Metatron: The Heavenly Scribe

The story of the origin, mentioned in the Hebrew bible, talks about how god himself created a group of divine beings, who are known as angels, to carry out his commands. Each angel was given a specific task and was granted heavenly powers to fulfill this task in the name of god. Even though the holy bible doesn’t talk about any human being risen to the angelic status, “Metatron” is believed to be an angel who was once a human. It could be said that Metatron is one of the only two angels, who was first a human being and was then elevated to the angelic status. The other archangel is “the archangel Sandalphon”, who is believed to be the prophet Elijah. Even though the Hebrew bible makes no mention of Metatron, texts such as the Talmud, the Aggadah, and the mystical Kabbalistic texts, talk about the existence of this divine entity. Metatron is mainly identified to serve as the celestial scribe. He records the affairs and deeds of humans in the universe's great archive known as “the God's book of life” or “the Akashic record”.

Many identify him as the angelic form of prophet Enoch after his bodily ascent into heaven. The Bible identifies Enoch as the seven of the 10 Patriarchs who lived before the great flood after adam. According to the book of Genesis, Enoch lived 365 years before he was taken by God. Genesis chapter 5, verses 23 and 24 reads, “And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years. And Enoch walked with God. And he was no more; for God took him.” Some scholars interpret these verses as that Enoch entered heaven alive. This was further confirmed by Hebrews chapter 11, verse 5 where it says, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death. And was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Enoch is credited as the author of the book of Enoch. Even though this book is removed from the bible, it contains unique material, such as the origins of demons and Nephilim, why some angels fell from heaven, an explanation of why the Genesis flood was morally necessary, and many more.

The book of Enoch describes Enoch’s visit to layers of heaven. God instructs him to detail everything he sees in heaven, so that those who desire to learn about God could refer to them. Enoch soon became a favorite of God and so he was allowed to enter heaven to become an angel. It is mentioned that his flesh was turned to flame, his veins to fire, his eyelashes to flashes of lightning, his eyeballs to flaming torches. He was blessed with angelic powers and was granted a pair of 32 wings and grace similar to that of other angels. After the transformation, God placed him on a throne next to him, and gave him the name Metatron. Then onwards, metatron was tasked as the heavenly scribe.

The meaning of the name Metatron is still under debate because its precise origin is unknown. So many etymologies have been proposed by different scholars. Some scholars, such as Philip Alexander, believe that the name Metatron originated in Hekhalot-Merkabah texts, and if it does, Metatron sounds more like a magical word. Also there is a theory that suggests Metatron derived either from the rabbinic term “Mattara” which has the meaning "keeper of the watch", or the verb “Memater” which means "to guard" or "to protect". This derivation is mainly based on the mention of the angel's name in Shimmusha Rabbah. According to this text, Metatron is also described as the guardian of the souls ascending to heaven. Another belief is that the name Metatron might have been adopted from the name “Mithra” which is a name of an Iranian deity who held a similar role to that of Metatron in the Iranian god pantheon. Another belief is that the name has Greek origins.

As for these accounts, the name Metatron has the meaning “one who serves behind the throne" or "one who occupies the throne next to the throne of glory". In Islamic traditions, he is also known as Mīṭaṭrūn which has the meaning the angel of the veil. A number of Jewish texts identify metatron as the divine being who stands beside Yahweh or stands beneath him. This suggests that Metatron is closer to God than any other angel. the Merkabah text “Re' uyot Yehezkel” identifies “the Ancient of Days”, which is a term used to identify Yahweh, from the Book of Daniel, as Metatron. So from these and many more texts that suggest a similar position of Metatron, scholars are inclined to believe that he is second only to God, and all the other angels obeyed him. Legends further explain that all angels including the most powerful archangels such as Michael and Gabriel would have to go through Metatron first in order to meet god.

Given this role, it is understandable that Metatron is the angel who is aware of all secrets of heaven. So he is also given the task as the guardian of heavenly secrets and considered as the “lesser Yahweh”. However, some of the earliest kabbalists assumed the possibility of the existence of 2 Metatrons. This is because there seems to be two different spelling for the angel’s name, one with six letters, and the other spelled with seven. These scholars believe that the Metatron spelled with 6 characters refers to the archangel, and the one with the seven characters refers to Yahweh. Being a human himself, archangel Metatron is believed to be one of the few angels who can understand human needs, better than any other divine entities. Therefore, he is considered a mediator between god and humans. It is also believed that it was archangel Metatron who led the Israelites through the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt.

“Elisha ben Abuyah” who is a rabbi mentioned in the Talmud, describes witnessing Metatron sitting down in heaven, which is an action that is not done in the presence of God. A rabbi is a term used to identify a religious teacher in Judaism. Elisha first looked at Metatron as a deity, but later realized that Metatron had the permission to sit because of his function as the Heavenly Scribe. The Talmud also explains, even though Metatron was the favorite of the god, that didn’t stop him from punishing the angel when he acts out of place. The text describes of an instance where Metatron received 60 strokes with fiery rods as punishment. The Talmud emphasizes the fact that Metatron is not a god but an angel, and refrains people from worshiping him. The text also mentions, that god sits on his throne only for a quarter of the day. For the rest of the three quarters, Metatron takes over god’s place. This suggests how much god trusts and favors Metatron, since this is not a privilege any of the angels in heaven receive. Given this role, Metatron is also identified by the name prince of the world.

The ancient Jewish text “Zohar”, refers to Metatron as the king of angels. The Staff of Moses, is used as a reference to Metatron in the Zohar, thereby connecting the angel as a central figure in the liberation story of the Israelites. Believers state that the presence of Metatron could be sensed through a sudden flash of light. This is because the archangel is believed to have a fiery presence, and this nature-could also cause a colorful aura, which would suggest the archangel is nearby. Some believe the angel’s aura is deep pink and dark green in color. The urge to replace negative thoughts with positive ones is also said to be-because of the influence of the archangel Metatron.

This is because the archangel himself was once a human, and even as a divine entity, his task is to record the affairs of humans. So most possibly, Metatron is the angel who is aware of the power of human thoughts, and how negative thoughts could influence bad choices. A strong fragrance is also another sign the archangel would use, to inform his presence. Metatron is one of the few angels that is said to be easy to connect with, and would understand human needs better. Given the prominence of his role, Metatron has a greater power to persuade god, than any other angel.