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Apocalypse of Zephaniah

About this book
Chapter 9

1 Then a great angel came out with a golden trumpet in his hand, and he began to blow it⁠ three times over my head, saying, "Be victorious, you who have won! Be strong, you who have been strong! For you have overcome the accuser and escaped the abyss and the underworld. 2 Now you will cross over at the crossing place, for your name has been written in the Book of the Living." 3 I wanted to greet him with a kiss, but I could not, because his glory was so great. 4 Then he ran to all the righteous: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Enoch, Elijah and David. 5 He talked with them as a friend talks with friends, while they talked with one another.

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Compare Apocalypse of Zephaniah 9:1 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

The Apocalypse of Zephaniah describes an angel sounding a trumpet during divine judgment. 1 Thessalonians echoes this image, describing God’s descent from heaven with the archangel’s voice and a divine trumpet.

Passages

Apocalypse of Zephaniah 9:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 Then a great angel came out with a golden trumpet in his hand, and he began to blow it three times over my head, saying, "Be victorious, you who have won! Be strong, you who have been strong! For you have overcome the accuser and escaped the abyss and the underworld. 2 Now you will cross over at the crossing place, for your name has been written in the Book of the Living." 3 I wanted to greet him with a kiss, but I could not, because his glory was so great.
100 BCE – 175 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Zephaniah

1 Thessalonians 4:16

New Testament
15 For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
41–51 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Thessalonians

References

"... There is a tradition in several texts from this period that has the appearance of angels and the blowing of a trumpet to announce the coming of God for judgment. The Greek Life of Adam and Eve, a first-century C.E. document, contains a merkabah theophany which is announced by the blowing of a trumpet (GLAE 37–38). The Apocalypse of Abraham, a first- to second-century C.E. document, is a fabricated dialogue between Abraham and the ‘Eternal Mighty One,’ with a detailed description of the final judgment. At Apocalypse of Abraham 30 the Eternal Mighty One outlines for Abraham ten signs of the impending judgment. At Apocalypse of Abraham 31:1 the ‘Eternal Mighty One’ tells Abraham, ‘And then I will sound the trumpet out of the air.’ The Testament of Abraham is another first- to second-century C.E. document with a judgment scene depicting an angel with a trumpet. At Testament of Abraham 12:10 an angel holds a trumpet and wields fire in the context of a judgment scene. The Apocalypse of Zephaniah is a first-century B.C.E. to first-century C.E. document. In chapters 9–12 Apocalypse of Zephaniah describes a series of three trumpets that are used in the context of judgment ..."
James A. Waddell, The Messiah: A Comparative Study of the Enochic Son of Man and the Pauline Kyrios (London: T&T Clark, 2011), 163.

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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Apocalypse of Zephaniah 9:1 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16

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