The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) · 136 of 141 · tr. R.H. Charles
Chapter CVI (part 1)
FRAGMENT OF THE BOOK OF NOAH (CVI-CVII.) CHAPTER CVI.
1.
And after some days my son Methuselah took a wife for his son Lamech, and she became p.
151 pregnant by him and bore a son.
2.
And his body was white as snow and red as the blooming of a rose, and the hair of his head †and his long locks were white as wool, and his eyes beautiful†.
And when he opened his eyes, he lighted up the whole house like the sun, and the whole house was very bright.
3.
And thereupon he arose in the hands of the midwife, opened his mouth, and †conversed with† the Lord of righteousness.
4.
And his father Lamech was afraid of him and fled, and came to his father Methuselah.
5.
And he said unto him: 'I have begotten a strange son, diverse from and unlike man, and resembling the sons of the God of heaven; and his nature is different and he is not like us, and his eyes are as the rays of the sun, and his countenance is glorious.
6.
And it seems to me that he is not sprung from me but from the angels, and I fear that in his days a wonder may be wrought on the earth.
7.
And now, my father, I am here to petition thee and implore thee that thou mayest go to Enoch, our father, and learn from him the truth, for his dwelling-place is amongst the angels.' 8.
And when Methuselah heard the words of his son, he came to me to the ends of the earth; for he had heard that I was there, and he cried aloud, and I heard his voice and I came to him.
And 1 said unto him: 'Behold, here am I, my son, wherefore hast thou come to me?' 9.
And he answered and said: 'Because of a great cause of anxiety have I come to thee, and because of a disturbing vision have I approached.
10.
And now, my father, hear me: unto Lamech my son there hath been born a son, the like of whom there is none, and his nature is not like man's nature, and the colour of his body is whiter than snow and redder than the bloom of a rose, and the hair of his head is whiter than white wool, and his eyes are like the rays of the sun, and he opened his eyes and thereupon lighted up the whole house.
11.
And he arose in the hands of the midwife, and opened his mouth and blessed the Lord of heaven.
12.
And his father Lamech p.
152 became afraid and fled to me, and did not believe that he was sprung from him, but that he was in the likeness of the angels of heaven; and behold I have come to thee that thou mayest make known to me the truth.' 13.
And I, Enoch, answered and said unto him: 'The Lord will do a new thing on the earth, and this I have already seen in a vision, and make known to thee that in the generation of my father Jared some of the angels of heaven transgressed the word of the Lord.
14.
And behold they commit sin and transgress the law, and have united themselves with women and commit sin with them, and have married some of them, and have begot children by them.
17.
And they shall produce on the earth giants not according to the spirit, but according to the flesh, and there shall be a great punishment on the earth, and the earth shall be cleansed from all impurity.
15.
Yea, there shall come a great destruction over the whole earth, and there shall be a deluge and a great destruction for one year.
16.
Themes
◆Divine Lighttheology
The uncreated luminous quality of the divine, sometimes experienced directly in mystical states; illumination as revelation.
The newborn child is described as lighting up the whole house like the sun with his eyes and countenance, manifesting a luminous divine quality.
A spiritual elite who possess the divine spark and are predestined for salvation, contrasted with psychic (faithful) and hylic (material) persons.
The child is described as diverse from and unlike man, resembling the sons of God, indicating a distinct spiritual elite status separate from ordinary humanity.
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] Enoch prophesies a great destruction, deluge, and punishment on the earth to cleanse it from impurity, centralizing the theme of final cosmic judgment.
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 Enoch's revelation that angels transgressed the Lord's word, united with women, and begot children, which is the core narrative of the Watchers' descent.