1 Enoch

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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 1 Enoch 53:3 and 2 Enoch 42:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

Summary

1 Enoch and 2 Enoch use similar apocalyptic details, showing supernatural beings like angels or demons preparing for judgment and punishment. They are described as executing justice on the powerful, using instruments associated with final judgment.

Passages

1 Enoch 53:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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.'

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

2 Enoch 42:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch

1 I saw the key-holders and guards of the gates of hell standing, like great serpents, and their faces like extinguished lamps, and their eyes of fire, their sharp teeth. 2 And I said to them, 'I wish I had never seen you. May no one from my family ever come to you.' 3 And I saw a blessed place there, where every creature was blessed and everyone lived in joy and boundless happiness, in eternal life.

1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

References

"... Why would theriomorphic creatures, probably demons, be situated in heaven? Their theriomorphic appearance may be connected with the function of the celestial afterworld doorkeepers and probably “angels of punishment” (1 Enoch 53:3; compare “spirits of retribution” of Testament of Levi 3:2, etc.). This understanding would better correspond to the second account of the Builders, where they have the “appearance of dogs” (3:3). The guarding of the Gates of the afterworld by beasts is a common motif; compare, e.g., in Greek and Roman traditions: Cerberus, Eurynomos of Pausanias (10.28.7), beasts and snakes (Aristophanes, The Frogs 143; 278), Hydra (Virgil, Aeneid 6.560; compare Ovid, Metamorphosis 4.451–52 and passim). See also the serpent-like gate keepers of Hades in 2 Enoch 42:1; etc. Although normally the netherworld is meant, in 3 Baruch Hades is located in heaven. According to Testament of Isaac 5:8 in the beginning of his heavenly tour the patriarch sees creatures whose “faces were like faces of camels and some were like the faces of dogs; others were like the faces of lions and hyenas and tigers.” ..."

Alexander Kulik, “How the Devil Got His Hooves and Horns: The Origin of the Motif and the Implied Demonology of 3 Baruch,” Numen 60 (2013): 195–229.

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 53:3 and 2 Enoch 42:1

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 53:3

2 Enoch 42:1

References

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