1 Enoch

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Chapter 9

1 Then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven⁠ and saw much blood being shed on the earth, and all the lawlessness being committed on the earth.⁠ 2 They said to one another: 'The earth, left without inhabitants, cries out, and the voice of their crying reaches the gates of heaven.'⁠ 3 'And now to you, the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men plead, saying, "Present our case before the Most High."'⁠ 4 They said to the Lord of the ages:⁠ 'Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings,⁠ and God of the ages,⁠ the throne of Your glory stands through all generations,⁠ and Your name is holy and glorious and blessed through all ages!⁠ 5 You have created all things, and over all things You have power. All things are open and visible in Your sight, and You see everything, and nothing can hide from You.⁠ 6 You see what Azâzêl has done, who has taught all unrighteousness on the earth and revealed the eternal secrets that were kept in heaven,⁠ which men were eager to learn.⁠ 7 And Semjâzâ, to whom You gave the authority to rule over his companions. 8 They have gone to the daughters of men on the earth, have lain with the women, have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins. 9 The women have borne giants, and as a result the whole earth has been filled with blood and unrighteousness. 10 And now the souls of those who have died are crying out and pleading at the gates of heaven, and their laments have risen up; they cannot stop because of the lawless acts committed on the earth.⁠ 11 You know all things before they happen, and You see these things and allow them, and You do not tell us what we should do about them.'⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 9:2 and Romans 8:19

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

Summary

Romans describes creation eagerly waiting for renewal, using similar language found in 1 Enoch, which describes the earth crying to heaven because of violence and corruption. Both give a voice to the natural world and follow apocalyptic traditions.

Passages

1 Enoch 9:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

1 Then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being shed on the earth, and all the lawlessness being committed on the earth. 2 They said to one another: 'The earth, left without inhabitants, cries out, and the voice of their crying reaches the gates of heaven.' 3 'And now to you, the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men plead, saying, "Present our case before the Most High."' 4 They said to the Lord of the ages: 'Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings, and God of the ages, the throne of Your glory stands through all generations, and Your name is holy and glorious and blessed through all ages!

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

Romans 8:19

New Testament

18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.

55–58 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Romans

References

"... Jewett points out that Paul’s maternal personification of creation may have been influenced by Roman depictions of Mother Earth—for example, on the Ara Pacis in Rome—although he contrasts her relaxed posture there with the mood of “eager expectation” (ἀποκαραδοκία) that Paul attributes to creation (8:19). He also mentions as parallel the personification of the earth in the Book of the Watchers, where the earth cries out to heaven on behalf of her inhabitants, who are being devoured by the giants (1 Enoch 7:6, 9:2). Joseph R. Dodson compares the personification of creation in Romans with that in the Wisdom of Solomon, but he finds that the personified creation behaves in quite different ways in the two works. These comparisons are helpful, but much more illuminating parallels can be found in 4 Ezra. Some of the aforementioned analogies by which Uriel explains eschatological matters to Ezra compare the earth to a pregnant woman. For example, in response to a question from Ezra about a possible delay of the final judgment, Uriel answers, “Go and ask a woman who is with child if, when her nine months have been completed, her womb can keep the child within her any longer” (4:40). After Ezra answers that it cannot, Uriel draws out the analogy: “The underworld and the treasuries of the souls are like the womb. For just as a woman who is in travail makes haste to escape the pangs of birth, so also do these [places] hasten to give back those things that were committed to them from the beginning” (4:41–42; compare 1 Enoch 51:1; 2 Baruch 30:2, 50:2) ..."

Karina M. Hogan, “The Apocalyptic Eschatology of Romans,” in The Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition and the Shaping of New Testament Thought, ed. Loren T. Stuckenbruck (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2017), 155–174.

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 9:2 and Romans 8:19

Summary

Passages

1 Enoch 9:2

Romans 8:19

References

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