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3 Enoch

Hebrew Book of Enoch

About this book
Chapter 21

1 R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: Four (are) the Chayyoth corresponding to the four winds.⁠ Each Chayya is as the space of the whole world. And each one has four faces; and each face is as the face of the East. 2 Each one has four wings and each wing is like the cover (roof) of the universe. 3 And each one has faces in the middle of faces and wings in the middle of wings. The size of the faces is (as the size of) 248 faces, and the size of the wings is (as the size of) 365 wings. 4 And every one is crowned with 2000 crowns on his head. And each crown is like the bow in the cloud. And its splendour is like the splendour of the globe of the sun. And the sparks that go forth from every one are like the splendour of the morning star⁠ (planet Venus) in the East.

Texts in conversation

Compare Ezekiel 1:5 and 3 Enoch 21:1

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Ezekiel, four living creatures are described with four faces and four wings. In 3 Enoch, these same creatures have wings as wide as the universe, expanding the figures in Ezekiel's vision to the scale of heaven.

Passages

Ezekiel 1:5

Hebrew Bible
5 In the fire were what looked like four living beings. In their appearance they had human form, 6 but each had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, but the soles of their feet were like calves’ feet. They gleamed like polished bronze. 8 They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, 9 their wings touched each other; they did not turn as they moved, but went straight ahead. 10 Their faces had this appearance: Each of the four had the face of a man, with the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and also the face of an eagle.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

3 Enoch 21:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Hebrew Book of Enoch
1 R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: Four (are) the Chayyoth corresponding to the four winds. Each Chayya is as the space of the whole world. And each one has four faces; and each face is as the face of the East. 2 Each one has four wings and each wing is like the cover (roof) of the universe. 3 And each one has faces in the middle of faces and wings in the middle of wings. The size of the faces is (as the size of) 248 faces, and the size of the wings is (as the size of) 365 wings.
400–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 3 Enoch

References

“... 1. Theophanies: The visions of the Merkabah in Ezekiel 1; 3:12-15, 22-24; 8:1-4; 10:1-22; and 43:1-7 were their basic texts. These provided them with such fundamental elements as the Merkabah (3En 1:1, 5-7); the wheels (ophanim; 3En 25); the four creatures (hayyot; 3En 20f.); the throne of glory (3En 1:10,12); the hasmal (3En 36:2,7); the cherubim (3En 22). Daniel 7:9-10 and Isaiah 6 were incorporated into Ezekiel's picture. Daniel 7 records a vision of God seated on a fiery throne which has wheels of flame. It furnishes the additional motifs of the heavenly law court (3En 28:7), the River of Fire (3En 18:19-21; 19:4; 33:4; 36:1-2; 37:1), and the hosts of attendant angels (cf. 3En 19:6). Isaiah 6 contains a vision of God seated on a high and exalted throne (cf. 3En 26:12). Isaiah 6 contributes to the total picture the seraphim (3En 26) and the QeduSSah (3En 1:12; 20:2). Note also the vision of heaven in 1 Kings 22:19-22, in which the Lord is seen seated on his throne with all the array of heaven standing before him. Ezekiel employs the language of the nature theophanies ("fire, lightning, storm") to express the appearance of God's glory. The Merkabah texts expand this imagery by drawing on other Old Testament accounts of nature theophanies, particularly God's appearance to Israel at Sinai (Ex 19:16-18; cf. IKgs 19:11- 13; Pss 18:7-15 and 97:2-5). For combinations of these elements see 3 Enoch 34 and 37. 2. Angels: Such Old Testament phrases as "the host of heaven" (IKgs 22:19) and "the host of the height" (Isa 24:31) suggest that the number of the angels is virtually infinite (cf. 3En 19:6). The Old Testament appplies various names to the angels: seraphim (Isa 6:2, 6); cherubim (Ezek 10); creatures (hayyot) (Ezek 1); Watchers and holy ones (Hrin and qaddisin) (Dan 4:14). 3 Enoch takes these names as designations of different orders of angels (3En 19-22; 25-28:6). The angels are represented in Genesis 19: If. and Daniel 8:15f. as having human form, and in Joshua 5:13; Numbers 22:23; and 1 Chronicles 21:16, 30 as being armed with weapons; cf. 3 Enoch 22:3-9. The powerful "angel of the Lord" in the Old Testament (who is sometimes hard to distinguish from God himself) may be the prototype of 3 Enoch's Metatron (cf. Ex 23:20-23 with Judg 2:1-5, and see 3En 12:5 and b.Sanh 38b). ...”
Philip S. Alexander, “3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1983), 1:246.

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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Ezekiel 1:5 and 3 Enoch 21:1

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