Azazel’s Will: Internalization of Evil in the Apocalypse of Abraham

Our forefather Abraham turned the evil instincts into good.
y. Ber. 9:5, 14b

Introduction

The Apocalypse of Abraham, a Jewish pseudepigraphon composed several decades after the destruction of the Second Temple, contains a large number of demonological traditions.

The profile of the main antagonist of this apocalyptic account, the fallen angel Azazel, is firmly rooted in the Enochic aetiology of evil which was based on the myth of the fallen angels. According to this myth, a group of celestial rebels, called the Watchers, corrupted human beings in the antediluvian period through illicit knowledge and forbidden marital unions. Although the Watchers’ corrupting activities in early Enochic booklets were executed through external means — namely, teaching and marriage — the fallen angel of the Apocalypse of Abraham is depicted as one who can corrupt human beings even through internal means — namely, the faculty of the will. The motif of Azazel’s will as an instrument against the human will appears in Apoc. Ab. 14:12. There, Abraham’s mentor, the angel Yahoel, warns his apprentice about the antagonist’s unusual weapon by uttering the following words: “whatever he says to you, answer him not, lest his will (воля его) affect you.”¹ The gravity of this internal armament becomes even more apparent in the next verse, where Yahoel explains that this “will” was given to Azazel by God: “God gave him (Azazel) the gravity and the will (волю) against those who answer him.”² Furthermore, the significance of the will for the destiny of a person is reiterated later in the dialogue between God and Abraham in chapter 26 and in other parts of the story.³

The motifs of the antagonist’s will and the human will are important, since they emphasize a crucial human capacity over which Azazel is given some control. The repeated reference to this inner faculty, by which the adversary is able to exercise his influence upon human beings, contributes to a novel demonological setting which can be labelled as an “internalized demonology.” Several other details of the text also point to this internalizing of the economy of evil in the Apocalypse of Abraham. In order to better understand this phenomenon and its impact on the apocalypse’s demonology, a short excursus into the process of the internalization of evil in early Jewish lore is necessary.

I. The Internalization of Evil in Early Jewish Lore

The Internalization of Evil in Early Enochic Materials

As we have already noted the fallen angels played an important role in the early Enochic mythology of evil insofar as they were portrayed as the main vehicles of humankind’s corruption in the antediluvian period. Yet, the “angelic” paradigm had its own limitations for the development of the “internalized” demonologies, since it in certain ways impeded the capacity of the otherworldly antagonist to take possession of a person or directly influence his or her internal faculties. The fallen angels in the early Enochic story exercised their evil plans externally through illicit instructions or sexual intercourses rather than through direct impact on the human soul.⁴ Yet the development of the so-called yetzer anthropologies⁵ in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish extra-biblical materials demonstrated an urgent need for internalized demonologies in which the antagonists were able to rule inner inclinations of the human heart.⁶ The earliest angelological lore attested in the Enochic tradition has another important development, namely, the concept of malevolent spirits. These antagonistic entities, due to their peculiar bodiless ontology, have the potential to take possession of a human being directly, without lengthy instructions and marital commitments.

The Book of the Watchers attempts to develop a certain type of demonology in which the adversaries of humankind are envisioned as disembodied spirits who are able to function inside human bodies and souls. In the Book of the Watchers, this conceptual move is closely tied to the Giants’ story. The Giants’ hybrid anthropology, in which angelic and human were once mingled together, opened a door to a novel psychodemonic synthesis. Although, according to the Enochic myth, the Giants’ bodies perished in the divine punishment, their evil spirits (πνεύματα πονηρά) were able to survive the ordeal in order to harm human beings until the final judgment. Concerning the aetiology of malevolent spirits, Loren Stuckenbruck notes that

the extant textual witnesses to 1 Enoch 15 do not specify how this change has come about. Nevertheless, the following aetiology may be inferred from a reading of 15:3–16:3 as an elaboration on parts of 10:1–22: As a mixture of heavenly and earthly beings, the Giants were composed of flesh and spirit. When, on account of their destructive activities, they came under divine judgement, the fleshly part of their nature was destroyed, whether through violent conflict among themselves (7:5; 10:12) or through the flood. At this point, spirits or souls emerged from their dead bodies, and it is in this disembodied form that the Giants continue to exist until the final judgement (16:1).⁷

According to 1 Enoch 10:15, God ordered Michael to “destroy all the spirits of the half-breeds and the sons of the watchers, because they have wronged men.”⁸ Scholars have suggested that “this assumes the separate existence of the spirits (πνεύματα, nafesāta), independent of the Giants, themselves.”⁹ Touching on these spirits’ nature, Philip Alexander points out that the Giants “consisted of two elements – a mortal, material body, and an immortal spirit. The mortal bodies of the Giants were destroyed, but their immortal spirits were not, and these have continued to inhabit the earth and to afflict mankind.”¹⁰ According to Alexander, “unlike the Watchers, who have already been judged and restrained, prior to their final punishment on the day of judgment, the spirits of the Giants will ‘go on destroying, uncondemned … until the great judgment.’”¹¹

The teaching about malevolent spirits is rendered in even greater detail in 1 Enoch 15.¹² In 1 Enoch 15:2-15, God orders Enoch to deliver the following message to the fallen Watchers:

And go, say to the Watchers of heaven who sent you to petition on their behalf: “You ought to petition on behalf of men, not men on behalf of you. Why have you left the high, holy and eternal heaven, and lain with the women and become unclean with the daughters of men, and taken wives for yourselves, and done as the sons of the earth and begotten giant sons? And you (were) spiritual, holy, living an eternal life, (but) you became unclean upon the women, and begat (children) through the blood of flesh, and lusted after the blood of men, and produced flesh and blood as they do who die and are destroyed. And for this reason I gave them wives, (namely) that they might sow seed in them and (that) children might be born by them, that thus deeds might be done on the earth. But you formerly were spiritual, living an eternal, immortal life for all the generations of the world. For this reason I did not arrange wives for you because the dwelling of the spiritual ones (is) in heaven. And now the Giants who were born from body and flesh will be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth will be their dwelling. And evil spirits came out from their flesh because from above they were created; from the holy Watchers was their origin and first foundation. Evil spirits they will be on the earth, and spirits of the evil ones they will be called. And the dwelling of the spirits of heaven is in heaven, but the dwelling of the spirits of earth, who were born on the earth, (is) on earth. And the spirits of the Giants¹³ . . . which do wrong and are corrupt, and attack and fight and break on the earth, and cause sorrow; and they eat no food and do not thirst, and are not observed. And these spirits will rise against the sons of men and against the women because they came out (from them).”¹⁴

In relation to these Enochic traditions, George Nickelsburg points out that “the Giants¹⁵ and the spirits that proceed from their dead bodies are spoken of as the same entities…. these are evil spirits.”¹⁶ According to Nickelsburg, “this term (πνεύματα πονηρά) is not especially common for demons, but in the literature of this period it always refers to malevolent spirits who cause people to sin or afflict them with evil and disease.”¹⁷

The important quality of these evil spirits of the Giants is that they were able to bridge conventional anthropological boundaries through their ability to “afflict” the human body, possibly even by dwelling inside of a human being. 1 Enoch 19:1 reflects the malevolent spirits’ capacity for embodiment by relating that they are able to assume many forms: “And Uriel said to me: ‘The spirits of the angels who were promiscuous with the women will stand here; and they, assuming many forms, made men unclean and will lead men astray so that they sacrifice to demons as gods—(that is,) until the great judgement day on which they will be judged so that an end will be made of them.”¹⁸

In his thorough and nuanced study about the provenance of the evil spirits, Archie Wright observes that “the evil spirits of the Giants did become the central characters of the story. As a result, Jews may have understood them as the force behind the gentile nations that oppressed Israel, as supernatural powers driving a corrupt leadership, or as spirits that afflicted individuals.”¹⁹ 1 Enoch 15 may contain one of the earliest rationalizations of an internalized demonology in Jewish lore, when the spirits of the external antagonists suddenly were able to control the inner drives and inclinations of humankind. Reflecting on the bridge from external to internal demonological realities, Wright proposes that “the spirits of Giants in the Watcher tradition represent an external threat, which operates against the internal good inclination of the individual.”²⁰ Wright’s use of the term “inclination” begs the question of whether the aforementioned Enochic developments can be seen as a testimony to the yetzer tradition. Although 1 Enoch 15 does not speak directly about yetzer, it is likely not coincidental that the very first occurrence of such terminology in the Hebrew Bible is found in a cryptic rendering of the Watchers story attested in Gen 6.²¹ In Gen 6:5, after the bene elohim’s descent, “the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Internalization of Evil in the Book of Jubilees

Like the early Enochic booklets, the Book of Jubilees also traces the origin of evil spirits that torment human beings to the fall of the Watchers.²² Jub. 10:5-7, a passage which speaks about the provenance of demonic spirits, specifically mentions the fallen Watchers as “the fathers of these spirits”:²³

“You know how your Watchers, the fathers of these spirits, have acted during my lifetime. As for these spirits who have remained alive, imprison them and hold them captive in the place of judgment. May they not cause destruction among your servant’s sons, my God, for they are savage and were created for the purpose of destroying. May they not rule the spirits of the living for you alone know their punishment; and may they not have power over the sons of the righteous from now and forevermore.” Then our God told us to tie up each one.²⁴

Several scholars have detected a paradigm shift from an angelic to a demonic economy of evil in Jubilees, in comparison with the early Enochic booklets.²⁵ Thus, Annette Reed highlights that “Jubilees concurs on one point: the demons are the spirits of the Watchers’ hybrid sons. The Watchers, however, are no longer held responsible for demonic activity on earth after the time of Noah.”²⁶ Wright also underlines this peculiarity of Jubilees by noting that “we are told that the unclean spirits began to lead astray humanity and to destroy them.”²⁷ Deliberating on this important conceptual turn, Loren Stuckenbruck notes that

the explanation given in Jubilees for the origin of evil spirits and demons reflects a shift from the accounts in the Book of Watchers, Book of Giants, and Animal Apocalypse. Though the demons are, similar to the Book of Watchers and Book of Giants, identified as the souls or spirits of the dead Giants (10:5), there is no hint, in contrast to the Enochic traditions, that any of the Giants were actually killed through the flood. The persistence of at least some Giants in the form of spirits beyond the flood is retained by Jubilees. However, it seems that in Jubilees the Giants have assumed their disembodied state prior to the flood (5:8–9).61 The Giants’ evil character is not articulated explicitly in anthropological terms (contra 1 Enoch 15:4, 6–8), that is, as the result of an impure mixture of flesh and spirit on the part of their progenitors.²⁸

In Jubilees and early Enochic writings, the elaboration of a new class of antagonistic creatures — ones who are different from the fallen angels and who are able, due to their bodiless ontology, to dwell inside human beings — demonstrates a clear tendency towards an internalized demonology. In this respect, the demonology of the evil spirits offered several important benefits for the development of such an internalized option. Concerning the difference between angels and demons,²⁹ Philip Alexander points out that although

both demons and angels can be classified as “spirits,” since they are both unseen, spiritual forces, but it is evident that they are different in a number of important ways. Thus demons can invade the human body, from which they can only be expelled through exorcism, whereas angels cannot. Nowhere do we read of an angel possessing a human. He can reveal himself to the human, and terrify him—but cannot enter his body. The myth of the Giants gives this idea a kind of logic. The demons are part human in origin and so have an affinity with humans, which allows them to penetrate the human body. Indeed, it may be implied that, as disembodied spirits roaming the world, like the human “undead,” they particularly seek embodiment, with all its attendant problems for the one whom they possess.³⁰

Such a paradigm shift from embodied antagonists in the form of (fallen) angels to bodiless spiritual entities in the form of demons will serve as an important conceptual avenue for some later yetzer anthropologies.

The anthropological limitations of the “angelological” model in advancing various yetzer anthropologies led to situations, in which the demonological profile of “angelic” antagonists, like Satan or Belial, were supplemented in such a way that they acquired armies of spiritual entities of other kinds who were able to interact directly with human nature or even possess a human being. Such supplementation to the traditional profile of the angelic antagonist with novel demonological capacities can be detected both in Jubilees and in the Qumran materials. This shift remains more visible in the Book of Jubilees as it portrays its personified angelic³¹ antagonist as the leader of the demonic spirits.³² Stuckenbruck notes that “in Jubilees ‘Mastema’ represents a proper name for the chief demonic power that has jurisdiction over a contingent of evil spirits.”³³ He further observes that “the most frequent designation of this entity is ‘Prince of Mastema/Animosity’ or, better translated, ‘Prince Mastema’ (Jub. 11:5, 11; 18:9, 12; 48:2, 9, 12, 15)” who is understood “as the leader of the spirits requesting permission for a tenth of their number to carry out their work after the Flood.”³⁴

In Mastema’s role as the leader of the demonic spirits in Jubilees, Archie Wright detects a departure from a leadership pattern found in early Enochic booklets. According to Wright, “this is a major shift from the role of the evil spirits in the Book of the Watchers; there they have no apparent leader, and there is no mention of the figure of Satan (Mastema in Jubilees).”³⁵ He further notes that “the notion of a leader over the realm of evil spirits seems to have been taken up in some of the DSS that express a demonological interest. The figure in the DSS, identified as Belial, may be connected to Mastema in Jubilees.”³⁶

Another difference is that, while in early Enochic materials both the fallen angels and their evil offspring are portrayed as rouge agents, the rebels corrupting the deity’s design of creation, in Jubilees, Mastema and his demons represent an essential part of God’s plan. As Annette Reed observes, “in Jubilees the spirits of the Watchers’ sons cause sin, bloodshed, pollution, illness, and famine after the flood (esp. Jub. 11:2-6). It is made explicit, however, that they do so as part of God’s plan.”³⁷ The antagonist’s role in Jubilees is reminiscent of Azazel’s office in the Apocalypse of Abraham, where God also gives the adversary a special will against the sinners.³⁸

For our investigation, it is significant that Mastema corrupts humans through the army of demons.³⁹ Thus, according to Jub. 11:5, “Prince Mastema was exerting his power in effecting all these actions and, by means of the spirits, he was sending to those who were placed under his control (the ability) to commit every (kind of) error and sin and every (kind of) transgression; to corrupt, to destroy, and to shed blood on the earth.”⁴⁰ In some passages of Jubilees these spiritual agents are even called the “spirits of Mastema.”⁴¹ Reflecting on this feature, Benne Reynolds suggests that “later Hebrew texts tend to subordinate demons under a chief demon and in many cases strip the evil spirits of any unique, individual identity. This trend … is already present in the second century B.C.E., e.g., Jubilees.”⁴²

Another important aspect is found in the previously mentioned passage from Jub. 12:20, where Abraham prays to God to save him from “the power of evil spirits who rule the yetzer of a person’s heart.”⁴³ Here, the evil spirits are unambiguously labeled as the “rulers” of the human yetzer. Although in recent years a large amount of ink has been spilled over analyzing the demonological developments found in Jubilees, not many scholars have noticed this aspect of the evil spirits’ economy that allows them to influence the yetzer of the human heart directly.

Concluding this part of our investigation, we can summarize four crucial features of Jubilees’ demonology. First, in comparison with early Enochic booklets, the evil spirits now replace the fallen angels as the main corrupting force of humankind. Second, these spiritual beings are hierarchized under the leadership of the single angelic antagonist who bears the name Mastema or Belial. Third, this chief angelic antagonist and his demonic army fulfill the will of the deity. Fourth, the evil spirits are able to rule the yetzer of the human heart.

Internalization of Evil in the Qumran Materials

Qumran materials contain several demonological molds, so any attempt to speak about a single or unified demonology of the Scrolls will be a mistake.⁴⁴ Although systematic demonologies are lacking in Qumran materials, in some of them one can detect common demonological traits, several of which demonstrate close similarities to the aforementioned demonological tendencies found in early Enochic booklets and the Book of Jubilees.

Some Qumran materials contain a familiar consolidation of evil spirits under the leadership of an angelic antagonist, which in some Qumran texts⁴⁵ are labeled as “the spirits of Belial.”⁴⁶ Some texts speak about spirits of the portion or the lot of Belial. From 1QM XIII 2 we learn about “Belial⁴⁷ and all the spirits of his lot.”⁴⁸ 4Q177 IV 14 again speaks about Belial’s spiritual army: “to rescue them from all the spirits of [Belial …].”⁴⁹ CD-A XII 2 also betrays the knowledge of this tradition when it says that “Every /man/ over whom the spirits of Belial dominate.”⁵⁰ 11Q13 II 12 tells about “Belial and the spirits of his lot.”⁵¹ Concerning this tendency of consolidating demonic powers under a single angelic antagonist, Loren Stuckenbruck notes that “over against the Enoch tradition that, in its early received form, presented both Shemihazah and ‘Asa’el as leaders of rebellious angels, many of the writings among the Dead Sea Scrolls draw demonic forces together under a single figure.”⁵² Stuckenbruck’s research discerns at least five such main figures which include “(a) Melkireša’, (b) “Angel of Darkness,” (c) “S/satan,” (d) Mastema, and (e) Belial.”⁵³

Another important conceptual tendency is the internalization of evil in the Qumran materials. This conceptual trend is especially noticeable in the Treatise on the Two Spirits (1QS III 13 – IV 26). Even more important is that, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, like in Jubilees, such internalization became closely tied to the yetzer imagery. Ishay Rosen-Zvi points out that, in some Qumran materials, yetzer appears in two intertwined dimensions: “the anthropological and the demonological. Yetzer is the thought/intent/inclination/nature of humans, which … is shameful but subject to God, … but in the wicked it is demonic and under the dominion of Belial.”⁵⁴ Benjamin Wold also draws attention to this link between external antagonists and yetzer in the Qumran materials by noting that “the negative uses of yēṣer in the Rule of the Community and Hodayot relate in one way or another to the activities of Belial. Occurrences of yetzer in several of the Scrolls … take this a step further when they convey that yetzer has demonic connotations.”⁵⁵ Furthermore, according to Wold, “in the Plea for Deliverance (11Ps^a XIX, 15–16)⁵⁶ the yetzer appears to move from within the human being to an outward force. The Plea for Deliverance has attracted considerable attention because (r rcy occurs in a context alongside ‘satan’ and an ‘unclean spirit’, and could be interpreted as personified external evil.”⁵⁷ Wold goes on to say that

in the Plea for Deliverance the coupling of “satan” and “unclean spirit” in parallel with (r rcy makes clear that these are not a state of mind, but rather outward forces and demonic in nature. Such personification is part of a broader development demonizing sin, perhaps similar to Barkhi Nafshi (4Q436 1 I–II) where (r rcy is rebuked. On the one hand the reference in Barkhi Nafshi may be describing the warding off of a demonic being or evil spirit. On the other hand it is described along with negative tendencies (e.g. stiff neck, haughty eyes) and may simply be a personification of vices.⁵⁸

Loren Stuckenbruck sees a possible Enochic background behind the aforementioned passage in the Plea of Deliverance. He writes that

the petition seeks divine help not to come under the rule or power of a demonic being. Here, that being which would have sway over the one praying is designated as both “a satan” and “an unclean spirit.” The latter expression may be an echo of Zech 13:2. However, in the present context it may refer to a disembodied spirit, that is, to a being whose origin lies in the illegitimate sexual union between the rebellious angels and the daughters of men which resulted in the birth of the pre-diluvian Giants. If the Enochic background, known to us through the Book of Watchers (1 Enoch chs. 10 and 15–16) and the Book of Giants, lies in the background, the prayer presupposes a wider narrative that negotiates God’s decisive intervention against evil in the past (i. e., through the Flood and other acts of punishment) and the final destruction or eradication of evil in the future.⁵⁹

The Plea of Deliverance might have a similar anthropology to the one found in the Book of Jubilees, where Mastema and his spirits are able to affect the human yetzer. In the Plea of Deliverance, therefore, Satan may take the place of Mastema as the leader of evil spirits.⁶⁰

Even a preliminary look reveals the striking complexity of Qumran’s demonological currents. In order to understand them better, a short overview of these developments is necessary. Scholars have noted that “the belief in demons was central to the Scrolls worldview.”⁶¹ According to Philip Alexander, Qumran materials postulate the existence of a rather complex demonic world which includes different species of demons. These include the spirits of the angels of destruction, the spirits of the bastards,⁶² demons, Lilith, howlers, and yelpers.⁶³ Similar to early Enochic literature, some Qumran documents make a distinction between angels, even fallen angels, and demons. Alexander indicates out that “the demonology of the Scrolls seems to envisage a clear distinction being drawn between demons and angels, whether fallen or otherwise.”⁶⁴ He further notes that in the Qumran materials a demon is understood as “a non-corporeal being which is neither human nor angelic, but which causes harm and mischief to humans in a variety of ways.”⁶⁵

Alexander points out that “the Qumran inventory of demons, on analysis, turns out to be somewhat vague. It conveys the general impression of a rather diverse demonic world, but seems not to itemize the types of demonic being in any technically precise way. This observation helps to put the Qumran list of demons into perspective. The Qumran list clearly marks an advance on the demonology of the biblical books, which, as has often been noted, are little interested in demons or in creating systematic demonologies.”⁶⁶

In Qumran’s Community Rule, John Collins also detects the paradigm shift from “angelic” to “demonic” etiologies of evil. He writes that “the Rule makes no mention of the Watchers, or of any angelic rebellion. Instead, the demonic spirits are subsumed into a new system and given a new origin.”⁶⁷

In some Qumran documents, the demons are able to operate on the psychological level. Furthermore, such psychodemonic proclivities become more pronounced in the Scrolls. Alexander points out that “there is a marked emphasis in the sectarian scrolls on the view that the harm done to the Community by Belial and the demons is essentially psychological, rather than physical. They lead the Sons of Light into error, sin and doubt. It is appropriate, therefore, that the counter-attack against Belial and the demons should also be largely psychological.”⁶⁸

Concerning the interaction between evil spirits and humans in the Qumran materials, Archie Wright notes, that although there are a few references that indicate actual physical possession of the human body in the Dead Sea Scrolls,⁶⁹ the language of demonic possession in the Scrolls suggests that the evil spirits were influencing humans through the evil inclination rather than taking physical possession of the body. Wright further suggests that “the concept of demonic possession in the DSS may have its origins in the motif of ‘evil inclination.’ 1QH 15.3 states, ‘for Belial is present when their (evil) inclination becomes apparent’ … however, this does not necessarily mean physical possession by an evil spirit. It could simply imply the influence of Belial over the human inclination.”⁷⁰

In the Dead Sea Scrolls, experts also detect possible examples of yetzer’s personification in the form of a spirit. In light of the juxtaposition between anthropological and demonological dimensions, it is often difficult to discern if this spiritual entity represents an external or an internal force. The perplexing nature of these conceptual developments often leads to ambiguity in scholarly conclusions. Thus, reflecting on the few explicit references to an “evil inclination” in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Eibert Tigchelaar suggests that “the Dead Sea Scrolls indicate on the one hand the influence of Gen 6:5, which relates the ‘evil inclination’ to ‘thoughts’ and the ‘heart,’ and on the other hand a new development where the ‘evil inclination’ is personified, perhaps in the form of a spirit.”⁷¹ The process of such an ambiguous personification of yetzer in the form of a spirit or even an angelic antagonist, which affects the human heart, can be also detected in the Hodayot. According to Rosen-Zvi, in the Hodayot “yetzer is indeed inherently evil and is explicitly identified with Belial: ‘my heart is horrified at evil plans, for Belial is present when their destructive yetzer becomes apparent,’ 1QH XV 3-4).”⁷²

Rosen-Zvi sees the formative impact of these Qumran developments on later rabbinic beliefs about the evil inclination by arguing that “Qumranic literature helps us identify the context within which we should locate rabbinic yetzer. At Qumran yetzer is the source of human sinfulness, in both its demonological context – as a counterpart of Satan, Belial, and the spirits of impurity –and in an anthropological one – as a component of human depravity. Rabbinic anthropology and demonology are markedly different – but the role of yetzer in both is the prime explanation for human sinfulness.”⁷³

Tracing possible trajectories of demonic internalization, Rosen-Zvi draws attention to some Christian materials, noting that “while we did find some hints for processes of internalization at Qumran, more complete rejections of external demons, and their replacement with intra-personal powers, are to be found in Jewish Hellenistic and especially early Christian writings.”⁷⁴ Indeed, some Christian monastic witnesses, including Athanasius of Alexandria’s Life of Anthony, the works of Evagrius Ponticus, and the Pachomian writings, exhibit some tendencies of an internalized demonology.⁷⁵ The conceptual roots of such a trend are already in the corpus of Pauline writings. In respect to these developments, Rosen-Zvi notes that “rabbinic yetzer should be located in a process of the internalization of demons that preserves demonic traits while locating them inside the human mind. Such a phenomenon cannot be found in the Philonic corpus, but may be found in the Pauline discourse of sin (ἁμαρτία) as a hypothesized entity, developed most powerfully in Romans 7.”⁷⁶ According to Rosen-Zvi, “Paul’s statement – ‘sin, using the commandment, seized any opportunity and produced every desire (ἐπιθυμίαν) in me’ (Rom 7:8) – should be compared to the rabbinic assertion ‘the evil yetzer desires (b)t) only what is forbidden for it (y. Ned. 9:1 [41b], Yom. 6:5 [43c]).” ⁷⁷

Geert Cohen Stuart also draws attention to some early Christian documents which attempt to bridge external and internal demonological dimensions. Touching on the process of the internalization of evil in early sources, he notes that “the trend of identifying ‘Satan’ and ‘power of evil in man’ is already visible in pre-Rabbinic sources. For instance in Jam 4:7, 8 there is a beginning of that identification, but ‘devil’ is still used as an outside power, whereas ‘doublemindedness’ is the inside power. But effectively both seem to be the same. The relation between ‘Satan’ and ‘power of evil’ is also found in John and his use of ‘Devil’ and ‘sin as power’ in John 8 and 1 John 3. Both seem virtually to be the same there.”⁷⁸

In some sources, the evil inclination is sometimes conceptualized as a demon residing inside of a human being. Scholars have suggested that such an understanding is very close to the monastic notion of daimones. For example, Rosen-Zvi proposes that “demons residing in the heart, such as the spirits of Belial in the Testament of Reuben or the ‘Evil heart’ in Fourth Ezra and, above all, the monastic daimones, are thus much closer, in both function and battling techniques, to the rabbinic yetzer than Hellenistic appetites.”⁷⁹ Yet, there is an important difference between demons who can be expelled by exorcism and the demonic yetzer, which requires different strategies in order to be neutralized or “conquered.” Musing on these differences, Rosen-Zvi points out that “being fully internalized, the evil yetzer cannot use direct coercion, as other demons do. It is restricted to inner, dialogical means in its attempts to achieve the sinister goal of leading its host astray.”⁸⁰

II. The Internalization of Evil in the Apocalypse of Abraham

Demonological Developments in the Apocalypse of Abraham

The aforementioned developments which extend the powers of a personified adversary over inner human conditions represent an important step toward the incorporation of angelic and other otherworldly antagonists in the framework of internalized demonologies. These currents are relevant for an understanding of the anti-hero of the Apocalypse of Abraham, the fallen angel Azazel, who, like the personified antagonists of Jubilees and the Qumran materials, is able to influence the human will.

It is not surprising that the bedrock of Jewish internalized demonology, exemplified by the Watchers and the Giants story, plays such a significant role in the Apocalypse of Abraham. These connections with the foundational Enochic myth are hinted at in the naming of the main antagonist, “Azazel,” a term which was often used as a variant of the name of one of the leaders of the fallen Watchers, Asael.⁸¹ Scholars have noted that Azazel’s story in our apocalypse is surrounded with a panoply of peculiar Enochic motifs, especially related to the fall of the Watchers.⁸² According to Ryszard Rubinkiewicz,

…the author of the Apocalypse of Abraham follows the tradition of 1 Enoch 1-36. The chief of the fallen angels is Azazel, who rules the stars and most men. It is not difficult to find here the tradition of Gen 6:1-4 developed according to the tradition of 1 Enoch. Azazel is the head of the angels who plotted against the Lord and who impregnated the daughters of men. These angels are compared to the stars. Azazel revealed the secrets of heaven and is banished to the desert. Abraham, as Enoch, receives the power to drive away Satan. All these connections show that the author of the Apocalypse of Abraham drew upon the tradition of 1 Enoch.⁸³

Important clusters of fallen angels traditions in the Apocalypse of Abraham appear in chapters 13 and 14, where Yahoel delivers lengthy instructions, teaching Abraham how to safeguard himself against his otherworldly enemy. In Yahoel’s discourse there are several details of the anti-hero story that allude to the Watchers and the Giants myth. In Apoc. Ab. 13:8, Yahoel says the following to Azazel: “Since you have chosen it [earth] to be your dwelling place of your impurity.”⁸⁴ This passage refers to the voluntary descent of the otherworldly antagonist to the earth, which hints at the Enochic provenance of the tradition rather than its Adamic counterpart. In contrast to the Enochic mythology of evil, the Adamic aetiology, reflected in the Primary Adam Books, insists that their anti-hero, Satan, did not descend on his own accord but rather was forcefully deposed by the deity into the lower realms after refusing to venerate Adam.

The reference to Azazel’s impurity is also intriguing in view of the defiling nature of the Watchers’ activities on earth. There is also a hint about Asael/Azazel’s punishment in the abyss in Apoc. Ab. 14:5, where Yahoel offers his human apprentice the following incantation to battle Azazel: “Say to him, ‘May you be the fire brand of the furnace of the earth! Go, Azazel, into the untrodden parts of the earth.’”⁸⁵ Here is a possible allusion to the story found in 1 Enoch 10, where the place of Asael/Azazel’s punishment is situated in the fiery abyss. I have suggested elsewhere that, similar to 1 Enoch 10, the Apocalypse of Abraham combines traditions about the scapegoat and the fallen angel by referring to the wilderness motif in the form of “the untrodden parts of the earth.”⁸⁶

There is also a possible allusion to the Watcher Asael/Azazel’s participation in the procreation of the race of the Giants. In Apoc. Ab. 14:6, Yahoel teaches Abraham the following protective formula against the “impure bird”: “Say to him … since your inheritance are those who are with you, with men born with the stars and clouds, and their portion is in you, and they come into being through your being.”⁸⁷ The reference to human beings “born with the stars” is intriguing, since the Animal Apocalypse of 1 Enoch conveys the Watchers’ descent through the peculiar imagery of the stars falling from heaven and subsequently depicts the Watchers as participants in the procreation of the new race of the Giants.⁸⁸

In light of these Enochic allusions, the question remains: how is Azazel able to control inner human faculties, since his features and roles clearly point to the fact that he is not a demon but rather a fallen angel, similar to Asael and Shemihazah of early Enochic booklets? We have already witnessed the limitations of “angel” demonology in relation to yetzer anthropology, the confines which were mitigated in early Enochic texts via the teaching about evil spirits. Rabbinic lore undermines the effectiveness of the “angel” demonology in relation to yetzer anthropologies even further, arguing that “the evil impulse has not dominion over the angels.”⁸⁹ Gen. Rab. 48:11 states that “the Tempter has no power over angels.”⁹⁰ Lev. Rab. 26:5 attests to a similar belief:

It is the same with the celestial beings, where the Evil Inclination is non-existent and so one utterance is sufficient for them; as it says, The matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones (Dan 4:14). But as to the terrestrial beings, in whom the Evil Inclination exists, O that they might resist it after two utterances!⁹¹

According to these sources, unlike the evil spirits who were born from the earthly bodies of the Giants, the former celestial citizens – angels – would not have any experience of yetzer, since it does not exist in the upper realm.

The later rabbinic Midrash of Shemhazai and Azael provides a possible key for making sense of this perplexing issue by further elaborating the story of the Watchers’ descent. It explains how the fallen angels were endowed with the evil inclination after their descent to the lower realm, when they became dwellers on the earth. The Midrash of Shemhazai and Azael 1-4 offers the following account of the Watchers’ fall:

When the generation of Enosh arose and practiced idolatry and when the generation of the flood arose and corrupted their actions, the Holy One – Blessed be He – was grieved that He had created man, as it is said, “And God repented that he created man, and He grieved at heart.” Forthwith arose two angels, whose names were Shemhazai and Azael, and said before Him: “O Lord of the universe, did we not say unto Thee when Thou didst create Thy world, Do not create man?” The Holy One – Blessed be He – said to them: “Then what shall become of the world?” They said before Him: “We will suffice (Thee) instead of it.” He said: “It is revealed and (well) known to me that if peradventure you had lived in that (earthly) world, the evil inclination would have ruled you just as much as it rules over the sons of man, but you would be more stubborn than they.” They said before Him: “Give us Thy sanction and let us descend and dwell among the creatures and then Thou shall see how we shall sanctify Thy name.” He said to them: “Descend and dwell ye among them.” Forthwith the Holy One allowed the evil inclination to rule over them, as soon as they descended. When they beheld the daughters of man that they were beautiful, they began to corrupt themselves with them, as it is said, “When the sons of God saw the daughters of man, they could not restrain their inclination.”⁹²

Here the motif of the evil inclination becomes linked not to the Giants and their demonic spirits but to the fallen angels – Shemhazai and Azael. This endowment with “evil desire” or “evil inclination” coincides in the Midrash with the antagonists’ descent, when the former celestial citizens ceased to be angelic beings and became the fallen Watchers. Just as in the case with humans, it is the deity who endows them with yetzer. The passage clearly states that it was God who allowed the evil inclination to rule over the fallen angels “as soon as they descended.” The statement that God allowed yetzer hara to rule over the fallen angels as soon as they descended is pertinent to our study, since Azazel’s deeds in relation to inner human faculties in the Apocalypse of Abraham are also closely connected with his affairs after his exile from heaven.

If Azazel is indeed associated with an internalized demonology in the Apocalypse of Abraham, the question still remains as to how this external personified adversary is able to control and corrupt the inner faculties of a human being. In order to answer this question, we must now revisit Yahoel’s instructions given to the seer in chapter fourteen.

The Antagonist’s Control over Humans: Azazel’s Lot

The crucial bulk of the Enochic traditions unfolds in chapters thirteen and fourteen. In Apoc. Ab. 14:1-14, Yahoel teaches his human apprentice an incantation against Azazel and his malicious allies. An important phrase found in this spell is “your [Azazel’s] inheritance are those who are with you, with men born with the stars and clouds.” As suggested earlier, this utterance brings to mind the story of the Giants who are, in the symbolic language of the Animal Apocalypse, begotten from the union of the “stars” (Watchers) and human women. Not all elements of the Slavonic text, however, are entirely clear. One of the puzzling details is an occurrence of the word “clouds” (Slav. облаки).⁹³ Although being born with “stars” makes sense in the context of early Enochic traditions, being born with “clouds” is a rather unusual addition. Rubinkiewicz offers a solution to this textual puzzle, suggesting that the word “clouds” may be a corruption of the Hebrew Mylpn / Greek Ναφηλείμ – the Nephilim, a term which occurs already in Gen 6:4.⁹⁴ According to Rubinkiewicz, a Slavic scribe has retained “Nephilim,” a Hebrew term used in some texts for the Giants,⁹⁵ which later copyists took for Greek νεφελά and translated it as “clouds.”⁹⁶ In light of this emendation, Rubinkiewicz suggests replacing the traditional translation “with the stars and clouds” with “avec les étoiles et avec les Géants.”⁹⁷ This hypothesis is plausible, but it is more resonable to assume that the confusion between Ναφηλείμ and νεφελά occurred already in the Greek Vorlage of the Apocalypse of Abraham.⁹⁸

If the original text had “Nephilim” instead of “clouds,” it is noteworthy that our text designates their progeny both as the “inheritance” and as the “lot” of Azazel: “Since your inheritance (достояние твое) are those who are with you, with men born with the stars (the Nephilim) and clouds. And their portion is you (ихъже часть еси ты).”⁹⁹ The occurrence of the terminology of “inheritance” and “lot” brings to mind demonological developments found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some Qumran passages speak about Belial’s army of “spirits,” assigned to “his lot.” This can be found, for example, in 1QM XIII 2, a passage which conveys a tradition about “Belial and all the spirits of his lot,”¹⁰⁰ and in 11Q13 II 12, a tradition which again speaks about the spirits of the antagonist’s goral.¹⁰¹

The imagery of the lots also looms large in the Apocalypse of Abraham, where their descriptions are widely dispersed throughout the second, apocalyptic part of the pseudepigraphon. These renderings are reminiscent of the terminology found in the Qumran materials. Scholars have suggested that the word “lot” (Slav. часть) in the Slavonic text appears to be connected to the Hebrew lrwg, a term prominent in cultic descriptions found in biblical and rabbinic accounts as well as in the eschatological developments attested in the Qumran materials.¹⁰²

The Apocalypse of Abraham shares other similarities with the Qumran materials. At Qumran, the lots are linked to fallen angelic figures or translated heroes (like Belial or Melchizedek). In the Apocalypse of Abraham, the portions of humanity are now tied to the main characters of the story – the fallen angel Azazel¹⁰³ and the translated patriarch Abraham.¹⁰⁴ In the Apocalypse of Abraham, like the Qumran materials,¹⁰⁵ the positive lot is at times designated as the lot of the deity – “my [God’s] lot”:¹⁰⁶

And the Eternal Mighty One said to me, “Abraham, Abraham!” And I said, “Here am I!” And he said, “Look from on high at the stars which are beneath you and count them for me and tell me their number!” And I said, “Would I be able? For I am [but] a man.” And he said to me, “As the number of the stars and their host, so shall I make your seed into a company of nations, set apart for me in my lot with Azazel.”¹⁰⁷

A further connection with the Qumran documents is found in Apoc. Ab. 14:6, where the concept of the eschatological “lot” or “portion” (Slav. часть)¹⁰⁸ of Azazel is used interchangeably with the notion of “inheritance” (Slav. достояние). The two notions, “inheritance” and “lot,” are also used interchangeably in some Qumran passages that contain “lot” imagery. For example, 11Q13 speaks about the “inheritance” of Melchizedek’s lot, which will be victorious in the eschatological battle:

…and from the inheritance of Melchizedek, fo[r…] … and they are the inherita[nce of Melchize]dek, who will make them return. And the d[ay of aton]ement is the e[nd of] the tenth [ju]bilee in which atonement shall be made for all the sons of [light and] for the men [of] the lot of Mel[chi]zedek.¹⁰⁹

In 1QS III 13 – IV 26, the idea of inheritance is tied to that of the lot of the righteous:

… they walk in wisdom or in folly. In agreement with man’s inheritance in the truth, he shall be righteous and so abhor injustice; and according to his share in the lot of injustice, he shall act wickedly in it, and so abhor the truth.¹¹⁰

In 1QS XI 7-8 and CD XIII 11-12, inheritance language is used in connection with participation in the lot of light, also labeled in 1QS as “the lot of the holy ones”:¹¹¹

To those whom God has selected he has given them as everlasting possession; and he has given them an inheritance in the lot of the holy ones. (1QS XI 7-8)¹¹²

And everyone who joins his congregation, he should examine, concerning his actions, his intelligence, his strength, his courage and his wealth; and they shall inscribe him in his place according to his inheritance in the lot of light. (CD XIII 11-12).¹¹³

In these last two texts, the phrase “inheritance in the lot” seems to imply that “inheritance” is the act of participation in one of the eschatological lots.¹¹⁴ The same idea is at work in the aforementioned passage from Apoc. Ab. 14:6, where “inheritance” is understood as partaking in the lot of Azazel.

The incantation found in the Apocalypse of Abraham reveals an interesting constellation of motifs with its reference to the Giants and their “progeny,” who are depicted as the “inheritance” of Azazel and the “lot” whom he himself “made.” In this respect, our apocalypse goes even further than Jubilees, which does not directly identify Mastema or Belial as one of the fallen Watchers or as the procreators of the Giants and their malevolent spirits. Here, however, the “parental” link is clearly visible. Additional evidence for this connection is found in Apoc. Ab. 14:6b: “and their portion is you [Azazel], and they come into being through your being.” The antagonist is depicted as the one who himself begot his own spiritual army. This tradition is a novel development in comparison with the Belial/Mastema trend attested in the Jubilees and in the Qumran materials.

If we assume that the original text of Apoc. Ab. 14:6 indeed had “Nephilim/Giants” instead of “clouds,” the question remains: how are these bastards still alive at the time of Abraham and still able to represent Azazel’s lot, despite the fact that the Giants had already perished in the antediluvian period? A possible answer is that these Giants are now functioning not in their bodily form, but rather in their spiritual one,¹¹⁵ as evil spirits.¹¹⁶ If so, Azazel, like Mastema or Belial, is now understood as the leader of the malevolent spirits who escaped the Giants after the demise of their material bodies. Although the text does not speak directly about the (evil) spirits of the Giants, other details, like the terminology of “inheritance” and “lot” are used in the Apocalypse of Abraham in the description of these allies of the antagonist, make such an interpretation plausible. Another important reference about the lot of Azazel and the Giants/Nephilim is made in the incantation, which the adept must repeat in order to safeguard himself against their harmful influence. This provides additional proof that Azazel’s assistants represent a demonic entity that now require such a tool.

Azazel’s Will: Backdoor to the Human Nature?

The category of “will” played a very important role in various passages found in the Apocalypse of Abraham. These narratives speak about the “will” of God,¹¹⁷ Azazel,¹¹⁸ and possibly Abraham.¹¹⁹ In the Apocalypse of Abraham, “will” became envisioned as a tool by which Azazel is able to influence human choices. It becomes another crucial instrument by which the antagonist of the apocalyptic story is able to exercise his control over inner human conditions, possibly even without the help of his demonic army. Such bridging of demonological and anthropological boundaries through the category of will establishes a new paradigm of the “internalized demonology,” which is different from the one attested in early Enochic writings and the Qumran materials. These materials have developed a concept of the demonic spirit with its ability to act internally.¹²⁰ According to this new paradigm, a malevolent spiritual entity has the ability even to inhabit a human soul or body, becoming a sort of spiritual parasite on its physical human host. Similar to the Jubilees and the Qumran materials, the Apocalypse of Abraham shows familiarity with this demonological model when it unveils its tradition about Azazel’s demonic lot. Yet, along with this already familiar demonological blueprint, our text also postulates another option for bridging internal and external realities. This option is an ability to corrupt human nature by controlling the human will. In this demonological framework there is no need for the antagonist’s capacities to act internally or reside inside the human soul or body, as he can exercise his control over human anthropology “remotely,” through a subject’s will. But how is the malevolent agent able to influence a human being’s free will, given the fact that it was granted to humanity by the deity himself? According to the Apocalypse of Abraham, it became possible because God himself gave Azazel a special “will” that allows him to control the inner workings of human beings.

At first glance, this paradigm shift appears to be not entirely novel. The Hebrew Sirach,¹²¹ the Testament of Reuben, ¹²² the Testament of Asher,¹²³ the Testament of Naphtali¹²⁴ and the Testament of Benjamin¹²⁵ often portray otherworldly figures as in charge of human inclinations. Some of these accounts curiously mention the faculty of the human will in the midst of speculation about the two spirits. Thus, from T. Jud. 20:1-5 we learn the following:

So understand, my children, that two spirits await an opportunity with humanity: the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. In between is the conscience of the mind which inclines as it will (οὗ ἐὰν θέλῃ κλῖναι). The things of truth and the things of error are written in the affections of man, each one of whom the Lord knows. There is no moment in which man’s works can be concealed, because they are written on the heart in the Lord’s sight. And the spirit of truth testifies to all things and brings all accusations. He who has sinned is consumed in his heart and cannot raise his head to face the judge.¹²⁶

The second sentence of this passage thematizes the faculty of the human will.¹²⁷ As Robert Henry Charles points out, “we have here an admirable description of man’s attitude to good and evil, which are here personified as spirits of good and evil. His will can determine for either (ver. 2).¹²⁸ The results of his volitions are forthwith written on his heart, i.e. on his character, and are ever open to the eyes of God (3-4).”¹²⁹ If Charles is correct, the human “will” conditions a human person’s “attitude to good and evil.”

Although some aforementioned accounts discuss the role of the human will in the process of choosing between good and evil, these accounts are missing one important element which is present in the Apocalypse of Abraham. This feature is presented with utmost clarity in Apoc. Ab. 14:13, a passage from which we learn that “God gave him (Azazel) the gravity and the will against those who answer him.”¹³⁰ I have argued elsewhere that “gravity” or “heaviness,” a concept expressed through the Slavonic term тягота, designates here the attribute of the glory bestowed by the deity on the antagonist.¹³¹ But what is the precise meaning of the other quality, mentioned in the passage, namely the mysterious “will” given to Azazel? It is important that the Apocalypse of Abraham traces the origins of this “will” to God, who at the same time decided to delegate the power over human volition to the adversary through the enigmatic transferal of this capacity.¹³² This situation appears to be different, on the one hand, from the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and the Qumran materials and, on the other hand, from later rabbinic accounts, as they both firmly maintained the freedom of human choice in the face of all afflictions.

The gift of “will,” received by the adversary, becomes a powerful weapon against all humans, not only the Gentiles, but the chosen people as well. In Apoc. Ab. 14:12, Abraham’s mentor, the angel Yahoel, warns his apprentice that Azazel’s “will” can affect even him: “And the angel said, ‘Now, whatever he says to you, answer him not, lest his will (воля его) affect you.’”¹³³ In this passage there is a significant link between Azazel’s will and Abraham’s will. This link demonstrates that the deity’s gift to the antagonist enables him to control a human being’s inclinations, as he is literally able to paralyze Abraham’s volitional abilities.

The motif of the antagonist’s “weaponized” will may have its early roots in the Book of Jubilees, a writing that shows remarkable similarities to some demonological traditions found in the Apocalypse of Abraham. Jubilees also speaks about the “will” of its otherworldly adversary, Mastema. In Jub. 10:3-7, in response to Noah’s plea, the deity orders the angels to bind all the evil spirits.¹³⁴ Their leader, Mastema, objects to this action¹³⁵ by uttering the following:

Lord creator, leave some of them before me; let them listen to me and do everything that I tell them, because if none of them is left for me I shall not be able to exercise the authority of my will among mankind. For they are meant for the purposes of destroying and misleading before my punishment because the evil of mankind is great (Jub. 10:8).¹³⁶

Following Noah’s plea and Mastema’s objections, God decides to leave “one-tenth of the demons unbound” (10:9).¹³⁷ An important detail in these negotiations is that the antagonist’s ability to exercise the authority of his will is connected with the active presence of his demonic army. The text links Mastema’s “will” with his demons, as he will not be able “to exercise the authority of his will” without them.¹³⁸ Does this mean that in the Apocalypse of Abraham Azazel’s “will” presumes the ownership of his demonic lot?

Although in his apotropaic prayer Noah prays to God not to give power to Mastema and his demons over human beings, God still grants the adversary this power. In Apoc. Ab. 23:13, the deity also speaks about the “power” over human beings given to Azazel: “Hear, Abraham! Those who desire evil (иже злаго желают) and whom I have hated as they are doing these [works], over them I gave him (Azazel) power (власть), and [he is] to be loved by them.”¹³⁹ Here God gives Azazel power (власть) over humans tormented with evil desires, and he empowers him to be loved by them.

Finally, one more important conceptual cluster pertaining to Azazel’s possible connection with an internalized demonology is situated in chapter thirteen. There, Yahoel teaches the adept about Azazel’s tricks by providing crucial information about his nefarious roles. The first aspect is Azazel’s role as personified iniquity. Apoc. Ab. 13:6 reads: “And it came to pass when I saw the bird speaking I said to the angel, ‘What is this, my lord?’ And he said, ‘This is iniquity (бещестие), this is Azazel!’”¹⁴⁰ Scholars often see Azazel here as the personification of iniquity or evil. Commenting on this tradition, Marc Philonenko notes that “dans l’Apocalypse d’Abraham, Azazel est l’impiété personnifiée.”¹⁴¹ In an attempt to clarify the meaning of the Slavonic term “бесчестие,” Rubinkiewicz traces it to the Greek ἀσεδεία or Hebrew (#r.¹⁴² Azazel’s role as personified “iniquity” is reaffirmed later in the scene of the protological couple’s corruption in chapter twenty three, where the antagonist is also defined as “iniquity”: “and he who is between them is the impiety (бесчестие) of their pursuits for destruction, Azazel himself.” (Apoc. Ab. 23:11).¹⁴³

Another pertinent role of the adversary, hinted at in Yahoel’s instructions, is that of tempter. From Apoc. Ab. 13:11 we learn that Azazel has been appointed to tempt people, though not the righteous: “you have been appointed to tempt.” This assignment of a certain portion of humankind for temptation and corruption is again reminiscent of Jubilees’ demonology, according to which Mastema is able to tempt/corrupt only a part of the human race. Another important role is found in Azazel’s designation as “the all-evil spirit,” mentioned in Apoc. Ab. 13:9: “Through you the all-evil spirit (is) a liar (и тобою всезлыи духъ лъжив), and through you (are) wrath and trials on the generations of men who live impiously.”¹⁴⁴

The most important verse for establishing Azazel’s role as the one who is able to control a human being’s nature is Apoc. Ab. 13:10, which speaks about his ability to act through the bodies of human beings. Kulik’s translation renders this verse in the following way: “since the Eternal Mighty God did not send the righteous, in their bodies, to be in your hand.”¹⁴⁵ However, the Slavonic text can be literally translated as “but the Eternal Mighty God did not give the righteous bodily (телесѣмъ) in your hand.”¹⁴⁶ The meaning of this verse appears to be that God forbids the antagonist to influence the bodily instincts of the righteous. Does this implicitly signify that he can influence the bodies of the wicked? If it is indeed so, such interaction between demonological and anthropological realities has great significance for our study.

Another aspect of Azazel’s evil economy is that, although the spirits are not mentioned in the speculations about his lot of the Giants, the text still relates the antagonist’s possible control over spiritual entities. Such a hint comes from Apoc. Ab. 13:9. In Yahoel’s rebuke, the adversary is linked with the “wholly-evil spirit”: “And because of you [there is] the wholly-evil spirit (всезлый духъ) of the lie.”¹⁴⁷ Curiously, Azazel appears to be not the wholly-evil spirit himself but rather the one who secures its existence. Does this signify that the evil spirit serves here, as in the case of the angelic antagonists of the Book of Jubilees, as Azazel’s agent? Our book unfortunately does not provide an answer to this question.

Conclusion

At the end of this study, it is useful to return again to Philip Alexander’s insights, mentioned earlier, which underline a crucial difference between angels (even fallen angels, like Azazel) and demons in relation to human anthropology.¹⁴⁸ While demons can “dwell” inside of a human being, angels are not able to do so. As Alexander puts it “demons can invade the human body, from which they can only be expelled through exorcism, whereas angels cannot. Nowhere do we read of an angel possessing a human.”¹⁴⁹ This “angel” demonology thus demonstrates a clear disadvantage, in comparison with “demon” demonology, in terms of usefulness for the specific needs of internalized anthropologies. By the peculiarities of its nature and operation, which allows it to indwell or possess a human being, the demon gains immediate access to the inner human nature — access which an angel is not able to attain. Because of this, the overwhelming majority of internalized demonologies appropriate the concept of demonic spirits as the first choice of their malevolent opponents. Yet, as the example of the Apocalypse of Abraham indicates, the “angel” demonology, with some important modifications, can still be useful for the purposes of some internalized anthropologies.