The First Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) is an Old Testament pseudepigrapha, or a composition attributed to a figure from the Hebrew Bible but not included in either the Jewish or Christian Bibles.

The name "Enoch" (or Henoch) appears in Genesis, where this patriarch is identified as Adam and Eve's seventh descendant.

"Jared had lived 162 years when he begat Enoch, and after he begat Enoch, he lived 800 years, and begat sons and daughters. All the days of Jared were 962 years. Then he died.
Enoch had lived 65 years when he begat Methuselah, and after he begat Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years, and begat sons and daughters. All the days of Enoch were 365 years. "Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more, because God had taken him away." Genesis 5.18-23

Because the writer of Genesis does not indicate that Enoch died, but rather that he "walked with God," succeeding generations believed that he had seen all the mysteries of the universe. From the third century BCE onwards, writers adopted him as their spokesman, attributing all kind of hidden knowledge to his revelation. Five of these manuscripts were brought together at an unknown time to form the First Book of Enoch. It is also known as the Ethiopian Book of Enoch since the book is mainly known from forty Ethiopian manuscripts. Among the Dead Sea scrolls, however, there exist several Aramaic fragments of the constituent sections, as well as a handful of Greek fragments and one scrap in Latin.

The first book of Enoch is divided into five major segments, each of which can be subdivided:

The Book of the Watchers (§1–36)
The Book of Parables of Enoch (§37–71) (also called the Similitudes of Enoch)
The Astronomical Book (§72–82) (also called the Book of the Heavenly Luminaries or Book of Luminaries)
The Book of Dream Visions (§83–90) (also called the Book of Dreams)
The Epistle of Enoch (§91–108)

This complex work has a huge impact and is incredibly important. It is the earliest known Jewish apocalyptic work (earlier than the canonical book of Daniel), proving that the apocalyptic genre predates the Maccabean uprising.

In this ebook you will find the full text of the Book of Enoch plus a historical introduction and an analysis of its impact on apocalyptic literature.

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