Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE QUESTION OF JESUS' SELF-UNDERSTANDING
e. Influence of the Similitudes of Enoch
516.4
Since the possibility of Jesus having been influenced by the Similitudes is so crucial,
any firm evidence of influence from the Similitudes on the Jesus tradition is
bound to be significant. And indeed there is such evidence — again, noticeably,
in Matthew (Matt. 19.28 and 25.31).
Matt. 19.28
28 Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, at the
renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is
seated on the throne of his glory,
you who have followed
me also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel'.
Luke 22.28-30
28 You are those who have stood by me in my
trials; 29 and I confer on you, just as my Father
has conferred on me, a kingdom, 30 so that you
may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and
vou will sit on thrones iudeine the
twelve tribes of Israel.
Matt. 25.31 — When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory (the beginning of the
parable of the final judgment of the sheep and the goats).
The case for hearing an echo of Daniel's vision here is the triple theme in
the double vision of Dan. 7.9-10 and 13-14: the implication of the plural 'thrones'
(7.9) is that the 'one like a son of man' (7.13) took his place on the second throne
(or one of the other thrones) in order to share in the judgment (7.10) presided over
by the Ancient of Days (7.9). Equally persuasive, however, is the case for seeing
some influence creeping into these verses from the elaboration of the Danielic vision
in the Similitudes of Enoch. For it is only there that the implication of Daniel's
vision is made explicit. In the Similitudes the Elect One is repeatedly said to
sit down 'on the throne of his glory' to judge, 208 and the Elect One is clearly identified
in the Similitudes with 'that Son of Man' (i En. 69.27). 209 It is probable,
then, that the two Matthean passages have been influenced, at least in their final
form, by the repeated imagery of the Similitudes of Enoch, as well as by the double
vision of Daniel 7, which certainly lies behind the Similitudes. 2W
Furthermore, these two references in Matthew, together possibly with John
208. Particularly 1 En. 55.4; 61.8; 62.3; 69.27.
209. See further above, chapter 16 n. 102.
210. Similarly John 5.27:
1 En. 69.27: the whole judgment was given to the Son of Man;
John 5.27: the Father has given the Son authority to execute judgment, because he
is the Son of Man.
See further J. Theisohn, Der auserwählte Richter. Untersuchungen zum traditionsgeschichtlichen
Ort der Menschensohngestalt der Bilderreden des äthiopischen Henoch (Göttingen:
Vandenhoeck, 1969) Kap. 6. Hare questions the significance of any influence from the
Similitudes {Son of Man 162-65, 175-78); but see also Burkett, Son of Man Debate 78 n. 20.
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