Texts in Conversation
1 Enoch describes the Lord of Spirits summoning every rank of heavenly being, including angels of power and principalities, to participate in judgment. Paul in Romans also describes principalities and powers, highlighting a similar view of angelic hierarchy based on Jewish traditions.
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1 Enoch 61:10
Pseudepigrapha
9 And when he lifts up his countenance to judge their secret ways according to the word of the Lord of Spirits, and their path according to the way of the righteous judgment of the Lord of Spirits, then they all shall speak and bless with one voice, and glorify, extol, and sanctify the name of the Lord of Spirits. 10 And He will summon all the hosts of the heavens, and all the holy ones above, and the host of God, the Cherubic, Seraphim, and Ophanim, and all the angels of power, and all the angels of principalities, and the Chosen One, and the other powers on the earth and over the water. 11 On that day, they shall raise one voice, and bless and glorify and exalt in the spirit of faith, wisdom, patience, mercy, judgment, peace, and goodness, and shall all say with one voice: 'Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed forever and ever.'
Date: 200-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Romans 8:38
New Testament
35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Date: 55-58 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Principalities and Powers ... a class of heavenly beings possessing unspecified power. The word pair occurs in early Jewish literature only in 1 Enoch 61:10. Perhaps they are the angels whom YHWH has put in charge of the nations (Sirach 17:17), 1 Enoch 89:59-90:19 depicts these angelic patrons as evil forces. Paul claims that Christ will triumph over the malevolent ruling spiritual powers (1 Cor. 15:24). The passage may allude to the son of man's receipt of authority and kingship over the nations in Daniel 7:14 ..."
Neusner, Jacob
Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period: 450 B.C.E. to 600 C.E.
(p. 502) Hendrickson Publishers, 1999
* 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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