Source: John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, Third Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), 220–239.
6. The Similitudes of Enoch.mp4
Apocalyptic Imagination, The Similitudes of Enoch.wav
This podcast explores the "Similitudes of Enoch" (1 Enoch 37–71), arguing against the idea that it's a later Christian text and asserting its origins in first-century Jewish apocalypticism, likely within a sectarian group. The text emphasizes the importance of the "Son of Man" figure, seen as a heavenly counterpart to the community of the righteous, who acts as an eschatological judge and revealer of divine secrets. Unlike other Jewish texts, the Similitudes highlight faith in the Son of Man and heavenly realities as crucial for salvation, rather than adherence to the law, and although its identification with Enoch is debated, the work served to reassure the persecuted righteous of their ultimate vindication and heavenly destiny.
There is a deep and persistent fascination with the "lost books" of the Bible—ancient texts that, for one reason or another, did not make it into the canonical scriptures. But what if one of the most important of these texts was nearly lost not to time, but to a modern scholarly debate that threatened to erase its significance? For decades, the "Similitudes of Enoch," a section of the larger Book of 1 Enoch, was the center of a firestorm. The influential scholar J. T. Milik argued it wasn't a pre-Christian Jewish text at all, but a Christian composition from the third century CE. If he was right, its historical significance would be "greatly altered," turning its explosive ideas into little more than a late imitation.
But Milik's theory did not hold up to scrutiny. Scholars overwhelmingly concluded that the Similitudes is exactly what it appears to be: an authentic Jewish apocalyptic work from the first century. This confirmation electrified the study of religious history. It meant that a text filled with cosmic visions and heavenly journeys—and a powerful figure called the "Son of Man"—was circulating before the Gospels were written. Suddenly, this wasn't a "lost book" but a key that could unlock the world from which both Judaism and Christianity emerged.
This article pries open a window onto that forgotten world by exploring four of the most surprising ideas from this ancient text. These takeaways from the Similitudes challenge our modern assumptions, revealing a time when the ideas that would define Western religion were still being fiercely debated.
For most people, the title "Son of Man" is inextricably linked with Jesus. So what does it mean that one of his most iconic titles may have existed in Judaism before him? The Similitudes of Enoch presents us with exactly that: a powerful, pre-existent, heavenly "Son of Man" figure that existed entirely within a Jewish context.
Crucially, the text doesn't treat "Son of Man" as a common title. Instead, it elevates a description from a vision in the book of Daniel—"one with the appearance of a man"—into a major celestial character. The Similitudes is, in fact, the principal evidence we have for this kind of Jewish speculation before the time of Jesus. Scholars date the text to the early or mid-first century CE, meaning it was written before the Gospels and the Jewish revolt of 66-70 CE. The argument for its pre-Christian origin is compelling:
It is unlikely that a Jewish author would have accorded such a central role to a “Son of Man” figure after that expression had become established as a christological title. Indeed, the “Son of Man” passages in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt 19:28 and 25:31), which refer to the “glorious throne,” seem to depend on the Similitudes.