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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 2 Enoch 23:1 and 3 Enoch 10:5

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In 2 Enoch, an angel teaches Enoch how all of creation works. In 3 Enoch, God appoints angels of wisdom and understanding to teach him, expanding this tradition of his heavenly education.

Passages

2 Enoch 23:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch
1 And he was telling me all the works of heaven, earth and sea, and all the elements, their paths and movements, and the rumblings of thunder, the sun and moon, the movements and changes of the stars, the seasons, years, days, and hours, the risings of the wind, the numbers of the angels, 2 and the formation of their songs, and all human things, the tongue of every human song and life, the commandments, instructions, and sweet-voiced singings, and all things that it is fitting to learn. And Pravuil told me: 'All the things that I have told you, we have written.
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

3 Enoch 10:5

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Hebrew Book of Enoch
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.
400–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 3 Enoch

References

“... It is noteworthy that it is not only the content of secrets, but also the man- ner of initiation into them that demonstrates remarkable similarities between Enochic and Yahoel developments on the one hand and 3 Enoch on the other. Hugo Odeberg was the first to notice that Enoch-Metatron’s initiation into the secrets in 3 Enoch recalls the procedure described in 2 Enoch, in which the patri- arch is first initiated by angel(s) and after this by the Lord. In the Apocalypse of Abraham one sees a similar pattern, as Abraham is first initiated into the di- vine mysteries by Yahoel and then by the deity himself, who reveals to Abraham the course of human history from beginning to end. Sefer Hekhalot attests to the same two-step initiatory procedure, wherein Enoch-Metatron is first initi- 146 Alexander, “3 Enoch,” 1.264. 147 Alexander, “3 Enoch,” 1.264. 148 Alexander, “3 Enoch,” 1.264. 149 Odeberg, 3 Enoch, 55. Metatron as Revealer of Secrets 179 ated by the Prince of Wisdom and the Prince of Understanding and then by the deity himself. ...”
Andrei A. Orlov, Yahoel and Metatron: Aural Apocalypticism and the Origins of Early Jewish Mysticism (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017), 178–179.

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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2 Enoch 23:1 and 3 Enoch 10:5

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