Short answer: The Book of Enoch was never removed from the Bible, because it was never in it. Jewish and Christian leaders did not accept it as inspired Scripture, partly because it is not what it claims to be (Enoch did not write it), and partly because some of its teaching does not fit the rest of the Bible. One church tradition, the Ethiopian Orthodox, does include it. The New Testament quotes it once, in Jude, without making the whole book Scripture.
In This Article
Few ancient books create as much curiosity as the Book of Enoch. It has giants, fallen angels, tours of heaven and visions of judgment. Online videos tell you it was "removed" by a church council that wanted to hide the truth. That makes a gripping story, but it is not accurate.
Here I want to explain what the book is, who Enoch really was, why Jude's quotation matters, and how a Christian should treat it. I will also correct some of the myths that come up in searches.
What Is The Book Of Enoch?
The Book of Enoch, often called 1 Enoch, is an ancient Jewish work attributed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not one book but a collection of five sections written by different hands over a long stretch of time. Scholars generally date the parts somewhere between the third and first centuries before Christ, though the exact dates are debated.
The best known part is the Book of the Watchers. It expands the brief and puzzling account in Genesis 6 of the "sons of God" and the daughters of men, telling a story of angels who descended, took wives, and fathered giants. Other sections include heavenly journeys, a study of the stars, dream visions of history and a set of parables about a heavenly figure called the Son of Man.
Fragments of the book in Aramaic were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, which shows it was read and valued by some Jews in the centuries just before and during the time of Jesus. Complete copies survive mainly in Ethiopic, which is why it is also called Ethiopic Enoch. So it is a real and important piece of ancient literature. The question is whether it is Scripture.
Was Enoch Ever In The Bible?
The man Enoch is in the Bible, and he is one of its most remarkable figures. The book attributed to him is not. This is the center of the myth. Nothing was taken out. The writings that make up the Old Testament were recognized by the Jewish community long before the Christian era, and Enoch was not among them. The Christian church received that same Old Testament, and the New Testament writers treat it as God's word.
The real Enoch is described briefly in Genesis 5.
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
Genesis 5:24 (NIV)
He was the son of Jared, the seventh generation from Adam, and the great-grandfather of Noah (Genesis 5:18-24). Unlike the others in the list, his entry does not end with "and then he died." God took him. The New Testament adds that he was commended for his faith.
For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
Hebrews 11:5 (NIV)
Notice what is not here. Scripture says nothing of Enoch writing a book. The writers of 1 Enoch placed their work under his name, which was a common practice in the ancient world. Scholars call it pseudepigraphy, and it is one of the reasons the book was not treated as Scripture. Genesis never mentions an Enoch scroll, and no one from his own era could have composed the later material, which reflects the concerns and language of centuries afterward.
Does the Bible say Enoch ever sinned? It does not record any particular sin, and it tells us instead that he walked with God. That fits the wider biblical teaching that every person is a sinner who needs grace, as Romans 3:23 says. His faith is what the New Testament praises.
Why Does Jude Quote Enoch?
This is the question that makes the topic harder than the usual myth allows. Jude, a New Testament letter, appears to quote the Book of Enoch.
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them
Jude 1:14 (NIV)
The words that follow in verses 14 and 15 match a passage in 1 Enoch closely. So Jude drew on it. Does that make the whole book of Enoch Scripture? Not on its own, and Christians have given a few reasonable answers.
- Jude cites a true statement from a non-canonical source. Paul quoted pagan poets in Acts 17 and Titus 1:12 without making those poets Scripture. A biblical author can quote any writing for a truth it contains, and the Spirit's inspiration covers what Jude wrote, not the entire source.
- Jude used a tradition about the real Enoch. Some think he drew on a true oral memory that 1 Enoch also preserved.
- Jude treated 1 Enoch's prophecy as genuine. A few hold that he accepted that one saying as Enoch's, without endorsing everything in the book.
On any of these, Jude's quotation gives us a reason to take the book seriously as a historical document, and no reason to put it in the Bible. The New Testament quotes many things. Only God-breathed writings belong in the canon.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness
2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
Why The Church Did Not Accept It
The reasons for leaving Enoch out of the canon were practical as well as doctrinal.
- It is falsely attributed. The antediluvian patriarch did not write it, and the book's own sections come from different periods.
- It was never part of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Jewish community did not receive it as one of the books of the Law, Prophets and Writings, and Jesus and the apostles treated that collection as Scripture.
- Some content is out of step with the rest of the Bible. Its elaborate angel stories, long astronomical teaching and certain claims about the origin of evil go well beyond what Scripture says, and the early church was wary of speculation in those areas.
- Early Christian opinion was mixed and gradually turned against it. A few early writers valued it, and later teachers rejected it.
Notice that no single council "removed" it. The gradual process by which Christians recognized which writings were from God is long and complicated, and Enoch simply never made it in. The popular belief that it is among "14 missing books" mixes it up with the Apocrypha, which are a different group. For that, see How Many Bible Versions Are There? and What Bible Do Catholics Use?
Which Church Still Includes Enoch?
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and the closely related Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, include 1 Enoch in their biblical canon. This is the main reason the full text survived in Ethiopic. The Ethiopian canon is also larger than most others in several ways, so Enoch is part of a different shape of Bible, not an isolated oddity.
Other churches treat it differently. Judaism does not count it as Scripture. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches do not include it in their biblical canons either, and Protestants do not. It remains outside the Bible for the great majority of Christians, and I hold that position as well.
Should Christians Read The Book Of Enoch?
There is no ban. Nothing in the Bible forbids reading it, and a thoughtful Christian can learn from it as ancient history. Reading it helps us understand how some Jews of Jesus' day thought about angels, judgment and the Messiah, and it explains where Jude's quotation comes from.
Still, I would give three cautions.
- Do not treat it as Scripture. It has no authority to set doctrine, and no teaching should rest on it alone.
- Test what you read. Paul's instruction applies: test everything, hold on to what is good. Where Enoch agrees with the Bible, fine. Where it adds to the Bible, be careful.
- Read the Bible first. If you have not read Genesis 6, Hebrews 11 and Jude closely, start there. Many people go to Enoch for the strange details and never get to the clear teaching of Scripture.
but test them all; hold on to what is good
1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NIV)
If you decide to read it, choose a reputable translation with introduction and notes, such as an edition of the Book of Enoch that tells you which parts come from which period. For a broader look at how to read Scripture itself, see How To Understand The Bible and What Do Angels Look Like Based On The Bible?
Key Bible Verses About Enoch
- Genesis 5:18-24: Enoch, seventh from Adam, walked faithfully with God and was taken.
- Hebrews 11:5-6: Enoch was commended for pleasing God, and without faith it is impossible to please Him.
- Jude 1:14-15: Jude cites Enoch's prophecy of the Lord coming to judge.
- Luke 3:37: Enoch appears in Luke's genealogy of Jesus.
- Genesis 6:1-4: the passage on the sons of God that 1 Enoch expands.
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17: all Scripture is God-breathed and equips God's people.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21: test everything and hold on to what is good.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 14 books missing from the Bible?
That phrase usually refers to the Apocrypha, the books printed between the testaments in the original 1611 King James Bible. Enoch is a different matter. It is not in the Apocrypha, and it belongs to a separate group of ancient Jewish writings.
Why are Christians not supposed to read the book of Enoch?
Christians are not forbidden to read it. It is excluded from the Bible, so it carries no authority for doctrine, and parts of it go beyond what Scripture teaches. Read it as ancient history, test it by the Bible, and read Scripture first.
What did Enoch say about Jesus?
The Bible does not record anything Enoch said about Jesus by name. Jude 14 and 15 quotes a prophecy of the Lord coming to judge. The book of Enoch has a heavenly Son of Man in its parables, which interpreters debate, but it is not Scripture.
Did Enoch ever commit a sin?
Scripture records no specific sin in his life. It says he walked faithfully with God and that he was commended as one who pleased God. Like every person, he needed grace, and the New Testament credits his faith.
What does Enoch say about Adam and Eve?
The Bible says nothing of the sort about Enoch, other than that he lived seven generations after Adam. The book of Enoch does mention Adam and Eve briefly. It is not Scripture, so anything it adds should be treated as human tradition.
