1 And in those days the angel Uriel answered and said to me: 'Behold, I have shown thee everything, Enoch, and I have revealed everything to thee that thou shouldst see this sun and this moon, and the leaders of the stars of the heaven and all those who turn them, their tasks and times and departures. 2 And in the days of the sinners the years shall be shortened, And their seed shall be tardy on their lands and fields, And all things on the earth shall alter, And shall not appear in their time: And the rain shall be kept back And the heaven shall withhold (it). 3 And in those times the fruits of the earth shall be backward, And shall not grow in their time, And the fruits of the trees shall be withheld in their time. 4 And the moon shall alter her order, And not appear at her time. Source
2 Let us give no relaxation to our soul that it should have liberty to consort with sinners and wicked men, lest haply we be made like unto them. 3 The last offence is at hand, concerning which the scripture speaketh, as Enoch saith. For to this end the Master hath cut the seasons and the days short, that His beloved might hasten and come to His inheritance. 4 And the prophet also speaketh on this wise; Ten reigns shall reign upon the earth, and after them shall arise another king, who shall bring low three of the kings under one. 5 In like manner Daniel speaketh concerning the same; And I saw the fourth beast to be wicked and strong and more intractable than all the beasts of the earth, and how there arose from him ten horns, and from these a little horn and excrescence, and how that it abased under one three of the great horns. Source
"... H.J. Lawlor opined almost a century ago that Barn. 4.3 was not even a 'free quotation' of anything in 1 Enoch, but his assessment is actually too harsh. As a matter of fact, there is one passage in 1 Enoch that does feature the motif of what we might term 'time-compression' - the acceleration of time as the eschaton draws near. J.T. Milik has pointed to 1 En. 80.2 as a possible correlate for Born. 4.3: 'But in the days of the sinners the years will become shorter, and their seed will be late on their land and on their fields, and all things on the earth will change, and will not appear at their proper time.' This proposed correlation with a passage of our present texts of Enoch is probably the best advanced of this type to date, but it is not without its problems."
Reeves, John C. An Enochic Citation in Barnabas 4.3 and the Oracles of Hystaspes (pp. 261-277) Sheffield Academic Press, 1994
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
"... H.J. Lawlor opined almost a century ago that Barn. 4.3 was not even a 'free quotation' of anything in 1 Enoch, but his assessment is actually too harsh. As a matter of fact, there is one passage in 1 Enoch that does feature the motif of what we might term 'time-compression' - the acceleration of time as the eschaton draws near. J.T. Milik has pointed to 1 En. 80.2 as a possible correlate for Born. 4.3: 'But in the days of the sinners the years will become shorter, and their seed will be late on their land and on their fields, and all things on the earth will change, and will not appear at their proper time.' This proposed correlation with a passage of our present texts of Enoch is probably the best advanced of this type to date, but it is not without its problems."
Reeves, John C. An Enochic Citation in Barnabas 4.3 and the Oracles of Hystaspes (pp. 261-277) Sheffield Academic Press, 1994
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.