1 Enoch 81

And he said to me: "Look at these heavenly tablets, Enoch, and read what is written on them, and take note of every single fact."

1And he said unto me: ‘Observe, Enoch, these heavenly tablets, And read what is written thereon, And mark every individual fact.’

NoteThe speaker is not named here. In the chapters on either side of this one, Enoch's guide through the heavens is the angel Uriel, and the "he" is generally taken to be that guide. The "heavenly tablets" are a recurring image in 1 Enoch: writing tablets kept in heaven on which both the fixed order of creation and the deeds of every human being are already recorded. The picture is of an archive or a court register rather than a prophecy: what is on the tablets is settled, and Enoch is being allowed to read it.

2So I looked at the heavenly tablets, and I read everything written on them, and I understood it all. I read the book of all the deeds of human beings, and of all the children of flesh who will live on the earth down to the farthest generations.

2And I observed the heavenly tablets, and read everything which was written (thereon) and understood everything, and read the book of all the deeds of mankind, and of all the children of flesh that shall be upon the earth to the remotest generations.

Note"Children of flesh" is a Semitic idiom. "Flesh" stands for human beings considered as mortal, physical creatures, so "children of flesh" means simply human beings, with the frailty left in. The "book of all the deeds of mankind" continues the archive image from verse 1: Enoch reads the record of acts that, from his position in the story, have not yet been committed.

3Right away I blessed the great Lord, the King of glory forever, because he has made all the works of the world. I praised the Lord for his patience, and I blessed him because of the children of men.

3And forthwith I blessed the great Lord the King of glory for ever, in that He has made all the works of the world, And I extolled the Lord because of His patience, And blessed Him because of the children of men.

NoteWhen a person "blesses" God, the word does not mean conferring a benefit on him. It means praising him, acknowledging him, giving thanks. The direction is the reverse of the usual English sense. "King of glory" is a formal title of honor, glory here meaning visible splendor and weight of importance, not fame.

4After that I said: "Blessed is the man who dies in righteousness and goodness, about whom no book of wrongdoing is written, and against whom no day of judgment is found."

4And after that I said: ‘Blessed is the man who dies in righteousness and goodness, Concerning whom there is no book of unrighteousness written, And against whom no day of judgement shall be found.’

Note"Blessed is the man" uses the word in its other sense: fortunate, well placed, to be envied. It is a different word and a different idea from Enoch blessing the Lord in verse 3. The "book of unrighteousness" and the "day of judgement" both belong to the ledger image: nothing is entered against this man's name, so no date is set on which he must answer for it.

5And those seven holy ones carried me and set me down on the earth in front of the door of my house, and said to me: "Tell everything to your son Methuselah, and show all your children that no flesh is righteous in the sight of the Lord, for he is their Creator.

5And those seven holy ones brought me and placed me on the earth before the door of my house, and said to me: ‘Declare everything to thy son Methuselah, and show to all thy children that no flesh is righteous in the sight of the Lord, for He is their Creator.

Note"Holy ones" is a standard term for angels in this literature, not for holy people. The seven are the seven archangels listed by name elsewhere in 1 Enoch. Methuselah is Enoch's son in Genesis 5, and across 1 Enoch he is the one to whom Enoch's teaching is handed on, so that it can be passed down to later generations. "No flesh is righteous" again uses flesh for any living human being: the statement is about everyone alive, not about bodies as opposed to souls.

6For one year we will leave you with your son, until you have given your last commands, so that you may teach your children and write it down for them, and give your testimony to all your children. And in the second year they shall take you away from among them.

6One year we will leave thee with thy son, till thou givest thy (last) commands, that thou mayst teach thy children and record (it) for them, and testify to all thy children; and in the second year they shall take thee from their midst.

NoteThe scene follows a recognized ancient form, the deathbed testament: a father, knowing his time is fixed, gathers his children, gives final instructions, and has them written down. The year is a stated period of grace before the end of Enoch's time on earth. "They shall take thee from their midst" points back to Genesis 5:24, where God takes Enoch and he is no longer found among people; here that removal is given a date.

7Let your heart be strong, for the good shall announce righteousness to the good. The righteous shall rejoice with the righteous, and they shall congratulate one another.

7Let thy heart be strong, For the good shall announce righteousness to the good; The righteous with the righteous shall rejoice, And shall offer congratulation to one another.

Note"Let thy heart be strong" is an idiom for take courage, be resolute. The heart in this usage is the seat of will and nerve rather than of feeling. The following line is difficult in the Ethiopic and translators differ over it; "announce righteousness" seems to mean reporting the good news that the righteous have been vindicated.

8But the sinners shall die with the sinners, and the one who has turned away shall go down with the one who has turned away.

8But the sinners shall die with the sinners, And the apostate go down with the apostate.

Note"Go down" is the ordinary idiom for descending to the realm of the dead, pictured as lying below the earth. The word Charles translates "apostate" means one who has abandoned the way he once belonged to, not merely someone who does wrong.

9And those who practice righteousness shall die because of the deeds of men, and be taken away because of the doings of the godless."

9And those who practise righteousness shall die on account of the deeds of men, And be taken away on account of the doings of the godless.’

NoteThis line is genuinely ambiguous and the rendering keeps the ambiguity. It can mean that the righteous die as a result of what wicked people do to them, or that they are removed from the world on account of the state the wicked have brought it to. "Taken away" carries the same double possibility: it can mean death, or it can mean being removed to safety, as Enoch himself is removed.

10And in those days they stopped speaking to me, and I came to my people, blessing the Lord of the world.

10And in those days they ceased to speak to me, and I came to my people, blessing the Lord of the world.

NoteThe word behind "world" in this title also means "age" or "everlasting time," and the same phrase is rendered elsewhere as "Lord of eternity" or "Eternal Lord." Both senses, lord of the created world and lord of all ages, are available in the original.