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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 Matthew 25:41

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

In Matthew 25, Jesus echoes 1 Enoch in describing a fiery place of punishment for the unrighteous and rebellious angels. Both portray it as a prison of judgment, showing that Matthew may be drawing from Jewish apocalyptic traditions.

Passages

1 Enoch 10:13

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
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.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Matthew 25:41

New Testament
39 When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... This is strikingly similar to the theology put forth in (taken collectively) Matthew 25:41 and Revelation 20:15; 21:8, where the wicked unrighteous suffer the same fate in the same place as the beast, the devil, his angels, and the false prophet. Nevertheless, 1 Enoch is not consistent in this regard ..."
Michael S. Heiser, A Companion to the Book of Enoch: A Reader's Commentary (Crane, MO: Defender, 2019), 1:122–123.
"... In 1 Enoch 10:13 the fire first mentioned in verse 6 is in an abyss. Enoch visits this abyss in 21:7-10. In a somewhat unusual sense, both of these verses designate this place of final punishment as a prison (Compare 1 Enoch 18:15-16 and Revelation 20:7). Reference to the torture of this place occurs in Revelation 20:10. Matthew 25:41 also knows this tradition and identifies it as one of the places of the final punishment of the wicked and of “the devil and his angels” ..."
George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 225.

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 Matthew 25:41

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