The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) · 26 of 141 · tr. R.H. Charles

Chapter X (part 1)

CHAPTER X.

1.

Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him: 2.

' 〈 Go to Noah 〉 and tell him in my name "Hide thyself!" and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it.

3.

And now instruct him that he may escape and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.' 4.

And again the Lord said to Raphael: 'Bind Azâzêl hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dûdâêl, and cast him therein.

5.

And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light.

6.

And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire.

And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons.

8.

And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azâzêl: to him ascribe all sin.' 9.

And to Gabriel said the Lord: 'Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [ the children of fornication and ] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [ and cause them to go forth ] : send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have.

10.

And no request that they (i.e.

their fathers) make of thee shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and that each one of them will live five hundred years.' 11.

And the Lord said unto Michael: 'Go, bind Semjâzâ and p.

38 his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness.

12.

And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated.

13.

In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: 〈 and 〉 to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever.

And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations.

15.

And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind.

Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear: ⌈ and it shall prove a blessing; the works of righteousness and truth ⌉ shall be planted in truth and joy for evermore.

17 And then shall all the righteous escape, And shall live till they beget thousands of children, And all the days of their youth and their old age Shall they complete in peace.

18 And then shall the whole earth be tilled in righteousness, and shall all be planted with trees and be full of blessing.

19.

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Themes

Cosmic Dualismtheology

Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.

The text establishes a strong opposition between the righteous and the wicked, light and darkness, and the corrupt earth versus the restored earth.

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Covenanttheology

A binding agreement or relationship between the divine and a people or individual, establishing mutual obligations.

God instructs Noah to hide so that 'his seed may be preserved for all the generations,' implying a protective agreement.

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Divine Lighttheology

The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.

Light is mentioned as something denied to the punished angel ('cover his face that he may not see light'), associating it with divine presence.

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Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos, including the flood, judgment, and eventual healing of the earth.

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Eschatological Judgmentsoteriology

Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.

[auto] The passage centers on the 'day of the great judgement,' the binding of angels for judgment, and the final destruction of the wicked in fire.

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Forbidden Knowledgesoteriology

Transgressive knowing acquired against divine prohibition — the Watchers' teaching of metallurgy, sorcery, and cosmetics in 1 Enoch, the Gnostic Eve narratives, the Promethean mytheme; explicitly contrasted with gnosis_direct_knowledge, which is salvific.

[auto] The text identifies the corruption of the earth as resulting from 'secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons' and works taught by Azazel.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

Uriel is commanded to 'reveal to him the end' and the text mentions 'secret things' taught by the Watchers.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

God is depicted as actively speaking, sending messengers, and commanding the destruction and healing of the earth.

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Pneumatic Electsoteriology

A spiritual elite who possess the divine spark and are predestined for salvation, contrasted with psychic (faithful) and hylic (material) persons.

The 'righteous' are distinguished from the wicked and promised escape and preservation of their seed.

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Ritual Puritypraxis

The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.

The text references 'uncleanness' regarding the Watchers' union with women as a cause for defilement.

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Watchers Descentcosmology

The 1 Enoch narrative in which a class of originally-good angelic beings (the Watchers) descends, mates with women, and teaches forbidden arts — the substrate that Gnostic archons inherits and inverts: archons are born malevolent, the Watchers fall through transgression.

[auto] The passage explicitly details the binding of Azazel and Semjaza, the corruption by Watchers, and the destruction of their children, which is the core narrative of this concept.

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