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. 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, which has survived only in Old Slavonic, 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.

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Modern scholars describe this book as pseudepigraphal, 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, a 3rd generation Tanna and a leading figure of Merkabah mysticism. 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 An adjurist (from the Latin word "adjure", meaning to swear or to exorcise) is a follower of religious teachings that, per the Catholic Encyclopedia, are defined as "an urgent demand made upon another to do something, or to desist from doing somethi ...

.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 and Latin words. The book appears to have been originally written in Hebrew. 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 (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 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 into Heaven and his transformation into the angel Metatron.

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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

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