3 Enoch (Hebrew Enoch)

3 Enoch, also called the Hebrew Book of Enoch, is a later Hebrew mystical book. Rabbi Ishmael ascends to see the Merkabah, and Metatron tells him that he is Enoch, the son of Jared. It is not the Jewish Bible, and it is not the New Testament. This site does not print a full text.

Key Points

• The Jewish Encyclopedia says this book has been confounded with Pirke Hekalot, that a Bodleian manuscript titles it the Book of Enoch, and that Adolph Jellinek printed it in Bet ha-Midrash, volume 5, pages 170–190. The Bodleian count is 48 chapters. (1)
• The book opens with Genesis 5:24Genesis 5:24 · King James VersionAnd Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.Genesis 5:24 · King James VersionOpen source (4) and depends on the Secrets of Enoch. Rabbi Ishmael passes six heavenly halls. Metatron meets him at the seventh and says he is Enoch, son of Jared. (1)
• The Jewish Encyclopedia calls Metatron the “prince of the presence,” quotes “Enoch whose name is Meṭaṭron,” and says he bears the divine name and may not be worshiped. (2)
• That encyclopedia dates the book no later than the completion of the Babylonian Talmud. earlyjewishwritings.com reports P. Alexander: the book is not one author’s work, and a final redaction in the fifth or sixth century cannot be far from the truth. (1) (3)
• earlyjewishwritings.com says an online text of 3 Enoch is not available. This page does not host Hugo Odeberg’s English edition. (3)
• Jude 14–15Jude 1:14 · King James VersionAnd Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,Jude 1:14 · King James VersionOpen source (6) quotes a sentence that matches 1 Enoch 1:9Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of ⌈His⌉ holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy ⌈all⌉ the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works ⌈of their ungodliness⌉ which they have ungodly committed, ⌈And of all the hard things which⌉ ungodly sinners ⌈have spoken⌉ against Him.Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917Open source (7). That citation is not 3 Enoch, and it did not receive either book as Scripture.

What the Book Is

The Jewish Encyclopedia says the book was still being confused with Pirke Hekalot, another work also said to be by Rabbi Ishmael. A manuscript in the Bodleian Library establishes “Book of Enoch” as the title, and medieval writers quote the apocalypse under that name. Jellinek’s edition in Bet ha-Midrash has 42 chapters and lacks six. With those six, from the Lemberg edition, the count is 48, which is also the count Neubauer gives for the Bodleian manuscript. (1)

The book opens with Genesis 5:24Genesis 5:24 · King James VersionAnd Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.Genesis 5:24 · King James VersionOpen source, that Enoch walked with God and God took him. Rabbi Ishmael narrates an ascent to see the Merkabah. After six halls, Metatron meets him at the seventh, leads him before the chariot, and in the chapters that follow tells him that he is Enoch, son of Jared, taken up at the time of the flood to witness against his generation. The encyclopedia says the book depends on the Secrets of Enoch and compares the ascent, the instruction in the mysteries, and the seven heavens with that book. (1) Secrets of Enoch on this site is 2 Enoch. The Ethiopic book is 1 Enoch.

Date

The Jewish Encyclopedia gives two bounds and then one. Rabbi Ishmael belongs to the time of the Hadrianic persecution, and the last chapter alludes to the destruction of the Temple, so the book is not earlier than that. A passage in Berakot 7a, in which Rabbi Ishmael enters the sanctuary and blesses God, is close enough to the ascent that the encyclopedia concludes the Hebrew Book of Enoch cannot have been written later than the completion of the Babylonian Talmud. (1)

earlyjewishwritings.com reports a different weighing from P. Alexander. The book is not the work of one author at one time. It can hardly be later than the tenth century, because Merkabah literature was already circulating then. If it draws on the Babylonian Talmud, the final redaction can hardly be earlier than the fifth century. Magical bowls from Nippur show related ideas about Metatron in the sixth and seventh centuries. Alexander’s conclusion, as that page reports it, is that a date for the final redaction in the fifth or the sixth century cannot be far from the truth. (3) Charlesworth, as the same page reports him, says Odeberg dated the main body to the second half of the third century and some portions earlier or later. (3) This page keeps those reports side by side. It does not pick a year the sources do not share.

The Jewish Encyclopedia’s article on Metatron says the present form of the Hebrew mystical works is from the geonic period, and that the conception of Metatron is older than that form. (2)

Metatron

The Jewish Encyclopedia says the later mystical books call Metatron the “prince of the presence,” and that the Hekalot, in which he is the chief person, is also called “The Book of Enoch.” The phrase it quotes is “Enoch whose name is Meṭaṭron.” (2)

The same article says Metatron bears the Tetragrammaton, because Exodus 23:21Exodus 23:21 · King James VersionBeware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.Exodus 23:21 · King James VersionOpen source (5) says “my name is in him.” It reports a dialogue in Sanhedrin 38b in which he may not be worshiped. It also reports that Elisha ben Abuyah, seeing this angel, believed there were two powers (Hagigah 15a). (2)

John 20:28John 20:28 · King James VersionAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen source (8) is Thomas calling Jesus Lord and God. That confession is the Son, not an angel who used to be Enoch. The Jewish Encyclopedia’s own report is that Metatron may not be worshiped. 3 Enoch’s picture of Enoch bearing the divine name is not the New Testament’s picture of Jesus.

Why It Is Not Scripture

The book is written in Enoch’s name and in Rabbi Ishmael’s name, and the dates above are centuries after both men. The Jewish Bible does not include it. The New Testament does not include it. Jude 14–15Jude 1:14 · King James VersionAnd Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,Jude 1:14 · King James VersionOpen source quotes one sentence that matches 1 Enoch. Quoting that sentence did not receive 1 Enoch, and it says nothing about this Hebrew book.

earlyjewishwritings.com lists the online text as not available. (3) Odeberg’s English edition is not printed here. A reader who wants the Hebrew book has the editions the Jewish Encyclopedia names, Jellinek and the Lemberg printing, not a translation invented for this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is 3 Enoch?

3 Enoch is the Hebrew Book of Enoch. Rabbi Ishmael ascends to the Merkabah, and Metatron says he is Enoch, son of Jared. The Jewish Encyclopedia counts 48 chapters in the Bodleian manuscript and says the book depends on the Secrets of Enoch. (1)

When Was 3 Enoch Written?

The Jewish Encyclopedia says it is not later than the completion of the Babylonian Talmud. earlyjewishwritings.com reports Alexander’s fifth- or sixth-century final redaction, and Charlesworth’s report of Odeberg’s earlier dates for parts of the book. (1) (3) The page does not replace those reports with one date.

Who Is Metatron?

The Jewish Encyclopedia calls him the prince of the presence and identifies him with Enoch. It says he bears the divine name and may not be worshiped. (2) Thomas’s confession in John 20:28John 20:28 · King James VersionAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen source names Jesus, not Metatron.

Why Is 3 Enoch Not in the Bible?

It is a later mystical book in Enoch’s name and in Rabbi Ishmael’s name. The Jewish canon and the New Testament do not receive it. Jude’s quotation is 1 Enoch 1:9Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917

And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of ⌈His⌉ holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy ⌈all⌉ the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works ⌈of their ungodliness⌉ which they have ungodly committed, ⌈And of all the hard things which⌉ ungodly sinners ⌈have spoken⌉ against Him.Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 1:9 · R. H. Charles, 1917Open source, and that one sentence did not receive the rest of 1 Enoch either.