The only full text is known from an Ethiopian translation, although large parts are known in Greek and a few small portions in Latin and Syriac. Manuscripts of I Enoch written in Aramaic and most recently Greek were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and are the earliest known fragments.

I Enoch is considered a pseudograph, falsely attributed to Enoch, and neither Jews nor Christians accepted it into their canons of Scripture. For this reason, it is considered by Christians to be Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Nevertheless, it was held in esteem by many early Christian writers, including the author of the canonical New Testament Book of Jude, which briefly makes reference to a scene depicted in I Enoch.