Charles Ellicott Commentary Hebrews 11:5

"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God:" — Hebrews 11:5 (ASV)

See death.—See Luke 2:26; Psalms 89:48 (John 8:51).

And was not found . . . translated him.—This is an exact quotation from the Septuagint (Genesis 5:24). The word “translated” is a very simple one, meaning only a change of place; but nothing can equal the simplicity of the Hebrew: he was not, for God took him.

He had this testimony.—Better, he hath had witness borne to him (Hebrews 11:2; Hebrews 11:4) that he hath been well pleasing to God. The form of the expression shows that the writer is again speaking of the ever-present word of Scripture (Hebrews 4:9 and following). That word does not record the translation of Enoch until it hath borne witness to him that he pleased God.

The words walked with God are rendered in the Septuagint as was well pleasing to God, and it is this rendering that is quoted here and in the next verse. The writer himself supplies the comment in the next verse, which has a very close connection with this.