Book of Moses Evidence: Enoch’s Vision by the Sea East

When Enoch was asked by Mahijah to explain who he was and where he came from, he explained the following:

I came out from the land of Cainan, the land of my fathers, a land of righteousness unto this day. And my father taught me in all the ways of God. And it came to pass, as I journeyed from the land of Cainan, by the sea east, I beheld a vision; and lo, the heavens I saw, and the Lord spake with me, and gave me commandment; wherefore, for this cause, to keep the commandment, I speak forth these words. (Moses 6:41–42)1

This establishes that Enoch had a visionary encounter by a body of water in an eastern locale. The account of the fallen Watchers in the book of 1 Enoch likewise describes Enoch as having a vision near a body of water in an eastern region:

And I went and sat down upon the waters of Dan—in Dan which is on the southwest of Hermon—and I read their memorial prayers until I fell asleep. And behold a dream came to me and visions fell upon me, and I saw a vision of plagues (so that) I may speak to the children of heaven and reprimand them. (1 Enoch 13:7–8)2

George Nickelsburg describes the waters of Dan as one of “four major streams” that “converge to form the headwaters of the Jordan. Three of them—the Ḥaṣbani, the Dan, and the Hermon—are fed by the snows of Hermon and gush forth 500 million cubic meters (132 billion gallons) per annum of often white and roaring water.”3 Anciently, the Jordan River fed into Lake Huleh before eventually draining into the Sea of Galilee. These bodies of water are situated in the northeastern boundaries of Israel’s ancestral homeland. Josephus, for instance, described the “Upper Galilee” and the “Fountains of Jordan” as belonging to the “eastern parts” of the land which was allotted to the tribe of Naphtali.4

This general area seems to have held deep religious significance to various ancient societies. According to Nickelsburg, “a stunning mass of literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence, stretching from the third millennium B.C.E. to the middle of the first millennium C.E., attests that Canaanites, Israelites, Greek[s], Romans, and Christians treated the area around Hermon as sacred territory.”5 Specifically, the region was associated with “stories of the commissioning” of several biblical figures, in which they received a prophetic calling or divine commission to accomplish a task.6 Enoch’s prophetic commission, recorded in the Book of Watchers (1 Enoch 1–36), thus resonates with the sacred geography of this region. 

Enoch’s journey by the “sea east” in the Book of Moses likewise arises in close proximity to his prophetic calling.7 Concerning the directional symbolism in this context, Jeffrey Bradshaw has pointed out that within the corpus of biblical literature, “eastward movement is repeatedly associated with increasing distance from God. This is consistent with the idea that [Enoch] has left ‘the land of righteousness’ as he goes to preach to the wicked.”8 

The Waters of Dan and the Sea of Galilee

Bradshaw has further proposed that the waters of Dan may be associated with the Sea of Galilee:

The “waters of Dan” in 1 Enoch arguably may be identified with the Sea of Galilee. Although the “sea east” in the biblical text usually refers to the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee (or Kinnereth) is also certainly an “east” sea. See Joshua 12:3; Numbers 34:11–12, where the Sea of Kinnereth is considered the eastern frontier of the Promised Land. In Numbers 13:29, the Canaanites live by this sea.

The Sea of Galilee could probably be called the “waters of Dan,” as it borders on that land. Nearby Mt. Hermon is, of course, where the descent of the Watchers and the ascent of Enoch take place. It was also the site of the Transfiguration, the place marking both Heaven and Sheol. Jewish tradition links Mount Hermon with Jerusalem/Zion (the Jordan was thought to have its source at Mt. Hermon), especially for cultic events like the Yom Kippur liturgy.9

One limitation to this proposal, however, is that the Sea of Galilee, although it is indeed an eastern sea, is not anciently attested as the “waters of Dan.” Nor is it known as the “sea of Dan” or a similar designation. This, of course, does not prove it was never designated as such in ancient times. It simply means the association is conjectural rather than being based on historical precedent. It must also be recognized that the “waters of Dan,” as traditionally understood, are situated approximately two dozen miles north of the Sea of Galilee. Thus, while the two bodies of water are in the same general vicinity according to Israel’s broader geographical profile, they are not immediately adjacent.

Perhaps a better candidate, based purely on geographic proximity, would be Lake Huleh.10 Although the lake was drained in modern times to repurpose the land for agricultural use, it was anciently situated just a dozen miles south of the waters of Dan, thus closing the geographical gap considerably.11 While much smaller and less prominent than the Sea of Galilee, the lake was nevertheless referred to as a “sea” in early Jewish sources.12 However, like the Sea of Galilee, it also is not known to have been designated as the “waters of Dan.”  

The Broader Narrative Context

Recognizing these limitations, some observers may assign this parallel limited evidentiary value. And, indeed, the differences must be appropriately accounted for. Nevertheless, when placed in its broader narrative context, the substance of Bradshaw’s proposal becomes much more enticing. This is because the parallel arises amidst a cluster of other intriguing similarities, each of which is discussed in its own subsection below.

Prophetic Commission

Concerning Enoch’s prophetic commission as outlined in 1 Enoch, Nickelsburg views this event as taking place in 1 Enoch 12:2–13:3.13 The reference to the “waters of Dan” then occurs in 1 Enoch 13:7 (only four verses later), and Nickelsburg specifically proposes a connection between this locale and the events of Enoch’s commission.14

As for the Book of Moses, Enoch’s prophetic commission takes place in Moses 6:26–36.15 The reference to the “sea east” is then given in Moses 6:42 (only six verses later). This reference comes just as Enoch begins to fulfill his commission to preach to the people and, importantly, it mentions the commissioning event itself as taking place at that location. Thus, not only do both Enochic sources mention a body of water in close proximity to Enoch’s commission (textually speaking), but each body of water reasonably provides the specific geographic setting for that commission.  

Journey, Vision and Commission to Speak

The references to the “waters of Dan” and the “sea east” occur within a broader cluster of three additional narrative parallels. In both accounts, Enoch (1) undertakes a journey, (2) beholds a vision, and (3) receives a specific commission to speak the word of the Lord to the wicked.

Enoch’s Divine Gift of Speech

Enoch, as depicted in 1 Enoch 14:3, explains that God has “given me the word of understanding so that I may reprimand the Watchers.” He contextualizes this by describing how speech itself is a gift from God: “I now speak with my tongue of flesh and the breath of the mouth which the Great One has given to man.”16

These details mirror a theme of divinely empowered speech in the Book of Moses, which begins with Enoch complaining that he was “slow of speech” (Moses 6:31).17 In response, the Lord instructed him, “Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance” (Moses 6:32). Moreover, the Lord told Enoch, “all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course” (Moses 6:34). This promise is fulfilled in the next chapter, where “all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him” (Moses 7:13).18 Both texts therefore emphasize Enoch’s divine gift of speech in the context of his prophetic calling.

Descriptions of Wickedness and Divine Judgments

Enoch’s prophetic commission in 1 Enoch 12–13 is surrounded by several descriptions of the wickedness of the Watchers and the judgments pronounced upon them. Comparable passages can be found throughout Moses 6–7.19

A Memorandum and the Book of Remembrance

According to Nickelsburg, “When Enoch has carried out his commission to announce judgment to the fallen watchers, they in turn commission him to intercede for them and their sons.”20 The specific nature of this reverse commission is quite intriguing: “And they asked that I write a memorandum of petition for them, that they might have forgiveness, and that I recite the memorandum of petition for them in the presence of the Lord of heaven” (1 Enoch 13:4–5).21

In effect, they sought a written petition on their behalf—a favorable memorial or what could possibly be termed a “book of remembrance”—rather than a record emphasizing their wickedness. Lest one view this interpretation as a stretch, non-Latter-day Saint scholar George Nickelsburg, in his commentary on this specific passage, explicitly cites the “book of remembrance” from Malachi 3:16 as being plausibly associated with the Watchers’ “petition of memorandum.”22 This is significant because Enoch mentions a “book of remembrance” in Moses 6:46, just a few verses after the reference to the “sea east” in Moses 6:42. It seems quite plausible that this book included divine decrees or pronouncements of judgment upon the wicked.

Fear and Trembling

Another parallel comes from the response of the wicked in each story. In the midst of describing the Watchers’ petition for Enoch to write their memorandum, it is reported that “they were all frightened, and fear and trembling seized them” (1 Enoch 13:3).23 When Enoch awakens from his dream-vision, he travels to where all the Watchers were assembled, but he finds them “sitting and weeping” and “covering their faces” (1 Enoch 13:9).24 As summarized by Nibley, “What caused them to tremble most of all was that Enoch produced a special book as a witness against them.”25 Likewise, in the Book of Moses, the people who assembled to hear the words of Enoch immediately “trembled, and could not stand in his presence” after he mentioned the “book of remembrance” (Moses 6:46–47).

Conclusion

When viewed in isolation, the correspondence between a “sea east” and the “waters of Dan” may seem rather trivial. While both bodies of water can legitimately be viewed as having eastward significance, they technically belong to different geographical categories: a network of streams versus an actual sea. Moreover, nothing in the Book of Moses explicitly associates Enoch’s activities with the region of Dan. If this surface-level resemblance were the sum and substance of the connection, it would admittedly be underwhelming. But there is much more to the story.

Latter-day Saints naturally assume that the core traditions preserved in the Book of Moses significantly predate Israel’s conquest and settlement of Canaan. So there isn’t a need to assume a one-to-one geographical correspondence in the first place. Nor does the Book of Moses itself provide any clear indication that its events transpired in what would later become known as the land of Israel. One possibility, therefore, is that as earlier Enochic traditions were transmitted and eventually circulated among Jewish authors (such as those who composed 1 Enoch), certain details were adapted to fit more familiar religious and geographical settings.

Such modifications were commonplace in ancient literary traditions, especially when inherited narratives were retold for new audiences. It is therefore not implausible that an early tradition associating Enoch’s vision with a body of water in an eastward setting might eventually have been localized near the waters of Dan, a site of religious and geographical significance in later Jewish tradition. Indeed, variations of this general kind are well attested throughout the surviving corpus of Enochic literature.26

Nevertheless, the mere possibility of such an adaptation does little, by itself, to establish a meaningful textual relationship. For a proposed correspondence of this kind to become persuasive, it generally needs to be supported by a broader network of parallel elements. Fortunately, this is precisely what one encounters when the relevant passages in the Book of Moses and 1 Enoch are compared.

It is not simply that both accounts mention a body of water in an eastward setting. It is that they share a series of additional narrative features in close textual proximity with this detail. These include (1) a journey, (2) a prophetic call formula, (3) a heavenly vision, (4) a commission to preach to the wicked, (5) an emphasis on speech as a divine gift, (6) several parallel descriptions of impending judgments and punishments, (7) records associated with the theme of remembrance, and (8) an audience that responds with fear or distress in response to a revelatory book. Perhaps most important of all, these elements all center upon the very same biblical figure in each text, namely Enoch.

To be sure, differences remain between these accounts, and not every parallel holds the same evidentiary strength. Nevertheless, their cumulative strength is impressive, especially when factors such as specificity, contextual relationships, proximate clustering, and occasional shared sequence are considered.

In light of this analysis, one potential explanation is that Joseph Smith had access to 1 Enoch and subsequently produced his own creative adaptation of the story. While technically possible, given Richard Laurence’s publication of an English translation in 1821, a number of factors cast significant doubt on this hypothesis.27 The notion that Smith encountered some type of brief summary or notice of Laurence’s work seems more plausible, but such limited exposure would hardly suffice to explain this detailed array of parallel elements.28 Ultimately, in the absence of a satisfying naturalistic explanation for the cumulative weight of these correspondences, Enoch’s vision by the “sea east” provides meaningful evidence in support of Joseph Smith’s prophetic claims.