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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 4

1 And again, observe the days of summer how the sun is high above the earth. You seek shade and shelter due to the sun's intense heat, and the ground also burns with growing heat, so you cannot walk on the earth⁠ or on a rock because of its heat.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 4:1 and Sirach 43:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Deuterocanon

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Summary

In 1 Enoch, the scorching summer sun is one of many signs that creation obeys God, listed to shame sinners who do not obey him. In Sirach, a similar picture of the noon sun burning up the land appears in a hymn praising God for the power of his works.

Passages

1 Enoch 4:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 And again, observe the days of summer how the sun is high above the earth. You seek shade and shelter due to the sun's intense heat, and the ground also burns with growing heat, so you cannot walk on the earth or on a rock because of its heat.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Sirach 43:2

Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
1 The pride of the heavenly heights is the clear sky, the appearance of heaven, in the spectacle of its glory. 2 The sun, when it appears, bringing tidings as it rises, is a marvelous instrument, the work of the Most High. 3 At noon, it dries up the land. Who can stand against its burning heat? 4 A man tending a furnace is in burning heat, but the sun three times more, burning up the mountains, breathing out fiery vapors, and sending out bright beams, it blinds the eyes.
195–180 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sirach

References

"... A description of the signs of the (four) seasons is included at the end of the Astronomical Book. Outside the Enochic texts, Sirach 43:2-4 contains a description of the sun's heat and its effect on the earth that parallels I Enoch 4:1. When it is viewed in the light of these materials, the present section indicates that its author has crafted traditional material with purpose and symmetry ..."
George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 156.

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 4:1 and Sirach 43:2

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