ENOS (Hebrew Enōš = « humanity », « man »). - A very ancient patriarch. In Gen. 4:26 - the Yahwistic document according to the critics - the genealogy of E., son of Seth, is outlined with the usual formula (cf. 1 Chron. 1:1). Of great interest for the history of religion is the statement according to which in the time of E. "men began to invoke the name of Yahweh."

The biblical expression is not to be interpreted in the sense that the first manifestation of religious feeling is to be attributed to E., for that appears connatural already in the first human family, even after the fall (cf. Gen. 4:3 ff.). Therefore the only possible sense is the one that refers the notice to the establishment of public worship or of particular rites, prayers or sacrifices. Because of this feeling of piety the name of E. remained famous in Jewish tradition (cf. Eccl. 49:16, Hebrew text).

In Gen. 5:6-11 - the priestly document according to the critics - the genealogy of E. is again repeated: at the age of 90 (at 190 according to the Septuagint) he would have become the father of Kenan and would have died at the age of 905.

Angelo Penna

@incollection{ec5_enos_ebr_enoi_umanita_uomo, author = {Penna, Angelo}, title = {Enos (Ebr. EnŌI = « Umanità », « uomo »)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {365}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/enos-ebr-enoi-umanita-uomo} }

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