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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 54

1 And I looked and turned to another part of the earth, and saw there a deep valley with burning fire. 2 They brought the kings and the mighty, and began to throw them into this deep valley.⁠ 3 There, my eyes saw how they made these instruments, iron chains of immense weight. 4 I asked the angel of peace who was with me, 'For whom are these chains being prepared?'⁠ 5 He said to me, 'These are being prepared for the armies of Azâzêl, so they may take them and throw them into the abyss of complete condemnation,⁠ and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded.' 6 Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel will seize them on that great day, and throw them into the burning furnace, that the Lord of Spirits may avenge their wickedness in submitting to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.'⁠ 7 'In those days, punishment will come from the Lord of Spirits, and he will open all the chambers of waters above the heavens, and the fountains beneath the earth. 8 And all the waters will merge: the water above the heavens is masculine, and the water beneath the earth is feminine.⁠ 9 They will destroy all who live on the earth and those who live at the ends of the heaven. 10 And when they acknowledge their wrongdoing that they committed on the earth, by these they will perish.'

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 24:21 and 1 Enoch 54:2

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

1 Enoch 54 describes heavenly beings and earthly kings confined in a pit before facing later punishment, based on Isaiah 24, which also describes God judging heavenly beings and the kings of the earth.

Passages

Isaiah 24:21

Hebrew Bible
19 The earth is broken in pieces, the earth is ripped to shreds, the earth shakes violently. 20 The earth will stagger around like a drunk; it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. Its sin will weigh it down, and it will fall and never get up again. 21 At that time the Lord will punish the heavenly forces in the heavens and the earthly kings on the earth. 22 They will be imprisoned in a pit, locked up in a prison, and after staying there for a long time, they will be punished. 23 The full moon will be covered up, the bright sun will be darkened; for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion in Jerusalem in the presence of his assembly, in majestic splendor.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

1 Enoch 54:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 And I looked and turned to another part of the earth, and saw there a deep valley with burning fire. 2 They brought the kings and the mighty, and began to throw them into this deep valley. 3 There, my eyes saw how they made these instruments, iron chains of immense weight. 4 I asked the angel of peace who was with me, 'For whom are these chains being prepared?' 5 He said to me, 'These are being prepared for the armies of Azâzêl, so they may take them and throw them into the abyss of complete condemnation, and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded.'
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... David Suter finds a different kind of unity in 54:1-56:4 and argues that 54:7-55:2 is not an interpolation but is integral to the original composition of the section. He sees this whole section (54:1-56:4) as a tripartite a-b-a ('concave') midrash on the tripartite section in Isaiah 24:17-23 - a midrash that he believes has left its marks elsewhere in the Parables. The parallels that he sees between the present section and Isaiah 24 are ... (Isaiah 24:17-10 and 1 Enoch 54:1-6; Isaiah 24:19-20 and 1 Enoch 54:7-55:2; Isaiah 24:20-23 and 1 Enoch 52:3-56:4) ... Certain of Suter's parallels are noteworthy. Both texts describe two stages of punishment for both the kings of the earth and the rebellious host of heaven, presumably in the same place(s) ... the structure is less clear than Suter suggests ... the evidence for a connection between 54:1-56:4 and Isaiah 24:17-23 is less compelling than the evidence for an interpolation in 54:1-56:4 ..."
George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 37-82 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012), 200–201.

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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Isaiah 24:21 and 1 Enoch 54:2

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