1 Enoch 48
Study resource: not ScriptureR. H. Charles translation (1917) · public domain
1And in that place I saw the fountain of righteousness Which was inexhaustible: And around it were many fountains of wisdom: And all the thirsty drank of them, And were filled with wisdom, And their dwellings were with the righteous and holy and elect.
2And at that hour that Son of Man was named In the presence of the Lord of Spirits, And his name before the Head of Days.
3Yea, before the sun and the signs were created, Before the stars of the heaven were made, His name was named before the Lord of Spirits.
4He shall be a staff to the righteous whereon to stay themselves and not fall, And he shall be the light of the Gentiles, And the hope of those who are troubled of heart.
5All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship before him, And will praise and bless and celebrate with song the Lord of Spirits.
6And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before Him, Before the creation of the world and for evermore.
7And the wisdom of the Lord of Spirits hath revealed him to the holy and righteous; For he hath preserved the lot of the righteous, Because they have hated and despised this world of unrighteousness, And have hated all its works and ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits: For in his name they are saved, And according to his good pleasure hath it been in regard to their life.
8In these days downcast in countenance shall the kings of the earth have become, And the strong who possess the land because of the works of their hands, For on the day of their anguish and affliction they shall not (be able to) save themselves.
9And I will give them over into the hands of Mine elect: As straw in the fire so shall they burn before the face of the holy: As lead in the water shall they sink before the face of the righteous, And no trace of them shall any more be found.
10And on the day of their affliction there shall be rest on the earth, And before them they shall fall and not rise again: And there shall be no one to take them with his hands and raise them: For they have denied the Lord of Spirits and His Anointed. The name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed.
The chapter, studied
Named Before the Stars Were Made: The Pre-Existent Son of Man
Enoch sees "the fountain of righteousness," inexhaustible and surrounded by fountains of wisdom that satisfy all who drink. At that hour "that Son of Man was named" before the Lord of Spirits: named, the text says, "before the sun and the signs were created," to be a staff for the righteous and "the light of the Gentiles." All who dwell on earth will one day "fall down and worship before him," while those who "denied the Lord of Spirits and His Anointed" will be destroyed like straw in fire and lead in water.
This chapter states the Son of Man's pre-existence in the plainest terms 1 Enoch offers: his name existed "before the creation of the world," hidden until revealed to the righteous. Combined with chapter 46's throne scene, the Parables present a figure who is both eternally purposed and, at the appointed hour, publicly disclosed: a shape later Christian readers would recognize in language used of Christ, though 1 Enoch itself makes no claim about Jesus of Nazareth.
The title "the light of the Gentiles" is drawn from Israel's own prophetic vocabulary, applied here to this enthroned, worshiped figure rather than to the nation of Israel or its king in the immediate sense those prophetic texts originally carried.
The chapter's warning half is stark: those who deny "the Lord of Spirits and His Anointed" together, pairing God and his Anointed as one object of allegiance, face total destruction, "no trace of them... any more be found." Worship of the Son of Man and worship of God are treated as the same act of loyalty, refused or given together.
Doors into the 66
- Isaiah 49:6 — "The light of the Gentiles" directly echoes Isaiah's servant-figure given "for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth."
- Psalms 2:2 — "Denied the Lord of Spirits and His Anointed" echoes the kings of the earth standing "against the LORD, and against his anointed."
- Philippians 2:10 — All who dwell on earth falling down to worship the Son of Man stands beside every knee bowing to Jesus in Paul's hymn.
- John 1:1 — A figure named and hidden with God "before the creation of the world" stands beside John's opening claim that the Word already was, in the beginning, with God.
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 in that place I saw the fountain of righteousness Which was inexhaustible: And around it were many fountains of wisdom: And all the thirsty drank of them, And were filled with wisdom, And their dwellings were with the righteous and holy and elect.
2And at that hour that Son of Man was named In the presence of the Lord of Spirits, And his name before the Head of Days.
3Yea, before the sun and the signs were created, Before the stars of the heaven were made, His name was named before the Lord of Spirits.
4He shall be a staff to the righteous whereon to stay themselves and not fall, And he shall be the light of the Gentiles, And the hope of those who are troubled of heart.
5All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship before him, And will praise and bless and celebrate with song the Lord of Spirits.
6And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before Him, Before the creation of the world and for evermore.
7And the wisdom of the Lord of Spirits hath revealed him to the holy and righteous; For he hath preserved the lot of the righteous, Because they have hated and despised this world of unrighteousness, And have hated all its works and ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits: For in his name they are saved, And according to his good pleasure hath it been in regard to their life.
8In these days downcast in countenance shall the kings of the earth have become, And the strong who possess the land because of the works of their hands, For on the day of their anguish and affliction they shall not (be able to) save themselves.
9And I will give them over into the hands of Mine elect: As straw in the fire so shall they burn before the face of the holy: As lead in the water shall they sink before the face of the righteous, And no trace of them shall any more be found.
10And on the day of their affliction there shall be rest on the earth, And before them they shall fall and not rise again: And there shall be no one to take them with his hands and raise them: For they have denied the Lord of Spirits and His Anointed. The name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed.
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.