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- 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.[1](Genesis 5:3-18)
Very little information or biography is available for most of the patriarchs. In the case of Enoch, several religions revere him as a pious man who "walked with God." Three apocryphal works are attributed to Enoch and Rabbinic tradition identifies Enoch as the Metatron,[n 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[n 2], Hebrews 11:5[2], Jude 14-15[3]).
Ancient Jewish texts identify Enoch as a righteous, pious man in whom God was well pleased. It wasn't until Noah, Enoch's great grandson, that such praise was bestowed on a patriarch. 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.[4]
It needs to be clearly understood that here it is plainly stated that Enoch was educated by angels "and from them I heard everything." In view of later revelations in the apocraphal works of Enoch that angels had fallen and caused many problems for humans, that the visions and interpretations by Enoch are influenced by the angels that educated him. In other words, much of what is said by Enoch is "slanted" by its sources. Later Enoch is said to have ascended and transformed into an angel himself and not just any angel but the Metraton, leader of all angels and spokesman of God. It further needs to be clearly understood that it is a step down for a human to become an angel and consequently affects the reliability of Enoch's revelations.
Apocryphal Books of Enoch
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.
