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Jubilees 23 and 1 Enoch 96 describe the righteous rejoicing as they witness the fall of their enemies, linking peace and healing with the vindication of the faithful. In each, joy is rooted not only in restoration but also in seeing justice carried out.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Enoch 96:1
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 Be hopeful, you righteous; for suddenly the sinners will perish before you, and you will have dominion over them according to your desires. 2 And on the day of the tribulation of the sinners, your children shall rise and soar as eagles, and higher than the vultures will be your nest. You shall ascend and enter the crevices of the earth and the clefts of the rock forever, like coneys before the unrighteous, while the sirens will mourn because of you and weep. 3 Therefore, do not fear, you who have suffered; for healing shall be your portion, and a bright light shall illuminate you, and you shall hear the voice of rest from heaven.
Date: 300 BCE – 100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Jubilees 23:30
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
29 And they shall complete all their days and live in peace and in joy, And there shall be no Satan nor any evil destroyer; For all their days shall be days of blessing and healing. 30 And at that time the Lord will heal His servants, And they shall rise up and see great peace, And drive out their adversaries. And the righteous shall see and be thankful, And rejoice with joy for ever and ever, And shall see all their judgments and all their curses on their enemies. 31 And their bones shall rest in the earth, And their spirits shall have much joy, And they shall know that it is the Lord who executes judgment, And shows mercy to hundreds and thousands and to all that love Him
Date: 170–125 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... further apocalyptic motifs can be found throughout the canonical letter. Philippians 1:1–3:1 4:1–7 is called a “letter of joy” because Paul makes continual requests to rejoice (χαίρειν κτλ) and there are reassurances of joyful feelings on both sides: Paul’s (Philippians 1:4, 18; 2:2, 17; 4:1) and the community’s (1:25; 2:18, 28; 3:1). When Paul finally prompts the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always; I shall say it again: rejoice ... The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:4–5), the eschatological dimension of this joy becomes obvious. Despite current sufferings (Compare Philippians 1:12–18, 28–30), Paul and the community participate already in the heavenly joy as God’s righteous ones in their state of salvation, similar to such announcements in late prophetic and apocalyptic literature. (Compare Isaiah 65:17-22; 1 Enoch 103:3; Jubilees 23:30; 1 Enoch 51:5; 1QS 4:7; 2 Baruch 73:2; and more) The final day is called here characteristically the “day of Christ” (ἡμέρα Χριστοῦ, Philippians 1:6, 10; 2:16). It is not so much a day of judgment, as is the “day of the Lord” in 1 Corinthians 3:13; 5:5 (Compare Amos 5:18, 20; etc.), but it is a day of praise and glory for those who remain faithful. “Christ’s day” in Philippians will be a day of salvation similar to the way Paul quotes from LXX Isaiah 49:8 in 2 Corinthians 6:2 ..."
Angela Standhartinger, “Apocalyptic Thought in Philippians,” in The Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition and the Shaping of New Testament Thought, ed. Loren T. Stuckenbruck (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2017), 233–244.
* 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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