1 Enoch 77
What Happens in This Chapter
This part of Enoch's account of the heavens and the earth names the four quarters of the earth and gives a reason for each name. The north is described as divided into three parts, one for people to live in, one holding waters and forests and darkness, and one holding the garden of righteousness. Enoch then reports what he saw: seven high mountains, seven great rivers with the seas they empty into, and seven great islands.
The first quarter of the earth is called the east, because it is first. The second is called the south, because the Most High will come down there. Yes, there in a very special way the One who is blessed forever will come down.
1And the first quarter is called the east, because it is the first: and the second, the south, because the Most High will descend there, yea, there in quite a special sense will He who is blessed for ever descend.
2The western quarter is named "the lessened," because there all the lights of the sky fade and go down.
2And the west quarter is named the diminished, because there all the luminaries of the heaven wane and go down.
3The fourth quarter, named the north, is divided into three parts. The first part is where people live. The second part holds seas of water, and the deep places, and forests, and rivers, and darkness, and clouds. The third part holds the garden of righteousness.
3And the fourth quarter, named the north, is divided into three parts: the first of them is for the dwelling of men: and the second contains seas of water, and the abysses and forests and rivers, and darkness and clouds; and the third part contains the garden of righteousness.
4I saw seven high mountains, higher than all the mountains on the earth. Frost comes out from there, and days, seasons, and years go by.
4I saw seven high mountains, higher than all the mountains which are on the earth: and thence comes forth hoar-frost, and days, seasons, and years pass away.
"Hoar-frost" in Charles's wording is simply frost, the white ice that forms on the ground.
5I saw seven rivers on the earth, larger than all other rivers. One of them comes from the west and pours its water into the Great Sea.
5I saw seven rivers on the earth larger than all the rivers: one of them coming from the †west† pours its waters into the Great Sea.
Charles marks the word "west" here with daggers, a sign that the wording of the ancient copies is uncertain at this point. "The Great Sea" is the ancient name for the Mediterranean.
6And these two come from the north to the sea and pour their water into the Erythraean Sea in the east.
6And these two come from the north to the sea and pour their waters into the Erythraean Sea in the east.
"Erythraean" means "red." Ancient writers used this name for the waters south and east of Arabia, including what we now call the Red Sea.
7The other four come out on the north side and run to their own sea, two of them to the Erythraean Sea, and two into the Great Sea, and they empty out there. Some say they empty into the desert.
7And the remaining four come forth on the side of the north to their own sea, 〈two of them to〉 the Erythraean Sea, and two into the Great Sea and discharge themselves there and some say: into the desert.
The words "two of them to" stand inside angle brackets in the Charles translation. That means the phrase is missing from the ancient copies and has been supplied by the translator to complete the sense.
8I saw seven great islands, in the sea and on the mainland: two on the mainland and five in the Great Sea.
8Seven great islands I saw in the sea and in the mainland: two in the mainland and five in the Great Sea.
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