In reading the book of Jude, I discovered this: Jude 1:14    Enoch, the seventh of our ancestors after Adam, spoke of these people in advance, saying: “Behold, the Lord is coming with millions of angels”

There are two questions to ask in this text: 1-Do you think Enoch is seventh in the Genealogy after Adam? I don’t think so.    2- Why does it mention a non-canonized book that is the subject of much debate today? Bible critics believe that the Bible is not really inspired and that men choose the books they want to form the Bible.

This is a fairly common question.  On the first question, the generations (toledoth in Hebrew) are, according to Genesis 5  Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalel, Jared, and Enoch, making Enoch the seventh generation.  This is what the book of Jude says.  Seth is the second generation, and Enoch is the seventh.  This is a straightforward answer.  I am not sure what translation you are using, but the word you have as “after” can be translated as from or of, allowing for Jude 14 to be accurate.

The second question is a bit harder to give a definitive answer to.  First of all, although Jude quotes from 1 Enoch, it is not clear that he is using it as an inspired book.  He simply said that in the book of 1 Enoch such and such is stated. This is not the only example of a biblical author quoting from a non-canonical book (see below).  Is 1 Enoch an inspired letter which, for some reason, was not included in the Hebrew Bible?  The answer is that it may have been inspired, as its lack of inclusion in the Hebrew canon does not absolutely prove that it is not inspired.  However, it is my opinion, from reading 1 Enoch that it most likely is not inspired.  In other words, I believe that Jude is giving his stamp of inspired approval to the one quote, but not necessarily to all of 1 Enoch.   We cannot be sure, simply from his use of this one short passage that Jude (or God) considers the entire book of 1 Enoch to be inspired prophecy.  I am sure that many prophets made many inspired prophecies which were not included in the Bible.  We have none of the prophecies of Elijah or Elisha in the Old Testament.  Surely they made many.  Therefore, it is possible (but not proved) that 1 Enoch is inspired but not canonical.

It is my opinion (and this is just my opinion, so take it for what it is worth), that Jude is quoting from Enoch to make a point. He chose 1 Enoch, not because it was inspired, but because it was a book which was very familiar to a Jewish audience.  To me, it is like this:  Jude is saying, “like it is said in 1 Enoch,…”   I am not convinced that the fact Jude quotes 1 Enoch proves that the original was inspired.  This was a cultural and spiritual literary work which Jude used to make a point.  As I already said, to me it is possible, but in my opinion, not likely that 1 Enoch is an inspired text.  What we can be sure of is that Jude, in its entirety, is inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16).

To give context, Paul quoted from the pagan philosopher Aretas in Acts 17:28.  Surely Aretas was not an inspired writer, but what he said (referring to the little quote made by Paul) was true, which allowed Paul to quote him.  The same may be the case with 1 Enoch.  In fact, this is my opinion about the situation, but I will admit that it is not absolutely clear.

I apologize for not having a definitive answer. To summarize, it is possible that:

1. 1 Enoch is an inspired book but was not included in the canon.

2. 1 Enoch is not an inspired book, but Jude chose to use it, and the little quote he uses is true.

3. Jude is simply using a well-known fable from Jewish literature to make a point about end-times, but not giving it any validity other than as an example they could relate to.

Of course, I am well aware that 1 Enoch is the subject of much debate today. People, including skeptics, love a good debate, and they love controversy.  However, what is not in doubt is that “All Scripture is inspired by God.”  Whether 1 Enoch is inspired, I personally strongly doubt it, but this has no real impact on the inspired canonical Word of God, which is “sufficient for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:17)

John Oakes