Angels-METATRON

Metatron is one of the most important angels in the Western tradition.
According to Johann Eisenmenger, Metatron represents the
supreme angel of death, to whom God daily gives orders as to which
souls will be taken that day. Metatron transmits these orders to his
subordinates Gabriel and Sammael.
He is further believed to be in charge of the sustenance of the
world. In the Talmud and Targum, Metatron is the link between God
and humanity. Among various missions and deeds attributed to Metatron
is the staying of Abraham’s hand at the point of sacrificing Isaac,
although this mission has also been imputed to Michael, Zadkiel,
Tadhiel, and, of course, to the angel of the Lord.
Metatron is thought to reside in the seventh heaven, and, with
the possible exception of Anafiel, is the tallest angel in heaven. The
Zohar computes his size as “equal to the breadth of the whole world,”
which in rabbinic lore was the size of Adam before he sinned.
Metatron is generally recognized as the heavenly scribe who
records everything that happens in the ethereal archives. In the tale of
the marriage of God and Earth, told in the Alphabet of Ben Sira, God
demands from Earth the “loan” of Adam for one thousand years. Upon
agreement to the loan, God writes out a formal receipt, which is on
deposit “to this day” in the archives of Metatron.
Metatron is the first—and also the last—of the ten archangels of
the Briatic world. In terms of seniority, he is actually the youngest
angel in the heavenly host. He has been variously given the role of
king of angels, prince of the divine face or presence, chancellor of
heaven, angel of the covenant, chief of the ministering angels, and
the lesser YHWH (the tetragrammaton, or Yahweh).
The meaning of the name Metatron is unclear. Rabbi Eleazar of
Worms (Germany), an influential Hasidic leader and writer in the late
twelfth and early thirteen centuries, thought it derived from the Latin
metator (a guide or measurer). Hugo Odeberg asserts that the name
Metatron originated in Jewish circles and “should be regarded as a
pure Jewish invention, viz., a metonym for the term “little YHWH.””
Odeberg also interprets the name as “one who occupies the throne
next to the divine throne.” According to Jewish historian Gershom
Scholem, on the basis of The Apocalypse of Abraham the name might
be a “vox mystica” for Yahoel (God).
According to one legend, Metatron was once the patriarch Enoch,
who, when chosen by God to be the writer of truth, was transformed
into a fiery angel with thirty-six wings and countless eyes. Most Talmudic
authorities, however, do not identify Enoch with Metatron. The
Tanhuna Genesis claims he was originally the archangel Michael.
Metatron has also been identified as Satan; as the dark angel who
wrestled with Jacob at Peniel (Genesis 32); as the watchman (Isaiah
21); as the Logos; as Uriel; as the evil Sammael; as an angel of liberation;
and as the Shekinah (the female principle of God in the world).
According to the Cabala, Metatron is the angel who led the children
of Israel through the wilderness after the Exodus, whereas in
occult writings he is depicted as the twin brother or half-brother of
the angel Sandalphon. Metatron has also been identified as Isaiah’s
suffering servant, the Messiah of Christian theology, and has been
credited with the authorship of Ps. 37:25, according to Talmud
Yebamoth 16b. The Zohar speaks of Metatron as Moses’ rod “from one
side of which comes life and from the other, death.”
In Jewish lore Metatron is the angel who caused another angel to
announce, before the Flood, that God would destroy the world,
whereas, according to Talmud Abodah Zarah 3b, Metatron is the
teacher of prematurely dead children in Paradise.