Evidence that Enoch is Scripture
- The Strongest Evidence
- Direct Quotes in Canon
- More Evidence from Canon
- The Animal Prophecy
- The Calendar
This is not an exhaustive compilation of evidence, but only what I’ve personally made a note of in my study of the Book of Enoch.
The Strongest Evidence
It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “See, the Lord is coming with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
Jude quotes not from anywhere in the canon, but from the Book of Enoch:
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.
Yeshua also apparently referred to Enoch as authoritative, even as Scripture:
Jesus answered them, “You are wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection people neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels of God in heaven.
The canonical scriptures do not speak about angels marrying. The only place I know of where this is addressed is Enoch:
And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling.
By saying that the Sadduccees [Zadokites] did not know the scriptures, it would seem that Messiah was implicitly affirming that Enoch is indeed scripture.
Direct Quotes in Canon
Here are some more instances where the canonical books seem to quote almost verbatim from Enoch:
But for the elect there shall be light and joy and peace, And they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are the resting ones, for they will inherit the earth.
And where the resting-place of those who have denied the Lord of Spirits? It had been good for them if they had not been born.
woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”
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.
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done.
More Evidence from Canon
but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
Who is the Azazel mentioned in Scripture? It is never explained, because readers would have been already familiar with the Book of Enoch (written before Leviticus):
And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.
And they shall not be able to behold the face of the holy, For the Lord of Spirits has caused His light to appear On the face of the holy, righteous, and elect.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before Him, before the creation of the world and for evermore.
In the beginning was the Son of Eloah. The Son of El was both with El, and the Son of El was Eloah. This one was in the beginning with El.
And in him dwells the spirit of wisdom, And the spirit which gives insight, And the spirit of understanding and of might, And the spirit of those who have fallen asleep in righteousness.
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
The Animal Prophecy
Enoch chapters 85 to 90 contain an epic prophecy about the history of the chosen people. As it’s a long prophecy, I will not reproduce it here. But the interesting thing is that there are at least two sections in the canon that are remarkably similar to Enoch’s animal prophecy: Isaiah 56:9-12 and Ezekiel 34. I also won’t reproduce these here, but I recommend studying them and comparing them to Enoch.
The Calendar
The Book of Enoch is the only place in Scripture where the calendar is given. See Enoch chapters 72 to 80.
When describing the feast days, the books of Torah assumed that the readers were already familiar with the calendar. This makes sense when we consider that the Book of Enoch had already been written a long time before Moses received the Torah.