The Third Book of Enoch (), also known as The Book of the Palaces, The Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest and The Elevation of Metatron, and abbreviated as 3 Enoch) is a Jewish apocryphal book.

Authorship

Modern scholars describe this book as

pseudepigrapha A pseudepigraph (also :wikt:anglicized, anglicized as "pseudepigraphon") is a false attribution, falsely attributed work, a text whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. Th ...

l, as it says it is written by "Rabbi Ishmael" who became a "high priest" after visions of ascension to Heaven. This has been taken as referring to Rabbi Ishmael, a third-generation Tanna and a leading figure of

Merkabah mysticism Merkabah () or Merkavah mysticism (lit. Chariot mysticism) is a school of early Jewish mysticism (), centered on visions such as those found in Ezekiel 1 or in the hekhalot literature ("palaces" literature), concerning stories of ascents to ...

. However, he could not have been a

High Priest of Israel In Judaism, the High Priest of Israel (, lit. ‘great priest’; Aramaic: ''Kahana Rabba'') was the head of the Israelite priesthood. He played a unique role in the worship conducted in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple in Jerusalem, ...

, as he was born after the Siege of Jerusalem and associated destruction of the

Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

in 70 CE. An alternative attribution would be the earlier Tanna Ishmael ben Elisha, who lived through the Siege of Jerusalem. Although 3 Enoch contains several

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

words, the book appears to have been originally written in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Date of composition

Though 3 Enoch purports to have been written in the 2nd century, it was probably composed in or near

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

, and its final redaction was likely completed in the 5th or 6th century. 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. The name "3 Enoch" was coined by for his first critical edition of 1928.

Content

The name ''Sefer Hekhalot'' (''Hekhalot'' meaning palaces or temples), along with its proposed author, places this book as a member of Hekhalot literature, a genre which overlaps with the Merkabah or "Chariot" literature. Although 3 Enoch does not contain Merkabah

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

s, it contains many of the concepts found in other Merkabah texts. It also has a unique layout and adjuration.Schäfer, The Hidden and Manifest God, 144. All these facts make 3 Enoch unique not just among Merkabah writings, but also within the genre of Enochian literature. Several indications suggest that the writers of 3 Enoch were familiar with the content of

1 Enoch The Book of Enoch (also 1 Enoch; Hebrew: סֵפֶר חֲנוֹךְ, ''Sēfer Ḥănōḵ''; , ) is an ancient Jewish apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to the patriarch Enoch who was the father of Methuselah and the great-gran ...

(an apocalyptic text dating to the

Second Temple period The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...

). Some points that appear in 1 Enoch and 3 Enoch are: *

Enoch Enoch ( ; ''Henṓkh'') is a biblical figure and Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch prior to Noah's flood, and the son of Jared (biblical figure), Jared and father of Methuselah. He was of the Antediluvian period in the Hebrew Bible. The text of t ...

ascends to

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

in a “ storm chariot” (3 Enoch 6:1; 7:1) * Enoch is transformed into an

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

(3 Enoch 9:1–5; 15:1–2) * Enoch is enthroned in Heaven as the exalted angel

Metatron Metatron (Mishnaic Hebrew: ''Meṭāṭrōn''), or Matatron (), is an angel in Judaism, Gnosticism, and Islam. Metatron is mentioned three times in the Talmud, in a few brief passages in the Aggadah, the Targum, and in mystical kabbalah, Kabba ...

(3 Enoch 10:1–3; 16:1) * Enoch receives a revelation of

cosmological Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

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 'Azazel 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.

Canonicity

3 Enoch is not included in the

biblical canon A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word ''canon'' comes from the Ancient Greek, Greek , meaning 'ruler, rule' or 'measu ...

of any denomination of

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Enoch, 3 5th-century books Ancient Hebrew texts 3 Jewish apocrypha Kabbalah texts Merkabah mysticism Old Testament pseudepigrapha