Enoch
- Topic in Antediluvian Patriarchs. By Charles Kamins.
- Enoch the seventh generation after Adam was the son of Jared, the father of Methuselah, and the great-grandfather of Noah.(Genesis 5:3-18)
Enoch and the Abrahamic religions
Abrahamic religions revere Enoch as a pious man who "walked with God."
Because he was a righteous man it is believed that God opened Enoch's eyes. In the Book of Enoch Chapter 1 it was written:
:2. And he took up his parable and said--Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come.
Three apocryphal works are attributed to Enoch and Rabbinic tradition identifies Enoch as the Metatron,[Notes 1] the angel who communicates God's word. In the Kabbala, the written version of once secret oral Rabbinic teachings, Enoch is identified as the one who communicated God's revelations to Moses as well as dictating the Book of Jubilees. The New Testament has three references to Enoch (Luke 3:23-38[Notes 2], Hebrews 11:5[Notes 3], Jude 14-15[Notes 4]).
Educated by angels
It needs to be clearly understood that here it is plainly stated that Enoch was educated by angels "and from them I heard everything." Even though he was educated by them, Enoch wrote that angels had fallen and caused many problems for humans. In his early writings Enoch passed judgment on the angels and revealed their crimes against humans and God. Even so that didn't stop him later from working together with angels eventually becoming one and then a leader of angels, the Metraton, leader of all angels and spokesman of God. It needs to be repeated that it is a step down for a human to become an angel. This fact affects the reliability of Enoch's revelations.
Book of Enoch
The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, although modern scholars estimate the older sections date from about 300 BC. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews or Christians apart from an ancient Ethiopian sect. The only surviving copies are written in the Ge'ez language of Ethiopia. No Hebrew version is known to have survived. It is asserted in the book itself that its author was Enoch, and written before the Biblical Flood.
Apocryphal Books of Enoch
The pseudigraphical Books of Enoch are believed to have been written in the third century BCE or shortly after. The works of Enoch were popular in the centuries before Jesus and copies were found in the Caves at Qumran alongside the Dead Sea Scrolls. The authors of the early gospels were familiar with the content of the texts and influenced by it. The text was utilised by the Essene community that originally collected the Dead Sea Scrolls. Enoch is mentioned in the geneaologies of Jesus by Luke (Luke 3:37). In the Letter to the Hebrews it says "... that he pleased God." Thirdly he is mentioned in the Epistle of Jude (1:14-15) which quotes a prophecy from the Book of Enoch which Jude interpreted to refer to Jesus:
14 It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “See, the Lord is coming[a] with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all, and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
The three apocryphal works attributed to Enoch are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Books of Enoch. The works recount the testimony of Enoch how he was taken up to Heaven and taught all secrets and mysteries by angels. In his testimony Enoch boasts that he was appointed guardian of all celestial treasures and appointed chief of archangels. The first part of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, angels who, in an act of deliberate defiance to the Creator, took wives among earthly women and gave birth to chldren, the Nephilim. These events took place during his father Jared's generation. These fallen angels approached Enoch and educated him, according to the texts, in order that Enoch might intercede with God on their behalf after they had been condemned for their actions. Later Enoch prophesizes a judgment to come on all the earth as a result of the corruption brought upon humanity by the fallen angels in apparent reference to the flood which takes place during the lifetime of Noah, Enoch's great, great grandson. God sought to rid the world of the Nephilim and the people corrupted by them. The book of Enoch consists of five sections:
- The Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1-36)
- The Book of Watchers describes the fall of the angels who fathered the Nephilim (cf. Genesis 6:1-2)[Notes 5]. It is notable that these angels were said to have come to Enoch to ask him to intercede on their behalf with God after they had been judged. It is telling that the angels understood that humans stand in a position closer to God than they do. They also understood beforehand that their acts were sinful. The rest of the book describes Enoch's travels in spirit world and his revelations and visions.
- The Book of Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71)
- The Astronomical Book (1 Enoch 72-82)
- The Book of Dream Visions (1 Enoch 83-90)
- This book appears to be a continuation of the Book of the Watchers including an outline of the story and imprisonment of angel leaders and destruction of the Nephilim.The book also chronicles the story of Moses and Aaron (90:13-15), the creation of the tablets of stone (commandments), the building of Solomon's temple and the escape of Eijah the prophet. This book also describes the appointment of 70 angels to protect the Israelites, and later describes how the 70 were judged for causing more harm than good.
- The Epistle of Enoch (1 Enoch 91-108)
Scholars believe these sections were independent works, composed at different times, and the result of much editing over the centuries.
Influence on Classic religious literature
The Book of Enoch was widely known in the centuries before Jesus. There was a time when the book was among the most influential scriptural texts. With the advent of Jesus, the influence of Enoch was radically altered. Early Christians saw in it references they used to justify the mission of Jesus. Partly for this reason, Jews began to reexamine the texts bringing a period of rejection. After the time of Constantine, the Books of Enoch appeare to vanish for more than a thousand years only to be rediscovered in the 17th century through a copy used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and written in Ge'ez[Notes 6].
Judaism
The early Rabbinic view was that Enoch was a pious man, taken to Heaven and given the title Great Scribe. Evidence shows that Book of Enoch was widely known during the development of the Hebrew canon. The reason the book fell out of favor may be understood in the comments many centuries later by Trypho the Jew who in particular objected violently to the idea that angels sinned and revolted against God. That this important idea was suppressed shows the influence of angels in assembling the Jewish canon.
Christianity
Enoch is referenced as a historic person and prophet and is even quoted in Jude 1:14-15. The Book of Enoch was considered scripture in the Epistle of Barnabas (16:4) and by many early Church Fathers including Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus and Tertullian who wrote c. 200 that the Book of Enoch had been rejected by the Jews because it contained prophecies pertaining to Christ. The book fell out of favor with later Church Fathers after Constantine and must have been suppressed because copies vanished from circulation for over a thousand years.
Mormons
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) reveres much of Enoch in particular the Book of Moses found entirely within The Book of Enoch.
Mysticism and Esoteric Traditions
The Book of Enoch was an early text among mystics due to the descriptions of spiritual realities, conversations with angels and visions of the future. A popular text of the time was a detailed description of the throne of God found in chapter 14 of 1 Enoch. Because of its content, the book was influential on Christian demonology, doctrines about the Messiah, Son of Man, messianic kingdom, ressurection, and eschatology.
Rediscovery
The Book of Enoch lost popularity among Jews after the time of Jesus and was most certainly banned as apocryphal after Constantine although its existance was known thanks to being cited in the gospels. Until the 17th century, the text was believed lost forever until Scottish traveller James Bruce returned to Europe after six years in Abyssinia with three copies of a Ge'ez version. The Ge'ez language was native to Ethiopia and Eritrea a region believed settled by Jews from Israel. Ge'ez is an ancient South Semitic language that originated in Eritrea and the northern region of Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa. It later became the official language of the Kingdom of Aksum and Ethiopian imperial court.
See also
Notes
- ↑ Metatron is an archangel in Judaism. According to Jewish medieval apocrypha, he is Enoch, ancestor of Noah, transformed into an angel.
- ↑ 36 son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech, 37 son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, son of Cainan, 38 son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.
- ↑ 5 By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and “he was not found, because God had taken him.” For it was attested before he was taken away that “he had pleased God.”
- ↑ 14 It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “See, the Lord is cominga]"[a] with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all, and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
- ↑ 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them.
- ↑ an ancient South Semitic language that originated in Eritrea and the northern region of Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa. Today Ge'ez remains only as the main language used in the liturgy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Ethiopian Catholic Church, and the Beta Israel Jewish community.
References
