1 Enoch 102

In those days, when he has brought a terrible fire on you, where will you run, and where will you find rescue? And when he sends out his word against you, will you not be terrified and afraid?

1In those days when He hath brought a grievous fire upon you, Whither will ye flee, and where will ye find deliverance? And when He launches forth His word against you Will you not be affrighted and fear?

Note"His word" here is spoken judgment pictured as a weapon launched at a target; Charles's "launches forth" renders a verb of hurling. The questions are aimed at the sinners addressed in the previous chapter, not at the reader in general.

2And all the lights in the sky will be terrified with great fear, and all the earth will be terrified and will shake and be alarmed.

2And all the luminaries shall be affrighted with great fear, And all the earth shall be affrighted and tremble and be alarmed.

Note"Luminaries" is Charles's word for the sun, moon and stars. In 1 Enoch these are not just lights but ordered, governed bodies with appointed courses (a long section of the book, chapters 72 to 82, is devoted to them), so their terror means the whole created order is shaken.

3And all the angels will carry out their orders, and they will try to hide themselves from the presence of the Great Glory. The children of earth will tremble and shake. And you sinners will be cursed forever, and you will have no peace.

3And all the †angels shall execute their commands† And shall seek to hide themselves from the presence of the Great Glory, And the children of earth shall tremble and quake; And ye sinners shall be cursed for ever, And ye shall have no peace.

NoteThe dagger marks in Charles's translation, "†angels shall execute their commands†," are his warning that the Ethiopic text here looks corrupt and his English is a guess. "The Great Glory" is a title for God used elsewhere in 1 Enoch (as at 14:20), a way of speaking about him without naming him. "Ye shall have no peace" is a recurring formula of doom in this book, first pronounced against the fallen Watchers, and it means more than absence of quiet: no safety, no well-being, no settled state ever again.

4Do not be afraid, you souls of the righteous, and keep your hope, you who have died in righteousness.

4Fear ye not, ye souls of the righteous, And be hopeful ye that have died in righteousness.

Note"Souls of the righteous" means the dead themselves, not a part of a living person. 1 Enoch pictures the dead as waiting in separated places until judgment (chapter 22), which is why they can be addressed and told to hope.

5And do not grieve if your soul went down into Sheol in grief, or that during your life your body was not treated in a way that matched your goodness. Instead, wait for the day when sinners are judged, and for the day of cursing and punishment.

5And grieve not if your soul into Sheol has descended in grief, And that in your life your body fared not according to your goodness, But wait for the day of the judgement of sinners And for the day of cursing and chastisement.

NoteSheol is the underworld where the dead go, common to all of them in older Hebrew usage; it is not itself a place of punishment but a shadowy holding place. "Your body fared not according to your goodness" means their treatment in life did not match how they lived: they were good and still suffered.

6And yet when you die, the sinners talk about you: 'The righteous die the same way we die. What good do they get out of the things they did?

6And yet when ye die the sinners speak over you: ‘As we die, so die the righteous, And what benefit do they reap for their deeds?

NoteThe quotation opening here is the sinners' speech, and it runs to the end of verse 8. The writer is quoting the mockery of the wicked in order to answer it later, not stating his own view.

7Look, they die in grief and darkness just as we do. What do they have more than we have? From now on we are equal.

7Behold, even as we, so do they die in grief and darkness, And what have they more than we? From henceforth we are equal.

8And what will they receive, and what will they see forever? Look, they too have died, and from now on, forever, they will see no light.'

8And what will they receive and what will they see for ever? Behold, they too have died, And henceforth for ever shall they see no light.’

9I tell you, sinners: you are satisfied to eat and drink, and to rob and sin, and to strip people naked, and to gain wealth and enjoy good days.

9I tell you, ye sinners, ye are content to eat and drink, and rob and sin, and strip men naked, and acquire wealth and see good days.

Note"Strip men naked" describes robbing people of the very clothes they wear, a standard picture of predatory cruelty toward the poor, whose outer garment was often all they had and was legally protected from being kept overnight as a pledge. "See good days" means enjoy a comfortable, prosperous life.

10Have you seen how it turns out for the righteous in the end, that no violence of any kind is found in them right up to their death?

10Have ye seen the righteous how their end falls out, that no manner of violence is found in them till their death?

NoteThe sense is that the righteous are found innocent of violence, that no wrongdoing can be charged against them right up to the day they die. It is a question put to the sinners, challenging them to admit what they have observed.

11'Even so, they died and became as if they had never existed, and their spirits went down into Sheol in distress.'

11‘Nevertheless they perished and became as though they had not been, and their spirits descended into Sheol in tribulation.’

NoteThe quotation marks indicate speech, but who is speaking is disputed: this may be the sinners' conclusion continuing from their earlier taunt, or the writer restating their objection in order to answer it, which he does in the following chapter. "Became as though they had not been" is their claim that death erased the righteous entirely.