“What is the book of Enoch mentioned in Jude 1:14 and why is it not in the Bible?”

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.

Jude 1:14

Jude 1:14 acts as a stern warning regarding the certainty of God’s judgment against false teachers who have secretly infiltrated the church.

Verses 5–16 describes false teachers and what will happen to them.

Consider the context of our considered text:

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Jude 1:5–7

Jude brings us the false teachers of the past, that the Jews would have remembered or should have remembered from their teachings, and brings a parallel to the false teachers that he is encountering.

Jude also brings up the Devil’s dispute with the Archangel Michael; he brings up Cain and Balaam.––Several individuals from the past that deceived and called good actions bad.

Jude describes what will happen to these troublers who have secretly slipped in. They are ungodly, committing ungodly acts in ungodly ways. They are grumblers, faultfinders, boastful, and followers of their own desires. They fit the category of wickedness that existed even in the days of Enoch.

As you may recall, Enoch was a pre-flood biblical patriarch known for his close relationship with God, walking with Him for 300 years before being taken to heaven without experiencing death (Genesis 5:24). He was also the great-grandfather of Noah, and Enoch is presented as a righteous figure and a hero of faith in both the Old and New Testaments.

It would not be surprising that Enoch would have prophesied of the Lord’s return and wrath against the ungodly.

However, the “book of Enoch” is not something that is recognized as being an inspired book of the Bible.

Some versions of the Bible have what is called the “Apocrypha,” which are books that were not considered inspired or part of the official revelation of God.

The Apocrypha (“hidden texts”) is a collection 14 ancient Jewish books written between the period of the Old and New Testaments (c. 200 BC–AD 100).––However, they were included in the Latin Vulgate that the Catholics translated in the 4^th century. Jerome who translated the Latin Vulgate was adamant that such books were not canon, but St. Augustine wanted it in there. They stayed in the Bible for over a thousand years because most of the English Bibles leaned heavily on the Latin Vulgate.¹

One of the books in Apocrypha is called the Book of Enoch. There are 3 books of Enoch and only one church recognizes even the first book of Enoch in their Bible which is the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.––The Catholics, Greek Orthodox, and protestant churches do not consider the book of Enoch to be inspired.

The reason why people do not consider the current Book of Enoch in the Ethiopian Bible to be from God is because it has no historical connection to Enoch. No Jewish confirmation that Enoch ever wrote that book.––The current books of the Bible all have confirmed ties to their writings either by historical record or other books in the Bible mention the writer of that book.

It lacked focus on the message of God and doctrine of God. All the books of the Bible have this central theme that leads us to Christ, but the book of Enoch was fantastical, mythological, and lacked focus.

Furthermore, it lacked acceptance in the early church.

Despite all these red flags, the biggest problem is that the Book of Enoch contradicted other inspired books.––It violates the colophonic principle. What this book said about angels and demons was not in line with other passages of Scriptures (1 Enoch 6–16 describes angels taking wives and having children, directly contradicting Jesus’ teaching in Mark 12:25 that angels do not marry. While the Bible teaches sin entered the world through Adam (Romans 5:12), 1 Enoch suggests sin was primarily introduced by the fallen angel Azazel and his followers. In 1 Enoch 106, Uriel is sent to warn Noah about the flood, whereas Genesis depicts direct communication between God and Noah. 1 Enoch attributes the creation of weapons, cosmetics, and sorcery to fallen angels teaching humanity, whereas the Bible often attributes human wisdom and craftsmanship to God.). 

I have seen people on social media making claims about the lost books of the Bible or about how the western, biblical scholars have hidden the real Bible. Such people are just trying to get followers and sell books. The world has the revealed will of God, and God has always made sure we have access to His Word.

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 

1 Peter 1:23

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