I will focus on 1 Enoch rather than the other two books because Christians have associated 1 Enoch with truly inspired scripture.
Warning
Paul cautioned us to avoid Jewish fables. Many ideas from the Book of Enoch can be found in Jewish books as well.
This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
Titus 1:13-14
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2 Timothy 4:2-4
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Jude 1:3
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Ephesians 5:11
The Book of Enoch vs. the Bible
Enoch was born in the 7th generation from Adam. The book bearing his name was not written before the flood.
The book of Enoch says God will come to Mount Sinai and Jude says Jesus will come to the Mount of Olives. All the verses below speak of when Jesus returns.
And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Zechariah 14:4
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.
Acts 1:11-12
And the eternal God will tread upon the earth, (even) on Mount Sinai, (And appear from His camp) And appear in the strength of His might from the heaven of heavens. 1 Enoch 1:4 And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
1 Enoch 1:9
In my previous post, I discussed the Book of Enoch, which claims that angels built Noah’s ark, Jesus is an angel named Phanuel, and many other heresies.
The Book of Enoch claims in the end-times, the righteous will be expelled from hell. How did the righteous/believers end up in hell? Did God make a mistake?
And in those days shall the earth also give back that which has been entrusted to it, And Sheol also shall give back that which it has received, And hell shall give back that which it owes. For in those days the Elect One shall arise, And he shall choose the righteous and holy from among them: For the day has drawn nigh that they should be saved
Enoch 51:1-2
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28
The Book of Enoch’s Discovery
The Book of Enoch is a collection of texts. Let’s look at some dates claimed about when Enoch was written:
- Book of the Watchers (300-150 BC)
- Book of Parables (100 BC but possibly after the New Testament)
- Astronomical Book (200 BC)
- Book of Dreams (165-140 BC)
- Epistle of Enoch (200 BC -100 AD)
The Book of parables, which is 34 chapters (chapter 37-71) was not found with the Dead Sea scrolls.
Missing at Qumran are fragments of the Book of Parables (1 Enoch 37–71), a Jewish text that provides a context for New Testament “Son of Man” christology.
Shanks, Hershel. The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls., 1999.
Some have suggested these chapters’ were later added to the book of Enoch to enhance Christian beliefs with Enoch’s authoritative name. Barker, Margaret. The Lost Prophet: The Book of Enoch and Its Influence on Christianity., 2005.
It’s interesting to me that much of the text that makes the book sound a little more Christian weren’t discovered along with the rest of the chapters.
If I created a book one thousand years ago professing to be Jude, quoting Enoch, and have deceivers agree on a bogus date, is my book genuine? What if I add it to four ancient documents, does that make it more genuine? We know not to trust the “experts” on anything.
Giants and Enoch
When it comes to the size of giants in the Bible, we only have a few numbers to go on. Og’s bed was 9 cubits tall, according to the Bible (Deuteronomy 3:11), while Goliath was 6 cubits tall (1 Samuel 17:4). It is debatable how tall these men were, but the Bible and our understanding of cubits place them between almost 7’ and 13.5 feet (4.11 m) tall. https://answersingenesis.org/bible-characters/giants-in-the-bible
The 1st century historian Josephus, the Dead Sea Scrolls text (4QSam), and the Septuagint texts of Samuel report Goliath as being “four cubits and a span” (6 feet 9 inches or 2.06 metres). Symmachus, a Jew who around AD 200 prepared his Greek translation of the OT for the Jewish community in Caesarea of Palestine, he put in his version “six cubits and a span” like the Masoretic text.
When people relate the Book of Enoch to scripture, they claim human women mated, gave birth, and raised 4,500-foot giant children!
And they (human women) became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells:
Enoch 7:2
An ell is another word for cubit. A Biblical cubit is about 17.5 to 20.6 inches (0.52 m). https://www.etymonline.com/word/ell#etymonline_v_5744
I based this math on a conservative 18-inch cubit.
3,000 Ells = Cubits
3,000 × 18” = 54,000”
54,000 inches / 12” = 4,500 feet
Most popular Enoch translations use 3,000 ells as their translation, which is 4,500 feet (1,371.6 m). One translation makes use of 300 cubits (450 feet (137.16 meters)). Richard Lawrence relied on one manuscript when translating it into 300 cubits.
The Book of Enoch and Greek Mythology
Helios (the sun god) is said to ride his sun chariot in Greek mythology. Selene (the moon god) rides her chariot as the moon at night. This is very similar to the Book of Enoch.
in accurately corresponding order: also many windows to the right and left of these portals. And first there goes forth the great luminary, named the Sun, and his circumference is like the circumference of the heaven, and he is quite filled with illuminating and heating fire. The chariot on which he ascends, the wind drives, and the sun goes down from the heaven and returns through the north in order to reach the east, and is so guided that he comes to the appropriate (lit. that ‘) portal and
Enoch 72:4-5
And after this law I saw another law dealing with the smaller luminary, which is named the Moon. And her circumference is like the circumference of the heaven, and her chariot in which she rides is driven by the wind, and light is given to her in (definite) measure
Enoch 73:1-2
In the Bible, King Josiah destroyed the chariot of the sun gods that were used as idols. He was trying to eliminate paganism from Israel.
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
2 Kings 23:11-12
The book of Enoch claims human women became sirens. Sirens are half-bird and half-human creatures.
which they shall be judged till they are made an end of. And the women also of the angels who 3 went astray shall become sirens.
Enoch 19:2
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Hebrews 9:27
Jewish fables, such as the Kabbalah and Zohar, make similar claims. (Titus 1:14)
Mistranslations
Because they refuse to give up the gnostic book’s delusion (2 Timothy 4:3), some people argue that there are mistranslations in the Book. For example, they may claim that the word “sirens” was supposed to be translated as “temptation.” Do your homework when someone makes these statements because there is almost always no reliable evidence to back them up.
Also see: The Book of 1 Enoch Deception, Part 1