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3 Enoch

Hebrew Book of Enoch

About this book
Chapter 10

1 R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: All these things the Holy One, blessed be He, made for me: He made me a Throne, similar to the Throne of Glory.⁠ And He spread over me a curtain of splendour and brilliant appearance, of 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 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 of heaven, except the eight great princes, the honoured and revered ones who are called YHWH, 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 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 things,⁠ in the wisdom of this world and of the world to come. 6 Moreover, I have set him over all the treasuries of the palaces of Araboth and over all the stores of life that I have in the high heavens.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 62:2 and 3 Enoch 10:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In 1 Enoch, God seats his chosen ruler on the throne to judge kings. In 3 Enoch, Metatron receives this throne to rule the angels, now interpreting Metatron as that chosen one.

Passages

1 Enoch 62:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 The Lord commanded the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who dwell on the earth, saying: 'Open your eyes and lift up your horns if you are able to recognize the Chosen One.' 2 The Lord of Spirits seated him on the throne of His glory, and the spirit of righteousness was poured out upon him. The words from his mouth slay all sinners, and all the unrighteous are destroyed from his presence. 3 On that day, all the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who hold the earth will stand, and they shall see and recognize how he sits on the throne of his glory, and how righteousness is judged before him, and no false word is spoken before him.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

3 Enoch 10:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Hebrew Book of Enoch
1 R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: All these things the Holy One, blessed be He, made for me: He made me a Throne, similar to the Throne of Glory. And He spread over me a curtain of splendour and brilliant appearance, of 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 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 of heaven, except the eight great princes, the honoured and revered ones who are called YHWH, by the name of their King.
400–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 3 Enoch

References

“... There is undoubtedly a close relationship between the Similitudes and 3 Enoch 3–15, although the exact nature of the connection remains murky; perhaps it is a combination of literary and oral trans- mission of traditions in Hebrew or Aramaic. There are numerous parallels between the two works. We find a story or stories about precious metals and how they will not avail their users and those who make idols from them (1 Enoch 52; 65:6–8; 67:4–7 // 3 Enoch 5:7–14). One of the characters is a hostile angel whose name is sim- ilar in the the two traditions (1 Enoch 54:5; 55:4; 69:2: ʿAzazʾel or ʿAzaʾzel // 3 Enoch 4:6; 5:9: ʿAzzaʾel); Enoch ascends to heaven in a storm chariot (1 Enoch 52:1; 70:1–3; // 3 Enoch 6:1; 7:1); Enoch is transformed into an angel (1 Enoch 71:11–17 // 3 Enoch 9:1–5; 15:1–2); he is an exalted angel enthroned in heaven (1 Enoch 55:4; 61:8; 62:1–5; 69:29 // 3 Enoch 10:1–3 [cf. 16:1]); and he receives a reve- lation of cosmological secrets of creation (1 Enoch 69:16–26 // 3 Enoch 13:1–2).¹⁶ The details of the connection between the Similitudes and 3 Enoch remain to be worked out, but some more or less genetic relationship is indicated, and it is important to note that 3 Enoch is a descendant of the form of the Similitudes that included the exal- lation of Enoch in 1 Enoch 70–71. ...”
James R. Davila, “Of Methodology, Monotheism and Metatron: Introductory Reflections on Divine Mediators and the Origins of the Worship of Jesus,” in The Jewish Roots of Christological Monotheism: Papers from the St. Andrews Conference on the Historical Origins of the Worship of Jesus, ed. Carey C. Newman, James R. Davila, and Gladys S. Lewis, JSJSup 63 (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 12.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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