Book of Enoch

From-The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament

R.H. Charles

Oxford: The Clarendon Press

The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish text that is considered as an apocryphal work by the majority of Christians and is not found in the canon of the Old Testament. It is attributed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah and is believed to have been written between 300 BC and 100 AD.

The Book of Enoch is a composite work consisting of several distinct sections including the Book of the Watchers, the Similitudes of Enoch, the Astronomical Book, and the Book of Dreams. It provides an account of Enoch's visionary experiences, his ascension to heaven, and his conversations with angels and other celestial beings. The text also contains descriptions of the fallen angels, the history of the world, and the end of the world.

The Book of Enoch was widely used and accepted by various early Christian communities and was even quoted by some New Testament writers, including Jude. However, as the canon of the Old Testament was defined, the Book of Enoch was eventually rejected as authoritative scripture.

Despite its exclusion from the canon, the Book of Enoch has continued to have a significant influence on Jewish and Christian mysticism and has been the subject of much scholarly and popular interest. In recent years, the discovery of several ancient copies of the text, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, has sparked renewed interest in the Book of Enoch and its role in early Judaism and Christianity.

In conclusion, the Book of Enoch is an ancient text that offers a unique perspective on the history of the world, the end of times, and the role of angels and other celestial beings. While it is not considered authoritative scripture by most Christians, it continues to be a source of inspiration and study for many people.

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1 Enoch - Chapter 2

[Chapter 2] 1 Observe ye everything that takes place in the heaven, how they do not change their orbits, and the luminaries which are in the heaven, how they all rise and set in order each in its season, and 2 transgress not against their appointed order. Behold ye the earth, and give heed to the th...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 3

[Chapter 3] Observe and see how (in the winter) all the trees seem as though they had withered and shed all their leaves, except fourteen trees, which do not lose their foliage but retain the old foliage from two to three years till the new comes....
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1 Enoch - Chapter 4

[Chapter 4] And again, observe ye the days of summer how the sun is above the earth over against it. And you seek shade and shelter by reason of the heat of the sun, and the earth also burns with growing heat, and so you cannot tread on the earth, or on a rock by reason of its heat....
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1 Enoch - Chapter 5

[Chapter 5] 1 Observe ye how the trees cover themselves with green leaves and bear fruit: wherefore give ye heed and know with regard to all His works, and recognize how He that liveth for ever hath made them so. 2 And all His works go on thus from year to year for ever, and all the tasks which they...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 6

VI-XI. The Fall of the Angels: the Demoralisation of Mankind: the Intercession of the Angels on behalf of Mankind. The Dooms pronounced by God on the Angels: the Messianic Kingdom (a Noah fragment). Chapter VI. 1. And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were bo...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 7

[Chapter 7] 1 And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms 2 and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And th...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 8

[Chapter 8] 1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and al...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 9

[Chapter 9] 1 And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being 2 shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth. And they said one to another: 'The earth made without inhabitant cries the voice of their cryingst up to the gates of ...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 10

Chapter X 1 Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, 2 and said to him: 'Go to Noah and tell him in my name "Hide thyself!" and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come 3 upon t...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 11

[Chapter 11] 1 And in those days I will open the store chambers of blessing which are in the heaven, so as to send 2 them down upon the earth over the work and labour of the children of men. And truth and peace shall be associated together throughout all the days of the world and throughout all the ...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 12

[Chapter 12] 1 Before these things Enoch was hidden, and no one of the children of men knew where he was 2 hidden, and where he abode, and what had become of him. And his activities had to do with the Watchers, and his days were with the holy ones. 3 And I Enoch was blessing the Lord of majesty and ...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 13

[Chapter 13] 1 And Enoch went and said: 'Azazel, thou shalt have no peace: a severe sentence has gone forth 2 against thee to put thee in bonds: And thou shalt not have toleration nor request granted to thee, because of the unrighteousness which thou hast taught, and because of all the works of godl...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 14

[Chapter 14] 1 The book of the words of righteousness, and of the reprimand of the eternal Watchers in accordance 2 with the command of the Holy Great One in that vision. I saw in my sleep what I will now say with a tongue of flesh and with the breath of my mouth: which the Great One has given to me...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 15

CHAPTER XV. 1. And He answered and said to me, and I heard His voice: 'Fear not, Enoch, thou righteous man and scribe of righteousness: approach hither and hear my voice. 2. And go, say to ⌈⌈the Watchers of heaven⌉⌉, who have sent thee to intercede ⌈⌈for them: "You should intercede"⌉⌉ for men, and n...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 16

[Chapter 16] 1 From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without incurring judgement -thus shall they destroy until the day of the consummation, the great judgement in which the age shall be 2 c...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 17

[Chapter 17] 1 And they took and brought me to a place in which those who were there were like flaming fire, 2 and, when they wished, they appeared as men. And they brought me to the place of darkness, and to a mountain the point of whose summit reached to heaven. And I saw the places of the luminar...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 18

[Chapter 18] 1 I saw the treasuries of all the winds: I saw how He had furnished with them the whole creation 2 and the firm foundations of the earth. And I saw the corner-stone of the earth: I saw the four 3 winds which bear [the earth and] the firmament of the heaven. And I saw how the winds stret...
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1 Enoch - Chapter 19

[Chapter 19] 1 And Uriel said to me: 'Here shall stand the angels who have connected themselves with women, and their spirits assuming many different forms are defiling mankind and shall lead them astray into sacrificing to demons as gods, (here shall they stand,) till the day of the great judgement...
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