Enoch's Journey Eastward

Chapter 20

1 And these are the names of the holy angels who watch.⁠ 2 Uriel, one of the holy angels, who is over the world and over Tartarus.⁠ 3 Raphael, one of the holy angels, who is over the spirits of men. 4 Raguel, one of the holy angels who takes vengeance on the world of the lights. 5 Michael, one of the holy angels, namely, the one set over the best part of mankind and over chaos. 6 Saraqâêl, one of the holy angels, who is set over the spirits, who sin in the spirit. 7 Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim. 8 Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom God set over those who rise.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 20:8 and Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6:15

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

Summary

1 Enoch names Remiel as the angel God gave authority over those who rise from the dead. The Apocalypse of Zephaniah also uses the rare name for this angel, describing the great angel placed over the abyss and the underworld where all souls are held.

Passages

1 Enoch 20:8

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

5 Michael, one of the holy angels, namely, the one set over the best part of mankind and over chaos. 6 Saraqâêl, one of the holy angels, who is set over the spirits, who sin in the spirit. 7 Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim. 8 Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom God set over those who rise.

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

Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6:15

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

14 I threw myself on my face and worshipped him. 15 He said to me, "Take care! Do not worship me. I am not the Lord Almighty; I am the great angel Eremiel, who is over the abyss and the underworld below, in whose hand all the souls have been shut up since the end of the Flood that came upon the earth, until this day." 16 Then I asked the angel, "What is this place I have come to?" He said to me, "This is the underworld."

100 BCE – 175 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Zephaniah

References

... Of all the tours of hell the Apocalypse of Zephaniah, which is perhaps the most idiosyncratic, shows the closest links to some parts of the Book of the Watchers. The name of the archangel who appears to Zephaniah at his moment of need is Eremiel. This is not a common angelic name, but similar names appear in a few other texts. In 2 Baruch 55:3 the angel Ramiel is in charge of true visions. In 4 Ezra 4:36 the angel Jeremiel converses with Ezra about the souls in the chambers; his function is not explicitly noted. The Syriac version of 4 Ezra calls this angel Ramiel, as in 2 Baruch, also a Syriac text. 1 Enoch 20:8 mentions Remiel, the angel ‘whom God set over those who rise.’ In both 1 Enoch and 4 Ezra, these similarly named angels are associated with the fate of the dead. This makes probable some relationship to the angel Eremiel in the Apocalypse of Zephaniah. ...

Martha Himmelfarb, Tours of Hell: An Apocalyptic Form in Jewish and Christian Literature (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1983), 151.

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

Enoch's Journey Eastward

1 Enoch108 chapters

Compare 1 Enoch 20:8 and Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6:15

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 20:8

Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6:15

References

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