1 Enoch / Chapter 69

1 Enoch 69

29 verses • Ge'ez (Ethiopic)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

An extensive chapter listing more fallen angels and their teachings, then revealing the great oath (Biqa/Akae) by which heaven and earth are bound together. The chapter concludes with the Son of Man sitting on the throne of glory, sinners destroyed, and the earth rejoicing. This verse (69:27-29) marks the climactic enthronement of the Son of Man within the third parable.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The 'oath' (Ge'ez: māḥela) by which heaven and earth are held in place is one of the most mysterious concepts in the Parables. It is essentially a cosmic constitution — the foundational decree that maintains the structure of reality. The chapter's revelation that this oath was entrusted to the angel Michael and that knowing it grants power over nature provides a metaphysical explanation for the stability of the cosmos. The final enthronement scene (vv. 27-29) brings the Son of Man theme to its climax before the concluding identification in chapters 70-71.

Translation Friction

The chapter is clearly composite, combining a Watcher-names list (similar to chapter 68), the oath tradition (which may derive from a separate cosmological source), and the Son of Man enthronement (which belongs to the Parables proper). The transitions are abrupt, suggesting editorial combination of disparate materials.

Connections

The cosmic oath parallels the concept of divine decrees sustaining creation in Jeremiah 31:35-36 and 33:25-26. The final enthronement parallels Daniel 7:14 and Matthew 25:31-32. The list of angelic teachings parallels 1 Enoch 8:1-3.

1 Enoch 69:1

Ge'ez: wa-'em-qedma ye'eti māḥela — 'before that oath'

After that judgment, the fallen angels will be terrified and made to tremble because they revealed these things to those who dwell on the earth.

REF And after this judgement they shall terrify them and make them to tremble because they have shown this to those who dwell on the earth.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. This opening connects to chapter 68's conclusion, continuing the judgment of the Watchers for their unauthorized revelations.
1 Enoch 69:2

Ge'ez: wa-'ellu 'asmātihomu — 'these are their names'

These are the names of those angels: first Semyaza, second Artaqifa, and their associates.

REF And behold the names of those angels and these are their names: the first of them is Semjaza, the second Artaqifa...

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Another angel-name list that partially overlaps with 68:2. The duplication likely reflects the combination of parallel source documents within the Parables' editorial process.
1 Enoch 69:3

Ge'ez: wa-'ellu re'usān — 'and these are the chiefs'

These are the chiefs of their angels and the names of the leaders over their hundreds, fifties, and tens.

REF These are the chiefs of their angels, and the names of the leaders of their hundreds, and the leaders of their fifties, and the leaders of their tens.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The same military organizational structure as 68:3, reinforcing the image of the Watchers as a disciplined rebellious army.
1 Enoch 69:4

Ge'ez: wa-sema — 'the name of'

The first is Yeqon — the one who led all the sons of God astray.

REF The name of the first Jeqon: that is the one who led astray all the sons of God.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Repeated from 68:4, confirming Yeqon as the instigator of the angelic rebellion.
1 Enoch 69:5

Ge'ez: wa-kāle' Asbeel — 'the second Asbeel'

The second is named Asbeel — he gave evil counsel to the holy sons of God.

REF And the second was named Asbeel: he imparted evil counsel to the holy sons of God.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Repeated from 68:5 in abbreviated form.
1 Enoch 69:6

Ge'ez: wa-śālasu Gādrē'ēl — 'the third Gadreel'

The third is named Gadreel — he showed the children of humanity every deadly blow. He led Eve astray and showed the weapons of death to humans: the shield, the coat of mail, the battle sword, and every instrument of death.

REF And the third was named Gadreel: he it is who showed the children of men all the blows of death, and he led astray Eve, and showed the weapons of death to the sons of men — the shield and the coat of mail, and the sword for battle, and all the weapons of death to the children of men.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Gadreel is identified as the one who led Eve astray — a remarkable claim that identifies the Eden serpent with a named fallen angel. This is one of the earliest texts to make an explicit connection between the angelic rebellion of Genesis 6 and the fall narrative of Genesis 3.
  2. His portfolio also includes weapons technology — warfare as a fallen-angel teaching is consistent with the broader Enochic critique of civilization as corrupted by angelic interference.
1 Enoch 69:7

Ge'ez: wa-rābe' Pēnēmu'ē — 'the fourth Penemue'

The fourth is named Penemue — he taught the children of humanity the bitter and the sweet, and he taught them all the secrets of their wisdom.

REF And the fourth was named Penemue: he taught the children of men the bitter and the sweet, and he taught them all the secrets of their wisdom.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Penemue's teaching of 'bitter and sweet' may refer to writing (ink-making) or to the knowledge of good and evil (echoing the Tree of Knowledge). The 'secrets of their wisdom' indicates that even human wisdom traditions are traced back to angelic revelation — a provocative claim that human culture is fundamentally derivative of the supernatural.
1 Enoch 69:8

Ge'ez: wa-we'etu — 'and he'

He taught humanity to write with ink and paper, and through this many have sinned from age to age and until this day.

REF And he instructed mankind in writing with ink and paper, and thereby many sinned from eternity to eternity and until this day.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Writing itself as a source of sin — a radical claim. The idea is that literacy enabled the preservation and transmission of forbidden knowledge, sorcery formulas, and false teaching. Without writing, each generation's sins would die with it; with writing, corruption accumulates.
  2. This anti-literacy tradition is unique to the Enochic corpus and contrasts sharply with the scribal traditions that valued writing as sacred (as in Psalm 40:7 and the scroll imagery of Ezekiel and Revelation).
1 Enoch 69:9

Ge'ez: wa-ḫāmesu — 'the fifth'

Humans were not created for this — to confirm their good faith with pen and ink.

REF For men were not created for such a purpose, to give confirmation to their good faith with pen and ink.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The argument: if humans were meant to be trustworthy, they would not need written contracts. Writing implies distrust, and distrust implies fallenness. The pre-lapsarian ideal is a world where verbal commitments are sufficient — a world without need for documentation.
1 Enoch 69:10

Ge'ez: 'esma la-zeku — 'for because of this'

Humans were created like the angels — intended to remain pure and righteous. Death, which destroys everything, should not have been able to take hold of them. But through this knowledge they are perishing, and through this power death consumes them.

REF For men were created exactly like the angels, to the intent that they should continue pure and righteous, and death, which destroys everything, could not have taken hold of them, but through this their knowledge they are perishing, and through this power it is consuming me.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The claim that humans were originally created to be deathless — 'like the angels' — and that death entered through forbidden knowledge directly parallels the Eden narrative (Genesis 2:17; 3:19) while reframing it in Enochic terms. Death is not inherent to human nature but a consequence of angelic corruption.
1 Enoch 69:11

Ge'ez: wa-ḫāmesu Kāsdeyā — 'the fifth Kasdeja'

The fifth is named Kasdeja — he showed the children of humanity all the evil attacks of spirits and demons, the ways to destroy an embryo in the womb, the attacks against the soul, serpent bites, and the afflictions caused by the noonday heat — the offspring of the serpent named Taba'et.

REF And the fifth was named Kasdeja: this is he who showed the children of men all the wicked smitings of spirits and demons, and the smitings of the embryo in the womb, that it may pass away, and the smitings of the soul — the bites of the serpent, and the smitings which befall through the noontide heat, the son of the serpent named Tabā'et.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Kasdeja's portfolio is particularly dark: he taught spiritual attack, abortion methods, soul-affliction, and venomous knowledge. The 'noonday heat' demon may be the 'destruction that wastes at noonday' from Psalm 91:6 — the ancient belief in particularly dangerous demonic activity at midday.
1 Enoch 69:12

Ge'ez: wa-zeku 'ewwa — 'and this is the oath'

This is the assignment of Kasbeel, the chief of the oath, which he revealed to the holy ones when he dwelt on high in glory. The name of the oath is Biqa.

REF And this is the task of Kasbeel, the chief of the oath, which he showed to the holy ones when he dwelt on high in glory. And its name is Biqa.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The transition to the 'oath' material — Kasbeel is an angel who holds the cosmic oath called 'Biqa.' This oath is the mysterious force that holds the cosmos together, and its revelation is one of the supreme secrets of the Parables.
1 Enoch 69:13

Ge'ez: wa-we'etu sē'ela — 'and he requested'

This angel asked Michael to show him the hidden name, so he could speak it in the oath and make those tremble before that name and oath — those who revealed all secrets to the children of humanity.

REF This angel requested Michael to show him the hidden name, that he might enunciate it in the oath, so that those might quake before that name and oath who revealed all that was in secret to the children of men.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The 'hidden name' is the divine name whose power sustains the oath. The oath's power derives from the name of God embedded within it. This tradition connects to the Jewish theology of the divine Name (Shem ha-Meforash) whose utterance has cosmic power.
1 Enoch 69:14

Ge'ez: wa-zeku xaylu — 'and this is the power'

This is the power of this oath, for it is mighty and strong. He placed this oath — called Akae — in the hand of Michael.

REF And this is the power of this oath, for it is powerful and strong, and he placed this oath Akae in the hand of Michael.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

Akae / Biqa
"the oath" — oath, cosmic decree, foundational bond

The mysterious oath that holds the cosmos together. Its names (Biqa and Akae) may be corrupted divine names or technical terms from an esoteric tradition. The oath is the Parables' answer to the question of why the universe maintains its order: a divine decree, spoken once, that binds all creation in perpetual obedience.

Translator Notes

  1. The oath has two names: Biqa (v. 12) and Akae (v. 14). Michael is its custodian — the archangel entrusted with the foundational decree of cosmic order. This may explain why Michael is 'the leader' among the archangels (67:3): he holds the key to creation's structure.
1 Enoch 69:15

Ge'ez: wa-'ellu mestirāt — 'and these are the secrets'

These are the secrets of this oath, and they are powerful through it: heaven was suspended before the world was created, and it endures forever.

REF And these are the secrets of this oath — and they are strong through his oath: and the heaven was suspended before the world was created, and for ever.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The oath preceded and enabled creation — 'heaven was suspended' (held in place) by the oath before the earth was made. This makes the oath a pre-creational reality, almost a divine attribute, the mechanism by which God's creative will becomes structural reality.
1 Enoch 69:16

Ge'ez: wa-medr — 'and the earth'

Through it the earth was founded upon the waters, and from the secret recesses of the mountains beautiful waters flow — from the creation of the world and for eternity.

REF And through it the earth was founded upon the water, and from the secret recesses of the mountains come beautiful waters, from the creation of the world and unto eternity.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The earth 'founded upon the waters' echoes Psalm 24:2 ('he has founded it upon the seas'). The oath is the mechanism by which this otherwise impossible arrangement (solid earth upon liquid water) is maintained. Even the springs that emerge from mountains do so because of the oath.
1 Enoch 69:17

Ge'ez: wa-ba-ye'eti māḥela — 'and through that oath'

Through that oath the sea was created, and as its foundation he set the sand against the time of its rage — the sea dares not pass beyond it from the creation of the world to eternity.

REF And through that oath the sea was created, and as its foundation He set for it the sand against the time of its anger, and it dare not pass beyond it from the creation of the world unto eternity.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The sand as the sea's boundary echoes Jeremiah 5:22 ('I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a permanent barrier it cannot cross'). The oath is the enforcement mechanism behind God's decree in Job 38:11 ('this far you may come and no farther').
1 Enoch 69:18

Ge'ez: wa-ba-ye'eti māḥela — 'and through that oath'

Through that oath the depths are secured and remain unmoved from their place from eternity to eternity.

REF And through that oath are the depths made fast, and abide and stir not from their place from eternity to eternity.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The 'depths' (tehomot) — the primordial deep of Genesis 1:2 — are held in place by the oath. Without it, the chaos waters would return and uncreate the world.
1 Enoch 69:19

Ge'ez: wa-ba-ye'eti māḥela — 'and through that oath'

Through that oath the sun and moon complete their courses and never deviate from their ordained paths, from eternity to eternity.

REF And through that oath the sun and moon complete their course, and deviate not from their ordinance from eternity to eternity.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The celestial obedience celebrated in chapter 41 is now explained: the sun and moon keep their courses because of the oath. The 'ordinance' (Ge'ez: śer'at) is the same word used for divine commandment — cosmic law and moral law share the same enforcement mechanism.
1 Enoch 69:20

Ge'ez: wa-ba-ye'eti māḥela — 'and through that oath'

Through that oath the stars complete their courses. He calls them by their names, and they answer him from eternity to eternity.

REF And through that oath the stars complete their course, and He calls them by their names, and they answer Him from eternity to eternity.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Stars answering when God calls by name — the same image as Isaiah 40:26 and Baruch 3:34-35. The oath binds the stars in responsive obedience, a cosmic liturgy of call and response.
1 Enoch 69:21

Ge'ez: wa-kama — 'and likewise'

Likewise the spirits of water and of the winds, and of every breeze — their paths from every direction of the winds are governed by the oath.

REF And likewise the spirits of the water, and of the winds, and of all zephyrs, and their paths from all the quarters of the winds.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The oath's jurisdiction extends to water, wind, and every atmospheric movement. Nothing in the physical world operates independently of this cosmic decree.
1 Enoch 69:22

Ge'ez: wa-heyya — 'and there'

There the voices of thunder and the light of lightning are preserved. There the chambers of hail, the chambers of frost, the chambers of mist, and the chambers of rain and dew are preserved.

REF And there are preserved the voices of the thunder and the light of the lightnings: and there are preserved the chambers of the hail and the chambers of the hoarfrost, and the chambers of the mist, and the chambers of the rain and the dew.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The comprehensive inventory of meteorological 'chambers' — each phenomenon stored in its proper place, maintained by the oath. This is the Parables' complete physics: every natural event has a heavenly reservoir from which it is released according to divine decree.
1 Enoch 69:23

Ge'ez: wa-kwellomu — 'and all of them'

All of them believe and give thanks before the Lord of Spirits. They glorify him with all their power, and their sustenance is in every act of thanksgiving. They thank, glorify, and exalt the name of the Lord of Spirits forever and ever.

REF And all these believe and give thanks before the Lord of Spirits, and glorify Him with all their power, and their food is in every act of giving thanks: they thank and glorify and extol the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Natural phenomena 'believe' and 'give thanks' — the entire cosmos is presented as a worshiping community. Their 'food' (sustenance, reason for being) is thanksgiving itself. The created order exists to praise God — the same theology as Psalm 148 where sun, moon, stars, fire, hail, snow, and wind all praise the LORD.
1 Enoch 69:24

Ge'ez: wa-ye'eti māḥela — 'and that oath'

This oath is mighty over them all. Through it they are preserved, their paths are maintained, and their courses are never destroyed.

REF And this oath is mighty over them, and through it they are preserved and their paths are preserved, and their course is not destroyed.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The summary statement: the oath preserves everything. It is the hidden structure of reality, the invisible constitution of creation. To know the oath is to understand why the universe holds together — the Parables' answer to the fundamental cosmological question.
1 Enoch 69:25

Ge'ez: wa-'abiy fesseḥā — 'and great joy'

There was great joy among them. They blessed, glorified, and exalted God because the name of that Son of Man had been revealed to them.

REF And there was great joy amongst them, and they blessed and glorified and extolled because the name of that Son of Man had been revealed unto them.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The revelation of the Son of Man's name causes cosmic rejoicing. This is the culmination of the 'hidden and revealed' theme: what was concealed since before creation (48:2-6) is now made known, and the response is universal celebration.
1 Enoch 69:26

Ge'ez: wa-yanabber ba-menber — 'and he sat on the throne'

He sat on the throne of his glory, and the authority of judgment was given to the Son of Man. He caused sinners to pass away and be destroyed from the face of the earth — along with those who led the world astray.

REF And he sat on the throne of his glory, and the sum of judgement was given unto the Son of Man, and he caused the sinners to pass away and be destroyed from off the face of the earth, and those who have led the world astray.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The climactic enthronement: the Son of Man receives 'the sum of judgment' — total judicial authority. From the throne of glory he executes the sentence against sinners and deceivers. This is the fullest realization of Daniel 7:14 ('to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom') within the Parables.
1 Enoch 69:27

Ge'ez: ba-ḥabla te'eqomu — 'with chains they shall be bound'

They will be bound with chains and imprisoned in the place of their destruction. All their works will vanish from the face of the earth.

REF With chains shall they be bound, and in their assemblage-place of destruction shall they be imprisoned, and all their works vanish from the face of the earth.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Chains and imprisonment for the sinners parallels the Watchers' punishment in 1 Enoch 10:4-6 and 2 Peter 2:4. The destruction of 'all their works' means not only the sinners but their legacy — the civilizational corruption they introduced — is erased.
1 Enoch 69:28

Ge'ez: wa-'em-ye'eti gizē — 'and from henceforth'

From that point on nothing corruptible will exist, for that Son of Man has appeared and taken his seat on the throne of his glory. All evil will pass away before his face, and the word of that Son of Man will go forth with power before the Lord of Spirits.

REF And from henceforth there shall be nothing corruptible; for that Son of Man has appeared, and has seated himself on the throne of his glory, and all evil shall pass away before his face, and the word of that Son of Man shall go forth and be strong before the Lord of Spirits.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The elimination of all corruption — not just punishment of the corrupt but the eradication of corruption itself from the cosmos — is the Parables' ultimate eschatological vision. The Son of Man's appearance on the throne of glory marks the transition from a mixed cosmos (good and evil coexisting) to a purified one (evil permanently expelled).
  2. 'The word of that Son of Man shall go forth and be strong' — his speech has creative/destructive power, like the divine word in Genesis 1 and the sword from the mouth of the rider in Revelation 19:15.
1 Enoch 69:29

Ge'ez: wa-zeku xadiga — 'and this is the end'

This is the third parable of Enoch.

REF This is the third Parable of Enoch.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The closing formula marks the end of the three parables proper. Chapters 70-71 form an epilogue dealing with Enoch's own translation and his identification with the Son of Man — the most controversial passage in the entire book.
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