Texts in Conversation
In Revelation, Jesus calls himself the bright morning star. In 3 Enoch, heavenly creatures shine like the morning star, connecting his heavenly glory with an image also used for the angels around God's throne.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Revelation 22:16
New Testament
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood! 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star!” 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge.
3 Enoch 21:4
Hebrew Book of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
Each one has four wings and each wing is like the cover (roof) of the universe. And each one has faces in the middle of faces and wings in the middle of wings. The size of the faces is (as the size of) 248 faces, and the size of the wings is (as the size of) 365 wings. And every one is crowned with 2000 crowns on his head. And each crown is like the bow in the cloud. And its splendour is like the splendour of the globe of the sun. And the sparks that go forth from every one are like the splendour of the morning star (planet Venus) in the East.
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Notes and References
“... Especially a reference in 3 Enoch 21: 4
provides an interesting parallel, since in this passage some angelic creatures are not only
described as emitting brightness like the morning star, but are furthermore attributed
crowns (cp. Christ in Ape 14: 14; 19: 12) and a face shining like a sun (cp. Apc 1: 16).
(Elsewhere, we find the designation as a morning star applied to Mordecai in Tg. L. sth.
10: 3. ) This feature as such might therefore hint at an angelomorphic understanding of
the relation between angels and stars in the Apocalypse, now applied to Christ.
However, it seems exaggerated to regard this feature simply as an angelomorphic aspect
of Christology. Christ does, in turn, represent far more than an angel in Apc 22: 16.
because he is said to be in command of angels (Ape 22: 16a), and he is also the brightest
of the stars, which further hints at a superior position. 9 ...”
Hoffmann, Matthias Reinhard
Angelomorphic Christology and the Book of Revelation
(p. 300) The University of Durham, 2003
* 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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