Texts in Conversation
Sirach and 1 Enoch share a Jewish cosmological tradition that portrays the sun as a powerful and awe-inspiring force, using the same language to describe its heat, brilliance, and impact on the earth, emphasizing its role as a sign of the divine order in creation.
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Sirach 43:2
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 The pride of the higher realms is the clear vault of the sky, as glorious to behold as the sight of the heavens. 2 The sun, when it appears, proclaims as it rises what a marvelous instrument it is, the work of the Most High. 3 At noon it parches the land, and who can withstand its burning heat? 4 A man tending a furnace works in burning heat, but three times as hot is the sun scorching the mountains; it breathes out fiery vapors, and its bright rays blind the eyes.
Date: 195-175 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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1 Enoch 4:1
Pseudepigrapha
1 And again, observe the days of summer how the sun is high above the earth. You seek shade and shelter due to the sun's intense heat, and the ground also burns with growing heat, so you cannot walk on the earth or on a rock because of its heat.
Date: 200-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... A description of the signs of the (four) seasons is included at the end of the Astronomical Book. Outside the Enochic texts, Sirach 43:2-4 contains a description of the sun's heat and its effect on the earth that parallels I Enoch 4:1. When it is viewed in the light of these materials, the present section indicates that its author has crafted traditional material with purpose and symmetry ..."
Nickelsburg, George W. E.
A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108
(p. 156) Fortress Press, 2001
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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