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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 14

1 The book of the words of righteousness,⁠ and of the reprimand of the eternal Watchers, in accordance with the command of the Holy Great One in that vision. 2 I saw in my sleep what I will now tell with a tongue of flesh and with the breath of my mouth, which the Great One has given to men so that they may converse and understand with the heart. 3 Just as He has created and given to man the power to understand the word of wisdom, so He created me also and gave me the power to reprimand the Watchers, the children of heaven.⁠ 4 I wrote out your petition, and in my vision it was made clear that your petition will not be granted for all the days of eternity, and that judgment has been finally passed on you. Your petition will not be granted. 5 From now on you will not ascend into heaven for all eternity, and on the earth the decree has gone out to bind you for all the days of the world.⁠ 6 Before that you will see the destruction of your beloved sons, and you will take no pleasure in them, for they will fall before you by the sword. 7 Your petition for them will not be granted, nor will your petition for yourselves, even though you weep and pray and speak all the words contained in the writing I have written. 8 And the vision was shown to me.⁠ In the vision, clouds called me and a mist summoned me; the path of the stars and the lightnings sped me on and hurried me, and the winds in the vision gave me wings and carried me upward, lifting me into heaven.⁠ 9 I went in until I came near a wall built of crystals and surrounded by tongues of fire,⁠ and it began to frighten me.⁠ 10 I went through the tongues of fire and came near a large house built of crystals. The walls of the house were like a mosaic floor of crystals, and its foundation was of crystal. 11 Its ceiling was like the path of the stars and the lightnings, and between them were fiery cherubim, and their sky was clear as water.⁠ 12 A flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its doorways blazed with fire. 13 I entered that house, and it was hot as fire and cold as ice. There were no delights of life in it; fear covered me, and trembling seized me. 14 As I shook and trembled, I fell on my face. 15 I saw in a vision, and there was a second house, greater than the first, and the whole doorway stood open before me, and it was built of flames of fire.⁠ 16 In every way it so surpassed the other in splendor and magnificence and size that I cannot describe its splendor and its size to you. 17 Its floor was of fire, and above it were lightnings and the path of the stars, and its ceiling also was flaming fire.⁠ 18 I looked and saw a lofty throne inside it.⁠ Its appearance was like crystal,⁠ and its wheels were like the shining sun, and there was the vision of cherubim.⁠ 19 From underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire, so that I could not look at it.⁠ 20 The Great Glory sat on it, and His garment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any snow.⁠ 21 None of the angels could enter and look on His face because of its magnificence and glory, and no mortal could look on Him.⁠ 22 A flaming fire was all around Him, and a great fire stood before Him; no one near Him could come close.⁠ Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him, yet He needed no counselor.⁠ 23 The most holy ones who were near Him did not leave by night nor depart from Him. 24 Until then I had lain face down, trembling, and the Lord called me with His own mouth and said to me: 'Come near, Enoch, and hear my word.'⁠ 25 One of the holy ones came to me and woke me, and made me rise up and approach the door, and I bowed my face down.

Texts in conversation

Compare Adapa and the South Wind, Fragment B, lines 60–71 and 1 Enoch 14:18

Ancient Near East, Babylonian · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Adapa and the South Wind, the sage enters heaven and approaches King Anu. In 1 Enoch 14, Enoch enters the heavenly sanctuary and sees a throne, with the Great Glory seated on it.

Passages

Adapa and the South Wind, Fragment B, lines 60–71

Ancient Near East, Babylonian
60 He sent him on the road to heaven, and he went up to heaven. 61 When he reached heaven and approached Anu’s gate, 62 Tammuz and Gishzida were standing there. 63 When they saw him, they cried, “Help! Adapa, 64 young man, for whom are you dressed this way? 65 For whom are you wearing mourning clothes?” 66 “Two gods have vanished from the land, so I am dressed 67 in mourning clothes.” “Who are the two gods who have vanished from the land?” 68 “Tammuz and Gishzida.” They looked at each other and 69 smiled. When Adapa came into King Anu’s presence, Anu saw him and said: 70 “Come, Adapa, why did you break the South Wind’s 71 wing?” Adapa answered Anu, “My lord, I was fishing for my lord’s household
1400–601 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Adapa and the South Wind

1 Enoch 14:18

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
17 Its floor was of fire, and above it were lightnings and the path of the stars, and its ceiling also was flaming fire. 18 I looked and saw a lofty throne inside it. Its appearance was like crystal, and its wheels were like the shining sun, and there was the vision of cherubim. 19 From underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire, so that I could not look at it. 20 The Great Glory sat on it, and His garment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any snow. 21 None of the angels could enter and look on His face because of its magnificence and glory, and no mortal could look on Him. 22 A flaming fire was all around Him, and a great fire stood before Him; no one near Him could come close. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him, yet He needed no counselor. 23 The most holy ones who were near Him did not leave by night nor depart from Him. 24 Until then I had lain face down, trembling, and the Lord called me with His own mouth and said to me: 'Come near, Enoch, and hear my word.'
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

“… The present paper limits its discussion to the heavenly counterpart traditions that are encountered in the books of Enoch. The patriarch’s travel to heaven and his progression through the chambers of the celestial sanctuary in 1 Enoch 14:9–18 ends with the vision of a high throne. In the course of this encounter, Enoch becomes a heavenly counterpart of the high priest as the earthly sacerdotal servant associated with the activities in these chambers, when the priest once a year on Yom Kippur was allowed to enter the divine Presence. The seer appears to be simultaneously in both realms: dreaming in his sleep on earth and at the same time installed as the sacerdotal servant in the heavenly temple. Martha Himmelfarb stresses the topographical aspects of Enoch’s progression account in which “the ascent shows him passing through the outer court of the temple and the sanctuary to the door of the Holy of Holies, where God addresses him with his own mouth.” Comparably, the “son of Oannes” also locates in the inner cella of Marduk. …”
Amar Annus, The Heavenly Counterparts of Adapa and Enoch in Babylonia and Israel (Leiden: Brill, 2019), 73.

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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Adapa and the South Wind, Fragment B, lines 60–71 and 1 Enoch 14:18

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