What Scripture says
Jude writes: “It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness’” (Jude 14–15, ESV). This closely matches 1 Enoch 1:9.
Jude also mentions the archangel Michael disputing with the devil over the body of Moses (Jude 9), a story not found in the Old Testament. Early Christian writers said it came from a Jewish work called the Assumption of Moses.
Paul also quotes non-biblical writers, several times:
- In Athens, he quotes Greek poets: “In him we live and move and have our being” (probably Epimenides) and “For we are indeed his offspring” (from Aratus’s poem Phaenomena) (Acts 17:28).
- He quotes the Cretan poet Epimenides: “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons,” and adds, “This testimony is true” (Titus 1:12–13).
- He quotes the playwright Menander: “Bad company ruins good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33).
What the evidence says
Context
Quoting isn’t endorsing a whole book
When Paul quotes pagan poets, no one concludes their poems belong in the Bible. He uses lines his audience knows, because those lines express something true. He even says of Epimenides, “This testimony is true” (Titus 1:13), yet the church never added Epimenides to Scripture.
Jude does something similar. He writes to readers who knew 1 Enoch well, and he uses one passage because it makes his point about coming judgment on false teachers. He affirms that this prophecy was true. He doesn’t say the whole book is Scripture.
How New Testament writers cite Scripture
New Testament writers usually introduce Scripture with formulas like “it is written” (Matthew 4:4), “the Scripture says” (Romans 4:3) or “as the Holy Spirit says” (Hebrews 3:7). Jude doesn’t use any of these for Enoch. He says Enoch “prophesied”, which could reflect the book’s own framing, or Jude’s belief that this particular prophecy was genuine.
Did Jude think Enoch himself spoke these words?
Interpreters differ:
- Jude believed the prophecy came from Enoch, preserved by tradition and written down later. On this view, the Spirit led Jude to affirm one true prophecy without endorsing the rest of the book.
- Jude used the book’s own framing, the way we might say “as Hamlet says” without thinking Hamlet was real. His readers valued the book, so he met them where they were.
Either way, Jude affirms a prophecy, not a book.
Scripture
Jude draws on Jewish traditions throughout his short letter: angels who “did not stay within their own position” (Jude 6, echoing the Watchers of 1 Enoch), Michael and the body of Moses (Jude 9), Cain, Balaam and Korah (Jude 11). Peter’s parallel passage in 2 Peter 2 covers similar ground but doesn’t quote Enoch, which some see as deliberate caution.
History
Early Christians drew different conclusions from Jude’s quotation:
- Tertullian (c. 200) argued that Jude’s quote gave 1 Enoch authority.
- Others went the opposite way: Jerome reports that some doubted Jude itself because it quoted Enoch, and Jude was one of the books that took longer to be accepted everywhere.
- The eventual consensus accepted Jude and rejected 1 Enoch, which shows the church distinguished between quoting a source and endorsing it.
| What is quoted | Source | Is the source Scripture? |
|---|---|---|
| Jude: “Behold, the Lord comes…” | 1 Enoch 1:9 | No (except in Ethiopia) |
| Jude: Michael and the body of Moses | Assumption of Moses | No |
| Paul: “In him we live and move…” | Greek poets | No |
| Paul: “Cretans are always liars” | Epimenides | No |
Where they meet
Whatever Jude thought of the book as a whole, the Holy Spirit led him to affirm one true prophecy from it. That confirms the prophecy, not the book. The early church recognized this distinction, which is why Jude was accepted into the canon while 1 Enoch was not.
What’s still open
- Whether Jude believed Enoch himself spoke these words, or was using the book’s own framing.
- How much other Enochic tradition shaped Jude and 2 Peter.
Bottom line
Quoting isn’t endorsing a whole book. Paul quotes pagan poets (Acts 17:28, Titus 1:12), and Jude affirms that one prophecy was true. That principle is clear from the New Testament’s own practice, so this is rated Settled.