Editing Metatron (section)

{{Short description|Angel in Jewish and Islamic mythology}}
{{Distinguish|Megatron|Magnetron|Mettaton}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:MetatronInIslamicArts.jpg|thumb|Islamic portrayal of the angel Metatron ({{langx|ar|ميططرون}}) depicted in the {{transliteration|ar|Daqa'iq al-Haqa'iq}} ({{lang|ar|دقائق الحقائق}}
 'Degrees of Truths') by Nasir ad-Din Rammal in the 14th century CE.]]

'''Metatron''' ([[Mishnaic Hebrew]]: {{Script/Hebrew|מֶטָטְרוֹן}} ''Meṭāṭrōn''),<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Sanhedrin 38b:19 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.38b.19?lang=bi&with=all |access-date=10 June 2023 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>{{efn|Also written as {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|מְטַטְרוֹן}}|Məṭaṭrōn|label=none}},<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bereshit Rabbah 5:4 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Bereishit_Rabbah.5.4?vhe=Midrash_Rabbah_--_TE&lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref> {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|מֵיטַטְרוֹן}}|Mēṭaṭrōn|label=none}}, {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|מִיטַטְרוֹן}}|Mīṭaṭrōn|label=none}},<ref>{{Cite web |title=Incantation bowl, late-post Sasanian, 6th C.-8th C. |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1974-1209-2 |website=The British Museum}}</ref> {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|מֶיטַטְרוֹן}}|Meṭaṭrōn|label=none}},<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chagigah 15a:6 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Chagigah.15a.6?vhe=William_Davidson_Edition_-_Vocalized_Aramaic&with=all&lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref> {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|מִטַּטְרוֹן}}|Mīṭṭaṭrōn|label=none}}}}{{efn|There are two spelling variations of the name Metatron that can be found in the Talmud. Firstly there is the more full spelling of {{lang|hbo|מיטטרון}}, as can be seen in Chagigah 15a:6. The consonant yod ({{lang|hbo|י}}) acts as a mater lectionis (mother of reading), usually indicating the vowel hiriq (ī). Secondly there is the slightly shorter and more common spelling of {{lang|hbo|מטטרון}} without the yod, as can be seen in Sanhedrin 38b:19 for example. With the absence of the yod representing the vowel hiriq, this vowel would be pronounced shorter. This short hiriq (ī) would also cause the teth ({{lang|hbo|ט}}) following the mem ({{lang|hbo|מ}}) to geminate, giving the pronunciation of {{transliteration|hbo|Mīṭṭaṭrōn}} ({{lang|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|מִטַּטְרוֹן}}}}). The full spelling with yod representing hiriq may also indicate that the name has its origins in the word {{transliteration|hbo|Mīṭāṭōr}} ({{lang|hbo|מִיטָטוֹר}}), referring to a measurer of boundaries; an officer sent in advance of persons of high rank, or of troops, to lay out the camp or to arrange quarters; a quartermaster.}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jastrow |first=Marcus |date=1903 |title=Jastrow, מִיטָטוֹר |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Jastrow%2C_%D7%9E%D6%B4%D7%99%D7%98%D6%B8%D7%98%D7%95%D6%B9%D7%A8.1?with=all&lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jastrow |first=Marcus |year=2004 |orig-year=1903 |title=A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature |url={{GBurl|S4UYAQAAIAAJ}} |page=767 |publisher=Judaica Treasury |isbn=978-1-932-44320-2}}</ref> or '''Matatron''' ({{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|מַטַּטְרוֹן}}|Maṭṭaṭrōn|label=none}}),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jastrow |first=Marcus |date=1903 |title=Jastrow, מַטַּטְרוֹן |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Jastrow%2C_%D7%9E%D6%B7%D7%98%D6%B7%D6%BC%D7%98%D6%B0%D7%A8%D7%95%D6%B9%D7%9F.1?ven=London,_Luzac,_1903&with=all&lang=bi |website=Sefaria}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Schechter |first1=Solomon |last2=Levias |first2=Caspar |title=GEMAṬRIA: Metatron |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6571-gematria |encyclopedia=Jewish Encyclopedia}}</ref> is an [[angel]] in [[Judaism]], [[Gnosticism]], and [[Islam]]. Metatron is mentioned three times in the [[Talmud]],<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Avodah Zarah 3b:12 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Avodah_Zarah.3b.12?lang=bi&with=all |access-date=10 June 2023 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> in a few brief passages in the [[Aggadah]], the [[Targum]],<ref name=":0" /> and in mystical [[kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] texts within [[Rabbinic literature]]. The figure forms one of the traces for the presence of [[Dualism in cosmology|dualist proclivities]] in [[Gnosticism]] and the otherwise monotheistic vision of the [[Tanakh]].<ref name=Stroumsa>{{Cite book |last=Stroumsa |first=Guy G. |author-link=Guy Stroumsa |year=2015 |title=The Making of the Abrahamic Religions in Late Antiquity |url={{GBurl|VZjxCQAAQBAJ|pg=PA15}} |page=15 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-198-73886-2}}</ref> In Rabbinic literature, he is sometimes portrayed as serving as the celestial scribe.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Targum Jonathan on Genesis 5:24 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Targum_Jonathan_on_Genesis.5.24 |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> The name Metatron is not mentioned in the [[Torah]] or the [[Bible]], and how the name originated is a matter of debate. In [[Islam]]ic tradition, he is also known as '''Mīṭaṭrūn''' ({{langx|ar|ميططرون}}), the angel of the veil.<ref name=Burge>{{Cite book |last=Burge |first=Stephen R. |year=2015 |title=Angels in Islam - Jalal Al-Din Al-Suyuti's Al-Haba'ik Fi Akhbar Al-mala'ik |url={{GBurl|ZzVACwAAQBAJ|pg=PA48}} |page=48 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-50474-7}}</ref><ref name=Wasserstrom />{{rp|192}} 

In [[Jewish apocrypha]], early Kabbalah, and rabbinic literature,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Targum Jonathan on Genesis 5:24 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Targum_Jonathan_on_Genesis.5.24 |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> ''Metatron'' is the name that [[Enoch]] received after his transformation into an angel.