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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 69

1 After this judgment, they will be terrified and shaken because they revealed these things to those who live on the earth. 2 Here are the names of these angels: the first is Samjâzâ, the second Artâqîfâ, the third Armên, the fourth Kôkabêl, the fifth Tûrâêl, the sixth Rûmjâl, the seventh Dânjâl, the eighth Nêqâêl, the ninth Barâqêl, the tenth Azâzêl, the eleventh Armârôs, the twelfth Batarjâl, the thirteenth Busasêjal, the fourteenth Hanânêl, the fifteenth Tûrêl, the sixteenth Simâpêsîêl, the seventeenth Jetrêl, the eighteenth Tumâêl, the nineteenth Tûrêl, the twentieth Rûmâêl, and the twenty-first Azâzêl. 3 These are the chiefs of their angels and their names, and they command hundreds, fifties, and tens. 4 The first angel, Jeqôn, led all the sons of God astray and brought them down to the earth, misleading them with the daughters of men. 5 The second, Asbeêl, gave evil counsel to the holy sons of God, leading them to defile themselves with the daughters of men. 6 The third, Gâdreêl, showed the children of men all the deadly strikes, led Eve astray,⁠ and introduced the weapons of death to the sons of men, including the shield, the coat of mail, the sword, and other weapons. 7 From his hand these have been used against those who live on the earth from that day and forever. 8 The fourth, Pênemûe, taught the children of men the difference between bitter and sweet, revealing all the secrets of their wisdom. 9 He taught mankind how to write with ink and paper, which led many to sin from then until today. 10 For men were not created to confirm their promises with pen and ink. 11 For humans were created exactly like the angels, so that they might remain pure and righteous,⁠ and death, which corrupts everything, could not have touched them. But through this knowledge they perish, and through this power it is consuming me. 12 The fifth, Kâsdejâ, revealed to the children of men all the evil afflictions of spirits and demons, the striking of embryos in the womb to cause a miscarriage, the bites of the serpent, and the afflictions that come at noon, the son of the serpent named Tabâ'ět. 13 This was the task of Kâsbeêl, the chief of the oath, which he showed to the holy ones when he lived high above in glory. Its name is Bîqâ. 14 This angel asked Michael to reveal the hidden name so that he could declare it in the oath, causing those who revealed secrets to the children of men to tremble before it.⁠ 15 This is the power of this oath; it is mighty and strong, and he placed this oath Akâe in the hand of Michael.⁠ 16 And these secrets are powerful through his oath: the heavens were suspended before the world was created and will be forever.⁠ 17 By this oath the earth was founded upon water, and from the hidden depths of the mountains come beautiful waters, from the creation of the world and on forever. 18 By this oath the sea was created, and as its foundation He set for it the sand against the time of its fury, and it dare not pass beyond it from the creation of the world and on forever. 19 By this oath the depths are made firm, remaining calm and undisturbed from eternity to eternity. 20 By this oath the sun and moon complete their courses and do not turn aside from their ordained paths from eternity to eternity. 21 By this oath the stars complete their courses, and He calls them by their names, and they answer Him from eternity to eternity. 22 The same is true of the spirits of water and winds, and all the breezes in every direction. 23 The voices of thunder and the light of the lightnings are kept, along with the storerooms of hail, frost, mist, rain, and dew.⁠ 24 All these acknowledge and give thanks before the Lord of Spirits, glorifying Him with all their power; their sustenance comes from their acts of thanksgiving, as they praise, glorify, and exalt the name of the Lord of Spirits forever and ever. 25 And this oath prevails over them, keeping their paths secure and ensuring their actions are not destroyed. 26 There was great joy among them, and they blessed, glorified, and exalted the name of the Son of Man that had been revealed to them.⁠ 27 He sat on the throne of his glory, the whole of judgment was given to the Son of Man,⁠ and he caused the sinners to vanish from the face of the earth, along with those who had misled the world.⁠ 28 They will be bound in chains, confined to their place of destruction, and all their works will disappear from the face of the earth. 29 From now on nothing corruptible will exist; the Son of Man has appeared, has taken his seat on the throne of his glory, and all evil will vanish before his face. His word will go out and be strong before the Lord of Spirits. This is the Third Parable of Enoch.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 69:16 and Jubilees 36:7

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions

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Summary

Jubilees and 1 Enoch describe the divine name used in unusual ways, sometimes as a force that brings about creation. The Hebrew Bible shares a tradition where God’s name functions as an active and personified agent of power and authority.

Passages

1 Enoch 69:16

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
14 This angel asked Michael to reveal the hidden name so that he could declare it in the oath, causing those who revealed secrets to the children of men to tremble before it. 15 This is the power of this oath; it is mighty and strong, and he placed this oath Akâe in the hand of Michael. 16 And these secrets are powerful through his oath: the heavens were suspended before the world was created and will be forever. 17 By this oath the earth was founded upon water, and from the hidden depths of the mountains come beautiful waters, from the creation of the world and on forever. 18 By this oath the sea was created, and as its foundation He set for it the sand against the time of its fury, and it dare not pass beyond it from the creation of the world and on forever. 19 By this oath the depths are made firm, remaining calm and undisturbed from eternity to eternity. 20 By this oath the sun and moon complete their courses and do not turn aside from their ordained paths from eternity to eternity.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Jubilees 36:7

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
6 Remember, my sons, the Lord God of Abraham your father, and how I too worshipped Him and served Him in righteousness and in joy, so that He might multiply you and increase your descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and establish you on the earth as the plant of righteousness which will not be rooted out to all the generations forever. 7 And now I shall make you swear a great oath — for there is no oath which is greater than it by the name glorious and honored and great and splendid and wonderful and mighty, which created the heavens and the earth and all things together — that you will fear Him and worship Him.
170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

References

"... Personhood was divisible and permeable in the Hebrew Bible, and while there was diachronic and synchronic variation in certain details, the same is evident in the literature of Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. This is most clear in the widespread understanding of the spirit and the soul (נפשׁ) – often used interchangeably – as the primary loci of a person’s agency or capacity to act. Both entities were usually considered primarily constitutive of a person’s identity, but also distinct from their physical body and capable of existence apart from it. The physical body could also be penetrated or overcome by external “spirits,” and such possession imposed the agency and capacities of the possessor. The God of Israel was largely patterned after this concept of personhood, and was similarly partible, with God’s glory (Hebrew: כבוד; Greek: δόξα), wisdom (חכמה/σοφία), spirit (רוח/πνεῦµα), word (דבר/λόγος), presence (שׁכינה), and name (שׁם/ὄνοµα) operating as autonomous and sometimes personified loci of agency that could presence the deity and also possess persons (or cultic objects) and/or endow them with special status or powers. The most important of these entities for the purposes of this paper is Yhwh’s name, which is credited with some of God’s most salient acts. For instance, Jubilees 36:7 and 1 Enoch 69:14-27 attribute the creation of the heavens and the earth to the activity of the divine name ..."
Daniel McClellan, “Cognitive Perspectives on Early Christology,” BibInt 25 (2017): 647–662.

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 69:16 and Jubilees 36:7

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