1 Enoch 74

And I saw another course, a law set for her, and how she completes her monthly round according to that law.

1And I saw another course, a law for her, (and) how according to that law she performs her monthly revolution.

Note"Her" is the moon, which these chapters consistently speak of as female. "A law" here does not mean a command to be obeyed but a fixed rule or appointed pattern: the regular, unvarying behavior assigned to a heavenly body. The chapter picks up from the account of the moon in the preceding chapters.

2Uriel, the holy angel who is the leader of them all, showed me all of these things and their positions. I wrote down their positions as he showed them to me, and I wrote down their months as they were, and how their lights looked until fifteen days were completed.

2And all these Uriel, the holy angel who is the leader of them all, showed to me, and their positions, and I wrote down their positions as he showed them to me, and I wrote down their months as they were, and the appearance of their lights till fifteen days were accomplished.

NoteUriel is the angel who, in this book, is put in charge of the heavenly lights and acts as Enoch's guide and explainer through the astronomical chapters. "The leader of them all" could mean the leader of the other angels or the one set over the heavenly bodies; the text does not say which. The "fifteen days" are the first half of a lunar month, the stretch from the first thin crescent to the full moon.

3One seventh at a time she completes all her light in the east, and one seventh at a time she completes all her darkness in the west.

3In single seventh parts she accomplishes all her light in the east, and in single seventh parts accomplishes all her darkness in the west.

NoteThis book measures the moon's light in sevenths: it takes on a set portion each day as it waxes and loses the same set portion each day as it wanes, so that the whole cycle is a regular arithmetical series rather than a smooth change. "In the east" and "in the west" are compressed; they may refer to the side of the moon's disk on which light is gained and lost, or to the quarter of the sky where the moon is seen at each stage. Both readings are possible.

4In certain months she changes where she sets, and in certain months she follows her own special course.

4And in certain months she alters her settings, and in certain months she pursues her own peculiar course.

5In two months the moon sets together with the sun, in those two middle gates, the third and the fourth.

5In two months the moon sets with the sun: in those two middle portals the third and the fourth.

NoteBehind this whole chapter lies the book's picture of the horizon as pierced by six gates in the east and six in the west. The sun rises from a different gate as the year turns, moving from the outermost gate at one solstice across to the outermost at the other and back, spending thirty days in each. The third and fourth gates are therefore the middle two, the ones in use around the equinoxes, when sun and moon rise closest to due east. The moon travels through the same set of gates but on its own schedule, which is what verses 5 to 8 are tracking.

6She goes out for seven days, then turns around and comes back again through the gate where the sun rises, and completes all her light. Then she moves away from the sun, and in eight days she enters the sixth gate, the one the sun goes out from.

6She goes forth for seven days, and turns about and returns again through the portal where the sun rises, and accomplishes all her light: and she recedes from the sun, and in eight days enters the sixth portal from which the sun goes forth.

Note"Moves away from the sun" describes what an observer sees: in the days after the new moon, the moon appears further and further from the sun in the sky, setting later each evening and showing more light.

7And when the sun goes out from the fourth gate, she goes out for seven days, until she goes out from the fifth. Then she turns back again in seven days into the fourth gate and completes all her light. Then she moves away and enters the first gate in eight days.

7And when the sun goes forth from the fourth portal she goes forth seven days, until she goes forth from the fifth and turns back again in seven days into the fourth portal and accomplishes all her light: and she recedes and enters into the first portal in eight days.

8And she returns again in seven days into the fourth gate, the one the sun goes out from.

8And she returns again in seven days into the fourth portal from which the sun goes forth.

9This is how I saw their position: how the moons rose and the sun set in those days.

9Thus I saw their position—how the moons rose and the sun set in those days.

Note"The moons" means the moon's successive monthly appearances, each new crescent counted as one "moon." English preserves this use of the word for a month in phrases like "many moons ago."

10And if five years are added together, the sun has an extra thirty days. And all the days that come to it for one of those five years, when they are complete, add up to 364 days.

10And if five years are added together the sun has an overplus of thirty days, and all the days which accrue to it for one of those five years, when they are full, amount to 364 days.

NoteThree hundred and sixty-four days is this book's fixed year: exactly fifty-two weeks, so that every date falls on the same day of the week every year. It is about a day and a quarter shorter than the actual solar year, and the book offers no correction for the shortfall. Charles's older word for the surplus, "overplus," simply means the days left over.

11And the extra amount of the sun and of the stars comes to six days. In five years, six days each year come to thirty days. And the moon falls behind the sun and the stars by thirty days.

11And the overplus of the sun and of the stars amounts to six days: in 5 years 6 days every year come to 30 days: and the moon falls behind the sun and stars to the number of 30 days.

NoteThe figure of six days a year does not fit the ten-day gap the rest of the chapter works with, and the surviving manuscripts disagree over the numbers in this verse. Translators generally treat the arithmetic here as damaged in transmission.

12And the sun and the stars bring in all the years exactly, so that they never move their position forward or backward by a single day, forever. They complete the years with perfect justice in 364 days.

12And the sun and the stars bring in all the years exactly, so that they do not advance or delay their position by a single day unto eternity; but complete the years with perfect justice in 364 days.

13In three years there are 1,092 days, and in five years there are 1,820 days, so that in eight years there are 2,912 days.

13In 3 years there are 1,092 days, and in 5 years 1,820 days, so that in 8 years there are 2,912 days.

NoteThe sun figures are multiples of 364: three years give 1,092 days, five years 1,820, eight years 2,912. The moon figures in the following verses are multiples of 354, a lunar year of twelve months alternating between twenty-nine and thirty days. The difference of ten days a year is what the chapter keeps returning to.

14For the moon by herself, the days come to 1,062 in three years, and in five years she falls 50 days behind. That is, to the sum of 1,770 there must be added 1,000 and 62 days.

14For the moon alone the days amount in 3 years to 1,062 days, and in 5 years she falls 50 days behind: i.e. to the sum (of 1,770) there is to be added (1,000 and) 62 days.

NoteThe numbers in this verse are confused in the manuscripts. "To the sum of 1,770 there must be added 1,000 and 62 days" is a translator's attempt to patch a damaged line; in Charles's printed text the words "1,000 and" stand in brackets as his own supplement, not something the Ethiopic clearly says. The intended figures are almost certainly 1,062 days in three lunar years and 1,770 in five.

15And in five years there are 1,770 days, so that for the moon the days in eight years come to 2,832 days.

15And in 5 years there are 1,770 days, so that for the moon the days in 8 years amount to 2,832 days.

16For in eight years she falls behind by 80 days. All the days she falls behind in eight years are 80.

16For in 8 years she falls behind to the amount of 80 days, all the days she falls behind in 8 years are 80.

NoteEighty days is ten days a year for eight years, the gap between this book's 364-day sun year and its 354-day moon year. This drift is the central problem of every ancient calendar: a year counted by moons slips steadily against a year counted by the sun, which is why other systems periodically insert an extra month.

17And the year is completed exactly, in agreement with their world-stations and the stations of the sun, which rise from the gates through which it rises and sets for thirty days.

17And the year is accurately completed in conformity with their world-stations and the stations of the sun, which rise from the portals through which it (the sun) rises and sets 30 days.