Tag Archives: Genesis 5:24

When the Walk Ends in Heaven: The Hitpael Imperfect and Disappearance of Enoch in Genesis 5:24

וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ חֲנֹ֖וךְ אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְאֵינֶ֕נּוּ כִּֽי־לָקַ֥ח אֹתֹ֖ו אֱלֹהִֽים׃ “And Ḥanokh walked with God, and he was no more, for God took him.” Genesis 5:24 is one of the most enigmatic and theologically rich verses in the genealogies of Genesis. It describes the fate of Ḥanokh (Enoch) not with the typical death formula—“and he died”—but with poetic mystery: וְאֵינֶנּוּ, “and he was not,” because אֱלֹהִים had taken him. Central to this verse is the verb וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ, a Hitpael form meaning “he walked himself,” suggesting sustained and intimate relationship, here uniquely “with God.”… Learn Hebrew
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