Is it not written in the Book of Enoch?

by Tov Rose

The Book of Enoch (also 1 Enoch) is an ancient Jewish religious work, traditionally ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel. It is regarded as canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Eritrean Orthodox Church, but no other Christian group.

Western scholars believe that its older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) date from about 300 BC, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably was composed at the end of the 1st century BC.

It is wholly extant only in the Ge'ez language, with Aramaic fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls and a few Greek and Latin fragments. There is no consensus among scholars about the original some propose Aramaic, others Hebrew, while the probable thesis, according to E. Isaac, is that 1 Enoch, like Daniel, was composed partially in Aramaic and partially in Hebrew. :6 Ethiopian scholars generally hold that Ge'ez is the language of the original from which the Greek and Aramaic copies were made, pointing out that it is the only language in which the complete text has yet been found.

A short section of 1 Enoch (1 En 1:9) is quoted in the New Testament (Letter of Jude 1:14-15), and is there attributed to "Enoch the Seventh from Adam" (1 En 60:8). It is argued that all the writers of the New Testament were familiar with it and were influenced by it in thought and diction.


Content

The first part of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angels who fathered the Nephilim. The remainder of the book describes Enoch's visits to heaven in the form of travels, visions and dreams, and his revelations.

The book consists of five quite distinct major sections (see each section for details):

The Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1 – 36)
The Book of Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 37 – 71) (Also called the Similitudes of Enoch)
The Astronomical Book (1 Enoch 72 – 82) (Also called the Book of the Heavenly Luminaries or Book of Luminaries)
The Book of Dream Visions (1 Enoch 83 – 90) (Also called the Book of Dreams)
The Epistle of Enoch (1 Enoch 91 – 108)
Among most scholars is the shared view that these five sections were originally independent works (with different dates of composition), themselves a product of much editorial arrangement, and were only later redacted into what we now call 1 Enoch. This view is now opposed only by a few authors who maintain the literary integrity of the Book of Enoch, one of the most recent (1990) being the Ethiopian Wossenie Yifru.

Józef Milik has suggested that the Book of Giants found among the Dead Sea Scrolls should be part of the collection, appearing after the Book of Watchers in place of the Book of Parables, but for various reasons, Milik's theory has not been widely accepted.

Canonicity
Although evidently widely known at the time of the Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, 1 Enoch was excluded from both the formal canon of the Tanakh and the typical canon of the Septuagint and therefore, also the writings known today as the Apocrypha.[7][8] One possible reason for Jewish rejection of the book might be the textual nature of several early sections of the book that make use of material from the Torah; for example, 1 En 1 is a midrash of Deuteronomy 33.[9][10] The content, particularly detailed descriptions of fallen angels, would also be a reason for rejection from the Hebrew canon at this period - as illustrated by the comments of Trypho the Jew when debating with Justin Martyr on this subject. "The utterances of God are holy, but your expositions are mere contrivances, as is plain from what has been explained by you; nay, even blasphemies, for you assert that angels sinned and revolted from God." (Dialogue 79)

I put this collection together as I spent a year teaching End Times, The Book of Revelation and Current Events. I am publishing it now for all of those who love the subject of End Times Prophesy from an Old Testament Perspective.

98 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 27, 2012

About the author

TOV Rose is an author speaker, television producer, performer, Bible teacher, writer, chaplain, pastor and founder of The Entertainment Industry Chaplains. For nearly 20 years he has been active working with people of various ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. The first pastor featured on Playboy Radio, he not only has experience working with people in the world of entertainment, by also in areas such as mental illness, abuse recovery, life and career coaching, chronic and terminal illness, the spiritual roots of disease, counseling and support. He has also developed a reputation for covering difficult Bible topics most teachers would avoid.

Victims of Child Sexual Abuse and Christian Organizational Spiritual Abuse, TOV and his wife Michelle have been involved with several organizations helping protect children online and adult victims recover.

Tov has served on the staff of four Congregations, several Para-church organizations, been a church planter, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Midwest Hebrew Ministries. He has ministered, performed and taught at thousands of congregations, Bible conferences and seminars world-wide, sharing his unique perspectives and passion for people, for God and for Biblical truths.

In addition to practical ministry experience and education, Tov Rose has studied Biblical Hebrew and Theology with Dr. John H. Sailhamer, and Biblical Greek with Dr. David Alan Black. He was also allowed the unique privilege to experience an intensive long-term private tutorship in the subjects of Jewish and Rabbinic Theology, Christian & Messianic Theology, Thought & Literature; Hebrew, Yiddish, Biblical Research, and much more, with Dr. Louis Goldberg (deceased), Professor Emeritus and 30-year Chairman of the Jewish Studies Department at Moody Bible Institute, Chicago.