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In Daniel, a river of fire flows from God's throne. In 3 Enoch, angels bathe their mouths and tongues in that river before singing, giving the fire of the courtroom a role in preparing heavenly worship.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Daniel 7:9
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.
3 Enoch 36:1
Hebrew Book of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: At the time when the ministering angels desire to say (the) Song, (then) Nehar di-Nur (the fiery stream) rises with many thousand thousands and myriads of myriads (of angels) of power and strength of fire and it runs and passes under the Throne of Glory, between the camps of the ministering angels and the troops of Araboth. And all the ministering angels first go down into Nehar di-Nur, and they dip themselves in the fire and dip their tongue and their mouth seven times; and after that they go up and put on the garment of 'Machaqe Samal' and cover themselves with cloaks of chashmal and stand in four rows over against the Throne of Glory, in all the heavens.
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Notes and References
“... Following Daniel 7:10 the Merkabah texts speak of a River of Fire that flows out from
beneath the throne of glory (3En 36:1). Occasionally more than one River of Fire is mentioned
(3En 19:4; 33:4; 37:1). The River of Fire functions in a number of contexts: It is used in
accounts of the divine judgment as a symbol of the wrath of God (18:19, 21; 33:4-5); it also
forms part of the descriptions of the celestial Sanctus: The angels bathe in the River of Fire
before they perform the QeduSSah (36:2).
57 A development of this motif is the speculation
on the bridges that span the River of Fire (22B:1, with n. b; 22C:1). ...”
Philip S. Alexander
"3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch" in James H. Charlesworth (ed.) The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 1
(p. 240) Doubleday, 1983
* 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.
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