The first exhaustive commentary on this work since 17731 Enoch is one of the most intriguing books in the Pseudepigrapha (Israelite works outside the Hebrew canon). It was originally written in Aramaic and is comprised of several smaller works, incorporating traditions from the three centuries before the Common Era. Employing the name of the ancient patriach Enoch, the Aramaic text was translated into Greek and then into Ethiopic. But as a whole, it is a classic example of revelatory (apocalyptic) literature and an important collection of Jewish literature from the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

This volume represents the culmination of three decades' work on the Book of 1 Enoch for Nickelsburg. He provides detailed commentary on each passage in chapters 1-36 and 81-108, and an introduction to the full work. The introduction includes sections on overviews of each of the smaller collections, texts and manuscripts, literary aspects, worldview and religious thought, the history of ideas and social contexts, usage in later Jewish and Christian literatures, and a survey of the modern study of the book. (Volume 2 will cover chapters 37-80 and will be written by Nickelsburg and James VanderKam.)