If the Book of Enoch isn’t an authoritative book, then why is Jude in the Bible?

Question:

This is really well put together as to why Enoch was written by man, but I am a bit confused. When I go read a study on Jude, Enoch is mentioned as if it's an authoritative book. If it contradicts God's Word and came from man, then how can Jude be right?

Forgive my questions. I am a babe since God saved my life and just learning these things of God. I'm trying to understand and seek knowledge and making sure that it makes sense.

Can you explain it to me?

Thank you for any guidance you can give me.

Answer:

Your question is covered in part III of the lesson, but let's look at it again.

"Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 14-15).

Often when a written source is quoted, the writer or speaker says, "It is written." (e.g. "As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame"" (Romans 9:33). However, notice that Jude doesn't say he is quoting a written source. He only states that Enoch, prior to the flood, had made a particular prophecy. Since multiple Enochs are mentioned in the Bible, he clarifies which one he is quoting by saying the one who was seven generations from Adam.

So how could Jude know what Enoch said 4,000 years later? We must keep in mind that Jude is inspired, so therefore the obvious answer is that God told him (I Corinthians 2:12-13). It is the same reason why Moses, who is credited with writing Genesis, was able to write words of people who lived hundreds and thousands of years before him.

But there is a book floating around called the Book of Enoch that was found in Ethiopia in the 1700s and it has this line in it: "And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment 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" (Enoch 1:9). People get all excited by this line. Jude must be quoting the Book of Enoch!

First, compare the two quotes. They are not a literal reproduction. Even if we allow some freedom because of translations into different languages, the two don't carry the same message. Jude says God will judge all and convict the ungodly among them. The Book of Enoch says God is judging all and will convict all of their ungodliness. Not quite the same; in fact, it is severely different.

Is the Ethiopian copy a bad translation? Some claim it is so. Then how can we trust the rest of that book?

Do we say Jude is bad at quoting? Then Jude would not be an inspired book. If Jude is the uninspired work of a man, then what happens to the support for the Book of Enoch? The reason people get excited is that it supposedly was mentioned in Jude.

Another claim is that the Book of Enoch recorded Jewish oral tradition and Jude supplied the correct quote. If it was from oral tradition, then it is amazing that the Israelites managed to preserve the statement that near to accurate for so long and without a written copy.

The only whole copy of the Book of Enoch is the Ethiopian translation. Among the Dead Sea scrolls are fragments of what has been identified as the Book of Enoch written in Aramaic and Greek. Interestingly, none of the fragments, Aramaic or Greek, contain Enoch 1:9. The only version that has a verse similar to the one in Jude are the Ethiopian copies. What it means is we can't verify whether the Ethiopian translation was bad or whether the verse was even in the older copies. It would not be the first time that manuscripts were tampered with and a line is added to give a false book an appearance of authority. There is insufficient evidence whether the phrase is in the original Book of Enoch or whether a person knowledgeable of Christianity and Jude “enhanced” an older version by inserting something from Jude.

What I hope you see is that what is claimed as support for the Book of Enoch doesn't technically exist.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email