Apocrypha
3 Enoch
Hebrew
48 chapters · read and listen
Reading note
A text of Jewish mysticism in which Enoch is transformed into the angel Metatron and describes the heavenly court from the inside. The basis of the chariot (Merkabah) literature.
Chapters
Dossier
The account in which Enoch, taken up to heaven, is transformed into the angel Metatron — called the Lesser YHWH — and given seventy-two names and a throne like God's own.
Where this text comes from
Written in Hebrew, probably between the 5th and 6th centuries AD, within the mystical tradition known as Hekhalot literature, the literature of the heavenly palaces. It is also called Sefer Hekhalot. It is the latest of the three books of Enoch and the only one of rabbinic background.
Why it is not in the Bible
It was never canonical anywhere. It is a text of Jewish mysticism rather than Scripture, and its boldness — giving a creature a throne and a divine name — provoked reaction within Judaism itself.
What you will find
- Enoch's metamorphosis into Metatron: flesh turning to fire, his size growing to cover the world, three hundred and sixty-five thousand eyes.
- Rabbi Ishmael narrates in the first person: I ascended on high to behold the vision of the Chariot.
- The opening scene: the Holy One calls Metatron, prince of the Presence, and orders him to bring his servant Ishmael.
- Catalogues of angels with names, functions and rank, at the source of much later angelology.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Metatron in the Bible?
- No. The name occurs in no biblical book. Metatron belongs to Jewish mystical literature, and 3 Enoch is the text that develops him most fully.
- Is 3 Enoch a Christian book?
- No. It is Jewish, from the mystical Hekhalot tradition, and considerably later than the other two — probably 5th to 6th century AD.