hebrew · religious

The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch)

c. 300–100 BCE · Second Temple Period · Judea; possibly Ethiopia

Chapters 1–5 — The Blessing of Enoch

1The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and righteous,
2Who will be living in the day of tribulation,
3When all the wicked and godless are to be removed.
4And he took up his parable and said —
5Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God,
6Saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens,
7Which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything,
8And from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation,
9But for a remote one which is for to come.
10Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them:
11The Holy Great One will come forth from His dwelling,
12And the eternal God will tread upon the earth, even on Mount Sinai,
13And appear from His camp, and appear in the strength of His might from the heaven of heavens.
14And all shall be smitten with fear, and the Watchers shall quake,
15And great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth.
16And the high mountains shall be shaken, and the high hills shall be made low,
17And shall melt like wax before the flame.
18And the earth shall be wholly rent in sunder,
19And all that is upon the earth shall perish,
20And there shall be a judgement upon all men.

Chapters 6–8 — The Fall of the Watchers

21And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied
22That in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters.
23And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them,
24And said to one another: Come, let us choose us wives
25From among the children of men and beget us children.
26And Semjâzâ, who was their leader, said unto them:
27I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed,
28And I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.
29And they all answered him and said: Let us all swear an oath,
30And all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan.
31Then they all swore together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it.
32And they were in all two hundred;
33Who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon.
34And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives,
35And each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them
36And to defile themselves with them.
37And they taught them charms and enchantments,
38And the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants.
39And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells.
40And Azâzêl taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates,
41And made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them,
42And bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony,
43And the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones,
44And all colouring tinctures.
45And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication,
46And they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.

Chapters 14–16 — Enoch's Vision of the Throne

47And I went in till I drew nigh to a wall which is built of crystals
48And surrounded by tongues of fire:
49And it began to affright me.
50And I went into the tongues of fire and drew nigh to a large house
51Which was built of crystals:
52And the walls of the house were like a tessellated floor made of crystals,
53And its groundwork was of crystal.
54Its ceiling was like the path of the stars and the lightnings,
55And between them were fiery cherubim,
56And their heaven was water.
57A flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its portals blazed with fire.
58And I entered into that house, and it was hot as fire and cold as ice:
59There were no delights of life therein: fear covered me, and trembling gat hold upon me.
60And as I quaked and trembled, I fell upon my face.
61And I beheld a vision, and lo! there was a second house, greater than the former,
62And the entire portal stood open before me, and it was built of flames of fire.
63And in every respect it so excelled in splendour and magnificence
64And extent that I cannot describe to you its splendour and its extent.
65And its floor was of fire, and above it were lightnings and the path of the stars,
66And its ceiling also was flaming fire.
67And I looked and saw therein a lofty throne:
68Its appearance was as crystal, and the wheels thereof as the shining sun,
69And there was the vision of cherubim.
70And from underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire
71So that I could not look thereon.
72And the Great Glory sat thereon, and His raiment shone more brightly than the sun
73And was whiter than any snow.
74None of the angels could enter and could behold His face
75By reason of the magnificence and glory and no flesh could behold Him.

Chapters 37–40 — The Son of Man (Book of Parables)

76There I saw One who had a head of days, and His head was white like wool,
77And with Him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man,
78And his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.
79And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things,
80Concerning that Son of Man, who he was,
81And whence he was, and why he went with the Head of Days?
82And he answered and said unto me:
83This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness,
84With whom dwelleth righteousness, and who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden,
85Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him,
86And whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever.
87And this Son of Man whom thou hast seen shall raise up the kings and the mighty
88From their seats, and the strong from their thrones
89And shall loosen the reins of the strong, and break the teeth of the sinners.
90And he shall put down the kings from their thrones and kingdoms
91Because they do not extol and praise Him,
92Nor humbly acknowledge whence the kingdom was bestowed upon them.

notes

The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) is a Jewish apocalyptic text attributed to Enoch, the seventh patriarch from Adam. It was composed in stages between approximately 300 and 100 BCE and survives complete only in the Ge'ez (Ethiopian) language, preserved by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as canonical scripture. Aramaic fragments covering much of the text were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls (Qumran Cave 4), confirming its antiquity and widespread use in Second Temple Judaism. The book was known to early Christians — it is quoted directly in the Epistle of Jude and alluded to throughout the New Testament — but was excluded from the Hebrew and Christian biblical canons. It consists of five main sections: the Book of the Watchers (the fall of angels and their corruption of humanity), the Book of Parables (the Son of Man vision, which profoundly influenced New Testament Christology), the Astronomical Book (heavenly calendar and cosmology), the Book of Dream Visions (symbolic history of Israel), and the Epistle of Enoch. The Book of the Watchers directly inspired the Book of Giants (also in this archive). Translation after R.H. Charles (1906). Public domain.

currently held: Ethiopian Orthodox Church; Dead Sea Scrolls fragments (Qumran Cave 4)

Primordial HistorySon of ManWatchersDivine CouncilAfterlifeApocalyptic

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