What Is the Book of Enoch? A Beginner's Guide

The Book of Enoch is one of the most talked-about texts outside the standard Protestant and Catholic Bibles. It tells of the Watchers — angels who descend to earth — their children the Nephilim, and a series of visions granted to Enoch, the figure from Genesis who “walked with God.” Here is a plain-language introduction.

Who was Enoch?

In Genesis 5, Enoch is listed in the line from Adam to Noah: the father of Methuselah and the great-grandfather of Noah. The Bible says only a few lines about him, which is part of why later writers filled in his story.

What is “1 Enoch”?

When people say “the Book of Enoch,” they usually mean 1 Enoch, an ancient Jewish work written in stages over several centuries before the time of Jesus. It is usually divided into five parts:

• The Book of the Watchers (chapters 1–36) — the fall of the Watchers, the giants, and Enoch's journeys.
• The Book of Parables (37–71) — visions of judgment and of a heavenly figure called the Son of Man.
• The Astronomical Book (72–82) — the movements of the sun and moon and a 364-day calendar.
• The Book of Dream Visions (83–90) — history told through symbolic animals.
• The Epistle of Enoch (91–108) — moral teaching and warnings.

Why is it in the Ethiopian Bible?

1 Enoch survives complete only in Ge'ez, the classical language of Ethiopia, and it is part of the scripture of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. That is why complete English editions of the Ethiopian Bible include it, along with books such as Jubilees and Meqabyan. Aramaic fragments of Enoch were also found among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran.

Is it quoted in the Bible?

Yes — the New Testament letter of Jude (verses 14–15) quotes a prophecy attributed to Enoch that closely matches 1 Enoch 1:9. That connection is one reason many readers want to read Enoch for themselves.

What about 2 Enoch and 3 Enoch?

These are separate, later works that share Enoch's name. 2 Enoch survives in Old Church Slavonic; 3 Enoch is a Hebrew work from Jewish mystical tradition. Many “complete Books of Enoch” editions collect all three.

Which edition should you start with?

• Just Enoch: a standalone translation of 1 Enoch, such as the classic R. H. Charles translation.
• Enoch with related books: collections that add Jubilees, Jasher or the Book of Giants.
• The full Ethiopian canon: an English Ethiopian Bible with all 88 books, including Enoch, in one volume — large-print and illustrated editions are popular.

Browse our Ethiopian Bible, Book of Enoch & Apocrypha collection to compare editions, or read our guide to the Ethiopian Bible canon.