Genesis tells us that "the earth was corrupt in God's sight" before the flood. It tells us that violence filled the earth. It mentions the Nephilim. And then — without much explanation — God decides to destroy everything and start over.
If you've always wondered what exactly happened in the centuries between Eden and the Ark, the Book of Enoch is the answer.
The World Before Noah
According to Enoch, the corruption that precipitated the flood was not simply human wickedness. It was a structural contamination of the earth itself, caused by the fall of the Watchers — the angelic beings who descended to earth, took human wives, and produced the Nephilim (described in detail in our article on the Watchers).
The Nephilim — giants of enormous size and appetite — consumed everything humanity had produced. When human food ran out, they turned to animals. When animal food ran out, they turned to humans. The earth cried out. The archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel carried the cry of the earth up to God and reported what was happening below.
The Four Archangels by Name
One of Enoch's most significant contributions to Jewish and Christian tradition is the naming of the archangels. The four primary angels — Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel — appear by name and function in Enoch before they appear anywhere else in surviving literature. Their roles (warrior, messenger, healer, guide) and their hierarchy are established in Enoch and then taken for granted in later texts, including the New Testament.
God's Response
In Enoch's account, God instructs the archangels to bind the leader of the fallen Watchers, Shemihazah, under the hills of the earth until the day of judgment. Azazel, who taught humans forbidden knowledge, is bound in the desert and buried under rocks in preparation for the final reckoning. And Noah is told to prepare for a flood that will cleanse the earth of its corruption.
The flood, in other words, was not God's first intervention. It was the culmination of a longer cosmic conflict that Genesis compresses into four verses.
The Book of Enoch — Collector's Edition gives you the full account — the world behind the world that Genesis summarizes.