1 Enoch

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Chapter 52

1 After those days in that place where I had seen all the hidden visions—carried off in a whirlwind, taken westward— 2 My eyes saw all the secret celestial things that are to come: a mountain of iron, copper, silver, gold, soft metal, and lead.⁠ 3 I asked the angel accompanying me, 'What are these things I have seen in secret?' 4 He replied, 'All that you have seen shall support the reign of His Anointed, empowering him greatly upon the earth.' 5 Then the angel of peace said to me, 'Wait a while, and all the secrets that surround the Lord of Spirits will be disclosed to you.' 6 The mountains you saw—the iron, copper, silver, gold, soft metal, and lead—will be in the presence of the Elect One as wax before the fire, and like water streaming down,⁠ becoming powerless before his feet. 7 In those days, no one can be saved by gold or silver, and none will have the means to escape.⁠ 8 There will be no iron for war, nor will anyone wear a breastplate. Bronze will be useless, and tin and lead will no longer be valued. 9 All these materials will be removed from the earth's surface when the Elect One stands before the Lord of Spirits.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 52:2 and Daniel 2:35

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Hebrew Bible

Summary

Daniel 2 and 1 Enoch 52 both use metals to describe power and wealth. Daniel’s statue of mixed metals falls and is replaced by a lasting kingdom and in 1 Enoch the heavens appear as mountains made of metal.

Passages

1 Enoch 52:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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

Daniel 2:35

Hebrew Bible

33 Its legs were of iron; its feet were partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You were watching as a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its iron and clay feet, breaking them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were broken in pieces without distinction and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors that the wind carries away. Not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain that filled the entire earth. 36 This was the dream. Now we will set forth before the king its interpretation. 37 “You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has granted you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.

200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Daniel

References

"... Although there is no identity of wording in the two texts, the following parallels should point to a Daniel 2 background. (1) There is a vision of future world kingdoms (1 Enoch 52:2; Daniel 2:31-45), (2) which are portrayed by metals, although the kingdoms are represented in Daniel as four metallic sections of a colossus and in Enoch as six metallic mountains. (3) The vision of these kingdoms is 'revealed' as a 'secret' or 'mystery' (1 Enoch 52:2-3, 5; Daniel 2:18-19, 28-30, 47) which (4) involves their simultaneous and utter destruction by a messianic figure (1 Enoch 52:6-9; Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45). (5) A final common element is the establishment of a divine kingdom which succeeds the world kingdoms (1 Enoch 52:4; Daniel 2:35, 44). The idea that these kingdoms 'shall serve the dominion of His Anointed' (verse 4) could well be a supplement from Daniel 7:14a. How these kingdoms will serve the Messiah and yet also subsequently be destroyed is not clear, although it may be that those among these kingdoms who have submitted to the messianic reign are pictured in verse 4. The portrayal of the earthly kingdoms as 'mountains' may have been thought of because the 'mountain' of Daniel 2:35 also represents a kingdom (i.e., a divine kingdom; compare Daniel 2:44). Especially striking is the fact that the 'revealed mystery' can be considered an eschatological mystery, as in Daniel 2, since it concerns God's defeat of the world kingdoms and the establishment of the divine kingdom. Thus, the Daniel 2 background stands behind the creative picture of 1 Enoch 52:2-6, although it is not certain whether there has been direct dependence on Daniel itself or on a Daniel tradition. Perhaps the extent of creativity points to the latter option ..."

G. K. Beale, The Use of Daniel in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature and in the Revelation of St. John (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2010), 106–108.

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 52:2 and Daniel 2:35

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 52:2

Daniel 2:35

References

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