Guide
What Is the First Book of Enoch?
3rd Century BCE–1st Century CE
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The books of Enoch are an important collection of early apocalypses and legends attributed to the biblical figure Enoch (see Genesis 5:18–24). Five of these books, dating from the third century BCE to the first century CE, were assembled into what is now known as 1 Enoch, or simply the book of Enoch. Fragments of four of the books in 1 Enoch, written in Aramaic, have been discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran. The book was later translated into Greek and Ethiopic and became authoritative in the Ethiopian Christian Church.
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Scribe of Righteousness
1 Enoch 12:3–4; 92:1
And I, Enoch, began to bless the Lord of the mighty ones and the King of the universe. At that moment the Watchers were calling me. And they said to me, “Enoch, scribe of righteousness, go…
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The Soul’s Holding Pattern
1 Enoch 22:1–4
Then I went to another place, and he showed me on the west side a great and high mountain of hard rock and inside it four beautiful corners; it had [in it] a deep, wide, and smooth (thing) which was…
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Son of Man
1 Enoch 46:1–3; 49:4; 51:1–4
At that place, I saw the One to whom belongs the time before time. [ . . . ] And I asked the one—from among the angels—who was going with me, and who had revealed to me all the secrets…
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A Heavenly Messiah
1 Enoch 46–69 (selections)
And I saw there one who was Ancient of Days [lit., Head of Days], and his head was white like wool, and with him was another whose face had the appearance of a man. His face was full of…
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Eternal Agony in the Accursed Valley
1 Enoch 27:1–2
At that moment, I said, “For what purpose does this blessed land, entirely filled with trees, (have) in its midst this accursed valley?” Then, Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me…
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An Abyss of Fire
1 Enoch 90:23–27
Behold, I saw all of them bound; and they all stood before him. Then his judgment took place. First among the stars, they received their judgment and were found guilty, and they went to the place…
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Enoch’s Prayer before the Flood
1 Enoch 84:1–6
Then I raised up my hands in righteousness and blessed the Holy and Great One; and I spoke with the breath of my mouth and the tongue of flesh which God has made for the children of the flesh, the…
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The Ten “Weeks” of History
1 Enoch 93:3–10; 91:11–17
Then Enoch took up his discourse and said: I was born the seventh of the First Week, while justice and righteousness still endured. And thereafter in the Second Week great wickedness shall…
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God’s Celestial Palace and Enoch’s Commission
1 Enoch 14:8–25
And in the vision thus it appeared to me: Behold, clouds called me in the vision, and mists summoned me. Shooting-stars and lightnings urged me on and whirled me along, and in my vision winds gave me…
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Enoch’s Vision of the Rebuilt Temple
1 Enoch 90:28–30, 36
Then I stood still, looking at that ancient house being transformed: All the pillars and all the columns were pulled out; and the ornaments of that house were packed and taken out together with them…
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Edni in 1 Enoch
1 Enoch 85:2–3
Then Enoch responded and said to his son, Methuselah: “I shall speak to you, my son, hear my words and incline your ears to the dream vision of your father. Before I married your mother, Edna, I was…
Related Guide
What Are the Pseudepigrapha?
ca. 200 BCE–200 CE