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In 3 Enoch, Metatron helps Moses when angels threaten him. Rabbinic tradition in tractate Shabbat has God protect Moses so he can answer them, giving the human visitor a different source of help in heaven.
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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.
Shabbat 88b:8
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: Provide them with an answer as to why the Torah should be given to the people. Moses said before Him: Master of the Universe, I am afraid lest they burn me with the breath of their mouths. God said to him: Grasp My throne of glory for strength and protection, and provide them with an answer. And from where is this derived? As it is stated: “He causes him to grasp the front of the throne, and spreads His cloud over it” (Job 26:9), and Rabbi Naḥum said: This verse teaches that God spread the radiance of His presence and His cloud over Moses.
Date: 450-550 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... e. The connection between vss. 1 and 2 prob
ably is the idea that when Moses ascended to
heaven to receive the Law, it was Metatron whom
he met; see 48D:7; b.Sanh 38b. For other ac
counts of the ascension of Moses and the oppo
sition of the angels to it, see b.Shab 88b-89a;
MidraS Tanbuma', ed. Buber, vol. 3, 56b; Ged-
ullat Moseh, BM, vol. 1, pp. 281-85; Haggadat
Sema' Yisra'el, BHM, vol. 5, pp. 165f.; Ma'yan
Hokmah, BHM, vol. 1, pp. 58-61; PR 20:4 (ed.
Friedmann, 96b); 25:3 (ed. Friedmann, 128a);
MidraS Tehillim 8:2 (ed. Buber, 37a-38a); PRE
46; SongR 8:11.2. ...”
Philip S. Alexander
"3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch" in James H. Charlesworth (ed.) The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 1
(p. 303) 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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