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3 Enoch

Hebrew Book of Enoch

About this book
Chapter 36

1 R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: At the time when the ministering angels desire to say (the) Song, (then) Nehar di-Nur (the fiery stream) rises⁠ with many thousand thousands and myriads of myriads (of angels) of power and strength of fire and it runs and passes under the Throne of Glory, between the camps of the ministering angels⁠ and the troops of Araboth. 2 And all the ministering angels first go down into Nehar di-Nur, and they dip themselves in the fire and dip their tongue and their mouth seven times; and after that they go up and put on the garment of 'Machaqe Samal' and cover themselves with cloaks of chashmal and stand in four rows over against the Throne of Glory,⁠ in all the heavens.

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 32:1 and 3 Enoch 36:1

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Genesis, Jacob encounters a camp of angels along his journey. In 3 Enoch, this angelic camp is interpreted to be arranged like an army, with the angels also organized into camps around God's throne.

Passages

Genesis 32:1

Hebrew Bible
1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. 3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region of Edom. 4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent this message to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

3 Enoch 36:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Hebrew Book of Enoch
1 R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: At the time when the ministering angels desire to say (the) Song, (then) Nehar di-Nur (the fiery stream) rises with many thousand thousands and myriads of myriads (of angels) of power and strength of fire and it runs and passes under the Throne of Glory, between the camps of the ministering angels and the troops of Araboth. 2 And all the ministering angels first go down into Nehar di-Nur, and they dip themselves in the fire and dip their tongue and their mouth seven times; and after that they go up and put on the garment of 'Machaqe Samal' and cover themselves with cloaks of chashmal and stand in four rows over against the Throne of Glory, in all the heavens.
400–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 3 Enoch

References

“... But mah˙anaîm in the next line suggests that the primary link is with the Genesis verse, which in turn links with Gen. 32: 3, where Jacob again encounters angels of God: ‘This is God’s camp’, he says, and he calls the name of the place Mahanaim. This word is widely thought on the one hand to be a dual form meaning ‘two camps’, and on the other a dual form with singular meaning. Against the latter are the occurrences of forms of mah˙aneh meaning ‘camps’ in the Merkava texts. Philip Alexander, in his book on the mystical texts of Qumran, writes: The ordinary angels are designated ‘the camps of ‘Elohim’ . . . The language is suggest- ive and once again hints at a parallelism between earth and heaven, between Israel and the angels. Tradition linked the origin of the idea that the angels were marshalled in camps with the name Mahanaim (‘Two Camps’), which Jacob gave to the place where he met the ‘angels of God (’Elohim)’ in Gen. 32.2. Later Jewish mystical literature often refers to the ‘camps’ of angels (3 Enoch 36.1; Heikhalot Rabbati 28.2, Synopse §277; Sefer ha-Razim 1.5; 4.23; 6.30). But the term forges another link––with Israel in the wilderness where the tribes were organized in camps around the tabernacle (see Num. 2).22 ...”
Edmée Kingsmill, The Song of Songs and the Eros of God: A Study in Biblical Intertextuality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 132.

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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Genesis 32:1 and 3 Enoch 36:1

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