3 Enoch 41
3 Enoch 41
Section: Cosmic Visions
Translated by Hugo Odeberg (1928)
CHAPTER XLI
Metatron shows R. Ishmael the letters engraved on the Throne of Glory by which letters everything in heaven and earth has been created
R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me:
(1) Come and behold! the En by which the heaven and the earth were created,
?the letters by which were created the mountains and hills,
the letters by which were created the seas and rivers,
the letters by which were created the trees and herbs?,
the letters by which were created the planets and the constellations,
?the letters by which were created? the globe of the moon and the globe of the sun, Orion, the Pleiades and all the different luminaries of Ragia‘.
(2) * the letters by which were created the Throne of Glory and the Wheels of the Merkaba,
1 &: ‘I will show thee’ Cf. the opening words of the following chapters. 2-2 E om. 3 E ins.: ‘the letters by which were created the ministering angels; the letters by which were created the Seraphim and the Chayyoth’
In ch. xlvi. 4 this passage is used with reference to the renewal of the planets (stars) in the time to come.
Ch. xli. T’his chapter marks the beginning of a new section distinguished from the rest of the book by the setting in which the revelations of the heavenly mysteries are here framed. Whereas according to the preceding chapters the various celestial facts are represented as orally transmitted to R. Ishmael by Metatron, the various wonders of heaven are acc. to this section actually shown to R. Ishmael.
The contents of the revelations thus presented in this section are greatly varied and can scarcely be comprised under one heading. Three main themes are, however, discernible. One is the physical-cosmological aspect of the heavenly mysteries; to this may be reckoned the letters engraved on the Throne of Glory (in the present chapter), the various polar opposites (ch. xlii)—in which the cosmological interest is apparent—the Curtain spread before the Holy One (ch. xlv), and the stars and planets (ch. xlvi).
The second theme is that of the conditions of the souls and spirits, comprising not only the spirits and souls of the departed (righteous, wicked and intermediate chh. xliii, xliv), but also those of the unborn, and, even more, those of the punished angels (chh. xliii, xlvii).
‘The third theme, connected with and partly interwoven in the others is of escha- tological character: chh. xliv. 7-10, xlv. 5, xlviii A. Ch. xlviii A forms the conclusion of the section.
(1) This verse is an almost literal copy of ch. xiii. 1, on which see note, 7b.
(2) by which were created the Throne of Glory and the Wheels of the Merkaba. The letters are thus prior even to the Throne of Glory, the vehicle of
CHH. XLI, XLII] METATRON SHOWS R. ISHMAEL SECRETS 129
the letters by which were created the necessities of the worlds‘, (3) the letters by which were created wisdom, understanding, know- ledge, prudence, meekness and righteousness by which the whole
world is sustained.
(4) And I walked by his side and he took me by his hand and raised me upon his wings and showed me ‘those letters, all of themë, that are graven with a flaming style on the Throne of Glory: and sparks go forth from them and cover all the chambers of ’ Araboth.