3 Enoch

Odeberg1928 source English page 211

BOOK OF ENOCH BY R. ISHMAEL BEN ELISHA THE HIGH PRIEST GUD Tg Eo Rial INTRODUCTION: 8. Ishmael ascends to heaven to behold the vision of the Merkaba and 1s given in charge to Metatron AND ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD: AND HE WAS NOT; FOR GOD TOOK HIM (Gen. v. 24) Rabbi Ishmael said: (1) When I ascended on high to behold ! the vision of the Merkaba} and had entered the six Halls, one within the other: (2) as soon as I reached the door of the seventh Hall I stood still in prayer before the Holy One, blessed be He, and, lifting up my eyes on high (i.e. towards the Divine Majesty), I said: (3) “‘ Lord of the Universe, I pray 1-1 so DE. A: ‘in my vision the Merkaba’ Chh. i and ii. (Additional, see Introduction, section 7.) Chh. i and ii, which are not extant in BCL, form an introduction to the book, supplying the explanation , of the frame of chh. iii—xlviii A, purporting to be revelations and communications given to R. Ishmael by Metatron-Enoch. By the present introductory chapters is indicated that the occasion of these revelations was Rabbi Ishmael’s ascent to behold the vision of the Merkaba (the Divine Chariot). R. Ishmael’s ascension to heaven and intercourse with Metatron, or the Prince of the Presence, forms an intrinsic part of the Legend of the Ten Martyrs, including the so-called Apocalyptic Fragment (BH. v. 167-160, vi. 19-35; Siddur R. ‘Amram Gaon, 3b, 12 b-13 a; Gaster, RAS’s Journal, 1893, pp. 609 seqq.). The R. Ishmael version of Shi‘ur Qoma is also framed as a revelation to R. Ishmael from Metatron. See further Introduction, sections 7 c and 10. The ‘R. Ishmael’ introduced in these writings is, acc. to them, one of the ten martyrs, contemporary with R. ‘Aqiba, also one of these martyrs with whom he exchanged opinions and contended teachings on mystical subjects, was a High Priest and the son of a High Priest, hence in possession of the Great Divine Name, by force of which he was able to ascend to heaven. The time of the martyrdom was the beginning of the second century. Behold the vision of the Merkaba. Identical expression: Hek. R. BH. iii. 83. entered the six Halls etc. For the conception of the seven Halls cf. note on ch. xviii. 3 and chh. x. 2, xvi. I, xxxvii. 1, xxxviii. 1, ט[א‎ 0 8 and esp. Hek. R. The Halls are situated in the highest of the seven heavens. The Merkaba and the Throne of Glory are, acc. to the earlier conceptions represented here, located to the seventh Hall. For later developed conceptions cf. Zohar, i. 38 4-45 0, 11. 245 8-260 a; Pardes Rimmonim, Gate xxiv, and Intr. R. ‘Aqiba also narrates his ascent to the seven Halls, in Pirge R. Ishmael, ch. xviii (Bodl. MICH. 175, 1011. 20 8 seq.). one within the other, lit. ‘chamber within chamber’, the Halls being arranged in concentric circles. Cf. Mass. Hek. iv (“‘the seven Halls, one within the other’’). 12