The Book of Enoch

Enoch (also: 1 Enoch) is canonical scripture for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The only complete copy of an early version of Enoch is available in Ge’ez (Classical Ethiopic), here used with permission by the Bible Society of Ethiopia.

The translation into English used here: 1 Enoch: The Hermeneia Translation. Translated by George W. E. Nickelsburg & James C. VanderKam. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012. with editorial alterations by Abraham Haile and additional translations by Haileyesus Woldemariam.

they will inherit the earth

The Greek in Matthew 5:5 that is translated as “inherit the earth” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with ihnen gehört die Zukunft or “the future belongs to them.” The translators explain (p. 579): “Literally: ‘… they will possess the land;’ meaning: the Holy Land of Palestine. This is the what the promises mean to the fathers. However, as land ownership is increasingly spiritualized, this beatitude stands for promise and the future in general.”

Note that this phrase also appears in Enoch 1:25.