The Books of Enoch

by Joseph B. Lumpkin

Enoch and Metatron The main theme throughout the book is the “transubstantiation” of Enoch into the angel Metatron. Metatron appears in various Jewish, Christian, and Islamic works but was a central focus in medieval Jewish mystical texts and occult sources. Rabbinical texts point to Metatron as the angel who stilled the hand of Abraham, preventing him from sacrificing Isaac. The place and authority of Metatron has been hotly debated, as is seen even within the book. He is seen as sitting in heaven. This is only permitted if one is a deity. He is referred to in the text as “The Lesser YHWH.” YHWH makes up the Tetragrammaton forming the name we pronounce as Yahweh or Jehovah. The four letters making up the divine name are Yodh, He Waw, He, having the sounds of Y, H, W, O, U or a place holder, and H. When He ends a word it is often silent. Due to the fact that German theologians were heavily involved in theological research and study, one may also find the Tetragrammaton rendered as YHVH, since the V in German has a W sound.