1 Enoch 24
Study resource: not ScriptureR. H. Charles translation (1917) · public domain
1And from thence I went to another place of the earth, and he showed me a mountain range of fire which burnt day and night.
2And I went beyond it and saw seven magnificent mountains all differing each from the other, and the stones (thereof) were magnificent and beautiful, magnificent as a whole, of glorious appearance and fair exterior: three towards the east, one founded on the other, and three towards the south, one upon the other, and deep rough ravines, no one of which joined with any other.
3And the seventh mountain was in the midst of these, and it excelled them in height, resembling the seat of a throne: and fragrant trees encircled the throne.
4And amongst them was a tree such as I had never yet smelt, neither was any amongst them nor were others like it: it had a fragrance beyond all fragrance, and its leaves and blooms and wood wither not for ever: and its fruit is beautiful, and its fruit resembles the dates of a palm.
5Then I said: ‘How beautiful is this tree, and fragrant, and its leaves are fair, and its blooms very delightful in appearance.’
6Then answered Michael, one of the holy and honoured angels who was with me, and was their leader.
The chapter, studied
The Mountain Like a Throne
Enoch sees a burning mountain range, then seven glorious mountains arranged around a seventh, central peak shaped like a throne's seat, ringed by fragrant trees. Among those trees is one unlike any other, its fruit like the dates of a palm and its fragrance beyond every other fragrance.
The throne-mountain and its guardian tree set up the payoff chapter 25 delivers: this is not simply striking geography but a preview of where God himself will one day sit and reign. Michael, "one of the holy and honoured angels," takes over as Enoch's guide here, a change of speaker that signals the importance of the scene.
The unnamed fragrant tree, singled out by its unmatched scent and unwithering leaves, is the chapter's central image and is picked up directly in chapter 25 as reserved fruit for the righteous: a tree-of-life motif carried out of Eden and forward into an eschatological garden.
Doors into the 66
- Genesis 2:9 — stands beside the tree of life in the midst of the garden
- Revelation 22:2 — echoes forward to the tree of life and its leaves for the healing of the nations
- Daniel 7:9 — stands beside the throne set for the Ancient of Days
Teachers on this ground
R. H. Charles
The Book of Enoch (1917)
The public-domain translation this shelf reads, with the critical introduction the field still builds on.
Johnny Enlow
The Book of Enoch: Paraphrase and Commentary (2025)
A living teacher's paraphrase of the whole book with his own running commentary, from the prophetic stream.
Michael S. Heiser
A Companion to the Book of Enoch: A Reader's Commentary, Vol. I — The Book of the Watchers (2019)
A verse-by-verse reader's commentary on chapters 1–36: the closest thing in print to a study Bible for this section.
1And from thence I went to another place of the earth, and he showed me a mountain range of fire which burnt day and night.
2And I went beyond it and saw seven magnificent mountains all differing each from the other, and the stones (thereof) were magnificent and beautiful, magnificent as a whole, of glorious appearance and fair exterior: three towards the east, one founded on the other, and three towards the south, one upon the other, and deep rough ravines, no one of which joined with any other.
3And the seventh mountain was in the midst of these, and it excelled them in height, resembling the seat of a throne: and fragrant trees encircled the throne.
4And amongst them was a tree such as I had never yet smelt, neither was any amongst them nor were others like it: it had a fragrance beyond all fragrance, and its leaves and blooms and wood wither not for ever: and its fruit is beautiful, and its fruit resembles the dates of a palm.
5Then I said: ‘How beautiful is this tree, and fragrant, and its leaves are fair, and its blooms very delightful in appearance.’
6Then answered Michael, one of the holy and honoured angels who was with me, and was their leader.
The language it was written in
Aramaic (the Qumran fragments' language); parts possibly Hebrew. The Parables (chs. 37–71) have no Qumran witness and their original language is debated.
What survives, and where
Aramaic: Dead Sea Scrolls
Eleven fragmentary manuscripts from Qumran Cave 4 covering every section except the Parables (3rd c. BC – 1st c. AD).
Greek
Substantial portions: chs. 1–32 (Codex Panopolitanus), quotations in Syncellus, and the Chester Beatty papyrus of the Epistle.
Ge’ez (Ethiopic)
The only complete text, preserved by the Ethiopian church, whose canon receives the book; the base of every full translation.
What you are reading here
R. H. Charles's 1917 English translation, made from the Ge’ez against the Greek and Aramaic evidence then known — public domain, quotable in full.
No tagged word floor exists for the Aramaic or Ge’ez text; word-by-word study on this shelf awaits a future ingest. What stands here is the manuscript story itself.