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2 Enoch

Secrets of Enoch

About this book
Chapter 50

1 I have put every man's work in writing and no one born on earth can remain hidden, nor can his works remain concealed. 2 I see all things. So now, my children, spend your days with patience and humility, so that you may inherit endless life.⁠ 3 Endure for the sake of the Lord every wound, every injury, every evil word and attack. 4 If you are repaid with evil, do not repay it to either neighbor or enemy, because the Lord will repay it for you and be your avenger on the day of great judgment, so that there may be no avenging here among men. 5 Whoever of you spends gold or silver for his brother's sake, he will receive ample treasure in the world to come. Do not injure widows or orphans or strangers, so that God's anger does not come upon you.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 22:22 and 2 Enoch 50:5

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

2 Enoch 50 repeats the command in Exodus 22 to protect widows and orphans, warning that harming them will bring divine punishment. This follows an ancient Near Eastern tradition that teaches people are judged by how they treat the vulnerable.

Passages

Exodus 22:22

Hebrew Bible
21 “You must not wrong a resident foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 22 “You must not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

2 Enoch 50:5

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch
5 Whoever of you spends gold or silver for his brother's sake, he will receive ample treasure in the world to come. Do not injure widows or orphans or strangers, so that God's anger does not come upon you.
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

References

"... we also find a catalog of good deeds in a sort of beatitude in 42:6 (both versions). Among these good deeds are: revealing the name of the Lord, serving God continuously, and offering the proper gifts to God, probably a reference to the agricultural dues outlined by the Pentateuch. This list of beatitudes continues, mentioning those who carry out righteous judgment, do not take bribes, clothe the naked and feed the hungry, and help the widow and orphan. (The obligation to be charitable is again taken up in 50:6, in both recensions) Again there is reference here to the one who “who sowed his right seed,” clearly a reference to proper sexual behavior. However, it is clear that this list is built on Hebrew scriptural passages and no more. Another catalogue of good and bad deeds (happy... cursed ...) in 52:1–15 includes the prohibition of slander, cursing and blasphemy, all biblical transgressions mentioned in the Pentateuch. ..."
Lawrence H. Schiffman, “2 Enoch and Halakhah,” in New Perspectives on 2 Enoch: No Longer Slavonic Only, ed. Andrei Orlov and Gabriele Boccaccini, Studia Judaeoslavica 4 (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 221–228.

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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Exodus 22:22 and 2 Enoch 50:5

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