1 Enoch 61

In those days I saw long cords being given to those angels, and they took wings for themselves and flew, and they went toward the north.

1And I saw in those days how long cords were given to those angels, and they took to themselves wings and flew, and they went towards the north.

NoteThe "long cords" are measuring lines, the surveyor's rope used to mark off a plot of ground. In the Hebrew prophets a man with a measuring line appears when land is being surveyed so it can be assigned to its owners (Zechariah 2:1-2, Ezekiel 40:3). Nothing in the scene suggests building; the cords are for allotment. The angels "took to themselves wings": in this book angels are not routinely pictured as winged, so the wings are something they take on for the journey. The north is significant in Enoch's geography as the direction of the mountain of God and of the blessed regions.

2I asked the angel, saying to him, "Why have those angels taken these cords and gone away?" And he said to me, "They have gone to measure."

2And I asked the angel, saying unto him: ‘Why have those (angels) taken these cords and gone off?’ And he said unto me: ‘They have gone to measure.’

3And the angel who was traveling with me said to me, "These will bring the measures of the righteous, and the ropes of the righteous, to the righteous, so that they may lean on the name of the Lord of Spirits forever and ever.

3And the angel who went with me said unto me: ‘These shall bring the measures of the righteous, And the ropes of the righteous to the righteous, That they may stay themselves on the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.

Note"The Lord of Spirits" is this section's standard title for God, used dozens of times in chapters 37 to 71 and rarely anywhere else in ancient Jewish writing. "Spirits" here means the heavenly beings and the living creatures over whom he is lord. To "stay themselves on the name" is a Semitic way of speaking: a person's name stands for the person, so leaning on the name means relying on him for support, the way a tired man leans on a staff.

4The chosen will begin to live with the chosen, and those are the measures that will be given to faith and that will make righteousness strong.

4The elect shall begin to dwell with the elect, And those are the measures which shall be given to faith And which shall strengthen righteousness.

Note"The elect," rendered here as "the chosen," is this book's regular term for the righteous community, the people God has picked out. It is a group name, roughly interchangeable with "the righteous" and "the holy," and is not a description of their behavior but of their standing.

5And these measures will uncover all the secrets of the deep places of the earth, and those who were destroyed by the desert, and those who were eaten by the wild animals, and those who were eaten by the fish of the sea. They will do this so that those people may return and lean on the day of the Elect One. For no one will be destroyed in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, and no one can be destroyed.

5And these measures shall reveal all the secrets of the depths of the earth, And those who have been destroyed by the desert, And those who have been devoured by the beasts, And those who have been devoured by the fish of the sea, That they may return and stay themselves On the day of the Elect One; For none shall be destroyed before the Lord of Spirits, And none can be destroyed.

NoteDeath in the desert, by wild animals, or at sea meant a body that was never recovered and never buried. In the ancient world that was a particular horror, and the question of what becomes of such people at the resurrection was a live one. The measuring lines reach into the earth, the wilderness, the animals and the sea to find them. Note that "destroyed" carries two different senses in this verse: first the ordinary one of being killed, then, at the end, the sense of being permanently lost, which is what cannot happen. "The Elect One" is a title for a particular figure, the Chosen One, who appears throughout these chapters as the one God seats in judgment; the phrase "the day of the Elect One" means the day when he acts.

6And all who live above in heaven received a command, and power, and one voice, and one light like fire.

6And all who dwell above in the heaven received a command and power and one voice and one light like unto fire.

7And with their first words they blessed that One, and they praised and honored him with wisdom, and they were wise in what they said and in the spirit of life.

7And that One (with) their first words they blessed, And extolled and lauded with wisdom, And they were wise in utterance and in the spirit of life.

NoteThe Ethiopic text is damaged or obscure at this point, which is why the translator has to supply a word to make the sentence run. Who "that One" is, and whose "first words" these are, are both left unclear by the manuscripts.

8And the Lord of Spirits placed the Elect One on the throne of glory. And he will judge all the works of the holy ones above in heaven, and their deeds will be weighed in the scales.

8And the Lord of Spirits placed the Elect One on the throne of glory. And he shall judge all the works of the holy above in the heaven, And in the balance shall their deeds be weighed.

Note"The throne of glory" is the judgment seat itself, the glory belonging to the throne rather than describing it. "The holy" or "the holy ones above in the heaven" means the angels, so what is being judged in this verse is the conduct of heavenly beings, not of human beings. Weighing deeds "in the balance" borrows the merchant's two-pan scale, the ordinary instrument for settling whether a weight of silver or grain was honest; used of conduct it means conduct assessed against an exact standard.

9And when he lifts up his face to judge their hidden ways according to the word of the name of the Lord of Spirits, and their path according to the way of the righteous judgment of the Lord of Spirits, then they will all speak with one voice, and bless and glorify and praise and honor the name of the Lord of Spirits as holy.

9And when he shall lift up his countenance To judge their secret ways according to the word of the name of the Lord of Spirits, And their path according to the way of the righteous judgement of the Lord of Spirits, Then shall they all with one voice speak and bless, And glorify and extol and sanctify the name of the Lord of Spirits.

NoteTo "lift up his countenance" is to raise the face and look directly at someone. The related Hebrew idiom about lifting up a face usually means showing favor or partiality, but here the sense is simply that the judge turns his attention on those being judged. To "sanctify the name" means to declare that name holy, not to make it so.

10And he will call together all the army of the heavens, and all the holy ones above, and the army of God, the Cherubin, the Seraphin, and the Ophannin, and all the angels of power, and all the angels of rule, and the Elect One, and the other powers on the earth and over the water.

10And He will summon all the host of the heavens, and all the holy ones above, and the host of God, the Cherubin, Seraphin and Ophannin, and all the angels of power, and all the angels of principalities, and the Elect One, and the other powers on the earth (and) over the water.

Note"Host" is a military word, the massed ranks of an army, which is why the rendering says army. Cherubin, Seraphin and Ophannin are three named classes of heavenly beings, given here in plural forms taken over from Hebrew. The cherubim are the winged figures that carry or flank God's throne; the seraphim are the burning ones of Isaiah 6; the ophannim are literally "wheels," from the wheels that move beside the living creatures in Ezekiel 1, which later tradition treated as a rank of angels in their own right. "Angels of principalities" means angels that hold office and rule, not angels assigned to a place.

11On that day one voice will be raised, blessing and glorifying and exalting in the spirit of faith, and in the spirit of wisdom, and in the spirit of patience, and in the spirit of mercy, and in the spirit of judgment and of peace, and in the spirit of goodness. And they will all say with one voice, "Blessed is he, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed forever and ever."

11On that day shall raise one voice, and bless and glorify and exalt in the spirit of faith, and in the spirit of wisdom, and in the spirit of patience, and in the spirit of mercy, and in the spirit of judgement and of peace, and in the spirit of goodness, and shall all say with one voice: "Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed for ever and ever."

Note"The spirit of faith," "the spirit of wisdom" and the rest use a common Semitic construction in which "spirit of" plus a quality means being filled with or governed by that quality. The list describes the disposition of those praising, not seven separate beings.

12All who do not sleep above in heaven will bless him. All the holy ones who are in heaven will bless him, and all the chosen who live in the garden of life. And every spirit of light who is able to bless, and glorify, and praise, and honor your blessed name as holy. And all flesh will glorify and bless your name beyond measure, forever and ever.

12All who sleep not above in heaven shall bless Him: All the holy ones who are in heaven shall bless Him, And all the elect who dwell in the garden of life: And every spirit of light who is able to bless, and glorify, and extol, and hallow Thy blessed name, And all flesh shall beyond measure glorify and bless Thy name for ever and ever.

Note"All who sleep not" are the sleepless ones, the angels, who in this literature keep watch without rest. The "garden of life" is the paradise where the righteous dead are kept, called elsewhere in Enoch the garden of righteousness; it is the garden of Eden, understood as still existing and preserved. "All flesh" means every living creature, the standard biblical phrase for all that breathes. Notice that partway through the verse the speech turns from talking about God to talking to him, "thy blessed name," which is how the original runs.

13For the mercy of the Lord of Spirits is great, and he is patient. And all his works, and everything he has created, he has shown to the righteous and the chosen in the name of the Lord of Spirits."

13For great is the mercy of the Lord of Spirits, and He is long-suffering, And all His works and all that He has created He has revealed to the righteous and elect In the name of the Lord of Spirits.’

Note"Long-suffering" is the older English for slow to anger, patient under provocation, and says nothing about suffering. The closing quotation mark ends the angel's long speech, which began back in verse 3.