This is a continuation from the following post: TWO POWERS IN HEAVEN: REVEALING ISRAEL’S SECOND GOD.

In this specific installment I will be focusing on the angelic figure which the Talmud names Metatron. This is the One that the rabbis identify as the Angel who bears God’s very own name according Exodus 23:21. He is also said to be that very YHWH that Moses met on the Mount in Exodus 24:1. Please see my previous discussion for the references.  

METATRON AS ENOCH

The following excerpts are taken from a Jewish work titled 3 Enoch, which certain scholars believe may have been composed around the 5^th century AD. All bold emphasis is mine.

CHAPTER X God places Metatron on a throne at the door of the seventh Hall and announces through the Herald, that Metatron henceforth is God’s representative and ruler over all the princes of kingdoms and all the children of heaven, save the eight high princes called YHWH by the name of their King

R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Prince of the Presence, said to me:

(1) All these things the Holy One, blessed be He, made for me: He made me a Throne, similar to the Throne of Glory. And He spread over me a curtain of splendour and brilliant appearance, of beauty, grace and mercy, similar to the curtain of the Throne of Glory; and on it were fixed all kinds of lights in the universe.

(2) And He placed it at the door of the Seventh Hall and seated me on it.

(3) And the herald went forth into every heaven, saying: This is Metatron, my servant. I have made him into a prince and a ruler over all the princes of my kingdoms and over all the children of heaven, except the eight great princes, the honoured and revered ones who are called YHWH, by the name of their King.

(4) And every angel and every prince who has a word to speak in my presence (before me) shall go into his presence (before him) and shall speak to him (instead).

(5) And every command that he utters to you in my name do ye observe and fulfil. For the Prince of Wisdom and the Prince of Understanding have I committed to him to instruct him in the wisdom of heavenly things and of earthly things, in the wisdom of this world and of the world to come.

(6) Moreover, I have set him over all the treasuries of the palapes of Araboih and over all the stores of life that I have in the high heavens.

CHAPTER XI God reveals all mysteries and secrets to Metatron

R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me:

(1) Henceforth the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed to me all the mysteries of Tora and all the secrets of wisdom and all the depths of the Perfect Law; and all living beings’ thoughts of heart and all the secrets of the universe and all the secrets of Creation were revealed unto me even as they are revealed unto the Maker of Creation.

(2) And I watched intently to behold the secrets of the depth and the wonderful mystery. Before a man did think in secret, I saw (it) and before a man made a thing I beheld it.

CHAPTER XII God clothes Metatron in a garment of glory, puts a royal crown on his head and calls him “the Lesser YHWH”

R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Prince of the Presence, said to me:

(1) By reason of the love with which the Holy One, blessed be He, loved me more than all the children of heaven, He made me a garment of glory on which were fixed all kinds of lights, and He clad me in it.

(2) And He made me a robe of honor on which were fixed all kinds of beauty, splendor, brilliance and majesty.

(3) And he made me a royal crown in which were fixed forty-nine costly stones like unto the light of the globe of the sun.

(4) For its splendor went forth in the four quarters of the ‘Araboth Raqia’, and in through the seven heavens, and in the four quarters of the world. And he put it on my head.

(5) And He called me THE LESSER YHWH (YHWH Ha-Qatan) in the presence of all His heavenly household; as it is written: “For my name is in him“…

CHAPTER XXX The 72 princes of Kingdoms and the Prince of the World officiating at the Great Sanhedrin in heaven

R. Ishmael said: Metatron, the Angel, the Prince of the Presence, said to me:

(1) Whenever the Great Beth Din is seated in the ‘Araboth Raqia’ on high there is no opening of the mouth for anyone in the world save those great princes who are called H’ by the name of the Holy One, blessed be He.

(2) How many are those princes? Seventy-two princes of the kingdoms of the world besides the Prince of the World who speaks (pleads) in favour of the world before the Holy One, blessed be He, every day, at the hour when the book is opened in which are recorded all the doings of the world, according as it is written (Dan.vii.10): “The judgement was set and the books were opened.”…

CHAPTER XLVIII (cont.) (c) An Enoch-Metatron piece

ALT 1

(1) “I seized him, and I took him and I appointed him” that is Enoch, the son of Jared, whose name is Metatron

(2) and I took him from among the children of men

(5) and made him a Throne over against my Throne. Which is the size of that Throne? Seventy thousand parasangs (all) of fire.

(9) I committed unto him 70 angels corresponding to the nations (of the world) and I gave into his charge all the household above and below.

(7) And I committed to him Wisdom and Intelligence more than (to) all the angels. And I called his name “the LESSER YAH”, whose name is by Gematria 71. And I arranged for him all the works of Creation. And I made his power to transcend (lit. I made for him power more than) all the ministering angels.

ALT 2

(3) He committed unto Metatron that is Enoch, the son of Jared all treasuries. And I appointed him over all the stores that I have in every heaven. And I committed into his hands the keys of each heavenly store.

(4) I made (of) him the prince over all the princes, and I made (of) him a minister of my Throne of Glory, to provide for and arrange the Holy Chayyoth, to wreathe crowns for them (to crown them with crowns), to clothe them with honour and majesty to prepare for them a seat when he is sitting on his throne to magnify his glory in the height.

(5) The height of his stature among all those (that are) of high stature (is) seventy thousand parasangs. And I made his glory great as the majesty of my glory.

(6) and the brilliance of his eyes as the splendour of the Throne of Glory.

(7) his garment honour and majesty, his royal crown 500 by 500 parasangs.

ALT 3

(1) Aleph1 I made him strong, I took him, I appointed him: (namely) Metatron, my servant who is one (unique) among all the children of heaven. I made him strong in the generation of the first Adam. But when I beheld the men of the generation of the flood, that they were corrupt, then I went and removed my Shekina from among them. And 1 lifted it up on high with the sound of a trumpet and with a shout, as it is written (Ps.xlvii. 6): “God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet”.

(2) “And I took him”: (that is) Enoch, the son of Jared, from among them. And I lifted him up with the sound of a trumpet and with a tera’a (shout) to the high heavens, to be my witness together with the Chayyoth by the Merkaba in the world to come.

(3) I appointed him over all the treasuries and stores that I have in every heaven. And I committed into his hand the keys of every several one.

(4) I made (of) him the prince over all the princes and a minister of the Throne of Glory (and) the Halls of ‘Araboth: to open their doors to me, and (of) the Throne of Glory, to exalt an arrange it; (and I appointed him over) the Holy Chayyot to wreathe crowns upon their heads; the majestic ‘Ophannim, to crown them with strength and glory; the; honoured Kerubim, to clothe: them in majesty; over the radiant sparks, to make them to shine with splendour and brilliance; over the flaming Seraphim, to cover them with highness; the Chashmallim of light, to make them radiant with Light and to prepare the seat for me every morning as I sit upon the Throne of Glory. And to extol and magnify my glory in the height of my power; (and I have committed unto him) the secrets of above and the secrets of below (heavenly secrets and earthly secrets).

(5) I made him higher than all. The height of his stature, in the midst of all (who are) high of stature (I made) seventy thousand parasangs. I made his Throne great by the majesty of my Throne. And I increased its glory by the honour of my glory.

(6) I transformed his flesh into torches of fire, and all the bones of his body into fiery coals; and I made the appearance of his eyes as the lightning, and the light of his eyebrows as the imperishable light. I made his face bright as the splendour of the sun, and his eyes as the splendour of the Throne of Glory.

(7) I made honour and majesty his clothing, beauty and highness his covering cloak and a royal crown of 500 by (times) 500 parasangs (his) diadem. And I put upon him of my honour, my majesty and the splendour. of my glory that is upon my Throne of Glory. I called him the LESSER YHWH, the Prince of the Presence, the Knower of Secrets: for every secret did I reveal to him as a father and all mysteries declared I unto him in uprightness.

(8) I set up his throne at the door of my Hall that he may sit and judge the heavenly household on high. And I placed every prince before him, to receive authority from him, to perform his will.

(9) Seventy names did I take from (my) names and called him by them to enhance his glory.

Seventy princes gave I into his hand, to command unto them my precepts and my words in every language: to abase by his word the proud to the ground, and to exalt by the utterance of his lips the humble to the height; to smite kings by his speech, to turn kings away from their paths, to set up(the) rulers over their dominion as it is written (Dan.ii. 21): “and he changeth the times and the seasons, and to give wisdom unto all the setwise of the world and understanding (and) knowledge to all who understand knowledge, as it is griten (Dan. ii. 21): ” and knowledge to them that know understanding”, to reveal to them the secrets of my words and to teach the decree of my righteous judgement, (10) as it is written (Is.Iv. n): “so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void but shall accomplish (that which I please)”. ‘E’eseh’ (I shall accomplish) is not written here, but “asdh’ (he shall accomplish), meaning, that whatever word and whatever utterance goes forth from before the Holy One, blessed be He, Metatron stands and carries it out. And he establishes the decrees of the Holy One, blessed be He.

CHAPTER XLVIII (D) The names of Metatron. The treasuries of Wisdom opened to Moses on mount Sinai. The angels protest against Metatron for revealing the secrets to Moses and are answered and rebuked by God. The chain of tradition and the power of the transmitted mysteries to heal diseases

(1) Seventy names has Metatron which the Holy One, blessed be He, took from his own name and put upon him. And these they are:

1 YeHOEL YaH, 2 YeHOEL, 3 YOPHIEL and 4 Yophphiel, and 5 ‘APHPHIEL and 6 MaRGeZIEL, 7 GIPpUYEL, 8 Pa’aZIEL, 9 ‘A’aH, 10 PeRIEL, 11 TaTRIEL, 12 TaBKIEL, 13 ‘W, 14 YHWH, 15 DH, 16 WHYH, 17 ‘eBeD, 18 DiBbURIEL, 19 ‘aPh’aPIEL, 20 SPPIEL, 21 PaSPaSIEL, 22 SeNeGRON, 23 MeTaTRON, 24 SOGDIN, 25 ‘ADRIGON, 26 ‘ASUM, 27 SaQPaM, 28 SaQTaM, 29 MIGON, 30 MITTON, 31 MOTTRON, 32 ROSPHIM, 33 QINOTh, 34 ChaTaTYaH, 35 DeGaZYaH, 36 PSPYaH, 37 BSKNYH, 38 MGRG . ., 39 BaRaD . ., 40 MKRKK, 41 MSPRD, 42 ChShG, 43 ChShG, 43 ChShB, 44 MNRTTT, 45 BSYRYM, 46 MITMON, 47 TITMON, 48 PiSQON, 49 SaPhSaPhYaH’, 50 ZRCh, 51 ZRChYaH, 52 B, 53 BeYaH, 54 HBHBeYaH, 55 PeLeT, 56 PLTYaH, 57 RaBRaBYaH, 58 ChaS, 59 ChaSYaH, 60 TaPhTaPhYaH, 61 TaMTaMYaH, 62 SeHaSYaH, 63 IRURYaH, 64 ‘aL’aLYaH, 65 BaZRIDYaH, 66 SaTSaTKYaH, 67 SaSDYaH, 68 RaZRaZYAH, 69 BaZRaZYaH, 70 ‘aRIMYaH, 71 SBHYaH, 72 SBIBKHYH, 73 SiMKaM, 74 YaHSeYaH, 75 SSBIBYaH, 76 SaBKaSBeYaH, 77 QeLILQaLYaH, 78 KIHHH, 79 HHYH, 80 WH, 81 WHYH, 82 ZaKklKYaH, 83 TUTRISYaH, 84 SURYaH, 85 ZeH, 86 PeNIRHYaH, 87 Z’ZI’H, 88 GaL RaZaYYa, 89 MaMLIKYaH, 90 TTYaH, 91 ‘eMeQ, 92 QaMYaH, 93 MeKaPpeRYaH, 94 PeRISHYaH, 95 SePhaM, 96 GBIR, 97 GiBbORYaH, 98 GOR, 99 GORYaH, 100 ZIW, 101 ‘OKBaR, the 102 LESSER YHWH, after the name of his Master, (Ex. xxiii. 21) “for my name is in him”, 103 RaBIBIEL, 104 TUMIEL, 105 Segansakkiel, the Prince of Wisdom.

(2) And why is he called by the name Sagnesakiel? Because all the treasuries of wisdom are committed in his hand.

(3) And all of them were opened to Moses on Sinai, so that he learnt them during the forty days, while he was standing: the Torah in the seventy aspects of the seventy tongues, the Prophets in the seventy aspects of the seventy tongues, the Writings in the seventy aspects of the seventy tongues, ”the Halakas in the seventy aspects of the seventy tongues, the Traditions in the seventy aspects of the seventy tongues, the Haggadas in the seventy aspects of the seventy tongues and the Toseftas in the seventy aspects of the seventy tongues’.

(4) But as soon as the forty days were ended, he forgot all of them in one moment. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, called Yephiphyah, the Prince of the Law, and (through him) they were given to Moses as a gift. As it is written: “and the Lord gave them unto me”. And after that it remained with him. And whence do we know, that it remained in his memory? Because it is written: “Remember ye the Law of Moses my servant which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even my statutes and judgments”.

‘The Law of Moses’: that is the Tora, the Prophets and the Writings,’ statutes’: that is the Halakas and Traditions, ‘judgments’; that is the Haggadas and the Toseftas. And all of them were given to Moses on high on Sinai.

(5) These seventy names are a reflection of the Explicit Names on the Merkaba which are graven upon the Throne of Glory. For the Holy One, blessed be He, took from His Explicit Names and put upon the name of Metatron: Seventy Names of His by which the ministering angels call the King of the kings of kings, blessed be He, in the high heavens, and twenty-two letters that are on the ring upon his finger with which are sealed the destinies of the princes of kingdoms on high in greatness and power and with which are sealed the lots of the Angel of Death, and the destinies of every nation and tongue.

(6) Said Metatron, the Angel, the Prince of the Presence; the Angel, the Prince of the Wisdom; the Angel, the Prince of the Understanding; the Angel, the Prince of the Kings; the Angel, the Prince of the Rulers; the angel, the Prince of the Glory; the angel, the Prince of the high ones, and of the princes’, the exalted, great and honored ones, in heaven and on earth:

(7) “H, the God of Israel, is my witness in this thing, (that] when I revealed this secret to Moses, then all the hosts in every heaven on high raged against me and said to me:

(8) Why dost thou reveal this secret to son of man, born of woman, tainted and unclean, a man of a putrefying drop, the secret by which were created heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land, the mountains and hills, the rivers and springs, Gehenna of fire and hail, the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life; and by which were formed Adam and Eve, and the cattle, and the wild beasts, and the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and Behemoth and Leviathan, and the creeping things, the worms, the dragons of the sea, and the creeping things of the deserts; and the Tora and Wisdom and Knowledge and Thought and the Gnosis of things above and the fear of heaven. Why dost thou reveal this to flesh and blood?

DISCUSSION

It seems reasonably certain that the author(s) of this pseudepigraphal work wanted to present Enoch as a sort of rival to Jesus in order to combat Christian claims about the latter.

Hence, it wasn’t Jesus who is YHWH Incarnate, or a Man who was exalted to reign in heaven as God’s divine plenipotentiary. On the contrary, it was the human Enoch whom God morphed into his chief Angel and the greatest of all creatures, having been chosen to embody the very name and characteristics of YHWH Almighty.  

This is why Enoch becomes known as YHWH ha-Qatan (“Lesser/Younger YHWH”) after his miraculous transformation from a mere mortal into a glorious celestial being.

Peter Schäfer, considered by scholars to be the foremost authority on Judaism, explains the importance of 3 Enoch’s witness to the belief held by specific Jewish groups long after the time of Christ that there are actually two divine Powers in heaven:   

Early Jewish mysticism responded in a very different way. In the Third Book of Enoch, the latest of the Hekhalot literature, the human Enoch is transformed into the highest angel Metatron and given the honorific title “Younger” or “Lesser God” (YHWH ha-qatan). This represents the pinnacle of binitarian traditions in late antique Judaism. How dangerous these thoughts could be viewed is demonstrated in the midrash on the ascent of Elisha ben Avuyah to the seventh heaven, where he sees Metatron sitting on a divine throne and concludes from this that there must be “two powers” in heaven, God and Metatron—an insight that is interpreted as heresy, bringing with it the immediate punishment of both the rabbi and Metatron. Here too the tone in the Hekhalot literature is much more reserved than in the parallel account in the Babylonian Talmud.

The same applies to the complex of traditions surrounding Akatriel, an angel who is identical with Metatron. Whereas in the Hekhalot literature it is not the rabbi but rather God himself who becomes the protagonist of a second divine being at his side, it is once again the Babylonian Talmud that adjusts the standards in a parallel version, reestablishing the “pure doctrine” of the one and only God. This pattern is repeated in the final source on Rav Idith and Metatron. In a midrash that appears only in the Babylonian Talmud, the rabbi and an unknown heretic argue over Metatron; the rabbi imprudently admits that Metatron has the same name as God, thereby inadvertently representing the notion of a second God—which the horrified rabbi then awkwardly denies. Thus the Talmud again attempts to use polemics to defuse the binitarian idea. Here too, texts from the Hekhalot literature that have been largely neglected up to now offer evidence that within the circles of Jewish mystics, the idea of two Gods in heaven had become established, which is why it was so harshly opposed by the rabbis of the Babylonian Talmud. (Schäfer, Two Gods in Heaven: Jewish Concepts of God in Antiquity [Princeton University Press, 2020], Introduction: One God?, pp. 13-14; bold emphasis mine)

And:

Enoch Becomes Metatron

The transformation of Enoch into the highest angel Metatron and hence his deification takes place in several stages in the Third Book of Enoch. It is first depicted as a direct revelation of Metatron to Rabbi Ishmael, who himself was elevated to heaven in order to view God on his throne-chariot, the Merkavah. Then it is the angel Anafiel, one of the highest angels, who takes Enoch away from the eyes of his fellow humans and causes him to be brought to heaven in a chariot of fire with horses of fire.¹⁷ The other angels can already smell from a great distance the odor of the “one born of a woman” and complain to God about his arrival, but God calms them and praises Enoch as the only human who has not worshipped idols, the “choicest of them all.”¹⁸ God chose him to serve before the throne of glory, filling him first of all with supernatural wisdom…

Then God blesses Enoch with an immeasurable wealth of blessings, enlarges him to infinite dimensions,²⁰ makes seventy-two wings and 365,000 eyes grow on him,²¹ and enthrones him on a throne that corresponds precisely to the divine throne of glory, and which stands at the door of the seventh and highest of the heavenly palaces.**²² Directly following this, he lets a herald go out in front of him to announce…

With that, Enoch-Metatron becomes God’s representative in heaven, his vice-regent, who acts on his behalf and whom all angels have to obey…

Nothing remains hidden from Metatron. Like God he knows all secrets, not only those of the angels, but also the deepest secrets of humans…

Because God loves Metatron more than all humankind and all the angels in heaven, he clothes him in a majestic robe and crowns him with a kingly crown in which forty-nine refulgent stones²⁶ are placed, each one shining like the sun, and its brilliance illuminating the four quarters of the world. And then, after he crowned him, God calls him “the Lesser/Younger YHWH” (YHWH ha-qatan), giving him his own name, the Tetragrammaton…

Metatron is placed at almost an equal level with God; he is the second, “lesser” or “younger” God in heaven, beside the omnipotent creator God. The Bible verse quoted as proof that Metatron carries the same name as God refers to the mysterious angel of the Lord in Exodus 23:20ff.; already in the Bible it is uncertain whether this refers to an angel or in reality God himself. Yet this does not conclude the elevation of Metatron. With his finger, which he uses as a pen of flame, God writes on Metatron’s crown the letters with which heaven and earth were created. This plainly means that God has revealed all the secrets of creation to him, thus making him a coruler over heaven and earth…

The other angels draw from this the desired conclusion and fall down before Metatron, in fear and trembling…

Only after this does Enoch-Metatron’s ultimate transformation take place…

With this, Enoch’s human existence is finally and completely extinguished; he is transformed into the angel Metatron. His manifestation, however, goes far beyond what we normally associate with angels, resembling more of an apotheosis. His first task is to judge all angels in heaven and assign them their appropriate place in the hierarchy of angels…

Without a doubt, this Enoch-Metatron of the Third Book of Enoch comes closer to a second divine figure next to God than any other figure in a Jewish text of antiquity or late antiquity. Only the designation as a “Lesser God” indicates a certain gradation, but if we translate the Hebrew YHWH ha-qatan as “Younger God,” it is not all that far from the association of a God-father and God-son as is familiar in full-blown form from Christianity.

This is indisputably the culmination of the transformation and apotheosis of Enoch-Metatron in 3 Enoch. Directly following this, in the same section of text and without any recognizable break, comes an episode that turns around everything that has been said previously—the antithesis as it were to the Metatron’s elevation. (Ibid., Part II: Rabbinic Judaism and Early Jewish Mysticism, 11. From the Human Enoch to the Lesser God Metatron, pp. 108-113; bold emphasis mine)

In light of the foregoing, is it any wonder that the late Dr. Robert A. Morey could write the following in regards to the testimony of 3 Enoch?

The “Messenger of Yahweh,” in whom God’s name dwelt (Exod. 23:21-22), is given the name Metatron. He is described as the “lesser YHWH” in 3 Enoch 12:5; 48C:7; 48D:1 [90] to distinguish Him from the “greater YHWH” mentioned in 48B:44. The biblical precedent for two YHWHs can be found in Genesis 19:24.

Notice also that the second YHWH, while on earth, is “lesser” in rank than the first YHWH but this does not negate the fact that both of them are still YHWH. They are one in nature although separate in rank.

Given the concept of two YHWHs, is it any wonder that Jewish Christians like the Apostle John had no difficulty in believing that the Messiah Jesus was both “equal with God” the Father (John 5:18) and, at the same time, less than God the Father (John 14:28)? It is easy to see how John could believe that the Father and the Son were “one” in nature (John 10:30) but separate in rank (John 14:28) because such an idea was perfectly Jewish. (Morey, Trinity: Evidence and Issues [Word Publishing; Grand Rapids, MI 1996], Part III: The Intertestamental Literature, Chapter 14. Between the Testaments, p. 234)

METATRON AS THE ANGEL OF YHWH

Here I cite from Schäfer’s book where the scholar quotes and comments on two Jewish texts, whose authors are unknown, which discuss Metatron:

Kister must be credited in this context for having referred to two texts among the Hekhalot literature that I edited long ago, but whose relevance for our subject here I had not recognized up to now.⁹¹ The first text is a Metatron fragment that was previously unknown, followed by a Shi‘ur Qomah piece and a description of the heavenly court. I have translated the portion that is relevant for our context:⁹²

The earth shines from his glory, and the sun, moon, and stars glow from his light and shine. God appointed this angel as lord over all creation and made him the ruler over the forces above and below, to guide them and lead them in their devotion.⁹³ All [angels] praise, sanctify, and worship [God] and say: “Holy, holy, holy [is the Lord of hosts]” (Isa. 6:3) and “Praised be the glory of the Lord from its place” (Ezek. 3:12). And this angel praises [God] together with them. He is [the angel] that God appointed over Israel and [with reference to this] he said to Moses: “I am going to send an angel in front of you,” etc. (Exod. 23:20). “Be attentive to him⁹⁴ and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him,” etc. (Exod. 23:21). “But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, [then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes]” (Exod. 23:22).⁹⁵ He named the name of the angel after the name of his creator, as it is said, “For my name is in him” (Exod. 23:21). He declared his [the angel’s] authority (rashut) like his [God’s] authority, and his [the angel’s] command is deemed a command. And everyone who believes that Rabbi Ishmael intended this is wicked and a heretic,⁹⁶ and has no part in the future world. And it is proof of our words that he [God] gave him [the angel] (the) authority to issue a decree that the Holy One, blessed be he, carries out, because the Bible verse says “But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say,” etc. (Exod. 23:22), and not “all that he says”—from this we learn that he [the angel] issues a decree, and his creator carries it out!

It is not known where or when this was written. Again, we can only say that it is related to the Hekhalot literature. At most it is interesting that the manuscript might have come from the Iraq region—that is, belonging to the cultural sphere of Babylonian Judaism.⁹⁷ Its content, however, takes your breath away.⁹⁸ An unnamed angel is appointed the omnipotent ruler over heaven and earth, precisely in the style of Metatron in 3 Enoch. For this reason, and because directly following the translated passage Metatron is called the Angel of the Presence, there can hardly be any doubt that Metatron is the protagonist of our text. After this virtually unsurpassable elevation of Metatron, though, the mood changes: all angels in heaven praise God with the Qedushah, the Trisagion, and Metatron is one of them; in his relationship to God, he is like any other angel.

But the story does not end there. Metatron is the angel of Exodus 23:20ff., whom Israel is to obey and who carries the name of God (obviously the Tetragrammaton YHWH), just as in 3 Enoch and the Bavli. And now Metatron’s bold elevation is repeated: God gives him the same authority as his own; his command is God’s command. Once again the verse Exodus 23:22 serves as a proof text, in that the verse’s inherent tension between the angel and God (“if you [Israel] listen attentively to his [the angel’s] voice and do all that I [God] say”) is explicitly thematized: what God says are actually the words of the angel, who utters them and that are then carried out by God. The identities of God and the angel are blurred; they remain two separate figures, but get so close to each other that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other, as is already laid out in the Bible verse. In view of the final sentence, one even gets the impression that God with his authority subordinates himself to the authority of the angel.

This is the most extreme statement thus far on the dominion and authority of two Gods in heaven. For this reason it does not come as a surprise that the unknown author of this unprecedented move contradicts himself already in the course of his text, as did the redactor of the Third Book of Enoch by having the elevation of Metatron be followed by his degradation in the episode on Elisha ben Avuyah/Aher’s journey to heaven, asserting that whoever attributes such a view to Rabbi Ishmael is a heretic. Of course it is no coincidence that it is precisely Rabbi Ishmael who is to be protected from any accusation of heresy, as next to Rabbi Aqiva he is the most significant protagonist of Hekhalot literature. He is also the one who learns everything about Enoch Metatron on his journey to heaven in the Third Book of Enoch. The fragment from the Cairo Geniza also reflects circles in which binitarian ideas were developed and openly advocated, and here too, as in 3 Enoch and the Bavli, we are dealing with circles within Babylonian rabbinic Judaism that are contradicted with varying degrees of vehemence. Yet the contradiction and polemics cannot belie the fact that the opposed “heresy” is to be found at the heart of rabbinic Judaism; that is the only explanation for the severity of the polemics.

Also the second Geniza text from the realm of the Hekhalot literature discusses Bible verses that allow a reading involving the idea of two powers in heaven:⁹⁹

Then came the Ruah Pisqon, standing between them, and all the angelic princes trembled before him. He said to him [Moses]:

Moses, Moses, I am the one who revealed himself to you on that day when your creator spoke to you, as it is said: “There the angel of the Lord, etc. [appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush]” (Exod. 3:2).

And I am the one who said to you: “Remove the sandals from your feet,” etc. (Exod. 3:5).

And I am Sanegoron, Pisqon, Itmon. . . .¹⁰⁰

From here¹⁰¹ said Rabbi Yehoshua:

This is the [angel], of whom Scripture says: “See, my angel shall go in front of you,”¹⁰² etc. (Exod. 32:34), “And the Lord (YHWH)¹⁰³ said to Satan, [the Lord (YHWH) rebukes you, O Satan!]” (Zech. 3:2).

And this is the [angel], of whom Scripture says: “Then the Lord (YHWH) rained [sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah], etc. [from the Lord (YHWH)]” (Gen. 19:24).

Are there perhaps two powers (rashuyyot) in heaven?! [No,] but this is the [angel],¹⁰⁴ whose name is in the name of the Holy One, blessed be he.

The cited text is part of an extensive and relatively old Geniza fragment about a revelation to Moses in the style of the Hekhalot literature.¹⁰⁵ The Ruah Pisqon,¹⁰⁶ who is abruptly introduced here, is once again very likely Metatron. In any case, this name as well as the names Sanegoron, Pisqon, and Itmon a few lines further down are also attested in the Hekhalot literature as names of Metatron.¹⁰⁷ As in 3 Enoch, here he stands at the top of the celestial hierarchy; all angelic princes are subordinate to him. He reveals himself to Moses as the biblical angel of the Lord, and this identification is then documented by means of various Bible verses.

The first two proof texts refer to the revelation to Moses in the burning bush. Similar to Exodus 23:20ff., this is yet another text in which the fine line between God and his angel is blurred or intentionally kept vague. The initial statement that God (Elohim) heard his people Israel groaning and crying out in Egypt (Exod. 2:24) is followed by the revelation to Moses (Exod. 3:1ff.). At Horeb, God’s mountain, the “angel of the Lord” (mal’akh YHWH) appears to Moses in a flame of fire out of a bush. This is the cited verse, Exodus 3:2. When God (YHWH) sees Moses approach the bush, God (Elohim) calls to him out of the bush (v. 4) and commands him to remove his sandals (v. 5, the second verse cited). Then he reveals himself to Moses as “the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” and Moses is afraid to look at God (Elohim) (v. 6). The confusion of the identities could hardly be more extreme: God first reveals himself as the angel of the Lord and then as God, and this God is alternately called Elohim and YHWH, whereas his angel carries the epithet YHWH.

Following mention of Metatron’s other names, Rabbi Yehoshua cites additional relevant Bible verses. In the first verse quoted (Exod. 32:34), God clearly distinguishes between himself and his angel, but this is obviously the same angel as in the much discussed verse Exodus 23:20, where the distinction was more ambiguous. A perfect example is then the next verse cited, Zechariah 3:2.¹⁰⁸ The impact only becomes obvious if we also consider the preceding verse, Zechariah 3:1: “Then he showed me the high priest Yehoshua¹⁰⁹ standing before the angel of the Lord (mal’akh YHWH), and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.” Thus we again have the ambiguous situation that at first God’s angel (Zech. 3:1) is mentioned and then God himself (Zech. 3:2: “And the Lord said to Satan”); hence the distinction is once again blurred. Making the confusion complete, this God (YHWH) again speaks of himself as God (YHWH). The critical apparatus of the Biblia Hebraica shows that the Peshitta, the Syriac translation of the Bible, renders the Hebrew YHWH in verse 2 as mal’akh YHWH in order to avoid just this problem and harmonize the text.¹¹⁰ There it is not God who is talking to Satan but rather the angel of the Lord (as in v. 1), who then announces God’s rebuke of Satan.

The last verse cited, Genesis 19:24, is the well-known verse from the Babylonian Talmud, which also gives the impression that there are two Gods. This is followed by the appalled outcry, whether, God forbid, there might perhaps be two powers in heaven similar to the perplexed outcry of Aher in the Bavli version of Elisha ben Avuyah’s journey to heaven.¹¹¹ As in the Talmud, this suspicion is immediately rejected: in all the cited Bible verses, it turns out that we are not dealing with a second God but with an angel who carries God’s name in his name, as we know from Exodus 23:21—that is, Metatron. Yet the verse is not explicitly cited here, which gives the author an opportunity to turn it around in a strange way: it is not the name of God that is contained in Metatron’s name but vice versa, the name Metatron is in the name of God. I do not consider this a coincidence but instead—despite or even because of Metatron’s degradation (Metatron is not a second divine power but merely an angel)—as an indirect, if not begrudging, valorization of Metatron.

All in all it is certainly correct, as Kister never tires of emphasizing, that this Geniza fragment as well as the other texts from the Hekhalot literature and the Bavli that we have discussed reject and oppose the idea of two Gods in heaven. But it is equally correct that this idea is part of Judaism and cannot simply be shunted off to Christianity. Kister’s virtually desperate attempts to draw boundaries between a clearly defined rabbinic Judaism (which resisted binitarian temptations of any kind) and opponents outside this rabbinic Judaism, especially Christians,¹¹² ultimately paint a clear-cut, black-and-white picture that does justice neither to the relevant texts nor to the historical reality.¹¹³ (Ibid., pp. 128-133; bold emphasis mine)

92. Peter Schäfer, Geniza-Fragmente zur Hekhalot-Literatur (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1984), 132 (T.-S. K 21:95.J, fol. 1a, lines 1–17)…

106. Literally, perhaps something like “arguing/deciding/interceding spirit.” Apart from the Hekhalot literature, it is mentioned only in the Babylonian Talmud. See b Sanhedrin 44b, where he argues with God. (Ibid., pp. 163-164)

As Schäfer noted, these are obviously polemical texts aimed at demoting the Angel of YHWH from his status as a second divine Power to that of a mere angelic creature. And yet despite this attempt, it is interesting to note the fact that these Jewish texts all recognize and affirm that the very OT passages cited by Christians to support the Trinity do indeed refer to the Angel of YHWH.

For instance, these Jewish sources agree that Genesis 19:24 differentiates the YHWH who appears as a man on earth from the YHWH that is in the heavens, and further concede that texts such as Exodus 3:1-6, 23:20-21, and Zechariah 3:1-2 expressly teach that the Angel of YHWH embodies God’s own name and is even directly called YHWH.   

FURTHER READING

Early Jewish Monotheism and Divine Plurality [Part 1], [Part 2]

RABBINIC JUDAISM’S STRUGGLE WITH DIVINE PLURALITY

In this post I will be citing from specific rabbinic sources highlighting the difficulties that rabbis had with the very same [O]ld [T]estament texts cited by Christians and others to prove the existence of multiple divine Persons within the Godhead. The references will demonstrate how the rabbis themselves realized that their very own Hebrew Bible pointed to the one true God existing as a divine plurality. This led the rabbis to find creative ways to explain away the import and explicit meaning of these particular OT texts which I am about to list.

THE OT PASSAGES

Here are the passages, which the rabbis clearly saw pointed to the one true God existing as a multiplicity of divine Persons. The readers shall see that these are the same texts employed by Christians to support the Trinity.

“Then God said, ‘Let US make humans (adam) in OUR image, according to OUR likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’” Genesis 1:26 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

“Come, let US go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” Genesis 11:7 NRSVUE

“Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven,” Genesis 19:24 NRSVUE

“I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. When my angel goes in front of you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I blot them out,” Exodus 23:20-23 NRSVUE  

“Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship at a distance.” Exodus 24:1 NRSVUE

“As I watched, thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took his throne; his clothing was white as snow and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and flowed out from his presence. A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened… As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being (kebar enash) coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 NRSVUE  

In the following examples, the Hebrew employs either a plural participle or plural verb in reference to God:  

“and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed (niglu – third person plural verb) himself to him when he fled from his brother.” Genesis 35:7 NRSVUE

“For what other great nation has a god so near (qerobim – plural participle) to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him?” Deuteronomy 4:7 NRSVUE

“Who is like your people, like Israel? Is there another nation on earth whose God went (halekhu – third person plural verb) to redeem it as a people and to make a name for himself, doing great and awesome things, driving out nations and their gods before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt?” 2 Samuel 7:23 NRSVUE

THE RABBINIC DILEMMA

Instead of explaining how the foregoing cases prove that God is multi-Personal by nature, I will simply let the rabbinic sources themselves do it for me:

And Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Adam the first man spoke in the language of Aramaic, as it is stated in the chapter of Psalms speaking in the voice of Adam: “How weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God” (Psalms 139:17)…

And Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Adam the first man was a heretic, as it is stated: “And the Lord called to the man and said to him: Where are you”? (Genesis 3:9), meaning, to where has your heart turned, indicating that Adam turned from the path of truth. Rabbi Yitzḥak says: He was one who drew his foreskin forward, so as to remove any indication that he was circumcised. It is written here: “And they like men [adam] have transgressed the covenant” (Hosea 6:7), and it is written there: “And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant” (Genesis 17:14).

Rav Naḥman says: He was a denier of the fundamental principle of belief in God. It is written here: “And they like men [adam] have transgressed the covenant,” and it is written there: “He has broken My covenant,” and it is written in a third verse: “And then they shall answer: Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshipped other gods and served them” (Jeremiah 22:9)…

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Any place in the Bible from where the heretics attempt to prove their heresy, i.e., that there is more than one god, the response to their claim is alongside them, i.e., in the immediate vicinity of the verses they cite. The verse states that God said: “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26), employing the plural, but it then states: “And God created man in His image” (Genesis 1:27), employing the singular. The verse states that God said: “Come, let us go down and there confound their language” (Genesis 11:7), but it also states: “And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower” (Genesis 11:5). The verse states in the plural: “There God was revealed [niglu] to him when he fled from the face of his brother” (Genesis 35:7), but it also states in the singular: “To God Who answers [haoneh] me in the day of my distress” (Genesis 35:3).

Rabbi Yoḥanan cites several examples where the counterclaim is in the same verse as the claim of the heretics. The verse states: “For what nation is there so great that has God so near to them as the Lord our God is whenever we call upon Him?” (Deuteronomy 4:7), where the term “near” is written in plural, kerovim, but the term “upon Him” is written in singular. Another verse states: “And who is like Your people, like Israel, a nation one in the earth, whom God went to redeem unto Himself for a people?” (II Samuel 7:23), where the term “went” is written in plural, halekhu, but the term “Himself” is written in singular. Another verse states: “I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit” (Daniel 7:9); where the term “thrones” is written in plural, kharsavan, but the term “sit” is written in singular.

The Gemara asks: Why do I need these instances of plural words? Why does the verse employ the plural at all when referring to God? The Gemara explains: This is in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Yoḥanan, as Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The Holy One, Blessed be He, does not act unless He consults with the entourage of Above, i.e., the angels, as it is stated: “The matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones” (Daniel 4:14).

The Gemara clarifies: This works out well for almost all the verses, as they describe an action taken by God, but what is there to say concerning the verse: “I beheld till thrones were placed”? The Gemara answers: One throne is for Him and one throne is for David, i.e., the messiah, as it is taught in a baraita: One throne is for Him and one throne is for David; this is the statement of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Yosei said to him: Akiva! Until when will you desacralize the Divine Presence by equating God with a person? Rather, the correct interpretation is that both thrones are for God, as one throne is for judgment and one throne is for righteousness.

The Gemara asks: Did Rabbi Akiva accept this explanation from Rabbi Yosei or did he not accept it from him? The Gemara suggests: Come and hear a proof to the matter from what was taught in another baraita, as it is taught in a baraita: One throne is for judgment and one throne is for righteousness; this is the statement of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said to him: Akiva! What are you doing near, i.e., discussing, matters of aggada? Go near tractates Nega’im and Oholot, which examine the complex halakhot of ritual purity, where your knowledge is unparalleled. Rather, the correct interpretation is that while both thrones are for God, one is for a throne and one is for a stool. There is a throne for God to sit upon, and a stool that serves as His footstool.

Rav Naḥman says: This one, i.e., any person, who knows how to respond to the heretics as effectively as Rav Idit should respond to them, but if he does not know, he should not respond to them. The Gemara relates: A certain heretic said to Rav Idit: It is written in the verse concerning God: “And to Moses He said: Come up to the Lord” (Exodus 24:1). The heretic raised a question: It should have stated: Come up to Me. Rav Idit said to him: This term, “the Lord,” in that verse is referring TO THE ANGEL METATRON, whose name is like the name of his Master, as it is written: “Behold I send an angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Take heed of him and obey his voice; do not defy him; for he will not pardon your transgression, for My name is in him” (Exodus 23:20–21).

The heretic said to him: If so, if this angel IS EQUATED WITH GOD, we should worship him as we worship God. Rav Idit said to him: It is written: “Do not defy [tammer] him,” which alludes to: Do not replace Me [temireni] with him. The heretic said to him: If so, why do I need the clause “For he will not pardon your transgression”? Rav Idit said to him: We believe that we did not accept the angel even as a guide [befarvanka] for the journey, as it is written: “And he said to him: If Your Presence go not with me raise us not up from here” (Exodus 33:15). Moses told God that if God Himself does not accompany the Jewish people they do not want to travel to Eretz Yisrael.

The Gemara relates: A certain heretic said to Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei: It is written: “And the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven” (Genesis 19:24). The heretic raised the question: It should have stated: From Him out of heaven. A certain launderer said to Rabbi Yishmael: Leave him be; I will respond to him. This is as it is written: “And Lemech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lemech, hearken to my speech” (Genesis 4:23). One can raise the question: It should have been written: My wives, and not: “Wives of Lemech.” Rather, it is the style of the verse to speak in this manner. Here too, it is the style of the verse to speak in this manner. Rabbi Yishmael said to the launderer: From where did you hear this interpretation? The launderer said to him: I heard it at the lecture of Rabbi Meir.

The Gemara comments: This is as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: When Rabbi Meir would teach his lecture he would expound one-third halakha, one-third aggada, and one-third parables. And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Rabbi Meir had, i.e., taught, three hundred parables of foxes, and we have only three. (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 38b https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.38b?lang=bi; bold and capital emphasis mine)

Here’s another English version:

Rab Judah also said in Rab’s name: The first man spoke Aramaic,¹⁸ for it is written, How weighty are thy thoughts unto me, God.¹⁹ And that is what Resh Lakish meant when he said: What is the meaning of the verse, ‘This is the book of the generations of Adam?²⁰ It is to intimate that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him [Adam] every generation and its thinkers,²¹ every generation and its sages. When he came to the generation of Rabbi Akiba, he [Adam] rejoiced at his learning but was grieved at his death,²²  and said: How weighty²³ are Thy friends²⁴ to me, O God.¹⁹

Rab Judah also said in Rab’s name: Adam was a Min,²⁵ for it is written, And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou?²⁶ i.e., whither has thine heart turned? R. Isaac said: He practised episplasm:²⁷ For here it is written, But like man, [Adam] they have transgressed the covenant;²⁸ whilst elsewhere it is said, He hath broken my covenant,²⁹ R. Nahman said: He denied God.³⁰ Here it is written, They have transgressed the covenant;²⁸ whilst elsewhere it is stated, [He hath broken my covenant,³¹ and again,] Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God.³²…

R. Johanan sad: In all the passages which the Minim have taken [as grounds] for their heresy,³⁶ their refutation is found near at hand. Thus: Let us make man in our image,³⁷  — And God created [sing.] man in His own image;³⁸  Come, let us go down and there confound their language,³⁹ — And the Lord came down [sing.] to see the city and the tower;⁴⁰ Because there were revealed [plur.] to him God,⁴¹ — Unto God who answereth [sing.] me in the day of my distress;⁴² For what great nation is there that hath God so nigh [plur.] unto it, as the Lord our God is [unto us] whensoever we call upon Him [sing.];⁴³ And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, [like] Israel, whom God went [plur.] to redeem for a people unto himself [sing.],⁴⁴ Till thrones were placed and one that was ancient did sit.⁴⁵

Why were these⁴⁶ necessary? To teach R. Johanan’s dictum; viz.: The Holy One, blessed be He, does nothing without consulting His Heavenly Court,⁴⁷ for it is written, The matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the Holy Ones.⁴⁸ Now, that is satisfactory for all [the other verses], but how explain Till thrones were placed? — One [throne] was for Himself and one for David.⁴⁹ Even as it has been taught: One was for Himself and one for David: this is R. Akiba’s view. R. Jose protested to him: Akiba, how long will thou profane the Shechinah?⁵⁰ Rather, one [throne] for justice, and the other for mercy. Did he accept [this answer] from him or not? Come and hear! For it has been taught: One is for justice and the other for charity; this is R. Akiba’s view. Said R. Eleazar b. Azariah to him: Akiba, what hast thou to do with Aggada? Confine thyself to [the study of] Nega’im and Ohaloth.⁵¹ But one was a throne, the other a footstool: a throne for a seat and a footstool in support of His feet.

R. Nahman said: He who is as skilled in refuting the Minim as is R. Idith,⁵²  let him do so; but not otherwise. Once a Min said to R. Idith: It is written, And unto Moses He said, Come up to the Lord.⁵³ But surely it should have stated, Come up unto me! — IT WAS METATRON⁵⁴ [who said that], he replied, whose name is similar to that of his Master,⁵⁵ for it is written, For my name is in him.⁵⁶ But if so, [he retorted,] we should worship him! The same passage, however, — replied R. Idith says: Be not rebellious⁵⁷  against him, i.e., exchange Me not for him. But if so,⁵⁸ why is it stated: He will not pardon your transgression?⁵⁹ He answered: By our troth⁶⁰ we would not accept him even as a messenger,⁶¹ for it is written, And he said unto him, If Thy [personal] presence go not etc.⁶²

A Min once said to R. Ishmael b. Jose: It is written, Then the Lord caused to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord:⁶³ but from him should have been written! A certain fuller⁶⁴ said, Leave him to me, I will answer him. [He then proceeded,’ It is written, And Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Zillah, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech;⁶⁵ but he should have said, my wives! But such is the Scriptural idiom — so here too, it is the Scriptural idiom.

Whence do you know that? asked he [R. Ishmael]. — I heard it in a public discourse⁶⁶  of R. Meir, [he answered]. Even as R. Johanan said: When R. Meir used to deliver his public discourses, a third was Halacha, a third Haggadah, and a third consisted of parables. R Johanan also said: R. Meir had three hundred parables of foxes, and we have only three left,⁶⁷

18. This may have been said in justification of the abandonment by the Babylonian Jews of the Hebrew language in favour of Aramaic.]
19. Ps. CXXXIX, 17. This Psalm deals with the creation of man. [H] ‘weighty’, and [H] ‘thoughts’ are Aramaisms.
20. Gen. V, 1.
21. Lit., ‘exponents’.
22. R. Akiba was executed by Tineius Rufus after being most cruelly tortured. Cf. Ber. 61b.
23. Perhaps to be understood here with a twofold meaning: weighty = honoured; and weighty = a source of heaviness and grief.
24. [H] is probably here taken in its usual Hebrew meaning, ‘Thy friends’.
25. V. Glos. V. p. 234, n. 4; it is to be observed that Min is contrasted (in the next passage) with unbeliever.
26. Gen. III, 9.
27. I.e., he removed the mark of circumcision.
28. Hos. VI, 7.
29. Gen. XVII, 14. with reference to circumcision.
30. Lit., ‘the fundamental (principle)’.
31. Gen. XVII, 14. Ms.M. omits the bracketed passage; rightly so, for it is irrelevant.
32. Jer. XXII, 9, referring to belief in God…

36. E.g., where God is spoken of in the plural.
37. Gen. I, 26.
38. Ibid. 27.
39. Gen. XI, 7.
40. Ibid. 5.
41. Ibid. XXXV, 7.
42. Ibid. 3.
43. Deut. IV, 7.
44. II Sam. VII, 23.
45. Dan. VII, 9.
46. Plural forms.
47. [H], ‘family’v. p. 675.
48. Dan. IV, 14.
49. The Messiah.
50. By asserting that a human being sit beside Him.
51. Names of Treatises in the Seder Tohoroth, the most difficult in the whole of the Talmud. V. infra 67b. R. Akiba was a great authority on these laws, whereas his Haggadic interpretations were not always acceptable. [This interpretation involved the same danger as that of R. Akiba’s first interpretation in that it tended to obscure the true monotheistic concept of God.]
52. [Ms.M.: R. Idi.]
53. Ex. XXIV, 1.
54. Name of an Angel, probably derived from metator, guide. In Talmud and Midrash he is regarded notably as the defender of the rights of Israel (cf. Hag. 16a).
55. Cf. Rashi on Ex. XXIII, 21. The numerical value of Metatron ([H]) is equal to that of [H] (the Almighty) viz. 314.
56. Ex. XXIII, 21.
57. [H] is here taken, in the sense of ‘exchange’, from [H].
58. That he is not to be worshipped, but God alone.
59. Ibid. Surely, he has no authority to do so.
60. Lit., ‘we hold the belief.’
61. Lit., ‘Postman’ — of forgiveness.
62. Ex. XXXIII, 15. [The Min was a believer in the doctrine of two rulers and he sought support for this belief from Ex. XXIV, 1. R. Idith met his argument by showing that even Metatron was accepted by Jews only as guide, and in no sense a second god. For a full discussion of the passage, v. Herford, op. cit. p. 285ff.]
63. Gen. XIX, 24
64. A figure frequently mentioned in the Talmud as of a specific type. V. e.g., Ber. 28a, Ned. 41a. [In Roman literature, he is an object of ridicule; in rabbinic lore, he plays a more dignified role.]
65. Gen. IV, 23.
66. [H] v. supra p. 178 n. 3.
67. Probably of those collected by R. Meir, since many other fox fables are found scattered throughout the Talmud and Midrash. Cf. Ber. 61b; Eccl. Rab. V. 14. (Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sanhedrin, Folio 38; bold emphasis mine)

JEHOVAH IS AN ANGEL NAMED AKATRIEL YH WHO PRAYS?

The following rabbinic source identifies Jehovah of Hosts as an Angel named Akatriel!

R. Johanan says in the name of R. Jose: How do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, says prayers? Because it says: Even them will I bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer.¹ It is not said, ‘their prayer’, but ‘My prayer’; hence [you learn] that the Holy One, blessed be He, says prayers. What does He pray? — R. Zutra b. Tobi said in the name of Rab: ‘May it be My will that My mercy may suppress My anger, and that My mercy may prevail over My [other] attributes, so that I may deal with My children in the attribute of mercy and, on their behalf, stop short of the limit of strict justice’.² It was taught: R. Ishmael b. Elisha says: I once entered into the innermost part [of the Sanctuary] to offer incense and saw Akathriel Jah,³ the Lord of Hosts, seated upon a high and exalted throne. He said to me: Ishmael, My son, bless Me! I replied: May it be Thy will that Thy mercy may suppress Thy anger and Thy mercy may prevail over Thy other attributes, so that Thou mayest deal with Thy children according to the attribute of mercy and mayest, on their behalf, stop short of the limit of strict justice! And He nodded to me with His head. Here we learn [incidentally] that the blessing of an ordinary man must not be considered lightly in your eyes.

1. Ibid. LVI, 7. ‘In the house of My prayer’.
2. I.e., not exact the full penalty from them.
3. Lit., ‘crown of God’. (Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Berakoth, Folio 7)

Peter Schäfer, considered the foremost authority on Judaism today, cites and comments on another version of this same rabbinic tradition:

Akatriel Is Metatron and God

There is yet another version of the ascent of Elisha ben Avuyah in the Hekhalot literature, this time not the Third Book of Enoch, but as an independent literary unit titled “The Mystery of Sandalfon.” It is not known where or when it was written, but in its present form it can be found only in Hekhalot literature:   

Elisha ben Avuyah said: “When I ascended to the pardes I beheld Akatriel YH, the Lord of hosts, who sits at the entrance to the pardes, and 120 myriads of ministering angels surround him, as it is said: ‘Thousands upon thousands served him and myriads upon myriads, etc. [stood attending him]’ (Dan. 7:10).

When I saw them I was alarmed and startled, regained my composure and entered before the Holy One, blessed be he.”

I said before him: “Lord of the world, you wrote in your Torah: ‘Behold, to the Lord your God, belong heaven and the heavens of heaven, etc.’ (Deut. 10:14). And it is written: ‘[The heavens are telling the glory of God], and the firmament declares the work of his hands’ (Ps. 19:2)– one alone!”

He said to me: “Elisha my son, have you perhaps come in order to reflect upon my mysteries? Have you now heard the parable that human beings apply?”

The text breaks off here, and the continuation with the parable is missing in both manuscripts. In MS Oxford, a colophon follows, and in MS New York, the scribe adds “I found no parable” and then continues with the work Harba de-Moshe (The Sword of Moses).

There is no doubt that this is yet another version of the narrative on Elisha ben Avuyah’s ascent to heaven and his encounter with Metatron. Here, however, Elisha is not called Aher and, as we will see, also not a heretic. Metatron is referred to here as Akatriel and assumes the same function as Metatron does in 3 Enoch and in the Bavli, and consequently, his throne stands at the entrance of the seventh heaven and not at its center. But he is nevertheless served by the myriads of angels from Daniel 7:10 standing around his throne. Because the Daniel verse refers to the “Ancient of Days” and thus clearly to God, other qualities of God in addition to sitting are attributed to the angel Akatriel. It is thus not surprising that in view of this presumed second God, Elisha becomes ashamed and startled. In contrast to the version in 3 Enoch and the Bavli discussed earlier, here Elisha does not draw the heretical conclusion that there are two Gods in heaven, for which he would have been punished. On the contrary, he enters the seventh heaven and, evidently at the center steps before the throne of God, who is clearly identified as such through the epithet “the Holy One, blessed be he.”  

Here something unexpected happens. Elisha is transformed from the protagonist of the idea of two Gods in heaven–and thus the arch heretic–into an opponent of this idea, of which he accuses none other than God himself. He does this with two Bible verses that clarify the heaven of heavens (that is, all seven heavens) belong to God alone (Deut. 10:14), and for that reason, the heavens praise the glory of God, and the firmament–the Hebrew word for firmament (raqia’) in the Hekhalot literature is also a technical name for one of the seven heavens–announces the work of his hands. In other words, he accuses God of violating his own Torah by enthroning Akatriel, surrounded by his ministering angels, at the entrance to the seventh heaven, although the Torah clearly states that there can only be one God alone. According to this version the heretic is God himself. And how does God respond? He gruffly reproaches Elisha and rather haughtily lets him know that it is not Elisha’s responsibility to speculate about God’s mysteries. (Schäfer, Two Gods in Heaven: Jewish Concepts of God in Antiquity [Princeton University Press, 2020], Part II: Rabbinic Judaism and Early Jewish Mysticism, 11. From the Human Enoch to the Lesser God Metatron, pp. 119-121; bold emphasis mine)

RABBINIC POLEMICS AGAINST THE SECOND POWER

Suffice it to say the rabbis were not pleased with this and sought to censure any Jew who would use these statements to affirm and argue that God exists as a multi-Personal Being. They did so by fabricating myths about God punishing Metatron for allowing a heretic to confuse him for being the true God without God’s chief angel correcting him:

§ The Gemara stated earlier that Aḥer chopped down the saplings, becoming a heretic. With regard to him, the verse states: “Do not let your mouth bring your flesh into guilt” (Ecclesiastes 5:5). The Gemara poses a question: What was it that led him to heresy? He saw the angel Mitatron, who was granted permission to sit and write the merits of Israel. He said: There is a tradition that in the world above there is no sitting; no competition; no turning one’s back before Him, i.e., all face the Divine Presence; and no lethargy. Seeing that someone other than God was seated above, he said: Perhaps, the Gemara here interjects, Heaven forbid, there are two authorities, and there is another source of power in control of the world in addition to God. Such thoughts led Aḥer to heresy.

The Gemara relates: They removed Mitatron from his place in heaven and smote him with sixty rods [pulsei] of fire, so that others would not make mistake that Aḥer made. They said to the angel: What is the reason that when you saw Elisha ben Avuya you did not stand before him? Despite this conduct, since Mitatron was personally involved, he was granted permission to erase the merits of Aḥer and cause him to stumble in any manner. A Divine Voice went forth saying: “Return, rebellious children” (Jeremiah 3:22), apart from Aḥer.

Upon hearing this, Elisha ben Avuya said: Since that man, meaning himself, has been banished from that world, let him go out and enjoy this world. Aḥer went astray. He went and found a prostitute and solicited her for intercourse. She said to him: And are you not Elisha ben Avuya? Shall a person of your stature perform such an act? He uprooted a radish from a patch of radishes on Shabbat and gave it to her, to demonstrate that he no longer observed the Torah. The prostitute said: He is other than he was. He is not the same Elisha ben Avuya, he is Aḥer, other. (Chagigah 15a https://www.sefaria.org/Chagigah.15a.5-7?lang=bi)

Another translation reads:

Aher mutilated the shoots.¹¹ Of him Scripture says: Suffer not thy mouth to bring thy flesh into guilt.¹² What does it refer to? — He saw that permission was granted to Metatron¹³ to sit and write down¹⁴ the merits of Israel. Said he: It is taught as a tradition that on high¹⁵ there is no sitting¹⁶ and no emulation, and no back,¹⁷ and no weariness.¹⁸ Perhaps, — God forfend! — there are two divinities! [Thereupon] they led Metatron forth, and punished him with sixty fiery lashes,¹⁹ saying to him: Why didst thou not rise before him when thou didst see him? Permission was [then] given to him to strike out the merits of Aher. A Bath Kol²⁰ went forth and said: Return, ye backsliding children²¹ — except Aher.²² [Thereupon] he said: Since I²³ have been driven forth from yonder world,²⁴ let me go forth and enjoy this world. So Aher went forth into evil courses.²⁵ He went forth, found a harlot and demanded her. She said to him: Art thou not Elisha b. Abuyah? [But] when he tore a radish²⁶ out of its bed on the Sabbath and gave it to her, she said: It is another [Aher].²⁷

(11) V. supra p. 91, n. 10.

(12) Eccl. V, 5. (A.V. 6); v. rest of verse.

(13) The name of one of the highest angels. Various derivations of the word have been suggested. Cf. Levy and Jast. s.v. For an illuminating article on the character, activities and identity of Metatron, v. J.E. vol. VIII, p. 519.

(14) The sentence may also be rendered thus: ‘He saw M. to whom permission was given to be seated while writing down etc.’ (Jast.).

(15) I.e., in heaven.

(16) MS.M. (v. Rabb. D.S. a.I.) reads: ‘no standing and no sitting’ i.e., no effort and no rest. This reading, in reverse order, was known to Maim. (Comm. on Mishnah Sanhedrin, ch. 10); but Rashi deletes the words ‘no standing’.

(17) I.e., the angels have faces in all directions (Rashi), Jast. explains i.e., everything is in sight. Maim. (loc. cit.) renders: ‘no division’.

(18) Maim. ‘no junction’.

(19) I.e., he was beaten with ‘heated disks or rings strung on a lash’ (Jast.). The purpose of the punishment was to show that M. had no more power than others (Tosaf.).

(20) V. p. 73, n. 12. (21) Jer. III, 22.

(22) According to our passage, Aher was guilty of the heresy of dualism. L. Ginzberg (J.E. vol. V, pp. 138-139) denies all historic worth to the story given here, which, on account of its reference to Metatron — which he declares to be a specifically Babylonian idea — and its lack of connection with the introductory words, he declares to be of late origin. Ginzberg prefers the parallel account in J. Hag. II, l, where it is related that when Elisha saw a scholar he slew him, that he enticed the young from studying the Torah, and that he informed against the Jews when they sought to perform the work they were ordered to do on the Sabbath in a manner not to break the Law, These events undoubtedly refer to the period of the Hadrianic persecutions. In the J.T. two reasons are mentioned for his apostasy: according to some, he saw one man break the precept of Deut. XXII, 7, without coming to harm, and another observe it and get killed; according to others, he saw the tongue of the great scholar R. Judah Nahtum in the mouth of a dog. The J.T. also gives a different version of the verses discussed by Elisha with R. Meir, and of what R. Meir said on his master’s death (v. J.E. vol. VIII, p. 434).

(23) Lit., ‘that man’, a frequent euphemism for I or thou (to avoid ominous speech or curse).

(24) I.e. ‘he would have no share in the world to come (cf. Sanh. 90a (Sonc. ed., p. 601).

(25) Lit,, ‘evil growth’, hence, ‘evil rearing, manners, ways’. The stories that follow show the expression to mean here moral depravity and apostasy.

(26) Strictly, the soft tuber of the radish; cf. ‘Er. 28b.

(27) ‘Aher’ is thus explained to mean ‘another person’. Ginzberg (op. cit.) takes the view that it is a euphemism for a vile thing (cf. rjt rcs). V. p. 91, n. 3.  (Talmud – Mas. Chagigah 2a https://halakhah.com/pdf/moed/Chagigah.pdf; bold emphasis mine)

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The foregoing citations should help the readers see that the rabbis themselves realized and had to contend with the fact that the Hebrew Bible itself reveals that there are at least two divine Powers ruling together in heaven.

The rabbis were forced to contend with specific groups such as Christians who were citing verses where God is described with plural pronouns, verbs, participles etc., or where the Angel of the Lord is equated with Yahweh himself, to prove that Israel’s God is a multi-Personal Being. The rabbis had to further address certain individuals from among their own camp, e.g., Rabbi Akiba, Elisha ben Avuyah etc., that also believed and taught that there were two heavenly divine Powers.

The fact is that the rabbinic responses to the clear, unambiguous testimony of the Hebrew prophets that the God of Israel is multi-Personal by nature leaves a lot to be desired, as can be seen from some of the many responses to the rabbinic arguments.  I will link to some of these rebuttals at the conclusion of my post.

Suffice it to say, these rabbinic citations are a great aid in helping Jews and various non-Trinitarian cults and groups realize that the revelation of God’s Triunity is not merely based upon the inspired witness of the New Testament writings. Rather, the Triunity of God is a revelation which has deep roots in the Hebrew Scriptures themselves.  

NOTES

* After the time of Christ, certain segments of Judaism began to identify Enoch with both the Danielic Son of Man and the chief angel Metatron. This is readily seen in the  work called Third Enoch, which scholars believe was composed during the 5^th century AD.  

* The term Aher (lit. “an other”) is a name believed to be given to Elisha ben Avuyah. Avuyah was a Jewish rabbi who was condemned as a heretic for endorsing the view that there were two Gods or divine Powers in heaven. Avuyah is said to have ascended into heaven where he is reported to have seen two divine beings, namely God and his chief Angel, who is variously referred to as Metatron, Akatriel YH, Enoch.

FURTHER READING

THE ANGEL METATRON: JUDAISMS’ SECOND YHWH

The OT Evidence for God’s Uni-Plurality

Elohim and the Trinity [Part 2]

NOTES FOR KELLY POWERS VS. DUSTIN SMITH DEBATE REVIEW

JUDAISMS’ VIEWS ON THE MESSIAH’S PREHUMAN EXISTENCE

The Rabbis Affirm the Divine Prehuman Existence of the Messiah!

How Rabbinic Judaism’s Belief in Two Messiahs proves that Jesus is the Christ

A Leading Jewish Rabbi Exposes the Duplicity of Jewish anti-Christian Missionaries!

In this short post I am going to quote reformed Calvinist and pastor John MacArthur’s explanation of the incarnate Son’s ignorance of the day and hour of God’s judgment which was to befall Jerusalem and her inhabitants. Here are the relevant texts:

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Mark 13:32

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36

And here is MacArthur’s explanation of these inspired passages:  

“… nor the Son. When Jesus spoke these words to the disciples, even He had no knowledge of the date and time of His return. Although Jesus was fully God (John 1:1, 14), when He became a man, He voluntarily restricted the use of certain divine attributes (Phil. 2:6-8). He did not manifest them unless directed by the Father (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38). He demonstrated His omniscience on several occasions (cf. John 2:25; 13:3), but He voluntarily restricted that omniscience to only those things God wanted Him to know during the days of His humanity (John 15:15). Such was the case regarding the knowledge of the date and time of His return. After He was resurrected, Jesus resumed His full divine knowledge (cf. Matt. 28:18; Acts 1:7).”  (The MacArthur Study Bible: Thomas Nelson New King James Version (Second Edition) [Thomas Nelson, Nashville TN 2019], p. 1357)

Still more amazingly, not even the Son knew at the time He spoke these words or at any other time during His incarnation. Although He was fully God as well as fully human (John 1:1, 14), Christ voluntarily restricted His use of certain divine attributes when He became flesh.

“Although He existed in the form of God, [He] did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,” that is, to be held onto during His humanness (Phil. 2:6). It was not that He lost any divine attributes but that He voluntarily laid aside the use of some of them and would not manifest those attributes except as directed by His Father (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38).

Jesus demonstrated His divine omniscience on many occasions. “He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man” (John 2:25). When, for example, Nicodemus came to Him at night, Jesus already knew what he was thinking and answered his question before it was asked (John 3:13).

But there were self-imposed restrictions in His human knowledge. He told the disciples, “All things that I have learned from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Jesus obediently restricted His knowledge to those things that the Father wanted Him to know during His earthly days of humanity. The Father revealed certain things to the Son as He reveals them to all men–through Scripture, through the Father’s working in and through His life, and through physical manifestations of God’s power and glory (see Rom. 1:19-20). Jesus learned much of His earthly knowledge just as every human being learns, and it is for that reason that He was able to keep “increasing in wisdom” (Luke 2:52). In addition to those ways, some truths were revealed to the Son directly by the Father. But in every case Jesus’ human knowledge was limited to what His heavenly Father provided.

Therefore, even on this last day before His arrest, the Son did not know the precise day and hour He would return to earth at His second coming. During Christ’s incarnation, the Father alone exercised unrestricted divine omniscience.

It seems probable that Christ regained full divine knowledge after the resurrection, as implied in His introduction to the Great Commission: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18). He told the disciples, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7). He repeats the truth that the disciples would not be told the time of His appearing, but He did not exclude His own knowledge, as He did in the Olivet discourse. (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 24-28 [Moody Press of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1989], pp. 71-72)

FURTHER READING

A Scholar’s Biblical Summation of the Deity of Christ

John MacArthur’s Exposition of our Lord’s Use of Psalm 110:1

In this segment I will be listing the relevant verses related to Christ’s Deity from three specific English versions that are based primarily on what is typically referred to as the Majority or Byzantine text, which form the majority of the Greek witnesses of the NT books. The Textus Receptus (“Received Text”) came out of this family or line of textual transmission, from which the King James Version was produced.  

AUTHORIZED KING JAMES VERSION	NEW KING JAMES VERSION	MODERN ENGLISH VERSION
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God (ho Theos) with us.” Matthew 1:22-23 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” John 1:1, 18   “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” John 3:13 “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” John 5:18   “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” John 10:33   “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God (ho Kyrios mou kai ho Theos mou).” John 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28   “whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.” Romans 9:5   “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” 1 Timothy 3:16   “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (tou megalou Theou kai Soteros hemon Iesou Christou);” Titus 2:13 “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God (ho Theos), is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” Hebrews 1:8   “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (tou Theou hemon kai Soteros Iesou Christou):” 2 Peter 1:1   “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” 1 John 5:7   “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty… saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea… And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” Revelation 1:7-8, 11, 17-18     “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God (tou Theou); and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Revelation 20:12	“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” “The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.’”   “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”   “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”   “of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”   “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.”   “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”   “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.”   “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:”   “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.”   “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’… saying, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,’ and, ‘What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.’… And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.’”   “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.”	“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”   “Now all this occurred to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet, saying, ‘A virgin shall be with child, and will bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is interpreted, ‘God with us.’”   “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… No one has seen God at any time. The only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.”   “No one has ascended to heaven except He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven.” “So the Jews sought even more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”   “The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, claim to be God.’”   “Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”   “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to the entire flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”   “to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom, according to the flesh, is Christ, who is over all, God forever blessed. Amen.” “Without question, great is the mystery of godliness: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up into glory.”   “as we await the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”   “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, lasts forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.’” “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”   “There are three who testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and the three are one.”   “Look! He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’… saying, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,’ and ‘What you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.’… When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though I were dead. Then He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, though I was dead. Look! I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.’”   “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. Books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their works as recorded in the books.”

FURTHER READING

BIBLE COMPARISON LISTS PT. 1

BIBLE COMPARISON LISTS PT. 2