His Name is like that of his Master’s
הנה אנכי שלך מלאך לפניך לשמרך בדרך, ולהביאך אל המקום אשר הכנתי. השמר מפניו ושמע בקלו אל תמר בו, כי לא ישא לפשעיכם כי שמי בקרבו. כי אם שמוע תשמע בקלו ועשית כל אשר אדבר, ואיבתי את איביך וצרתי את צרריך. כי ילך מלאכי לפניך והביאך אל האמרי והחתי והפרזי והכנעני החוי והיבוסי, והכחדתיו.
Behold I [G-d] am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the path, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Beware before him [the angel] and listen to his voice, do not rebel against him – as he will not tolerate your transgressions – because my [G-d’s] name is within him. When you will listen to his voice, and you will do all that I will say, and I will hate your enemies and oppress those who oppress you. For my angel will walk before you and will bring you to the land of the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Prizi, and the Cana’anites, the Ĉivi, and the Yevusi; and I will destroy them.[i]
[i] Shemos 23:20-23
Question
What is the identity of this angel? Rashi[1] identifies him as the angel מטטרון – Metatron.
- כי שמי בקרבו – this clause is connected to the beginning of the verse, “השמר מפניו” to which the phrase “כי שמי” is partnered with. And our Rabbis have said, this is [the angel] Metatron, ‘whose name is like the name of his master’; מטטרון has the gematria of ש-די.[2]
Meaning, the angel who name is like that of his master, in that they share the same gematria, is the one to whom the verse כי שמי בקרבו – as my name [G-d’s name] is literally within him. The angel whose “insides” match G-d’s name is Metatron.
The description “my name is within him” which, as per the Gemara, results in singling out Metatron, raises a question when we compare this name to the name of other angels:
Most angels carry G-d’s name explicitly within them as part of their identity. Their names are literally portmanteaus of their mission plus the addition of G-d’s name. For example:
- מי’כא-ל – who is like G-d
- גברי’א-ל – the Strength of G-d
- רפא'(א)-ל – the Healing of G-d
Expanding the Question
In the case of those angels, the divine name is openly contained – בקרבו – within the name of the angel, in an open manner for all to see.
Metatron, however, does not contain a divine name openly in his spelling. Instead, the verses meaning is being used to imply that בקרבו means on the inside, as a gematria where it is not openly visible.
Which leads us to the following questions:
Hidden Names vs Revealed Names
- Why is the angel Metatron different in that his connection to the divine name is hidden in a gematria instead of being spelled out in his name?
- Why is Metatron connected to the name ש-די specifically?
The Chosen Angel
- Why is this angel specifically chosen for the task that the verses talk about?
Contextual Background
To understand the unique nature of Metatron’s name, we must first understand the rules of angelic nomenclature in general. In the Torah, a name is not merely a label; it is a definition of essence and purpose, especially when it comes to angels.
We see this principle illustrated in two distinct biblical encounters where humans asked angels for their names:
Yaakov’s Struggle (the Present Mission)
After (or while) wrestling with the angel of Esav until dawn, Yaakov asks the angel[i] וישאל יעקב ויאמר הגידה נא שמך – … tell me please your name.
The angel replies ויאמר למה זה תשאל לשמי – and he said, ‘why are you asking for my name’? Rashi explains the angel’s statement:
- למה זה תשאל – we [angels] have no set name. Our names change, all in accordance with the command of the work of our service for which we are sent.
Mano’aĉ’s Offering (the Future Mission)
Prior to the birth of Shimshon[3], G-d sent an angel to notify his parents of the pending miracle child, and to provide them with guidance on how to raise the child. Upon hearing this, Mano’aĉ (who thought the angel was simply a prophet) asked the angel[ii] ויאמר מנוח אל מלאך ה’ מי שמך, כי יבא דבריך וכבדנוך – … ‘What is your name: when your words come about, we will honor you.’
The angel replies למה זה תשאל לשמי, והוא פלאי – ‘why are you asking for my name; it is ineffable.’ Rashi explains this angelic statement as well:
- והוא פלאי – hidden. It constantly changes and it is not know as to what it will change to today.
While the answer’s given by the angels are mostly the same (למה זה תשאל לשמי), there is a slight difference:
- Mano’aĉ thought he was speaking to a human prophet. He asked for the name of the being he was talking to in order to ‘do him honor’ when the prophecy came about in the future. The angel response to him was given after the angel had completed its mission in relating both the news of the pending birth and the instructions on how to raise the child. Since it was now ‘between missions’, the angel added the caveat that his next name was not known. He was ‘between names’.
- Yaakov, the ‘Chariot of G-d’, Chosen of the Forefathers, knew he was speaking to an angelic being. He asked for the angel’s name as it existed in that moment. To understand the purpose of its mission from G-d, so that Yaakov too could work to fulfil it in the midst of his struggle with the angel. To which the angel chastised him, with only the question “why are you asking for my name?” Even though Yaakov sought to understand the divine mission, he was doing so by implying that the angel had an identity, a name by which Yaakov could single him out. The angel though is merely the tool of G-d’s will, it had no identity to which a name could be ascribed. It has no existence other than its function in carrying out G-d’s will.
From these encounters and the angels responses, we can determine a fundamental rule in understanding the nature of angels:
- An angel is its mission. It has no static identity. Its name is simply a description of what it is doing for G-d at that specific moment.
Understanding Metatron’s Mission
Since the angels’ name is mission, what is the mission of Metatron?
Unlike the angels Miĉa’el and Gavri’el, which describe attributes, the angel Metatron describes a function of administration.
The name מטטרון is (like most angelic names) a complex portmanteau[4] of the following Aramaic words:
מטט which comes from:
- מטו – to seek out as in the root of the common phrase found in Gemara במטותא מינייכו – I beseech you.
- מוט – to balance out a scale.
and
- טרון – to engage in mundane business[iii].
Taken together, the name describes the angel as “the one who seeks out to balance the scales within the engagement of mundane business”.
Metatron is the celestial administrator. He is not the judge (G-d), but the system who manages the ‘business” of reality – the cause-and-effect system; economics, politics, etc. – ensuring that the scales of divine will are balanced within the framework of natural laws.
In Kabbala[iv] the Ramak explains that this administration happens on two levels, indicated by the two ways in which the name is spelled:
- מיטטרון (with a Yud) refers to the Sefira of Malĉus, in its higher state, representing the divine throne.
- מטטרון (without the Yud), which is the spelling relevant[5] to our verse, refers to the Sefira of Yesod, as it functions within Malĉus.
In plain English:
- Yesod is the connection between heaven and earth, as we describe it in the verse[v] כי כל בשמים ובארץ – it is literally within the heavens and the earth, serving as the bridge connecting the two. From our perspective, it is the giver.
- Malĉus is the recipient of the divine energy from the Sefiros above it, and that which brings about the actualization of the divine will. From our perspective, it is the receiver.
Therefore, Metatron without the Yud represents the active divine connection between heaven and earth – but in a way in which he acts within the larger Malĉus Sefira, Metatron with the Yud. The connection between heaven and earth as perceived from within the actualized world.
Metatron functions as the open manifestation of what divine rule looks like when acting within nature. Like a business where everything runs smoothly, and still the perception of G-d’s grace is apparent in its success.
Historical Background of Metatron
This functionality of this angel[6] is historically rooted in the human figure of Ĉanoĉ[7].
Ĉanoĉ lived in a generation, close to the creation of the world, when Adam was still alive, which even though they knew G-d created the world, they still turned to, and created the concept of, idolatry. [vi]
It was during that generation that Ĉanoĉ was born. The name חנוך comes from the word חן – Grace.
The term ‘grace’, when used in the Torah, refers to open divine personal providence visible to others. As we find with regard to Yosef[8], about whom the verse[vii] ויתן חנו – and he [G-d] extended his [Yosef’s] grace. This was said regarding Yosef’s position as the administrator of the prison. Similarly, before that, when Yosef was conducting the business of Potiphar, the verse[viii] states וכל אשר הוא עשה ה’ מצליח בידו. וימצא יוסף חן – and everything he [Yosef] did, G-d caused it to be successful by his hand. And Yosef found grace…
Ĉanoĉ, the person, was the walking example of divine grace in the natural world. He proved to his generation that a human could walk in the mundane physical world and yet be visibly led by G-d.
However, because his generation[9] was unworthy of the open manifestation of G-d’s personal divine providence, G-d ‘took him’ and he ‘isn’t’ anymore a human. Instead, he became the angel, the manifestation of the mission for which he lived his life. He is the system [angel, powered by G-d] who is within the natural world [human].
Answer
Getting back to the verses under discussion, Rashi[ix] notes a critical timeline detail:
- הנה אנכי שלח מלאך – here he was notified that they were going to sin in the future. The divine presence was saying to them ‘for I will not ascend in your midst’.
These statements were made by G-d to Moshe prior to the sin of the golden calf, but after the giving of the Torah. G-d, being all-knowing, knew that the people would sin, and accordingly prepared a plan of action for that future. He knew they would fall from their high spiritual level and become undeserving of G-d’s direct, open leadership.
G-d prepared the cure before the illness. He established the “Metatron System”, a mode of existence where G-d leads them, but “undercover,” disguised within the natural order of the world. They would appear to be led by an angel of mundane business – טרון, but in reality, שמי בקרבו – My name is within him.
This explains why our sages noted that it was Metatron who is the specific angel chosen for this task, and why he is associated with the name ש-די.
The Name of Limits
The name ש-די means He who said to the world, ‘enough’! (or He whose power is sufficient for the world.) It is the power that constricts the G-d’s infinite power into the finite boundaries of physics, nature, and administers the mundane business of running the world. Which of course is the mission of Metatron.
This explains why the critical component of this particular angel’s nature is that שמי בקרבו – my name [G-d’s name] is concealed inside him.
When open nature-defying miracles (associated with the name הויה) are performed, G-d’s presence is explicit on the surface—the sea splits, manna falls. When these actions occur, we can see G-d’s open infinite power.
In contrast, with personal divine providence, which manifests itself within nature (associated with ש-די and Metatron), G-d’s presence is concealed. You do not see “G-d” written on a sunrise, a paycheck, or a chance meeting. You have to look בקרבו within it to find the ‘gematria’ [for example], the hidden code of personal divine providence.
Unacceptable Answer
However, as we know from the Gemara[x], when it came time for Metatron to lead the people[xi] Moshe refused this angel. Instead, he insists and begs[xii] אם אין פניך הולכים אל תעלנו מזה – if your presence does not walk [openly among the Jewish people], do not take us up from here [from the wilderness]. Moshe argued that if G-d himself, not through an angel, but him personally, was not ‘walking’ with the Jewish people in an open manner, then leave the people in the wilderness. There was no point in continuing on with the mission of the Jewish people.
Moshe demanded that G-d be openly revealed to the people. That they live their lives above nature. Not with G-d’s name hidden, but in plain open sight. That G-d manifest his presence among them with miracles and prophecy. ונפלינו אני ועמך – that we, I [Moshe] and even the regular people should be considered wonderous[10] among the people of the world.
And G-d acquiesced to Moshe’s request, as it says in the verse[xiii] גם את הדבר הזה אשר דברת אעשה – also this thing which you [Moshe] said, I [G-d] will do.
If that was the case, then why is the concept of Metatron leading the people included in the Torah. What lesson is the Torah teaching us.
The Lesson
The Torah does not just provide lessons for the righteous like Moshe, or those who receive prophecy and perform miracles. It also provides guidance and lessons for individuals currently struggling with their own personal ‘golden calf’.
When a Jew feels distant from holiness, or when they are engaging in mundane business טרון, they may feel unworthy of G-d’s direct communication and presence.
The Torah assures them: Even in that state, you are being led by Metatron, שמי בקרבו – my name [G-d’s name] is within him.
Even when your life seems governed by dry nature, bureaucracy, or scales and measurements, G-d is hidden within those very events.
AND THEREFORE…
But that is only a temporary measure. Every Jew can instantaneously do Teshuva. And when he does so, G-d immediately switches to being directly present in his life. Without even the angelic interference of Metatron.
And when that occurs, the Torah continues with the promise of והכחדתיו – that G-d will destroy that which stands in a person’s way, and they will conquer the seven spiritual nations representing the evil inclination. And they will conquer the physical land of Israel as well. Nothing will stand against them.
Because שמי בקרבו – my name is within him and within you.
[1] Presumably based on the Gemara [Gem. Sanhedrin 38b]
[2] מטטרון (40+9+9+200+6+50) = ש-די (300+4+10) = 314
[3] About whom Yaakov prophesized [Beraishis 49:18] לישעותך קויתי ה’
[4] Definition: a word blending the sounds, and combining the meanings of, two (2) other words. For example; motel (from ‘motor’ and ‘hotel’) or brunch (from ‘breakfast’ and ‘lunch’).
[5] as it is the one to which שמי בקרבו applies – as it has the gematria of G-d’s name.
[6] I wonder if the Midrashic teaching of the human Ĉanoĉ transforming into the angel Metatron is the source of the popular fantasy of the transformers, machines that transform into humanoid robots, like Megatron.
[7] According to Midrash, the angel Metatron is actually the human Ĉanoĉ who was taken by G-d from the physical world and turned into the angel Metatron.
[8] Who also represents the Sefira of Yesod amongst the Seven Shepherds.
[9] This was one of the generations that caused one of the original departures of the divine presence from this world, which was reversed by the seven Tzadikim who came afterward to fix the problems created by humanity in the early generations.
[10] Note that Moshe uses the same root word as the angel did when describing his name to Mano’aĉ: ונפלינו = והוא פלאי both are sourced from the etymological root of פלא.
[i] Beraishis 32:30
[ii] Shoftim 13:17-18
[iii] See Eiĉa Rabba: קאים טרון כל יומא ולא לעי, וצלויי קמוי את לעי – you get up to engage in business every day and you are not tired; but when you get up to pray, you are tired.
[iv] See Pardes Rimonim
[v] Divrei Hayamim I 29:11, see commentary on the Siddur.
[vi] See commentaries on [Beraishis 4:26] אז הוחל לקרא בשם
[vii] Beraishis 39:21
[viii] Beraishis 39:3-4
[ix] Shemos 23:20
[x] Gem. Sanhedrin 38b
[xi] Shemos 33:2
[xii] Shemos 33:15
[xiii] Shemos 33:17