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 Isaiah 41:11 and 1 Enoch 63:11

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

Summary

Isaiah describes Israel’s enemies shamed and reduced to nothing, assuring the people of divine protection. 1 Enoch adapts this language in an eschatological interpretation, where the nations express regret and the messianic figure is vindicated.

Passages

Isaiah 41:11

Hebrew Bible

10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you! Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! I strengthen you—yes, I help you—yes, I uphold you with my victorious right hand! 11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated; your adversaries will be reduced to nothing and perish. 12 When you will look for your opponents, you will not find them; your enemies will be reduced to absolutely nothing. 13 For I am the Lord your God, the one who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’ 14 Don’t be afraid, despised, insignificant Jacob, men of Israel. I am helping you,” says the Lord, your Protector, the Holy One of Israel.

740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

1 Enoch 63:11

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. 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.'

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

References

"... In 1 Enoch 62-63 the association with Isaiah 52-53 is less explicit, particularly because there are very few parallels to the Isaianic text. Nonetheless, several factors indicate that these chapters of 1 Enoch are a variant of the same interpretation of Servant Song that is attested in Wisdom of Solomon 4-5. (1) All three texts have common structure, as the table above indicates. (2) The protagonist here is called the Chosen One: title of the Servant: the scene describes his call (48:2-7) parallels that of the Servant; and 1 Enoch 49:4cd echoes the presentation of the Servant in Isaiah 42:1-2. (3) Like the Wisdom of Solomon the Parables conflate the Servant material with language that echoes Isaiah 13 and 14. (4) There are a number of parallels between 1 Enoch 62–63, on the one hand, either the Wisdom of Solomon or other witnesses to the Isaianic tradition, on the other hand (Daniel 12:3, 1 Maccabees 6; 2 Maccabees 9) that they do not share with Isaiah 52-58. These parallels suggest that this interpretation of Isaiah may have originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes' persecution of the Jews (167-164 BCE) ..."

George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 37-82 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012), 258.

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 Isaiah 41:11 and 1 Enoch 63:11

Summary

Passages

Isaiah 41:11

1 Enoch 63:11

References

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