Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

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; Jude 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; Philippians 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.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Hebrews 11:5

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