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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 48

1 In that place, I saw the fountain of righteousness which was inexhaustible; around it were many fountains of wisdom. All the thirsty drank from them, were filled with wisdom, and their dwellings were with the righteous, holy, and elect.⁠ 2 At that time, the Son of Man was named in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, and his name was acknowledged before the Head of Days. 3 Yes, before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of heaven were made, his name was known before the Lord of Spirits. 4 He will be a staff for the righteous to lean on and not fall, and he will be the light of the Gentiles, and the hope for those who are troubled of heart.⁠ 5 All who dwell on earth shall bow and worship before him, and will praise, bless, and sing to celebrate the Lord of Spirits.⁠ 6 For this reason, he has been chosen and hidden before Him, before the creation of the world⁠ and forever.⁠ 7 The wisdom of the Lord of Spirits has revealed him to the holy and righteous; for he has preserved all of the righteous because they have hated and despised this world of unrighteousness,⁠ and have hated all its works and ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits:⁠ for in his name they are saved, and it has been according to his good pleasure in regard to their life.⁠ 8 In these days, the kings of the earth who own the land will look downcast because of the works of their hands; for on the day of their trouble and affliction, they will not be able to save themselves.⁠ 9 And I will hand them over to the hands of my elect: as straw in the fire, they shall burn before the face of the holy; as lead in the water, they shall sink before the face of the righteous,⁠ and no trace of them shall be found anymore.⁠ 10 On the day of their affliction, there shall be peace on the earth. They shall fall before them and not rise again; and there shall be no one to help them up, for they have denied the Lord of Spirits and His Anointed.⁠ Blessed be the name of the Lord of Spirits.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 48:1 and John 7:38

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

1 Enoch 48 describes a fountain of righteousness and wisdom the thirsty drink from, connecting this to the figure of the Son of Man. John similarly speaks of living water flowing from those who believe, connecting it with the presence of the Spirit.

Passages

1 Enoch 48:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 In that place, I saw the fountain of righteousness which was inexhaustible; around it were many fountains of wisdom. All the thirsty drank from them, were filled with wisdom, and their dwellings were with the righteous, holy, and elect. 2 At that time, the Son of Man was named in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, and his name was acknowledged before the Head of Days. 3 Yes, before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of heaven were made, his name was known before the Lord of Spirits. 4 He will be a staff for the righteous to lean on and not fall, and he will be the light of the Gentiles, and the hope for those who are troubled of heart. 5 All who dwell on earth shall bow and worship before him, and will praise, bless, and sing to celebrate the Lord of Spirits.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

John 7:38

New Testament
37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and 38 let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus was not yet glorified.) 40 When they heard these words, some of the crowd began to say, “This really is the Prophet!” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ!” But still others said, “No, for the Christ doesn’t come from Galilee, does he?
90–110 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in John

References

"... In the history of exegesis usually only the exponents of the anthropological interpretation resorted to the wisdom tradition in their search for the referent of grafe, in John 7:38c. However, the Christological interpretation does not preclude an allusion to the sapiential tradition. As Lincoln noted: “some strands of messianic expectation associated the Messiah with springs of wisdom from which all were able to drink.” The best example is 1 Enoch 48:1-2; 49:1.2b-3, the passages where the Son of Man and the Chosen One are named ... According to Nickelsburg the language of 1 Enoch 48:1-7 suggests that the mysterious figure of the Son of Man “shares some of the characteristics that Proverbs 8, Sirach 24, and 1 Baruch 4 ascribe to preexistent heavenly Wisdom.” The association of the figure of Messiah, water, spirit and wisdom finds its well-crafted parallel in the text of John 7:37-39, which identifies water flowing from the Messiah with the Spirit. Reading this Johannine passage in light of this Enochian text, the fourth component, wisdom, almost spontaneously comes to mind. Indeed, according to Brown, John 7:38c is capable of a sapiential interpretation ..."
Adam Kubiś, The Book of Zechariah in the Gospel of John (Paris: Gabalda, 2012), 257–258.

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 48:1 and John 7:38

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