Epistle of Jude - References To Other Books

References To Other Books

The Epistle of Jude references at least two other books, with one being non-canonical in all churches and the other non-canonical in most churches.

Verse 9 refers to a dispute between Michael the Archangel and the devil about the body of Moses. Some interpreters understand this reference to be an allusion to the events described in Zechariah 3:1,2. The classical theologian Origen attributes this reference to the non-canonical Assumption of Moses. According to James Charlesworth, there is no evidence the surviving book of this name ever contained any such content. Others believe it to be in the lost ending of the book.

Verses 14-15 contains a direct quote of a prophecy from 1En.1:9. The title "Enoch, the seventh from Adam" is also sourced from 1En.60:1. Most commentators assume that this indicates that Jude accepts the antediluvian patriarch Enoch as the author of the Book of Enoch which contains the same quotation. However an alternative explanation is that Jude quotes the Book of Enoch aware that verses 14-15 are in fact an expansion of the words of Moses from Deuteronomy 33:2. This is supported by Jude's unusual Greek statement that "Enoch the Seventh from Adam prophesied to the false teachers, not "concerning" them.

The Book of Enoch is not considered canonical by most churches, although it is by the Ethiopian Orthodox church. According to Western scholars the older sections of the Book of Enoch (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) date from about 300 BC and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably was composed at the end of 1st century BC. It is generally accepted by scholars that the author of the Epistle of Jude was familiar with the Book of Enoch and was influenced by it in thought and diction. Jude 1:14-15 quotes 1Enoch 1:9 which is part of the pseudepigrapha and is also part of the Dead Sea Scrolls ) COL I 16-18].