Guide
Edni, Wife of Enoch, in Extrabiblical Literature
3rd Century BCE–1st Century CE
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While the biblical text says relatively little about him and nothing at all about his wife, Enoch became an important figure in postbiblical literature. According to Genesis 5:24, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him” (NJPS). This gave rise to legends about Enoch’s special status and immortality that were expanded on in the books of Enoch and other texts (see DEATH AND THE NEXT WORLD and Otherworldly Journeys). Although Enoch’s wife is not mentioned in Genesis 4 or 5, the books of Jubilees and 1 Enoch discuss her and call her by the name Edni (or Edna), providing details about her family and her marriage.
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
Edni in Jubilees
During the twelfth jubilee, in its seventh week [582–588], he [Enoch—Ed.] took a wife for himself. Her name was Edni, the daughter of Daniel, the daughter of his father’s brother. In the sixth year of…
Primary Source
Edni in 1 Enoch
Then Enoch responded and said to his son, Methuselah: “I shall speak to you, my son, hear my words and incline your ears to the dream vision of your father. Before I married your mother, Edna, I was…