Egyptian-Hebrew stream·The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch)·Book II — Book of Parables (Similitudes)·Chapter XLVI — The Son of Man Revealed
His countenance was like the appearance of a man
Enoch sees the Head of Days, whose head was white as wool, and beside him another whose countenance was like a human, full of grace — the Son of Man, the Righteous One, with whom dwells righteousness. He shall depose the kings and the mighty.
Source context
- Theme
- Vision of the Head of Days and the Son of Man — pre-existent celestial judge concealed and revealed
- Soul-faculty
- Consciousness Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Jewish apocalyptic / Danielic traditionThe 'Son of Man' figure in 1 Enoch XLVI directly elaborates Daniel 7:9–14, where the Ancient of Days enthrones a human-like being as cosmic judge; 1 Enoch sharpens the pre-existence and hiddenness of this figure as doctrinal content absent in Daniel.
- Zoroastrian / Iranian traditionThe motif of a divinely appointed judge who weighs kings and the powerful at the end of an age shows cross-tradition congruence with the Zoroastrian figure of Mithra as cosmic judge of souls, though the Enochic figure is conceived as a hidden heavenly man rather than a solar deity.
- Platonic / Neoplatonic traditionThe pre-existent, name-bearing Son of Man who was chosen and hidden before the creation of the sun and stars shows cross-tradition congruence with Platonic pre-existence of the ideal archetype of the human form in the intelligible world.
Chapter XLVI
XLVI. The Head of Days and the Son of Man.
CHAPTER XLVI.
1And there I saw One who had a head of days,
And His head was white like wool, And with Him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man, And his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.
2And I asked the **angel** who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, (and)
why he went with the Head of Days? And he answered and said unto me: This is the son of Man who hath righteousness, With whom dwelleth righteousness, And who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden, Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, And whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever. 4, And this Son of Man whom thou hast seen Shall †raise up† the kings and the mighty from their seats, [And the strong from their thrones] And shall loosen the reins of the strong, And break the teeth of the sinners.
5[And he shall put down the kings from their thrones and kingdoms]
Because they do not extol and praise Him, Nor humbly acknowledge whence the kingdom was bestowed upon them.
6And he shall put down the countenance of the strong,
And shall fill them with shame. And darkness shall be their dwelling, And worms shall be their bed, And they shall have no hope of rising from their beds, Because they do not extol the name of the Lord of Spirits.
7And these are they who †judge† the stars of heaven,
[And raise their hands against the Most High], †And tread upon the earth and dwell upon it†. And all their deeds manifest unrighteousness, And their power rests upon their riches, p. 65 And their faith is in the †gods† which they have made with their hands, And they deny the name of the Lord of Spirits,
8And they persecute the houses of His congregations,
And the faithful who hang upon the name of the Lord of Spirits.
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