Boys · Hebrew · Old Testament · uncommon · Primeval / Antediluvian
Enoch
/EE-nok/
חֲנוֹךְ
"Dedicated; initiated; experienced"
Genesis 5:18
RolePatriarch; the man who walked with God and did not die
Etymology
From 'chanakh' (חָנַךְ), meaning to dedicate, to inaugurate, or to train up. The same root gives us Hanukkah (dedication).
Who they were
Enoch is one of the most mysterious figures in the Bible. In the relentless rhythm of Genesis 5 — 'he lived... and he died... he lived... and he died' — Enoch's entry breaks the pattern. 'Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.' He did not die. In a chapter about death, he is the exception. He lived 365 years — short by antediluvian standards (his son Methuselah lived 969) — but his life is defined not by its length but by its quality: he walked with God. Hebrews 11 adds that 'he was commended as one who pleased God' and 'by faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death.' Only one other biblical figure shares this distinction: Elijah, taken in a chariot of fire. Enoch's name — dedicated — describes exactly what he was.
Family
- Father
- Jared
- Children
- Methuselah
Character qualities
- Life defined by divine intimacy
- Exception to the rule of death
Key verse
Genesis 5:24
Where they appear
Themes
Variants & related forms
Enok · Hanoch
Read their story
Enoch's story begins in Genesis.
The full passage is at Genesis 5:18. Any modern translation will do — the NLT and NIV are the most readable; the ESV and NKJV stay close to the wording the church has used for centuries.
Find a Bible to read it in →