Texts in Conversation
1 Enoch 9 and Sirach 36 both address God with a title that calls him eternal and stresses that he rules forever. The title reflects a common Jewish tradition that describes God with an authority lasting through every age.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Enoch 9:4
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
3 'And now to you, the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men plead, saying, "Present our case before the Most High."' 4 They said to the Lord of the ages: 'Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings, and God of the ages, the throne of Your glory stands through all generations, and Your name is holy and glorious and blessed through all ages! 5 You have created all things, and over all things You have power. All things are open and visible in Your sight, and You see everything, and nothing can hide from You.
Date: 300 BCE – 100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Sirach 36:22
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
20 Give testimony to those who were your creatures in the beginning, and fulfill the prophecies that have been spoken in your name. 21 Reward those who wait for you, and men will put their trust in your prophets. 22 Listen, O Lord, to the prayer of your servants, according to the blessing of Aaron concerning your people; and all those who are on the earth will know that you are the Lord, the eternal God. 23 The belly will eat any food, but one food is better than another. 24 The mouth tastes game taken in hunting, so does an understanding heart detect false speech.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... The final title, “God of the ages” (θεὸς τῶν αἰώνων), occurs also in Sirach 36:22 in a prayer and is paralleled by the title “the God of eternity” (see 1 Enoch 1:4) and the formula “the God who lives forever” (1 Enoch 5:2). It forms a transition to the second and third lines of the strophe, which emphasize God’s eternity. The superlative “generation of the generations” and the double occurrence of “all/every” stress the totality of the conception ..."
George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 212.
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,