Anafiel
Jewish mythology (rabbinic–kabbalistic) · numen · Jewish mythology (rabbinic–kabbalistic) traditional religion; continuing · numen
HE SHARES METATRON'S JOB. The sources give him, with Metatron, the task of protecting the other angels from the dangerously intense presence of the divine — so the corpus held one half of a two-man office.
Domains
- keeping of the divine crown
- guardianship of the chariot
- araboth
- shielding the angels from the divine presence
Relations
- shares the office of shielding with: Metatron
Sources
- Reference treatment of the Princes of the Presence in Hekhalot literature: the Prince of the Presence (Sar ha-Panim) is named as Surya, Seganzegael, Metatron, Anafiel, Yofiel and others, with Akatriel Yah identified among these figures; according to the Talmud, Ishmael ben Elisha ha-Kohen describes an encounter with the numinous entity Akatriel-YAH while in the Temple, and Akatriel has been identified with one of the Sarei Panim; Anafiel features prominently in Hekhalot literature as the angelic keeper of the divine crown, dwells in Araboth (the seventh heaven), guards the entrance to the place of the chariot of God in the central palace of heaven, and shares with Metatron the role of protecting the other angels from the dangerously intense presence of the divine; Zagzagel is the Angel of Wisdom; in 3 Enoch 48d Yahoel is given as one of the seventy names of Metatron.