Yet lest we think that the Metatron tradition has shown that Jewish monotheism was not quite so strict, we must remember a few things. First, in 3 Enoch, there is vigorous emphasis on God’s sovereignty over the world and his spatial remoteness from the human race. As per much Jewish mystical literature, God resides in the seventh heaven, and he is inaccessible to humans from there. In fact, the angels complain to God why he bothers with humans like Adam and Enoch, good for nothing idolaters that they are; in response, God withdraws his glory from the face of the earth (3 En. 5.10 – 14). In
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