What is the book of Enoch and should it be in the Bible?

Response

The Book of Enoch comprises several pseudepigraphal works that attribute themselves to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah; in other words, Enoch, the son of Jared “And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:”, (Genesis 5:18). A piece of ancient literature is considered a pseudepigraphon if it falsely claims authorship. A pseudepigraphon will assert to have a (usually) well-known author, but its claims are baseless.

Enoch is one of the three individuals in the Bible taken up to heaven bodily, the others being Elijah and Jesus (with only Jesus having undergone a resurrection). Enoch’s translation is described in Genesis 5:24: “And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him,” also referenced in Hebrews 11:5. Typically, when people mention the Book of Enoch, they are referring to 1 Enoch, which exists entirely in the Ethiopic language. The Coptic Church in Ethiopia and the Eritrean Orthodox Church consider the Book of Enoch as canonical. Apart from 1 Enoch, there are 2 Enoch (“The Book of the Secrets of Enoch”) and 3 Enoch (“The Hebrew Book of Enoch”). Fragments of the Book of Enoch in Aramaic and Hebrew were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

A significant portion of the Book of Enoch is apocalyptic—it employs vivid imagery to foretell doom and the ultimate judgment of evil. It heavily focuses on angelology and demonology, with a considerable part of the book dedicated to elaborating on the events of Genesis 6:1–4. Consequently, the Book of Enoch clarifies the origin of the Nephilim and the nature of the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6:2 and 4. The outcome is a peculiar and sensationalistic piece.

Piece of non-canonical literature.

In its Ethiopic form, the Book of Enoch is arranged in five sections:

Section I (chapters 1—36) has Enoch pronouncing God’s judgment on the angels who cohabited with the daughters of men (see Genesis 6:1-4). In this section, two hundred angelic “Watchers” rebel against God and are cast out of heaven along with Satan. On earth, they indulge their lust and have sexual relations with human women, producing the Nephilim, a race of evil giants who terrorize the antediluvian world. Enoch sees a “chaotic and horrible” place and a fiery prison reserved for the angels who sinned (Enoch 21:3,7).

Section II (chapters 37—71) has three parables relating apocalyptic judgments. It also contains the story of Enoch’s translation into heaven (see Genesis 5:24). In this section, Enoch describes the activity of an angel named Gadreel: “He it is who showed the children of men all the blows of death, and he led astray Eve, and showed [the weapons of death to the sons of men] the shield and the coat of mail, and the sword for battle, and all the weapons of death to the children of men. And from his hand they have proceeded against those who dwell on the earth from that day and forevermore” (Enoch 69:6-7;trans: by Charles, R: H:, 1917).

Section III (chapters 72—87) is primarily an explanation of the workings of the stars in their pathways, as per a vision that Enoch has.

Section IV (chapters 88—90) contains Enoch’s vision of the coming flood and prophecies concerning other events yet future, including the Exodus, the conquest of Canaan, the building of the temple, the fall of the northern kingdom, the destruction of Jerusalem, the final judgment, the building of the New Jerusalem, the resurrection of the saints, and the coming of the Messiah.

Section V (chapters 91–105) pronounces woes on sinners and promises blessings to the righteous. It concludes with a promise of peace to the “children of uprightness” (Enoch 105:2).

The biblical book of Jude quotes from chapter 1 of the Book of Enoch in Jude 1:14–15, “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’” Jude’s quotation does not imply that the Book of Enoch is inspired by God or that it should be included in the Bible.

Jude’s quote is not the sole quote in the Bible from a non-biblical source. The apostle Paul quotes Epimenides in Titus 1:12, but that does not imply that we should attribute any additional authority to Epimenides’ writings. The same principle applies to Jude 1:14–15. Jude quoting from the Book of Enoch does not suggest that the entire Book of Enoch is inspired, or even accurate. It simply means that particular passage of Enoch is accurate. It is worth noting that no scholars believe the Book of Enoch was truly written by the Enoch in the Bible. Enoch was seven generations from Adam, before the flood (Genesis 5:1-24). However, the words Jude quotes were evidently something that Enoch prophesied—or the Bible would not attribute it to him: “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men” (Jude 1:14). This saying of Enoch was somehow passed down through the generations and eventually recorded in the Book of Enoch.

We should treat the Book of Enoch (and similar books) in the same manner as we do other apocryphal texts.

Apocryphal writings contain a mix of truths and inaccuracies. While some content is accurate, a significant portion is historically incorrect. It is advisable to view these texts as intriguing yet imperfect historical records, rather than as the divinely inspired and authoritative Word of God.