Metatron
Metatron is mentioned three times in the Talmud,[9][1][10] in a few brief passages in the Aggadah, the Targum,[11] and in mystical Kabbalistic texts within Rabbinic literature.
[13][14]: 192 In Jewish apocrypha, early Kabbalah, and rabbinic literature,[11] Metatron is the name that Enoch received after his transformation into an angel.
[15][16]: 92–97 Some scholars, such as Philip Alexander, believe that if the name Metatron originated in Hekhalot literature and Merkabah texts such as 3 Enoch, then it may have been a magical word like Adiriron and Dapdapiron.
[17] Hugo Odeberg[18] Adolf Jellinek[19] and Marcus Jastrow[20] suggest the name may have originated from either mattara (מטרא, lit.
[18] Citing Wiesner,[21] he drew up several parallels that appeared to link Mithra and Metatron based on their positions in heaven and duties.
[22] The primary arguments against this etymology are that Metatron's function as a servant of the celestial throne emerges only later in the traditions regarding him, and θρóνος itself is not attested as a word in Talmudic literature.
[23] A connection with the word σύνθρονος (synthronos) used as 'co-occupant of the divine throne', has been advanced by some scholars;[c] This, like the above etymology, is not found in any source materials.
[25] The Latin word metator ('messenger, guide, leader, measurer') had been suggested by Eleazar of Worms (c. 1165 – c. 1230), Nachmanides, and brought to light again by Hugo Odeberg.
In the entry entitled "Paradigmata" in his study "'The Written' as the Vocation of Conceiving Jewishly", John W. McGinley gives an accounting of how this name functions in the Bavli's version of "four entered pardes".
[31] In the Hellenistic period, mention of a second divine figure, either beside Yahweh or beneath him, occurs in several Jewish texts, mostly apocryphal.
In the rabbinic period, they center on 'Metatron', often in the context of debates over the heretical doctrine of 'two powers in heaven' (shtei rashuyot ba-shamayim).
[32][12] Ultimately, these ideas appear to go back to differing interpretations of the heavenly enthronement passages at Exodus 24:10, Daniel 7:9. and perhaps even Ezekiel 1:26.
Scholars commonly see the character of Metatron as being based on an amalgam of Jewish literature; in addition to Enoch, Michael, Melchizedek, and Yahoel among others are seen as influences.
Hagigah 15a describes Elisha ben Abuyah in Paradise seeing Metatron sitting down (an action that is not done in the presence of God).
"[9] The rabbis explain that Metatron had permission to sit because of his function as the Heavenly Scribe, writing down the deeds of Israel.
The Talmud here attributes this utterance to the "chief angel" and "prince of the world", whom the rabbinic tradition identifies as Metatron.
[45] The tenth century Karaite scholar Jacob Qirqisani believed that rabbinic Judaism was the heresy of Jeroboam of the Kingdom of Israel.
The book describes the link between Enoch, son of Jared (great-grandfather of Noah) and his transformation into the angel Metatron.
Metatron says, "He [the Holy One] called me, 'The lesser YHWH' in the presence of his whole household in the height, as it is written, 'my name is in him'" (12:5, Alexander's translation).
The narrator of this book, supposedly Rabbi Ishmael, tells how Metatron guided him through Heaven and explained its wonders.
[55] Zohar commentaries such as the Ohr Yakar by Moses ben Jacob Cordovero explain the Zohar as meaning that Metatron as the head of Yetzira[56] This corresponds closely with Maimonides' description of the Talmudic "Prince of the World",[57] traditionally associated with Metatron,[58] as the core "Active Intellect".
Uzair, according to Surah 9:30–31 venerated as a Son of God by Jews, commonly interpreted as an Arabic transliteration of the Hebrew name of the prophet Ezra, who was also identified with Enoch and Metatron in Merkabah Mysticism.
[71][13][14]: 193 He is also frequently mentioned in the magical works by Ahmad al-Buni, who describes Metatron as wearing a crown and a lance, probably constituting the Staff of Moses.
