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1 Enoch

About this book

A Final Book by Enoch

Chapter 108

1 Another book which Enoch wrote for his son Methuselah and for those who will come after him, and keep the law in the last days. 2 You who have done good will wait for those days until an end is made of those who do evil and the power of the wrongdoers comes to an end. 3 You, however, wait until sin passes away; for their names will be erased from the book of life and from the books of the holy ones,⁠ and their offspring will be destroyed forever, and their spirits will be slain, and they will cry and lament in a place that is a chaotic wilderness, and they will burn in the fire; for there is no earth there.⁠ 4 I saw there something like an invisible cloud; because of its depth I could not look over it, and I saw a flame of fire blazing brightly, and things like shining mountains circling and sweeping to and fro. 5 I asked one of the holy angels who was with me and said to him: 'What is this shining thing? For it is not a heaven but only the flame of a blazing fire, and the voice of weeping, crying, and strong pain.'⁠ 6 He said to me: 'This place which you see is where the spirits of sinners and blasphemers are cast, and of those who do wickedness, and of those who pervert everything that the Lord has spoken through the mouth of the prophets, the things that will be. 7 For some of these things are written and inscribed above in heaven, so that the angels may read them and know what will happen to the sinners, and to the spirits of the humble, and of those who have afflicted their bodies and been rewarded by God, and of those who have been put to shame by wicked men. 8 They loved God and loved neither gold nor silver nor any of the good things in the world,⁠ but gave over their bodies to torture.⁠ 9 Since they came into being, they did not long after earthly food, but regarded everything as a passing breath, and lived accordingly,⁠ and the Lord tested them greatly, and their spirits were found pure, so that they should bless His name.⁠ 10 All the blessings destined for them I have recounted in the books. And He has assigned them their reward, because they were found to be such as loved heaven more than their life in the world,⁠ and though they were trampled underfoot by wicked men, and experienced abuse and reviling from them and were put to shame, yet they blessed Me. 11 And now I will summon the spirits of the good who belong to the generation of light, and I will transform those who were born in darkness, who in the flesh were not rewarded with the honor their faithfulness deserved. 12 I will bring out in shining light those who have loved My holy name, and I will seat each one on the throne of his honor.⁠ 13 They will shine for times without number, for righteousness is the judgment of God; for to the faithful He will give faithfulness in the dwelling of upright paths. 14 They will see those who were born in darkness led into darkness,⁠ while the righteous will shine brightly. 15 The sinners will cry aloud and see them shining, and they will indeed go where days and seasons are prescribed for them.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 108:9 and James 4:14

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

James describes life as a mist that vanishes quickly, echoing 1 Enoch 108 where the righteous regard everything as a passing breath. Both texts use this common language to position themselves in continuity with Israel's wisdom tradition.

Passages

1 Enoch 108:9

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
8 They loved God and loved neither gold nor silver nor any of the good things in the world, but gave over their bodies to torture. 9 Since they came into being, they did not long after earthly food, but regarded everything as a passing breath, and lived accordingly, and the Lord tested them greatly, and their spirits were found pure, so that they should bless His name. 10 All the blessings destined for them I have recounted in the books. And He has assigned them their reward, because they were found to be such as loved heaven more than their life in the world, and though they were trampled underfoot by wicked men, and experienced abuse and reviling from them and were put to shame, yet they blessed Me.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

James 4:14

New Testament
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. 15 You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.”
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in James

References

"... James shares much with Proverbs, as well. James, like Proverbs, wants readers to acquire wisdom and regards wisdom's source as God and its character as ethical. Twice James quotes from Proverbs (James 4:6; 5:20). There are also several allusions: Proverbs 2:3–6 (get wisdom) has an echo in James 1:5; Proverbs 27:21 (on being tested) can be seen behind James 1:3; James 2:6 reflects the concern for respecting the poor also seen in Proverbs 14:21; Proverbs 16:27 has the same concern for the tongue seen in James 3:6; and James 4:14 has an echo of Proverbs 27:1; other parallels may be seen. But these parallels also may be found in other Jewish literature. If James was alluding to these passages from Proverbs, he was likely doing so only unconsciously. Rather unlike Proverbs, on the other hand, James speaks with a voice resembling that of the Old Testament prophets at points ..."
Dan McCartney, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: James (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), 45.

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 108:9 and James 4:14

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