As I said concerning Elijah, so I say here; If Enoch didn't die, then he is irrelevant to the question of what happens to humans when they die.
 
In spite of the fact that this looks pretty explicit, there are problems with the idea that Enoch did not die. Here are my thoughts on the matter.

 

Concerning Genesis 5:24
 

All of chapter 5 is a genealogy. After telling who was born to who, it gives the number of years each person lived and then it says, "...and he died." Except for Enoch, of whom it says, "...he was not, for God took him."
 

I notice that every person in the list lived for more than 900 years except Lamech, who lived almost 800 years. Also excepting Enoch who lived to be 365, and then God took him, and he was not. What is there in here that tells us that Enoch did not die? In my opinion, nothing. Actually the opposite is the case. Consider the phrase, "God took him."

 

• In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are TAKEN away by no human hand. (Job 34:20)

• Deliver those who are being TAKEN away to death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold {them} back. (Proverbs 24:11)

• 'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and TAKES a person from them, he is TAKEN away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman's hand.' (Ezekiel 33:6)

• then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and TAKES him away, his blood will be on his {own} head. (Ezekiel 33:4)

• The wise men shall be put to shame, they shall be dismayed and TAKEN; lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD, and what wisdom is in them? (Jeremiah 8:9)

• Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. "Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the gatherings of young men, also; both husband and wife shall be TAKEN, the old folk and the very aged. (Jeremiah 6:11)

 

"Taken" is an idiom that means, "killed". Even today, when we say, "God took so-and-so" or "he was taken too soon" we mean, "So-and-so died."

 

Consider the phrase, "he was found no more" and "he was not".
 

• Yet a little while, and the wicked will BE NO MORE; though you look well at his place, he will not be there. (Psalms 37:10)

• At evening time, behold, {there is} terror! Before morning they ARE NO MORE. Such {will be} the portion of those who plunder us and the lot of those who pillage us. (Isaiah 17:14)

• "I will bring terrors on you and you will BE NO MORE; though you will be sought, you will never be found again," declares the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 26:21)

• ...like a miscarriage which is discarded, I WOULD NOT BE... (Job 3:16)

• For now shall I lie down in the dust; And thou wilt seek me diligently, but I SHALL NOT BE. (Job 7:21)

 

It is clear that this phrase is an idiom that means, "died". The verse from Ezekiel 26 deserves closer scrutiny. It's actually speaking of a city, Tyre (26:15). In 26:20 it says,

 

• then I will thrust you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the nether world, among primeval ruins, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you will not be inhabited or have a place in the land of the living.

 

This is definitely the Hebraic paradigm, not the Greek one.

 

So, understanding Genesis 5:24 from a Hebraic paradigm, we come to the conclusion that Enoch died prematurely. He "was not, for God took him." The difference in the language for everybody else - "and he died" - and Enoch, - "he was not, for God took him" - can be explained by the difference in circumstances. All those listed lived to be approximately 800 years old - give or take a hundred years or so - and died of natural causes full of years. But Enoch died prematurely at a young age (relatively speaking) and thus the phrase, "he was not" (he died), and the reason, "God took him" (he died prematurely).
 

We also have the statement, "Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years." If Enoch has never died, "ALL the days of Enoch" would be a weird way to say THAT.
 

We also have the statement that "Enoch walked with God". It says the same thing of Noah, yet Noah died. All that means is that Enoch pleased God. So did Noah. There is no logical connection between walking with God and not dying. Everyone dies (Heb 9:7), whether they walk with God or not, with the exception of those who are alive at the coming of the Lord (1 Cor 15:51).
 

Consider also that "death reigned from Adam to Moses." (Rom. 5:14). This span of time would include Enoch yet no exceptions are noted in the context to this categorical assertion of the kingship of death.

 

 

CONCERNING HEBREWS 11:5
 

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death,
and he was found no more because God had taken him.

 

Of course, the big problem (for me!) is the phrase, "should not see death". Before I deal with this, a look at the context is needed.

​

Hebrews 11 is the famous "heroes of faith" chapter. Verse 5 lists Enoch, verse 13 says,
 

• These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

 

These ALL died in faith. So, Enoch DIED in faith, not having received what was promised. What was it that was promised?
 

• And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. (11:39-40)

 

What is meant by "made perfect"? In my opinion, it refers to the resurrection of the dead. Paul uses the phrase, "made perfect" when speaking of the resurrection in Philippians 3:12:
 

• Not that I have already obtained this [the resurrection] or am already PERFECT; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

 

In Hebrews 5:7-9 it says,
 

• In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to SAVE HIM FROM DEATH, and he was heard for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made PERFECT he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him...

 

Does "save him from death" mean that Jesus did not die? No, Jesus most definitely died. Obviously, it must refer to his resurrection. He WAS dead, in Sheol, the heart of the earth, but was saved from death by his resurrection. And "being made perfect" - i.e. resurrected - he has become the source of eternal salvation.
 

In John 8:51 Jesus says:

 

• "I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death."

 

Do we take this to mean that Jesus is telling us that it's possible to not die? Most of us do not take Jesus to mean that. We take Jesus to mean that we have eternal life in a "spiritual" sense, or the promise of the resurrection, or that we will go to heaven when we die - something along those lines. Yet this is exactly the same phrase used of Enoch, that he should not "see death" and we immediately take it to mean that he did not die. Why do we take the same phrase in opposite ways?
 

Consider also that Jesus says something similar to, "will never see death", to Martha just before he raised Lazarus from the dead. He said,
 

• ...everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:26)

 

But notice the preceding statement;
 

• ...he who believes in me will live even if he dies...

 

My understanding is that the whole thing is about the resurrection. Jesus was speaking to Martha right before he raised Lazarus. He said, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me will live [be resurrected] even if he dies, and everyone who lives [everyone who is resurrected] and believes in me will never die [again]."
 

So the fact that Enoch "was taken up so that he should not see death" doesn't necessarily mean that he didn't die. Jesus used the same kind of language in John 8:51.
 

The very same author who wrote, "Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death" also wrote, "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment...(Heb 9:7). Which statement has more latitude for interpretation? Which statement has the hallmarks of being an idiom? I say that "see death" is an idiom and so a literal understanding is not correct. If you disagree, perhaps you could enlighten me on how "it is appointed for men to die once" is an idiom and not a didactic statement.
 

Conclusion: Enoch died prematurely. However, he died in faith - faith in the resurrection. Even though his life was cut short, he believed that God would raise him from the dead, that he would "not see death". He would not see death in the same way that Jesus was saved from death, and in the same way that those who keep the word of Jesus will never see death. They will live even if they die. Enoch died without receiving what was promised - the resurrection - that apart from us he should not be made perfect.