Texts in Conversation
Sirach and 1 Enoch both describe storms, winds, and snow as powers drawn from heavenly storehouses and directed by divine command. This imagery preserves echoes of ancient Near Eastern traditions of storm gods.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Enoch 59:2
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 In those days, my eyes saw the secrets of the lightnings and lights, and the judgments they carry out; they shine for a blessing or a curse as the Lord of Spirits wills. 2 There I saw the secrets of thunder, and how when it resounds above in the heaven, its sound is heard. He made me see the judgments executed on the earth, whether for well-being and blessing, or for a curse, according to the word of the Lord of Spirits. 3 After that, all the secrets of the lights and lightnings were shown to me, and they shine for blessing and fulfillment.
Date: 300 BCE – 100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Sirach 43:17
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
13 By his commandment, he makes the snow fall and swiftly sends the lightnings of his judgment. 14 Therefore the storehouses are opened, and clouds fly out like birds. 15 By his mighty power, he makes the clouds strong and the hailstones are broken in pieces. 17 The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth. At his appearing, the mountains will be shaken. At his will, the south wind will blow. So does the northern storm and the whirlwind. Like birds flying down, he sprinkles the snow. It falls down like the alighting of locusts. 18 The eye is dazzled at the beauty of its whiteness. The heart is amazed as it falls.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... This change in emphasis in verses 13–22 is perhaps most clearly seen in the shift from created work to God himself as the grammatical subject. Whereas the sun, moon, and rainbow were depicted as independent subjects acting in the world to fulfill their task, the weather elements are presented as God’s instruments, or at most intermediate subjects with God as the ultimate agent: God opens the storehouse, makes clouds fly, pours out frost, causes winds to blow, causes water to freeze, scorches the vegetation of the earth, and releases dew to refresh the scorched ground. (In addition, God’s rebuke, might, and command are used as grammatical subjects referring to God’s action: he marks the hailstones, directs the lightning, strengthens clouds, hews out hailstones, and stirs up various storms. Though the whiteness of the snow and the rain, which are described as blinding the eyes and astounding the mind) ... The characterization of these weather phenomena as instruments of divine judgment is immediately reinforced by the image of God loosening his storehouse in order to make clouds fly like predatory birds (compare Argall, 1 Enoch and Sirach) ..."
A. Jordan Schmidt, Wisdom, Cosmos, and Cultus in the Book of Sirach (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2019), 182–184.
* 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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