Why Isn’t the Book of Enoch in the Bible?

Maybe you heard about it in a YouTube video or a late-night Google search: an ancient book about Enoch, fallen angels, and giants that was supposedly “left out of the Bible.” Now you’re wondering: Why isn’t the Book of Enoch in the Bible?

That’s a fair question, and Christians have honest, solid answers. Let’s look at what the book is, why the Bible mentions it, and why God’s people never received it as Scripture.

Who Was Enoch?

Enoch appears in the family line from Adam to Noah, and he is remembered for one remarkable thing:

“Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24, ESV)

Hebrews adds that “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death… Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5, ESV). Because the Bible says so little about him, later writers wanted to fill in the gaps.

What Is the Book of Enoch?

When people say “the Book of Enoch,” they usually mean the book scholars call 1 Enoch. (There are also later books called 2 Enoch and 3 Enoch, which are different works.)

1 Enoch is a collection of several writings put together over a long period, most likely from around the 3rd century BC to the 1st century BC (some scholars date the latest part a bit later). Its main sections are:

• The Book of the Watchers (chapters 1–36): expands on Genesis 6, describing angels (“Watchers”) who sinned with human women and fathered giants.
• The Similitudes, or Parables (chapters 37–71): visions of a coming heavenly judge called the “Son of Man” and the “Elect One.”
• The Astronomical Book (chapters 72–82): the movements of the heavens and a 364-day calendar.
• The Book of Dreams (chapters 83–90): a symbolic history of Israel told with animals.
• The Epistle of Enoch (chapters 91–108): warnings to the wicked and comfort for the righteous.

The complete text survives only in Ge’ez, the ancient language of Ethiopia, with pieces in Greek and Aramaic.

Doesn’t the Bible Quote the Book of Enoch?

Yes, and that’s the main reason people ask. Jude writes:

“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’” (Jude 14–15, ESV)

These words closely match 1 Enoch 1:9. So was Jude saying Enoch belongs in the Bible? No. Quoting a book is not the same as saying the whole book is Scripture. Paul did the same with pagan Greek poets. Preaching in Athens, he said:

“In him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’” (Acts 17:28, ESV)

And writing to Titus, Paul quoted a Cretan writer:

“One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’” (Titus 1:12, ESV)

Paul even adds, “This testimony is true” (Titus 1:13). He affirmed the statement, but no one thinks Greek poetry belongs in the Bible. In the same way, the Holy Spirit led Jude to use a true line his readers knew. That doesn’t make every chapter of 1 Enoch inspired.

Why Didn’t the Jews Include the Book of Enoch?

Jesus said the Old Testament Scriptures were “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44, ESV), and Paul said the Jewish people were entrusted with “the oracles of God” (Romans 3:2, ESV). The Book of Enoch was read in some Jewish circles, but it was never part of the Hebrew Bible, and it isn’t in the Jewish Bible today.

Why Did the Early Church Leave It Out?

The early church wasn’t voting on favorite books; it was recognizing what God had given. Several reasons kept 1 Enoch out:

1. Enoch didn’t write it. Enoch lived before the Flood; 1 Enoch was written in the centuries just before Christ. Borrowing a famous ancient name was common then, but a book that claims an author it doesn’t have can’t be counted as God’s Word.

2. It is too late. Its sections come from long after the Old Testament prophets, and none of it was part of the Scriptures Israel received.

3. Some of its teaching doesn’t fit the rest of Scripture. The Book of the Watchers blames much of the world’s evil on fallen angels who taught humans forbidden things, even saying of the angel Azazel, “to him ascribe all sin” (1 Enoch 10:8). The Bible says plainly that sin entered the world through one man (Romans 5:12). Its fanciful descriptions of giants and heavenly journeys also go well beyond Scripture.

4. It was never widely accepted. Some early Christians valued it. Tertullian, around AD 200, argued it should be received. But most church leaders, including Jerome and Augustine, did not treat it as Scripture.

One church does include it: the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which is why the full text survived in Ethiopia. But that is the exception. Jews, Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants have not accepted it as Scripture.

What About the Dead Sea Scrolls?

In the mid-1900s, Aramaic fragments of 1 Enoch were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran (though not of the Similitudes). They confirm the book is truly ancient and was valued by some Jews of that era.

But ancient isn’t the same as inspired. The Qumran community also kept its own rules and commentaries that no one considers Scripture.

Can Christians Read the Book of Enoch?

Yes, as long as we read it as an ancient religious book, not Scripture. Read wisely, it can:

• Help us understand the world of Jude and Peter (compare Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4).
• Show how Jews before Christ longed for God’s judgment and a coming deliverer.

The rule is simple: test everything by the Bible. Where 1 Enoch agrees with Scripture, appreciate it as a historical witness. Where it adds to or contradicts Scripture, set it aside. And be cautious of anyone who says a “lost book” holds secret truths the Bible keeps from you.

Is the Bible Enough?

Here’s the good news: you don’t need a hidden book to know God.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV)

The Bible tells us everything we need to know about who God is, what’s wrong with us, and how we can be saved. Enoch walked with God, and the Bible shows how we can too: through Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again.

If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, please don’t put it off. Walk through the Romans Road, a simple path through Romans that explains the gospel. And if you’re unsure where you stand with God, read Are You Ready to Die?. The most important book isn’t one that was left out. It’s the one God gave us, and it points to Jesus.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.