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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 71

1 After that my spirit was taken up, and I ascended into the heavens. I saw the holy sons of God walking on flames of fire; their garments were white, and their faces shone like snow. 2 I saw two streams of fire, and the light from the fire was like hyacinth. Overwhelmed, I fell on my face before the Lord of Spirits.⁠ 3 The archangel Michael took me by my right hand, lifted me up, and led me through all the secrets, showing me all the secrets of righteousness. 4 He revealed to me all the secrets of the ends of heaven, and all the chambers of the stars and the lights, from where they come out before the holy ones. 5 My spirit was taken into the highest heaven, where I saw a structure built of crystals with tongues of living fire between them.⁠ 6 I saw the band of fire surrounding this fiery house, with streams of living fire on all four sides. 7 Around it were Seraphim, Cherubim, and Ophanim, who do not sleep and guard the throne of His glory. 8 There I saw countless angels, thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, surrounding the house.⁠ Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Phanuel, and the holy angels from above the heavens went in and out of the house. 9 They came out of that house, and along with Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel came many holy angels beyond number. 10 With them was the Head of Days,⁠ whose head was white and pure as wool, and whose garments were beyond description. 11 Overcome, I fell on my face, my whole body went limp, and my spirit was transformed;⁠ I cried out with a loud voice, blessing, glorifying, and exalting Him. 12 These blessings from my mouth pleased the Head of Days.⁠ 13 The Head of Days came with Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel, accompanied by thousands and tens of thousands of angels beyond number. 14 One of the angels came to me and said, 'This is the Son of Man who was born for righteousness. Righteousness dwells with him, and the righteousness of the Head of Days never leaves him.' 15 He told me, 'He proclaims peace to you in the name of the world to come. Since the creation of the world, peace has come from here, and so it will be for you forever.' 16 'All will follow his path because righteousness never leaves him. They will dwell with him, and their inheritance will be with him, never to be separated from him forever.' 17 'So the Son of Man will have long days,⁠ and the righteous will have peace and walk in upright ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits forever.'

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 71:17 and Jubilees 4:18

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions

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Summary

Jubilees echoes 1 Enoch’s vision of a righteous figure whose faithful life brings peace and guidance to others, using similar language about long life, righteousness, and eternal inheritance, showing a dependence on Enochic tradition.

Passages

1 Enoch 71:17

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
15 He told me, 'He proclaims peace to you in the name of the world to come. Since the creation of the world, peace has come from here, and so it will be for you forever.' 16 'All will follow his path because righteousness never leaves him. They will dwell with him, and their inheritance will be with him, never to be separated from him forever.' 17 'So the Son of Man will have long days, and the righteous will have peace and walk in upright ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits forever.'
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Jubilees 4:18

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
17 And he was the first among men that are born on earth who learned writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, so that people might know the seasons of the years according to the order of their separate months. 18 And he was the first to write a testimony and he testified to the human beings among the generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and set in order the months and recounted the Sabbaths of the years as we made (them) known to him. 19 And what was and what will be he saw in a vision of his sleep, as it will happen to the human beings throughout their generations until the day of judgment; he saw and understood everything, and wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for all the human beings and for their generations.
170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

References

"... He was the first to write a testimony (apparently, a warning) in which he testified to [better: warned] mankind in [better: throughout] the generations of the earth: The weeks of the jubilees he related, presumably, how the passage of time is reckoned through these 49-year periods and their seven-year sub-units, and he made known the days of the years, that is, how many days there are in a solar and lunar year: see 1 Enoch 72-74 ..."
James L. Kugel, A Walk through Jubilees: Studies in the Book of Jubilees and the World of Its Creation (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 48.

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 71:17 and Jubilees 4:18

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