The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) · 133 of 141 · tr. R.H. Charles
Chapter CIII
CIII. Different Destinies of the Righteous and the Sinners: fresh Objections of the Sinners . CHAPTER CIII. 1. Now, therefore, I swear to you, the righteous, by the glory of the Great and Honoured and 2 Mighty One in dominion, and by His greatness I swear to you: 2. I know a mystery And have read the heavenly tablets, And have seen the holy books, And have found written therein and inscribed regarding them: 3. That all goodness and joy and glory are prepared for them, And written down for the spirits of those who have died in righteousness, And that manifold good shall be given to you in recompense for your labours, And that your lot is abundantly beyond the lot of the living. 4. And the spirits of you who have died in righteousness shall live and rejoice, And their spirits shall not perish, nor their memorial from before the face of the Great One Unto all the generations of the world: wherefore no longer fear their contumely. 5. Woe to you, ye sinners, when ye have died, If ye die in the wealth of your sins, And those who are like you say regarding you: 'Blessed are the sinners: they have seen all their days. 6. And how they have died in prosperity and in wealth, And have not seen tribulation or murder in their life; p. 148 And they have died in honour, And judgement has not been executed on them during their life." 7. Know ye, that their souls will be made to descend into Sheol And they shall be wretched in their great tribulation. 8. And into darkness and chains and a burning flame where there is grievous judgement shall your spirits enter; And the great judgement shall be for all the generations of the world. Woe to you, for ye shall have no peace. 9. Say not in regard to the righteous and good who are in life: "In our troubled days we have toiled laboriously and experienced every trouble, And met with much evil and been consumed, And have become few and our spirit small. 10. And we have been destroyed and have not found any to help us even with a word: We have been tortured ⌈ and destroyed ⌉ , and not hoped to see life from day to day. 11. We hoped to be the head and have become the tail: We have toiled laboriously and had no satisfaction in our toil; And we have become the food of the sinners and the unrighteous, And they have laid their yoke heavily upon us. 12. They have had dominion over us that hated us †and smote us; And to those that hated us† we have bowed our necks But they pitied us not. 13. We desired to get away from them that we might escape and be at rest, But found no place whereunto we should flee and be safe from them. p. 149 14. And are complained to the rulers in our tribulation, And cried out against those who devoured us, But they did not attend to our cries And would not hearken to our voice. 15. And they helped those who robbed us and devoured us and those who made us few; and they concealed their oppression, and they did not remove from us the yoke of those that devoured us and dispersed us and murdered us, and they concealed their murder, and remembered not that they had lifted up their hands against us.
Themes
◆Cosmic Dualismtheology
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
A stark contrast is drawn between the destinies of the righteous (glory, life) and sinners (darkness, Sheol, chains), reflecting a dualistic structure of outcomes.
All passages →◆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 text asserts that God has actively prepared goodness and glory for the righteous and will execute judgment on sinners.
All passages →◆Funerary Navigationpraxis
Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.
The text describes the fate of souls after death, serving as a prophetic guide on what awaits them beyond life.
All passages →◆Hidden Sayingssoteriology
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
Enoch reveals mysteries read from heavenly tablets and holy books that are not known to the general public, fitting the definition of esoteric teachings.
All passages →◆Living Godtheology
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
The Great One is depicted as an active agent who swears oaths, prepares rewards, and executes judgment rather than an abstract principle.
All passages →◆Paradox As Teachingethics
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
The righteous complain of becoming 'the tail' instead of 'the head,' using reversal to highlight the inversion of worldly expectations.
All passages →◆Psychopomp Journeycosmology
Guided passage of the soul through afterlife realms.
The passage mentions the descent of souls into Sheol after death, implying a post-mortem transition to an afterlife realm.
All passages →◆Renunciation Of Wealthethics
The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.
Wealth is associated with the sinners who die in prosperity and face woe, suggesting material attachment is spiritually dangerous.
All passages →◇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 focuses on the final judgment of sinners and the recompense for the righteous, explicitly mentioning the 'great judgement' for all generations.
All passages →Related passages · 15 parallels
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani)|Chapter 22 (part 1)
“PLATE XIV.
§F.
Vignette: The gods Osiris, Isis, and Ap-uat, and the TET.
Text [CHAPTER XVIII.]: (1) The great godlike rulers who are in Abtu are Osiris, Isis, and Ap-uat.
"Hail, Thoth, who madest Osiris victorious (2) over his enemies,…”
Both passages describe a divine judgment where the righteous are rewarded and the wicked are punished. They share a common theme of moral accountability and the fate of souls after death, reflecting a conceptual parallel in their mystical traditions.
◆egyptian|The Egyptian Heaven and Hell|Chapter 2 (part 3)
“The texts in these Books state that the beatified live for ever in the kingdom of Osiris, and feed daily upon the heavenly wheat of righteousness that springs from the body of Osiris, which is eternal; he is righteousness itself, and they a…”
Both passages describe the afterlife experiences of the righteous and the wicked, with the righteous being rewarded and the wicked being punished. The descriptions of the punishments and rewards, though different in detail, share a common theme of divine justice and retribution.
◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document FIRSTu
“Now therefore let all the gates rejoice.
Seek ye all after the Light, that may live the power of your soul which is in you: because the Light heard the (things of) matter and it would not leave any matter which it did not purge.
Let the s…”
Both passages discuss the fate of souls, with a focus on the righteous and the sinful. They describe the trials and tribulations of the souls, the intervention of a higher power, and the ultimate deliverance or punishment. The themes of repentance, redemption, and divine justice are central to both texts.
◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document FIRST
“Let them not rejoice at me, those who are enemies unto me in violence, those who hate me without a cause, and they are winking with their eyes.
Because I indeed, they are wont to speak with me in words of peace, and they are [87 ] wont to…”
Both passages discuss the fate of the righteous and the wicked, emphasizing the rewards for the righteous and the punishments for the wicked. They share a theme of divine justice and the ultimate triumph of righteousness, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document SECOND}
“[182 ] And they are coming unto the Place of those of the Middle, and those of the Middle will baptise them (with) the spiritual unction, and seal them with the seal of their mystery and they will pass through in unto those of all Places of…”
Both passages discuss the fate of righteous souls after death, emphasizing their reward and elevation in the afterlife. They share a common theme of spiritual progression and the ultimate destiny of the righteous, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document SECOND
“And ye, my disciples, with every one who will receive the mysteries of the Ineffable will remain with me on my right (hand) and on my left reigning with me in my kingdom.
And those also who receive the three mysteries of the five mysteries…”
Both passages discuss the afterlife rewards and punishments based on one's actions and adherence to religious or mystical teachings. They describe different levels or states in the afterlife, with rewards for the righteous and punishments for the sinners, indicating a conceptual parallel in their eschatological views.
◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document THIRDb
“Say unto them, Renounce the listening that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light (Schm.
supplies this), and be delivered from the judgments of the face of a dog.
Say unto them, Renounce litigiousness, and be worthy of the mysteri…”
Both passages discuss the fate of the righteous and the wicked, emphasizing the rewards for virtuous behavior and the punishments for sinful actions. They share a common theme of moral accountability and divine justice, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document THIRDc
“Say unto them, Renounce the villainies, and be worthy of the mysteries of the Light, and be delivered from all the [237 ] demons of Ialtabaoth with all his punishments.
Say unto them, Renounce the senselessness, and be worthy of the myster…”
Both passages describe the fate of the righteous and the wicked, emphasizing the rewards for virtuous behavior and the punishments for sinful actions. They share a common theme of moral accountability and the consequences of one's actions in the afterlife.
◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document THIRDd
“Say unto them, Do love of God and receive the mysteries of the Light, and go unto the Height unto the kingdom of the Light.
Say unto them, Be righteous and receive the mysteries, and go unto the Height unto the kingdom of the Light.
Say u…”
Both passages discuss the differing fates of the righteous and the sinners, with the righteous being rewarded and the sinners being punished. They share a common theme of divine justice and the consequences of one's actions, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document THIRDj
“But if yet in a time of repentance they should renounce [252 ] all the World, with all the 138 matter which is in it, with all the sins of the world, and they (are they) who become in all the subjection to the mysteries of the Light, not an…”
Both passages discuss the fate of souls after death and the possibility of intervention through mystical means. They share a theme of divine judgment and the potential for redemption or punishment, though they come from different religious traditions.
5 more
◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document THIRD
“Now therefore are wont the Ministers, they are wont to complete the whole man, and all these seals in which they sealed the body; are wont the Ministers, they are wont to bring the whole speciality, and take them to all the Contentious Rule…”
Both passages discuss the concept of destiny and the fate of souls after death, with a focus on the righteous and the sinners. They share a belief in a divine order that determines the outcomes for individuals based on their actions, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆mandaean|Gnostic John the Baptizer — Portents at John's Birth|Section 7
“YAHYĀ proclaims and speaks: "Ye nobles, who lie there, ye ladies, who
will not awaken,—ye who lie there, what will you do on the Day of the
Judgment? When the soul strips off the body, on Judgment-Day what will you
do? O thou distracted, ju…”
Both passages discuss the fate of the righteous and the sinners, emphasizing the rewards for the righteous and the punishments for the sinners. They share a common theme of divine judgment and the afterlife, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆zoroastrianism|Avesta (Gathas)|Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXXI, Section 1a
“1.
These doctrines (therefore) we are earnestly declaring to You as we recite them forth from memory, words (till now) unheard 1 (with faith) by those who by means of the doctrinal vows 2 of the harmful Lie are delivering the settlements o…”
Both passages discuss the ultimate fate of the righteous and the wicked, emphasizing the rewards for the righteous and the punishments for the wicked. They share a common theme of divine justice and the contrasting destinies of those who follow righteousness and those who do not.
◆zoroastrianism|Avesta (Gathas)|Ahunavaiti Gatha, Yasna XXXII, Section 1c
“(And) this entire 3 (reward of the righteous) is from that Best One who teaches 4 in the wide (mental) light of the pious 5 , ruling (as supreme), O Mazda Ahura 6 !
whose are my woes and my p.
67 doubtings 1 (yea, they lie in His power to…”
Both passages discuss the rewards of the righteous and the punishments of the wicked, emphasizing divine justice and the ultimate fate of individuals based on their actions. They share a conceptual parallel in their focus on the divine order and the consequences of righteousness and sin.
◆zoroastrianism|Avesta (Gathas)|Vohu Khshathra Gatha, Yasna LI, Section 1b
“(Yea, grant me these two inseparable gifts, for having them in store) I will speak for Thee, O Mazda!
because to the man of understanding 4 one should declare for Thee that which is woe to the wicked, but salvation to him who has maintaine…”
Both passages discuss the fate of the righteous and the wicked, emphasizing the rewards for the righteous and the punishments for the wicked. They share a common theme of divine justice and the ultimate triumph of righteousness over wickedness.