1 Enoch 38

Translator Notes

1. Some manuscripts place this superscription at the end of chapter 37; others repeat it here. The repetition may reflect the editorial seam between the introduction (ch. 37) and the first parable proper.
2. The expulsion of sinners 'from the face of the earth' uses language drawn from the Flood tradition (Genesis 6:7; 7:4), recasting cosmic judgment in terms of the primordial cleansing.

Translator Notes

1. This verse largely parallels 37:5 and may represent a variant tradition or deliberate literary echoing at the parable's formal opening.
2. The 'Righteous One' (singular, capitalized) is likely a messianic title rather than a generic description. In later chapters this figure is identified with the Son of Man and the Chosen One.
3. The rhetorical question 'where will sinners live?' inverts the usual apocalyptic anxiety: it is not the righteous who should worry about their fate, but the wicked.

Translator Notes

1. The 'secrets of the righteous' (mestirātihomu la-ṣādeqān) may refer to: (1) hidden truths about the righteous that will be made known, (2) the mystery of their vindication, or (3) esoteric knowledge entrusted to them. The apocalyptic tradition trades in 'secrets' (razim in Aramaic, mestirāt in Ge'ez) as divine knowledge withheld until the appointed time.
2. The expulsion of the godless 'from the presence' of the righteous reverses the current social order where it is the righteous who are marginalized.

Translator Notes

1. The 'those who possess the earth' is a key Enochic category for the oppressor class — wealthy landowners and rulers whose power derives from controlling land and resources. This is not merely spiritual criticism but socioeconomic critique embedded in apocalyptic vision.
2. The holy ones' faces become unbearable to look at because they radiate divine light — a transformation motif paralleling Moses's shining face in Exodus 34:29-35 and the transfiguration tradition in Matthew 17:2.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The pairing 'kings and the mighty' (negaśtāt wa-māxazent) is a stock phrase throughout the Parables, occurring dozens of times. It identifies the primary targets of divine judgment as political and military elites who abuse their power.
2. The reversal — the powerful being 'handed over to' the righteous — is a radical inversion of the present order. The same reversal appears in Daniel 7:22 where 'judgment was given in favor of the holy ones of the Most High.'

Translator Notes

1. The finality here is absolute — there is no repentance after the judgment. This contrasts with the petition scenes in chapters 62-63, where kings and mighty ones attempt to plead for mercy but are refused.
2. The phrase 'their life is at an end' carries a double meaning: both physical death and the termination of any opportunity for redemption. The Parables do not develop a doctrine of post-mortem repentance.