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The Merkabah tradition stresses the role of Metatron as“governing power over the nations, kingdoms and rulers onearth.”[58]Chapter 30 of 3 Enoch pictures Metatron as the Prince ofthe World Mlw(h r#, the leader ofseventy-two princes of the kingdom of world, who speaks (pleads)in favor of the world before the Holy One.[59] Odeberg notes that “thePrince of the World in 3 Enoch combines the function ofthe rulers of the nations: they plead each one the cause of hisnation, the Prince of the World pleads the cause of all nationstogether, of the world in its entirety.”[60] Both ch. 43 of the short recension of 2 Enoch and asimilar passage of the text of 2 Enoch in a Slavoniccollection “The Just Balance”[61] reveal Enoch in his newcelestial role. The texts outline Enoch”s instructions tohis children during his brief return to the earth I which hementions his new role as the Governor of the earth: Blessed is he who understands all works of the Lord, (andglorifies Him): and, because of His work, knows the Creator. And behold my children, I am the Governor[62]of the earth, I wrote (them) down. And the whole year I combined and the hours of the day.[63] And the hours I mea- sured: and I wrote down every seed on earth. And I compared everymeasure and the just balance I measured. And I wrote (them) down,just as the Lord commanded...the doings of each person will put down,and no one will hide, because the Lord is the one who pays, and Hewill be the avenger on the great judgment day.[64] The interesting parallel here to 3 Enoch is the fact thatthe role of Enoch (Metatron) as the Governor (Prince) of theWorld is closely connected in both texts with the theme of DivineJudgment[65] and withMetatron’s role in that process as the Witness of theJudgment. As we recall in 3 Enoch these two themes –governing of the world and pleading for the world – stayedtogether: Metatron is the Prince of the World “who pleads inthe favor of the world.” The narrative of 2 Enoch hasa similar pattern – the title of Governor in this contextmeans “the Mediator of Divine Judgment”[66] - Enoch pleads before the Lordfor the world while reminding the world about the DivineJudgment. Another interesting point about this material is the fact thatthe passage which is dedicated to the description of Enoch’srole as “Governor of the World” is incorporated into apart of the book that is directly connected with otherdescriptions of the titles of Enoch. My previous observationsabout the celestial titles of the Enoch showed that thesedescriptions are situated in chs. 21-38 (according toAndersen”s division). These early chapters unfoldEnoch”s transformation from a human being into an angel inthe highest celestial realms near the Throne of Glory. In chs. 39-67, Enoch gives some instructions to his childrenduring his brief visit to the earth. The text makes clear thatduring this visit Enoch is already an angelic being. In ch. 56 of2 Enoch he says to his son: “Listen, my child! Sincethe time when the Lord anointed me with the ointment of my glory,it has been horrible for me, and food is not agreeable to me, andI have no desire for earthly food.”[67] This portrayal of Enoch asangelic being in this section of the book is very important,because it allows us to see traces of another tradition in thetext of 2 Enoch. It is possible that in this part of thebook we have some remnants of developed Metatron tradition.Chapters 39-67 differ slightly from chs. 21-38 in the ways thepicture Enoch”s role in the celestial realm. First, later chapters (43-44) give an important description ofEnoch as Governor (Prince) of the world, a role which in lateMerkabah literature usually is connected with Metatron tradition.Second, an important aspect of the passage of chs. 43-44 is theSlavonic term prometaya,[68]which follows Enoch”s title, “the Governor of theWorld.”[69] ThisSlavonic term is found solely in the text of 2 Enoch.There is no other Slavonic text where the word prometayais documented. Phonetically close to the term“Metatron” prometaya could represent a veryearly, rudimentary form of the name which later was transformedinto the term “metatron.”[70]It is noteworthy that we can not find the term in the earlychapters connected with the descriptions of other celestialtitles. Third, at the beginning of this textual block (ch. 40) we havethe following words of Enoch: “Now therefore, my children, Iknow everything; some from the lips of the Lord, other my eyeshave seen from the beginning to the end, and from the end to therecommencement.”[71]This statement does not fit with previous descriptions ofEnoch’s initiations which were restricted by fixed temporalboundaries (angel Vereveil instructions for 30 days and 30nights, and so on). Later, in ch. 50, Enoch says that the already“put into writing the achievements of every person, and noone can escape.”[72]As we recall in his deeds as the Governor of the earth he already“arranged the whole year” (43.1) and he “hasdistinguished every seed on the earth, and every measure andevery righteous scale”(43.1). This unlimited horizon offunctions and deeds of Enoch is not consistent with the previousnarrative of chs. 21- 38. It is apparent that we have twodifferent traditions which sometimes demonstrate the lack oflinkage and reconciliation.Finally, we must keep in mind the fact which radicallydifferentiates 2 Enoch”s story from other stories ofearly Enochic documents (like 1 Enoch, Jubilees or Qumranfragments). The important theological watershed of Enochic andMetatron traditions in the book is the allegorical description ofthe extraction of Enoch from his “earthly cloth- ing”and the placement of him into the “clothes of Glory.”[73] In 2 Enoch22, after the archangel Michael extracted Enoch from his clothesand anointed him with the delightful oil which was “greaterthan the greatest light,”[74]Enoch becomes like “one of the glorious ones, and there wasno observable difference.”[75]This symbolic event of angelic[76]transmutation[77]apparently represents in many ways an important turning point inwhich the Enochic tradition has moved into a new era of itsdevelopment – the Metatron tradition.[78]

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