Bible answers
What does the Bible say about the Book of Enoch?
Enoch appears in the Bible in only a few lines: he walked with God, and God took him. The Book of Enoch, usually meaning 1 Enoch, is a much longer Jewish work written in the centuries before Jesus in Enoch’s name. The New Testament letter of Jude quotes it, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church includes it in its Bible. Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and most Orthodox Bibles do not. Christians can read it the way they read other ancient writings: with interest, and without treating it as Scripture.
Bible verses about the Book of Enoch
- Genesis 5:21-24Enoch fathered Methuselah, walked with God for three hundred years, and was no more, because God took him.
- Hebrews 11:5By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not see death; he was commended as one who pleased God.
- Jude 14-15Jude quotes a prophecy of Enoch that the Lord comes with his holy ones to judge the ungodly.
- Genesis 6:1-4The brief, mysterious account of the sons of God and the Nephilim that 1 Enoch expands into the story of the Watchers.
- Luke 24:44Jesus names the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms as the Scriptures that speak of him.
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17All Scripture is God-breathed and equips God’s people for every good work.
- Acts 17:28Paul quotes Greek poets to make a true point. Quoting a book is not the same as calling it Scripture.
- Revelation 22:18-19A warning not to add to or take from the words of the prophecy.
Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God took him.First Enoch is a collection, written in stages from roughly the third century BC to around the time of Jesus. Its best-known section, the Book of the Watchers, retells Genesis 6 as the story of rebellious angels who taught humanity forbidden arts. Aramaic fragments of it were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, so it was widely read in Jesus’ day. Jude 14-15 quotes its first chapter, and some early Christian writers valued it, while others did not accept it. Over time the church across most traditions did not receive it as Scripture. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, whose canon is broader, did.
Jude’s quotation shows that an inspired writer could use a true line from a book without making the whole book Scripture, much as Paul quoted Greek poets. That is a good way to hold 1 Enoch: a window into how Jews before Christ read Genesis, angels, and judgment, not a hidden key the church suppressed. Read it with curiosity if you like. Test everything by the books the church has received, and be wary of videos that treat it as secret knowledge. The Enoch of Genesis is worth more attention than the one of legend: a man who walked with God.
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People also ask
- Should Christians read the Book of Enoch?
- Christians may read it as an ancient Jewish writing that helps explain how people in Jesus’ day read Genesis and thought about angels and judgment. Read it as history, not as Scripture, and test what it says by the Bible.
- Why is the Book of Enoch not in the Bible?
- It was never part of the Hebrew Bible, and over time most of the church did not receive it as Scripture, though some early Christian writers valued it. It is not in Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, or most Orthodox Bibles. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church includes it.
- Why does Jude quote the Book of Enoch?
- Jude 14-15 quotes a prophecy found in 1 Enoch 1:9. Quoting a true line does not make a whole book Scripture. Paul quotes Greek poets in Acts 17:28 the same way.
- Is the Book of Enoch in the Ethiopian Bible?
- Yes. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church includes 1 Enoch in its broader canon, and the complete text survives in the ancient Ethiopian language Ge’ez.