An Orthodox Commentary on the Book of Enoch

Introduction

Every generation has been tempted by the promise of hidden knowledge. From the beginning, mankind has desired more than what God chose to give us. Eve desired wisdom apart from God, to become like Him without Him. The builders of Babel desired heaven by their own design, to become like Him without Him. The Gnostics promised secret revelations known only to a select few, forging many pseudepigraphical works in the name of the holy Saints. Today that same temptation has simply taken a different form. Through social media, documentaries, podcasts, and internet conspiracy, many Christians have become fascinated with ancient books that promise lost mysteries, histories, and revelations supposedly removed from the Bible. Many times, they grow distrust in the Church and the Holy Fathers because they have been convinced that they conspired to hide these supposed divine truths. Among these writings, none has received more attention than the Book of Enoch. Many Christians have been told that the Book of Enoch was "removed" from the Bible. Others have heard that because the Saint Apostle Jude quoted from Enoch, the entire book must therefore be true and inspired. Some claim it contains the true history of Genesis that the Church hid and suppressed. Others see it as the key that unlocks the hidden mysteries of this world. This commentary exists for this very purpose.

The goal of this book is not to mock those who have found the Book of Enoch interesting, nor is it to deny its historical significance. The Book of Enoch gives us a look into the religious world into which Christ Himself was born. It helps us understand ideas that were circulating among some Jews before the coming of our Lord. Yet this is not the same thing as divine inspiration. Many books are historically valuable. Only Holy Scripture is God- breathed. That point is the foundation of this entire commentary.

A book does not become Scripture simply because it contains truth. Histories contain truth. Sermons contain truth. The writings of the Holy Fathers contain much truth. Even pagan philosophers spoke things that were true. The question has always been this: did the Holy Spirit inspire this book, and did the Church receive it as Holy Scripture? Throughout the pages that follow, that is the question we will continually return to.

The Book of Enoch itself claims to have been written by Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who lived before the Flood. Yet virtually all modern scholarship recognizes that the work is actually a collection of writings composed over several centuries during the Second Temple period. While portions of the book may date as early as the third century before Christ, other sections, particularly the Book of Parables, were likely composed during the first century after Christ. This alone shows us that it could not have been written by the patriarch Enoch whose name it bears.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls confirmed much of what scholars had already believed. Numerous Aramaic fragments of Enoch were recovered from Qumran, showing that the book circulated widely among certain Jewish communities. Yet those same discoveries also showed that the text itself was not a single work. Different manuscripts have different readings, varying arrangements of material, and notable omissions. Most significant of all, the Book of Parables is entirely absent from the Qumran discoveries, showing that it was composed later than the rest of the collection. The evidence shows a developing body of literature compiled by multiple authors across many generations.

This should not surprise us. The Book of Enoch bears all the marks of a Second Temple Jewish work. Its language, its theology, its literary development, and even portions of its imagery reflect the Greek-influenced world in which it was written rather than the world before the

Flood. As this commentary will demonstrate, it repeatedly expands upon brief sections of Scripture with elaborate mythological narratives; the Church recognized this from the beginning.

When this commentary speaks of "the Church," it speaks from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, in which 1 Enoch has never been canonical. The Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches are an exception, having preserved and received the book as Scripture within their own canon. Some early Christian writers found portions of Enoch useful, Tertullian accepted it, others rejected it outright. Yet the Church as a whole never received it into the canon of Holy Scripture. One of the clearest statements comes from St. Augustine, who wrote: "For though there is some truth in these apocryphal writings, yet they contain so many false statements, that they have no canonical authority. We cannot deny that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, left some divine writings, for this is asserted by the Apostle Jude in his canonical epistle... it was impossible to ascertain whether these were his genuine writings... So that the writings which are produced under his name, and which contain these fables about the giants... are properly judged by prudent men to be not genuine."

Notice that St. Augustine does not deny that Enoch may have spoken true prophecy. Jude himself confirms that he did. Rather, Augustine distinguishes between a true prophecy preserved by God and an entire book falsely claiming the authority of that ancient patriarch. Quoting one true statement does not make every surrounding page inspired Scripture. The Apostle Paul quoted pagan poets. No one therefore argues that the works of those poets belong in the Bible.

The greatest challenge facing this modern world is not the Book of Enoch itself, but the spirit with which we approach authority. We live in an age of radical individualism. We distrust every authority outside ourselves. Whenever we hear that the Church rejected a book, we are inclined to accept it. An authority teaches one thing, and we are inclined to rebel against it. We have become so accustomed to questioning every tradition that we often forget to question our own assumptions. But as I will demonstrate in my commentary, every truth can be found by reason. Because the Orthodox Church does not ask anyone to believe blindly. The doctrines are founded upon truth that can be examined, tested, and confirmed. But I fear, even after the publishing of this work, Christians will still accept Enoch and try and make the contrary pieces fit. But I hope and I pray as I stated in my very opening words, that they may not be like Eve and those of Babel. Engrossed in their pride to reject the Holy Tradition and Scriptures handed down to us by our fathers.

First, we will compare the Book of Enoch with said Scriptures. Second, we will examine its teachings in light of Holy Tradition and the consensus of the Fathers. Third, we will consider the historical and textual evidence surrounding its composition. Finally, we will work through the text itself, chapter by chapter, allowing the Book of Enoch to speak for itself before evaluating its claims.

If this commentary accomplishes anything, let it not just persuade the reader that the Book of Enoch is uninspired. Let it deepen our confidence in the Holy

Scriptures through which God still speaks to His Church. Let it turn our attention away from endless speculation and searching for things contrary to the truth received, and back toward Christ, in whom "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3). May the Lord Jesus Christ grant us the discernment needed to be the servants he requires, both now and ever, unto ages of ages. Amen.

Chapter 1

These are the words of Enoch’s blessing, with which he blessed the elect and righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and ungodly are removed.

²And he took up his oracle and said: I, Enoch, a righteous man whose eyes God opened, saw a vision of the Holy One in the heavens. The angels showed it to me, and from them I heard everything. From them I understood what I saw, though it was not for this generation, but for a distant generation yet to come.

³Concerning the elect I spoke, and concerning them I took up my oracle:

⁴The Holy and Great One will come forth from His dwelling, and the eternal God will tread upon the earth, upon Mount Sinai. [He will appear from His camp] and appear in the strength of His might from the heaven of heavens.

⁵All will be struck with fear, and the Watchers will tremble. Great fear and trembling will seize them to the ends of the earth.

⁶The high mountains will be shaken, and the lofty hills will be made low, and they will melt like wax before the flame.

⁷The earth will be completely torn apart, and everything upon the earth will perish, and judgment will come upon all.

⁸But with the righteous He will make peace, and He will protect the elect. Mercy will rest upon them, and they will all belong to God. They will prosper, and they will all be blessed. He will help them all, and light will appear to them, and He will make peace with them.

⁹Behold, He comes with myriads of His holy ones to execute judgment upon all, to destroy all the ungodly, and to convict all flesh concerning all the works of ungodliness that they have ungodly committed, and concerning all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

Chapter 2

¹Observe everything that takes place in heaven: how the heavenly bodies do not alter their courses, and how the luminaries of heaven all rise and set in order, each in its appointed season, and do not transgress their appointed order.

²Look at the earth and pay attention to everything that takes place upon it from beginning to end: how steadfast these things are, and how none of the things upon earth change, but all the works of God are manifest to you.

³Look at summer and winter: how the whole earth is filled with water, and how clouds, dew, and rain cover it.

Chapter 3

¹Observe and see how all the trees appear to have withered and shed all their leaves, except fourteen trees, which do not lose their foliage but retain the old leaves for two or three years, until the new leaves come.

Chapter 4

¹Again, observe the days of summer, when the sun stands directly above the earth. You seek shade and shelter because of the sun’s heat, and the earth burns with scorching heat, so that you cannot tread upon the ground or upon a rock because of its heat.

Chapter 5

¹Observe how the trees cover themselves with green leaves and bear fruit. Therefore take heed and understand concerning all His works, and recognize that He who lives forever has made them so.

²All His works continue in this way from year to year forever. All the tasks that they accomplish for Him remain unchanged; just as God has ordained, so it is done.

³See also how the seas and rivers fulfill their appointed tasks and do not depart from His commandments.

⁴But you have not remained steadfast, nor have you obeyed the commandments of the Lord. Instead, you have turned away and spoken proud and harsh words with your impure mouths against His greatness. You who are hard-hearted, you will have no peace.

⁵Therefore you will curse your own days, and the years of your life will perish. The years of your destruction will be multiplied under an everlasting curse, and you will find no mercy.

⁶In those days your names will become an everlasting curse among all the righteous. All who pronounce a curse will curse by your names, and all sinners and the ungodly will invoke curses by them. For you sinners there will be no salvation, but a curse will remain upon you all.

⁷But for the elect there will be light, joy, and peace, and they will inherit the earth. But for you, the ungodly, there will be a curse.

⁸Then wisdom will be given to the elect. They will all live and never again sin, either through ungodliness or through pride; but those who possess wisdom will be humble.

⁹They will not transgress again, nor will they sin throughout all the days of their lives. They will not die through wrath or anger, but will complete the full number of their days. Their lives will grow long in peace, and the years of their joy will be multiplied in everlasting gladness and peace throughout all the days of their lives.

Chapter 6

¹When the children of men had multiplied, beautiful and lovely daughters were born to them in those days.

²The angels, the sons of heaven, saw them and desired them. They said to one another, “Come, let us choose wives for ourselves from among the daughters of men and beget children for ourselves.”

³But Semyaza, their leader, said to them, “I fear that you will not truly agree to carry out this deed, and I alone will have to pay the penalty for this great sin.”

⁴They all answered him, “Let us all swear an oath and bind ourselves to one another under a curse not to abandon this plan, but to carry it out.”

⁵Then they all swore together and bound themselves to one another under a curse.

⁶They were two hundred in all. In the days of Jared they descended upon the summit of Mount Hermon. They called the mountain Hermon because upon it they had sworn and bound themselves under a curse.

⁷These are the names of their leaders: Semyaza, their leader; Arakiba, Rameel, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Danel, Ezeqiel, Baraqiel, Asael, Armaros, Batariel, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsapeel, Satariel, Turel, Yomyael, and Sariel.

⁸These were their chiefs of tens.

Chapter 7

¹All the others together with them took wives for themselves, and each chose one woman for himself. They began to go in to them and defile themselves with them. They taught them charms and enchantments, the cutting of roots, and the properties of plants.

²The women became pregnant and bore great giants, whose height was three thousand ells.

³These giants consumed all that men produced.

⁴When men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind.

⁵They began to sin against birds, beasts, reptiles, and fish. They devoured one another’s flesh and drank the blood.

⁶Then the earth brought an accusation against the lawless ones.

Chapter 8

¹Azazel taught men to make swords, knives, shields, and breastplates. He showed them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, as well as bracelets, ornaments, antimony for beautifying the eyelids, every kind of precious stone, and all coloring dyes.

²Great ungodliness arose. They committed fornication, were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.

³Semyaza taught enchantments and the cutting of roots; Armaros, the loosening of enchantments; Baraqiel, astrology; Kokabiel, the constellations; Ezeqiel, the knowledge of the clouds; Araqiel, the signs of the earth; Shamsiel, the signs of the sun; and Sariel, the course of the moon. As men perished, they cried out, and their cry ascended to heaven.

Commentary 1: Chapters 1-8

1. Chapters 6-7. The idea that angels can reproduce contradicts accepted books in scripture.

Now, the most essential objection must be first, Christ himself told us the nature of angels. Before we get into that, the Book of Enoch itself later weakens the very narrative it told. After the Watchers have taken human wives and fathered children by them, God rebukes them through Enoch: "You were spiritual, living the eternal life... therefore I did not appoint wives for you, for the dwelling of the spiritual ones of heaven is in heaven." (1 Enoch 15:6–7)

The same book that says angels took wives of human nature, later has God Himself say that angels were never created for marriage. Wives were never appointed for them because spiritual beings do not belong to that order of existence. Before we even introduce the scriptures, the book itself has already proved the point for me.

But here are the words of Christ telling us the nature of angels: “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.” (Matt. 22:29-30).

The first commandment God gave to the first married— Adam and Eve—was “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” therefore one of the main purposes of marriage is to become one flesh, reproduce, fill the earth, and this is to be shared in marriage only. Christ himself who was the God who told Adam and Eve to multiply, (because he is the Word and when God speaks it is the person of the Son), willed for man and woman only, in the covenant of marriage, to multiply and to be in union with each other for eternity. He even undid the ability to divorce in the New Testament and restored His original will.

So, therefore this statement: “And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children’” (1 Enoch 6:2). Directly contradicts the words of Christ. But one may argue that they still reproduce in heaven. Now God is not a God who wills lawlessness, so why do we assume angels commit fornication in heaven? Again, God condemned fornication countless times because it is unnatural to his original design, he condemned divorce because it is unnatural to his original design, therefore any sexual relations outside of marriage are unnatural to His original design. Therefore, if angels do not get married that means they do not have sex.

Saint John of Damascus calls the angels: “An incorporeal race, a sort of spirit or immaterial fire.”1 He further defines an angel as: “An intelligent essence, in perpetual motion, with free will, incorporeal, ministering to God.”2 Again: “They have not a bodily form by nature, nor are they extended in three dimensions.”3 And again: “They are incorporeal, and are free of all bodily passion.”4

The Enochian account, however, attributes to angels what Saint John says does not belong to their nature: bodily sexual passion; physical intercourse; reproductive

¹John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 2.3, trans. S. D. F. Salmond, in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 2nd ser., vol. 9, St. Hilary of Poitiers; John of Damascus, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1908), 18.

²John of Damascus, Exact Exposition 2.3, 19.

³John of Damascus, Exact Exposition 2.3, 19.

⁴John of Damascus, Exact Exposition 2.3, 19.

organs; biological generation; and the fathering of a bodily species.

A defender of Enoch may object: “But angels appeared in human form to Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Daniel, and others. Therefore, angels can assume flesh and reproduce.” Visibility is not incarnation, just because something appears so that does not mean it is so. “They take different forms at the bidding of their Master, God, and thus reveal themselves to men and unveil the divine mysteries to them.”5 But he also explains: “It is not as they really are that they reveal themselves to the worthy men to whom God wishes them to appear, but in a changed form which the beholders are capable of seeing.”6 An appearance is therefore an accommodated manifestation. The angel becomes perceptible to the senses in a form the human observer can endure.

One may argue that we are talking about fallen angels and therefore the corruption of their nature gives them

⁵John of Damascus, Exact Exposition 2.3, 20.

⁶John of Damascus, Exact Exposition 2.3, 19.

this ability. But that would mean that these angels can create anew and their corruption is not privation—a lack of something that ought to be there—but rather originality—the ability to create. If this is so, then even theistic worshipers of these demons disagree with you. Demons cannot create; they are parasitic on God’s creation and every event that seems that they can create is their own deception. Saint John says: “Those who say that the angels are creators of any kind of essence whatever are the mouth of their father, the devil. For since they are created things they are not creators.”7

Moral corruption does not create a new nature. The fall did not transform spirit into flesh. It did not provide reproductive organs. God would have to create such things. Well, if we say that God gave these demons the ability to reproduce on their way down from the heavenly realm then you believe God willed for this to occur. As we can see, no matter what route you go, this is not a story that can be complementary with the accepted scriptures, nor can it ever be so. (See also Commentary 1, no. 4, and Commentary 3, no. 8, below.)

⁷John of Damascus, Exact Exposition 2.3, 20.

2. Chapter 8. The belief that sin entered the world by angel-human relations contradicts scripture. Now the Book of Genesis itself, which is the same book where proponents of the Book of Enoch claim supports Enoch, gives us the fact that all sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. But Enoch chapter 8 gives us a different account of how sin entered the world. The demons taught humanity:

“...to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them...And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways…”

In this account sin entered the world through fallen angels and not humanity, this is in direct contrast with Genesis 3 and Romans 5:12. Now someone can interpret Genesis 3 in any way they want, but Romans 5:12 gives you the correct interpretation. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…” In 94:4 the righteous are told to “seek and choose righteousness... for yourselves,” language that only makes sense if sin and righteousness are genuinely within human power to choose. We have a contradiction here. Were there two falls?

This might be a common harmonization of some folks, but the Book of Enoch itself contradicts that: “Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin…'” 1 Enoch 10:8- 9.

Yet the Book of Enoch later speaks very differently. Chapter 98 says: "Sin was not sent upon the earth. Mankind created it for themselves."

This statement places the origin of sin back upon humanity. Chapter 94 likewise exhorts mankind: "Choose righteousness." The book therefore moves back and forth between two incompatible explanations. One says that sin entered the world through angelic corruption. The other says mankind themselves originated sin through their own free choice.

Besides this, the Enoch account contradicts all of Christianity especially Orthodoxy. If the fall occurred externally and not internally then it contradicts the Orthodox doctrine of moral accountability and repentance. (See also Commentary 5, no. 17, and Commentary 8, no. 30, below.) This account makes us victims of angelic sabotage and not the culprits of choosing sin over God. Why then do we pray for the Lord to have mercy on us—if sin entered the world through angels and not man? Satan tempted the first humans, yes, but Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God. In the same way demons tempt us daily, hourly, but yet we reject these temptations out of our own free choice to do so; it is up to us whether we choose to do so or not.

Many people seem to favor this fable over what the Church teaches because they want to reject this accountability that they are the author of their own wounds. We have this inclination to blame external sources for the evil things we have done. It is the first step to healing to admit that: “Against thee only have I sinned, and done evil before thee” (Psalms 50:6).

You are not a victim, you are the culprit of the inflictions of your wounds, seek out the physician who is the mender of your damages.

3. Chapter 1-5. Some Truth in a Book Does Not Make the Whole of it True.

Now the first 5 chapters contain a lot of truth such as: God will judge the ungodly, the righteous will receive a paradise etc. But as we know Satan deceives in this same exact way. He hardly tells complete lies, as complete lies are less likely to be believed. Let us look at Genesis, the serpent said to the first humans: “eat and you will become gods.” Now Satan wasn’t completely wrong, Christ, the new Adam said in the New Testament: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” In doing this we eat and become gods. Of course, “gods” not by nature, but by adoption, to “share in the divine nature” to become one with Him. But the lie of Satan was that you can achieve this deification without grace, you can reach the top of the ladder without the hand of God. It was Adam and Eve who partook of the Acharist8, and reaped death in themselves.

But it is by the grace of God he had given us—the unworthy—the Eucharist, so that we may reap the gift of life. The first Adam partook of the meal that brought death, but the new Adam gifted us the meal that brings life. It was Satan’s deception to imitate the truth by coating the outside in a familiar substance, but in the inside is a sharp blade. Just like how all sin feels good in the act, the Acharist may taste good in the first bite, but after it lingers on your tongue, you feel the privation of God, the one true life. And this blade will stab you fatally, and you will bleed out. But the physician stands ready with His instruments we call the sacraments. 1 Enoch does the same deception by importing bits of truth surrounded by a multitude of lies. Defenders of Enoch often begin with its strongest passage and then quietly

8 Acharist, an invented Greek word I use poetically to be the inverse of the Eucharist. It uses the alpha privative (ἀ- / ἀν-). It means "not," or "without.” Followed by -charis (χάρις): The root word for "grace," or "thanks.” And -ist (-ιστής): The suffix meaning "a person who practices or does". Meaning essentially "one who does not give thanks." Pride. See Romans 1:21.

transfer the authority of that one passage onto the rest. The Epistle of St. Jude quotes 1 Enoch 1:9:

“Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’” (Jude 1:14-15)

But St. Jude just affirmed that prophecy, he did not affirm the whole book with its several myths. Saint Paul also quoted pagan poets and philosophers. This did not make the whole writing true within itself, only the passage Paul quoted. As these pagan writings worship the demons of Zeus, Athena, Apollo and so on. But Paul most obviously did not worship these demons, but the conqueror of demons.

Paul quotes Aratus’s Phaenomena, in Acts 17:28: “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” In Aratus’s poem, however, “his” refers to Zeus, not the

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the one God and conqueror of Zeus. The poem begins: “From Zeus let us begin.”9

Saint Paul gives another example in Titus 1:12, where he quotes the Cretan poet Epimenides: “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” Paul even adds, “This testimony is true.” Yet the saying comes from a pagan poem concerning Zeus. The Cretans were called liars because they claimed to possess the tomb of Zeus, while the poet taught that Zeus lived forever. Paul obviously did not believe that Zeus was an immortal god because he declared one sentence from that poem to be true. He used the literature the people already had in order to make a point.

It is like St. Clement of Rome using the story of the mythical Phoenix in order to prove the resurrection of Christ. Or it is like the other Clement, Saint Clement of Alexandria who lived later on in history, used the famous poems by the pagan mythological Orpheus:

⁹Aratus, Phaenomena 1–5, trans. G. R. Mair, in Callimachus and Lycophron; Aratus, Loeb Classical Library 129 (London: William Heinemann; New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1921).

“(Orpheus) ’…But looking to the divine word, apply yourself to it, Keeping right the seat of intellect and feeling; and walk well In the straight path, and to the immortal King of the universe alone Direct your gaze.’ (St. Clement) Then proceeding, he clearly adds:— (Orpheus) ‘He is one, self-proceeding; and from Him alone all things proceed, And in them He Himself exerts his activity: no mortal Beholds Him, but He beholds all.’ (St. Clement) Thus far Orpheus at last understood that he had been in error:— (Orpheus) ‘But linger no longer, O man, endued with varied wisdom; But turn and retrace your steps, and propitiate God.’ (St. Clement) For if, at the most, the Greeks, having received certain scintillations of the divine word, have given forth some utterances of truth, they bear indeed witness that the force of truth is not hidden, and at the same time expose their own weakness in not having arrived at the end. For I think it has now become evident to all, that those who do or speak anything without the word of truth are like people compelled to walk without feet. Let the strictures on your gods, which the poets, impelled by the force of truth, introduce in their comedies, shame you into salvation.”10

Who was Orpheus then? “Another, a Thracian, a cunning master of his art … tamed the wild beasts by the mere might of song; and transplanted trees—oaks—by music.”11

Then Saint Clement contrasts this myth with Christ, who tames us, the wild beasts with a new song, back into the harmony of which we were made to be with the one true God:

¹⁰Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen 7, trans. William Wilson, in The Ante- Nicene Fathers, vol. 2, Fathers of the Second Century, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885), 193.

¹¹Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen 1, 171.

“Behold the might of the new song! It has made men out of stones, men out of beasts…The Word of God…having tuned by the Holy Spirit the universe, and especially man—who, composed of body and soul, is a universe in miniature—makes melody to God on this instrument of many tones…For you are my harp, and pipe, and temple—a harp for harmony—a pipe by reason of the Spirit—a temple by reason of the word…A beautiful breathing instrument of music the Lord made man, after His own image.”12

Therefore, even when an Apostle or a Saint expressly calls one statement true, this does not make the entire source true. The true prophecy of Enoch was known to Jude, this is the logical conclusion and it is thus illogical to claim every word in 1 Enoch is now true if Jude never affirmed that every word is true. According to Richard J. Bauckham, “In these verses Jude quotes 1 Enoch 1:9,” while the changes Jude makes to the wording “reflect his exegesis of it.”13

¹²Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen 1, 172–73.

¹³Richard J. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, Word Biblical Commentary 50 (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1983), 82–83.

Well, the Enochians may also argue that Jude also says: “And the angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper dwelling, He has kept in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.” (Jude 6)

Saint Peter likewise says: “God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them into Tartarus and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.” (2 Peter 2:4)

It is like St. Augustine said in his famous work, City of God: “For though there is some truth in these apocryphal writings, yet they contain so many false statements, that they have no canonical authority.”14

The Saints had this Holy Tradition that the Holy Spirit carried throughout the ages. How do you think they could write the New Testament? Although it is true that

¹⁴Augustine of Hippo, The City of God 15.23, trans. Marcus Dods, in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 1st ser., vol. 2, St. Augustin’s City of God and Christian Doctrine, ed. Philip Schaff (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887), 305.

these demons are chained in the darkness awaiting the great day of the judgment, this does not prove the heathen fables that angels married human women when our God said, even in this book itself, such things cannot occur because He never made them for that purpose. Nor that God gave them reproductive organs in the depths of their privation. How did they get the organs necessary in order to beget children? They themselves cannot create anew.

Besides this, just because the blessed Saint Jude quoted the Book of Enoch, that has now been corrupted by lies as Saint Augustine says, does not prove that God is so evil that he profaned His own image, changing these women into deformed beasts, and giving them a punishment worse than hell. Because even in hell we will still have the great image of our God. Because he never stops loving you, just as a parent never stops loving their children—even if the children lose love for them. Even hell in itself is an act of love, because God respects your choice to live away from the natural state of man which is communion with Him.

He does not give the ultimatum, because ultimatums are an artificial invention of only two choices, other choices exist, but they are not available to you. God reminds us of reality, that there can only be two choices. It is like telling someone if they do not eat, they will die. This is not an ultimatum, but just the reality in which we live.

4. Chapters 6–7. Who Are the “Sons of God”? Now Genesis itself never claims that the Sons of God are the fallen angels, and that the “Nephilim” are the offspring of angel-human relations. It claims that there were giants in those days—but never gives us the origins of these giants. Now the Greek for Sons of God is “οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ” in the Septuagint. The same phrase used in Matthew 5:9 and Galatians 3:26 to describe us who choose to be God’s sons, adopted by His grace. The same phrase is also used to describe angels, but this is not exclusive for angels. Now that we have established that this does not only refer to angels but is used many times to refer to men who are close to God, we can now go into who the “Sons of God” truly are.

Saint Ephrem the Syrian says: “He called the sons of Seth sons of God, those who, like the sons of Seth, had been called ‘the righteous people of God.’”15

He then says that the women are the daughters of Cain: “The beautiful daughters of men whom they saw were the daughters of Cain who adorned themselves and became a snare to the eyes of the sons of Seth.”16

This actually preserves the flow of Genesis. Before Genesis 6 ever mentions the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men,” Genesis has already spent two chapters tracing two distinct lines: the line of Cain, a line of exile, violence, pride, and the living away from God. Then the line of Seth, through whom the worship of God was renewed, contrasting directly with the line of Cain. This is also the line that is sacred, leading to Noah and ultimately to Christ. Chapter 6 does not suddenly abandon what Chapters 4 and 5 set up. Chapter 6 is the downfall of the line of Seth by their intermarrying and fornicating with the line of

¹⁵Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Genesis 6.3, trans. Edward G. Mathews Jr. and Joseph P. Amar, ed. Kathleen E. McVey, The Fathers of the Church 91 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1994), 134–35.

¹⁶Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Genesis 6.3, 135.

Cain. And therefore, they fell away from God because of their lusts, and then the influence of the heathen Daughters of Cain convinced them to abandon the Lord. Just like the famous story of Jezebel in 3 Kingdoms. It was Jezebel who tempted King Ahab away from God and persecuted the Prophets. Therefore, the nation of Israel was thrust into the worship of Satan.

Saint Ephrem writes: “Because the sons of Seth were going into the daughters of Cain, they turned away from their first wives whom they had previously taken.”17

He then explains that the wives also abandoned their chastity, and concludes: “It is because of this wantonness that assailed both the men and the women, that Scripture says, all flesh corrupted its path.”18 Notice where Saint Ephrem places responsibility. He does not say that mankind was genetically contaminated by a foreign angelic substance. He says men looked, lusted, abandoned their wives, acted arrogantly, and corrupted themselves.

¹⁷Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Genesis 6.3, 135.

¹⁸Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Genesis 6.3, 135.

Where do the Nephilim come in then? Genesis 6:4 never explicitly says that the Nephilim were produced by these unions. In fact, the verse first says that the Nephilim were already on the earth “in those days,” and only then mentions the sons of God entering the daughters of men. The interpretation that the Nephilim were birthed by the union of the “Sons of God” and the “Daughters of Men” comes from the Book of Enoch. “4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”

5. Early Orthodox Saints Accepted the Watcher Narrative. But That is Not What Establishes Scripture. According to Annette Yoshiko Reed, “virtually all Christian exegetes in the second and third centuries adopted the angelic interpretation of Gen 6:1–4”; she identifies Julius Africanus as the first known Christian author to cite the Sethite interpretation.19

The watcher theory was popular in the days of the early Church. Saint Justin Martyr believed in this theory, among others. He said in his Second Apology: “But the angels transgressed this appointment, and were captivated by love of women, and begat children who are those that are called demons.”20

But this is not, in the end, what settles a canon question. The Church has never taught that a book becomes Scripture because some Fathers, even many Fathers, found an idea in it plausible before it was carefully examined. The Fathers who held the Watcher reading were engaging Genesis 6 as private theologians. The Holy Fathers do make mistakes in their interpretation. The Church never taught that the Holy Fathers within themselves are infallible, but rather the standard is the consensus of the fathers. Saint Epiphanius of Salamis

¹⁹Annette Yoshiko Reed, Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 148, 221–22. 20 Justin Martyr, Second Apology 5 tore down a curtain with an Icon of Christ, saying that it was: “contrary to the scriptures.” But he was wrong in his opinion, and the iconoclast interpretation of the scriptures was officially condemned at the Second Nicene council (787 A.D.). It was the consensus of the fathers before however, that icons are not sinful as seen in the various examples of iconography widespread in the 2nd through 4th centuries before the council.

More examples of the Holy Fathers having wrong opinions is Saint Jerome having the opinion of the Deuterocanon being apocryphal. Martin Luther even cited him saying: “I hold the opinion of Jerome.” But the fathers are clear in their consensus in support of iconography, and the Deuterocanon. Anyone can go in the past and find some Saint that supports their opinion, even patriarchs. This is why the Orthodox Church doesn’t believe in infallibility in a papal sense. The Church always voted, guided by the Holy Spirit, to find consensus among the members of the Church. The Holy Spirit guides the councils; doctrine is only established there. Why? Because as the examples cited earlier prove—no man is infallible and we are all prone to error, even the best of us which are the Saints.

What we should look to instead is the formal question of reception, which the Church answered with far more unanimity than it ever answered the Watcher question. The Council of Laodicea's 60th canon lists the books to be read in the Church, and 1 Enoch is absent. Saint Athanasius, in his Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter, likewise sets forth the canonical books "handed down and accredited as Divine" and separately warns against "an invention of heretics" among the apocryphal writings. The Synopsis of Sacred Scripture attributed to Athanasius repeats this same exclusion. These are the Church's formal answer to the formal question: what is Scripture? And to that specific question, the answer given is consistent even where private exegetical opinion, in the earliest centuries, was not.

This idea that the Holy Spirit guides the councils is read clearly in the Book of Acts when the first council was convened at Jerusalem:

“Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question…Then the apostles and elders, with the whole Church decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas…’we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul…It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.’”

The Church met together with the bishops, debated, and came to a decision guided by the Holy Spirit. This is the biblical way the Church confirms what it always believed against heretical doctrines. The 7 ecumenical councils and the many local councils are no different than what the Holy Spirit established in the days of the Apostles.

So therefore, the opinion of the Saints before we established the apocryphal nature of the Book of Enoch is irrelevant to the modern view of the Church.

Chapter 9

Then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw the great amount of blood being shed upon the earth and all the lawlessness being committed upon it.

²They said to one another, “The earth, bereft of its inhabitants, raises the voice of their cries to the gates of heaven.

³And now the souls of men appeal to you, the holy ones of heaven, saying, ‘Bring our cause before the Most High.’”

⁴They said to the Lord of the ages, “Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings, and God of the ages, the throne of Your glory stands throughout every generation of the ages, and Your name is holy, glorious, and blessed throughout all the ages.

⁵You have made all things, and You possess authority over all things. Everything is naked and open before Your sight. You see all things, and nothing can hide itself from You.

⁶You see what Azazel has done: how he has taught all unrighteousness upon the earth and revealed the eternal secrets that were kept in heaven, which men were eager to learn.

⁷You also see Semyaza, to whom You gave authority to rule over his associates.

⁸They have gone in to the daughters of men upon the earth, lain with the women, defiled themselves, and revealed to them every kind of sin.

⁹The women have borne giants, and through them the whole earth has been filled with blood and unrighteousness.

¹⁰And now, behold, the souls of those who have died cry out and make their appeal at the gates of heaven. Their lamentations have ascended and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds committed upon the earth.

¹¹You know all things before they come to pass. You see these things and permit them, yet You have not told us what we are to do to them concerning this.”

Chapter 10

¹Then the Most High, the Holy and Great One, spoke and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech.

²He said to him, “Go to Noah and tell him in My name, ‘Hide yourself.’ Reveal to him the end that is approaching:

the whole earth will be destroyed, and a flood is about to come upon the whole earth and destroy everything upon it.

³Instruct him so that he may escape and his seed may be preserved for all generations of the world.”

⁴Again the Lord said to Raphael, “Bind Azazel hand and foot and cast him into the darkness. Make an opening in the desert that is in Dudael and cast him into it.

⁵Place rough and jagged rocks upon him. Cover him with darkness and let him remain there forever. Cover his face so that he may not see the light.

⁶On the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire.

⁷Heal the earth that the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, so that the plague may be healed and all the children of men may not perish because of all the secret things that the Watchers disclosed and taught to their sons.

⁸The whole earth has been corrupted through the works taught by Azazel; ascribe all sin to him.”

⁹The Lord said to Gabriel, “Proceed against the bastards, the reprobates, and the children of fornication. Destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the

Watchers from among men [and send them forth]. Set them against one another, so that they may destroy each other in battle.

¹⁰They shall not enjoy length of days. No plea that their fathers make to you on their behalf shall be granted, for they hope to live an eternal life and that each of them will live five hundred years.”

¹¹The Lord said to Michael, “Go and bind Semyaza and his associates, who united themselves with women and defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness.

¹²When their sons have slain one another and they have witnessed the destruction of their beloved children, bind them securely for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, until the day of their judgment and consummation, when the everlasting judgment is completed.

¹³In those days they shall be led away to the abyss of fire,

¹⁴to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined forever. Whoever is condemned and destroyed shall from that time onward be bound together with them until the end of all generations.

¹⁵Destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind.

¹⁶Destroy all unrighteousness from the face of the earth, and let every evil work come to an end. Let the plant of righteousness and truth appear, and it shall become a blessing. The works of righteousness and truth shall be planted in truth and joy forevermore.

¹⁷Then all the righteous shall escape, and shall live until they beget thousands of children. They shall complete all the days of their youth and of their old age in peace.

¹⁸Then the whole earth shall be cultivated in righteousness and planted with trees, and it shall be filled with blessing.

¹⁹Every desirable tree shall be planted upon it. They shall plant vines upon it, and the vine that is planted shall produce wine in abundance. Every measure of seed sown upon it shall yield a thousand measures, and every measure of olives shall produce ten presses of oil.

²⁰Cleanse the earth from all oppression, unrighteousness, sin, ungodliness, and every uncleanness committed upon it. Destroy them from the earth.

²¹All the children of men shall become righteous. All nations shall worship and praise Me, and all shall bow down before Me.

²²The earth shall be cleansed from every defilement, sin, punishment, and torment. I will never again send these things upon it, from generation to generation and forever.”

Chapter 11

¹“In those days I will open the storehouses of blessing that are in heaven and send them down upon the earth, upon the work and labor of the children of men.

²Truth and peace shall be joined together throughout all the days of the world and throughout every generation of men.”

Chapter 12

¹Before these things Enoch was hidden, and none of the children of men knew where he had been hidden, where he remained, or what had become of him.

²His activities concerned the Watchers, and his days were spent among the holy ones.

³I, Enoch, was blessing the Lord of Majesty and the King of the ages, when behold, the Watchers called to me— Enoch the scribe—and said:

⁴“Enoch, scribe of righteousness, go and declare to the Watchers of heaven who abandoned the high heaven, the holy and eternal place, defiled themselves with women, acted as the children of earth do, and took wives for themselves:

⁵‘You have caused great destruction upon the earth. You shall have neither peace nor forgiveness of sin.

⁶Since they delight in their children, they shall see the slaughter of their beloved ones. They shall lament over the destruction of their children and make supplication forever, but they shall obtain neither mercy nor peace.’”

Chapter 13

¹Enoch went and said, “Azazel, you shall have no peace. A severe sentence has gone forth against you, to bind you.

²Neither relief nor the granting of your plea shall be given to you, because of the unrighteousness you have taught and because of all the works of ungodliness, unrighteousness, and sin that you have shown to men.”

³Then I went and spoke to them all together. They were all afraid, and fear and trembling seized them.

⁴They begged me to write a petition for them, so that they might obtain forgiveness, and to read their petition in the presence of the Lord of heaven.

⁵From that time onward they could neither speak with Him nor lift their eyes to heaven, because they were ashamed of the sins for which they had been condemned.

⁶Then I wrote out their petition and prayer concerning their spirits and their individual deeds, and concerning their requests that they might receive forgiveness and length of days.

⁷I went and sat beside the waters of Dan, in the land of Dan, southwest of Hermon. I read their petition until I fell asleep.

⁸Behold, a dream came upon me and visions descended upon me. I saw visions of chastisement, and a voice commanded me to speak to the sons of heaven and rebuke them.

⁹When I awoke, I went to them. They were all sitting together, weeping at Abel-Maïn, which lies between Lebanon and Senir, with their faces covered.

¹⁰I recounted before them all the visions I had seen in my sleep, and I began to speak words of righteousness and to rebuke the heavenly Watchers.

Chapter 14

¹This is the book of the words of righteousness and of the rebuke of the eternal Watchers, in accordance with the command of the Holy and Great One in that vision.

²In my sleep I saw what I will now declare with a tongue of flesh and with the breath of my mouth, which the Great One has given to men so that they may speak with it and understand with the heart.

³As He created mankind and gave them the power to understand the word of wisdom, so He also created me and gave me the power to rebuke the Watchers, the sons of heaven.

⁴I wrote out your petition, but in my vision it was revealed that your petition will not be granted throughout all the days of eternity, and that judgment has been finally passed upon you.

⁵Your petition will not be granted. From this time onward you shall never again ascend into heaven. The decree has gone forth to bind you in the earth for all the days of the world.

⁶Before this is completed, you shall witness the destruction of your beloved sons and shall find no joy in them, for they shall fall before you by the sword.

⁷Your petition on their behalf shall not be granted, nor shall your petition for yourselves, even though you weep, pray, and speak every word contained in the writing I have written.

⁸The vision was shown to me in this way: behold, clouds summoned me in the vision, and a mist called me. The courses of the stars and the flashes of lightning hastened and urged me onward, and the winds in the vision caused me to fly, lifted me upward, and carried me into heaven.

⁹I continued until I drew near to a wall built of crystals and surrounded by tongues of fire, and it terrified me.

¹⁰I entered among the tongues of fire and drew near to a great house built of crystals. The walls of the house were like a mosaic pavement of crystal, and its foundation was crystal.

¹¹Its ceiling was like the courses of the stars and the lightning, and among them were fiery Cherubim. The space above them was clear as water.

¹²Flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its gates blazed with fire.

¹³I entered that house. It was hot as fire and cold as ice. None of the delights of life were in it. Fear covered me, and trembling seized me.

¹⁴As I quaked and trembled, I fell upon my face.

¹⁵I beheld a vision, and behold, there was a second house, greater than the first. Its entire gate stood open before me, and it was built of flames of fire.

¹⁶In every respect it so surpassed the first in splendor, magnificence, and size that I cannot describe its splendor or its extent.

¹⁷Its floor was fire. Above it were lightning and the courses of the stars, and its ceiling also was flaming fire.

¹⁸I looked and saw within it a lofty throne. Its appearance was like crystal, its wheels were like the shining sun, and there was a vision of Cherubim.

¹⁹From beneath the throne flowed streams of flaming fire, so that I could not look upon it.

²⁰The Great Glory sat upon the throne. His garments shone more brightly than the sun and were whiter than any snow.

²¹None of the angels could enter to behold His face because of His magnificence and glory, and no flesh could behold Him.

²²Flaming fire surrounded Him, and a great fire stood before Him. No one around Him could draw near. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him, yet He needed no counselor.

²³The most holy ones who were near Him did not leave by night or depart from Him.

²⁴Until then I had been prostrate upon my face, trembling. Then the Lord called me with His own mouth and said, “Come here, Enoch, and hear My word.”

²⁵One of the holy ones came to me, raised me, and made me stand and approach the door. I bowed my face downward.

Chapter 15

¹He answered and said to me, and I heard His voice: “Do not fear, Enoch, righteous man and scribe of righteousness. Draw near and hear My voice.

²Go and say to the Watchers of heaven who sent you to intercede for them: ‘You ought to intercede for men, not men for you.

³Why have you abandoned the high, holy, and eternal heaven, lain with women, defiled yourselves with the daughters of men, taken wives for yourselves, acted like the children of earth, and begotten giants as your sons?

⁴Though you were holy and spiritual, living the eternal life, you defiled yourselves with the blood of women and begot children with the blood of flesh. Like the children of men, you desired flesh and blood, as those do who die and perish.

⁵Therefore I gave men wives, so that they might impregnate them and beget children through them, and so that nothing might be lacking to them upon the earth.

⁶But you were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life and immortal throughout all generations of the world.

⁷Therefore I did not appoint wives for you, for the dwelling of the spiritual ones of heaven is in heaven.

⁸Now the giants, who were produced from spirit and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and the earth shall be their dwelling.

⁹Evil spirits have gone forth from their bodies. Because they were born from men, and because their origin and first foundation came from the holy Watchers, they shall be evil spirits upon the earth and shall be called evil spirits.

¹⁰[The spirits of heaven shall have their dwelling in heaven, but the spirits of earth, which were born upon the earth, shall have their dwelling upon the earth.]

¹¹The spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, wage war, bring destruction upon the earth, and cause trouble. They eat no food, yet they hunger and thirst and cause offenses.

¹²These spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against women, because they came forth from them.’

Chapter 16

¹“From the days of the slaughter, destruction, and death of the giants, the spirits that have gone forth from the souls of their flesh shall destroy without incurring judgment. Thus they shall destroy until the day of consummation, the great judgment in which the age shall be brought to its end—the judgment of the Watchers and the ungodly, when all shall be completely consummated.

²Now concerning the Watchers who sent you to intercede for them, who formerly were in heaven, say to them:

³‘You were in heaven, but not all mysteries had yet been revealed to you. You knew worthless mysteries, and in the hardness of your hearts you made them known to the women. Through these mysteries women and men bring much evil upon the earth.’

⁴Therefore say to them, ‘You shall have no peace.’”

Commentary 2: Chapters 9-16

6. Chapters 10–11. The Text Tells of a Prophecy that Never Happened.

Chapter 10 begins with the approaching Flood. Uriel is sent to warn Noah, the giants are destroyed, and the Watchers are bound. The narrative is clearly still speaking about the judgment that occurred in Noah’s generation. But then the prophecy says: “And then shall all the righteous escape, And shall live till they beget thousands of children.”

It continues: “All the children of men shall become righteous, and all nations shall offer adoration and shall praise Me, and all shall worship Me.”

Finally, God supposedly says: “The earth shall be cleansed from all defilement, and from all sin, and from all punishment, and from all torment, and I will never again send them upon it from generation to generation and forever.” (1 Enoch 10:17– 22)

None of this happened after the Flood. Humanity did not become universally righteous. All nations did not begin worshiping God; rather, most of the world still: “worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” Sin was not permanently removed after the flood, Genesis continues with the drunkenness of Noah, the sin involving Ham, the pride of Babel, idolatry, violence, and the continued corruption of mankind. Some interpret this as a description of the age to come rather than the world after the Flood. But this creates another problem.

If the passage describes the final resurrected age, why are the righteous still reproducing until they have “thousands of children”? Christ explicitly says again that in the resurrection men “neither marry nor are given in marriage” (Matt. 22:30).

Therefore, we are trapped between two interpretations: If this describes the world after Noah, it is historically false.

If this describes the resurrection, its continued marriage, reproduction, agriculture, old age, and enormous families, it contradicts Christ’s description of the resurrection. Christ said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26).

The text attempts to combine the Flood, an earthly age of abundance, and the final judgment into one event. (See also Commentary 4, no. 11, and Commentary 7, no. 29, below.)

7. Chapters 15–16. The Dead Giants Become Demons Chapter 15 introduces another doctrine that directly contradicts Scripture. It claims that the giants were mixtures of angelic spirit and human flesh, and that after their bodies died, the spirits that departed from them became the demons that now roam the earth:

“The giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth.”

It continues: “Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin.”

Chapter 16 then says that these spirits came out from the dead flesh of the giants and would continue destroying mankind until the final judgment. Therefore, according to “Enoch”, the demons who afflict humanity are not the fallen angels themselves. The demons are instead the wandering ghosts of their dead hybrid children.

But Scripture gives us a different account of the demonic kingdom. When the Pharisees accused Christ of casting out demons through Beelzebub, “the ruler of the demons,” Christ responded: “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:26)

Notice what Christ does. The Pharisees speak about the ruler of the demons, and Christ immediately speaks about Satan and his kingdom. The demons belong to the kingdom of Satan. They are the spiritual powers who followed his rebellion in heaven, not the souls of dead giants.

This is made even clearer when Christ speaks of the final judgment: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)

Christ clearly tells us that Satan’s demons are his angels. Satan did not create these angels; rather, God created them in the beginning. These angels sought to follow Satan and his rebellion against God. As the prophet Esaias (Isaiah) says: “How has Lucifer, that rose in the morning, fallen from heaven! He that sent orders to all the nations is crushed to the earth.

But you said in your heart, I will go up to heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven: I will sit on a lofty mount, on the lofty mountains toward the north: I will go up above the clouds: I will be like the Most High.

But now you shall go down to hell, even to the foundations of the earth.” (Esaias [Isaiah] 14:12-15)

Then the Revelation of St. John says: “Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.” (Revelation 12:3-4).

Satan being this dragon, swept out a third of the angels down from the heavens, and these are the demons. How do we know these stars are the angels? And how do we know this dragon is Satan? Read verses 7-9:

“7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”

He does not say that the eternal fire was prepared for the devil and the disembodied souls of angel-human giants. The devil has angels who belong to him by their free-will and share his condemnation.

Here the evil spiritual powers cast down with Satan are explicitly called angels. They existed in heaven, joined the dragon’s rebellion, and were cast down with him.

Christ says in Luke. When the Seventy return and declare, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name,” Christ answers: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:17–18)

The disciples speak about the defeat of demons, and Christ answers by describing the fall of Satan. Again, the demonic kingdom is connected to Satan’s fall from heaven. Saint Paul likewise describes the enemies against whom Christian’s struggle: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Scripture also contradicts what Enoch says about the state of the dead. Enoch claims that the spirits coming from the dead giants remain upon the earth, roaming, attacking, oppressing, and destroying mankind “without incurring judgment” until the end.

But Scripture teaches: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)

Christ’s account of the rich man and Lazarus likewise shows the departed being taken to their appointed places after death. Abraham tells the rich man that a great gulf has been fixed between the righteous and the wicked, so that none may pass from one side to the other (Luke

16:22–26). The dead are not depicted as escaping their appointed abode, wandering freely across the earth, possessing bodies, and becoming a new order of demonic spirits.

The Revelation of St. John says that at the resurrection: “Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.” (Revelation 20:13)

The dead are held in Death and Hades until they are summoned for judgment. Enoch instead creates an exception in which the dead giants do not remain among the dead but become roaming demons.

Someone may object that the giants were not completely human. But that only worsens the problem. Enoch says they were born from women and had bodily flesh that died. Yet their deaths supposedly produced a completely new kind of spirit that is neither angel nor human. Where does Scripture teach this third nature?

Scripture reveals angels and men. It reveals fallen angels and fallen men. It does not reveal a third race produced by the sexual mixture of the two, nor a fourth class of beings produced when that hybrid race dies. (See also Commentary 3, nos. 8 and 10, below.)

Chapter 17

They took me and brought me to a place where the beings present were like flaming fire, though whenever they wished they appeared as men.

²They brought me to a place of darkness and to a mountain whose summit reached to heaven.

³I saw the places of the luminaries, the treasuries of the stars and the thunder, and the uttermost depths.

⁴There were a fiery bow and arrows with their quiver, a fiery sword, and all the flashes of lightning.

⁵They brought me to the living waters and to the fire of the west, which receives every setting of the sun. I came to a river of fire, where fire flows like water and pours itself into the great sea toward the west.

⁶I saw the great rivers and came to the great river and to the great darkness, and I went to the place where no flesh walks.

⁷I saw the mountains of the darkness of winter and the place from which all the waters of the deep flow.

⁸I saw the mouths of all the rivers of the earth and the mouth of the deep.

Chapter 18

¹I saw the treasuries of all the winds. I saw how He had furnished the whole creation with them, and I saw the firm foundations of the earth.

²I saw the cornerstone of the earth.

³I saw the four winds that bear [the earth and] the firmament of heaven. I saw how the winds stretch out the vaults of heaven and take their stations between heaven and earth. These are the pillars of heaven.

⁴I saw the winds of heaven that turn the circumference of the sun and bring all the stars to their setting.

⁵I saw the winds upon the earth carrying the clouds, and I saw the paths of the angels. At the end of the earth I saw the firmament of heaven above.

⁶I went on and saw a place that burns day and night. There were seven mountains of magnificent stones: three toward the east, three toward the south, and one in the middle.

⁷Among those toward the east, one was of colored stone, one of pearl, and one of jacinth. Those toward the south were of red stone.

⁸The middle mountain reached to heaven like the throne of God. It was of alabaster, and the summit of the throne was sapphire.

⁹I saw a flaming fire.

¹⁰Beyond these mountains was a region at the end of the great earth. There the heavens were completed.

¹¹I saw a deep abyss with columns of heavenly fire. Among them I saw columns of fire descending, immeasurable alike in height and depth.

¹²Beyond that abyss I saw a place that had no firmament of heaven above it and no firmly founded earth beneath it. There was no water upon it and no birds. It was a desolate and dreadful place.

¹³There I saw seven stars like great burning mountains.

¹⁴When I asked about them, the angel said, “This place is the end of heaven and earth. It has become a prison for the stars and the host of heaven.

¹⁵The stars that roll over the fire are those that transgressed the commandment of the Lord at the beginning of their rising, because they did not come forth at their appointed times.

¹⁶He was angry with them and bound them until the time when the guilt brought by their sin is completed—for ten thousand years.”

Chapter 19

¹Uriel said to me, “Here shall stand the angels who joined themselves to women. Their spirits, assuming many different forms, defile mankind and lead them astray into sacrificing to demons as though they were gods. Here they shall remain until the day of the great judgment, when they shall be judged and brought to an end.

²The women of the angels who went astray shall also become sirens.”

³I, Enoch, alone saw the vision of the ends of all things, and no man shall see as I have seen.

Chapter 20

¹These are the names of the holy angels who keep watch:

²Uriel, one of the holy angels, who is over the world and over Tartarus;

³Raphael, one of the holy angels, who is over the spirits of men;

⁴Raguel, one of the holy angels, who takes vengeance upon the world of the luminaries;

⁵Michael, one of the holy angels, who is appointed over the best part of mankind and over chaos;

⁶Saraqael, one of the holy angels, who is appointed over the spirits of those who sin in the spirit;

⁷Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise, the serpents, and the Cherubim;

⁸and Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom God appointed over those who rise.

Chapter 21

¹I went on to a place where all things were chaotic.

²There I saw something dreadful.

³I saw neither a heaven above nor a firmly founded earth beneath, but a chaotic and dreadful place.

⁴There I saw seven stars of heaven bound together, like great mountains burning with fire.

⁵Then I said, “For what sin are they bound, and why have they been cast here?”

⁶Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me and who was chief over them, said, “Enoch, why do you ask, and why are you eager to learn the truth? These belong to the stars of heaven that transgressed the commandment of the Lord. They are bound here until ten thousand years, the period imposed because of their sins, is completed.”

⁷From there I went to another place, still more dreadful than the first. I saw a terrible thing: a great fire that burned and blazed. The place was split open as far as the abyss and was filled with great descending columns of fire.

⁸I could neither see nor estimate its extent or magnitude. Then I said, “How fearful is this place, and how terrible to behold!”

⁹Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered, “Enoch, why are you filled with such fear and terror?”

¹⁰I answered, “Because of this fearful place and because of the spectacle of pain.” He said to me, “This place is the prison of the angels, and here they shall be imprisoned forever.”

Chapter 22

¹From there I went to another place, to a mountain of hard rock [the text is uncertain].

²Within it were four hollow places, deep, wide, and very smooth. How smooth were those hollow places, and how deep and dark they appeared!

³Raphael, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said, “These hollow places were created for this very purpose: that the spirits of the souls of the dead might be gathered within them; indeed, that all the souls of the children of men might be gathered here.

⁴These places were made to receive them until the day of their judgment, until the appointed time, when the great judgment comes upon them.”

⁵I saw the spirit of a dead man making its appeal, and its voice went forth to heaven and pleaded.

⁶I asked Raphael, the angel who was with me, “Whose spirit is this that makes its appeal, whose voice goes forth and pleads before heaven?”

⁷He answered, “This is the spirit that went forth from Abel, whom his brother Cain killed. He makes his appeal against him until Cain’s seed is destroyed from the face of the earth and annihilated from among the seed of men.”

⁸Then I asked about the hollow places and why one was separated from another.

⁹He answered, “These divisions were made so that the spirits of the dead might be separated. One such division has been made for the spirits of the righteous, where there is a bright spring of water.

¹⁰Another has been made for sinners when they die and are buried in the earth without judgment having been executed upon them during their lifetime.

¹¹Here their spirits shall be set apart in great pain until the great day of judgment, punishment, and torment, when retribution comes upon those who curse forever. There He shall bind them forever.

¹²Another division has been made for the spirits of those who present their plea and disclose their destruction, because they were slain in the days of sinners.

¹³And another has been made for the spirits of men who were not righteous but sinners, complete in transgression, and companions of the transgressors. Their spirits shall not be slain on the day of judgment, nor shall they be raised from there.”

¹⁴Then I blessed the Lord of Glory and said, “Blessed be my Lord, the Lord of righteousness, who rules forever.”

Commentary 3: Chapters 17-22

8. Chapter 19. The Women Become Sirens.

Chapter 19 gives one of the most contradictory punishments in the Book of Enoch: “The women of the angels who went astray shall also become sirens.”

These women were human women, born from human parents and possessing human nature. Yet after their sin with the Watchers, the so-called book of Enoch claims that they will become another kind of being. This returns us to the same error already found in the creation of the giants and the spirits that supposedly came from their dead bodies. The book repeatedly treats sin as if it possesses the same creative power as God to create new natures. (See Commentary 1, no. 1, and Commentary 2, no. 7, above.)

Saint John of Damascus tells us that the body and soul of man were formed together, and Saint Gregory of Nyssa likewise says that man is one being consisting of body and soul. Man does not possess a temporary human nature which can be replaced by another nature because of sin.

Sin corrupts the will. It is a wound. It separates man from God. But sin does not turn humans into another nature. When you sin you do not stop being human, you have a privation of what is natural to your nature, which is communion with God. God does not punish you by turning you into some sort of beast as the Greeks have in their myth. God isn’t the evil dictator that doesn’t offer mercy in your disobedience. Your free choice to sin divorces yourself from the love of God, and this sin is our taste of the hell to come. The holy gifts of God that by His grace makes us closer to Him are our taste of heaven.

Now someone may argue that “sirens” here does not mean mythological creatures, but demonic spirits. But this makes the problem worse. Then the book would be teaching that humans become demons after death. Chapter 15 already claimed that the dead giants produced a new race of evil spirits, and chapter 19 would now add that the women also became another class of demonic beings.

Now this makes the influences of the peoples who composed this book evident. The Book of the Watchers was not written by the historical Enoch before the Flood as I mentioned in my preface, but during the Hellenistic period by Hellenistic Jews. The “Hellenistic Period” is a period that lasted between 323 to 30 B.C. The Hellenistic Period occurred after the nations that were conquered by the Greek Alexander the Great, remained to have Greek influences much after his death. Such as Greek: culture, art, language, and most important to this topic, religion. Greek mythology expanded to all peoples that were conquered by Alexander in this period, this includes the Jews. In this influence we have the introduction of the Myth of the Siren, if this translation is true that is. If we look at the etymology of the word “Siren” we can see it comes from Ancient Greek: Σειρήν (Seirḗn). The earliest account of these creatures of myth existing is from the famous Odyssey by Homer.

Some scholars interpret it as the Sirens, the mythological mourners; others interpret it as satyrs, ostriches, or other creatures of the wilderness. The Septuagint also translates Σειρήν (Seirḗn) to be what was previously stated. Therefore, I would not argue that this one word absolutely proves that the author directly copied the wider Greek myth tradition around them. But no matter which translation one chooses, the statement remains a problem.

According to Kelley Coblentz Bautch, “The Ethiopic manuscripts preserve another reading, however: the wives of the angels are to become peaceful”; her text- critical study argues that the Greek “sirens” may represent a later reinterpretation rather than the original reading.21

But this “peaceful” translation comes from the later Ethiopic text from the 15th and 16th centuries. This is in opposition with the original older Greek version from the 5th century that clearly says: “The women of the angels who went astray shall also become sirens.” The “peaceful” reading is very late and contradicts the older manuscripts we have. It is very likely that an Ethiopian scribe mistook the Greek word or context for salamaweyat ("peaceful").

²¹Kelley Coblentz Bautch, “What Becomes of the Angels’ ‘Wives’? A Text-Critical Study of 1 Enoch 19:2,” Journal of Biblical Literature 125, no. 4 (2006): 766–80, especially 766, 778– 80.

If “sirens” means the satyrs of Greek Myth or some other mythological hybrid creature, the same problem remains. Human women are still being transformed into another species. And if the word merely means ostriches, jackals, or creatures that cry in the wilderness, the problem remains. Either the verse contains a pagan mythological transformation, teaches that humans can become demons, or the tradition is so uncertain that the meaning of this supposed heavenly revelation cannot be recovered.

One may argue that “sirens” is only figurative language, meaning that these women will mourn or cry out like sirens. But the text does not say that they will weep like sirens. Elsewhere in Enoch that exact kind of comparison is made when sinners are said to “weep like sirens.” Here, however, the text says that the women shall become sirens.

Now where does Scripture teach that a human being ceases to be human because of sin? Scripture teaches the resurrection of the same human persons who lived and died. Christ says:

“The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth.” (John 5:28–29) Saint Paul says: “The dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52)

The change written of by Saint Paul is not a change from human nature into the nature of another species. It is the change from corruption to incorruption, dishonor to glory, weakness to power, mortality to immortality, man is healed from a body that is subject to death, and he, by his participation, becomes “conformed into the image of His Son” that he may “share in the divine nature.” The goal of this life is to become one with God, this was always the context in which we were made, this is the natural state of man. But when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, we became like the precious metal left out in the elements. We have been corrupted with rust and corrosion. But it is God who grinds, cleans. and washes us thoroughly from our iniquity to shine again, to mirror His likeness, the unblemished reflection.

Therefore, when you sin do you stop being made in the image of God? Of course not! “Let us make mankind in our own image…and he saw all that he made and saw it was very good.” You were made perfect as God is perfect, and you will be perfect once again if you participate in His Grace and climb this divine ladder to Him. Even if you reject His Grace, even in death the image of God will still be there. In the same way, there will be no state of your being where your nature will not be in the image of God. As Saint John of Damascus said:

"He creates with His own hands man of a visible nature and an invisible, after His own image and likeness... For the phrase 'after His image' clearly refers to the side of his nature which consists of mind and free will, whereas 'after His likeness' means likeness in virtue so far as that is possible…But God made him by nature sinless, and endowed him with free will. By sinless, I mean not that sin could find no place in him... but that sin is the result of the free volition he enjoys rather than an integral part of his nature." 22

22 John of Damascus, An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, bk. 2, chaps. 12–13, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 9, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1899).

This is the very clear distinction we must make. You will never stop bearing the image of God, but the likeness you will lose. Just like the precious metal analogy said earlier. The metal is corrupted by rust, but the image is still there, the shape, the form, the image remains of what is precious. But the likeness is unrecognizable covered in corruption and filth.

This is the difference between the resurrection taught by Scripture and the transformations invented by Enoch. God restores the nature He created. Enoch repeatedly invents new natures that bear neither the image nor the likeness: angels who become reproductive males, giant beings born from spirit and flesh, demons emerging from the dead flesh of those giants, and now human women who become sirens.

The sin of these women could condemn them. It could enslave their wills to evil. It could separate them from God. But it could not rewrite what God created them to be. Evil possesses no creative power of its own. It can corrupt what exists, but it cannot create a new nature. Rust doesn’t make the precious metal into a stone. Therefore, even if we are cautious about the exact meaning of the word “sirens,” the verse still exposes the same corruption found throughout the whole of the Watcher story.

9. Chapter 22. Abel Seeks the Destruction of Cain’s Descendants. Chapter 22 says that Enoch heard the spirit of Abel pleading before heaven. Raphael explains: “This is the spirit that went forth from Abel, whom his brother Cain killed. He makes his appeal against him until Cain’s seed is destroyed from the face of the earth and annihilated from among the seed of men.”

Genesis says that Abel’s blood cried to God from the ground. But Enoch adds something that Genesis never says: Abel continues to plead for the death of every descendant of Cain.

Saint Ephrem explains that Abel’s blood cried out for justice, but he also emphasizes God’s long-suffering toward Cain. God questioned Cain so that he might confess and repent, and after Cain was punished, God placed a mark upon him so that no one who found him would kill him, this is mercy. Saint Ephrem even says that the sons of Seth desired to avenge the blood of Abel, but they did not dare to kill Cain because of the mark that God had placed upon him.

Therefore, Genesis shows God restraining the human passion of vengeance. Even Cain himself, the murderer, was not handed over to those who wanted to avenge Abel.

But Enoch says the righteous Abel continued his appeal to kill not only Cain, but Cain’s entire seed. The descendants are condemned because of the bloodline from which they came. Many of these descendants had not even been born when Cain murdered Abel. Hasn’t God already said that he will not condemn the son based on the sins of the father? (See also Commentary 8, no. 35, below.) “But the soul that sins shall die: and the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the iniquity of the transgressor shall be upon him.” (Jezekiel [Ezekiel] 18:20)

Someone may object here: does not Scripture itself say that God visits "the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation" (Exodus 20:5)? Did not the household of Achan perish for his sin (Joshua 7:24–25), and did not the Lord command the destruction of Amalek down to its children (1 Kingdoms 15:3)? If Scripture contains parts that sound like hereditary guilt, on what ground can this commentary object to the same idea in Enoch?

The answer is that these passages are not parallel in kind to what Enoch teaches. Exodus 20:5 is explicitly conditioned: the iniquity is visited "of them that hate me," not upon the innocent generally, and the verse itself, in the same breath, promises mercy "unto thousands of them that love me." Read within Ezekiel 18, this describes the natural, temporal consequence of sin propagating through a household. A father's idolatry raising children in idolatry, poverty, and violence for example.

Ezekiel 18 does not overturn Exodus 20:5; it clarifies what kind of visitation was meant, against those who had misused the proverb to excuse themselves ("The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge," Ezekiel 18:2).

Achan and Amalek belong to a different category still: the herem, the ban of holy war, given for specific covenantal purposes at specific moments in Israel's history, and never generalized by Scripture into a standing principle that the innocent descendants of any sinner may be justly destroyed simply for being his descendants. Scripture does not repeat the command against Amalek as an ongoing law binding for every generation against every sinner's line.

Compare this to what Enoch says. Chapter 22 gives Abel's appeal "until Cain's seed is destroyed... and annihilated from among the seed of men.” Chapter 108 says of a general class of sinners, again without qualification, "their descendants will be destroyed forever" for the deeds of their parents alone. These are stated as a general principle of divine justice.

The contradiction becomes even clearer because the Book of Enoch itself elsewhere describes judgment in entirely individual terms. During the vision of the Elect One each person's works are weighed individually, and in the Animal Apocalypse the shepherds, stars, and sheep are judged according to their own deeds. Yet here the descendants of Cain are condemned simply because of the family into which they were born. These two principles cannot both serve as the book's doctrine of judgment.

10. Chapter 22. Some of the Dead Will Never Be Raised. Chapter 22 divides the spirits of the dead into different places while they await judgment. But concerning the final group, it says: “Their spirits shall not be slain on the day of judgment, nor shall they be raised from there.”

Therefore, according to this chapter, there is a class of sinful men who will never be raised from Hades. But the Revelation of Saint John says: “Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.”

The dead are delivered from Hades for judgment. The passage does not say that Hades releases only the righteous, the martyrs, and certain classes of sinners while keeping another class imprisoned forever. Death and Hades give up the dead who are in them.

This also contradicts the later Book of Enoch itself. Chapter 51 explicitly ties the resurrection of the dead to the final judgment. Therefore, within the same collection we have two teachings: Chapter 22 says that certain spirits will not be raised from Hades. Chapter 51 says that Sheol and Hades will give back those whom they have received. Revelation says that Death and Hades deliver up the dead who are in them.

Chapter 22 says that the final group will “remain in Hades where they are forever.” But the discussion of chapter 51 says that Hades will give back those whom it received at the bodily resurrection. Both statements cannot describe the same universal judgment.

One may argue that “they shall not be raised from there” means only that they will not be raised to salvation. But the text does not say that they will not be raised to life or to glory. It says that their spirits will not be raised from that place. The statement concerns whether they leave their chamber in Hades, not whether they are eventually saved.

The composite nature of 1 Enoch explains how this contradiction entered the collection. Different writings, produced by different authors across different periods, preserved different beliefs concerning the dead and the resurrection. But this only explains the contradiction historically; it does not amend it theologically. (See also Commentary 2, no. 7, above, and Commentary 8, no. 33, below.) A collection of human traditions can contradict itself in this way. One unified revelation personally written by Enoch cannot. Chapter 20 does not require a separate objection. The existence of seven angels before God is not itself contrary to Scripture; Tobit 12:15 supports that number. The specific names and offices given in Enoch may be speculative, but that is not as essential as the direct contradictions found in chapters 18, 19, 21, and 22.

Chapter 23

From there I went to another place, toward the west, at the ends of the earth.

²

I saw a burning fire that ran without rest.

³It did not pause from its course by day or by night, but ran continually.

⁴I asked, “What is this that never rests?” Raguel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered, “This course of fire that you have seen is the fire in the west that drives all the luminaries of heaven.”

Chapter 24

¹From there I went to another place upon the earth, and he showed me a mountain range of fire that burned day and night.

²I passed beyond it and saw seven magnificent mountains, each differing from the others. Their stones were magnificent and beautiful, glorious in appearance and fair in form. Three were toward the east, one founded upon another, and three toward the south, one upon another. Between them were deep and rugged ravines, none of which joined another.

³The seventh mountain stood among them and surpassed them in height, resembling the seat of a throne. Fragrant trees surrounded the throne.

⁴Among them was a tree whose fragrance I had never smelled. No other tree among them, nor any elsewhere, was like it. Its fragrance surpassed every fragrance, and its leaves, blossoms, and wood never withered.

⁵Its fruit was beautiful and resembled the dates of a palm. Then I said, “How beautiful and fragrant is this tree! Its leaves are lovely, and its blossoms are delightful to behold.”

⁶Then Michael, one of the holy and honored angels who was with me and who was their leader, answered me.

Chapter 25

¹He said to me, “Enoch, why do you ask about the fragrance of this tree, and why do you desire to know the truth?”

²I answered, “I desire to know about everything, but especially about this tree.”

³He answered, “This high mountain that you have seen, whose summit is like the throne of God, is His throne. There the Holy and Great One, the Lord of Glory, the

Eternal King, will sit when He descends to visit the earth with goodness.

⁴As for this fragrant tree, no mortal is permitted to touch it until the great judgment, when He takes vengeance upon all and brings everything to its eternal consummation.

⁵Then it shall be given to the righteous and holy. Its fruit shall serve as food for the elect, and it shall be transplanted to the holy place, to the temple of the Lord, the Eternal King.

⁶Then they shall rejoice with joy and be glad, and they shall enter the holy place. Its fragrance shall enter their bones, and they shall live a long life upon the earth, as their fathers lived. In their days no sorrow, plague, torment, or calamity shall touch them.”

⁷Then I blessed the God of Glory, the Eternal King, who prepared such things for the righteous, created them, and promised to give them to the righteous.

Chapter 26

¹From there I went to the center of the earth and saw a blessed place in which there were trees with branches that remained green and blossoming [the following words are textually uncertain].

²There I saw a holy mountain.

³Beneath the mountain, toward the east, was a stream flowing toward the south. Toward the east I saw another mountain, higher than the first, and between them was a deep and narrow ravine. A stream also ran within it beneath the mountain.

⁴To the west of it was another mountain, lower than the first and of little height, with a deep and dry ravine between them. Another deep and dry ravine lay at the extremities of the three mountains.

⁵All the ravines were deep and narrow, formed of hard rock, and no trees were planted upon them.

⁶I marveled at the rocks and at the ravine. Indeed, I marveled exceedingly.

Chapter 27

¹Then I said, “For what purpose is this blessed land, entirely filled with trees, and this accursed valley between them?”

²Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered, “This accursed valley is appointed for those who are accursed forever. Here all the accursed shall be gathered—those who utter shameful words against the Lord with their lips and speak harshly against His glory. Here they shall be gathered, and here shall be their place of judgment.

³In the last days they shall become a spectacle of righteous judgment in the presence of the righteous forever. Here the merciful shall bless the Lord of Glory, the Eternal King.

⁴In the days when judgment comes upon the accursed, the righteous shall bless Him for the mercy according to which He has assigned them their portion.”

⁵Then I blessed the Lord of Glory, proclaimed His glory, and praised Him gloriously.

Chapter 28

¹From there I went toward the east, into the midst of the mountain range of the wilderness.

²I saw a solitary wilderness filled with trees and plants. Water gushed forth from above.

³It rushed like an abundant watercourse flowing toward the northwest and caused clouds and dew to rise on every side.

Chapter 29

¹From there I went to another place in the wilderness, east of that mountain range.

²There I saw aromatic trees breathing out the fragrance of frankincense and myrrh, and trees resembling the almond tree.

Chapter 30

¹From there I went still farther toward the east.

²I saw another place, a valley filled with water.

³Within it was a tree whose color was like that of fragrant mastic trees. Along the sides of those valleys I saw fragrant cinnamon. Beyond these I continued toward the east.

Chapter 31

¹I saw other mountains, and among them were groves of trees. From them flowed nectar called sarara and galbanum.

²Beyond those mountains I saw another mountain, toward the east at the ends of the earth, upon which were aloe trees. All the trees were full of stacte and resembled almond trees.

³When this wood was burned, its fragrance was sweeter than every aromatic scent.

Chapter 32

¹After seeing these fragrant trees, I looked toward the north across the mountains and saw seven mountains filled with choice nard, fragrant trees, cinnamon, and pepper.

²From there I crossed the summits of all those mountains, far toward the east of the earth. I passed over the Erythraean Sea and went far beyond it, and I passed over the angel Zotiel.

³I came to the Garden of Righteousness. Beyond those trees I saw many other great trees, fragrant, very beautiful, glorious, and magnificent. Among them was the tree of wisdom, whose holy fruit they eat and thereby attain great wisdom.

⁴That tree was as tall as a fir. Its leaves resembled those of the carob tree.

⁵Its fruit was like clusters of grapes, exceedingly beautiful, and the fragrance of the tree penetrated far away.

⁶Then I said, “How beautiful is this tree, and how attractive its appearance!” Raphael, the holy angel who was with me, answered, “This is the tree of wisdom from which your father of old and your aged mother, who were before you, ate. They learned wisdom, their eyes were opened, they knew that they were naked, and they were driven from the garden.”

Chapter 33

¹From there I went to the ends of the earth. I saw great beasts there, each differing from the others, and birds differing from one another in appearance, beauty, and voice.

²East of those beasts I saw the ends of the earth, upon which heaven rests, and I saw the portals of heaven open.

³I saw how the stars of heaven come forth. I counted the portals from which they proceed and wrote down every outlet of each individual star according to their number and names, their courses and positions, their times and months, as Uriel, the holy angel who was with me, showed me.

⁴He showed me all things and wrote them down for me. He also wrote down their names, their laws, and their companies.

Chapter 34

¹From there I went northward to the ends of the earth, and there I saw a great and glorious arrangement at the ends of the whole earth.

²I saw three portals of heaven open in the sky. Through each of them the north winds proceed. When they blow, there are cold, hail, frost, snow, dew, and rain.

³From one portal they blow for good, but when they blow through the other two portals, they bring violence and affliction upon the earth.

Chapter 35

¹From there I went westward to the ends of the earth. There I saw three portals of heaven open, like those I had seen in the east—the same number of portals and the same number of outlets.

Chapter 36

¹From there I went southward to the ends of the earth and saw three open portals of heaven. From them come dew, rain, and wind.

²From there I went eastward to the ends of heaven. There I saw three eastern portals of heaven open, with smaller portals above them.

³Through each of these smaller portals the stars of heaven pass and run their course toward the west along the path appointed for them. Whenever I saw these things, I blessed the Lord of Glory. I continued to bless the Lord of Glory, who has performed great and glorious wonders in order to reveal the greatness of His work to angels, spirits, and men, so that they might praise His work and all His creation, behold the work of His might, praise the great work of His hands, and bless Him forever.

Commentary 4: Chapters 23–36

11. Chapter 25. The Righteous Receive Long Life, Not Eternal Life.

Chapter 25 is speaking about what happens after the great judgment, when God takes vengeance upon the wicked and brings all things to their final completion. The tree is then given to the righteous, and the text says: “They shall live a long life on earth, such as thy fathers lived.”

Now the fathers did live long lives, but they all died. Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years, but he died. Seth lived nine hundred and twelve years, but he died. Methuselah lived longer than any other man recorded in Scripture, but he also died. Therefore, to say that the righteous will live “such as thy fathers lived” is not a promise of immortality.

But this is supposedly after the great judgment, when everything has been brought to its consummation forever. Scripture does not teach that the resurrection is simply a return to the long lives men lived before the Flood. Saint Paul says:

“This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:53)

The resurrected do not simply live for hundreds or thousands of years and then die later. They put on immortality. Christ says:

“Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:26)

Now one may argue that “long life” is just another way of saying eternal life. But the comparison with the fathers does not allow for this. The fathers did not live forever. They lived a certain number of years, grew old, and died. If the author meant immortality, why compare it to the mortal lives of men who all returned to the dust?

This is the same confusion we already saw in chapter 10. Enoch repeatedly mixes the final age with the conditions of this present mortal life. Men beget thousands of children, grow old, complete their days, cultivate the earth, eat its fruit, and yet at the same time there is supposedly no more sin, torment, sorrow, plague, or death. (See Commentary 2, no. 6, above.)

But these things do not belong to the same state. Marriage, childbirth, old age, and death all belong to this mortal life. The resurrection belongs to the age to come.

Saint John of Damascus calls the age after the resurrection the immortal life and says that it is unending, one day without evening. Enoch does not clearly describe this. It gives the righteous the long life of the ancient fathers.

12. Chapters 23 and 33–36. The Ancient Cosmology Is Presented as Revelation.

Scripture speaks of the heavens in the ordinary language of appearance, doxologically, in praise of the Creator, without claiming to reveal to the reader an angelic tour of the mechanics of the universe. The reader is then bound, on pain of sin, to adopt this tour as how the universe functions. Job's pillars are poetry glorifying the God who set them; David’s circuit of the sun is the language any man uses watching a sunrise. Enoch does something categorically different. It claims that Uriel walked Enoch to the literal ends of the earth, showed him the actual gates through which the sun and stars pass, and had him count and record their number, their names, and their courses "exactly as they are... forever" (ch. 72) — and it then makes this exactness a matter of righteousness, so that a man who reckons the calendar differently "sins like sinners" (ch. 82). And measured on its own terms, as chapter 74's arithmetic shows, the claim fails.

One may argue that the portals, the fire, and the ends of the earth are symbolic. But if they are only symbolic, then they cannot be used as revealed knowledge concerning the actual geography of heaven and the unseen world. Why does Enoch count symbolic portals? Why does he record the name, position, month, and outlet of each individual star? Why are snow, frost, rain, dew, and winds assigned to separate doors?

Now we have already seen this same problem in chapters 17–18. The winds supposedly hold up the earth and the firmament. Heaven is stretched out by winds. The stars are carried to their setting. There is a physical end of the earth where the heavens are completed. Then chapter 23 adds a fire in the west that chases the sun, moon, and stars, and chapters 33–36 add the portals where the stars and weather enter the world. (See also Commentary 6, no. 22, below.)

This is just the ancient cosmology of the people who wrote the book. Either Enoch is describing what he actually saw, or he is not. If he is, then the description is false. If he is not, then these chapters cannot be used as revealed knowledge of the heavens.

The Book of the Watchers ends by claiming that Enoch wrote down the laws, paths, names, and courses of the stars as they were revealed to him. But these chapters do not reveal the heavens as they truly are. They reveal the world in which the later author lived.

Chapter 37

This is the second vision that he saw, the vision of wisdom seen by Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam.

²This is the beginning of the words of wisdom that I raised my voice to speak to those who dwell upon the earth: Hear, you who lived in ancient times, and understand, you who will come afterward, the words of the Holy One that I will speak before the Lord of Spirits.

³It would have been better to declare them only to those of ancient times, yet we will not withhold the beginning of wisdom from those who come afterward.

⁴Until the present day, wisdom such as I have received has never been given by the Lord of Spirits, according to the insight granted to me and according to the good pleasure of the Lord of Spirits, by whom the portion of eternal life has been given to me.

⁵Three Parables were imparted to me, and I raised my voice and recounted them to those who dwell upon the earth.

Chapter 38

¹The First Parable. When the congregation of the righteous appears, and sinners are judged for their sins and driven from the face of the earth;

²when the Righteous One appears before the eyes of the righteous, whose elect works depend upon the Lord of Spirits, and light appears to the righteous and elect who dwell upon the earth— where then will the dwelling of sinners be, and where the resting place of those who denied the Lord of Spirits? It would have been better for them if they had never been born.

³When the secrets of the righteous are revealed, sinners are judged, and the ungodly are driven from the presence of the righteous and elect,

⁴from that time those who possess the earth shall no longer be powerful or exalted. They shall not be able to behold the face of the holy, for the Lord of Spirits has caused His light to appear upon the face of the holy, righteous, and elect.

⁵Then the kings and the mighty shall perish and be delivered into the hands of the righteous and holy.

⁶From that time onward none of them shall seek mercy for themselves from the Lord of Spirits, for their life has come to an end.

Chapter 39

¹[In those days elect and holy children shall descend from the high heaven, and their seed shall become one with the children of men.

²In those days Enoch received books of zeal and wrath and books of disquiet and expulsion.] “Mercy shall not be granted to them,” says the Lord of Spirits.

³In those days a whirlwind carried me away from the earth and set me down at the ends of the heavens.

⁴There I saw another vision:

the dwelling places of the holy and the resting places of the righteous.

⁵My eyes saw their dwellings with His righteous angels and their resting places with the holy ones. They petitioned, interceded, and prayed for the children of men. Righteousness flowed before them like water, and mercy like dew upon the earth. So it is among them forever and ever.

⁶In that place my eyes saw the Elect One of righteousness and faith, and righteousness shall prevail in his days. The righteous and elect shall be without number before Him forever and ever.

⁷I saw his dwelling beneath the wings of the Lord of Spirits. All the righteous and elect before Him shall be strong like fiery lights. Their mouths shall be full of blessing, and their lips shall extol the name of the Lord of Spirits. Righteousness shall never fail before Him, [nor shall uprightness fail before Him.]

⁸There I desired to dwell, and my spirit longed for that dwelling place. That place had already been appointed as my portion, for so it had been established concerning me before the Lord of Spirits.

⁹In those days I praised and exalted the name of the Lord of Spirits with blessings and praises, because according to His good pleasure He had destined me for blessing and glory.

¹⁰For a long time my eyes gazed upon that place, and I blessed and praised Him, saying, “Blessed is He, and may He be blessed from the beginning and forevermore.

¹¹Before Him there is no ceasing. Before the world was created, He knew what would be forever and what would come to pass from generation to generation.

¹²Those who never sleep bless You. They stand before Your glory and bless, praise, and exalt You, saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Spirits; He fills the earth with spirits.’”

¹³There my eyes saw all those who never sleep. They stood before Him, blessing Him and saying, “Blessed are You, and blessed is the name of the Lord forever and ever.” Then my face was changed, for I could no longer behold.

Chapter 40

¹After this I saw thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand—a multitude beyond number or reckoning—standing before the Lord of Spirits.

²On the four sides of the Lord of Spirits I saw four presences, different from those who never sleep. I learned their names, for the angel who accompanied me made their names known to me and showed me all hidden things.

³I heard the voices of those four presences as they offered praise before the Lord of Glory.

⁴The first voice blesses the Lord of Spirits forever and ever.

⁵The second voice I heard blessing the Elect One and the elect who depend upon the Lord of Spirits.

⁶The third voice I heard praying and interceding for those who dwell upon the earth and making supplication in the name of the Lord of Spirits.

⁷I heard the fourth voice warding off the satans and forbidding them to enter before the Lord of Spirits to accuse those who dwell upon the earth.

⁸After this I asked the angel of peace who accompanied me and showed me everything hidden, “Who are these four presences whose words I have heard and written down?”

⁹He said to me, “The first is Michael, the merciful and long-suffering. The second is Raphael, who is appointed over all the diseases and wounds of the children of men. The third is Gabriel, who is appointed over all powers. The fourth is Phanuel, who is appointed over the repentance that leads to hope for those who inherit eternal life.”

¹⁰These are the four angels of the Lord of Spirits and the four voices I heard in those days.

Chapter 41

¹After this I saw all the secrets of heaven, how the kingdom is divided, and how the deeds of men are weighed in the balance.

²There I saw the dwellings of the elect and the dwellings of the holy. My eyes saw all the sinners who deny the name of the Lord of Spirits being driven from there and dragged away. They could not remain because of the punishment that proceeds from the Lord of Spirits.

³My eyes saw the secrets of lightning and thunder and the secrets of the winds—how they are divided to blow over the earth—as well as the secrets of the clouds and dew. I saw from where they proceed and from where they saturate the dusty earth.

⁴There I saw closed chambers from which the winds are divided: the chamber of hail and winds, the chamber of mist, and the chamber of clouds. The cloud belonging to it has hovered over the earth from the beginning of the world.

⁵I saw the chambers of the sun and moon, from where they proceed and to where they return, their glorious return, how one is superior to the other, and their stately courses. They do not depart from their courses, add nothing to them, or take anything from them, but remain faithful to one another according to the oath by which they are bound.

⁶First the sun goes forth and traverses its path according to the commandment of the Lord of Spirits, whose name is mighty forever and ever.

⁷After this I saw the hidden and visible paths of the moon. She completes the course of her path in that place by day and by night, each standing opposite the other before the Lord of Spirits. They give thanks and praise without ceasing, for their thanksgiving is their rest.

⁸The sun changes often for blessing or for curse, and the course of the moon’s path is light to the righteous but darkness to sinners, in the name of the Lord, who separated light from darkness, divided the spirits of men, and strengthened the spirits of the righteous in the name of His righteousness.

⁹No angel hinders them, and no power is able to hinder them, for He appoints a judge over them all and judges them all before Him.

Chapter 42

¹Wisdom found no place where she might dwell, so a dwelling was assigned to her in the heavens.

²Wisdom went forth to dwell among the children of men, but she found no dwelling place.

Wisdom returned to her place and took her seat among the angels.

³Unrighteousness went forth from her chambers. She found those whom she had not sought and dwelt among them, like rain in a desert and dew upon a thirsty land.

Chapter 43

¹I saw other flashes of lightning and the stars of heaven. I saw how He called them all by name, and they answered Him.

²I saw how they are weighed in a righteous balance according to their proportions of light. I saw the width of their spaces, the day of their appearance, and how their revolutions produce lightning. I saw their revolutions according to the number of the angels and how they remain faithful to one another.

³I asked the angel who accompanied me and showed me what was hidden, “What are these?”

⁴He said to me, “The Lord of Spirits has shown you their symbolic meaning—literally, their parable. These are the names of the holy who dwell upon the earth and believe in the name of the Lord of Spirits forever and ever.”

Chapter 44

¹I also saw another phenomenon concerning the lightning: how some of the stars arise, become lightning, and cannot part with their new form.

Chapter 45

¹This is the Second Parable, concerning those who deny the name of the dwelling of the holy ones and the Lord of Spirits.

²They shall not ascend into heaven, nor shall they come upon the earth. Such shall be the portion of sinners who denied the name of the Lord of Spirits, who are kept for the day of suffering and tribulation.

³On that day My Elect One shall sit upon the throne of glory and test their works, and their resting places shall be without number. Their souls shall grow strong within them when they behold My Elect Ones and those who have called upon My glorious name.

⁴Then I will cause My Elect One to dwell among them.

⁵I will transform heaven and make it an eternal blessing and light. I will transform the earth and make it a blessing, and I will cause My elect to dwell upon it. But sinners and evildoers shall not set foot upon it.

⁶For I have provided peace for My righteous ones and satisfied them with it, and I have caused them to dwell before Me. But judgment awaits sinners before Me, so that I may destroy them from the face of the earth.

Chapter 46

¹There I saw One who had a Head of Days. His head was white like wool, and with Him was another whose appearance was like that of a man. His face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.

²I asked the angel who accompanied me and showed me all hidden things about that Son of Man:

³“Who is he, from where has he come, and why does he accompany the Head of Days?” He answered me: “This is the Son of Man who possesses righteousness, with whom righteousness dwells, and who reveals all the treasures of what is hidden.

The Lord of Spirits has chosen him, and his portion surpasses all before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness forever.

⁴This Son of Man whom you have seen shall remove the kings and the mighty from their seats [and the strong from their thrones]. He shall loosen the reins of the strong and break the teeth of sinners.

⁵[He shall depose kings from their thrones and kingdoms,] because they do not exalt and praise Him or humbly acknowledge from whom their kingdom was given to them.

⁶He shall cast down the faces of the strong and fill them with shame. Darkness shall be their dwelling, and worms shall be their bed. They shall have no hope of rising from their beds, because they do not exalt the name of the Lord of Spirits.

⁷[They raise their hands against the Most High.] They tread upon the earth and dwell upon it, and all their deeds reveal unrighteousness. Their power rests upon their riches, and their faith is in the gods they made with their own hands. They deny the name of the Lord of Spirits.

⁸They persecute the houses of His congregations and the faithful who depend upon the name of the Lord of Spirits.”

Chapter 47

¹In those days the prayer of the righteous and the blood of the righteous shall ascend from the earth before the Lord of Spirits.

²In those days the holy ones who dwell in the heavens above shall unite with one voice. They shall supplicate, pray, [praise,] give thanks, and bless the name of the Lord of Spirits on behalf of the blood of the righteous that has been shed, so that the prayer of the righteous may not be in vain before the Lord of Spirits, that judgment may be executed for them, and that they may not suffer forever.

³In those days I saw the Head of Days seat Himself upon the throne of His glory. The books of the living were opened before Him, and all His host in the heavens above and all His counselors stood before Him.

⁴The hearts of the holy were filled with joy because the number of the righteous had been completed, the prayer of the righteous had been heard, and the blood of the righteous had been required before the Lord of Spirits.

Chapter 48

¹In that place I saw an inexhaustible fountain of righteousness. Around it were many fountains of wisdom. All who thirsted drank from them and were filled with wisdom, and their dwellings were with the righteous, holy, and elect.

²At that hour the Son of Man was named in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, and his name was named before the Head of Days.

³Before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of heaven were made, his name was named before the Lord of Spirits.

⁴He shall be a staff upon which the righteous may lean and not fall. He shall be the light of the nations and the hope of those whose hearts are troubled.

⁵All who dwell upon the earth shall fall down and worship before him. They shall praise, bless, and celebrate with song the Lord of Spirits.

⁶For this reason he was chosen and hidden before Him before the creation of the world and forevermore.

⁷The wisdom of the Lord of Spirits has revealed him to the holy and righteous, for he has preserved the portion of the righteous. They hated and despised this world of unrighteousness and hated all its works and ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits. In his name they are saved, and his good pleasure determines their life.

⁸In those days the kings of the earth shall become downcast, as shall the mighty who possess the land, because of the works of their own hands. On the day of their anguish and affliction they shall not be able to save themselves, and I will deliver them into the hands of My elect.

⁹Like straw in fire they shall burn before the face of the holy.

Like lead in water they shall sink before the face of the righteous, and no trace of them shall ever again be found.

¹⁰On the day of their affliction there shall be rest upon the earth. They shall fall before the righteous and never rise again. No one shall take them by the hand and raise them, for they denied the Lord of Spirits and His Anointed. Blessed be the name of the Lord of Spirits.

Chapter 49

¹Wisdom is poured out like water, and glory does not fail before him forevermore.

²He is mighty in all the secrets of righteousness. Unrighteousness shall disappear like a shadow and shall have no continuance, for the Elect One stands before the Lord of Spirits. His glory is forever and ever, and his might endures through all generations.

³In him dwells the spirit of wisdom, the spirit that gives insight, the spirit of understanding and might, and the spirit of those who have fallen asleep in righteousness.

⁴He shall judge secret things, and no one shall be able to speak a lying word before him, for he is the Elect One before the Lord of Spirits, according to His good pleasure.

Chapter 50

¹In those days a transformation shall take place for the holy and elect. The light of days shall rest upon them, and glory and honor shall return to the holy.

²On the day of affliction, when evil has been stored up against sinners, the righteous shall be victorious in the name of the Lord of Spirits. He will cause the others to witness this so that they may repent and abandon the works of their hands.

³They shall receive no honor before the Lord of Spirits, yet through His name they shall be saved. The Lord of Spirits will have compassion upon them, for His compassion is great.

⁴He is righteous in His judgment. In the presence of His glory unrighteousness cannot endure. At His judgment the unrepentant shall perish before Him.

⁵“From that time onward I will have no mercy upon them,” says the Lord of Spirits.

Chapter 51

¹In those days the earth shall give back what has been entrusted to it, Sheol shall give back what it has received, and the realm of destruction shall return what it owes.

²In those days the Elect One shall arise and choose the righteous and holy from among them, for the day has drawn near when they shall be saved.

³In those days the Elect One shall sit upon My throne. His mouth shall pour forth all the secrets of wisdom and counsel, for the Lord of Spirits has given them to him and glorified him.

⁴In those days the mountains shall leap like rams, and the hills shall skip like lambs satisfied with milk, and the faces of [all] the angels in heaven shall shine with joy.

⁵The earth shall rejoice, the righteous shall dwell upon it, and the elect shall walk upon it.

Chapter 52

¹After those days, in the place where I had seen all the visions of what is hidden—for I had been carried away in a whirlwind and borne toward the west—

²my eyes saw all the secret things of heaven that shall come to pass: a mountain of iron, a mountain of copper, a mountain of silver, a mountain of gold, a mountain of soft metal, and a mountain of lead.

³I asked the angel who accompanied me, “What are these things that I have seen in secret?”

⁴He said to me, “All these things that you have seen shall serve the dominion of His Anointed, so that he may be powerful and mighty upon the earth.”

⁵The angel of peace answered me, “Wait a little while, and all the secret things that surround the Lord of Spirits shall be revealed to you.

⁶These mountains that your eyes have seen— the mountain of iron, the mountain of copper, the mountain of silver, the mountain of gold, the mountain of soft metal, and the mountain of lead— shall all become before the Elect One like wax before fire and like water streaming down from above [upon those mountains]. They shall become powerless beneath his feet.

⁷In those days no one shall be saved by gold or silver, and no one shall be able to escape.

⁸There shall be no iron for war, and no one shall clothe himself with a breastplate. Bronze shall be of no use, tin [shall be of no use and] shall not be valued, and lead shall not be desired.

⁹All these things shall be [rejected and] destroyed from the surface of the earth when the Elect One appears before the Lord of Spirits.”

Chapter 53

¹There my eyes saw a deep valley with open mouths. All who dwell upon the land, the sea, and the islands shall bring him gifts, offerings, and tokens of homage, yet that deep valley shall not become full.

²Their hands commit lawless deeds, and sinners devour all whom they lawlessly oppress. Yet sinners shall be destroyed before the Lord of Spirits. They shall be banished from the face of His earth and shall perish forever and ever.

³I saw all the angels of punishment remaining there and preparing all the instruments of Satan.

⁴I asked the angel of peace who accompanied me, “For whom are they preparing these instruments?”

⁵He said to me, “They are preparing them for the kings and mighty ones of this earth, so that by them they may be destroyed.

⁶Afterward the Righteous and Elect One shall cause the house of his congregation to appear. From that time onward they shall no longer be hindered, in the name of the Lord of Spirits.

⁷These mountains shall not stand like the earth before his righteousness, but the hills shall become like a fountain of water, and the righteous shall rest from the oppression of sinners.”

Chapter 54

¹I looked and turned toward another region of the earth, and there I saw a deep valley filled with burning fire.

²They brought the kings and mighty ones and began to cast them into this deep valley.

³There my eyes saw the instruments prepared for them: iron chains of immeasurable weight.

⁴I asked the angel of peace who accompanied me, “For whom are these chains being prepared?”

⁵He said to me, “These are being prepared for the hosts of Azazel, so that they may seize them and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation. They shall cover their jaws with rough stones, as the Lord of Spirits commanded.

⁶Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel shall seize them on that great day and cast them into the burning furnace, so that the Lord of Spirits may take vengeance upon them for their unrighteousness in submitting themselves to Satan and leading astray those who dwell upon the earth.”

⁷In those days punishment shall come from the Lord of Spirits. He shall open all the chambers of the waters above the heavens and all the fountains beneath the earth.

⁸All the waters shall be joined together. The water above the heavens is masculine,

⁹and the water beneath the earth is feminine. Together they shall destroy all who dwell upon the earth and all who dwell beneath the ends of heaven.

¹⁰When they recognize the unrighteousness they committed upon the earth, they shall perish through those waters.

Chapter 55

¹After this the Head of Days regretted it and said, “I have destroyed in vain all who dwell upon the earth.”

²He swore by His great name, “From this time onward I will not do this again to all who dwell upon the earth. I will set a sign in heaven, and it shall be a pledge of faithfulness between Me and them forever, as long as heaven remains above the earth. This is according to My command.

³When I desire to seize them by the hands of the angels on the day of tribulation and pain, I will cause My chastisement and wrath to rest upon them,” says God, the Lord of Spirits.

⁴“You mighty kings who dwell upon the earth shall behold My Elect One seated upon the throne of glory, judging Azazel, all his associates, and all his hosts in the name of the Lord of Spirits.”

Chapter 56

¹I saw there the hosts of the angels of punishment going forth, holding scourges and chains of iron and bronze.

²I asked the angel of peace who accompanied me, “To whom are those who hold the scourges going?”

³He said to me, “They are going to their chosen and beloved ones, so that these may be cast into the chasm of the valley’s abyss.

⁴Then that valley shall be filled with their chosen and beloved ones. The days of their lives shall come to an end, and from then on the days of their deception shall no longer be counted.

⁵In those days the angels shall return and hurl themselves eastward upon the Parthians and Medes. They shall stir up the kings so that a spirit of unrest comes upon them, and they shall rouse them from their thrones, so that they break forth like lions from their lairs and like hungry wolves among their flocks.

⁶They shall go up and trample the land of His elect [and the land of His elect shall become before them like a threshing floor and a highway].

⁷But the city of My righteous shall hinder their horses. They shall begin to fight among themselves, and their own right hands shall turn against them. A man shall not recognize his brother, nor a son his father or mother, until the corpses from their slaughter are beyond number and their punishment has not been in vain.

⁸In those days Sheol shall open its jaws, and they shall be swallowed within it. Their destruction shall be completed, and Sheol shall devour the sinners in the presence of the elect.”

Chapter 57

¹After this I saw another host of chariots with men riding upon them, coming upon the winds from the east and from the west toward the south.

²The noise of their chariots was heard. When this tumult occurred, the holy ones in heaven perceived it, the pillars of the earth were moved from their places, and the sound was heard from one end of heaven to the other in a single day.

³They shall all fall down and worship the Lord of Spirits. This is the end of the Second Parable.

Chapter 58

¹I began to speak the Third Parable concerning the righteous and elect.

²Blessed are you, righteous and elect, for glorious shall be your portion.

³The righteous shall dwell in the light of the sun, and the elect in the light of eternal life. The days of their lives shall be unending, and the days of the holy shall be without number.

⁴They shall seek light and find righteousness with the Lord of Spirits. There shall be peace for the righteous in the name of the Eternal Lord.

⁵After this it shall be said to the holy in heaven that they should seek the secrets of righteousness, the inheritance of faith. For it has become bright like the sun upon the earth, and the darkness has passed away.

⁶There shall be light that never ends, and they shall not come to a fixed number of days, for the darkness shall first have been destroyed, [and the light established before the Lord of Spirits,] and the light of uprightness established forever before the Lord of Spirits.

Chapter 59

¹[In those days my eyes saw the secrets of the lightning and the lights, and the judgments they execute. They flash for blessing or for curse, according to the will of the Lord of Spirits.

²There I saw the secrets of thunder: how, when it resounds above in heaven, its sound is heard. He showed me the judgments executed upon the earth, whether for well-being and blessing or for curse, according to the word of the Lord of Spirits.

³After this all the secrets of the lights and lightning were shown to me. They flash for blessing and satisfaction.]

Chapter 60

A Fragment Of The Book Of Noah

¹In the five-hundredth year, in the seventh month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the life of Enoch, I saw in that Parable how a mighty earthquake caused the heaven of heavens to quake. The host of the Most High and the angels—a thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand—were greatly disturbed.

²The Head of Days sat upon the throne of His glory, and the angels and righteous stood around Him.

³A great trembling seized me, and fear took hold of me. My strength failed, my inward parts melted, and I fell upon my face.

⁴Michael sent another angel from among the holy ones, and he raised me. When he had raised me, my spirit returned, for I had been unable to endure the appearance of that host and the commotion and quaking of heaven.

⁵Michael said to me, “Why are you disturbed by such a vision? Until this day the time of His mercy has continued, and He has been merciful and long-suffering toward those who dwell upon the earth.

⁶But when the day, the power, the punishment, and the judgment come—which the Lord of Spirits has prepared for those who do not worship the law of righteousness, who deny righteous judgment, and who take His name in vain—that day shall be a covenant for the elect but an investigation and judgment for sinners.

²⁵When the punishment of the Lord of Spirits rests upon them, it shall not rest in vain. It shall slay children with their mothers and children with their fathers. Afterward judgment shall take place according to His mercy and patience.”

⁷On that day two monsters were separated: a female monster named Leviathan, appointed to dwell in the abysses of the ocean above the fountains of the waters;

⁸and a male monster named Behemoth, who occupied with his breast a desolate wilderness named Duidain, east of the garden where the elect and righteous dwell. There my grandfather was taken up—he was the seventh from Adam, the first man whom the Lord of Spirits created.

⁹I asked the other angel to show me the power of those monsters and how they were separated on a single day, one being cast into the abysses of the sea and the other into the dry wilderness.

¹⁰He said to me, “Son of man, you seek here to know what is hidden.”

¹¹The other angel who accompanied me and showed me what was hidden told me what is first and last in heaven above, beneath the earth in the depths, at the ends of heaven, and upon the foundations of heaven.

¹²He showed me the chambers of the winds, how the winds are divided and weighed, how the portals of the winds are numbered—each according to the power of its wind—the power of the moon’s lights according to what is fitting, and the divisions of the stars according to their names and how all their divisions are arranged.

¹³He showed me the thunder according to the places where it falls, all the divisions made among the lightning so that it may flash, and their hosts, so that they may obey at once.

¹⁴Thunder has appointed places of rest while it waits for its peal. Thunder and lightning are inseparable; though they are not one and undivided, they go forth together through the spirit and do not separate.

¹⁵When lightning flashes, thunder gives forth its voice, and the spirit causes a pause during the peal and divides equally between them. The treasury of their peals is like the sand. Each peal is restrained with a bridle, turned back by the power of the spirit, and then driven forward according to the many regions of the earth.

¹⁶The spirit of the sea is masculine and strong. According to the power of its strength, it draws the sea back with a rein; likewise, the sea is driven forward and dispersed among all the mountains of the earth.

¹⁷The spirit of hoarfrost is its own angel, and the spirit of hail is a good angel.

¹⁸The spirit of snow has left its chamber because of its strength. A special spirit is within it, and what rises from it is like smoke; its name is frost. The spirit of mist is not united with them in their chambers, but has a chamber of its own, for its course is glorious in light and darkness, in winter and summer, and an angel is within its chamber.

¹⁹The spirit of dew has its dwelling at the ends of heaven and is connected with the chambers of rain. Its course is in winter and summer. Its clouds and the clouds of mist are joined together, and each gives to the other.

²⁰When the spirit of rain goes forth from its chamber, the angels come, open the chamber, and lead it out. When it is spread over the whole earth, it joins with the water upon the earth. Whenever it joins with the water upon the earth...

²¹For the waters are given for those who dwell upon the earth; they are nourishment for the earth from the Most High who is in heaven. Therefore the rain has a measure,

²²and the angels are charged with it. I saw these things toward the Garden of the Righteous.

²³The angel of peace who was with me said, “These two monsters, prepared in accordance with the greatness of God, shall feed...”

Chapter 61

¹In those days I saw long cords being given to those angels. They took wings for themselves, flew away, and went toward the north.

²I asked the angel, “Why have those angels taken these cords and departed?” He said to me, “They have gone to measure.”

³The angel who accompanied me said: “These shall bring the measures of the righteous and the cords of the righteous to the righteous, so that they may support themselves upon the name of the Lord of Spirits forever and ever.

⁴The elect shall begin to dwell with the elect. These are the measures that shall be given to faith and that shall strengthen righteousness.

⁵These measures shall reveal all the secrets of the depths of the earth: those who were destroyed in the wilderness, those who were devoured by beasts, and those who were devoured by the fish of the sea, so that they may return and stand firm on the day of the Elect One. For no one shall be destroyed before the Lord of Spirits, and no one can be destroyed.”

⁶All who dwell above in heaven received one command, one power, one voice, and one light like fire.

⁷With their first words they blessed that One, exalted and praised Him with wisdom, and were wise in speech and in the spirit of life.

⁸The Lord of Spirits seated the Elect One upon the throne of glory. He shall judge all the works of the holy in heaven above, and their deeds shall be weighed in the balance.

⁹When he lifts up his face to judge their secret ways according to the word of the name of the Lord of Spirits, and their paths according to the way of the righteous judgment of the Lord of Spirits, they shall all speak with one voice. They shall bless, glorify, exalt, and sanctify the name of the Lord of Spirits.

¹⁰He shall summon all the host of heaven, all the holy ones above, the host of God, the Cherubim, Seraphim, and Ophanim, all the angels of power, all the angels of principalities, the Elect One, and the other powers upon the earth and over the water.

¹¹On that day they shall raise one voice and bless, glorify, and exalt Him in the spirit of faith, wisdom, patience, mercy, judgment, peace, and goodness. They shall all say with one voice, “Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed forever and ever.”

¹²All who never sleep above in heaven shall bless Him. All the holy ones in heaven shall bless Him, and all the elect who dwell in the Garden of Life. Every spirit of light capable of blessing, glorifying, exalting, and hallowing Your blessed name shall bless You, and all flesh shall glorify and bless Your name beyond measure forever and ever.

¹³For great is the mercy of the Lord of Spirits, and He is long-suffering. He has revealed all His works and everything He created to the righteous and elect in the name of the Lord of Spirits.

Chapter 62

¹Thus the Lord commanded the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who dwell upon the earth, saying, “Open your eyes and lift up your horns, if you are able to recognize the Elect One.”

²The Lord of Spirits seated him upon the throne of His glory. The spirit of righteousness was poured out upon him. The word of his mouth destroys all sinners, and all the unrighteous are destroyed from before his face.

³On that day all the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who possess the earth shall stand up. They shall see and recognize how he sits upon the throne of his glory, how righteousness is judged before him, and how no lying word is spoken in his presence.

⁴Pain shall come upon them like the pain of a woman in labor, [when she suffers in giving birth,] when her child enters the mouth of the womb and she suffers in bringing forth.

⁵One part of them shall look upon another. They shall be terrified and downcast, and pain shall seize them when they behold that Son of Man seated upon the throne of his glory.

⁶The kings, the mighty, and all who possess the earth shall bless, glorify, and exalt him who rules over all, who was hidden.

⁷From the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, and the Most High preserved him in the presence of His might and revealed him to the elect.

⁸The congregation of the elect and holy shall be established, and all the elect shall stand before him on that day.

⁹All the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who rule the earth shall fall upon their faces before him, worship, and set their hope upon that Son of Man. They shall petition him and plead for mercy from his hands.

¹⁰Nevertheless, the Lord of Spirits shall press them so greatly that they shall hasten away from His presence. Their faces shall be filled with shame, and darkness shall deepen upon them.

¹¹He shall deliver them to the angels of punishment, so that vengeance may be executed upon them because they oppressed His children and His elect.

¹²They shall become a spectacle for the righteous and elect. The righteous shall rejoice over them, because the wrath of the Lord of Spirits rests upon them and His sword is drunk with their blood.

¹³On that day the righteous and elect shall be saved, and from that time onward they shall never again see the faces of sinners and the unrighteous.

¹⁴The Lord of Spirits shall abide over them. They shall eat with that Son of Man, lie down, and rise up forever and ever.

¹⁵The righteous and elect shall rise from the earth and cease to be downcast. They shall be clothed with garments of glory.

¹⁶These shall be the garments of life from the Lord of Spirits. Your garments shall not grow old, nor shall your glory pass away before the Lord of Spirits.

Chapter 63

¹In those days the mighty and the kings who possess the earth shall beg Him to grant them a brief respite from the angels of punishment to whom they were delivered, so that they might fall down, worship before the Lord of Spirits, and confess their sins before Him.

²They shall bless and glorify the Lord of Spirits and say: “Blessed is the Lord of Spirits, the Lord of kings, the Lord of the mighty, the Lord of the rich, the Lord of glory, and the Lord of wisdom.

³Your power is splendid in every secret thing from generation to generation, and Your glory endures forever and ever. All Your secrets are deep and without number, and Your righteousness is beyond reckoning.

⁴We have now learned that we ought to glorify and bless the Lord of kings, Him who is King over all kings.”

⁵They shall say: “If only we had rest in which to glorify, give thanks, and confess our faith before His glory!

⁶Now we long for a little rest, but we do not find it.

We pursue it, but cannot obtain it. Light has vanished from before us, and darkness is our dwelling forever and ever.

⁷For we did not believe before Him or glorify the name of the Lord of Spirits [or glorify our Lord]. Our hope was in the scepter of our kingdom and in our own glory.

⁸On the day of our suffering and tribulation He does not save us, and we find no respite in which to confess that our Lord is true in all His works, His judgments, and His justice, and that His judgments show no partiality.

⁹We pass away from before His face because of our works, and all our sins are reckoned in righteousness.”

¹⁰Then they shall say to themselves, “Our souls are filled with unrighteous gain, yet it does not prevent us from descending with it into the depths of Sheol.”

¹¹Afterward their faces shall be filled with darkness and shame before that Son of Man. They shall be driven from his presence, and the sword shall remain among them before his face.

¹²Thus says the Lord of Spirits: “This is the ordinance and judgment concerning the mighty, the kings, the exalted, and those who possess the earth before the Lord of Spirits.”

Chapter 64

¹I saw other forms hidden in that place.

²I heard the voice of the angel saying, “These are the angels who descended to the earth, revealed what had been hidden to the children of men, and led the children of men into sin.”

Chapter 65

¹In those days Noah saw that the earth had sunk down and that its destruction was near.

²He arose from there, went to the ends of the earth, and cried aloud to his grandfather Enoch.

³Noah said three times with a bitter voice, “Hear me! Hear me! Hear me!” I said to him, “Tell me what is happening upon the earth, that it is in such a grievous condition and shakes so violently, lest I perish with it.”

⁴Then a great commotion arose upon the earth, a voice was heard from heaven, and I fell upon my face.

⁵Enoch, my grandfather, came and stood beside me. He said, “Why have you cried to me with such bitterness and weeping?

⁶A command has gone forth from the presence of the Lord concerning those who dwell upon the earth: their destruction is complete because they have learned all the secrets of the angels, all the violence of the satans, all their most hidden powers, the power of those who practice sorcery and witchcraft, and the power of those who make molten images for the whole earth.

⁷They have learned how silver is produced from the dust of the earth and how soft metal originates in the earth.

⁸Lead and tin are not produced from the earth in the same manner as the former metals; a fountain produces them,

⁹and an angel stands within it, and that angel is preeminent.” Then my grandfather Enoch took me by the hand, raised me, and said, “Go, for I have asked the Lord of Spirits about this commotion upon the earth.

¹⁰He said to me, ‘Because of their unrighteousness, their judgment has been determined and shall never be withheld by Me. Because of the sorceries they searched out and learned, the earth and those who dwell upon it shall be destroyed.

¹¹They shall never have a place of repentance, because they revealed what had been hidden, and they are condemned. But as for you, my son, the Lord of Spirits knows that you are pure and guiltless of this reproach concerning the secrets.

¹²He has appointed your name to be among the holy and shall preserve you among those who dwell upon the earth. He has appointed your righteous seed for kingship and great honors, and from your seed shall proceed a fountain of righteous and holy ones without number forever.’”

Chapter 66

¹Afterward he showed me the angels of punishment who are prepared to come and release all the powers of the waters beneath the earth, in order to bring judgment and destruction upon all who [remain and] dwell upon the earth.

²The Lord of Spirits commanded the angels who were going forth not to cause the waters to rise yet, but to hold them in check,

³for those angels had authority over the powers of the waters. Then I departed from the presence of Enoch.

Chapter 67

¹In those days the word of God came to me, saying, “Noah, your portion has come before Me—a portion without blame, a portion of love and uprightness.

²The angels are now constructing a wooden structure. When they have completed that work, I will place My hand upon it and preserve it. From it shall come forth the seed of life, and a change shall take place so that the earth will not remain uninhabited.

³I will establish your seed before Me forever and ever, and I will spread abroad those who dwell with you. Your seed shall not be unfruitful upon the face of the earth, but shall be blessed and multiply upon the earth in the name of the Lord.”

⁴He shall imprison the angels who revealed unrighteousness in that burning valley that my grandfather Enoch formerly showed me in the west, among the mountains of gold, silver, iron, soft metal, and tin.

⁵I saw that valley, in which there was a great convulsion of the waters.

⁶When all this occurred, the fiery molten metal and the convulsion in that place produced the smell of sulfur. It mingled with those waters, and the valley of the angels who led mankind astray burned beneath that land.

⁷Through its valleys flowed streams of fire, where the angels who led astray those who dwell upon the earth are punished.

⁸In those days those waters shall serve the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who dwell upon the earth for the healing of the body, but for the punishment of the spirit. Their spirits are filled with lust, so that they may be punished in their bodies, for they denied the Lord of Spirits.

⁹They see their punishment every day, yet they do not believe in His name. As the burning of their bodies becomes more severe, a corresponding change shall take place in their spirits forever and ever.

¹⁰For no one shall utter an idle word before the Lord of Spirits.

¹¹Judgment shall come upon them because they believe in the lust of their bodies and deny the Spirit of the Lord. Those same waters shall undergo a change in those days. When the angels are punished in those waters, the temperature of the springs shall change; and when the angels ascend, the waters of the springs shall change and become cold.

¹²I heard Michael answer, “This judgment by which the angels are judged is a testimony against the kings and mighty ones who possess the earth.

¹³Because these waters of judgment serve for the healing of the kings’ bodies and for the indulgence of their bodily lusts, they will not perceive or believe that those waters shall change and become a fire that burns forever.”

Chapter 68

¹Afterward my grandfather Enoch gave me the teaching of all the secrets contained in the Book of Parables that had been given to him, and he gathered them for me in the words of that book.

²On that day Michael said to Raphael, “The power of the spirit overwhelms me and makes me tremble because of the severity of the secret judgment—the judgment of the angels. Who can endure the severe judgment that has been executed, before which they melt away?”

³Michael again said to Raphael, “Whose heart would not be softened concerning it, and whose inward being would not be troubled by this word of judgment that has gone forth against those who led them astray?”

⁴When he stood before the Lord of Spirits, Michael said to Raphael, “I will not take their part before the Lord, for the Lord of Spirits is angry with them because they acted as though they were the Lord.

⁵Therefore everything hidden shall come upon them forever and ever. Neither angel nor man shall share their portion; they alone have received this judgment forever and ever.”

Chapter 69

¹After this judgment they shall terrify them and make them tremble because they revealed these things to those who dwell upon the earth.

²Behold, these are the names of those angels: [the first is Semyaza; the second, Artaqifa; the third, Armen; the fourth, Kokabiel; the fifth, Turael; the sixth, Rumyal; the seventh, Danyal; the eighth, Neqael; the ninth, Baraqel; the tenth, Azazel; the eleventh, Armaros; the twelfth,

Batariel; the thirteenth, Busaseyal; the fourteenth, Hananel; the fifteenth, Turel; the sixteenth, Simapesiel; the seventeenth, Yetrel; the eighteenth, Tumael; the nineteenth, Turel;

³the twentieth, Rumael; and the twenty-first, Azazel. These are the chiefs of their angels, and their names, and the chiefs over hundreds, fifties, and tens.]

⁴The name of the first is Yeqon. He is the one who led astray [all] the sons of God, brought them down to the earth, and led them astray through the daughters of men.

⁵The second is named Asbeel. He gave evil counsel to the holy sons of God and led them astray, so that they defiled their bodies with the daughters of men.

⁶The third is named Gadreel. He showed the children of men all the blows of death, led Eve astray, and showed [the weapons of death to the sons of men]—the shield, the coat of mail, the sword for battle, and every weapon of death.

⁷From his hand these things have gone forth against those who dwell upon the earth from that day and forevermore.

⁸The fourth is named Penemue. He taught the children of men the bitter and the sweet and all the secrets of their wisdom.

⁹He taught mankind writing with ink and paper, and through this many have sinned from age to age and until this day.

¹⁰Human beings were not created for this purpose: to confirm their faithfulness with pen and ink.

¹¹Human beings were created to be like the angels, so that they might remain pure and righteous. Death, which destroys everything, would not have taken hold of them; but through this knowledge they perish, and through this power death consumes them.

¹²The fifth is named Kasdeya. He showed the children of men all the evil blows of spirits and demons, the blows that strike the embryo in the womb so that it perishes, [the blows of the soul,] the bites of the serpent, and the blows that come through the noonday heat, the son of the serpent named Tabaet.

¹³This is the task of Kasbeel, the chief of the oath that he revealed to the holy ones while he dwelt high above in glory. Its name is Biqa.

¹⁴This angel asked Michael to show him the hidden Name, so that he might pronounce it in the oath and cause those who revealed every hidden thing to the children of men to quake before that Name and oath. This is the power of that oath, for it is mighty and strong, and He placed the oath Akae in the hand of Michael.

¹⁵[The text is lost or displaced here.]

¹⁶These are the secrets of this oath. They are made strong through His oath. By it heaven was suspended before the world was created and forever.

¹⁷Through it the earth was founded upon the water, and from the hidden recesses of the mountains beautiful waters come forth, from the creation of the world and forever.

¹⁸Through that oath the sea was created. He appointed the sand as its foundation and boundary for the time of its anger, and it does not dare to pass beyond it from the creation of the world and forever.

¹⁹Through that oath the depths are made firm. They remain and do not move from their place from age to age.

²⁰Through that oath the sun and moon complete their courses and do not depart from their ordinance from age to age.

²¹Through that oath the stars complete their courses. He calls them by their names, and they answer Him from age to age.

²²[In the same way, the spirits of the water, the winds, all the breezes, and their paths from every quarter of the winds are ordered.

²³The voices of thunder and the light of lightning are preserved there, as are the chambers of hail,

²⁴the chambers of hoarfrost, mist, rain, and dew. All these believe and give thanks before the Lord of Spirits and glorify Him with all their power. Their food consists in every act of thanksgiving. They give thanks, glorify, and exalt the name of the Lord of Spirits forever and ever.]

²⁵This oath is mighty over them. Through it [they are preserved and] their paths are preserved, and their courses are not destroyed.

²⁶There was great joy among them. They blessed, glorified, and exalted Him because the name of that Son of Man had been revealed to them.

²⁷He sat upon the throne of his glory, and the fullness of judgment was given to the Son of Man. He caused sinners and those who led the world astray to pass away and be destroyed from the face of the earth.

²⁸They shall be bound with chains and imprisoned in the assembly place of destruction, and all their works shall vanish from the face of the earth.

²⁹From that time onward nothing corruptible shall remain, for that Son of Man has appeared and seated himself upon the throne of his glory. All evil shall pass away before his face, and the word of that Son of Man shall go forth and be strong before the Lord of Spirits.

Chapter 70

¹After this, while he was still living, his name was lifted up in the presence of that Son of Man and the Lord of Spirits, away from among those who dwell upon the earth.

²He was raised aloft upon the chariots of the spirit,

³and he was no longer seen among them. From that day I was no longer numbered among them. He placed me between the two winds, between the north and the west,

⁴where the angels had taken cords to measure for me the place appointed for the elect and righteous. There I saw the first fathers and the righteous who have dwelt in that place from the beginning.

Chapter 71

¹After this my spirit was carried away and ascended into the heavens. I saw the holy sons of God. They walked upon flames of fire. Their garments were white [and their clothing was white], and their faces shone like snow.

²I saw two streams of fire, and the light of that fire shone like hyacinth. I fell upon my face before the Lord of Spirits.

³The angel Michael [one of the archangels] took me by my right hand, lifted me, and led me into all the secrets. He showed me all the secrets of righteousness.

⁴He showed me all the secrets of the ends of heaven, all the chambers of the stars and luminaries, and the places from which they proceed before the holy ones.

⁵He carried my spirit into the heaven of heavens. There I saw what appeared to be a structure built of crystals, and among the crystals were tongues of living fire.

⁶My spirit saw a belt of fire surrounding that house. On its four sides were streams filled with living fire, and they surrounded the house.

⁷Around it were the Seraphim, Cherubim, and Ophanim. These are those who never sleep and who guard the throne of His glory.

⁸I saw angels beyond number, a thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, surrounding that house. Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Phanuel, and the holy angels above the heavens went in and out of that house.

⁹They came forth from the house: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Phanuel, and holy angels beyond number.

¹⁰With them came the Head of Days. His head was white and pure like wool, and His garments were beyond description.

¹¹I fell upon my face. My whole body became weak, and my spirit was transformed. I cried out with a loud voice, with the spirit of power, and blessed, glorified, and exalted Him.

¹²The blessings that proceeded from my mouth were pleasing before the Head of Days. The Head of Days came with Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Phanuel, and thousands and tens of thousands of angels beyond number.

¹³[A passage has been lost here. It apparently described the Son of Man accompanying the Head of Days and Enoch asking one of the angels, as in 46:3, who the Son of Man was.]

¹⁴The angel came to me, greeted me with his voice, and said:

“You are that Son of Man23 who was born for righteousness. Righteousness dwells upon him, and the righteousness of the Head of Days does not forsake him.”

¹⁵He said to me: “He proclaims peace to you in the name of the world to come, for from there peace has proceeded since the creation of the world, and so it shall be for you forever and ever.

¹⁶All shall walk in his ways, for righteousness never forsakes him. Their dwelling places and inheritance shall be with him, and they shall never be separated from him. There shall be length of days with that Son of Man, and the righteous shall have peace and an upright way in the name of the Lord of Spirits forever and ever.

23 Charles emended the Ethiopic to "This is the Son of Man," but no known manuscript supports this reading, all manuscripts say “You are that Son of Man.” See commentary on the next page, no 18.

Commentary 5: Chapters 37-71

13. Chapters 54-55: God does things without reason?

Does God regret? How can one outside of time who sees past, present, future all at once not see that he will regret something? Genesis 6:6-7 says God regretted that he made man, but this is anthropomorphization applying human traits to non-human entities. God does not regret, but he is mournful over the judgment he has to cast unto the ungodly.

As Saint John Chrysostom says: “He saw the world corrupted by devils, and He delivered His own Son to save it…we say God is jealous, God is angry, God repents, God hates. These words are human, but they have a meaning which becomes the nature of God. How is God jealous? ‘I am jealous over you with the jealousy of God.’ Is God angry? ‘O Lord reproach me not in your indignation.’ Does God slumber? ‘Awake, wherefore do you sleep, O Lord?’ Does God repent? ‘I repent that I have made man.’ Does God hate? ‘My soul hates your feasts and your new moons.’ Well do not consider the poverty of the expressions: but grasp their divine meaning. God is jealous, for He loves, God is angry, not as yielding to passion, but for the purpose of chastising, and punishing. God sleeps, not as really slumbering, but as being long-suffering. Choose out the expression. Thus when you hear that God begets the Son, think not of division but of the unity of substance. For God has taken many of these words from us as we also have borrowed others from Him, that we may receive honor thereby.”

Enoch says: “After this the Head of Days regretted it and said, ‘I have destroyed in vain all who dwell upon the earth.’”

To say that God destroyed in vain, essentially means that He did it without purpose. The original Ethiopic word here is: በከ — bakka, It means “in vain,” “uselessly,” “to no purpose,” or “without effect.” The word is related to the idea of emptiness, uselessness, or something being spoiled and accomplishing nothing.

The Prophet Esaias (Isaiah) says: “Thus says the Lord that made the heaven, this God that created the earth, and made it; he marked it out, he made it not in vain, but formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is none beside.” (Esaias [Isaiah] 45:18)

Again: “10 For as rain shall come down, or snow, from heaven, and shall not return until it have saturated the earth, and it bring forth, and bud, and give seed to the sower, and bread for food: so shall my word be, whatever shall proceed out of my mouth, it shall by no means turn back, until all the things which I willed shall have been accomplished; and I will make your ways prosperous, and will effect my commands. (Esaias 55:10-11)

The Masoretic Proverbs say: “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” (Proverbs 16:4)

One may argue that Enoch uses anthropomorphization as well, but anthropomorphic language still has to communicate something true about God. When Genesis says that God “regretted” making man, it does not mean that God made a mistake, or wished that He had chosen differently. It communicates, in human language, His true grief over man’s wickedness and His righteous opposition to sin.

But what truth is communicated by saying, “I have destroyed in vain”?

“God is not as man to waver, nor as the son of man to be threatened; shall he say and not perform? shall he speak and not keep to his word?” (Numbers 23:19)

Again: “And Israel shall be divided to two: and God will not turn nor repent; for he is not as a man to repent.” (1 Kingdoms 15:29)

Therefore, Scripture itself teaches us how to understand where God is said to repent. God may grieve, have mercy, or change in His dealings with man, but He does not change in knowledge, discover that His work failed, or realize afterward that He acted without purpose.

"Remember you these things, and groan: repent, you that have gone astray, return in your heart; and remember the former things that were of old: for I am God, and there is none other beside me, telling beforehand the latter events before they come to pass, and they are accomplished together: and I said, all my counsel shall stand, and I will do all things that I have planned.” (Esaias [Isaiah] 46:8–10)

14. Chapter 60: Dating error. The vision is dated to the five-hundredth year “in the life of Enoch,” even though Genesis says Enoch lived only 365 years. (See also Commentary 5, no. 19, and Commentary 7, no. 28, below.)

15. Chapter 67: Wrong about Hot Springs Hot springs are said in this chapter to be waters heated by the underground punishment of the fallen angels. The waters supposedly heal the bodies of kings while simultaneously punishing their spirits, and their temperatures change when the angels move. This is, again, supposed to be direct angelic revelation. But rather this makes evident that this was a human ancient mythological explanation for natural springs. (See also Commentary 4, no. 12, above, and Commentary 6, no. 22, below.) According to John J. Collins, 1 Enoch 67:5–13 may allude to “Herod’s attempt to heal himself in the waters of Callirhoe.”24

16. Chapter 69: the book condemns writing itself.

“He taught mankind writing with ink and paper, and through this many have sinned.”

It then says human beings were not created to confirm their faithfulness with pen and ink. But God repeatedly commands Enoch to write revelations, calls him “the scribe of righteousness,” and depends entirely upon writing, as this is a literal book. This is one of the strongest direct internal contradictions. Did God command Enoch to do sin? Isn’t God a God who doesn’t will lawlessness? (Psalm 5:4) Didn’t Saint James say: “Let

²⁴John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), 177–78.

no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone”? (James 1:13) (See also Commentary 8, no. 32, below.)

God repeatedly in the scriptures commands His servants to write: “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write these words.’” (Exodus 34:27) “Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.” (Jeremias 37:2 [Jeremiah 30:2]) “And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision, and that plainly on a tablet, that he that reads it may run.” (Ambacum [Habakkuk] 2:2) “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these.” (Revelation 1:19)

17. Chapter 69 compared with Chapters 6–8: The chief angel responsible for the rebellion changes. Semyaza was originally the leader, Azazel was assigned the corruption of the earth, even saying:

“The whole earth has been corrupted through the works taught by Azazel; ascribe all sin to him.”

But chapter 69 says that it was Yeqon who led all the sons of God astray, Asbeel as their evil counselor, and Gadreel as the one who deceived Eve. This book is like the person who committed a crime and tries to lie their way out of it, but they cannot seem to keep their story straight.

It also makes it clear here that this directly contradicts the Bible’s account of the fall. Earlier I briefly allowed that maybe this text tells us there were two falls, but here it very clearly rejects the idea that the Genesis account is true at all. Genesis says it was the serpent that deceived Eve, and Revelation tells us that the serpent is Satan: “He laid hold of the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan.” (Revelation 20:2)

But the Book of Enoch says it was Gadreel, a completely different fallen angel. Now someone may attempt to say that Gadreel is another name for Satan. But the text never says this. Gadreel appears as one angel among a list of many fallen angels, while elsewhere in the same book Satan and “the satans” are spoken of separately.

“Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel shall seize them on that great day and cast them into the burning furnace, so that the Lord of Spirits may take vengeance upon them for their unrighteousness in submitting themselves to Satan and leading astray those who dwell upon the earth.” (1 Enoch 54:5–6) “I heard the fourth voice warding off the satans and forbidding them to enter before the Lord of Spirits to accuse those who dwell upon the earth.” (Enoch 40:7)

Further showing us, the so-called “Book of Enoch” is completely incompatible with scripture. (See Commentary 1, no. 2, above, and Commentary 8, no. 30, below.)

18. Chapter 71: the identity of the Son of Man becomes confused.

Earlier, Enoch sees the preexistent Son of Man as another person beside the Head of Days. At the end, the angel’s words may say that Enoch himself is that Son of Man.

Because the passage is damaged, we must be careful, but it is potentially the most serious contradiction in the entire Book of Parables.

If a human patriarch is exalted into identity with a preexistent heavenly figure who sits in judgment, this is a Christological shape that resembles the angelomorphic and apotheosis christologies the Church deemed as heretical in the early centuries, long before Nicaea gave the Church its very precise language for the eternal generation of the Son from the Father, "true God from true God," neither created nor a glorified creature. Whatever chapter 71 originally meant, the fact that its most natural reading brushes against a category the Church later had to rule out by name, is itself a reason for caution, independent of whether the text is simply damaged.

19. The Book of Parables claims to be Enoch’s revelation while containing later material about the Medes and Parthians.

Enoch lived before the flood, before there was a nation of Israel, a city of Jerusalem, a Median kingdom, or a

Parthian Empire. Of course, this fact alone does not absolutely disprove prophecy.

The real problem is that this was not written by Enoch objectively. This was written during the Second Temple Period where these events happened recently to the writing of this book. The text itself screams Hellenism by being heavily inspired by Greek myth such as the sirens mentioned earlier, or the fact that heavenly beings came down to earth to mate with human beings and thus produced demi-beings who are the “heroes, men of renown.”

The Parthian invasion of Judea and the civil war that followed were between 40 and 37 B.C. In 40 B.C., Parthian forces entered Judea and supported Antigonus against the Roman-supported rulers. One study divides the conflict into three stages: a foreign invasion in 40–39 B.C., internal fighting in 38 B.C., and the arrival of another army in 37 B.C. This sequence closely resembles the movement from 1 Enoch 56:5 through 57:3.

According to Nickelsburg and VanderKam, the reference to the Parthians and Medes “may refer to the invasion in 40 B.C.”25 According to Ted M. Erho, however, “the validity of using this text within the historical-allusional method of dating is consequently called into question.”26

This is what scholars call prophecy after the event, or prophecy ex eventu. The author stands in the distant past under the name of a famous biblical figure and describes events that had already occurred in his own lifetime as if they were predictions of the future. Because the first parts appear to have come true, the reader is then encouraged to believe that the final judgment described immediately afterward is also about to occur.

Also, this is the one section of the book carrying the highest Christological freight, the preexistent Son of Man, the throne of judgment, the confusion with Enoch himself in chapter 71 — is also the one section with no manuscripts earlier than the turn of the era. The parts of

²⁵Nickelsburg and VanderKam, 1 Enoch, 6.

²⁶Ted M. Erho, “The Ahistorical Nature of 1 Enoch 56:5–8 and Its Ramifications upon the Opinio Communis on the Dating of the Similitudes of Enoch,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 40, no. 1 (2009): 23–54, at 23.

1 Enoch that can be shown from Qumran to be genuinely early carry comparatively modest theological claims; the part making the largest claims is the part with the least evidence behind it. (See also Commentary 7, nos. 28–29, below.)

Chapter 72

This is the book concerning the courses of the luminaries of heaven: the relation of each according to its class, dominion, season, name, place of origin, and month. Uriel, the holy angel who was with me and who guides them, showed me all their laws exactly as they are, and how they operate throughout all the years of the world and forever, until the new creation is accomplished and endures forever.

²This is the first law of the luminaries: the great luminary called the Sun rises through the eastern portals of heaven and sets through the western portals.

³I saw six portals through which the sun rises and six through which it sets. The moon also rises and sets through these portals, together with the leaders of the stars and those whom they lead: six portals in the east and six in the west, each corresponding precisely to the other in its appointed order.

⁴There were also many windows to the right and left of those portals. First the great luminary called the Sun comes forth. Its circumference is like the circumference of heaven, and it is completely filled with illuminating and heating fire.

⁵The wind drives the chariot upon which it ascends. The sun descends from heaven and returns by way of the north in order to reach the east. It is guided in this way so that it enters the appointed portal and shines upon the face of heaven.

⁶In this manner it rises during the first month through the great portal, which is the fourth of the six eastern portals.

⁷In that fourth portal, through which the sun rises in the first month, there are twelve openings like windows. When they are opened at their appointed seasons, flames come forth from them.

⁸When the sun rises in heaven, it comes forth through that fourth portal for thirty mornings in succession and sets precisely through the fourth portal in the west of heaven.

⁹During this period the day grows longer each day and the night grows shorter each night until the thirtieth morning.

¹⁰On that day the day is longer than the night by one ninth. The day amounts to exactly ten parts, while the night amounts to eight parts.

¹¹The sun rises from the fourth portal and sets through the fourth portal; then it returns to the fifth eastern portal for thirty mornings, rises from it, and sets through the fifth western portal.

¹²Then the day grows longer by two parts and amounts to eleven parts, while the night grows shorter and amounts to seven parts.

¹³The sun returns to the east and enters the sixth portal.

¹⁴It rises and sets through the sixth portal for thirty-one mornings because of its sign. On that day the day is longer than the night; the day is twice as long as the night and amounts to twelve parts, while the night is shortened to six parts.

¹⁵Then the sun turns back, so that the day begins to grow shorter and the night longer. It returns to the east and enters the sixth portal again.

¹⁶It rises from that portal and sets for thirty mornings.

¹⁷When the thirty mornings are completed, the day decreases by exactly one part and becomes eleven parts, while the night becomes seven parts.

¹⁸The sun leaves that sixth western portal, goes to the east, and rises through the fifth portal for thirty mornings; it sets again through the fifth western portal.

¹⁹On that day the day decreases by two parts and amounts to ten parts, while the night amounts to eight parts.

²⁰The sun leaves the fifth portal, sets through the fifth western portal, and rises through the fourth portal for thirty-one mornings because of its sign. It then sets in the west. On that day the day is equal to the night [and becomes equal in length]: the night amounts to nine parts and the day to nine parts.

²¹The sun rises from that portal and sets in the west. It then returns to the east.

²²It rises for thirty mornings through the third portal and sets through the third western portal. On that day the night becomes longer than the day. The night continues to grow longer and the day shorter until the thirtieth morning, when the night amounts to exactly ten parts and the day to eight parts.

²³The sun rises through that third portal, sets through the third portal in the west, and returns to the east.

²⁴For thirty mornings it rises through the second eastern portal and likewise sets through the second portal in the west of heaven.

²⁵On that day the night amounts to eleven parts and the day to seven parts. The sun rises through the second portal and sets through the second western portal, then returns eastward into the first portal for thirty-one mornings.

²⁶It sets through the first portal in the west of heaven. On that day the night becomes twice as long as the day: the night amounts to exactly twelve parts and the day to six parts.

²⁷The sun has now completed the divisions of its course. It turns back upon those divisions, enters that same portal for thirty mornings, and sets in the corresponding western portal.

²⁸On that night the length of the night decreases by one ninth: the night becomes eleven parts and the day seven parts.

²⁹The sun returns and enters the second eastern portal. It follows those divisions of its course for thirty mornings, rising and setting.

³⁰On that day the night decreases in length and amounts to ten parts, while the day amounts to eight parts.

³¹On that day the sun rises through that portal, sets in the west, returns to the east, and rises through the third portal for thirty-one mornings, setting in the west of heaven.

³²On that day the night decreases and amounts to nine parts, while the day amounts to nine parts. The night is equal to the day.

³³The year is completed in exactly three hundred sixty- four days.

³⁴The varying length and shortness of day and night are determined by the course of the sun; by it these differences are established.

³⁵Thus its daily course becomes longer and its nightly course shorter.

³⁶This is the law and course of the sun and the manner of its return, as it turns back sixty times and rises—the great luminary called the Sun—forever and ever.

³⁷It is the great luminary that rises, and it is named according to its appearance, as the Lord commanded. As it rises, so it sets. It neither diminishes nor rests, but runs by day and by night. Its light is seven times brighter than the light of the moon, though in size the two are equal.

Chapter 73

¹After this law I saw another law concerning the smaller luminary, which is called the Moon.

²Its circumference is like the circumference of heaven, and the wind drives the chariot in which it travels. Light is given to it in a fixed measure.

³Its rising and setting change each month. Its days are like the days of the sun, and when its light is complete, its brightness amounts to one seventh of the light of the sun.

⁴This is how it rises: its first phase appears in the east on the thirtieth morning. On that day it becomes visible and marks for you the beginning of the moon, on the thirtieth day, together with the sun in the portal through which the sun rises.

⁵One half of it comes forth with one seventh part illuminated, while the rest of its circumference is empty and without light, except for one seventh part of one half—that is, one fourteenth of its light.

⁶When it receives one seventh part of half its light, its light amounts to one seventh and one half of that seventh.

⁷It sets with the sun. When the sun rises, the moon rises with it and receives half of one portion of light. On that night, at the beginning of its morning [at the beginning of the lunar day], the moon sets with the sun.

⁸It is invisible that night, possessing fourteen parts and half of one part in darkness. On that day it rises with exactly one seventh part of its light, moves away from the rising of the sun, and during its remaining days becomes bright in the other thirteen parts.

Chapter 74

¹I saw another course and another law governing the moon, according to which it completes its monthly revolution.

²Uriel, the holy angel who leads them all, showed me all these things and their positions. I wrote down their positions as he showed them to me, their months as they occur, and the appearance of their light until fifteen days were completed.

³In successive seventh parts the moon completes all its light in the east, and in successive seventh parts it completes all its darkness in the west.

⁴In certain months it changes the place of its setting, and in certain months it follows its own distinctive course.

⁵During two months the moon sets with the sun through the two middle portals, the third and the fourth.

⁶It comes forth for seven days, turns back, and returns through the portal from which the sun rises, completing all its light. It then withdraws from the sun and in eight days enters the sixth portal from which the sun comes forth.

⁷When the sun comes forth from the fourth portal, the moon comes forth for seven days until it departs from the fifth portal; then it turns back in seven days into the fourth portal and completes all its light. After withdrawing from the sun, it enters the first portal in eight days.

⁸It returns again in seven days to the fourth portal from which the sun comes forth.

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

¹⁰When five years are added together, the sun has an excess of thirty days.

¹¹All the days added to the solar reckoning during those five completed years amount to thirty days, because the excess of the sun and the stars is six days each year.

¹²Thus in five years the moon falls behind the sun and the stars by thirty days.

¹³The sun and the stars bring all the years to exact completion, neither advancing nor delaying their positions by even one day forever, but completing the years in perfect order in three hundred sixty-four days.

¹⁴In three years there are one thousand ninety-two days; in five years, one thousand eight hundred twenty days; and in eight years, two thousand nine hundred twelve days.

¹⁵For the moon alone, the days in three years amount to one thousand sixty-two; in five years it falls fifty days behind.

¹⁶In five years the lunar days amount to one thousand seven hundred seventy, and in eight years they amount to two thousand eight hundred thirty-two.

¹⁷Thus in eight years the moon falls behind by eighty days. The year is completed precisely according to their stations in the world and according to the stations of the sun, which rises and sets through its appointed portals for thirty days.

Chapter 75

¹The leaders of the heads of thousands, who are appointed over the whole creation and over all the stars, also govern the four intercalary days. These days cannot be separated from their office in the reckoning of the year, for they render service on the four days that are not counted among the ordinary days of the months.

²Because of them people go astray in their reckoning, although these luminaries truly render service at the stations of the world: one in the first portal, one in the third, one in the fourth, and one in the sixth. Through their four stations the exact completion of the year is accomplished in three hundred sixty-four days.

³Uriel showed me the signs, seasons, years, and days. The Lord of glory has appointed him forever over all the luminaries of heaven, in heaven and in the world, so that they may rule upon the face of heaven, appear upon the earth, and lead the day and the night: the sun, moon, stars, and all the ministering creatures that revolve in all the chariots of heaven.

⁴Uriel also showed me twelve openings in the circumference of the sun’s chariot in heaven. Through them the rays of the sun break forth, and from them warmth is poured upon the earth when they are opened at their appointed seasons.

⁵[They are also opened for the winds and for the spirit of the dew, at the ends of heaven.]

⁶As for the twelve portals in heaven at the ends of the earth, through which the sun, moon, stars, and all the works of heaven come forth in the east and west:

⁷many windows are open to their right and left. Each window produces warmth at its appointed season, corresponding to the portals through which the stars come forth, as He has commanded them, and through which they set according to their number.

⁸I saw chariots in heaven running throughout the world above those portals, in which the stars that never set revolve.

⁹One of them is larger than all the others, and it travels through the whole world.

Chapter 76

¹At the ends of the earth I saw twelve portals open toward all four quarters of heaven. From them the winds go forth and blow over the earth.

²Three are open on the face of heaven—that is, in the east; three in the west; three on the right—that is, in the south; and three on the left—that is, in the north.

³The first three are in the east, three are in the north, then three are in the south, and three are in the west.

⁴Through four of these portals come winds of blessing and prosperity. From the other eight come harmful winds; when they are sent forth, they bring destruction upon the whole earth, upon the waters, upon all who dwell there, and upon everything in the water and on the land.

⁵The first wind from these portals, called the east wind, comes through the first eastern portal, which inclines toward the south. From it come desolation, drought, heat, and destruction.

⁶Through the second, middle portal comes what is fitting: rain, fruitfulness, prosperity, and dew. Through the third portal, which inclines toward the north, come cold and drought.

⁷After these come the south winds through three portals. Through the first of them, which inclines toward the east, comes a hot wind.

⁸Through the middle portal next to it come fragrant odors, dew, rain, prosperity, and health.

⁹Through the third portal, which inclines toward the west, come dew and rain, locusts, and desolation.

¹⁰After these come the north winds. Through the seventh portal, in the east, come dew and rain, locusts, and desolation.

¹¹Through the middle portal come directly health, rain, dew, and prosperity. Through the third portal, in the west, come cloud, frost, snow, rain, dew, and locusts.

¹²After these come the west winds. Through the first portal, adjoining the north, come dew, frost, cold, snow, and ice. Through the middle portal come dew, rain, prosperity, and blessing. Through the last portal, adjoining the south, come drought, desolation, burning heat, and destruction.

¹³Thus the twelve portals of the four quarters of heaven are completed. I have shown you all their laws, all their destructive effects, and all their benefits, my son Methuselah.

Chapter 77

¹The first quarter is called the east because it is first. The second is called the south because the Most High will descend there—there, in a special sense, will He who is blessed forever descend.

²The western quarter is called the diminished quarter because there all the luminaries of heaven wane and descend.

³The fourth quarter, called the north, is divided into three parts. The first is for the dwelling of mankind. The second contains seas of water, abysses, forests, rivers, darkness, and clouds. The third contains the Garden of Righteousness.

⁴I saw seven high mountains, higher than all the mountains upon the earth. From them frost comes forth, and days, seasons, and years pass away.

⁵I saw seven rivers upon the earth, larger than all other rivers. One comes from the west and pours its waters into the Great Sea.

⁶Two come from the north toward the sea and pour their waters into the Erythraean Sea in the east.

⁷The remaining four come forth from the northern side toward their own seas: two toward the Erythraean Sea and two toward the Great Sea, where they empty themselves [though some say, into the wilderness].

⁸I saw seven great islands in the sea and on the mainland: two on the mainland and five in the Great Sea.

Chapter 78

¹These are the names of the sun: the first is Orjares and the second Tomas.

²The moon has four names: the first is Asonja, the second Ebla, the third Benase, and the fourth Erae.

³These are the two great luminaries. Their circumferences are like the circumference of heaven, and the size of both is equal.

⁴Within the circumference of the sun are seven portions of light beyond what is given to the moon. In fixed measures this light is transferred to the moon until the seventh portion of the sun has been exhausted.

⁵They set and enter the western portals, travel around by the north, and come forth through the eastern portals upon the face of heaven.

⁶When the moon rises, one fourteenth part appears in heaven.

⁷On the fourteenth day its light is completed. Fifteen portions of light are transferred to it, until on the fifteenth day its light is full according to the sign of the year. Thus the moon becomes fifteen parts, and its light increases by fourteenth parts.

⁸In its waning, the moon decreases on the first day to fourteen parts of light; on the second to thirteen; on the third to twelve; on the fourth to eleven; on the fifth to ten; on the sixth to nine; on the seventh to eight; on the eighth to seven; on the ninth to six; on the tenth to five; on the eleventh to four; on the twelfth to three; on the thirteenth to two; and on the fourteenth to half of one seventh.

⁹On the fifteenth day all its remaining light disappears completely.

¹⁰In certain months the month has twenty-nine days, and once it has twenty-eight.

¹¹Uriel showed me another law: how light is transferred to the moon and from which side the sun transfers it.

¹²Throughout the period in which the moon increases in light, it receives light while standing opposite the sun for fourteen days. When its whole surface is illuminated, its light is complete in heaven.

¹³On the first day it is called the new moon, because on that day light rises upon it.

¹⁴It becomes full precisely on the day when the sun sets in the west and the moon rises from the east at night. The moon shines throughout the whole night until the sun rises opposite it and the moon is seen facing the sun.

¹⁵From the side on which the moon receives its light, it again wanes until all its light disappears, the days of the month come to an end, and its circumference is empty and without light.

¹⁶For three months it makes thirty days, and at its appointed time it makes three months of twenty-nine days each. It completes its waning during the first period and in the first portal for one hundred seventy-seven days.

¹⁷During the period of its rising, it appears for three months of thirty days each and for three months of twenty-nine days each.

¹⁸At night it appears like a man for twenty days at a time, and by day it appears like heaven; there is nothing in it except its light.

Chapter 79

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

²Uriel showed me all their laws for every day, every season of dominion, every year, every departure, and the order appointed for each month and each week.

³He showed me the waning of the moon, which begins in the sixth portal; for in that sixth portal its light is completed, and afterward its waning begins.

⁴Its waning takes place in the first portal at its appointed season, until one hundred seventy-seven days are completed.

⁵Reckoned by weeks, these amount to twenty-five weeks and two days. During one period the moon falls behind the sun and the order of the stars by exactly five days, when the place you see has been traversed.

⁶Such is the pattern and outline of every luminary that Uriel the archangel, who leads them, showed me.

Chapter 80

¹In those days the angel Uriel answered me and said, “Behold, Enoch, I have shown you everything and revealed everything to you, so that you might see this sun, this moon, the leaders of the stars of heaven, and all those who direct them—their tasks, their seasons, and their departures.

²“In the days of sinners the years will be shortened, and their seed will grow late upon their lands and fields. Everything upon the earth will change and will not appear at its appointed time. Rain will be withheld, and heaven will restrain it.

³“In those times the fruits of the earth will be delayed and will not grow at their appointed time, and the fruit of the trees will be withheld in its season.

⁴“The moon will alter its order and will not appear at its appointed time.

⁵“[In those days the sun will be seen traveling in the evening upon the farthest part of the great western chariot,] and it will shine more brightly than the appointed order of light permits.

⁶“Many leaders of the stars will transgress their prescribed order. They will alter their courses and tasks and will not appear at the seasons appointed for them.

⁷“The whole order of the stars will be hidden from sinners, and the thoughts of those upon earth will go astray concerning them. [They will be altered from all their ways.] They will indeed go astray and regard them as gods.

⁸“Evil will multiply upon them, and punishment will come upon them to destroy them all.”

Chapter 81

¹Then he said to me: “Observe these heavenly tablets, Enoch; read what is written upon them, and take note of every individual matter.”

²I observed the heavenly tablets, read everything written upon them, and understood everything. I read the book concerning all the deeds of mankind and all the children of flesh who will live upon the earth to the remotest generations.

³Immediately I blessed the great Lord, the King of glory forever, because He has made all the works of the world.

I praised the Lord because of His patience and blessed Him because of the children of men.

⁴Afterward I said: “Blessed is the man who dies in righteousness and goodness, concerning whom no record of unrighteousness has been written, and against whom no guilt is found on the day of judgment.”

⁵Then those seven holy ones brought me and set me upon the earth before the door of my house. They said to me, “Declare everything to your son Methuselah, and show all your children that no flesh is righteous before the Lord, for He is their Creator.

⁶“For one year we will leave you with your son, until you give your final instructions, teach your children, record these things for them, and testify to all your children. In the second year they will take you from among them.

⁷“Let your heart be strong, for the good will proclaim righteousness to the good. The righteous will rejoice with the righteous and will congratulate one another.

⁸“But sinners will die with sinners, and the apostate will descend with the apostate.

⁹“Those who practice righteousness will die because of the deeds of men and will be taken away because of the works of the ungodly.”

¹⁰In those days they ceased speaking with me, and I returned to my people, blessing the Lord of the world.

Chapter 82

¹And now, my son Methuselah, I recount and write down all these things for you. I have revealed everything to you and given you books concerning all these matters. Therefore preserve, my son Methuselah, the books handed down by your father, and see that you deliver them to the generations of the world.

²I have given wisdom to you and to your children [and to the children who will be born to you], so that they may give it to their children throughout the generations— this wisdom that surpasses their own understanding.

³Those who understand it will not sleep, but will incline their ears to learn this wisdom; and it will please those who eat of it more than good food.

⁴Blessed are all the righteous, and blessed are all who walk in the way of righteousness and do not sin like sinners in reckoning all their days. The sun traverses heaven, entering and departing through the portals for thirty days, together with the leaders of thousands belonging to the order of the stars and with the four intercalary days that divide the four portions of the year.

⁵Because of these four days, people err and do not include them in the full reckoning of the year. Thus people go astray and fail to recognize them accurately.

⁶Yet they truly belong to the reckoning of the year and are permanently recorded in it: one in the first portal, one in the third, one in the fourth, and one in the sixth. In this way the year is completed in three hundred sixty-four days.

⁷Its account is accurate and its recorded reckoning exact. Uriel showed and revealed to me the luminaries, months, festivals, years, and days. The Lord of the whole creation of the world has appointed him over the host of heaven.

⁸He has authority over night and day in heaven, so that light may shine upon mankind through the sun, moon, stars, and all the powers of heaven that revolve in their circular chariots.

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

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

¹¹First enter the four leaders who divide the four parts of the year. After them come the twelve leaders of the orders who divide the months. For the three hundred sixty days there are heads over thousands who divide the days, and for the four intercalary days there are leaders who divide the four portions of the year.

¹²These heads over thousands are inserted between one leader and another, each following a station, while their leaders make the division.

¹³These are the names of the leaders who divide the four appointed parts of the year: Milki’el, Hel’emmelek, Mel’ejal, and Narel.

¹⁴The names of those who lead them are Adnar’el, Ijasusa’el, and Elome’el. These three follow the leaders of the orders, and one leader follows the three leaders of the orders who follow the leaders of the stations that divide the four portions of the year.

¹⁵At the beginning of the year Melkejal rises first and rules. He is called Tam’aini and Sun.

¹⁶All the days of his dominion amount to ninety-one days.

¹⁷These are the signs seen upon the earth during the days of his dominion: perspiration, heat, and calm weather; all the trees bear fruit and put forth leaves; wheat is harvested; roses and all the flowers of the field blossom; but the trees of the winter season wither. The names of the leaders under him are Berka’el, Zelebs’el, and an additional head of a thousand called Hilujaseph. With this the days of that leader’s dominion come to an end.

¹⁸The next leader after him is Hel’emmelek, who is called the Shining Sun. All the days of his light amount to ninety-one days.

¹⁹These are the signs of his days upon the earth: burning heat and dryness; the trees ripen their fruit and produce everything fully mature; the sheep mate and conceive; all the fruits of the earth are gathered, together with everything in the fields; and the winepress is worked. These things occur in the days of his dominion.

²⁰These are the names, orders, and leaders of those heads over thousands: Gida’ljal, Ke’el, and He’el, together with the additional head of a thousand called Asfa’el. With this the days of his dominion come to an end.

Commentary 6: Chapters 72-82

20. Chapter 74. The Calendar Contradicts Its Own Arithmetic.

Chapter 74 claims that Uriel revealed the exact movements of the sun and moon to Enoch. Enoch says: “Uriel, the holy angel who leads them all, showed me all these things and their positions. I wrote down their positions as he showed them to me.”

But the arithmetic given only a few verses later does not agree with itself. First, the text says: “When five years are added together, the sun has an excess of thirty days.”

It then explains: “The excess of the sun and the stars is six days each year.” Therefore, according to this calculation, the moon falls behind the sun by six days each year. Six days multiplied by five years equals thirty days. But then the chapter gives us a completely different calculation.

Three solar years contain 1,092 days, while three lunar years contain 1,062 days. That is a difference of thirty days. Five solar years contain 1,820 days, while five lunar years contain 1,770 days. That is a difference of fifty days. Eight solar years contain 2,912 days, while eight lunar years contain 2,832 days. That is a difference of eighty days.

Therefore, every one of these produces a difference of ten days each year, not six. The book first says the difference is thirty days after five years, and then it gives numbers that produce a difference of fifty days after five years. Both cannot be true.

The text even says between these two calculations: “The sun and the stars bring all the years to exact completion, neither advancing nor delaying their positions by even one day forever.” But the book itself has already fallen behind by twenty days in the same five-year calculation. It condemns others for miscalculating the year while its own arithmetic cannot decide whether the difference is thirty days or fifty.

Now one may argue that the author was not simply unable to perform basic subtraction. Perhaps two different calendar calculations were later joined together: one calculation producing a six-day yearly difference and another producing a ten-day difference. This may explain historically how the contradiction entered the text, but it does not reconcile the calculations.

If two different systems were combined, then chapter 74 is not one exact calendar revealed by Uriel to Enoch. It is a collection of different calculations preserved and joined by later human writers. One may also argue that a copyist corrupted one of the numbers. Again, that is possible. But then the exact angelic calendar has not been preserved exactly. The text we now possess contains a calculation that contradicts itself. (See also Commentary 6, no. 25, and Commentary 8, no. 33, below.)

21. Chapters 72, 74, 79, 80, and 82. The Supposedly Eternal Heavenly Order Is Later Suspended.

The Book of the Heavenly Luminaries repeatedly says that the order of the heavens is permanent, exact, and without alteration.

Chapter 72: “Uriel, the holy angel who was with me and who guides them, showed me all their laws exactly as they are, and how they operate throughout all the years of the world and forever.”

Chapter 74 says: “The sun and the stars bring all the years to exact completion, neither advancing nor delaying their positions by even one day forever.” Chapter 79 then says: “The law of all the stars of heaven is complete.” And chapter 82 again: “Its account is accurate and its recorded reckoning exact.”

Therefore, the book describes the heavenly order as complete, exact, and eternally obedient. The sun, moon, and stars follow their appointed laws without advancing, delaying, or departing from their order.

But chapter 80 suddenly says: “In the days of sinners the years will be shortened.” Again: “The moon will alter its order and will not appear at its appointed time.” And again: “Many leaders of the stars will transgress their prescribed order. They will alter their courses and tasks and will not appear at the seasons appointed for them.”

Therefore, the same book first says that these laws continue throughout all the years of the world and forever, and then says that the years will shorten, the moon will alter its order, and the stars will change their courses.

One may argue that chapter 80 is intentionally contrasting the perfect order created by God with the disorder that appears in the days of sinners. Just as the earth suffered corruption after the sin of Adam, perhaps the heavenly order will be disturbed because of the sins of mankind.

That is a possible interpretation, and therefore we should not pretend that the author simply forgot everything written in the previous chapters. But the problem remains. Chapter 72 does not say that these laws will operate forever unless sinners become wicked enough. Chapter 74 does not say that the stars never advance or delay except during the final judgment. It says they do not advance or delay by even one day forever.

Therefore, either those earlier universal statements require an exception that they never mention, or chapter 80 is a later addition that changed the meaning of the earlier system. If the second explanation is correct, then once again we are not reading one perfect revelation given to Enoch.

This also repeats the contradiction already found in the Book of the Watchers. Chapter 2 says: “The luminaries of heaven all rise and set in order, each in its appointed season, and do not transgress their appointed order.”

But chapters 18 and 21 describe stars that transgressed because they did not rise at their appointed times. Chapter 80 again says that many leaders of the stars will transgress their appointed order. So, do the stars never transgress, or do they repeatedly transgress? Do the laws operate forever without delay, or do the moon and stars alter their courses? The book gives us both. (See also Commentary 4, no. 12, above, and Commentary 6, no. 24, below.)

22. Chapters 72–78. Ancient Cosmology Is Presented as Exact Angelic Revelation.

The Book of the Heavenly Luminaries expands the cosmology already introduced in the Book of the Watchers. The sun supposedly rises through six portals in the east and sets through six portals in the west. It travels upon a chariot driven by the wind. After setting, it returns to the east by traveling around through the north.

The text says: “The wind drives the chariot upon which it ascends. The sun descends from heaven and returns by way of the north in order to reach the east.” Chapter 75 then says that there are twelve openings within the circumference of the sun’s chariot: “Through them the rays of the sun break forth, and from them warmth is poured upon the earth when they are opened at their appointed seasons.”

The moon travels through the same portals and receives measured portions of light. The stars travel in heavenly chariots. Winds, rain, frost, snow, heat, drought, health, locusts, blessing, and destruction are all released through separate openings at the ends of the earth.

Now one may answer that this is ancient schematic cosmology. Ancient writers often organized creation through these mystic means. Therefore, the problem is not that an ancient man spoke like an ancient man. But this explanation changes what kind of authority can be claimed for them.

The 364-day schematic calendar of chapters 72–82, built on twelve 30-day months plus four intercalary days, parallels the schematic year already known from Mesopotamian astronomical tradition, most notably the MUL.APIN compendium, which likewise organizes the year into idealized 30-day months requiring periodic adjustment. This is a stronger form of the objection already raised in no. 12 above: the Book of the Heavenly Luminaries is not just speaking in the pre-scientific idiom common to the ancient world in general, but appears to be working within a specific, identifiable, foreign scribal- astronomical tradition. A calendar borrowed, however indirectly, from Babylonian schematic astronomy is a considerably harder thing to present as Uriel's own private revelation to Enoch before the Flood.

(See Commentary 4, no. 12, above, and Commentary 6, no. 23, below.)

23. Chapters 72 and 78. The Sun and Moon Are Said to Be Equal in Size.

Chapter 72 calls the sun the great luminary and the moon the smaller luminary, but it then says: “Its light is seven times brighter than the light of the moon, though in size the two are equal.” Chapter 78 repeats: “The size of both is equal.”

Therefore, the book explains the difference between the sun and moon through brightness alone. The sun has seven portions of light beyond the moon, but their physical sizes are said to be equal.

Now one may argue that the author is describing the size of the sun and moon as they are seen from the earth. If this is what the text means, then this is not a direct theological contradiction. But the book does not say that they merely appear equal to the human eye. It includes their equality of size among the laws supposedly revealed by Uriel concerning the constitution of the luminaries.

Therefore, even under the most charitable interpretation, the statement reflects ancient observational astronomy. It is not exact angelic knowledge of the true physical sizes of the sun and moon.

This point by itself does not disprove the whole book. But when it is joined to the portals, chariots, fractions of light, weather chambers, and contradictory calendar, it becomes part of the same pattern.

The writer describes the heavens according to how they appeared and were imagined in his own time, and then presents that system as the knowledge of Enoch. (See Commentary 6, no. 22, above.)

24. Chapter 80. Does Human Sin Alter the Heavens, or Only Man’s Understanding of Them?

Chapter 80 connects the disorder of the heavens with the rise of sin: “In the days of sinners the years will be shortened.” The text then says that rain will be withheld, fruit will not grow at its proper season, the moon will alter its order, and many leaders of the stars will transgress their appointed courses.

Then it says: “The whole order of the stars will be hidden from sinners, and the thoughts of those upon earth will go astray concerning them.”

Now if the chapter only said that sinners would misunderstand the stars, there would be no contradiction. Men can become confused about an order that remains perfectly unchanged. Their minds may wander while the heavens continue obeying God. But this is not all the text says. It does not say that sinners will incorrectly calculate the moon. It says that the moon itself “will alter its order.” It does not merely say that men will misunderstand the paths of the stars. It says that the leaders of the stars “will alter their courses and tasks.”

Therefore, the text appears to describe two things: an actual change in the luminaries and a resulting confusion among sinners. Now one may say that God allows this cosmic disorder as punishment. Human beings do not personally reach into heaven and move the moon; rather, creation is disturbed under divine judgment because of their sin.

But then the permanent laws described in chapters 72 and 74 are not permanent. The order that supposedly continues forever and never changes by even one day can be suspended.

One may instead say that all of this is apocalyptic symbolism. The wandering stars may represent wicked rulers, fallen spiritual powers, or the confusion of sinners in the last days.

But then these verses cannot be used as a literal astronomical prophecy. The interpreter cannot treat the calendar as exact physical revelation when it appears useful, then turn the same sun, moon, and stars into symbols when they break the laws the book just called eternal.

Either chapter 80 describes a physical alteration of the heavens, in which case the supposedly unchanging system changes, or it describes symbolic disorder, in which case it should not be read as literal astronomy.

No matter which interpretation is chosen, the absolute claims made earlier in the book must be qualified. (See Commentary 6, no. 21, above.)

25. Chapters 75 and 82. A 364-Day Calendar Is Made a Test of Righteousness.

The Book of the Heavenly Luminaries does not make the claim that the 364-day calendar is just one possible ancient method of counting the year. It presents this calendar as the exact order of heaven, and you will sin by not following this exact calendar. Chapter 75 says: “Because of them people go astray in their reckoning.” The people go astray because they fail to include the four intercalary days, through which the year is supposedly completed in exactly 364 days.

Chapter 82 then says: “Blessed are all the righteous, and blessed are all who walk in the way of righteousness and do not sin like sinners in reckoning all their days.”

Therefore, calculating the calendar differently, as we do now with our 365-day calendar, is no longer treated as an honest disagreement concerning months and years. It is treated as a sin.

Those who follow the Enochic calendar are righteous. Those who reject it have gone astray. Now the correct observance of feasts and seasons was important to ancient Israel. A difference in the calendar could mean celebrating a feast upon the wrong day. Therefore, it is understandable why a Jewish community would treat its calendar as a serious religious matter.

But this is exactly what reveals the purpose of the book. A later community involved in disputes over the calendar has projected its own calculation backward into the age before the Flood. By claiming that Uriel revealed the 364-day calendar to Enoch, the author gives his own calendar an authority older than Moses, Israel, the priesthood, and the Law.

This is why the writer makes the claim that his community possesses the calendar of heaven. This is the purpose of Pseudepigrapha, to put personal words and claims into the mouth of an authoritative source in order to achieve an ethos for their personal claims. Those who agree with it walk in righteousness. Those who disagree “sin like sinners.”

But the irony is that this supposedly exact calendar contains contradictory arithmetic. It says that the moon falls behind by thirty days after five years and then gives totals showing that it falls behind by fifty. It says that the luminaries never advance or delay, then says that the moon and stars will alter their courses. (See Commentary 6, nos. 20–21, above.)

According to Jonathan Ben-Dov, the 364-day year does not permit “a complete correlation with the actual course of the seasons.”27

²⁷Jonathan Ben-Dov, “The 364-Day Year in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Jewish Pseudepigrapha,” in Calendars and Years II: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient and Medieval World, ed. John M. Steele (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2011), 69–105, at 85.

Chapter 83

¹And now, my son Methuselah, I will show you all the visions I have seen and recount them before you.

²I saw two visions before I took a wife, and one was entirely unlike the other. The first came while I was learning to write; the second came before I took your mother, when I saw a terrible vision. Concerning these visions I prayed to the Lord.

³I had lain down in the house of my grandfather Mahalalel when I saw in a vision heaven collapse, being torn away and falling upon the earth.

⁴When it fell upon the earth, I saw the earth swallowed by a great abyss. Mountains were suspended upon mountains, hills sank upon hills, and tall trees were torn from their trunks, hurled down, and swallowed in the abyss.

⁵Then a word came into my mouth.

⁶I lifted up my voice and cried aloud, “The earth is destroyed!” My grandfather Mahalalel awakened me as I lay near him and said, “Why are you crying out like this, my son? Why are you lamenting?”

⁷I recounted to him the whole vision I had seen, and he said to me, “You have seen a terrible thing, my son. Your dream-vision concerning the mystery of all the sin of the earth is of great significance: the earth must sink into the abyss and be destroyed with a great destruction.

⁸“And now, my son, rise and pray to the Lord of glory, since you are faithful, that a remnant may remain upon the earth and that He may not destroy the whole earth.

⁹“My son, all this will come from heaven upon the earth, and great destruction will come upon the earth.”

¹⁰Afterward I arose and prayed, implored, and pleaded. I wrote down my prayer for the generations of the world, and I will show you everything, my son Methuselah. When I had gone out below and had seen heaven, the sun rising in the east, the moon setting in the west, a few stars, the whole earth, and everything as He had known it from the beginning, I blessed the Lord of judgment and praised Him because He caused the sun to come forth through the eastern windows. It ascended and rose upon the face of heaven and continued along the path appointed for it.

Chapter 84

¹I lifted up my hands in righteousness and blessed the Holy and Great One. I spoke with the breath of my mouth and with the tongue of flesh that God has made for the children of human flesh, giving them breath, tongue, and mouth with which to speak:

²“Blessed are You, O Lord and King, great and mighty in Your greatness, Lord of the whole creation of heaven, King of kings and God of the whole world. Your power, kingship, and greatness endure forever and ever, and Your dominion throughout all generations. All the heavens are Your throne forever, and the whole earth is Your footstool forever and ever.

³“For You have made all things and rule over all things, and nothing is too difficult for You. Wisdom does not depart from the place of Your throne or turn away from Your presence. You know, see, and hear everything, and nothing is hidden from You, [for You see everything].

⁴“And now the angels of Your heavens have transgressed, and Your wrath rests upon human flesh until the great day of judgment.

⁵“And now, O God, Lord, and Great King, I implore and plead with You to fulfill my prayer: leave me descendants upon the earth. Do not destroy all human flesh or leave the earth without inhabitants, so that destruction becomes everlasting.

⁶“And now, my Lord, destroy from the earth the flesh that has aroused Your wrath, but establish righteous and upright flesh as the planting of an everlasting seed. Do not hide Your face from the prayer of Your servant, O Lord.”

Chapter 85

¹After this I saw another dream, and I will show you the whole dream, my son.

²Enoch raised his voice and spoke to his son Methuselah: “I will speak to you, my son. Hear my words and incline your ear to the dream-vision of your father.

³“Before I took your mother Edna, I saw a vision while lying upon my bed. Behold, a bull came forth from the earth, and that bull was white. After it came forth a heifer, and together with the heifer came two bulls, one black and the other red.

⁴“The black bull gored the red one and pursued him over the earth; after that I could no longer see the red bull.

⁵“The black bull grew, and the heifer remained with him. I saw many oxen come forth from him, resembling and following him.

⁶“That first cow departed from the presence of the first bull to seek the red bull, but she did not find him.

⁷“She lamented greatly over him and continued searching for him.

⁸“I watched until the first bull came to her and quieted her; from that time onward she no longer cried. Afterward she bore another white bull, and after him she bore many bulls and black cows.

⁹“In my sleep I saw that white bull grow and become a great white bull. From him came many white bulls resembling him. They began to father many white bulls like themselves, one generation following another.”

Chapter 86

¹Again, while I slept, I raised my eyes and saw heaven above. Behold, a star fell from heaven, arose, ate, and grazed among those oxen.

²Afterward I saw the large black oxen. Behold, they all changed their stalls, pastures, and herds and began to live with one another.

³Again I looked in the vision toward heaven. Behold, I saw many stars descend and cast themselves down from heaven to that first star. They became bulls among those cattle and grazed with them [among them].

⁴I looked at them, and behold, they all exposed their sexual organs like horses and began to mate with the cows.

⁵The cows all conceived and bore elephants, camels, and donkeys. All the oxen feared them and were terrified. The creatures began to bite with their teeth, devour, and gore with their horns.

⁶They also began to devour the oxen. Then all the children of the earth began to tremble and quake before them and to flee from them.

Chapter 87

¹Again I saw them begin to gore and devour one another, and the earth began to cry aloud.

²I raised my eyes again toward heaven. In the vision, behold, beings resembling white men came forth from heaven. Four came from that place, and three others came with them.

³The three who came last took hold of my hand, raised me away from the generations of the earth, and brought me to a high place.

⁴They showed me a tower rising high above the earth, while all the hills were lower than it. One of them said to me, “Remain here until you see everything that will happen to those elephants, camels, donkeys, stars, oxen, and all the others.”

Chapter 88

¹I saw one of the four who had come forth first seize the first star that had fallen from heaven. He bound it hand and foot and cast it into an abyss. That abyss was narrow, deep, dreadful, and dark.

²One of them drew a sword and gave it to the elephants, camels, and donkeys. Then they began to strike one another, and the whole earth shook because of them.

³As I watched in the vision, behold, one of the four who had come forth cast stones upon them from heaven. He gathered and seized all the great stars whose sexual organs were like those of horses, bound them all hand and foot, and cast them into an abyss of the earth.

Chapter 89

¹One of those four went to the white bull and instructed him in a mystery, without terrifying him. The bull had been born a bull but became a man. He built a great vessel for himself and lived in it.

²Three bulls lived with him in that vessel and were enclosed within it. I raised my eyes again toward heaven and saw a lofty roof with seven torrents of water upon it.

³Those torrents poured abundant water into an enclosure. Again I looked, and behold, springs opened upon the surface of that great enclosure, and the water began to swell and rise upon the surface.

⁴I watched the enclosure until its entire surface was covered with water. Water, darkness, and mist increased upon it. When I looked at the height of the water, it had risen above the enclosure, flowed over it, and stood upon the earth.

⁵All the cattle within that enclosure gathered together, and I saw them sink, be swallowed up, and perish in the water.

⁶But the vessel floated upon the water, while all the oxen, elephants, camels, donkeys, and every other animal sank to the bottom. I could no longer see them. They were unable to escape but perished and sank into the depths.

⁷Again I watched in the vision until the torrents of water were removed from the high roof, the chasms of the earth were closed, and other abysses were opened.

⁸The water began to flow down into them until the earth became visible. The vessel came to rest upon the earth; darkness withdrew, and light appeared.

⁹The white bull who had become a man came out of the vessel, and the three bulls came with him. One of those three was white like that bull, one was red as blood, and one was black. Then the first white bull departed from them.

¹⁰They began to bring forth beasts of the field and birds, so that many different kinds arose: lions, tigers, wolves, dogs, hyenas, wild boars, foxes, squirrels, swine, falcons, vultures, kites, eagles, and ravens. Among them a white bull was born.

¹¹They began to bite one another. The white bull born among them fathered a wild donkey and, with it, another white bull.

¹²The wild donkeys multiplied. The bull born from him fathered a black wild boar and a white sheep. The wild boar fathered many boars, while the sheep fathered twelve sheep.

¹³When those twelve sheep had grown, they handed one of them over to the donkeys, and the donkeys in turn handed that sheep over to the wolves. The sheep grew up among the wolves.

¹⁴The Lord brought the eleven sheep to live and graze with it among the wolves, and they multiplied and became many flocks of sheep.

¹⁵The wolves began to fear them, but they oppressed them and destroyed their little ones, casting their young into a river of abundant water.

¹⁶The sheep began to cry aloud because of their little ones and to appeal to their Lord. One sheep that had been rescued from the wolves fled and escaped to the wild donkeys. I saw the sheep lament, cry out, and plead with their Lord with all their strength.

¹⁷At the voice of the sheep, the Lord of the sheep descended from a lofty dwelling, came to them, and tended them. He called the sheep that had escaped from the wolves and spoke to it concerning the wolves, commanding it to warn them not to touch the sheep.

¹⁸The sheep went to the wolves according to the word of the Lord. Another sheep met it and went with it. Together they entered the assembly of the wolves, spoke to them, and warned them not to touch the sheep from that time onward.

¹⁹Afterward I saw how the wolves oppressed the sheep with all their power, and the sheep cried aloud.

²⁰The Lord came to the sheep, and they began to strike the wolves. The wolves began to lament, but the sheep became quiet and immediately ceased crying out.

²¹I watched until the sheep departed from among the wolves. The eyes of the wolves were blinded, yet they went out in pursuit of the sheep with all their power.

²²The Lord of the sheep went with them as their leader, and all His sheep followed Him.

²³His face was dazzling, glorious, and terrible to behold.

²⁴The wolves pursued the sheep until they reached a sea of water. The sea divided, and the waters stood on either side before them. Their Lord led them and placed Himself between the sheep and the wolves.

²⁵Because the wolves still did not see the sheep, they entered the middle of the sea and pursued the sheep into it.

²⁶When they saw the Lord of the sheep, they turned to flee from His face. But the sea came together again and returned to its created order. The waters swelled and rose until they covered the wolves.

²⁷I watched until every wolf that had pursued the sheep perished and drowned.

²⁸The sheep escaped from that water and went into a wilderness where there was neither water nor grass. Their eyes began to open, and they began to see.

²⁹I saw the Lord of the sheep tending them and giving them water and grass, while the sheep that had escaped went before them and led them.

³⁰That sheep ascended to the summit of a lofty rock, and the Lord of the sheep sent it back to them. Afterward I saw the Lord of the sheep standing before them. His appearance was great, terrible, and majestic.

³¹All the sheep saw Him and were afraid before His face. They feared and trembled because of Him and cried to the sheep that was with them, “We cannot stand before our Lord or look upon Him.”

³²The sheep that had led them again ascended to the summit of the rock. Meanwhile the other sheep began to be blinded and wandered from the path that it had shown them, though that sheep did not know it.

³³The Lord of the sheep became exceedingly angry with them. When the leading sheep learned this, it descended from the summit of the rock, came to the sheep, and found most of them blinded and fallen away.

³⁴When they saw it, they feared and trembled before it and desired to return to their folds.

³⁵That sheep took other sheep with it and went to those that had fallen away. It began to kill them, and the sheep feared its presence. In this way it brought back those that had fallen away, and they returned to their folds.

³⁶In this vision I watched until that sheep became a man, built a house for the Lord of the sheep, and placed all the sheep within that house.

³⁷I watched until the sheep that had met the sheep who led them fell asleep. Then all the great sheep perished, and little ones arose in their place. They came to a pasture and approached a stream of water.

³⁸Then their leader, the sheep that had become a man, withdrew from them and fell asleep.

³⁹All the sheep sought it and cried over it with a great cry. I watched until they ceased crying for that sheep and crossed the stream of water. Two sheep then arose as leaders in place of those who had led them and fallen asleep.

⁴⁰I watched until the sheep came to a beautiful place, a pleasant and glorious land. There they were satisfied, and that house stood among them in the pleasant land.

⁴¹At times their eyes were opened, and at times they were blinded, until another sheep arose, led them, and brought them all back. Then their eyes were opened.

⁴²Dogs, foxes, and wild boars began to devour those sheep, until the Lord of the sheep raised up [another sheep], a ram from among them, to lead them.

⁴³That ram began to strike the dogs, foxes, and wild boars on either side until it had destroyed them all.

⁴⁴The sheep whose eyes were opened watched that ram among the sheep until it abandoned its glory, began to strike the sheep, trampled them, and behaved shamefully.

⁴⁵The Lord of the sheep sent a lamb to another lamb and raised that second lamb to become a ram and leader of the sheep in place of the ram that had abandoned its glory.

⁴⁶The lamb went to it and spoke with it privately. It raised it up to become a ram and appointed it prince and leader of the sheep. Throughout all these events, however, the dogs continued to oppress the sheep.

⁴⁷The first ram pursued the second ram, but the second arose and fled before it.

⁴⁸I watched until the dogs brought down the first ram.

⁴⁹Then the second ram arose and led the [little] sheep. The sheep grew and multiplied. All the dogs, foxes, and wild boars feared it and fled before it. That ram struck and killed the wild beasts, so that they no longer had power among the sheep or robbed them of anything. The ram fathered many sheep and fell asleep; then a little sheep became a ram in its place and became prince and leader of the sheep.

⁵⁰The house became great and broad and was built for the sheep. A lofty and great tower was built upon the house for the Lord of the sheep. The house itself was low, but the tower was raised high. The Lord of the sheep stood upon that tower, and they set a full table before Him.

⁵¹Again I saw the sheep go astray, wander along many paths, and abandon their house. The Lord of the sheep called some from among them and sent them to the sheep, but the sheep began to kill them.

⁵²One of them escaped and was not killed. It hurried away and cried aloud concerning the sheep. They sought to kill it, but the Lord of the sheep rescued it from them.

⁵³He brought it up to me and caused it to remain there. He also sent many other sheep to testify to those sheep and lament over them.

⁵⁴Afterward I saw that when they abandoned the house of the Lord and His tower, they fell away entirely and their eyes were blinded. I saw the Lord of the sheep bring great slaughter among their flocks.

⁵⁵This continued until the sheep themselves invited that slaughter and betrayed His dwelling place.

⁵⁶He gave them into the hands of lions, tigers, wolves, hyenas, foxes, and all the wild beasts, and those beasts began to tear the sheep apart.

⁵⁷I saw Him abandon their house and tower and give them all into the hands of the lions and every wild beast to tear and devour them. Then I began to cry aloud with all my strength and appeal to the Lord of the sheep concerning the sheep being devoured by all the wild beasts.

⁵⁸But though He saw it, He remained unmoved and rejoiced that they were devoured, swallowed up, and plundered. He abandoned them to the power of all the beasts.

⁵⁹He called seventy shepherds and entrusted the sheep to them so that they might tend them. He said to the shepherds and their companions, “From now on, let each one of you tend the sheep, and do everything I command you.

⁶⁰“I will deliver them to you according to a fixed number and tell you which of them are to be destroyed; destroy those whom I appoint.” Then He delivered the sheep to them.

⁶¹He called another and said to him, “Observe and record everything the shepherds do to these sheep, for they will destroy more of them than I have commanded.

⁶²“Record every excess and every act of destruction committed by the shepherds: how many they destroy according to My command and how many according to their own will. Record against every individual shepherd all the destruction he causes.

⁶³“Read before Me the number each one destroys and the number each one hands over for destruction. This will be a testimony against them, so that I may know every deed of the shepherds and see whether they obey the command I have given them.

⁶⁴“But they must not know this. Do not reveal it to them or warn them; only record against each shepherd all the destruction he carries out during his appointed time and lay the entire record before Me.”

⁶⁵I watched while those shepherds tended the sheep during their appointed seasons. They began to kill and destroy more than they had been commanded and handed the sheep over to the lions.

⁶⁶The lions and tigers ate and devoured most of the sheep, and the wild boars ate with them. They burned the tower and demolished the house.

⁶⁷I became exceedingly sorrowful over the tower because the house of the sheep had been demolished. Afterward I could no longer see whether the sheep entered the house.

⁶⁸The shepherds and their companions handed the sheep over to all the wild beasts to be devoured. Each shepherd received a definite number for his appointed time, and the other wrote in a book how many each one destroyed.

⁶⁹Each shepherd killed and destroyed far more than had been prescribed, and I began to weep and lament because of the sheep.

⁷⁰In the vision I saw the scribe write down, day by day, every sheep destroyed by the shepherds. He carried the complete book up, laid it before the Lord of the sheep, and showed Him everything they had done, everything each shepherd had destroyed, and everything they had handed over to destruction.

⁷¹The book was read before the Lord of the sheep. He took it from the scribe’s hand, read it, sealed it, and laid it down.

⁷²Immediately I saw the shepherds tend the sheep for twelve hours. Behold, three sheep returned, entered, and began to rebuild everything that had fallen from the house.

⁷³The wild boars tried to hinder them but could not. They rebuilt as before and raised up the tower, which was called the High Tower. They again set a table before the tower, but all the bread upon it was defiled and unclean.

⁷⁴In all these matters the eyes of the sheep were blinded so that they could not see, and the eyes of their shepherds were likewise blinded. The shepherds handed over great numbers of them for destruction.

⁷⁵They trampled the sheep underfoot and devoured them. The Lord of the sheep remained unmoved until all the sheep were scattered throughout the field and mingled with the beasts, and the shepherds did not rescue them from the beasts’ power.

⁷⁶The scribe carried the book up, showed it, and read it before the Lord of the sheep. He pleaded with Him on behalf of the sheep, showing Him all the deeds of the shepherds.

⁷⁷He testified before Him against every shepherd, then took the book and laid it beside Him and departed.

Chapter 90

¹I watched until thirty-five shepherds had undertaken the tending of the sheep in this manner. Each completed his appointed period as the first shepherds had done, and others received the sheep into their hands, each to tend them during his own period.

²Afterward I saw in my vision all the birds of heaven coming: eagles, vultures, kites, and ravens. The eagles led all the birds. They began to devour the sheep, peck out their eyes, and eat their flesh.

³The sheep cried out because the birds were devouring their flesh.

⁴As for me, I watched and lamented in my sleep over the shepherd who was tending the sheep.

⁵I watched until the dogs, eagles, and kites had devoured the sheep and had left neither flesh, skin, nor sinew upon them, until only their bones remained. Then their bones also fell to the earth, and the sheep became few. I watched until twenty-three shepherds had undertaken the tending and had completed fifty-eight appointed periods.

⁶Behold, lambs were born to those white sheep, and they began to open their eyes, see, and cry out to the sheep.

⁷They cried to them, but the sheep did not listen to what they said; they were exceedingly deaf, and their eyes were severely blinded.

⁸I saw in the vision how the ravens flew upon those lambs, seized one of them, dashed the sheep to pieces, and devoured them.

⁹I watched until horns grew upon those lambs, but the ravens cast down their horns. Then I saw a great horn grow upon one of the sheep, and their eyes were opened.

¹⁰It looked toward them [and their eyes were opened], and it cried to the sheep; the rams saw it and all ran to it.

¹¹Yet the eagles, vultures, ravens, and kites continued tearing the sheep, swooping down upon them, and devouring them. The sheep remained silent, but the rams lamented and cried aloud.

¹²The ravens fought and battled against that ram and sought to bring down its horn, but they had no power over it.

¹³I watched until the [shepherds and] eagles, vultures, and kites came. [They cried to the ravens] to break the horn of that ram. They battled and fought against it, while it battled against them and cried out for help to come.

¹⁴I watched until the man who recorded the names of the shepherds and carried the record into the presence of the Lord of the sheep came and helped the ram. He showed it everything, for he had descended to help that ram.

¹⁵I watched until the Lord of the sheep came against them in wrath. Everyone who saw Him fled, and they all fell [into His shadow] before His face.

¹⁶All the eagles, vultures, ravens, and kites gathered together. All the sheep of the field came with them. They all assembled and helped one another to break the horn of the ram.

¹⁷I saw the man who wrote the book according to the Lord’s command open the book concerning the destruction caused by the last twelve shepherds. He showed before the Lord of the sheep that they had destroyed far more than their predecessors.

¹⁸I watched until the Lord of the sheep came to them, took the staff of His wrath in His hand, and struck the earth. The earth split open, and all the beasts and birds of heaven fell away from among the sheep, were swallowed by the earth, and were covered over.

¹⁹I watched until a great sword was given to the sheep. The sheep went out against all the beasts of the field to kill them, and all the beasts and birds of heaven fled before them.

²⁰I watched until a throne was erected in the pleasant land, and the Lord of the sheep seated Himself upon it. The other took the sealed books and opened them before the Lord of the sheep.

²¹The Lord called the first seven white men and commanded them to bring before Him all the stars whose sexual organs were like those of horses, beginning with the first star that had led the others. They brought them all before Him.

²²He said to the man who had written before Him, who was one of the seven white men, “Take those seventy shepherds to whom I entrusted the sheep and who, acting on their own authority, killed more than I commanded.”

²³Behold, I saw that they were all bound and standing before Him.

²⁴Judgment was first held over the stars. They were judged, found guilty, and taken to the place of condemnation. They were cast into an abyss full of fire, flaming, and filled with pillars of fire.

²⁵The seventy shepherds were also judged and found guilty, and they were cast into that fiery abyss.

²⁶At that time I saw a similar abyss opened in the midst of the earth, full of fire. The blinded sheep were brought there, judged, found guilty, and cast into that fiery abyss, where they burned. This abyss was to the right of the house.

²⁷I saw those sheep burning, and their bones burning.

²⁸I stood up to watch as they folded up the old house. They removed all its pillars, beams, and ornaments, folded them up together with the house, carried it away, and placed it in a location south of the land.

²⁹I watched until the Lord of the sheep brought a new house, greater and higher than the first, and set it in the place where the first house had stood. All its pillars were new, and its ornaments were new and greater than those of the old house He had removed. All the sheep were within it.

³⁰I saw all the remaining sheep, all the beasts upon the earth, and all the birds of heaven fall down before those sheep, honor them, petition them, and obey them in everything.

³¹Afterward the three clothed in white who had taken hold of my hand [and had previously lifted me up], together with the ram, took hold of me and raised me up.

³²They set me down among the sheep before the judgment took place.

³³All those sheep were white, and their wool was abundant and clean. Everything that had been destroyed and scattered, together with all the beasts of the field and all the birds of heaven, assembled in that house. The Lord of the sheep rejoiced greatly because they were all good and had returned to His house.

³⁴I watched until they laid down the sword that had been given to the sheep. They brought it back into the house, and it was sealed before the Lord’s presence. All the sheep were invited into that house, but it could not contain them.

³⁵The eyes of them all were opened, and they saw what was good; there was not one among them who could not see.

³⁶I saw that the house was large, broad, and exceedingly full.

³⁷I saw a white bull born with great horns. All the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air feared him and petitioned him continually.

³⁸I watched until all their generations were transformed and they all became white bulls. The first among them became a lamb, and that lamb became a great animal with great black horns upon its head. The Lord of the sheep rejoiced over it and over all the oxen.

³⁹I slept among them, then awoke and saw everything.

⁴⁰This is the vision I saw while sleeping. I awoke, blessed the Lord of righteousness, and gave Him glory.

⁴¹Then I wept bitterly, and my tears did not cease until I could no longer endure it. They flowed because of what I had seen, for everything will come to pass and be fulfilled, and all the deeds of mankind were shown to me in their proper order.

⁴²That night I remembered my first dream. Because of it I wept and was deeply troubled, for I had seen this vision.

Commentary 7: Chapters 83-90

26. Chapter 89. God Rejoices While His People Are Devoured.

Chapter 89 says that the Lord of the sheep gave the sinful sheep into the power of wild beasts. Then it says: “But though He saw it, He remained unmoved and rejoiced that they were devoured, swallowed up, and plundered.”

The Prophet Ezekiel says: “Shall I at all desire death of the sinner, says the Lord, as I desire that he should turn from his evil way, and live?” (Jezekiel [Ezekiel] 18:23)

Again: “Say to them, Thus says the Lord; As I live, I desire not the death of the ungodly, as that the ungodly should turn from his way and live: turn you heartily from your way; for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Jezekiel [Ezekiel] 33:11)

God wants all in communion with Him for eternity. He does not delight in His judgments, and He weeps over what He must do to those who chose after every chance God gives in His long-suffering, His love, and His grace to remain in death. This is completely foreign to

Christianity whose God came to earth as a man and was tortured and died, so that by the grace of God we may become what He is.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

If God so loved the world, even though he saw that the world hated Him, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” and yet he still said these words. What does that tell us about His love? He foreknew, He forefelt the lashings, He forefelt the beatings, He forefelt the mockery, He forefelt the kiss, He forefelt the piercing nails, He forefelt the slow drowning of the cross. But yet, he still said: “For God so loved the world.” And in these moments, He showed us how much He loves the world. That he emptied Himself and became the likeness of sinful flesh, so that He may condemn sin in the flesh. In writing this I could not stop the tears, God loves us greater than what is conceivable, the most wretched of creatures, so much that He gave us the gift of life.

We are the prodigal son, living in pleasures of this world and ending up in the filth. But, in the lowest of our depravity we come back to our Father. But while we were still a long way off, our Father saw us and was filled with compassion for us; He ran to us, threw his arms around us and kissed us. Then we said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the Father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

What beauty? Nothing in this world is more beautiful than the love God has for His sons, and His daughters. There is a reason why on the cover of this book I put the serpent surrounding the letter “E”. It is because the serpent’s deception is in these pages. To tell you that God delights in the killing of His sons. He is the whisperer in your ear that tells you that God is like him, delighting in death. The more you read in this book, the more you see the hand of Satan in it.

27. Chapter 89. The Second Temple Is Treated as Defiled.

After the first temple is destroyed, three sheep return and rebuild the house and tower. This represents the return from exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Second Temple. But the text says: “They again set a table before the tower, but all the bread upon it was defiled and unclean.”

It then says that the eyes of both the sheep and their shepherds remained blinded.

Therefore, the Animal Apocalypse does not believe that the rebuilt Temple is a faithful restoration commanded and blessed by God of the first temple built by Solomon. But canonical Scripture speaks differently. The rebuilding was commanded and strengthened through the Prophets Aggaeus (Haggai) and Zacharias (Zechariah). Ezra says that the elders prospered through their prophesying and completed the house according to the commandment of God. Aggaeus (Haggai) even says:

“For the glory of this house shall be great, the latter more than the former, says the Lord Almighty” (Aggaeus 2:9 [Haggai 2:9])

Christ later entered that Temple and called it: “My Father’s house.” (John 2:16)

Christ condemned those who corrupted the Temple, but He did not teach that the Temple itself and all its worship had been unclean from the moment it was rebuilt. Therefore, chapter 89 reflects a sectarian judgment against the Second Temple that is not shared by the canonical Prophets or by Christ. (See also Commentary 7, no. 28, below.)

28. Chapters 89–90. The Vision Reveals the Later Historical World of Its Author.

The Animal Apocalypse tells the history of the world through animals. The vision then becomes increasingly detailed as it approaches the period of the author. Chapter 90 describes lambs who begin opening their eyes, a great horn growing upon one sheep, and birds attacking it. This great horn is commonly understood as Judas Maccabeus and the surrounding conflict as the

Maccabean revolt. 1 Enoch 90:6–19 relates to the military success of Judas Maccabeus. This is important because the book claims that Enoch saw the entire history of mankind before the Flood. But the vision reads like a later author retelling past history.

According to Daniel C. Olson, the Animal Apocalypse was “probably written about 165 BC and then updated in mid- 161.”28

The author gives clear details from Adam through the history of Israel and into his own political crisis. Then, after reaching the Maccabean struggle, the vision suddenly moves into the final judgment and the new creation.

This is the same pattern found in many false apocalyptic prophecies: the writer accurately describes events that have already occurred, disguises history as prophecy, and then attaches an unfulfilled prediction of the end. (See Commentary 5, no. 19, above, and Commentary 7, no. 29, below.)

²⁸Daniel C. Olson, A New Reading of the Animal Apocalypse of 1 Enoch: “All Nations Shall Be Blessed,” Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha 24 (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 5.

29. Chapter 90. The Final Judgment Was Expected Immediately After the Maccabean Crisis.

After the great horn battles the ravens and cries for help, the Lord of the sheep suddenly comes in wrath. The earth splits open. The beasts and birds are swallowed. The fallen stars and seventy shepherds are judged. The old house is removed, a new house appears, all nations submit, and creation is transformed.

The sequence moves directly from the struggle of the great horn into the final intervention of God. If the great horn represents Judas Maccabeus, as the historical interpretation holds, then the expected consummation did not happen. Judas fought in the second century before Christ. But the final judgment did not immediately follow. The past is detailed because the author already knew it. The future is wrong because the expected end did not come. (See Commentary 2, no. 6, and Commentary 7, no. 28, above.)

Therefore, the Animal Apocalypse is not evidence that Enoch accurately foresaw the Maccabean revolt before the Flood. It is evidence that a writer living around that crisis retold history under Enoch’s name and expected the judgment to arrive shortly afterward.

Chapter 92

¹This is the book written by Enoch—[Enoch indeed wrote this complete teaching of wisdom, which is praised by all men and is a judge of all the earth]—for all my children who will dwell upon the earth and for the generations to come who will practice uprightness and peace.

²Do not let your spirits be troubled because of the times, for the Holy and Great One has appointed days for all things.

³The righteous one will arise from sleep, [will arise] and walk in the paths of righteousness; and all his path and conduct will be in eternal goodness and grace.

⁴He will show grace to the righteous and give him everlasting uprightness. He will give him power, and he will be endowed with goodness and righteousness and will walk in everlasting light.

⁵Sin will perish in darkness forever and will never again be seen from that day and forevermore.

Chapter 91

¹And now, my son Methuselah, summon all your brothers to me and gather to me all the sons of your mother. For the word calls me, and the spirit has been poured out upon me, so that I may show you everything that will happen to you forever.”

²Then Methuselah went, summoned all his brothers to Enoch, and assembled his relatives.

³Enoch spoke to all the children of righteousness and said: “Hear, you sons of Enoch, all the words of your father, and listen carefully to the voice of my mouth. I exhort you and say to you, my beloved:

⁴Love uprightness and walk in it. Do not approach uprightness with a divided heart, and do not associate with those whose hearts are divided.

But walk in righteousness, my sons; it will guide you along good paths, and righteousness will be your companion.

⁵For I know that violence must increase upon the earth, and great punishment will be executed upon it. Violence will be cut off from its roots, and its entire structure will be destroyed.

⁶Yet unrighteousness will again reach its fullness upon the earth, and all deeds of unrighteousness, violence, and transgression will prevail twofold.

⁷When sin, unrighteousness, blasphemy, and violence of every kind increase; when apostasy, transgression, and uncleanness increase, then great punishment will come from heaven upon them all. The holy Lord will come forth in wrath and punishment to execute judgment upon the earth.

⁸In those days violence will be cut off from its roots, together with the roots of unrighteousness and deceit; and they will be destroyed from beneath heaven.

⁹All the idols of the nations will be abandoned, and their temples will be burned with fire. They will remove them from the whole earth, and the nations will be cast into the judgment of fire and perish in wrath and severe judgment forever.

¹⁰The righteous will arise from sleep, and wisdom will arise and be given to them.

¹¹[Afterward the roots of unrighteousness will be cut off, and sinners will be destroyed by the sword. Blasphemers will be cut off in every place, and those who devise violence and commit blasphemy will perish by the sword.]

¹⁸“And now I tell you, my sons, and show you the paths of righteousness and the paths of violence. I will show them to you once more so that you may know what is to come.

¹⁹Listen to me, my sons, and walk in the paths of righteousness. Do not walk in the paths of violence, for all who walk in the paths of unrighteousness will perish forever.”

Chapter 93

¹After this Enoch began to recount from the books.

²Enoch said: “Concerning the children of righteousness, the elect of the world, and the plant of uprightness, I will speak. I, Enoch, will declare these things to you, my sons, according to what appeared to me in the heavenly vision, what I learned through the word of the holy angels, and what I understood from the heavenly tablets.”

³Enoch began to recount from the books and said: “I was born the seventh in the first week, while judgment and righteousness still endured.

⁴After me, in the second week, great wickedness will arise, and deceit will spring up. In that week the first end will take place. In it a man will be saved; and after it has ended, unrighteousness will grow, and a law will be established for sinners.

⁵Afterward, at the close of the third week, a man will be chosen as the plant of righteous judgment, and his descendants will become the plant of righteousness forevermore.

⁶Afterward, at the close of the fourth week, visions of the holy and righteous will be seen, and a law for all generations and an enclosure will be made for them.

⁷Afterward, at the close of the fifth week, the house of glory and dominion will be built forever.

⁸Afterward, in the sixth week, all who live during it will be blinded, and the hearts of them all will godlessly abandon wisdom. In that week a man will ascend; and at its close the house of dominion will be burned with fire, and the whole race of the chosen root will be scattered.

⁹Afterward, in the seventh week, an apostate generation will arise. Its deeds will be many, and all its deeds will be apostate.

¹⁰At its close the elect righteous of the everlasting plant of righteousness will be chosen to receive sevenfold instruction concerning all His creation.

¹¹[For who among all the children of men can hear the voice of the Holy One without being troubled? Who can comprehend His thoughts? Who can behold all the works of heaven?

¹²“How could anyone behold heaven? Who could understand heavenly things, see a soul or a spirit, and tell of it? Who could ascend and see all their ends, comprehend them, or act as they do?

¹³“Who among all mankind could know the breadth and length of the earth, or to whom has the measure of all of it been revealed?

¹⁴“Is there anyone who can discern the length of heaven, how great its height is, upon what it is founded, how great the number of the stars is, or where all the luminaries rest?] 9129

¹²“After this there will be another week, the eighth, a week of righteousness. A sword will be given to it so that righteous judgment may be executed upon the oppressors,

29 The order of Chapters 91–93 follows the traditional critical reconstruction from R.H. Charles. See Commentary Note 8 for a discussion.

and sinners will be delivered into the hands of the righteous.

¹³“At its close the righteous will acquire houses through their righteousness, and a house will be built for the Great King in glory forevermore. 14d “All mankind will turn toward the path of uprightness. 14a “After this, in the ninth week, righteous judgment will be revealed to the whole world. 14b “All the works of the ungodly will vanish from the whole earth. 14c “The world will be marked for destruction.

¹⁵“After this, in the seventh part of the tenth week, the great eternal judgment will take place, in which He will execute vengeance among the angels.

¹⁶“The first heaven will depart and pass away, and a new heaven will appear. All the powers of heaven will shine with sevenfold light.

¹⁷“After this there will be many weeks without number forever. All will be in goodness and righteousness, and sin will never again be mentioned.”

Chapter 94

¹And now I say to you, my sons: love righteousness and walk in it, for the paths of righteousness are worthy of acceptance, but the paths of unrighteousness will suddenly be destroyed and vanish.

²The paths of violence and death will be revealed to certain men of a generation, but they will keep far from them and will not follow them.

³And now I say to you who are righteous: do not walk in the paths of wickedness or the paths of death. Do not draw near to them, lest you be destroyed.

⁴Seek and choose righteousness and an elect life for yourselves. Walk in the paths of peace, and you will live and prosper.

⁵Hold my words firmly in the thoughts of your hearts, and do not allow them to be erased from your hearts. For I know that sinners will tempt people to mistreat wisdom, so that no place may be found for her; yet no temptation will be able to destroy her.

⁶Woe to those who build unrighteousness and oppression and lay deceit as their foundation; for they will suddenly be overthrown, and they will have no peace.

⁷Woe to those who build their houses with sin; for they will be overturned from their foundations and will fall by the sword. [Those who acquire gold and silver through judgment will suddenly perish.]

⁸Woe to you who are rich, for you have trusted in your riches. You will depart from your riches because you did not remember the Most High in the days of your wealth.

⁹You have committed blasphemy and unrighteousness and have prepared yourselves for the day of slaughter, the day of darkness, and the day of great judgment.

¹⁰Thus I speak and declare to you: He who created you will overthrow you. There will be no compassion at your fall, and your Creator will rejoice at your destruction.

¹¹In those days the righteous among you will become a reproach to sinners and the ungodly.

Chapter 95

¹Oh, that my eyes were [a cloud of] water, so that I might weep over you and pour out my tears like a cloud of rain; then I might find rest from the sorrow of my heart.

²Who has permitted you to practice reproach and wickedness? Therefore judgment will overtake you, sinners.

³Do not fear sinners, you righteous, for the Lord will again deliver them into your hands, so that you may execute judgment upon them according to your desire.

⁴Woe to you who pronounce irrevocable curses; healing will be far from you because of your sins.

⁵Woe to you who repay your neighbor with evil, for you will be repaid according to your deeds.

⁶Woe to you, lying witnesses, and to those who weigh out injustice, for you will suddenly perish.

⁷Woe to you, sinners, because you persecute the righteous; for you will be handed over and persecuted because of injustice, and its yoke will be heavy upon you.

Chapter 96

¹Take courage, you righteous, for sinners will suddenly perish before you, and you will have authority over them according to your desire.

²[On the day of the sinners’ tribulation, your children will rise and soar like eagles. Your nest will be higher than that of vultures. You will ascend and enter the crevices of the earth and the clefts of the rock forever, like rock badgers before the unrighteous; and the sirens will sigh and weep because of you.]

³Therefore do not fear, you who have suffered, for healing will be your portion. A radiant light will shine upon you, and you will hear the voice of rest from heaven.

⁴Woe to you, sinners, for your riches make you appear righteous, but your hearts convict you of being sinners. This fact will stand as a testimony against you and as a memorial of your evil deeds.

⁵Woe to you who devour the finest wheat, drink wine from large bowls, and tread the lowly underfoot with your power.

⁶Woe to you who drink water from every fountain, for you will suddenly be consumed and wither away, because you have forsaken the fountain of life.

⁷Woe to you who practice unrighteousness, deceit, and blasphemy; these deeds will stand as an evil memorial against you.

⁸Woe to you who are mighty and oppress the righteous by your power, for the day of your destruction is coming. In those days many good days will come to the righteous, on the day of your judgment.

Chapter 97

¹Believe, you righteous, that sinners will become a disgrace and will perish on the day of unrighteousness.

²Know, you sinners, that the Most High remembers your destruction, and the angels of heaven rejoice over your destruction.

³What will you do, sinners? Where will you flee on that day of judgment, when you hear the voice of the prayer of the righteous?

⁴You will become like those against whom this word will testify: “You have been companions of sinners.”

⁵In those days the prayer of the righteous will reach the Lord, and the days of your judgment will come upon you.

⁶All the words of your unrighteousness will be read before the Great Holy One. Your faces will be covered with shame, and He will reject every work founded upon unrighteousness.

⁷Woe to you sinners who live in the middle of the sea and upon dry land, whose remembrance testifies against you for evil.

⁸Woe to you who acquire silver and gold through unrighteousness and say: “We have become wealthy and possess riches; we have acquired everything we desired.

⁹“Now let us do what we intended, for we have gathered silver, there are many laborers in our houses, and our storehouses are full as though with water.”

¹⁰Your lies will flow away like water. Your riches will not remain but will quickly depart from you, for you acquired them all through unrighteousness, and you will be handed over to a great curse.

Chapter 98

¹And now I swear to you, both wise and foolish, that you will experience many things upon the earth.

²You men will wear more ornaments than a woman and more colored garments than a virgin. Royal splendor, greatness, power, silver, gold, purple, luxury, and food will be poured out like water.

³Therefore they will lack instruction and wisdom. They will perish together with their possessions, glory, and splendor. In shame, slaughter, and great poverty, their spirits will be cast into the furnace of fire.

⁴I swear to you, sinners: just as a mountain has not become a slave and a hill has not become the servant of a woman, so sin was not sent upon the earth. Mankind created it for themselves, and those who commit it will fall under a great curse.

⁵Barrenness was not given to woman; rather, because of the deeds of her own hands she dies without children.

⁶I swear to you, sinners, by the Holy and Great One, that all your evil deeds are revealed in heaven, and none of your oppressive deeds are covered or hidden.

⁷Do not think in your spirit or say in your heart, “You do not know and do not see.”

⁸Every sin is recorded each day in heaven before the Most High. From now on, know that every act of oppression by which you oppress others is written down each day until the day of your judgment.

⁹Woe to you, fools, for you will perish through your foolishness. You transgress against the wise, and prosperity will not be your portion.

¹⁰Know that you are prepared for the day of destruction. Do not hope to live, sinners, but you will depart and die. You know no ransom, for you are prepared for the day of great judgment, the day of tribulation and great shame for your spirits.

¹¹Woe to you who are obstinate in heart, who practice wickedness and consume blood. From where do you receive good things to eat, drink, and fill yourselves? They come from all the good things that the Lord Most High has placed abundantly upon the earth. Therefore you will have no peace.

¹²Woe to you who love deeds of unrighteousness. Why do you hope for prosperity? Know that you will be handed over to the righteous. They will cut off your necks, kill you, and show you no mercy.

¹³Woe to you who rejoice in the tribulation of the righteous, for no grave will be dug for you.

¹⁴Woe to you who reject the words of the righteous, for you will have no hope of life.

¹⁵Woe to you who write lying and godless words. You write down your lies so that people may hear them and act wickedly toward their neighbors.

¹⁶Therefore you will have no peace but will die a sudden death.

Chapter 99

¹Woe to you who practice godlessness, glory in lies, and exalt them; you will perish, and no blessed life will be yours.

²Woe to those who pervert the words of uprightness, transgress the eternal law, and transform themselves into what they were not [into sinners]; they will be trampled underfoot upon the earth.

³In those days, you righteous, prepare to raise your prayers as a memorial. Place them as testimony before the angels, so that they may present the sin of sinners as a memorial before the Most High.

⁴In those days the nations will be stirred up, and the families of the nations will arise on the day of destruction.

⁵In those days the destitute will go out carrying their children and then abandon them, so that their children perish because of them. They will abandon even their nursing infants and will not return to them, nor will they pity their beloved children.

⁶And again I swear to you, sinners, that sin is prepared for a day of unceasing bloodshed.

⁷Those who worship stones and carved images of gold, silver, wood, stone, and clay, and those who worship unclean spirits, demons, and every kind of idol without knowledge, will receive no help from them.

⁸They will become godless because of the foolishness of their hearts. Their eyes will be blinded through the fear of their hearts and through the visions of their dreams.

⁹Through these things they will become godless and fearful, for they have performed all their works in falsehood and worshiped stone. Therefore they will perish in an instant.

¹⁰But in those days blessed are all who receive the words of wisdom, understand them, observe the paths of the Most High, walk in the path of His righteousness, and do not become godless with the godless; for they will be saved.

¹¹Woe to you who spread evil among your neighbors, for you will be slain in Sheol.

¹²Woe to you who use deceitful and false measures and bring bitterness upon the earth, for by these things you will be utterly consumed.

¹³Woe to you who build your houses through the harsh labor of others, whose building materials are the bricks and stones of sin. I tell you that you will have no peace.

¹⁴Woe to those who reject the measure and everlasting inheritance of their fathers and whose souls follow idols, for they will have no rest.

¹⁵Woe to those who practice unrighteousness, assist oppression, and kill their neighbors until the day of great judgment.

¹⁶For He will cast down your glory, bring affliction upon your hearts, arouse His fierce indignation, and destroy you all with the sword; and all the holy and righteous will remember your sins.

Chapter 100

¹In those days fathers and sons will be struck down together in one place, and brothers will fall in death beside one another, until streams flow with their blood.

²A man will not restrain his hand from killing his sons and his sons’ sons, and a sinner will not restrain his hand from his honored brother. From dawn until sunset they will kill one another.

³The horse will wade up to its breast in the blood of sinners, and the chariot will be submerged to its height.

⁴In those days the angels will descend into the secret places and gather into one place all who brought sin down. The Most High will arise on that day of judgment to execute great judgment among sinners.

⁵Over all the righteous and holy He will appoint guardians from among the holy angels, to guard them like the pupil of the eye until He makes an end of all wickedness and sin. Even if the righteous sleep a long sleep, they have nothing to fear.

⁶Then the children of the earth will see the wise dwelling in security. They will understand all the words of this book and recognize that their riches cannot save them when their sins are overthrown.

⁷Woe to you sinners on the day of severe anguish, you who afflict the righteous and burn them with fire; you will be repaid according to your deeds.

⁸Woe to you who are obstinate in heart and remain awake to devise wickedness. Terror will come upon you, and no one will help you.

⁹Woe to you sinners because of the words of your mouths and the deeds of your hands produced by your godlessness. You will burn in blazing flames fiercer than fire.

¹⁰Know now that He will inquire into your deeds through the angels in heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, because you execute judgment upon the righteous on earth.

¹¹He will summon every cloud, mist, dew, and rain to testify against you. Because of you they will all be withheld from descending upon you, and they will remember your sins.

¹²Now offer gifts to the rain so that it will not be withheld from descending upon you, and to the dew, if it can receive gold and silver from you so that it may descend. When frost, snow, cold, and every snowstorm with all their afflictions fall upon you, in those days you will not be able to stand before them.

Chapter 101

¹Observe heaven, you children of heaven, and every work of the Most High. Fear Him and do no evil in His presence.

²If He closes the windows of heaven and withholds rain and dew from descending upon the earth because of you, what will you do?

³If He sends His wrath upon you because of your deeds, you will not be able to petition Him, for you spoke proud and insolent words against His righteousness. Therefore you will have no peace.

⁴Do you not see the sailors of ships, how their ships are tossed by the waves, shaken by the winds, and brought into severe distress?

⁵Therefore they fear, because all their valuable possessions travel with them upon the sea. Their hearts foresee evil, fearing that the sea will swallow them and that they will perish in it.

⁶Is not the whole sea, with all its waters and movements, the work of the Most High?

⁷Has He not set limits upon its activity and confined it everywhere by the sand? At His rebuke it is terrified and dries up; all its fish die, together with everything in it. Yet you sinners who dwell upon the earth do not fear Him.

⁸Has He not made heaven, earth, and everything within them? Who has given understanding and wisdom to everything that moves upon the earth and in the sea?

⁹Do not the sailors of ships fear the sea? Yet sinners do not fear the Most High.

Chapter 102

¹In those days, when He brings a severe fire upon you, where will you flee, and where will you find deliverance? When He sends His word against you, will you not be terrified and afraid?

²All the luminaries will be seized with great fear, and the whole earth will be terrified, tremble, and be alarmed.

³All the angels will carry out their commands and will seek to hide from the presence of the Great Glory. The children of earth will tremble and quake; and you sinners will be cursed forever, and you will have no peace.

⁴Do not fear, you souls of the righteous; take courage, you who have died in righteousness.

⁵Do not grieve because your souls descended into Sheol in sorrow, or because during your lives your bodies did not prosper in accordance with your goodness. Wait for the day of the judgment of sinners, the day of cursing and punishment.

⁶When you die, sinners say concerning you: “As we die, so the righteous die. What benefit have they received from their deeds?

⁷“Behold, like us they die in sorrow and darkness. What do they possess beyond us? From now on we are equal.

⁸“What will they receive, and what will they see forever? Behold, they too have died, and from now on they will never again see light.”

⁹I tell you, sinners: you are satisfied to eat, drink, rob, sin, strip people naked, acquire wealth, and enjoy prosperous days.

¹⁰Have you seen how the righteous meet their end, though no violence is found in them until their death?

¹¹Yet you say, “They have perished and become as though they had never existed, and their spirits have descended into Sheol in tribulation.”

Chapter 103

¹And now I swear to you, the righteous, by the glory of the Great, Honored, and Mighty One in dominion; by His greatness I swear to you.

²I know a mystery. I have read the heavenly tablets, seen the holy books, and found written and inscribed in them concerning the righteous:

³all goodness, joy, and glory are prepared for them and recorded for the spirits of those who have died in righteousness. Abundant good will be given to you as recompense for your labor, and your lot will surpass the lot of the living.

⁴The spirits of you who have died in righteousness will live and rejoice. Your spirits will not perish, nor will your remembrance vanish from before the Great One throughout all the generations of the world. Therefore no longer fear the reproaches of sinners.

⁵Woe to you sinners when you die, if you die in the wealth of your sins and those like you say concerning you, “Blessed are sinners; they have enjoyed all their days.

⁶“See how they died in prosperity and wealth and did not experience tribulation or murder during their lives. They died in honor, and judgment was not executed upon them during their lifetime.”

⁷Know that their souls will be made to descend into Sheol, and they will be wretched in their great tribulation.

⁸Your spirits will enter darkness, chains, and a burning flame where severe judgment is found. The great judgment will endure throughout all the generations of the world. Woe to you, for you will have no peace.

⁹Do not say concerning the righteous and good who are alive: “In our troubled days we have labored painfully and experienced every affliction. We have encountered much evil, been consumed, become few, and grown faint in spirit.

¹⁰“We have been destroyed and found no one to help us, even with a word. We have been tortured [and destroyed], and we no longer hoped to see life from one day to the next.

¹¹“We hoped to become the head but became the tail. We labored and found no satisfaction in our labor. We became food for sinners and the unrighteous, and they laid their yoke heavily upon us.

¹²“Those who hated and struck us ruled over us. We bowed our necks before those who hated us, but they showed us no pity.

¹³“We desired to escape from them and find rest, but we found no place where we could flee and be safe from them.

¹⁴“In our tribulation we complained to the rulers and cried out against those who devoured us, but they paid no attention to our cries and would not listen to our voice.

¹⁵“They helped those who robbed and devoured us and those who made us few. They concealed their oppression and did not remove from us the yoke of those who devoured, scattered, and murdered us. They concealed their murders and did not remember that they had raised their hands against us.”

Chapter 104

¹I swear to you that in heaven the angels remember you for good before the glory of the Great One, and your names are written before His glory.

²Take courage. Formerly you were put to shame through evil and affliction, but now you will shine like the lights of heaven.

³You will shine and be seen, and the portals of heaven will be opened to you. Continue your cry for judgment, and judgment will appear for you; for all your tribulation will be visited upon the rulers and upon all who assisted those who plundered you.

⁴Take courage and do not cast away your hope, for you will have great joy like the angels of heaven.

⁵What will be required of you? You will not need to hide on the day of great judgment, nor will you be found among sinners. Eternal judgment will remain far from you throughout all the generations of the world.

⁶And now, you righteous, do not fear when you see sinners growing strong and prospering in their ways. Do not become their companions.

⁷Keep far from their violence, for you will become companions of the hosts of heaven. Although you sinners say, “None of our sins will be searched out or written down,” nevertheless every one of your sins will be written down each day.

⁸And now I show you that light and darkness, day and night, witness all your sins.

⁹Do not become godless in your hearts. Do not lie or alter the words of uprightness. Do not accuse the words of the Holy and Great One of falsehood, and do not honor your idols.

¹⁰All your falsehood and godlessness do not produce righteousness but great sin. And now I know this mystery: sinners will alter and pervert the words of righteousness in many ways. They will speak wicked words, lie, practice great deception, and write books according to their own words.

¹¹But when people faithfully write down all my words in their own languages, neither altering nor omitting anything from my words, but recording everything truthfully—everything I first testified concerning them—

¹²then I know another mystery: the books will be given to the righteous and wise, and they will become a source of joy, uprightness, and abundant wisdom.

¹³The books will be given to them, and they will believe them and rejoice in them. Then all the righteous who have learned from them all the paths of uprightness will receive their recompense.”

Chapter 105

¹In those days the Lord commanded them to summon the children of earth and testify to them concerning wisdom: “Show it to them, for you are their guides and a recompense over the whole earth.

²“For I and My Son will be united with them forever in the paths of uprightness throughout their lives. Peace will be yours. Rejoice, you children of uprightness. Amen.”

Fragment Of The Book Of Noah

Chapter 106

¹After some days, my son Methuselah took a wife for his son Lamech.

²She conceived by him and bore a son. His body was white as snow and red like the bloom of a rose. The hair of his head and his long locks were white as wool, and his eyes were beautiful. When he opened his eyes, he illuminated the whole house like the sun, and the entire house became exceedingly bright.

³Then he arose in the hands of the midwife, opened his mouth, and spoke with the Lord of righteousness.

⁴His father Lamech was afraid of him.

⁵He fled and went to his father Methuselah, saying, “I have fathered a strange son, different from and unlike a human being, resembling the sons of the God of heaven. His nature is different, and he is not like us. His eyes are like the rays of the sun, and his face is glorious.

⁶“It seems to me that he did not come from me but from the angels, and I fear that in his days some wonder may be performed upon the earth.

⁷“And now, my father, I petition and implore you to go to our father Enoch and learn the truth from him, for his dwelling is among the angels.”

⁸When Methuselah heard his son’s words, he came to me at the ends of the earth, for he had heard that I was there. He cried aloud; I heard his voice and came to him. I said, “Behold, I am here, my son. Why have you come to me?”

⁹He answered, “I have come to you because of a great cause of anxiety and have approached because of a disturbing vision.

¹⁰“And now, my father, hear me. A son has been born to my son Lamech, and no one resembles him. His nature is unlike human nature; the color of his body is whiter than snow and redder than the bloom of a rose; the hair of his head is whiter than white wool; and his eyes are like the rays of the sun. When he opened his eyes, he illuminated the whole house.

¹¹“He arose in the hands of the midwife,

¹²“opened his mouth, and blessed the Lord of heaven. His father Lamech became afraid and fled to me. He does not believe that the child came from him but thinks that he resembles the angels of heaven. Behold, I have come to you so that you may reveal the truth to me.”

¹³I, Enoch, answered him: “The Lord will do a new thing upon the earth. I have already seen it in a vision. I make known to you that in the generation of my father Jared, some of the angels of heaven transgressed the word of the Lord.

¹⁴“Behold, they sin and transgress the law. They have united themselves with women, sinned with them, taken some of them as wives, and fathered children by them.

¹⁵“They will produce giants upon the earth, not according to the spirit but according to the flesh. Great punishment will come upon the earth, and the earth will be cleansed from all impurity.

¹⁶“Indeed, great destruction will come over the whole earth: a flood and a great destruction lasting one year.

¹⁷“But this son who has been born to you will remain upon the earth, and his three children will be saved with him.

¹⁸“When all mankind upon the earth dies, [he and his sons will be saved].

¹⁹“And now make known to your son Lamech that the child who has been born is truly his son, and call his name Noah. He will remain for you, and he and his sons will be saved from the destruction that will come upon the earth because of all the sin and unrighteousness that will reach its fullness upon the earth in his days. Afterward there will be still more unrighteousness than that which was first fulfilled upon the earth. For I know the mysteries of the holy ones; the Lord has shown and revealed them to me, and I have read them in the heavenly tablets.”

Chapter 107

¹I saw written upon them that generation after generation will transgress until a generation of righteousness arises, transgression is destroyed, sin passes away from the earth, and every kind of good comes upon it.

²“And now, my son, go and make known to your son Lamech that this child who has been born is truly his son and that this is no lie.”

³When Methuselah heard the words of his father Enoch—for Enoch had shown him everything in secret— he returned and revealed them to Lamech. He called the child Noah, because he would comfort the earth after all the destruction.

Chapter 108

¹Another book that Enoch wrote for his son Methuselah and for those who will come after him and keep the law in the last days.

²You who have done good, wait for those days until an end is made of those who practice evil and the power of transgressors comes to an end.

³Wait until sin has passed away. Their names will be blotted out of the Book of Life and from the holy books. Their descendants will be destroyed forever, and their spirits will be slain. They will cry out and lament in a place that is a chaotic wilderness, and they will burn in fire, for there is no earth there.

⁴I saw there something like an invisible cloud. Because of its depth I could not see beyond it. I saw a flame of fire blazing brightly and things resembling shining mountains circling and sweeping back and forth.

⁵I asked one of the holy angels who was with me, “What is this shining thing? It is not heaven but only the flame of a blazing fire, together with the sound of weeping, crying, lamentation, and severe pain.”

⁶He said to me, “This place you see is where the spirits of sinners and blasphemers are cast, together with those who practice wickedness and those who pervert everything the Lord has spoken through the mouths of the prophets concerning the things that are to come.

⁷“Some of these things are written and inscribed above in heaven so that the angels may read them and know what will happen to sinners, to the spirits of the humble, to those who afflicted their bodies and were recompensed by God, and to those who were put to shame by wicked men.

⁸“These are those who loved God and did not love gold, silver, or any of the good things of the world, but surrendered their bodies to suffering.

⁹“From the time they came into existence, they did not desire earthly food but regarded everything as a passing breath and lived accordingly. The Lord tested them greatly, and their spirits were found pure, so that they might bless His name.

¹⁰“I have recounted in the books all the blessings prepared for them. He has appointed their recompense because they were found to love heaven more than their life in the world. Though wicked men trampled them underfoot, abused them, reviled them, and put them to shame, they continued to bless Me.

¹¹“And now I will summon the spirits of the good who belong to the generation of light. I will transform those who were born in darkness and who, while in the flesh, did not receive the honor their faithfulness deserved.

¹²“I will bring forth into shining light those who loved My holy name,

¹³“and I will seat each one upon the throne of his honor. They will shine for times without number, for righteousness is the judgment of God. To the faithful He will give faithfulness in the dwelling of upright paths.

¹⁴“They will see those who were born in darkness being led into darkness, while the righteous shine.

¹⁵“Sinners will cry aloud and see the righteous shining, while they themselves go to the place where days and seasons have been appointed for them.

Commentary 8: Chapters 92-108

30. Chapters 98 and 100. Sin Was Not Sent to Earth— Yet Angels Brought Sin Down.

Chapter 98 says: “So sin was not sent upon the earth. Mankind created it for themselves.”

This is actually much closer to the Orthodox understanding of human responsibility than the Book of the Watchers. Man is not a victim like stated earlier. Human beings freely choose wickedness and bring the curse upon themselves. But only two chapters later, the same section says: “In those days the angels will descend into the secret places and gather into one place all who brought sin down.” So, which is it?

Was sin not sent upon the earth, because mankind created it for themselves? Or were there beings who brought sin down? This becomes even worse when compared with the earlier Book of the Watchers, which says: “The whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.” Chapter 98 now denies that sin was sent to earth at all and places its creation upon mankind. Then chapter 100 returns to beings who “brought sin down.”

As stated earlier, our previous thought was that maybe the Book of Enoch claims there were two falls. But as we pointed out earlier it contradicts the Genesis account by saying that the fallen angel Gadreel deceived Eve and not Satan. So, what truly occurred, what is the story here?

31. Chapters 95–98. The Righteous Are Promised Personal Vengeance According to Their Own Desire.

Chapter 95 says: “The Lord will again deliver them into your hands, so that you may execute judgment upon them according to your desire.” Chapter 96 repeats: “Sinners will suddenly perish before you, and you will have authority over them according to your desire.”

Then chapter 98 says: “They will be handed over to the righteous. They will cut off your necks, kill you, and show you no mercy.” The problem is not that the righteous participate in God’s victory and as Saint Paul says, “the saints will judge the angels and the world.” The issue is that the text says that God will put the sinners into the hands of the righteous so that they may judge them according to their own desire. What is this? What kind of God will deliver sinners into the hands of righteous so that their passions may be fueled to “do what they desire.” What is the desire? The desire to kill, or what this text heavily suggests a kind of fulfillment of a debased sadism?

Doesn’t scripture say: “And your hand shall not avenge you; and you shall not be angry with the children of your people; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”? (Leviticus 19:18) And again: “He that revenges shall find vengeance from the Lord, and he will surely keep his sins in remembrance”? (Sirach 28:1)

And again: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord”? (Romans 12:19) (See also Commentary 3, no. 9, and Commentary 7, no. 26, above.)

32. Chapters 98 and 104 Compared With Chapter 69. Writing Is Not Evil, Lying Is.

Chapter 69 blamed Penemue for teaching mankind writing with ink and paper, saying that many sinned through it and that mankind was not created for such a purpose. But this later section gives a much more sensible account.

Chapter 98 says: “Woe to you who write lying and godless words. You write down your lies so that people may hear them and act wickedly toward their neighbors.”

The sin is not writing. The sin is writing lies and godless words. Then chapter 104 praises faithful writing: “When people faithfully write down all my words in their own languages, neither altering nor omitting anything from my words, but recording everything truthfully…” Therefore, this section admits exactly what the earlier section failed to distinguish. Writing is an instrument. It can preserve lies, or it can preserve what is believed to be truth. (See Commentary 5, no. 16, above, and Commentary 8, no. 33, below.)

33. Chapter 104 Claims Exact Preservation, but the Work Bears the Marks of Rearrangement and Expansion.

Chapter 104 says that Enoch’s words must be written: “Neither altering nor omitting anything from my words, but recording everything truthfully.” It then promises that these books will be given to the righteous and wise.

This is an attempt to secure the authority of the text. The reader is told that Enoch wrote these words, that faithful men would translate them into their own languages, and that nothing was to be altered or omitted. But this very section shows signs of alteration and omission.

The sequence moves from chapter 92 to chapter 91, then to chapter 93, and then back to chapter 91. The prophecy of the weeks has had to be divided and rearranged to restore what editors believe was its original order.

Then chapter 108 begins: “Another book that Enoch wrote for his son Methuselah…” So even the book itself admits that another work has been attached to what came before it. What is numbered here 105–108 are preserved differently across the manuscript traditions. Some traditions incorporate it in different ways, while fragments appear to have been added after the five major divisions of the work were joined together.

Therefore, chapter 104 demands that not one word be altered or omitted, but the actual collection survives through rearrangement, different endings, incorporated fragments, and appended books. (See also Commentary 5, nos. 14 and 19; Commentary 7, no. 28, above; and Commentary 8, no. 36, below.)

34. Chapter 98. Every Barren Woman Is Blamed for Her Own Childlessness.

Chapter 98 says: “Barrenness was not given to woman; rather, because of the deeds of her own hands she dies without children.”

Therefore, barrenness is a punishment for the woman’s sins according to this book. But Chapter 102 directly undercuts chapter 98. There Enoch consoles the righteous because "your bodies did not prosper in accordance with your goodness" (102:5), acknowledging that bodily affliction does not necessarily reflect a person's righteousness. Indeed, the entire Epistle (chapters 95–104) is built on the conviction that the righteous often suffer unjustly and will be vindicated by God at the final judgment. Yet chapter 98 abruptly abandons this principle by saying that women become barren because of their personal sin.

Let us look at scripture: “And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.” (Luke 1:6–7)

Sarah was also barren: “But Sarai was barren; she had no child.” (Genesis 11:30) Yet Sarah became the mother of the promised son, and the Apostle includes her among the faithful: “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” (Hebrews 11:11)

Rebekah was barren: “Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord heard him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.” (Genesis 25:21)

The passage does not say that Rebekah had made herself barren through her sins. Isaac prayed, God heard him, and Rebekah conceived according to God’s providence.

Rachel was also barren: “When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.” (Genesis 29:31)

Later Scripture says: “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.” (Genesis 30:22)

Plenty of other examples in the scriptures, but why did all of this occur? Why do these women become barren?

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Christ answered: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (John 9:2–3)

Amen.

35. Chapter 108. The Descendants of Sinners Are Destroyed Forever.

Chapter 108 says:

“Their names will be blotted out of the Book of Life and from the holy books. Their descendants will be destroyed forever.”

Once again, the punishment extends beyond the sinners themselves to their descendants. The text does not say that their descendants will imitate their sins and therefore receive the same judgment. It says that the descendants of these transgressors will be destroyed forever because of the iniquity of their parents. God again said: “But the soul that sins shall die: and the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the iniquity of the transgressor shall be upon him.” (Jezekiel [Ezekiel] 18:20)

This repeats the bloodline punishment already found in Abel’s appeal for the destruction of Cain’s seed. (See Commentary 3, no. 9, above.)

36. Chapters 106–107. The Book of Noah Is Another Separate Tradition Inserted Into the Collection.

Chapters 106–107 suddenly present a separate story about the birth of Noah. Noah is born with a body white as snow, hair white as wool, eyes like the rays of the sun, and the ability to speak while still in the hands of the midwife.

Lamech fears that the child is not his own son, but the child of the angels. Methuselah therefore travels to Enoch, who is dwelling at the ends of the earth among the angels, in order to find out the truth. Enoch assures him that Noah truly is Lamech’s son and then repeats the story of the Watchers, their intercourse with women, the giants, and the coming Flood.

Therefore, the ending of 1 Enoch does not appear as the conclusion of one work written from beginning to end by one man. It appears as a place where additional Enochic and Noahic traditions were gathered and preserved. (See also Commentary 8, no. 33, above.)

37. Chapter 60 Compared With Chapter 65. The Book Presents Mercy as Universal Yet Closes the Door to Repentance.

Chapter 60 says that Michael comforted Enoch during his vision, saying:

"Until this day the time of His mercy has continued, and He has been merciful and long-suffering toward those who dwell upon the earth... Afterward judgment shall take place according to His mercy and patience." (60:5, 25)

This shows God's mercy and long-suffering as extending toward those who dwell upon the earth, with even the final judgment proceeding according to His mercy and patience. Yet only a few chapters later the book says concerning those who sought hidden knowledge: "They shall never have a place of repentance, because they revealed what had been hidden, and they are condemned." (65:11)

Chapter 60 emphasizes God's mercy toward mankind leading up to the judgment, while chapter 65 says that an entire class of His sons and daughters will not have the gift of repentance at all. The text never explains how an age characterized by God's mercy and patience can simultaneously include individuals for whom repentance has already been irrevocably revoked.

Orthodox Christianity likewise teaches both God's immeasurable mercy and the finality of judgment, but it says the present life is the time of repentance! (See also Commentary 8, no. 30, above.)

38. Enoch's Hidden Secret Knowledge is Gnostic in Essence As This Commentary Began by Naming.

In the Introduction, this commentary named the Gnostics as those who "promised secret revelations known only to a select few." It is worth returning to that directly, because 1 Enoch repeatedly presents itself the same exact way. Its content is knowledge hidden until "the last days," reserved for "the elect," recorded for a righteous remnant who will understand what the rest of the world cannot (cf. 1:2; 82:1–3; 104:12–13).

I think it needs to be said. We have this pride like the Gnostics have. We wish to find this secret knowledge, the mysteries, the hidden lore, so much so we proclaim that salvation is only found there. But as we know there is nothing hidden that Christ wished to be revealed. He tells His disciples: "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops" (Matthew 10:27). The Gospel is proclaimed to all nations (Matthew 28:19), preached openly in the Temple courts (John 18:20), and its mysteries, the mystery of Christ Himself is described by Saint Paul as "hidden from ages and generations, but now revealed to His saints," and revealed so that it might be made known, not kept (Colossians 1:26–27).

He was so loud in His message everybody heard Him, even those who became His accusers, and he was killed. Even the prophets of old, God always spoke through them to proclaim a message to the whole of Israel. Israel didn’t like said message, and the prophets were killed.

The structure of revelation in Enoch knowledge for the few, withheld from the many, unlocked only for insiders at the end of days, is similar in style to Gnostic pseudepigrapha; and it also shares Gnosticism's posture toward how God's truth reaches man.

39. Nothing the New Testament Teaches Requires Enoch to Be True.

The doctrine of the fall, the reality and defeat of demonic powers, the resurrection of the body, and the final judgment are all fully and coherently taught in the canonical Old and New Testament without appeal to a single verse of 1 Enoch. The Apostles who wrote of demons, of the fall, of judgment to come, did not need the Book of the Watchers to explain any of it, nor does the Church's doctrine on any of these subjects depend upon it today. This is an argument that Enoch is unnecessary even if every word of it were true. Scripture is not a partial revelation waiting on a supplementary book to complete its account of the unseen world. It is in itself true, complete, and is received by the infallible Holy Spirit which guides the Church: "that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17).

Conclusion

The purpose of this commentary has never been to attack those who find the Book of Enoch interesting, nor has it been to deny its historical value. The Book of Enoch is one of the most influential Jewish writings outside the canon of Scripture. It gives us a glimpse into the religious world of some Jews before the coming of Christ and helps us understand certain ideas that were circulating during the Second Temple period. But historical importance is not the same thing as divine inspiration. That is the question this book has sought to answer.

Throughout this commentary, we have allowed the Book of Enoch to speak for itself. We have examined its teachings, compared them with Holy Scripture, measured them against the faith handed down through the Church, and tested whether they remain consistent with themselves. Time and time again, we arrived at the same conclusion: the Book of Enoch does not bear the marks of inspired Scripture. Why? Because the inspiration of scriptures is not determined simply by whether a book contains truth, as this contains a slight bit of it. If that were the standard, countless writings would belong in the Bible. Histories contain truth, sermons contain truth, the writings of the Holy Fathers contain truth. Even pagan authors occasionally spoke what was true as exemplified in the commentaries. Truth alone has never been the measure of canonicity. As this commentary has demonstrated, the real question is whether a book is God-breathed and received by the Church as Holy Scripture.

We have a consistent issue continually present before us. As we worked through Enoch chapter by chapter, we encountered theological errors. We encountered internal contradictions. We encountered teachings that simply contradict the rest of God's revelation. The Book of Enoch continually and consistently rejects what is in the accepted Books in the Bible. As we know now, we have really only two options because of this. It is either we reject the consistent story that the 76-77 books of the Holy Bible give us, or we reject the story of the Book of Enoch. We have read the claim that Enoch teaches two separate falls. Yet even this struggles under the weight of the biblical narrative itself. Genesis says the serpent, Satan, is the one who deceived Eve. Enoch says it was

Gadreel, a different fallen angel. Scripture never divides mankind's corruption into separate origins as the Book of Enoch appears to do. The same pattern appears throughout the rest of the book. The Book of Enoch repeatedly goes beyond what God has revealed.

This brings us to one of the central themes of this commentary: the difference between revelation and imagination. Holy Scripture possesses an extraordinary unity in its writings as said before. It was written over centuries by many different authors, yet it speaks with one voice because it has one divine inspirer. The Book of Enoch does not give us that same unity. Instead, it bears the marks of a work compiled over time, reflecting developing traditions, expanding stories, and theological speculation. This is especially evident whenever Enoch expands upon brief passages of Scripture. The Bible often tells us only what we need to know. Enoch tells us far more than God chose to reveal. That should give every Christian pause. God is not obligated to satisfy our curiosity. He reveals what is necessary for our salvation and withholds what is not.

Another issue we examined was authorship. The Book of Enoch claims to have been written by Enoch, the seventh from Adam. Yet its language, historical background, theology, and literary development point to a much later period. The evidence simply does not support the claim that the patriarch himself wrote this work. With Greek myth littered throughout, we can see that this was written by the hands of Hellenistic Jews in the Second Temple Period. Rather than reading like the testimony of a patriarch, it reads like a work composed centuries later and placed in Enoch's mouth to give it greater authority.

Much attention has also been given to Jude's quotation of Enoch. Some argue that because Jude quoted Enoch, the entire book must therefore be inspired. But that conclusion simply does not follow. The Apostle Paul quoted pagan poets. No one argues that their writings belong in the Bible. Quoting a true statement does not transform an entire work into Holy Scripture. Jude confirms the truth of the prophecy he cites, not the inspiration of every single chapter surrounding it, as most chapters contain erroneous contradictions.

The same principle applies to the early Church Fathers. Some Fathers found portions of Enoch useful. Some spoke positively of certain passages. Others rejected it. The Church has always distinguished between books that may be read with discernment and books that are read as the inspired Word of God. This leads to an even greater principle. The canon of Scripture does not belong to the individual. It belongs to the Church. The canon is not established by private interpretation as the Protestants claim. It is not determined by personal preference or opinion. It is not decided by modern fascination or internet popularity. It is received by the same Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures and guided the Church in recognizing them.

Perhaps the greatest lesson this commentary teaches has nothing to do with the Book of Enoch itself. It teaches us to trust the sufficiency of God's revelation. Every generation is tempted by hidden knowledge. People are naturally drawn toward books promising lost mysteries, myths, secret revelations, and answers to questions Scripture leaves unanswered. Especially when this book gives you stories that are likened to fiction. Why do we love fiction? Because it is interesting. Because the fables of hybrid creatures and demi-beings are fun to read about. But the truth is always less inclined to satisfy the passions than fiction. There exists no such cosmology, no such beasts or rank of angels that can create beasts. There are no sirens or other fictional myths of antiquity. The Scriptures were preserved by the Church, everything necessary for our salvation has already been given. That is why the greatest danger of the Book of Enoch is not that it contains theological errors. The great danger is distraction. Instead of fixing our eyes upon Christ, we become fascinated with the fictions of the Watchers and abominable hybrid demi-beings. Instead of pursuing repentance, we chase speculation. Instead of reading the true scriptures handed down to us by our fathers, we search for hidden mysteries that God never gave His Church, nor are these mysteries even mysteries.

It seems it is a human inclination to look for the Bigfoots in the woods, to look for the krakens in the waters. But why search for things that have no existence? Why do we trade truths for lies? It is because we want to live in the reality the fictions take us to. We want to live in the world of fiction, because reality is not something we wish to live in much longer. We want to live in a world where we are not responsible for our own sins, but rather it is the fault of the demons. We want to live in a world where we can punish those who transgress against us “according to our own desire.” We want to live in the world of fiction, because reality does not satisfy our passions.

But reality is much greater than any fiction. By the transformation the grace of God offers us we can be like Him. Who did not seek vengeance when we pierced Him, who did not seek retribution when we whipped Him. But on the cross he asked God the Father to: “forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” If we seek to imitate the perfect virtue that is ever present before us, we can attain to the perfect life ahead. Do not believe in fictions that satisfy the passions, believe in the one truth that destroys them. The revelation is complete, why do we seek to rewrite it to satisfy our own desire?

Ultimately, this is why the Book of Enoch cannot stand alongside Holy Scripture. Not simply because it contains contradictions. Not simply because it contains historical difficulties. Not simply because it presents questionable theology. But the reason is this: God has already spoken fully through His Son. The Church already possesses the Law, the Prophets, the Gospels, and the Apostolic writings. In them we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. In them we encounter the living Christ. In them we find everything necessary. The Book of Enoch may continue to be studied for its historical value. It may help us understand certain currents of Jewish thought before Christ. But the only value this book contains is that of historical value.

Here we arrive at the same conclusion Christians have reached for nearly two thousand years. May we therefore be content with the revelation God has given. May we receive the Scriptures as they have been handed down to us through the Church. May we seek not hidden mysteries, but the One to whom all Scripture points to, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom alone comes eternal life.

To Him be glory, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

About the Author

Tyler Holliday, known among Christians as “Paisios,” is an Eastern Orthodox author, catechist, and editor from the Southern United States. He received his certification in catechism from St. Vladimir’s Seminary, and he is currently attending Valencia's School of Music. He focuses primarily on retranslating and editing early Christian works and educating people about the faith. He is the founder of Theologians Press, but he is best known for his online ministry “The Art of Wisdom” on Instagram where he hand- animates Bible chapters and the works of the saints, making them accessible and visual for the many new inquirers and converts discovering the Orthodox Church. Tyler himself is part of this massive wave of new converts, and he is dedicating his time to educate and make the works of the Ancient Faith more accessible and affordable for the modern person. Follow him at @theart0fwisdom on Instagram.

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