The following comes from Peter Schäfer, The Jewish Jesus: How
Judaism and Christianity Shaped Each Other (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2012), 116-18, 121:
The Celestial High Priest
A
remarkable tradition concerning a certain “Prince” in heaven is preserved in
the enigmatic tractate Re’uyot Yehezqel, which many scholars seek to locate on
the periphery of Merkavah mysticism:
And
what is there in [the third heaven] zevul?
R.
Levi said in the name of R. Hama bar Uqba, who said [it] in the name of R.
Yohanan: The Prince (ha-śar) is not dwelling anywhere but in zevul,
and he is the very fullness (melo’o) of zevul.
And
before him are thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads who minister to
him. Of them it is said by Daniel: As I watched, thrones were set in place,
etc. [and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His garment was white as snow, and
the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames; its wheels
were blazing fire.] A river of fire streamed forth, etc. [from before him.
Thousands upon thousands served him; myriads upon myriads stood attending him]
(Dan. 7:9f.).
And
what is his name?
Kimos
(QYMWS) is his name.
R.
Yitzhaq said: Me’atah is his name.
R.
Inyanei bar Sasson (Sisson?) said: Bi-zevul (“in zevul ”) is his
name.
R.
Tanhum the Elder said: Atatyah is his name.
Eleazar
Nadwadya (Nadwad, Narwad, Nedudeya?) said:
Metatron
(myttrwn), like the name of the Power (gevurah).
And
those who make theurgical use of the name say:
Salnas
(SLNS) is his name, QS BS BS QBS is his name, similar to the name
of the creator of the world. [55]
This
passage is part of a description of the seven heavens and their inventories. It
locates a “Prince,” whose name is at first not specified, in the third heaven (zevul).
Of this Prince we learn only that he is the “fullness of zevul ”—whatever
this means: that he represents the “essence” of zevul or that he fills
it out completely? [56]—and that many angels serve him (with Daniel 7:9f. as
proof text). Since his name is not explicitly mentioned, the second section of
our passage asks after his name and provides a list of names, most of which are
unintelligible nomina barbara. Only the name Metatron immediately stands
out as an unambiguous identification—all the more so as the author hastens to
add that well-known specification that his name is like the name of the Power
(which is, of course, God).
The
date and provenance of Re’uyot Yehezqel, wherefrom our passage derives, is much
debated among scholars. . . . Halperin has conclusively argued that “not only
is the Visions of Ezekiel not a Hekhalot text; it is, by and large,
very unlike the Hekhalot.”[58] This line of reasoning is followed by
Goldberg, who—on the basis of a detailed form-analytical analysis—concludes that
it is a late rabbinic midrash and definitely not a “mystical text.”[59] . . .
the quotation of Daniel 7:9f. in our Re’uyot Yehezqel passage complicates
matters. The verse speaks of the “Ancient of Days,” no doubt God, who takes his
seat on his heavenly throne and has thousands and myriads of angels serving
him. Hence, if we apply this to the Prince in zevul, we can only
conclude that the Prince Michael/Metatron is identified with the Ancient of Days,
that is, with God; in other words, that Michael/Metatron is not only a second
divine power next to God but even serves as God’s surrogate.
Notes for the Above:
[55] Hebrew
text in Ithamar Gruenwald, “Re’uyot Yehezqel,” Temirin 1, 1977, pp.
101–139 (pp. 128–131); English translation in Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism,
p. 46; David Halperin, The Faces of the Chariot: Early Jewish Responses to
Ezekiel’s Vision, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1988, p. 267; German translation
in Arnold Goldberg, “Pereq Re’uyot Yehezqe’el: Eine formanalytische
Untersuchung,” in id., Mystik und Theologie des rabbinischen Judentums:
Gesammelte Studien I, ed. Margarete Schlüter and Peter Schäfer, Tübingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 1997, pp. 127f.
[56] The
latter doesn’t make much sense (as has been observed also by Goldberg, Gesammelte
Studien, vol. 1, p. 127, n. 130).
[58] Halperin, Faces of the Chariot,
p. 413.
[59]
See
the summary of his findings in his Gesammelte Studien, vol. 1, p. 147.
