torah:
1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and
daughters were born unto them,
2 That the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men, that they were fair. And they took
them wives, whomsoever they chose.
3 And YHWH said: My Spirit shall not abide in man forever. For that he also is flesh;
therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.
4 The N’filim were on the earth in those days and also after that, when the sons of
Elohim came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. The same
were the mighty men that were of old--the men of renown.
5 And YHWH saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil; continually.
6 And it repented YHWH that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His
heart.
7 And YHWH said: I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth:
both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air, for it repents Me that I have
made them.
(Gen. 6:1-7 HRV)
Who were these “sons of Elohim”? The Book of Enoch tells us that these “sons of Elohim” were “angels” who had “left their first estate”
and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
(2Peter 2:2-10 HRV)
And the angels who did not keep their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
as S’dom and ‘Amora and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of rulers.
(Jude 1:6-8 HRV)
1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters.
2 And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.'
3 And Shemikhazah, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear you will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.'
4 And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.'
5 Then they all swore together and bound themselves by imprecations upon it.
6 And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Yared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by imprecations upon it.
(1Enoch 6:1-6)
The Book of Enoch tells us that these fallen angels became subjects of “Satan”:
And Mikha’el, and Gavri’el, and Rafa’el, and P’nuel shall take hold of them on that great day, and cast them on that day into the burning furnace, that YHWH Tzva’ot may take vengeance on them for their unrighteousness in becoming subject to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.'
(1Enoch 54:6)
It is important to understand that “Satan” is not a name. “Satan” is a title, it is a Hebrew word meaning “adversary”. In the Tanak it often appears in the Hebrew with a definite article as “HaSatan” (“THE Satan”) although in Hebrew (as in English), names never appear with a definite article. It is never “The James”.
Ironically in most places where you see the word “Lord” in your Bibles, the Hebrew word is actually YHWH, which is the Name of the Creator. Theologians have replaced the Name of the Creator with a title, and turned the title “HaSatan” (“The Adversary”) into a name!
The Book of Enoch also makes a very interesting statement:
And I heard the fourth voice fending off the Satans and forbidding them to come before YHWH of Spirits to accuse them who dwell on the earth.
(1Enoch 40:7)
Now to people today who have been conditioned to think of “Satan” as a name rather than a title, seeing the name Satan in the plural seems very odd indeed. But to the ancient Hebrew reader we are simply looking at the title “the adversary” describing more than one “adversary”. Yes the Book of Enoch is telling us that the Fallen Angels are subject to more than one “satan” (adversary). (Since the Tanak often uses the term “THE Adversary” (Ha-Satan) it is clear that there is nonetheless a unique figure who is a leader over all of the fallen angels who is called in the Hebrew “Ha-Satan” “The Satan”.
After giving the names of the twenty leaders of tens of the fallen angels (found in 1Enoch 6:7-8 and repeated in 1Enoch 69:2-3) the Book of Enoch gives us a list of five leaders over forties in 69:4-12 who are five “satans” or five adversaries to whom the fallen angels are subject. These appear to be the “satans” referred to in 1Enoch 40:7.
This portion of the Book of Enoch (1Enoch 69) has only survived in Ethiopic, however I will endeavor in this article to reach behind the Ethiopic, to the original Hebrew of these verses:
4 The name of the first Yekon:
that is, the one who led astray [all] the sons of Elohim, and brought them down to the earth, and led them astray through the daughters of men.
The original Hebrew behind “Yekon” may have been יקום (Yekom) “rebel; one who rises up” however in Biblical Hebrew this word (from a root meaning “to rise up”) simply means “a living thing” (Strong’s 3351). Another possibility is יקמעם (Y’kam’am) (Strong’s 3360) which is a name used twice in the Tanak (1Chr. 23:19; 24:23) meaning “he who gathers the people together”. (Or simply “Y’kam” יקם “he who gathers”) Yekon appears to be a title for Shemikhazah who in the Book of Enoch chapter 6 led the 200 fallen angels astray through the daughters of men.
5 And the second was named Asbeel:
he imparted to the set-apart sons of Elohim evil counsel, and led them astray so that they defiled their bodies with the daughters of men.
“Asbeel” is probably a scribal error for Kasbeel, who while they still dwelt in heaven obtained the secret of the sacred name and the secret of its numbers so that they could be used in the oath that bound them together:
13 And this is the number of Kasbeel, the chief of the oath, which he showed to the set-apart ones when he dwelt high above in glory, and its name is Biqa.
14 This (angel) requested Mikha’el to show him the hidden name, that he might enunciate it in the oath, so that those might quake before that name and oath
15 who revealed all that was in secret to the children of men? And this is the power of this oath, for it is powerful and strong, and he placed this oath Akae in the hand of Mikha’el.
(1Enoch 69:13-15)
This was covered in great detail in a recent article: Secrets of the Oath That Binds the Fallen Angels. The underlying Hebrew for Kasbeel may have been חשביל (Khashevel) “thought of El.”
6 And the third was named Gadreel:
he it is who showed the children of men all the blows of death, and he led astray Eve, and showed [the weapons of death to the sons of men] the shield and the coat of mail, and the sword for battle, and all the weapons of death to the children of men.
7 And from his hand they have proceeded against those who dwell on the earth from that day and for evermore.
Gadreel appears to be a title for Asa’el/Azazel of whom he Book of Enoch says:
1 And Asa’el taught men to make swords of iron, and knives, and shields, and breastplates of brass, and made known to them the metals that are excavated from the earth and the art of working gold and concerning silver, and bracelets, and ornaments, and concerning antimony, and eye shadow, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures.
2 And there arose much godlessness, and being wicked, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.
(1Enoch 8:1-2)
And here Enoch tells us that Azazel was one and the same with the Serpent in the garden of Eden. The Hebrew may have been גדראל (Gederel) “mason of El” or “wall of El”
8 And the fourth was named Penemue:
he taught the children of men the bitter and the sweet, and he taught them all the secrets of their wisdom.
9 And he instructed mankind in writing with ink and paper, and thereby many sinned from eternity to eternity and until this day.
The title in Hebrew may have been פנה אמונה (Pana Emunah) “He has turned from trust/faith” or פנמו “inside” Since the Book of Enoch itself refers to Enoch as “Enoch the Scribe” (1Enoch 12:4), Enoch felt a parenthetical explanation was needed:
10 For men were not created for such a purpose, to give confirmation to their good faith with pen and ink.
11 For men were created exactly like the angels, to the intent that they should continue pure and righteous, and death, which destroys everything, could not have taken hold of them, but through this their knowledge they are perishing, and through this power it is consuming me.
So writing was not originally intended for man at the time he was created (because man was created immortal), but after the fall, writing serves the purpose of allowing man to pass information from generation to generation, so that ideas are not lost when men die.
12 And the fifth was named Kasdeya:
this is he who showed the children of men all the wicked smitings of spirits and demons, and the smitings of the embryo in the womb, that it may pass away, and [the smitings of the soul] the bites of the serpent, and the smitings which befall through the noontide heat, the son of the serpent named Taba'et.
(1Enoch 69:4-12)
The Book of Enoch tells us that the fallen angels introduced an ancient abortion procedure, showing “the children of men … the smitings of the embryo in the womb, that it may pass away,..." (1Enoch 69:12)
Similarly the Book of Jasher (see Joshua 10:23 and 2Sam. 1:18) tells us that during these days before the flood a "draught" was also introduced that was a permanent method of birth control for women:
17 And Lamech, the son of M'tushael, became related to Kayinan by marriage, and he took his two daughters for his wives, and Adah conceived and bare a son to Lamech, and she called his name Yaval.
18 And she again conceived and bare a son, and called his name Yuval; and Zillah, her sister, was barren in those days and had no offspring.
19 For in those days the sons of men began to trespass against Elohim, and to transgress the commandments which he had commanded to the man, to be fruitful and multiply in the earth.
20 And some of the sons of men caused their wives to drink a draught that would render them barren, in order that they might retain their figures and whereby their beautiful appearance might not fade.
21 And when the sons of men caused some of their wives to drink, Zillah drank with them.
22 And the child-bearing women appeared abominable in the eyes of their husbands as widows, while their husbands lived, for to the barren ones only they were attached.
(Jasher 2:17-22)
This sterilization “draught” was likely also introduced by the fallen angels.
Later in the Book of Enoch, Enoch speaks of abortion in the last days saying:
And in those days the women shall become pregnant
and abort their babies
And cast them out from their midst
Yea, they shall abandon their children (that are still) sucklings,
and not return to them,
And shall have no pity on their beloved ones.
(1Enoch 99:5)
The original Hebrew of the Book of Enoch has not survived, and this passage has survived only in the Ancient Ethiopic version. In the Ethiopic the word for "abort" here is MASIT a verb meaning “to pluck or tear out”; “to violently remove”; “to carry off” or “to rob”. Clearly this passage speaks of women aborting their babies in the last days.
The original Hebrew behind “Kasdeya” may have been חסדיה (Khesedyah)“Yah has favored” (see 1Chron. 3:20) but Aramaic כשדיא (Kash’diya) “Chaldeans” may be more likely.
There is not just one Adversary (Satan) there are five adversaries (satans) who are leaders over the fallen angels. Spiritual Warfare is much more complicated that you may have realized, there is not just one Satan, there are FIVE!
By
James Scott Trimm
We read in the Torah:
1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and
daughters were born unto them,
2 That the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men, that they were fair. And they took
them wives, whomsoever they chose.
3 And YHWH said: My Spirit shall not abide in man forever. For that he also is flesh;
therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.
4 The N’filim were on the earth in those days and also after that, when the sons of
Elohim came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. The same
were the mighty men that were of old--the men of renown.
5 And YHWH saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil; continually.
6 And it repented YHWH that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His
heart.
7 And YHWH said: I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth:
both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air, for it repents Me that I have
made them.
(Gen. 6:1-7 HRV)
Who were these “sons of Elohim”? The Book of Enoch tells us that these “sons of Elohim” were “angels” who had “left their first estate”
and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
(2Peter 2:2-10 HRV)
And the angels who did not keep their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
as S’dom and ‘Amora and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of rulers.
(Jude 1:6-8 HRV)
1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters.
2 And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.'
3 And Shemikhazah, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear you will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.'
4 And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.'
5 Then they all swore together and bound themselves by imprecations upon it.
6 And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Yared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by imprecations upon it.
(1Enoch 6:1-6)
The Book of Enoch tells us that these fallen angels became subjects of “Satan”:
And Mikha’el, and Gavri’el, and Rafa’el, and P’nuel shall take hold of them on that great day, and cast them on that day into the burning furnace, that YHWH Tzva’ot may take vengeance on them for their unrighteousness in becoming subject to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.'
(1Enoch 54:6)
It is important to understand that “Satan” is not a name. “Satan” is a title, it is a Hebrew word meaning “adversary”. In the Tanak it often appears in the Hebrew with a definite article as “HaSatan” (“THE Satan”) although in Hebrew (as in English), names never appear with a definite article. It is never “The James”.
Ironically in most places where you see the word “Lord” in your Bibles, the Hebrew word is actually YHWH, which is the Name of the Creator. Theologians have replaced the Name of the Creator with a title, and turned the title “HaSatan” (“The Adversary”) into a name!
The Book of Enoch also makes a very interesting statement:
And I heard the fourth voice fending off the Satans and forbidding them to come before YHWH of Spirits to accuse them who dwell on the earth.
(1Enoch 40:7)
Now to people today who have been conditioned to think of “Satan” as a name rather than a title, seeing the name Satan in the plural seems very odd indeed. But to the ancient Hebrew reader we are simply looking at the title “the adversary” describing more than one “adversary”. Yes the Book of Enoch is telling us that the Fallen Angels are subject to more than one “satan” (adversary). (Since the Tanak often uses the term “THE Adversary” (Ha-Satan) it is clear that there is nonetheless a unique figure who is a leader over all of the fallen angels who is called in the Hebrew “Ha-Satan” “The Satan”.
After giving the names of the twenty leaders of tens of the fallen angels (found in 1Enoch 6:7-8 and repeated in 1Enoch 69:2-3) the Book of Enoch gives us a list of five leaders over forties in 69:4-12 who are five “satans” or five adversaries to whom the fallen angels are subject. These appear to be the “satans” referred to in 1Enoch 40:7.
This portion of the Book of Enoch (1Enoch 69) has only survived in Ethiopic, however I will endeavor in this article to reach behind the Ethiopic, to the original Hebrew of these verses:
4 The name of the first Yekon:
that is, the one who led astray [all] the sons of Elohim, and brought them down to the earth, and led them astray through the daughters of men.
The original Hebrew behind “Yekon” may have been יקום (Yekom) “rebel; one who rises up” however in Biblical Hebrew this word (from a root meaning “to rise up”) simply means “a living thing” (Strong’s 3351). Another possibility is יקמעם (Y’kam’am) (Strong’s 3360) which is a name used twice in the Tanak (1Chr. 23:19; 24:23) meaning “he who gathers the people together”. (Or simply “Y’kam” יקם “he who gathers”) Yekon appears to be a title for Shemikhazah who in the Book of Enoch chapter 6 led the 200 fallen angels astray through the daughters of men.
5 And the second was named Asbeel:
he imparted to the set-apart sons of Elohim evil counsel, and led them astray so that they defiled their bodies with the daughters of men.
“Asbeel” is probably a scribal error for Kasbeel, who while they still dwelt in heaven obtained the secret of the sacred name and the secret of its numbers so that they could be used in the oath that bound them together:
13 And this is the number of Kasbeel, the chief of the oath, which he showed to the set-apart ones when he dwelt high above in glory, and its name is Biqa.
14 This (angel) requested Mikha’el to show him the hidden name, that he might enunciate it in the oath, so that those might quake before that name and oath
15 who revealed all that was in secret to the children of men? And this is the power of this oath, for it is powerful and strong, and he placed this oath Akae in the hand of Mikha’el.
(1Enoch 69:13-15)
This was covered in great detail in a recent article: Secrets of the Oath That Binds the Fallen Angels. The underlying Hebrew for Kasbeel may have been חשביל (Khashevel) “thought of El.”
6 And the third was named Gadreel:
he it is who showed the children of men all the blows of death, and he led astray Eve, and showed [the weapons of death to the sons of men] the shield and the coat of mail, and the sword for battle, and all the weapons of death to the children of men.
7 And from his hand they have proceeded against those who dwell on the earth from that day and for evermore.
Gadreel appears to be a title for Asa’el/Azazel of whom he Book of Enoch says:
1 And Asa’el taught men to make swords of iron, and knives, and shields, and breastplates of brass, and made known to them the metals that are excavated from the earth and the art of working gold and concerning silver, and bracelets, and ornaments, and concerning antimony, and eye shadow, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures.
2 And there arose much godlessness, and being wicked, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.
(1Enoch 8:1-2)
And here Enoch tells us that Azazel was one and the same with the Serpent in the garden of Eden. The Hebrew may have been גדראל (Gederel) “mason of El” or “wall of El”
8 And the fourth was named Penemue:
he taught the children of men the bitter and the sweet, and he taught them all the secrets of their wisdom.
9 And he instructed mankind in writing with ink and paper, and thereby many sinned from eternity to eternity and until this day.
The title in Hebrew may have been פנה אמונה (Pana Emunah) “He has turned from trust/faith” or פנמו “inside” Since the Book of Enoch itself refers to Enoch as “Enoch the Scribe” (1Enoch 12:4), Enoch felt a parenthetical explanation was needed:
10 For men were not created for such a purpose, to give confirmation to their good faith with pen and ink.
11 For men were created exactly like the angels, to the intent that they should continue pure and righteous, and death, which destroys everything, could not have taken hold of them, but through this their knowledge they are perishing, and through this power it is consuming me.
So writing was not originally intended for man at the time he was created (because man was created immortal), but after the fall, writing serves the purpose of allowing man to pass information from generation to generation, so that ideas are not lost when men die.
12 And the fifth was named Kasdeya:
this is he who showed the children of men all the wicked smitings of spirits and demons, and the smitings of the embryo in the womb, that it may pass away, and [the smitings of the soul] the bites of the serpent, and the smitings which befall through the noontide heat, the son of the serpent named Taba'et.
(1Enoch 69:4-12)
The Book of Enoch tells us that the fallen angels introduced an ancient abortion procedure, showing “the children of men … the smitings of the embryo in the womb, that it may pass away,..." (1Enoch 69:12)
Similarly the Book of Jasher (see Joshua 10:23 and 2Sam. 1:18) tells us that during these days before the flood a "draught" was also introduced that was a permanent method of birth control for women:
17 And Lamech, the son of M'tushael, became related to Kayinan by marriage, and he took his two daughters for his wives, and Adah conceived and bare a son to Lamech, and she called his name Yaval.
18 And she again conceived and bare a son, and called his name Yuval; and Zillah, her sister, was barren in those days and had no offspring.
19 For in those days the sons of men began to trespass against Elohim, and to transgress the commandments which he had commanded to the man, to be fruitful and multiply in the earth.
20 And some of the sons of men caused their wives to drink a draught that would render them barren, in order that they might retain their figures and whereby their beautiful appearance might not fade.
21 And when the sons of men caused some of their wives to drink, Zillah drank with them.
22 And the child-bearing women appeared abominable in the eyes of their husbands as widows, while their husbands lived, for to the barren ones only they were attached.
(Jasher 2:17-22)
This sterilization “draught” was likely also introduced by the fallen angels.
Later in the Book of Enoch, Enoch speaks of abortion in the last days saying:
And in those days the women shall become pregnant
and abort their babies
And cast them out from their midst
Yea, they shall abandon their children (that are still) sucklings,
and not return to them,
And shall have no pity on their beloved ones.
(1Enoch 99:5)
The original Hebrew of the Book of Enoch has not survived, and this passage has survived only in the Ancient Ethiopic version. In the Ethiopic the word for "abort" here is MASIT a verb meaning “to pluck or tear out”; “to violently remove”; “to carry off” or “to rob”. Clearly this passage speaks of women aborting their babies in the last days.
The original Hebrew behind “Kasdeya” may have been חסדיה (Khesedyah)“Yah has favored” (see 1Chron. 3:20) but Aramaic כשדיא (Kash’diya) “Chaldeans” may be more likely.
There is not just one Adversary (Satan) there are five adversaries (satans) who are leaders over the fallen angels. Spiritual Warfare is much more complicated that you may have realized, there is not just one Satan, there are FIVE!
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