1 Enoch / Chapter 104

1 Enoch 104

13 verses • Ge'ez (Ethiopic)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

The climactic chapter of the Epistle's encouragement. The righteous are promised that they will shine like the lights of heaven, that the gates of heaven will be opened to them, and that they will become companions of the heavenly host. The sinners are warned that their sins are recorded daily and that they cannot hide. The chapter concludes with a solemn charge to preserve and transmit Enoch's words faithfully.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

Verses 1-4 contain the Epistle's most luminous promise: 'You righteous shall shine like the lights of heaven, and the gates of heaven shall be opened to you.' This passage is widely recognized as a source for Daniel 12:3 ('those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever'). The image of the righteous becoming stars — sharing the luminous, eternal nature of the celestial bodies — represents one of the most exalted conceptions of the afterlife in Second Temple Judaism.

Translation Friction

The relationship between this passage and Daniel 12:3 is debated — which text influenced which? Most scholars date the Epistle of Enoch slightly earlier than Daniel (the Aramaic fragments date to the 2nd century BCE), suggesting 1 Enoch may be the source. But the direction of influence could be mutual, drawing on a shared tradition of astral immortality.

Connections

Daniel 12:3 — the wise shall shine like stars. Matthew 13:43 — 'then the righteous will shine like the sun.' Philippians 2:15 — 'you shine as lights in the world.' Revelation 22:5 — 'they will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light.' 2 Corinthians 3:18 — being transformed 'from one degree of glory to another.'

1 Enoch 104:1

Ge'ez: 'emmahalu lakemu — 'I swear unto you'

I 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 the glory of the Great One.

REF I swear unto you, that in heaven the angels remember you for good before the glory of the Great One; and your names are written before the glory of the Great One.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The repetition of this oath from 103:1 creates emphasis through liturgical-style doubling. The angels' remembrance is ongoing — not a one-time event but a continual intercession.

1 Enoch 104:2

Ge'ez: tesmā — 'be hopeful'

Take hope. Before, you endured shame through suffering and affliction, but now you will shine like the lights of heaven. You will shine and be seen, and the gates of heaven will be opened to you.

REF Be hopeful; for aforetime ye were put to shame through ill and affliction; but now ye shall shine as the lights of heaven, ye shall shine and ye shall be seen, and the portals of heaven shall be opened to you.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The transformation from shame to celestial radiance is the Epistle's defining image. The phrase 'you shall be seen' is significant — the righteous who were invisible, ignored, and forgotten will become visible to the entire cosmos. Their suffering was hidden; their glory will be manifest.

1 Enoch 104:3

Ge'ez: wa-ba-gā'yakemu — 'and in your cry'

In your cry, call out for judgment, and it will come. All your suffering will be brought upon the rulers and upon all who aided those who plundered you.

REF And in your cry, cry for judgement, and it shall appear to you; for all your tribulation shall be visited on the rulers, and on all who helped those who plundered you.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The scope of accountability extends to enablers — 'all who helped those who plundered you.' Complicity in oppression carries the same weight as direct action.

1 Enoch 104:4

Ge'ez: tesmā — 'be hopeful'

Take hope, and do not abandon your hope — for you will have great joy like the angels of heaven.

REF Be hopeful, and cast not away your hopes, for ye shall have great joy as the angels of heaven.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

Joy 'as the angels of heaven' — the righteous will not merely observe angelic joy but participate in it. Compare 1 Peter 1:8 — 'you rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.'

1 Enoch 104:5

Ge'ez: wa-mā geberkemu — 'what shall ye be obliged to do?'

What will you need to do? Do not fear — you will be companions of the hosts of heaven.

REF What shall ye be obliged to do? Ye need not fear, for ye shall be partners of the hosts of heaven.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

Partnership with the heavenly host — complete integration into the angelic community. The righteous poor will share the status of the most exalted beings in the cosmos.

1 Enoch 104:6

Ge'ez: wa-'ebbēl — 'and though you sinners say'

And though you sinners say, 'Our sins will not be investigated or written down' — they do write down all your sins every day.

REF And, although ye sinners say: 'All our sins shall not be searched out and be written down,' nevertheless they shall write down all your sins every day.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The sinners' denial of divine surveillance is flatly refuted. The daily recording implies that judgment is not a distant event but an ongoing process — the case is being built continuously.

1 Enoch 104:7

Ge'ez: wa-ye'zē 'ar'eykemu — 'and now I show you'

Now I show you: light and darkness, day and night — all see your sins.

REF And now I show you that light and darkness, day and night, see all your sins.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The created order itself is a witness network. There is no dark corner, no nighttime cover, no hidden place. Compare Psalm 139:11-12 — 'even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day.'

1 Enoch 104:8

Ge'ez: 'iye-tkun 'akala lebb — 'be not godless'

Do not be godless in your hearts. Do not lie or alter the words of uprightness. Do not accuse the words of the Holy Great One of falsehood or honor your idols — for all your lying and godlessness lead not to righteousness but to great sin.

REF Be not godless in your hearts, and lie not, and alter not the words of uprightness, nor charge with lying the words of the Holy Great One, nor take account of your idols; for all your lying and all your godlessness issue not in righteousness but in great sin.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The command not to 'alter the words of uprightness' is especially significant in context — the Enochic community is concerned about the textual integrity of their sacred writings.

1 Enoch 104:9

Ge'ez: wa-ye'zē 'a'meru — 'and now I know this mystery'

Now I know this mystery: sinners will alter and distort the words of righteousness in many ways. They will speak wicked words, lie, practice great deception, and write books promoting their own doctrines.

REF And now I know this mystery, that sinners will alter and pervert the words of righteousness in many ways, and will speak wicked words, and lie, and practise great deceits, and write books concerning their words.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The writing of books 'concerning their words' — rival literature that claims authority — is seen as one of the most dangerous forms of sin. The battle for textual authority is central to the Epistle's concerns.

1 Enoch 104:10

Ge'ez: wa-'emma gerum — 'but when they write'

But when people write down all my words faithfully in their languages, and do not change or diminish anything from my words, but record everything truthfully — all that I first testified concerning them —

REF But when they write down truthfully all my words in their languages, and do not change or diminish ought from my words but write them all down truthfully — all that I first testified concerning them.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The charge to preserve Enoch's words exactly as given — in whatever language — is a remarkable early statement about faithful translation. The text anticipates being transmitted across language boundaries and insists on accuracy in every version.

1 Enoch 104:11

Ge'ez: wa-kāle' ra'i — 'then I know another mystery'

Then I know another mystery: books will be given to the righteous and wise, to become a source of joy, uprightness, and great wisdom.

REF Then, I know another mystery, that books will be given to the righteous and the wise to become a cause of joy and uprightness and much wisdom.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The promise of books as gifts to the righteous community envisions a literary inheritance — sacred texts that create and sustain the faithful. The Enochic writings present themselves as among these divinely appointed books.

1 Enoch 104:12

Ge'ez: wa-yetwahabu — 'and to them shall the books be given'

The books will be given to them, and they will believe in them and rejoice over them. Then all the righteous who have learned the paths of uprightness from these books will be rewarded.

REF And to them shall the books be given, and they shall believe in them and rejoice over them, and then shall all the righteous who have learnt therefrom all the paths of uprightness be recompensed.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The full circle: books given, believed, rejoiced in, and producing righteousness that is then rewarded. The written word is the vehicle of salvation — a remarkably literary soteriology.

1 Enoch 104:13

Ge'ez: way lakemu — 'woe to you'

Woe to you who write down lying and godless words — for they record their lies so that people may hear them and act with godlessness toward their neighbor. Therefore they will have no peace but will die a sudden death.

REF Woe to you who write down lying and godless words; for they write down their lies that men may hear them and act godlessly towards their neighbour. Therefore they shall have no peace but die a sudden death.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The final woe of the Epistle proper returns to the condemnation of false writing — the sin that most directly threatens the community's mission of preserving and transmitting true revelation.

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