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About this book

1 Enoch

About this book

The Book of the Watchers

Chapter 1

1 The words of Enoch's blessing, with which he blessed the chosen and righteous,⁠ who will live through the days of tribulation when all the wicked and godless will be removed. 2 He began his parable⁠ and said, Enoch, a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me. I heard everything from them, and from them I understood what I saw, not for this generation, but for a distant one yet to come. 3 Regarding the chosen I spoke, and took up my parable about them: The Holy Great One will emerge from His dwelling,⁠ 4 And the eternal God will walk upon the earth, even on Mount Sinai, and appear from His camp and reveal His might from the heavens above.⁠ 5 Everyone will be struck with fear and the Watchers will tremble, and great fear and trembling will grip them to the ends of the earth.⁠ 6 The high mountains will shake, the hills will be leveled, and they will melt like wax before the fire⁠ 7 The earth will be completely torn apart, and everything on it will perish, and there will be judgment upon all people. 8 But with the righteous, He will establish peace. He will protect the chosen, and mercy will be upon them. They will all belong to God, prosper, and be blessed. He will aid them, and light will shine for them,⁠ and He will make peace with them.⁠ 9 Look! He comes with tens of thousands of His holy ones⁠ to pass judgment upon all,⁠ to annihilate all the wicked,⁠ to convict every soul of all the godless deeds they have committed,⁠ and of all the harsh words that godless sinners have spoken against Him.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Micah 1:3 and 1 Enoch 1:3

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

1 Enoch 1:3 uses a pattern found in Micah 1:3 where God leaves heaven and steps onto the mountains. It draws on this to establish its own authority based on the authority of Micah, also incorporating its theophany into its apocalyptic narrative.

Passages

Micah 1:3

Hebrew Bible
1 This is the Lord’s message that came to Micah of Moresheth during the time of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 Listen, all you nations! Pay attention, all inhabitants of earth! The Sovereign Lord will act as a witness against you; the Lord will accuse you from his majestic palace. 3 Look, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling place! He will descend and march on the earth’s mountaintops! 4 The mountains will crumble beneath him, and the valleys will split apart like wax before a fire, like water dumped down a steep slope.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Micah

1 Enoch 1:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 He began his parable and said, Enoch, a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me. I heard everything from them, and from them I understood what I saw, not for this generation, but for a distant one yet to come. 3 Regarding the chosen I spoke, and took up my parable about them: The Holy Great One will emerge from His dwelling, 4 And the eternal God will walk upon the earth, even on Mount Sinai, and appear from His camp and reveal His might from the heavens above. 5 Everyone will be struck with fear and the Watchers will tremble, and great fear and trembling will grip them to the ends of the earth.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... The concept of the deity coming from his dwelling place in his glory, or in an exuberant manner, is unique to the Hebrew Bible texts listed above. Although earlier research has suggested that Micah 1:3-4 was the primary text that 1 Enoch 1:3-4 borrowed from this is in fact not clear. It seems more likely that, in the case of 1 Enoch 3-4, Micah 1:3 and Deuteronomy 33:2 were equally used in composing these verses. The use of “tread” is found only in Micah 1:3, and the ideas that the deity’s dwelling place is Sinai and that he will bring his host with him are borrowed from Deuteronomy 33:2. The connections between 1 Enoch 1:3-4 and Micah 1:3-4 and Deuteronomy 33:2 probably negate the need to connect Jeremiah 25:30-31 and Habakkuk 3:3 to 1 Enoch 1:3-4 because the similarities are stronger and better explained when comparing them with Micah 1:3-4 and Deuteronomy 33:2 ..."
Colby J. Townsend, “The Use of Scripture in 1 Enoch 1–36” (diss., University of Utah, 2016), 50–51.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Micah 1:3 and 1 Enoch 1:3

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