The Literary Structure and Schematic Clauses in 1 En. 72:8–32

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the literary structure of 1 En. 72:8–32, which contains numerical data regarding the changing duration of day and night within the structure of the 364-day year. The central literary section of each month provides the reader with information about the changing length of day and night. The schematic clauses have been analyzed in the context of two Babylonian texts: Tablet BM 17175 + 17284 and Tablet XIV of the Enūma Anu Enlil astrological series. The redactional insertion in v. 27 has been compared with MUL . APIN II i 17, which contains the same information about the sun, but couched in a different terminology. The analysis demonstrates the process of appropriation, reinterpretation, and modification of schematic astronomical knowledge of Babylonian origin, as evidenced by the established relationship between the early form of Babylonian schematic astronomy and chapter 72 of 1 Enoch.