Friday, June 26, 2009

Did Enoch Walk with God or Angels?

And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters (Genesis 5:22).

The word "God" in this verse is Elohim which is a word that is plural, so his name is plural.. Elohim can be translated either "God" or "angels." In Psalm 8:5 the word it is translated "the angels," that is, God made humans a little lower than the elohim.

All English translations interpret Genesis 5:22 "Enoch walked with God." But one ancient translator - one of the writers of a book called "The Book of Enoch," translated the passage as follows: "Enoch walked with the angels." The writer of Enoch uses this translation to suggest that Enoch walked with angels and was shown great things in heaven and on earth, which he wrote about.

None of the authors of the Book of Enoch were really Enoch himself (there were 5 authors in one book), but all claimed to be Enoch. This actually was a common practice in Bible days. People wrote books in the name of famous Bible celebraties like Abraham, the Twelve Patriarchs, Adam and Eve, and Enoch. None of these were really written by the name of the book.

The interesting thing is: The Book of Jude quotes from the Book of Enoch.

Check it out - google "the Ethiopian Book of Enoch."

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