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In Daniel, countless angels attend God beside a river of fire. In 3 Enoch, they stand among bridges and rivers of fire, giving the heavenly court a landscape rather than only a gathering around the throne.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Daniel 7:9
Hebrew Bible
9 “While I was watching, thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His attire was white like snow; the hair of his head was like lamb’s wool. His throne was ablaze with fire, and its wheels were all aflame. 10 A river of fire was streaming forth and proceeding from his presence. Many thousands were ministering to him; many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. The court convened, and the books were opened. 11 “Then I kept on watching because of the arrogant words of the horn that was speaking. I was watching until the beast was killed and its body destroyed and thrown into the flaming fire.
3 Enoch 22B:3
Hebrew Book of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
Numerous bridges are there: bridges of fire and numerous bridges of hail. Also numerous rivers of hail, numerous treasuries of snow and numerous wheels of fire. And how many are the ministering angels? 12,000 myriads: six (thousand myriads) above and six (thousand myriads) below. And 12,000 are the treasuries of snow, six above and six below. And 24 myriads of wheels of fire, 12 (myriads) above and 12 (myriads) below. And they surround the bridges and the rivers of fire and the rivers of hail. And there are numerous ministering angels, forming entries, for all the creatures that are standing in the midst of it, corresponding to (over against) the paths of Raqia Shamayim.
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Notes and References
“... Following Daniel 7:10 the Merkabah texts speak of a River of Fire that flows out from
beneath the throne of glory (3En 36:1). Occasionally more than one River of Fire is mentioned
(3En 19:4; 33:4; 37:1). The River of Fire functions in a number of contexts: It is used in
accounts of the divine judgment as a symbol of the wrath of God (18:19, 21; 33:4-5); it also
forms part of the descriptions of the celestial Sanctus: The angels bathe in the River of Fire
before they perform the QeduSSah (36:2).
57 A development of this motif is the speculation
on the bridges that span the River of Fire (22B:1, with n. b; 22C:1). ...”
Philip S. Alexander
"3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch" in James H. Charlesworth (ed.) The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 1
(p. 240) Doubleday, 1983
* 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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