The Watchers Who Became the Fallen Angels

 

Atlas holding the world on his shoulders after his punishment

There are ancient stories of watchers who were punished by "God" in the Book of Enoch which is not part of the Bible.  Who were these ancient watchers who "fell from heaven" that are so mysterious?  Their crime was to mate with human women and teach them their own mysteries.

According to Wikipedia:

Book of Enoch[edit]

In the Book of Enoch, the Watchers (Aramaic. עִירִין, iyrin), are angels dispatched to Earth to watch over the humans. They soon begin to lust for human women and, at the prodding of their leader Samyaza, defect en masse to illicitly instruct humanity and procreate among them. The offspring of these unions are the Nephilim, savage giants who pillage the earth and endanger humanity. Samyaza and his associates further taught their human charges arts and technologies such as weaponry, cosmetics, mirrors, sorcery, and other techniques that would otherwise be discovered gradually over time by humans, not foisted upon them all at once. Eventually God allows a Great Flood to rid the earth of the Nephilim, but first sends Uriel to warn Noah so as not to eradicate the human race. The Watchers are bound "in the valleys of the Earth" until Judgment Day. (Jude verse 6 says that these fallen angels are kept "in everlasting chains under darkness" until Judgement Day.)
The chiefs of tens, listed in the Book of Enoch, are as follows:

7. And these are the names of their leaders: Sêmîazâz, their leader, Arâkîba, Râmêêl, Kôkabîêl, Tâmîêl, Râmîêl, Dânêl, Êzêqêêl, Barâqîjâl, Asâêl, Armârôs, Batârêl, Anânêl, Zaqîêl, Samsâpêêl, Satarêl, Tûrêl, Jômjâêl, Sariêl. 8. These are their chiefs of tens.

—R. H. Charles translation, The Book of the Watchers, Chapter VI.

The book of Enoch also lists leaders of the 200 fallen angels who married and commenced in unnatural union with human women, and who taught forbidden knowledge. Some are also listed in Book of Raziel (Sefer Raziel HaMalakh), the Zohar, and Jubilees.

• Araqiel (also Arakiel, Araqael, Araciel, Arqael, Sarquael, Arkiel, Arkas) taught humans the signs of the earth. However, in the Sibylline Oracles, Araqiel is referred to not as a fallen angel, or Watcher, but as one of the 5 angels who lead the souls of men to judgement, the other 4 being Ramiel, Uriel, Samiel, and Azazel.
• Armaros (also Amaros) in Enoch I taught men the resolving of enchantments.
• Azazel taught men to make knives, swords, shields, and how to devise ornaments and cosmetics.
• Gadreel (or Gader'el) taught the art of cosmetics, the use of weapons and killing blows. It was he who led Eve astray in the garden of eden.^{[citation needed]}
• Baraqel (Baraqiel) taught men astrology
• Bezaliel mentioned in Enoch I, left out of most translations because of damaged manuscripts and problematic transmission of the text.
• Chazaqiel (sometimes Ezeqeel or Cambriel) taught men the signs of the clouds (meteorology).
• Kokabiel (also Kakabel, Kochbiel, Kokbiel, Kabaiel, and Kochab), In the Book of Raziel he is a high-ranking, holy angel. In Enoch I, he is a fallen Watcher, resident of the nether realms, and commands 365,000 surrogate spirits to do his bidding. Among other duties, he instructs his fellows in astrology.
• Penemue "taught mankind the art of writing with ink and paper," and taught "the children of men the bitter and the sweet and the secrets of wisdom." (I Enoch 69.8)
• Sariel (also Suriel) taught mankind about the courses of the moon (at one time regarded as forbidden knowledge).
• Samyaza (also Shemyazaz, Shamazya, Semiaza, Shemhazi, Semyaza and Amezyarak) is one of the leaders of the fall from heaven in Vocabulaire de l' Angelologie.
• Shamsiel, once a guardian of Eden as stated in the Zohar, served as one of the two chief aides to the archangel Uriel (the other aide being Hasdiel) when Uriel bore his standard into battle, and is the head of 365 legions of angels and also crowns prayers, accompanying them to the 5th heaven. In Jubilees, he is referred to as one of the Watchers. He is a fallen angel who teaches the signs of the sun.
• Yeqon (also Jeqon or Yaqum, יָקוּם, "he shall rise") was the ringleader who first tempted the other Watchers into having sexual relations with humans. His accomplices were Asbeel, Gadreel, Penemue, and Kasdaye (or Kasadya), who were all identified as individual "satans".

The account of the Book of Enoch has been associated with the passage in Genesis 6:1-4, which speaks of Sons of God instead of Watchers:

When men began to multiply on earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw how beautiful the daughters of man were, and so they took for their wives as many of them as they chose. Then the Lord said: "My spirit shall not remain in man forever, since he is but flesh. His days shall comprise one hundred and twenty years." At that time the Nephilim appeared on earth (as well as later), after the sons of God had intercourse with the daughters of man, who bore them sons. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown.

—Genesis 6:1-4

In the ancient writings of Phoenician scholar, Sanchuniathon, there is something very interesting and it is a story that is very similar to the story of the fallen angels.   From The History of the Ancient World, the story of the binding of Cronus' brother, Iaptetus in a deep cavern in the earth is mentioned:

"After these events Cronus builds a wall round about his habitation, and found Byblus, the first city of Phoenicia  Afterwards Cronus suspecting his own brother Atlas, by the advice of Hermes threw him into a deep cavern in the earth, and buried him."

This event occurs after Cronus chases away his abusive and violent father, Uranus, before killing him..  The allies of Cronus are referred to as Eloim and the father of Uranus is called, "The Most High" and was also called Hypsistus.  The father of Uranus had been killed previously by a wild animal attack.


I would have to wonder if the leader of the fallen angels, Shemjaza, was Iapetus and I wonder if his son, Atlas was the fallen angel Azazel.  This is food for thought.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_(mythology)



by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com and www.hiddenhumanstory.com)