1 Enoch 95
Study resource: not ScriptureR. H. Charles translation (1917) · public domain
1Oh that mine eyes were [a cloud of] waters That I might weep over you, And pour down my tears as a cloud of waters: That so I might rest from my trouble of heart!
2Who has permitted you to practise reproaches and wickedness? And so judgement shall overtake you, sinners.
3Fear not the sinners, ye righteous; For again will the Lord deliver them into your hands, That ye may execute judgement upon them according to your desires.
4Woe to you who fulminate anathemas which cannot be reversed: Healing shall therefore be far from you because of your sins.
5Woe to you who requite your neighbour with evil; For ye shall be requited according to your works.
6Woe to you, lying witnesses, And to those who weigh out injustice, For suddenly shall ye perish.
7Woe to you, sinners, for ye persecute the righteous; For ye shall be delivered up and persecuted because of injustice, And heavy shall its yoke be upon you.
The chapter, studied
The Tears of a Man Who Cannot Bear What He Sees Coming
Enoch wishes his eyes were clouds of water so he could weep over the sinners he is describing. He tells the righteous not to fear sinners, because the Lord will hand sinners over to them for judgment, then pronounces woes against those who curse falsely, repay evil for evil, bear false witness, and persecute the righteous.
This short chapter opens with something the surrounding woe-oracles rarely allow: raw grief. "Oh that mine eyes were a cloud of waters that I might weep over you" is Enoch's own voice breaking through the prophetic form, closer to a weeping prophet's lament than to a courtroom verdict.
The chapter then turns back to reassurance: "Fear not the sinners, ye righteous; for again will the Lord deliver them into your hands." Read inside the whole Epistle, that promise is aimed at comforting the persecuted rather than licensing private revenge: the book's whole burden is that judgment belongs to the Most High, not to the reader's own hand.
The remaining woes, against false anathemas, evil repaid for evil, lying witnesses, and persecutors of the righteous, keep circling one principle already stated plainly: "ye shall be requited according to your works" (v.5).
Doors into the 66
- Jeremiah 9:1 — "Oh that my head were waters" — Jeremiah's own wish to weep without ceasing over his people's sin stands beside Enoch's opening lament.
- Romans 12:19 — "the Lord will deliver them into your hands" for judgment, rather than the righteous taking revenge themselves, stands beside "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord".
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.
1Oh that mine eyes were [a cloud of] waters That I might weep over you, And pour down my tears as a cloud of waters: That so I might rest from my trouble of heart!
2Who has permitted you to practise reproaches and wickedness? And so judgement shall overtake you, sinners.
3Fear not the sinners, ye righteous; For again will the Lord deliver them into your hands, That ye may execute judgement upon them according to your desires.
4Woe to you who fulminate anathemas which cannot be reversed: Healing shall therefore be far from you because of your sins.
5Woe to you who requite your neighbour with evil; For ye shall be requited according to your works.
6Woe to you, lying witnesses, And to those who weigh out injustice, For suddenly shall ye perish.
7Woe to you, sinners, for ye persecute the righteous; For ye shall be delivered up and persecuted because of injustice, And heavy shall its yoke be upon you.
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.