Enoch

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("consecrated".)

1. Cain's oldest son; and the city (probably a village of rude huts) which he built and named after him ( Genesis 4:17-18). The similarity of names in Cain's line and Seth's line is no proof of the persons being identical, for many of the seemingly like names are from distract roots. Moreover, the fewness of names at that early time, and the relationship and occasional intercourse between the families, account for the similarity or identity of the other names. Details are given especially as to Lamech and Enoch, marking the utter distinctness of those so named in the two lines.

2. Son of Jared; father of Methuselah. Seventh from Adam (seven indicating divine completeness, Enoch typifying perfected humanity). As angels fell to the earth by transgression, so this man was raised to heaven by pleasing God (Irenaeus, 4:15, sec. 2). Of Noah and Enoch alone it is written that they "walked with God" ( Genesis 5:24;  Genesis 6:9); others "walked before God" ( Genesis 17:1). But walking with God is a relic of the first paradise when man talked and walked with God in holy familiarity, and an anticipation of the second ( Revelation 21:3;  Revelation 22:3-4). The secret spring of his walk with God was "faith"; faith was the ground of his" pleasing God" (which answers to "walking with God" in Genesis 5, compare  Amos 3:3); his "pleasing God" was the ground of his being "translated that he should not see death" ( Hebrews 11:5-6).

"Translation" implies a sudden removal from mortality to immortality without death, such as shall pass over the living saints at Christ's coming ( 1 Corinthians 15:51-52), of whom Enoch is a type. After the monotonous repetition of the same record of patriarchs, "lived" so many years, "begat sons and daughters, ... and he died," the account of Enoch's walk with God and translation without death stands forth in brighter relief. His years, 365 (the number of days in one year), were fewer, than his predecessors'; but in his fewer years there was that to record which was not in their immensely lengthened years, he moreover begat sons and daughters, and yet found family ties no hindrance to his walking with God as a family man. Nay, it was not until "after he begat Methuselah" that it is written "Enoch walked with God." God's gift of children awakened in him a new love to God and a deeper sense of responsibility.

Enoch in the antediluvian generation, and Elijah in the postdiluvian, witnessed before Christ in their own persons to the truth of the resurrection of the body and its existence in heaven. The fathers mostly made them the two witnesses slain by the beast, but afterward raised to heaven (Revelation 11). This view, if true, would be one answer to the objection against their translation, that "it is appointed unto men once to die" ( Hebrews 9:27), and that "death passed upon all men for that all have sinned" ( Romans 5:12). Enoch's translation was an appropriate testimony to the truth he announced, "Behold the Lord cometh ... to execute judgment" in the face of a mocking, infidel world.  Judges 1:14 stamps with inspired sanction the current Tradition of the Jews as to Enoch's prophecies. The language "Enoch prophesied, saying," favors tradition rather than the Book of Enoch being the source from whence Jude drew.

So Paul mentions Jannes and Jambres the Egyptian magicians, names drawn from tradition, not from Scripture ( 2 Timothy 3:8). Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and others allude to the Book of Enoch Bruce the Abyssinian traveler brought home three Ethiopic copies from Alexandria, which Lawrence translated in 1821. The Ethiopic was translated from the Greek, the Greek from the Hebrew. The Apostolic Constitutions, Origen (contra Celsus), Jerome, and Augustine deny its canonicity.

It vindicates God's government of the world, spiritual and natural, recognizes the Trinity, also Messiah "the Son of man" (the name "Jesus" never occurs), "the Elect One" from eternity, before whom "all kings shall fall down, and on whom they shall fix their hopes," the supreme Judge, who shall punish eternally the wicked and reward the just. If the book belong to the period just before our Lord's coming, it gives an interesting view of believing Jews' opinions concerning Messiah at that time. No sure proof establishes its existence before the Christian era.

3. Third son of Midian, Abraham's son by Keturah ( Genesis 25:4).

4. Reuben's oldest son, head of the family of Hanochites ( Genesis 46:9;  Numbers 26:5). See Hanoch for a fourth Enoch, so the KJV has it.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

the son of Cain,  Genesis 4:17 , in honour of whom the first city noticed in Scripture was called Enoch, by his father Cain, who was the builder. It was situated on the east of the province of Eden.

2. ENOCH, the son of Jared, and father of Methuselah. He was born A.M. 622, and being contemporary with Adam, he had every opportunity of learning from him the story of the creation, the circumstance of the fall, the terms of the promise, and other important truths. An ancient author affirms, that he was the father of astronomy; and Eusebius hence infers, that he is the same with the Atlas of the Grecian mythology. Enoch's fame rests upon a better basis than his skill in science. The encomium of Enoch is, that he "walked with God." While mankind were living in open rebellion against Heaven, and provoking the divine vengeance daily by their ungodly deeds, he obtained the exalted testimony, "that he pleased God." This he did, not only by the exemplary tenor of his life, and by the attention which he paid to the outward duties of religion, but by the soundness of his faith, and the purity of his heart and life: see   Hebrews 11:5-6 . The intent of the Apostle, in the discourse containing this passage, is, to show that there has been but one way of obtaining the divine favour ever since the fall, and that is, by faith, or a firm persuasion and confidence in the atonement to be made for human transgressions by the obedience, sufferings, death, and resurrection of the promised Messiah. The cloud of witnesses which the Apostle has produced of Old Testament worthies, all bore, in their respective generations, their testimony to this great doctrine, in opposition to the atheism or theism, and gross idolatry, which prevailed around them. All the patriarchs are celebrated for their faith in this great truth, and for preserving this principle of religion in the midst of a corrupt generation. Enoch, therefore, is said, by another evangelical writer, to have spoken of the coming of Christ to judgment unto the antediluvian sinners. See  Judges 1:14-15 . This prophecy is a clear, and it is also an awful, description of the day of judgment, when the Messiah shall sit upon his throne of justice, to determine the final condition of mankind, according to their works; and it indicates that the different offices of Messiah both to save and to judge, or as Prophet, Priest, and King, were known to the holy patriarchs. On what the Apostle founded this prediction has been matter of much speculation and inquiry. Some, indeed, have produced a treatise, called "The Book of Enoch," which, as they pretend, contains the cited passage; but its authority is not proved, and internal evidence sufficiently marks its spurious origin. It is, therefore, reasonable to suppose that the prophecy cited by St. Jude was either traditionally handed down, or had been specially communicated to that Apostle. In the departure of Enoch from this world of sin and sorrow, the Almighty altered the ordinary course of things, and gave him a dismissal as glorious to himself, as it was instructive to mankind. To convince them how acceptable holiness is to him, and to show that he had prepared for those that love him a heavenly inheritance, he caused Enoch to be taken from the earth without passing through death. See Elijah .

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ENOCH (Heb. Chăn ôk ) is the ‘seventh from Adam’ (  Judges 1:14 ) in the Sethite genealogy of   Genesis 5:1-32 (see   Genesis 5:18-24 ). In the Cainite genealogy of   Genesis 4:17 ff. he is the son of Cain, and therefore the third from Adam. The resemblances between the two lists seem to show that they rest on a common tradition, preserved in different forms by J [Note: Jahwist.] (ch. 4) and P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] (ch. 5)., though it is not possible to say which version is the more original. The notice which invests the figure of Enoch with its peculiar significance is found in   Genesis 5:24 ‘Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.’ The idea here suggested that because of his perfect fellowship with God this patriarch was ‘translated’ to heaven without tasting death (cf. Sir 44:16; Sir 49:14 ,   Hebrews 11:5 ) appears to have exerted a certain influence on the OT doctrine of immortality (see   Psalms 49:15;   Psalms 73:24 ). A much fuller tradition is presupposed by the remarkable development of the Enoch legend in the Apocalyptic literature, where Enoch appears as a preacher of repentance, a prophet of future events, and the recipient of supernatural knowledge of the secrets of heaven and earth, etc. The origin of this tradition has probably been discovered in a striking Babylonian parallel. The seventh name in the list of ten antediluvian kings given by Berosus is Evedoranchus, which (it seems certain) is a corruption of Enmeduranki, a king of Sippar who was received into the fellowship of Shamash (the sun-god) and Ramman, was initiated into the mysteries of heaven and earth, and became the founder of a guild of priestly diviners. When or how this myth became known to the Jews we cannot tell. A trace of an original connexion with the sun-god has been suspected in the 365 years of Enoch’s life (the number of days in the solar year). At all events it is highly probable that the Babylonian legend contains the germ of the later conception of Enoch as embodied in the apocalyptic Book of Enoch ( c [Note: circa, about.] . b.c. 105 64), and the later Book of the Secrets of Enoch, on which see Hastings’ DB [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] i. 705ff. A citation from the Book of Enoch occurs in   Judges 1:14 f. (=   Ephesians 1:9 ,   Ephesians 5:4 , 27:2).

J. Skinner.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Eldest son of Cain.  Genesis 4:17,18 .

2. City built by Cain, and named after his son: it is the first city that we read of.  Genesis 4:17 .

3. Son of Jared, and father of Methuselah. Of him it is said he "walked with God: and he was not; for God took him;" and also that by faithhe was translated, and that before his translation he had this testimonythat he pleased God. A bright example in those early days of how by grace a man can have communion with God, and so please God, and be made sensible of it, thus enjoying the light of His countenance in walking with Him in a sinful world. Enoch was taken to heaven without dying, as the living saints will be at the coming of the Lord Jesus.   Genesis 5:18-24;  Luke 3:37;  Hebrews 11:5;  Jude 14 . Called Henoch in  1 Chronicles 1:3 .

In Jude a prophesy of Enoch is quoted which is not found in the O.T. As Jude wrote under the inspiration of God this could have been revealed to him, as many other things in scripture have been, and which could have beenknown in no other way; or he may have been inspired to record whathad been handed down orally. There is an apocryphal book called THE Book Of Enoch from which some believe that Jude quoted, though it is not inspired. But there is no evidence that the book was then in existence. It refers to the Messiah as 'Son of God,' which has been judged to proveconclusively that it was written in the Christian era. The passage in the book of Enoch, speaking of Christ executing judgement, is worded thus: "Behold he cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgement upon them, and destroy the wicked, and reprove all the carnal, for everything which the sinful and ungodly have done and committed against him." The traveller Bruce, on his return from Egypt in A.D. 1773 brought three MSS of the entire book in Æthiopic. In 1821 it was translated into English. The book purports to be a series of revelations made to Enoch and Noah.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

E'noch. (Dedicated).

1. The eldest son of Cain,  Genesis 4:17, who called after his nam, e the city which he built.  Genesis 4:18. (B.C. 3870).

2. The son of Jared and father of Methuselah.  Genesis 5:21 ff.;  Luke 3:37. (B.C. 3378-3013). In the Epistle of Jude,  Judges 1:14, he is described as "the Seventh from Adam;" and the number is probably noticed as conveying the idea of divine completion and rest, while Enoch was himself a type of perfected humanity.

After the birth of Methuselah, it is said,  Genesis 5:22-24, that Enoch "walked with God three hundred years...and he was not; for God took him." The phrase "walked with God" is elsewhere only used of Noah,  Genesis 6:9, compare  Genesis 17:1, etc., and is to be explained of a prophetic life spent in immediate converse with the spiritual world.

Like Elijah, he was translated without seeing death. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the spring and issue of Enoch's life are clearly marked. Both the Latin and Greek fathers commonly coupled Enoch and Elijah as historic witnesses of the possibility of a resurrection of the body and of a true human existence in glory.  Revelation 11:3.

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

Death is one of the evil consequences of human sin, and the genealogical record of the generations from Adam to Noah is characterized by repetition of the word ‘death’ ( Genesis 5:5;  Genesis 5:8;  Genesis 5:11;  Genesis 5:14;  Genesis 5:17;  Genesis 5:20). The case of Enoch, however, was different. He was a man who lived his life in such close fellowship with God that God took him to be with himself without Enoch’s having to die first ( Genesis 5:22-24;  Hebrews 11:5). In this way God gave hope to the righteous that death’s apparent conquest is not permanent. God has power over it.

Thousands of years later, when Jews were becoming increasingly interested in heaven and the afterlife, there was much interest in Enoch. During the last centuries of the era before Christ, people wrote books in his name, and the New Testament quotes one of these as containing a prophecy from Enoch ( Judges 1:14-15).

The only other person named Enoch in the Bible also belonged to the earliest period of biblical history. He was a son of Cain, but the Bible says little about him ( Genesis 4:17-18).

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The son of Jared, and father of Methuselah ( Genesis 5:21;  Luke 3:37 ). His father was one hundred and sixty-two years old when he was born. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch "walked with God three hundred years" ( Genesis 5:22-24 ), when he was translated without tasting death. His whole life on earth was three hundred and sixty-five years. He was the "seventh from Adam" ( Jude 1:14 ), as distinguished from the son of Cain, the third from Adam. He is spoken of in the catalogue of Old Testament worthies in the Epistle to the ( Hebrews 11:5 ). When he was translated, only Adam, so far as recorded, had as yet died a natural death, and Noah was not yet born. Mention is made of Enoch's prophesying only in  Jude 1:14 .

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Enoch'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/e/enoch.html. 1897.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Enoch ( Ç'Nok ), Initiating or Initiated, I.E., Dedicated. 1. A son of Cain.  Genesis 4:17;  Genesis 18:2. One of the most eminent of the antediluvian patriarchs, the son of Jared and father of Methuselah. He has this remarkable testimony, "that he walked with God;" an expression denoting near communion with the Lord, and conformity to his will. And "he was not; for God took him," that is, like Elijah in subsequent times, "he was translated that he should not see death." His life was, for the period in which he lived, a short one upon earth, 365 years; but it was a life of faith, pleasing in the eye of his Maker.  Genesis 4:18-24;  Luke 3:37;  Hebrews 11:5. Jude cites a prophecy of Enoch. In  1 Chronicles 1:3, Enoch is called Hanoch.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. A son of Cain, in honor of whom the first city named in the Bible was called Enoch,  Genesis 4:17 .

2. "The seventh from Adam," and the father of Methuselah; eminent as a patriarch who lived near to God, through faith in a Redeemer to come,  Hebrews 11:5,13 . It was a testimony to his rare piety in an ungodly age that he was translated without seeing death, like Elijah. He had lived only three hundred and sixty years,  Genesis 5:18-24   Jude 1:14,15 , quotes a traditionary prophecy of Enoch, showing his belief in a judgment to come. There is an apocryphal book bearing the name of Enoch, in which similar language occurs. It was probably written by some devout Christian of the first century, and is only valuable for the light it throws on the belief of the early church. It was never received as canonical.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 5:18 Hebrews 11:5  Jude 1:14GenesisResurrectionApocalypticApocryphaPseudepigrapha

2. Son of Cain for whom Cain built a city and named it ( Genesis 4:17-18 ).

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The seventh from Adam. His name signifies dedicated, from Chanach. The Holy Ghost: hath given a blessed testimony to this man. ( Hebrews 11:5) Oh! for grace thus to walk, and thus to have communion with God in Christ!

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

ENOCH. —There is no mention of the patriarch Enoch in the Gospels except as a link in our Lord’s genealogy,  Luke 3:37.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrews Chanok', חֲנוֹךְ , Initiated; according to Philo, De Poet. Caini, § 11, from חֵן , with the suffix ךָ = חִנֵּךְ [ Ἑρμηνευεται Ε᾿Νὼχ Χάρις Σου ], i.e., Thy Favor; Sept. and N.T. Ε᾿Νώχ , Josephus ῎Ανωχος , Vulg. Henoch), the name of several men.

1. The eldest son of Cain ( Genesis 4:17), who called the city which he built after his name ( Genesis 4:18). B.C. post 4041. It is there described as being east of Eden, in the land of Nod, to which Cain retired after the murder of his brother. (See Nod). Ewald (Gesch. 1:356, note) fancies that there is a reference to the Phrygian Iconium, in which city a legend Of " Αννακος was preserved, evidently derived from the biblical ac count of the father of Methuselah (Steph. Byz. s.v. Ι᾿Κόνιον; Suid. s.v. Νάννακος ). Other places have been identified with the site of Enoch with little probability; e.g. Anuchta (Ptolemy, 6:3, 5) in Susiana, the Heniochi (Ptolemy, 5:9, 25; Strabo, 11:492; Pliny, 6:10, 12) in the Caucasus, etc. (Huetius, De Paradiso, c. 17; Hasse, Entdeckung, 2:35; Gotter, De Henochia Urbe, Jen. 1705 [of little value]; Sticht, De urbe Hanochia, Jen. 1727).

2. Another antediluvian patriarch, the son of Jared and father of Methuselah ( Genesis 5:21 sq.;  Luke 3:28 : in  1 Chronicles 1:3, the name is Anglicized "Henoch"). — B.C. 3550-3185. He was born when Jared, was 162 years old, and after the birth of his eldest son in his 65th year he lived 300 years. From the period of 365 years assigned to his life, Ewald (Isrl. desch. 1:356), with very little probability, regards him as "the god of the new year," but the number may have been not without influence on the later traditions which assigned to Enoch the discovery of the science of astronomy ( Ἀστρολογία , Eupolemus ap. Euseb. Praep. Ev. 9:17, where he is identified with Atlas). After the birth of Methuselah it is said ( Genesis 5:22-24) that Enoch "walked with God 300 years ... and he was not; for God took him" ( לָקִח ). The phrase "walked with God" ( הַתְהִלֵּךְ אֶתאּה אֵֹלהַים ) is elsewhere only used of Noah ( Genesis 6:9; comp.  Genesis 17:1, etc.), and is to be explained of a prophetic life spent in immediate converse with the spiritual world (Book of Enoch, 12:2, "All his action was with the holy ones, and with the watchers during his life"). There is no farther mention of Enoch in the O.T., but in Ecclesiasticus (49:14) he is brought forward as one of the peculiar glories ( Οὐδὲ Ε ‹ Σ Ἐκτίσθη Ο ‹ Ος Ε᾿ .) of the Jews, for he was taken up ( Ἀνελήφθη , Alex. Μετετέθη ) from the earth. "He pleased the Lord and was translated [Vulg. into Paradise], being a pattern of repentance" ( Sirach 44:14). In the Epistle to the Hebrews the spring and issue of Enoch's life are clearly marked. "By faith Enoch was translated ( Μετετέθη ), that he should not see death . . for before his translation ( Μετάθεσις ) he had this testimony, that he pleased God." The contrast to this divine judgment is found in: the constrained words of Josephus: " Enoch departed to the Deity ( Ἀνεχώρησε Πρὸς Τὸ Θεῖον ), whence [the sacred writers] have not recorded his death" (Ant. 1:3, 4). In the Epistle of Jude,  Judges 1:14; (comp. Enoch 60:8) he is described as " the Seventh from Adam;" and the number is probably noticed as conveying the idea of divine completion and rest (comp. August. C. Faust. 12:14), while Enoch was himself a type of perfected humanity, "a man raised to heaven by pleasing God, while angels fell to earth by transgression" (Ireneus, 4:16, 2). Elijah was in like manner translated; and thus was the doctrine of immortalitypalpably taught under the ancient dispensation.

The biblical notices of Enoch were a fruitful source of speculation in later times. Some theologians disputed with subtilty as to the place to which he was removed, whether it was to Paradise or to the iimmedLate presence of God (comp. Feuardentius, ad Iren. 5:5), though others more wisely declined to discuss the question (Thilo, Cod. Apocr. N.T. page 758). On other points there was greater unanimity. Both the Latin and Greek fathers commonly couple Enoch and Elijah as historic witnesses of the possibility of a resurrection of the body and of a true human existence in glory (Iren. 4:5, 1; Tertull. de Resurr. Carn. page 58; Jerome, c. Joan. Hierosol. § 29, 32, pages 437, 440); and the voice of early ecclesiastical tradition is almost unanimous in regarding them as "the two witnesses" ( Revelation 11:3 sq.) who should fall before "the beast," and afterwards be raised to heaven before the great judgment (Hippol. Fragm. In Daniel 22; De Antichr. 43, Cosmas Indic. page 75, ap. Thilo, Κατὰ Τὴν Ἐκκλησιαστικὴν Παράδοσιν ; Tertull. De Anima, page 59; Amzbros. In  Psalms 45:4; Evang. Nicod. c. 25, on which 'Thilo has almost exhausted the question, Cod. Apoc. N.T. page 765 sq.). This belief removed a serious difficulty which was supposed to attach to their translation, for thus it was made clear that they would at last discharge the common debt of a sinful humanity, from which they were not exempted by their glorious removal from the earth (Tertull de Anima, 1.c.; August. Op. imp. c. Jul. 6:30). In later times Enoch was celebrated as the inventor of writing, arithmetic, and astronomy (Euseb. Prcp. Ev. 9:17). He is said to have filled 300 books with the revelations which he received, and is commonly identified with Edris (i.e., the learned), who is commemorated in the Koran (cap. 19) as one "exalted [by God] to a high place" (comp. Sale, ad loc.; Hottinger, Hist. Orient. page 30 sq.). Visions sand prophecies were commonly ascribed to him, which he is said to have arranged in a book. This book was delivered to his son, and preserved by Noah in the ark. After the Flood it was made known to the world, and handed down from one generation to another (see Yuchasin, f. 134; Eusebius, Hist. Ecclesiastes 7:32; Cedren. Hist. page 9; Barhebr. Chron. page 5). But these traditions were probably due to the apocryphal book "which bears his name (comp. Fabric. Cod. Pseudep. V.T. 1:215 sq.). See below. Some (Buttm. Mythol. 1:176 sq.; Ewald, 1.c.) have found a trace of the history of Enoch in the Phrygian legend of Annacus ( ῎Αννακος , Νάννακος ), who was distinguished for his piety, lived 300 years, and predicted the deluge of Deucalion. See Heber, De Pietate Et Fatis Enochi (Bamb. 1789); Bredenkamp, in Paulus, Memor. 2:152; Danz, in Meuschen's N.T. Talm. Page 722; Schmieder, Comment. in  Galatians 3:19 (Nurnbn, 1826), page 23; Buddei Hist. Ecclesiastes V.T. 1:162; Drusius, De Henoch, in the Crit. Sacri. 1, 2; Pfeiffer, Decas Select. Exerc. page 12; D'Herbelot, Biblioth. Or. 1:624; Robertson, The Prophet Enoch (Lond. 1860); Pfaff, De Raptu Henochi (Tub. 1739); Hall, Works, 11:185; Alexander, Hist. Ecclesiastes 1:142; Calmet, Commentary, 8:10, 27; Hunter, Sacred Biog. page 24 sq.; Robinson, Script. Char. 1; Rudge, Lect. on Genesis 1:72; Evans, Script. Biog. 3:1; Kitto, Bible Illust. 1:123; Bell, Enoch'S Walk (Lond. 1658); Heidegger, Hist. Patriarcharum, i; Saurin, Disc. 1:65; Boston, Sermons, 1:230; Doddridge, Works, 3:329; Slade, Sermons, 2:447; Williams, Sermons, 2:367.

3. The third son of Midian, and grandson of Abraham by Keturah ( Genesis 25:4, A.V. "Hanoch;"  1 Chronicles 1:33, "Henoch"). B.C. post 1988.

4. The eldest son of Reuben (A.V. "Hanoch,"  Genesis 46:9;  Exodus 6:14;  1 Chronicles 5:3), from whom came "the family of the Hanochites" ( Numbers 26:5). B.C. 1873.

5. In  2 Esdras 6:49;  2 Esdras 6:51, "Enoch" stands in the Lat. (and Eng.) version for one of the two famous amphibious monsters, doubtless correctly Behemoth in the Ethiopic.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ē´nok ( חנוך , ḥănōkh , "initiated"; Ἑνώχ , Henō̇ch ):

(1) The eldest son of Cain ( Genesis 4:17 ,  Genesis 4:18 ).

(2) The son of Jared and father of Methuselah, seventh in descent from Adam in the line of Seth ( Judges 1:14 ). He is said ( Genesis 5:23 ) to have lived 365 years, but the brief record of his life is comprised in the words, "Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" ( Genesis 5:24 ). The expression "walked with God" denotes a devout life, lived in close communion with God, while the reference to his end has always been understood, as by the writer of He, to mean, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him" ( Hebrews 11:5 ). See further, Apocalyptic Literature , II, i, 1.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

E´noch (initiated). Four persons bearing this name are mentioned in the Old Testament, the most distinguished of whom was the son of Jared and father of Methuselah. According to the Old Testament, he walked with God; and, after 365 years, he was not, for God took him . The inspired writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, 'By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and was not found, because God had translated him' . Walking with God implies the closest fellowship with Jehovah which it is possible for a human being to enjoy on earth. As a reward, therefore, of his extraordinary sanctity, he was transported into heaven without the experience of death. Elijah was in like manner translated; and thus was the doctrine of immortality palpably taught under the ancient dispensation.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A godly man, who lived in antediluvian times among a race gone godless, and whom the Lord in judgment removed from the earth to return Himself by-and-by with a flood in order to clear the world of the ungodly.