The Book of Enoch: Black Adam, Albino Noah, and The Image of God

Was everyone on the planet black before Noah’s flood? The book of Enoch seems to indicate that the world before Noah’s flood was a much darker place, as far as melanin is concerned. While The Book of Enoch is not considered canon (official scripture), it was very important to the ancient Hebrews. In fact, it was so important, that they hid it among the Dead Sea scrolls at Qumran. Let’s start by looking at the story concerning Noah’s birth:

“After a time, my son Mathusala took a wife for his son Lamech. She became pregnant by him, and brought forth a child, the flesh of which was as white as snow, and red as a rose; the hair of whose head was white like wool, and long; and whose eyes were beautiful. When he opened them, he illuminated all the house, like the sun; the whole house abounded with light. And when he was taken from the hand of the midwife, opening also his mouth, he spoke to the Lord of righteousness. Then Lamech his father was afraid of him; and flying away came to his own father Mathusala, and said, I have begotten a son, unlike to other children. He is not human; but, resembling the offspring of the angels of heaven, is of a different nature from ours, being altogether unlike to us.” — Book of Enoch 105:1–3

The Colored Elephant In The Room

These three verses in The Book of Enoch provide a glimpse into what was going on around the world at the time of Noah’s birth. In order to make this easier, we’re going to break down the information into two sections:

What The Text Says

1. Noah was born with white skin.
2. Noah did not look like the other humans.
3. Lamech believed Noah was the son of an angel.
4. Angels were having children on earth.

What The Text Implies

1. White skin was not common among humans.
2. The children of the angels (nephilim) were white.

Although the nephilim play a very important role in Noah’s flood, they are beyond the scope and focus of this article. If you are interested in an in depth study on the nephilim and Noah’s flood, please check out my book, As The Days of Noah Were: The Sons of God and The Coming Apocalypse.

If Humans Weren’t White…

What color were they? The text seems to imply that pre-flood humans were people of color. Based on the location of The Garden of Eden, they were most likely brown or dark skinned people. If you still aren’t convinced that pre-flood people were people of color, Lamech’s words, “being altogether unlike to us” proves that everything about Noah was different, including his skin color.

Noah: The Black Albino

Although Noah was described as having “white skin”, we know that not only Europeans have white skin. Black people can also be born with white skin. We refer to these people as albinos. Here are a few pictures of black people with white skin:

As we can clearly see, white babies are not only born to Europeans. In fact, it is a scientific fact that black people can have white children, but white people cannot have a black child. The only way for all of the races to exist on the planet, is if they started dark, and then became lighter over time.

Enoch, Lamech, and Noah were all from the line of Seth (Adam’s third son). If they were people of color, it also indicates that Seth was a man of color, which would also make Adam a man of color.

Adam: The First Man of Color

For starters, Genesis 2:7 tells us that Adam was created from the dust of the earth. In the Mesopotamian region, where the garden was located, all of the soil is colored. However, I’ll readily admit that it isn’t a very strong argument. The strongest argument for Adam being black are the three verses above.

• If Noah was white and the other humans were not, they were likely brown or dark skinned.
• If the humans were brown or dark skinned, it would’ve been passed down from Adam.
• If brown or dark skin was passed down from Adam, it would mean that Adam was most likely brown or dark skinned.

These are reasonable conclusions based solely on the text presented. That brings us to the most controversial conclusion to where the evidence leads:

The Image of God

We are constantly bombarded with images of a white God or a white Christ, but why is that? If race doesn’t matter and God is just a spirit without race, why is he always depicted as white and not black or Arab or even Asian?

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” — Genesis 1:26–27

If God made man in his image, and after his likeness, what would that man look like? He would look like God. Many people try to downplay the appearance of God by saying that God is a spirit, which means he doesn’t have a body or color, but that’s not scriptural. That is personal belief and opinion:

• Adam had arms and legs.
• Adam had hair.
• Adam had a face.
• Adam had a skin color.

Adam was a walking, talking, self portrait of the creator. This brings us back to The Book of Enoch. If the people in Noah’s time were not white, and all of the people on earth were black, what color was Adam? If Adam was created in the image of God, and Adam was a man of color, what does that say about God?

Suggested Reading

• Jasper and Sardine Stones: Case Closed on The Color of The Creator