According to Mopsik, מטט (MTT) is a transliteration from the Greek μετετέθη. רון (RON) is a standard addition to מטטרון (Metatron) and other angelic names in the Jewish faith. Charles Mopsik believes that the name Metatron may be related to the sentence from Genesis 5:24 "Enoch walked with God, then he was no more, because God took him." The Greek version of the Hebrew word "to take" is μετετέθη (he was transferred). Other ideas include μέτρον ( metron, "a measure"). Because we see this as a word in Hebrew, Jewish Aramaic, and Greek, Alexander believes this gives even more strength to this etymology. Another possible interpretation is that of Enoch as a metator showing them "how they could escape from the wilderness of this world into the promised land of heaven". Using this etymology, Alexander suggests the name may have come about as a description of "the angel of the Lord who led the Israelites through the wilderness: acting like a Roman army metator guiding the Israelites on their way". Philip Alexander also suggests this as a possible origin of Metatron, stating that the word Metator also occurs in Greek as mitator–a word for an officer in the Roman army who acted as a forerunner. Gershom Scholem argues that there is no data to justify the conversion of metator to metatron. When transliterated into the Hebrew language, we get מטיטור or מיטטור. 1230), Nachmanides, and brought to light again by Hugo Odeberg. The Latin word Metator (messenger, guide, leader, measurer) had been suggested by Eleazar of Worms (c. It is supported by Saul Lieberman and Peter Schäfer, who give further reasons why this might be a viable etymology. Ī connection with the word σύνθρονος ( synthronos) used as "co-occupant of the divine throne", has been advanced by some scholars This, like the above etymology, is not found in any source materials. The primary arguments against this etymology are that Metatron's function as a servant of the celestial throne emerges only later in the traditions regarding him, and θρóνος itself is not attested as a word in Talmudic literature. Citing Wiesner, he drew up a number of parallels that appeared to link Mithra and Metatron based on their positions in heaven and duties.Īnother hypothesis would derive Metatron from a combination of two Greek words, meaning after μετὰ and throne, θρóνος which, taken together, would suggest the idea of "one who serves behind the throne" or "one who occupies the throne next to the throne of glory". Odeberg also suggested that the name Metatron might have been adopted from the Old Persian name Mithra. An early derivation of this can be seen in Shimmusha Rabbah, where Enoch is clothed in light and is the guardian of the souls ascending to heaven. Hugo Odeberg, Adolf Jellinek and Marcus Jastrow suggested the name may have originated from either Mattara (מטרא) "keeper of the watch" or the verb Memater (ממטר) "to guard" or "to protect". Some scholars, such as Philip Alexander, believe that if the name Metatron originated in Hekhalot-Merkabah texts (such as 3 Enoch), then it may have been a magic word like Adiriron and Dapdapiron. Numerous etymologies have been proposed to account for the name Metatron, but there is no consensus, and its precise origin is unknown.
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