3 Enoch 7 - The Celestial Robe
3 Enoch 7
Section: Metatron Revealed (Enoch Transformed)
Translated by Hugo Odeberg (1928)
CHAPTER VII!
Enoch raised upon the wings of the Shekina to the place of the Throne, the Merkaba and the angelic hosts
R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me:
When the Holy One, blessed be He, took me away from the genera- tion of the Flood, he lifted me on the wings of the wind of Shekina to the highest heaven and brought me into the great palaces of the “Araboth Ragia‘ on high, where are “the glorious Throne of Shekina?, the Merkaba?, the troops of anger, the armies of vehemence, the fiery Shin’anim*, the *flaming Kerubim, and the burning ’Ophan- nim, the flaming servants, the flashing Chashmallim and the light- ening Seraphim®. And he placed me (there) to attend the Throne of Glory day after day.
1 B places this chapter at the end of ch. xiv. 2-2 BCL: ‘the glory of Shekina’ 3 B: ‘the chariots of the mighty ones of anger’ L: ‘the chariots of the mighty ones’ C: ‘the great chariots of anger’ 4. C: ‘Accusers’ ‘Satans’ 5-5 lit. ‘the Kerubim of firebrands’ and the ‘Ophannim of (burning) coal and the servants of flame and the Chashmallim of spark and the Seraphim of lightning’
Ch. vii. Another short version of the translation of Enoch, connecting it with the generation of the Flood but also containing traces of its relation to the removal or lifting up of Shekina (‘on the wings of the wind of the Shekina’). lifted me on the wings of the wind of Shekina. The wings of Shekina, a common metaphorical expression, often used as denoting proselytism; cf. Abel- son, op. cit. p. 90. Here it rather expresses the protection given to Enoch from the Godhead (against the fury of the angels?), TB. Shabbat, 88 b: “when Moses was to ascend on high…God spread over him of the splendour of His Shekina, that the angels might not be able to burn him”. For ‘wings of the wind’ cf. chh. xxxiv. 1i, xxxvii. 2. Cf. 2 En. iii. x (Enoch raised upon the wings of the angels, upon the clouds etc). Acc. to Mysteries of St John and the Holy Virgin, 6 b, St John is raised “on the wing of the light of the Cherub”. Cf. ch. vi. r (BCL). where are the…Throne…the Merkaba, the troops of anger etc., the most prominent of the glories contained in the highest of the heavens, the ‘Araboth Ragia‘. Cf. Mass. Hek. v (“in the seventh Hall of ‘Araboth Ragia‘ are the Throne…the Chariots of the Kerubim…Seraphim, ’Ophannim, Chayyoth, the Chashmallim of splendour and majesty, etc.’’). A parallel is ch. xlviii c 4, but notice the difference: there Enoch-Metatron is represented as appointed over and a minister of all the different classes of high angels, as well as of the Throne. Here he is represented as attendant of the Throne only (cf. however, x. 3). See ch. xv. 1.
the fiery Shin’anim. The name Shin’anim is deduced from vs. 18 of the mystical Ps. Ixviii. The Shin’anim asa class of angels occurs frequently in enu- merations of angelic orders.
the flaming servants. Cf. on ch. vi. 2.
the flashing Chashmallim. One of the ten classes of angels, in common with the Shin’anim. Cf. also ch. xlviii c and Mass. Hek. v, referred to above. The name is derived from the Chasmal of Ezek. i. 4. Cf. on ch. xxxiv. 1. The Chashmallim are in Chag. 13 b explained as ‘‘ the angels (Chayyoth) who are sometimes silent
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