1 Enoch 14:20

Pseudepigrapha

18 And from underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire so that I could not look upon it. 19 And the Great Glory sat on it, and His garment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any snow. 20 None of the angels could enter and could behold His face because of the magnificence and glory and no flesh could behold Him. 21 The flaming fire was all around Him, and a great fire stood before Him, and no one around could draw near Him: ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him, yet He needed no counselor. 22 And the most holy ones who were near to Him did not leave by night nor depart from Him.

Revelation 5:11

New Testament

9 They were singing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. 10 You have appointed them as a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their number was ten thousand times ten thousand—thousands times thousands 12 all of whom were singing in a loud voice: “Worthy is the lamb who was killed to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and praise!”

 Notes and References

"... Significantly, the phrase “day and night” used by John to denote the ceaseless worship of God comes close to what the Book of Watchers states about “the holy ones of the watchers who approached him (God)” in 1 Enoch 14:23 “they did not depart by night” and, if we may follow Nickelsburg’s emendation of the text, “did not leave .” Only these two texts from the Second Temple period share this language in relation to the heavenly worship (also Revelation 7:15), while several documents apply the phrase to the cultic activity of priestly groups (1 Chronicles 23:3; Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 7.14.7; 1QS vi 6–12). Though in reverse order, the presence of “myriads of myriads” and “thousands of thousands” is shared by two passages in the Book of Parables (40:1; 71:8; for the same order see Apocalypse of Zephaniah 4:1; 8:1; 1 Clement 34:6) with Revelation 5:11, whereas Psalm 68:17 refers to “a myriad thousands,” and the Book of Giants, in a tradition that relates to Daniel 7, describes the worship of God by “thousands” and “hundreds.” The sequence in Revelation, however, corresponds to that of the Book of Watchers (1 Enoch 14:22) and to Daniel 7:10, either text of which is likely to have shaped the wording here ..."

Stuckenbruck, Loren T. The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts (pp. 294-295) Mohr Siebeck, 2014

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.