The Book of Enoch is an Old Testament pseudepigraphal apocrypha attributed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. Scholars date its composition to the 2nd century BC. The title is mentioned in the Bible (Jude 14), but there is debate over whether Jude was actually referring to this book or not. The Protestants, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox do not consider this work inspired, but Ethiopian Orthodox do.

The Book of Enoch describes the petition of the Fallen Angels (or Nephilim) to Enoch to intercede on their behalf with God, Enoch's visit to Heaven in the form of a vision, and his revelations. It is considered an example of an apocalyptic work, and uses terminology (e.g., "The Son of Man") which was adopted into Christian works.

Some parts of the book may be instructions about how to construct and operate a prehistoric solar declinometer.

The book was discredited after the Council of Laodicea in 364, although its influence has been traced in the Hiberno-Latin poem Altus prosator. The text of the Book of Enoch was considered lost, except for passages quoted by ancient writers such as Clement and George Syncellus, until 1773 when James Bruce brought forth two copies of a version he had obtained in Ethiopia. The Book of Enoch forms part of the official canon of the Ethiopic Church. Since Bruce's discovery, an Old Slavonic translation has been identified, as well as two separate fragments of a Latin translation. Fragments of papyri containing parts of a Greek translation were recovered by a French archeological team at Akhmim, and published five years later in 1892. Fragments from the Book of Enoch have also been identified in the Dead Sea scrolls.

External links

• Online version of the Book of Enoch http://www.heaven.net.nz/writings/thebookofenoch.htm
• Online "Ethiopian Enoch" and "Secrets of Enoch" http://www.reluctant-messenger.com/enoch.htm
• Introduction to the Book of Enoch http://www.heaven.net.nz/writings/enoch.htm
• The Book of Enoch compiled and edited by Ronald K. Brown ISBN 096757370X
• A discussion of the Book of Enoch found in Cave IV at Qumran and its relationship to ancient literature http://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/scripts/enoch.html
• "The Book of Enoch" translated by R H Charles, 1917 Online text http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/boe/index.htm
• Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism: An interdisciplinary seminar at Marquette University http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/