1 Enoch / Chapter 94

1 Enoch 94

11 verses • Ge'ez (Ethiopic)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Enoch encourages the righteous to wait in hope, then launches the first series of woe oracles against the sinners. The wealthy are condemned for building their houses with the proceeds of sin, for amassing gold and silver unjustly, and for saying 'we have become rich.' The righteous are told not to fear — the wicked will be handed over to judgment.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The woe oracles beginning here and continuing through chapter 100 represent one of the most sustained social justice critiques in Second Temple literature. The language directly parallels the classical prophets — particularly Amos, Micah, and Isaiah — but applies their critique to the author's own era. The repeated 'Woe to you who...' formula anticipates Jesus's woe oracles in Matthew 23 and Luke 6:24-26.

Translation Friction

The specific historical targets of the woe oracles are debated. Candidates include the Hellenizing aristocracy of the Maccabean period, the Sadducean priesthood, or wealthy landowners in general. The text remains deliberately general enough to apply across contexts.

Connections

Amos 5:18-20 — woe to those who desire the day of the Lord. Isaiah 5:8-23 — woe oracles against the greedy and unjust. Luke 6:24 — 'Woe to you who are rich.' James 5:1-6 — 'Come now, you rich, weep and howl.' Habakkuk 2:6-19 — woe oracles against the oppressor.

1 Enoch 94:1

Ge'ez: wa-ye'zē 'ebelkemu — 'and now I say to you'

Now I say to you, my sons: love righteousness and walk in it. For the paths of righteousness are worthy of acceptance, but the paths of unrighteousness will be suddenly destroyed and vanish.

REF And now I say unto you, my sons, love righteousness and walk therein; for the paths of righteousness are worthy of acceptation, but the paths of unrighteousness shall suddenly be destroyed and vanish.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The repetition of 'love righteousness and walk therein' from 91:3 creates a literary frame. The sudden destruction of wicked paths echoes Psalm 1:6 — 'the way of the wicked will perish.'
1 Enoch 94:2

Ge'ez: wa-la-'anāstihomu — 'and to certain men'

To certain people of a generation, the paths of violence and death will be revealed, and they will keep far from them and will not follow them.

REF And to certain men of a generation shall the paths of violence and of death be revealed, and they shall hold themselves afar from them, and shall not follow them.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The 'certain men' who receive revelation about violence correspond to the 'chosen righteous' of 93:8 — the elect community that recognizes and rejects the paths of destruction.
1 Enoch 94:3

Ge'ez: wa-ye'zē 'ebelkemu ṣādeqān — 'and now I say to you the righteous'

Now I say to you, the righteous: do not walk in the paths of wickedness or in the paths of death. Do not draw near to them, or you will be destroyed.

REF And now I say unto you the righteous: Walk not in the paths of wickedness, nor in the paths of death, and draw not nigh to them, lest ye be destroyed.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The direct address to 'the righteous' as a distinct group assumes a sectarian audience — those who have already chosen the right path but need encouragement to stay on it.
1 Enoch 94:4

Ge'ez: wa-takāydu — 'but seek'

Instead, seek and choose for yourselves righteousness and a chosen life. Walk in the paths of peace, and you will live and prosper.

REF But seek and choose for yourselves righteousness and an elect life, and walk in the paths of peace, and ye shall live and prosper.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The language of choosing 'an elect life' combines Deuteronomic choice theology (Deuteronomy 30:19 — 'choose life') with the Enochic concept of election.
1 Enoch 94:5

Ge'ez: wa-'a'meru — 'and hold fast'

Hold my words firmly in the thoughts of your hearts, and do not let them be erased from your hearts. For I know that sinners will tempt people to mistreat wisdom, so that no place may be found for her, and temptation will not diminish.

REF And hold fast my words in the thoughts of your hearts, and suffer them not to be effaced from your hearts; for I know that sinners will tempt men to evilly-entreat wisdom, so that no place may be found for her, and no manner of temptation may minish.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Wisdom personified as female ('her') echoes Proverbs 1-9 and 1 Enoch 42, where Wisdom sought a dwelling among humans and found none. The warning to preserve Enoch's words anticipates the preservation concerns of Deuteronomy 6:6 — 'these words shall be on your heart.'
1 Enoch 94:6

Ge'ez: way lakemu ḫāṭe'ān — 'woe to those who build'

Woe to those who build unrighteousness and oppression and lay deceit as a foundation — for they will be suddenly overthrown, and they will have no peace.

REF Woe to those who build unrighteousness and oppression and lay deceit as a foundation; for they shall be suddenly overthrown, and they shall have no peace.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The first woe oracle. Building on a foundation of deceit reverses Jesus's parable of building on rock versus sand (Matthew 7:24-27). 'They shall have no peace' is a recurring refrain in the woe oracles, echoing Isaiah 48:22 — 'There is no peace for the wicked.'
1 Enoch 94:7

Ge'ez: way lakemu — 'woe to those who build'

Woe to those who build their houses with sin — for from their very foundations they will be overthrown, and by the sword they will fall. Those who acquire gold and silver through injustice will suddenly perish.

REF Woe to those who build their houses with sin; for from all their foundations shall they be overthrown, and by the sword shall they fall. And those who acquire gold and silver in judgement suddenly shall perish.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The condemnation of wealth acquired through injustice parallels Jeremiah 22:13 — 'Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness.' The sword of judgment echoes the prophetic tradition where military defeat is divine punishment for economic injustice.
1 Enoch 94:8

Ge'ez: way lakemu 'ella — 'woe to you who are rich'

Woe to you who are rich, for you have trusted in your riches, and from your riches you will depart, because you did not remember the Most High in the days of your riches.

REF Woe to you, ye rich, for ye have trusted in your riches, and from your riches shall ye depart, because ye have not remembered the Most High in the days of your riches.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The direct address to the rich — 'you have trusted in your riches' — is among the sharpest wealth critiques in Second Temple literature. Compare Luke 12:20-21 — 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you... So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.'
1 Enoch 94:9

Ge'ez: wa-gebarku — 'you have committed'

You have committed blasphemy and unrighteousness, and have made yourselves ready for the day of slaughter, the day of darkness, and the day of the great judgment.

REF Ye have committed blasphemy and unrighteousness, and have become ready for the day of slaughter, and the day of darkness and the day of the great judgement.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The 'day of slaughter' echoes Isaiah 34:6 and James 5:5 — 'You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.' The triple designation — slaughter, darkness, great judgment — intensifies the threat.
1 Enoch 94:10

Ge'ez: kama zentu — 'thus I say'

This I speak and declare to you: he who created you will overthrow you, and for your fall there will be no compassion. Your Creator will rejoice at your destruction.

REF Thus I speak and declare unto you: He who hath created you will overthrow you, and for your fall there shall be no compassion, and your Creator will rejoice at your destruction.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The startling claim that the Creator will 'rejoice' at the wicked's destruction echoes Deuteronomy 28:63 — 'as the LORD took delight in doing you good... so the LORD will take delight in bringing ruin upon you.' This is not divine cruelty but the satisfaction of justice finally enacted.
1 Enoch 94:11

Ge'ez: wa-ṣādeqānekemu — 'and your righteous ones'

Your righteous ones in those days will be a reproach to the sinners and the godless.

REF And your righteous ones in those days shall be a reproach to the sinners and the godless.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The vindication reversal: those whom the wealthy mocked will become their reproach. Compare Wisdom of Solomon 5:1-5, where the wicked are astonished at the salvation of the righteous one they had despised.
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