An argument that often emerges and has been made all the more popular online, is that there were books excluded from the bible that should have been left in. These arguments are erroneous and usually rather weak. Nevertheless to many of us who haven’t had the chance to look into them in detail, they can be either worrying of intriguing. For this article we will look at one of the most popular of the so called excluded books which is that of 1 Enoch.
A quick summary is that the Old Testament was finished by 400BC and 1 Enoch was written later with the earliest portion possibly as early as 350BC. It was written in Aramaic, borrows heavily from Old Testament books such as Daniel and uses systems and terminology from the Persian/Greek era. Though read and circulated, the Jews never regarded it as canonical scripture and neither did the Christians. Much later it, with various other books, found its way into the Ethiopic bible, with the final form completed well after the time of Christ. It pretends to be written by Enoch from Genesis 5 and focusses around the pre-flood era. At the same time it projects forward to the history of God’s people and the coming of the Messiah to judge. It is a useful text for understanding what certain Jews believed and expected around the time of Christ. However it is a fabricationand not the word of God.
Now here’s a slightly longer overview. To give some context Enoch is part of a group of writings known as Pseudepigrapha (literally false writings). There were many Jewish works that claimed to be written by ancient biblical figures but were actually written centuries later. All of these works (and there are many of them), were written after the Old Testament was finished. By using the name Enoch, Moses, Levi, Adam etc... they sought to claim authority, legitimacy and antiquity. A similar thing happened with the New Testament where 100-200 years after Jesus, people composed gospels claiming them to be by Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Peter etc…
In the case of the book of Enoch this was claimed to be written by Enoch the great grandfather of Noah. In fact it was likely written between 350-300BC. The earliest evidence of the book are several fragments found in the dead sea scrolls. These contain small portions of certain sections of the book of Enoch and not the entire thing. 1 Enoch as it stands today is a collection of smaller books grouped together as one (there is also a 2 Enoch but this is even later, clearly a different author and not considered an important work). The earliest parts of 1 Enoch may date to 350BC, whereas the later parts date to around the time of Christ, with the final form coming together much later. One important factor is that there are no Hebrew copies of Enoch and it was likely first written in Aramaic with later Greek and Ethiopic versions. If it were an ancient work it would be in Hebrew but being Aramaic points to a time under the Persian/Greek periods when it was composed. For example in the Old Testament the Israelites follow a lunar calendar, yet Enoch follows a solar one which was the result of encounters with Greek mathematicians.
Enoch in general is very anachronistic pretending to be written in the distant past and predict events of the future. In truth it was written after most of these events had taken place yet claiming to be prophetic. The book draws from much of the Old Testament yet proports that Enoch had this revelation in advance (even though nearly a millennia before the Law of Moses). The book is heavily influenced by Daniel’s prophecies and follows a similar pattern of visions that have been interpreted to describe the future.
In terms of its provenance the book was circulated with other Jewish texts for many years but rejected by Jews and Christians alike. In the development of the Ethiopian Coptic church, when acquiring the New and Old Testaments, several extra-biblical texts were included with them. The church proceeded to incorporate many of these into their corpus. The Ethiopian church had a ‘more the merrier’ approach when it came to scripture. As a result Enoch was maintained in some fashion. The earliest complete text of 1 Enoch dates to the medieval period which is very late.
In terms of the content itself of 1 Enoch there is a lot to cover. But put simply it focusses on the events of Genesis 6 before the flood. Enoch supposedly exists in the time when fallen angels are upon the earth and is set apart by God to be a prophet for his generation. In one interpretation of Genesis 6 the sons of God who are angels come down to earth and procreate with women. Their offspring is the Nephilim who are giants that are half human and half demon. These are responsible for the increased sin and corruption that comes upon the world and the reason for God judging the world with the flood. Enoch therefore speaks to these events before the coming of the flood. In the book Enoch is also taken to heaven where he learnt divine secrets and was told of future events and the coming judgement of God. He prophecies the entire history of God’s people to come leading up to the Messiah and the ultimate judgement of the world.
Lastly another reason for the interest in Enoch is because Jude in the New Testament quotes from the book (Jude 14-15). A lot could be said about this, but New Testament authors often quote other works to make a point. This doesn’t mean that Jude regarded it as scripture, simply that Enoch was well known and by quoting it he was affirming his point which would be readily accepted. Moreover this is only a couple of verses from the first chapter of Enoch and doesn’t imply that the whole of Enoch was extant at the time. The verses in particular parallel what had already been revealed in the New Testament and serve to emphasise the point Jude is making.
In terms of the bible all we know is that Enoch lived, had children and that he walked with God and didn’t die because God took him (Genesis 5:18-24). The reason why according to Hebrews, is because he lived by faith and thus pleased God (Hebrews 11:5). Enoch is unique as like Elijah he was taken up to heaven. In terms of the pre-flood era we have the enigmatic verses of Genesis 6:1-6. All of this led the Jews of the day to want to fill in the gaps. Enoch became the perfect figure for this. The patriarch Enoch was used to record all the legends and speculations that the Jews had concerning this mysterious time. The book was composed under the pretence that it had been handed all the way down (nearly2,500 years), from before the flood to the time of the Jews living under Persian and Greek rule.
With all that said what should we do with 1 Enoch? For those who are interested it is a fascinating read, though probably not what people are expecting. It provides some key insights to the hopes and expectations of the Jews before and around the time of Jesus. Though the information it contains should be taken with a pinch of salt. Should it be included in the bible however? Certainly not.