1 Enoch 60

In the year 500, in the seventh month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the life of Enoch. In that Parable I saw how a great shaking made the highest heaven shake. The host of the Most High and the angels, a thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand of them, were thrown into great alarm.

1In the year 500, in the seventh month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the life of †Enoch†. In that Parable I saw how a mighty quaking made the heaven of heavens to quake, and the host of the Most High, and the angels, a thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, were disquieted with a great disquiet.

NoteThe daggers around the name in Charles's text mark a reading he judged corrupt in the Ethiopic manuscripts. The speaker of verses 1 to 10 appears to be Noah rather than Enoch, since in verse 8 he calls Enoch his grandfather, and Genesis 5:32 gives Noah's age as 500 when his sons were born. Chapters 37 to 71 of this book are built as three long visions called Parables or Similitudes, and "that Parable" points to the one in progress. "A thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand" is a fixed formula for an uncountable crowd, used of the heavenly court in Daniel 7:10.

2And the Head of Days sat on the throne of his glory, and the angels and the righteous ones stood around him.

2And the Head of Days sat on the throne of His glory, and the angels and the righteous stood around Him.

Note"Head of Days" is a title for God used throughout the Parables. It renders the same idea as the "Ancient of days" of Daniel 7:9: the one whose existence reaches back before all others.

3A great trembling took hold of me, and fear gripped me. My hips gave way beneath me, my inner parts melted, and I fell on my face.

3And a great trembling seized me, And fear took hold of me, And my loins gave way, And dissolved were my reins, And I fell upon my face.

NoteMichael's answer in verse 5 shows this is collapse from terror, not injury. "My loins gave way" and "dissolved were my reins" are the old words for the hips and the kidneys, which in Hebrew idiom were the seat of a person's strength and of the deepest feelings. To say they give way or melt is to say a man's nerve and body both fail him at once.

4And Michael sent another angel from among the holy ones, and that angel raised me up. When he had raised me up, my spirit came back to me, because I had not been able to bear the sight of this host, and the uproar and the shaking of the heaven.

4And Michael sent another angel from among the holy ones and he raised me up, and when he had raised me up my spirit returned; for I had not been able to endure the look of this host, and the commotion and the quaking of the heaven.

NoteMichael is one of the chief angels named in this book and in Daniel, where he is the angel set over Israel. In 1 Enoch he is regularly the one who deals with human beings on God's behalf and who interprets what the visionary cannot bear to look at.

5And Michael said to me: 'Why are you so shaken by such a vision? Up to this day the day of his mercy has lasted, and he has been merciful and patient toward those who live on the earth.

5And Michael said unto me: ‘Why art thou disquieted with such a vision? Until this day lasted the day of His mercy; and He hath been merciful and long-suffering towards those who dwell on the earth.

6And when the day comes, and the power, and the punishment, and the judgment, which the Lord of Spirits has prepared for those who do not worship the righteous law, and for those who deny the righteous judgment, and for those who use his name as if it were nothing: that day is made ready: for the chosen it is a covenant, but for sinners it is a hard examination.'

6And when the day, and the power, and the punishment, and the judgement come, which the Lord of Spirits hath prepared for those who worship not the righteous law, and for those who deny the righteous judgement, and for those who take His name in vain—that day is prepared, for the elect a covenant, but for sinners an inquisition.’

Note"Lord of Spirits" is the standard title for God in the Parables, used dozens of times; the spirits are the angels and other living beings under his command. "Inquisition" in Charles's English means a searching inquiry or interrogation, not the later church court of that name. A covenant is a binding agreement with fixed terms, so the same day arrives as a settled guarantee for one group and as a cross-examination for the other.

7And on that day two monsters were parted from each other. One was a female monster named Leviathan, who was to live in the deep places of the ocean, above the springs of the waters.

7And on that day were two monsters parted, a female monster named Leviathan, to dwell in the abysses of the ocean over the fountains of the waters.

NoteLeviathan is the great sea monster of Hebrew tradition, named in Job 41, Psalm 74:14 and Isaiah 27:1. Making Leviathan the female of a pair is distinctive to this book. "The abysses of the ocean" are the deep waters thought to lie beneath the earth and to feed its springs from below, which is why Leviathan is placed over the fountains of the waters.

8But the male is named Behemoth, who took up with his chest an empty wilderness named Dûidâin, east of the garden where the chosen and righteous ones live, where my grandfather was taken up, the seventh from Adam, the first man whom the Lord of Spirits created.

8But the male is named Behemoth, who occupied with his breast a waste wilderness named †Dûidâin†, on the east of the garden where the elect and righteous dwell, where my grandfather was taken up, the seventh from Adam, the first man whom the Lord of Spirits created.

NoteBehemoth is the huge land beast described at length in Job 40:15 to 24. "Occupied with his breast" translates an obscure phrase, apparently meaning that his bulk fills or covers the whole wilderness. Dûidâin is daggered by Charles because the name is uncertain and occurs nowhere else; it has often been connected with Eden, the region east of which the garden lay. "My grandfather" is one of the signs that this section was originally spoken by Noah, for whom Enoch was strictly a great grandfather: Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. "The seventh from Adam" counts Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, the same reckoning used in Jude 14.

9And I begged the other angel to show me the might of those monsters: how they were parted on a single day, and how the one was thrown into the deep places of the sea and the other onto the dry ground of the wilderness.

9And I besought the other angel that he should show me the might of those monsters, how they were parted on one day and cast, the one into the abysses of the sea, and the other unto the dry land of the wilderness.

10And he said to me: 'You son of man, in this you are trying to know what is hidden.'

10And he said to me: ‘Thou son of man, herein thou dost seek to know what is hidden.’

Note"Son of man" here is simply a form of address meaning "you, a human being," as in Ezekiel, where God calls the prophet by that phrase more than ninety times. It is the ordinary idiom for a mortal, and is being used differently from the exalted title that appears elsewhere in the Parables.

11And the other angel, the one who went with me and showed me what was hidden, told me what is first and last in the heaven on high, and under the earth in the depth, and at the ends of the heaven, and on the foundation of the heaven.

11And the other angel who went with me and showed me what was hidden told me what is first and last in the heaven in the height, and beneath the earth in the depth, and at the ends of the heaven, and on the foundation of the heaven.

NoteThe sky is pictured as a solid structure with edges and a base: it has "ends" where it meets the rim of the earth and a "foundation" on which it rests. The tour that follows moves through the parts of that structure, from top to bottom and from center to rim.

12He told me about the storerooms of the winds, and how the winds are divided, and how they are weighed, and how the gates of the winds are counted, each one according to the power of that wind, and the power of the lights of the moon, and according to the power that is fitting. He told me about the divisions of the stars according to their names, and how all the divisions are divided.

12And the chambers of the winds, and how the winds are divided, and how they are weighed, and (how) the portals of the winds are reckoned, each according to the power of the wind, and the power of the lights of the moon, and according to the power that is fitting: and the divisions of the stars according to their names, and how all the divisions are divided.

NoteIn this cosmology the winds, snow, hail, rain, mist and dew are kept in heavenly storerooms and released through fixed gates, an image also found in Job 38:22 and Jeremiah 10:13. "Weighed" and "counted" belong to the same picture: each force is issued in a measured amount rather than at random.

13He told me about the thunders, according to the places where they fall, and about all the divisions that are made among the lightnings so that it may flash, and about their host, so that they obey at once.

13And the thunders according to the places where they fall, and all the divisions that are made among the lightnings that it may lighten, and their host that they may at once obey.

14For the thunder has resting places assigned to it while it waits for its crash. The thunder and the lightning cannot be separated; although they are not one single undivided thing, the two travel together through the spirit and do not come apart.

14For the thunder has †places of rest† (which) are assigned (to it) while it is waiting for its peal; and the thunder and lightning are inseparable, and although not one and undivided, they both go together through the spirit and separate not.

NoteThe word translated "spirit" here and through the rest of the chapter also means "wind" and "breath" in the underlying languages, so the force that carries thunder and lightning together is at once a living being and a moving current of air. The "places of rest" are daggered by Charles because the Ethiopic reading is doubtful.

15For when the lightning flashes, the thunder gives its voice, and the spirit forces a pause during the crash and divides equally between the two. The store of their crashes is like the sand, and each one of them, as it crashes, is held back with a bridle, and turned back by the power of the spirit, and pushed forward toward the many quarters of the earth.

15For when the lightning lightens, the thunder utters its voice, and the spirit enforces a pause during the peal, and divides equally between them; for the treasury of their peals is like the sand, and each one of them as it peals is held in with a bridle, and turned back by the power of the spirit, and pushed forward according to the many quarters of the earth.

NoteThe bridle and the turning back describe the thunder as a horse under a rider's hand: held in, checked, then released toward whichever quarter of the earth it is sent to. "Like the sand" is the standard comparison for a supply too large to count.

16And the spirit of the sea is male and strong, and by the might of his strength he pulls it back with a rein; and in the same way it is driven forward and scattered among all the mountains of the earth.

16And the spirit of the sea is masculine and strong, and according to the might of his strength he draws it back with a rein, and in like manner it is driven forward and disperses amid all the mountains of the earth.

NoteThe drawing back on a rein and the driving forward describe the tides and the breaking of surf. "He draws it back" means the spirit of the sea draws back the sea itself.

17And the spirit of the hoarfrost is his own angel, and the spirit of the hail is a good angel.

17And the spirit of the hoar-frost is his own angel, and the spirit of the hail is a good angel.

NoteHoarfrost is the white coating of ice crystals that forms on cold surfaces overnight, different from both snow and hail. Each weather force in this section has its own spirit or angel set over it, which is the regular arrangement in this book.

18And the spirit of the snow has left its storerooms because of its strength. There is a special spirit inside it, and what rises up from it is like smoke, and its name is frost.

18And the spirit of the snow has forsaken his chambers on account of his strength—There is a special spirit therein, and that which ascends from it is like smoke, and its name is frost.

NoteThe Ethiopic of this verse is confused, and translators differ over what has left what. The thing that rises from the snow "like smoke" and is given the name frost appears to be the vapor that hangs above snow in extreme cold.

19And the spirit of the mist is not joined with them in their storerooms, but has a room of its own, for its course is glorious both in light and in darkness, and in winter and in summer; and in its room there is an angel.

19And the spirit of the mist is not united with them in their chambers, but it has a special chamber; for its course is †glorious† both in light and in darkness, and in winter and in summer, and in its chamber is an angel.

NoteCharles's daggers mark "glorious" as a word whose reading in the manuscripts is uncertain. The point of the verse is that mist keeps its own separate storeroom because it travels in all conditions, day and night, winter and summer, unlike the forces that have a season.

20And the spirit of the dew has its home at the ends of the heaven, and is connected with the storerooms of the rain, and its course is in winter and in summer. Its clouds and the clouds of the mist are connected, and the one gives to the other.

20And the spirit of the dew has its dwelling at the ends of the heaven, and is connected with the chambers of the rain, and its course is in winter and summer: and its clouds and the clouds of the mist are connected, and the one gives to the other.

21And when the spirit of the rain goes out from its storeroom, the angels come and open the room and lead it out; and when it is spread over the whole earth it joins with the water on the earth. And whenever it joins with the water on the earth . . .

21And when the spirit of the rain goes forth from its chamber, the angels come and open the chamber and lead it out, and when it is diffused over the whole earth it unites with the water on the earth. And whensoever it unites with the water on the earth . . .

NoteThe row of dots marks a gap. The Ethiopic manuscripts break off in the middle of the sentence and what followed is lost.

22For the waters are for those who live on the earth. They are food for the earth from the Most High, who is in heaven. That is why there is a set measure for the rain, and the angels are put in charge of it.

22For the waters are for those who dwell on the earth; for they are nourishment for the earth from the Most High who is in heaven: therefore there is a measure for the rain, and the angels take it in charge.

Note"Nourishment for the earth" treats rain as the earth's food rather than the crops' drink. The "measure" is the fixed ration of the storeroom picture in verse 12: rain is issued in a set amount by angels who account for it.

23And these things I saw toward the Garden of the Righteous.

23And these things I saw towards the Garden of the Righteous.

NoteThe Garden of the Righteous is the garden of verse 8, the paradise where the chosen dwell and where Enoch was taken up. In this book it is a real place at a far edge of the earth rather than a region of heaven.

24And the angel of peace who was with me said to me: 'These two monsters, made ready in keeping with the greatness of God, shall feed . . .

24And the angel of peace who was with me said to me: ‘These two monsters, prepared conformably to the greatness of God, shall feed . . .

NoteThe angel of peace is a recurring guide in the Parables, the angel who travels with the visionary and explains what he is shown. The dots again mark a break in the text. "Shall feed" is ambiguous in the Ethiopic: it may mean the monsters will feed on something, or that they will themselves be fed to others, a tradition found in later Jewish writing where the two beasts are served at a banquet for the righteous.

25When the punishment of the Lord of Spirits comes to rest on them, it shall rest so that the punishment of the Lord of Spirits may not come to nothing, and it shall kill the children along with their mothers and the children along with their fathers. Afterwards the judgment shall take place according to his mercy and his patience.'

25When the punishment of the Lord of Spirits shall rest upon them, it shall rest in order that the punishment of the Lord of Spirits may not come, in vain, and it shall slay the children with their mothers and the children with their fathers. Afterwards the judgement shall take place according to His mercy and His patience.’

NoteThis verse is damaged and its Ethiopic is difficult, which is why the clause about the punishment resting reads so awkwardly in every translation. "May not come in vain" means that the punishment must not fall to no purpose. The killing of children together with both parents describes a judgment that wipes out whole households at once, which fits the flood, the event the Noah material in this chapter is concerned with.