Go to Related Reading
About this book

2 Enoch

Secrets of Enoch

About this book
Chapter 23

1 And he was telling me all the works of heaven, earth and sea,⁠ and all the elements, their paths and movements, and the rumblings of thunder, the sun and moon, the movements and changes of the stars, the seasons, years, days, and hours, the risings of the wind, the numbers of the angels, 2 and the formation of their songs, and all human things, the tongue of every human song and life, the commandments, instructions, and sweet-voiced singings, and all things that it is fitting to learn. And Pravuil told me: 'All the things that I have told you, we have written. 4 Sit and write all the souls of mankind, however many of them are born, and the places prepared for them for eternity; 5 for all souls are prepared for eternity, before the formation of the world.' 6 And for sixty days and sixty nights I wrote out all things exactly, and wrote three hundred and sixty-six books.

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Enoch 23:1 and 3 Enoch 10:5

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

Share:

Summary

In 2 Enoch, an angel teaches Enoch how all of creation works. In 3 Enoch, God appoints angels of wisdom and understanding to teach him, expanding this tradition of his heavenly education.

Passages

2 Enoch 23:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch
1 And he was telling me all the works of heaven, earth and sea, and all the elements, their paths and movements, and the rumblings of thunder, the sun and moon, the movements and changes of the stars, the seasons, years, days, and hours, the risings of the wind, the numbers of the angels, 2 and the formation of their songs, and all human things, the tongue of every human song and life, the commandments, instructions, and sweet-voiced singings, and all things that it is fitting to learn. And Pravuil told me: 'All the things that I have told you, we have written.
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

3 Enoch 10:5

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Hebrew Book of Enoch
4 And every angel and every prince who has a word to speak in my presence (before me) shall go into his presence (before him) and shall speak to him (instead). 5 And every command that he utters to you in my name do observe and fulfil. For the Prince of Wisdom and the Prince of Understanding have I committed to him to instruct him in the wisdom of heavenly things and of earthly things, in the wisdom of this world and of the world to come. 6 Moreover, I have set him over all the treasuries of the palaces of Araboth and over all the stores of life that I have in the high heavens.
400–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 3 Enoch

References

“... It is noteworthy that it is not only the content of secrets, but also the man- ner of initiation into them that demonstrates remarkable similarities between Enochic and Yahoel developments on the one hand and 3 Enoch on the other. Hugo Odeberg was the first to notice that Enoch-Metatron’s initiation into the secrets in 3 Enoch recalls the procedure described in 2 Enoch, in which the patri- arch is first initiated by angel(s) and after this by the Lord. In the Apocalypse of Abraham one sees a similar pattern, as Abraham is first initiated into the di- vine mysteries by Yahoel and then by the deity himself, who reveals to Abraham the course of human history from beginning to end. Sefer Hekhalot attests to the same two-step initiatory procedure, wherein Enoch-Metatron is first initi- 146 Alexander, “3 Enoch,” 1.264. 147 Alexander, “3 Enoch,” 1.264. 148 Alexander, “3 Enoch,” 1.264. 149 Odeberg, 3 Enoch, 55. Metatron as Revealer of Secrets 179 ated by the Prince of Wisdom and the Prince of Understanding and then by the deity himself. ...”
Andrei A. Orlov, Yahoel and Metatron: Aural Apocalypticism and the Origins of Early Jewish Mysticism (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017), 178–179.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Tags

Your feedback

2 Enoch 23:1 and 3 Enoch 10:5

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library