Why is it not in the Bible?

[Tellyontellyon]

The book of Enoch is quoted/referenced in the NT a few times... but is it left out of the Bible itself. Early Christians used it and the Ethiopians still do..
... So what don't the Western Christians include this scripture?

• Luke 3:37: Briefly mentions Enoch in the genealogy of Jesus.
• Hebrews 11:5: Quotes a passage about Enoch being translated, suggesting he did not experience death.
• Jude 1:14-15: Quotes a passage attributed to Enoch, the Seventh from Adam, which is believed to be from 1 Enoch 1:9. This passage is not found in the Old Testament.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

The book of Enoch is quoted/referenced in the NT a few times... but is it left out of the Bible itself. Early Christians used it and the Ethiopians still do..
... So what don't the Western Christians include this scripture?

• Luke 3:37: Briefly mentions Enoch in the genealogy of Jesus.
• Hebrews 11:5: Quotes a passage about Enoch being translated, suggesting he did not experience death.
• Jude 1:14-15: Quotes a passage attributed to Enoch, the Seventh from Adam, which is believed to be from 1 Enoch 1:9. This passage is not found in the Old Testament.

That's because after a certain century texts started being read a different way.

 

[BPPLEE]

The book of Enoch is quoted/referenced in the NT a few times... but is it left out of the Bible itself. Early Christians used it and the Ethiopians still do..
... So what don't the Western Christians include this scripture?

• Luke 3:37: Briefly mentions Enoch in the genealogy of Jesus.
• Hebrews 11:5: Quotes a passage about Enoch being translated, suggesting he did not experience death.
• Jude 1:14-15: Quotes a passage attributed to Enoch, the Seventh from Adam, which is believed to be from 1 Enoch 1:9. This passage is not found in the Old Testament.

The giants that were over a mile high might be one reason.

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello @Tellyontellyon, there are several reasons why we do not include the Book of Enoch in the OT Canon (by "we" I am referring to the whole of Christianity, save, as you've already pointed out, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church). Here are a few of them.

1. It's a pseudepigraphal work (a book that attributes authorship to someone other than the person who wrote it).​

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2. The Jews never included it in the Tanakh/OT (nor did they include any other apocryphal and/or pseudepigraphal work in the Tanakh for that matter). The Jews do consider some of the various intertestamental period books as important Jewish literature however, especially historically, though again, they did not/do not consider them to be part of the Holy Writ.​

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3. We do not know whether Jude quoted the Book of Enoch in his Epistle or whether he knew it via oral tradition instead (or got it from another source). In any case, Jude 1:14-15 verifies the truthfulness of what was written in the Book of Enoch for us (that portion of it anyway).​

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4. While there are thousands of copies of the NT, we only have one extant copy of the Book of Enoch that has survived.​

You will find some additional and hopefully useful information in the following, short article about the Book of Enoch: What is the book of Enoch and should it be in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org (just FYI, you can read this short article, listen to it or do both, as the text of the article and the video are the same). Also, be sure to check out the list of additional articles that are linked at the bottom of the Got Questions page on the Book of Enoch.

You may also find the following recent and very well-done movie/documentary called, The God Who Speaks, valuable as well, the cast of which is made up of a number of well-known Christian theologians, pastors, historians, evangelists, apologists and linguists.

Finally, the cinematography is beautiful, so if you decide to watch it, you may want to make sure that it's playing in 1080 HD.

Official Trailer​

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Full HD Movie​

--David

 

[d taylor]

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The book of Enoch was never part of The Tankah's canon. Jesus states the canon of The Tanakh.

Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”

• The Books of the Law (a.k.a. Pentateuch or Torah): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
• The Prophets: The earlier prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel (1 and 2), Kings (1 and 2). The later prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the twelve (minor prophets).
• The Writings: Poetic books: Psalms, Proverbs, Job. The five scrolls (Megilloth): Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther. Historical books: Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles (1 and 2).

 

[DragonFox91]

The Luke & Hebrews mentions of Enoch are easy: he being taken up is mentioned in Genesis

The Jude reference is harder b/c it appears to be quoting the Book of Enoch. It's possible Jude is saying 'hey, this is even in a book separate from the OT.' Jude is pretty harsh in his letter, he's not holding anything back.

Enoch was written much later then the rest of the OT in a time when 'fan fiction' was common so excluded.

 

[BobRyan]

The book of Enoch is quoted/referenced in the NT a few times... but is it left out of the Bible itself. Early Christians used it and the Ethiopians still do..
... So what don't the Western Christians include this scripture?

• Luke 3:37: Briefly mentions Enoch in the genealogy of Jesus.
• Hebrews 11:5: Quotes a passage about Enoch being translated, suggesting he did not experience death.
• Jude 1:14-15: Quotes a passage attributed to Enoch, the Seventh from Adam, which is believed to be from 1 Enoch 1:9. This passage is not found in the Old Testament.

None of those texts being quoted by Luke or Paul are in the NT text - as all scholars agree.

None of those texts being quoted are included in the Hebrew Bible in use in the first century -- contemporary with the life of Christ and NT writers - as all scholars agree.

All those texts being quoted by NT authors - were the product of someone writing BEFORE the time of Christ - under the Jewish dispensation and were not kept in the Temple at the time of Christ are part of the Canon of scripture - as Josephus confirms in the first century.

Some form of those documents existed in the first century when the NT authors above quote a snippet from the document - but the preservation of that document is in high level of doubt, many interpolations added over time and to my knowledge we do not have manuscripts of those documents today that were extant at the time of the first century quote of them.

What is very certain - is that the Enoch of the Bible did not write the book of Enoch being quoted 3000 years before that quote.

 

[Apple Sky]

The book of Enoch is quoted/referenced in the NT a few times... but is it left out of the Bible itself. Early Christians used it and the Ethiopians still do..
... So what don't the Western Christians include this scripture?

• Luke 3:37: Briefly mentions Enoch in the genealogy of Jesus.
• Hebrews 11:5: Quotes a passage about Enoch being translated, suggesting he did not experience death.
• Jude 1:14-15: Quotes a passage attributed to Enoch, the Seventh from Adam, which is believed to be from 1 Enoch 1:9. This passage is not found in the Old Testament.

Because there's stuff in the book of Enoch that they don't want the world to know about such as the fallen angels, Nephilim, sun, moon & the stars.
If the book of Enoch had been canonized the whole world would have been educated to some of the most important history of the earth.

Like many other books that they dropped from the Bible, these books tell us more about the Bible & answer any questions that we might have.

 

[David Lamb]

Because there's stuff in the book of Enoch that they don't want the world to know about such as the fallen angels, Nephilim, sun, moon & the stars.
If the book of Enoch had been canonized the whole world would have been educated to some of the most important history of the earth.

Like many other books that they dropped from the Bible, these books tell us more about the Bible & answer any questions that we might have.

But who are the "they" who don't want the world to know about these things? Where does what you say leave almighty God? The bible is God's word, after all. If He had wanted it in the bible, it would have been there. The Book of Enoch has never been in the bible, so nobody dropped it. God has told us in His word all He wants us to know about such things as the fallen angels, Nephilim, etc. You seem to believe that sinful human beings are capable of overriding almighty God as far as the contents of His word is concerned.

 

[Larniavc]

The giants that were over a mile high might be one reason.

But a worldwide flood or a talking donkey is?

 

[Apple Sky]

But who are the "they" who don't want the world to know about these things? Where does what you say leave almighty God? The bible is God's word, after all. If He had wanted it in the bible, it would have been there. The Book of Enoch has never been in the bible, so nobody dropped it. God has told us in His word all He wants us to know about such things as the fallen angels, Nephilim, etc. You seem to believe that sinful human beings are capable of overriding almighty God as far as the contents of His word is concerned.

The book of Enoch serves as a warning to all mankind.

 

[David Lamb]

The book of Enoch serves as a warning to all mankind.

But that doesn't answer my point, that by claiming that the Book of Enoch ought to be in the bible, you seem to believe that sinful human beings are capable of overriding almighty God as far as the contents of His word is concerned. Aesop's Fables and Kipling's "Just So" stories contain warnings for mankind, but they are not God's word.

 

[Apple Sky]

But that doesn't answer my point, that by claiming that the Book of Enoch ought to be in the bible, you seem to believe that sinful human beings are capable of overriding almighty God as far as the contents of His word is concerned.

Sinful fallen Angels did over ride God's creation until God put a stop to it via the flood.

 

[David Lamb]

Sinful fallen Angels did over ride God's creation until God put a stop to it via the flood.

But they didn't override God. If what you wrote before is true, and God really did want more things in the bible than are there, but mere human beings prevented them appearing, then you are saying that the bible is incomplete, and that God is not omnipotent.

 

[Jerry N.]

There are several books that were not included in the canon of the Bible that look like they should have been there. Two books I wish were included are First Maccabees and the missing letter to the Corinthians. The former is included in the Catholic Bible, but we have no idea about what happened to the latter one. Since the Roman Church puts tradition over the scriptures, I’m not surprised they included it. It is an interesting read. The Book of Enoch might contain important teachings, but so does Hamlet. God doesn’t stop us from reading whatever we want, but the Bible is special. He clearly influenced what was put in His special message to mankind, but He allowed many other writings to exist. Just because a book might contain truth, doesn’t mean it is Scripture, even if God is the source of all truth.

 

[Valletta]

There are several books that were not included in the canon of the Bible that look like they should have been there. Two books I wish were included are First Maccabees and the missing letter to the Corinthians. The former is included in the Catholic Bible, but we have no idea about what happened to the latter one. Since the Roman Church puts tradition over the scriptures, I’m not surprised they included it. It is an interesting read. The Book of Enoch might contain important teachings, but so does Hamlet. God doesn’t stop us from reading whatever we want, but the Bible is special. He clearly influenced what was put in His special message to mankind, but He allowed many other writings to exist. Just because a book might contain truth, doesn’t mean it is Scripture, even if God is the source of all truth.

The Catholic Church never puts tradition over Holy Scripture--don't fall for that fabrication. When the Catholic Church chose the 73 books of the Bible, in a process that spanned centuries, the determining factor was whether or not text was God-breathed.

 

[Jerry N.]

The Catholic Church never puts tradition over Holy Scripture--don't fall for that fabrication. When the Catholic Church chose the 73 books of the Bible, in a process that spanned centuries, the determining factor was whether or not text was God-breathed.

I stand corrected. How did the Catholic church decide that III Maccabees is "God-breathed" while Jews and non-Catholics did not? It is not an argument. I just would like to know.

 

[Lukaris]

From what I know, in Orthodoxy, there are parts of Enoch that are truthful and can be carefully referenced ( there are sound Trinitarian statements). For example. there is a reference to the Ancient of Days that is compatible with the book of Daniel. Since we don’t know who (one or more people?) wrote what we have of Enoch, it cannot be included in the Bible. Parts of it are worthy of being included in Church tradition. This is what a couple priests in our communion told me.

First Enoch - Chapter XLVI / Chapter 46 - Book of 1 Enoch, Parallel 1912 Charles & 1883 Laurence, Pseudepigrapha Online Parallel Bible Study

Book of First Enoch (from the Ethiopic), Parallel English Translations: 1912 R.H. Charles (with Greek Fragments) & 1883 Richard Laurence. Read online Bible study, search parallel bibles, cross reference verses, compare translations & post comments in bible commentaries at qBible.com.

www.qbible.com

The Son of Man ( the Son of God).

First Enoch - Chapter XLVIII / Chapter 48 - Book of 1 Enoch, Parallel 1912 Charles & 1883 Laurence, Pseudepigrapha Online Parallel Bible Study

Book of First Enoch (from the Ethiopic), Parallel English Translations: 1912 R.H. Charles (with Greek Fragments) & 1883 Richard Laurence. Read online Bible study, search parallel bibles, cross reference verses, compare translations & post comments in bible commentaries at qBible.com.

www.qbible.com

 

[IoanC]

Perhaps it was originally left out because it is not essential to salvation.

 

[timothyu]

Perhaps it was originally left out because it is not essential to salvation.

Would not knowledge of the failure of mankind be essential in learning? It showed salvation was simply a matter of putting God's will alone ahead of our own. This would have been a stumbling block to the evolving gentile church that sought to establish itself as leader and earthly kingdom.