1 Enoch 79

And now, my son, I have shown you everything, and the account of the law that governs all the stars of the sky is complete.

1And now, my son, I have shown thee everything, and the law of all the stars of the heaven is completed.

Note"My son" is Methuselah. The whole astronomical section of 1 Enoch is framed as Enoch's instruction to his son before he is taken away, so the "you" throughout is Methuselah listening. "Law" here does not mean a command to be obeyed; it means the fixed, regular pattern the stars keep, the way we would speak of a law of nature.

2And he showed me all the rules for these lights: the rules for every day, and for every season in which one of them rules, and for every year, and for its going out, and for the order set for it each month and each week.

2And he showed me all the laws of these for every day, and for every season of bearing rule, and for every year, and for its going forth, and for the order prescribed to it every month and every week:

Note"He" is the angel Uriel, named at the end of the chapter as Enoch's guide through the heavens. "Every season in which one of them rules" reflects the older idea, familiar from the opening of Genesis, that the sun governs the day and the moon the night, each taking its turn; here it covers the stretches of the year in which a given light dominates. "Its going out" is its rising, its coming forth onto the sky.

3He also showed me the waning of the moon, which happens in the sixth gate, because in this sixth gate her light is brought to its full measure, and after that the waning begins.

3And the waning of the moon which takes place in the sixth portal: for in this sixth portal her light is accomplished, and after that there is the beginning of the waning: 4. 〈And the waning〉 which takes place in the first portal in its season, till one hundred and seventy-seven days are accomplished: reckoned according to weeks, twenty-five (weeks) and two days.

NoteThe "gates" come from the system laid out earlier in this book: six openings along the eastern horizon and six along the western. Through these the sun and moon rise and set, moving from gate to gate as the year turns, which is how the book accounts for sunrise shifting north and south along the horizon with the seasons. The sixth gate is at one extreme of that swing. "Her light is brought to its full measure" means the moon reaches full; from that point the lit part shrinks night by night, which is the waning.

5She falls behind the sun and the order of the stars by exactly five days in the course of one period, and when this place that you see has been crossed.

5She falls behind the sun and the order of the stars exactly five days in the course of one period, and when this place which thou seest has been traversed.

NoteThis is the gap between a year of months counted by the moon and the fixed 364-day year this book uses. Twelve lunar months run about 354 days, so over half a year the moon runs roughly five days short: 177 days against 182. The "period" is that half-year stretch, and "this place which thou seest has been traversed" refers to the circuit of gates Enoch has just been shown the moon completing.

6Such is the picture and the outline of every light, which Uriel the archangel, who is their leader, showed to me.

6Such is the picture and sketch of every luminary which Uriel the archangel, who is their leader, showed unto me.

NoteUriel is one of the named high-ranking angels in 1 Enoch, assigned in this book to the heavenly lights: the sun, moon and stars move under his charge, which is why he is the one giving Enoch the tour and the measurements. "Archangel" simply marks him as one of the chief angels rather than an ordinary one.