1 Enoch

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Chapter 88

1 And I saw one of those four who had come forth first, and he seized that first star which had fallen from heaven, and bound it hand and foot, and threw it into an abyss:⁠ now that abyss was narrow, deep, horrible, and dark. 2 And one of them drew a sword and gave it to those elephants, camels, and donkeys; then they began to strike each other, and the whole earth shook because of them. 3 And while I was watching in the vision, look, one of those four who had come forth threw stones from heaven,⁠ and gathered and took all the great stars⁠ whose private parts were like those of horses, and bound them all hand and foot, and threw them into an abyss of the earth.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 88:1 and Revelation 20:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

Summary

In 1 Enoch 88 an archangel captures the first fallen star, binds it hand and foot, and throws it into a dark abyss. Revelation repeats this scene at the end of time, describing an angel chaining the dragon and sealing him in the abyss.

Passages

1 Enoch 88:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

1 And I saw one of those four who had come forth first, and he seized that first star which had fallen from heaven, and bound it hand and foot, and threw it into an abyss: now that abyss was narrow, deep, horrible, and dark. 2 And one of them drew a sword and gave it to those elephants, camels, and donkeys; then they began to strike each other, and the whole earth shook because of them. 3 And while I was watching in the vision, look, one of those four who had come forth threw stones from heaven, and gathered and took all the great stars whose private parts were like those of horses, and bound them all hand and foot, and threw them into an abyss of the earth.

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

Revelation 20:2

New Testament

1 Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. 2 He seized the dragon—the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan—and tied him up for a thousand years. 3 The angel then threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)

92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

... The theme of the antagonist’s binding also appears in some New Testament materials, subtly revealing its formative Enochic roots. This is most obvious in the telling of the execution of angelic servants, the darkness to which they have been exiled, and their subsequent placement into the abyss. Thus, in Revelation 20:1-3, the antagonist’s enchaining coincides with the now familiar motif of his banishment to the subterranean pit by an angelic executor. Jude 6 also reveals a tradition of binding of the fallen angels; it reads: And the angels who did not keep their own position, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great Day. Here, too, the same elements can be found: the celestial rebels are bound and situated in the depths of darkness. ...

Andrei A. Orlov, Divine Scapegoats: Demonic Mimesis in Early Jewish Mysticism (Albany, NY: State University of New York, 2015), 73.

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 1 Enoch 88:1 and Revelation 20:2

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 88:1

Revelation 20:2

References

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