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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 1 Enoch 62:3 and Revelation 6:15

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation 6 describes kings and powerful people hiding in fear, using similar apocalyptic language from 1 Enoch 62 where kings face judgment. Both use Isaiah to describe the collapse of earthly power when confronted with divine authority.

Passages

1 Enoch 62:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 The Lord of Spirits seated him on the throne of His glory, and the spirit of righteousness was poured out upon him. The words from his mouth slay all sinners, and all the unrighteous are destroyed from his presence. 3 On that day, all the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who hold the earth will stand, and they shall see and recognize how he sits on the throne of his glory, and how righteousness is judged before him, and no false word is spoken before him. 4 Pain will come upon them as upon a woman in childbirth, when her child enters the birth canal, and she feels the agony of delivery. 5 One group will look at another in terror, their faces will fall, and pain will seize them when they see the Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory. 6 The kings, the mighty, and all who possess the earth shall bless, glorify, and exalt him who reigns over all, who was hidden.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Revelation 6:15

New Testament
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?”
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... The combination of four elements in Revelation and the Book of Parables [1 Enoch] is without parallel in other literature: (a) the holders of power (especially “kings” and classes of the wealthy; compare Revelation 19:18) who (b) cower in fear (c) before the throne of God which (d) is also occupied by or associated with the Lamb / Son of Man (Book of Parables). While the text of Revelation alludes to Isaiah 2:19–21 and Hosea 10:6, and 1 Enoch 62:3–5 draws on the image of the woman in labor in Isaiah 13:8, the possibility of a connection between the two sources cannot be discounted, though it is difficult to argue that the connection is immediate ..."
Loren T. Stuckenbruck, The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 296–297.

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 62:3 and Revelation 6:15

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