3 Enoch

3 Enoch is an Old Testament Apocryphal book. 3 Enoch purports to have been written in the 2nd century CE, but its origins can only be traced to the 5th century. Other names for 3 Enoch include "The Third Book of Enoch", "The Book of the Palaces", "The Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest" and "The Revelation of Metatron". 
Most commonly, the Book of Enoch refers to 1 Enoch, which survived completely only in the Ethiopic language. There is also a 2 Enoch, which has survived only in Old Slavonic.http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/2enoch.html
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_sd/enoch.html
==Content==
Modern scholars describe this book as pseudepigraphal, as it says it is written by Rabbi Ishmael who became a 'high priest' after visions of ascension to Heaven, 90 CE - 135 CE. Rabbi Ishmael is a leading figure of Merkabah literature.
The name Sefer Hekhalot (Hekhalot meaning Palaces/Temples), along with its proposed author, places this book as a member of Hekalot/Merkabah lore. Its contents suggest that 3 Enoch's contents and ideas are newer than those shown in other Merkabah texts.Swartz, Scholastic Magic, 178ff The book does not contain Merkabah hymns,Alexander, Philip. “3 Enoch,” 245. it has unique layoutDan, Joseph. The Ancient Jewish Mysticism, 110. and adjuration.Schäfer, The Hidden and Manifest God, 144. All these facts make 3 Enoch unique not just among Merkabah writings, but also within the writings of Enoch.
3 Enoch contains a number of Greek and Latin words. This book, unlike 1 Enoch, appears to have been originally written in Hebrew. There are a number of indications suggesting that the writers of 3 Enoch had knowledge of, and most likely read, 1 Enoch.
Some points that appear in 1 Enoch and 3 Enoch are:
* Enoch ascends to Heaven in a storm chariot (3 Enoch 6:1; 7:1)
* Enoch is transformed into an angel (3 Enoch 9:1-5; 15:1-2)
* Enoch as an exalted angel is enthroned in Heaven (3 Enoch 10:1-3; 16:1)
* Enoch receives a revelation of cosmological secrets of creation (3 Enoch 13:1-2)
* The story about precious metals and how they will not avail their users and those that make idols from them (3 Enoch 5:7-14)
* A hostile angel named Azaz'el/Aza'el and two others like him are mentioned in passing (3 Enoch 4:6; 5:9)
The main themes running through 3 Enoch are the ascension of Enoch into Heaven and his transformation into the angel Metatron. 
==See also==
* 1 Enoch
* 2 Enoch
* Heichalot
* Kabbalah: Primary Texts
==References==
==External links==
* Enoch, Elijah and Einstein's Theory of Relativity
* Dark Mirrors of Heaven: Enoch and the Watchers
* The Etymology of the Name "Metatron"
* Hebrew book of 3 Enoch
Category:Book of Enoch
Enoch, 3
Category:Kabbalah texts