Texts in Conversation
Genesis says Enoch was taken by God, a mystery that later writings expanded by portraying him as receiving divine wisdom or becoming divine. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos says that God caused Enoch to die, which may reflect a later tradition that rejected the Enochic traditions.
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Genesis 5:24
Hebrew Bible
22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God for 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 The entire lifetime of Enoch was 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared because God took him away. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Onkelos Genesis 5:24
Targum
22 And Hanok walked in the fear of the Lord, after he had begotten Methushelach, three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 23 And all the days of Hanok were three hundred and sixty and five years. 24 And Hanok walked in the fear of the Lord; and he was not; for the Lord took him and put him to death. 25 And Methushelach lived an hundred and eighty and seven years, and begat Lemek. 26 And Methushelach lived after he had begotten Lemek seven hundred and eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters.
Date: 100-200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The material that now appears in the Book of the Watchers is the earliest preserved instance in which Genesis 5:21-24 and 6:1-13 are combined or closely related to one another. And, though the LXX of Genesis 5:21-24 (and of 6:1-13) is much more closely tied to the biblical text, it, too, engages in some reinterpretation ... Of course, the process of reinterpretation continued into the targumim; Targum Onkelos says that God killed Enoch ..."
VanderKam, James C.
From Revelation to Canon: Studies in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism
(p. 307) Brill, 2002
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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