Enoch is a fascinating character in the Scriptures. We read about him in the Book of Genesis in the fifth chapter that he walked with God and was not for God took him. Then he’s quoted directly in the Book of Jude Judah. If Enoch is a biblical figure and he’s quoted by Jude or Jude as his Hebrew name would have been, how come the book’s not included in the Bible?
In terms of the book itself, some fragments in Aramaic from the Book of Enoch have been preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Aside from that, we don’t have an original book of Enoch or manuscripts that go back to it. We have much later translation into Ethiopian, into Jazz, which is an old Ethiopian Semitic dialect, and that’s where you have the complete book of Enoch.
Then it’s the product not only of one man from millennia ago but the product apparently of several stages of writing. The Book of Enoch, however, was greatly revered among early Jews, first-second-century Jews, and even right before that and the early followers of Jesu. But it was never considered part of the canon of Scripture in any universal way.
In other words, it did not have that divine stamp on it, saying that this is a book that should be part of the canon of Scripture and therefore was embraced by the community of believers as being authentically Scripture. Look, the Bible and the Old Testament will quote from books we don’t have anymore, and it references these books and quotes for them.
We don’t have them by God’s choice. Those were not part of the Bible. Paul Even quotes from secular or pagan poets in the New Testament. Just because something is quoted doesn’t mean it’s all inspired. It could only be one particular line that’s being referenced as accurate or true or simply a point of reference.
You could argue that, but certainly, the book, as we have it as a whole, does not go back to Enoch. It would be called Sue Topographical literature, which is falsely ascribed that it has a name falsely attributed to it.
So Enoch is certainly not the composer of the entire book, although perhaps some of his original sayings are preserved, like what Jude quotes. But it’s not part of the Bible because it was never intended by God to be part of the Bible. When you read it, you’ll see it has some very unusual, even esoteric, things in it. So it’s not wrong to read it. In fact, it’s a fascinating read, but for a good reason.
Is the Book of Enoch in the Catholic Bible? (Explain with verse)
The Book of Genesis describes two men named Enoch. The first one is mentioned in Genesis Chapter four and is the son of Cain. The second Enoch is in Genesis chapter five and comes from the line of Seth, Adam, and Eve’s third name to Son. He is the seventh generation from Adam, and it’s this Enoch that we are interested in.
The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Enoch, and what it tells us doesn’t leave us with many details. We read only that he lived 365 years, Enoch walked with God, and God took him. But what does it mean that he was not for God to take him? Well, fortunately for us, the writer of Hebrews elaborates on this a little bit when he writes by Faith. Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him before he was taken. He had this testimony that pleased God.
So in the Book of Hebrews, we read that Enoch was a man of God who walked by faith, and he was taken by God before he died. Although we may not have all the answers to our questions about Enoch, it gives us a little more information than what we had in Genesis alone. So that’s all we know about Enoch from the Bible. That’s it! But what about the Book of Enoch? First, let me point out that when most people talk about the Book of Enoch, the first book in a series.
This is because there are first, second and third. Enoch is not only a single book but a collection of books. First, Enoch is a compilation of texts that are awkwardly sung together. The oldest sections of Enoch probably date back to around 3 to 400 years before Jesus, a very large section of First Enoch was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The fact that the library and Down to Dead Sea Scrolls Library included this book and their collection ought to tell us only how popular this book was. It has a significant Jewish following, and early Christians liked it too.
- As a matter of fact, in the New Testament, Jude quotes from the Book of Enoch, and it seems that Peter also references it.
There are probably less than 100 or so manuscripts of First Enoch. Among those, there is some significant variation in the text. In other words, it’s not always clear what the original document said because later text shows variations and differences.
Scholars know that the book was first written around three or four B.C., yet the author of the book claims that he was from he was the same Enoch from the Book of Genesis seven generations after Adam. This is our first problem. The author lied about who he was. The word belongs to a classification of ancient books called pseudo epigraph of books.
In this class of books, the author would identify himself as someone famous to make the book more popular. For example, the book called The Life of Adam and Eve was not written by Adam and Eve but by someone else many centuries later. It should be our first clue why books like these are not part of our Bible.
You see, early Christians were being persecuted by the Romans for their faith, and their books were being confiscated. They had to decide which books they were willing to lay their lives down for. A book written by a liar didn’t make that list. Beyond that, the Book of Enoch had some other problems, chief of which is that throughout the Book of Enoch, the author describes a messianic figure who will sit on the throne of glory. He will judge the wicked and one who will be worshipped. This figure is sometimes called the Chosen one or the anointed, or simply the son of man, a name Jesus often referred to use for himself.
Then, in chapter 71 and verse 14, the author of the Book of Enoch identifies who this figure is, and it’s himself. The author of Enoch claims that he himself is the Messiah, wanted to be worshipped, and is the one who will judge you and me. It’s the reason alone that Christians would be disinterested in considering the Book of Enoch inspired anyone who feels that the Book of Enoch needs to find a place in our canon of Scripture is probably the same person who has never looked closely at the claims of Jesus.
- The Book of Enoch is fiction. It may be entertaining fiction, but fiction nonetheless.
Jude and Peter probably knew that their listeners were familiar with the Book of Enoch. Therefore, it would appear that they likely did the same thing that we do today. They use the book to make a point. It does not mean that they thought the book was inspired.
This isn’t the first time in the Bible that we read quotes from non-inspired works in Jude. In verse nine, we find what appears to be a quote from the book of the Assumption of Moses Paul in 1728 quotes from a Greek poet named Aratus. In First Corinthians 1533, he appears to quote an Athenian playwriter. These examples do not imply anything about the inspiration of those original sources. They only indicate that people like Jude, Peter, and Paul are familiar with contemporary works and didn’t hesitate to cite them to make their points.
So that explains the book of Enoch is not in the Catholic Bible or Jewish Bible and why it’s so quoted in the New Testament. If a person is interested in reading the Book of Enoch, it would be a good idea to consider this book a piece of fiction.
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