Enoch
“Initiated, consecrated, or dedicated”
Summary
A patriarch who walked with God in such close communion that he was translated to heaven without experiencing death, becoming a type of perfected humanity and witness to the resurrection.
☩Identity and Walk with God
Enoch was the son of Jared and father of Methuselah, seventh in descent from Adam through Seth. His name means 'initiated' or 'consecrated.' The brief but remarkable record of his life states: 'Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.' The phrase 'walked with God' is elsewhere used only of Noah, denoting a prophetic life spent in immediate communion with the spiritual world. It is significant that this walk began 'after he begat Methuselah'—God's gift of children awakened in him deeper devotion and responsibility. His years numbered 365, fewer than his predecessors', yet in those years was that which could not be said of their immensely lengthened lives.
☩Translation Without Death
Unlike all other patriarchs whose records conclude with 'and he died,' Enoch's account declares 'he was not; for God took him.' The Epistle to the Hebrews explains: 'By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him.' The secret spring of his translation was faith, which was the ground of his pleasing God. This translation implies sudden removal from mortality to immortality without death—a testimony to the truth of bodily resurrection and a type of what shall happen to living saints at Christ's coming. The Latin and Greek fathers commonly coupled Enoch and Elijah as historic witnesses of the possibility of true human existence in glory.
☩Enoch's Prophecy
The Epistle of Jude quotes a prophecy of Enoch not found in the Old Testament: 'Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.' This prophecy stamps with inspired sanction the tradition of the Jews concerning Enoch's role as a prophet of judgment. His translation without death was an appropriate testimony to the truth he announced in the face of a mocking, unbelieving world. Later Jewish tradition transformed Enoch the saint into a patron of esoteric knowledge, claiming he received special divine revelations and was 'the first among men who learned writing and knowledge and wisdom.'
☩Other Persons Named Enoch
Besides the patriarch, several other figures bear this name in Scripture. The eldest son of Cain was named Enoch, and Cain built a city which he named after his son—the first city mentioned in Scripture. A descendant of Abraham through Keturah named Enoch (also called Hanoch) was the third son of Midian. Reuben's eldest son was also named Enoch (Hanoch), from whom descended the family of the Hanochites.
Related Verses12 mentions
References
- 1.James Hastings (ed.), "Enoch," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Enoch," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 3.James Orr (ed.), "Enoch," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 4.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Enoch," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 5.George Morrish, "Enoch," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).