1 Enoch 61
Study resource: not ScriptureR. H. Charles translation (1917) · public domain
1And I saw in those days how long cords were given to those angels, and they took to themselves wings and flew, and they went towards the north.
2And I asked the angel, saying unto him: ‘Why have those (angels) taken these cords and gone off?’ And he said unto me: ‘They have gone to measure.’
3And the angel who went with me said unto me: ‘These shall bring the measures of the righteous, And the ropes of the righteous to the righteous, That they may stay themselves on the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.
4The elect shall begin to dwell with the elect, And those are the measures which shall be given to faith And which shall strengthen righteousness.
5And these measures shall reveal all the secrets of the depths of the earth, And those who have been destroyed by the desert, And those who have been devoured by the beasts, And those who have been devoured by the fish of the sea, That they may return and stay themselves On the day of the Elect One; For none shall be destroyed before the Lord of Spirits, And none can be destroyed.
6And all who dwell above in the heaven received a command and power and one voice and one light like unto fire.
7And that One (with) their first words they blessed, And extolled and lauded with wisdom, And they were wise in utterance and in the spirit of life.
8And the Lord of Spirits placed the Elect One on the throne of glory. And he shall judge all the works of the holy above in the heaven, And in the balance shall their deeds be weighed.
9And when he shall lift up his countenance To judge their secret ways according to the word of the name of the Lord of Spirits, And their path according to the way of the righteous judgement of the Lord of Spirits, Then shall they all with one voice speak and bless, And glorify and extol and sanctify the name of the Lord of Spirits.
10And He will summon all the host of the heavens, and all the holy ones above, and the host of God, the Cherubin, Seraphin and Ophannin, and all the angels of power, and all the angels of principalities, and the Elect One, and the other powers on the earth (and) over the water.
11On that day shall raise one voice, and bless and glorify and exalt in the spirit of faith, and in the spirit of wisdom, and in the spirit of patience, and in the spirit of mercy, and in the spirit of judgement and of peace, and in the spirit of goodness, and shall all say with one voice: "Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed for ever and ever."
12All who sleep not above in heaven shall bless Him: All the holy ones who are in heaven shall bless Him, And all the elect who dwell in the garden of life: And every spirit of light who is able to bless, and glorify, and extol, and hallow Thy blessed name, And all flesh shall beyond measure glorify and bless Thy name for ever and ever.
13For great is the mercy of the Lord of Spirits, and He is long-suffering, And all His works and all that He has created He has revealed to the righteous and elect In the name of the Lord of Spirits.’
The chapter, studied
Cords to Measure the Righteous
Enoch sees angels given long cords and wings to fly north to "measure", bringing "the measures of the righteous" to the righteous, so that even those lost in the desert, devoured by beasts, or drowned in the sea will be accounted for and returned "on the day of the Elect One." The Lord of Spirits then seats "the Elect One" on the throne of glory to judge the works of the holy, and the full heavenly host, Cherubin, Seraphin, Ophannin, and every rank of angel, is summoned to bless His name.
The measuring-cord image pictures God's care as literal accounting: nothing lost to desert, beast, or sea escapes being measured and restored "on the day of the Elect One," a striking assurance that no manner of death removes a person from God's reckoning.
This chapter marks a structural turn in the Third Parable: the Elect One is placed "on the throne of glory" not yet to judge sinners but "to judge all the works of the holy... in the balance," a judgment of the righteous' own deeds that precedes the fuller judgment scene of chapter 62.
The naming of "Cherubin, Seraphin and Ophannin" alongside the angels of principalities gathers the full angelic ranks known from elsewhere into a single worshiping choir, "in the spirit of faith... wisdom... patience... mercy... judgement... peace... goodness": worship built from an entire vocabulary of virtues rather than one note alone.
Doors into the 66
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 I saw in those days how long cords were given to those angels, and they took to themselves wings and flew, and they went towards the north.
2And I asked the angel, saying unto him: ‘Why have those (angels) taken these cords and gone off?’ And he said unto me: ‘They have gone to measure.’
3And the angel who went with me said unto me: ‘These shall bring the measures of the righteous, And the ropes of the righteous to the righteous, That they may stay themselves on the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.
4The elect shall begin to dwell with the elect, And those are the measures which shall be given to faith And which shall strengthen righteousness.
5And these measures shall reveal all the secrets of the depths of the earth, And those who have been destroyed by the desert, And those who have been devoured by the beasts, And those who have been devoured by the fish of the sea, That they may return and stay themselves On the day of the Elect One; For none shall be destroyed before the Lord of Spirits, And none can be destroyed.
6And all who dwell above in the heaven received a command and power and one voice and one light like unto fire.
7And that One (with) their first words they blessed, And extolled and lauded with wisdom, And they were wise in utterance and in the spirit of life.
8And the Lord of Spirits placed the Elect One on the throne of glory. And he shall judge all the works of the holy above in the heaven, And in the balance shall their deeds be weighed.
9And when he shall lift up his countenance To judge their secret ways according to the word of the name of the Lord of Spirits, And their path according to the way of the righteous judgement of the Lord of Spirits, Then shall they all with one voice speak and bless, And glorify and extol and sanctify the name of the Lord of Spirits.
10And He will summon all the host of the heavens, and all the holy ones above, and the host of God, the Cherubin, Seraphin and Ophannin, and all the angels of power, and all the angels of principalities, and the Elect One, and the other powers on the earth (and) over the water.
11On that day shall raise one voice, and bless and glorify and exalt in the spirit of faith, and in the spirit of wisdom, and in the spirit of patience, and in the spirit of mercy, and in the spirit of judgement and of peace, and in the spirit of goodness, and shall all say with one voice: "Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed for ever and ever."
12All who sleep not above in heaven shall bless Him: All the holy ones who are in heaven shall bless Him, And all the elect who dwell in the garden of life: And every spirit of light who is able to bless, and glorify, and extol, and hallow Thy blessed name, And all flesh shall beyond measure glorify and bless Thy name for ever and ever.
13For great is the mercy of the Lord of Spirits, and He is long-suffering, And all His works and all that He has created He has revealed to the righteous and elect In 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.