Enoch

God took Enoch, as Genesis 5:24 says: "And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him".[1] Illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible; illustrated by Gerard Hoet.

Enoch is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and a patriarch who lived before Noah's flood. He is the son of Jared, the father of Methuselah, and most importantly, the great-grandfather of the great Noah. Enoch was born in 622 AM on Babylon, because he lived before the flood, he is from the Antediluvian period in the Hebrew Bible.

He is respected as a saint in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy.

The Book of Genesis says Enoch lived 365 years before he was taken to heaven alive by God in 987 AM.

And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

— Genesis 5:23–24 KJV

There are three apocryphal books attributed to Enoch, the most popular of which is 1 Enoch, also known as the Book of Enoch,[2] a pseudepigraphical work, which means Enoch himself never wrote it. In the New Testament, Enoch is mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Epistle of Jude.[3]

Enoch in the Book of Genesis

Enoch is first mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the seventh of the ten Patriarchs who lived before the flood; each patriarch lived for several centuries. Genesis 5 gives us a genealogy of these ten figures (from Adam to Noah), giving us information on the age at which each fathered the next and the age of each figure when they died. But for Enoch, he is an exception; he did "not see death" (Hebrews 11:5). Genesis 5:22–24 says that Enoch lived for 365 years, which is shorter than any other patriarch who lived before the flood; they are all said to be dying at over 700 years of age. The account of Enoch in Genesis 5 ends with the cryptic note that "he was not; for God took him".[4] This happened 57 years after Adam's death and 69 years before Noah's birth.

Enoch and Enmeduranki

Enmeduranki was an ancient Sumerian king who is said to have been a Mesopotamian model for Enoch, he lived before the ancient Egyptian dynasties ruling from about 3400 BC. Enmeduranki appears as the seventh name on the Sumerian King List, whereas Enoch is the seventh figure on the list of patriarchs in Genesis. Both of them were also said to have been taken up into heaven. Sippar, the city of Enmeduranki, has been said to be connected with sun worship, while the 365 years that Enoch is said to have lived may have formed the number of days in the solar calendar.[5]

Enoch in Christianity

New Testament

The New Testament mentions Enoch three times.

  • The first mention is in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. (Luke 3:37).
  • The second mention is in the Epistle to the Hebrews which says, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." (Hebrews 11:5 KJV). This means that he did not experience the mortal death which Adam's other descendants experienced, which makes sense with Genesis 5:24 KJV, as it says, "And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him."
  • The third mention is in the Epistle of Jude (1:14–15) where the author writes

    "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

    This passage is not found in Catholic and Protestant canons of the Old Testament. The verses is believed by most modern scholars to be taken from 1 Enoch 1:9 which exists in Greek, in Ge'ez (as part of the Ethiopian Orthodox canon), and also in Aramaic among the Dead Sea Scrolls.[6][7] Though the same scholars themselves already know that 1 Enoch 1:9 itself is just a midrash of Deuteronomy 33:2.[8][9][10][11][12]

Family tree

Adam[a]Eve[a]
Cain[a]Abel[b]Seth[c]
Enoch[d]Enos[e]
Irad[f]Kenan[g]
Mehujael[f]Mahalalel[h]
Methushael[f]Jared[i]
Adah[j]Lamech[f]Zillah[j]Enoch[k]
Jabal[l]Jubal[m]Tubal-Cain[n]Naamah[n]Methuselah[o]
Lamech[p]
Noah[q]
Shem[r]Ham[r]Japheth[r]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Genesis 4:1
  2. ↑ Genesis 4:2
  3. ↑ Genesis 4:25; 5:3
  4. ↑ Genesis 4:17
  5. ↑ Genesis 4:26; 5:6–7
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Genesis 4:18
  7. ↑ Genesis 5:9–10
  8. ↑ Genesis 5:12–13
  9. ↑ Genesis 5:15–16
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Genesis 4:19
  11. ↑ Genesis 5:18–19
  12. ↑ Genesis 4:20
  13. ↑ Genesis 4:21
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Genesis 4:22
  15. ↑ Genesis 5:21–22
  16. ↑ Genesis 5:25–26
  17. ↑ Genesis 5:28–30
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Genesis 5:32


Related pages

References

  1. ↑ Genesis 5:18–24
  2. ↑ August Dillmann and R. Charles (1893). The Book of Enoch, translation from Geez.
  3. ↑ Luke 3:37, Hebrews 11:5, Jude 1:14–15
  4. ↑ Genesis 5:24, KJV
  5. ↑ John Day (2021), From Creation to Abraham: Further Studies in Genesis 1-11. Bloomsbury Publishing. p.106
  6. ↑ 4Q Enoch (4Q204[4QENAR]) COL I 16–18
  7. ↑ Clontz, T.E. and J., "The Comprehensive New Testament with complete textual variant mapping and references for the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, Josephus, Nag Hammadi Library, Pseudepigrapha, Apocrypha, Plato, Egyptian Book of the Dead, Talmud, Old Testament, Patristic Writings, Dhammapada, Tacitus, Epic of Gilgamesh", Cornerstone Publications, 2008, p. 711, ISBN 978-0-9778737-1-5
  8. ↑ "The initial oracle in chapters 1–5 is a paraphrase of part of Deuteronomy 33,24" George W. E. Nickelsburg, The nature and function of revelation 1 Enoch, Jubilees and some Qumranic documents, 1997
  9. ↑ Lars Hartman, Asking for a Meaning: A Study of 1 Enoch 1–5 ConBib NT Series 12 Lund Gleerup, 1979 22–26.
  10. ↑ George WE Nickelsburg & James C Vanderkam, 1 Enoch, Fortress 2001
  11. ↑ R.H. Charles, The Book of Enoch, London SPCK, 1917
  12. ↑ E. Isaac, 1 Enoch, a new Translation and Introduction in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha ed. Charlesworth, Doubleday 1983–85

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