Editing Metatron (section)

== Etymology ==
Numerous etymologies have been proposed to account for the name Metatron, but there is no consensus, and its precise origin is unknown.<ref>{{cite web |last=Orlov |first=Andrei A. |title=The Name "Metatron" |url=https://images.shulcloud.com/609/uploads/class_files/Pardes/MetatronEtymology.pdf |pages=92–96 |work=The Enoch-Metatron Tradition |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030232238/https://images.shulcloud.com/609/uploads/class_files/Pardes/MetatronEtymology.pdf |archive-date=30 October 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Orlov />{{rp|92–97}} Some scholars, such as [[Philip S. Alexander|Philip Alexander]], believe that if the name Metatron originated in [[Hekhalot literature]] and [[Merkabah mysticism|Merkabah texts]] such as [[3 Enoch]], then it may have been a [[magical formula|magical word]] like {{transliteration|hbo|Adiriron}} and {{transliteration|hbo|Dapdapiron}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=Philip S. |year=1977 |title=The Historical Settings of the Hebrew Book of Enoch |url={{GBurl|NvJUNwAACAAJ}} |page=162 |publisher=Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies}}</ref>

[[Hugo Odeberg]]<ref name=Odeberg>{{Cite book |editor-last=Odeberg |editor-first=Hugo |year=2012 |orig-year=1928 |chapter=Origin of the Word 'Metatron' |title=3 Enoch or The Hebrew Book of Enoch |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ksigaxiienochorthehebrewbookofenoch_202012/page/n137 |pages=125–142 |publisher=[[CreateSpace]] |isbn=978-1-479-37227-0}}</ref> [[Adolf Jellinek]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jellinek |first=Adolf |year=1852 |title=Contributions to the History of Kabbalah - Parts I & II |url={{GBurl|pMxDAQAAMAAJ|pg=PA4}} |page=4 |location=Leipzig |publisher=C.L. Fritzsche}} {{free access}}</ref> and [[Marcus Jastrow]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jastrow |first=Marcus |year=1903 |orig-year=1887 |title=A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature |url=https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:1-123506 |page=767 |location=London |publisher=Luzac |volume=II |isbn=978-1-565-63860-0}}</ref> suggest the name may have originated from either {{transliteration|hbo|mattara}} ({{lang|hbo|מטרא}}, {{lit.|keeper of the watch}}) or the verb {{transliteration|hbo|memater}} ({{lang|hbo|ממטר}}, 'to guard' or 'to protect'). An early derivation of this can be seen in {{transliteration|hbo|Shimmusha Rabbah}}, where Enoch is clothed in light and is the guardian of the souls ascending to heaven. Odeberg also suggested that the name Metatron might have been adopted from the [[Old Persian]] name [[Mithra]].<ref name=Odeberg /> Citing Wiesner,<ref>in Ben Chananja, 1862, p. 384; 1866, pp. 600–625</ref> he drew up several parallels that appeared to link Mithra and Metatron based on their positions in heaven and duties.

Another hypothesis would derive Metatron from a combination of two Greek words, {{lang|grc|μετά}} (''meta'', meaning 'after') and {{lang|grc|θρóνος}} (''thronos'', meaning 'throne'), which, taken together, would suggest the idea of 'one who serves behind the throne' or 'one who occupies the throne next to the throne of glory'.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schäfer |first=Peter |year=2012 |orig-year=1992 |title=The Hidden and Manifest God - Some Major Themes in Early Jewish Mysticism |url={{GBurl|-0Ok4MOpJGMC|pg=PA29}} |page=29 |series=SUNY Series in Judaica |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-438-41882-7 |quote=most probable is the etymology of Lieberman: Metatron = Greek ''metatronos'' = ''metathronos'' = ''synthronos''; i.e. the small "minor god" whose throne is beside that of the great "God"}}</ref> The primary arguments against this etymology are that Metatron's function as a servant of the celestial throne emerges only later in the traditions regarding him, and {{lang|grc|θρóνος}} itself is not attested as a word in Talmudic literature.<ref>[[Gershom Scholem]], 'Metatron,' in ''[[Encyclopedia Judaica]]'', 2nd edition 2007, vol. 14 pp. 132–134. Also his ''Major Trends,'' p. 69, and his ''Jewish Gnosticism'', pp.43, 91. Scholem dismissed this hypothesis as 'without merit'.</ref>

A connection with the word {{lang|grc|σύνθρονος}} ({{transliteration|grc|synthronos}}) used as 'co-occupant of the divine throne', has been advanced by some scholars;{{efn|{{transliteration|grc|synthronos}}, the Greek term {{transliteration|grc|metatyrannos}}, which can be translated as "the one next to the ruler".<ref>Philip Alexander, "3 Enoch"</ref>}} This, like the above etymology, is not found in any source materials.<ref name=Odeberg /> It is supported by Saul Lieberman and [[Peter Schäfer]], who give further reasons why this might be a viable etymology.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gruenwald |first=Ithamar |year=2018 |orig-year=1980 |chapter=Metatron, the Meaning of His Name and His Functions |title=Apocalyptic and Merkavah Mysticism |chapter-url={{GBurl|_92mDwAAQBAJ|pg=PA235}} |pages=235–241 |location=Leiden/Cologne |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|E. J. Brill]] |isbn=978-9-004-33267-6}}</ref> The Latin word {{lang|la|metator}} ('messenger, guide, leader, measurer') had been suggested by [[Eleazar of Worms]] ({{c.|1165}} – {{c.|1230}}), [[Nachmanides]], and brought to light again by Hugo Odeberg.<ref name=Odeberg /> When transliterated into the Hebrew language, it is given as {{lang|hbo|מטיטור}} ({{transliteration|hbo|mṭyṭwr}}) or {{lang|hbo|מיטטור}} ({{transliteration|hbo|myṭṭwr}}). [[Gershom Scholem]] argues that there is no data to justify the conversion of {{lang|la|metator}} to Metatron.<ref>Gershom Scholem, ''Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition'', [[Jewish Theological Seminary of America]] 2nd. ed. 1965 pp41,93.</ref> [[Philip S. Alexander|Philip Alexander]] also suggests this as a possible origin of Metatron, stating that the word {{lang|la|metator}} also occurs in Greek as {{transliteration|grc|mitator}} – a word for an officer in the [[Roman army]] who acted as a forerunner. Using this etymology, Alexander suggests the name may have come about as a description of 'the angel of the Lord who led the Israelites through the wilderness: acting like a Roman army metator guiding the Israelites on their way'.<ref>Alexander, P. "From Son of Adam to a Second God" and Alexander, P. "3 Enoch"</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Urbach |first=Ephraïm Elimelech |author-link=Ephraïm Urbach |year=1987 |orig-year=1979 |title=The Sages - Their Concepts and Beliefs |url={{GBurl|siAUuwEACAAJ}} |location=Cambridge, Mass. |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-78523-6 |oclc=15489564}}</ref>

Other ideas include {{lang|grc|μέτρον}} ({{transliteration|grc|metron}}, 'a measure').<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Black |first=Matthew |year=1951 |title=The Origin of the Name of Metatron |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/1515863 |pages=217–219 |journal=[[Vetus Testamentum]] |volume=1 |issue=3 |publisher=E.J. Brill |jstor=1515863 |doi=10.2307/1515863 |quote=Can be linked back to the title praemetitor in Philos QG which can be connected to the Greek word for Metator "measurer"|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Charles Mopsik believes that the name Metatron may be related to the sentence from [https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.5.24 Genesis 5:24], "Enoch walked with God, then he was no more, because God took him".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mopsik |first=Charles |year=1989 |title=Le Livre hébreu d'Hénoch ou Livre des palais |url={{GBurl|POEQAQAAIAAJ}} |location=Paris |publisher=Verdier |isbn=978-2-864-32088-3}}</ref> The [[LXX]] version of the Hebrew word לָקַ֥ח ("took") is {{lang|grc|μετέθηκεν}}.

In the entry entitled "Paradigmata" in his study {{"'}}The Written' as the Vocation of Conceiving Jewishly", John W. McGinley gives an accounting of how this name functions in the [[Talmud|Bavli]]'s version of "four entered pardes".<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGinley |first=John W. |year=2006 |title='The Written' as the Vocation of Conceiving Jewishly |url={{GBurl|ytRaRaGvU4UC|pg=PA432}} |page=432 |publisher=[[iUniverse]] |isbn=978-0-595-40488-9 |quote=The entry 'Paradigmata' gives an accounting of the meaning of 'Metatron' as it is used in the Bavli's version of 'four entered pardes'.}}</ref>