Sefer Hekhalot on Seventy Names of Metatron and the Oral Tradition of Torah

"Seventy names has Metatron which the Holy One, Blessed be He, took from His own Name and put them upon him. And all of them were revealed to Moshe on Sinai so that he learned them during the forty days, while he was sitting up there. The Torah in the seventy faces and seventy tongues, the Halakhot in the seventy faces and seventy tongues, the Shamu'ot in the seventy faces and seventy tongues, the Hagadot in the seventy faces and seventy tongues, and the Toseftot in the seventy faces and seventy tongues. These seventy names are a reflection of the Shem HaMeforash on the Merkava which are engraved upon His Kissei Kavod. For the Holy One, Blessed be He, took from His Shem HaMeforash and installed the Seventy names in His name: Metatron."

-- Sefer Hekhalot, ch. 48 (transl. S.A.O.)


HALAKHOT : Ways of life.
SHAMU'OT : Oral traditions.
HAGADOT : Parables.
TOSEFTOT : Lucid teachings.
SHEM HAMEFORASH : Explicit Name.
KISSEI KAVOD : Throne of glory.

Mishnah Sanhedrin on the Mold of the First Adam

"Therefore was man created singly, to teach you that whoever destroys a single life from Israel is considered by Scripture as if he had destroyed an entire world; and that whoever preserves a single life from Israel is considered by Scripture as if he had preserved an entire world. [...]

"And to teach the greatness of the Holy One, Blessed is He: For a man mints many coins from one mold, and they are all similar to one another; but the King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed is He, minted all men from the mold of the First Adam, and not one of them is like his fellow man. Therefore each and every one is obligated to say, 'For my sake was the world created'."

-- Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5


"ISRAEL" - this is Metatron on the Spiritual plane, about whom it is said, "Your name is Jacob. Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." (Genesis 35:10).

"AN ENTIRE WORLD" - this is Metatron on the Physical plane, about whom it is said, "the whole earth is full of His glory." (Isaiah 6:3).

"THE MOLD OF THE FIRST ADAM" - this is Metatron on the Astral plane, about whom it is said, "and on the likeness of the throne, was a likeness like the appearance of a man upon it above." (Ezekiel 1:26).  

Sefer haZohar on the Mishkan of Metatron

"Moses fashioned the Mishkan in the desert to bring Shekhinah down to earth, and on that same day another Mishkan was erected along with it above, as they have established, for it is written: 'The Mishkan was erected' (Exodus 40:17) ─ another Mishkan erected with it, namely the Mishkan haNa'ar (Tabernacle of the Youth), Metatron, and nothing further."

-- Sefer haZohar, 2:143a (transl. D. Matt)

Rashi on a Reference to Metatron in Exodus 23:21 - "My Name is Within Him"

"Behold! I send an angel before you to protect you on the way, and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.  Beware of him ─ hearken to his voice, do not disobey him, for he will not forgive your transgression ─ for My Name is within him."

-- Exodus 23:20-21

"Our Rabbis have said that this is the angel Metatron, whose name is like the Name of his Master, in that the numerical value of Metatron (314) equals that of Shaddai."

-- Rashi, Commentary on Exodus

Abraham Abulafia on Performing Letter Permutations

"We learned from the divine, prophetic, and religious Kabbalah that when the wise mystic performs the Tzerufim (Permutations), the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit) rests upon him. At first, the things he obtains from the Tzeruf will fill him with fear and awe; his hair will stand on end, and his organs will tremble. Then, if he is worthy, Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) will rest upon him. He will feel as if his entire body from head to toe, were anointed with anointing oil. He will become the anointed of haShem (the Name), and become his emissary; he will be called the Malakh haElohim (Angel of God) and his name will be the name of his Rav (Master), which is Shaddai (Almighty), who is called Metatron, the Prince of the Presence (Sar haPanim)."

-- Abraham Abulafia, Chaye haOlam haBa (Life in the World to Come)