Enoch: Its History and Role in New Testament Understanding

Introduction Second Temple Judaism was the context in which the New Testament texts were penned, and studying the non-canonical Jewish literature produced during this era can help bring greater understanding to those texts.1 Richard Bauckham strongly suggests that “Only someone who understands early Judaism for its own sake will be able to use Jewish texts appropriately and accurately in the interpretation of the New Testament.”2 At the same time, Jews who become more acquainted with the literature of the Second Temple period may find the New Covenant Scriptures more familiar than they ma