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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 6

1 I looked on when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a thunderous voice, “Come!” 2 So I looked, and here came a white horse!⁠ The one who rode it had a bow, and he was given a crown, and as a conqueror he rode out to conquer. 3 Then when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!” 4 And another horse, fiery red, came out, and the one who rode it was granted permission to take peace from the earth so that people would butcher one another, and he was given a huge sword. 5 Then when the Lamb opened the third seal I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” So I looked, and here came a black horse! The one who rode it had a balance scale in his hand. 6 Then I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat will cost a day’s pay, and three quarts of barley will cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine!” 7 Then when the Lamb opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come!” 8 So I looked and here came a pale green horse! The name of the one who rode it was Death, and Hades followed right behind.⁠ They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill its population with the sword, famine, and disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.⁠ 9 Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed⁠ because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given.⁠ 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?”⁠ 11 Each of them was given a long white robe,⁠ and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.⁠ 12 Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red;⁠ 13 and the stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when shaken by a fierce wind.⁠ 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth, the very important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.⁠ 16 They said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,⁠ 17 because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Enoch 22:8 and Revelation 6:11

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

In Revelation, each martyr's soul in heaven is given a white robe. 2 Enoch echoes a similar tradition when Enoch's earthly garments are exchanged for garments of God's glory before he stands in God's presence.

Passages

2 Enoch 22:8

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch
6 And the chief commander Michael lifted me up, and led me before the Lord's face. And the Lord said to his servants testing them: 'Let Enoch stand before my face forever,' 7 and the glorious ones bowed down to the Lord, and said: 'Let Enoch go according to Your word.' 8 And the Lord said to Michael: 'Go and take Enoch out of his earthly garments, and anoint him with my sweet ointment, and put him into the garments of My glory.' 9 And Michael did so, as the Lord told him. He anointed me, and dressed me, and the appearance of that ointment is more than the great light, and his ointment is like sweet dew, and its smell mild, shining like the sun's ray, 10 and I looked at myself, and was like one of his glorious ones.
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

Revelation 6:11

New Testament
9 Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Each of them was given a long white robe, and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

“... At the entrance to God's dwelling there stood four angels who clothe those who would enter with white robes. Although it is not stated explicitly, it would appear that these angels act as guardians of the celestial palace. Only those who are given white robes are allowed into the divine presence. The church officials, whom Satyrus meets in the second part of his vision, are left outside. Here we have another example of the threat which angels posed to humans in the heavenly world similar to that found in Perpetua's vision. When they have entered the walls, we have a description of the divine presence which owes a great deal to Revelation 4, as is evident from the references to the twenty-four elders and the singing of the trisagion. The clothing of the martyrs in white robes derives from Revelation 6.11, cf. 7.9. Appropriate clothing for entry into the divine presence is an element which we meet occasionally in Jewish apocalyptic. In Slavonic Enoch 22.8ff., for example, God says to Michael: 'Go and take Enoch from out his earthly garments and anoint him with my sweet ointment and put him into the garments of my glory.'(cf. 1 Enoch 62.15; Hermas Sim. viii, 2; Asc. Isa. 9.9; 9.30). ...”
Christopher Rowland, The Open Heaven: A Study of Apocalyptic in Judaism and Early Christianity (London: SPCK, 1982), 401.

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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2 Enoch 22:8 and Revelation 6:11

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