1 Enoch 100

In those days, in one place, fathers along with their sons will be struck down, and brothers will fall dead one with another, until the streams run with their blood.

1And in those days in one place the fathers together with their sons shall be smitten And brothers one with another shall fall in death Till the streams flow with their blood.

Note"In those days" is a recurring marker in Enoch for the time of the final judgment rather than any dated point in history. The picture of a family killing itself off is a stock feature of ancient descriptions of the end: when kinship, the strongest bond a person had, turns murderous, the whole social order has collapsed.

2A man will not hold back his hand from killing his sons and his sons' sons, and the sinner will not hold back his hand from his honored brother. From dawn until sunset they will kill one another.

2For a man shall not withhold his hand from slaying his sons and his sons’ sons, And the sinner shall not withhold his hand from his honoured brother: From dawn till sunset they shall slay one another.

NoteSons, grandsons and brothers were exactly the people a man was under the heaviest obligation to protect and avenge; "honoured brother" names a tie that was supposed to be untouchable. "From dawn till sunset" means a full working day of it, without pause.

3The horse will walk chest-deep in the blood of sinners, and the chariot will be sunk to the top of it.

3And the horse shall walk up to the breast in the blood of sinners, And the chariot shall be submerged to its height.

NoteHorses and chariots wading in blood is a conventional exaggeration for battlefield carnage in this kind of writing; compare Revelation 14:20. "Submerged to its height" means the blood stands as deep as the chariot is tall.

4In those days the angels will come down into the hidden places and gather into one place all those who brought sin down, and the Most High will rise up on that day of judgment to carry out great judgment among sinners.

4In those days the angels shall descend into the secret places And gather together into one place all those who brought down sin, And the Most High will arise on that day of judgement To execute great judgement amongst sinners.

NoteThe "secret places" are hiding places, where the guilty have gone to ground. "Those who brought down sin" is ambiguous: it can mean the rebel angels of chapters 6 to 16, who came down and taught humanity wrongdoing, or human beings who brought sin about. The text does not settle which. "The Most High will arise" is courtroom language: the judge stands up when sentence is about to be given.

5Over all the righteous and holy ones he will appoint guardians from among the holy angels, to guard them as the apple of an eye, until he puts an end to all wickedness and all sin. And though the righteous sleep a long sleep, they have nothing to fear.

5And over all the righteous and holy He will appoint guardians from amongst the holy angels To guard them as the apple of an eye, Until He makes an end of all wickedness and all sin, And though the righteous sleep a long sleep, they have nought to fear.

Note"The apple of an eye" is an old English phrase for the pupil, the part of the body a person shields without thinking; to guard something that way is to guard it instinctively and absolutely. "Sleep a long sleep" is a standard way of saying they are dead, and the point of the line is that being dead does not put them outside this protection.

6Then the children of the earth will see the wise living in safety, and will understand all the words of this book, and will recognize that their riches will not be able to save them in the overthrow of their sins.

6And (then) the children of the earth shall see the wise in security, And shall understand all the words of this book, And recognize that their riches shall not be able to save them In the overthrow of their sins.

Note"Children of the earth" simply means human beings, people alive on the earth. "This book" is the book of Enoch itself: the writer assumes it will still be in circulation then, and that those who ignored it will eventually read it and recognize themselves in it.

7How terrible for you, sinners, on the day of great pain, you who hurt the righteous and burn them with fire. You will be paid back according to what you have done.

7Woe to you, Sinners, on the day of strong anguish, Ye who afflict the righteous and burn them with fire: Ye shall be requited according to your works.

Note"Woe to you" opens a formal denunciation, a form taken over from the Hebrew prophets. It is a public accusation with a sentence attached, not an expression of sympathy. Chapters 94 to 104 of Enoch are built as a long chain of these. Burning the righteous with fire suggests the writer's community knew of people actually executed this way.

8How terrible for you, you who are stubborn in heart, who stay awake in order to plan evil. Because of this, fear will come upon you, and there will be no one to help you.

8Woe to you, ye obstinate of heart, Who watch in order to devise wickedness: Therefore shall fear come upon you And there shall be none to help you.

NoteIn this literature the heart is where a person thinks, plans and decides, not where feelings live, so "obstinate of heart" means fixed in intention rather than emotionally hardened. Staying awake to devise wickedness pictures someone lying sleepless at night working out a scheme; compare Micah 2:1.

9How terrible for you, sinners, because of the words of your mouth, and because of the deeds of your hands that your godlessness has carried out. You will burn in blazing flames that burn worse than fire.

9Woe to you, ye sinners, on account of the words of your mouth, And on account of the deeds of your hands which your godlessness has wrought, In blazing flames burning worse than fire shall ye burn.

Note"Godlessness" here is practical rather than intellectual: acting as though no one will ever call you to account, not holding a particular opinion about God. "Blazing flames burning worse than fire" is deliberate intensification, a fire beyond ordinary fire.

10And now know this: he will question the angels about your deeds in heaven, and the sun and the moon and the stars about your sins, because on the earth you carry out judgment on the righteous.

10And now, know ye that from the angels He will inquire as to your deeds in heaven, from the sun and from the moon and from the stars in reference to your sins because upon the earth ye execute judgement on the righteous.

NoteIn Enoch the sun, moon and stars are intelligent beings who keep to courses assigned them and keep records of what they see. Here they are summoned as witnesses in a trial. Calling heaven and the heavenly bodies to testify against wrongdoers is an old legal formula; compare Deuteronomy 4:26 and 32:1. "Execute judgement on the righteous" is the language of a corrupt court: handing down verdicts against innocent people.

11And he will call every cloud and mist and dew and rain to testify against you, because they will all be held back from coming down on you on account of you, and they will remember your sins.

11And He will summon to testify against you every cloud and mist and dew and rain; for they shall all be withheld because of you from descending upon you, and they shall be mindful of your sins.

NoteRain and dew withheld means drought, which in this part of the world was the standard visible sign that judgment had fallen. The point is that these witnesses testify by their absence: they give evidence against the sinners by refusing to come down on their fields.

12And now, give gifts to the rain, so that it is not held back from falling on you, and to the dew as well, once it has taken gold and silver from you, so that it may come down.

12And now give presents to the rain that it be not withheld from descending upon you, nor yet the dew, when it has received gold and silver from you that it may descend.

NoteThis is sarcasm. Sinners are accused elsewhere in these chapters of buying verdicts from judges; the writer tells them to try the same method on the weather, paying gold and silver to rain and dew as they would pay off an official. The joke is that rain cannot be bribed.

13When the frost and the snow with their cold, and all the snowstorms with all their harms, fall upon you, in those days you will not be able to stand up to them.

13When the hoar-frost and snow with their chilliness, and all the snow-storms with all their plagues fall upon you, in those days ye shall not be able to stand before them.

Note"Hoar-frost" is the white crystal frost that forms on exposed surfaces on a cold, clear night. Charles's "plagues" means the damage the storms inflict. In Enoch's tour of the heavens (chapters 60 and 75) frost, snow and storm are kept in storehouses and released by angels on command, so these are agents acting under orders rather than mere weather.