Hebrews 11:5

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) See death.—See Luke 2:26; Psalm 89:48 (John 8:51).

And was not found . . . translated him.—An exact quotation from the LXX. (Genesis 5:24). The word rendered “translated” is a very simple one, denoting merely change of place; but nothing can equal the simplicity of the Hebrew, “he was not. for God took him.”

He had this testimony.—Better, he hath had witness borne to him (Hebrews 11:2; Hebrews 11:4) that he hath been well pleasing to God. The form of the expression shows that the writer is again speaking of the ever present word of Scripture (Hebrews 4:9, &c.) That word does not record the translation of Enoch until it “hath” borne witness to him that he pleased God. The words “walked with God” are rendered in the LXX. “was well pleasing to God,” and it is this rendering that is quoted here and in the next verse. The writer himself supplies the comment in the next verse, which has a very close connection with this.

Benson Commentary

Hebrews 11:5-6. By faith — That is, his firm faith in the being and perfections of God, especially his omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence; his truth, justice, mercy, and goodness; and in consequence of that exemplary holiness which was the fruit of this faith; Enoch was translated — Μετετεθη, was removed, namely, in a miraculous manner, from among men, God taking him out of this sinful and miserable world to himself. See notes on Genesis 5:22-24. That he should not see death — He was changed probably in a moment, as Elijah afterward was, and as those saints shall be that are found alive at Christ’s second coming; and was not any longer found — Among men; an expression which implies he was translated privately, and that some (his relations and friends, doubtless) sought for him, as the sons of the prophets sought for Elijah; (2 Kings 2:17;) because God had translated him — To what place these holy men were translated is not said; but their translation in the body, as Macknight observes, is recorded for an example, to assure believers that, in due time, they also shall live in the heavenly country in the body, and to excite them in that assurance to imitate Enoch’s faith.

For before his translation he had this testimony — From God in his own conscience; that he pleased God — The verb ευαρεστησαι, here used, occurs only in this epistle, namely, in this and the following verse, and in chap. Hebrews 13:16, in the passive voice, where it is rendered, God is well pleased. Three things are included in our pleasing God; that our persons be accepted; that our duties be approved of; and that we have a testimony that we are righteous or justified, as Abel and Enoch had, and as all true believers have. This is that pleasing of God which is appropriated to faith alone, and which alone shall receive an eternal reward. In a lower sense, however, there may be many acts and duties with which, as to the matter of them, God may be pleased, and which he may reward in this world without faith; as the destruction of the house of Ahab by Jehu. Enoch walked with God, and therefore is said to please him; that is, he set God always before him, and thought, spoke, and acted as one that considered he was always under God’s eye, and he made it his daily business to worship and serve him acceptably.

But without faith — In the being, attributes, superintending providence, and grace of God; it is impossible — For a fallen, sinful, and weak creature, such as man is, and such as Enoch undoubtedly was; to please him — Though no particular revelation is mentioned as the object of Enoch’s faith, yet from Moses’s telling us that he walked with, or pleased God, it is certain that his faith in those doctrines of religion, which are discoverable by the light of nature, and which are mentioned in this verse, must have been very strong, since it led him habitually to walk with God, so as to please him; for he that cometh to God — In prayer, or any other act of worship, or who endeavours to serve him; must believe that he is — That he exists, and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him — And therefore, that he is wise and mighty, holy, just, and good. “By representing the existence of God and his government of the world as objects of faith, the apostle hath taught us, that the truths of natural religion are equally the objects of faith with the truths of revelation. And this doctrine is just. For the evidence by which the truths of natural religion are supported, being of the same kind with the evidence which supports the truths of revelation, namely, not demonstrative, but probable evidence, the persuasion produced by that kind of evidence in matters of natural religion, is as really faith as the persuasion which the same evidence produces in matters of revelation. Further, the faith or persuasion of the truths of natural religion which men attain, being as much the effect of attention, impartial search, and prayer, as the faith which they attain of the truths of revelation, it is as much a matter of duty, and as pleasing to God, [as far as it extends,] as faith in the truths of revelation.” — Macknight.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:4-7 Here follow some illustrious examples of faith from the Old Testament. Abel brought a sacrifice of atonement from the firstlings of the flock, acknowledging himself a sinner who deserved to die, and only hoping for mercy through the great Sacrifice. Cain's proud rage and enmity against the accepted worshipper of God, led to the awful effects the same principles have produced in every age; the cruel persecution, and even murder of believers. By faith Abel, being dead, yet speaketh; he left an instructive and speaking example. Enoch was translated, or removed, that he should not see death; God took him into heaven, as Christ will do the saints who shall be alive at his second coming. We cannot come to God, unless we believe that he is what he has revealed himself to be in the Scripture. Those who would find God, must seek him with all their heart. Noah's faith influenced his practice; it moved him to prepare an ark. His faith condemned the unbelief of others; and his obedience condemned their contempt and rebellion. Good examples either convert sinners or condemn them. This shows how believers, being warned of God to flee from the wrath to come, are moved with fear, take refuge in Christ, and become heirs of the righteousness of faith.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

By faith Enoch was translated - The account of Enoch is found in Genesis 5:21-24. It is very brief, and is this, that "Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him." There is no particular mention of his "faith," and the apostle attributes this to him, as in the case of Abel, either because it was involved in the very nature of piety, or because the fact was communicated to him by direct revelation. In the account in Genesis, there is nothing inconsistent with the belief that Enoch was characterized by eminent faith, but it is rather implied in the expression, "he walked with God." Compare 2 Corinthians 5:7. It may also be implied in what is said by the apostle Jude Jde 1:14-15, that "he prophesied, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints," etc. From this it would appear that he was a preacher: that he predicted the coming of the Lord to judgment, and that he lived in the firm belief of what was to occur in future times. Moses does not say expressly that Enoch was translated. He says "he was not, for God took him." The expression "he was not," means he was no more among people; or he was removed from the earth. "This" language would be applicable to any method by which he was removed, whether by dying, or by being translated. A similar expression respecting Romulus occurs in Livy (i. 16), Nec deinde in terris Romulus fuit. The translation of the Septuagint on this part of the verse in Genesis is, οὐχ εὑρίσκετο ouch heurisketo - "was not found;" that is, he disappeared. The authority for what the apostle says here, that he "was translated," is found in the other phrase in Genesis, "God took him." The reasons which led to the statement that he was transported without seeing death, or that show that this is a fair conclusion from the words in Genesis, are such, as these:

(1) There is no mention made of his death, and in this respect the account of Enoch stands by itself. It is, except in this case, the uniform custom of Moses to mention the age and the death of the individuals whose biography he records, and in many cases this is about all that is said of them. But in regard to Enoch there is this remarkable exception that no record is made of his death - showing that there was something unusual in the manner of his removal from the world.

(2) the Hebrew word used by Moses, found in such a connection, is one which would rather suggest the idea that he had been taken in some extraordinary manner from the world. That word - לקח laaqach - means "to take" - with the idea of taking "to oneself." Thus, Genesis 8:20, "Noah took of all beasts and offered a burnt-offering." Thus, it is often used in the sense of "taking a wife" - that is, to oneself Genesis 4:19; Genesis 6:2; Genesis 12:19; Genesis 19:14; and then it is used in the sense of "taking away;" Genesis 14:12; Genesis 27:35; Job 1:21; Job 12:20; Psalm 31:13; Jeremiah 15:15. The word, therefore, would naturally suggest the idea that he had been taken by God to himself, or had been removed in an extraordinary manner from the earth. This is confirmed by the fact that the word is not used anywhere in the Scriptures to denote a "removal by death," and that in the only other instance in which it (לקח laaqach) is used in relation to a removal from this world, it occurs in the statement respecting the translation of Elijah. "And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel, came forth to Elisha, and said to him, Knowest thou that the Lord "will take away" (לקח laaqach) thy master from thy head today?" 2 Kings 2:3, 2 Kings 2:5; compare Hebrews 11:11. This transaction, where there could be no doubt about the "manner" of the removal, shows in what sense the word is used in Genesis.

(3) it was so understood by the translators of the Septuagint. The apostle has used the same word in this place which is employed by the Seventy in Genesis 5:24 - μετατίθημι metatithēmi. This word means to transpose, to put in another place; and then to transport, transfer, translate; Acts 7:16; Hebrews 7:12. It properly expresses the removal to another place, and is the very word which would he used on the supposition that one was taken to heaven without dying.

(4) this interpretation of the passage in Genesis by Paul is in accordance with the uniform interpretation of the Jews. In the Targum of Onkelos it is evidently supposed that Enoch was transported without dying. In that Targum the passage in Genesis 5:24 is rendered, "And Enoch walked in the fear of the Lord, and was not, for the Lord did not put him to death" - לּה lo' - 'amiyt yityeh Yahweh. So also in Ecclesiasticus or the Son of Sirach (49:14), "But upon the earth was no man created like Enoch; for he was taken from the earth." These opinions of the Jews and of the early translators, are of value only as showing that the interpretation which Paul has put upon Genesis 5:2 is the natural interpretation. It is such as occurs to separate writers, without collusion, and thus shows that this is the meaning most naturally suggested by the passage.

That he should not see death - That is, that he should not experience death, or be made personally acquainted with it. The word "taste" often occurs in the same sense. Hebrews 2:9, "that he should taste death for every man;" compare Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27.

And was not found - Genesis 5:24, "And he was not." That is, he was not in the land of the living. Paul retains the word used in the Septuagint.

He had this testimony, that he pleased God - Implied in the declaration in Genesis 5:22, that he "walked with God." This denotes a state of friendship between God and him, and of course implies that his conduct was pleasing to God. The apostle appeals here to the sense of the account in Genesis, but does not retain the very "words." The meaning here is not that the testimony respecting Enoch was actually "given" before his translation, but that the testimony relates to his having "pleased God" before he was removed. "Stuart." In regard to this instructive fragment of history, and to the reasons why Enoch was thus removed, we may make the following remarks:

(1) The age in which he lived was undoubtedly one of great wickedness. Enoch is selected as the only one of that generation signalized by eminent piety, and he appears to have spent his life in publicly reproving a sinful generation, and in warning them of the approaching judgment; Jde 1:14-15. The wickedness which ultimately led to the universal deluge seems already to have commenced in the earth, and Enoch, like Noah, his great-grandson, was raised up as a preacher of righteousness to reprove a sinful generation.

(2) it is not improbable that the great truths of religion in that age were extensively denied, and probably among other things the future state, the resurrection, the belief that man would exist in another world, and that it was maintained that death was the end of being - was an eternal sleep. If so, nothing could be better adapted to correct the prevailing evils than the removal of an eminent man, without dying, from the world. His departure would thus confirm the instructions of his life, and his removal, like the death of saints often now, would serve to make an impression which his living instructions would not.

(3) his removal is, in itself, a very important and instructive fact in history. It has occurred in no other instance except that of Elijah; nor has any other living man been transported to heaven except the Lord Jesus. That fact was instructive in a great many respects:

(a) It showed that there was a future state - another world.

(b) It showed that the "body" might exist in that future state - though doubtless so changed as to adapt it to the condition of things there.

(c) It prepared the world to credit the account of the ascension of the Redeemer. If Enoch and Elijah were removed thus without dying, there was no intrinsic improbability that the Lord Jesus would be removed after having died and risen again.

continued...

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. Faith was the ground of his pleasing God; and his pleasing God was the ground of his translation.

translated—(Ge 5:22, 24). Implying a sudden removal (the same Greek as in Ga 1:6) from mortality without death to immortality: such a CHANGE as shall pass over the living at Christ's coming (1Co 15:51, 52).

had this testimony—namely of Scripture; the Greek perfect implies that this testimony continues still: "he has been testified of."

pleased God—The Scripture testimony virtually expresses that he pleased God, namely, "Enoch walked with God." The Septuagint translates the Hebrew for "walked with God," Ge 6:9, pleased God.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death: by the Divine faith before described, that which reacheth home to God by Christ, Enoch, the seventh patriarch in a descent from Adam of the church’s line, Genesis 5:21, all eminent prophet and Boanerges, denouncing judgment against the ungodly ones of his time, so as to awaken them to repentance, Judges 1:14,15, was taken by God, Genesis 5:24. The apostle keeps to the Septuagint translation of the text. He was miraculously changed in his body from a mortal to an immortal state, and this without any separation of his soul from it. God, out of an extraordiary grace and favour to him, dispensed with the common sentence passed on the human seed in Adam, as he did many ages after this to Elijah. He died not: all the rest of the fathers of the church, Genesis 5:5,8,27, the longest liver of them, died.

And was not found; he was not, Genesis 5:24, neither among men, nor in their sepulchres, as others were, but had changed his habitation and society. If any went to seek him, as others did Elijah he was far out of their finding, 2 Kings 2:17.

Because God had translated him; for God had taken him to himself in heaven, the place of his residence, and in the very act changed his body into a spiritual, powerful, glorious, and incorruptible one; as all ours, who are true believers, shall be at last, 1 Corinthians 15:51 1 Thessalonians 4:15; and so made fit for the place to which he was taken, made like an angel in person, and to be with those spirits in company; now did he fully see and enjoy him whom by faith he walked with beneath.

For before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God; in the time of his life, and walking with God in this sinful world, all the time of his witnessing for God in it, God witnessed by his work on his soul to himself, by his ministry and life to the world, and by the prophet Moses’s record of it to all generations to come in the church once and again, Genesis 5:22,24, that in his walking with God he pleased him. He was not only justified, graciously accepted, and beloved of him, but he did that which was pleasing to God, putting out in thought, word, and deed all the power of grace to act for God; preserving constant converse and communion with him; and had no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but reproved them. By this he pleased God, and God testified to all the world he did so, by a miraculous translation of him from the world to himself. God cares not for, nor will take to him, such who please him not.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

By faith Enoch was translated,.... Which is to be understood, not of a spiritual translation from the power of darkness, into the kingdom of Christ, as all converted, persons are translated, and doubtless Enoch was; nor of a rapture, or removal from one part of the earth to another, or from one part of a country to another, as Philip was caught away by the Spirit, after the baptism of the eunuch; but of a translation from earth to heaven; and not for a while only, as Paul was caught up to the third heaven; but as Elijah was, there to continue, and as the living saints will be at the last day; and this was a translation of him, soul and body, to heaven, to eternal glory and happiness, by a change from mortality to immortality, which passed upon him; and which is a pledge of the resurrection of the dead, and a proof of the Old Testament saints knowing, expecting, and enjoying eternal life. And with this agrees the sense of some of the Jewish writers concerning this affair. Jonathan ben Uzziel, in his paraphrase on Genesis 5:24 has these words:

"and Enoch worshipped in truth before the Lord; and behold he was not with the inhabitants of the earth, "he was translated", and ascended to the firmament (or heaven), by the Word before the Lord.''

And the Jerusalem Targum to the same purpose;

"and Enoch worshipped in truth before the Lord; and lo, he was not, for he was translated by the Word from before the Lord;''

or by the Word of the Lord, which went out from him; for this translation was of God, as our apostle afterwards asserts. R. Eleazar says (m):

"the holy blessed God took Enoch, and caused him to ascend to the highest heavens, and delivered into his hands all the superior treasures, &c''

He is said (n) to be one of the seven which entered into paradise in their life; and some of them say (o), that God took him, , body and soul; see the Apocrypha:

"He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated.'' (Wisdom 4:10)

"Enoch pleased the Lord, and was translated, being an example of repentance to all generations.'' (Sirach 44:16)

And this translation is said to be "by faith"; not through any virtue and efficacy in that grace to procure it; nor through faith, in that particular point; but God put an honour upon the faith of Enoch, and on him as a believer, this way.

That he should not see death; meaning not a spiritual or moral death; nor an eternal one, though some have suggested this to be the sense; and which is favoured by the character some of the Jewish writers give of Enoch, which will be hereafter taken notice of; but a corporeal death, which he died not; to which agrees the Targum of Oukelos on Genesis 5:24,

"and Enoch walked in the fear of the Lord, and he was not, for the Lord, , "did not kill him", or cause, or suffer him to die:''

though an exemplar of that paraphrase is cited (p), without the negative particle, thus,

"and he was not, for the Lord killed him,''

continued...

Geneva Study Bible

{5} By faith Enoch was translated that he should not {c} see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

(5) Enoch.

(c) That he should not die.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Hebrews 11:5-6. The example of Enoch. Comp. Genesis 5:21-24.

Πρίστει Ἐνὼχ μετετέθη] By reason of his faith Enoch was caught away; i.e. even during his lifetime was, like Elijah (2 Kings 2.), caught up to God in heaven. Comp. Sir 44:16 : Ἐνὼχ εὐηρέστησε κυρίῳ καὶ μετετέθη ὑπόδειγμα μετανοίας ταῖς γενεαῖς; ibid. Sir 49:14 : οὐδὲ εἷς ἐκτίσθη οἷος Ἐνὼς τοιοῦτος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἀνελήφθη ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς; Joseph. Antiq. i. 3.Hebrews 4 : ἀνεχώρησε πρὸς τὸ θεῖον.

τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν θάνατον] not consecutively [so that], de Wette, Bisping, al., but indication of the design of God: that he should not see or undergo death (comp. Luke 2:26).

καὶ οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο, διότι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεός] derived verbally from the LXX. of Genesis 5:24, as given in the text of the Cod. Alex.

πρὸ γὰρ … γίνεται, Hebrews 11:6] It is related in the Scripture concerning Enoch that he was acceptable to God. But this presupposes that he had faith. For to obtain God’s approbation without the possession of faith is impossible. Chrysostom: πῶς δὲ πίστει μετετέθη ὁ Ἐνώχ; ὅτι τῆς μεταθέσεως ἡ εὐαρέστησις αἰτία, τῆς δὲ εὐαρεστήσεως ἡ πίστις.

πρὸ τῆς μεταθέσεως] may be equally well conjoined with μεμαρτύρηται (Piscator, Owen, Huët, Bleek, de Wette, Conybeare, Delitzsch, Kurtz, Hofmann, al.), or with εὐαρεστηκέναι (Schlichting, Bengel, Maier, and others). In the former case the sense is: before mention is made in the Scripture of his rapture, the testimony is borne to him in the same, that he pleased God.

εὐαρεστηκέναι] By εὐηρέστησεν the LXX. translate the Hebrew וַיִתְהַלֵּךְ אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים: and he walked with God, i.e. in communion with God, as His most devout worshipper.

Hebrews 11:6 is a truth of wholly universal application, so that only ἐστίν is to be supplemented to ἀδύνατον. With Er. Schmid, Limborch, Wetstein, and Schulz, to regard the first hemistich of the verse: χωρὶς δὲ πίστεως ἀδύνατον εὐαρεστῆσαι, as a special statement respecting Enoch, is grammatically inadmissible, since in that case χωρὶς δὲ πίστεως ἀδύνατον ἦν αὐτὸν εὐαρεστῆσαι or χωρὶς δὲ πίστεως ἀδύνατον αὐτὸν εὐαρεστηκέναι must have been written.

εὐαρεστῆσαι] sc. τῷ θεῷ, naturally understood from that which precedes and follows. The infin. aorist expresses, as in the case of the immediately succeeding πιστεῦσαι, the pure verbal notion, without regard to the relation of time. See Kühner, II. p. 80.

ὁ προσερχόμενος τῷ θεῷ] is he who approaches God, sc. to worship Him; comp. Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 10:1. Wrongly; Luther, Calov, Wittich, Rambach, Schulz, Ebrard (transl.): he who (as Enoch) will come (or is to come) to God.

ὅτι ἔστιν] that he is, or exists. Arbitrarily importing, Jac. Cappellus: “Series sermonis suadet, ut suppleamus ὅτι ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ θεός, i. e. qui accedit ad Deum, credere debet eum esse suum Deum.” But also the complementing the verb by: “that He exists as one to whom man can draw near with confidence, as the truly living, personal, almighty, all-wise, all-beneficent One” (Bleek), is an unjustifiable act of reading into the text. The expression contains only the idea of existence.

καί] still dependent upon ὅτι.

μισθαποδότης] recompenser, sc. for the piety manifested in the ἐκζητεῖν αὐτόν (Romans 3:11; Acts 15:17).

Expositor's Greek Testament

Hebrews 11:5. Πίστει Ἐνὼχ μετετέθη.… “By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation he had witness borne to him that he had pleased God well; but without faith it is impossible to please Him well.” In the dry catalogue of antediluvian longevities a gem of faith is detected. What lay at the root of Enoch’s translation? Faith, because before he was translated he was well-pleasing to God, which implies that he believed in God, or as Chrysostom neatly puts it: πῶς δὲ πίστει μετετέθη ὁ Ἐνώχ; ὅτι τῆς μεταθέσεως ἡ εὐαρέστησις αἰτία, τῆς δὲ εὐαρεστήσεως ἡ πίστις. In Sir 44:16 he is exhibited as ὑπόδειγμα μετανοίας ταῖς γενεαῖς. μετετέθη “was transferred,” removed from one place to another, as in Acts 7:16, cf. also Galatians 1:6, Judges 1:4. In Sir 49:14 it is represented by ἀνελήφθη ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς. The succeeding clauses imply that his body disappeared. How the tradition arose we have no means of knowing, cf. Suicer, i. 1130, and the Bible Dictionaries. τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν may either imply purpose or result. For the former see Matthew 2:13, Luke 2:24, Php 3:10; for the latter, Matthew 21:32, Acts 7:19, Romans 7:3, Hebrews 10:7. The use of the passive μετετέθη favours the supposition that result is here expressed, and throughout the sentence it is the translation that is prominent rather than the escape from death, which is introduced rather as an explanation of μετετέθη. καὶ οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο.… These words are verbatim from the LXX of Genesis 5:24, and are quoted for the sake of bringing out clearly that God was the author of the translation. (Cf. the misquotation in Clem. Ep., chap. 9, οὐχ εὑρέθη αὐτοῦ θάνατος.) God translated him, and this is proved by the fact that preceding the statement of his translation Scripture records that he pleased God well, where the Hebrew has “he walked with God”. χωρὶς δὲ πίστεως ἀδύνατον εὐαρεστῆσαι. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him well.” The ground of this proposition is given in the following words: πιστεῦσαι γὰρ δεῖ τὸν προσερχόμενον.… “For he who cometh to God must believe that He exists and that to those who seek Him He turns out to be a rewarder.” To please God one must draw near to Him (τὸν προσερχόμενον in the semi-technical sense usual in the Epistle), and no one can draw near who has not these two beliefs that God is and will reward those who seek Him. So that Enoch’s faith, and the faith of every one who approaches God, verifies the description of Hebrews 11:1 : the unseen must be treated as sufficiently demonstrated, and the hoped for reward must be considered substantial.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. Enoch was translated] Lit., “was transferred (hence)” (Genesis 5:24; Sir 44:16; Sir 49:14; Jos. Antt. i. 3. § 4.

was not found, because God had translated him. Genesis 5:24 (LXX. Cod. Alex).

he had this testimony] “he hath had witness born to him;” “Enoch walked with God,” Genesis 5:24 (LXX. “pleased God”).

Bengel's Gnomen

Hebrews 11:5. Μετετέθη, was translated) Wherefore was he translated? Our faith waits for this. Genesis 5:22; Genesis 5:24, LXX., εὐηρέστησε δὲ Ἐνὼχ τῷ Θεῷ—καὶ εὐηρέστησε Ἐνὼχ τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ οὐχʼ εὑρίσκετο, ὅτι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ Θεός.—μὴ, not) He was therefore translated from mortality without death to immortality.—πρὸ, before) Construed with εὐηρεστηκέναι, to have pleased [He had the testimony that he pleased God before his translation].—εὐηρεστηκέναι, to have pleased) Instead of to walk with GOD, before GOD, the LXX. have εὐαρεστεῖν, also Genesis 6:9; Genesis 17:1; Genesis 24:40; Genesis 48:15; Psalm 116:9. Comp. Psalm 26:3; Psalm 35:14 [Heb. I walked]. It not only signifies to please, in a passive sense, but implies the desire of pleasing. Therefore Genesis 39:4, שרת is εὐαρεστεῖν: comp. ἀρέσαι, Romans 8:8, notes.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God; literally, hath been witnessed of that he had been well-pleasing to God. The allusion is, of course, to the testimony in Genesis (Genesis 5:24), the LXX. being closely followed, which has, Αὐηρέστησεν Ἐνὼχ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ οὐχ ηὑρέσκετο διότι μετέθηκεν ἀυτον Ὁ Θεός, whereas the literal translation of our Hebrew text is, "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, because God took him." Hebrews 11:5

Vincent's Word Studies

Enoch

Genesis 5:21-24. Comp. Sir. 44:16; 49:14; Wisd. 4:10.

Was translated (μετετέθη)

The verb used of Enoch's translation, lxx, Genesis 5:24. In Acts 7:16 of the transporting of the remains of Jacob and his sons to Sychem. In Galatians 1:6, of the sudden change in the religious attitude of the Galatians. In Hebrews 7:12, of the change in the priesthood.

That he should not see death (τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν θάνατον)

This may signify the purpose of his translation, but probably refers to the result. He was translated so that he did not see death. Comp. Matthew 21:32; Acts 7:19; Romans 7:3.

Was not found because God had translated him (οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο διότι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεός)

Cited from lxx, Genesis 5:24. For had translated rend. translated.

He had this testimony (μεμαρτύρηται)

Rev properly preserves the force of the perfect tense, "he hath had witness born to him." The testimony still stands on record.

That he pleased God

Rend. hath pleased. Comp. lxx, Genesis 5:22, Genesis 5:24. Faith was exhibited by Enoch in walking with God (comp. A.V. Genesis 5:22, "walked with God," and lxx, εὐαρέστησε pleased God). Faith creates close personal relation.