Texts in Conversation
In Lamentations, God's mercies are new each morning. In 3 Enoch, God promises to renew the stars so that they sing his praise, applying the language of mercy to the future life of the heavenly bodies.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Lamentations 3:23
Hebrew Bible
19 ז (Zayin) Remember my impoverished and homeless condition, which is a bitter poison. 20 I continually think about this, and I am depressed. 21 But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope: 22 ח (Khet) The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. 23 They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! 24 “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him. 25 ט (Tet) The Lord is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him. 26 It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the Lord.
3 Enoch 46:4
Hebrew Book of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
And they all enter in counted order under the guidance of (lit. through, by the hands of) RAHATIEL to Raqia' ha-shSHamayim to serve the world. And they go out in counted order to praise the Holy One, blessed be He, with songs and hymns, according as it is written (Ps. xix. 1): "The heavens declare the glory of God". But in the time to come the Holy One, blessed be He, will create them anew, as it is written (Lam. iii. 23): "They are new every morning". And they open their mouth and utter a song. Which is the song that they utter? (Ps. viii. 3): "When I consider your heavens".
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Notes and References
“... b. "The spirits (ruhdn) of the stars,"
A E F ;
"the plain" or "space" (rixvhdn) "of the stars,"
B. The A E F reading is supported by the fact
that (1) this section of 3En (chs. 43f., 46f.) is
largely concerned with "spirits/souls"; and (2)
the stars are clearly regarded as animate beings,
like angels,
and so can be said to possess
"spirits." Like angels they have fiery bodies (vs.
2: "They were standing like fiery sparks"); they
have wings (vs. 2); they perform songs before
God (vs. 4); and Lam 3:23 is applied to them
(vs. 4; cf. 40:4). For stars with animate form see
also lEn 88:1; 90:21. Here the stars are sentient
beings (cf. 5:8; b.AZ 42b; 43a: 43b; Maimonides,
Moreh Nebukim 2.5); but in 14:4 and 17:6 they
appear to be regarded as inert masses of matter
that are moved by the angels. ...”
Philip S. Alexander
"3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch" in James H. Charlesworth (ed.) The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 1
(p. 299) 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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