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The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) · 79 of 141 · tr. R.H. Charles

Chapter LX (part 1)

LX. Book of Noah--a Fragment . p. 76 Quaking of Heaven: Behemoth and Leviathan: the Elements . CHAPTER LX. 1. In the year five hundred, in the seventh month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the life of †Enoch†. In that Parable I saw how a mighty quaking made the heaven of heavens to quake, and the host of the Most High, and the angels, a thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, were disquieted with a great disquiet. 2. And the Head of Days sat on the throne of His glory, and the angels and the righteous stood around Him. 3. And a great trembling seized me, And fear took hold of me, And my loins gave way, And dissolved were my reins, And I fell upon my face. 4 And Michael sent another angel from among the holy ones and he raised me up, and when he had raised me up my spirit returned; for I had not been able to endure the look of this host, and the commotion and the quaking of the heaven. And Michael said unto me: 'Why art thou disquieted with such a vision? Until this day lasted the day of His mercy; and He hath been merciful and long-suffering towards those who dwell on the earth. 6. And when the day, and the power, and the punishment, and the judgement come, which the Lord of Spirits hath prepared for those who worship not the righteous law , and for those who deny the righteous judgement, and for those who take His name in vain--that day is prepared, for the elect a covenant, but for sinners an inquisition. 25. When the punishment of the Lord of Spirits shall rest upon them, it shall rest in order that the punishment of the Lord of Spirits may not come, in vain, and it shall slay the children with their mothers and the children with their fathers. Afterwards the p. 77 judgement shall take place according to His mercy and His patience.' 7. And on that day were two monsters parted, a female monster named Leviathan, to dwell in the abysses of the ocean over the fountains of the waters. 8. But the male is named Behemoth, who occupied with his breast a waste wilderness named †Dûidâin†, on the east of the garden where the elect and righteous dwell, where my grandfather was taken up, the seventh from Adam, the first man whom the Lord of Spirits created. 9. And I besought the other angel that he should show me the might of those monsters, how they were parted on one day and cast, the one into the abysses of the sea, and the other unto the dry land of the wilderness. 10. And he said to me: 'Thou son of man, herein thou dost seek to know what is hidden.' 11. And the other angel who went with me and showed me what was hidden told me what is first and last in the heaven in the height, and beneath the earth in the depth, and at the ends of the heaven, and on the foundation of the heaven. 12. And the chambers of the winds, and how the winds are divided, and how they are weighed, and (how) the portals of the winds are reckoned, each according to the power of the wind, and the power of the lights of the moon, and according to the power that is fitting: and the divisions of the stars according to their names, and how all the divisions are divided. 13. And the thunders according to the places where they fall, and all the divisions that are made among the lightnings that it may lighten, and their host that they may at once obey. 14.
Themes
Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

Enoch's physical body fails ('loins gave way') under the weight of the divine vision until he is raised.

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Covenanttheology

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

The text explicitly states that the day is prepared 'for the elect a covenant'.

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Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

Enoch cannot endure the look of the host, and knowledge is described as 'hidden' until revealed.

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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 Lord of Spirits actively prepares judgment, separates monsters, and orders the cosmos.

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

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

An angel reveals hidden knowledge about the cosmos (winds, stars, monsters) to Enoch upon his request.

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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 an active agent who judges, shows mercy, and interacts with angels and Enoch.

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Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

Enoch is raised up by Michael to endure the vision of the heavenly host and divine throne.

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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 centrally describes the coming day of judgment, punishment for sinners, and mercy for the elect.

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Related passages · 15 parallels
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Both passages describe a visionary experience where the protagonist encounters divine beings and witnesses cosmic events. They share themes of divine judgment, the ordering of the cosmos, and the protagonist's interaction with the divine.
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χεδνρον (sic lege et non ἄντρον) δὲ τὴν γῆν ἔλεγον, ὡς ὄργανον καὶ αὐτὴν τῦ χρονῦ ἡμερων γαρ ἐςιν ἅυτη, καὶ νυχτων, αἰτία. That is, "But those who more clearly perceive these affairs, call the fire in the middle a demiurgic power, nourishi…”
Both passages discuss divine providence and the cosmic order, with the Orphic Hymns describing the laughter of the Gods as a sign of their effects in the universe, and the Book of Noah describing a vision of divine judgement and the partitioning of cosmic monsters. Both texts explore the interaction between the divine and the natural world, albeit from different cultural and religious contexts.
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Both passages describe supernatural events and portents that disrupt the natural order, involving divine visions and cosmic disturbances. They share themes of divine revelation and the reaction of religious authorities to these events.
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Return to Ancient Near East index Return to Main Index DESCENT OF THE GODDESS ISHTAR INTO THE LOWER WORLD [From The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria, M. Jastrow, 1915] To the land of no return, the land of darkness, Ishtar, the daught…”
Both passages describe a descent into a dark, otherworldly realm and involve divine figures encountering gatekeepers and undergoing trials. They share themes of divine judgment and the mysteries of the afterlife.