Troublesome TopicDATING THE BOOK OF ENOCH

The writing of the Book of Enoch appears to have occurred during the Hellenistic period of Judaism (3rd century BC to 3rd century AD). Britannica.com/topic/First-Book-of-Enoch.)

It is obvious to all that I Enoch is a compilation of several separate works. Its oldest portion is the “Apocalypse of Weeks,” was written shortly before the Maccabean uprising of 167 BC against the Seleucids. Other sections, especially those dealing with astronomical and cosmological speculations, are difficult to date. http://From Britannica.com/topic/First-Book-of-Enoch.

1 Enoch was written in Hebrew or Aramaic, then translated to Greek, then translated from the Greek to Ethiopic. It is the Ethiopic version that is the only complete extant version in remaining today. About 1/5 of 1 Enoch was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Because of its views on messianism, celibacy, and the fate of the soul after death, parts of I Enoch may have originated with, or been influenced by, the Essene community of Jews at Qumrān. Britannica.com/topic/First-Book-of-Enoch

No fragments of the longest portion of the work (chapters 37–71, the Book of Parables), however, were found among the Qumrān writings. This has led scholars to theorize that this section was perhaps written in the 2nd century AD by a Jewish Christian who wished to imbue his own eschatological speculations with the authority of Enoch, and added his work to four older apocryphal Enoch writings. Britannica.com/topic/First-Book-of-Enoch

Most Qumran fragments are relatively early, with none written from the last period of the Qumranic experience. Thus, it is probable that the Qumran community gradually lost interest in the Book of Enoch.

Just because it was found at Qumran does not mean the Essenes of Qumran considered it Scripture. They had a library that included many things, and they kept everything they collected. Here is what Matt Slick says about it, “We don’t have to consider every calendar, commentary, songbook, community regulation, or historical document unearthed at Qumran to be part of the Bible. Even the ancient Jews living there didn’t consider every document there to be Scripture.” http://From Matt Slick at: https://carm.org/bible-general/is-the-book-of-enoch-scripture-since-it-was-found-among-the-dead-sea-scrolls/

In summary, what we call 1 Enoch was converted from oral tradition to a written form over a period of 5 or 6 hundred years, spreading from before to after the time of Jesus. Parts of it were found at Qumran but that in itself does not prove its authenticity or reliability.

The next lesson in this series is PROBLEMS WITH THE ENOCHIC INTERPRETATION OF THE NEPHILIM.