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Dhammapada · narration sample

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The Book of Enoch · 7 of 109

Chapter VII

1.And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants.

2.And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: 3. Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, 4. the giants turned against them and devoured mankind.

5.And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood.

6.Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.

Asked of Guide

Why do the angels teach women 'charms and enchantments' and plants to humans here?

This chapter shows angels crossing a boundary by teaching forbidden skills: they “taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots,” making humans familiar with occult arts and herbal lore. The instruction produces monstrous consequences—giants who “devoured mankind”—so the teaching functions as both transgression and catalyst for social collapse.

Enoch frames the angels’ lessons as corrupting technology: practical know-how that reshapes bodies, appetite, and power relations. That same linkage of illicit knowledge to ruin appears in Genesis’ story of forbidden knowledge and in Milton’s portrayal of fallen angels spreading arts to men.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.