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In Isaiah, the people ask God's arm to awaken and rescue them. In 3 Enoch, righteous souls give that appeal beside God's hand in heaven, continuing the prayer for Jerusalem beyond the lives of those on earth.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 51:9
Hebrew Bible
9 Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity. Did you not smash Rahab?26 Did you not wound the sea monster? 10 Did you not dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep? Did you not make a path through the depths of the sea, so those delivered from bondage could cross over? 11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return; they will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, happiness and joy will overwhelm them; grief and suffering will disappear. 12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. Why are you afraid of mortal men, of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass?
3 Enoch 48A:3
Hebrew Book of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
And I went by his side and he took me by his hand and showed me (the Right Hand of MAQOM), with all manner of praise, rejoicing and song: and no mouth can tell its praise, and no eye can behold it, because of its greatness, dignity, majesty, glory and beauty. And not only that, but all the souls of the righteous who are counted worthy to behold the joy of Jerusalem, they are standing by it, praising and praying before it three times every day, saying (Is. li. 9): "Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the Lord" according as it is written (Is. lxiii. 12): "He caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses".
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Notes and References
“... Another passage in 3 Enoch describes the
‘brilliant right hand of God’, which is ‘drawn back’ because of the destruction
of the Temple, alluding to the text of Lamentations 2: 3: ‘He has drawn back
His right hand from before the enemy; He has burned up Jacob like a flaming
fire, consuming all around.’ This image symbolizes God’s decision not to use
his ‘outstretched arm’ to deliver his people during this period. The author of 3
Enoch relates further that ‘all the souls of the righteous, those who are worthy
to see the joy of Jerusalem’, appear before this divine arm with praise, and ‘ask
for mercy from before it [her]’ three times every day: ‘Awake, awake, clothe
yourself with splendour, O arm of the Lord’ (Isa. 51: 9).24 Thus, in this later
apocalyptic text the souls of the righteous serve an important intercessory
function: they request mercy for Jerusalem during the period of God’s wrath. ...”
Mandel, Paul
The Sacrifice of the Souls of the Righteous upon the Heavenly Altar: Transformations of Apocalyptic Traditions in Medieval Ashkenaz
(p. 58) Liverpool University Press, 2018
* 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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