1 Enoch 82

And now, my son Methuselah, I am telling you all these things and writing them down for you, and I have shown you everything and given you books about all of it. So keep the books from your father's hand, my son Methuselah, and see that you hand them on to the generations of the world.

1And now, my son Methuselah, all these things I am recounting to thee and writing down for thee, and I have revealed to thee everything, and given thee books concerning all these: so preserve, my son Methuselah, the books from thy father’s hand, and (see) that thou deliver them to the generations of the world.

NoteMethuselah is Enoch's son in the genealogy of Genesis 5, and the grandfather of Noah. The whole book is framed as a testament: words written down before the Flood and handed to a son so that they survive it. "Books" in the plural means the separate written sections of the work itself, of which the astronomical material in chapters 72 to 82 is one.

2I have given wisdom to you and to your children, and to the children who will yet be born to you, so that they may give it to their children for generations to come: this wisdom that goes beyond their thinking.

2I have given wisdom to thee and to thy children, And thy children that shall be to thee, That they may give it to their children for generations, This wisdom (namely) that passeth their thought.

3And those who understand it will not sleep, but will listen with the ear so that they may learn this wisdom, and it will please those who feed on it more than good food does.

3And those who understand it shall not sleep, But shall listen with the ear that they may learn this wisdom, And it shall please those that eat thereof better than good food.

4Blessed are all the righteous; blessed are all who walk in the way of righteousness and do not sin as the sinners do, in the counting of all their days in which the sun crosses the sky. The sun goes into the gateways and comes out of them for thirty days at a time, with the heads of thousands of the order of the stars. Along with these go the four that are added in, which divide the four parts of the year, which lead them and come in with them for four days.

4Blessed are all the righteous, blessed are all those who walk in the way of righteousness and sin not as the sinners, in the reckoning of all their days in which the sun traverses the heaven, entering into and departing from the portals for thirty days with the heads of thousands of the order of the stars, together with the four which are intercalated which divide the four portions of the year, which lead them and enter with them four days.

NoteThe gateways (Charles's "portals") are explained earlier in this part of the book. The eastern horizon is pictured as having six openings; the sun rises through one of them for a month, then moves on to the next, and works its way back again, which is how the ancient writer accounts for the rising point shifting north and south through the year. "Heads of thousands" is a rank borrowed from human army organization, commanders set over units of a thousand; here it is applied to the star-officers who govern individual days. The four that are "added in" are intercalary days, extra days inserted into a calendar to keep it in step; in this system they stand at the four joints of the year and belong to no month.

5Because of these four, people go wrong and do not count them in the whole counting of the year. Yes, people go wrong, and do not recognize them exactly.

5Owing to them men shall be at fault and not reckon them in the whole reckoning of the year: yea, men shall be at fault, and not recognize them accurately.

NoteThe complaint is about calendar reckoning. Other people, on this writer's account, count only 360 days and leave the four season-joint days out, which throws every later date off. The passage is one side of a real ancient dispute about which calendar was correct.

6For they belong to the counting of the year and are truly written down in it forever: one in the first gateway, and one in the third, and one in the fourth, and one in the sixth. And the year is completed in three hundred and sixty-four days.

6For they belong to the reckoning of the year and are truly recorded (thereon) for ever, one in the first portal and one in the third, and one in the fourth and one in the sixth, and the year is completed in three hundred and sixty-four days.

NoteThree hundred and sixty-four days is exactly fifty-two weeks. In a year of that length every date falls on the same weekday every year, so the festivals never drift across the week. That is the point of insisting on the number: it competes with the ordinary lunar year of about 354 days, in which festival dates move.

7And the account of it is accurate, and the written reckoning of it is exact. For Uriel showed and revealed to me the lights, and the months, and the festivals, and the years, and the days, Uriel, under whom the Lord of the whole creation of the world has placed the host of heaven.

7And the account thereof is accurate and the recorded reckoning thereof exact; for the luminaries, and months and festivals, and years and days, has Uriel shown and revealed to me, to whom the Lord of the whole creation of the world hath subjected the host of heaven.

NoteUriel is the angel set over the heavenly lights throughout this section of 1 Enoch; the name means something like "God is my light." "The host of heaven" is the sun, moon and stars spoken of as an army drawn up in ranks, a standard Hebrew way of naming them.

8And he has power over night and day in the sky, to make the light give light to people, sun, moon, and stars, and all the powers of heaven that turn around in their circular chariots.

8And he has power over night and day in the heaven to cause the light to give light to men—sun, moon, and stars, and all the powers of the heaven which revolve in their circular chariots.

NoteThe picture of sun, moon and stars riding in chariots across the sky was common in the ancient Mediterranean world, and is used here as ordinary description rather than as a claim about mechanism.

9And these are the orders of the stars, which set in their places, and in their seasons and festivals and months.

9And these are the orders of the stars, which set in their places, and in their seasons and festivals and months.

10And these are the names of those who lead them, who watch that they come in at their proper times, in their orders, in their seasons, in their months, in their times of rule, and in their positions.

10And these are the names of those who lead them, who watch that they enter at their times, in their orders, in their seasons, in their months, in their periods of dominion, and in their positions.

Note"Times of rule" translates a term for a fixed stretch of the year assigned to one leader, the way a governor holds office for a set term. Each leader in the lists that follow rules his own portion and then hands over.

11Their four leaders, who divide the four parts of the year, come in first; and after them the twelve leaders of the orders, who divide the months. And for the three hundred and sixty days there are heads over thousands, who divide the days; and for the four added days there are the leaders who separate the four parts of the year.

11Their four leaders who divide the four parts of the year enter first; and after them the twelve leaders of the orders who divide the months; and for the three hundred and sixty (days) there are heads over thousands who divide the days; and for the four intercalary days there are the leaders which sunder the four parts of the year.

NoteThe arithmetic is the point: 360 days divided among the twelve months, plus the four added days at the season joints, makes the 364 of verse 6. The tiers run four leaders for the quarters, twelve for the months, and heads of thousands for the individual days.

12And these heads over thousands are set in between one leader and another, each behind a station, but their leaders make the division.

12And these heads over thousands are intercalated between leader and leader, each behind a station, but their leaders make the division.

NoteA "station" is the fixed position in the sky assigned to a given leader, like an assigned post. The extra day-leaders are slotted in between two posts rather than being given posts of their own.

13And these are the names of the leaders who divide the four parts of the year, which are appointed: Milki'el, Hel'emmelek, and Mel'ejal, and Narel.

13And these are the names of the leaders who divide the four parts of the year which are ordained: Mîlkî’êl, Hel’emmêlêk, and Mêl’êjal, and Nârêl.

NoteThese are Ethiopic spellings of Hebrew-style angel names. Most end in the syllable el, which is the Hebrew word for God, the same ending as in Michael, Gabriel and Uriel. The four named here govern the four quarters of the year; only the first two of the four are actually described in the verses that follow.

14And these are the names of those who lead them: Adnar'el, and Ijasusa'el, and Elome'el. These three follow the leaders of the orders, and there is one that follows the three leaders of the orders, which follow those leaders of stations that divide the four parts of the year.

14And the names of those who lead them: Adnâr’êl, and Îjâsûsa’êl, and ’Elômê’êl—these three follow the leaders of the orders, and there is one that follows the three leaders of the orders which follow those leaders of stations that divide the four parts of the year.

NoteThe sentence is as tangled in the manuscripts as it is here, and translators do not agree on how the ranks nest. What is clear is that there are several tiers of leaders: some over the quarters of the year, some over the star-orders, and some following behind those.

15At the beginning of the year Melkejal rises first and rules, who is named †Tam'aini and sun†, and all the days of his rule, while he holds power, are ninety-one days.

15In the beginning of the year Melkejâl rises first and rules, who is named †Tam’âinî and sun,† and all the days of his dominion whilst he bears rule are ninety-one days.

NoteMelkejal is the same name as Milki'el in verse 13, spelled differently in the manuscripts. The daggers are the translator's marks, used to flag words judged to be corrupt: the Ethiopic here does not yield clear sense, so the phrase is printed as it stands rather than smoothed over. The year begins in spring in this calendar, and ninety-one days is exactly one quarter of 364.

16And these are the signs of the days that are to be seen on earth during the days of his rule: sweat, and heat, and times of calm. All the trees bear fruit, and leaves come out on all the trees, and there is the harvest of wheat, and the rose flowers, and all the flowers that come up in the field; but the trees of the winter season become withered.

16And these are the signs of the days which are to be seen on earth in the days of his dominion: sweat, and heat, and calms; and all the trees bear fruit, and leaves are produced on all the trees, and the harvest of wheat, and the rose-flowers, and all the flowers which come forth in the field, but the trees of the winter season become withered.

Note"Signs" here means the observable marks of the season, the weather and the state of the crops by which you can tell which quarter of the year you are in. The quarter described is spring: budding, blossom and the wheat harvest, which in the eastern Mediterranean falls in late spring rather than in autumn.

17And these are the names of the leaders who are under them: Berka'el, Zelebs'el, and another who is added as a head of a thousand, called Hilujaseph. And the days of this leader's rule come to an end.

17And these are the names of the leaders which are under them: Berka’êl, Zêlebs’êl, and another who is added a head of a thousand, called Hîlujâseph: and the days of the dominion of this (leader) are at an end.

18The next leader after him is Hel'emmelek, whom people call the shining sun, and all the days of his light are ninety-one days.

18The next leader after him is Hel’emmêlêk, whom one names the shining sun, and all the days of his light are ninety-one days.

NoteHel'emmelek is the second of the four names listed in verse 13, and governs the summer quarter. Ninety-one days again is one quarter of the 364-day year.

19And these are the signs of his days on the earth: glowing heat and dryness. The trees ripen their fruits and bring out all their fruits ripe and ready, and the sheep mate and become pregnant, and all the fruits of the earth are gathered in, and everything that is in the fields, and the winepress. These things happen in the days of his rule.

19And these are the signs of (his) days on the earth: glowing heat and dryness, and the trees ripen their fruits and produce all their fruits ripe and ready, and the sheep pair and become pregnant, and all the fruits of the earth are gathered in, and everything that is in the fields, and the winepress: these things take place in the days of his dominion.

NoteThis is the summer quarter, ending at the vintage: the sheep mate now so as to lamb in the following season, the fruit is picked ripe, and the winepress is in use for the grape harvest.

20These are the names, and the orders, and the leaders of those heads of thousands: Gida'ijal, Ke'el, and he'el, and the name of the head of a thousand who is added to them, Asfa'el. And the days of his rule come to an end.

20These are the names, and the orders, and the leaders of those heads of thousands: Gîdâ’ijal, Kê’êl, and Hê’êl, and the name of the head of a thousand which is added to them, Asfâ’êl: and the days of his dominion are at an end.

NoteThe chapter stops here. Only two of the four quarters named in verse 13 are actually described; the sections for the remaining two leaders, Mel'ejal and Narel, are missing from the manuscripts, so the account of the year breaks off half finished.