1 Enoch

These are the words of the blessing of Enoch, the blessing with which he blessed the chosen and righteous ones, who will be living in the day of great trouble, when all the wicked and godless are to be taken away.

1The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are to be removed.

NoteEnoch appears in Genesis 5 as the seventh generation from Adam, a man who "walked with God" and then "was not; for God took him," that is, he did not die but was taken away. This book is written centuries later in his voice. A "blessing" here is a formal spoken pronouncement delivered over a group, of the kind a dying patriarch gives his sons, not a good wish. "The chosen" translates the word older versions render "the elect," meaning the people God has picked out. "The day of great trouble" renders "the day of tribulation," a fixed phrase for the time of upheaval expected at the end of the age.

2And he began his formal speech and said: Enoch was a righteous man, and God opened his eyes. He saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me. I heard everything from them, and from them I understood what I saw. But it was not for this generation. It was for a far-off one that is still to come.

2And he took up his parable and said—Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come.

Note"He took up his parable" is the older English for a Hebrew idiom meaning to deliver a formal oracle in verse. It is not a story with a moral; it is closer to a prophetic poem, the same phrase used of Balaam in Numbers 23. "Whose eyes were opened" is a standard idiom for being given the ability to see what is normally invisible. The sentence begins by describing Enoch in the third person and then switches to "showed me" partway through. That shift is in the manuscripts, and marks the seam where an introduction about Enoch becomes Enoch speaking for himself.

3I spoke about the chosen ones, and I made my speech about them: The Holy Great One will come out from where he lives,

3Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them: The Holy Great One will come forth from His dwelling,

4and the eternal God will walk on the earth, on Mount Sinai itself. He will appear from his camp, and he will appear in the strength of his power from the highest heaven.

4And the eternal God will tread upon the earth, (even) on Mount Sinai, And appear from His camp And appear in the strength of His might from the heaven of heavens.

NoteMount Sinai is the mountain in the southern desert where, in Exodus, God came down in fire and smoke and gave the law to Moses. "His camp" is military language: God is pictured as a king marching out with an army. "The highest heaven" renders "the heaven of heavens," a Hebrew way of forming a superlative, the topmost of the layered heavens that ancient writers imagined stacked above the earth.

5And everyone will be struck with fear, and the Watchers will shake, and great fear and trembling will take hold of them to the ends of the earth.

5And all shall be smitten with fear, And the Watchers shall quake, And great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth.

NoteThe Watchers are a class of angels, named from a word meaning "the wakeful" or "those who do not sleep." The term appears in the book of Daniel and is central to 1 Enoch, which later tells at length how some of them came down, took human wives and taught forbidden knowledge. Here they are mentioned without explanation because the reader is expected to meet their story in the chapters that follow.

6And the high mountains will be shaken, and the high hills will be brought low, and they will melt like wax in a flame.

6And the high mountains shall be shaken, And the high hills shall be made low, And shall melt like wax before the flame.

NoteMountains shaking and melting is the standard set of images for a theophany, the appearance of God in person on earth. The same picture appears in Micah 1:4 and Psalm 97:5. The point is the physical response of the landscape, not a geological claim.

7And the earth will be torn completely apart, and everything on the earth will be destroyed, and there will be a judgment on all people.

7And the earth shall be wholly rent in sunder, And all that is upon the earth shall perish, And there shall be a judgement upon all (men).

8But with the righteous he will make peace. He will protect the chosen ones, and mercy will rest on them. They will all belong to God. They will do well, and they will all be blessed. He will help them all, and light will shine on them, and he will make peace with them.

8But with the righteous He will make peace. And will protect the elect, And mercy shall be upon them. And they shall all belong to God, And they shall be prospered, And they shall all be blessed. And He will help them all, And light shall appear unto them, And He will make peace with them.

9And look! He is coming with ten thousands of his holy ones, to carry out judgment on all, and to destroy all the ungodly. He will prove all flesh guilty of all the ungodly deeds they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the hard words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

9And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

Note"His holy ones" means angels, God's heavenly retinue. "Ten thousands" renders a word for the largest unit in the ancient counting system, so it functions much as "millions" does now: a number too large to count rather than an exact figure. "All flesh" is a Hebrew expression for every living creature, and by extension the whole human race. The heavy repetition of "ungodly" and "ungodliness" is deliberate in the original and not an accident of translation. This verse is quoted almost word for word in the New Testament letter of Jude, verses 14 and 15, where it is credited to "Enoch, the seventh from Adam."