Genesis 5:21-24 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

Enoch] the one figure which breaks the formality of this chapter His conduct is mentioned in a way which implies that the majority of men lived differently. In all his actions he recognised the duty which he owed to God; from none of his thoughts was God absent; he lived in communion with Him. The meaning of the expression He was not; for God took him, is, no doubt, correctly given by the writer of Hebrews 11, as that Enoch never died, but was translated to heaven, like Elijah, as a reward for the holiness of his life. In Jewish tradition Enoch's walking with God was taken to mean initiation into the mysteries of the universe, and the secrets of the past and future. A whole circle of apocalyptic literature was ascribed to him in the post-exilic days, which is embodied in the so-called book of Enoch. This book is quoted in Judges 1:14 as the work of 'Enoch the seventh from Adam.'