1 Enoch

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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 48:7 and Acts 4:12

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

Summary

Acts 4 teaches that salvation comes through the name of Jesus and uses language similar to 1 Enoch 48 where the righteous are saved by the revealed name of the Lord of Spirits. Both show a tradition that treated the divine name as a sign of power.

Passages

1 Enoch 48:7

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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.

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

Acts 4:12

New Testament

5 On the next day, their rulers, elders, and experts in the law came together in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family. 7 After making Peter and John stand in their midst, they began to inquire, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man—by what means this man was healed— 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Acts

References

"... the messenger not only bears the name of YHWH, but exercises divine prerogatives by virtue of bearing that name. This endowment likely sought to make sense of the occasional confusion in early biblical narrative of God’s identity with that of the angel (e.g., Genesis 21:17-19; Exodus 3:2-6; Judges 6:11-23), but it would become central to early Judaism and early Christianity’s understanding of theophany and divine mediation. (1 Enoch 48:2-10; Philo, The Confusion of Tongues 146; Romans 10:12; Gospel of Phillip 11; Odes of Solomon 39:7-8) ... The New Testament and other early Christian texts repeatedly appeal to Christ’s possession of the divine name and to traditions associated with it (e.g., Exodus 23:21 and the “Son of man” tradition) as foundational to his authority and mission. Because Christ was represented as the authorized possessor of the divine name, no concept of shared “divine identity” is necessary to account for Christ’s implied or explicit associations with the name YHWH or with divine prerogatives. This is not to argue that Christ was originally an angel, but simply that the relationship of the patron deity to the agent via the indwelling of the name became a foundational interpretive lens that converged within the Christ tradition with a number of other lenses related to divine sonship, presencing, and mediation ..."

Daniel McClellan, “Cognitive Perspectives on Early Christology,” BibInt 25 (2017): 647–662.

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 48:7 and Acts 4:12

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 48:7

Acts 4:12

References

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