Texts in Conversation
The Testament of Levi describes the heavens and names thrones and dominions among the highest ranks of angels. Colossians lists the same divine thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers among the things created in Jesus.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Testament of Levi 3:9
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
Pseudepigrapha
In the heaven next to it are the archangels, who minister and make propitiation to the Lord for all the sins of ignorance of the righteous; Offering to the Lord a sweet-smelling savour, a reasonable and a bloodless offering. And in the heaven below this are the angels who bear answers to the angels of the presence of the Lord. And in the heaven next to this are thrones and dominions, in which always they offer praise to God.
Colossians 1:16
New Testament
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, 16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and all things are held together in him.
Search:
Notes and References
... In 2 Enoch 20.1, upon entry into the seventh heaven, Enoch sees supraterrestrial powers: "... and they carried me up to the seventh heaven. And I saw there an exceptional great light, and all the fiery armies of the great archangels, and the incorporeal forces and the dominions and the origins and the authorities, the cherubim and the seraphim and the many-eyed thrones ..." In Testament of Levi 3.8 there is a reference to thrones who are heavenly angelic beings who offer worship to God: "There with him are thrones and authorities; there praises to God are offered eternally" ... The plural and absolute usage of thrones in Colossians 1.16 is therefore unusual. The word is best understood as a metonymical reference to angelic beings who sit in the council of God. Personalizing thrones is found in Jewish mystical texts and therefore relevant to our thesis that Paul is refuting a form of Jewish mysticism ...
Smith, Ian K.
Heavenly Perspective: A Study of the Apostle Paul’s Response to a Jewish Mystical Motif at Colossae
(pp. 164-166) T&T Clark, 2006
* 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.