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Articles_of_he_Bishop_of_Uramiah, page : 587
emblem of power and the weapon of destruction. After
which the flock is no longer headed by a ram but by a
white bull with two large black horns.
Footnote:
(1). I regret to say that the "Jewish Apocalypses" are
inaccessible to me. The Encyclopedias given only a compendium
of each book, which does not satisfy my purpose of examining the
text. I know that the Irish Archbishop Laurence has translated
this Apocalypse into English, but it is, unfortunately, beyond
136
my reach.
------------ end of footnotes
This parabolical vision is transparent enough. From Prophet
Jacob downwards the "chosen people" is represented
symbolically by the flock of sheep. The descendants of Esau
are described as boars. Other heathen people and tribes are
represented in the vision, according to their respective charac-
teristics, as ravens, eagles, vultures, and different species
of brutes, all thirsty to suck the blood of the sheep or hungry
to devour them. Almost all Biblical scholars agree that the
vision indicates the painful period of the Maccabees and their
bloody struggles with the armies of Antiochus Epiphanes
until the death of John Hurcanus in 110(?) B.C. This
method of interpreting the vision is totally erroneous, and
reduces the value of the whole book to nothing. That an
antediluvian Prophet or a Seer should illustrate the history
of the human race from a religious point of view, beginning
with Adam, under the symbol of a White Bull, and ending
with John Hurcanus or his brother Judah Maccabaeus
(Maqbaya) as the Last White Bull, and then leave the flock
of the "Believers" to be devoured again by the Romans, the
Christians, and the Muslims to this very day, is ridiculous
and shocking! In fact, the wars of the Maccabees and their
consequence are not of such great significance in the history
of the religion of God as to be the terminus of its develop-
ment. None of the Maccabees was a Prophet, nor the
founder of the so-called "Messianic reign" which the Gospels
name the "Kingdom of God." Besides, this interpretation of
the vision is inconsistent with the characters represented in
the drama under the figurative symbols of the master of the
flock, scepter in hand, the Ram, and the White Bull; and
then with the large sword given to the shepherds with which
they kill or drive away the impure animals and birds. Fur-
thermore, this Christian interpretation of Enoch's Apocalypse
does not explain the mystical transplantation or the trans-
portation of the terrestrial Jerusalem into a country farther
to the south; and what meaning can be given to the new
House of God built on the spot of the old one, larger and
higher than the former sacred edifice, to which flock not only
the believing sheep - the faithful Jews - but also the various
pagan nationalities that have embraced the religion of the
Son of Man who
which the flock is no longer headed by a ram but by a
white bull with two large black horns.
Footnote:
(1). I regret to say that the "Jewish Apocalypses" are
inaccessible to me. The Encyclopedias given only a compendium
of each book, which does not satisfy my purpose of examining the
text. I know that the Irish Archbishop Laurence has translated
this Apocalypse into English, but it is, unfortunately, beyond
136
my reach.
------------ end of footnotes
This parabolical vision is transparent enough. From Prophet
Jacob downwards the "chosen people" is represented
symbolically by the flock of sheep. The descendants of Esau
are described as boars. Other heathen people and tribes are
represented in the vision, according to their respective charac-
teristics, as ravens, eagles, vultures, and different species
of brutes, all thirsty to suck the blood of the sheep or hungry
to devour them. Almost all Biblical scholars agree that the
vision indicates the painful period of the Maccabees and their
bloody struggles with the armies of Antiochus Epiphanes
until the death of John Hurcanus in 110(?) B.C. This
method of interpreting the vision is totally erroneous, and
reduces the value of the whole book to nothing. That an
antediluvian Prophet or a Seer should illustrate the history
of the human race from a religious point of view, beginning
with Adam, under the symbol of a White Bull, and ending
with John Hurcanus or his brother Judah Maccabaeus
(Maqbaya) as the Last White Bull, and then leave the flock
of the "Believers" to be devoured again by the Romans, the
Christians, and the Muslims to this very day, is ridiculous
and shocking! In fact, the wars of the Maccabees and their
consequence are not of such great significance in the history
of the religion of God as to be the terminus of its develop-
ment. None of the Maccabees was a Prophet, nor the
founder of the so-called "Messianic reign" which the Gospels
name the "Kingdom of God." Besides, this interpretation of
the vision is inconsistent with the characters represented in
the drama under the figurative symbols of the master of the
flock, scepter in hand, the Ram, and the White Bull; and
then with the large sword given to the shepherds with which
they kill or drive away the impure animals and birds. Fur-
thermore, this Christian interpretation of Enoch's Apocalypse
does not explain the mystical transplantation or the trans-
portation of the terrestrial Jerusalem into a country farther
to the south; and what meaning can be given to the new
House of God built on the spot of the old one, larger and
higher than the former sacred edifice, to which flock not only
the believing sheep - the faithful Jews - but also the various
pagan nationalities that have embraced the religion of the
Son of Man who