Endnote 8 – Enoch’s Vision of the Next World
Regarding the inclusion of 1 Enoch 81:1–82:4 in the current volume: There is evidence for editorial adjustments at the joints where the Enoch booklets were placed one after the other, and according to Nickelsburg’s theory chapters 81:1–82:4 form just such a passage. He believes the unit connects well thematically with the Book of the Watchers and also with the following booklets. This can be disputed for technical reasons, but one general problem with the theory, besides having no manuscript warrant, is that 81:1–82:4 would be lodged in a strange place for an editorial link, since the last part of the Astronomical Book (82:5–20) follows rather than precedes the supposed bridge verses.