Texts in Conversation
In 1 Enoch, an angel who accompanies Enoch invites questions and interprets the meaning of what is encountered. This follows a pattern found in Tobit, where an angel similarly provides guidance and interpretation while on a journey.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 6:6
Deuterocanon
5 And the angel said to him, Open the fish, and take out its gall and the heart and liver and put them by you, and cast away the inwards; for its gall and heart and liver are for an useful medicament. 6 And the young man opened the fish and collected the gall and the heart and the liver, and he roasted part of the fish and did eat, and left part of it salted. And they journeyed both of them together until they: drew near to Media. 7 And then the young man asked the angel and said to him, Brother Azarias, what is the medicament in the heart and the liver of the fish and in the gall? 8 And he said to him, As regards the heart and the liver of the fish, make you a smoke before a man or a woman who has an attack of a demon or an evil spirit; and every attack will flee from him, and they shall nevermore find an abode with him.
1 Enoch 21:4
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
3 There I saw seven stars of heaven bound together in it, like great mountains and blazing with fire. 4 Then I said: 'For what sin are they bound, and why have they been thrown in here?' 5 Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me and was their leader, said: 'Enoch, why do you ask, and why are you so eager for the truth? 6 These are among the stars of heaven that transgressed the command of the Lord, and they are bound here until ten thousand years, the time fixed for their sins, are completed.'
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Notes and References
"... In this section of the Book of the Watchers, the combination of vision, question, and answer by the interpreting angel is the sole vehicle of revelation, as is already hinted at in the book’s superscription (1:2). Moreover, here, as in Ezekiel 40–44, the angel accompanies the seer on his vision journey. The device will continue to structure parts of the Book of Parables (40:8; 52:3; 53:4; 54:4; 56:2; 60:9; 11, 24; 61:2; 64:2). The idea may also be presumed in the Book of Tobit, where Raphael guides Tobias across Mesopotamia and explains the magical properties of the fish’s viscera to the inquiring young man (6:6–8) ..."
Nickelsburg, George W. E.
A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108
(p. 295) 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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