1 Enoch

About this book

Chapter 62

1 The Lord commanded the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who dwell on the earth, saying: 'Open your eyes and lift up your horns if you are able to recognize the Chosen One.'⁠ 2 The Lord of Spirits seated him on the throne of His glory,⁠ and the spirit of righteousness was poured out upon him. The words from his mouth slay all sinners, and all the unrighteous are destroyed from his presence.⁠ 3 On that day, all the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who hold the earth will stand, and they shall see and recognize how he sits on the throne of his glory, and how righteousness is judged before him, and no false word is spoken before him.⁠ 4 Pain will come upon them as upon a woman in childbirth,⁠ when her child enters the birth canal, and she feels the agony of delivery.⁠ 5 One group will look at another in terror, their faces will fall, and pain will seize them when they see the Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory.⁠ 6 The kings, the mighty, and all who possess the earth shall bless, glorify, and exalt him who reigns over all, who was hidden. 7 From the beginning, the Son of Man was hidden, and the Most High preserved him in the presence of His power, and revealed him to the chosen. 8 The congregation of the chosen and holy shall be sown, and all the chosen shall stand before him on that day.⁠ 9 All the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who rule the earth will fall down before him on their faces, worship him, place their hopes in the Son of Man,⁠ and ask for mercy from him. 10 Yet the Lord of Spirits will compel them to leave His presence quickly, their faces filled with shame, and darkness will deepen upon their faces. 11 He will deliver them to the angels for punishment, to exact vengeance on them for oppressing His children and His chosen. 12 They will be a spectacle for the righteous and for His chosen: they will rejoice over them, because the anger of the Lord of Spirits rests upon them, and His sword is drunk with their blood. 13 The righteous and chosen will be saved on that day, and they will never again see the face of the sinners and unrighteous. 14 The Lord of Spirits will remain over them, and with the Son of Man, they will eat, lie down, and rise up forever and ever.⁠ 15 The righteous and chosen will rise from the earth, and no longer wear downcast expressions. They will be clothed in garments of glory. 16 These are the garments of life from the Lord of Spirits: your garments will not wear out, nor will your glory fade in the presence of the Lord of Spirits.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 62:2 and Matthew 25:31

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

Summary

Matthew describes the Son of Man seated on a throne of glory and separating people to be judged. This follows a pattern similar to 1 Enoch, where the Chosen One also sits on a throne and executes judgment through his words.

Passages

1 Enoch 62:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

1 The Lord commanded the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who dwell on the earth, saying: 'Open your eyes and lift up your horns if you are able to recognize the Chosen One.' 2 The Lord of Spirits seated him on the throne of His glory, and the spirit of righteousness was poured out upon him. The words from his mouth slay all sinners, and all the unrighteous are destroyed from his presence. 3 On that day, all the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who hold the earth will stand, and they shall see and recognize how he sits on the throne of his glory, and how righteousness is judged before him, and no false word is spoken before him. 4 Pain will come upon them as upon a woman in childbirth, when her child enters the birth canal, and she feels the agony of delivery. 5 One group will look at another in terror, their faces will fall, and pain will seize them when they see the Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory.

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

Matthew 25:31

New Testament

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... Now at this point one might appear incautious and adventurous in using 1 Enoch at all. The absence of chapters 37-71 from among the Qumran finds reinforces already existing doubt about dating, and the possibility of Christian interference with the text only increases uncertainty. Nevertheless, I do not believe that 1 Enoch is unusable nor that the parallelism between 62-63 and Matthew 25:31-46 can be discounted, provided the argument is protected in the following way: (a) Even if 1 Enoch 37-71 were, to put it most unfavorably, post-Matthaean in date and demonstrably Christianized in content it could still be used as a means of comparison bringing about a sensitivity to the possibility of similar patterns of thought in Matthew. The existence of such patterns in Matthew would not thereby have been proved, but the possibility of their providing an entree into the essential structure of the Matthaean material would have been kept open. (b) The age of a document and the age of the traditions contained in it are not necessarily identical, and in this instance, we do appear to be dealing with a scheme which is much older than both 1 Enoch and Matthew. In other words, form-criticism makes a significant contribution here and, in particular, reference must be made to the work of G. W. E. Nickelsburg which uncovered the existence of a long-established pre-Enochian scheme describing the exaltation of formerly persecuted persons and the passing of judgement on their erstwhile persecutors. This scheme, which draws on Isaiah 13-14, 52-53, is picked up in Daniel 7. 12-13 and can be seen emerging in Wisdom of Solomon 2:4-5 as well as in 1 Enoch 62-63 and elsewhere ..."

David R. Catchpole, “The Poor on Earth and the Son of Man in Heaven: A Re-Appraisal of Matthew 25:31–46,” BJRL 61 (1979): 355–397.

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 62:2 and Matthew 25:31

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 62:2

Matthew 25:31

References

Tags

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library