1 Enoch 74

1And I saw another course, a law for her, (and) how according to that law she performs her monthly revolution.*This chapter deals with the moon's waxing and waning, her monthly change of position with regard to the signs and the sun, and the difference between lunar and solar years. 2And all these Uriel, the holy angel who is the leader of them all, showed to me, and their positions, and I wrote down their positions as he showed them to me, and I wrote down their months as they were, and the appearance of their lights till fifteen days were accomplished.*i.e. the moon's phases.*i.e. between conjunction and full moon. 3In single seventh parts she accomplishes all her light in the east, and in single seventh parts accomplishes all her darkness in the west. 4And in certain months she alters her settings, and in certain months she pursues her own peculiar course.*independent of the sun. 5In two months the moon sets with the sun: in those two middle portals the third and the fourth.*5, 6. During two months the moon sets with the sun as new moon and as full moon. When the sun is in Aries and Libra the new moon and the full moon are in the third and fourth portals. In verse 6 the moon goes forth as it waxes from the third portal to the first in 7 days, turns about and returns to the portal where the sun rises, i.e. the third, in 7 or 8 days, and there becomes full moon, and proceeds thence through the fourth and fifth to the sixth portal, where she arrives after 8 days. Thence she returns to the third portal in 7 days. 6She goes forth for seven days, and turns about and returns again through the portal where the sun rises, and accomplishes all her light: and she recedes from the sun, and in eight days enters the sixth portal from which the sun goes forth.*'and in that accomplishes' t²,β. 7And when the sun goes forth from the fourth portal she goes forth seven days, until she goes forth from the fifth and turns back again in seven days into the fourth portal and accomplishes all her light: and she recedes and enters into the first portal in eight days. 8And she returns again in seven days into the fourth portal from which the sun goes forth. 9Thus I saw their position—how the moons rose and the sun set in those days.*a-g. 'according to the order of their moons the sun rising and setting' q,β. 10And if five years are added together the sun has an overplus of thirty days, and all the days which accrue to it for one of those five years, when they are full, amount to 364 days.*10, 11. The difference between the lunar and the solar year. The lunar year has 354 days (see lxxviii. 15). The solar year has 12 months of 30 days, or 360, and also 4 intercalary days in the equinoxes and solstices, in all 364 days (lxxiv. 10, 12). In verses 10ᵃ and 11 these intercalary days are neglected, and so the solar year has only 360 days, or 6 days more than the lunar. 11And the overplus of the sun and of the stars amounts to six days: in 5 years 6 days every year come to 30 days: and the moon falls behind the sun and stars to the number of 30 days.*t²,β: ɑ has transposed the word to the next sentence, as subject to 'bring in'. 12And the sun and the stars bring in all the years exactly, so that they do not advance or delay their position by a single day unto eternity; but complete the years with perfect justice in 364 days.*Accuracy of the solar and sidereal time-division. Jubilees vi. 32-6 protests against the use of the lunar year. 13In 3 years there are 1,092 days, and in 5 years 1,820 days, so that in 8 years there are 2,912 days.*13-16. Merely seem to assert that the solar year of 364 days exceeds the lunar of 354 by 10 days. But why should eight years be referred to? The author seems to have in mind the eight-year cycle or octaetris, which, however, allowed for 365¼ days in the solar year. See special Introduction to lxxii-lxxxii, p. 150 in my new Commentary. 14For the moon alone the days amount in 3 years to 1,062 days, and in 5 years she falls 50 days behind: [i.e. to the sum (of 1,770) there is to be added (1,000 and) 62 days.]*The totals for 3 and 5 years are added together to give the total for 8 years. (1062 + 1770 = 2832.) The brackets indicate a marginal gloss. (1,000 and) found only in the margin of c. 15And in 5 years there are 1,770 days, so that for the moon the days in 8 years amount to 2,832 days. 16[For in 8 years she falls behind to the amount of 80 days], all the days she falls behind in 8 years are 80.*[ ] a doublet. 17And the year is accurately completed in conformity with their world-stations and the stations of the sun, which rise from the portals through which it (the sun) rises and sets 30 days.