1 Enoch / Chapter 105

1 Enoch 105

2 verses • Ge'ez (Ethiopic)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

A brief, luminous chapter in which God promises to dwell with the righteous in joy and peace. Those who love God will rejoice, and the righteous will be in the light of the sun, and the elect in eternal life. It serves as a calm, hopeful coda to the intense woe oracles of the preceding chapters.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The promise that God will 'dwell with them' directly anticipates the Immanuel theology of the New Testament (Matthew 1:23 — 'God with us') and the vision of Revelation 21:3 — 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them.' In just two verses, this chapter distills the entire hope of the Epistle into its purest form: divine presence with the righteous.

Translation Friction

Some scholars consider this chapter a later addition, as it breaks the flow between the Epistle (chapters 92-104) and the Birth of Noah narrative (chapters 106-107). Its brevity and different tone suggest it may be an independent fragment incorporated into the collection.

Connections

Revelation 21:3-4 — God dwelling with humanity. John 1:14 — 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' Ezekiel 37:27 — 'my dwelling place shall be with them.' Zephaniah 3:17 — 'The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness.'

1 Enoch 105:1

Ge'ez: ba-we'etu mawā'el — 'in those days'

In those days the Lord told them to summon and testify to the children of earth concerning their wisdom: 'Show it to them, for you are their guides, and a reward will come over the whole earth.'

REF In those days the Lord bade them to summon and testify to the children of earth concerning their wisdom: Show it unto them; for ye are their guides, and a recompense over the whole earth.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The righteous are commissioned as 'guides' — teachers and leaders for the rest of humanity. Their role is not merely to endure but to instruct. Compare Daniel 12:3 — 'those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.'
1 Enoch 105:2

Ge'ez: 'esma 'ana wa-weldeya — 'for I and my son'

For I and my son will be united with them forever in the paths of uprightness during their lives. You will have peace. Rejoice, children of uprightness. Amen.

REF For I and my son will be united with them for ever in the paths of uprightness in their lives; and ye shall have peace: rejoice, ye children of uprightness. Amen.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The 'I and my son' is debated — it may refer to God and the Messiah/Elect One, or to Enoch and Methuselah. If the former, it is a remarkable expression of divine-messianic unity dwelling with the righteous. The closing 'Amen' marks the formal end of the Epistle proper. 'You will have peace' reverses the recurring curse against sinners ('you shall have no peace').
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