1 Enoch 41

After that I saw all the secrets of the heavens, and how the kingdom is divided, and how the deeds of people are weighed on the scales.

1And after that I saw all the secrets of the heavens, and how the kingdom is divided, and how the actions of men are weighed in the balance.

NoteTwo phrases here are genuinely obscure. "How the kingdom is divided" could mean the parceling out of rule or kingship, or the division of the heavenly realm Enoch is being shown; the Ethiopic does not settle it, and translators differ. "Weighed in the balance" is the image of a two pan balance scale, the ordinary ancient instrument for weighing grain, metal and coin: a person's deeds are set in one pan and measured against a standard, so that the verdict is a reading off of weight rather than an argument.

2And there I saw the homes of the chosen and the homes of the holy. My own eyes saw all the sinners there being driven out of that place, the ones who deny the name of the Lord of Spirits, and they were dragged away. They could not stay, because of the punishment that comes from the Lord of Spirits.

2And there I saw the mansions of the elect and the mansions of the holy, and mine eyes saw there all the sinners being driven from thence which deny the name of the Lord of Spirits, and being dragged off: and they could not abide because of the punishment which proceeds from the Lord of Spirits.

Note"Lord of Spirits" is the standing title for God all through chapters 37 to 71 of this book, where other parts of Enoch say "the Great Holy One." It means roughly the ruler of the spirits, that is of the angelic hosts and of the living beings under his command. "The elect" (here "the chosen") and "the holy" are likewise fixed group labels in this book for the righteous, sometimes human and sometimes angelic; they are not descriptions invented for this sentence. Charles's "mansions" is the older English sense of dwelling places or lodgings, with no suggestion of grand houses.

3And there my eyes saw the secrets of the lightning and the thunder, and the secrets of the winds, how they are divided up to blow across the earth, and the secrets of the clouds and the dew. There I saw where they come out from in that place, and where they come from when they soak the dusty ground.

3And there mine eyes saw the secrets of the lightning and of the thunder, and the secrets of the winds, how they are divided to blow over the earth, and the secrets of the clouds and dew, and there I saw from whence they proceed in that place and from whence they saturate the dusty earth.

NoteDew mattered in this climate in a way it does not in wetter countries: through the rainless months it was a real source of water for crops, so the question of where it comes from is a practical one about the supply of water, not a poetic flourish.

4And there I saw shut storerooms out of which the winds are divided up: the storeroom of the hail and the winds, the storeroom of the mist, and of the clouds. That cloud has hung over the earth since the beginning of the world.

4And there I saw closed chambers out of which the winds are divided, the chamber of the hail and winds, the chamber of the mist, and of the clouds, and the cloud thereof hovers over the earth from the beginning of the world.

NoteThe picture behind "closed chambers" is a standard ancient one: wind, hail, snow, mist and rain are kept in locked storehouses or treasuries in the sky and let out at command, in measured amounts. The King James translates the same idea at Job 38:22 as "the treasures of the snow" and at Psalm 135:7 as "he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries." Enoch's tour is an inspection of these storerooms and of the machinery that releases them.

5And I saw the storerooms of the sun and the moon: where they come out from and where they go back to, and their glorious return, and how one of them is greater than the other, and their grand circling path. I saw how they do not leave that path, and add nothing to it and take nothing from it, and how they keep faith with each other, according to the oath that binds them together.

5And I saw the chambers of the sun and moon, whence they proceed and whither they come again, and their glorious return, and how one is superior to the other, and their stately orbit, and how they do not leave their orbit, and they add nothing to their orbit and they take nothing from it, and they keep faith with each other, in accordance with the oath by which they are bound together.

Note"How one is superior to the other" refers to the sun being the greater of the two lights. "Orbit" is Charles's word for the fixed circuit the sun and moon are held to; elsewhere in this book (chapters 72 to 75) that circuit is described as a set of gates along the rim of heaven through which they rise and set in a fixed order. The "oath by which they are bound together" points to a binding oath that, in this book, holds all of creation to its courses; chapter 69 describes it at length, as the sworn word by which sea, earth and heavenly bodies keep their limits.

6First the sun goes out and travels along his path, according to the command of the Lord of Spirits, and mighty is his name forever and ever.

6And first the sun goes forth and traverses his path according to the commandment of the Lord of Spirits, and mighty is His name for ever and ever.

Note"Mighty is His name for ever and ever" refers to the Lord of Spirits just named, not to the sun, even though the preceding words are about the sun's path. Charles capitalizes "His" to mark that shift; the underlying text has no capitals, so the ambiguity is only resolved by sense.

7After that I saw the hidden path and the visible path of the moon. She completes the course of her path in that place by day and by night, the one of them holding a position opposite the other before the Lord of Spirits. They give thanks and praise and do not rest, for their thanksgiving is rest to them.

7And after that I saw the hidden and the visible path of the moon, and she accomplishes the course of her path in that place by day and by night—the one holding a position opposite to the other before the Lord of Spirits. And they give thanks and praise and rest not; For unto them is their thanksgiving rest.

NoteThe "hidden" path is the stretch of the moon's course when it cannot be seen, the "visible" path the stretch when it can; together they account for the phases. "The one holding a position opposite the other" is the sun and moon standing on opposite sides, the arrangement that produces full moonlight. The closing line, Charles's "For unto them is their thanksgiving rest," is difficult in the Ethiopic and translators render it variously; the apparent sense is that their ceaseless praise is itself their rest rather than a break from labor.

8For the sun changes often, for a blessing or a curse, and the course of the moon's path is light to those who do right and darkness to sinners, in the name of the Lord, who made a division between the light and the darkness, and divided the spirits of people, and made strong the spirits of those who do right, in the name of his righteousness.

8For the sun changes oft for a blessing or a curse, And the course of the path of the moon is light to the righteous And darkness to the sinners in the name of the Lord, Who made a separation between the light and the darkness, And divided the spirits of men, And strengthened the spirits of the righteous, In the name of His righteousness.

Note"The sun changes oft" refers to its seasonal changes in height, heat and length of day, which bring either a blessing, ripening crops, or a curse, scorching them in drought. "Who made a separation between the light and the darkness" deliberately echoes the wording of Genesis 1:4 in the creation account, and the verse then applies the same verb of dividing to the spirits of people.

9For no angel holds him back and no power is able to hold him back, because he appoints a judge for them all, and he judges them all in his presence.

9For no angel hinders and no power is able to hinder; for He appoints a judge for them all and He judges them all before Him.