CHAPTER 92
Written by Enoch, the scribe, all this doctrine of wisdom, praiseworthy to all men, and a judge of all the earth, to all my children who will dwell on the earth, and to the future generations who will practice rectitude and peace.
2. Let not your spirits be sorrowful on account of the times, for the Great Holy One has given days for everything.
3. And the just one will arise from sleep, will arise and walk in the paths of justice, and all his paths and ways will be in everlasting goodness and grace.
4. He will be gracious to the just one, and will give him everlasting rectitude and will give power, and will be in goodness and justice, and he will walk in the everlasting light.
5. But sin will be destroyed in darkness to eternity, and will not be seen from that day on to eternity.
CHAPTER 93
And after that Enoch commenced to relate out of the books.
2. And Enoch said: “Concerning the children of justice and concerning the chosen of the world and concerning the plant of justice and of rectitude, of these I will speak to you and announce to you, my children, I, Enoch, as it has appeared to me in a vision from heaven, and what I learned through the voice of the holy angels and understood from the tablets of heaven.”
3. And Enoch commenced to relate from the books, and said: “I was born the seventh in the first week, while judgment and justice were yet retarded.
4. And there will arise after me in the second week great evil, and destruction will spring up; and in it there will be the first end; and in it a man will be saved; and after it is finished injustice will grow, and he will make a law for the sinners.
5. And after that, in the third week, in the end thereof, a man will be chosen as a plant of the judgment of justice, and after him the plant of justice will come forever.
6. And after that, in the fourth week, in the end thereof, visions of the holy and the just will be seen, and a law for all generations, and a court will be made for them.
7. And after that, in the fifth week, in the end thereof, a house of glory and of supremacy will be built to eternity.
8. And after that, in the sixth week, those who will exist in it will all be blinded, and their hearts will all forget wisdom, and in it a man will ascend; and in the end thereof the house of supremacy will burn with fire, and the whole race of the chosen root will be cut off.
9. And after that, in the seventh week, a rebellious generation will arise, and many will be their deeds, and all their deeds will be rebellious.
10. And in the end thereof the chosen just of the everlasting plant of justice will be rewarded; seven portions of learning are given to them concerning all his creatures.
11. And who is there of all the children of men that is able to hear the voice of the Holy One, and does not tremble, and who is able to think his thoughts, and who that is able to see all the works of heaven?
12. And how could one know the deeds of heaven and be able to see his breath and his spirit, and be able to relate it, or ascend and see all their ends, and think them or act like them?
13. And who is the man that is able to know what the breadth and the length of the earth is, and to whom has the measure of them all been shown?
14. Or is there any man who is able to know the length of heaven, and what is its height, and upon what it is established, and what is the measure as regards the number of the stars, and where all the luminaries rest?
CHAPTER 94
And now I say to you, my children, love justice and walk in it, for the paths of justice are worthy that they be accepted; and the paths of injustice are destroyed suddenly and cease.
2. And to certain men of a future generation the paths of violence and of death will be revealed, and they will retreat from them, and will not follow them.
3. And now I say to you, the just: Do not walk in the wicked path and in violence, and not in the paths of death, and do not approach them, that ye be not destroyed.
4. But love and choose for yourselves justice and a pleasing life, and walk in the paths of peace, that ye may live and have joy.
5. And hold in the thoughts of your hearts, and let not my words be eradicated from your hearts, for I know that the sinners will deceive men to make wisdom wicked, and it [i.e. wisdom] will not find a place, and all kinds of temptations will not cease.
6. Woe to those who build injustice and violence, and found deception, for they will be rooted out suddenly, and will have no peace.
7. Woe to those who build their houses in sin, for they will be rooted out from their foundation, and will fall by the sword; and they who acquire gold and silver will be destroyed by sudden judgment.
8. Woe to you rich, for ye have trusted in your riches, but ye will come away from your riches, because ye have not remembered the Most High in the days of your riches.
9. Ye have done reviling and injustice, and were
prepared for the day of bloodshed, and for the day of darkness, and for the day of the great judgment.
10. Thus I speak to you, and announce to you that he who has created you will destroy you from the foundation, and over your fall there will be no pity, and your Creator will rejoice in your destruction.
11. And your just in those days will be a disgrace to sinners and the impious.
CHAPTER 95
Oh that my eyes were clouds of water, and I could weep over you, and pour out my tears like a cloud of water, and I could rest from the sorrow of my heart.
2. Who has empowered you to practice hate and wickedness? May the judgment reach you, the sinners!
3. Fear not the sinners, ye just, for God will give them into your hands again, that ye may pass judgment over them, as ye desire.
4. Woe to you who pronounce curses that they be not loosened, and healing will be far from you on account of your sins!
5. Woe to you who repay evil to your neighbor, for ye will be repaid according to your deeds!
6. Woe to you, the witnesses of untruth, and to those who weigh injustice, for ye will be destroyed suddenly. 7. Woe to you sinners, for ye pursue the just; for ye will be given over and pursued, ye men of injustice, and heavy will be their yokes upon you.
CHAPTER 96
Hope, ye just, for the sinners will be destroyed suddenly before you, and the power over them will be to you as ye desire.
2. And in the day of the trouble of the sinners your children will mount and rise like eagles, and your nest will be higher than the hawk, and ye will ascend and go like the squirrels into the recesses of the earth, and into the clefts of the rock to eternity, before the unjust; but they will lament over you, and cry like satyrs.
3. But fear not, ye who suffer, for a healing will be to you, and a brilliant light will shine for you, and ye will hear the voice of rest from heaven.
4. Woe to you, sinners, for your riches make you appear like the just, but your hearts prove to you that you are sinners; and this word will be a testimony against you, as a remembrance of wicked deeds.
5. Woe to you who devour the marrow of the wheat, and drink the power of the root of the fountain, and trod down the lowly by your power.
6. Woe to you who drink water at all times, for ye will be repaid suddenly, and will dry up and wither, because ye have left the fountain of life.
7. Woe to you who practice injustice and destruction and reviling; there will be a remembrance against you for evil.
8. Woe to you powerful, who throw down with power the just ones, for the day of your destruction will come. In those days many and good days will come to the just, on the day of your judgment.
CHAPTER 97
Believe, ye just, for the sinners will come to shame, and will be destroyed on the day of injustice.
2. It will be known to you that the Most High is mindful of your destruction, and the angels rejoice over your destruction.
3. What will ye do, ye sinners, and whither will ye flee, on that day of judgment, when ye will hear the voice of the prayer of the just?
4. Ye will not be like those, ye against whom this word will be a testimony: “Ye have been companions of the sinners.”
5. And in those days, the prayer of the just will reach the Lord, and the days of your judgment will come to you.
6. And all the words of your injustice will be recited before the Great and Holy One; and your faces will be filled with shame, and each work that is founded on injustice will be cast off.
7. Woe to you sinners, in the midst of the ocean and over the land whose remembrance of you is evil!
8. Woe to you who acquire silver and gold without justice, and say: “We have become rich, and have treasures, and possess everything we desire;
9. And now we will do what we contemplate, for we have gathered together silver, and our treasuries are filled, and as water so many are the workmen of our houses.”
10. And like water your lies will float away, for wealth will not remain for you, but will ascend suddenly from you, for ye have acquired it all in injustice, and ye will be given over to a great condemnation.
CHAPTER 98
And now I swear to you, the wise and the foolish; for ye will see much on this earth.
2. For ye, men, will put on more ornaments than the women, and colored stuffs more than the virgin; in royalty, and in greatness, and in power, and in silver, and in gold, and purple and honor, and in food, they will float away like water.
3. And therefore they will have no knowledge and no wisdom, and thereby they are destroyed together with their treasures, and with all their glory and their honor, and in shame and in murder and in great poverty their spirits will be cast into an oven of fire.
4. I swear to you sinners: as a mountain has not and will not become a slave, nor a hill the maid of a woman, thus too has sin not been sent on the earth, but man of himself has created it, and it will be for a great curse to those who do it.
5. And barrenness has not been given to a woman, but on account of the deeds of her hands she dies without children.
6. I swear to you sinners, by the Holy and the Just One, that all your wicked deeds are revealed in the heavens, and none of your deeds of violence are covered or hidden.
7. And do not think in your souls, and do not say in your hearts, that ye do not know and do not see that every sin is daily being written down in heaven before the Most High.
8. And from now ye know that all your violence which ye commit is written down on each day to the day of your judgment.
9. Woe to you fools, for ye will be destroyed by your foolishness; and ye do not listen to the wise, and will not attain anything good!
10. And now know that ye are prepared for the day of destruction, and do not hope that ye will live, ye sinners, but ye shall depart and die, for ye do not know a ransom; for ye are prepared for the day of the great judgment, and for the day of trouble and of great disgrace to your souls.
11. Woe to you hardened of heart, who do evil and devour blood; whence have ye good eating and drinking and satisfaction? from all the good which our Lord the Most High has spread in abundance over the earth; and ye will have no peace.
12. Woe to you who love the deeds of injustice; why do ye hope for goodness to yourselves? Know that ye shall be given into the hands of the just; they will cut off your necks and slay you, and will not pity you.
13. Woe to you who rejoice in the trouble of the just, for a grave will not be dug for you.
14. Woe to you who make the words of the just in vain, for the hope of life will not be to you.
15. Woe to you who write down words of untruth and words of the impious; for they write down their lies that they be heard, and do not forget their foolishness; and there will be no peace to them, but they will die a sudden death!
CHAPTER 99
Woe to those who act impiously, and glory in the words of untruth, and honor them; ye will be destroyed, and will have no good life.
2. Woe to you who change the words of rectitude, and who transgress the law of eternity, and make themselves that which they are not, namely, sinners; they will be trod down on the earth.
3. And in those days prepare yourselves, ye just, to raise your prayers of remembrance, and ye will place them as a testimony before the angels, that they may lay the sins of the sinners before the Most High as a remembrance.
4. In those days the nations will be disturbed, and the generations of the nations will arise on the day of destruction.
5. And in those days the fruit of the womb will miscarry, and they will mangle their own children; and they will cast their children from them, and miscarriages will pass from them; they will cast sucklings from them, and will not return to them, and will not pity their beloved.
6. Again I swear to you sinners, that sin has been prepared for a day of blood which does not end.
7. And they will worship stones; and others will make images of gold and of silver and of wood and of clay, and others will worship unclean spirits and demons and all kinds of idols, even in the idol temples; but no help will be found in them.
8. And they will become impious in the foolishness of their hearts, and their eyes will be blinded through fear in their hearts and through a vision of their dreams.
9. Through them they will be impious and will fear, because they do all their deeds in untruth, and worship stones; but they will be destroyed in an instant.
10. But in those days blessed are all they who receive the words of wisdom and know them, and do the paths of the Most High, and walk in the path of justice, and do not act impiously with those who act impiously; for they will be saved.
11. Woe to you who spread evil among your neighbors, for ye will be killed in hell.
12. Woe to you who make a foundation for sin and deception, and who cause bitterness on the earth, for thereby they will reach an end.
13. Woe to you who build your houses by the labor of another, and whose building material is nothing but the bricks and stones of sin. I tell you ye will have no peace.
14. Woe to those who cast away the measure and the inheritance of their fathers, which is forever, and cause their souls to follow after idols; no rest will be to them.
15. Woe to those who practice injustice and aid oppression, and kill their neighbors, to the day of the great judgment!
16. For he will cast down your glory, and put the wickedness to your hearts, and will raise the spirit of his anger, and will destroy you all with the sword; and all the just and holy will remember your sins.
CHAPTER 100
And in those days the fathers will be slain in one place with their sons, and brothers with the others will fall in death, till it flows like a stream from their blood.
2. For a man will not in mercy draw his hand from his sons, and from his sons’ sons, to kill them; and the sinner will not draw his hand from his honored brother; from the dawn to the setting sun they will kill each other.
3. And a horse will walk up to his breast in the blood of the sinners, and a wagon will sink in to its height.
4. And it those days the angels will come into the secret places, and will collect in one place all those who aided sin; and the Most High will arise on that day to pass a great judgment over all the sinners.
5. But over all the just and holy he will place holy angels as watchmen to watch them like the apple of an eye, till an end has been made to evil and to all sin; and even if the holy sleep a long sleep there is nothing to fear.
6. And the wise among men will see the truth, and the children of the earth will understand all the words of this book, and know that their riches will not be able to save them in the overthrow of their sins.
7. Woe to you sinners, if ye trouble the just, on the day of great pain, and burn them with fire; ye will be repaid according to your work.
8. Woe to the hardened of heart, who watch to contrive wickedness: fear will be about to come over you, and there will be none to save you.
9. Woe to you sinners, for on account of the words of your mouth, and on account of the deeds of your hands, which ye have done, ye who act impiously will burn in a pool of flaming fire.
10. And now know that the angels will seek out your deeds in heaven from the sun and the moon and the stars in reference to your sins, because ye pass judgment on the earth on the just.
11. And he will call to testify over you each cloud and fog and dew and rain, for they all will be kept back from you that they do not descend upon you; and shall they not think of your sins?
12. And now give presents to the rain that it may not be kept back from descending upon you, or the dew when it has received gold or silver from you.
13. When hoar-frost and snow and their coldness descend upon you, and all the winds of the snow and all their plagues, in those days ye will not be able to stand before them.
CHAPTER 101
Notice the heavens, all ye children of heaven, and all the doings of the Most High, and have fear of him, and do no evil before him.
2. When he locks the windows of heaven, and prevents the rain and the dew from descending upon the earth on your account, what will ye do then?
3. And when he sends his anger over you and over all your deeds, ye cannot petition him, because ye have spoken concerning his justice proudly and boldly, and ye shall have no peace.
4. And do ye not see the kings of the ships, how their ships are chased about by waves, and tremble before the winds, and are troubled?
5. And therefore they fear, because all their good treasures go into the sea with them, and they are troubled in their hearts that the sea might swallow them and they perish in it.
6. Is not all the sea and all its waters and all its movements a work of the Most High, and has he not sealed all its doings, and bound it all in the sand?
7. It dries up at his threats, and is afraid, and all its fish die, and all that is in it; and ye sinners who are on the earth do not fear him.
8. Has he not made heaven and earth, and all that is in them? And who has given understanding and wisdom to all who move on the earth, and to those on the sea?
9. Do not the kings of the ships fear the sea? but the sinners do not fear the Most High.
CHAPTER 102
And in those days when he brings a painful fire upon you, whither will ye flee, and where will ye save yourselves? and when he brings his word upon you, will ye then not be aghast and fear?
2. And all the luminaries will tremble in great fear, and all the earth will be aghast, and will tremble and quake.
3. And all the angels will fulfil their commands, and will desire to hide themselves from before him, great in glory, and the children of the earth will tremble and shake; and ye, sinners, are cursed to eternity, and will have no peace.
4. Fear not, ye souls of the just, and hope for the day of your death in justice.
5. And be not sorrowful that your souls descend into Sheol, in great trouble and lamentation and sorrow, and in grief, and that your bodies have not found it in your life as your goodness deserved, but rather on a day on which ye were like the sinners, and on the day of the curse and the punishment.
6. And when ye die the sinners speak over you: “As we die the just die, and what benefit have they in their deeds?
7. Behold, as we, they have died in anxiety and in darkness, and what advantage have they over us? from now on we are equal.
8. And what will they receive, and what will they see to eternity? For behold they too have died, and from now on to eternity they do not see the light.”
9. I tell you sinners: it is sufficient for you to eat and drink and to make a man naked, and to rob and to sin, and to acquire wealth, and to see good days.
10. Have ye seen the just, how their end was peace, because no oppression was found in them to the day of their death?
11. “And they were destroyed, and became as if they had not been, and the souls descended in Sheol in trouble.”
CHAPTER 103
And now I swear to you the just, by his great glory and his honor, and by his glorious kingdom and by his greatness I swear to you:
2. I know this mystery, and have read it in the tablets of heaven, and have seen the book of the holy ones, and have found written in it and inscribed on their account,
3. that all goodness and joy and honor are prepared for them, and are written down for the spirits of those who have died in justice, and that much good is given to you as a reward for your labor, and that your portion is better than the portion of the living.
4. And your souls will live, ye who have died in justice, and your spirits will rejoice and be glad, and their remembrance will be before the face of the Great One to all the generations of eternity. And now do not fear their shame.
5. Woe to you, sinners, if ye die in your sins, and those who are like you say concerning you: “Blessed are they, the sinners, they have seen all their days;
6. and now they have died in good fortune and in wealth, and have not seen trouble or murder in their life; in glory they have died, and judgment has not been passed over them in their life.”
7. Do ye know that their souls will be caused to descend into Sheol, and it will be ill with them, and their trouble great?
8. And in darkness and in toils and in a burning flame their spirits will burn at the great judgment; and a great judgment will be for all generations to eternity. Woe to you, for ye will have no peace!
9. Say not to the just and good who are in life: “In the days of our need we have endured labor, and have seen all need, and have met much evil, and have been injured and diminished, and our spirit has become small.
10. We have been destroyed, and there was none to help us; with word and deed we were incapable, and attained to nothing whatever; we were tortured and destroyed, and did not hope to see life, day by day.
11. We hoped to be the head, and were the tail; we labored exceedingly, and did not gain by our labor; we became food for sinners, and the unjust laid their yoke heavily upon us.
12. Those who hated and those who beat us became our rulers; and we bent our neck to our haters, and they did not pity us.
13. And we desired to go from them in order to flee and to rest, but we did not find whither to flee and to save ourselves from them.
14. We complained to the rulers in our trouble and in our pain over those who devoured us; but they did not attend to our cry, and did not wish to hear our voice.
15. And they helped those who robbed and devoured us, and those who diminished us, and they made secret their oppression, so that they did not remove their yoke from us, but devoured us and scattered us and murdered us; and they kept secret our murder, and did not think of it that they had lifted up their hands against us.”
CHAPTER 104
I swear to you, just ones, that in heaven the angels will have a remembrance concerning you for good before the glory of the Great One. Your names will be written before the glory of the Great One.
2. Hope, for at first ye were disgraced in evil and need, but now ye will shine like the luminaries of heaven, and will be seen, and the portals of heaven will be opened to you.
3. And continue your cry for a judgment; it will appear to you, for all your trouble will be avenged on the rulers, and on all those who help those who oppressed you.
4. Hope, and do not cease your hope, for ye will have great joy, like the angels in heaven.
5. Since such will be yours, ye will not hide on the day of the great judgment, and ye will not be found as sinners, and the everlasting judgment will be far from you for all the generations of the world.
6. And now, fear not, ye just, when ye see the sinners strengthening and rejoicing in their desires, and be not associates with them, but keep far from their oppression, for ye shall be companions of the hosts of heaven.
7. Ye sinners, although ye say: “Ye cannot search it out, and all our sins are not written down; still they will continually write down your sins every day.
8. And now I show it to you, that light and darkness, day and night, see all your sins.
9. Be not impious in your hearts, and do not lie, and do not change the words of rectitude, and do not call a lie the words of the Holy and Great One, and do not glorify your idols; for all your untruths and all your impiety will not be to you for a justification, but for a great sin.
10. And now, I know this mystery that the words of rectitude will be changed, and many sinners will rebel, and will speak wicked words, and will lie and make great works, and write books concerning their words.
11. But when they write all my words in rectitude in their languages, and do not change or abridge anything of my words, but write all in rectitude, all that I have first testified on their account,
12. then I know another mystery, that books will be given to just and to the wise for joy and for rectitude and for much wisdom.
13. And the books will be given to them, and they will believe in them and will rejoice in them; and then all the just, who have learned all the paths of rectitude out of them, will be rewarded.
CHAPTER 105
“And in those days,” says the Lord, “they will call and testify over the sons of the earth concerning their wisdom: show it to them, for ye are their leaders, and the rewards over all the earth.
2. For I and my son will join with them to eternity in the paths of rectitude in their lives. And peace will be to you; rejoice, ye children of rectitude, in truth!”
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CHAP. 92. With this the practical part proper begins, and goes to chap. 105. The revelations Enoch had received and had promulgated were not without a purpose, but were intended for the instruction of mankind. He therefore applies what he has taught, admonishes, warns, upbraids, and instructs his contemporaries as to the way they should go. Of this parenetic part proper chap. 92 is the special introduction, which has some similarity with the introductions to the three Parables, chap. 38, 45, and 58. Scribe, cf. 12:4.
Doctrine of wisdom, 37:1, in contradistinction from visions of wisdom. It is his object here to teach practical wisdom, hence the stress lies on doctrine. —2. The days of sin shall pass away, the day of judgment will come, the HTR will give way to the HTR; therefore the faithful should remain firm, and be in joyful hope.—3. Just one, collectively used, like 91:10, and cf. notes.—4. He, i.e. God. Power, cf. 90:19, 30; 96:1; 98:12. Light, cf. note on 38:2.—5. Cf. 10:16, 20; 41:2; 69:29; 91:11, etc.
CHAP. 93. But before proceeding to his admonitions the author gives a brief survey of the development of the world’s history in ten world-weeks, each consisting of seven parts. We have then again the mysterious number seventy. Of these ten weeks seven belong to history, and three to the future. Out of the books; Enoch, the scribe, writes down his revelations, and reads them to his children; probably the books written during his
tour by himself or the angel; cf. 33:3, 4; 74:2; 81:1 sqq. (Parables 40:8).—2.
The sources of his knowledge, as written in these books, were visions, angels, and tablets of heaven, 81:1; cf. 103:2 (106:19; 107:1; 108:7). Plant, cf. 10:16.—3. The first week goes from the creation to Enoch’s time. Seventh, not like Jude 14, but with Dillmann and Ewald, in the seventh part of the first week, counting seven generations for this week. Retarded, i.e. the period closed before the deluge.—4. The second week goes to the deluge and the covenant with Noah, Gen. viii. 21-ix. 17.—5.
The third week ends with the call to Abraham. Plant of the judgment of justice, i.e. the people among whom God will hold his judgment.—6. The fourth week ends with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. Visions, etc., i.e. revelations will be made to the holy and just, referring GTR to the revelation of the Torah. Court, scarcely Palestine, 89:2, because the giving of the law was already in the end thereof, but rather a central place of worship, the tabernacle, 89:34, 35.—7. The fifth week ends with the building of Solomon’s temple. Supremacy, referring to the temple; cf. next verse; i.e. of religious supremacy, as the temple is the house of the Great King, 91:13.
To eternity, for in the Messianic times it shall be rebuilt.—8. The sixth week ends with the burning of the temple and the Captivity. It is the period of religious degeneration, 89:51 sqq. A man shall ascend, i.e. Elijah; cf. 89:52. Forgetting true wisdom is synonymous with departure from God.—9. The seventh is the week in which the author lived, and hence he characterizes it more minutely; it is a rebellious age, i.e. rebellious not politically, but against God and his laws; cf. 89:73-75.—10. As according to the whole spirit and letter of the book the condition of the just shall not be ameliorated until after the judgment and the condemnation of the sinners, the reward here spoken of, and the seven portions of learning must refer to something given them during the Messianic reign.
It is in all probability the much-lauded wisdom that is to form one of the blessings of this reign, e.g. 91:10; 92:1, and often. To see in vs. 11-14 an epexegesis of this verse, so that the sevenfold learning consists in the instruction on the physical world (Dillmann), or that this learning should refer to the book of Enoch itself, is certainly a mistake. Even if our author is not overburdened with modesty, he would scarcely dare to put a sevenfold higher estimate on his instructions than on the biblical. Besides, the author has been treating the history of his people solely and alone from a purely religious stand-point, and now to sum up all wisdom and warning in the strange, and by no means genial statements of the next verses is not only an improbability, but an impossibility.
If these words are from the author of the previous parts, they certainly do not belong here; but it is more probable that they are the product of some imaginative interpolator. The attempts made to determine from the known lengths of the first six weeks the unknown length of the seventh, either by counting the years, or by reckoning, after the biblical manner, by generations have all proved mere guesswork, and have only the merit of ingenious and interesting hypotheses.—11. Voice of the Holy One, i.e. thunder; cf. Job xxxvii. 4, 5; Ps. xxix.; xlvi. 7; lxxvii. 17, 18. The incomprehensibility of God’s thoughts, Job xxxviii. 33; Ps. xl. 5; xcii. 5, 6.—12. Cf. Isa. xl. 13; Prov. xxx. 4; Eccles. xi. 5. Ascend, Job xxxviii. 22; Prov. xxx. 4. Their ends, probably ends of heaven so frequently spoken of above.—13. Job xxxviii. 5, 18.—14. Heaven, Job xi. 8; Isa. xl. 12; Jer. xxxi. 37. Established, 18:2, 3 (69:16). Now follow the other weeks in 91:12-17. The eighth week, the first one of the Messianic period, is that of justice, the time of the sword, 90:19 (cf. vs. 34); 91:11. Into the hands of the just, 38:5; 92:4; 95:7; 96:1; 98:12. The end of this period will be marked by the rebuilding of Jerusalem and of the temple; cf. in general Ex. I. 21; 2 Sam. vii. 11; Isa. lx. 21, 22; lxv. 20-23. Great King, 84:5.—14.
The ninth week is the week of the judgment, however not of the final one. Dillmann explains it from 50:2-5; 90:30, 33, 35, as referring to the time when the true religion will proceed from Jerusalem to the so far neutral heathen nations to teach them to acknowledge the true God, and this certainly best harmonizes with the last clause. Will depart, 10:16, 20, 21; 92:5; cf. Ps. cii. 26, sq.; Isa. lxv. 17; lxvi. 22.—15. The tenth week ends with the final judgment. Watchmen, of course the fallen angels.
Even with this difference that the judgment over these watchmen is elsewhere placed in the beginning of the Messianic times, 90:21 sqq., 10:12; and 16:1, the lengthy exposition of the future times occasions a doubt as to the authenticity of these verses. That they are an interpolation is almost a certainty, from the fact that the future here is pictured without any mention of the Messiah whatever being made; cf. Introd.—16. Powers, 82:8. Sevenfold, Isa. xxx. 26; lx. 19, 20; Zech. xiv. 6, 7.—17. Mentioned, Isa. lxv. 17.
CHAP. 94. The parenetic part proper, commencing here, continues to chap. 105, the end of the original book. This verse has much similarity with 91:3. Enoch’s exhortations are intended principally for the faithful. Cease, cf. Ps. I. 6. The suddenness of the sinner’s destruction is noted also in vs. 6 and 96:1 and 97:10.—2. It will easily be possible for his children to discover these paths of justice, for they will be revealed through Moses and the prophets. Paths of death, Prov. xiv. 12 (xvi. 25); Jer. xxi. 8.—3.
Having revealed the source of this justice, he reiterates his exhortation. Approach, 91:4; 104:6.—4. Pleasing, i.e. in the sight of God. Paths of peace, as the opposite of the paths of death. —5. This warning is of special importance, because in future times this justice, as taught by the sages of the Old Testament, will be changed and transformed and opposed by a false wisdom. With these words the true author gives us a view of his times when the lovers of Hellenistic language, ideas, and manners had become so numerous among the Israelites. Against these innovations he warns, and lauds the justice taught by the prophets. Will not find, 42:1 sqq.—6. Cf. Isa. v. 8, 11, 18, 20, 22. But those who have already made “wisdom wicked” will be punished. Build, 91:5, to designate their intention of making these innovations permanent.—7. In sin, Jer. xxii. 13. Rooted out, as the last clause shows, refers to men, vs. 10, not to houses.
Not so much the acquisition of wealth, as the relying on wealth, is, as many other passages show, the cause of this “Woe.”—8. Ps. lii. 7; xlix. 6; Prov. xi. 28; Jer. ix. 22; and En. 46:7; 63:10; 96:4-6; 97:7-9.—9. As a consequence of their relying on wealth, they have reviled God and done injustice, and shall be destroyed in the manner described vs. 7.—10. From the foundation. vs. 7. God will rejoice over this destruction, 89:58; 97:2, is unbiblical; cf. Ezek. xviii. 23, 32, 33; xxxiii. 11, although the different kinds of destruction here mentioned are all found in the Old Testament.—11. Your, referring to his children.
CHAP. 95. Lamentation over the sufferings of the just. The address is to the wicked. Imitation of Jer. 9:1.—3. Address to the just. In the Messianic times ye will have the power, explanation of 94:6 and 10; cf. notes on 91:12.—4. The author evidently refers to those of his times who made a practice of magic and incantation. The shall not be healed, i.e. delivered from their punishment.—6. Weigh out, as judges or witnesses.—7. Ye who have pursued the just will experience the same fate at their hands; cf. note on vs. 3.
CHAP. 96. Hope, even although ye are persecuted, for a change in the Messianic times is sure to come. Power will be to you; cf. 91:12; and especially 92:4.—2. In the day of the trouble that comes over the sinners this change will take place. Like eagles, Isa. xl. 31. Higher than hawks, Jer. xlix. 16. Recesses and clefts, cf. on the idea Isa. ii. 10, 19, 22; Judg. vi. 2; 1 Sam. xiii. 6; xiv. 11. He here shows the wonderful protection which the just shall enjoy on that terrible day. But different will be the fate of the sinners; they shall cry like satyrs; cf. LXX of Isa. xiii. 21.—3. Healing, cf. 95:4. Light, cf. note on 38:2.—4.
Riches make you appear; in the Old Testament God promises the goods of this world to the faithful, hence those wealthy sinners used this retribution doctrine as a proof of their membership among the faithful. If they were not such, how could God give them wealth? This they claim, although in their hearts they know their true condition. This word (cf. 97:4), i.e. the words “that ye are sinners.” Remembrance, cf. vs. 7.—5. Marrow of the wheat, Deut. xxxii. 14; Ps. lxxxi. 16; cxlvii. 14.
Power of the root, i.e. the best water.—6. Water is here used as opposite of fountain of life, and symbolizes the abundance of the good things of this world. The wealthy have always sought them and cared for them alone, but have neglected to drink from the fountain of life; cf. Ps. xxxvi. 9; Isa. ii. 13; xvii. 13.—7. Cf. 91:7, 8; 94:6, 9. Remembrance, cf. vs. 4.
CHAP. 97. Believe, i.e. in the sure fulfilment of these promises. On the day of injustice, i.e. on the day when injustice will be avenged, the same as the day of trouble, 96:2.—2. Address to the sinners. Above, 94:10, God rejoices over this destruction, here the angels, different from Luke xv. 10.—3. Cf. 38:1 sqq.; 102:1.
Prayer of the just, vs. 5.—4. Those, i.e. the just, for the simple words “Ye have been,” etc. will be enough to condemn you; cf. 96:4.—5. Reach, i.e. will be heard; cf. 47:1-4; 99:3, 16; 104:3.—6. Recited, i.e. out of the books in which they are recorded; cf. 81:4; 90:20; 98:7, 8; 104:7. Great and Holy One, cf. note on 1:3. Shame, 46:6; 62:10; 63:11.—7.
Ocean and land, i.e. everywhere. Remembrance, cf. 100:10, 11; 104:8.—8. Cf. 94:7, 8; Sir. xi. 19; Luke xii. 19, and, in general, Isa. v. 8, 9; Micah ii. 2.—9. Workmen, i.e. servants.—10. The sinners had boasted, vs. 9, that they had treasures as abundant as water. “Yes,” says the author, “like water your words will prove false, and like water your wealth will evaporate”; cf. the figure in Isa. viii. 6 sqq.
CHAP. 98. Swear you, for the first time here, but frequently used in the following.—2. Addressing the foolish. Men, i.e. although being men. They will float, i.e. men; change from second to third person; cf. note on 1:2.—3. In murder, i.e. they will die the everlasting death; cf. note on 22:12, 13. Poverty, as the opposite of their wealth in this world. Fiery oven, i.e. hell, same as fiery pool, 10:6, etc., or fiery abyss, 10:13, etc. The use of the word spirit in this connection, 103:8; 108:3, does not presuppose that they had no bodies, but rather that they had such.—4. Sin is man’s work, hence he is the author of his own destruction.
Hill, i.e. HTR a feminine noun, therefore maid is used. As certain as these things cannot occur, so sure is it also that sin has not originated in God.—5. As a consequence of this sinfulness evils have come on the earth; they are punishments for this sin. Barrenness is simply a type of evils in general; cf. Gen. xx. 18; xxix. 31; Hos. ix. 14.—6. These sins too are known in heaven; cf. 97:6. It will not do to deny stoically that God takes no account of the doings in this world, Job xxii. 13, 14; Ps. lxxiii. 11; xciv. 4-7, but they all lie open before him; cf. also 100:10; 104:7, 8.—7. They need not deny their knowledge of this fact, because it has been revealed by God.—8. From now, i.e. since ye have heard my words.—9. Therefore, woe to those fools, vs. 1, who in spite of this knowledge still deny.
Fools, in the sense of Ps. xiv. 1 and liii. 1.—10. Prepared, 94:9. They cannot hope like the just, 96:1. Die, as the opposite of live, implies not only eternal death, but also the loss of eternal life; cf. vs. 3. no ransom, Ps. xlix. 7, 8; Matt. xvi. 26. Great judgment, 19:1; 22:4; 25:4; 94:9; 99:15; 100:4; 103:8, a name not found in the Parables.—11. Devour blood, a heinous offence against the Mosaic law; cf. Book of the Jubilees, chap. vii. In addition to having all the good things of this world the renegades in Israel even sinned against the Levitical ordinances.—12. They do these deeds because they love them, not because they are forced to them by persecution.
Into the hands, cf. 95:3, 7.—13. Cf. Isa. xiv. 19, 20; Jer. viii. 2; xxii. 19.—14. In vain, declare vain by word and deed the admonitions of the just. Hope, 96:1.—15. But more, they even write books, 104:10, inculcating their false wisdom, and opposing the true wisdom of the prophets, and of such as the author of Enoch; cf. Isa. x. 1. Sudden, 94:1, 6, 7; 95:6; 96:1, 6.
CHAP. 99. Woe to those also who applaud these wicked writings; cf. especially 98:15; also 94:5; 104:10; 108:5.—2. Law of eternity, or eternal law, i.e. the Mosaic law; while words of rectitude, mean the Old Testament revelation in general. They being members of the chosen people of God originally, go into the sphere of the sinners, i.e. of the heathens, to which they do not belong.—3. Cf. 97:5. Angels assist in prayer, 9:2; 15:2; 104:1; cf. Tob. xii. 12. And also in the punishment of the wicked, 1:9; 10:4 sqq.; 90:21; 100:4.—4. In nearly all apocryphal works these disturbances are signs of the last times; cf. Drummond, pp. 209-221.
The author here evidently confines himself to the period of the sword, 90:19; 91:8-11, 12.—5. Even the family ties, so firm among the Israelites, will be horribly broken.—6, 7. A successful picture of the vain attempts of the sinners to secure aid. Demons, 19:1; Sibyl. Prooem. I. 20 sqq. Tertullian quotes: “Et rursus juro, peccatores, quod in diem sanguinis perditionis justitia parata est. Qui servitis lapidibus, et qui imagines facitis aureas et argenteas et ligneas et lapideas et fictiles, et servitis phantasmatibus et daemoniis et spiritibus infamibus, et omnibus erroribus non secundum scientiam, nullum ab iis invenietis auxilium.”—8.
This evil condition will only increase; cf. Wisd. xiv. 12, 27; Rom. I. 21. Will become impious, literally will become forgetful or ignorant, i.e. of God’s laws, and hence impious; cf. 93:8.—9. In an instant, cf. 94:1.—10. But entirely different will be the condition of those who receive the true words of wisdom. They are the wise, 98:1.—11. Killed, 22:13. Hell, the original has Sheol, but here he evidently refers to the place of everlasting torture, and not to the temporary abode of the wicked dead; cf. also 63:10.—12. Make a foundation, cf. 94:6.—13. Cf. 94:7; 97:8.—14. Measure and inheritance of the fathers, i.e. the old faith and fidelity; cf. e.g. Jer. xiii. 25; 1 Macc. I. 52.—15. To the day, etc. modifies directly the Woe to those. Great judgment, 16:1; 19:1; 91:7; 94:9; 98:10.
CHAP. 100. The author expands on the idea of 99:6. Stream of blood, cf. Isa. xxxiv. 3, 7; Ps. lxxix. 3 (Ps. lviii. 10; Zeph. I. 17).—2. On this internecine slaughter, cf. 56:7; 99:5; Judg. vii. 22; 1 Sam. xiv. 20; 2 Chron. xx. 23; Zech. xiv. 13; Ezek. xxxviii. 21; Hag. ii. 22.—4. All those sinners who escape this slaughter will be searched out by the angels, and will, at least, not be able to escape the final judgment. It may, however, be understood that only the real open sinners shall be slain in the period of blood; while those that abetted them, escaping, indeed, this punishment, as their crime was not so great, shall, however, be punished at the last day.
The distinction between sinners and those that aided and applauded them is observed throughout this adhortative part.—5. But the just will be protected by these angels that punish the wicked. Apple of an eye, cf. Deut. xxxii. 10; Ps. xvii. 8. Even if the just do sleep the sleep of death, there need be no fear, for they will rise again; cf. note on 22:12, 13.—6. In view of this, those who are still capable of learning wisdom (Hos. xiv. 10) will accept the warning given by the book of Enoch. Riches will not save, Zeph. I. 18. Fall, having the picture of a building in his mind, 94:6; 99:12.—7. On the day, modifies directly Woe to you; cf. 99:15. Trouble, i.e. persecute on account of their fidelity. Burn; it is known that under Antiochus Epiphanes this took place; cf. 2 Macc. vi. 18-vii. 24.
The story there recorded is, however, considered unhistorical by many critics.—8. Watch, cf. Isa. xxix. 20.—9. The great crime of the sinners consists in the persecution of the just and in reviling God. These two crimes are almost constantly named together, 5:4; 81:8; 91:7, 11; 94:9; 96:7; 97:6; 98:10; 99:1.—10. The author’s epexegesis on 98:6-8; cf. 97:7; 104:8.—11. All nature will testify against you, because they have witnessed your deeds, and will be kept back on you account; cf. 80:2 sqq.; Jer. iii. 3, 5, 24, 25. Shall not those who could not perform their functions on your account remember you?—12. Ironically; use your wealth that these powers of nature may be appeased, and they again descend.—13. Even the smaller punishments of the elements ye cannot avoid or hinder, how much less the great final punishment!
CHAP. 101. Connects closely with the preceding. The perception of these phenomena of nature should produce fear of God, and, in consequence, avoidance of evil. Children of heaven, i.e. the faithful, for it would be fruitless to ask the sinners to do so. They are called so, because they do not, like the sinners, concentrate their faith and hope on the things of the earth, but await the blessings of the Messianic kingdom from heaven.—2, 3. Especially should they fear because these powers are means of punishment in the hands of God.
The address changes into one to the sinners. Proudly and boldly, 5:4; 27:2, etc.; and examples 98:4-8; 102:6.—4. Not to fear in view of these things is entirely unnatural, as is exemplified in various ways, e.g. by the merchant on the sea. References to navigation are found Sir. xxxiii. 2; xliii. 24; Sap. v. 10; xiv. 1 sqq. Kings; Dillmann says owners of the ships, but better pilots, as those that govern the vessel’s course.—5. Even these, although they know how to manage a vessel, fear on account of the treasures entrusted to them, and for their own lives.—6. But all this is God’s doings, his whom the sinners despise. Sealed, i.e. given it firm laws.—7.
This powerful sea, which ye fear, and is more powerful than ye are, must nevertheless obey and fear God. How much more should ye do so! Cf. on the whole picture Jer. v. 22, 23 (Job xxxviii. 8-11; Ps. lxxxix. 9; civ. 9; Prov. viii. 29); Isa. l. 2 (Nah. I. 4; Ps. cvi. 9).—8. Yes, God has made not only this ocean, but all the heavens and the earth—an ascending climax. He, too, has given more, instinct to animals and reason to man.—9. The conclusion; cf. on the sentiment the Sibyl. Prooem. I. 25 sqq.
CHAP. 102. The result of such hard-heartedness and unbelief is destruction by the fire of hell, 99:11. Word, i.e. sentence of judgment.—2. The effect of this terrible judgment on the luminaries.—3. The angels, though they carry out this judgment, 100:4, 5, nevertheless, would desire to flee, as it is so terrible. This is involuntary pity, as is shown by Michael, above. Great in glory, 14:20.—4. Now his words are almost exclusively addressed to the just. Hope, 96:1.
The day of death is not to be terrible for the just, but is an entrance to a better life, 103:3, 4.—5. The persecutions, indeed, they must bear. He is to wrestle with a problem that had probably often occasioned doubt in the minds of the faithful, Why is it that the just suffer, and suffer even to the end of their lives? How was this to be reconciled with the doctrine of retribution taught in the Old Testament? The end of this verse must be somewhat corrupted.—6. They must even endure the haughty ridicule of the sinners, that their faithfulness had been in vain; cf. Sap. ii. 1-5; iii. 2-4; v. 3, 4; Eccl. ii. 14-16; iii. 19-21; ix. 3-6; x.—7.
In anxiety and darkness, from the will-known idea of Sheol entertained by the Jews; cf. notes on chap. 22.—8. Cf. Ps. xlix. 19.—9. Answer to these arguments by the author. Sinners are satisfied with what this earth affords, but never look to the time of death, or to that beyond the grave; therefore, they can speak in this manner.—10. Otherwise, the just who have thought of the future. Their death proves already a difference between them and the unjust. They die in peace with a clear conscience, but how different it is with the sinners, for whom death is only the door to future punishment! cf. Wisd. iii. 3, 4, 7 and Isa. lvii. 2.—11. An objection raised by the author himself, but in reality from the opinions of the exulting sinners. The objection is not that death is annihilation (cf. Job iii. 16; Sap. ii. 2), but only that there is no retribution after death.
CHAP. 103. Answer of the author to this self-raised objection. Being about to convey a most momentous fact, his oath is more emphatic than 98:1, 4, 6; 99:6; 104:1.—2. He does not lie in this matter, for he has his information from the best of sources, from the tablets of heaven and the book of the holy ones; cf. notes on 81:1. Holy ones, i.e. holy men, as the last clause shows. Not only the records of the past, but the events of the future are recorded on these tablets; cf. 106:19; also, Test. Levi, v.; Book of the Jubilees, chap. 24.
He is probably opposing the germs that were developed by the Sadducees in their doctrine of the death of the soul with the body; cf. Joseph. Antiqq. xviii. 1, 4; Bel. Jud. ii. 8, 14; Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. et Talm. on Matt. xxii. 23 sqq. Cf. on the expression 108:3 and Ps. lxix. 28.—3, 4. These persecuted just shall be rewarded after death, is the important fact he wishes to inculcate. Of course he means, not an immediate happiness after death, for the just, too, are in Sheol, chap. 22., but the blessings in store for them in the Messianic kingdom. For these just shall rise (cf. note on 22:13, 14), and partake of the glories of this reign, 91:10; 92:3; 100:5; 104:4, 6; compared with 39:1, 4-6.
The change of persons is no surprise, as it is frequently found in this part. Do not fear their shame, i.e. their ridicule, 94:11.—5, 6. A different fate awaits the sinners, recurring to the idea of 102:4. They are, indeed, blessed in their death by those like them and those that disregard the future, because they have enjoyed the benefits of the earth and were not punished during life.—7. For these there is an especial apartment in Sheol, 22:10.—8. And after that, in the final punishment, they will be given over to an everlasting fire, strictly as represented in 22:11. No peace, Isa. xlviii. 22; lvii. 21; En. 5:4; 94:6; 98:11, 15; 99:13; 102:3.—9. Words spoken by the dead just, as is conclusively shown by the context, to the living just. Spirits become small, i.e. were humble.—10. Cf. Deut. xxviii. 29.—11. Cf. Deut. xxviii. 13, 30, 31, 44.—12.
Instead of possessing the land, as the Old Testament predictions promised, they became the subjects of their haters.—14. Cf. chap. 89 and 90. With these rulers they did not find justice, even when they complained.—15. These rulers even assisted in the persecution, and, instead of bringing it to light, they even kept it secret.
CHAP. 104. Answer to these complaints, which are without foundation. Even if there is no deliverance on earth, they are remembered before God’s throne by the angels, 40:5-7; 47:2; 89:76.— 2. Therefore, even in spite of such persecutions, they shall hope, 96:1. Shine like, etc., 43:4; Dan. xii. 3, and therefore will be seen. Portals of heaven will be opened, not in the sense of entering heaven, but only that from heaven the blessings ye failed to receive on earth will more than abundantly be given to you.—3.
Continue the cry uttered, 103:14, 15; cf., also, 97:3, 5; 99:3, 16.— 4. Your hope shall not come to shame, for ye will be even like the angels, explained in verse 6 as being companions of the angels. The Parables teach the same; cf. chap. 39.—5. Therefore, being certain of a happy future, it is unnecessary to hide on the day of judgment, as the sinners try to do, 100:4.—6. Avoid the association even of the sinners, 94:1-3; 91:3, 4.—7. Ye cannot, etc., i.e. the just cannot fathom the mysteries of the future, for the sins are not written down. They will write, i.e. the angels, 97:6.—8. Cf. 97:7; 100:10.—9.
All the false statements of the sinners are based upon falsifying the words of truth as they have been revealed in the Old Testament; cf. 94:59; 98:14-99:2. Idols, 99:7-9, 14.—10. Their statements being nothing but lies, it is necessary to reiterate the truth. This is the object the author had in writing his work; cf., also, Dan. viii. 26; xii. 4, 9, 10. Books, 98:15.—11. We must remember here that the author pretends to write from the time of Enoch, hence his books had to be copied and recopied for preservation.
It was a long period from the time of Enoch to the beginning of the Messianic rule. In their languages, presupposing that his work was to be translated, as it was not intended for Israel alone. The idea he probably got from the fact that translations were frequently made in his days.—12. These other books are probably the different parts of this Book of Enoch. The comfort the just should receive from the book of Enoch could be called a mystery. Both Dillmann and Hoffmann regard this verse as a self-recommendation of Enoch.
CHAP. 105. With the instruction thus gained, the just shall testify over the sons of the earth, and spread this wisdom.—2. God will be joined with the just, 1:8, and in the Parables, 38:4, 6; and it is also stated that the Messiah will dwell with them (45:4, 5), 90:37; cf. especially 62:14. If God can call the chosen his children, Deut. xiv. 1, and often, it is not strange that he calls the Messiah his son, and this, therefore, does not indicate a Christian origin, and can easily be understood from an Old Testament basis, Ps. ii. Cf. on the whole chapter what is said in the Introduction, and Ewald, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, Vol. v. p. 94 (Zweite Ausgabe).
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