1 Enoch 62

And so the Lord gave a command to the kings and the mighty and the exalted, and to those who live on the earth. He said: "Open your eyes and lift up your horns, if you are able to recognize the Chosen One."

1And thus the Lord commanded the kings and the mighty and the exalted, and those who dwell on the earth, and said: ‘Open your eyes and lift up your horns if ye are able to recognize the Elect One.’

NoteThe horn is the standard ancient image for strength and pride, taken from animals that fight with their horns; to "lift up your horns" is to draw yourself up and make a show of power. The command is ironic: the rulers are told to use all the strength they boast of and see whether it lets them recognize the figure before them. "Elect One" means "Chosen One," one of several interchangeable titles this book uses for the same person, alongside "Son of Man" and "the Righteous One."

2And the Lord of Spirits seated him on the throne of his glory. The spirit of righteousness was poured out on him. The word of his mouth kills all the sinners, and all the unrighteous are destroyed from in front of his face.

2And the Lord of Spirits seated him on the throne of His glory, And the spirit of righteousness was poured out upon him, And the word of his mouth slays all the sinners, And all the unrighteous are destroyed from before his face.

Note"Lord of Spirits" is this book's habitual name for God, used dozens of times in these chapters; the "spirits" are the angels and other beings of his heavenly court. The Ethiopic does not make clear whether "the throne of His glory" is God's own throne, shared, or a throne of glory given to the Chosen One; verse 3 then calls it "his glory" without settling the question. "The word of his mouth slays" pictures a judge who kills by verdict alone, with no weapon, an image drawn from Isaiah 11:4.

3And on that day all the kings and the mighty will stand up, and the exalted and those who hold the earth. They will see and recognize how he sits on the throne of his glory, and how righteousness is judged in front of him, and how no lying word is spoken in front of him.

3And there shall stand up in that day all the kings and the mighty, And the exalted and those who hold the earth, And they shall see and recognize How he sits on the throne of his glory, And righteousness is judged before him, And no lying word is spoken before him.

Note"Those who hold the earth" means the great landholders, those who own territory and control the people on it; the phrase varies through the chapter as "those who possess the earth" and "those who rule the earth," all naming the same class.

4Then pain will come on them as it comes on a woman in labor. She has pain in giving birth when her child comes to the opening of the womb, and she has pain in giving birth.

4Then shall pain come upon them as on a woman in travail, And she has pain in bringing forth When her child enters the mouth of the womb, And she has pain in bringing forth.

NoteSudden labor pains were a stock image in ancient writing for terror that arrives without warning and cannot be escaped or postponed. The repeated line about pain in giving birth is not an accident of translation; this kind of doubling back is normal in the poetry of this book.

5And one group of them will look at the other, and they will be terrified, and their faces will fall, and pain will take hold of them, when they see that Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory.

5And one portion of them shall look on the other, And they shall be terrified, And they shall be downcast of countenance, And pain shall seize them, When they see that Son of Man Sitting on the throne of his glory.

Note"Son of Man" in Ethiopic, and in the Aramaic behind it, means literally "a human being," a member of the human kind. Here it functions as a title for one particular heavenly figure, and "that Son of Man" points back to a figure already introduced earlier in the book, itself drawn from Daniel 7:13, where the prophet sees "one like the Son of man" coming with the clouds.

6And the kings and the mighty and all who own the earth will bless and glorify and praise him who rules over all, the one who was hidden.

6And the kings and the mighty and all who possess the earth shall bless and glorify and extol him who rules over all, who was hidden.

NoteThe grammar leaves it open whom the kings bless and glorify: "him who rules over all, who was hidden" can be read as God, or as the Son of Man, whom verse 7 immediately describes as hidden. The ambiguity is in the text itself.

7For from the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, and the Most High kept him safe in the presence of his might, and showed him to the chosen ones.

7For from the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, And the Most High preserved him in the presence of His might, And revealed him to the elect.

Note"Hidden" here does not mean lost or forgotten but deliberately kept out of sight and held in reserve, stored up in God's own presence until the moment he is shown. "The Most High" is a very old title for God, meaning the highest of all beings.

8And the gathered company of the chosen and holy ones will be sown. And all the chosen ones will stand in front of him on that day.

8And the congregation of the elect and holy shall be sown. And all the elect shall stand before him on that day.

Note"Shall be sown" is farming language: the community is planted like seed in a field, to be established and to grow. The image is abrupt, and some scholars suspect the Ethiopic word was miscopied from a similar one meaning gathered or assembled, so the picture is not certain. "The congregation of the elect" means the assembled body of the chosen, the community as a whole rather than a building or an institution.

9And all the kings and the mighty and the exalted and those who rule the earth will fall down on their faces in front of him. They will worship and set their hope on that Son of Man, and they will make requests of him and beg for mercy at his hands.

9And all the kings and the mighty and the exalted and those who rule the earth Shall fall down before him on their faces, And worship and set their hope upon that Son of Man, And petition him and supplicate for mercy at his hands.

NoteFalling face down on the ground was the ordinary way of approaching a king in the ancient world as well as the posture of worship, and the single word covers both, so the gesture here is at once submission to a ruler and reverence. "Petition" and "supplicate" are the formal words for a subject's plea to a sovereign who has the power to pardon.

10But even so, that Lord of Spirits will press them so hard that they will hurry away from his presence. Their faces will be filled with shame, and the darkness will grow deeper on their faces.

10Nevertheless that Lord of Spirits will so press them That they shall hastily go forth from His presence, And their faces shall be filled with shame, And the darkness grow deeper on their faces.

Note"Press them" translates a verb of driving or crowding someone out, hurrying them from the room. A face growing dark or falling is the standard ancient idiom for shame and dread, where we would say someone went pale.

11And he will hand them over to the angels for punishment, to carry out vengeance on them, because they have crushed his children and his chosen ones.

11And He will deliver them to the angels for punishment, To execute vengeance on them because they have oppressed His children and His elect

NoteThe angels of punishment are a fixed class of beings in this book, a standing corps whose assigned task is carrying out sentences on the condemned. "Vengeance" here has the sense of a legal penalty exacted, not a private grudge.

12And they will be a sight for the righteous and for his chosen ones to look at. These will rejoice over them, because the anger of the Lord of Spirits rests on them, and his sword is drunk with their blood.

12And they shall be a spectacle for the righteous and for His elect: They shall rejoice over them, Because the wrath of the Lord of Spirits resteth upon them, And His sword is drunk with their blood.

NoteA "spectacle" is something set out in public to be stared at, as a punishment was carried out in the open so that everyone could see it. "His sword is drunk with their blood" is a set biblical phrase for a weapon glutted with killing; compare Deuteronomy 32:42 and Isaiah 34:5.

13And the righteous and chosen will be saved on that day, and from then on they will never see the face of the sinners and the unrighteous.

13And the righteous and elect shall be saved on that day, And they shall never thenceforward see the face of the sinners and unrighteous.

Note"Never see the face of" is an idiom for never again being in someone's presence, not merely for avoiding the sight of them.

14And the Lord of Spirits will stay over them, and with that Son of Man they will eat and lie down and rise up for ever and ever.

14And the Lord of Spirits will abide over them, And with that Son of Man shall they eat And lie down and rise up for ever and ever.

NoteEating with someone in this culture meant being received as a companion at his table, a permanent relationship rather than a single meal. "Lie down and rise up" is an idiom for the whole daily round, going to bed and getting up again, so the three verbs together mean living an entire ordinary life in his company.

15And the righteous and chosen will have risen from the earth, and will no longer have downcast faces. And they will have been dressed in garments of glory,

15And the righteous and elect shall have risen from the earth, And ceased to be of downcast countenance. And they shall have been clothed with garments of glory,

Note"Risen from the earth" can mean rising from the dust of death, that is, resurrection, or simply being lifted up out of the earthly sphere; the Ethiopic allows both and the verse does not decide. The downcast face is the same image used of the terrified kings in verses 5 and 10, now reversed for the righteous. Clothing in this literature stands for the condition of the person wearing it, so a change of garments means a changed state.

16and these will be the garments of life from the Lord of Spirits. And your garments will not wear out, and your glory will not fade away before the Lord of Spirits.

16And these shall be the garments of life from the Lord of Spirits: And your garments shall not grow old, Nor your glory pass away before the Lord of Spirits.

NoteThe verse switches abruptly from "they" to "your," turning from describing the righteous to addressing the reader directly. Sudden shifts of person like this are common in the book and are not a slip by the translator. Garments that never wear out are the opposite of ordinary cloth, which frays and has to be replaced.