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Selected Verse: Hebrews 11:5 - King James
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Heb 11:5 |
King James |
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Faith was the ground of his pleasing God; and his pleasing God was the ground of his translation.
translated-- (Gen 5:22, Gen 5:24). Implying a sudden removal (the same Greek as in Gal 1:6) from mortality without death to immortality: such a CHANGE as shall pass over the living at Christ's coming (Co1 15:51-52).
had this testimony--namely of Scripture; the Greek perfect implies that this testimony continues still: "he has been testified of."
pleased God--The Scripture testimony virtually expresses that he pleased God, namely, "Enoch walked with God." The Septuagint translates the Hebrew for "walked with God," Gen 6:9, pleased God. |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
By faith Enoch was translated - The account of Enoch is found in Gen 5:21-24. It is very brief, and is this, that "Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him." There is no particular mention of his "faith," and the apostle attributes this to him, as in the case of Abel, either because it was involved in the very nature of piety, or because the fact was communicated to him by direct revelation. In the account in Genesis, there is nothing inconsistent with the belief that Enoch was characterized by eminent faith, but it is rather implied in the expression, "he walked with God." Compare Co2 5:7. It may also be implied in what is said by the apostle Jude Jde 1:14-15, that "he prophesied, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints," etc. From this it would appear that he was a preacher: that he predicted the coming of the Lord to judgment, and that he lived in the firm belief of what was to occur in future times. Moses does not say expressly that Enoch was translated. He says "he was not, for God took him." The expression "he was not," means he was no more among people; or he was removed from the earth. "This" language would be applicable to any method by which he was removed, whether by dying, or by being translated. A similar expression respecting Romulus occurs in Livy (i. 16), Nec deinde in terris Romulus fuit. The translation of the Septuagint on this part of the verse in Genesis is, οὐχ εὑρίσκετο ouch heurisketo - "was not found;" that is, he disappeared. The authority for what the apostle says here, that he "was translated," is found in the other phrase in Genesis, "God took him." The reasons which led to the statement that he was transported without seeing death, or that show that this is a fair conclusion from the words in Genesis, are such, as these:
(1) There is no mention made of his death, and in this respect the account of Enoch stands by itself. It is, except in this case, the uniform custom of Moses to mention the age and the death of the individuals whose biography he records, and in many cases this is about all that is said of them. But in regard to Enoch there is this remarkable exception that no record is made of his death - showing that there was something unusual in the manner of his removal from the world.
(2) the Hebrew word used by Moses, found in such a connection, is one which would rather suggest the idea that he had been taken in some extraordinary manner from the world. That word - לקח laaqach - means "to take" - with the idea of taking "to oneself." Thus, Gen 8:20, "Noah took of all beasts and offered a burnt-offering." Thus, it is often used in the sense of "taking a wife" - that is, to oneself Gen 4:19; Gen 6:2; Gen 12:19; Gen 19:14; and then it is used in the sense of "taking away;" Gen 14:12; Gen 27:35; Job 1:21; Job 12:20; Psa 31:13; Jer 15:15. The word, therefore, would naturally suggest the idea that he had been taken by God to himself, or had been removed in an extraordinary manner from the earth. This is confirmed by the fact that the word is not used anywhere in the Scriptures to denote a "removal by death," and that in the only other instance in which it (לקח laaqach) is used in relation to a removal from this world, it occurs in the statement respecting the translation of Elijah. "And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel, came forth to Elisha, and said to him, Knowest thou that the Lord "will take away" (לקח laaqach) thy master from thy head today?" Kg2 2:3, Kg2 2:5; compare Heb 11:11. This transaction, where there could be no doubt about the "manner" of the removal, shows in what sense the word is used in Genesis.
(3) it was so understood by the translators of the Septuagint. The apostle has used the same word in this place which is employed by the Seventy in Gen 5:24 - μετατίθημι metatithēmi. This word means to transpose, to put in another place; and then to transport, transfer, translate; Act 7:16; Heb 7:12. It properly expresses the removal to another place, and is the very word which would he used on the supposition that one was taken to heaven without dying.
(4) this interpretation of the passage in Genesis by Paul is in accordance with the uniform interpretation of the Jews. In the Targum of Onkelos it is evidently supposed that Enoch was transported without dying. In that Targum the passage in Gen 5:24 is rendered, "And Enoch walked in the fear of the Lord, and was not, for the Lord did not put him to death" - לּה lo' - 'amiyt yityeh Yahweh. So also in Ecclesiasticus or the Son of Sirach (49:14), "But upon the earth was no man created like Enoch; for he was taken from the earth." These opinions of the Jews and of the early translators, are of value only as showing that the interpretation which Paul has put upon Gen 5:2 is the natural interpretation. It is such as occurs to separate writers, without collusion, and thus shows that this is the meaning most naturally suggested by the passage.
That he should not see death - That is, that he should not experience death, or be made personally acquainted with it. The word "taste" often occurs in the same sense. Heb 2:9, "that he should taste death for every man;" compare Mat 16:28; Mar 9:1; Luk 9:27.
And was not found - Gen 5:24, "And he was not." That is, he was not in the land of the living. Paul retains the word used in the Septuagint.
He had this testimony, that he pleased God - Implied in the declaration in Gen 5:22, that he "walked with God." This denotes a state of friendship between God and him, and of course implies that his conduct was pleasing to God. The apostle appeals here to the sense of the account in Genesis, but does not retain the very "words." The meaning here is not that the testimony respecting Enoch was actually "given" before his translation, but that the testimony relates to his having "pleased God" before he was removed. "Stuart." In regard to this instructive fragment of history, and to the reasons why Enoch was thus removed, we may make the following remarks:
(1) The age in which he lived was undoubtedly one of great wickedness. Enoch is selected as the only one of that generation signalized by eminent piety, and he appears to have spent his life in publicly reproving a sinful generation, and in warning them of the approaching judgment; Jde 1:14-15. The wickedness which ultimately led to the universal deluge seems already to have commenced in the earth, and Enoch, like Noah, his great-grandson, was raised up as a preacher of righteousness to reprove a sinful generation.
(2) it is not improbable that the great truths of religion in that age were extensively denied, and probably among other things the future state, the resurrection, the belief that man would exist in another world, and that it was maintained that death was the end of being - was an eternal sleep. If so, nothing could be better adapted to correct the prevailing evils than the removal of an eminent man, without dying, from the world. His departure would thus confirm the instructions of his life, and his removal, like the death of saints often now, would serve to make an impression which his living instructions would not.
(3) his removal is, in itself, a very important and instructive fact in history. It has occurred in no other instance except that of Elijah; nor has any other living man been transported to heaven except the Lord Jesus. That fact was instructive in a great many respects:
(a) It showed that there was a future state - another world.
(b) It showed that the "body" might exist in that future state - though doubtless so changed as to adapt it to the condition of things there.
(c) It prepared the world to credit the account of the ascension of the Redeemer. If Enoch and Elijah were removed thus without dying, there was no intrinsic improbability that the Lord Jesus would be removed after having died and risen again.
(d) It furnishes a demonstration of the doctrine that the saints will exist hereafter, which meets all the arguments of the sceptic and the infidel. One single "fact" overturns all the mere "speculations" of philosophy, and renders nugatory all the objections of the sceptic. The infidel argues against the truth of the resurrection and of the future state from the "difficulties" attending the doctrine. A single case of one who has been raised up from the dead, or who has been removed to heaven, annihilates all such arguments - for how can supposed difficulties destroy a well-authenticated "fact?"
(e) It is an encouragement to piety. It shows that God regards his friends; that their fidelity and holy living please him; and that "in the midst of eminent wickedness and a scoffing world it is possible so to live as to please God." The conduct of this holy man, therefore, is an encouragement to us to do our duty though we stand alone; and to defend the truth though all who live with us upon the earth deny and deride it.
(4) the removal of Enoch shows that the same thing would be "possible" in the case of every saint. God could do it in other cases, as well as in his, with equal ease. That his friends, therefore, are suffered to remain on the earth; that they linger on in enfeebled health, or are crushed by calamity, or are stricken down by the pestilence as others are, is not because God "could" not remove them as Enoch was without dying, but because there is some important "reason" why they should remain and linger, and suffer, and die. Among those reasons may be such as the following:
(a) The regular operation of the laws of nature as now constituted, require it. Vegetables die; the inhabitants of the deep die; the fowls that fly in the air, and the beasts that roam over hills and plains die; and man, by his sins, is brought under the operation of this great universal law. It would be "possible" indeed for God to save his people from this law, but it would require the interposition of continued "miracles," and it is better to have the laws of nature regularly operating, than to have them constantly set aside by divine interposition.
(b) The power of religion is now better illustrated in the way in which the saints are actually removed from the earth, than it would be if they were all transported. Its power is now seen in its enabling us to overcome the dread of death, and in its supporting us in the pains and sorrows of the departing hour. It is a good thing to discipline the soul so that it will not fear to die; it shows how superior religion is to all the forms of philosophy, that it enables the believer to look calmly forward to his own certain approaching death It is an important matter to keep this up from age to age, and to show to each generation that religion can overcome the natural apprehension of the most fearful calamity which befalls a creature - death: and can make man calm in the prospect of lying beneath the clods of the valley, cold, dark, alone, to moulder back to his native dust.
(c) The death of the Christian does good. It preaches to the living. The calm resignation; the peace; the triumph of the dying believer, is a constant admonition to a thoughtless and wicked world. The deathbed of the Christian proclaims the mercy of God from generation to generation, and there is not a dying saint who may not, and who probably does not do great good in the closing hours of his earthly being.
(d) It may be added that the present arrangement falls in with the general laws of religion that we are to be influenced by faith, not by sight. If all Christians were removed like Enoch, it would be an argument for the truth of religion addressed constantly to the senses. But this is not the way in which the evidence of the truth of religion is proposed to man. It is submitted to his understanding, his conscience, his heart; and in this there is of design a broad distinction between religion and other things. Men act in other matters under the influence of the senses; it is designed that in religion they shall act under the influence of higher and nobler considerations, and that they shall be influenced not solely by a reference to what is passing before their eyes, but to the things which are not seen. |
Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
Enoch
Gen 5:21-24. Comp. Sir. 44:16; 49:14; Wisd. 4:10.
Was translated (μετετέθη)
The verb used of Enoch's translation, lxx, Gen 5:24. In Act 7:16 of the transporting of the remains of Jacob and his sons to Sychem. In Gal 1:6, of the sudden change in the religious attitude of the Galatians. In Heb 7:12, of the change in the priesthood.
That he should not see death (τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν θάνατον)
This may signify the purpose of his translation, but probably refers to the result. He was translated so that he did not see death. Comp. Mat 21:32; Act 7:19; Rom 7:3.
Was not found because God had translated him (οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο διότι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεός)
Cited from lxx, Gen 5:24. For had translated rend. translated.
He had this testimony (μεμαρτύρηται)
Rev properly preserves the force of the perfect tense, "he hath had witness born to him." The testimony still stands on record.
That he pleased God
Rend. hath pleased. Comp. lxx, Gen 5:22, Gen 5:24. Faith was exhibited by Enoch in walking with God (comp. A.V. Gen 5:22, "walked with God," and lxx, εὐαρέστησε pleased God). Faith creates close personal relation. |
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
Enoch was not any longer found among men, though perhaps they sought for him as they did for Elijah, Kg2 2:17. He had this testimony - From God in his own conscience. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
By faith Enoch was translated - It is said, in Gen 5:24, that Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Here the apostle explains what God's taking him means, by saying that he was translated that he should not see death; from which we learn that he did not die, and that God took him to a state of blessedness without obliging him to pass through death. See his history explained at large in the above place, in Gen 5:22-24. |
9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.
1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.
28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
13 For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
20 He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.
12 And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.
32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.