Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 58 describes sharing food with the hungry and clothing the naked as better than fasting. 2 Enoch 9 echoes this when it portrays the righteous as those who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and help the fallen.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 58:7
Hebrew Bible
6 No, this is the kind of fast I want: I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke. 7 I want you to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe them! Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood. 8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; your restoration will quickly arrive; your godly behavior will go before you, and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard.
2 Enoch 9:1
Secrets of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha
1 'This place, Enoch, is prepared for the righteous, those who endure all kinds of offenses from those who provoke their souls. They turn their eyes away from wrongdoing, make fair judgments, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, lift up the fallen, assist injured orphans, and walk blamelessly in the presence of the Lord, serving Him alone. For them, this place is prepared for eternal inheritance.'
Search:
Notes and References
... The late 2 Enoch similarly lists (in this case positively) the virtues of the righteous: [who] suffer every kind of calamity in their life and who afflict their souls, and who avert their eyes from injustice, and who carry out righteous judgments, and who give bread to the hungry, and who cover the naked with clothing, and who lift up the fallen, and who help the injured and the orphans, and who walk without a defect before the face of the Lord, and who worship him only. (2 Enoch 9; compare also 42) There are some similarities with the list in Isaiah 58:6–9, on the characteristics of the ‘true’ fast, which involves feeding the hungry and being kind to those in need generally (though here again Sabbath-observance makes its appearance). Malachi 3:5, seldom mentioned in discussions of digests, seems close to this tradition, with much about the treatment of employees, though it also mentions the classic sins, false worship and adultery, the second of which in rabbinic Judaism became the primary reference of the word ra‘, evil ...
* 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.