Daniel 7:10

Hebrew Bible

9 “While I was watching, thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His attire was white like snow; the hair of his head was like lamb’s wool. His throne was ablaze with fire, and its wheels were all aflame. 10 A river of fire was streaming forth and proceeding from his presence. Many thousands were ministering to him; many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. The court convened, and the books were opened. 11 “Then I kept on watching because of the arrogant words of the horn that was speaking. I was watching until the beast was killed and its body destroyed and thrown into the flaming fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their ruling authority had already been removed, though they were permitted to go on living for a time and a season.

1 Enoch 40:1

Pseudepigrapha

1 And after that I saw thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, I saw a multitude beyond number and reckoning, who stood before the Lord of Spirits. 2 And on the four sides of the Lord of Spirits I saw four presences, different from those that sleep not, and I learnt their names: for the angel that went with me made known to me their names, and showed me all the hidden things. 3 And I heard the voices of those four presences as they uttered praises before the Lord of glory.

 Notes and References

"... The idea that these kingdoms 'shall serve the dominion of His Anointed' (verse 4) could well be a supplement from Daniel 7:14a. How these kingdoms will serve the Messiah and yet also subsequently be destroyed is not clear, although it may be that those among these kingdoms who have submitted to the messianic reign are pictured in verse 4. The portrayal of the earthly kingdoms as 'mountains' may have been thought of because the 'mountain' of Daniel 2:35 also represents a kingdom (i.e., a divine kingdom; compare Daniel 2:44). Especially striking is the fact that the 'revealed mystery' can be considered an eschatological mystery (Note the possible combination of the Daniel 2 mystery idea with Daniel 7:10 in 1 Enoch 40:1-2) as in Daniel 2, since it concerns God's defeat of the world kingdoms and the establishment of the divine kingdom. Thus, the Daniel 2 background stands behind the creative picture of 1 Enoch 52:2-6, although it is not certain whether there has been direct dependence on Daniel itself or on a Daniel tradition. Perhaps the extent of creativity points to the latter option ..."

Beale, G. K. The Use of Daniel in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature and in the Revelation of St. John (pp. 107-108) Wipf & Stock, 1984

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.