The New Testament book of Jude directly quotes from the Book of Enoch, while also mentioning 'angels' that didn't remain in their proper place and who were chained in "gloomy darkness" as a consequence, just as the earlier Book of Enoch described in great detail.
Date: 1st Century AD
Author: Jude (traditionally)
Interpretation: Angel
Short Excerpt: And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day - just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire.
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 that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
Jude: 6-7, 14-15
2 Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical work thought to have been composed in the late first century CE or early second century CE, following the fall of the Temple in CE 70.
The book claims that the writer is the biblical Baruch - scribe to the prophet Jeremiah. But 2 Baruch is not considered scripture by most Jewish or Christian groups.
Chapter 56 of 2 Baruch mentions the angels that descended and ‘mingled with women’ in a vision describing the history of the world. However, there is no mention of giants or progeny from this angelic descent in 2 Baruch.
Date: C 100 AD
Author: Unknown
Interpretation: Angel
Short Excerpt: For he [Adam] became a danger to his own soul: even to the angels For, moreover, at that time when he was created, they enjoyed liberty.
And became he a danger some of them descended, and mingled with the women. And then those who did so were tormented in chains.
But the rest of the multitude of the angels, of which there is (no) number, restrained themselves. And those who dwelt on the earth perished together (with them) through the waters of the deluge.
2 Baruch 56:10 - 14
The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. It tells the story of creation, mankind's first sin, Noah's flood and the early history of humanity.
In Genesis 6:1-4, there is a curious passage that mentions the "sons of God" and the "Nephilim". These four short verses have spawned millennia of speculation and controversy.
Date: Min. 6th Century BC (Traditionally dated older)
Author: Moses (traditionally)
Interpretation: Debated
Location: Israel
Short Excerpt: When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them.
These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
Genesis 6:1-4
Philo of Alexandria was a Jewish philosopher and writer who lived in Alexandria, Egypt during the time of Christ.
In two of his writings, Philo relates the Genesis 6:1-4 story. However he focuses on the perceived symbolism of the story, making it debatable as to his exact thoughts on the original event.
Date: C. 20 BC - 50 AD
Author: Philo of Alexandria
Interpretation: Angel
Location: Alexandria, Egypt
Short Excerpt: Question: On what principle it was that giants were born of angels and women? (Ge 6:4).
Answer: The poets call those men who were born out of the earth giants, that is to say, sons of the Earth.
But he [Moses] relates that these giants were sprung from a combined procreation of two natures, namely, from angels and mortal women; for the substance of angels is spiritual; but it occurs every now and then that on emergencies occurring they have imitated the appearance of men, and transformed themselves so as to assume the human shape; as they did on this occasion, when forming connexions with women for the production of giants.
The apostle Peter references imprisoned spirits and disobedient angels in both of his epistles in the New Testament, using the same terms that others used to describe the events of Genesis 6:1-4.
Some have argued that neither of these passages reference Genesis 6: 1-4, however, such an assertation seems untenable when comparing Peter's word choices with the wording used in the Book of Enoch and other books that were well known at the time.
Date: 1st Century
Author: Peter (Traditionally)
Interpretation: Debated
Short Excerpt: 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell [Greek: Tartarus] and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 Peter 2:4-5 (ESV)
Flavius Josephus was a Jewish historian and apologist of the Roman period. He wrote Antiquities of the Jews in about 93 CE, which is regarded as an important work of Jewish history.
In chapter three of this chronological walk through history, Josephus briefly but clearly lays out his understanding that the sons of God were angels, without hinting that any controversy about this interpretation existed at his time.
Date: 93 AD
Author: Flavius Josephus
Interpretation: Angel
Location: Roman Empire
Short Excerpt: Now this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and to have an entire regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers...
For many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants.
But Noah was very uneasy at what they did; and being displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to change their dispositions and their acts for the better: but seeing they did not yield to him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, he was afraid they would kill him, together with his wife and children, and those they had married; so he departed out of that land.
Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 3
The Book of Enoch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical text. It is not considered part of the canon of the Hebrew or Christian Bibles (with some exceptions). The text details the sins of the angelic 'Watchers' who took wives and bore giant offspring that became the scourge of the pre-flood world. The book also includes a collection of apocalyptic visions, featuring revelations about the end of the world and the judgment of the dead. It is thought to have been written in the second century BCE, and had a noticeable impact on Jewish and Christian thought.
Date: C. 200 BC
Author: Unknown
Interpretation: Angel
Location: Found in Qumran
Short Excerpt: And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.'...
And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants.
And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants... Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind.
The Damascus document is a curious text that sums up the creed, background and beliefs of a community of Jews who had separated themselves from other Jews who they believed would be judged by God for not staying true to their God and His Torah.
While giving examples from Jewish history of ones who had followed their own hearts instead of following after God’s righteousness, the Damascus document mentions the ‘Guardian Angels’ who fell and their giant sons, who also fell for the same reason.
Date: C. 150 BC
Author: Unknown
Interpretation: Angel
Location: Found at Qumran
Short Excerpt: For many have gone astray by such thoughts, even strong and doughty men of old faltered through them, and still do.
When they went about in their willful heart, the Guardian Angels of Heaven fell and were ensnared by it, for they did not observe the commandments of God.
Their sons, who were as tall as cedars, and whose bodies were as big as mountains, fell by it.
Damascus document 2: 17-18
The Book of Jubilees is a Jewish historical narrative and is quoted or referenced by multiple early church fathers. The author uses the concept of jubilee weeks to organize the story of mankind starting from creation.
As part of that history, the Book of Jubilees tells the story of disobedient angels before Noah’s flood that sinned with women.
Date: C. 150 BC
Author: Unknown
Interpretation: Angel
Location: Found at Qumran
Short Excerpt: ...for in his [Jared's] days the angels of the Lord descended on the earth, those who are named the Watchers, that they should instruct the children of men and that they should do judgment and uprightness on the earth...
And he [Enoch] was moreover with the angels of God these six jubilees of years, and they showed him everything which is on earth and in the heavens, the rule of the sun, and he wrote down everything.
And he testified to the Watchers, who had sinned with the daughters of men; for these had begun to unite themselves, so as to be defiled, with the daughters of men, and Enoch testified against (them) all.
The Book of Giants is a Jewish apocryphal text that expands on the story of the Nephilim, who are mentioned in the Bible. It is thought to have been written in the 2nd or 1st century BCE and is not considered part of the canon of the Hebrew Bible. There exists a later Manichaean version, but the very fragmented Qumran manuscripts are older.
Date: C. 200 BC
Author: Unknown
Interpretation: Angel
Location: Found in Qumran
Short Excerpt: [ . . . ] they knew the secrets of [ . . . ] 3[ . . . si]n was great in the earth [ . . . ] 4[ . . . ] and they killed manY [ . . ] 5[ . . . they begat] giants [ . . . ]
[ . . . ] they defiled [ . . . ] 2[ . . . they begot] giants and monsters [ . . . ] 3[ . . . ] they begot, and, behold, all [the earth was corrupted . . . ] 4[ . . . ] with its blood and by the hand of [ . . . ] 5[giant's] which did not suffice for them and [ . . . ] 6[ . . . ] and they were seeking to devour many [ . . . ] 7[ . . . ] 8[ . . . ] the monsters attacked it.
[ . . . ] flesh [ . . . ] 3al[l . . . ] monsters [ . . . ] will be [ . . . ] 4[ . . . ] they would arise [ . . . ] lacking in true knowledge [ . . . ] because [ . . . ] 5[ . . . ] the earth [grew corrupt . . . ] mighty [ . . . ] 6[ . . . ] they were considering [ . . . ] 7[ . . . ] from the angels upon [ . . . ] 8[ . . . ] in the end it will perish and die [ . . . ] 9[ . . . ] they caused great corruption in the [earth . . . ] [ . . . this did not] suffice to [ . . . ] "they will be [ . . . ]