Texts in Conversation
1 Enoch 91:17 envisions an eschatological age marked by intensified light, where creation and the righteous are transformed in brilliance. This builds on Isaiah 30:26, which describes the moon shining like the sun and the sun glowing sevenfold as a sign of cosmic renewal.
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Isaiah 30:26
Hebrew Bible
24 The oxen and donkeys used in plowing will eat seasoned feed winnowed with a shovel and pitchfork. 25 On every high mountain and every high hill there will be streams flowing with water, at the time of great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse. 26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare, and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones and heals their severe wound. 27 Look, the name of the Lord comes from a distant place in raging anger and awesome splendor. He speaks angrily, and his word is like destructive fire.
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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1 Enoch 91:17
Pseudepigrapha
15 And after that, in the ninth week, the righteous judgment will be revealed to the whole world, and all the works of the godless will vanish from all the earth, and the world will be written down for destruction. 16 And after this, in the tenth week in the seventh part, there will be the great eternal judgment, in which He will execute vengeance among the angels. 17 And the first heaven will depart and pass away, and a new heaven will appear, and all the powers of the heavens will give sevenfold light. 18 And after that there will be many weeks without number forever, and all will be in goodness and righteousness, and sin will no longer be mentioned forever.
Date: 200-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... As the reference is in the present to either the light of creation or the eschatological light, it implies a mystical notion. Moreover, the co-text contains esoteric descriptions of illumination and hence the expectation of sevenfold shining does not need to be merely metaphorical. Indisputably eschatological is the co-text of 1 Enoch 91:16 ... That these 'powers' may include the righteous is, I believe, confirmed by the longer recension of 2 Enoch 66:7 ..."
Smelik, Willem F.
On Mystical Transformation of the Righteous into Light in Judaism
(pp. 122-144) Journal for the Study of Judaism, Vol. 26, 1995
* 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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