As a Bible-fascinated teenager growing up within the JW religion, I found the early chapters of Genesis to be particularly intriguing. At the time, I believed they were literally true and regarded the Flood as historical and the antediluvian patriarchs as equally historical. Enoch was one of the most interesting figures of this era, and yet Genesis 5:18-24 said so little about him. So grateful I was for the extra information found in the NT about him, especially Jude 14-15 which even gives a direct quotation from Enoch! This scripture reads: "Yes, the seventh one [in line] from Adam, E´noch, prophesied also regarding them, when he said: 'Look! Jehovah came with his holy myriads, to execute judgment against all, and to convict all the ungodly concerning all their ungodly deeds that they did in an ungodly way, and concerning all the shocking things that ungodly sinners spoke against him' " (NWT).
What a precious piece of information about this obscure person, I thought to myself, and yet I wondered how the author of Jude came across this biographical info about a long-lost antediluvian patriarch. Did the author of Jude have access to some long-lost scriptures that recorded Enoch's words? The Society's attempts to answer this question were not very satisfactory:
*** w65 10/1 p. 596 Execution of Divine Judgment upon the Ungodly ***Just how Enoch?s prophecy was carried for centuries outside the Hebrew Scriptures the Bible does not say. However, it did not appear in the Bible until Jehovah God inspired Jude to put it in.
***w77 3/1 p. 134 A Man with the Courage to Speak Up ***How the disciple Jude, who recorded Enoch?s words in the first century C.E., knew about that prophecy is not revealed. It is not found in the writings of Moses who compiled the Genesis account. Nevertheless, Jude wrote under divine inspiration, and therefore the inclusion of Enoch?s prophecy in his letter establishes the genuineness of those words.
Basically, they say that since the author of Jude was inspired by God, there should be no question about the origin of these words -- which must be authentic because they were quoted as fact ... by someone inspired by God. The circular reasoning was not very satisfying and I still had no clue where the information could have come from. A better attempt was the following:
***w82 9/1 p. 15 "Look! Jehovah Came With His Holy Myriads" ***
How Jude learned about the prophecy of Enoch is not revealed. It does not appear earlier in the divinely inspired Scriptures. Perhaps Jesus quoted Enoch?s prophecy in a sermon and it was handed down orally.
Well, that could be, I thought, and yet that explanation is pure speculation. But then in the Aid book, I discovered that a Book of Enoch existed. Well, could this be the source? The Aid book says this about the work: "Enoch is not the writer of the 'Book of Enoch.' This is an uninspired, apocryphal book written many centuries later, probably sometime during the second and first centuries B.C.E. (p. 729)." If the author of Jude was inspired by God, why would he quote an "uninspired apocryphal" book? And yet, the same sources admitted that a very similar saying is in fact part of the text of 1 Enoch. Unfortunately, they did not supply the relevant passage so I could judge for myself; they simply asserted that Jude was not dependent on this passage in 1 Enoch, and that "there is no evidence" in support of this possibility:
***w82 9/1 p. 15 "Look! Jehovah Came With His Holy Myriads" ***There is no evidence that Jude quoted a similar statement found in the apocryphal Book of Enoch. Since Jude wrote under divine inspiration, the inclusion of Enoch?s prophecy in his letter establishes the genuineness of those words.
So even though there is "a similar statement" in 1 Enoch, that itself does not constitute "evidence" that Jude quoted 1 Enoch? It sounded like they wanted to dismiss the matter out of hand without considering the actual evidence. Indeed, the pre-existing assumption that the author of Jude was inspired serves as the only reason for rejecting this possibility, for presumably an inspired work would not quote an uninspired work that fictitiously claims to have been written by Enoch. Of course, this argument is only valid if the underlying assumption is also valid. If Jude did quote 1 Enoch, then this would be clear evidence that the underlying assumption is invalid -- or at least problematic. There is also no attempt in the above-quoted article to explain how the uninspired book of 1 Enoch came to quote the exact same prophecy. Later on, the Society began to address this question:
*** it-2 p. 132 Jude, the Letter of ***
Unique Information. Though short, Jude?s letter contains some information not found elsewhere in the Bible. ... Whether Jude received this information through direct revelation or by reliable transmission (either oral or written) is not known. If the latter was the case, this may explain the presence of a similar reference to Enoch?s prophesying in the apocryphal book of Enoch (thought to have been written probably sometime during the second and first centuries B.C.E.). A common source could have furnished the basis for the statement in the inspired letter as well as in the apocryphal book.
***w01 9/15 Enoch Walked With God in an Ungodly World ***
The Book of Enoch is an apocryphal and pseudepigraphic text. It is falsely ascribed to Enoch. Produced probably sometime during the second and first centuries B.C.E., it is a collection of extravagant and unhistorical Jewish myths, evidently the product of exegetical elaborations on the brief Genesis reference to Enoch. This alone is sufficient for lovers of God?s inspired Word to dismiss it....Many scholars contend that Enoch?s prophecy against his ungodly contemporaries is quoted directly from the Book of Enoch. Is it possible that Jude used an unreliable apocryphal book as his source? How Jude knew of Enoch?s prophecy is not revealed in the Scriptures. He may simply have quoted a common source, a reliable tradition handed down from remote antiquity. Paul evidently did something similar when he named Jannes and Jambres as the otherwise anonymous magicians of Pharaoh?s court who opposed Moses. If the writer of the Book of Enoch had access to an ancient source of this kind, why should we deny it to Jude? - Exodus 7:11, 22; 2 Timothy 3:8. How Jude received the information about Enoch?s message to the ungodly is a minor matter. Its reliability is attested to by the fact that Jude wrote under divine inspiration. (2 Timothy 3:16) God?s holy spirit guarded him from stating anything that was not true.
Logically, there are at least three possibilities: (1) That Jude was dependent on 1 Enoch, (2) That 1 Enoch was dependent on Jude, or (3) That both are dependent on a common source. By claiming that Jude and 1 Enoch are both dependent on a common source, the Society is able to acknowledge the parallel between Jude and 1 Enoch without admitting that the "inspired" book is indebted to an uninspired one. This possibility is certainly worth considering, but interestingly the Society does not provide any reason for considering why position (3) is to be preferred over (1) or (2) -- other than, again, the circular assumption that an "inspired" work would not be dependent on an uninspired one. Instead, the Society just stipulates that this is probably the case. They appear to have chosen this position because it is in harmony with their pre-existing assumptions about the Bible as divinely inspired and thus is more convenient for them than possibility (1).
In this post, I am going to look in detail at the evidence the Society has avoided in their discussions of this interesting issue, and the evidence is firmly against the Society's hypothesis of mutual dependence on a common source and its belief that the prophecy quoted in Jude 14-15 is a genuinely ancient passage antedating most of the OT. I will show (i) that the church fathers recognized that Jude had quoted 1 Enoch and for this very reason some doubted whether Jude should be considered canonical, (ii) that Jude 14-15 is a near verbatim quotation of 1 Enoch 1:9, with bits included from other parts of 1 Enoch, (iii) that 1 Enoch 1:9 was composed as part of the entirety of ch. 1 and was based like almost everything else in ch. 1 on a mishmash of phrases and statements gleaned from all over the OT (and thus is later than the rest of the OT), (iv) that almost half the verses of Jude are dependent in some way on 1 Enoch, proving that the author of Jude was very familiar with this book, (v) that 1 Enoch was widely circulated in the ancient world, was regarded as quasi-canonical by the Qumran community, and was quoted as "scripture" by other early Christians, and (vi) that there is no evidence of any other co-existing source apart from the Enochic literature that could have supplied the prophecy in Jude 14-15 and 1 Enoch 1:9. Position (1) listed above, that Jude is dependent on 1 Enoch, is the only explanation that neatly accounts for these facts.
I. CHURCH FATHERS WHO KNEW THAT JUDE QUOTED 1 ENOCH
As we shall soon see later on in this post, 1 Enoch was widely esteemed by Christians in the first and second centuries AD. It was not until the third century when the NT canon began to take definite shape, and this was just the time when 1 Enoch was beginning to fall from favor. Some books such as Paul's epistles were shoo-ins for the NT canon, but other books had a more difficult time making the cut, such as Jude, 2 Peter, and Revelation. Clement of Alexandria listed Jude as one of "disputed" books alongside Barnabas and the Apocalypse of Peter (cf. Hypotyposeis, cited in Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 6.14), and Jude was rejected from the canon of the Syriac Peshitta and the Mommsen canon of Africa. Also telling is the canon of Eusebius. After listing the "writings of the New Testament," he went on to list others which were "not part of the Testament but disputed, but nevertheless acknowledged by many" (H. E., 3.25.3). These included James, Jude, 2 Peter, and 2, 3 John. Eusebius thus recognized that many placed Jude in the antilegomena instead of in the New Testament proper (cf. also H. E. 2.23.25). Amphilochius (in Iambi ad Seleucum) noted that some accept only three of the general epistles (namely, James, 1 Peter, and 1 John), thereby rejecting Jude. In harmony with the Peshitta, Chrysostom and Theodoret also appear to have rejected Jude. In part, Jude's difficulty of achieving general acceptance was typical of the other general epistles, and yet it stood apart from them because of its apparent use of apocryphal works. Jerome specifically cited this as a reason why Jude was doubted by some:
"Jude the brother of James left a small epistle which is one of the seven Catholic epistles. And because he inserts in it a passage from the book of Enoch, which is apocryphal, it is rejected by many" (Jerome, De Viris Illustribus, 4; cf. also Commentarium in Epistula ad Titum, 1.2).
Writing a century and a half earlier, Tertullian had also declared that "the scripture of Enoch" received "a testimony from the Apostle Jude" (De Cultu Feminarum, 3.3), thereby using the apostolic witness to vouch for the authority of 1 Enoch. But by the fourth and fifth centuries, the authority of 1 Enoch was very much in disrepute. Augustine rejected 1 Enoch in part because it was not admitted into the Hebrew canon, despite the claimed antiquity of the supposed writings of Enoch: "Their antiquity brought them under suspicion, and it was impossible to ascertain whether these were his genuine writings, and they were not brought forward as genuine by the persons who were found to have carefully preserved the canonical books by a successive transmission" (De Civitate Dei, 15.23). As Jerome shows, Jude's use of these spurious writings of Enoch led some to question whether Jude itself should belong to the canonical books.
II. JUDE 14-15 AND 1 ENOCH 1:9
There is indeed a passage in 1 Enoch that corresponds almost word-for-word to that of Jude 14-15:
"The Great Holy One will come forth from his dwelling, and the eternal God will tread from thence upon Mount Sinai. He will appear with his army, he will appear with his mighty host from the heaven of heavens. All the Watchers will fear and quake, and those who are hiding in all the ends of the earth will sing. All the ends of the earth will be shaken, and trembling and great fear will seize them unto the ends of the earth. The high mountains will be shaken and fall and break apart, and the hill hills will be made low and melt like wax before the fire. The earth will be wholly rent asunder, and everything on the earth will perish, and there will be judgment on all. With the righteous he will make peace, and over the chosen there will be protection, and upon them will be mercy. They will all belong to God, and he will grant them his good pleasure. He will bless them all, and he will help them all. Light will shine upon them, and he will make peace with them. Behold, he comes with the myriads of his holy ones to execute judgment on all, and to destroy the wicked, and to convict all flesh for all the wicked deeds that they have done, and the proud and hard words that wicked sinners spoke against him" (1 Enoch 1:3-9).
This is a description of the great theophany that occurs on Judgment Day and v. 9 is obviously paralleled by Jude 14-15. 1 Enoch 1:9 is attested in slightly varying forms in the original Aramaic in 4QEn c 1:1:15-17, in a Greek translation in the Codex Panopolitanus, in a Latin translation by Pseudo-Cyprian (Ad Novatianum, 16), and finally in the Ethiopic text of 1 Enoch. The Aramaic copies of 1 Enoch in the Dead Sea Scrolls date between the first century BC and the first half of the first century AD, and 4QEn c 1:1:15-17 proves that Enoch's prophecy as found in Jude existed in the text of 1 Enoch BEFORE the epistle of Jude was written. This is probably why the Society does not endorse possibility (2) listed above, that 1 Enoch is dependent on Jude. This is clearly not the case because we have a copy of 1 Enoch antedating Jude that contains the prophecy cited by Jude.
The Latin version preserved by Pseudo-Cyprian and the Greek version found in the Codex Panopolitanus derive from 1 Enoch instead of Jude 14-15 because they contain features not found in Jude that are in fact found in the Aramaic and Ethiopic verisons. For instance, both the Greek and Latin versions include a reference to God "censuring all flesh" which is missing in Jude:
4QEn c 1 (Aramaic version): "[...] myriads of his holy ones ... with all flesh concerning the things they did ... proud and hard words [they said] ..."
Ethiopic version: "And behold! He comes with the myriads of his holy ones, to execute judgment upon them and to destroy the ungodly and to contend with all flesh concerning everything which the sinners and the ungodly have done and committed against him"
Jude 14-15: "Idou élthen kurios en hagiais muriasin autou, poiésai krisin kata pantón, kai elegxai pantas tous asebeis, peri pantón tón ergón asebeias auton hón ésebésan kai peri pantón tón sklérón hón elalésan kat' autou hamartóloi asebeis".
Codex Panopolitanus (Greek version): "Hoti erkhetai sun tais muriasin autou, kai tois hagiois autou, poiésai krisin kata pantón, kai apolesei pantas tous asebeis, kai alenxei pasan sarka, peri pantón ergón tés asebeias auton hón ésebésan, kai sklérón hón elalésan logón, kai peri pantón hón katelalesan kat' autou hamartólai asebeis".
Latin version: "Ecce venit cum multis milibus nuntiorum suorum facere iudicium de omnibus et perdere omnes impios et arguere omnem carnem de omnibus factis impiorum quae fecerunt impie et de omnibus verbis impiis quae de Deo locuti sunt peccatores."
I've highlighted in yellow the passage about "censuring all flesh" that is found in the Latin, the Greek, and the original Aramaic, but not in Jude. Interestingly, however, the manuscript tradition of Jude 14-15 is not unanimous. While the Majority Text has no reference to "censuring all flesh" (and thus it is absent in critical editions of the NT), some manuscripts of Jude (namely, P 72 , the Codex Sinaiticus, and the Codex Alexandrinus) do insert kai elegxai pasan psukhén "and censure all souls" where kai alenxei pasan sarka and et arguere omnem carnem appear in the Greek and Latin versions. This suggests either that the text of Jude 14-15 was originally even closer to that of 1 Enoch, or that a later copyist inserted a phrase from his own version of 1 Enoch. The Greek and Latin versions also share with the Aramaic and Ethiopic the correct tense of verb "come" and lack the idiosyncratic insertion of kurios "Lord" in the text of Jude 14. And while the Greek version is at times very close to the wording of Jude 14-15, the divergences suggest that they both represent independent translations from the Aramaic. Thus, it lacks the vocative "Behold!" of Jude 14 (which reflects an underlying Aramaic 'dy or 'dy h') and it has a longer mention of "his myriads and his holy ones" (here Jude is closer to the Aramaic and Ethiopic than the Greek version of 1 Enoch).
Jude also shows his acquaintance with the Aramaic version of 1 Enoch in another way. The Aramaic refers to the "proud and hard words" of the ungodly, whereas all the other versions (including that of Jude) lack the word for "proud" in the quotation and refer only to tón sklérón "hard things" or skléron logón "hard words". And yet the very next verse in Jude makes reference to their "proud words":
"These people are dicontented murmurers, who follow their own desires. Their mouths utter proud things (huperogka) and they show partiality for the sake of gain" (Jude 16).
Moreover, the wording in Jude 15-16 is not only linked to 1 Enoch 1:9 but also to 1 Enoch 5:4 and 27:2 and these passages also are included in the Aramaic copies of 1 Enoch in the Dead Sea Scrolls. For instance, the former text reads: "You speak against him proud and hard things with your unclean mouth" (4QEn a 1:2:13). The resemblance with both Jude 15 and Jude 16 is very strong. Finally, even the introduction to the quotation in Jude 14 has a parallel in 1 Enoch. Jude writes: "And about these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied". Referring to Enoch as the "seventh" from Adam is distinctive, because according to Genesis, he was actually the sixth generation from Adam. However this phrase comes right out of 1 Enoch:
"...the garden of Eden, wherein the elect and the righteous ones dwell, wherein my grandfather [Enoch] was taken, the seventh from Adam (1 Enoch 60:8)"
"And Enoch took up his discourse and said, "I was born the seventh in the first week [of jubilees]" (1 Enoch 93:3).
Again, the relevant phrase is found attested in the Aramaic versions (cf. 4QEng 1:3:23-24 = 93:3). Thus, it isn't just the bare quotation itself that corresponds to the text of 1 Enoch. The phrase that introduces the passage as well as the application of it that the author makes in Jude 16 are both closely linked to other passages in 1 Enoch.
The parallels can thus be summarized as follows:
Jude 14-15: " And about these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, 'Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.' These people are discontented murmurers, who follow their own desires. Their mouths utter proud things. "
1 Enoch 60:8: "...the garden of Eden, wherein the elect and the righteous ones dwell, wherein my grandfather [Enoch] was taken, the seventh from Adam."
1 Enoch 1:9: "Behold, he comes with the myriads of his holy ones to execute judgment on all, and to destroy the wicked, and to convict all flesh for all the wicked deeds that they have done, and the proud and harsh words that wicked sinners spoke against him."
1 Enoch 5:4: "You have not been long-suffering and you have not done the commandments of the Lord, but you have transgressed and spoken proud and harsh words with your unclean mouths against his majesty."
1 Enoch 27:2: "This accursed valley is for those accursed forever; here will gather together all the accursed ones, those who utter with their mouth improper words against the Lord and speak harsh words against his glory."
Thus, the author of Jude shows familiarity with not just the passage in 1 Enoch 1:9 but also with other passages in the same book. As we shall see later, the rest of the epistle of Jude reveals even more familiarity with 1 Enoch.
III. THE SOURCES OF 1 ENOCH 1
The evidence we have seen so far indicates that the author of Jude used 1 Enoch and not some other source for his unususal quotation. This is contrary to the Society's suggestion that the author of Jude did not utilize this "spurious" work in his epistle. However, the Society also suggests that the prophecy recorded by Jude was "a reliable tradition handed down from antiquity" outside the Bible. What of this possibility? Could it be the case that a real-life Enoch said these words, which then were preserved by word-of-mouth for millennia until they were written down as part of 1 Enoch, which then Jude used? Aside from the inherent implausibility of such a scenario (oral tradition tends to distort and embellish, not preverse early traditions intact), the literary evidence is also decisively against it. The first chapter of 1 Enoch is heavily dependent on OT sources which would have been purportedly later than the "real-life" Enoch -- including the pronouncement in 1:9 which is no different than the rest of the chapter in its use of OT materials. There is thus no evidence that the passage in 1:9 originally preceded the composition of 1 Enoch as a piece of authentic antediluvian tradition and was inserted into its current place in the text.
It was very common to use earlier phrases and motifs to compose new narratives and other literary texts. For an excellent illustration of this process, see my post on "Jonah as Fiction," which shows that most of the book of Jonah was composed -- or plagiarized, to use a modern term -- from material drawn from Exodus, 1 Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Psalms, and other books. The same can be shown for 1 Enoch 1. The chapter begins with a superscription and the introduction to the oracle of judgment which is both based on various texts in the Pentateuch:
1 Enoch 1:1-3: "The words of the blessing with which Enoch blessed the righteous chosen who will be present on the day of tribulation, to remove all the enemies; and the righteous will be saved. And he took up his discourse and said, 'Enoch, a righteous man whose eyes were opened by God, who had the vision of the Holy One and of heaven, which he showed me. From the words of the Watchers and the holy ones I heard everything, and as I heard everything from them, I also understood what I saw. Not for this generation do I expound, but concerning one that is distant I speak. And concerning the chosen I speak now, and concerning them I take up my discourse."
Deuteronomy 33:1: "And this is the blessing which which Moses, the man of God, blessed the sons of Israel before his death....The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are his everlasting arms. He will remove your enemy from before you....Blessed are you, O Israel, Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh".
Numbers 24:15: "And he took up his discourse and said, 'The oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, the oracle of a man whose eyes are opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty ..., I see him but not now, I behold him but not near."
The words of Enoch in v. 1-3 can thus be traced to the testament of Moses in Deuteronomy 33 and the oracles of Balaam in Numbers 24. In the popular interpretation of the day, both texts were also thought to refer to events distant from the time of Moses -- which is similar to Enoch prophesying not about those of his own generation but about those at the end of time. Enoch then proceeds with the description of the divine theophany:
1 Enoch 1:3-4: "The Great Holy One will come forth from his dwelling place, and the eternal God will tread from thence upon Mount Sinai".
Deuteronomy 33:2, 27: "Yahweh came from Sinai, and dawned over them from Mount Senir; he shown forth from Mount Paran. He came forth with myriads of holy ones from the south, from the mountain slopes.... The eternal God is your refuge".
Habakkuk 3:3: "God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran".
Micah 1:3: "Look! Yahweh is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth".
Isaiah 26:21: "See, Yahweh is coming out of his dwelling place to punish the people of the earth for their sins".
1 Enoch 1:4-5: "He will shine forth with his army, he will shine forth with his mighty host from the heaven of heavens. All the Watchers will fear and quake, and those who are hiding in all the ends of the earth will sing".
Deuteronomy 10:4, 32:2: "To Yahweh your God belong the heavens and even the heaven of heavens....He shown forth from Mount Paran, he came forth with myriads of holy ones from the south, from the mountain slopes".
Jeremiah 25:31, 50:41: "The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for Yahweh will bring charges against the nations; he will bring judgment on all mankind.... Look! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred from the ends of the earth".
Joel 2:11: "Yahweh thunders at the head of his army; his hosts are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The Day of Yahweh is great and dreadful".
Isaiah 24:16: "From the ends of the earth we hear singing: 'Glory to the Righteous One!' "
1 Enoch 1:6-7: "The high mountains will be shaken and fall and break apart, and the high hills will be made low and melt like wax before a fire. The earth will be wholly rent asunder, and everything on the earth will perish, and there will be judgment on all".
Micah 1:3-4: "The mountains melt beneath him, and the valleys split apart, like wax before a fire, like water rushing down a slope".
Psalm 97:5: "The mountains melt like wax before Yahweh, before the Lord of all the earth".
Nahum 1:5: "The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it".
Isaiah 40:4: "Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low".
Jeremiah 25:31: "The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for Yahweh will bring charges against the nations; he will bring judgment on all mankind".
Almost every detail of the theophany has been derived from one text or another from the OT. Enoch follows his description of the theophany with a blessing on the righteous. This blessing connects back to v. 1, which declares Enoch's prophecy as a "blessing [on] ... the righteous chosen". The blessing is a convenant that God makes with his chosen, and its form is dependent on the Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6 and on other texts:
1 Enoch 1:8: "With the righteous he will make peace, and over the chosen there will be protection, and upon them will be mercy. They will all belong to God, and he will grant them his good pleasure. He will bless them all, and he will help them all. Light will shine upon them, and he will make peace with them"
Numbers 6:24-26: "Yahweh bless you and keep you, Yahweh make his face shine on you and have mercy upon you, Yahweh turn his face to you and give you peace".
Psalm 5:11-12: "Let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name rejoice in you. For surely you bless the righteous, you surround them with your good pleasure as with a shield".
Now we come to the important passage in 1 Enoch 1:9. Instead of being a piece of extraneous oral tradition that has no relation to other OT texts, we find that it likewise was constructed out of material from the OT:
1 Enoch 1:9: "Behold, he comes with the myriads of his holy ones to execute judgment on all, and to destroy the wicked, and to convict all flesh for all the wicked deeds that they have done, and the proud and hard words that wicked sinners spoke against him".
Isaiah 66:15-16: "For behold, Yahweh will come in fire, and his chariots like the stormwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will Yahweh execute judgment, and by his sword against all flesh, and those slain by Yahweh will be many".
Deuteronomy 33:2: "He came forth with myriads of his holy ones from the south".
Jeremiah 25:30-31: "Yahweh will roar from on high, and from his holy habitation utter his voice .... The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for Yahweh has an conviction against all the nations; he is entering in judgment against all flesh, and the wicked he will put to the sword".
Daniel 7:25, 11:36: "He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy ones...He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods".
Not only is the passage constructed the same way as a pastische of OT phrases, but it even depends on the same texts as found elsewhere in ch. 1. Thus, the phrase "he comes with myriads of his holy ones" is certainly suggested by Deuteronomy 33:2, which also supplied the allusion of coming forth to or fro from Mount Sinai in 1 Enoch 1:3-4 as well as the reference to God "shining forth with his army" in 1 Enoch 1:4-5. Moreover, the preceding verse (33:1) served as the model of 1 Enoch 1:1, and 33:27 provided the "eternal God" reference in 1 Enoch 1:3-4. In similar fashion, Jeremiah 25:30-31 furnished the motifs of "convicting" the wicked, and "entering in judgment against all flesh" in 1 Enoch 1:9, but it also supplied the "ends of the earth" in 1 Enoch 1:4-5 and the "judgment against all" in 1 Enoch 1:7. The passage quoted by Jude thus appears to be an integral part of ch. 1 of 1 Enoch and originated in the same process of composition that created the rest of the chapter. Indeed, 1 Enoch 1:9 recapitulates what was already stated in v. 3-7: "The Great Holy One will come forth ... with his army, he will appear with his mighty host ... and everything on earth will perish, and there will be judgment on all". So not only is the quotation in Jude 14-15 most likely derived from 1 Enoch 1:9, but 1 Enoch 1:9 itself appears to have been composed with the rest of 1 Enoch 1 on the basis of OT texts. This means that the prophecy quoted by Jude is later than these texts, and could not be a genuinely ancient "antediluvian" oracle from a real-life Enoch.
IV. USE OF 1 ENOCH ELSEWHERE IN JUDE
What really makes it a certainty that Jude drew on 1 Enoch, and not just one isolated text that happened to closely resemble 1 Enoch 1:9, is the repeated allusion to 1 Enoch throughout the epistle. It isn't just that Jude 14-15 is paralleled by 1 Enoch 1:9. As we have already seen, the reference to Enoch as "seventh from Adam" in Jude 14 is likewise found in 1 Enoch 60:8, 93:3, and Jude 16 is reflected in 1 Enoch 5:4 and 27:2. But there is more.... much more. Below I will examine each verse in turn.
Jude 4: "For certain men whose judgment (krima) was written about long ago (hoi palai progegrammenoi) have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men (asebeis), who change the grace of our God as a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord".1 Enoch 48:8-10: "For on the day of their tribulation and distress they will not save themselves ... for they have denied the Lord of Spirits and his Anointed One".
1 Enoch 81:1-2: "He said to me, 'Enoch, look at the heavenly tablets, read what is written on them, and understand each and every item.' I looked at the heavenly tablets, read everything that was written, and understood everything. I read the book of all the actions of the people and of all humans who will be on the earth for all the generations of the world".
1 Enoch 98:7-8: "Do not suppose to yourself or say in your heart that they do not know and your unrighteous deeds are not seen in heaven, nor are they written down before the Most High. Henceforth know that all your unrighteous deeds are written down day by day until the Day of your judgment".
1 Enoch 106:19-107:1: "I know the mysteries of the Lord that the holy ones have revealed and shown me, and that I have read in the tablets of heaven. And I have seen written in them that generation upon generation will do evil in this way".
1 Enoch 108:6-7: "Here are thrown the spirits of the sinners and blasphemers ... For there are books about them in heaven above, so that the angels may read them and know what will happen to the sinners and the spirits of the humble".
Here the resemblence here is less verbal than conceptual. The first thing to recognize is that Jude is a parenetic writing with frequent catchword associations. Jude 4 has two lexical links with Jude 14-15: krima "judgment" and asebeis "ungodly". This suggests some sort of connection with the divine judgment referred to in 1 Enoch 1:9. This judgment is described as having been "written about long ago", that is, since ancient times, and while this could merely refer to Enoch's general oracle of judgment in 1:9 (which in the logic of 1 Enoch, was written "long ago"), there is a sense of predestination in that "long ago" the ungodly men who will be judged individually on Judgment Day were already "condemned". This sense occurs throughout the latter chapters of 1 Enoch (the so-called "Epistle of Enoch"), which depict Enoch as reading the heavenly tablets (cf. the "book of life" in Daniel 12:1; Revelation 20:12) which have recorded all the deeds of all the generations (81:1-2, 107:1, 108:6-7). As for the "ungodly" ones' denial of Jesus Christ in Jude 4, this is reminiscent of 1 Enoch 48:8-10 (from the "Parables of Enoch," dating to the early first century AD) which refers to the wicked under judgment denying the divine agent of God, the Anointed One. This resemblence however could well be coincidental.
Jude 6: " And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day." 1 Enoch 12:4: "Go and make known to the Watchers of heaven who have abandoned the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women."
1 Enoch 15:3, 7: "For what reason have you abandoned the high, holy, and eternal heaven; and slept with women and defiled yourselves with the daughters of the people....I did not make wives for you, for the proper abode of spiritual beings of heaven is heaven."
1 Enoch 10:4-6: "Go, Raphael, and bind Asael hand and foot and throw him into the darkness....Cover up his face in order that he may not see light, in order that he may be sent into the fire on the great day of judgment."
1 Enoch 10:11-12: "Go, Michael, and bind Shemihazah and the others with him, who have fornicated with the daughters of men, that they will die together with them in all their defilement...Bind them for seventy generations underneath the rocks of the ground until the day of their judgment and consummation, until the eternal judgment is concluded".
This striking passage in Jude about the sin of the angels is reminiscent of Genesis 6, but it contains features absent in the OT. It specifies that the angels "abandoned their proper abode," and more importantly, it mentions the imprisonment of these angels as a prelude of their judgment on Judgment Day. In both respects, Jude 6 is clearly dependent on the wording of 1 Enoch. First of all, the verse says that the angels "did not keep their own domain (arkhén)". This word arkhén refers to a "postion of heavenly power and sphere of domination which the angels exercised over the world", and recalls the role of angels in establishing order in the cosmos. See 1 Enoch 20:1-8, 74:1-9, 82:9-20, and Jubilees 2:2, 5:6 which describe how the angels are responsible for the movements of the sun, moon, stars, rain, snow, and so forth. 1 Corinthians 15:24, Ephesians 1:21, and other texts also refer to Dominions along with Thrones and Principalities as the heavenly powers made subject to Christ, and arkhai refers to a class of angels in Testament of Levi 3:8, 2 Enoch 20:1, and other texts. Papias of Hierapolis (c. AD 140) also shows dependence on this Enochic conception: "The angels God gave dominion (arkhein) over the earth, and ordered them to rule as well. But their order (taxin) came to nothing (cited by Andrew of Caesarea)".
Instead of keeping to their appointed "dominion", Jude 6 states that they "abandoned their own abode (apolipontas to idion oikétérion)". The Greek translation of 1 Enoch uses the same word apoleipó "abandon" to refer to the actions of the angels: "You have abandoned (apelipete) the high, holy and eternal heaven" (1 Enoch 15:3). Several verses later, we find a word related to oikétérion as the proper abode of the angels: "The spirits of heaven, in heaven is their abode (hé katoikésis autón)" (1 Enoch 15:7; Greek version). Next the author of Jude mentions the imprisonment of the angels. The language is again strongly reminiscent of 1 Enoch: "He has kept [them] in eternal bonds in the black darkness (desmois aidiois hupo zophon tetéréken) until the judgment of the great day (eis krisin megalés hémeras)". Compare with 1 Enoch 10:4-6: "Bind (déson) Asael hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness (skotos) ... and cover him with darkness and let him dwell there forever (eis tous aiónas)....in order that he may be sent into the fire on the great day of judgment (en téi hémerai tés megalés tés kriseós)". Here the verb déson "bind" is related to the noun desmois "bounds, chains" in Jude 6, a reference to darkness occurs in both (skotos, the more intense zophos), a reference to the imprisonment being everlasting (aidiois in Jude, eis tous aionas in Greek 1 Enoch), and a striking reference to "the judgment of the great day" (containing krisis "judgment," megalas "great", hémeras "day" in both Jude and 1 Enoch 10:6).
One interesting feature in this verse is the juxtaposition between desmois "chains" and hupo zophon "under black darkness". Although zophos does not occur in 1 Enoch 10 in the extant Greek translation, the word does occur in 1 Enoch 17:2 which refers to the "place of black darkness" (zophódé topon) in the netherworld, where the gloom of "the great darkness" (tou megalou skotous) is found (17:6). What is interesting is that hupo zophon "under black darkness" commonly occurs in Greek poetry to refer to the underworld (cf. Homer, Iliad 21.56, Odyssey 11.57, 155, 20.356; Aschyleus, Pers. 839, and so forth), and it occurs with desmois in Hesiod to refer to the fate of the Titans:
"[They] overshadowed the Titans with their missiles, and buried them beneath the wide-pathed earth, and bound them in bitter chains (desmoisin) when they had conquered them by their strength for all their great spirit, as far beneath the earth to Tartarus.... There by the counsel of Zeus who drives the clouds, the Titan gods (theoi Titénes) are hidden under black darkness (hupo zophó), in a dank place where the ends of the huge earth meet" (Hesiod, Theogony 715-730).
It is generally thought that 1 Enoch is dependent on Greek cosmology and borrows motifs from the the legend of the Titans. But Jude appears to also reflect Hesiod more directly in using the phrase hupo zophon with desmois. The epistle of 2 Peter, which incorporates most of Jude into its ch. 2, pushes this even further by referring directly to the prison of the angels as "Tartarus" -- the same place where the Titans were imprisoned according to Hesiod. As for 1 Enoch, there are also direct allusions to the desmois "chains, fetters" of the fallen angels, with language strongly reminiscent of Jude 6: "It has been decreed to bind you (désai humas) in chains (en tois desmois) in the earth for all the days of eternity (eis pasas tas geneas tou aiónos)" (1 Enoch 14:5; cf. 'l kwl ywmy '[lm'] in the Aramaic version of this passage, 4QEn c 1:6:15). Cf. also 1 Enoch 54:3-6 which refers to the "iron chains of immeasurable weight" that "are being prepared for the host of Asael" and on Judgment Day, "Michael and Raphael and Gabriel and Phanuel will take hold of them on that great day, and throw them on that day into the burning furnace". Statements in Jubilees and 2 Enoch are also reminiscent of Jude 6:
"They were bound in the depths of the earth forever, until the day of the great condemnation" (Jubilees 5:10).
"They ... are imprisoned in great darkness ... And that is why God judged them with a great judgment; and they mourn their brothers, and they will be punished at the great day of the Lord" (2 Enoch 18:4-6).
One last word to consider is térein "to keep", which is another of Jude's catchwords, which occurs in varying forms in Jude 1, 6, 13, and 21. His interest in using this word throughout the epistle explains why Jude refers to the angels being "kept in chains" rather than "bound" (e.g. the verbal form), as they are described in 1 Enoch 10. The author is making a catchword contrast in Jude 6 between the actions of the angels and their fate: Because they did not keep their proper domain, they are now kept under judgment. On the other hand, there is an interesting link between Jude's use of térein and the reference to the Watchers in the Testament of Reuben 5:5: "For every woman who schemes in these ways is kept for eternal punishment (eis kolasin tou aiónos tétéretai), for it was thus that they charmed the Watchers, who were before the Flood". Jude 6 thus shows close dependence on 1 Enoch, which possible ties as well to other Jewish pseudepigraphal writings and Hesiod.
Jude 7: " Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh (heteras sarkos, "different flesh"), and exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire." 1 Enoch 106:5-12, 14: "I have begotten a strange son: He is not like an ordinary human being, but he looks like the children of the angels of heaven to me; his form is different , and he is not like us....The angels] united themselves with women and commit sin together with them; and they have married wives from among them, and begotten children by them, upon the earth they give birth to giants, not of the spirit but of the flesh, and there shall be a great punishment on the earth."
1 Enoch 27:2-3, 100:4-9, 103:7-8: "This accursed valley [e.g. Gehenna] is for those accursed forever ; here will gather together all those accursed ones, those who speak with their mouths unbecoming words against the Lord and utter hard words concerning his glory. Here shall they be gathered together, and here shall be their judgment, in the last days. There will be upon them the spectacle of the righteous judgment, in the presence of the righteous forever....There was produced from that bronze and fire a smell of sulfur which blended with those waters. This valley of the perversive angels shall continue to burn punitively underneath that ground....The Most High will arise on that day of judgment in order to execute a great judgment upon all the sinners...Woe unto you sinners, when you oppress the righteous ones, in the day of hard anguish, and burn them with fire! You shall be recompensed according to your deeds. On account of the deeds of your wicked ones, in blazing fires worse than fire it shall burn ....You yourselves know that they will bring your souls down to Sheol and they shall experience evil and great tribulation--in darkness, nets, and burning flame. Your souls shall enter into the great judgment; it shall be a great judgment in all the generations of the world."
The example of Sodom and Gomorrah in Jude 7 directly follows that of the angels that sinned in v. 6, and is directly compared with it via hós "just as". Although the known text of 1 Enoch does not allude to the example of Sodom and Gomorrah, another Enochic book did -- most likely an early version of 2 Enoch (which refers to Sodom in 10:4). Such a work is alluded to in the Testament of Naphtali which compares the punishment of the Watchers and Sodom in a fashion very reminiscent of Jude 7: "Do not become like Sodom, which departed from nature's order (enéllaxe taxin phuseós autés). In the same way also the Watchers departed from nature's order; the Lord pronounced a curse on them at the Flood. On their account he ordered that the earth be without dweller or produce. I say these things, my children, because I have read in the writing of the holy Enoch that you will also stray from the Lord" (Testament of Naphtali 3:4-4:1). Compare with Jude 6-7: "And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh". The two examples are similar because they involve a departure from "nature's order". The allusion to Sodom in 2 Enoch 10:4 is also connected to Jude 7 in another way:
"They showed me there a very frightful place; and all kinds of torture and torment are in that place, cruel darkness and lightless gloom. And there is no light there, and a black fire blazes up perpetually, with a river of fire that comes over the whole place... This place, Enoch, has been prepared for those who practice on the earth the sin which is against nature, which is sexual perversion in the manner of Sodom" (2 Enoch 10:1-4).
Here is a description of "punishment" of Sodomites (those who sinned "against nature," cf. Testament of Naphtali's "depated from nature's order") involving "perpetual fire" (cf. Jude's "eternal fire"). The wording in Jude 7 might also reflect other non-canonical sources. The author states that Sodom and Gomorrah "are exhibited as an example" (prokeintai deigma)". What he means is that a "sample" (deigma) of "punishment by eternal fire" is presently being "exhibited" (present tense, prokeintai). Josephus (Bellum Judaicum, 4.483) also mentioned that in present-day area where Sodom once existed "vestiges of the divine fire" can still be seen there, and Philo (Vita Mos. 2.56) similarly noted that "even to this day the visible tokens of the indescribable disaster are pointed out: ruins, cinders, brimstone, smoke, and murky flames which continue to rise from the ground as from a fire still smouldering beneath". Both of these fits conceptually with Jude's reference to Sodom and Gomorrah as being "exhibited" as an example of the "eternal fire". Moreover, 1 Enoch 67:4-13 associates the Dead Sea region, with its volcanic features, with the subterranean burning of the fallen angels, and they are eternally burned with fire: "The more their flesh is burnt, the more a change takes place in their spirits, forever and ever ... for judgment will come upon them because they believe in the lust in their flesh". The overall concept in Jude 7 however is closer to that of 3 Maccabees (dating to the first century BC), which mentions the same three examples of Jude 5-7 (the Watchers/giants, Sodom, Egypt) and describes Sodom as a paradeigma "example" for future generations:
"You destroyed men for their wicked deeds in the past, among them the giants relying on their own strength and self-confidence, upon whom you brought an immeasurable flood of water. When the inhabitants of Sodom acted insolently and became notorious for their crimes, you burned them up with fire and brimestone and made them an example (paradeigma) to later generations. You tested the proud Pharaoh, who enslaved your holy people Israel, with many different punishments" (3 Maccabees 2:4-5).
As for the specific phrase "eternal fire" (puros aióniou) this was common in the period as a reference to the punitive fires following Judgment Day, and can be found in 4 Maccabees 12:12, Testament of Zebulon 10:3, 3 Baruch 4:16, etc. A similar concept occurs in 1 Enoch 27 about the "accursed valley" of Gehenna; the fires there burn "with a smell of sulphur" those who would be detained there "forever", and various passages in the "Epistle of Enoch" (such as 1 Enoch 100:4-9, 103:7-8) also describe the fiery everlasting punishment of the impious. The allusion to "punishment by eternal fire" is certainly to the same concept of everlasting punishment by fire that is a frequent feature of 1 Enoch.
Another important link with Jude 7 appears in 1 Enoch 106. The author of Jude compares the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah with the sin of the angels because both "went after strange flesh (heteras sarkos)". "Strange flesh" does not imply homosexual relations because in that case the flesh is not "different" (heteras); rather, it refers to a perversion of going after "different kinds" of flesh. In the case of the angels, they lusted after human flesh; in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, humans lusted after angel flesh. The description of the birth of Noah in 1 Enoch 106 contains similar language. The baby Noah was described as "not like human beings, but like the sons of the angels of heaven. His form is strange (alloioteros), not like us. His eyes are like the rays of the sun, and glorious is his face. I think he is not from me (ek mou), but from the angels" (106:5-6). The same story appears in 1QapGen 2:1 wherein Lamech fears that his son was actually sired by the angels and thus was one of the Nephilim. Alloioteros "different, strange" is used in 1 Enoch 106:5 like heteras in Jude 7 to refer to the different nature of the angels compared to humans -- and not unlike the "sexual immorality" involving angels alluded to in Jude 6-7, Lamech alludes to angel-human miscengeny: "They have married wives from among them, and begotten children by them, upon the earth they give birth to giants, not of the spirit but of the flesh, and there shall be a great punishment on the earth" (v. 14). In similar manner, Jude 7 refers to those who went after "different flesh" in "sexual immorality" who will face "the punishment" of eternal fire.
Jude 7 thus shows links not only with 1 Enoch but also with other Enochic pseudepigrapha (2 Enoch, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs) and possibly 3 Maccabees tho the similarity of the latter may be through the use of similar parenetic materials.
Jude 8: "Yet in the same manner [e.g. as the fallen angels and those who committed immorality with them, and those who lusted after angels in Sodom and Gomorrah] these men, on the strength of their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authorities, and slander the [angelic] glories."1 Enoch 9:6-8: "You have seen what Asael has done, who has taught all iniquity on the earth ... and what Shemihazah has done to whom you have authority to rule over them who are with him. They have gone to the daughters of men of earth, and they lay with them, and have defiled themselves with the women and have revealed to them all sins".
1 Enoch 15:3-4: "For what reason have you abandoned the high, holy, and eternal heaven; and slept with women and defiled yourselves with the daughters of the people, taking wives, acting like the children of the earth, and begetting giant sons? Surely you used to be holy, spiritual, the living ones, possessing eternal life; but now you have defiled yourselves with women, and with the blood of the flesh had begotten children."
1 Enoch 27:2: "Here will be gathered all the accursed, who utter with their mouth an improper word against the Lord and speak hard things against his glory".
1 Enoch 99:3, 7-8: "Present your petitions as a reminder, offer them as a testimony before the angels, that they may bring in the sins of the unrighteous before the Most High...Those who worship phantoms and demons and abominations and evil spirits and all errors ... will be led astray by the folly of their hearts, and their eyes will be blinded by the fear of their hearts, and through the visions of their dreams"
Here Jude mentions four activities that are characteristic of the "ungodly": (1) they are influenced by their "dreams," (2) they "defile the flesh," (3) they "reject authority", and (4) they "slander the glories". Each of these activities have correspondences in 1 Enoch. The first one is especially reminiscent of 1 Enoch 99:8. The ungodly are presented as worshipping demons (in 1 Enoch, the progeny of the fallen angels) instead of properly offering their petitions "as a testimony before the angels". Their insult against the angels due to "the visions of their dreams". The second activity, of "defiling the flesh" (sarka men miainousin), recalls the sin between the angels and the women, and indeed miainó "defile" occurs several times in the Greek translation of 1 Enoch. The closest connection with Jude 8 is 1 Enoch 15:3-4 which states that the Watchers "defiled themselves (emianthéte) with women," with their flesh (sarkos) and blood. Similar expressions also occur in 1 Enoch 9:6-8, and note also the reference to the Sodomites in Jubilees 16:5 who were said to "defile themselves and commit fornication in their flesh".
The latter two activities mentioned by the author of Jude is "reviling authorities" (kuriothéta de athétousin) and "slandering glories" (doxas blasphémousin). The same two texts mentioning the angels' defiling themselves with women also mention their rejection of God's authority. Thus the angels "abandoned the high, holy, eternal heaven," turning away from God who "has the authority to rule over them (hói tén exousian edókas arkhein)" (1 Enoch 9:6, 15:3). The reference to "rejecting authorities (kuriothéta) and slandering (blasphémousin) the glories (doxas)" also has a close kinship with 1 Enoch 27:2 which describes those gathered together into Gehenna as those "who utter with their mouth an improper word against the Lord (kata kuriou) and speak hard things (skléra lalésousin) against his glory (tés doxés autou)" (cf. Jude 24, "his glory" tés doxés autou). The correspondence between kuriothéta and kurios, between "slandering" and "saying hard words," and between doxas and tes doxes autou is quite striking. Moreover, both kuriothétes and doxai refer to classes of angels; cf. kuriothétes in 2 Enoch 20:1; Colossians 1:16, Ephesians 1:21 and doxai in 2 Enoch 22:7,10 and Ascension of Isaiah 9:32 (see also nkbdym in 1QH 10:8). Jude seems to likening the way the Watchers insulted and reviled God and his glory with the way the "ungodly" continue to revile and insult his angels. This fits very well with the polemic in 1 Enoch 99 against the ungodly "dreamers" who instead of petitioning the angels in godly faith worship demons. The thread of thought from v. 7 also continues here, for the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis specifically referred to humans who tried to abuse angels.
Jude 9 is not dependent on any part of 1 Enoch; instead the allusion is clearly to either the Assumption of Moses or the Testament of Moses.
Jude 10: "But these people slander whatever they do not understand, while by the things they do understand, instinctively like unreasoning animals, they are destroyed".1 Enoch 1:9: "Look, he comes with the myraids of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to destroy all the wicked, and to convict all flesh for all the wicked deeds that they have done, and the proud and hard words that wicked sinners spoke against him".
1 Enoch 14:2-3: "In this vision I saw in my dream what I now speak with a human tongue and with the breath of my mouth, which the Great One has given to humans, to speak with them and to understand with the heart. As he created and destined humans to understand the words of knowledge, so he created and destined me to reprimand the Watchers, the sons of heaven".
1 Enoch 27:2: "Here will be gathered all the accursed, who utter with their mouth an improper word against the Lord and speak hard things against his glory".
1 Enoch 99:8-10: "They shall become wicked on account of the folly of their hearts ... they shall be instantly destroyed. In those days blessed are those who accept the words of wisdom and understand them, so they may follow the path of the Most High; they shall walk in the path of righteousness and not become wicked with the wicked".
In Jude 10, the author repeats the charge of "slander" which he made in v. 8 and would repeat again in the quote from 1 Enoch 1:9 in v. 15. The reference to these slanderers being "destroyed, corrupted" (phtheirontai) by judgment is also similar to the reference to the slanderers and sinners being "destroyed" in 1 Enoch 1:9 (apolesei, elegxai), and 1 Enoch 99:8-10 which claims that the wicked "on account of their folly" would be "instantly destroyed". The linkage between destruction and "lack of understanding" also occurs in this passage, whereby the righteous are contrasted with the sinners because they "accept the words of wisdom and understand them". Moreover, 1 Enoch 14:2-3 mentions that humans were created "to understand the words of knowledge," which contrasts with the "unreasoning animals" of Jude 10 who "do not understand" what they slander. Thus, Enoch, who "understands the words of knowledge" is said to "speak with a human tongue" (1 Enoch 14:2). The author of Jude may also still be thinking of the example of the Sodomites in this verse, who did not recognize that the men staying with Lot -- whom they desired and tried to abuse -- were really angels. This point is made explicit in the Testament of Asher 7:1: "Sodom which knew not (égnoése) the angels of the Lord, and perished forever".
Jude 11: "Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain, they wandered into Balaam's error for profit, and through the controversy of Korah they perished".1 Enoch 95:4-5: "Woe to you who utter anathemas that you cannot loose; healing will be far from you on account of your sins. Woe to you who repay your neighbor with evil; for you will be repaid according to your deeds".
1 Enoch 98:9, 12, 15 etc.: "Woe to you, fools; for you will be destroyed because of your folly...Woe to you, stiff-necked and hard of heart...Woe to you who love the deeds of iniquity... Woe to those who write lying words of error; they write and lead many astray with their lies".
1 Enoch 99:8, 10: "The sinners ... will be led astray by the folly of their hearts. The wise ... walk in the paths of his righteousness and do not err with the erring, for they will be saved".
1 Enoch 100:7-9: "Woe to you, unrighteous ... Woe to you, hard of heart ... Woe to you, all you sinners, because of the words of your mouth and deeds of your hands".
Jude 11 is a woe oracle that introduces three more OT examples. Woe oracles are found throughout prophetic and wisdom literature (cf. Matthew 24), and so its occurrence in Jude 11 is not necessarily due to influence from 1 Enoch. And yet, the "Epistle of Enoch" (1 Enoch 92-105) is so full of woe oracles that this verse forms yet another parallel between Jude and 1 Enoch. The similarity also extends to the literary form: an epistle written by an authoritative figure (i.e. Enoch, Jude) who gives his admonishment in the form of a woe oracle. One characteristic feature of Jude's woe oracle is the theme of "wandering": the wicked "walk" (eporeuthésan) in the "way" (hodó) of Cain and they go in the "error" (plané, lit. "wandering") of Balaam. The concept is rather close to 1 Enoch 99:8-10 in the "Epistle of Enoch": The sinners "will be led astray by the folly of their hearts ... and the visions of their dreams will led them astray (kataplanésousin) ... [The wise] walk in the paths of his righteousness, and do not err with the erring". Compare with 1 Enoch 98:15: "Woe to those who write lying words and words of error; they write and lead many astray (eplanésan). You yourselves err (planasthe humeis autoi)". The reference to "wandering" and "erring" (cf. plané, eplanésan, kataplanésousin, planasthé) in a woe oracle is particularly reminiscent of 1 Enoch 98 and 99.
Jude 12-13: "They are clouds blown along by the wind without giving rain, autumnal trees bearing no fruit, dead twice over and uprooted, wild waves of the sea casting up the foam of their abominations, wandering stars for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever".1 Enoch 2:1-5:3: "Contemplate all the events of heaven, how the lights in heaven do not change their courses, how each rises and sets in order, each at its proper time, and they do not transgress their own appointed order. Observe the earth, and contemplate the works that take place on it from the beginning until the consummation...Observe the signs of summer and winter. Contemplate the signs of winter, that all the earth is filled with water, and clouds and dew and rain rest upon it. Contemplate and observe how all the trees appear withered and how all their leaves are stripped... Contemplate all the trees, their leaves blossom green them and they cover the trees and bear fruit.... Observe how, in like manner, the sea and the rivers carry out and do not alter their tasks from his commandments".
1 Enoch 17:6-7: "I saw all the great rivers and I arrived at the great river and the great darkness. And I departed for where no human walks. I was the wintry winds of darkness and the gushing of all the waters of the abyss".
1 Enoch 18:14-16: "This place is the ultimate end of heaven and earth: it is the prison house for the stars and the powers of heaven. And the stars which roll over upon the fire, they are the ones which have transgressed the commandments of God from the beginning of their rising because they did not arrive punctually. And he was wroth with them and bound them until the time of the completion of their sin."
1 Enoch 21:6: "These are among the stars of heaven which have transgressed the commandments of God and are bound in this place until the completion of ten million years, according to the number of their sins."
1 Enoch 63:6: "Light has vanished from our presence, and darkness is our dwelling forever and ever".
1 Enoch 80:2-6: "In the days of the sinners the years will grow shorter ... everything on the earth will change and will not appear at their times, the rain will be withheld, and the sky will retain it. At those times, the fruit of the earth will be late and will not grow at its normal time, and the fruit of the trees will be withheld at its proper time. The moon will change its order and will not appear at its proper time ... Many heads of stars will wander from their command and will change their ways and actions and will not appear at the times prescribed for them".
1 Enoch 88:1-3: "He seized that first star that had fallen from heaven, and he bound it by its hands and feet and threw it into an abyss, and that abyss was narrow and deep and desolate and dark...One of those four who had come forth hurled stones from heaven and gathered and took all the great stars, whose organs were like the organs of horses, and bound all of them by their hands and their feet, and threw them into an abyss of the earth".
1 Enoch 101:2-6: "If he closes the windows of heaven, and withholds the dew and the rain from descending because of you, what will you do? Why do you speak with your mouth proud and hard things against his majesty? You will have no peace. Look at the captains who sail the sea! Their ships are shaken by wave and storm ... are not all the sea and all its waters and all its movement the work of the Most High?"
Here we find another striking parallel between Jude and 1 Enoch. In v. 12-13, the author of Jude presents a list of vivid metaphors from nature that are applied to the ungodly. They are drawn from four major sections of the natural world: clouds and the sky, land and trees, the ocean, and the starry heaven. These same features are mentioned in 1 Enoch 2-5 as examples of the natural world that follow God's laws: the stars "rise and set in order and do not transgress their own appointed order (ou parabainousin tén idian taxin)," the seasons bring fruit on trees and clouds with rain at the appointed times, and the seas likewise observe and "carry out" God's commandments. 1 Enoch 80 (in the "Book of Luminaries," the oldest section in 1 Enoch) however describes the disruption of nature that occurs "in the days of the sinners". Interestingly, the phenomena are listed in the same order as in Jude 12-13: (1) "The rain will be withheld, and the sky will retain it" (80:2). Compare with Jude: "They are clouds blown along by the wind without giving rain"; (2) "The fruit of the earth will be late and will not grow at its normal time, and the fruit of the trees will be withheld at its proper time" (80:3). Compare with Jude: "Autumnal trees bearing no fruit"; (3) "Many heads of stars will wander from their command and will change their ways and actions and will not appear at the times prescribed for them" (80:6). Compare with Jude: "Wandering stars for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever". Not only do they occur in the same order, but they are also linked specifically to "sinners" as natural aberrations that occur during "the days of the sinners". This matches Jude's use of these images as metaphors for the "ungodly". As for the image of the wild waves of the sea, this is suggested by 1 Enoch 101:2-6 which mentions the "wave and storm" and "the sea and all its waters and all its movement" in the same passage as the withholding of rain and the ungodly who "speak hard and proud things against [God's] majesty". This latter reference connects with the Enochic material in Jude 14-16, and it is striking that in 1 Enoch 101 the mention of such natural phenomena occurs in close proximity to the reference to those speaking "hard and proud things".
But there is more. The reference to the "wandering stars for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever" has a number of other parallels in 1 Enoch. Note that the language is very much reminiscent to that applied to the fallen angels in v. 6: (1) the stars are being "kept" (tetérétai) (2) in the "black darkness" (zophos tou skotous), (3) "forever" (eis aióna). The similar language suggests that the "stars" are to be likened to the "angels" in v. 6. This is precisely what we find about the stars in 1 Enoch. The angels are described as "fallen stars" that "transgressed the commandments of God ... because they did not rise punctually" (18:14-16), and they are kept in "the prison house for the stars ... until the completion of ten million years" (18:14, 21:6). In 1 Enoch 88:1-3, the binding of the stars is described in language similar to both Jude 6 and 1 Enoch 10 (relating the binding of Asael and Shemihazah): "He seized that first star that had fallen from heaven, and he bound it by its hands and feet and threw it into an abyss, and that abyss was narrow and deep and desolate and dark". Thus Jude 12-13 reveals itself to be dependent on 1 Enoch in several different ways. Note also how the theme of "wandering" in this verse links back to v. 11.
The next two verses of Jude, as noted earlier, contain the direct quotation from 1 Enoch 1:9.
Jude 16: These people are discontented murmurers, who follow their own desires. Their mouths utter proud words and they show partiality for the sake of gain".1 Enoch 5:4: "You have not been long-suffering and you have not done the commandments of the Lord, but you have transgressed and spoken proud and harsh words with your unclean mouths against his majesty".
1 Enoch 27:2: "This accursed valley is for those accursed forever; here will gather together all the accursed ones, those who utter with their mouth improper words against the Lord and speak harsh words against his glory".
1 Enoch 101:2-3: "If he closes the windows of heaven and withholds the dew and rain from descending because of you, what will you do? Why do you speak with your mouth proud and hard things against his majesty?
We have already discussed this passage in connection with Jude 14-15, but it is still worth mentioning this parallel again. The reference to the ungodly as "discontented murmurers" is sandwiched between the direct quote from 1 Enoch 1:9 and the allusion to 1 Enoch 5:4, 27:2, 101:2-3, and pertains to both in referring to those who verbally complain. Most likely, the OT model for the "discontented murmurers" are the Israelites in the wilderness who complained about their plight (cf. Numbers 14; Deuteronomy 1:27; Psalm 95:8, 106:25), especially since Jude had already alluded to the "murmuring" at Kadesh in v. 5. This verse also has verbal parallels with the Testament of Moses, which is the probable source of v. 9, but that is a topic for a later discussion.
There are a few other minor parallels between Jude and 1 Enoch (such as "his glory" in Jude 24 as a periphrasis of "God"; cf. 1 Enoch 27:2, 63:5, 102:3, etc.), but the above should be sufficient to show that Jude 14-15 was not the only point of contact between the epistle and 1 Enoch. Some verses, such as v. 6, 12-13, and 16, are especially striking. The parallels are summarized below:
Jude 4 = 1 Enoch 48:8-10, 81:1-2, 108:6-7
Jude 6 = 1 Enoch 10:4-12, 12:4, 15:3-7
Jude 7 = 1 Enoch 27:2-3, 100:4-9, 103:7-8, 106:5-14; cf. Testament of Naphtali 3:4-5; 2 Enoch 10:1-4
Jude 8 = 1 Enoch 9:6-8, 15:3-4, 27:2, 99:3-8
Jude 10 = 1 Enoch 14:2-3, 27:2, 99:8-10
Jude 11 = 1 Enoch 95:4-5, 98:9-15, 99:8-10, etc.
Jude 12 = 1 Enoch 2:1-5:3, 17:6-7, 18:14-16, 21:6, 63:6, 80:2-6, 88:1-3, 101:2-6
Jude 14-15 = 1 Enoch 1:9, 60:8
Jude 16 = 1 Enoch 5:4, 27:2, 101:2-3
The author of Jude thus betrayed an extensive familiarity with 1 Enoch and it is unreasonable to regard Jude 14-15 as just an isolated parallel due to the use of a "common source". Jude most frequently attested the "Book of Watchers" and the "Epistle of Enoch," but parallels with the "Book of Luminaries" and "The Book of Parables" suggest that Jude also knew these sections of 1 Enoch as well. The "common source" theory of the WTS fails to explain this evidence.
V. USE OF 1 ENOCH BY OTHER EARLY CHRISTIANS
The final piece of evidence concerns the frequent use of 1 Enoch by other early Christians. One reason why Jude was attracted to the text in 1 Enoch 1:9 is that it anticipated the Christian conception of Jesus' parousia. Indeed, Jude has inserted the word kurios "Lord" in v. 14 to refer to the one who comes in judgment -- originally the text referred to God in 1 Enoch but Jude here places Jesus into this role (cf. v. 4, 21, 25, where kurios refers to Jesus). Note how the following NT texts describing Jesus' parousia resemble 1 Enoch 1:9:
1 Enoch 1:9: "Behold, he comes with the myriads of his holy ones to execute judgment on all".Mark 8:38: "The Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels".
Matthew 25:31: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him".
1 Thessalonians 3:13: "May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones".
The language used to describe Christ's parousia in Paul and the Gospels is also closely linked to the "Book of Parables" in 1 Enoch, not in the least in its use of "Son of Man" to refer to God's divine agent, the Anointed One:
1 Enoch 62:5: "Pain shall seize them when they see that Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory." 1 Enoch 69:27: "And he sat on the throne of his glory, and the sum of judgment was given to the Son of Man."Matthew 19:28, 25:31: "When the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel...When the Son of Man comes in glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne of glory in heaven."
1 Enoch 69:27: "And he sat on the throne of his glory, and the sum of judgment was given to the Son of Man."John 5:22: "For not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son."
1 Enoch 38:2 : "Where will the dwelling of the sinners be, and where the resting place of those who denied the name of the Lord of the Spirits! It would have been better for them not to have been born." Matthew 26:24: "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."
1 Enoch 62:3-4: "On the Day of Judgment, all the kings, governors, high officials, and the landlords will see and recognize him -- how he sits on his throne of glory, and righteousness is judged before him, and that no nonsensical talk shall be uttered in his presence. Then pain shall come upon them as on a woman in travail with birth pangs -- when she is giving birth the child enters the mouth of the womb and she suffers from childbearing."1 Thessalonians 5:2-3: "For you yourselves know that the Day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying 'Peace and safety!' then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."
The "Book of Parables" is also paralleled in several unique passages in Colossians about Jesus revealing the mysteries of wisdom hidden from before the ages:
1 Enoch 46:3: "This is the Son of Man, to whom belong righteousness and with whom righteousness dwells. And he will open all the treasures that have been hidden; for the Lord of Spirits has chosen him, and whose lot has the preeminence before the Lord of Spirits in righteousness forever and ever."1 Enoch 48:6-7: "For this purpose he became the Chosen One; he was hidden in the presence of the Lord of Spirits prior to the creation of the world, and for eternity. And he has revealed the wisdom of the Lord of the Spirits to the righteous and the holy ones, for he as preserved the portion of the righteous."1 Enoch 62:7: "For the Son of Man was hidden from the beginning, and the Most High One preserved him in the presence of his power; then he revealed him to the holy and elect ones."Colossians 1:18, 26, 2:3: "He is the head of the body, the church ... so that he himself might come to have preeminence in everything, ... that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations but has now been revealed to the holy ones, ... in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
More wisdom motifs from 1 Enoch can be found throughout John. Of course, the densest cluster of parallels between 1 Enoch and the NT outside of Jude is to be found in Revelation. This is worthy of a post on the subject all to itself, but the following examples are indicative of the impact 1 Enoch made on the author of Revelation (which contains many apocalyptic elements not found in the OT):
1 Enoch 86:1, 3: "And I saw a vision with my own eyes as I was sleeping, and saw the lofty heaven; and as I looked, behold, a star fell down from heaven but managed to rise and eat and be pastured among those cows...I saw many stars descending and casting themselves down from the sky upon that first star." 1 Enoch 88:1-3: "He seized that first star that had fallen from heaven, and he bound it by its hands and feet and threw it into an abyss, and that abyss was narrow and deep and desolate and dark... One of those four who had come forth hurled stones from heaven and gathered and took all the great stars, whose organs were like the organs of horses, and bound all of them by their hands and their feet, and threw them into an abyss of the earth". Revelation 9:1: "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key to the bottomless abyss was given to him."
Revelation 12:4: "And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth."
1 Enoch 18:11: "And I saw a deep abyss with heavenly fire on its pillars; I saw inside them descending pillars of fire that were immeasureable in respect to both altitude and depth."Revelation 9:2: "And he opened the bottomless abyss; and the smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the abyss."
1 Enoch 10:11-14: "Go, Michael, and bind Shemihazah and the others with him, who have fornicated with the daughters of men, that they will die together with them in all their defilement...Bind them for seventy generations underneath the rocks of the ground until the day of their judgment and consummation, until the eternal judgment is concluded...In those days they shall be led off into the abyss of fire, and to the torment and prison in which they shall be confined forever."1 Enoch 88:1-3: "He seized that first star that had fallen from heaven, and he bound it by its hands and feet and threw it into an abyss, and that abyss was narrow and deep and desolate and dark... One of those four who had come forth hurled stones from heaven and gathered and took all the great stars, whose organs were like the organs of horses, and bound all of them by their hands and their feet, and threw them into an abyss of the earth".1 Enoch 90:23-24: "Behold, I saw all of them bound , and they all stood before him. Then his judgment took place. First among the stars, they received their judgment and were found guilty, and they went to the place of condemnation; and they were thrown into the abyss, full of fire and flame and fill of the pillar of fire." Revelation 20:1-3: "And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him."
More parallels include the merkibah description of the heavenly Throne (1 Enoch 14:18-22 = Revelation 4:2-5), the blood that rises up to the horses' mouths (1 Enoch 100:3 = Revelation 14:20), the sword in Jesus' mouth that slays all his enemies (1 Enoch 62:2 = Revelation 19:15), the eternal torment in the lake of fire (1 Enoch 10:12 = Revelation 20:10), the elect eating from the Tree of Life in New Jerusalem (1 Enoch 10:18-19, 25:4-5 = Revelation 22:2, 14), and so forth. The use of 1 Enoch appears to be similar to the use of Ezekiel, Zechariah, and other OT prophetic works in Revelation. The issue is thus not the simple matter of whether the bit of text in Jude 14-15 is a direct quotation from 1 Enoch or some other "common source". When we look from the perspective from the entire NT, it becomes rather clear that many Bible writers were influenced by 1 Enoch, either directly or indirectly. Rather than being an aberration, Jude falls into a more general pattern of early Christian writers of the first century AD being influenced by this "spurious" book.
Nor was Jude the only early Christian writer to quote 1 Enoch directly by name. The anonymous homily called Barnabas (dating to the early second century AD) quoted 1 Enoch three times as "Scripture":
Barnabas 4:3: " The last stumbling block is at hand, concerning which the Scriptures speak, as Enoch says: 'For the Master has cut short the times and the days for this reason, that his Beloved might make haste and come into his inheritance.' "
1 Enoch 80:2: "And in the days of the sinners, the years shall be shortened, and their seed shall be tardy on their lands and fields."
Ezekiel Pseudepigraphon (4Q385:3): "Let the days hasten on fast until all men will say, 'Indeed the days are hastening in order that the children of Israel may inherit.' And the Lord said to me, 'I will not refuse you Ezekiel, behold, I cut short the days and the years."
Barnabas 16:5: " Again, it was revealed that the city and the temple of the people of Israel were destined to be handed over. For the Scripture says: 'And it will happen in the last days that the Lord will hand over the sheep of the pasture and the sheepfold and their watchtower to destruction.' And it happened just as the Lord said ."
1 Enoch 89:54-57: "Thereafter, I saw that, when they abanboned the house of the Lord and his tower, they went astray completely, and their eyes became blindfolded. Then I saw the Lord of the sheep, how he executed much slaughter upon them, in their flocks, until those sheep began to invoke that slaughter, and he vindicated his place. He left them in the hands of the lions, leopards, and wolves, hyenas , as well as in the hands of the foxes and to all the wild beasts; and these wild beasts of the wilderness began to tear these sheep into pieces. I saw how he left that house of theirs and that tower of theirs and cast all of them into the hands of the lions."
Barnabas 16:6: " For it is written: 'And it will come to pass that when the week comes to an end God's temple will be built gloriously in the name of the Lord ."
1 Enoch 90:12-13: "Then after that there shall occur the second eighth week, the week of righteousness....At its completion, they shall acquire great things through their righteousness. A house shall be built for the Great King in glory for evermore."
Barnabas 4:3 alludes to 1 Enoch 80:2 as "Scripture," tho the quotation has been loosely combined with other material related to a prophecy in the Ezekiel Pseudepigraphon. Then Barnabas 16:5-6 quotes two passages from 1 Enoch (cf. 89:54-57 from the "Animal Apocalypse" and 90:12-13 from the "Apocalypse of Weeks"), again as "Scripture" and with the scriptural formula "it is written". These references constitute further evidence that 1 Enoch had scriptural status for many early Christians.
Familiarity with the idea of 1 Enoch -- if not the direct use of the book -- is also detectable in the second-century apologists. Justin Martyr, in his description of the angels' transgression, reveals knowledge of elements found in 1 Enoch: "When God made the entire world and subjected all earthly things to man, and arranged the heavenly elements for the increase of fruits and rotation of the seasons, and appointed his divine order, he committed the care of men and of all things under heaven to angels whom he appointed over them. But the angels transgressed this order (taxis) and were captivated by love of women, and begat children who are those that are called demons. They afterwards subdued the human race to themselves, partly by magical writings, and partly by fears and the punishments they occasioned, and partly by teaching them to offer sacrifices, and incense, and libations." (2 Apology 5.2). The parallels here with 1 Enoch include the angelic operation of nature (cf. 1 Enoch 20:1-8, 74:1-9, 82:9-20), their violation of their taxis (cf. 15:3-7), their teaching of magic to humanity (cf. 1 Enoch 7:1), and the fact that demons are their progeny (cf. 1 Enoch 15:9-16:1). Irenaeus (Adversus Haereses 4.16.2) also reveals knowledge of the Enochic corpus, by stating that Enoch was appointed to "the office of God's legate to the angels though he was a man" (cf. 1 Enoch 12:4-5, 13:4-7, 15:2) and that he "is preserved to this day to be a witness for the just Judgment of God" (cf. 1 Enoch 81:1-2, 98:7-8; Jubilees 4:17-20). Elsewhere, Irenaeus refers to concepts found in the "Book of Watchers":
Irenaeus, Demonstration, 18: "For a very long while wickedness extended and spread, and reached and laid hold upon the whole race of mankind until a very small seed of righteousness remained among them. Then illicit unions took place upon the earth, uniting angels with the daughters of the race of mankind and they bore to them sons with exceeding greatness called giants. And the angels brought as presents to their wives the teachings of wickedness, and taught them the use of roots and herbs, the dyeing of colours and cosmetics, the discovery of rare substances, love potions, love spells and magic, and all sorcery and idolatry hateful to God. It was through these things evil entered and spread into the world, while righteousness was diminished and enfeebled". 1 Enoch 8:1-3, 9:8: "Asael taught men to make swords of iron and weapons and shields and breastplates and every instrument of war. He showed them metals of the earth and how they should work gold to fashion it suitably, and concerning silver, to fashion it for bracelets and ornaments for women. And he showed them concerning antimony and eye paint and all manner of precious stones and dyes. And the sons of men made them for themselves and for their daughers, and they transgressed and led the holy ones astray. And there was much godlessness on the earth, and they made their ways desolate. Shemihazah taught spells and the cutting of roots, Kokabel taught the signs of the stars ... and they all began to reveal mysteries to their wives and children ... They have revealed to them all sins, and have taught them to make hate-inducting charms".
1 Enoch 65:12: "He has preserved your name for the holy ones ... he has preserved your seed of righteousness for kingship and great glory, and from your seed will emerge a fountain of righteous and holy ones without number forever".
Of all the early church fathers, Tertullian made the most explicit use of 1 Enoch and cited it several times as divinely-inspired Scripture. Like Irenaeus, he believed that cosmetics and feminine ornament has their origins in the revelations of the fallen angels: "Those angels who abandoned heaven for the daughters of men ... disclosed certain well-concealed material substances and revealed certain scientific arts, laying bare the operations of metallurgy, divulging the natural properties of herbs and roots, promulgated the powers of spells, and teaching the hidden arts and astrology, while all the while bestowing on their women the radiances of jewels and necklaces, gold bracelets, the dying of wool, and the use of black powder to make the eyelids and eyelashes more prominent" (Tertullian, De Cultu Feminarum, 1.2). In ch. 3 of his homily, Tertullian explicitly identified 1 Enoch as his source and defended it as Scripture:
"I am aware that the Scripture of Enoch, which has described these actions of the angels, is not accepted by some because it is not admitted into the Jewish canon either. I suppose that, since it was published before the Flood, they do not believe that it could have safely survived that worldwide calamity. But if that is the mere reason for rejecting it, let them also recall that Noah, the survivor of the deluge, was the great-grandson of Enoch himself .... Noah therefore, no doubt, would have succeeded Enoch in the trusteeship of his preaching, and ... would have safeguarded or renewed this Scripture, under the inspiration of the Spirit, after it was destroyed by the violence of the Flood, just as Ezra restored every document of Jewish literature after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. But since Enoch in the same Scripture had prophesied likewise concerning the Lord, nothing at all must be rejected by us which pertains to us, since we read that 'every Scripture is inspired of God and is beneficial for teaching'. It now appears that this Scripture has been rejected by the Jews for this very reason, just like all the other parts which speak about Christ. For they have not accepted other Scriptures which describe his life and him speaking in their presence. To these considerations is added the fact that Enoch possesses a testimony in the Apostle Jude" (Tertullian, De Cultu Feminarum, 1.3).
Here Tertullian admits that 1 Enoch has not been admitted into the Hebrew canon, but strenuously defends its authenticity, accuses the Jews for rejecting it because it prophesies of Jesus Christ, notes that Jude has testified as to its authenticity, and even quotes 2 Timothy 3:16 to exhort his readers to follow Enoch's counsel -- indicating that Tertullian had no hestitation about accepting 1 Enoch as divinely-inspired Scripture. At the same time, he also shows that doubts about 1 Enoch had arisen in the Christian community -- which would become the dominant position by the fourth century when Jerome and others argued for accepting only the Hebrew canon as "authoritative". However, in other Christian communities it remained in use, and remains to this day authoritative in the Ethiopian church.
VI. CONCLUSION
Tertullian raises an interesting issue regarding 2 Timothy 3:16. The Society and others frequently cite this verse in support that the Bible is divinely-inspired and inerrant, but it assumes that it refers to our 66-book Bible as being entirely inspired by God. But the author of 2 Timothy does not list his own canon or indicate what he considered scripture to be. In fact, just a few verses before 2 Timothy 3:16, the author alludes to "Jannes and Jambres who defied Moses" (v. 8). These individuals appear nowhere in the OT, but the Book of Jannes and Jambres describing just the sort of thing alluded to in 2 Timothy 3:8 circulated in the first century AD. Moreover, the author of Jude also indicated that he regarded 1 Enoch as divinely inspired. We know this because he used the verb eprophéteusen "prophesied" to introduce his quotation from 1 Enoch 1:9 and prophecy only comes from inspiration by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Peter 1:19-21), as it was generally believed.
So contrary to the Society's claim that "there is no evidence" that Jude had used 1 Enoch, we find that there was overwhelming evidence of such use. The direct quotation in v. 14-15 is derived from 1 Enoch 1:9 (indeed, with features derived from the more Aramaic version), it was introduced with material from 1 Enoch 60:8 and followed in v. 16 by material from 1 Enoch 5:4, 27:2, 101:2-3. The material quoted in v. 14-15, moreover, does not represent a piece of authentic ancient tradition that was independently utilized by the author of the "Book of Watchers" of 1 Enoch; instead, it was created through the same process of OT exegesis that produced the entirety of ch. 1 and even incorporates some of the same OT texts that were used to compose the rest of the chapter. And v. 14-16 of Jude is not the only point of contact with 1 Enoch. Far from it, Enochic influence is rampant throughout the epistle, but especially in v. 6 and 12-13. Neither was Jude only dependent on 1 Enoch. In Jude 9 and elsewhere, we also see that he utilized material from the Testament of Moses (if not the Assumption of Moses).
We now come back to the WTS quotations that I started this essay with. The Society bases its whole argument that Jude was not dependent on 1 Enoch not on any actual evidence but on a presumption that Jude is divinely inspired Scripture and would not have used an uninspired writing. When we look at the actual evidence, we see that it actually challenges this assumption -- which would force the Society to reconsider either its belief about the Bible as inspired Scripture or the status of 1 Enoch as uninspired. Of course, it would not ever dream about changing its position over such a seemingly minor detail, but for thinking minds, it does raise very interesting questions about the Bible and its broader literary context.