Book of Moses Evidence: Wordplay on Enoch

Enoch and Learning

The very first thing readers learn about Enoch in the Book of Moses is that his father “taught Enoch in all the ways of God” (Moses 6:21). Later, when Enoch introduced himself to the people, he repeated this same detail: “And my father taught me in all the ways of God” (Moses 6:41). That this description turns up in both introductory statements may be significant, considering that wordplay in biblical texts often arises at or near the introduction of a new name.1 In this case, a very enticing possibility immediately presents itself. According to Jeffrey Bradshaw,

Enoch (Henoch or Hanoch, Hebrew ḥănôk) sounds identical to the Hebrew passive participle of the verbal root ḥnk, “train up” “dedicate.” Thus, for a Hebrew speaker, the name ḥănôk/Enoch would evoke “trained up” or “initiated”—bringing to mind not only the general role of a teacher, but also the idea of someone who was both a temple initiate and an initiator of others.2

In the Book of Moses, Enoch fulfills both roles. After establishing his own righteous pedigree and religious education, he went forth to preach repentance unto the people, according to the commission revealed to him by the Lord (Moses 6:27).3 His story therefore moves naturally from being instructed to instructing others—from learner to teacher, or, in Hugh Nibley’s memorable formulation, from “the great initiate” to “the great initiator.”4

With this in mind, it is interesting that Enoch’s unique knowledge is also regularly mentioned in extrabiblical sources. Summarizing the diverse body of literature on this subject, John Reeves and Annette Reed write,

The type of wisdom (Aramaic חכמא) or knowledge frequently associated with the name of Enoch and his cross-cultural avatars embraces a vast reservoir of topics. These include cosmology, cosmography, angelology, magical praxis, computation, annotated inventories of the various objects, places, and sites which comprise both the physical universe and the “supernatural” locales situated “above” and “below” it.5

The association is already prominent in early Jewish works such as 1 Enoch and Jubilees, where Enoch receives heavenly knowledge, reads or records celestial mysteries, writes books, and transmits what he has learned to later generations. Although these and related texts do not directly explain his Hebrew name by appeal to these activities, they strongly reinforce the semantic constellation suggested by ḥănôk.

In the Islamic tradition, authors commonly identify the biblical Enoch with the prophet Idrīs, a name connected to the Arabic root d-r-s, “to study.” Importantly, Muslim authors regularly emphasized that Enoch was called Idrīs because of his exceptional devotion to study:

• “His name in the Torah is Enoch (Akhnūkh), and he was called ‘Idrīs’ due to his constant study (dars) of books, meaning books and wisdom of God. He was the first one who wrote with a pen.”6
• “And God revealed thirty books to Idrīs. … They say he was named ‘Idrīs’ due to the breadth of his study as it pertained to the invocation of God, may He be exalted and praised, and His scripture.”7
• “He was Enoch b. Mahalalel (sic!) b. Qaynān, and he was named ‘Idrīs’ due to his frequent study of the books of Adam and Seth. … He was a diligent devotee (of God).”8
• “The first prophet after Seth was Idrīs, and his name was Enoch b. Yared b. Mahalalel. He was called ‘Idrīs’ due to the multitude of his studies.”9
• “Story of Idrīs the prophet, upon whom be peace! People who know this lore claim that he is (the same as) Enoch b. Yared b. Mahalalel b. Qaynān b. Enosh b. Seth b. Adam. … He received the name ‘Idrīs’ on account of the large number of his scholarly pursuits.”10

These sources do not suggest that the Hebrew name Enoch and the Arabic name Idrīs share a common etymological origin. Such sources do, however, convey how deeply Enoch became associated with learning in the ancient and medieval imagination. In Hebrew, his name naturally evokes the idea of being trained or initiated. In Jewish literature, he becomes the exemplary recipient and transmitter of heavenly knowledge. And in Islamic tradition, authors go so far as to explain his alternate name Idrīs explicitly through his constant study. For further exploration of the development of these themes throughout Moses 6, as well as their extensive parallels in extrabiblical traditions, a separate evidence article has been dedicated to that topic.11

Enoch and Divine Favor/Grace

Some ancient and medieval authors alternatively associated Enoch with the concepts of divine “favor” or “grace.” Philo of Alexandria, for instance, explained that “the name Enoch being interpreted means, thy grace.”12 Elsewhere, Philo speaks of “him … called by the Hebrews ‘Enoch’ but in our language ‘recipient of grace’ (kecharismenos). We are told of him that he proved ‘to be pleasing to God and was not found because God translated/transferred him.’”13

To reach this conclusion, it appears that Philo connected the Hebrew name for Enoch (ḥănôk) with the Hebrew term ḥen (grace, favor), which closely corresponds to the Greek term charis.14 In other words, Philo can be viewed as employing a midrashic etiology that operates on the principle of wordplay rather than strict etymological equivalence. This same Hebrew term (ḥen) is often used in the Hebrew Bible in the context of one individual finding “favor” or “grace” in the eyes of another, as seen in the following examples:15

• “My Lord, if now I have found favour [ḥên] in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.” (Genesis 18:3)
• “And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace [ḥên] in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand.” (Genesis 33:10)
• “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace [ḥên] in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace [ḥên] in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.” (Exodus 33:13)
• “And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour [ḥên] in thy sight?” (Numbers 11:11)
• “Then she said, Let me find favour [ḥên] in thy sight, my lord.” (Ruth 2:13)
• “And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour [ḥên] in my sight.” (1 Samuel 16:22)

Against this background, the very first words spoken by Enoch in the Book of Moses are particularly noteworthy: “Why is it that I have found favor [ḥên?] in thy sight” (Moses 6:31).16 The wording closely matches the standard Hebrew idiom and appears at precisely the sort of introductory moment where name-based wordplay can carry special significance. Viewed from a Hebrew linguistic perspective, interpreting Enoch’s question as reflecting the same ḥănôk–ḥen association articulated by Philo is quite inviting.17

Lest one find this proposal doubtful, an insightful biblical precedent—this time in association with the name of Noah—arises in Genesis 6:8: “Noah [Nōaḥ] found grace [ḥên] in the eyes of the Lord.” Although the key words do not appear to be etymologically related, the Hebrew consonants of Nōaḥ (n-ḥ) and ḥên (ḥ-n) are reversed, creating what many scholars have recognized as a deliberate pun.18 The example is especially instructive because it shows that the Hebrew Bible itself can exploit ḥen in wordplay involving the name of a primeval patriarch.

This becomes even more interesting in Moses 7:42–43, where Enoch and Noah are brought together in a passage involving the Lord’s favor toward and protection of the ark: “And Enoch also saw Noah, and his family; that the posterity of all the sons of Noah should be saved with a temporal salvation; Wherefore Enoch saw that Noah built an ark; and that the Lord smiled upon it.” While this passage does not directly mention grace, it appears to be quoting a statement that famously does—the priestly blessing in Numbers 6:25: “The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious [ḥānan] unto thee.” As demonstrated in a separate evidence article, the idea of God’s face shining upon someone is a Hebrew idiom for smiling.19 Additional support for this association comes from a Jewish text known as Sefer HaYashar:

And Noah [Nōaḥ] prayed ‎fervently, and he cried unto the Lord on account of that trouble, and he said: Oh Lord help us, ‎for there is in us no strength to bear this great evil wherewith thou hast surrounded us; for the ‎wild breakers encircle us, and the whirlpools of the lower regions terrify us and the snares of ‎death are before us. Answer us Lord, oh answer us! Let thy countenance shine upon us and be ‎gracious [ḥānan] unto us, redeem us and save us, oh Lord!20 

The connection is impressive on its own terms, as the Book of Moses appears to allude to the same biblical blessing that Sefer HaYashar places in Noah’s mouth in a very similar flood context. The significance is heightened by the fact that Numbers 6:25 pairs the Lord’s shining countenance with ḥānan (“to be gracious”), a term closely related to ḥen (“favor, grace”). This reinforces the grace-related themes associated with the names of both Enoch and Noah in biblical and extrabiblical texts.

Enoch and Supernal Gifts

Rather than utilizing the term “grace,” some translations of Philo describe Enoch’s name as meaning “gift,”21 which falls within the semantic range of the Greek term charis.22 This association becomes especially interesting when Philo explains the meaning of Enoch’s name in connection with divinely bestowed human faculties:

… and Enoch means “thy gift.” For if man is the measure of all things, all things are a present and gift of the mind. It has bestowed on the eye seeing as a favour, on the ears hearing, on each of the other senses their power of perception, yes and speech on the faculty of thought-utterance.23

The correspondence with Moses 6–7 is quite fascinating. After Enoch asked why he “found favor” in the Lord’s sight and protested that he was “slow of speech,”24 the Lord declared, “Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance” (Moses 6:31–32). This divine gift was later manifested in extraordinary fashion as Enoch moved mountains and turned the course of rivers.25 The text specifically states that “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).26

Turning back to Moses 6, a closely related gift was then bestowed upon Enoch through an anointing ritual. The Lord instructed him, “Anoint thine eyes with clay, and wash them, and thou shalt see.” After doing so, Enoch “beheld the spirits that God had created” and “things which were not visible to the natural eye” (Moses 6:35–36).27 Thus, just as Philo associates Enoch’s name with the gifts of speech and sight, the Book of Moses depicts God as enhancing those same faculties. Taken together, these blessings can be viewed as a kind of endowment that may be relevant to Latter-day Saint temple worship.28

The motif reaches its culmination in Moses 7, where Enoch speaks of a special royal privilege bestowed upon him by God: “thou hast made me, and given unto me a right to thy throne, and not of myself, but through thine own grace [ḥen?]” (Moses 7:59).29 The language is particularly arresting in light of the enthronement imagery in 3 Enoch 10:1, where Enoch-Metatron declares that “the Holy One, blessed be he, made for me a throne like the throne of glory, and he spread over it a coverlet of splendor, brilliance, brightness, beauty, loveliness [ḥen], and grace [ḥesed], like the coverlet of the throne of glory.”30 As can be seen, both texts not only describe Enoch’s enthronement but emphasize that it was a gift or favor bestowed upon him by God himself.  

In summary, the “gift” interpretation of Enoch’s name fits naturally within the broader portrait of Enoch in Moses 6–7. His prophetic speech, spiritual sight, miraculous power, and ultimate enthronement all appear as divine bestowals, creating a sustained narrative pattern that closely parallels the gift-related associations that Philo attached to Enoch’s name.

Dating the Book of Moses

Some readers might assume that the Enoch narrative in Moses 6–7 is a verbatim translation of an original text dating to Enoch’s own pre-flood era of world history. If so, that might pose problems for any proposed Hebrew or Greek linguistic associations since these languages would not have been in existence at that early date. While Latter-day Saints certainly believe Joseph Smith’s Enoch narrative preserves a genuine historical account, that does not mean the final version of the text must strictly date to Enoch’s own time period.

The Book of Moses, in fact, never provides a detailed summary of its own textual history. This leaves plenty of room to assume that the account revealed to Joseph Smith may have been edited, shaped, or redacted by later inspired authors and editors—or that it could have been updated or adapted to some extent during its divine translation into English. Under this type of scenario, the text might simultaneously reflect many authentic details from Enoch’s own time period as well as much later Jewish or even Christian interpretations of the story.31 Naturally, this would render any Hebrew or Greek associations as potentially relevant.

Conclusion

The linguistic proposals explored throughout this article center on two related phenomena: (1) the name Enoch (ḥănôk) evokes the Hebrew root ḥnk, “to train” or “initiate,” and (2) Enoch’s name can be associated through wordplay with the Hebrew term ḥen (favor, grace), and by extension with the Greek term charis (favor, grace, gift). These associations are not merely modern possibilities. Ancient and medieval Jewish, Christian, and Islamic sources independently connect Enoch—his name, his character, or both—with learning, study, initiation, grace, divine gifts, and the reception and transmission of sacred knowledge.

Against that background, the portrayal of Enoch in Moses 6–7 is especially striking, as the text (1) introduces him as one who is taught and then becomes a teacher, (2) places the idiom of finding divine “favor” in his very first recorded words, (3) depicts God as granting him extraordinary gifts of speech and sight, and (4) ultimately presents him as receiving a right to the divine throne through God’s grace. The pattern is further reinforced in Moses 7:42–43, where Enoch and Noah—both names associated through wordplay with grace—appear together beside the image of the Lord “smiling” upon the ark, language that appears to evoke the biblical formula of divine favor and graciousness in Numbers 6:25. Importantly, in several instances these motifs occur at moments of particular narrative and onomastic significance.

Because the Book of Moses does not provide a detailed account of its own textual development, there is no compelling reason to assume that every element of the text must date directly to the antediluvian period. While it seems doctrinally important that the narrative preserves genuine core traditions from that early setting, it may also reflect inspired redactions, expansions, and interpretations from later periods, as well as adaptations associated with its miraculous translation into English.32 The onomastic proposals explored throughout this article provide one reason to take such a layered model of transmission seriously. At the same time, the convergence between the Book of Moses and ancient interpretive traditions surrounding Enoch’s name offers an additional line of evidence for the text’s authenticity and for the revelatory character of its translation.