Andrei Orlov, «Moses’ Heavenly Counterpart in the Book of Jubilees and the
Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian», Vol. 88 (2007) 153-173
The paper provides conceptual background for the idea of the angel of the presence as the heavenly counterpart of Moses in the Book of Jubilees and the Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian. The identity of the celestial scribe in the form
of the angel of the presence found in the Book of Jubilees and some other Second Temple materials might further our understanding of the enigmatic process of
mystical and literary emulation of the exemplary figure, the cryptic mechanics of which often remains beyond the grasp of our post/modern sensibilities. It is possible that in the traditions of heavenly counterparts where the two characters
of the story, one of which is represented by a biblical exemplar, become eventually unified and acquire a single identity, we are able to draw nearer to the very heart of the pseudepigraphical enterprise. In this respect, it does not appear to be coincidental that these transformational accounts dealing with the heavenly doubles of their adepts are permeated with the aesthetics of penmanship and the
imagery of the literary enterprise. In the course of these mystical and literary metamorphoses, the heavenly figure surrenders his scribal seat, the library of the celestial books and even personal writing tools to the other, earthly identity who now becomes the new guardian of the literary tradition.
170 Andrei Orlov
Deity beckoning the seer. What is important here is that both Mosaic
accounts seem to represent the formative conceptual roots for the later
Enochic developments where the motif of the Lord’s hand is used in
the depiction of the unification of the seventh antedeluvian hero with
his celestial counterpart in the form of angel Metatron. Thus, from the
Merkabah materials one can learn that “the hand of God rests on the
head of the youth, named Metatron†(63). The motif of the divine hand
assisting Enoch-Metatron during his celestial transformation is present
in Sefer Hekhalot, where it appears in the form of a tradition very
similar to the evidence found in the Exagoge and 2 Enoch. In Synopse
§12 Metatron tells R. Ishmael that during the transformation of his
body into the gigantic cosmic extent, matching the world in length and
breath, God “laid his hand†on the translated hero (64). Here, just as in
the Mosaic accounts, the hand of the Deity signifies the bond between
the seer’s body and the divine corporeality, leading to the creation of a
new celestial entity in the form of the angelic servant of the presence.
*
**
One of the important characteristics of the aforementioned
visionary accounts in which their adepts become identified with their
heavenly doubles is transference of prominent celestial offices to the
new servants of the presence. Thus, for example, transference of the
offices is discernable in the Exagoge where the “heavenly manâ€
handles to the seer his celestial regalia, scepter and crown, and then
surrenders his heavenly seat, which in the Enoch-Metatron tradition is
often identified with the duty of the celestial scribe. The scribal role
may indeed represent one of the most important offices that angels of
the presence often surrender to the new servants of the Face. Thus, for
example, 2 Enoch describes the initiation of the seer by Vereveil
(Uriel) in the course of which this angel of the presence, portrayed in
2 Enoch as a “heavenly recorderâ€, conveys to the translated patriarch
knowledge and skills pertaining to the scribal duties. What is important
in this account is its emphasis on the act of transference of the scribal
duties from Vereveil (Uriel) to Enoch, when the angel of the presence
(63) Synopse § 384.
(64) “The Holy One, blessed be he, laid his hand on me and blessed me with
1,365,000 blessings. I was enlarged and increased in size until I matched the
world in length and breadthâ€. P. ALEXANDER, “3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enochâ€,
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, I, 263.
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