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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 2

1 Observe everything that occurs in the heaven,⁠ how the celestial bodies do not alter their paths, and the lights in the sky, how they all rise and set orderly, each in its own season, without deviating from their assigned courses.⁠ 2 Look at the earth, and pay attention to the things that unfold from beginning to end, how consistent they are, how nothing on earth changes, how all of God’s works appear to you. 3 Observe the summer and winter, how the entire earth is filled with water, and how clouds, dew, and rain cover it.

Texts in conversation

Compare Job 37:14 and 1 Enoch 2:1

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

1 Enoch echoes the language of Job 37 in pointing out the wonders of creation and the movements of the stars and the sky. This specific language is only found in Job, suggesting that 1 Enoch uses it to establish its own authority.

Passages

Job 37:14

Hebrew Bible
12 The clouds go round in circles, wheeling about according to his plans, to carry out all that he commands them over the face of the whole inhabited world. 13 Whether it is for punishment, or for his land, or for mercy, he causes it to find its mark. 14 “Pay attention to this, Job! Stand still and consider the wonders God works. 15 Do you know how God commands them, how he makes lightning flash in his storm cloud?
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Job

1 Enoch 2:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 Observe everything that occurs in the heaven, how the celestial bodies do not alter their paths, and the lights in the sky, how they all rise and set orderly, each in its own season, without deviating from their assigned courses. 2 Look at the earth, and pay attention to the things that unfold from beginning to end, how consistent they are, how nothing on earth changes, how all of God’s works appear to you. 3 Observe the summer and winter, how the entire earth is filled with water, and how clouds, dew, and rain cover it.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... The idea of considering or contemplating the works of God is found only in Job 37:14 within the Hebrew Bible. In the context of both 1 Enoch 2:1 and Job 37:14-22 the works of the sky are described in detail. The verbal connections between the texts is strengthened by the fact that they share similar contexts ..."
Colby J. Townsend, “The Use of Scripture in 1 Enoch 1–36” (diss., University of Utah, 2016), 55.

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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Job 37:14 and 1 Enoch 2:1

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