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The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch): Full Text, History and Why It Isn’t in the Bible

Read the Book of Enoch full text in R. H. Charles’s 1917 translation, and why the Book of Enoch was not received into the Bible. This page is the text, not a PDF. Charles rearranges some verses in chapters 5, 39, 90, 91, and 106. Those chapters follow his 1917 order.

Scroll Down for History, Author and Background

On This Page

Background and History

The chapters above are R. H. Charles’s 1917 translation of Book of Enoch (1 Enoch). This essay is the setting of the book: how it was composed, which copies survive, how Jude uses one sentence from it, and why the major churches did not receive it as Scripture.

At a Glance

Author Written in Enoch’s name. Joseph A. Fitzmyer describes five compositions, not one book from before the flood.
Date Fitzmyer reports Cave 4 Aramaic copies from the early 2nd century BC through the early 1st century AD. He reports J. T. Milik’s dates: the Astronomical Book in the Persian period, the Book of the Watchers in the 3rd century BC, and the Book of Dreams about 164 BC.
Place The complete text survives in Ge’ez. Fitzmyer reports Aramaic copies from Qumran Cave 4. Charles records a Greek copy of chapters 1–32 found at Akhmim in 1886–87.
Genre A composite apocalypse: watchers, parables, an astronomical book, dream visions, and an epistle.
Chapters 108
Verses 1053 in this Charles 1917 text
Key Verse 1 Enoch 1:9Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of ⌈His⌉ holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy ⌈all⌉ the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works ⌈of their ungodliness⌉ which they have ungodly committed, ⌈And of all the hard things which⌉ ungodly sinners ⌈have spoken⌉ against Him.Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917Open source

Composition and Date

Joseph A. Fitzmyer divides 1 Enoch into five parts: the Book of the Watchers (chapters 1–36), the Parables or Similitudes (37–71), the Astronomical Book (72–82), the Book of Dreams (83–90), and the Epistle (91–108). (5) The book is written as if Enoch, the seventh from Adam, were the speaker. The parts are not one composition from before the flood.

Fitzmyer reports seven Aramaic manuscripts of 1 Enoch from Qumran Cave 4, copied from the early 2nd century BC to the late 1st century BC, and four manuscripts of the Astronomical Book from the late 3rd century BC to the early 1st century AD. He reports that the Parables are absent from Qumran. (5)

The same article reports J. T. Milik’s dates: the Astronomical Book in the Persian period, the Book of the Watchers in its final form from a 3rd-century-BC Judean author, and the Book of Dreams about 164 BC, from an allusion to Bethzur. Fitzmyer also reports Milik’s date for the Parables, a Christian composition not before the 5th century AD. (5) This page does not add a later consensus date for the Parables. A Fortress Press excerpt on the palaeography of 4Q201 places at least the Aramaic Book of the Watchers in the 3rd century BC. The excerpt does not name its author, so this page does not name one.

Copies

The complete book survives in Ge’ez. Michał Mętel dates the oldest complete Ethiopic copy, Kebrān 9, to the late 14th or early 15th century, and EMML 2080 to the 15th century, possibly the 14th. He counts more than 150 Ethiopic manuscripts. (7)

R. H. Charles records that Greek chapters 1–32 were found at Akhmim in 1886–87, and that Jude 14–15Jude 1:14 · King James VersionAnd Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,Jude 1:14 · King James VersionOpen source quotes 1 Enoch 1:9Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917

And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of ⌈His⌉ holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy ⌈all⌉ the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works ⌈of their ungodliness⌉ which they have ungodly committed, ⌈And of all the hard things which⌉ ungodly sinners ⌈have spoken⌉ against Him.Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917Open source. (6) The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library identifies the Abba Garima Gospels as the oldest Ethiopic manuscript, and EMML 9001 as the oldest major Ge’ez Old Testament and the oldest known copy of Jubilees. (11) Those facts sit against the claim that an Ethiopian Bible is the oldest Bible, or that the West first met Enoch in a late Ethiopic codex.

The Text on This Site

The chapters above are Charles’s 1917 SPCK translation, from the Wikisource transcription of that public-domain book. Charles rearranges some verses in chapters 5, 39, 90, 91, and 106. In chapters 90 and 106 the verse numbers themselves are not in numeric order. This site follows his 1917 order. Editorial marks in the translation, including ⌈ ⌉ and †, are his.

Jude’s Citation

Jude 14–15Jude 1:14 · King James VersionAnd Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,Jude 1:14 · King James VersionOpen source (2) says Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, and then gives the words. Charles’s 1 Enoch 1:9Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917

And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of ⌈His⌉ holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy ⌈all⌉ the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works ⌈of their ungodliness⌉ which they have ungodly committed, ⌈And of all the hard things which⌉ ungodly sinners ⌈have spoken⌉ against Him.Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917Open source (1) reads, “And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of ⌈His⌉ holy ones To execute judgement upon all.” The King James of Jude reads, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all.”

A quotation of a true sentence does not receive the whole book. Acts 17:28Acts 17:28 · King James VersionFor in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.Acts 17:28 · King James VersionOpen source (3) quotes “certain also of your own poets.” Titus 1:12Titus 1:12 · King James VersionOne of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.Titus 1:12 · King James VersionOpen source (4) quotes “a prophet of their own” on the Cretans. Those lines stay in the letters. The poems do not become Scripture.

Early Reception

Tertullian defends what he calls the Scripture of Enoch and writes that it “is not received by some, because it is not admitted into the Jewish canon either.” (9) Augustine writes that he cannot deny Enoch left some divine writings, because Jude says so, and then that “their antiquity brought them under suspicion, and it was impossible to ascertain whether these were his genuine writings.” (10)

The Ethiopian Orthodox Canon

Gebre-Mikael M. Mikre-Sellassie writes that the Ethiopian Orthodox canon is traditionally counted as 81 books, while the Fetha Negest names 81 and lists 73. He places Enoch and Jubilees in the narrower canon received in church practice, and he notes that the Fetha Negest list and its commentary omit them. (8) That is the local exception. The Jewish canon and the major Christian churches did not receive 1 Enoch. Jubilees is named with it in that narrower canon. The Book of Jubilees is Charles’s 1913 translation.

Issues With This Book

The book speaks in Enoch’s name and is built from later layers. Fitzmyer’s outline, the absence of the Parables from the Qumran copies he reports, and Milik’s dates as Fitzmyer reports them are the composition problem. (5)

Jude quotes one sentence. Tertullian already records that some refused the book because it was not in the Jewish canon. Augustine treats the writings under Enoch’s name as of uncertain authenticity. (9) (10) The Ethiopian reception is the exception Mikre-Sellassie describes, not a second canon for the churches that followed Jerome, Athanasius, and the later Western lists. (8)

Charles’s rearrangement of chapters 5, 39, 90, 91, and 106 means a verse number on this page is his 1917 number, in his order.

People Also Ask

What Is the Book of Enoch?

The Book of Enoch, also called 1 Enoch, is a composite apocalypse written in Enoch’s name. R. H. Charles’s 1917 translation on this page has 108 chapters.

Why Was the Book of Enoch Left Out of the Bible?

Tertullian writes that some did not receive it because it was not admitted into the Jewish canon. The major Christian churches followed that distinction. The Ethiopian Orthodox narrower canon is the local exception.

Where Is the Book of Enoch Full Text?

The full text is the chapter list on this page, in R. H. Charles’s 1917 translation. This site does not offer a PDF.

Does Jude Quote the Book of Enoch?

Jude 14–15Jude 1:14 · King James VersionAnd Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,Jude 1:14 · King James VersionOpen source quotes a sentence that matches 1 Enoch 1:9Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917

And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of ⌈His⌉ holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy ⌈all⌉ the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works ⌈of their ungodliness⌉ which they have ungodly committed, ⌈And of all the hard things which⌉ ungodly sinners ⌈have spoken⌉ against Him.Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917Open source. Quoting that sentence did not receive the rest of the book as Scripture.

On This Site

References

  1. The Book of Enoch, 1:9Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of ⌈His⌉ holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy ⌈all⌉ the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works ⌈of their ungodliness⌉ which they have ungodly committed, ⌈And of all the hard things which⌉ ungodly sinners ⌈have spoken⌉ against Him.Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917Open source (R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch (London: SPCK, 1917), public domain. Charles rearranges verses in chapters 5, 39, 90, 91, and 106.)
  2. Letter of Jude, 1:14–15Jude 1:14–15 · King James Version1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 1:15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.Jude 1:14–15 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version
  3. Acts of the Apostles, 17:28Acts 17:28 · King James VersionFor in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.Acts 17:28 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version
  4. Letter to Titus, 1:12Titus 1:12 · King James VersionOne of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.Titus 1:12 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version
  5. Joseph A. Fitzmyer, “Implications of the New Enoch Literature from Qumran”, Theological Studies 38 (1977) (The five-part outline, the Cave 4 manuscript counts, and the report of Milik’s dates are this article’s.)
  6. R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch, Introduction (Charles and Oesterley, 1917. Jude 14–15 and the Akhmim Greek are noted in that introduction.)
  7. Michał Mętel, “The Book of Enoch in the Ethiopian Manuscript Tradition”, Resovia Sacra 32 (2025)
  8. Gebre-Mikael M. Mikre-Sellassie, “The Bible and Its Canon in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church”, The Bible Translator 44.1 (1993)
  9. Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women, 1.3 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, S. Thelwall’s translation, on New Advent.)
  10. Augustine, The City of God, 15.23 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, on New Advent.)
  11. HMML Stories, “Researcher Identifies Second-Oldest Ethiopian Manuscript”

R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch (London: SPCK, 1917), public domain. The verse text is the English Wikisource transcription of that translation. Charles’s editorial signs are kept. He rearranges some verses in chapters 5, 39, 90, 91, and 106, so those chapters are not a straight 1, 2, 3 sequence.