Death is one of the evil consequences of human sin, and the genealogical record of the generations from Adam to Noah is characterized by repetition of the word ‘death’ (Genesis 5:5; Genesis 5:8; Genesis 5:11; Genesis 5:14; Genesis 5:17; Genesis 5:20). The case of Enoch, however, was different. He was a man who lived his life in such close fellowship with God that God took him to be with himself without Enoch’s having to die first (Genesis 5:22-24; Hebrews 11:5). In this way God gave hope to the righteous that death’s apparent conquest is not permanent. God has power over it.

Thousands of years later, when Jews were becoming increasingly interested in heaven and the afterlife, there was much interest in Enoch. During the last centuries of the era before Christ, people wrote books in his name, and the New Testament quotes one of these as containing a prophecy from Enoch (Judges 1:14-15).

The only other person named Enoch in the Bible also belonged to the earliest period of biblical history. He was a son of Cain, but the Bible says little about him (Genesis 4:17-18).