What Does Hebrews 11:5 Mean in the King James?
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
“Translated” carries the sense of being transferred to another place, and the verse names God, not Enoch, as the one who moves him beyond death’s sight.
THE MEANING
This verse presents trust as the setting for a life carried by God beyond death’s sight. Its repeated transfer language gives God the agency, while leaving the destination unnamed. Enoch’s testimony is that he pleases God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Death is the final limit of what God can do with a life.
THE ROOT
μετατίθημι
metatithēmi
GROWS FROM
τίθημι (tithēmi) + μετά (meta)
τίθημι means to put, set, or place; μετά adds a sense of change or transfer.
The repetition turns “translated” into movement or transfer, rather than a vague disappearance, though the destination is unnamed. God is named as the agent twice, so the decisive action belongs to God, not to Enoch.
ALSO GROWS
metathesis: transfer, removal, change of place
μετάθεσις
The noun in this verse names the same event as the verb: Enoch’s transfer.
thesis: a placing, position
θέσις
This related word preserves the underlying image of placing, so “translated” carries the sense of being set elsewhere.
חֲנוֹךְ
Ḥănōḵ
GROWS FROM
חנך
ḥ-n-k
to dedicate, initiate, or train
The Hebrew name Enoch is commonly linked to חנך, “to dedicate” or “to initiate,” echoing the testimony that his life pleases God. The name adds a resonance of dedication, while the verse still names God as the one who transfers him.
ALSO GROWS
ḥănukkāh: dedication, consecration
חֲנֻכָּה
This branch carries the root’s sense of dedication, echoing the resonance in Enoch’s name.
ḥānîḵ: trained or initiated person
חָנִיךְ
This branch shows the root’s sense of preparing or initiating a person, a shade carried by the name Enoch.
εὐαρεστηκέναι
euarestēkenai
GROWS FROM
ἀρέσκω
areskō
to please or be acceptable
“pleased” in this verse is euarestēkenai. The verb describes being pleasing to God, and the same word family returns in the next verse, where trust is named as necessary for pleasing God. That repetition links Enoch’s testimony to trust, rather than to a separate achievement.
ALSO GROWS
areskō: to please, be acceptable
ἀρέσκω
This is the core verb behind the wording of Enoch’s testimony.
euarestos: pleasing, well-pleasing
εὐάρεστος
This related form carries the same root into the language of what is pleasing to God.
THE PATTERN
God’s action carries life beyond the apparent finality of death.
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:THE THREAD
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.The verb translated “pleased” here appears again in the next verse, where trust is named as necessary for pleasing God. That repeated word family ties Enoch’s testimony to trust, while leaving the transfer itself as God’s act.
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