1 Enoch 46
Study resource: not ScriptureR. H. Charles translation (1917) · public domain
1And there I saw One who had a head of days, And His head was white like wool, And with Him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man, And his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.
2And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, (and) why he went with the Head of Days?
3And he answered and said unto me: This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, With whom dwelleth righteousness, And who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden, Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, And whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever.
4And this Son of Man whom thou hast seen Shall raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats, [And the strong from their thrones] And shall loosen the reins of the strong, And break the teeth of the sinners.
5[And he shall put down the kings from their thrones and kingdoms] Because they do not extol and praise Him, Nor humbly acknowledge whence the kingdom was bestowed upon them.
6And he shall put down the countenance of the strong, And shall fill them with shame. And darkness shall be their dwelling, And worms shall be their bed, And they shall have no hope of rising from their beds, Because they do not extol the name of the Lord of Spirits.
7And these are they who judge the stars of heaven, [And raise their hands against the Most High], And tread upon the earth and dwell upon it. And all their deeds manifest unrighteousness, And their power rests upon their riches, And their faith is in the gods which they have made with their hands, And they deny the name of the Lord of Spirits,
8And they persecute the houses of His congregations, And the faithful who hang upon the name of the Lord of Spirits.
The chapter, studied
The Head of Days and the Son of Man
Enoch sees "One who had a head of days," whose head was "white like wool," accompanied by "another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man." His angelic guide identifies this second figure as "the Son of Man who hath righteousness," chosen by the Lord of Spirits, who will topple kings and the mighty from their thrones and "break the teeth of the sinners" because they refuse to honor the source of their power and persecute God's people.
This is one of the most theologically weighted chapters in the whole book. The white-haired "Head of Days" and the man-like figure who stands beside him closely mirror Daniel's vision of the Ancient of Days and "one like the Son of man" who comes with the clouds and is given dominion. Whether the Parables' Son of Man drew directly on Daniel or developed the figure independently within the same stream of Jewish expectation is debated by scholars, but the two visions plainly stand in the same tradition.
The description here goes further than a mere judge: this Son of Man "hath righteousness," possesses hidden treasures of wisdom, and is chosen by God with a status that "hath the pre-eminence... for ever." He acts with royal and judicial authority, raising up and casting down kings, because they refuse to "extol and praise Him" or "humbly acknowledge whence the kingdom was bestowed upon them."
A Christian student should notice both the resemblance and the honest limits of it. The language of a pre-eminent, righteousness-bearing Son of Man who humbles the mighty and is denied honor by the powerful anticipates New Testament language about Jesus in striking ways: but 1 Enoch is a Jewish visionary text centuries removed from any Christian claim about Jesus of Nazareth, and its own dating and authorship remain unsettled. The right way to hold this is as an echo and a witness to what "Son of Man" language could carry in Second Temple Judaism, not as a source text for the Gospels' title.
Doors into the 66
- Daniel 7:13 — The white-headed "Head of Days" beside a man-like figure directly parallels Daniel's Ancient of Days and "one like the Son of man."
- Matthew 26:64 — Jesus' own words to the Sanhedrin about the Son of man "coming in the clouds of heaven" use the same title this chapter gives its enthroned figure.
- Luke 1:52 — "Raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats" closely echoes Mary's song that God "hath put down the mighty from their seats."
- Psalms 3:7 — "Break the teeth of the sinners" echoes the Psalmist's plea that God would "break the teeth of the ungodly."
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. II — The Parables of Enoch (2020)
The reader's commentary continued into the Son of Man visions of these chapters.
1And there I saw One who had a head of days, And His head was white like wool, And with Him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man, And his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.
2And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, (and) why he went with the Head of Days?
3And he answered and said unto me: This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, With whom dwelleth righteousness, And who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden, Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, And whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever.
4And this Son of Man whom thou hast seen Shall raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats, [And the strong from their thrones] And shall loosen the reins of the strong, And break the teeth of the sinners.
5[And he shall put down the kings from their thrones and kingdoms] Because they do not extol and praise Him, Nor humbly acknowledge whence the kingdom was bestowed upon them.
6And he shall put down the countenance of the strong, And shall fill them with shame. And darkness shall be their dwelling, And worms shall be their bed, And they shall have no hope of rising from their beds, Because they do not extol the name of the Lord of Spirits.
7And these are they who judge the stars of heaven, [And raise their hands against the Most High], And tread upon the earth and dwell upon it. And all their deeds manifest unrighteousness, And their power rests upon their riches, And their faith is in the gods which they have made with their hands, And they deny the name of the Lord of Spirits,
8And they persecute the houses of His congregations, And the faithful who hang upon the name of the Lord of Spirits.
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.