Texts in Conversation
Revelation’s image of the lake of fire is similar to 1 Enoch’s description of a fiery river flowing westward into the great sea. In both, fire marks a boundary between life and death, and also resembles Greek traditions of the underworld river Pyriphlegethon.
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1 Enoch 17:4
Pseudepigrapha
3 And I saw the places of the sun and moon and the treasuries of the stars and of the thunder in the utmost depths, where there was a fiery bow and arrows and their quiver, and a fiery sword and all the lightnings. 4 And they took me to the living waters, and to the fire of the west, which receives every setting of the sun. 5 And I came to a river of fire where the fire flows like water and pours into the great sea towards the west. 6 I saw the great rivers and came to the great river and to the great darkness, and went to the place where no flesh walks. 7 I saw the mountains of the darkness of winter and the place from where all the waters of the deep flow.
Date: 200-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Revelation 19:20
New Testament
19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 20 Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf—signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. 21 The others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.
Date: 92-96 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The reference to the “fire of the west” in the previous verse leads here to reference to the river of fire. 1 Enoch 14:19 and Daniel 7:10 come to mind. In context, however, Enoch has just left the heavenly throne room and has not yet approached the mountain throne of God. These verses are best understood in light of the Greek idea of the four great rivers. The river of fire is Pyriphlegethon, often mentioned in Greek literature in connection with the underworld and journeys to it. A graphic description of this torrent in connection with the abyss (see vv 7–8), the realm of death, Belial, and eternal punishment occurs in 1QH 11:28–36. Compare also the lake of fire in Revelation 19:20; 20:14–15. The great sea of the west is not Oceanus but the Mediterranean. The great rivers are the four, and the great river, Oceanus. Thus Enoch has arrived at earth’s outer limits ..."
Nickelsburg, George W. E.
A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108
(p. 283) Fortress Press, 2001
* 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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