Metatron

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Metatron or Mattatron (Hebrew מטטרון; from Latin mētātor , "surveyor") is a high-ranking angel in Jewish mythology and Islamic mythology . Nowadays he is especially revered in Judeo-Christian esotericism . Metatron's functions in the various religions are not uniform and therefore cannot be clearly defined.

Jewish tradition

Meṭaṭron is mentioned in three places in the Babylonian Talmud .

The Zohar describes Metatron as the angel who led the people of Israel through the wilderness during the Exodus from Egypt . He transmits the will of the Creator to prophets and other angels, including the angels Gabriel and Samael , as well as demons .

Certain religious schools regard him as Enoch raised by God to the status of seraph . He became the highest ranking member in the heavenly hierarchy after the Creator, the "governor of heaven" and "king of angels". He is considered an angel of the beginning and the end.

Islamic representation

The earliest depiction of the angel Metatron in Islamic scriptures can be found in the Koran itself. According to this, the Uzair named in sura 9: 30-31, whom the Jews would supposedly revere as a "son of God", would actually be another name for the prophet Enoch, which in turn was identified with Metatron in the Merkaba traditions. Islamic heresiologists repeatedly accused Jews of worshiping an angel as a vicar of God or as an incarnation of God, especially during the celebration of Rosh Hashanah . The name itself can also be attested to in Al-Kindi and Al-Masudi . In a Druze text, Metatron is classified under the other four canonical archangels, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Azrael. Al-Suyuti describes him as the angel of the heavenly veil and as the only one who knows what lies behind it. Metatron also appears frequently in magical works. Ahmad al-Buni describes Metatron with a crown and a lance, with the lance likely replacing the staff of Moses. But Metatron is also used in other magical practices to ward off evil jinns , satans and spells from magicians.

Popular receptions

  • The fantasy novel A Good Omen by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman mentions Metatron as the voice of the Lord and, in a footnote, equates this position with an earthly press secretary .
  • In the book series His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman , he took over the functions of God who has become old and senile. At the end of the book he is destroyed in a fight with two human protagonists.
  • In the 1999 film Dogma , Metatron is played by Alan Rickman . He says that anyone who ever claimed to have spoken to God actually heard Metatron as "the voice of God" as no human being could withstand the voice of God, or they had talked to themselves.
  • In the television series Supernatural , Metatron is the scribe of God. In vengeance, he casts the other angels out of heaven and, with the help of the angel table, finally gains godlike powers.
  • The manga and anime series Angel Sanctuary refers to Metatron as “the voice of God”. There he is a small child under the tutelage of Grand Minister Sevothtarte.
  • In the light novel series and anime series Date A Live , Metatron becomes the angel of Origami Tobiichi after she is transformed from an unknown existence into a nature spirit.
  • The American band Praxis recorded an album in 1994 called Metatron .
  • The American band The Mars Volta released a song called Metatron on their 2008 album The Bedlam in Goliath .
  • The jazz trio The Bad Plus released the song My Friend Metatron on their album Never Stop in 2010 .
  • The Finnish band Babylon Whores released the song Metatron in 1997 on their album Cold Heaven .
  • Episode 57 of the radio play series Revelation 23 is called The Metatron .
  • The radio play Metatron (1998 on Deutschlandradio) by the Berlin artist Kyon describes the work of Metatron. Kyon also has a website on the same topic.
  • In the German-language fantasy / sci-fi book Teufels Werk und Gottes Contribution by Manfred Klein, which is about an assassination attempt on God, Metatron is named as the most powerful of all archangels.
  • In the game Undertale , the angel Metatron appears as a robot named Mettaton, who always obeys the programming of its creator and then relentlessly pursues the protagonist.
  • In the book Armageddon by the German fantasy author Wolfgang Hohlbein (published autumn 2017), the golden angel Metatron also plays a key role in the end as the angel who stands above the apocalyptic riders.

literature

  • Andrei A. Orlov: Yahoel and Metatron. Aural apocalypticism and the origins of early Jewish mysticism . Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2017, ISBN 978-3-16-155447-6 .
  • Gershom Scholem : Metatron. In: Encyclopaedia Judaica . 2nd Edition. Volume 14, pp. 132-134.
  • Gershom Scholem: Jewish Gnosticism. 1965, pp. 43-55.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "gematria: Meṭaṭron" . Jewish Encyclopedia
  2. ↑ perseus.tufts.edu
  3. ↑ marquette.edu
  4. ↑ Chagiga 15a; Sanhedrin 38b; Avoda sara 3b. Cf. Gershom Scholem : Metatron. In: Encyclopaedia Judaica . 2nd Edition. Volume 14, pp. 132-134, here 132.
  5. ↑ Steven M. Wasserstrom: Between Muslim and Jew: The Problem of Symbiosis under Early Islam. Princeton University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1-4008-6413-3 , p. 184. (English)
  6. ↑ Hava Lazarus-Yafeh: Intertwined Worlds: Medieval Islam and Bible Criticism. Princeton University Press, 2004, ISBN 1-4008-6273-6 , p. 32. (English)
  7. ↑ Steven M. Wasserstrom Between Muslim and Jew: The Problem of Symbiosis under Early Islam Princeton University Press 2014, ISBN 978-1-4008-6413-3 , p. 192 (English)
  8. ↑ Steven M. Wasserstrom: Between Muslim and Jew: The Problem of Symbiosis under Early Islam. Princeton University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1-4008-6413-3 , p. 192. (English)
  9. ↑ Michael Muhammad Knight: Magic In Islam. Penguin, 2016, ISBN 978-1-101-98349-2 , p. 120.
  10. ↑ Stephen Burge: Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik. Routledge, 2015, ISBN 978-1-136-50473-0 , p. 302. (English)
  11. ↑ Steven M. Wasserstrom: Between Muslim and Jew: The Problem of Symbiosis under Early Islam. Princeton University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1-4008-6413-3 , p. 193. (English)
  12. ↑ Steven M. Wasserstrom: Between Muslim and Jew: The Problem of Symbiosis under Early Islam. Princeton University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1-4008-6413-3 , p. 198. (English)
  13. ↑ Steven M. Wasserstrom: Between Muslim and Jew: The Problem of Symbiosis under Early Islam. Princeton University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1-4008-6413-3 , p. 199. (English)
  14. ↑ metatrons.net

Web links