1 Enoch 52

After those days I was in that place where I had seen all the visions of what is hidden. I had been carried off in a whirlwind, and they had carried me toward the west.

1And after those days in that place where I had seen all the visions of that which is hidden—for I had been carried off in a whirlwind and they had borne me towards the west—

NoteEnoch's journeys in this book are made by being snatched up and carried by winds or by angelic guides; the "they" who carry him is left unspecified in the text. The west is where his earlier tours place hidden things: the storehouses of the winds, the mountains of the dead, the places sealed away from ordinary sight. The whole chapter is a vision report, so "in that place" points back to a location the reader is expected to remember from earlier chapters.

2There my eyes saw all the secret things of heaven that are still to come: a mountain of iron, a mountain of copper, a mountain of silver, a mountain of gold, a mountain of soft metal, and a mountain of lead.

2There mine eyes saw all the secret things of heaven that shall be, a mountain of iron, and a mountain of copper, and a mountain of silver, and a mountain of gold, and a mountain of soft metal, and a mountain of lead.

NoteSix metals, the ones ancient metalworkers actually handled. Copper is the raw metal; bronze in verse 8 is copper alloyed with tin. "Soft metal" translates an Ethiopic phrase whose sense is uncertain; other translators give "fluid metal" or "molten metal," and some connect it with the tin that turns up in the list at verse 8. Charles left it vague because the manuscripts are vague.

3And I asked the angel who was traveling with me, "What are these things I have seen in secret?"

3And I asked the angel who went with me, saying, ‘What things are these which I have seen in secret?’

4And he said to me, "All these things you have seen will serve the rule of his Anointed, so that he may be strong and mighty on the earth."

4And he said unto me: ‘All these things which thou hast seen shall serve the dominion of His Anointed that he may be potent and mighty on the earth.’

Note"Anointed" renders the word behind Hebrew mashiach and Greek christos, both of which mean simply "someone who has had oil poured over him." Kings and high priests were installed that way, so the word came to stand for the figure God appoints and authorizes. "His Anointed" means the Lord of Spirits' anointed one, not the angel's.

5And that angel of peace answered me, "Wait a little, and everything that is kept secret around the Lord of Spirits will be shown to you.

5And that angel of peace answered, saying unto me: ‘Wait a little, and there shall be revealed unto thee all the secret things which surround the Lord of Spirits.

Note"The angel of peace" is a recurring guide in this book, the one who walks with Enoch and answers his questions about what he is seeing. "The Lord of Spirits" is the standing title for God through this whole section of 1 Enoch, chapters 37 to 71; the spirits are the heavenly beings of his court, so the title pictures him as the one they all answer to.

6And these mountains your eyes have seen (the mountain of iron, the mountain of copper, the mountain of silver, the mountain of gold, the mountain of soft metal, and the mountain of lead) all of them will be in the presence of the Chosen One like wax in front of a fire, and like water that pours down from above onto those mountains. They will lose all their power at his feet.

6And these mountains which thine eyes have seen, The mountain of iron, and the mountain of copper, and the mountain of silver, And the mountain of gold, and the mountain of soft metal, and the mountain of lead, All these shall be in the presence of the Elect One As wax before the fire, And like the water which streams down from above upon those mountains, And they shall become powerless before his feet.

Note"Chosen One" is Charles's "Elect One," and elect in older English means exactly that, picked out. It is one of several titles this book uses for the same figure, alongside the Anointed in verse 4 and the Son of Man elsewhere. Wax in front of a fire does not burn, it slumps and runs, which is the point: the mountains do not explode, they lose their solidity. The water pouring down is the same picture continued, metal running off like rainwater down a slope.

7And in those days it will happen that no one will be saved, not by gold and not by silver, and no one will be able to escape.

7And it shall come to pass in those days that none shall be saved, Either by gold or by silver, And none be able to escape.

NoteBeing "saved by gold or by silver" means buying your way out. In the ancient world a wealthy defendant could often pay compensation to a wronged party or a ransom to a captor and walk away from a penalty. The line says that route is closed.

8And there will be no iron for war, and no one will put on a breastplate. Bronze will be of no use, and tin will be of no use and will not be valued, and no one will want lead.

8And there shall be no iron for war, Nor shall one clothe oneself with a breastplate. Bronze shall be of no service, And tin shall be of no service and shall not be esteemed, And lead shall not be desired.

NoteA breastplate is body armor covering the chest and stomach, the single most expensive piece of a soldier's equipment. The metals are listed by military use: iron for weapons, bronze for armor and helmets, tin because it is what you alloy with copper to make bronze in the first place, lead for slingshot and weights. The point of naming all four is that the whole supply chain of war becomes worthless at once.

9And all these things will be refused and wiped off the surface of the earth, when the Chosen One appears before the face of the Lord of Spirits."

9And all these things shall be denied and destroyed from the surface of the earth, When the Elect One shall appear before the face of the Lord of Spirits.’