Jude quotes the Book of Enoch — so why isn’t it in the Bible?
Text and context
This is a genuine question, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a dodge.
Jude 1:14-15 does quote a text found in 1 Enoch (roughly 1.9), a Jewish apocalyptic work composed in stages from perhaps the third century BC onward, attributed to the Enoch of Genesis 5:24 — "Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him" — but not actually written by him. Jude names his source: "the seventh from Adam" (counting Adam-Seth-Enosh-Kenan-Mahalalel-Jared-Enoch, confirmed by the genealogy at Genesis 5:19), and puts the coming-in-judgment language — "the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones" — into Enoch's mouth as prophecy.
That a New Testament author quotes it does not make it scripture, any more than Paul quoting a Greek poet at Athens canonises the poet. Citation is not certification. Jude uses 1 Enoch the way he uses other Jewish tradition in this letter — the language of "hidden rocky reefs," "wandering stars" (Jude 1:12-13), the picture of fallen angels "kept... in everlasting bonds under darkness" (Jude 1:6) — because it was familiar material to his readers and, in this instance, he judges the specific line to state something true: that the Lord comes in judgment, a theme scripture itself states repeatedly and independently (Deuteronomy 33:2, Psalm 50:3, 2 Thessalonians 1:7).
The church never received 1 Enoch as scripture. It was widely read and valued in Second Temple Judaism and by some early Christians, but it was excluded from both the Hebrew canon and, apart from the Ethiopian Orthodox church, the Christian one — it makes no claim to be the words of God delivered through a recognized prophetic or apostolic office, and the believing community across time and place did not receive it as such. Vincent of Lérins's test is relevant here: canon rests on "that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all" (Commonitory, II.6) — and 1 Enoch simply never met that standard, despite its popularity in places.
So: Jude found one line true and useful; the church, weighing the whole book, did not find the book itself to be God's word. Both judgments can stand together.
Jude 1:14WEB
About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,
closest in meaning to what you askedGreek Nestle 1904
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
Deuteronomy 33:2He said, "Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them.
Psalm 50:3Our God comes, and does not keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.
Hebrews 11:5By faith Enoch was taken away, so that he wouldn't see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.
2 Thessalonians 1:7and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
1 Thessalonians 3:13to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Genesis 5:24WEB
Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him.
closest in meaning to what you askedSee also 5
Hebrews 11:5By faith Enoch was taken away, so that he wouldn't see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.
1 John 1:7But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Genesis 5:22After Methuselah's birth, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
Luke 23:43Jesus said to him, "Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
2 Kings 2:11As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Hebrews 11:5WEB
By faith Enoch was taken away, so that he wouldn't see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.
closest in meaning to what you askedGreek Nestle 1904
ηὑρίσκετοεὑρίσκωverb · imperfect middle or passive indicative, 3rd person singularG2147
διότιδιότιconjunctionG1360
μετέθηκενμετατίθημιverb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singularG3346
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
Genesis 5:21Enoch lived sixty-five years, then became the father of Methuselah.
Jude 1:14About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,
Hebrews 11:6Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
2 Kings 2:11As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Revelation 11:9From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations, people will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
Jude 1:4WEB
For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into indecency, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ.
closest in meaning to what you askedGreek Nestle 1904
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
2 Peter 2:1But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
Galatians 2:4This was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage,
2 Peter 2:10but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
Titus 1:15To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.
1 Peter 2:16Live as free people, yet not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.
Jude 1:6WEB
Angels who didn't keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
closest in meaning to what you askedGreek Nestle 1904
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
2 Peter 2:4For if God didn't spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment;
Matthew 25:41Then he will say also to those on the left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
Ephesians 6:12For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Matthew 8:29Behold, they cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"
2 Peter 2:9then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,
Genesis 5:19WEB
Jared lived after he became the father of Enoch eight hundred years, and became the father of other sons and daughters.
closest in meaning to what you askedDeuteronomy 33:2WEB
He said, "Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them.
brought in by cross-referenceSee also 5
Habakkuk 3:3God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth.
Jude 1:14About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,
Revelation 5:11I looked, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. The number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands,
Judges 5:4"Yahweh, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds dropped water.
Acts 7:53You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn't keep it!"
Psalm 50:3WEB
Our God comes, and does not keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.
brought in by cross-referenceSee also 5
Numbers 16:35Fire came out from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.
Daniel 7:10A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set. The books were opened.
Leviticus 10:2Fire came out from before Yahweh, and devoured them, and they died before Yahweh.
Matthew 3:12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire."
Psalm 97:3A fire goes before him, and burns up his adversaries on every side.
2 Thessalonians 1:7WEB
and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
Revelation 14:13I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their works follow with them."
Matthew 16:27For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will give to everyone according to his deeds.
Jude 1:14About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,
Revelation 22:16I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."
Titus 2:13looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Jude 1:12WEB
These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
ποιμαίνοντες,ποιμαίνωverb · present active participle, nominative plural masculineG4165
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
Matthew 15:13But he answered, "Every plant which my heavenly Father didn't plant will be uprooted.
2 Peter 2:17These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
Ezekiel 34:8"As I live," says the Lord Yahweh, "surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, and my shepherds didn't search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn't feed my sheep,
Proverbs 25:14As clouds and wind without rain, so is he who boasts of gifts deceptively.
Philippians 3:19whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.
From the interpretive tradition
The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning.
The great redemptive religion which has always been known as Christianity is battling against a totally diverse type of religious belief, which is only the more destructive of the Christian faith because it makes use of traditional Christian terminology.
J. Gresham MachenChristianity and Liberalism, ch. 1theologian · reformedpublic domain
In the Catholic Church itself, all possible care must be taken that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.
Vincent of LérinsCommonitory, II.6father · patristicpublic domain
A worked example. Ask your own and it starts a new thread.