1 Enoch

Also called Ethiopic Enoch, the Book of Enoch

The book Jude quotes and the Ethiopian church preserves, with rebellious angels, heavenly revelations and history told through animals.^{15 sources}15 sources1. Jude 1:14 2. Jude 1:15 3. (tr.) 1912 4. Charles 1912 5. Pearson 1969 6. Church 7. Nickelsburg 8. Genesis 6:1–4 9. (tr.) 1912 10. Nickelsburg 11. (tr.) 1912 12. Charles 1912 13. (tr.) 1912 14. Charles 1912 15. Charles 1912

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At a glance

Written: About 350 BC to the turn of the era, for the collection (Nickelsburg); individual parts differ.^{16 17}
Language: Aramaic, then Greek and Ge'ez; only Ge'ez preserves the whole collection (Nickelsburg).^{10 18}
Author: Enoch's revelations as a literary frame, rather than the patriarch's writing (Nickelsburg and Fitzmyer).^{16 17}
Structure: Five parts: Watchers, Parables, Astronomical Book, Dreams and Epistle of Enoch.^{19 20}

Summary

Rebellious angels and their giant children give 1 Enoch a vivid account of how disaster reaches the earth. Enoch announces their judgment; other parts introduce a heavenly Son of Man and tell history through animals. Jude quotes the collection, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church preserves it as Scripture. Fragments of eleven Aramaic manuscripts of its parts were found in Qumran Cave 4. The entire collection survives only in Ge'ez, the ancient Ethiopic language.^{22 sources}22 sources16. Nickelsburg 17. Fitzmyer 1977 1. Jude 1:14 2. Jude 1:15 3. (tr.) 1912 4. Charles 1912 5. Pearson 1969 6. Church 7. Nickelsburg 8. Genesis 6:1–4 9. (tr.) 1912 10. Nickelsburg 11. (tr.) 1912 12. Charles 1912 13. (tr.) 1912 14. Charles 1912 15. Charles 1912 21. Fitzmyer 1977 19. Fitzmyer 1977 18. Fitzmyer 1977 22. Schachterle 23. Charles 1912

The Book of Watchers
1 Enoch 1:1–36:4
Angels rebel, their giant offspring ravage the earth, and Enoch carries a message of judgment to them.^{5 sources}5 sources19. Fitzmyer 1977 20. Charles 1912 8. Genesis 6:1–4 9. (tr.) 1912 10. Nickelsburg
The Book of Parables
1 Enoch 37:1–71:17
An angel shows Enoch a heavenly figure called the Son of Man, also described as the Elect One and the Righteous One.^{4 sources}4 sources19. Fitzmyer 1977 20. Charles 1912 11. (tr.) 1912 12. Charles 1912
Astronomy, dreams and the Epistle
Chapters 72-108
The Astronomical Book occupies chapters 72-82. In the dreams that follow, history appears through animals, beginning with Adam as a white bull. The Epistle of Enoch closes the collection in chapters 91-108.^{5 sources}5 sources19. Fitzmyer 1977 20. Charles 1912 13. (tr.) 1912 14. Charles 1912 15. Charles 1912

Stories

The Watchers' oath
1 Enoch 6:1–6
Two hundred angels swear an oath on Mount Hermon to take human wives. Scholar Nickelsburg reads their rebellion as this story's explanation of evil's origin.^{8 9 10}
The Son of Man
1 Enoch 46:3
Enoch learns about a righteous heavenly figure. The Parables also call him God's Anointed, giving readers a point of comparison with New Testament language.^{6 sources}6 sources11. (tr.) 1912 12. Charles 1912 24. Daniel 7:13 25. (ed.) 1913 7. Nickelsburg 26. Fitzmyer 1977
History as animals
1 Enoch 85:3
Adam appears as a white bull. Scholar R. H. Charles interpreted a later great horn as Judas Maccabeus and used that identification to date the vision.^{13 14 15}

Connections to the Bible

Quotations

Jude 1:14–15 · 1 Enoch 1:9
Jude quotes 1 Enoch's prophecy about divine judgment. Charles describes Jude's quotation as compressed.^{5 sources}5 sources1. Jude 1:14 2. Jude 1:15 3. (tr.) 1912 4. Charles 1912 5. Pearson 1969

Echoes and allusions

Jude 1:6 · Book of Watchersmedium confidence
Pearson argues that Jude 6 reflects the influence of 1 Enoch.^{5 sources}5 sources27. Jude 1:6 28. 2 Peter 2:4 5. Pearson 1969 29. Pearson 1969 30. (tr.) 1913

Expansions

Genesis 6:1–4 · 1 Enoch 6:6medium confidence
Nickelsburg reads 1 Enoch's Watchers story as an expansion of Genesis' account of heavenly beings and human women.^{8 9 10}

Background

Daniel 7:13 · 1 Enoch 46:3medium confidence
Daniel's Son of Man is the background comparison. Nickelsburg treats the Parables as context for New Testament teaching about Jesus as Son of Man; Charles argues for direct influence, but the Parables' disputed date complicates that direction of dependence.^{4 sources}4 sources24. Daniel 7:13 25. (ed.) 1913 7. Nickelsburg 26. Fitzmyer 1977

Where each church stands

1 Enoch Full table →

Protestant: Not included^{31 32}
Catholic: Not included³³
Greek Orthodox: Not included³⁴
Russian (Slavonic) Orthodox: Not included³⁵
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo: Scripture
Narrower canon; chapter division differs from Charles and Dillmann.
³⁶

Why some kept it, why others left it out

Jude's quotation did not settle the book's standing. Tertullian, an early Latin Christian writer, defended it; Jerome called it apocryphal and reported that the quotation even made some readers doubt Jude. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's own list includes Enoch and Jubilees. Scholar Timothy Lim's account helps explain the Protestant boundary: its Old Testament follows the rabbinic Jewish collection, which did not include Enoch.^{11 sources}11 sources1. Jude 1:14 2. Jude 1:15 3. (tr.) 1912 4. Charles 1912 5. Pearson 1969 37. Tertullian 38. Jerome 39. Church 40. Lim 2022 22. Schachterle 23. Charles 1912

Kept

Orthodox

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church includes Enoch and stresses its role in preserving the book. This is an Ethiopian witness, not a statement for all Orthodox churches.^{6 7 39}

Early church: Latin

Tertullian defended Enoch as Scripture because it speaks of the Lord and receives testimony in Jude.³⁷

Left out

Early church: Latin

Augustine doubted the books' genuineness, rejected their giant stories and appealed to the canon kept in the Temple. Those were his reasons for rejecting them despite Jude.⁴¹

Protestant: evangelical

GotQuestions argues that quoting a passage does not make its entire source inspired, comparing Jude's use of Enoch with Paul's use of a poet in Titus 1:12.^{42 43}

Misconceptions

Myth Enoch was once in everyone's Bible and a council removed it.
Actually: Its reception differed by community. Schachterle says it never entered the eventual Jewish canon; Charles describes declining circulation, while Ethiopia continued to preserve it as Scripture.^{22 23}

Sources

44 sources from 28 works

1
Jude 1:14↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
2
Jude 1:15↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
R. H. Charles (tr.), The Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch (Oxford, 1912), translation; same as the site's 1En text (1912)
- 3
  1 Enoch 1:9 (1En.1.9)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 9
  1 Enoch 6:6 (1En.6.6)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
- 11
  1 Enoch 46:3 (1En.46.3)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 13
  1 Enoch 85:3 (1En.85.3)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch (Oxford, Clarendon Press) (1912)
- 4
  note on 1:9, p. 7↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 12
  Introduction, critical analysis of chapters 70-71↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 14
  introduction to Section IV (83-90), pp. 180-181↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 15
  Introduction, section 13, p. liii↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 20
  Introduction, section 12, p. xlvi↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 23
  Introduction, section 3 (Its Canonicity), p. xiv↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
Birger A. Pearson, “A Reminiscence of Classical Myth at II Peter 2.4, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 10 (1969) 71-80” (1969)
- 5
  p. 72↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
- 29
  p. 75↩
6
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, “The Canonical Books (ethiopianorthodox.org, English section)”, section on the Ethiopic version↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
George W. E. Nickelsburg, “Dead Sea Scrolls Spotlight: The Book of Enoch (sidebar, Biblical Archaeology Society Library)”
- 7
  third paragraph↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
- 10
  second paragraph↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
- 16
  first paragraph↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
8
Genesis 6:1–4↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, “Implications of the New Enoch Literature from Qumran, Theological Studies 38 (1977) 332-345” (1977)
- 17
  p. 332↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 18
  p. 340↩^a ↩^b
- 19
  p. 333↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
- 21
  p. 332 and n. 2 (Oxford, Clarendon, 1976)↩
- 26
  p. 336↩^a ↩^b
Joshua Schachterle, “Why Was Enoch Removed from the Bible? (The Bart Ehrman Blog)”
- 22
  section "Why Was Enoch Removed from the Bible in Judaism?"↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 44
  section "Was Enoch Removed from the Bible in Ethiopian Christianity?"↩
24
Daniel 7:13↩^a ↩^b
25
R. H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, vol. 2 (Oxford), Book of Enoch introduction (1913), Introduction to 1 Enoch, Influence on New Testament doctrine, p. 185↩^a ↩^b
27
Jude 1:6↩
28
2 Peter 2:4↩
30
R. H. Charles (tr.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, vol. 2 (Oxford, 1913), 1 Enoch translation (1913), 1 Enoch 20:2 (1En.20.2)↩
31
Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (1571), Article VI, as printed in E. J. Bicknell, A Theological Introduction to the Thirty-Nine Articles (1919)↩
32
Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapter I.2–3↩
33
Council of Trent, Session IV (8 April 1546), Decree concerning the canonical Scriptures↩
34
Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, online Old Testament (Septuagint text)↩
35
Russian Synodal Bible, as published by Azbuka Very (azbyka.ru): contents and chapter notes↩
36
R. W. Cowley, 'The Biblical Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Today', Ostkirchliche Studien 23 (1974) 318–323↩
37
Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women (De cultu feminarum) 1.3, tr. S. Thelwall, ANF vol. 4, via New Advent, Book 1, chapter 3↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
38
Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men (De viris illustribus) 4, tr. E. C. Richardson, NPNF2 vol. 3, via New Advent, chapter 4 (Jude)↩^a ↩^b
39
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, “The Canonical Books (ethiopianorthodox.org)”↩^a ↩^b
40
Timothy H. Lim, “How was the Canon Formed?, The Expository Times 133.9 (2022) (author's copy, University of Pretoria repository)” (2022), abstract↩^a ↩^b
41
Augustine, The City of God, Book 15, tr. Marcus Dods, NPNF1 vol. 2, via New Advent, Book 15, chapter 23↩^a ↩^b
42
Titus 1:12↩
43
GotQuestions.org, “What is the book of Enoch and should it be in the Bible?”, paragraphs on Jude 1:14-15↩^a ↩^b

1 Enoch

At a glance

Summary

Contents

The Book of Watchers

The Book of Parables

Astronomy, dreams and the Epistle

Stories

The Watchers' oath

The Son of Man

History as animals

Connections to the Bible

Quotations

Echoes and allusions

Expansions

Background

Where each church stands

1 Enoch Full table →

Why some kept it, why others left it out

Kept

Orthodox

Early church: Latin

Left out

Early church: Latin

Protestant: evangelical

Misconceptions

Further reading

Sources

Report a problem

At a glance

Summary

Contents

The Book of Watchers

The Book of Parables

Astronomy, dreams and the Epistle

Stories

The Watchers' oath

The Son of Man

History as animals

Connections to the Bible

Quotations

Echoes and allusions

Expansions

Background

Where each church stands

1 Enoch Full table →

Why some kept it, why others left it out

Kept

Orthodox

Early church: Latin

Left out

Early church: Latin

Protestant: evangelical

Misconceptions

Related books

Further reading

Sources

Report a problem