1 Enoch 27

Then I said: "What is this blessed land for, the one that is completely covered with trees, and what is this cursed valley in between for?"

1Then said I: ‘For what object is this blessed land, which is entirely filled with trees, and this accursed valley between?’

NoteEnoch is being shown around, and "this" land and "this" valley point back to what he has just been shown in the previous chapter: a place at the middle of the earth with a holy mountain, running streams and fragrant trees, and beside it a deep, dry ravine. The scene has long been read as Jerusalem and the gorge on its southern side, the Valley of Hinnom, called in Hebrew ge-hinnom, from which the later word Gehenna for the place of punishment comes. "Blessed" and "cursed" here work as a matched pair of formal sentences: one plot of ground set apart for good, the other set apart for doom.

2Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said: "This cursed valley is for those who are cursed forever. Here everyone who is cursed will be gathered together, all who speak improper words against the Lord with their lips, and who say harsh things about his glory. (The Greek copy reads instead: Here they will be gathered together, and here their place of judgment will be.)

2Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said: ‘This accursed valley is for those who are accursed for ever: Here shall all the accursed be gathered together who utter with their lips against the Lord unseemly words and of His glory speak hard things. Ethiopic !! Greek Here shall they be gathered together, and here shall be their place of judgement.

NoteUriel, a name meaning roughly "God is my light," is one of the named archangels in 1 Enoch. Through this long tour of the world's edges he is Enoch's guide and interpreter: his job is to explain what Enoch has already been shown, not to show him anything new. The bracketed sentence is not part of the vision. 1 Enoch survives complete only in Ethiopic (Ge'ez), with portions also preserved in Greek and in Aramaic fragments. Where the versions disagree, Charles, the translator, prints both; here the Greek copy carries a shorter sentence in place of the longer Ethiopic one, and the rendering keeps both.

3In the last times, in the days of the true judgment, in the presence of the righteous forever, here the godly will bless the Lord of glory, the Eternal King.

3In the last times, in the days of the true judgement in the presence of the righteous for ever: here shall the godly bless the Lord of glory, the Eternal King.

NoteTo "bless" the Lord does not mean to confer something on him. It means to speak well of him aloud, to praise. It is the exact opposite of what the condemned in the previous verse do with their lips, and the contrast is the point of putting the two side by side.

4In the days when the former ones are judged, they will bless him for the mercy by which he has given them their share."

4In the days of judgement over the former, they shall bless Him for the mercy in accordance with which He has assigned them (their lot).’

Note"The former" is genuinely obscure in the Ethiopic and Charles leaves it unresolved: it may mean those judged earlier, or earlier generations, or the cursed just described. Who "they" are that bless him, and who "them" is that he has assigned a share to, is likewise not spelled out. The rendering keeps the vagueness rather than picking one reading. A person's "share" or "lot" is the portion assigned to them; the word comes from the literal casting of lots, marked stones or sticks drawn to divide land, so it came to mean whatever destiny falls to someone.

5Then I blessed the Lord of Glory, and I declared his glory, and I praised him gloriously.

5Then I blessed the Lord of Glory and set forth His glory and lauded Him gloriously.