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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 10

1 Then the Most High, the Holy and Great One spoke, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, saying to him:⁠ 2 'Go to Noah and tell him in my name to hide himself and reveal to him that the end is near: the entire earth will be destroyed, a deluge is about to cover the whole earth and will wipe out everything on it.⁠ 3 And now instruct him so that he may escape and his descendants may be preserved for all future generations.' 4 And the Lord also said to Raphael: 'Bind Azâzêl hand and foot,⁠ and cast him into the darkness: make a hole in the desert in Dûdâêl, and throw him in.⁠ 5 Place upon him rough and jagged rocks, cover him with darkness, and let him remain there forever, and cover his face so he may not see light.⁠ 6 On the day of great judgment he shall be thrown into the fire.⁠ 7 And restore the earth which the angels have corrupted, and announce the restoration of the earth, so that the plague may be healed, and all the children of men may not perish due to the secrets that the Watchers have revealed and taught their children.' 8 The entire earth has been corrupted by the deeds taught by Azâzêl: attribute all sin to him.'⁠ 9 And to Gabriel, the Lord said: 'Proceed against the bastards, the outcasts, and the children of fornication: and destroy the children of the Watchers from among men; make them fight one another, so they may destroy each other in battle: for they shall not have long lives. 10 And no request made by their fathers on their behalf will be granted; for they hope to live an eternal life, and each one of them thinks he will live five hundred years.' 11 And the Lord said to Michael: 'Go, bind Semjâzâ and his companions who have joined with women and defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness.⁠ 12 And when their sons have killed each other, and they have seen the destruction of their loved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, until the day of their judgment and their ultimate end,⁠ until the judgment that lasts forever is completed. 13 In those days they will be taken to the abyss of fire: to the torment and the prison where they will be confined forever.⁠ 14 And whoever is condemned and destroyed will from then on be bound together with them till the end of all ages. 15 And destroy all the spirits of the corrupt and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind. 16 Remove all evil from the face of the earth and let every wicked deed end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth emerge; and it will be a blessing. The deeds of righteousness and truth will be planted in truth and joy forever.⁠ 17 And then all the righteous will escape, And shall live until they beget thousands of children, And all the days of their youth and their old age Shall be completed in peace.⁠ 18 And then the whole earth will be cultivated in righteousness, and will be entirely planted with trees and filled with blessings.⁠ 19 And all desirable trees will be planted on it, and they will plant vines on it: the vine they plant will produce abundant wine, and for every measure of seeds sown on it, a thousand will be harvested, and every measure of olives will produce ten presses of oil.⁠ 20 And cleanse the earth from all oppression, from all injustice, from all sin, and from all godlessness: and all the uncleanness that has been committed upon the earth, remove it from the earth. 21 'And all the children of men shall become righteous, and all nations shall worship and praise Me, and all shall worship Me.⁠ 22 And the earth shall be cleansed from all contamination, from all sin, from all punishment, and from all torment, and I will never again send these upon it from generation to generation and forever.'

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 10:13 and Luke 8:31

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

Luke 8 describes demons pleading not to be sent to the abyss, drawing on imagery from 1 Enoch 10, which depicts the abyss as a fiery prison where rebellious angels are confined. Both present the abyss as a supernatural prison, based on ancient cosmology.

Passages

1 Enoch 10:13

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
11 And the Lord said to Michael: 'Go, bind Semjâzâ and his companions who have joined with women and defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness. 12 And when their sons have killed each other, and they have seen the destruction of their loved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, until the day of their judgment and their ultimate end, until the judgment that lasts forever is completed. 13 In those days they will be taken to the abyss of fire: to the torment and the prison where they will be confined forever. 14 And whoever is condemned and destroyed will from then on be bound together with them till the end of all ages.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Luke 8:31

New Testament
29 For Jesus had started commanding the evil spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, so he would be bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard. But he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they began to beg him not to order them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and the demonic spirits begged Jesus to let them go into them. He gave them permission. 33 So the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd of pigs rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned.
75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

References

"... In 1 Enoch 10:12–13, the abyss (abussos) is the place where the offending Watchers (= sons of God of Genesis 6:1–4) are imprisoned “for seventy generations.” The partially synonymous relationship between the Abyss and the realm of the dead is indicated by the fact that some members of the abyss are imprisoned, unable to leave (the Watchers) whereas others (Satan, demons) are not so imprisoned. This may be what is behind the fear of the demons in Luke 8:31 (“And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss”; compare Matthew 8:29). Enoch visits the Abyss in 1 Enoch 21:7–10 ..."
Michael S. Heiser, The Old Testament in Revelation: Notes from the Naked Bible Podcast (Naked Bible, 2021), 176.

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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1 Enoch 10:13 and Luke 8:31

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