Sefer Hekhalot §21

Text

אמר ר׳ ישמעאל אמר לי מטטרון מלאך שר הפנים הדר מרום כל. שבעה הם שרים הגדולים נאים נוראים נפלאים נכבדים שהם ממונים בשבעה רקיעים ואלו הן. מיכאל גבריאל שתקיאל שחקיאל ברדיאל ברקיאל סדריאל וכולם שרי צבא רקיע הן ועם* כל אחד מהם ארבע מאות ותשעים וששם אלפים רבבות מלאכי השרת. 

מיכאל השר הגדול ממונה על רקיע שביעי של** עליון שבערבות. 

גבריאל שר הצבא ממונה על רקיע הששי שבמכון. 

שתקיאל שר הצבא ממונה על רקיע החמישי שבמעון. 

שחקיאל שר הצבא ממונה על הרקיע הרביעי שבזבול. 

ברדיאל שר הצבא ממונה על רקיע השלישי שבשחקים. 

ברקיאל שר הצבא ממונה על רקיע השני שברום רקיע.*** 

סדריאל**** שר הצבא ממונה על רקיע ראשון שבוילון שבשמים. 

Textual Notes: italics only found in V228; bold only in M40

*M40 has ועוד יש ל

**M40 has שהוא

*** M40 has שבווילון

****M40 has סרקיאל

Translation

R. Ishmael said, the angel Metatron, prince of the presence, splendor from on high in its entirety,  said to me, “There are seven great, beautiful, terrible, excellent, distinguished princes who are stewards of the seven expanses these these are them: Michael, Gabriel, Shataqiel, Shachaqiel, Baradiel, Baraqiel, Sidriel. And each is a prince of an army of an expanse and each one of them has four thousand, nine sixty thousand myriads of serving angels.  

Michael, the great prince, is steward over the seventh expanse on high that is in Arabot.

Gabriel, the prince of the army, is steward over the sixth expanse that is in Makon.

Shataqiel, prince of the army, is steward over the fifth expanse that is in Maon. 

Shachaqiel, prince of the army, is steward over the fourth expanse that is in Zebul.

Baradiel, prince of the army, is steward over the third expanse that is in Shachaqim.

Baraqiel, prince of the army, is steward over the second expanse that is on high in Raqia. 

Sidriel, prince of the army, is stewrd over the first expanse that is on high in the skies.

Translation Notes

Discussion 

Overall, from here on out we see a shift. Before this, Metatron reveals information about himself; from here on out, Metatron reveals information about other angels.  We have moved from intimate self-disclosure to other secrets of reality.  I think we have moved out of the realm of Sefer Hekhalot that would resonate with a queer or trans reading. And that is fine. But if other readers have any suggestions for further reading in other Hekhalot texts on the topics of: desire, angelic trans/anthropo/phobia, transformations, etc., please offer such suggestions.

Sefer Hekhalot §18: Names of the Angels Who Run the World

Text

ואלו שמותם של שרים שמנהיגין את העולם. 

גבריאל מלאך האש. 

ברדיאל מלאך הברד. 

רוחיאל מלאך שהוא ממונה על הרוח. 

ברקיאל שהוא ממונה על הברקים. 

זעמיאל שהוא ממונה על הזעם. 

זיקיאל שהוא ממונה על הזיקים.

זיעיאל שהוא ממונה על הזועות. 

זעפיאל שהוא ממונה על הזעף. 

רעמיאל שהוא ממנח על הרעמים. 

רעשיאל שהוא ממונה על הרעש. 

שלגיאל שהוא ממונה על השלג. 

מטריאל שהוא ממונה על המטר. 

שמשיאל שהוא ממונה על היום. 

ליליאל שהוא ממונה על הלילה. 

גלגליאל שהוא ממונה גלגל חמה. 

אופניאל שהוא ממונה על אופני הלבנה. 

כוכביאל שהוא ממונה על כוכבים. 

רהטיאל שהוא ממונה על המזלות. 

וכולם נופלים על פניהם כשרואים אותי. ואינים כולים להסתכל בי מפני הוד והדר יופי תאר נגה אור כתר כבוש שעל ראשי. 

Textual Notes: only found in M40 in bold; only found in V228 in italics. 

Translation 

ָAnd these are the names of the princes that lead the world: 

Gabriel, angel of fire. 

Hailiel, angel of hail. 

Windiel, angel who is steward of the wind.  

Lightningiel, who is steward of the lightning. 

Furiel, who is steward of the fury. 

Sparkiel, who is steward of the sparks. 

Horiel, who is steward of the horrors.

Angriel, who is steward of anger. 

Thunderiel, who is steward of thunder. 

Tumultiel, who is steward of tumult. 

Snowiel, who is steward of snow. 

Rainiel, who is steward of rain.

Sunniel, who is steward of the day.

Nightiel, who is steward of the night.

Orbiel, who is steward of the orb of the sun.

Wheeliel, who is steward of the wheel of the moon.

Stariel, who is steward of the stars.

Runiel, who is steward of the constellations. 

All of these fell upon their faces when they saw me. And none of them could gaze upon me because of the majesty, splendor, beauty, appearance, radiance, light of the crown settled upon my head.” 

Translation Notes

Traditionally translators transliterate the names from Hebrew. But in this case, the names of most of the angels are integral to their function in the created world, so I have tried to retain some resemblance to their name and what they do to make this clear.  The exception is the first name: Gabriel, which I have left since it is not etymologically or functionally related to what follows and it is a well-known angel.  

Discussion 

This section is really a continuation of the last one.  New sense units typically begin with “R. Ishmael said…” The absence of the opening phrase – in addition ot the content – indicates a continuation.  In this section we learn that each element of the created world has its own attending angel.  The angel’s name is integral to its function, which is why I translated the names rather than transliterated them, except for Gabriel. We learn that even the angels who are in charge of celestial objects – like the sun, moon, stars, and constellations – cannot bear to look upon Metatron because his crown is too intensely bright. 

Two New Books by Andrei Orlov

Andrei Orlov sent me materials concerning his two newest books.  He sure does publish quite a lot!  The first, by SUNY Press, is The Greatest Mirror: Heavenly Counterparts in the Jewish Pseudepigrapha:

Description:

The idea of a heavenly double—an angelic twin of an earthbound human—can be found in Christian, Manichaean, Islamic, and Kabbalistic traditions. Scholars have long traced the lineage of these ideas to Greco-Roman and Iranian sources. In The Greatest Mirror, Andrei A. Orlov shows that heavenly twin imagery drew in large part from early Jewish writings. The Jewish pseudepigrapha—books from the Second Temple period that were attributed to biblical figures but excluded from the Hebrew Bible—contain accounts of heavenly twins in the form of spirits, images, faces, children, mirrors, and angels of the Presence. Orlov provides a comprehensive analysis of these traditions in their full historical and interpretive complexity. He focuses on heavenly alter egos of Enoch, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, and Aseneth in often neglected books, including Animal Apocalypse, Book of the Watchers, 2 Enoch, Ladder of Jacob, and Joseph and Aseneth, some of which are preserved solely in the Slavonic language.

He is also publishing, through Mohr Siebeck, Yahoel and Metatron: Aural Apocalypticism and the Origins of Early Jewish Mysticism:

Description:

In this work, Andrei A. Orlov examines Jewish apocalyptic traditions about the angel Yahoel, tracing their conceptual impact on the development of later rabbinic and Hekhalot beliefs concerning the supreme angel Metatron. The author argues that the figure Yahoel, who became associated in Jewish apocalypticism with the distinctive aural ideology of the divine Name, provides an important conceptual key not only for elucidating the evolution of the Metatron tradition, but also for understanding the origins of the distinctive aural ideology prominent in early Jewish mystical accounts. Andrei A. Orlov suggests that the aural mold of Jewish apocalypticism exercised a decisive and formative influence on the development of early Jewish mysticism.