Texts: Genesis 5:18–24; Luke 3:37; Hebrews 11:5; Jude 14–15

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Enoch holds a unique place in biblical history as the earliest identified prophet. Jude 14 explicitly states that "Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these…" making him the earliest figure in Scripture given this title. His prophecy is eschatological, foretelling the Lord's coming in judgment, and predates the prophetic ministries of Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Enoch's prophetic ministry is pre-Flood, establishing him as the foundation of the prophetic tradition.

I. Genealogical Context of Enoch

A. In Genesis

• Genesis 5:18–24
  • Enoch is the seventh from Adam through Seth (Adam → Seth → Enos → Cainan → Mahalaleel → Jared → Enoch). See also Jude 1:14
  • Father: Jared (162 at his birth)
  • Son: Methuselah (Enoch was 65 at his birth)
  • Lived 365 years, comparatively short for his era.
  • "Enoch walked with God" (vv. 22, 24).
• Distinct from Cain's son Enoch (Gen. 4:17).

B. In Luke

• Luke 3:37 — included in the genealogy of Christ:

  "…the son of Methuselah, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared…"

• Confirms his historical place in the Messianic line through Seth.

II. Enoch's Translation

A. Genesis Account

• Genesis 5:24 — “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”
• The phrase “was not” (אֵינֶנּוּ, ʾēnennû) is a Hebrew idiom indicating a sudden or complete removal from ordinary existence. It doesn’t necessarily imply death—it simply marks absence.
• The verb “took” (לָקַח, lāqaḥ) is a common verb meaning “to take, seize, receive.” Its core sense is neutral—it can refer to taking a wife, seizing spoil, or receiving something. However, in certain theological contexts, lāqaḥ develops a specialized nuance: when God is the subject and a person is the object, it often signals a divine taking to Himself, not through normal death.
  • Example: Elijah — “the LORD will take thee away” (2 Kings 2:3, 5, 10–11).
  • It is also used in Psalm 49:15 — “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive (lāqaḥ) me.”
• This pattern suggests that the use of lāqaḥ with God as subject is not incidental but significant: it indicates a divine intervention that removes the person from earthly life, either in translation (Enoch, Elijah) or in eschatological hope (Psalm 49).
• Thus, Genesis 5:24 portrays more than disappearance—it points to a theologically loaded act in which God appropriates Enoch into His presence apart from ordinary death.