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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 20

1 Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain.⁠ 2 He seized the dragon—the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan—and tied him up for a thousand years.⁠ 3 The angel then threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)⁠ 4 Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.⁠ 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who takes part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. 7 Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. 9 They went up on the broad plain of the earth and encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely.⁠ 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.⁠ 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened,⁠ and another book was opened—the book of life.⁠ So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds.⁠ 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds.⁠ 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.⁠ 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 47:3 and Revelation 20:12

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

1 Enoch describes a heavenly courtroom where the Head of Days sits and heavenly books are opened as judgment begins. Revelation echoes this with books opened in judgment, following traditions from the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near East.

Passages

1 Enoch 47:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 In those days, the holy ones who dwell above in the heavens shall unite with one voice to plead, pray, praise, give thanks, and bless the name of the Lord of Spirits on behalf of the blood of the righteous that has been shed, so that the prayers of the righteous may not be in vain before the Lord of Spirits, so that justice may be done for them, and that they may not suffer forever. 3 In those days, I saw the Head of Days when He seated himself upon the throne of His glory, and the books of the living were opened before Him; and all His army which is in heaven above and His counselors stood before Him. 4 And the hearts of the holy were filled with joy because the number of the righteous had been offered, the prayer of the righteous had been heard, and the blood of the righteous had been required before the Lord of Spirits.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Revelation 20:12

New Testament
9 They went up on the broad plain of the earth and encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was opened—the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... Among the texts given only Revelation 20:12 distinguishes the opened “book of life” from the books opened for judgment. In Revelation the expression “book of life” (τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς) occurs a number of times (Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:15; 21:27), while elsewhere in the New Testament it appears only in Philippians 4:3. An approximate form of the expression, “book of the living (ones)”, is attested in the Book of Parables at 1 Enoch 47:3 and in Psalm 69:28 (“let them [the enemies] be blotted out from the book of the living and let them not be enrolled among the righteous”). A more exact equivalent is preserved in the Eschatological Admonition of 1 Enoch 108:3, where it is twinned with “the books of the holy ones”. The latter text announces that the names of the wicked “will be erased from the book of life”, a phrase that has its negative equivalent in Revelation 3:5 ..."
Loren T. Stuckenbruck, The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 317.

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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1 Enoch 47:3 and Revelation 20:12

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