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About this book

1 Enoch

About this book

The Book of the Watchers

Chapter 1

1 The words of Enoch's blessing, with which he blessed the chosen and righteous,⁠ who will live through the days of tribulation when all the wicked and godless will be removed. 2 He began his parable⁠ and said, Enoch, a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me. I heard everything from them, and from them I understood what I saw, not for this generation, but for a distant one yet to come. 3 Regarding the chosen I spoke, and took up my parable about them: The Holy Great One will emerge from His dwelling,⁠ 4 And the eternal God will walk upon the earth, even on Mount Sinai, and appear from His camp and reveal His might from the heavens above.⁠ 5 Everyone will be struck with fear and the Watchers will tremble, and great fear and trembling will grip them to the ends of the earth.⁠ 6 The high mountains will shake, the hills will be leveled, and they will melt like wax before the fire⁠ 7 The earth will be completely torn apart, and everything on it will perish, and there will be judgment upon all people. 8 But with the righteous, He will establish peace. He will protect the chosen, and mercy will be upon them. They will all belong to God, prosper, and be blessed. He will aid them, and light will shine for them,⁠ and He will make peace with them.⁠ 9 Look! He comes with tens of thousands of His holy ones⁠ to pass judgment upon all,⁠ to annihilate all the wicked,⁠ to convict every soul of all the godless deeds they have committed,⁠ and of all the harsh words that godless sinners have spoken against Him.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 33:1 and 1 Enoch 1:1

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

The opening of 1 Enoch intentionally imitates Deuteronomy 33, where Moses blesses Israel before his death. The author uses this language to present the book as the same kind of authoritative scripture and place it in continuity with the Torah.

Passages

Deuteronomy 33:1

Hebrew Bible
1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death. 2 He said: “The Lord came from Sinai and revealed himself to Israel from Seir. He appeared in splendor from Mount Paran, and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. With his right hand he gave a fiery law to them. 3 Surely he loves the people; all your holy ones are in your hand8. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

1 Enoch 1:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 The words of Enoch's blessing, with which he blessed the chosen and righteous, who will live through the days of tribulation when all the wicked and godless will be removed. 2 He began his parable and said, Enoch, a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me. I heard everything from them, and from them I understood what I saw, not for this generation, but for a distant one yet to come. 3 Regarding the chosen I spoke, and took up my parable about them: The Holy Great One will emerge from His dwelling,
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... This opening line is similar to Deuteronomy 33:1 (“This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death”), prompting some scholars to suggest a deliberate imitation. The writer’s motive would be to make 1 Enoch read as Scripture. This suspicion is likely confirmed once we note that “the words of,” while not appearing in Deuteronomy 33:1, appear in the first verse of other canonical books of the Hebrew Bible (Nehemiah 1:1; Ecclesiastes 1:1; Jeremiah 1:1; Amos 1:1) ..."
Michael S. Heiser, A Companion to the Book of Enoch: A Reader's Commentary (Crane, MO: Defender, 2019), 1:47.
"... The Book of the Watchers opens with a superscription that signals the reader to interpret what follows as a testament. Here, however, the vocabulary recalls the testament of Moses in Deuteronomy (“The words of blessing with which Enoch blessed the righteous and chosen ones ...”, 1 Enoch 1:1 / “This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel …”, Deuteronomy 33:1). Indeed, even the structure of the two passages is similar, for there is no description of a farewell scene in Deuteronomy 33, rather the superscription moves directly to a recollection of the Sinai theophany (Deuteronomy 33:2). Likewise, the Enochic superscription is followed almost immediately by a description of a theophany on Sinai at the end-time (1 Enoch 1:3–9). This description is an elaboration of what will happen on the day of judgment, a day referred to in the Enochic superscription (“… who will be present on the day of tribulation ...”, 1 Enoch 1:1) ..."
Randal A. Argall, 1 Enoch and Sirach: A Comparative Literary and Conceptual Analysis of the Themes of Revelation, Creation and Judgment, EJL 8 (Atlanta: Scholar's, 1995), 18.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 33:1 and 1 Enoch 1:1

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