Evidence that Enoch is Scripture
- The Strongest Evidence
- Direct Quotes in Canon
- References in Scripture
- Similarities with other Scripture
- Other Points of Interest
- Footnotes
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.
But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
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.
References in Scripture
And the angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great day.
~ Jude 6
What Jude is referring to is not found in canon, but in Enoch:
bind them [fallen Watchers] fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated.
but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before YHWH 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.
Similarities with other Scripture
In those days the angels shall descend into the secret places And gather together into one place all those who brought down sin And the Most High will arise on that day of judgement To execute great judgement amongst sinners.
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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 YHWH shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of YHWH.
This is the son of Man who hath righteousness, With whom dwelleth righteousness, And who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden, Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, And whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever.
Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity; you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions
And this Son of Man whom thou hast seen Shall raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats, [...] And break the teeth of the sinners.
O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O YHWH!
Rise up, O YHWH! Deliver me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.
Judgment
Know ye that their souls will be made to descend into Sheol... but the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God and shall not be judged at that great judgment... they shall shine and rejoice.
Blessed is the man who dies in righteousness and goodness, Concerning whom there is no book of unrighteousness written, And against whom no day of judgement shall be found.
He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son ....
And he shall judge the secret things [...] For he is the Elect One before the Lord of Spirits according to His good pleasure.
... and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man.
And he sat on the throne of his glory, And the sum of judgement was given unto the Son of Man
The Seven Spirits
There is a mystery that is not really answered in the canon: who or what are the seven spirits?
and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God ...
Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
For on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day.
These seven are the eyes of YHWH that range through the whole earth.
Interestingly, in Enoch there are seven archangels:
And these are the names of the holy angels who watch. Uriel, one of the holy angels, who is over the world and over Tartarus. Raphael, one of the holy angels, who is over the spirits of men. Raguel, one of the holy angels who takes vengeance on the world of the luminaries. Michael, one of the holy angels, to wit, he that is set over the best part of mankind and over chaos. Saraqael, one of the holy angels, who is set over the spirits, who sin in the spirit. Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim. Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom God set over those who rise.
~ Enoch 20
And those seven holy ones brought me and placed me on the earth before the door of my house ...
And I raised mine eyes again to heaven, and I saw in the vision, and behold there came forth from heaven beings who were like white men: and four went forth from that place and three with them.
And the Lord called those men the seven first white ones, and commanded that they should bring before Him...
Weighed in a Balance
And after that I saw all the secrets of the heavens, and how the kingdom is divided, and how the actions of men are weighed in the balance.
And he shall judge all the works of the holy above in the heaven, And in the balance shall their deeds be weighed.
you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting
All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes, but YHWH weighs the spirit.
All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but YHWH weighs the heart.
if you say, “Look, we did not know this”— does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it?
Other Points of Interest
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.
Dan
When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
It has been remarked1 that the mention of “Dan” here is anachronistic, as the allocation for the tribe of Dan did not yet exist, nor did the city of Dan (see Judges 18:29). Interestingly, Enoch also mentions this place called Dan!
And I went off and sat down at the waters of Dan, in the land of Dan, to the south of the west of Hermon