1 Enoch 62:4

Pseudepigrapha

3 On that day, all the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who hold the earth will stand, and they shall see and recognize how he sits on the throne of his glory, and how righteousness is judged before him, and no false word is spoken before him. 4 Pain will come upon them as upon a woman in childbirth, when her child enters the birth canal, and she feels the agony of delivery. 5 One group will look at another in terror, their faces will fall, and pain will seize them when they see the Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory. 6 The kings, the mighty, and all who possess the earth shall bless, glorify, and extol him who reigns over all, who was hidden.

1 Thessalonians 5:3

New Testament

1 Now on the topic of times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night. 3 Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would. 5 For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. 6 So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober.

 Notes and References

"... A significant reason to regard 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 as a literary unit is based on Paul's use of apocalyptic symbols throughout the passage. Many of the symbols which Paul uses can be found in the Old Testament as well as in Jewish apocalyptic material. (That Paul is not creating his own imagery can be shown from its occurrence in Jewish apocalyptic material - e.g., the figure of judgment as 'travail upon an expectant mother' [compare 1 Thess 5:3; Matt 24:8] can be found in 1 Enoch 62:4 ...) However, the imagery Paul uses bears a striking resemblance to the eschatological teaching regarding the coming of the Son of Man in the Olivet discourse of the synoptic gospels, particularly the Matthean form. Although many of the symbols do occur in Jewish apocalyptic, the figures appear in isolated texts but never all together as one finds in the Matthean parallels. That Paul is drawing on traditional eschatological material is implied by his statement in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 in which he says, 'We say this to you by the word of the Lord.' ..."

Howard, Tracy L. The Literary Unity of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 (pp. 163-190) Grace Theological Journal, 9.2, 1988

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