Hell (part V)

As I’ve previously indicated, the Jews of Jesus’ time were informed by various apocalyptic writings. The most important of these for our purposes was the Ethiopic Book of Enoch. The Christian NT includes a quotation, found in Jude (Enochic source noted by 2011 version of the NIV):

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 14-15)

Compare Enoch 1:9

“And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

That Jude is quoting from this writing is obvious from the attribution “Enoch, the seventh from Adam” also found in the Book of Enoch 60:8. For this reason some of the Church Fathers considered this writing inspired, while others took another track and decided Jude couldn’t be inspired! But Jude isn’t the only place Enoch shows up. 1 Peter 3:19-20 also draws on the Enochic tale of the pre-Noahic fall of humankind and the vision of their subsequent imprisonment, something not found in canonical scripture:

“After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water..”

For the sake of time I will quote a few passages here from Enoch (there are many more), later taken over by the Christian NT, dealing with the idea of hell or fiery punishment:

“In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever. And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations.” 10:13-14

“Woe to you, ye sinners, on account of the words of your mouth, And on account of the deeds of your hands which your godlessness as wrought, In blazing flames burning worse than fire shall ye burn.” 100:9

“And into darkness and chains and a burning flame where there is grievous judgement shall your spirits enter; And the great judgement shall be for all the generations of the world.
Woe to you, for ye shall have no peace.” 103:8

“And from thence I went to another place, which was still more horrible than the former, and I saw a horrible thing: a great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place was cleft as far as the abyss, being full of great descending columns of fire: neither its extent or magnitude could I see, nor could I conjecture. Then I said: 'How fearful is the place and how terrible to look upon! ' Then Uriel answered me, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: 'Enoch, why hast thou such fear and affright?' And I answered: 'Because of this fearful place, and because of the spectacle of the pain.' And he said unto me: 'This place is the prison of the angels, and here they will be imprisoned for ever.” 21:7-10 (See especially here Jesus: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt. 25:41, also Rev. 20).

We cannot, however, rest easy having identified an important origin of the NT notion of hell. That the Ethiopic Book of Enoch has influenced the writers of the NT is well-established and easy to demonstrate. This was a Jewish text with its origins in pre-Christian times. Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with it and didn’t hesitate to draw on its conceptions and themes (not limited to notions of hell). Many early Christians felt it was inspired. What I find fascinating, however, is the theological origin of the Book itself. In a previous post I have briefly discussed the Biblical notion of “Satan.” Once again, and finally, we will have to shift our gaze from the ancient Jews and the later Christians, to that once great civilization famous for, among other things, its comprehensive and highly influential religion: Persia.