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3 Enoch

Hebrew Book of Enoch

About this book
Chapter 42

1 R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: Come and I will show you, where the waters are suspended in the highest, where fire is burning in the midst of hail, where lightnings lighten out of the midst of snowy mountains, where thunders are roaring in the celestial heights, where a flame is burning in the midst of the burning fire and where voices make themselves heard in the midst of thunder and earthquake. 2 Then I went by his side and he took me by his hand and lifted me up on his wings and showed me all those things. I saw the waters suspended on high in Araboth Raqia' by (force of) the name YAH 'EHYE ASHER 'EHYE (Jah, I am that I am). And their fruits going down from heaven and watering the face of the world, as it is written (Ps. civ. 13): "(He waters the mountains from his chambers:) the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work". 3 And I saw fire and snow and hailstone that were mingled together within each other and yet were undamaged, by (force of) the name 'ESH 'OKELA (consuming fire),⁠ as it is written (Deut. iv. 24): "For the Lord, your God, is a consuming fire". 4 And I saw lightnings that were flashing out of mountains of snow and yet were not damaged (quenched), by (force of) the name YAH SUR 'OLAMIM (Jah, the everlasting rock), as it is written (Is. xxvi. 4): "For in Jah, YHWH, the everlasting rock". 5 And I saw thunders and voices that were roaring in the midst of fiery flames and were not damaged (silenced), by (force of) the name 'EL-SHADDAI RABBA (the Great God Almighty) as it is written (Gen. xvii. 1): "I am God Almighty". 6 And I saw a flame (and) a glow (glowing flames) that were flaming and glowing in the midst of burning fire, and yet were not damaged (devoured), by (force of) the name YAD 'AL KES YAH (the hand upon the Throne of the Lord) as it is written (Ex. xvii. 16): "And he said: for the hand is upon the Throne of the Lord". 7 And I saw rivers of fire in the midst of rivers of water and they were not damaged (quenched) by (force of) the name 'OSE SHALOM (Maker of Peace) as it is written (Job xxv. 2): "He makes peace in his high places". For he makes peace between the fire and the water, between the hail and the fire, between the wind and the cloud, between the earthquake and the sparks.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 4:24 and 3 Enoch 42:3

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Deuteronomy, God's consuming fire explains why Israel must reject idols. In 3 Enoch, that divine name prevents fire, snow and hail from destroying one another, describing one of God's dangerous powers used to preserve creation.

Passages

Deuteronomy 4:24

Hebrew Bible
21 But the Lord became angry with me because of you and vowed that I would never cross the Jordan nor enter the good land that he is about to give you. 22 So I must die here in this land; I will not cross the Jordan. But you are going over and will possess that good land. 23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he has forbidden you. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

3 Enoch 42:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Hebrew Book of Enoch
2 Then I went by his side and he took me by his hand and lifted me up on his wings and showed me all those things. I saw the waters suspended on high in Araboth Raqia' by (force of) the name YAH 'EHYE ASHER 'EHYE (Jah, I am that I am). And their fruits going down from heaven and watering the face of the world, as it is written (Ps. civ. 13): "(He waters the mountains from his chambers:) the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work". 3 And I saw fire and snow and hailstone that were mingled together within each other and yet were undamaged, by (force of) the name 'ESH 'OKELA (consuming fire), as it is written (Deut. iv. 24): "For the Lord, your God, is a consuming fire".
400–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 3 Enoch

References

“... Metatron then showed Rabbi Ishmael the secrets of the creation, and how the various names of the Yahweh effected various aspects of it; this must be the equivalent of the great 'oath' in 1 Enoch: I saw water suspended from the height of the heaven of Arabot through the power of the name Yah, I am that I am ... I saw fire, snow, and hailstones enclosed one within the other without one destroying the other, through the power of the name 'A Consuming Fire'as it is written 'For YHWH your God is a consuming fire ...' (3 Enoch 42.2-3) ...”
Margaret Barker, The Great Angel: A Study of Israel’s Second God (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1992), 109.

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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Deuteronomy 4:24 and 3 Enoch 42:3

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