Hebrews 11:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He showed faith greater than Abel's. How? Though he lived after Abel, what happened to Abel could have turned him away from virtue. In what way? God foresaw that Abel would be killed, for He said to Cain, "Sin lies at the door; do not add to it" (Gen 4:7), and He was honored by Abel, yet He did not deliver him. But Enoch did not give himself over to carelessness because of this. He did not say to himself: What profit is there in labors and dangers? Abel honored God, and God did not deliver him. What benefit is there for the dead man if his brother is punished? What advantage could he draw from this? Suppose God subjected Cain to a severe punishment. What was that to the slain man? He said and thought nothing of this kind, but left it all aside.

"By faith Enoch was translated so that he should not see death" (Gen 5:24), "and he was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation he received testimony that he had pleased God." He showed faith greater than Abel's. What happened to Abel could trouble a person, because despite Abel's righteousness, God allowed him to be killed by his brother. For what if the murderer was punished? What benefit was this to the one already slain? Thus Enoch showed great faith, believing that, if not now, then in the age to come, God is the Rewarder. By it he pleased God, and having pleased Him, he was translated. Thus he was translated by faith. The faith by which he pleased God translated him. See how through Abel God showed that His decree concerning death is true.

And why, my beloved, let us attend to the Apostle's thought, does he give exhortations and instructions not at the beginning of the epistle, but at the end and in the middle? I hope, may this be fulfilled through your prayers, that I shall say nothing false against the mind of the holy man. Since he was fully instructed in divine things and understood the power of divine teaching, he considered it necessary at the beginning of the epistle to proclaim the word concerning Christ and reveal the mystery about Him. After this he set forth the path of moral correction, so that, when they knew the Lord, they might joyfully perform what He commands. For if the One Who guides us in keeping the commandments remains unknown, no one can attain their fulfillment with joy.

By faith Enoch was translated and did not taste death. For if he had not believed that fulfilling the commandment could afterward bring him into the place from which Adam had been driven out for transgressing the commandment, he would not have labored to please God for three hundred years before his translation (Gen 5:21-24; Sir 44:15).

God translated the one who had pleased Him. And he pleased Him because he believed that God is the Contest-Giver of piety. Then the Apostle speaks positively.

"By faith Enoch was translated." He pleased God by believing that recompense is given to those who please Him. Having pleased Him, he "was translated" alive from this present life. "So that he should not see death." He says, "he was translated," so that he did not see death, for remaining here on earth belongs to those subject to death. "And he was not found, because God had translated him." All this is written in Genesis and taken from there. "For before his translation he had testimony that he pleased God." For it is written, "Enoch pleased God, and he was not found" (Gen 5:24).

"By faith Enoch was translated so that he should not see death." The original text of Genesis simply says: "he was not, because God took him" (Gen 5:24). But what this taking consisted of is not defined (Sir 44:15). The Seventy in their translation, and the Apostle Paul here, call it a translation. The latter adds remarkably that Enoch did not see death. Concerning this translation, our native interpreter says: "It must be thought that in Enoch also, when his inner man had attained the predestined measure of grace-filled maturity, what was mortal was swallowed up by life (2 Cor 5:4) in a certain more noble manner than that which we call bodily death."

What precisely was the object of Enoch's faith? It was not that he would be taken alive into heaven. This, of course, had not been revealed even to him. Rather, it was in general everything commanded to men for their salvation. The Apostle wants to say that Enoch was so firm in his pious convictions that, amid his corrupt generation, he was devoted with all his mind and heart to the invisible and supra-empirical objects of religion. For this spirituality and for his firm faith in God's promises, whose complete fulfillment for men lies generally in heaven, he became so pleasing to God that he was taken alive into heaven.

The closest descendants of Adam displayed such faith. Thus Abel had not yet seen any miracles that would testify that God grants any blessings to those who honor Him. Yet by his sacrifice he honored God with all his heart. For this, God looked upon his sacrifice and thus testified His good will toward him. Even after death, He did not forget Abel because of his faith (Gen 4:4: "The voice of your brother's blood cries to Me from the ground"). Likewise, the Apostle sees strong faith in Enoch, because Holy Scripture testified to his God-pleasing life. It is impossible to please God without faith in Him. Everyone who approaches God with prayer or sacrifice must believe in God's being and in His justice, by which God grants blessings to those who zealously seek communion with Him.