1 Enoch / Chapter 53

1 Enoch 53

7 verses • Ge'ez (Ethiopic)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Enoch sees a deep valley with an open mouth where the kings and mighty will be judged. Angels prepare instruments of punishment — chains and iron fetters — for the hosts of Azazel, to be cast into the abyss of complete judgment.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The preparation of chains for Azazel connects the Parables to the Watchers narrative of chapters 6-16. The binding of fallen angels with chains anticipates Jude 6 ('angels who did not stay within their own position of authority he has kept in eternal chains') and Revelation 20:1-3 (Satan bound with a great chain).

Translation Friction

The reference to Azazel introduces Watchers-tradition material that some scholars consider secondary to the Parables' original composition. The relationship between the punishment of fallen angels and the punishment of earthly kings is not entirely clear — are they judged together, or does angelic judgment precede or enable human judgment?

Connections

1 Enoch 10:4-6 — Raphael binds Azazel. Jude 6 — angels kept in chains. 2 Peter 2:4 — God cast angels into Tartarus with chains of gloomy darkness. Revelation 20:1-3 — Satan bound for a thousand years.

1 Enoch 53:1

Ge'ez: wa-re'iku ba-'a'eyentiya — 'and I looked with my eyes'

My eyes saw a deep valley with wide-open mouth. All who dwell on the earth, sea, and islands will bring gifts, presents, and tribute to him, but that deep valley will never be filled.

REF There mine eyes saw a deep valley with open mouths, and all who dwell on the earth and sea and islands shall bring to him gifts and presents and tokens of homage, but that deep valley shall not become full.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The insatiable valley is an image of death/Sheol that 'never has enough' (Proverbs 27:20; 30:16). The tribute brought by earth-dwellers may represent the wealth extracted by oppressive rulers, which ultimately flows into the abyss of judgment — ill-gotten wealth feeds the grave.

1 Enoch 53:2

Ge'ez: wa-'edēhomu ya'ammesu — 'and their hands commit crime'

Their hands commit lawless deeds, and sinners devour all whom they lawlessly oppress. Yet sinners will be destroyed before the face of the Lord of Spirits and banished from the face of his earth, and they will perish forever and ever.

REF And their hands commit lawless deeds, and the sinners devour all whom they lawlessly oppress: yet the sinners shall be destroyed before the face of the Lord of Spirits, and they shall be banished from off the face of His earth, and they shall perish for ever and ever.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The oppressors 'devour' their victims — economic exploitation described in predatory terms. The prophets use the same language: Micah 3:3 describes rulers who 'eat the flesh of my people.' The judgment reversal is that the devourers themselves will be consumed.

1 Enoch 53:3

Ge'ez: 'esma re'iku — 'for I saw'

I saw all the angels of punishment stationed there, preparing all the instruments of Satan.

REF For I saw all the angels of punishment abiding there and preparing all the instruments of Satan.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

'Instruments of Satan' (Ge'ez: me'elāda Sāṭnā'ēl) — tools of punishment prepared by angels specifically tasked with executing judgment. These are not Satan's own tools but instruments prepared for Satan (or satanic forces). The 'angels of punishment' are a distinct class of angels in Enochic angelology, separate from the angels of praise and intercession.

1 Enoch 53:4

Ge'ez: wa-se'alku mal'aka salām — 'and I asked the angel of peace'

I asked the angel of peace who accompanied me: 'For whom are these instruments being prepared?'

REF And I asked the angel of peace who went with me: 'For whom are these instruments being prepared?'

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The question drives the narrative forward. Enoch does not assume the answer — the apocalyptic dialogue requires explicit revelation from the interpreting angel.

1 Enoch 53:5

Ge'ez: wa-yebēlani — 'and he said to me'

He told me: 'These are being prepared for the armies of Azazel, so they may seize them and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation. They will cover their jaws with rough stones, as the Lord of Spirits has commanded.'

REF And he said unto me: 'These are being prepared for the hosts of Azazel, so that they may take them and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation, and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded.'

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

Azazel, the chief fallen Watcher from 1 Enoch 8-10, reappears here. His 'armies' or 'hosts' include the fallen angels who followed him. The punishment described — casting into an abyss with jaws covered by rough stones — echoes 1 Enoch 10:4-5 where Raphael binds Azazel and covers him with rocks in the desert.
The 'abyss of complete condemnation' parallels the 'lake of fire' in Revelation 20:10 and the Tartarus of 2 Peter 2:4 as the final destination of rebellious angelic powers.

1 Enoch 53:6

Ge'ez: wa-Mikā'ēl wa-Gabre'ēl — 'and Michael and Gabriel'

Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel will seize them on that great day and cast them into the burning furnace, so that the Lord of Spirits may take vengeance on them for their wickedness — for becoming subject to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.

REF And Michael, and Gabriel, and Raphael, and Phanuel shall take hold of them on that great day, and cast them on that day into the burning furnace, that the Lord of Spirits may take vengeance on them for their unrighteousness in becoming subject to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

All four archangels from chapter 40 participate in the punishment — the same four who serve at God's throne become the executors of judgment. The 'burning furnace' echoes Daniel 3's fiery furnace but here is the instrument of divine punishment rather than a test of faith.
The fallen angels' crime is twofold: (1) becoming subject to Satan, and (2) leading earth-dwellers astray. Their guilt is both personal rebellion and the corruption they spread.

1 Enoch 53:7

Ge'ez: wa-ba-ye'eti mawā'el — 'and in those days'

In those days punishment will come from the Lord of Spirits. He will open all the reservoirs of water above the heavens and the fountains beneath the earth.

REF And in those days shall punishment come from the Lord of Spirits, and he will open all the chambers of waters which are above the heavens, and of the fountains which are beneath the earth.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The opening of heavenly and subterranean waters echoes the Flood narrative of Genesis 7:11 ('the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened'). Eschatological judgment recapitulates the primordial flood — a new cosmic cleansing.

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