The Book of Enoch 33
Book I The Book of the Watchers Chapters 1–36 · 3rd century BCE
The oldest core of 1 Enoch: the descent of the two hundred Watchers, the birth of the giants, Enoch's intercession, and his guided journeys through the cosmos and the places of judgment.
Dating & manuscripts. Among the oldest apocalyptic writings in existence. Aramaic copies were found at Qumran (4QEnoch a-c), confirming its pre-Maccabean date - older than the Book of Daniel.
Chapters 6-11 preserve an older Semjaza/Shemihazah myth cycle later woven together with the Azazel/Asael tradition; scholars read them as composite, with a Noah fragment embedded. Angel names vary by manuscript (Semjaza/Shemihazah, Azazel/Asael).
In later tradition. This section's imagery echoes through later scripture and tradition: the Epistle of Jude (verses 14-15) quotes 1 Enoch 1:9 by name, and the Watchers legend shaped 2 Peter, the Book of Revelation, and the theology of the Qumran community and early Christianity.
The Book of Giants. A sixth Enochic work that expands the Watchers story from the giants' point of view - their violence, their prophetic dreams, and their doom. Known from Aramaic fragments at Qumran and, centuries later, adopted into Manichaean scripture. It is not part of the Ethiopic 1 Enoch preserved here.
1 Enoch is an anthology of five distinct works, composed over roughly three centuries.
The Ends of the Earth to the North
Enoch went to the ends of the earth and saw great beasts each differing from the other and birds differing in appearance beauty and voice.
1nd from thence I went to the ends of the earth and saw there great beasts, and each differed from the other; and (I saw) birds also differing in appearance and beauty and voice, the one differing from the other.
2 And to the east of those beasts I saw the ends of the earth whereon the heaven rests, and the portals of the heaven open.
3 And I saw how the stars of heaven come forth, and I counted the portals out of which they proceed, and wrote down all their outlets, of each individual star by itself, according to their number and their names, their courses and their positions, and their times and their months, as Uriel the holy angel who was with me showed me.
4 He showed all things to me and wrote them down for me: also their names he wrote for me, and their laws and their companies.
Did You Know?
Enoch went to the ends of the earth and saw great beasts each differing from the other and birds differing in appearance beauty and voice.
To the east of those beasts Enoch saw the ends of the earth whereon the heaven rests and the portals of the heaven open.
Enoch counted the portals out of which the stars of heaven come forth and wrote down all their outlets for each star by itself.
Uriel the holy angel who was with Enoch showed him all things and wrote down their names laws and companies.
Enoch wrote down the outlets of each individual star according to their number and names courses positions times and months.
← → arrow keys to navigate chapters · spacebar to play/pause audio
Commentary
In brief
Enoch goes to the ends of the earth seeing diverse great beasts and birds of varied appearance, beauty and voice. Eastward he views the resting place of heaven with its open portals, and Uriel shows him the stars coming forth as he counts and records their outlets, names, courses, positions, times, months, laws and companies.