3 Enoch

The Third Book of Enoch or 3 Enoch only exists in Hebrew. Chapters 1-16 appear in their final form before the 9th century C.E., which corresponds to A.D., as cited from James R. Davila, "Enoch as a Divine Mediator." 3 Enoch purports to be written in the Second Century C.E., but its origins can be traced to the Fifth Century C.E. (Craig A. Evans, Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation, (1992) p. 24)

Fact|date=September 2007 Other historical names for 3 Enoch include "The Third Book of Enoch", "The Book of the Palaces", "The Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest", and "The Revelation of Metatron".

Most commonly, the phrase Book of Enoch refers to 1 Enoch, which survived completely only in the Ethiopic language. Thus, there are two additional books of Enoch, 3 Enoch and 2 Enoch (surviving only in Old Slavonic, c. 1st Century; English translation by R. H. Charles (1896) [http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/2enoch.html] [http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_sd/enoch.html] ). The numbering of these texts has been applied by scholars to distinguish the texts from one another. The remainder of this article deals with 3 Enoch only.

Content

Modern scholars describe this book as pseudepigraphal as it says it is written by Rabbi Ishmael who became a 'high priest' after visions of ascension to Heaven, 90 AD - 135 AD.Craig A. Evans, Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation, (1992) p. 24] Rabbi Ishmael is a leading figure of Merkavah literature; however, a number of scholars suggest that it was in fact written by a number of people over a prolonged period of time.Fact|date=September 2007

The name Sefer Hekhalot ("Hekhalot" meaning Palaces/Temples), along with its proposed author, places this book as a member of Hekalot/Merkaba lore. Its contents suggest that 3 Enoch's contents and ideas are newer than those shown in other Merkaba texts. [Swartz, Scholastic Magic, 178ff] The book does not contain Merkaba hymns, [Alexander, Philip. “3 Enoch,” 245.] it has unique layout [Dan, Joseph. The Ancient Jewish Mysticism, 110.] and adjuration. [Schäfer, The Hidden and Manifest God, 144.] All these facts make 3 Enoch unique not just among Merkaba writings, but also within the writings of Enoch.

As with 1 Enoch, the exact dating of this book is a difficult task, but some scholars believe it was written around the time of the Babylonian exile.

3 Enoch contains a number of Greek and Latin words. This book, unlike 1 Enoch, appears to have been originally written in Hebrew . There are a number of indications suggesting that the writers of 3 Enoch had knowledge of, and most likely read, 1 Enoch.

Some points that appear in Enoch 1 and Enoch 3 are:
* Enoch ascends to Heaven in a storm chariot (3 Enoch 6:1; 7:1)
* Enoch is transformed into an angel (3 Enoch 9:1-5; 15:1-2)
* Enoch as an exalted angel is enthroned in Heaven (3 Enoch 10:1-3; 16:1)
* Enoch receives a revelation of cosmological secrets of creation (3 Enoch 13:1-2)
* The story about precious metals and how they will not avail their users and those that make idols from them (3 Enoch 5:7-14)
* One of the characters is a hostile angel named Azaz'el/Aza'el (3 Enoch 4:6; 5:9)

The main themes running through 3 Enoch are the ascension of Enoch into Heaven and his transformation into the angel Metatron.

References

ee also

* 1 Enoch
* 2 Enoch
* Angel
* Book of Enoch
* Enochian
* Metatron

External links

* [http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/3enoch.html Early Jewish Writings: 3 Enoch]
* [http://danielrjennings.org/enoch_elijah_and_einsteins_theory_of_relativity.html Enoch, Elijah and Einstein's Theory of Relativity]
* [http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/ Pseudepigrapha, Apocrypha and Sacred Writings]
* [http://www.timelessmyths.com/mirrors/enoch.php Dark Mirrors of Heaven: Enoch and the Watchers]
* [http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/metatronname.html The Etymology of the Name "Metatron"]
* [http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/metatronscribe.html Metatron as the Scribe]
* [http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/metatronmediator.html Metatron as the Mediator ]
* [http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/metatronshiurqomah.html Metatron as God's Shiur Qomah ]
* [http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/metatronprincepresence.html Metatron as the Prince of the World ]
* [http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/metatronyhwh.html Metatron as the Deity: Lesser YHWH ]
* [http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/metatronyouth.html Metatron as the Youth ]