The Book of ENOCH

CHAPTER 22

And from here I went to another place, and he showed me in the west a great and high mountain-chain and hard rocks and four beautiful places.
2. And beneath them there were places deep and broad and entirely smooth, as smooth as if a thing were rolled, and deep and dark to look at.
3. And this time, Rufael, one of the holy angels, who was with me, answered and said to me: “These beautiful places are intended for this, that upon them may be assembled the spirits, the souls of the dead; for they have been created, that here all the souls of the sons of men might be assembled.
4. These places have been made their dwellings till the day of their judgment, and to their fixed period; and this period is long, till the great judgment will come over them.”
5. And I saw the spirits of the children of men who had died, and their voices reached up to heaven, and lamented.
6. At that time I asked the angel Rufael, who was with me, and said to him: “Whose soul is that one whose voice thus reaches to heaven and laments?”
7. And he answered and said to me, saying: “That is the spirit that proceeded from Abel, whom his brother Cain slew; and it laments on his account till his seed be destroyed from the face of the earth and his seed disappear from among the seed of men.”
8. And at that time I therefore asked concerning him, and concerning the judgment of all, and said: “Why is one separated from the other?”
9. And he answered and said to me: “These three apartments are made in order to separate the souls of the dead. And thus are the souls of the just separated: there is a spring of water, above it, light.
10. And thus also is one such apartment made for the sinners when they die, and are buried in the earth, without a judgment having been passed upon them during their lives.
11. Here their souls are separated in this great affliction until the great day of judgment and punishment and affliction upon the revilers to eternity, and the vengeance for their souls, and here he binds them to eternity.
12. And if it was before eternity, then this apartment has been made for the souls of those who lament and those who reveal their destruction when they were killed in the days of the sinners.
13. And thus it has been created for the souls of men who were not just, but sinners, who were complete in their crimes; and they will be with criminals like themselves; but their souls will not be killed on the day of judgment and will not be taken from here.”
14. At that time I blessed the Lord of glory, and said: “Blessed is my Lord, the Lord of glory and of justice, who rules all things to eternity!”

CHAPTER 23

And from there I went to another place towards the west, to the ends of the earth.
2. And I saw a flaming fire which ran without resting, and did not cease from its course day or night, but continued regularly.
3. And I asked saying: “What is that which has no rest?”
4. At that time answered Raguel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and said to me: “That burning fire which thou seest running towards the west is the fire of all the luminaries of heaven.”

CHAPTER 24

And from there I went to another place of the earth; and he showed me a mountain-chain of fire which flamed day and night.
2. And I went towards it and saw seven magnificent mountains, each one different from the other, and magnificent and beautiful rocks, everything magnificent and fine in appearance and of beautiful surface; three towards the east, one founded upon the other, and three towards the south, one founded upon the other, and ravines, deep and winding, not one joining with the other.
3. And the seventh hill was between these; and in their heights they were all like the seats of a throne and surrounded with fragrant trees.
4. And among them was a tree such as I had never smelt before, neither among these nor among others; nor was there a fragrance like its; its leaves and buds and wood do not wither in eternity; its fruit is beautiful, like the fruit of the vine and the palm-tree.
5. And at that time I said: “Behold, this is a beautiful tree and beautiful to look at, and its leaves are fair, and its fruit very pleasant to the eye.”
6. At that time answered Michael, one of the holy and honored angels, who was with me, who was over them [i.e. the trees].

CHAPTER 25

And he said to me: “Enoch, what dost thou ask me concerning, the fragrance of this tree and dost seek to know?”
2. Then I, Enoch, answered him, saying: “Concerning all things I desire to know, but especially concerning this tree.”
3. And he answered me, saying: “This high mountain which thou hast seen, whose summit is like the throne of God, is the throne where the holy and great God of glory, the Eternal King, will sit when he shall descend to visit the earth with goodness,
4. And this tree of beautiful fragrance cannot be touched by any flesh until the time of the great judgment; when all things will be atoned for and consummated for eternity, this will be given to the just and humble.
5. From its fruits life will be given to the chosen; it will be planted towards the north, in a holy place, towards the house of the Lord, the Eternal King.
6. Then they will rejoice greatly, and be glad in the Holy One; they will let its fragrance enter their members, and live a long life upon the earth, as thy fathers lived; and in their days no sorrow or sickness or trouble or affliction will touch them.”
7. Then I blessed the Lord of glory, the Eternal King, because he had prepared such for the just men, and had created such, and said he would give it to them.

CHAPTER 26

And from here I went to the middle of the earth, and saw a place, blessed and fruitful, where there were branches which rooted in and sprouted out of a tree that was cut.
2. And here I saw a holy mountain, and beneath the mountain, towards the east, water which flowed towards the south.
3. And I saw towards the east another mountain of the same height, and between them a deep valley, but not broad: therein also water flowed along
the mountain.
4. And towards the west of this was another mountain, lower than the former, not high, and below, between them a valley; and other deep and sterile valleys were at the end of the three.
5. And all the valleys were deep and not broad, of hard rock. And trees were planted upon them.
6. And I was astonished on account of the rocks, and was astonished on account of the valley, and was very much astonished.

CHAPTER 27

Then I said: “For what purpose is this blessed land, which is entirely filled with trees, and this cursed valley between them?”
2. Then answered Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and said to me: “This cursed valley is for those who will be cursed to eternity, and here will be assembled all those who have spoken with their mouths unseemly words against God, and speak insolently of his glory, here they will be assem bled, and here will be their judgment.
3. And in the latter days there will be the spectacle of a just judgment upon them in the presence of the just, in eternity forever; for this reason they who have found mercy will bless the Lord of glory, the Eternal King.
4. And in the days of their judgment they will bless him for his mercy, according to which he has assigned to them their lot.”
5. Then I blessed the Lord of glory, and spoke to him, and remembered his greatness, as it is itting.

CHAPTER 28

And from here I went towards the east, into the midst of the mountains of the desert, and saw only a plain.
2. But it was filled with trees of this seed, and water dropped down over it from above.
3. It was seen that the water which it sucked up was strong, as towards the north, so towards the west, and as in all places, so water and dew also ascended from here.

CHAPTER 29

And I went to another place, away from the desert, approaching the east of the mountains. 2. And there I saw trees of judgment, especially those that emitted the fragrance of frankincense and myrrh, and they were not like ordinary trees.

CHAPTER 30

And above, over these, over the eastern mountain, not far off, I saw another place, valleys with water that does not dry up.
2. And I saw a beautiful tree, and its fragrance was like that of a mastic.
3. And along the edges of these valleys, I saw fragrant cinnamon. And I advanced over these towards the east.

CHAPTER 31

And I saw another mountain in which were trees from which water flowed, and it flowed like nectar, which is called Sarira and Galbanum.
2. And over this mountain I saw another mountain, on which were aloe-trees; and these trees were full of hard substance like almonds.
3. And in taking that fruit it was better than all the odors.

CHAPTER 32

And after these odors, as I looked towards the north, over the mountains, I saw seven mountains full of pleasant nard and fragrant trees and cinnamon and pepper.
2. And from here I went over the summits of those mountains, far towards the east, and passed far above the Erythraean sea, and went far from it and passed over the angel Zutêl.
3. And I came into the garden of justice, and I saw the mingled diversity of those trees; many and large trees are planted there, of attractive beauty and large and beautiful and magnificent, also the tree of wisdom; eating of it one learns great wisdom.
4. It is like the carob tree, and its fruit is like the grape, very good; the fragrance of this tree goes out and is spread far.
5. And I said: “This tree is beautiful; how beautiful and pleasant to look at!”
6. Then the holy angel Rufael, who was with me, answered and said to me: “This is the tree of wisdom from which thy old father and thy aged mother, who were before thee, ate, and they learned wisdom, and their eyes were opened, and they learned that they were naked, and were driven out of the garden.”

CHAPTER 33

And from here I went to the ends of the earth, and saw great animals there, and one differed from the other, and the birds differed as to their appearance, their beauty and voices, one differed from the other.
2. And to the east of these animals, I saw the ends of the earth, where the heavens rest, and the portals of the heavens open.
3. And I saw where the stars come out from heaven, and I counted the portals out of which they come, and I wrote down all their outlets, each one, according to their number and their names, their connections and their positions and their times and their months, as the angel Uriel, who was with me, showed them to me.
4. He showed all things to me and wrote them down for me; also their names he wrote for me, and their laws and their deeds.

CHAPTER 34

And from here I went towards the north, to the ends of the earth, and there I saw a great and magnificent wonder, at the ends of the whole earth.
2. There I saw three portals of heaven open in the heavens; from each of them proceed north winds; when one of them blows, there is cold, hail, frost, snow, dew, and rain. 3. And out of one of the portals it blows for good; but when it blows from the two other portals, it blows with power, and there is misfortune upon the earth, and they blow with great power.

CHAPTER 35

And from here I went towards the west, to the ends of the earth, and saw there three open portals, as I had seen in the east, similar portals and similar outlets.

CHAPTER 36

And from here I went towards the south, to the ends of the earth, and there I saw three open portals of heaven; out of them come the south wind and dew and rain and wind.
2. And from here I went towards the east to the ends of the heavens, and there I saw the three portals of heaven open towards the east, and over them small portals.
3. Through each one of these small portals the stars of the heavens come and go every evening on the path which is shown to them.
4. And as I looked, I blessed, and thus each time I blessed the Lord of glory, who had made the great and glorious wonders, to show the greatness of his work to the angels and to the souls of men, that they might praise his work, and that all his creatures might see the works of his might, and praise the great work of his hand, and bless him to eternity.

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CHAP. 22. Conducted to the west, Enoch sees a high mountain-chain, which is not the same as the seven hills in 18:6, cf. 24:1. As is seen by the following, it is Rufael that leads him, this angel thus appearing in the same role in which we find him in Tobit. The number four may be an error for three, cf. vs. 9. If four is correct, then Dillmann’s suggestion that one of the places is for the class of mankind described 5-7, and 8, 9 the other places are described.—2. Dark, cf. note on 10:5.—3.

According to God’s own plan these places are assembling places of all the dead, in other words the Sheol of the Hebrews or Hades of the Greeks. The expression souls of the dead is absolute, meaning all the souls, and in this the writer is in agreement with Old Testament statements, where Sheol, entirely distinct from the grave, is for the souls of the dead who are called Raphaim, i.e. shades like the GTR or GTR of the Greeks, cf. Spiess, Entwicklungsgeschichte der vorstellungen vom Zustande nach dem Tode, p. 422 sqq.—4. Here these souls shall abide to the day of the final judgment. Deliverance from Sheol is a hope frequently expressed in the later books of the Old Testament, e.g. Ps. xlix. 15.—Lamented, i.e. as the following shows, not on account of their being there, but because of the injustice they suffered during life.—6, 7. One voice is especially noticeable, and that is Abel’s, according to Gen. iv. 10. As the sins of the parents are visited upon the children, justice will not have been done to Abel until his brother’s descendants are destroyed.—8. We see by this verse that the spirits of the dead are not all in one place, but are separated; and now follows the description of the other apartments.—9. Of these (other) apartments there are three.

The reason for this septation is probably the author’s conviction that the difference in the moral character produces a different fate after death, even before the final judgment. The apartment here (if indeed not identical with 7 and 8) is for the souls of the other just, i.e. for those who were just, but unlike Abel did not die a violent and undeserved death.—10. There are two divisions for the sinners, the first one for those who died without being punished during their lives, and who obtained even an honorable burial. According to the Old Testament (and according to Greek ideas) it was a disgrace of the highest kind to be left unburied.— 11. Here already they suffer affliction to the day of final judgment (with which the eternity is identical, cf. note on 14:1).—12, 13. The second class of sinners are those who although sinners nevertheless suffered in the world.

Before eternity, i.e. before the final judgment. But these, having already been partially punished, shall not again be judged like the other class, which statement shows that the final judgment is to inaugurate for those of vs. 10 and 11 a greater punishment than the terrors of Sheol. The killing of the souls here referred to is not annihilation, as many other passages in Enoch show, but is identical with the eternal death in the punishment of hell. Will not be taken from here, i.e. will not rise from the dead.

That the just shall rise is clearly stated 81:4; 90:33; 91:10; 92:3; 100:5. Cf. on the whole matter what is said of the second death of the sinners in Onkelos on Deut. xxxiii. 6; Jonath, on Isa. xxii. 14; lxv. 15; Jer. li. 39, 57.—14. As is his manner in receiving a revelation (cf. 24:7; 27:5; 36:4; 39:9-12; 81:3; 83:11; chap. 84, 90:40), Enoch blesses the Lord, in which he is imitated in the Ascensio Isaiae, chap. 6 sqq. Lord of glory (25:3, 7; 27:5; 36:4; 40:3; 63:2; 75:3; 81:3; 83:8) and Lord of justice (83:11; 90:40) are proper appellatives of God in this connection, as these two characteristics of his divinity were exemplified in the preceding.

CHAP. 23, 1. He leaves the place of departed spirits, but remains in the west.—2-4. This is probably the same fire that he mentioned 17:4. Towards the west, a modifying clause of fire, not of running.

CHAP. 24, 1. He fails to state just where that other place is, but as the mountain-chain of fire are the seven hills of 18:6-9, this new place must be in the south.—2. Here these mountains are positively identified with those mentioned in 18, but he enlarges on their aspect. Not one joining the other, i.e. they were parallel.—3. Fragrant trees, a proof that it was a blessed place.—4-6. Of these trees one is especially beautiful, cf. note on 10:19. Michael, as the special angel of Israel, instructs the seer on the special blessing in store for the true Israelite.

CHAP. 25, 1. The conversation carried on here and above is very much like the one between Isaiah and the angel in their ascent through the seven heavens in the Ascensio Isaiae. —3. The throne that Enoch saw, 24:3, is not an illusion, but is in reality the throne of God. Although the location would answer, it is more than probable that the author did not mean Mount Sinai of 1:4 here, for God descends on Mount Sinai to judge, but here, as is shown by the context and expressed by the words, to visit the earth with goodness, cf. 77:1. Lord of glory, cf. note on 22:14. Eternal king, cf. vs. 5, 7, a biblical name of God.—4. This tree is here preserved until the time of the judgment.

Mortal, literally flesh, cf. note on 14:2, and Gen. iii. 22-24.—5. Now the guide explains that this is the tree of life, Gen. ii. 9; iii. 22; Prov. iii. 18; xi. 30; xiii. 12; xv. 4, a hope found also 4 Ezra viii. 62; Apoc. ii. 7; xxii. 2, 14, 19; Testamentum Levi xviii, and by rabbinical writings, cf. Schöttgen, Horae Talmud. in Apoc. ii. 7. This tree, however, is entirely distinct from the tree of wisdom, 32:6. In the Messianic times this tree is to be transplanted from the south, where it is now kept, to the north, to the New Jerusalem, which is to stand on the site of the old, cf. chap. 26, 27. Such is the power of this tree that simply breathing of it gives long life; cf. Ezek. xxxvii. 9; cf. note on 10:17, and Isa. lxv. 19, 20.

CHAP. 26, 1. Having mentioned that the tree of life is to be transplanted to the New Jerusalem, he now visits that place. As the Greeks thought Delphi, the centre of their worship, the middle of the earth, the Jewish seer here regards Jerusalem as such, as it is possibly already done, Ezek. xxxviii. 12; v. 5; Isa. ii. 2, and book of the Jubilees, viii. 2, where Zion is called the navel of the earth, like the term GTR, used of the round stone in the temple at Delphi as the centre of the earth in Pindar P. 4, 131; 6, 3. Early oriental Christians entertained the same views, cf. Tertullian and Jerome on Ezek. v. 5, and the former Contra Marcion II. 196. In En. 90:26 Gehenna is in the middle of the earth, and in the Ethiopic Synaxaria, de Melchisedec (Dill. Chrest. p. 16) Mount Calvary is regarded as such.

Fruitfulness is constantly a characteristic of the Messianic times. The tree is Israel; it was cut as a punishment for its sins; the branches are the faithful, who will enjoy the Messianic kingdom.—2. The following is simple: the hill is Zion, the water is the brook of Siloah.—3. The other hill is the Mount of Olives, which is in reality but a few feet higher than Mount Zion. The deep valley is that of Kedron or Jehoshaphat, and the water is the Kedron brook.—4. The Mount of Offence and the valley of Hinnom.—5. The description is trustworthy, cf. Strabo 16, 2, § 36.—6. This is the valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna.

CHAP. 27, 1, 2. As this valley is an important element in the Messianic times the author describes it more minutely, especially as the Old Testament statements on the subject are very indefinite. This valley is, according to the first part of Enoch, the place where the sinners are punished, 90:26, 27, cf. 4 Ezra vi. 1-3. In the Parables it is indeed mentioned that the kings and the mighty will be punished in a valley, 54:1, 2; 56:4, and in the sight of the just, 48:9, 10; 62:12, but there is no evidence whatever that this writer thought to specify any particular valley. Then the punishment in Gehenna, according to 90:23-27, is restricted to the unfaithful in Israel, and the scope of the verse before us is evidently no broader, while in 54 and 56 altogether different persons are punished “in the valley,” cf. 38, 1.

The author’s statements here are at least partially drawn from Old Testament premises. That this valley is the place of punishment rests on the statements Jer. vii. 31; xix. 6; xxxii. 35, and on the accounts in 2 Kings xxiii. 10, and on Jeremiah’s curse, Jer. vii. 32, 33; xix. 6 sqq., and partially, perhaps, on the nature of the valley, for according to Talmud Erabin, fol. 19, a smoke ascended there, thus indicating a subterranean fire. That a fire destroys the sinners in this valley finds its explanation in Gen. xix. 25; Ps. xi. 6; Isa. lxvi. 15, 16, 24.—4. Lot, or a portion, cf. Ascensio Isaiae I. 3.—5. Cf. note on 22:14.

CHAP. 28, 1. From the centre of the earth, the New Jerusalem, the seer goes towards the east, and from among the mountains of the desert he sees a plain.—2. This plain was, however, filled with trees of this [which?] seed. What places are here meant is a mystery. Dillmann conjectures the Arabah, or plain of the Jordan, and the mountains as the hilly tract between that river and Jerusalem.

CHAP. 29, 1. He continues on his eastward trip, and there reaches the sweet-smelling trees, the Arabia and India of the ancients, to the HTR of Gen. x. 30, in which the ancients recognized the place of frankincense and spices.—2. Trees of judgment, i.e. trees that will be given to the just after the judgment to be planted by them, cf. 10:19. Also cf. Isa. lx. 6; Ps. lxxii. 10.

CHAP. 30. According to the testimony of the ancients cinnamon was an eastern product.

CHAP. 31. Sarira, a word not found elsewhere. An Amharic vocabulary says the word means a black flower, cf. Dillmann, Lex., col. 343. But the form is probably corrupt. Galbanum, cf. Winer, Realwörterb.,

CHAP. 32, 1, 2. Zutel, a name otherwise not known (at least Buxtorf does not mention him), must be the angel guarding the entrance of Paradise.—3. The destination of the seer is the garden of justice, i.e. the Paradise, called by the same name 77:3; garden of the just 60:23; garden of life 61:12. The tree of wisdom is entirely distinct from the tree of life, 25:4. As wisdom is to characterize the just in the Messianic times the tree of wisdom is very properly here mentioned.—4. Carob tree, cf. Dillmann, Lex., col. 76.—6.

Here we learn that it is the earthly Paradise that Enoch visits. It is not strange that the author fails to give any hint as to the object and future destiny of this garden. He could not make it the abode of the departed just, for they have their place in one (or two) of the apartments of Sheol, cf. 22:6 sqq.; nor could it be the seat of the Messianic kingdom, for this was to be at Jerusalem, cf. chap. 25 and 26, and therefore the writer must leave it out in the cold. And why the tree of wisdom should not be transplanted to the New Jerusalem like the tree of life, 25:5, is not mentioned.

CHAP. 33, 1. Now he gets to the ends of the earth, to the place of the extraordinary specimens of the animal kingdom. This chapter was probably suggested by the preceding, in which he visits lands favored with mineral wealth, or by the notices in Gen. ii. 19, 20 of the animals in close connection with Paradise.—2. Portals, or exits for the luminaries. Uriel, as is required by his office, cf. 19:1, instructs the seer in these matters. As Enoch had claimed a higher source for his knowledge of the judgment, 1:2, he here claims the same for his special book on the luminaries, chap. 72-82.

CHAP. 34. Evidently he had been at the ends of the earth in the preceding chapter, and now goes to the extreme north. As there could be no portals for the luminaries in the north, he finds some there for the winds, joined with phenomena of nature such as could be expected in that region. As the north winds are usually injurious, but not always, he says there is one portal from which it blows for good, but two for evil. Cf.
the system in chap. 76.

CHAP. 35. The portals are of course for the setting luminaries, the outlets for the winds, as the latter expression, in the west suits only the winds.

CHAP. 36, 1. The symmetry of the narrative demands that he goes to the south also. Here, as in the north, he sees only portals for the winds, but none for the luminaries.—2. He returns to the east, where he sees three portals for the winds which he had failed to mention 33:2, 3, and above these were smaller portals for the stars.—4. Cf. Ps. ciii. 20-22; cxlviii.; cf. 22:14.


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