1 Enoch 22

From there I went on to another place, and he showed me in the west another mountain, great and high, made of hard rock.

1And thence I went to another place, and he showed me in the west another great and high mountain and of hard rock. Ethiopic !! Greek

NoteThis chapter continues a guided tour: Enoch is being led around the far edges of the earth by an angel and shown what is there. The direction matters. In both Greek and Near Eastern tradition the west, where the sun goes down, was where the dead were thought to be, so a mountain in the west is where a reader of the time would expect this stop to come.

2In it were four hollow places, deep and very smooth. Three of them were dark and one was bright, and there was a spring of water in the middle of it. And I said, "How smooth these hollow places are, and how deep and dark they look."

2And there were †four† hollow places in it, deep and very smooth: †three† of them were dark and one bright and there was a fountain of water in its midst. And I said: ‘†How† smooth are these hollow places, and deep and dark to view.’

Note"Hollow places" translates a word meaning a scooped-out space, a cave or chamber cut into rock. Charles marked both numbers in this verse as doubtful in his text, because the manuscripts do not agree and the chapter does not add up cleanly: verse 9 says "These three have been made," yet four groups of the dead are then described in verses 9 through 13. Some copies read three hollow places here, some four. The rendering follows Charles's own reading, but the count is genuinely unsettled.

3Then Raphael answered me. He was one of the holy angels who was with me, and he said to me, "These hollow places were made for this exact purpose: so that the spirits of the souls of the dead would gather in them. Yes, so that all the souls of human beings would gather here.

3Then Raphael answered, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: ‘These hollow places have been created for this very purpose, that the spirits of the souls of the dead should assemble therein, yea that all the souls of the children of men should assemble here.

NoteRaphael is one of the seven angels named earlier in this book (chapter 20), where he is given charge of the spirits of human beings. The doubled phrase "the spirits of the souls of the dead" is in the text as it stands; "spirit" and "soul" are not being distinguished here, the words are piled up for weight.

4These places were made to hold them until the day of their judgment, and until their set time, the time appointed for them, until the great judgment comes upon them."

4And these places have been made to receive them till the day of their judgement and till their appointed period till the period appointed, till the great judgement (comes) upon them.’ Ethiopic !! Greek

NoteThe repetition ("until their set time, the time appointed for them") is not emphasis by the author. Charles's manuscripts preserved two slightly different versions of the same clause, and he printed both rather than choose between them. The sense is one statement made once.

5I saw the spirit of a dead man bringing a complaint, and his voice went up to heaven and pleaded his case there.

5I saw 〈the spirit of〉 a dead man making suit, and his voice went forth to heaven and made suit.

Note"Bringing a complaint" and "pleading his case" are courtroom words. The dead man is not lamenting or grieving; he is formally prosecuting, bringing a charge before heaven as before a judge, and the charge stays open until it is answered.

6So I asked Raphael, the angel who was with me. I said to him, "This spirit that is bringing a complaint, whose spirit is it? Whose voice is going up and pleading to heaven?"

6And I asked Raphael the angel who was with me, and I said unto him: ‘This spirit which maketh suit, whose is it, whose voice goeth forth and maketh suit to heaven?’

7And he answered me, "This is the spirit that went out from Abel, whom his brother Cain killed. He brings his complaint against Cain until Cain's offspring are wiped off the face of the earth, and his offspring are destroyed from among the offspring of human beings."

7And he answered me saying: ‘This is the spirit which went forth from Abel, whom his brother Cain slew, and he makes his suit against him till his seed is destroyed from the face of the earth, and his seed is annihilated from amongst the seed of men.’ Ethiopic !! Greek

NoteGenesis 4 tells of Cain killing his brother Abel, and has God say to Cain, "the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground." This passage takes that crying voice literally and gives it a location: Abel's spirit is in one of these chambers, still lodging its complaint. "Offspring" translates "seed," meaning descendants, the whole line of a man's children and their children.

8Then I asked about all the hollow places, "Why is one kept apart from another?"

8Then I asked regarding all the hollow places: ‘Why is one separated from the other?’ Ethiopic !! Greek

9And he answered me, "These three were made so that the spirits of the dead would be kept separate from each other. This section has been made for the spirits of the righteous, the one where the bright spring of water is.

9And he answered me saying: ‘These three have been made that the spirits of the dead might be separated. And this division has been made for the spirits of the righteous, in which there is the bright spring of water.

NoteIn this geography the presence of water marks the good place. The righteous wait with a bright spring; the other chambers, as verse 2 said, are dark and dry.

10And this one has been made for sinners, for when they die and are buried in the ground and no judgment was carried out on them during their lifetime.

10And this has been made for sinners when they die and are buried in the earth and judgement has not been executed upon them in their lifetime.

11Here their spirits will be set apart, in this great pain, until the great day of judgment, with beatings and torments for those under a curse, forever, so that their spirits get what is owed to them. There he will bind them forever.

11Here their spirits shall be set apart in this great pain, till the great day of judgement, scourgings, and torments of the accursed for ever, so that (there may be) retribution for their spirits. There He shall bind them for ever.

Note"Beatings" renders "scourgings," whipping as a judicial punishment. "Get what is owed to them" renders "retribution," which in this older English means repayment of what is due, the settling of an account, not vengeance in the modern sense.

12And this section has been made for the spirits of those who bring a complaint, who tell what happened when they were destroyed, when they were killed in the days of the sinners.

12And this division has been made for the spirits of those who make their suit, who make disclosures concerning their destruction, when they were slain in the days of the sinners.

Note"Tell what happened when they were destroyed" means they give testimony, laying out the facts of their own killing. This chamber holds people who died as Abel did, murdered, and like him they are still formally accusing.

13And this one has been made for the spirits of people who will not be righteous but will be sinners, who are godless, and who will be companions of the lawless. But their spirits will not be punished on the day of judgment, and they will not be raised up from there."

13And this has been made for the spirits of men who shall not be righteous but sinners, who are godless, and of the lawless they shall be companions: but their spirits shall not be punished in the day of judgement nor shall they be raised from thence.

NoteThis fourth group is the hardest sentence in the chapter, and readers have argued over it since antiquity. As the text stands, these spirits are neither punished at the judgment nor raised out of the chamber: they simply remain. Some take this to mean they were already punished by being killed during their lifetimes, so nothing further is owed; others hold that the text is damaged here, since the Greek and Ethiopic copies differ. The rendering leaves the difficulty where the manuscripts leave it.

14Then I blessed the Lord of glory and said, "Blessed are you, Lord of righteousness, who rules over the world."

14Then I blessed the Lord of glory and said: ’Blessed art Thou, Lord of righteousness, who ruleth over the world.’

NoteTo "bless" God, here and throughout this book, means to praise or speak well of him. It is the opposite direction from a person being blessed: the worshiper is not conferring anything, but acknowledging.