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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

Book Seven — Cain and Abel

QUESTION III. Into what place Enoch was translated

LatineEnglish

QUESTION III. Into what place Enoch was translated.1

QUAESTIO III. Quem in locum translatus fuerit Henoch.

Verum quaerat aliquis quem in locum translatus fuerit Henoch, et cur eum Deus tam singulari ratione ex hominum consortio et societate subducere, et tam mirabili modo tot annorum millia vivum conservare voluerit. Ad priorem quaestionem ita respondet Chrysostomus homilia 21 in Genesim: Si quis, inquit, curiosius rogare velit quem in locum Deus Henoch transtulerit, aut num usque ad praesens vivat, discat non
But someone may ask into what place Enoch was translated, and why God willed to withdraw him from the fellowship and society of men by so singular a plan, and to preserve him alive so many thousands of years in so wonderful a manner. To the former question Chrysostom answers thus, in homily 21 on Genesis: 'If anyone should wish too curiously to ask into what place God translated Enoch, or whether he lives to the present, let him learn not2
non convenire humanis mentibus curiosius ea quae à Deo fiunt explorare, sed credere his quae dicuntur à Deo. Nam quando Deus aliquid pronuntiat, dictis eius contradicendum non est, sed digna fide habenda sunt, quoniam à Deo pronuntiata sunt, etiam si oculis nostris non videantur. Enimvero Scriptura dixit quòd transtulit illum Deus, et quòd viventem transtulit, et quod mortem ille non sit expertus, sed ob suum quem apud Deum habebat favorem superior factus sit divina sententia contra humanum genus prolata. Quo autem hunc transtulerit et quomodo nunc agat, non adiecit. Sic Chrysostomus.
that it is not fitting for human minds too curiously to search out the things done by God, but to believe the things said by God. For when God pronounces anything, his words are not to be contradicted, but held worthy of faith, since they were pronounced by God, even if they are not seen by our eyes. For truly Scripture said that God translated him, and that he translated him alive, and that he did not experience death, but on account of the favor he had with God was made superior to the divine sentence pronounced against the human race. But into what place he translated him, and how he now fares, it did not add.' Thus Chrysostom.3
In libro Ecclesiastici capite 44, secundùm Latinam interpretationem nostram, scriptum est Henoch fuisse translatum in Paradisum. Dixi secundùm Latinam interpretationem, quia Graecè in eo loco non est illud, In Paradisum; sed ita ferè pervulgatum est creditúrque Henoch et Eliam esse in Paradiso. Rupertus libro 3 Commentariorum in Genesim capite 33 tradit Henoch et Eliam ductos esse in secretam quandam et amoenissimam terrae regionem, ubi in magna carnis et spiritus quiete vivunt, quo usque ad finem mundi redeant et mortis debita solvant. Id quod Rupertus sumpsit ex Beato Gregorio. Sed utrùm Henoch versetur in Paradiso terrestri ex quo Adam eiectus est, necne, tractatum est à nobis suprà in libro 3 de Paradiso, disputatione prima quae est de Loco et situ Paradisi, quaestione 5, qua quaeritur utrum etiam nunc Paradisus existat. Et paulò infrà, tractando quaestionem septimam huius disputationis, enucleatius idem disputabitur.
In the book of Ecclesiasticus, chapter 44, according to our Latin translation, it is written that Enoch was translated into Paradise. I said 'according to the Latin translation,' because in the Greek there is not, in that place, that phrase 'into Paradise'; but it is thus commonly current, and it is believed that Enoch and Elijah are in Paradise. Rupert, in book 3 of his Commentaries on Genesis, chapter 33, hands down that Enoch and Elijah were led into a certain secret and most pleasant region of the earth, where they live in great quiet of flesh and spirit, until they return at the end of the world and pay the debts of death. This Rupert took from blessed Gregory. But whether Enoch dwells in the terrestrial Paradise from which Adam was cast out, or not, has been treated by us above in book 3, On Paradise, in the first disputation, which is on the Place and Situation of Paradise, question 5, where it is asked whether Paradise even now exists. And a little below, in treating the seventh question of this disputation, the same will be discussed more fully.4

Translator’s notes

  1. Third quaestio of the disputation on Enoch. ↩
  2. Marginal gloss: 'What St. Chrysostom wrote about Enoch's translation.' Chrysostom, homily 21 on Genesis. Continues on the next page (catchword 'non'). ↩
  3. Chrysostom's answer: it is not fitting for human minds to inquire too curiously into what God does, but to believe what God says. Scripture says God translated Enoch alive and that he did not taste death; but where and how he now lives it did not add. ↩
  4. Marginal gloss: 'Where he now dwells.' Ecclesiasticus 44:16 (Latin) has Enoch translated 'into Paradise,' but the Greek lacks 'into Paradise'; it is commonly believed Enoch and Elijah are in Paradise. Rupert (Comm. in Gen. III.33, from Gregory) places them in a secret, most pleasant region of earth, living in quiet until they return at the world's end to pay death's debt. Whether Enoch is in the terrestrial Paradise Pererius treats in his own book 3, De Paradiso, disp. 1, q.5, and more fully in q.7 below. ↩