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2 Enoch

Secrets of Enoch

About this book
Chapter 22

1 On the tenth Heaven, Aravoth, I saw the appearance of the Lord's face, like iron made to glow in fire, and brought out, emitting sparks, and it burns.⁠ Thus I saw the Lord's face, but the Lord's face is beyond description, marvelous and deeply awe-inspiring, and very, very terrifying. 2 And who am I to tell of the Lord's being, which is beyond words, and of his very wonderful face? and I cannot tell the quantity of his many instructions, and various voices, the Lord's throne very great and not made with hands, nor the quantity of those standing around him, troops of cherubim and seraphim, 3 nor their incessant singing, nor his unchanging beauty, and who will tell of the indescribable greatness of his glory? 4 And I fell face down and bowed down to the Lord, 5 and the Lord with his lips said to me: 'Have courage, Enoch, do not fear, rise and stand before my face forever.' 6 And the chief commander Michael lifted me up, and led me before the Lord's face. And the Lord said to his servants testing them: 'Let Enoch stand before my face forever,' 7 and the glorious ones bowed down to the Lord, and said: 'Let Enoch go according to Your word.' 8 And the Lord said to Michael: 'Go and take Enoch out of his earthly garments, and anoint him with my sweet ointment, and put him into the garments of My glory.'⁠ 9 And Michael did so, as the Lord told him. He anointed me, and dressed me, and the appearance of that ointment is more than the great light, and his ointment is like sweet dew, and its smell mild, shining like the sun's ray, 10 and I looked at myself, and was like one of his glorious ones. 11 And the Lord summoned one of his archangels named Pravuil, whose understanding was sharper and wiser than that of the other archangels, who wrote all the deeds of the Lord; 12 and the Lord said to Pravuil: 'Bring out the books from my storehouses, and a reed pen for swift writing, and give it to Enoch, and hand him the finest books, which bring comfort.'⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Enoch 22:8 and Revelation 6:11

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

In Revelation, each martyr's soul in heaven is given a white robe. 2 Enoch echoes a similar tradition when Enoch's earthly garments are exchanged for garments of God's glory before he stands in God's presence.

Passages

2 Enoch 22:8

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch
6 And the chief commander Michael lifted me up, and led me before the Lord's face. And the Lord said to his servants testing them: 'Let Enoch stand before my face forever,' 7 and the glorious ones bowed down to the Lord, and said: 'Let Enoch go according to Your word.' 8 And the Lord said to Michael: 'Go and take Enoch out of his earthly garments, and anoint him with my sweet ointment, and put him into the garments of My glory.' 9 And Michael did so, as the Lord told him. He anointed me, and dressed me, and the appearance of that ointment is more than the great light, and his ointment is like sweet dew, and its smell mild, shining like the sun's ray, 10 and I looked at myself, and was like one of his glorious ones.
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

Revelation 6:11

New Testament
9 Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Each of them was given a long white robe, and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

“... At the entrance to God's dwelling there stood four angels who clothe those who would enter with white robes. Although it is not stated explicitly, it would appear that these angels act as guardians of the celestial palace. Only those who are given white robes are allowed into the divine presence. The church officials, whom Satyrus meets in the second part of his vision, are left outside. Here we have another example of the threat which angels posed to humans in the heavenly world similar to that found in Perpetua's vision. When they have entered the walls, we have a description of the divine presence which owes a great deal to Revelation 4, as is evident from the references to the twenty-four elders and the singing of the trisagion. The clothing of the martyrs in white robes derives from Revelation 6.11, cf. 7.9. Appropriate clothing for entry into the divine presence is an element which we meet occasionally in Jewish apocalyptic. In Slavonic Enoch 22.8ff., for example, God says to Michael: 'Go and take Enoch from out his earthly garments and anoint him with my sweet ointment and put him into the garments of my glory.'(cf. 1 Enoch 62.15; Hermas Sim. viii, 2; Asc. Isa. 9.9; 9.30). ...”
Christopher Rowland, The Open Heaven: A Study of Apocalyptic in Judaism and Early Christianity (London: SPCK, 1982), 401.

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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2 Enoch 22:8 and Revelation 6:11

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