The Books of Enoch

by Joseph B. Lumpkin

(2) Within the hour the Holy One, blessed be He, gave me additional wisdom and to wisdom He added understanding unto understanding, cunning unto cunning, knowledge unto knowledge, mercy unto mercy, instruction unto instruction, love unto love, loving-kindness unto loving-kindness, goodness unto goodness, meekness unto meekness, power unto power, strength unto strength, might unto might, brightness unto brightness, beauty unto beauty, splendor unto splendor, and I was honored and adorned with all these good praiseworthy things more than all the children of heaven. Enoch has become more blessed or equipped than “all the children of heaven.” Lovingkindness equates to “grace” of the New Testament. CHAPTER 9

Metatron, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: (1) After all these things the Holy One, blessed be He, put His hand on me and blessed me with 5,360 blessings. (2) And I was raised up and grew to the size of the length and width of the world. (3) And he caused 72 wings to grow on me, 36 on each side. And each wing covered the entire world. (4) And He attached to me 365 eyes: each eye was as the great luminary (moon?). (5) And He left no kind of splendor, brilliance, radiance, beauty of all the lights of the universe that He did not affix to me. There is no direct correlation for the number 5,360. It is not evenly divisible by any other number in the chapter, but it is thought to reflect the number 365, the number of days in a solar year. The number 72 is used to reflect the number of the nations of the world and represents the known world. This is backed up by the phrase stating the wings cover the world.

God places Metatron on a throne as ruler in the seventh hall. Rabbi Ishmael said: Metatron, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: (1) All these things the Holy One, blessed be He, made for me. He made me a Throne, similar in form and substance to the Throne of Glory. And He spread a curtain of magnificently bright appearance over me. And it was of beauty, grace, and mercy, similar to the curtain of the Throne of the Glory; and on it were affixed all kinds of lights in the universe. The idea of a curtain could represent the divine secrets and processes unknown and not available to others. (2) And He placed the curtain at the door of the seventh hall and sat me down on it. (3) And the announcement went forth into every heaven, saying: “This is Metatron, my servant. I have made him a prince and ruler over all the princes of my kingdoms and over all the children of heaven, except the eight great, honored, and revered princes who are the ones called YHWH, by the name of their King.” The eight beings who are called YHWH may refer to those angels who have the Tetragrammaton as part of their name. These are highly ranked angels that are outside the normal system of authority. They are the ones God uses as his counsel.

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(4) “And every angel and prince who has a word to speak to me shall now go before him and they shall speak to him instead of Me. (5) And every command that he speaks to you in my name, you will obey, carry out, and fulfill. (Some sources add “Beware of him and do not provoke him.”) For the Prince of Wisdom and the Prince of Understanding have I committed to him to instruct him in the wisdom of heavenly things and earthly things, in the wisdom of this world and of the world to come. (6) Moreover, I have set him over all the storehouses of the palaces of Araboth (highest heaven) and over all the storehouses (reserves) of life that I have in the high heavens.” CHAPTER 11 God reveals all of the great mysteries to Metatron Rabbi Ishmael said: Metatron, the angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me: (1) The Holy One, blessed be He, began revealing to me all the mysteries of Torah and all the secrets of wisdom and the deep mysteries of the Perfect Law. He revealed the thoughts of all living beings and their feelings and all the secrets of the universe and all the secrets of creation. All these were revealed to me just as they are known to the Maker of Creation. (2) And I watched intently to see and understand the secrets and depths of the wonderful mystery. Before a man thought a thought in secret, I saw it and before a man made a thing I watched it. (3) And there was nothing on high or in the depth of the world that was hidden from me. Here Metatron is given the omnis...

Forty-nine is a mystical number of seven sevens. The number seven represents spiritual perfection. (4) Its

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splendor went out into the four corners of the Araboth (highest heaven) of Raqia (heaven), and through the seven heavens, and throughout the four corners of the world. He placed it on my head. (5) And He called me THE LESSER YHWH in the presence of all His heavenly household; for it is written (Ex. 22: 21): “ For my name is in him.” Without delving too deeply

Jewish mysticism, it should be pointed out that the numerical value (gematria) of the name Metatron and that of Sh...

When the Holy One, blessed be He, put this crown on my head, all the Princes of Nations who are in the height of Araboth (highest heaven) of Raqia (heaven) and all the host of every heaven and even the prince of the Elim, the princes of the ‘Er’ellim and the princes of the Tafsarim, who are greater than all the ministering angels who minister before the Throne of Glory, trembled before me. They shook, feared and trembled before me when they looked at me. This is a very interesting list of angels and princes. According to Jewish mystical sources, such as the Zohar, there are ten classes of angels under Mikael (Michael). The Er’ellim denotes a general class of angels, while the Elim minster before God in the high heavens. The Tafsarim are the princes of the Elim.

(2) Even Sammael, the Prince of the Accusers, who is greater than all the princes of Nations on high, feared me and shook before me. Sammael is the head of the satans or accusers. He is also the ruling angel over Rome, the archenemy of Israel. (3) And even the

The idea of more than one Elohim is not new. It is addressed in Psalm 82, a Psalm of Asaph: 1 God stands in the council of the gods; he judges among the gods. 2 How long will you judge unjustly, and show preference to the wicked? Selah. 3 Judge the poor and the orphans; do righteousness to the afflicted and dispossessed. 4 Deliver the poor and oppressed; save them from the hand of the evil. 5 They do not know and they have no understanding; they walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I said, “You are gods, and children of Elyon, every one of you.” 7 But you will die like mortals, and fall like one of the princes. 8 Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for you have inherited all the nations.

(4) In that moment Akatriel Ya Yehod Sebaoth (a name of the most high) spoke and said to Metatron, the Prince of the Presence and said, “Let no prayer that he prays before me return to him empty (not done). Hear his prayer and fulfill his desire whether it is great or small (5) Then Metatron, the Prince of the presence, said to Moses, “Son of Amram! Do not be afraid. God delights in you. He asks you what you desire from the Glory and Majesty. Your face shines from one end of the world to the other.” But Moses answered him: “I fear that I should bring guiltiness upon myself.” Metatron said to him, “Receive the letters of the oath, which makes a covenant that cannot be broken.” Metatron is moving through time to and from the time of Moses. The letters make up the divine names, which are eternal.

Then the Divine Voice went out from heaven from the Shekina and said: “Return, you backsliding children (Jer.3:22), except for Acher!” (5) Then Anieyel came (Other sources have “Anaphiel YHWH), the Prince, the honored, glorified, beloved, wonderful, revered and fearful one, as ordered by the Holy One, blessed be He and beat me sixty times with whips of fire and made me stand to my feet.

Anieyel , or Anaphiel YHWH is higher in status than Metatron. It is possible the Anieyel is the angel who punishes. The purpose of this chapter is to refute the heresy of the Rabbi called Acher, who believed that there were now two deities in heaven, God and Metatron. To show Metatron is not a deity, God sends in a higher angel to take him off his throne and beat him, proving Metatron is not God, nor is he a god. The chapter goes on to call all of Israel to return to God, except for Acher, who has committed an unforgivable sin against the monotheists and against God.

are the great, beautiful, wonderful, honored, and revered ones. They are assigned over the seven heavens, And these are they: MIKAEL (Michael), GABRIEL, SHATQIEL, BAKARIEL, BADARIEL, PACHRIEL. (Some sources omit Parchriel and add Sidriel.) (2) And every one of them is the prince of the host of one heaven. And each one of them is accompanied by 496,000 groups of ten-thousand ministering angels. 496 is the numerical value of the word Malkut (kingdom). These 496,000 angels are the ones who sing of the glory of God, singing “Holy, Holy. Holy.”

The number 70 appears as does the number 72. It is possible the difference can be explained by the 70 angels along with two leaders, such as Mikael (Michael) and Sammael. In the following section the names of the angels do not follow their function, as in the prior portion of the book. The names are obscure, and it is difficult to understand their meanings. The expression “bows himself to the ground” and “bow themselves” likely indicates a complete kneeling position with the head touching the earth.

and honored prince, when he sees BARATTIEL, the great prince of three fingers in the height of Araboth, the highest heaven, he removes the glorious crown from his head and bows himself to the ground. To derive three fingers in height, hold your hand out at arm’s length with three fingers held out horizontally in front of your eyes. This is the measurement.

chambers of Araboth (highest heaven) of Raqia (heaven) on high even as the Maker of the World overshadows them. Regarding the Maker of the world, it is written that His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. The honor and majesty of Anaphiel cover all the glories of Araboth (highest heaven) the highest. Araphiel means “neck or strength of God.” Ashruylu means “to cause to rest/dwell.” It is one of the names of the Godhead. Gallisur means “reveal the secrets of the Law.“ He reveals the reasons and secrets of the Creator. Raziel means “secrets of God.” He hears the divine decrees. Anaphiel means “branch of God.” Zakzakiel means “merit of God.” The glorious crowns signify honor and status.