1 Enoch 108

1Another book which Enoch wrote for his son Methuselah and for those who will come after him, and keep the law in the last days.*This final chapter forms an independent addition. The writer is acquainted with i-xxxvi and xci-civ, or at least with parts of those sections. But his acquaintance with i-xxxvi is very inaccurate. What in chapters xviii and xxi was the place of punishment for the disobedient stars becomes in cviii. 3-6 practically Gehenna. Note the Essene tone of this chapter, the high honour paid to asceticism, the scorn of silver and gold in 8-10, the blessed immortality of the soul but apparently not of the body, and the duration of light and darkness so prominent in 11-14. This chapter is more akin to xci-civ than any other in the book. Its object is to encourage the righteous still to hope on despite the long delay in the coming of the kingdom.*Contrast 'fall away from the law', xcix. 2. 2Ye who have done good shall wait for those days till an end is made of those who work evil, and an end of the might of the transgressors.*The faithful are exhorted to further patience. 3And wait ye indeed till sin has passed away, for their names shall be blotted out of the book of life and out of the holy books, and their seed shall be destroyed for ever, and their spirits shall be slain, and they shall cry and make lamentation in a place that is a chaotic wilderness, and in the fire shall they burn; for there is no earth there.*Cf. xxii. 13; xcix. 11 (note). It does not imply annihilation as the victims still 'cry and make lamentation'.*This chaotic flaming hell beyond the limits of the earth is the place of punishment for the angels in xviii. 12-16; xxi. 1-7.*Eth. αόρατος, the LXX rendering of תהו in Gen. i. 2. 4And I saw there something like an invisible cloud; for by reason of its depth I could not †look over†, and I saw a flame of fire blazing brightly, and things like shining mountains circling and sweeping to and fro.*We might emend to 'behold its height' or 'tell its circuit' (or 'size').*Further description of this hell and its inhabitants in terms borrowed from xviii. 13; xxi. 3. 5And I asked one of the holy angels who was with me and said unto him: ‘What is this shining thing? for it is not a heaven but only the flame of a blazing fire, and the voice of weeping and crying and lamentation and strong pain.’*This phrase is borrowed from i-xxxvi: cf. xxvii. 2.*Cf. xviii. 13.*ɑ: လ β. 6And he said unto me: ‘This place which thou seest—here are cast the spirits of sinners and blasphemers, and of those who work wickedness, and of those who pervert everything that the Lord hath spoken through the mouth of the prophets—(even) the things that shall be.*Cf. xci. 7.*mtu, β: 'done' g1gq.*Here only expressly mentioned in Enoch.*This hell which is outside the earth is the final place of punishment for sinners and blasphemers and perverters of God's revelation through the prophets. In vv. 3-6 the writer has confounded places (i.e. Gehenna, and the hell of the disobedient stars) that are most carefully distinguished in i-xxxvi, and yet he has borrowed the phraseology of that section. 7For some of them are written and inscribed above in the heaven, in order that the angels may read them and know that which shall befall the sinners, and the spirits of the humble, and of those who have afflicted their bodies, and been recompensed by God; and of those who have been put to shame by wicked men:*refers to the heavenly tablets. Cf. xlvii. 3. These records are also called the books of the holy ones, for their purpose is to let the angels know of the future: cf. ciii. 2. See also Asc. Isa. vii. 27.*7-9. The עננים. and עברים of the Psalms. They constitute the true Israel as opposed to the proud, the selfish and the paganizers. Cf. Cheyne on Ps. ix. 13. 8Who love God and loved neither gold nor silver nor any of the good things which are in the world, but gave over their bodies to torture. 9Who, since they came into being, longed not after earthly food, but regarded everything as a passing breath, and lived accordingly, and the Lord tried them much, and their spirits were found pure so that they should bless His name.*'those who have afflicted their bodies . . . loved neither gold nor silver . . . longed not after earthly food. These phrases would apply well to the Essene party. Cf. xlviii. 7, cii. 5. These marks of the righteous have their counterpart in those of the wicked: cf. xcvi. 5-7, xcvii. 8-10, xcviii. 2. 10And all the blessings destined for them I have recounted in the books. And He hath assigned them their recompense, because they have been found to be such as loved heaven more than their life in the world, and though they were trodden under foot of wicked men, and experienced abuse and reviling from them and were put to shame, yet they blessed Me.*Enoch speaks, and refers his hearers and readers to his books. 11And now I will summon the spirits of the good who belong to the generation of light, and I will transform those who were born in darkness, who in the flesh were not recompensed with such honour as their faithfulness deserved.*Cf. lxi. 12 (note), xxxviii. 4 (note).*Verses 11 and 12 are spoken by God.*Of those who are born in darkness, i.e. heathenism, the faithful who were not recompensed with honour are transformed: but those who remain in their darkness are cast therein as their condemnation. Cf. v. 14. 12And I will bring forth in shining light those who have loved My holy name, and I will seat each on the throne of his honour.*i.e. clad in it. Cf. Matt. vii. 15. Or we might render 'into shining light'. Cf. 2 En. xxii. 8-10, the garments of the blessed are composed of God's glory. In 1 En. lxii. 16, they are 'garments of life'. Really they are the spiritual bodies of the blessed. Cf. Rev. iii. 4, 5, 18, etc.; 4 Ezra ii. 39, 45; Asc. Isa. iv. 16, vii. 22, viii. 14.*ɑ,n. 'throne of honour, of his honour' β-n. Cf. Matt. xix. 28; Rev. iii. 21, iv. 4; Asc. Isa. ix. 10, 18. 13And they shall be resplendent for times without number; for righteousness is the judgement of God; for to the faithful He will give faithfulness in the habitation of upright paths.*cf. xxxix. 7, civ. 2, cviii. 14.*Enoch again speaks. 14And they shall see those who were born in darkness led into darkness, while the righteous shall be resplendent. 15And the sinners shall cry aloud and see them resplendent, and they indeed will go where days and seasons are prescribed for them.’