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Claremont Graduate University

Tongue of Flesh - Tongues of Fire: Enoch’s Encounter with the Heavenly Court in 1 Enoch 14-16 in Comparison with the Encounters in the Hebrew Bible

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>The connections between Enoch’s encounter with the heavenly court in 1 Enoch 14-16 has long been connected with the similar encounters of Micaiah ben Imlah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. All four of these encounters depict a meeting between a mortal and the heavenly court, including the enthroned Deity, that results in an individual receiving a commission to fulfill a task decided upon by the court. Although most scholars recognize the similarities between Enoch’s ascent into heaven and the encounters in the Hebrew Bible, these scholars have largely concentrated on the connections between Ezekiel’s and Enoch’s encounters. This situation has been exacerbated by the tendency to leave the first seven verses of 1 Enoch 14 out of discussions concerning his encounter due to a belief that they are not connected with Enoch’s encounter with the heavenly court. The lack of consideration of these two areas has created a significant gap in the study of Enoch’s ascent into heaven and his encounter with the heavenly court in 1 Enoch 14-16. The following study will address this deficiency of current analyses of 1 Enoch 14-16 in two distinct ways. First, this study will conduct an examination of the forms, structures, and themes presented in the encounters with the heavenly court experienced by Micaiah ben Imlah (1 Kings 22:1-38), Isaiah (Isaiah 6), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:1-3:15), and Enoch (1 Enoch 14-16). This analysis will examine how 1 Enoch 14-16 made use of elements presented from the three older narratives and adapted them to develop its own unique account of Enoch’s experience with the heavenly court. Second, this study will demonstrate that 1 Enoch 14:1-7 is both structurally and thematically part of the account of encounter with the heavenly court and deserves to be discussed in tandem with discussions of Enoch’s ascent.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Religion, PhD
Level thesis:degree_level
Open Access Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
School of Arts and Humanities
Year dc:date.available
2020

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Clarke, Christopher David
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Tammi J. Schneider
  • Gary Gilbert

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/670
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:cgu_etd-1692

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Claremont Graduate University
Base URL
scholarship.claremont.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Clarke, Christopher David. Tongue of Flesh - Tongues of Fire: Enoch’s Encounter with the Heavenly Court in 1 Enoch 14-16 in Comparison with the Encounters in the Hebrew Bible. Open Access Dissertation thesis, 2020. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/670