Ethiopian passage studies

Thematic parallel

The throne of glory and judgement

Enoch describes rulers confronted by the enthroned figure and recognising their predicament. Matthew describes the Son of Man on his throne, the gathering of nations and a separation explained through acts of care and neglect.

Context & study questions

Read these as distinct passages with their own references. The columns compare a relationship between works; they do not align equivalent verses or highlight translation differences.

Ethiopian collection

R. H. Charles

1 Enoch 62:1–9

1 And thus the Lord commanded the kings and the mighty and the exalted, and those who dwell on the earth, and said: ‘Open your eyes and lift up your horns if ye are able to recognize the Elect One.’

2 And the Lord of Spirits seated him on the throne of His glory, And the spirit of righteousness was poured out upon him, And the word of his mouth slays all the sinners, And all the unrighteous are destroyed from before his face.

3 And there shall stand up in that day all the kings and the mighty, And the exalted and those who hold the earth, And they shall see and recognize How he sits on the throne of his glory, And righteousness is judged before him, And no lying word is spoken before him.

4 Then shall pain come upon them as on a woman in travail, [And she has pain in bringing forth] When her child enters the mouth of the womb, And she has pain in bringing forth.

5 And one portion of them shall look on the other, And they shall be terrified, And they shall be downcast of countenance, And pain shall seize them, When they see that Son of Man Sitting on the throne of his glory.

6 And the kings and the mighty and all who possess the earth shall bless and glorify and extol him who rules over all, who was hidden.

7 For from the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, And the Most High preserved him in the presence of His might, And revealed him to the elect.

8 And the congregation of the elect and holy shall be sown, And all the elect shall stand before him on that day.

9 And all the kings and the mighty and the exalted and those who rule the earth Shall fall down before him on their faces, And worship and set their hope upon that Son of Man, And petition him and supplicate for mercy at his hands.

Biblical passage

World English Bible

Matthew 25:31–46

31 "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.

32 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33 He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, 'Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in;

36 naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.'

37 "Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink?

38 When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you?

39 When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?'

40 "The King will answer them, 'Most assuredly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

41 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;

42 for I was hungry, and you didn't give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;

43 I was a stranger, and you didn't take me in; naked, and you didn't clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'

44 "Then they will also answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn't help you?'

45 "Then he will answer them, saying, 'Most assuredly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn't do it to one of the least of these, you didn't do it to me.'

46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Editorial reading aids

Context for the comparison

The shared throne and judgement language invites comparison, while the speeches, audiences and stated grounds of judgement need to be read in their own contexts. Continue through Enoch 62:16 for the outcome for the righteous.

Questions for close reading

  1. Who is addressed by the judge or narrator?
  2. Which actions or failures are made explicit in each account?

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Text sources and editorial treatment

R. H. Charles's translation, reprinted in 1917 from his 1912 edition. Public-domain translation text, transcribed by Project Gutenberg. We retain his textual brackets and uncertainty marks, join poetry into verse paragraphs, omit editorial headings and footnotes, and arrange verses by their reference numbers. Where chapters 22, 27 and 32 print Ethiopic and Greek readings side by side, this reader uses the Ethiopic column. Lettered subverse portions are grouped under their verse number, with their labels retained. The misprinted second label 5 in chapter 60 is restored to 25, following Charles's 1913 edition. This historic scholarly edition is not an official English translation of the Ethiopian Church. See the source for the critical notes and typographic distinctions.

Charles's Enoch: edition and full source · About World English Bible and the other Bible editions

Each panel displays the stored source text without rewriting it to resemble the other passage. Verse labels belong to that edition. The observations above describe these selected passages; they are not ancient text or a claim that all scholarly interpretations agree.