1 Enoch 34
Study resource: not ScriptureR. H. Charles translation (1917) · public domain
1And from thence I went towards the north to the ends of the earth, and there I saw a great and glorious device at the ends of the whole earth.
2And here I saw three portals of heaven open in the heaven: through each of them proceed north winds: when they blow there is cold, hail, frost, snow, dew, and rain.
3And out of one portal they blow for good: but when they blow through the other two portals, it is with violence and affliction on the earth, and they blow with violence.
The chapter, studied
The Portals of the North Wind
Enoch travels north and sees a great device at the ends of the earth: three open portals through which the north winds blow, bringing cold, hail, frost, snow, dew, and rain. One portal blows for good; the other two blow with violence and cause harm on the earth.
The chapter begins a run through all four directions, north here and west, south, and east immediately following, cataloguing the "portals" that release wind and weather: the same conviction as chapter 33 applied to weather instead of stars: nothing simply happens, every wind has a gate, and every gate has a purpose, whether blessing or affliction.
The moral sorting of the portals, one "for good," two bringing "violence and affliction," keeps weather inside the same governed, judged cosmos the whole tour describes, where even a north wind is assigned to either mercy or harm rather than left neutral.
Doors into the 66
- Jeremiah 49:36 — stands beside the four winds from the four quarters of heaven
- Zechariah 6:5 — stands beside the four spirits of the heavens going forth
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 towards the north to the ends of the earth, and there I saw a great and glorious device at the ends of the whole earth.
2And here I saw three portals of heaven open in the heaven: through each of them proceed north winds: when they blow there is cold, hail, frost, snow, dew, and rain.
3And out of one portal they blow for good: but when they blow through the other two portals, it is with violence and affliction on the earth, and they blow with violence.
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.