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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 Revelation 19:15

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation 19 describes judgment executed by a sharp sword coming from the mouth of Jesus, an image that parallels 1 Enoch 62 where the Chosen One judges sinners through his words. Both texts adapt language based on Isaiah.

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

Revelation 19:15

New Testament
11 Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse! The one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice he judges and goes to war. 12 His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth extends a sharp sword so that with it he can strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he stomps the winepress of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. 16 He has a name written on his clothing and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... In Daniel and the Testament of Moses the conflict becomes a dualistic one between supernatural forces of both good and evil, and the real victory is achieved by Israel's angelic patron Michael in the supernatural sphere. God's earthly people play no military role (although the function of martyrdom will have to concern us later). In the later apocalypses of 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra and the Parables of Enoch [1 Enoch] the victory of the Messiah over the pagan oppressors of Israel is prominent, but the idea of a victory by judicial sentence takes precedence over military language (2 Baruch 40:1; 1 Enoch 62:2-3; and especially 4 Ezra 12:31-33; 13:9-11,37-38). In most cases where the idea of a military Messiah occurs in the early post-biblical Jewish literature, his army is not mentioned, even if it may sometimes be implied (compare Psalms of Solomon 17:22-24; 2 Baruch 72:6; Sibylline Oracles 3:654, 689; 5:418-419). This is surprising since the dominant Old Testament tradition of the holy war in which God's people certainly fight, though the heavenly armies may fight with them and the victory is undoubtedly due to God, is prominent in the Maccabean literature and must have inspired the Jewish resistance movements against Rome in the first and second centuries A.D. ..."
Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993), 211.

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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1 Enoch 62:2 and Revelation 19:15

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