4. Several other conceptions, however, do not belong at all to the intermediary powers, where Weber places them.(600) This applies to _Metatron_ (identical with the Persian Mithras),(601) whom the mystic lore calls the charioteer of the heavenly throne-chariot, represented by the rabbis as the highest of the angels, leader of the heavenly hosts, and vice-regent of God. That no cosmic power was ascribed to him is proved by the very fact of his identification with Enoch, whom the pre-Talmudic Haggadah describes as taken up into heaven and changed into an angel of the highest rank, standing near God’s throne.(602) 5. The only real mediator between God and man is the _Spirit of God_, which is mentioned in connection with both the creation and divine revelation. In the first chapter of Genesis the Spirit of God is described as hovering over the gloom of chaos like the mother bird over the egg, ready to hatch out the nascent world.(603) God breathed His spirit into the body of man, to make him also god-like.(604) The prophet likewise is inspired by the spirit of God to see visions and to hear the divine message.(605) Thus the spirit of God has two aspects; it is the cosmic principle which imbues primal matter with life; it is a link between the soul of man and God on high. The view of Ezekiel was but one step from this, to conceive the spirit as a personal being, and place him beside God as an angel. The prophets and psalmists, feeling the spirit of God upon them, considered it an emanation of the Deity. Still, a profounder insight soon disapproved the severance of the Spirit of God from God himself, as if He were not altogether _spirit_. Therefore the accepted term came to be the _Holy Spirit_.(606) In this form, however, his personality became more distinct and his separate existence more defined. Henceforth he is the messenger of God, performing miracles or causing them, speaking in the place of God, or defending His people Israel. Nay, more, the Holy Spirit is supposed to have dictated the words of Scripture to the sacred writers, and to have inspired the Men of the Great Synagogue in collecting the sacred writings into a canon.(607)