1 Enoch

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Chapter 46

1 And there I saw One who had a head of days, and His head was white like wool. With Him was another being who had the appearance of a man, and his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.⁠ 2 And I asked the angel who accompanied me and showed me all the hidden things, about that Son of Man, who he was, where he was from, and why he accompanied the Head of Days? 3 The angel answered and said to me: 'This is the Son of Man who possesses righteousness, with whom righteousness dwells, and who reveals all the hidden treasures, because the Lord of Spirits has chosen him, and his status is foremost before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness forever.'⁠ 4 'And this Son of Man whom you have seen will raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats, and the strong from their thrones, will loosen the reins of the strong, and break the teeth of the sinners.'⁠ 5 'And he shall depose the kings from their thrones and kingdoms because they do not praise and honor Him, nor humbly acknowledge where the kingdom was bestowed upon them.' 6 'And he shall humble the faces of the strong, and fill them with shame. And darkness shall be their dwelling, and worms shall be their bed, and they shall have no hope of rising from their beds, because they do not praise the name of the Lord of Spirits.' 7 'And these are those who judge the stars of heaven, and raise their hands against the Most High, and tread upon the earth and dwell upon it. And all their deeds manifest unrighteousness, and their power rests on their riches, and their faith is in the gods which they have made with their hands, and they deny the name of the Lord of Spirits.' 8 'And they persecute the houses of His congregations, and the faithful who depend on the name of the Lord of Spirits.'⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 46:8 and Daniel 8:10

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Hebrew Bible

Summary

Daniel describes a horn that grows powerful enough to reach the stars, symbolizing an arrogant empire that oppresses the faithful. 1 Enoch presents a similar persecuting power, both drawing on apocalyptic traditions where they answer to divine judgment.

Passages

1 Enoch 46:8

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

7 'And these are those who judge the stars of heaven, and raise their hands against the Most High, and tread upon the earth and dwell upon it. And all their deeds manifest unrighteousness, and their power rests on their riches, and their faith is in the gods which they have made with their hands, and they deny the name of the Lord of Spirits.' 8 'And they persecute the houses of His congregations, and the faithful who depend on the name of the Lord of Spirits.'

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

Daniel 8:10

Hebrew Bible

9 From one of them came a small horn, but it grew to be very great toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. 10 It grew so great it reached the army of heaven, and it brought about the fall of some of the army and some of the stars to the ground, where it trampled them. 11 It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, from whom the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary was thrown down. 12 The army was given over, along with the daily sacrifice, in the course of his sinful rebellion. It hurled truth to the ground and enjoyed success.

200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Daniel

References

"... The question of traditional imagery must be distinguished from the question of literary sources. One scholarly tradition, represented by Martin Noth, and recently by Rollin Kearns, has held that a pre-Danielic 'Son of Man' source can be distinguished in Daniel 7:9-14. These verses are marked off from their context as poetry in the standard edition of the Hebrew Bible, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, but many commentators have been reluctant to conclude that a switch from prose to poetry requires a change of authorship. Besides, the poetic character of verses 13-14 has been questioned. The parallelism of classical Hebrew poetry is lacking in verse 13, and the whole chapter is written in a rhythmic style. Noth argued that the Similitudes of Enoch knew only these verses of Daniel 7, but his conclusion has been questioned on the ground that a number of other allusions are possible. (Theisohn argues that 1 Enoch 46:7: 'And these are they who judge the stars of heaven' depends on Daniel 8:10. The case is stronger if one accepts the emendation of R. H. Charles, The Ethiopic Version of the Book of Enoch) Even if the author does not allude to any other part of Daniel, we cannot safely conclude that he was not acquainted with it, only that he was selective in his allusions. Since he clearly alludes to some verses in Daniel 7, and since these verses are not attested outside of Daniel, the simplest conclusion is that he drew on the Book of Daniel, rather than on its hypothetical source ..."

John J. Collins, The Scepter and the Star: Messianism in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 194.

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

1 Enoch108 chapters

Compare 1 Enoch 46:8 and Daniel 8:10

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 46:8

Daniel 8:10

References

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