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The Forgotten Books of Eden · 168 of 293

Secrets of Enoch: Chapter LXIII

Of how not to despise the poor, but to share with them equally, lest thou be murmured against before God.

1.WHEN man clothes the naked and fills the hungry, he will find reward from God.

2.But if his heart murmur, he commits a double evil: ruin of himself and of that which he gives; and for him there will be no finding of reward on account of that.

3.And if his own heart is filled with his food and his own flesh (sc. clothed) with his clothing he commits contempt, and forfeit all his endurance of poverty, and will not find reward of his good deeds.

4.Every proud and magniloquent man is hateful to the Lord, and every false speech, clothed in untruth; it will be cut with the blade of the sword of death, and thrown into the fire, and shall burn for all time.’

Asked of Guide

Why does Enoch say murmuring while giving ruins the giver's reward?

Enoch says that giving while your heart murmurs turns the act into a double evil: it ruins both the giver and “that which he gives,” so God will not count the offering. The chapter makes moral quality intrinsic to charity — clothing the naked and feeding the hungry bring reward only when the heart is sincere, otherwise the deed forfeits its merit.

This teaching matches Jesus’ concern in Matthew 6 about motives and almsgiving, where hidden, sincere charity is commended over public show. Enoch adds that pride and “false speech” make a person “hateful to the Lord,” and such moral corruption undoes the value of any gift.

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