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1 Enoch

About this book

The First Parable

Chapter 38

1 The First Parable. When the assembly of the righteous appears, and sinners are judged for their sins and driven from the face of the earth, 2 and when the Righteous One appears before the eyes of the righteous,⁠ whose chosen deeds depend on the Lord of Spirits, and light appears to the righteous and the elect who dwell on the earth: where then will the sinners dwell, and where will those rest who have denied the Lord of Spirits? It would have been better for them if they had never been born.⁠ 3 When the secrets of the righteous are revealed, the sinners will be judged, and the godless will be driven from the presence of the righteous and the elect. 4 From that time those who possess the earth will no longer be powerful and exalted, and they will not be able to look on the face of the holy, for the Lord of Spirits has caused His light to appear on the face of the holy, the righteous, and the elect.⁠ 5 Then the kings and the mighty will perish and be given into the hands of the righteous and holy. 6 And from then on none will ask mercy from the Lord of Spirits for their life, for their life is at an end.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 38:4 and 2 Corinthians 4:6

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

2 Corinthians 4 describes the divine light of Jesus shining on the face, apocalyptic language also found in 1 Enoch 38 where the Lord of Spirits causes light to shine on the faces of the righteous.

Passages

1 Enoch 38:4

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 and when the Righteous One appears before the eyes of the righteous, whose chosen deeds depend on the Lord of Spirits, and light appears to the righteous and the elect who dwell on the earth: where then will the sinners dwell, and where will those rest who have denied the Lord of Spirits? It would have been better for them if they had never been born. 3 When the secrets of the righteous are revealed, the sinners will be judged, and the godless will be driven from the presence of the righteous and the elect. 4 From that time those who possess the earth will no longer be powerful and exalted, and they will not be able to look on the face of the holy, for the Lord of Spirits has caused His light to appear on the face of the holy, the righteous, and the elect. 5 Then the kings and the mighty will perish and be given into the hands of the righteous and holy.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

2 Corinthians 4:6

New Testament
5 For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 8 We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, 10 always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body.
55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Corinthians

References

"... The specific image that Paul uses, that of the face of Christ as the reflecting mirror, is not found in these Qumran passages, but there are several features in them that share a similarity and provide a Palestinian background for the image that he is using. First, there is the action of God causing light to shine on the face either of the Teacher of Righteousness in the Thanksgiving Psalms (if that is the person who speaks in the first person) or of the priests who are blessed. The same function is further attributed to the Teacher or the priests who light up the faces of the Many (i.e., the members of the community). Second, the last passage speaks of the illumination of the heart rather than the face, because much of the phraseology used there occurs in other passages; but it also reveals that its literary origin is the blessing of the sons of Aaron in Numbers 6:24-26 ... The face of God shining on his people is also found in Psalm 31:17; 67:2. These are the Old Testament sources of the Qumran expressions (compare also 1 Enoch 38:4) ..."
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, “Glory Reflected on the Face of Christ (2 Cor 3:7–4:6) and a Palestinian Jewish Motif,” TS 42.4 (1981): 630–644.

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 38:4 and 2 Corinthians 4:6

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