1 Enoch 71

After this my spirit was carried away, and it went up into the heavens. There I saw the holy sons of God. They were walking on flames of fire. Their clothes were white, and their robes were white, and their faces shone like snow.

1And it came to pass after this that my spirit was translated And it ascended into the heavens: And I saw the holy sons of God. They were stepping on flames of fire: Their garments were white and their raiment, And their faces shone like snow.

NoteThe word Charles translates "translated" means carried off bodily or in spirit to another place; it is the same verb tradition used of Enoch himself being taken away in Genesis 5:24. "The holy sons of God" is an old Hebrew idiom for members of the heavenly court, that is, angels, rather than for human children of God.

2I saw two streams of fire, and the light of that fire shone like hyacinth. I fell face down before the Lord of Spirits.

2And I saw two streams of fire, And the light of that fire shone like hyacinth, And I fell on my face before the Lord of Spirits.

NoteHyacinth here is not the flower but a gemstone, the deep blue or violet stone the Greeks called hyakinthos; the point is the color of the light. "Lord of Spirits" is this book's regular title for God, used the way other books say "Lord of Hosts": the one who commands the whole company of heavenly beings.

3The angel Michael, one of the chief angels, took hold of my right hand. He lifted me up and led me out into all the secrets, and he showed me all the secrets of righteousness.

3And the angel Michael one of the archangels seized me by my right hand, And lifted me up and led me forth into all the secrets, And he showed me all the secrets of righteousness.

NoteAn archangel is a chief or ranking angel. Michael is named in the book of Daniel as the angel who stands guard over Israel, and he appears throughout Enoch as the leading figure of the four.

4He showed me all the secrets of the far ends of the sky, and all the storerooms of all the stars and all the lights, and where they come out from before the face of the holy ones.

4And he showed me all the secrets of the ends of the heaven, And all the chambers of all the stars, and all the luminaries, Whence they proceed before the face of the holy ones.

NoteAncient Near Eastern cosmology pictured the stars, the winds, the rain and the snow as kept in storerooms or treasuries at the edges of the sky and let out when needed. The tour of these chambers is a standing feature of Enoch's heavenly journeys.

5He carried my spirit away into the highest heaven, and there I saw what looked like a building made of crystals, and between those crystals were tongues of living fire.

5And he translated my spirit into the heaven of heavens, And I saw there as it were a structure built of crystals, And between those crystals tongues of living fire.

Note"The heaven of heavens" is a Hebrew way of forming a superlative, like "king of kings": the highest heaven of all. The word rendered "crystals" can also mean ice, and the same ambiguity runs through the earlier vision in chapter 14, where the heavenly house is built of hailstones and ice yet burns with fire.

6My spirit saw the band that circled that house of fire, and on its four sides were streams full of living fire, and they circled that house.

6And my spirit saw the girdle which girt that house of fire, And on its four sides were streams full of living fire, And they girt that house.

Note"Girdle" in 1917 English means a belt worn around the waist, and "girt" means encircled; the image is of a band running right around the building.

7All around it were Seraphin, Cherubin, and Ophannin. These are the ones who never sleep, and who guard the throne of his glory.

7And round about were Seraphin, Cherubin, and Ophannin: And these are they who sleep not And guard the throne of His glory.

NoteThese are the Ethiopic forms of three Hebrew plural names for classes of heavenly beings, and the translator has left them untranslated. Seraphim means roughly "burning ones" and comes from Isaiah's temple vision; cherubim are the winged figures associated with God's throne; ophannim means literally "wheels", from Ezekiel's vision of the wheels of the divine chariot, which later tradition treated as an order of angels in their own right.

8I saw angels who could not be counted, a thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand, standing in a circle around that house. And Michael, and Raphael, and Gabriel, and Phanuel, and the holy angels who are above the heavens, go in and out of that house.

8And I saw angels who could not be counted, A thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand, Encircling that house. And Michael, and Raphael, and Gabriel, and Phanuel, And the holy angels who are above the heavens, Go in and out of that house.

Note"A thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand" is a fixed formula for an uncountable host, taken from Daniel 7:10. Ten thousand was the largest unit with its own word (a myriad), so multiplying it by itself was the ordinary way of saying "beyond any counting". Phanuel, unlike the other three, is not named in the Hebrew Bible; the name means something like "face of God", and Enoch consistently lists him as the fourth of the chief angels.

9They came out from that house: Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, and many holy angels beyond counting.

9And they came forth from that house, And Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, And many holy angels without number.

10And with them came the Head of Days. His head was white and pure as wool, and his clothing was beyond describing.

10And with them the Head of Days, His head white and pure as wool, And His raiment indescribable.

Note"Head of Days" is this book's title for God, and it renders the same phrase that Daniel 7:9 gives as "Ancient of Days": the one who is older than time. The white hair and the wool comparison come from that same verse in Daniel.

11I fell face down, and my whole body went limp, and my spirit was changed. I cried out with a loud voice, . . . with the spirit of power, and I blessed and glorified and praised him.

11And I fell on my face, And my whole body became relaxed, And my spirit was transfigured; And I cried with a loud voice, . . . with the spirit of power, And blessed and glorified and extolled.

NoteThe row of dots is not punctuation. It marks a place where the Ethiopic manuscripts are damaged or unreadable, so the translator left a gap rather than guess. "Transfigured" means changed in form or appearance.

12And these blessings that came out of my mouth were pleasing to that Head of Days.

12And these blessings which went forth out of my mouth were well pleasing before that Head of Days.

13And that Head of Days came with Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, and thousands and ten thousands of angels beyond counting. [Here a passage has been lost. In it the Son of Man was described as coming along with the Head of Days, and Enoch asked one of the angels about the Son of Man, asking who he was, as he does in chapter 46, verse 3.]

13And that Head of Days came with Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, thousands and ten thousands of angels without number. Lost passage wherein the Son of Man was described as accompanying the Head of Days, and Enoch asked one of the angels (as in xlvi. 3) concerning the Son of Man as to who he was.

NoteThe bracketed sentence is the translator's own note, not part of Enoch. The Ethiopic text jumps here in a way that only makes sense if material has dropped out, since the next verse begins with an angel answering a question the surviving text never records Enoch asking.

14And he (that is, the angel) came to me and greeted me with his voice, and said to me: 'This is the Son of Man who is born to righteousness, and righteousness stays over him, and the righteousness of the Head of Days does not leave him.'

14And he (i.e. the angel) came to me and greeted me with His voice, and said unto me: ‘This is the Son of Man who is born unto righteousness, And righteousness abides over him, And the righteousness of the Head of Days forsakes him not.’

Note"Son of Man" in Hebrew and Aramaic means simply "a human being", "one of humankind". It became a title through Daniel 7:13, where a figure "like a son of man" comes with the clouds to the Ancient of Days and is given everlasting dominion, and the Parables of Enoch use it in that titular sense throughout. Note that the same figure is called both "him" and, in Charles's capitalized "His voice", something more; the Ethiopic pronouns here are genuinely hard to sort out, and translators disagree about whether Enoch is being shown this figure or being told that he himself is it.

15And he said to me: 'He announces peace to you in the name of the world that is coming. For peace has come out from there ever since the world was created, and so it will be for you forever and forever and ever.

15And he said unto me: ‘He proclaims unto thee peace in the name of the world to come; For from hence has proceeded peace since the creation of the world, And so shall it be unto thee for ever and for ever and ever.

NoteThe peace being announced is shalom, which means wholeness and settled well-being, not merely the absence of fighting, and it was also the ordinary word of greeting. "In the name of" means on the authority of or by the power of. "The world to come" translates a standard phrase for the coming age, as opposed to the present age.

16And everyone will walk in his ways, since righteousness never leaves him. Their homes will be with him, and what they receive will be with him, and they will not be parted from him forever and ever and ever.

16And all shall walk in his ways since righteousness never forsaketh him: With him will be their dwelling-places, and with him their heritage, And they shall not be separated from him for ever and ever and ever.

Note"Heritage" translates the word for an allotted inheritance, the portion of land or property assigned to a family and passed down. Applied here, it means the lasting share the righteous are given.

17And so there will be length of days with that Son of Man, and the righteous will have peace and a straight path, in the name of the Lord of Spirits, forever and ever.'

17And so there shall be length of days with that Son of Man, And the righteous shall have peace and an upright way In the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.’

Note"Length of days" is a Hebrew idiom for long life, used in blessings and in the Psalms; here it is stretched to mean unending life.