2 Enoch 8:1

Secrets of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha

1 Those men took me from there and led me up to the third heaven, placing me there. I looked down and saw the produce of these places, the goodness of which was unparalleled. 2 I saw all the sweet-flowering trees and noticed their fruits, which smelled sweet, and all the foods they bore were bubbling with fragrant aromas. 3 In the midst of the trees was the tree of life, the place where the Lord rests when he goes to paradise. This tree is of indescribable goodness and fragrance, adorned more than anything else, appearing golden, vermilion, and fiery, covering all, and bearing all kinds of fruits. 4 Its root is in the garden at the earth's end. 5 Paradise lies between corruptibility and incorruptibility.

2 Corinthians 12:2

New Testament

1 It is necessary to go on boasting. Though it is not profitable, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know that this man (whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows) 4 was caught up into paradise and heard things too sacred to be put into words, things that a person is not permitted to speak. 5 On behalf of such an individual I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except about my weaknesses.

 Notes and References

"... This means that for Paul, the third heaven and paradise are the same place, or that paradise is located in the third heaven. Here Paul's perception of the celestial order is in harmony with the cosmology of 2 Enoch (8:1-8) and the Apocalypse of Moses (40:2). For Paul, the third heaven may be the highest, though the tendency in later apocalyptic literature is to add heavens. In Paradise, Paul should have viewed the final abode of the souls of the righteous; and in the highest heaven, he should have seen cosmic paraphernalia, angelic beings, and the radian throne of God. However, Paul does not say that he saw anything, but that he heard 'unutterable utterances'. Paul does not relate anything about what he has heard or seen. 2 Corinthians 12, therefore, describes a revelatory experience through which nothing is communicated ..."

Baird, William Visions, Revelation, and Ministry: Reflections on 2 Cor 12:1-5 and Gal 1:11-17 (pp. 651-662) Journal of Biblical Literature Vol. 104 No. 4, 1985

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