1 Enoch / Chapter 1

1 Enoch 1

9 verses • Ge'ez (Ethiopic) 1 tradition available

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Enoch pronounces a blessing for the righteous who will live in the day of tribulation when the wicked are removed. He describes a theophany — God coming from Sinai with ten thousands of holy ones to execute judgment on all.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

Verse 9 is directly quoted in the New Testament epistle of Jude (14-15), making this one of the most significant passages in Second Temple literature for canonical studies. The theophany draws on Deuteronomy 33:2 imagery.

Translation Friction

The attribution to 'Enoch the seventh from Adam' establishes a pseudepigraphic framework. The cosmic scope of judgment — mountains melting, earth splitting — exceeds typical prophetic imagery and enters apocalyptic territory.

Connections

Deuteronomy 33:2 (theophany from Sinai); Jude 14-15 (direct quotation of 1:9); Micah 1:3-4 (mountains melting); Revelation 1:7 (coming with judgment).

1 Enoch 1:1

Ge'ez: Qāla bārikot za-Henok za-bāraka xiyārana wa-ṣādiqāna

These are the words of the blessing of Enoch, with which he blessed the chosen and the righteous — those who will be alive in the day of distress, when all the wicked and ungodly will be swept away.

REF The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are to be removed.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

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Ge'ez xiyāran — the chosen ones, a community self-designation that later appears in Qumran texts and the New Testament

Translator Notes

  1. The opening formula mirrors the structure of Deuteronomy 33:1, establishing Enoch as a prophetic figure in the mold of Moses.

Joseph Smith Translation (Footnotes)christological

'The Word was God' clause clarified: the Word was with God and was a God, or was divine

One of the most theologically significant NT footnotes. The KJV 'the Word was God' is central to Trinitarian Christology. The JST footnote introduces a revision that qualifies or distinguishes the Word's relationship to God the Father, consistent with Restoration theology's understanding of distinct divine persons. This parallels the NWT rendering but arrives from a different theological tradition.

1 Enoch 1:2

Ge'ez text per Charles/Knibb editions

And he took up his discourse and said: I, Enoch, a righteous man whose eyes God opened — I saw a vision of the Holy One in the heavens. The angels showed it to me, and from them I heard all things and understood what I saw. Yet it was not for this generation, but for a distant one still to come.

REF And he took up his parable and said — Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. 'Took up his parable' echoes the prophetic formula used by Balaam in Numbers 23:7. Enoch's vision is explicitly for a future generation, establishing the apocalyptic literary convention of sealed prophecy.

Joseph Smith Translation (Footnotes)christological

Son as heir of all things and maker of worlds — cosmological language expanded or clarified

The JST footnote at v. 2 expands the description of the Son's cosmological role, providing additional language about creation through Christ consistent with Restoration pre-mortal Christology.

1 Enoch 1:3

Ge'ez text per Charles/Knibb editions

Concerning the chosen I spoke, and I took up my discourse about them: The Holy Great One will come forth from his dwelling place,

REF Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them: The Holy Great One will come forth from His dwelling,

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

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A distinctive Enochic title for God, emphasizing both his separateness and supreme authority

Translator Notes

  1. 'The Holy Great One' is a characteristic title for God in 1 Enoch, combining transcendence (Holy) with majesty (Great One). It avoids the divine name while emphasizing sovereign power.
1 Enoch 1:4

Ge'ez text per Charles/Knibb editions

And the eternal God will tread upon the earth — upon Mount Sinai — and will appear from his camp, and will manifest in the strength of his power from the heaven of heavens.

REF And the eternal God will tread upon the earth, (even) on Mount Sinai, and appear from His camp and appear in the strength of His might from the heaven of heavens.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The theophany localized at Sinai draws directly from Deuteronomy 33:2. 'Heaven of heavens' echoes 1 Kings 8:27, affirming a layered cosmology.
1 Enoch 1:5

Ge'ez text per Charles/Knibb editions

And all will be struck with fear, and the Watchers will tremble, and great dread and shaking will seize them to the ends of the earth.

REF And all shall be smitten with fear and the Watchers shall quake, and great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

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Aramaic irin — heavenly beings tasked with watching over creation. The term is the text's own designation, also found in Daniel 4:13, 17, 23.

Translator Notes

  1. This is the first mention of the Watchers (Aramaic: irin) in the text. Even these mighty beings tremble before the theophany, establishing the absolute supremacy of God over all heavenly powers.

Joseph Smith Translation (Footnotes)christological

Doxological description of Christ — 'first begotten of the dead' and 'prince of the kings' language adjusted

The JST footnote revises the opening doxology of Revelation, adjusting the titles and relationships ascribed to Christ in the greeting, consistent with Restoration Christology.

1 Enoch 1:6

Ge'ez text per Charles/Knibb editions

And the high mountains will be shaken, and the tall hills will be brought low, and will melt like wax before fire.

REF And the high mountains shall be shaken, and the high hills shall be made low, and shall melt like wax before the flame.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The melting-mountains motif appears in Micah 1:4, Psalm 97:5, and Nahum 1:5. It is a standard element of Israelite theophany traditions.

Joseph Smith Translation (Footnotes)priestly

Saints made 'kings and priests' — Melchizedek priesthood connection clarified

The JST footnote revises the royal-priestly status statement to provide language consistent with Restoration priesthood theology, where the Melchizedek Priesthood confers both kingly and priestly status.

1 Enoch 1:7

Ge'ez text per Charles/Knibb editions

And the earth will be completely torn apart, and everything on the earth will perish, and there will be a judgment upon all people.

REF And the earth shall be wholly rent in sunder, and all that is upon the earth shall perish, and there shall be a judgement upon all (men).

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Universal judgment — not merely national but cosmic — is a hallmark of apocalyptic eschatology, distinguishing it from classical prophetic oracles.
1 Enoch 1:8

Ge'ez text per Charles/Knibb editions

But with the righteous he will make peace, and he will protect the chosen, and mercy will rest upon them. They will all belong to God, and they will prosper, and they will all be blessed. He will help them all, and light will dawn for them, and he will make peace with them.

REF But with the righteous He will make peace, and will protect the elect, and mercy shall be upon them. And they shall all belong to God, and they shall be prospered, and they shall all be blessed. And He will help them all, and light shall appear unto them, and He will make peace with them.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The contrast between cosmic destruction for the wicked and peace for the righteous establishes the two-ways theology that permeates the entire work.
1 Enoch 1:9

Ge'ez text per Charles/Knibb editions; cf. Aramaic fragments 4QEna 1 i

And look — he comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to destroy all the ungodly, and to convict every person for all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in ungodliness, and for all the harsh words which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

REF And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones to execute judgement upon all, and to destroy all the ungodly: and to convict all flesh of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

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Echoes Deuteronomy 33:2 (MT: meribbot qodesh). The heavenly entourage attending the divine warrior.

Translator Notes

  1. [TCR Cross-Reference: Jude 14-15] This verse is quoted nearly verbatim in the epistle of Jude, attributed to 'Enoch, the seventh from Adam.' This is the most direct citation of a pseudepigraphic text in the New Testament canon.
  2. Aramaic fragments from Qumran (4QEna) preserve portions of this verse, confirming its antiquity predating the Ge'ez transmission.