After the ten plagues, after the final convulsions of the dying age, God revealed to Abraham the moment everything would change.
"Then I will sound the trumpet out of the air and will send my Elect One, having in him all my power, one measure."
The Elect One. The Messiah. A title drawn from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1), used throughout the visions of 1 Enoch, and here given its most concentrated description. "One measure" of all the divine attributes, a human being who reflected in miniature the totality of God's character. Not a supernatural angelic being like Metatron, but a divinely endowed man, full of the power of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:1), sent by God at the appointed time.
"This one shall summon my despised people from the nations."
The ingathering of the exiles. The same hope expressed in the daily liturgy: "Sound the great horn for our freedom; lift up the ensign to gather our exiles, and gather us from the four corners of the earth."
"And I will burn with fire those who have insulted them and who have ruled over them in this age. I will give those who covered me with mockery to the scorn of the coming age. I have prepared them to be food for the fire of the underworld and for ceaseless flight through the air beneath the earth."
The punishment of the wicked was twofold: fire below and restless wandering above. Their bodies consumed by the worm of Azazel. Their spirits finding no rest until the judgment.
"For they shall decay in the body of the evil worm Azazel, and be burned with the fire of Azazel's tongue. For I had hoped that they would come to me, and not have loved and praised a strange god, and not have adhered to one for whom they were not allotted. But instead they forsook the mighty Lord."
Even in judgment, the note of grief. God had hoped. He had waited. They had chosen otherwise.
“And then I will sound the trumpet 1 out of the air, and will send mine Elect One,2
having in him all my power, one measure3; and this one shall summon4 my despised people from
the nations,5 and I will burn with fire6 those7 who have insulted them and who have ruled
among8 them in (this) Age.
“And I will give those who have covered me with mockery to the scorn of the coming
Age;9 and I have prepared them to be food 1 0 for the fire of Hades and for ceaseless flight to
and fro through the air in the underworld beneath the earth11 [the body filled with worms.12 For
on them shall th ey see the righteousness of th e Creator—those, namely, who have chosen to do my will,
and those who have openly kept my13 commandments,14 (and) they shall rejoice with joy over the
The t r um p et is blown to announce the Divine intervention and the coming of salvation; it is n ot
a direct summons to the exiles to return (cf. Volz, p. 310); cf. Benediction X in the Shm Çn ‘ Es r P r ayer
(Singer, p. 48): Sound the great horn for our freedom; lift up the ensign to gather our ex iles , and gat her us from
the four corners of the earth.
This title of the Messiah is a favourite on e in th e “ Si militudes” of 1 Enoch; cf. 1 Enoch xlviii. 9, lv.
4, etc. It recurs as a Messianic title in Luke ix. 35, xxiii. 35, and goes back to Is. xlii. 1.
i.e. a measure of all th e divine attributes—he reflects in little the totality of t h e div in e character.
This is an exalted conception, but does no t s eem to imply more than that the Messiah is a divinely
end owed m a n , f ul l o f the power of the Holy Spirit (Is. xi. 1), which makes him free from sin (Ps. Sol. xvii .
36 f.). He is not depicted as a supernatural angelic being like Met a t r o n . H e i s sent by God at the
appointed time; cf. Ps. Sol. xvii. 23, Gal. iv. 4, John xvii. 3.
N ot e t hat it is th e Messiah here who summons the outcast Israelites from the nations (so also Ps .
Sol. xvii. 28, Matt. xxiv. 31, 4 Ezra xiii. 39). More usually th is is perform ed by God Himself (cf. the prayer
cited in note1 above).
Cf. Is. lx. 4.
Punishment of the godless by fire at God’s hands is a common featur e in the eschatology. It is the
fire of the divin e an ger t h at i s t h ought of, and is based upon Mal. iv. 1 (iii. 19); cf. the “fiery stream” and
“flaming breath” which t h e Messiah emits from his mouth to destroy his enemies in 4 Ezra xiii. 10
(interpreted figuratively in verses 36 f.). A adds through him (after I will), i. e. th rough th e Messiah; K,
through them.
i. e. the heathen nations.
i. e. “over.” Cf. Ap. Bar. lxxii. 6 ( “ Bu t al l t hose who have ruled over you . . . shall be given to the
sword”).
Those who have s co r n e d s h a l l be scorned; cf. Wisdom iv. 18, Dan. xii. 2, Ps. Sol. ii. 32 f. (“the
coming Age” is the Age of the righteous). Possibly renegade Jews are referred to, and are the subject of
the remaining part of this chapter.
Cf. Mal. iv. I (iii. 19).
Here t wo co n ceptions seem to be mixed; there is (1) the idea of “th e fire of Hades” (or Hell),
which is located beneath the earth (for “Hades” = Hell in this sense: cf. Ps. Sol. xv. 11); t h i s f i re
consumes their bodies; (2) combined with this is the idea of wanderin g (f l ying) restlessly about (properly
in the air or outer darkn ess); cf. 4 Ezra vii. 80. In T. B. Shabb. 152b the souls of the wicked are said to be
given no p l ac e o f re st t ill the judgement. Here (at the word earth) S ends. The rest of the text (printed
in small type) is found both in A and K.
In Judith xvi. 17 “fire and worms” await the heathen enemie s of Israel; cf. Ecclus. vii. 17, 1 En och
x l v i . 6 (“darkness will be their dwelling and worm s th eir bed”), Is. lxvi. 24. Here renegade Jews ar e
probably meant.
14
A, thy.
Cf. Is. lxvi. 24, 4 Ezra vii. 93.
downfal l of t h e m en who still remain, who have followed the idols and their murders.1 For they shall
putrefy in the b o dy o f t h e evil worm Azazel,2 and be burn t with the fire of A zazel’s tongue;3 for I hoped
th at they would come to m e,4 and n ot have l o v ed an d p rai s ed th e strange (god),5 and n ot have adhered
to h im for wh om they were not allotted,6 but (instead) they have forsaken the migh ty Lord.”
Conclusion (Chapter XXXII.)
