Book of Enoch

The Book of Enoch is an Old Testament pseudepigraphal apocrypha attributed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. Scholars date its composition to the 2nd century BCE. The title is mentioned in the Bible (Jude 14), but there is debate over whether Jude was actually referring to this book or not. Neither the Protestants or Catholics consider this work inspired.

The book was discredited after the Council of Laodicea in 364, and the text was considered lost except for passages quoted by ancient writers such as Clement and George Syncellus, until 1773 when James Bruce brought two copies of a version he had obtained in Ethiopia, where it formed part of the official canon of the Ethiopic Church. Since Bruce's discovery, an Old Slavonic translation has been identified, as well as two separate fragments of a Latin translation. Fragments of papyri containing parts of a Greek translation were recovered by a French archeological team at Akhmim and published five years later in 1892. Fragments from the Book of Enoch have also been identified in the Dead Sea scrolls.

The Book of Enoch describes the petition of the Fallen Angels (or Nephilim) to Enoch to intercede on their behalf with God, Enoch's visit to Heaven in the form of a vision, and his revelations. It is considered an example of an apocalyptic work, and uses terminology (e.g., "The Son of Man") which was adopted into Christian works.

External links

• Online version of the Book of Enoch
• Introduction to the Book of Enoch
• The Book of Enoch compiled and edited by Ronald K. Brown ISBN 096757370X