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In 3 Enoch, angels make Israel's prayers into God's crown. Rabbinic tradition in tractate Chagigah has Sandalfon weave a crown for God, while the prayers explain how people on earth contribute to that heavenly honor.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
3 Enoch 15B:2
Hebrew Book of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
And when Moses ascended on high, he fasted 121 fasts, till the habitations of the chashmal were opened to him; and he saw the heart within the heart of the Lion and he saw the innumerable companies of the hosts round about him. And they desired to burn him. But Moses prayed for mercy, first for Israel and after that for himself: and He who sits on the Merkaba opened the windows that are above the heads of the Kerubim. And a host of 1800 advocates and the Prince of the Presence, Metatron, with them went forth to meet Moses. And they took the prayers of Israel and put them as a crown on the head of the Holy One, blessed be He.
Chagigah 13b:4
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
Rabbi Elazar said: This wheel is a certain angel who stands on the earth and its head reaches the divine creatures. It was taught in a baraita: This angel is named Sandalfon, who is taller than his colleague by a distance of five hundred years, and he stands behind the Divine Chariot and weaves crowns for his Maker. The Gemara asks: Is that so? Can crowns be woven for God? But isn’t it written: “Blessed be the Lord’s glory from His place” (Ezekiel 3:12), which proves by inference that no one knows His place? Therefore, how can crowns be woven for Him? Rather, it can be done by saying a name for the crown, and then the crown goes and sits on God’s head of its own accord.
Date: 450-550 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... m. "They received the prayers of Israel and
placed them as a crown," C: "they received his
(Moses') prayer and placed it as a crown."
Eleazar. According to one tradition it is the angel
Sandalpon who places the prayers of Israel as a
crown on God's head; see b.Hag 13b; PR 20:4
(ed. Friedmann. 97a); MidraS Tehillim 19:7 (to
Ps 19:3) (ed. Buber, 84a); Ma'yan Hokmah,
BHM. vol. 1, p. 59: MidraS Konen. BHM. vol.
2, p. 26, I. 24; Yalqut HadaS. Mal'akim no. 9
(Warsaw, 1879) p. 122. ...”
Philip S. Alexander
"3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch" in James H. Charlesworth (ed.) The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 1
(p. 304) Doubleday, 1983
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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