He was taken away lest wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul.

“We see also that Enoch was taken away, because he was pleasing to God, as the divine Scriptures attest in Genesis: "Then Enoch walked with God and was no longer, because God had taken him." Because he was pleasing before God, he was worthy to be taken away from the evil of this world. But the Holy Spirit also teaches throughugh Solomon that those who are pleasing to God are taken first and freed from here earlier, so they would not be tainted by too long a sojourn in this world.”

“You will say, How much and how often have I prayed, and I have not been answered! But what did you ask for? Perhaps you asked for the death of your enemy. And … what if he asked for yours, as well? The one who created you also created him. You are a human being, and he is too, but God is the judge. He has listened to both of you and answered neither. Are you sad because your prayer against your enemy has not been granted? Rejoice, rather, that your enemy's prayer has not been granted, to your harm. But, you say, I did not ask for this. I did not ask for the death of my enemy but the life of my son. What evil is there in that? You asked for nothing evil, in your opinion. But what would you say if he was taken so that wickedness would not corrupt his soul? But, you object, he was a sinner! And this is why I wanted him to live, so that he would amend his life. You wanted him to live so that he would become better. And what would you say if someone told you that God knew that he would have become worse if he had lived? How do you know which would have been better for him, to die or to live? If, then, you do not know, return to your heart, and leave every decision to God. You will say to me, "But, then, what should I do? What should I ask for in prayer?" What should you ask for? What the Lord, the heavenly teacher, taught us. Invoke God as God, love God as God. There is nothing better than him. Desire him, long for him!”

“Away. Like Henoch, Genesis v. 24., and Hebrews xi. 5. (Calmet) — “Bad conversations corrupt the best manners,” 1 Corinthians xv. 33., and Isaias lvii. 1. But could not God have supported the just under temptation? Undoubtedly. His judgments are unsearchable. (St. Augustine, de Præd. xiv.) (Calmet) — The holy doctor thence proves, that those who die in a just state, might have forfeited it, if they had lived longer. God knew this possibility, and that it would not take place, and his foreknowledge agrees with man’s free-will, which some, inclining to Pelagianism, would controvert. They objected to this authority: and he was therefore obliged to prove that the book of Wisdom is canonical. (Ibid.[St. Augustine, de Præd. xiv.?]) (Worthington)”