Forefather Forefather Enoch

Enoch was the seventh patriarch from Adam through Seth, son of Jared and father of Methuselah. He is named directly in Christ's genealogy in Luke 3:37. Genesis 5:21–24 describes him briefly but remarkably: "Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." He is the only Old Testament figure besides the prophet Elijah taken bodily into heaven without dying — a sign of exceptional righteousness amid the growing wickedness before the Flood.

Hebrews 11:5 holds him up as an example of faith: "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death." The Epistle of Jude (1:14–15) quotes words attributed to Enoch prophesying God's coming judgment. The non-canonical Book of Enoch describing his heavenly visions was never accepted into Scripture. In Orthodox tradition he belongs among the forefathers, depicted in the forefathers' tier of the iconostasis; he has no individual feast day, being commemorated with all the forefathers on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers.