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2 Enoch

Secrets of Enoch

About this book

Enoch's Dream

Chapter 1

1 At that time, he said, when my 165th year was completed, I fathered my son Mathusal. After this too I lived two hundred years and completed three hundred and sixty-five years in all the years of my life. 2 On the first day of the first month I was in my house alone and was resting on my couch and slept. 3 And when I was asleep, great distress came up into my heart, and I was weeping with my eyes in sleep, and I could not understand what this distress was, or what would happen to me. 4 And two men appeared to me, so enormous that I had never seen anyone like them on earth;⁠ 5 their faces were shining like the sun, their eyes too were like a burning light,⁠ and from their lips fire was coming out with clothing and singing of various kinds purple in appearance, their wings were brighter than gold, their hands whiter than snow. They were standing at the head of my couch and began to call me by my name. 6 And I got up from my sleep and clearly saw those two men standing in front of me. 7 And I greeted them and was seized with fear and the appearance of my face changed with terror, and those men said to me: 8 'Take courage, Enoch, do not fear; the eternal God sent us to you, and today you will ascend with us into heaven, 9 and you shall tell your sons and all your household all that they are to do without you on earth in your house, and let no one seek you until the Lord returns you to them.' 10 And I hurried to obey them and went out from my house, and headed for the doors, as I had been ordered, and summoned my sons Mathusal and Regim and Gaidad and made known to them all the marvels those men had told me.

Texts in conversation

Compare Daniel 10:6 and 2 Enoch 1:5

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

Daniel 10 and 2 Enoch 1 describe heavenly beings that shine like stars with eyes that glow like fire, rooted in the ancient extramission theory of vision, where the eyes create their own light.

Passages

Daniel 10:6

Hebrew Bible
5 I looked up and saw a man clothed in linen; around his waist was a belt made of gold from Ufaz. 6 His body resembled yellow jasper, and his face had an appearance like lightning. His eyes were like blazing torches; his arms and feet had the gleam of polished bronze. His voice thundered forth like the sound of a large crowd. 7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see it. On the contrary, they were overcome with fright and ran away to hide.
200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Daniel

2 Enoch 1:5

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch
4 And two men appeared to me, so enormous that I had never seen anyone like them on earth; 5 their faces were shining like the sun, their eyes too were like a burning light, and from their lips fire was coming out with clothing and singing of various kinds purple in appearance, their wings were brighter than gold, their hands whiter than snow. They were standing at the head of my couch and began to call me by my name.
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

References

"... Allison argues that ancient Jewish writers thought of the eye as functioning in the same way as the sun; thus, just as heavenly sources of light could become dimmed, so also the light of the eyes could be darkened. He maintains that they 'presuppose that the normal eye produces a subtle ray or light'. The difficulty with these examples is that many can be read in purely figurative or metaphorical terms. Against this potential objection, Allison posits a number of later noncanonical texts where the extramission theory is more plausible (e.g., 1 Enoch 106:2, 11). (Allison also compares this to the motif of fire coming forth from human and divine eyes, such as 2 Enoch 1:5; Daniel 10:6; Revelation 1:14, 2:18, 19:12; 3 Enoch 9:4; 18:25; 25:2-3. We should be careful in our dealings with passages describing the eyes of divine beings, particularly those in heavenly locations. Allison argues that these passages indicate that 'the normal eye produces a subtle ray or light, and that under the right circumstances or with exceptional individuals or supernatural beings such as angels, this light or ray can become intense and visible, even destructive') ..."
Candida R. Moss, “Blurred Vision and Ethical Confusion: The Rhetorical Function of Matthew 6:22-23,” CBQ (2011): 757–776.

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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Daniel 10:6 and 2 Enoch 1:5

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