{"id":46,"date":"2012-02-26T20:55:58","date_gmt":"2012-02-26T10:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/2012\/02\/26\/the-name-of-metatron\/"},"modified":"2012-03-15T21:57:22","modified_gmt":"2012-03-15T11:57:22","slug":"the-name-of-metatron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/2012\/02\/26\/the-name-of-metatron\/","title":{"rendered":"The Name of Metatron"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is said that Enoch \u2018walked with God, and then was no more; for God took him\u2019 (Gen. v, 24.) At some stage it became accepted that after his assumption Enoch was transformed into an angel called Metatron. And this angel was also the result of several other amalgamations and separations besides. P. Alexander notes (3 En<\/em>. in Charlesworth, J. H. The O T Pseudepigrapha,<\/em> London:Longman, 1983, v. 1, p. 244.) that there are many similarities between the characteristics of the archangel Michael and Metatron, and suggests that the latter was in fact a vox mystica<\/em> for the former which subsequently became independent of him. Moreover, it may be that \u2018Yaho\u2019el\u2019 the name of an independent the archangel at one time, then became attached to Metatron as a vox mystica<\/em> of that being in turn (3En<\/em>48D:1(1)). <\/font><\/p>\n

There is considerable controversy over the origin and significance of the name \u2018Metatron\u2019 \u2013 which, it should be noted, occurs in two forms: mttrwn <\/em>and myttrwn <\/em>(Scholem, G., Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism<\/em>, New York: Schocken, 1961 [1941], p. 70). Nine significant options are summarized in this extract<\/a> from A. Orlov, The Enoch-Metatron Tradition <\/em>(TSAJ, 107) Tuebingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 2005. Of these, I find the following possible derivations of interest.<\/font><\/p>\n

NULL: <\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

It may well be one of a seemingly inexhaustible supply of nonsense names invented to cover the true names of the celestial beings; it does have some of the form of other uninterpretable names in reduplicated consonants and the ron<\/em>\/on <\/em>suffix the standard examples here are Adiriron <\/em>and Dapdapiron<\/em>.) Still, it seems unlikely that such a significant personage, whose name is not intended as a means of befuddlement, should be given such a title. This is especially the case when a good deal of significance is placed on the name itself, which is said to contain the name of God. (See below.)<\/font><\/p>\n

MMTR: <\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a standard word mattara<\/em>, meaning \u201ckeeper of the watch,\u201d deriving from the verb MMTR, \u201cto guard, to protect.\u201d In Shimmusha Rabbah<\/em>, Enoch was clothed with the splendor of light and made into a guardian of all the souls that ascend from earth, so there is a possible connection between that function and Enoch. Consequently, Odeberg (3 Enoch<\/em> 1.125-6), Jellinek (Beitr\u00e4ge zur Geschichte der Kabbala<\/em>, Leipzig: C.L. Fritzsche, 1852, 4) and Jastrow (A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature<\/em>, 767) propose that this may be the origin of \u2018Metatron\u2019.<\/p>\n

Metathronios: <\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the \u2018default\u2019 derivation. It is accepted by Merkur (Gnosis<\/em>, NY:SUNY, 1993, p. 169) (with reference to S. Lieberman, \u201cMetatron, the Meaning of His Name and His Functions\u201d in I. Gruenwald, Apocalyptic and Merkavah Mysticism<\/em>, Leiden:Brill, 1980, pp. 235\u2013241) and is noted by Scholem (MTJM<\/em>:69). But Scholem\u2019s objections to it are pretty strong: there is no such Greek word \u2013 no matter how attractive the meta <\/em>+ thronos <\/em>(behind\/with the throne) construction might seem; there isn\u2019t a good reason for the use or invention of a Greek term here when it is not done elsewhere; there doesn\u2019t seem to be a good way to derive the precise Hebrew form from the supposed Greek term. (Though just on this last point, it\u2019s possible that numerological concerns could have been influential. See \u2018metatrior\u2019 below.)<\/p>\n

Metatyrannos: <\/strong><\/p>\n

A Greek term meaning \u2018with the ruler\u2019. This proposal is often associated with the term synthronos <\/em>which is \u2018together on the throne.\u2019 To be frank, I can\u2019t see any reason for thinking the two terms are related or what one adds in plausibility to the other. It is even more mystifying to be told that there is the possibility of deriving <\/em>Metatron from synthronos<\/em>; how is that supposed to work?<\/p>\n

Metator: <\/strong><\/p>\n

The name “Metatron,” which, as stated above, occurs only in Hebrew writings, is in itself striking. The derivation from the Latin “metator” (=”guide”) is doubtless correct, for Enoch also is represented as a guide in the apocryphal work which bears his name; and the Hebrew Book of Enoch, in which, however, reference to Me?a?ron is constantly implied, says: “He is the most excellent of all the heavenly host, and the guide [Me?a?ron] to all the treasuries of my [God]” (B. H. ii. 117) (Jewish Enc. s.v. Metatron<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This was first apparently proposed by Eleazar ben Judah (c. 1165 – c. 1230) and Moshe ben Nachman, and revived by H. Odeberg in his edition of 3 Enoch<\/em> 1.125, 1.126; but Scholem is dismissive of this too since \u201cthere is nothing in the authentic sayings about Metatron that justified the derivation of the name from metator.\u201d (G. Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism<\/em>, p. 43) On the other hand Alexander (op. cit. 243, 228 n 11) notes that metator is known as a loan word in Hebrew and Jewish Aramaic, and claims that this gives added support to the idea that the word could be adapted by the inventors of Metatron. But this is misguided: there is no doubt that it is possible to get to metatron <\/em>from metator, <\/em>given enough flexibility in the manner of \u2018derivation\u2019, and that the word was there for the having; the question is whether there\u2019s any of the evidence that that is what happened that we would expect to see \u2013 and there isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Metatrior + gematria:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grunwald (in Jahrb. f\u00fcr J\u00fcdische Gesch. und Literatur<\/em>, 1901, pp. 127 ff.) has yet another solution for the problem of Metatron. The ancients had already noticed that the numerical value of the letters in the word “Metatron” corresponded with those of the word “Shaddai” (= 314), and “Metatron” is also said to mean “palace” (“metatrion”), and to be connected with the divine name, MQWM (“place”), etc. (Jewish Enc. s.v. Metatron<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Metron + Metator:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A new proposal that Orlov (op. cit.<\/a>) describes thus:<\/p>\n

Still another possible etymological source for the name \u201cMetatron\u201d is the Greek metron, <\/em>\u201ca measure.\u201d Adolf Jellinek may well be the first scholar to suggest metron <\/em>as an alternative explanation of Metatron, on the assumption that Metatron was identical with Horos.[20] In his recent article Gedaliahu Stroumsa provides some new convincing reasons for the acceptance of this etymology. These reasons focus on the fact that Metatron not only carried God\u2019s name but also measured the Deity and was thus viewed as God\u2019s Shi\u2019ur Qomah<\/em> (the measurement of the divine Body). [21] Stroumsa argues that \u201crenewed attention should be given to metron <\/em>and\/or metator <\/em>(a conflation of the two terms should not be excluded) as a possible etymology of Metatron.\u201d [22]<\/p>\n

[20] Odeberg, 3 Enoch<\/em>, 1.134.
\n[21] Stroumsa, \u201cForm(s) of God: Some Notes on Metatron and Christ,\u201d 287.
\n[22] ibid<\/em>. 287.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I particularly like the idea of a conflation of the terms, but surely this is a derivation that it would be very difficult to justify. One would like to see other examples of such conflations and whether they are as unremarked upon as this one. Otherwise this is an ad hoc <\/em>solution to a straightforward problem.<\/p>\n

Mitra:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The proposal that I\u2019m most partial to is the one that makes Metatron a hidden form of the Zoroastrian Mitra. The possibility was raised by Kohut (J\u00fcdische Angelologie und D\u00e4monologie<\/em>, pp. 36 et seq., Leipsic, 1866 – ref. in Jewish Enc. s.v. <\/em>Metatron<\/a>) on the grounds of some similarities of the functions of the two beings. The editors of the Jew. Enc. <\/em>(sv. <\/em>Merkaba<\/a>) certainly seem to be convinced, and they point out that<\/p>\n

Mithra, the heavenly charioteer, with his Quadriga, a chariot drawn by four horses, who was worshiped in ancient Persia as the god of light and regarded in early Roman times as the prime mover of the world, formed of the four elements (Dio Chrysostomus, “Oratio,” xxxvi.; see Cumont, “Die Mysterien des Mithra,” 1903, pp. 87-88; Windischmann, “Zoroastrische Studien,” 1863, pp. 309-312), was invoked under mysterious rites as the mediator between the inaccessible and unknowable Deity, in the ethereal regions of light, and man on earth (Cumont, l.c.<\/em> pp. 95, 122).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which would be an interesting enough parallel, but I think there is a little more to this too. It was mentioned above that the name \u2018Yaho\u2019el\u2019 became attached to Metatron, and the suspicion on the part of some is that this is due to speculative explanation for the claim by God that the guardian angel of Ex 23:21 \u2018has my name in him.\u2019 Clearly if the angels name was to contain the tetragrammaton YHWH or some part of it then the name was not \u2018Metatron\u2019. Therefore, Metatron had to be associated with a more standard theophoric name. Thus, in the 2nd C we find then that Enoch was identified with the angel Yaho\u2019el, and that name is also the first of the 70 names of Metatron listed in Gaonic period texts. Yaho\u2019el is also referred to as the \u201clesser Yaho\u201d by Jewish gnostics, and that term in the form \u201clesser YHWH\u201d was daringly used by Merkabah mystics to refer to their guardian angel, who sits<\/em> by (?) the throne of God.<\/p>\n

<\/font>However, if the angel\u2019s name was <\/em>actually Metatron and these speculations are merely ex post facto, <\/em>then the mystery is unsolved. The proposal by Dan (The Ancient Jewish Mysticism<\/em>, 109) that \u201cit appears that the reference here is to the letters tetra, i.e., the number four in Greek, a four-letter word in the middle of the name Metatron\u201d is even less convincing. But if \u2018Metatron\u2019 is actually a modification of \u2018Mitra\u2019, with the reduplication of consonants which is standard in these names as well as the suffix on<\/em>\/ron <\/em>mentioned before, then the name is indeed theophoric.
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It is said that Enoch \u2018walked with God, and then was no more; for God took him\u2019 (Gen. v, 24.) At some stage it became accepted that after his assumption Enoch was transformed into an angel called Metatron. And this angel was also the result of several other amalgamations and separations besides. P. Alexander notes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[16,18],"class_list":["post-46","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion","tag-apocalypse","tag-judaism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevewatson.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}