Go to Related Reading
About this book

1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 101

1 Observe the heavens, you children of heaven, and every work of the Most High, and fear Him and commit no evil in His presence. 2 If He closes the windows of heaven and withholds the rain and the dew from descending on the earth because of you, what will you do then? 3 And if He directs His anger against you because of your deeds, can you plead with Him when you have spoken arrogantly against His righteousness?⁠ Thus, you will have no peace. 4 Do you not see the ship captains, how their ships are tossed by the waves, rocked by the winds, and put in danger? 5 Therefore, they fear because all their valuable possessions are aboard, and they worry that the sea will swallow them and they will perish in it. 6 Are not the entire sea and all its waters, and all its movements, the work of the Most High? Has He not set limits to its actions and confined it throughout by the sand?⁠ 7 And at His reproof, it is afraid and dries up, and all its fish die and everything in it;⁠ yet you sinners on the earth do not fear Him. 8 Has He not made the heavens and the earth, and all that is within them?⁠ Who has given understanding and wisdom to everything that moves on the earth and in the sea? 9 Do not the sailors of the ships fear the sea? Yet sinners do not fear the Most High.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Samuel 22:16 and 1 Enoch 101:7

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

Share:

Summary

1 Enoch 101 shows the sea submitting to God’s rebuke, echoing 2 Samuel 22 where God exposes chaotic waters by command. The scene reflects ancient Near Eastern tradition reused to express cosmic order under divine rule.

Passages

2 Samuel 22:16

Hebrew Bible
14 The Lord thundered from the sky; the Most High shouted loudly. 15 He shot arrows and scattered them, lightning and routed them. 16 The depths of the sea were exposed; the inner regions of the world were uncovered by the Lord’s battle cry, by the powerful breath from his nose. 17 He reached down from above and grabbed me; he pulled me from the surging water.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Samuel

1 Enoch 101:7

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
6 Are not the entire sea and all its waters, and all its movements, the work of the Most High? Has He not set limits to its actions and confined it throughout by the sand? 7 And at His reproof, it is afraid and dries up, and all its fish die and everything in it; yet you sinners on the earth do not fear Him. 8 Has He not made the heavens and the earth, and all that is within them? Who has given understanding and wisdom to everything that moves on the earth and in the sea?
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... The language of “rebuke” assumes that capacity of nature to rebel against God (compare e.g. 2 Samuel 22:16; Job 26:11–12; Psalm 18:15; 89:9; 104:7; 106:9; Isaiah 24:17–20; Nahum 1:4; Sirach 16:18–19; 4QNonCanb (= 4Q381) 15.4; Mark 4:39; Matthew 8:26 and Lk. 8:24; compare Isaiah 17:13). The lemma thus ultimately describes how it is that God has placed the sea, its creatures and everything in it under control. This description presupposes the ancient near eastern creation myth about the triumph over chaos. Even the primordial powers are harnessed into obedience according to the Creator’s will and show God respect. “Fear” refers to obedience to (and therefore) worship of God as Creator, rather than simply to being afraid. The text has strong affinities with Deutero-Isaiah at 50:2 in which the myth is used to underscore God’s power to deliver Israel ..."
Loren T. Stuckenbruck, 1 Enoch 91–108 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, 2007), 480.

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

Your feedback

2 Samuel 22:16 and 1 Enoch 101:7

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library