1 Enoch 31
Study resource: not ScriptureR. H. Charles translation (1917) · public domain
1And I saw other mountains, and amongst them were groves of trees, and there flowed forth from them nectar, which is named sarara and galbanum.
2And beyond these mountains I saw another mountain to the east of the ends of the earth, whereon were aloe-trees, and all the trees were full of stacte, being like almond-trees.
3And when one burnt it, it smelt sweeter than any fragrant odour.
The chapter, studied
Where Nectar Runs Between the Mountains
Enoch sees more mountains flowing with resin-like nectar named sarara and galbanum, then another mountain to the east covered in aloe trees whose burned stacte gives a scent sweeter than any other.
Galbanum closes out the run of named aromatics with the most pointed echo yet: it is one of the specific ingredients commanded for Israel's holy incense in Exodus, meaning the tour has now touched, across three short chapters, several of the very substances the tabernacle used to mark off sacred space.
The chapter's closing note, that the burnt aloe "smelt sweeter than any fragrant odour," is the tour's crescendo before the arrival at Eden itself in chapter 32; the reader is meant to sense the journey climbing steadily toward something even more concentrated than incense.
Doors into the 66
- Exodus 30:34 — stands beside galbanum among the spices of the holy incense
- Song of Solomon 4:14 — stands beside myrrh and aloes among 'the chief spices'
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 I saw other mountains, and amongst them were groves of trees, and there flowed forth from them nectar, which is named sarara and galbanum.
2And beyond these mountains I saw another mountain to the east of the ends of the earth, whereon were aloe-trees, and all the trees were full of stacte, being like almond-trees.
3And when one burnt it, it smelt sweeter than any fragrant odour.
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.