The Third Book of Enoch ( he, ספר חנוך לר׳ ישמעאל כ׳׳ג , abbreviated as 3 Enoch) is a
Biblical apocrypha
The biblical apocrypha (from the grc, ἀπόκρυφος, translit=apókruphos, lit=hidden) denotes the collection of apocryphal ancient books thought to have been written some time between 200 BC and AD 400. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Ort ...
l book in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
. 3 Enoch purports to have been written in the 2nd century, but its origins can only be traced to the 5th century.
Other names for 3 Enoch include The Book of the Palaces, The Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest and The Revelation of Metatron.
Most commonly, the
Book of Enoch refers to 1 Enoch, which survived completely only in
Ge'ez. There is also a
Second Book of Enoch
The Second Book of Enoch (abbreviated as 2 Enoch and also known as Slavonic Enoch, Slavic Enoch or Secrets of Enoch) is a pseudepigraphic text in the apocalyptic genre. It describes the ascent of the patriarch Enoch, ancestor of Noah, through ten ...
, which has survived only in
Old Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and other ...
, although Coptic fragments were also identified in 2009. None of the three books are considered canonical scripture by the majority of Jewish or Christian bodies.
Content
Modern scholars describe this book as
pseudepigrapha
Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...
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
Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha Nachmani (Hebrew: רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע), often known as Rabbi Yishmael and sometimes given the title "Ba'al HaBaraita" (Hebrew: בעל הברייתא), was a rabbi of the 1st and 2nd centuries (third gener ...
, a 3rd generation Tanna and a leading figure of Merkabah mysticism
Merkabah ( he, מֶרְכָּבָה ''merkāvā'', "chariot") or Merkavah mysticism (lit. Chariot mysticism) is a school of early Jewish mysticism, c. 100 BCE – 1000 CE, centered on visions such as those found in the Book of Ezekiel chapter ...
. However, this Ishmael lived after the Siege of Jerusalem (70 AD) and the destruction of the Second Temple
The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...
in 70 AD. He thus could not have been a High Priest of Israel
High Priest ( he, כהן גדול, translit=Kohen Gadol or ; ) was the title of the chief religious official of Judaism from the early post- Exilic times until the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE. Previously ...
. An alternative identification would be the earlier Tanna Ishmael ben Elisha
Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha Nachmani (Hebrew: רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע), often known as Rabbi Yishmael and sometimes given the title "Ba'al HaBaraita" (Hebrew: בעל הברייתא), was a rabbi of the 1st and 2nd centuries (third gener ...
, who lived through the Siege of Jerusalem.
The name ''Sefer Hekhalot'' (''Hekhalot'' meaning palaces or temples), along with its proposed author, places this book as a member of Hekalot
The Hekhalot literature (sometimes transliterated Heichalot) from the Hebrew word for "Palaces", relating to visions of ascents into heavenly palaces. The genre overlaps with ''Merkabah'' or "Chariot" literature, concerning Ezekiel's chariot, so t ...
or Merkabah mysticism. Its contents suggest that 3 Enoch's contents and ideas are newer than those shown in other Merkabah texts. The book does not contain Merkabah hymns, it 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 writings of Enoch.
3 Enoch contains a number of Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
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 ...
and Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
words. The book appears to have been originally written in Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
. There are a number of indications suggesting that the writers of 3 Enoch had knowledge of, and most likely read, 1 Enoch.
Some points that appear in 1 Enoch and 3 Enoch are:
* Enoch ascends to Heaven in a storm chariot (3 Enoch 6:1; 7:1)
* Enoch is transformed into an angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
(3 Enoch 9:1–5; 15:1–2)
* Enoch as an exalted angel is enthroned in Heaven (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 term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
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 Azaz'el/Aza'el 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
Enoch () ''Henṓkh''; ar, أَخْنُوخ ', Qur'ān.html"_;"title="ommonly_in_Qur'ān">ommonly_in_Qur'ānic_literature__'_is_a_biblical_figure_and_Patriarchs_(Bible).html" "title="Qur'ānic_literature.html" ;"title="Qur'ān.html" ;"title="o ...
into Heaven and his transformation into the angel Metatron
Metatron ( ''Meṭāṭrōn'', ''Məṭaṭrōn'', ''Mēṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭaṭrōn'', ''Meṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭṭaṭrōn'') or Mattatron ( ''Maṭṭaṭrōn'') is an angel in Judaism mentioned three times in the Talmud in a few br ...
.
See also
* Book of Enoch
* Second Book of Enoch
The Second Book of Enoch (abbreviated as 2 Enoch and also known as Slavonic Enoch, Slavic Enoch or Secrets of Enoch) is a pseudepigraphic text in the apocalyptic genre. It describes the ascent of the patriarch Enoch, ancestor of Noah, through ten ...
* Hekhalot literature
The Hekhalot literature (sometimes transliterated Heichalot) from the Hebrew word for "Palaces", relating to visions of ascents into heavenly palaces. The genre overlaps with '' Merkabah'' or "Chariot" literature, concerning Ezekiel's chariot, so ...
* Kabbalah: Primary texts
References
External links
* Hugo Odeberg (1928).
3 Enoch or The Hebrew Book of Enoch
'
Hebrew book of 3 Enoch
(in English translation)
Text of 3 Enoch
(in English translation)
* William Morfill (1896).
2 Enoch
' or ''The Book of the Secrets of Enoch''
* Solomonn Malan (1882).
The Book of Adam and Eve, also called The Conflict of Adam & Eve Against Satan
'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enoch, 3
5th-century books
Ancient Hebrew texts
3
Kabbalah texts
Merkabah mysticism
Old Testament pseudepigrapha
Jewish apocrypha