Texts in Conversation
In Matthew, Jesus speaks of angels as representatives or guardians who watch over the vulnerable. This reflects ideas found in Second Temple Jewish writings such as 1 Enoch, which developed themes about angelic protection not found in the Hebrew Bible.
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1 Enoch 104:1
Pseudepigrapha
1 I swear to you, that in heaven the angels remember you for good before the glory of the Great One: and your names are written before the glory of the Great One. 2 Be hopeful; for previously you were shamed through suffering and affliction; but now you shall shine as the lights of heaven, you shall shine and you shall be seen, and the portals of heaven shall be opened to you. 3 And in your cry, cry for judgment, and it shall appear to you; for all your tribulation shall be visited on the rulers, and on all who helped those who plundered you.
Date: 200-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Matthew 18:10
New Testament
8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell. 10 “See that you do not disdain one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. 12 What do you think? If someone owns a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Catchpole further notes that this idea of the heavenly angelic sponsor or guarantor is not unique to Luke’s passage and can be found in other Jewish writings, such as Tobit 12:15 and 1 Enoch 104:1, and therefore “represents an individualizing of the old idea of an angelic ruler for each nation (compare Daniel 10:12; 12:1; Sirach 17:17).” Fletcher-Louis then offers some additional illustrations from the Enochic lore that, in his opinion, reinforce the plausibility of Catchpole’s hypothesis ..."
Orlov, Andrei A.
The Greatest Mirror: Heavenly Counterparts in the Jewish Pseudepigrapha
(p. 15) State University of New York, 2017
* 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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