3 Enoch 9
3 Enoch 9
Section: Metatron Revealed (Enoch Transformed)
Translated by Hugo Odeberg (1928)
CHAPTER IX
Enoch receives blessings from the Most High and 1s adorned with angelic attributes
R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Prince of the Presence, said to me:
(1) After all these things the Holy One, blessed be He, put His hand upon me and blessed me with 5360! blessings. (2) And I was raised? and enlarged to the size of the length and width of the world. (3) And He caused 72 wings to grow on me, 36 on each side. And
2 C adds: ‘and honour unto all honour, majesty unto all majesty, glory unto all glory and greatness unto all greatness’
Ch. ix. 1 so BCL. A: ‘one thousand, 305 thousands’ DE: ‘one thousand, 365 thousand’ 2 BC: ‘elated’
Ch. ix. The subject of the present chapter is the metamorphosis through which Enoch was made into a high angel. This metamorphosis is viewed from another aspectin ch. xv. Here the different angelic attributes conferred on Metatron are: immense height of stature, wings, eyes covering the whole of his body, and light.
(1) blessed me with 5360 blessings. This connects the present chapter with its antecedent: the blessings are presumably conceived of as contained in the heavenly treasuries, opened to Enoch and the contents of which are bestowed upon him. The treasures of blessing(s) are mentioned as contained in the ‘Araboth, e.g. TB. Chag. 12 b. The number 5360 is intended to reflect the number 365.
(2) I was raised to the size of the length…of the world. The immense size of the high angels is a constantly reiterated theme. Cf. ch. xxi. 1: “each of the Chayyoth is as the space of the world” (cf. Chag. 13 a), chh. xxii. 3, xxv. 4, xxvi. 4. The idea prevails: the greater an angel is (in rank) the larger his size. Cf. the versions of the Rev. of Moses (Ma‘yan Chokma, BH. i. 58, etc., YR. ii. 66 b-67 b, Zohar, ii. 56 a): ‘‘ Hadarniel is greater than Qemuel by 60 myriads of parasangs, Sandalfon is higher of stature than Hadarniel by 500 years’ journeying distance’’. Thus, in the other Enoch-Metatron piece of the present book, ch. xlviii c 5, the size of Metatron is seen from this comparative aspect: ‘‘ I made him higher of stature than all. The height of his stature surpasses all others by ten thousand parasangs’’. The similar tradition preserved in Zohar, e.g. i. 21 a: ‘‘Metatron is glorified more than the highest angels (the Chayyoth) and higher than these by 500 parasangs”.
(3) 72 wings. The number seventy-two is frequently used in the present book. It generally seems to imply reference to the rule of the world: the seventy-two princes of kingdoms, cf. note on ch. xvii. 8. Metatron is in the present section the ruler of the seventy-two princes of kingdoms: chh. x. 3, xiv. 1, xvi. 1 and 2. It is possible that the seventy-two wings here—extending over the whole world
26 THE HEBREW BOOK OF ENOCH [CH. Ix
each wing was as the whole world. (4) And He fixed on me 365 eyes: each eye was as the great luminary. (5) And He left no kind of splendour, brilliance, radiance, beauty “in (of) all the lights of the universe? that He did not fix on me.
3-3 so BCDEL. A: ‘filled the world’ 4-4 so BCL. A: ‘praise, lights of the universe’
—symbolize Metatron’s rulership over these. 36 on each side may be compared with ch. xvi. 1: ‘the princes of kingdoms were standing. ..on my right hand and on my left’. Ä
(4) 365 eyes. For the number 365 (= the number of days of the solar year) as mystical number cf. chh. v. 4, xxi. 3 (‘the size of each wing of the Chayyoth as 365 wings’), xxxiii. 4 ( the breadth of each of the fiery rivers is 365 thousand para- sangs’). The body of an angel-prince covered with eyes (round about) is a regular feature of the descriptions of angels: cf. chh. xxii. 8 (‘his body is full of eyes’, of Kerubiel), xxv. 2, where the number of eyes assigned to the angel-prince in question (’Ophanniel) is devised on the basis of calendary calculations (‘8466 eyes corresponding to the number of hours of a year’), xxvi. 6. Cf. notes ad loca. each eye was as the great luminary. An identical statement about the eyes of Seraphiel, ch. xxvi. 6.
(5) fixed on me all kinds of splendour, brilliance etc. of the lights (lumina- ries) of the world. Cf. in the angelological descriptions: chh. xxii. 4, xxv. 6, xxvi. 2, 4. Cf. also Mass. Hek. iv: ‘‘On every door in the Hall(s) of ‘Araboth there are fixed 365 thousand myriads of different kinds of lights like unto the great luminary”.
The repeated references by comparisons to the ‘world’ in the present chapter, vss. 2, 3, 5, and the possible allusion to the seventy-two princes of kingdoms or to the rule of the world in vs. 3 (cf. above) might conceivably be traces, if not inten- tional symbolical expressions, of Metatron’s function as the Prince of the World. Vs.2, ‘I was raised to the size of the world’, might also be a remnant of Metatron’s connection with the speculations on the Primordial Man, the ‘Adam Qadmon. Acc. to Chag. 12 a the first Adam reached from one end of the world to the other. This connection, which like the identification of Metatron with the Prince of the World (existing from the Days of Creation), was perhaps suspended in consequence of Metatron’s identification with Enoch, reappears in later cabbalistic literature: the statement that Enoch-Metatron is the Néshéma of the first Adam, who left him before the sin of Adam (just as the universal size of the first Adam is repre- sented as diminished through Adam’s sin: TB. Chag. 12 a) is frequent. The difficulties arising from Metatron’s identification with Enoch were now overcome through the new conceptions brought in with the doctrine of metempsychosis and related speculations.
CH. x] ENOCH-METATRON PIECE 27
CHAPTER
God places Metatron on a throne at the door of the seventh
Hall and announces through the Herald, that Metatron
henceforth is God’s representative and ruler over all the
princes of kingdoms and all the children of heaven, save
the eight high princes called YHWH by the name of their King
R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Prince of the Presence, said to me:
(1) All these things the Holy One, blessed be He, made for me: 1He made me! a Throne, similar to the 2 Throne of Glory. And He spread over me °a curtain of splendour and brilliant appearance, of
1-1 so ins. DE. 2 C ins. ‘make of the’ 3-3 BCL om.
Ch. x. This chapter presents Metatron as adorned with special attributes, dis- tinguishing him from the other angels: a throne and a curtain, both reflections of the Throne and Curtain of the Godhead. He is furthermore explicitly pronounced a ruler over the princes of kingdoms and the children of heaven, a rulership defined as a vice-regency for the Holy One. The chapter really forms an explanation of the names ‘ Metatron’ and ‘Prince of the Presence’.
(r) He made me a Throne. This is in itself no feature confined to the descrip- tions of Metatron. Instances are frequent of thrones assigned to angels or meri- torious dead. r En. cviii. 12 (“I will bring forth in shining light [cf. here] those who have loved My holy name, and I will seat each one on the throne of his honour”). Cf. CHARLES, ad locum, Rev. iv. 4. In the ‘Apocalyptic Fragment’ preserved e.g. in BH. v. 167-169 David has a “Throne of fire” erected for him over against the Throne of His Creator. Acc. to Gedullah Moshe Moses sees in the seventh heaven “‘7o thrones fixed, of precious stones, pearls, gold etc… there are thrones for the scholars of the Law, for the chassids, the just etc. of different splendour acc. to merit of the occupants”. And acc. to Alph, R. ‘Agqiba, BH. iii. 34, the righteous in the world to come will each be seated before the Glory of the Holy One, on a throne of gold “like a king”. For thrones assigned to angels cf. Mass. Hek. vii, acc. to which seven angels as court-officers are sitting upon seven thrones before the Curtain. Cf. Rev. xx. 4 (“I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, acc. to Bousset, Comm. ad loc. probably Christ and the angels as ’ Gerichtsbei- sassen’). The view predominant in Rabbinic seems to be that ‘there is no sitting in heaven’: TB. Chag. 15 a. Assigning a seat or a throne to any angel-prince or to any one beside the Holy One, might endanger the recognition of the absolute sovereignty and unity of the Godhead. Cf. ch. xvi. Acc. to the passage Chag. 15 a, just referred to, the privilege of ‘sitting’ was accorded to Metatron in his character as ‘scribe’: he was allowed “to sit and write down the merits of Israel’. Here, no doubt, the assigning a Throne to Metatron is meant to denote his unique position: his character of God’s representative or vice-regent. This is borne out by vss. 3 and 4. and also by what immediately follows: the Throne is similar to, mé‘én, that is ‘the counterpart of’, the Throne of Glory. The character of Metatron’s throne as an image of or counterpart of God’s Throne is particularly emphasized by the additional feature: Metatron receives a curtain similar to the Curtain of the Throne of Glory. For the conception of the Curtain cf. note on ch. xiv. 1.
28 THE HEBREW BOOK OF ENOCH [cH. X
beauty, grace? and mercy, similar to® the curtain of the Throne of Glory; and on it were fixed all ‘kinds of lights in the universe’.
(2) And He placed it at the door of the Seventh Hall and seated me on it.
(3) And the herald went forth ê into every heaven, saying: “This is? Metatron, ®my servant®. I have made him into a prince and a ruler over all the princes of my kingdoms ? and over all the children
4 DE om. 5-5 C: ‘splendour and brilliance from all lights’ cf. ch. ix. 4. 6 ABD ins. ‘concerning me’ 7-7 80 C. 8-8 C om. 9 L ins. the gloss: ‘the angels’
The Curtain regularly represents the recording of the Divine decrees with regard to the world, the secrets of the world’s creation and sustenance, etc., in short the innermost Divine Secrets; cf. note referred to.
(2) He placed it at the door of the Seventh Hall and seated me on it. This is an often-repeated statement. It is in ch. xlvili c 8 made to denote his function as judge and ruler over the princes and the children of heaven, as even here, acc. to verses following. In Rev. Moses (YR. ii. 66 b, Szumi, 93 c d, Gaster, RAS’s Journal, 1893) it is said: ” Metatron, Prince of the Presence, stands before the door of the Hall of the Holy One, blessed be He, and he szts and judges all the hosts on high like a judge standing before the King”, The contradiction between the two statements ‘sits’ and ‘stands’ in this passage is probably due to the influence of the tradition mentioned above, that there is no sitting in heaven, responsible also for the account of Metatron being divested of his privilege of yeshiba in Chag. 15 a and ch. xvi here. On his throne at the door of the seventh Hall Metatron faces all the hosts of the heavens, over which he has jurisdiction.
(3) the herald went forth into every heaven. The conception of the heavenly herald announcing important decrees of the Most High in the heavens is attested also in Hek. R. vi (BH. tii. 88, as ch. iv): “the herald went forth from the ‘Araboth Raqia’ etc.” and in Rev. Mos., Yalqut Re’ubent, ii. 66 b: ‘‘ Gallisur stands behind the Curtain and gets knowledge of the decrees of the Holy One and heralds it… and the herald commits it to Elijah and Elijah stands as herald on the mount Horeb ”, This is Metatron, my servant. HERE THEN IS THE POINT—in the course of the exposition of the present chapter—WHERE ENOCH IS PROCLAIMED AS METATRON. It is significant that THIS PROCLAMATION IS MADE TO COINCIDE WITH HIS BEING SET UP ON A THRONE—as a ruler over the princes and angels. See Introduction, section 12(5). my servant, i.e. ‘Ebed. ‘Ebed or God’s Servant is an old-established name of Metatron. Cf. chh. xlviii € x, xlviii D x (no. 17) and note. It seems to have been especially associated with the Prince of the Presence conception. Cf. Hek. R. xiii, BH. iii. 93: “Surya, ‘Ebed, the Prince of the Presence” (Surya is a common equivalent of Metatron as the Prince of the Presence, cf. no. 84, ch. xlviii. 1). In Hek. Zot. (Bodl. MICH. fol. 70a) the attribute ‘my servant’ is applied to Metatron as God’s representative or vice-regent: “when I (the Holy One) leave the Throne of Glory to go down among the children of men”. In Hek. R. BH. iii. 104, Metatron is called ‘‘‘Ebed- YHWH, long-suffering and of great mercy”. It is probable that the ‘‘Ebed’ is derived from the picture of God’s servant in Is. xlix. ı, etc.
I have made him into a prince and a ruler over all the princes of my kingdoms (= my princes of kingdoms). Here, as in ch. xvi. 1, 2, Metatron is explicitly stated to have special authority over the princes of kingdoms. This is a feature in the Prince of the World tradition: ch. xxx. 2. In the shorter Enoch- Metatron piece, ch. xlviii C, vs. 9, Metatron’s character of ruler over the princes of kingdoms and thereby as functional Prince of the World is better preserved than here: he is there depicted as ruler over the nations of the world ‘who smites kings
CH. X] ENOCH-METATRON PIECE 29
of heaven, except the eight great princes, the honoured and revered ones who are called !’* Y HWH, by the name of their King“. (4) And every angel and every prince who has a word to speak in my presence (before me) shall go into his presence (before him) and shall speak to him (instead). (5) And every command that he utters to you? in my name do ye observe and fulfil. For the Prince of Wisdom and the Prince of Understanding “have I committed to him to instruct him in the wisdom of heavenly things and of earthly
10-10 so with BCDL(E). A:‘by the name of H their King? E:‘H by the name of the World’ (corrupt for: * H, by the name of the King of the World’?) 11-11 Dom. 12-12 BCL om. 13-13 lit. ‘every word that he shall speak to you’ 14-14 so acc. to BCL. BL lit. ‘I have committed him (sing. = the Prince of Wisdom and of Understanding)’ C: ‘I have committed them (plur.)’ A: ‘are ministers to him’
and sets up kings’. Here his rulership is viewed mainly or exclusively from its celestial aspect, he is the ruler over the princes of kingdoms as inhabitants of the heavens, in common with all the children of heaven. Except the eight great princes…who are called YHWH by the name of their king. ‘Called by the name YHWH’ (cf. on chh. iii. 2, xxix. 1) probably means that these angels have the Tetragrammaton as part of their names, as ‘Anaphiel H of ch. vi. 1, the higher ones of the angels enumerated ch. xviii, and the Merkaba princes chh. xix, xx, xxii, xxv, xxvi, xxvii. Which these angels are who are exempt from the juris- diction of Metatron is not stated here. One might from ch. vi. 1 conjecture that ‘Anaphiel was regarded as one of them. A parallel can be brought from Hek. R. xxii, BH. iii. ọ9. This parallel is indeed so close that it can with some degree of certainty be assumed to represent the same tradition as the present passage. The guardians of the seventh Hall are enumerated—“‘and each of them, his name is called by the name of the King of the World’’—(in the enumeration this state- ment is shown to signify the form of names of which the Tetragrammaton forms the latter part: SSTIEL YHWH, N(ZURIEL YHWH, etc.). The greatest of them is ‘Anaphiel H (in whose charge the ring with the seal of heaven and earth is com- mitted, cf. on vi. 1): ‘before him all on high kneel down, fall on their faces and pay homage to him when they see him. And those angels, standing before the Throne of Glory, who do not prostrate themselves before the Prince of the Presence, they prostrate themselves before ‘Anaphiel YHWH’. ‘Those angels’ are evidently the angels in Hek. R. made into ‘the guardians of the Seventh Hall’. The names of these angels are only seven in the enumeration, but acc. to the general scheme of Hek. R. (see chh. xv, xvii, etc.) the number of the guardians of each Hall is ‘eight’: likewise in Mass. Hek. iv (“there are eight guardians of the door of each of the seven Halls”). Hence also Hek. R. xxii might originally have had: “eight great princes, called H”. This clause is most probably additional here, cf. Intro- duction, section 8 (u).
(4) Every angel…who has a word to speak in my presence, shall go …to him. HERE THE EPITHET ‘PRINCE OF THE PRESENCE’ IS EXPLAINED. (5) And every command that he utters to you in my name do ye observe and fulfil. THIS IS CLEARLY A PROCLAMATION OF METATRON AS GOD’S VICE- REGENT. Ex. xxiii. 21 may have been suggestive (Ex. xxiii. 20-22 are tradition- ally referred to the Prince of the Presence): “‘Beware of him and provoke him not: obey his voice”. Here Metatron’s jurisdiction extends only over the angels, ctr. ch. xlviii € 9. But his connection with the affairs of the ‘world’ is implied by the following, for the Prince of Wisdom and the Prince of Understanding have I committed to him to instruct him in the wisdom of heavenly things and of earthly things. ‘The Prince of Wisdom and Prince of Understanding’:
30 THE HEBREW BOOK OF ENOCH [CHH. X, XI
things, in the wisdom of this world and of the world to come. (6) More- over, I have set him over all the treasuries of the palaces of ‘Arabdth and over all the stores “5 of life? that 16T have! 17 in the high heavens.