3 Enoch

The Third Book of Enoch

(Hebrew: ‫ספר חנוך לר׳ ישמעאל כ׳׳ג‬,
abbreviated as 3 Enoch)[1] is a
Biblical apocryphal book in
Hebrew. 3 Enoch purports to have
been written in the 2nd century, but
its origins can only be traced to the
5th century.[2] Other names for 3
Enoch include The Book of the
:
 Palaces, The Book of Rabbi
Ishmael the High Priest and The
Revelation of Metatron.

Most commonly, the Book of Enoch

refers to 1 Enoch, which survived
completely only in Ge'ez. There is
also a Second Book of Enoch,
which has survived only in Old
Slavonic,[3][4] although Coptic
fragments were also identified in
2009.[5] None of the three books
are considered canonical scripture
by the majority of Jewish or
:
 Christian bodies.

The name "3 Enoch" was coined

by Hugo Odeberg for his first
critical edition of 1928. The oldest
printed text of 3 Enoch appears to
be the Derus Pirqe Hekalot. It
covers 3:1-12:5 and 15:1-2, and it is
dated by Arthur Ernest Cowley to
around 1650.[6]

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.[2] This has
been taken as referring to Rabbi
Ishmael, a 3rd generation Tanna
and a leading figure of Merkabah
mysticism. However, this Ishmael
lived after the Siege of Jerusalem
(70 AD) and the destruction of the
Second Temple in 70 AD. He thus
could not have been a High Priest
of Israel. An alternative
identification would be the earlier
Tanna Ishmael ben Elisha, who
:
 lived through the Siege of
Jerusalem.

The name Sefer Hekhalot

(Hekhalot meaning palaces or
temples), along with its proposed
author, places this book as a
member of Hekalot or Merkabah
mysticism. Its contents suggest
that 3 Enoch's contents and ideas
are newer than those shown in
other Merkabah texts.[7] The book
does not contain Merkabah
hymns,[8] it has a unique layout[9]
:
 and adjuration.[10] All these facts
make 3 Enoch unique not just
among Merkabah writings, but also
within the writings of Enoch.

3 Enoch contains a number of

Greek and Latin words. The book
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 1 Enoch

:
 and 3 Enoch 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)
Hostile angels named 'Uzza,
'Azza, and Azaz'el/Aza'el
challenge Enoch before God (3
Enoch 4:6) and are mentioned
again in passing (5:9)

The main themes running through

3 Enoch are the ascension of
Enoch into Heaven and his
transformation into the angel
Metatron.

This Enoch, whose flesh

:
 was turned to flame, his
veins to fire, his eye-
lashes to flashes of
lightning, his eye-balls to
flaming torches, and
whom God placed on a
throne next to the throne
of glory, received after
this heavenly
transformation the name
Metatron.

— Scholem, Gershom
:
 G (1961) [1941],
Major Trends in
Jewish Mysticism,
p. 67.

See also
Book of Enoch
Second Book of Enoch
Hekhalot literature
Kabbalah: Primary texts

References
1. Hugo Odeberg (ed.), 3 Enoch or
:
 The Hebrew Book of Enoch,
Cambridge University Press
1928 (edition and translation).
2. Craig A. Evans (1992).
Noncanonical Writings and New
Testament Interpretation. p. 24.
3. "2 Enoch" (http://www.earlyjewis
hwritings.com/2enoch.html) .
www.earlyjewishwritings.com.
4. "St. Andrews" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20060220071408/ht
tp://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~ww
w_sd/enoch.html) . Archived
from the original (http://www.st-a
ndrews.ac.uk/~www_sd/enoch.ht
:
 ml) on 2006-02-20. Retrieved
2006-03-08.
5. "2 Enoch in Coptic!" (http://antiq
uitopia.blogspot.com/2009/04/2
-enoch-in-coptic.html) .
Antiquitopia. 2009-04-10.
Retrieved 2009-04-13.
6. Catalogue of Hebrew Printed
Books in the Bodleian Library
[Oxford, 1929] p. 241, cited in P.
Alexander, 3 (Hebrew
Apocalypse) of Enoch (Fifth-
Sixth Century A.D.). A New
Translation and Introduction, in
James H. Charlesworth (1985),
:
 The Old Testament
Pseudoepigrapha, Garden City,
NY: Doubleday & Company Inc.,
Volume 2, ISBN 0-385-09630-5
(Vol. 1), ISBN 0-385-18813-7
(Vol. 2) (here cited vol. 1 p. 224)
7. Swartz, Scholastic Magic, 178ff
8. Alexander, Philip, 3 Enoch,
p. 245.
9. Dan, Joseph, The Ancient Jewish
Mysticism, p. 110.
10. Schäfer, The Hidden and
Manifest God, 144.

External links
:
 Hugo Odeberg (1928). 3 Enoch
or The Hebrew Book of Enoch (
https://archive.org/details/pdfy-l
Fh2SRV-tLJq15wg)
The Etymology of the Name
"Metatron" (http://www.marquett
e.edu/maqom/metatronname.ht
ml)
Hebrew book of 3 Enoch (https://
www.scribd.com/doc/2024701/
Hebrew-book-of-3-Enoch) (in
English translation)
Text of 3 Enoch (https://www.wat
:
 tpad.com/784992341-the-book
-of-secrets-of-enoch-the-transl
ator) (in English translation)
William Morfill (1896). 2 Enoch (
https://archive.org/details/book
ofsecretsofe00morf) or The
Book of the Secrets of Enoch
Solomonn Malan (1882). The
Book of Adam and Eve, also
called The Conflict of Adam &
Eve Against Satan (https://archi
ve.org/details/bookofadamande
ve00malauoft/mode/2up)
:
 Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=3_Enoch&oldid=1149507660"

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2023, at 17:35 (UTC). •
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