Enoch

Enoch - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Initiated. (1.) The eldest son of Cain (Gen. 4:17), who built a city east of Eden in the land of Nod, and called it "after the name of his son Enoch." This is the first "city" mentioned in Scripture.

(2.) The son of Jared, and father of Methuselah (Gen. 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" (Gen. 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.

e'-nok (chanokh, "initiated"; Henoch):

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

(2) The son of Jared and father of Methuselah, seventh in descent from Adam in the line of Seth (Jude 1:14). He is said (Ge 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" (Ge 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" (Heb 11:5).

See further, APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, sec. II, i, 1.

A. C. Grant

See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE.

1. The eldest son of Cain, (Genesis 4:17) who called after his name 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 (Jude 1:14) he 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) cf. Genesis17:1 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)

Definition

Enoch was the name of two men in the Old Testament.

• One man named Enoch was descended from Seth. He was the great grandfather of Noah.
• This Enoch had a close relationship with God and when he was 365 years old, God took him to heaven while he was still alive.
• A different man named Enoch was a son of Cain.

(Translation suggestions: How to Translate Names)

(See also: Cain, Seth)

Bible References

• 1 Chronicles 1:3
• Genesis 5:18-20
• Genesis 5:24
• Jude 1:14
• Luke 3:36-38

Word Data

• Strong’s: H2585, G18020