The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) · 117 of 141 · tr. R.H. Charles
Chapter XC (part 1)
XC.
1-5.
Third Period--from Alexander the Great to the Graeco-Syrian Domination .
CHAPTER XC.
1.
And I saw till that in this manner thirty-five shepherds undertook the pasturing (of the sheep), and they severally completed their periods as did the first; and others received them into their hands, to pasture them for their period, each shepherd in his own period.
2.
And after that I saw in my vision all the birds of heaven coming, the eagles, the vultures, the kites, the ravens; but the eagles led all the birds; and they began to devour those sheep, and to pick out their eyes and to devour their flesh.
3.
And the sheep cried out because their flesh was being devoured by the birds, and as for me I looked and lamented in my sleep over that shepherd who pastured the sheep.
4.
And I saw until those sheep were devoured by the dogs and eagles and kites, and they left neither flesh nor skin nor sinew remaining on them till only their bones stood there: and their bones too fell to the earth and the sheep became few.
5.
And I saw until that twenty-three had undertaken the pasturing and completed in their several periods fifty-eight times.
p.
125 XC.
6-12.
Fourth Period--from the Graeco-Syrian Domination to the Maccabæan Revolt .
6.
But behold lambs were borne by those white sheep, and they began to open their eyes and to see, and to cry to the sheep.
7.
Yea, they cried to them, but they did not hearken to what they said to them, but were exceedingly deaf, and their eyes were very exceedingly blinded.
8.
And I saw in the vision how the ravens flew upon those lambs and took one of those lambs, and dashed the sheep in pieces and devoured them.
9.
And I saw till horns grew upon those lambs, and the ravens cast down their horns; and I saw till there sprouted a great horn of one of those sheep, and their eyes were opened.
10.
And it †looked at† them [ and their eyes opened ] , and it cried to the sheep, and the rams saw it and all ran to it.
11.
And notwithstanding all this those eagles and vultures and ravens and kites still kept tearing the sheep and swooping down upon them and devouring them: still the sheep remained silent, but the rams lamented and cried out.
12.
And those ravens fought and battled with it and sought to lay low its horn, but they had no power over it.
XC.
13-19.
The Last Assault of the Gentiles on the Jews (where vv.
13-15 and 16-18 are doublets).
13.
And I saw till the †shepherds and† eagles and those vultures and kites came, and †they cried to the ravens† that they should break the horn of that ram, and they battled and fought with it, and it battled with them and cried that its help might come.
16.
All the eagles and vultures and ravens and kites were gathered together, and there came with them all the sheep of the field, yea, they all came together, and helped each other to break that horn of the ram.
19.
And I saw till a great sword was given to the sheep, and the sheep proceeded against all the beasts p.
126 of the field to slay them, and all the beasts and the birds of the heaven fled before their face.
14.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The visionary symbols (sheep, birds) correspond directly to historical periods and nations, mapping the spiritual vision onto earthly reality.
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 vision depicts shepherds completing specific periods under divine oversight, indicating an ordered unfolding of history toward intelligible ends.
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.
The passage culminates in a final assault where a sword is given to the sheep to slay the beasts, representing collective cosmic judgment and restoration.