1 Enoch 46

And there I saw one who had a head of days, and his head was white like wool. With him was another being who looked like a man, and his face was full of graciousness, like the face of one of the holy angels.

1And there I saw One who had a head of days, And His head was white like wool, And with Him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man, And his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.

Note"A head of days" is a literal rendering of the Ethiopic and is not normal English. It means one whose days are ancient, an aged figure, and the phrase becomes a fixed title a few lines later: the Head of Days. It matches the "Ancient of days" of Daniel 7, where a white-haired figure takes his seat in judgment and "one like the Son of man" comes to him. This chapter is written as a deliberate expansion of that scene. White hair was a standard sign of great age and of the authority age carried. "Graciousness" here is not politeness. It means favor and kindness of expression, a face that shows goodwill toward the one looking at it.

2And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things about that Son of Man: who he was, and where he came from, and why he went with the Head of Days.

2And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, (and) why he went with the Head of Days?

Note"Son of Man" in Hebrew and Aramaic idiom means simply "a human being," the way "son of Israel" means an Israelite. In Daniel 7 the figure is described as "one like the Son of man," meaning one in human form as opposed to the beasts that came before. Here in Enoch the phrase has hardened into a title for a particular individual, which is why the angel can be asked "who he was, and where he came from." Translators keep the odd literal wording because the title, not the idiom, is the point. The angel guide who explains what the visionary is seeing is a standard feature of this kind of writing. Enoch is shown things and asks what they mean; the interpreting angel answers.

3And he answered me: This is the Son of Man who has righteousness, and righteousness lives with him. He reveals all the treasures of what is hidden, because the Lord of Spirits has chosen him, and his portion holds first place before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness forever.

3And he answered and said unto me: This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, With whom dwelleth righteousness, And who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden, Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, And whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever.

Note"The Lord of Spirits" is the standard title for God throughout this section of 1 Enoch, chapters 37 to 71, known as the Book of Parables or Similitudes. "Spirits" means the heavenly beings of his court, so the title pictures God as sovereign over the whole unseen world. "Treasures of what is hidden" uses treasure in its older sense of a storehouse, not the valuables inside one. The picture is of sealed storerooms of knowledge that this figure alone can open. "His portion" translates a word meaning a lot, the share assigned to someone, as land was assigned by casting lots. To say his lot "holds first place" is to say the share allotted to him ranks above all others.

4And this Son of Man whom you have seen will raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats, and the strong from their thrones. He will loosen the reins of the strong and break the teeth of the sinners.

4And this Son of Man whom thou hast seen Shall †raise up† the kings and the mighty from their seats, And the strong from their thrones And shall loosen the reins of the strong, And break the teeth of the sinners.

NoteCharles marked "raise up" with daggers, his signal that he believed the Ethiopic text here is damaged and does not give the original reading. The surrounding lines are all about bringing rulers down, and verse 5 repeats the thought as "put the kings down from their thrones," so the sense the passage needs is the opposite of what the manuscripts say. The rendering keeps the difficulty rather than smoothing it over. "Seats" and "thrones" here are the same idea twice, in the paired style of Hebrew poetry: the second line restates the first in different words. "Loosen the reins of the strong" is horse imagery. Reins are the straps by which a rider controls a mount; to loosen them is to strip a man of his grip on power. "Break the teeth of the sinners" is a fixed image from the Psalms for disarming a predator, taking away the means by which it harms.

5And he will put the kings down from their thrones and their kingdoms, because they do not lift him up in praise, and do not humbly admit where their kingdom was given to them from.

5And he shall put down the kings from their thrones and kingdoms Because they do not extol and praise Him, Nor humbly acknowledge whence the kingdom was bestowed upon them.

Note"Lift him up in praise" renders a verb meaning to extol, to exalt someone by speaking of him highly. The charge against these kings is not that they were irreligious in general but that they never admitted the source of their own authority: they held the kingdom without acknowledging "where their kingdom was given to them from."

6And he will cast down the faces of the strong and fill them with shame. Darkness will be their home, and worms will be their bed, and they will have no hope of rising from their beds, because they do not lift up in praise the name of the Lord of Spirits.

6And he shall put down the countenance of the strong, And shall fill them with shame. And darkness shall be their dwelling, And worms shall be their bed, And they shall have no hope of rising from their beds, Because they do not extol the name of the Lord of Spirits.

Note"Cast down the faces of the strong" is an idiom. A fallen or downcast face meant public humiliation, the look of someone who cannot meet another's eyes. "Worms will be their bed" echoes Isaiah's taunt over the king of Babylon, where the maggot is spread under a dead ruler and worms cover him. It is the imagery of the grave and of a burial without honor.

7And these are the ones who judge the stars of the sky, and raise their hands against the Most High, and tread upon the earth and live on it. Everything they do shows unrighteousness. Their power rests on their riches, and their faith is in the gods they have made with their own hands, and they deny the name of the Lord of Spirits.

7And these are they who †judge† the stars of heaven, And raise their hands against the Most High, †And tread upon the earth and dwell upon it†. And all their deeds manifest unrighteousness, And their power rests upon their riches, And their faith is in the gods which they have made with their hands, And they deny the name of the Lord of Spirits,

NoteCharles daggered both "judge" and the line "And tread upon the earth and dwell upon it" to mark places where he thought the Ethiopic had gone wrong and the intended sense is not recoverable. The rendering leaves them as they stand. In this literature the stars of the sky are not only lights but heavenly beings with their own appointed courses, so to "judge the stars" is to claim a jurisdiction that belongs to God alone. To "raise their hands against" someone is a gesture of open defiance and violence, not a request or a plea. "The Most High" is an ancient title for God, marking him as higher than every other power, human or heavenly. "The gods they have made with their own hands" is the standard scriptural way of describing idols, images of wood, stone or metal manufactured by the people who then worship them.

8And they persecute the houses where his congregations meet, and the faithful who hold fast to the name of the Lord of Spirits.

8And they persecute the houses of His congregations, And the faithful who hang upon the name of the Lord of Spirits.

Note"The houses where his congregations meet" translates a phrase meaning the buildings in which his assemblies gather. The Greek and Ethiopic words behind "congregation" mean a gathering of people called together, so the offense described is attacking both the meeting places and the people who meet in them. "Hold fast to" renders a verb Charles gives as "hang upon," the image of someone clinging to something and depending on it entirely. To hold to the name of the Lord of Spirits is to belong to him openly, the exact opposite of the kings in verse 7 who "deny the name."