Genesis 5:24 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

NIV: Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

NASB: Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

CSB: Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.

NLT: walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.

KJV: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

NKJV: And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

This is one of the most mysterious verses in the Bible. Considering how amazing and unusual this event is, we might have hoped for more details. And yet, every word of the Bible is focused on a particular purpose. In this case, the real purpose is to explain the genealogy from Adam to Noah, through Seth. So far as that is concerned, exactly what happened to Enoch is beside the point.

What we do know is that Enoch "walked with God." In fact, this is such a crucial part of who Enoch was that it's repeated twice: here, and in verse 22. To walk with God means to make a relationship with God part of your everyday lifestyle, to honor God with your choices in every aspect of life. His case is unusual in all of Scripture and, possibly, in all of human history. The only other event which seems similar is when God did something similar to Elijah, who was taken to heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:9–12).

What does it mean that Enoch "was not, for God took him"? Apparently, in response to Enoch's walking with God, God prevented Enoch from dying. God just took him away, instead. Hebrews 11:5 says this: "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God." This life of faith, Hebrews tells us, pleased God so much God prevented Enoch from passing from this life in the normal way.

Genesis 5:1-32 is a bridge of genealogy connecting the time of Adam and his son Seth to the time of Noah. This brings the Bible's historical record to the era of the flood. It provides a small, but helpful set of details: early humans lived a long time, had many children, and all died as a result of ubiquitous human sin. Enoch is the exception that proves the rule, commended for walking with God and seemingly taken away before his physical death. Despite the presence of early God-worshippers such as Adam and Seth, man will quickly descend into extraordinary wickedness, as seen in chapter 6. The coming of Noah at the end of this chapter prepares us for God's response to the sins of humankind.

Chapter 5 uses a simple genealogy of Adam's descendants through Seth to link the earliest humans with the time of Noah and the flood. In the generations after the garden, human beings live extraordinarily long lives, have great numbers of children, and continue to be in relationship with God though separated from Him physically and spiritually. The description of Enoch being ''taken'' by God is the exception that proves the rule: No matter how long a person lives, sin always leads to death.

Genesis 4 ends with the birth of Seth's son Enosh, and a statement that people had begun to call on the Lord's name. Chapter 5 details the generations from Adam through Seth to Noah, connecting the time of Adam and Seth with the time of Noah and his sons as described in chapter 6. This sets the stage for God's judgment of mankind's pervasive sin in the flood.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.