Enoch (ancestor of Noah)

Enoch in the Book of Genesis

Enoch appears in the Book of Genesis of the Pentateuch as the seventh of the ten pre-Deluge Patriarchs. Genesis recounts that each of the pre-Flood Patriarchs lived for several centuries, had a son, then lived more centuries, and then died. Enoch is considered by many to be the exception, who is said to "not see death". (Hebrews 11:5) Furthermore, Genesis 5:22–29 states that Enoch lived 365 years which is extremely short in the context of his peers. The brief account of Enoch in Genesis 5 ends with the note that "he [was] not; for God took him".

Apocryphal Books of Enoch

Three extensive apocryphal works are attributed to Enoch:

These recount how Enoch was taken up to Heaven and was appointed guardian of all the celestial treasures, chief of the archangels, and the immediate attendant on God's throne. He was subsequently taught all secrets and mysteries and, with all the angels at his back, fulfils of his own accord whatever comes out of the mouth of God, executing His decrees. Much esoteric literature like the 3rd Book of Enoch identifies Enoch as the Metatron, the angel which communicates God's word. In consequence, Enoch was seen, by this literature, and the Rabbinic kabbala of Jewish mysticism, as having been the one which communicated God's revelation to Moses, in particular, the dictator of the Book of Jubilees.

Enoch in Qumran

The Book of Giants resembles the Book of Enoch, a pseudepigraphical Jewish work from the 3rd century BC. At least six and as many as eleven copies were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls collections.

Septuagint

The third-century BC translators who produced the Greek Septuagint rendered the phrase "God took him" with the Greek verb metatithemi (μετατίθημι) meaning moving from one place to another. Sirach 44:16, from about the same period, states that "Enoch pleased God and was translated into paradise that he may give repentance to the nations." The Greek word used here for paradise, 'paradeisos' (παράδεισος), was derived from an ancient Persian word meaning "enclosed garden", and was used in the Septuagint to describe the garden of Eden. Later, however, the term became synonymous for heaven, as is the case here.

Enoch in classical Rabbinical literature

In classical Rabbinical literature, there are various views of Enoch. One view regarding Enoch was that found in the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, which thought of Enoch as a pious man, taken to Heaven, and receiving the title of Safra rabba (Great scribe). After Christendom was completely separated from Judaism, this view became the prevailing rabbinical idea of Enoch's character and exaltation.

According to Rashi [from Genesis Rabba], “Enoch was a righteous man, but he could easily be swayed to return to do evil. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, hastened and took him away and caused him to die before his time. For this reason, Scripture changed [the wording] in [the account of] his demise and wrote, ‘and he was no longer’ in the world to complete his years.”

Among the minor Midrashim, esoteric attributes of Enoch are expanded upon. In the Sefer Hekalot, Rabbi Ishmael is described as having visited the 7th Heaven, where he met Enoch, who claims that earth had, in his time, been corrupted by the demons Shammazai, and Azazel, and so Enoch was taken to Heaven to prove that God was not cruel. Similar traditions are recorded in Sirach. Later elaborations of this interpretation treated Enoch as having been a pious ascetic, who, called to mix with others, preached repentance, and gathered (despite the small number of people on Earth) a vast collection of disciples, to the extent that he was proclaimed king. Under his wisdom, peace is said to have reigned on earth, to the extent that he is summoned to Heaven to rule over the sons of God. In a parallel with Elijah, in sight of a vast crowd begging him to stay, he ascends to Heaven on a horse.

New Testament

The New Testament contains three references to Enoch.

The introductory phrase "Enoch, the Seventh from Adam" is also found in 1 Enoch (1 En. 60:8), though not in the Old Testament. In the New Testament this Enoch prophesies "to" ungodly men, that God shall come with His holy ones to judge and convict them (Jude 1:14-15).

Early Christianity

Early Christianity contains various traditions concerning the "translation" of Enoch.

Regarding the quotation in Jude, most of early Christianity considered it an independent quotation pre-dating the flood. Regarding the Book of Enoch itself Origen, Jerome and Augustin mention it, but as of no authority. Justin, Athenagoras, Irenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Lactantius, and others borrowed an opinion out of this book of Enoch, that the angels had sexual relations with the daughters of men, of whom they had offspring ('the giants of the past'). Tertullian, in several places, speaks of this book with esteem and would persuade us that it was preserved by Noah during the deluge.

Medieval and Reformation

According to the Figurists (a group of Jesuit missionaries mainly led by Joachim Bouvet into China at the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century and based on ideas of Matteo Ricci 1552 to 1610), Fu Xi in China's ancient history is actually Enoch.

Modern Christianity

Enoch is not counted as a saint in Roman Catholic tradition, though Enoch has a saint's day, July 26, in the Armenian Apostolic Church. The "St. Enoch" in the place name St. Enoch's Square, Glasgow, is a corruption from the site of a medieval chapel to Saint Teneu, the legendary mother of Saint Mungo, and unconnected with Enoch.

Enoch is revered in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the Enochic texts Jubilees and 1 Enoch regarded as the 13th and 14th books, respectively, of the Tewahedo Old Testament canon. Most churches, including the Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Protestant churches, do not accept the books.

Some Church Fathers, like St. John of Damascus, as well as some modern Evangelical commentators consider Enoch to be one of the Two Witnesses in the Book of Revelation due to the fact that he did not die according to Genesis 5:24. Two televangelists holding this view, for example, are Pastor John Hagee of Christians United for Israel and Hebrew Roots Bible teacher Perry Stone.

In LDS theology

Among the Latter Day Saint movement and particularly in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Enoch is viewed as having founded an exceptionally righteous city, named Zion, in the midst of an otherwise wicked world. This view is encountered in the Mormon scripture (see Standard Works), the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants, which states that not only Enoch, but the entire peoples of the city of Zion, were taken off this earth without death, because of their piety. (Zion is defined as "the pure in heart" and this city of Zion will return to the earth at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.) The Doctrine and Covenants further states that Enoch prophesied that one of his descendants, Noah, and his family, would survive a Great Flood and thus carry on the human race and preserve the Scripture. The Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price has several chapters that give an account of Enoch's preaching, visions and conversations with God. In these same chapters are details concerning the wars, violence and natural disasters in Enoch's day, and notable miracles performed by Enoch. The Book of Moses is itself an excerpt from Joseph Smith's translation of the Bible, which is published in full, complete with these chapters concerning Enoch, by Community of Christ, as the Holy Scriptures/Inspired Version of the Bible, where it appears as part of the Book of Genesis. D&C 104:24 (CofC) / 107:48-49 (LDS) states that Adam ordained Enoch to the higher priesthood (now called the Melchizedek, after the great high priest) at age 25, that he was 65 when Adam blessed him, and he lived 365 years after that until he was translated, so making him 430 years old when that occurred.

Additionally in LDS theology, Enoch is implied to be the scribe who recorded Adam's blessings and prophecies at Adam-ondi-Ahman, as recorded in D&C 107:53-57 (LDS) / D&C 104:29b (CofC).

The left column lists the Bible’s teachings about Enoch, plus some not from the Bible; the right column lists additional information restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Enoch in Islam

In the Quran, Enoch is identified with Idris, as for example by the History of Al-Tabari intrepretation and the Meadows of Gold. The Quran contains two references to Idris; in Surah Al-Anbiya (The Prophets) verse number 85, and in Surah Maryam (Mary) verses 56-57:

Idris is closely linked in Muslim tradition with the origin of writing and other technical arts of civilization, including the study of astronomical phenomena, both of which Enoch is credited with in the Testament of Abraham. Nonetheless, even aside from the identification of Idris and Enoch, many Muslims still honor Enoch as one of the earliest prophets, regardless of whether they equate him with Idris or not. Thus, views on Enoch are divided into two groups: