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1 Enoch

About this book
Chapter 95

1 Oh, if only my eyes were a cloud of waters, so that I might weep over you, and pour down my tears as a cloud of waters, so that I might have rest from my troubled heart!⁠ 2 Who has allowed you to engage in reproaches and wickedness? And so, judgment shall overtake you, sinners. 3 Do not fear the sinners, you righteous; for the Lord will again deliver them into your hands, so that you may execute judgment upon them according to your desires. 4 Woe to you who pronounce curses that cannot be reversed: Healing will therefore be far from you because of your sins. 5 Woe to you who repay your neighbor with evil; for you shall be repaid according to your deeds. 6 Woe to you, lying witnesses, and to those who dispense injustice, for suddenly you shall perish. 7 Woe to you, sinners, for you persecute the righteous; for you shall be delivered up and persecuted because of your injustice, and its yoke shall be heavy upon you.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 95:1 and Philippians 3:18

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

In 1 Enoch, the seer cries about the fate of the unrighteous, expressing his grief with woes against injustice. Philippians echoes this language when speaking of enemies of the cross “in tears,” adopting the same prophetic posture of mourning.

Passages

1 Enoch 95:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 Oh, if only my eyes were a cloud of waters, so that I might weep over you, and pour down my tears as a cloud of waters, so that I might have rest from my troubled heart! 2 Who has allowed you to engage in reproaches and wickedness? And so, judgment shall overtake you, sinners. 3 Do not fear the sinners, you righteous; for the Lord will again deliver them into your hands, so that you may execute judgment upon them according to your desires. 4 Woe to you who pronounce curses that cannot be reversed: Healing will therefore be far from you because of your sins. 5 Woe to you who repay your neighbor with evil; for you shall be repaid according to your deeds.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Philippians 3:18

New Testament
17 Be imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example. 18 For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.
56–63 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Philippians

References

"... In Philippians 3:18, Paul adopts a new mode of speech: he speaks “in tears” (κλαίων λέγω). By doing so, he takes on the part of an apocalyptic prophet. The seers in Jewish apocalypses proclaim the end of the godless in the age to come, and sometimes, emphasize their curse by weeping and crying. Thus, in the midst of woes against the violent and the rich, Enoch wishes [in 1 Enoch 95] ... Paul’s tears likewise express his despair. The godless in this case are called “enemies of the cross.” As in 3:2, Paul has no explicit criticism, but rather he reveals a separation that, as in 1 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Corinthians 2:15, and Romans 9:22–23, has divided humanity in two groups, namely the lost and the saved. However, as in many apocalyptic writings, the issue is not how the lost might yet be saved, but how to interpret reality for those who suffer at the hands of the godless ..."
Angela Standhartinger, “Apocalyptic Thought in Philippians,” in The Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition and the Shaping of New Testament Thought, ed. Loren T. Stuckenbruck (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2017), 233–244.

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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  • In chapter 2 wisdom of Enoch verse 43 it says. Well to you who fulminate anathemas which cannot be reversed. What does that mean?

    Bob Curtis, July 24, 2024

1 Enoch 95:1 and Philippians 3:18

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