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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 53

1 There, my eyes saw a deep valley with open mouths, where all who live on earth, sea, and islands⁠ will bring gifts, presents, and tributes,⁠ yet the valley will never fill. 2 They commit unlawful acts, and the sinners consume all they oppress unlawfully: yet, sinners will be destroyed from the presence of the Lord of Spirits, expelled from His earth, and they will be gone forever. 3 I saw all the angels of punishment waiting there, preparing all the instruments of Satan.⁠ 4 I asked the angel of peace who accompanied me, 'For whom are they preparing these instruments?' 5 He replied, 'They are preparing these for the kings and the powerful of this earth, so that they may be destroyed through them.' 6 Afterwards, the Righteous and Elect One will establish the house of his followers, and they will no longer be hindered in the name of the Lord of Spirits. 7 The mountains will not stand firm like the earth before his righteousness, but the hills will be like a fountain of water, and the righteous will rest from the oppression of sinners.'

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 72:10 and 1 Enoch 53:1

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

1 Enoch 53 uses the imagery from Psalm 72 where foreign kings bring gifts to a just ruler. In the psalm the gifts honor a king who helps the poor, and in 1 Enoch they are offered to the chosen figure during the final judgment.

Passages

Psalm 72:10

Hebrew Bible
8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. 9 Before him the coastlands will bow down, and his enemies will lick the dust. 10 The kings of Tarshish and the coastlands will offer gifts; the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring tribute. 11 All kings will bow down to him; all nations will serve him. 12 For he will rescue the needy when they cry out for help, and the oppressed who have no defender.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

1 Enoch 53:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 There, my eyes saw a deep valley with open mouths, where all who live on earth, sea, and islands will bring gifts, presents, and tributes, yet the valley will never fill. 2 They commit unlawful acts, and the sinners consume all they oppress unlawfully: yet, sinners will be destroyed from the presence of the Lord of Spirits, expelled from His earth, and they will be gone forever. 3 I saw all the angels of punishment waiting there, preparing all the instruments of Satan.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... 1 Enoch 53:1 ... The language of this verse may reflect Psalm 72:10 ... Since this is a royal psalm, the present verse may imply that the gifts are tribute to the Anointed One / Chosen One of the preceding chapter, or indeed that the persons who bring them are to be associated with those mentioned in 52:7. That is, the gifts are an attempt to stave off the judgment to be rendered by God's Anointed One ..."
George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 37-82 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012), 195–196.

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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Psalm 72:10 and 1 Enoch 53:1

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