While some churches today include Enoch as part of the biblical canon (for example, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church), other Christian denominations and scholars accept it only as having historical or theological noncanonical interest and frequently use or assigned it as supplemental materials within academic settings to help students and scholars discover or better understand the cultural and historical context of the early Christian church. The Book of Enoch is therefore intended to be an important supplemental resource for assisting serious researchers and students in the study of the Bible and the early Church Age.
The Bible, as we hold it today, is esteemed by many religious institutions and especially Conservative Christians to be the inspired, inerrant Word of God. This doctrinal position affirms that the Bible is unlike all other books or collections of works in that it is free of error due to having been given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). While no other text can claim this same unique authority, the Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, which played a crucial role in forming the worldview of the authors of the New Testament, who were not only familiar with it but quoted it in the New Testament, Epistle of Jude, Jude 1:14 15, and is attributed there to Enoch the Seventh from Adam (1 En 60:8). The text was also utilized by the community that originally collected and studied the Dead Sea Scrolls. While some churches today include Enoch as part of the biblical canon (for example the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church), other Christian denominations and scholars accept it only as having historical or theological non-canonical interest and frequently use or assigned it as supplemental materials within academic settings to help students and scholars discover or better understand cultural and historical context of the early Christian Church. The Book of Enoch provides commentators valuable insight into what many ancient Jews and early Christians believed when, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets (Heb. 1:1). As Dr. Michael S. Heiser in the Introduction to his important book Reversing Hermon so powerfully notes: For those to whom 1 Enoch sounds unfamiliar, this is the ancient apocalyptic literary work known popularly (but imprecisely) as the Book of Enoch. Most scholars believe that 1 Enoch was originally written in Aramaic perhaps as early as the 3rd century B.C. The oldest fragments of the book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and dated to roughly the second century B.C. This places the book squarely in the middle of what scholars call the Second Temple Period (ca. 500 B.C. 70 A.D.), an era more commonly referred to as the Intertestamental Period. This book will use the more academic designation ( Second Temple Period ) [...] The Watcher story of 1 Enoch, as many readers will recall, is an expansion of the episode described in Genesis 6:1-4, where the sons of God (Hebrew: beney ha- elohim) came in to the daughters of man (Gen 6:4; ESV). Consequently, Watchers is the Enochian term of choice (among others) for the divine sons of God. While the story of this supernatural rebellion occupies scant space in Genesis, it received considerable attention during the Second Temple Period [...] The Enochian version of the events of Gen 6:1-4 preserves and transmits the original Mesopotamian context for the first four verses of the flood account. Every element of Gen 6:1-4 has a Mesopotamian counterpoint a theological target that provides the rationale for why these four verses wound up in the inspired text in the first place. Connections to that backstory can be found in the Old Testament, but they are scattered and unsystematically presented. This is not the case with Second Temple Jewish literature like 1 Enoch. Books like 1 Enoch preserve all of the Mesopotamian touchpoints with Gen 6:1-4 when presenting their expanded retelling of the events of that biblical passage. The Book of Enoch is therefore intended to be an important supplemental resource for assisting serious researchers and students in the study of the Bible.
One of the most important Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha works of the Second Temple Period is Enoch.
According to the biblical narrative (Genesis 5:21-24), Enoch lived only 365 years (far less than the other patriarchs in the period before the Flood).
Enoch walked with GOD.
Enoch is a figure who receives direct personal revelation from God. He sees the magnificence of God and begins to preach to those around him against sin. He warns that the sinners will be winnowed and that God himself will appear on Mount Sinai to judge the humans as well as the fallen angels on Earth. Among the more controversial material within this text is the detailed account it gives of fallen angels on earth and their cursed offspring, the Nephilim. Azazel features heavily as the instigator of metal weapon production, the use of cosmetics and advocate of widespread promiscuity and fornication. In this book, the figure of Enoch is charged with the knowledge of God's chosen and brutal punishment for the Nephilim, their human mothers and their Angel fathers.The Book of Enoch is a pseudoepigraphal work (a work that claims to be by a biblical character). The Book of Enoch was not included in either the Hebrew or most Christian biblical canons, but could have been considered a sacred text by the sectarians. The original Aramaic version was lost until the Dead Sea fragments were discovered. This is a compilation of several separate works, most of which are apocalyptic. Its oldest portion is the Apocalypse of Weeks, written shortly before the Maccabean uprising of 167 BC against the Seleucids. The Ethiopic Book of Enoch is called a pseudepigraphical work, meaning one that is not included in any canon of scripture, outside of even the Apocrypha. The only complete extant version is an Ethiopic translation of a previous Greek translation made in Palestine from the original Hebrew or Aramaic. The Book of the Watcher, tells the story of fallen angels from Gen 6:1-4 that took wives, created the Nephilim, and taught advanced technology to mankind, ultimately leading to the great flood and their destruction. The Parables of Similitude, is an apocalyptic book about the Son of Man and the Ancient of Days. These ancient prophecies of Jesus are directly in line with what we find in the Bible, and are remarkably similar to The Book of Revelation. The Book of the Courses of the Heavenly Luminaries is a detailed account of the stars and their functions. The Dream Visions is the prophecy of all human history, from the creation of mankind all the way to the end times and the final judgement. The past, present, and future are foretold in grand detail. The prophecy of weeks is similar to the prophecy structure in the book of Daniel. The Noah Fragments is the untold story of Noah from the Bible. We learn more about his mission to save all humanity and the struggles of his father Lamech and his grandfather Methuselah. Finally, included herein are all known fragments of The Book of Giants. Each work is independent, but all the works are bound by a common theme: the punishment of the wicked and the blessedness of the righteous.
This book contains the three most-known books attributed to Enoch. It also includes an extensive introduction showing the history of the books etc.
1st Book of Enoch, the Ethiopic Book of Enoch, or 1 Enoch, which is more known as simply the Book of Enoch. Although this book is considered apocryphal for the Western canon, it is contained in the Ethiopic Bible. It was considered sacred by some important first followers of Christ but it was left out of the Bible and disappeared for centuries until it was rediscovered in 1773 in Ethiopic. This manuscript was first translated into English in the 1820s and into German in the 1830s. According to most scholars, part of it was written in third century BCE and part of it in the first century CE (the part related to the Son of Man). Although the oldest complete copies of 1 Enoch are K-9 or Kebran 9, dated late fourteenth early fifteenth century and Ethiopian Monastic Microfilm Library (EMML 2080) of the fifteenth or fourteenth century, fragments found in Qumram in the 1950s are more than 2000 years old. Other old important manuscripts are Abbadianus 55 (possibly fifteenth century) and British Museum Orient 485 (first half of the sixteenth century).
2nd Book of Enoch, the Slavonic Enoch, or 2 Enoch, which is another apocryphal book, found complete only in Old Slavonic manuscripts, and it was once present in the Old Slavonic Bible. It's usually dated to the first century CE although Matthew Black in The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible state that there is no manuscript earlier than the fourteenth century BE.
3rd Book of Enoch, the Hebrew Enoch, or 3 Enoch, which is a Rabbinic text in Hebrew usually dated to the fifth century CE. Some experts believe it was written by Rabbi Ishmael (second century CE), familiar with both 1 Enoch and 2 Enoch.
The Torah is the essence of Jewish tradition; it inspires each successive generation. The current JPS translation, based on classical and modern sources, is acclaimed for its fidelity to the ancient Hebrew.
You can chant Torah!
This unique book will lead the novice through each step of learning how to chant Torah. Divided into 13 lessons and additional useful appendices and bibliography, the book helps students of all ages learn the important principles of Torah cantillation. The only pre-requisite is a basic ability to read Hebrew and a willingness to learn! It is a perfect selection for B'nai Mitzvah students, beginning learners, and adult education courses.
The Torah is the essence of Jewish tradition; it inspires each successive generation. The current JPS translation, based on classical and modern sources, is acclaimed for its fidelity to the ancient Hebrew.
This is a NEW Translation of ALL THREE Books of Enoch, with extensive commentary.
This (all 3 Books of Enoch) is a new and easy-to-read translation by Dr. A. Nyland and is not the 1917 R.H. Charles Public Domain translation of The Book of Enoch.
This book is an easy to read translation with cross references, copious background notes, and notes.
Former college professor Dr. A. Nyland has a doctorate in ancient languages and word meaning. She has appeared on television and radio numerous times speaking about ancient languages and ancient peoples.
This new translation by Dr. A. Nyland contains all 3 Books of Enoch:
1) 1 Book of Enoch (Also called The Ethiopic Book of Enoch)
2) 2 Book of Enoch (Also called The Slavonic Book of Enoch, The Secrets of Enoch).
Also contains the extended version of 2 The Book of Enoch, The Exaltation of Melchizedek.
3) 3 Book of Enoch (Also called The Hebrew Book of Enoch)
Regarded throughout the English-speaking world as the standard English translation of the Holy Scriptures, the JPS TANAKH has been acclaimed by scholars, rabbis, lay leaders, Jews, and Christians alike. The JPS TANAKH is an entirely original translation of the Holy Scriptures into contemporary English, based on the Masoretic (the traditional Hebrew) text. It is the culmination of three decades of collaboration by academic scholars and rabbis, representing the three largest branches of organized Judaism in the United States. Not since the third century b.c.e., when 72 elders of the tribes of Israel created the Greek translation of Scriptures known as the Septuagint has such a broad-based committee of Jewish scholars produced a major Bible translation.
In executing this monumental task, the translators made use of the entire range of biblical interpretation, ancient and modern, Jewish and non-Jewish. They drew upon the latest findings in linguistics and archaeology, as well as the work of early rabbinic and medieval commentators, grammarians, and philologians. The resulting text is a triumph of literary style and biblical scholarship, unsurpassed in accuracy and clarity.
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The responsa literature, in which rabbis answer questions about halachah (Jewish law), is a vast treasury reaching back nearly fifteen centuries; Reform rabbis have been writing responsa since the 1800s. In Reading Reform Responsa, Rabbi Mark Washofsky, PhD, presents a deep dive into this literature, boldly arguing that Reform Judaism is indeed a movement fundamentally based on halachah. By inviting and guiding readers to understand Reform responsa with a critical eye, he shows that our movement has always been informed by Jewish law, as well as Reform history. A teacher and mentor of generations of students at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Rabbi Washofsky gives us a peek inside his classroom, making Reform responsa-and their history, framing, and context-engaging and accessible for all.
In Why Rain Comes From Above: Explorations in Religious Imagination, Devora Steinmetz invites the reader into the imaginative space created by deep engagement with biblical and rabbinic texts. Each of these six poetic and scholarly essays leads us through a web of texts, drawing us into stories, images, and experiences that open us to new ways of thinking and to new worlds of meaning. Steinmetz's explorations show us how imaginative engagement as a form of religious reading can transform our relationship to the world around us, awaken us to the ethical commitments to which we are called, and give us ways of thinking about our lives, our world, and God.