Customer Reviews

The Book of Enoch the Prophet (Secret Doctrine Reference Series)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I find it absolutely fascinating the controversy that this book has created.

Concerning whether or not this book should be incorporated into the so-called "canon," I do not feel that I am qualified to speak. However, I would like to attempt to clarify a few of the supposed contradictions between I Enoch and the Bible.

As far as 2 Peter 2 goes, the context of the passage on angels (v. 11) is that angels do not blashpheme God in the same way that humans do (see the Peshitta translation of the Bible by George M. Lamsa - it is a bit clearer).

When it comes to Jude and his epistle, the idea of his quoting Enoch sarcastically is absolutely assinine - just read the Epistle of Jude.

Timothy names Jesus as the supreme intercessor between God and man. In a more general sense of the word, however, there were many people who acted as intercessors between the people of Israel and God (such as Moses, the greatest of all the prophets next to Jesus!).

Finally, Jesus said that in Heaven - or rather, in the world to come - people would not marry each other. However, according to I Enoch, the angels had sex with humans, which did not necessarily involve being married to them.

Concerning the "mythical" aspects of Enoch, they are no more "far fetched" than anything in Scripture.

I Enoch is absolutely fascinating. Enoch is assumed up into Heaven, travels through the Heavens, is told secrets of the coming judgment and the messianic age, sees the workings of Heaven, and pronounces judgements upon the wicked angels.

Although I do recommend that one reads this book since it does, according to Jude, contain prophecy, I recommend it most of all for the sake of improving one's education. Whether or not you believe that it should be in the Bible, it is an important piece of literature and even if it isn't accepted as Scripture by most people, that doesn't mean that it is any less important or worthy of one's time or attention.

As far as this translation goes, it is a bit outdated (which is why I only gave it 4 stars). If you can afford it, buy:

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 1: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments.

Otherwise, this or the R. H. Charles version will suffice.

I agree wholeheartedly with the scholars who say that THE BOOK OF ENOCH has been tampered with. There are two kinds of verses in THE BOOK OF ENOCH. Verses that are very closely related to the Bible and verses that seem to be mostly folklore. Even though the book has some folklore in it; it should not be ignored. The verses that are closely related to the Bible are worth paying attention to because they re-iterate some of the most basic teachings in the Bible. Teachings such as not oppressing our fellow man and not forgetting to pay attention to our Creator. A good example of the folklore in the BOOK OF ENOCH is the super- natural birth of NOAH in the first part of Ch. 105. Some of the interesting things in the BOOK OF ENOCH are: (1) GOD had wanted to completely break-up the Earth and create another asteroid belt around the SUN but ENOCH asked him not to do it so he didn't do it. (Ch. 82- 83). (2) The Overview of Earth's history from Creation until beyond the Final Judgement. (the footnotes provided are very helpful). (Ch. 84-89). (3) EVE gave birth to many children. (84:4-12). (4) I've never before heard King Saul's life summarized as the one "...who had laid aside his glory." (88:69,71). (5) The "elect", who are mentioned in both the O.T. and N.T., are mentioned 25 times in THE BOOK OF ENOCH. (1:1,2,7;6:9,11... 61:11,14,15). The judgements in THE BOOK OF ENOCH basically agree with the judge- ments in the Bible. The quality of paper and size of type in this paperback are above average. In Ch. 104:10,11 it speaks of those who will rejoice because books of joy, integrity and great wisdom will be given to them. I too rejoice because I have a copy of this wonderful book.

The Book of Enoch is a hodgepodge of various materials. I find the mythology of the first eighteen chapters more exciting than some of the relatively opaque cosmological and apocalpyptic sections that follow (though the prophetic parts are suggestive). The story of the revolt and defeat of the Watchers is beautiful and tragic mythology which will appeal to anyone interested in fine literature or curious to learn more about angels or the "giants" frequently (and confusingly) mentioned in Genesis and other OT books. Laurence's translation of Enoch (the first translation into English after the Ethiopic text was discovered by a Scottish adventurer in the 18th century) has been criticized as inferior. If you are looking for precision of translation, you had best seek more recent versions. But if you are looking for a good read (Biblical and moving rather than scholarly), you can't do better than Laurence. His is by far the most poetic translation, beautifully punctuated in a unique style influenced by early English translations of the Bible. Enjoy--and may Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Sarakiel, Uriel, Phanuel and the other good angels watch over you.

The "Book of Enoch" is a lost manuscript of a book ascribed to the prophet Enoch, the antediluvian Old Testament Patriarch, seventh generation from Adam, whom God took into Heaven for his righteousness. It is also a tradition in the Church that Enoch (along with Elias) to witness for Christ against the Antichrist. The book is a part of the widespread Apocalyptic literature of its time, filled with visions of God, the Messiah, angels, the saints, Hell, Judgement, the ordering of the world, the Fall of Satan, etc. "Enoch" is a pseudepigraphal text ("falsely ascribed," i.e., the actual Enoch didn't write it) most likely written in Hebrew, and this translation was made into Ethiopic, the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It was probably written a few centuries or so before Christ. "Enoch" was clearly an influence to be reckoned with in the early Church because many of its passages parallel the New Testament, in particular the Gospels. Jude even quotes it in his Epistle, "Behold He comes with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgement..." (Enoch c2v1). Many Church Fathers alluded to it in their writings and it appears to have been accepted as authoritative by some of them. For instance, Origen used "Enoch" to compile his outline of Heaven's angelic hierarchy. It was not accepted as Scripture in either the Old or New Testaments in the long run however. The only Church that preserved it in translation was the Ethiopian Orthodox that remained totally isolated from the outside world until an English explorer brought three manuscripts of "Enoch" to Europe in the late 1700s. It's a curious fact of history that Ethiopia, along with Armenia and later the Roman Empire, was among the world's first officially Christian countries. An element of controversy in "Enoch" is certainly its depiction of the Watcher angels. These Watchers are the questionable "sons of God" recorded in Genesis 6 who lusted after the daughters of men, had intercourse with them and begot wicked children. The Watchers also instructed humans in the arts of sorcery, technology and encouraged the women to use makeup and other artifices to allure men, which brought God's wrath upon them. This explanation of the beginning of the world's evil is rather "unorthodox" however. Angels are not created either male or female and do not possess physical bodies and therefore would not have been able to impregnate human females. The edition of this book is poorly printed and makes uncomfortable reading. The font was enlarged and photocopied from the original printed editions back in the 1800s so it looks like a large print edition.

This Book Is very fascinated & Fun to read & explained so much I believe this Book is important ,

Jesus Christ and his apostles quoted from the Book of Enoch (also called 1 Enoch) as authentic scripture. It was once in the Bible and was accepted as having been written by Enoch himself, the majestic antediluvian prophet who was translated into heaven without tasting death (Heb. 11:5). During the Third and Fourth Centuries A.D. the book fell into disfavor and was removed from sacred canon, destined to become one of the "lost books" of the Bible. It was rediscovered in 1773 in Ethiopia and is now readily available in English, but is still largely unappreciated. Before looking at the calendar it describes, let us briefly review how it contains doctrines or phrases of the Savior, which are apparently examples of the Savior quoting Enoch
Enoch is absolutely fascinating. Enoch is assumed up into Heaven, travels through the Heavens, is told secrets of the coming judgment and the messianic age, sees the workings of Heaven, this translation is Good I m happy with it really Good Book I Explained why flood was people before Noah flood this was use in early church & did
Second angels Fall who lusted after the daughters of men, had intercourse with them and begot wicked children. The Watchers also instructed humans in the arts of sorcery
This Book did influence Christianity specially in early church ." (The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament,
Jewish Traditions Not Included In the Bible
The Pseudepigrapha is a collection of various works written approximately between 200 BCE and 100 CE that were left out of the Old Testament. They tend to be written in Hebrew or Aramaic or occasionally Greek
I Give this Book 5 star Good translation

This book explains many mysteries of the world as it is. There are five books contained in the Book of Enoch: the first dealing with the fallen angels before the time of Noah, and their plan to corrupt mankind including their plan to cohabitat with human females. This book goes into great detail of the plans, and, also, of the responses coming from the Kingdom of God. Book two deals with the angelic order of both the fallen angels, and the angels of God; and with the punishment for the angels that sinned. Book three deals with the order of the universe. Book four with an allegory of the history of Abrahams descendents. And book five deals with some prophecies in Noah's time. As an aside, parts of the Book of Enoch were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Jude quotes from this book. It is interesting that many of the early church fathers (Theodotes, Origen, Tertullian, etc.) quote from it and consider it as scripture. It seems to have fallen out of favor with the later fathers and didn't make it into the canon. However, Jude, Hebrews and Revelation were also almost kicked out of the canon. Jude particularly because it quotes Enoch. But, Peter gets his details regarding the "angels that sinned" being cast into Tartarus from Enoch. Nowhere is this particular detail about the Genesis 6 "sons of God" mentioned in our Bible. Also, when Jesus describes "Abraham's bosom", His description either was directly from God, or from the book of Enoch, because Enoch describes the underworld in exactly the same way. Another interesting thing is that Enoch said the angels that sinned were to be judged after 70 generations. It is exactly 70 generations from Enoch to Jesus according to the gospel of Luke. Also, in the vision of the cows and wolves, there does not appear to be a break in time to support the current futurist interpretation of eschatology. Also, in the vision regarding the weeks, there is no break for an inserted "church age" either. Everything harmonizes with Daniel's 70 weeks as being continuous without any breaks between the 69th and 70th week. In other words, the book of Enoch does not agree with a futurist position of eschatology, but lends itself toward a preterist interpretation. This is not to exclude a "hidden" church age, but only that it is continuous like Daniel's 70 weeks. Also, if Enoch is really truth, it would go a long way to explain ancient earth history regarding some of the oddities of evidence regarding visitors from outer space and ancient knowledge seemingly superior to ours. Personally I didn't find anything in the book that contradicts our Holy Scriptures. It is very colorful reading even if you do not consider it as scripture. Also, I would ignore the translator's commentary that i! s interlaced throughout. I noticed quite a few typos also.

As i read this book with the knowledge I have acquired over 20 years as a believer in Jesus the Messiah, I astonished to get real incite into Gen chap 6. Enock was translated and I also got information about The Nephilim. I recomend that anyone who reads this book should also read the Old Testament and The Book of Jude in the New testament

Excellent resource. It was neat to learn the names of many angels and their duties who were not mentioned in the holy bible text except for Michael and Gabriel. The sections on the creation of the race of giants and the birth of Noah were enlightening. Excellent source of knowlege about a great man of God, Enoch, who is also a mystery to most bible readers.

Discovered in 1773, by Scotsman James Bruce, in what is now Ethiopia. Laurance presents his translation of the Hebrew. Supposedly written by Enoch, Noah's Great-Great Grandfather, the book was omitted by the Church nearly 1500 years ago due to it's startling visualizations of Heaven and man's final demise.