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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 79

1 Now, my son, I have shown you everything, and the law governing all the stars of heaven is complete.⁠ 2 Uriel showed me all the laws of these stars⁠ for each day, for every ruling season, for every year, and for their appearances, including the specific order for each month and every week. 3 He explained the waning of the moon that occurs in the sixth portal: here, the moon's illumination is completed, and then the waning begins. 4 This waning continues in the first portal during its season, lasting until one hundred and seventy-seven days are completed, which corresponds to twenty-five weeks and two days. 5 The moon falls behind the sun and the stars by exactly five days over one cycle, once it passes through the position you see. 6 This is the picture and sketch of every light that Uriel the archangel, their leader, showed to me.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 148:6 and 1 Enoch 79:2

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

Psalm 148 calls the sun, moon, and stars to praise God with a decree that will never be revoked. 1 Enoch 79 repeats this language to describe astronomy and the laws that every star that Uriel shows to Enoch.

Passages

Psalm 148:6

Hebrew Bible
4 Praise him, O highest heaven and you waters above the sky. 5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he gave the command and they came into existence. 6 He established them so they would endure; he issued a decree that will not be revoked. 7 Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea creatures and all you ocean depths,
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

1 Enoch 79:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 Now, my son, I have shown you everything, and the law governing all the stars of heaven is complete. 2 Uriel showed me all the laws of these stars for each day, for every ruling season, for every year, and for their appearances, including the specific order for each month and every week. 3 He explained the waning of the moon that occurs in the sixth portal: here, the moon's illumination is completed, and then the waning begins.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

... The idea that the luminaries obey the laws divinely imposed on them comes to expression more frequently in the Hebrew Bible. Psalm 148:5-6 is a case in point. There the psalmist calls on angels, sun, moon, stars, and more to praise the Lord: Let them praise the name of the Lord, for it was he who commanded that they be created, he made them endure forever, establishing an order that shall never change. As C. A. Briggs commented about verse 6: ‘He established them at their creation in such a firm, abiding position, that they will remain stable and immovable forever. ... He established His law in the heavens, and these heavenly beings, angels and the great luminaries, the ascents of heaven and the rain clouds, all have to submit to it. ... The decree given to the heaven is immutable. This is the nearest approach to immutable laws of nature that is known to Hebrew Literature.’ ...
George W. E. Nickelsburg and James C. VanderKam, 1 Enoch 2: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 37-82 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012), 385.

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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Psalm 148:6 and 1 Enoch 79:2

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