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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 63

1 In those days, the mighty and the kings who rule the earth will beg Him for a brief respite from His angels of punishment, to whom they were delivered, so they might kneel and worship before the Lord of Spirits, and confess their sins before Him. 2 They will praise and exalt the Lord of Spirits, saying: 'Blessed is the Lord of Spirits and the Lord of kings, the Lord of the mighty and the Lord of the wealthy, the Lord of glory⁠ and the Lord of wisdom, 3 and Your power is magnificent in every hidden aspect from generation to generation, and Your glory forever and ever: All Your secrets are deep and countless, and Your righteousness is beyond measure.' 4 We now understand that we should praise and bless the Lord of kings and Him who is king over all kings.' 5 They will say: 'If only we had the chance to praise and give thanks and confess our faith before His glory! 6 And now we long for a moment of rest but do not find it: we strive to achieve it but fail; and light has vanished from before us, and darkness is our dwelling place forever and ever.⁠ 7 For we did not believe before Him nor did we glorify the name of the Lord of Spirits,⁠ but our hope was in the scepter of our kingdom, and in our own glory. 8 And on the day of our suffering and tribulation, He does not save us, and we find no time to confess that our Lord is true in all His works, and in His judgments and His justice, and His judgments show no favoritism. 9 And we perish from before His face because of our deeds, and all our sins are accounted in righteousness.' 10 Now they shall say to themselves: 'Our souls are full of illegitimate gain, but it does not prevent us from descending into the depths of Sheol.'⁠ 11 After that, their faces shall be filled with darkness and shame before that Son of Man, and they shall be expelled from His presence, and the sword shall remain before His face among them.⁠ 12 The Lord of Spirits declares: 'This is the decree and judgment concerning the mighty and the kings and the exalted and those who possess the earth before the Lord of Spirits.'

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 63:10 and Luke 16:9

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

1 Enoch 63 describes unrighteous wealth as useless and unable to save one from the finality of death. In Luke, Jesus teaches a different approach, portraying wealth as unrighteous but possible to be used shrewdly.

Passages

1 Enoch 63:10

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
9 And we perish from before His face because of our deeds, and all our sins are accounted in righteousness.' 10 Now they shall say to themselves: 'Our souls are full of illegitimate gain, but it does not prevent us from descending into the depths of Sheol.' 11 After that, their faces shall be filled with darkness and shame before that Son of Man, and they shall be expelled from His presence, and the sword shall remain before His face among them.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Luke 16:9

New Testament
8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon31, so that when it runs out, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes. 10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

References

"... it is improbable that Luke would have addressed a word with such narrow application to disciples. Moreover, his reference to the failure of mammon indicates that all wealth is regarded as 'mammon of unrighteousness' (compare Sirach 5:8; 1 Enoch 63:10). A second view regards 'mammon of unrighteousness' as expressing the essential evilness of possessions. Thus Herbert Braun infers: 'The third gospel understands possessions as something fundamentally evil which must be given up in view of the approaching judgment.' This interpretation falls foul of the fact that of all the evangelists Luke is the only one who indicates a positive appreciation of the constructive role which possessions can play, The point of the parable of the unjust steward does not lie in urging disciples to flee possessions, but in persuading them to use them wisely and constructively in the light of their eventual 'failure.' They are called upon to be 'faithful with unrighteous mammon,' an odd turn of phrase if what Luke means is that possessions are to be shunned as inherently evil. He obviously intends that the poor are to be advantaged by the reception of alms, and is proud of the early church's achievement in abolishing want. The leaders of the early church are not pictured abandoning wealth, but carefully administering it for the good of the community. Others have suggested that possessions are characterized as 'unrighteous' because of their tendency to corrupt, or because they are so often tainted with unrighteousness through their acquisition and use or because of their idol-like potential ..."
David Peter Seccombe, The Poor and Their Possessions: Possessions and the Poor in Luke-Acts (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2022), 169.

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 63:10 and Luke 16:9

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