NOTES FROM THE BOOK OF ENOCH

 

Compiled by Irene Belyeu

 

                The Book of Enoch is sometimes designated “The Book of I Enoch” or “The Ethiopic Enoch” and may consist of as many as five component parts that may have been written at different dates, but all written in the pre-Christian era.  The early Church was familiar with and seemed to revere the Book of Enoch almost equally with the canonical writings.  In fact, the Book of Enoch is quoted in Jude verses 14 and 15.  The Book therefore serves as a literary referent for many of the expressions and symbols used in the New Testament, and therefore should be considered as a part of the cultural and literary context for the Book of Revelation.  Many of the obscure ideas of the Book of Revelation will become clear after one reads the Book of Enoch.

 

                The comments and quotations here are from Charles, R. H., Translator.  The Book of Enoch, (I Enoch) with an introduction by W. O. E. Oesterley.

 

THE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA:

 

                The Book of Enoch is part of a body of literature known as the Pseudepigrapha, which simply means that the author’s name, in this case Enoch, is a pseudonym for the real author.  In fact, Oesterley quotes Burkitt, (Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, p. 18), regarding pseudonymous authorship: “…that the names were not chosen out of mere caprice; they indicated to a certain extent what subjects would be treated and the point of view of the writer….”[1].

 

                As ‘referents’ for the meaning of words and terms in the Book of Revelation, the Pseudepigrapha furnishes a glimpse of the thought and ideas which were contemporary with that of the Book of Revelation.  They were written within and for the Jewish culture that existed before and during the time of Christ.

 

ABOUT THE BOOK OF ENOCH:

 

                Oesterley says of the Book of Enoch: “The Importance of the Book For the Study of Christian Origins… is a subject which cannot be thoroughly appreciated without studying the book in detail, especially from its doctrinal standpoint, and seeing in how many aspects it represents the doctrine and the popular conceptions of the Jews during the two last pre-Christian centuries….  Charles says that ‘the influence of I Enoch on the New Testament has been greater than that of all the other apocryphal and pseudepigraphical books put together’; and he gives a formidable list of passages in the New Testament which ‘either in phraseology or idea directly depend on, or are illustrative of, passages in I Enoch,’ as well as a further list showing that various doctrines in I Enoch had ‘an undoubted share in moulding the corresponding New Testament doctrines.'”  (p. xxvii)

 

                The Book of Enoch furnishes a background for many of the words, phrases, and images found in the New Testament.  Oesterley says: “…it puts familiar words into their proper setting.”  It is this ‘setting’ or background, which I call a ‘referent.’

 

                Referring to Burkitt’s Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, (1913), Oesterley quotes Burkitt that the book of Enoch, as related to the Gospels, “‘contains a serious attempt to account for the presence of Evil in human history, and this attempt claims our attention, because it is in essentials the view presupposed in the Gospels, especially in the Synoptic Gospels….'”  (p. xxvii.)

 

                “…Burkitt rightly insists that we should speak of the collection as the books, not the book, of Enoch.” (p. xv. note 1.)  These books were specifically Palestinian: “…the book, or books, is really Palestinian, and one which, therefore, circulated among Jews in Palestine….” (p. xv.)

 

THE BOOK OF ENOCH AS APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE:

 

                “…the Apocalyptic Literature is almost wholly concerned with the future; it is true that again and again the Apocalyptist glances at the contemporary history of the world around him, to which many a cryptic reference is made–a fact which necessitates some knowledge of the history of this period (circa 200 B.C.-A.D.100) for a full understanding of the books in question–….”  (p.ix.)

 

                “…on the one hand the minds of the Apocalyptists were saturated with the traditional thoughts and ideas of the Old Testament, and, on the other, they were eagerly absorbing the newer conceptions which the spirit of the age had brought into being.  This occasioned a continual conflict of thought in their minds; the endeavour to harmonize the old and the new….” (p. x.)

 

                “The Apocalyptic Literature, as distinct from the Apocalyptic Movement owing to which it took its rise, began to come into existence about the period 200-150 B.C.; at any rate, the earliest extant example of Enoch–belongs to this period….the real period of the Apocalyptic Literature is from about 200 BC to about  AD 100; its beginnings date, therefore, from a time prior to that great landmark in Jewish history, the Maccabaean Era.” (p. xiii.)

 

DATING THE BOOK OF ENOCH:

 

                The date of the writing of Enoch is important to show that it not only existed but was in common use at the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation and is therefore a part of the literary setting for the Book of Revelation.

 

                R. H. Charles believes that Enoch was not a single book originally but was made up of component parts which were written at various times from the pre-Maccabaean period up to as late as 64 BC  Although other authorities have varying opinions as to the date of each component part, however, Oesterley says: “That it is, as a whole, pre-Christian, may be regarded as definitely established.” (p. xv). 

 

                (The following numerical references refer to the location in the Book of Revelation.  For example, “1:1.” refers to Revelation chapter one, verse one.)  My comments will be in small caps.  Underlines mine throughout.