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

Satan and the Binding of Azazel in 1 Enoch 10 and Revelation 20

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

Summary

1 Enoch 10 describes the angel Raphael binding Azazel, throwing him into darkness, imprisoning him until the day of judgment when he will be thrown into fire. Revelation 20 uses similar language to describe the binding, sealing, and judgment of Satan.

Passages

1 Enoch 10:4

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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.'

300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Revelation 20:1

New Testament

1 Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. 2 He seized the dragon—the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan—and tied him up for a thousand years. 3 The angel then threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.) 4 Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who takes part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... The triple binding of the dragon—he is chained, locked, and sealed—indicates the certainty of his imprisonment. During the time of his captivity he will no longer be able to thwart the purposes of God, that is, to “deceive the nations” (20:3). In order that there be no mistake about the identity of the dragon, John reiterates what he said in chapter 12: The dragon is the “ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan.” Several ancient parallels to the idea of binding or imprisoning evil forces can be found. The clearest parallel in the Hebrew Bible is Isaiah 24:21-22, which portrays God’s judgment against rebellious heavenly and earthly beings ... In 1 Enoch 10:4-6, God told the angel Raphael to bind Azazel (the leader of the evil angels) by his hands and feet, throw him into darkness, and cover him with stones. There he would stay until the great day of judgment when he would be hurled into the fire. In another version of the story, God sent Michael to tell Semyaza (another name for the leader of the evil angels) and his cohorts that they would be bound for seventy generations under the hills of the earth. At the day of judgment they would be cast into the abyss of fire, where they would be imprisoned in torment forever (1 Enoch 10:11-14). Other Jewish parallels include 1 Enoch 13:1; 14:5; 18:12-16; 21:1-10; 54:1-6; 2 Baruch 40; 56:13; Testament of Levi 18:12; Jubilees 5:6; 10:4-14. New Testament writers also were familiar with this idea (compare Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4) ..."

Mitchell Glenn Reddish, The Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary: Revelation (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 2001), 380.

"... The Book of Revelation is eclectic in its use of Jewish angelologies. On the one hand, in Revelation 1–5 the seven “spirits” before the divine throne (1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6) correspond to the seven interceding angels in Tobit, while the four living creatures (4:6–8) are drawn from Ezekiel 1–2 (and Isaiah 6), the source of the tradition about the four archangels. On the other hand, Rev 8:2–4 mentions the seven “angels” before God’s throne and, in addition, an unnamed angel who appears to be relaying the prayers of all the human holy ones. The tradition of the confrontation of Michael and Satan appears in 12:7–12. Here each is the commander of a heavenly army, and the military confrontation retains the character of judgment, for Satan is still identified as accuser. The old structure of Jubilees is still evident; the archdemon leads astray in order to accuse. In the larger context of Revelation, the mythic confrontation between Michael and Satan (Revelation 12, as in Daniel 12) is combined with the vision of Daniel 7 about the demonic beast and with the myth in 1 Enoch 10 about the temporary imprisonment and ultimate destruction of the chief demon (Revelation 12:12–17; 13; 20:1–3, 7–10) ..."

Loren T. Stuckenbruck, The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 210.

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

1 Enoch108 chapters

Satan and the Binding of Azazel in 1 Enoch 10 and Revelation 20

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 10:4

Revelation 20:1

References

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