Why 1 Enoch & Jubilees Are Not Inspired Scripture (PDF Study)

When discussions about the biblical calendar come up, two books are often brought into the conversation: 1 Enoch and Jubilees. But before we allow these writings to determine doctrine (or even use them to determine the biblical calendar) we have to really be able to evaluate whether these books are actually inspired Scripture.

In this extensive study, we will examine the historical, textual, and theological evidence surrounding 1 Enoch and the Book of Jubilees, and explain why these writings should not be given the same authority as the Torah, Prophets, and Writings (the Tanakh/Old Testament).

In this study, we will examine:

--What the history of biblical canonization actually looked like—and why the claim that “Enoch and/or Jubilees was removed from the Bible” is historically problematic

--What first-century contemporary sources say about the recognized Scriptures

--The 22-book Old Testament tradition preserved by writers such as Josephus, Origen, and Cyril of Jerusalem

--Why the presence of a writing among the Dead Sea Scrolls does not automatically make that writing inspired Scripture

--The difference between a book being preserved, respected, quoted, or historically influential vs. being recognized as divine revelation from the Most High

--The claim that Jude & Messiah quoted 1 Enoch, and whether that means the entire book must therefore be inspired

--The detailed manuscript history of 1 Enoch, including the Aramaic fragments discovered at Qumran, the absence of surviving Hebrew manuscripts, and what the Ethiopic translation reveals about the textual traditions preserved in the manuscripts that have survived

--The significant textual problem surrounding 1 Enoch 71 and its identification of Enoch with the “Son of Man”

--The theological implications of 1 Enoch 40:9 and its description of the angel Penu’el as being over repentance and the hope of eternal life

--The Second Temple Period development of angelology, heavenly journeys, cosmic mysteries, and elaborate heavenly hierarchies

--The significance of the term “watchers” and its connection to the linguistic and theological world of Daniel and later Jewish literature

--The historical references within 1 Enoch that point toward a Second Temple Period setting rather than the pre-Flood world of the biblical Enoch

--The heavenly luminaries and the differences between the cosmology of 1 Enoch and the testimony of the Tanakh

--The 364-day calendar presented in 1 Enoch and Jubilees—and why I believe these writings should not be used as the foundation for determining Yahuah’s appointed times

--The Book of Jubilees and its claim to be revelation given to Moses

--Jubilees’ expansion and reinterpretation of biblical history

--Jubilees’ claims concerning Sukkot, Shavuot, Sabbath observance, and fasting

--The tensions between Jubilees and specific commandments found in the Torah

--Jubilees’ treatment of the nations and the descendants of Lot

--Why we should allow the Tanakh to test extra-biblical writings, rather than allowing later writings to become the lens through which we reinterpret the Tanakh

This study is not only an invitation to ask the right questions to evaluate these extra-biblical books...it is an invitation, reminder, and encouragement to slow down, examine the evidence honestly, and most importantly:

Test everything against the Scriptures.

“Test all things; hold fast what is good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21

I pray this study is a blessing to you. This is a digital PDF download only.